Monday, May 2nd, 2011 « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger; coach of the decade
By Walter Broeckx
So we won a game of football. A victory that makes me a bit sad. No, not that I feel sad because we won. No it makes me feel sad because the things that happened in the last weeks and earlier in this season. But you will get a more detailed view on this when we do our season review on refs.
But let us just look at this game. When the line up came out everybody looked at each other. Cesc Fabregas out with an injury. Why did this have to happen again? And this at the moment we had to play United. The best team in the EPL, the team in form. The team that had just beaten Schalke in the CL. The team that will play the final of the CL.
And look at Arsenal. Lost 7 points in one week. Lost against Bolton (with all due respect; Bolton!) Could not defend properly, no character, no guts, no brains. Cannot defend corners. Oh yes and of course a clueless manager. So did we have any chance? No. Before the game started we had already lost it. And when we realised no Cesc in the team I think a lot of the fans feared getting demolished by the machine that Utd is. Or they think it is.
Let us take a look at some in the line up. Szczesny in goal. Did he do anything wrong today? If he did I didn’t see it. When he came it was right to come, when he stayed on his line it was the right decision. When he had to save some things he was there. A very solid performance. And I think he read my advice after the Liverpool game. Or was it really Jens who has told him how to act when you have to take a few seconds off the clock without it getting noticed. A very solid display for a young keeper. A keeper from project youth.
Djourou was sharp as long when he was on the pitch. Strong in the challenges, strong in the air. How you want a centre back to be. And this also is one of the boys who have been around at Arsenal since a few years. And when he got injured he was replaced by Squilacci.
If you have to believe some part of the fans Squilacci is the worst CB in the world. So yes maybe he wasn’t at his best in this season. But you know he has played with top clubs in France and Spain. Has played for France. So he cannot be totally shit and today he did what he had to do when he came on. He kept United away. He wasn’t the weakest link as some part of the fans feared. Maybe it is worth giving a new player the chance to adapt to a new league, a new country a new language, a new team and a new style of play.
Song in midfield was immense. He fought, he passed, he tackled, he ran, he did what he can to help this partners in midfield. Because at the tender age of 22 this player who came at Arsenal at the age of 17 was the senior partner in midfield. And at the end he kept back in defence to help shielding our lead.
Also in midfield we had our Jack who is 19 and well isn’t he just great? Not in height, but what a player we have brought up in our own ranks. If he can add some goals to his game and I am sure he will do this we will have one of the greatest players ever to have played in an Arsenal shirt in our team. He can be a Brady, a Bergkamp, a Vieira whatever midfielder you want to add to the list. He can be better than all of them.
And then we have our MOTM Aaron Ramsey. Our match winner. When he scored I felt a great joy but I must admit that at that moment I had a terrible flash back. A flash back of Ramsey on the floor at Stoke looking at his leg. Can anyone imagine what we have missed in the last year? Just imagine that Ramsey for his real first top game coming up with such a performance against United. This really was top class. And this is another youngster that we have been nurturing since he was 16. And isn’t it just great that it is him who scored the winning goal? And some of you might remember that Ramsey was already declared a United player on their website before the deal was done. Great work Arsène to have snapped him under their nose.
In attack we had Walcott on the right. He worked really hard. Not just attacking but also defensively. And in top games you need players who are prepared to work hard. And that is just what he did. Another of those who came when he was 16. And who had more goals and assists this season than player of the year Bale.
And Nasri played a good first half but then was replaced after picking up an injury I think. But the most amazing thing was that Arshavin who came in his place made the most successful tackles of any player on the field. Okay maybe statistically this is not right but I never have seen him tackle like he did today. I loved it Andrey.
But if you look back at all those names: Szczesny, Djourou, Song, Ramsey, Wilshere, Walcott. Those are all players that have been bought at a young age. Not all of them are a 100% part of the project youth. But all of them have been raised to play in the Arsenal philosophy.
All of them have been brought by the manager. The manager has kept his belief in the players. And today they rewarded him with this victory. This was a victory of the Arsenal that is being built. The Arsenal that will get better and such a result will bring more confidence that they are able to win the top games. In fact for the moment we are leading the mini top 4 league. If Chelsea win at OT they will have the best record in that league table. If United win they will have as many points as we have.
I think this is very important for the future. Even at the start of this season and after our defeats at Chelsea and MU people wrote the team off as they could not win the top games. Well they can. They have won half of the top games this season.
And doesn’t it feel very sweet that we have beaten United who declared themselves already champions before the game with a team that we have raised for over 50%. The only thing that makes it a bit bitter today is that we now realise more that we lost the league in the smaller games. The games we should have won. But I think it is more easier to get that right in the next months.
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