A Gunners line-up full of promise failed to deliver as the Red Devils asserted their authority in this all-English tie, writes Goal.com's Sulmaan Ahmad.
Apr 29, 2009 5:59:48 PM
We've all seen the Die Hard series and have come to love John McClane. A reluctant hero who always gets the job done, no matter how high the odds are stacked against him. "That's it John," he would always mumble to himself, "Always in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Alex Song is an unfortunate sufferer of the same affliction, but let me tell you, if he ever switched places with John McClane, the bad guys would have won every single time. Not only does he end up in the wrong place at the wrong time, but unfortunately for him, there are no Hollywood writers scripting his improbable and heroic escape to victory.
Arsenal could have taken a tiny leaf out of Chelsea's anti-football book and just smashed it out of defence for the first few minutes just until they found their bearings and pushed United off them. Their feeble attempts at passing from the back were foiled by a United side that pressed high from the first whistle. Fergie definitely out-thought Wenger on this one, and the end result was an overwhelmed Song attempting and failing to cover his defenders, who were exposed to a blitz of red shirts who had all the space in the world in which to run, shoot, twirl, pass, tap-dance - it was a free-for-all.
But they got just the one goal - courtesy of defending so bad that I'm confident Tony Adams ran to the nearest grave just so he could roll in it - and it was John O'Shea, of all people, who had all the time and space in the world to hit a superb volley into the back of the net. After that, Cristiano Ronaldo hit a second half strike so hard against the crossbar that the echoes are still being heard at Old Trafford. The game - the tie - should have been over.
The Gunners consolidated in the second half but still couldn't get Fabregas and Nasri playing. Walcott, for reasons yet unknown to the logical observing public, was ignored for large parts of the game as he stood out wide, in space, ready to roll, but without the ball. Wonderful.
Adebayor, meanwhile, looked so bored you would have sworn he was watching last night's game. He was supposed to be relishing a battle against Vidic, as he said before the game - he was instead restrained by Rio. He might have broken a rib, but he didn't even break a sweat dealing with the Togo hitman all night, it was that easy.
Sir Alex would have never allowed such a naive waste of resources. As the game wore on, you just got the impression that Wenger wanted the young guns to find their own way, even when it became painfully obvious it was never going to happen.
Arsenal's inferiority was best illustrated by Kieran Gibbs, a young player of great promise and in good form, who was attacked from the off. Fletcher, O'Shea, Tevez, Ronaldo and Rooney - they took turns tormenting him and the ease with which they got in crosses from the right hand side defied belief. He wasn't given enough cover - and still just 19 years of age, not too much can be read into it - but he was made a victim one time too many.
This is a team still lacking sufficient Champions League experience. They were lucky to get past Roma and in Villarreal, they had a team even more untried in Europe's premier club competition, but this test, despite being against domestic opposition, somehow has that different flavour to it, and it showed.
The Gunners have been big game specialists all season in the Premier League - and without doubt, the XI that took the field tonight had the quality to at least draw with Man United - but it's this level, this stage, this setting... it looks beyond them.
They can be thankful that United weren't more precise in front of goal and that a couple of marginal offside calls went their way. They're still in the tie on paper. This is a team that is in some ways more vibrant than the finalists of 2006, but they need more strength and strategy before they can stand a real chance of bringing home this club's first ever Champions League trophy.
Sulmaan Ahmad, Goal.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment