What can you say about this group of players? They’re not perfect, they’ll still frustrate us from time to time as they learn the game and get even more experience, but there’s just no denying their talent, their heart and their sheer Arsenalness.
A 3-1 win, after extra-time, saw us go through to the final on Feb 25th where we’ll face Chelsea. It took till late in the second half for the first goal to go in though. Tomas Rosicky’s thunderbolt shot had been saved by Fatty Arbuckle in the Sp*rs goal, it broke back to him, he slipped a beautiful ball to Adebayor who calmly sidefooted it home. A great finish from the big man but, and I might be being picky here, I’d prefer to see him celebrate the goal with the teammates who created it before doing that silly dance with Thierry Henry.
It was no less than we deserved. What irony then that Sp*rs goal was a lot more than they deserved. Another dodgy decision against Denilson gave them a free kick on the corner of our box and when Jenas played the ball in that gigantic cunt Mido beat Kolo to the ball to head it past Almunia. At this point a lesser team might have crumbled so it’s a great testament to the boys we had out there that they didn’t.
It went to extra-time and again it was all Arsenal. Sp*rs, even though they needed a goal, couldn’t get near the ball or our goal and right at the end of the first period we went ahead. Justin Hoyte’s cross didn’t look too dangerous but new signing Rocha decided to head it when the ball was about 6 inches off the ground and it fell to Jeremie Aliadiere. His turn and finish was top class and perhaps he’s showing that he’s got something to offer the team between now and the end of the season. I was very happy for him because he worked hard all night and deserved the break he got. I lost count of how many times he made good runs but didn’t get the pass they merited.
In the second period we made the game safe. Sp*rs really couldn’t get near the ball and a nice move saw Rosicky get into the box, make room for a shot which cannoned off the post but smack off Pascal Chimbonda and go over the line before he could clear it. The linesman saw it though and it was 3-1 Arsenal and game, set and match. Despite a late shot from that gigantic cunt Mido there was no pressure and no danger of them getting back into it.
Despite their late goal and the touch of nerves that brought there was a great feeling during the game that their was an obvious gulf in class between the two teams. Remember, this was more or less Sp*rs first team and we started without Henry, Gallas, Hleb, Fabregas, Rosicky, Baptista, Clichy and Eboue. The fact that their first attempt on target was Mido’s goal shows how comfortable we were overall and there’s no question we deserved to win the game.
Looking at the performances of the players Almunia did well in goal again. He made a very sharp save from Keane early on and couldn’t do much with their goal. He looked assured and safe-handed again though and he deserves to take his place between the sticks for the final.
At the back Hoyte was impressive again and he, along with Gael Clichy who came on for the raw Traore, are improving game to game and it’s great to see. Senderos had a great game after getting what I thought was a nasty elbow early on and his passing was much improved. Perhaps the games are catching up with Kolo a little bit. He was beaten to the header for the goal but he’s such a great competitor he was winning header after header late on.
In midfield Denilson showed exactly why Alex Song has no future at Arsenal. He looks a player and half. Calm, composed, good vision, good from a dead ball situation and he’s got a hell of a shot on him. A real find, this boy and he was my man of the match. Gilberto was as solid as ever, Diaby looked very good but obviously tired before being replaced by the peerless Cesc. I did love Diaby nutmegging a Sp*rs player on the edge of our box, dangerous I know but fun to watch. Theo Walcott struggled again and he looks short on confidence. He had a number of occasions where he just didn’t seem to know what to do with the ball and I’m not sure why he was taking the corners as his delivery was pretty poor. He got a nice reception going off though and hopefully this tough time will serve him well – it’s certainly part of his learning curve.
Tomas Rosicky made a real difference when he came on. His close control is fabulous and he was involved in two of the goals. A shame his shot didn’t go in but making Chimbonda score an own goal is classy work. Adebayor worked hard, deserved his goal and I mentioned Aliadiere above.
At the end the Arsenal players applauded the crowd delighted with the result and the performance while the Sp*rs players ruefully clapped the half dozen or so of their fans that remained in the stadium.
Afterwards the manager praised the youngsters, and the experienced heads who gave us a bit more ‘security’, and said that he would reward the players who have taken part throughout the campaign by playing them in the final. Obviously because it’s Chelsea he’s going to have to mix it up a bit though, as he says:
I will play the right mixture of all the players involved until now. These boys played so well I want to give them the chance. We will stick to the players who were involved in the Carling Cup only. Those who have not played until now will not play the final.”
And they deserve it. They’ve played every round of this competition away from home until this semi-final second leg, they’ve pulled off some great results, put in some great performances and irrespective of what happens in Cardiff at the end of next month they’ve done themselves and the club proud. I know there’ll be a mix of youth and experience, with the balance probably swung a little the way of experience, but they have nothing to be afraid of in the final in my opinion.
There is more of the manager’s reaction and his thoughts on working with these players here. All in all that was just tremendous entertainment.
In a quick round-up of other stuff as I have to go to see a man about two dogs, a bengal tiger and a sloth, Seb Larsson finally joined Birmingham permanently for a fee of around £1m. Best of luck to him. Matthew Upson, strangley, swapped high-flying Birmingham for West Ham and given how they looked after him after yet another of his injuries you can understand their anger at his move when he could easily have gone in the summer. How funny would it be if Birmingham went up and West Ham went down. The Arsenal relevance is that we get 25% of the £6m fee. Nice work.
Thierry Henry talks to FHM and some of it is reprinted in The Sun.
Finally, Ashley Cole injures his knee quite spectacularly. I have no comment to make at all but there will be many who feels it serve him jolly well right the little cunt. Feel free to leave your comment in today’s Arses. Right, must dash. Enjoy today one and all.
