As much as skill and talent and ability are necessary ingredients for a good football team you just cannot win anything without character. We know this Arsenal team has ability in spades and this season that is backed up by a spirit that’s comparable with any of the best Arsenal teams we’ve seen.
Within a week we’ve come back from a goal behind at Anfield and yesterday we came from behind twice to earn a point against Man United. Late goals are glorious when you score them and although the spoils were shared you can’t imagine United feeling anything but gutted while the Arsenal players will have felt almost like they won the game.
United took the lead just before half-time. Wayne Rooney got ahead of William Gallas at the near post and I’m sure Almunia would have saved his fairly scuffed shot had it not deflected off Gallas’ hand. Coming just before the half-time break it might have seriously dented lesser teams. Not us though. Within 2 minutes of the second-half starting we were level. Eboue played a nice ball through to Adebayor whose shot was saved by van der Sar. Sagna had followed up the play and he did brilliantly to hook it back into the middle where Cesc (who else?) was waiting. He controlled it and just passed it into the corner of the net. 1-1.
Rooney had a good chance with a header as United countered and both managers made changes to try and win the game. We took off Eboue for Walcott and the young man’s inexperience played a part in United’s second. He failed to track Evra’s run and his cross, with Almunia inexplicably in no-man’s land, made the finish for Cristiano Ronaldo as easy as he’ll ever get. Eduardo had a fairly difficult chance on the volley for us but he skewed it over the bar.
There’s no giving up in this Arsenal team though and the goal we deserved came a minute into injury time. Gael Clichy did brilliantly on the left to beat men and keep the ball in play before whipping in a fantastic cross (not quite ‘pumping the ball into the box’ as Demento asserted). It reached Theo at the back post whose effort was weak but it rebounded to William Gallas who stuck it in the back of the net. Well, he didn’t. He stuck it about a yard into the net before van der Sar pushed it out but Gallas knew and was celebrating before the linesman signalled the ball had crossed the line. Cue great celebrations and a classic moment between Cesc and Rio Ferdinand.
Top marks to Gallas too, not too many centre-halfs find themselves that far foward so late in the game. I did like his “If we have to die we die together” quote after the match too. I love a bit of melodrama but underneath that there’s a serious message about the spirit of the boys.
So 2-2 at full time and that was probably a fair result. United are probably the best team we’ve played all season and as I said earlier it showed tremendous fight and spirit to come back twice. It wasn’t our best performance of the season but that we can get a result against the current champions without playing our best football says a lot about us. I’m not going to get into individual performances but it should be noted a new club record has been set – 25 games unbeaten in all competitions. The last game we lost was against West Ham in April so while it might be easy to pick over certain people who didn’t perform as well as we might like it’d be rather churlish when you think about it.
I prefer to save my breath for the United manager. He had a lot to say after the game and it deserves some analysis. He was critical of the referee, Howard Webb, saying he favoured Arsenal. Laughable, it really is. It’s amazing how differently people can see things, isn’t it? I can guarantee you nearly every Arsenal fan would say the exact opposite. I thought he gave most the little decisions their way and was generally overly officious and didn’t help the flow of the game at all. What was more annoying were Ferguson’s comments about the reception he received from Arsenal fans. He said:
On our bench, we were getting terrible abuse from people two or three feet away from us. There is a lack of security here. It is absolutely disgraceful the abuse you and your staff take. All sorts of things are been shouted and screamed at you and there is an absolute danger here.
Was he expecting some gentle ribbing with a nod and a wink? He’s been in the game too long to be surprised by anything said to him at a football match. As well as that, the irony of him complaining when his own fans loudly and gleefully sing a song about Arsene being a paedophile whenever we play at Old Trafford is not lost on many of us. As for it being an ‘absolute danger’, he seems to be the first one to have noticed. A good year and many games later. Not a nice insinuation about the club or the fans. He needs to shut the fuck up and get on with it, the miserable poxbottle.
And while we’re doing the whole name-calling thing it would be remiss of me not to talk about Anderson. His rolling around after Cesc fouled him was fucking pathetic and his card waving at the ref to get one of our players booked is not something any football fan likes to see. I hate it, I really do – and I thought it was bookable offence these days. With Howard Webb though, who knows? Anyway, Anderson has a particularly hateable face, let him now take his rightful place as our new pantomime villain. The Brazilian Robbie Savage, so he is. Shit hair and an ugly, irritating cunt. Fuck off.
Arsene Wenger’s thoughts on yesterday are here. Next up it’s Slavia Prague in a game which could ensure our qualification to the knock-out stages and then it’s an away trip to Reading next Monday evening.
For now, enjoy your Sunday and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.
