Kevin McCarraFriday
April 4, 2008
When a team can play with the distinction of Arsenal, the players' memories are a sanctuary. Following the 1-1 draw with Liverpool, Emmanuel Adebayor found solace in the thought of the 2-0 win at San Siro that settled the Champions League tie against the holders, Milan, only last month. Deep down, all the same, he will know that the comparison is superficial.
An old or jaded Milan had little idea what to do when Arsenal were outplaying them, and succumbed with good grace. Nothing like that will happen at Anfield. Arsenal can expect to be harassed with ardour by a Liverpool side, whose batteries are continually recharged by the electric atmosphere of the home crowd.
Arsène Wenger's team will only prevail if they can show a ruggedness of body and spirit that sometimes seems alien to their style. On occasion, Arsenal have appeared to write off games, and the 4-0 clobbering at Manchester United in the FA Cup on February 16 has had repercussions; the team has enjoyed a mere two victories from the subsequent nine matches.
The line-up that afternoon had not been composed of striplings whose natural habitat is the Carling Cup. William Gallas, Kolo Touré, Emmanuel Eboué, Cesc Fábregas, Alexander Hleb and Eduardo da Silva started. Jens Lehmann and Gilberto could scarcely be written off as novices either. Arsenal simply did not care all that much, but the effect was still crushing as, presumably, the ignominy of the loss struck deep in retrospect.
Against other English clubs, the side did not recover obstinacy until the fightback to beat Bolton at the Reebok last weekend. There was further resilience on Wednesday after they had conceded an equaliser within three minutes of Adebayor's opener. Wenger will remind his men that they reacted by packing the second half with their best football for months.
The manager would have to avoid reference to the fact that there was no finishing power. Wenger had every right to deplore the denial of a merited penalty, but he was also happy to keep that topic to the fore rather than discuss any of the intrinsic handicaps within his team.
Arsenal, for instance, have less power than they did in the days when, say, Sol Campbell and Patrick Vieira were prominent. On Merseyside, the side must nonetheless be durable against Liverpool, the masters of attrition. Wenger has to address the frailty at right-back that ensued once Bacary Sagna had hurt his ankle at Chelsea.
Justin Hoyte no longer seems to be in contention and, on Wednesday, Touré floundered in the position. The physical presence of Eboué might be productive in the role, although he did fail to make the slot his own, provoking the move for Sagna. But the Ivorian's muscle would be valuable in defence, rather than midfield, at Anfield.
So long as Arsenal are resilient the return leg will test Liverpool's nerve. Under Rafael Benítez, they have never been in this precise situation after the first leg of a Champions League tie. The nearest equivalent was in their encounter with Barcelona last year. Liverpool had been predatory at Camp Nou in taking advantage of a muddled showing by Frank Rijkaard's line-up to beat them 2-1 with goals from Craig Bellamy and John Arne Riise. Then, as now, Benítez had a second leg at home when a clean sheet would guarantee progress to the next round. Liverpool sought to keep the Barcelona match at Anfield under stern control and did so, rather well, without huddling too near their own penalty area. However, Eidur Gudjohnsen scored for Barcelona with 15 minutes left and the stadium trembled until the close of stoppage-time.
It had been a fine achievement for Liverpool to prevail, but these are fixtures played to fine margins. For all that Benítez has won the Champions League once and reached another final, his caginess immediately after Wednesday's draw was much more than a professional courtesy. He will not have forgotten that his defence of the trophy came to a halt when, instead of overhauling the 1-0 loss endured in Lisbon, Liverpool were beaten 2-0 by Ronald Koeman's Benfica at Anfield.
Liverpool, of late, have had passages of assertive football and utterly outclassed Everton in the first half last Sunday before settling for a conservative 1-0 win. For all that, the side will only launch itself at Arsenal if there is no other choice.
It is an occasion to prey on the mind of both sides. Should the visitors be able once more to keep Fernando Torres at bay, anxiety will escalate. Arsenal have not won a Premier League game there since 2003, but there will be a recollection on Merseyside of last season's 3-1 victory for Wenger in the FA Cup, as well as a less relevant 6-3 spree in the Carling Cup.
The emphasis from Benítez next week will be on control, of confining Arsenal to the innocuous areas of the field. The visitors, for their part, must summon up spirit as much as their undisputed skill to play the game on their own terms. They did come back with a late Fábregas goal to draw the Premier League match 1-1 in October. But with their challenge for the title nearly at an end, Arsenal have to go to Anfield with a degree of bloody-mindedness to complement the smoothness of their attacking football.
An old or jaded Milan had little idea what to do when Arsenal were outplaying them, and succumbed with good grace. Nothing like that will happen at Anfield. Arsenal can expect to be harassed with ardour by a Liverpool side, whose batteries are continually recharged by the electric atmosphere of the home crowd.
Arsène Wenger's team will only prevail if they can show a ruggedness of body and spirit that sometimes seems alien to their style. On occasion, Arsenal have appeared to write off games, and the 4-0 clobbering at Manchester United in the FA Cup on February 16 has had repercussions; the team has enjoyed a mere two victories from the subsequent nine matches.
The line-up that afternoon had not been composed of striplings whose natural habitat is the Carling Cup. William Gallas, Kolo Touré, Emmanuel Eboué, Cesc Fábregas, Alexander Hleb and Eduardo da Silva started. Jens Lehmann and Gilberto could scarcely be written off as novices either. Arsenal simply did not care all that much, but the effect was still crushing as, presumably, the ignominy of the loss struck deep in retrospect.
Against other English clubs, the side did not recover obstinacy until the fightback to beat Bolton at the Reebok last weekend. There was further resilience on Wednesday after they had conceded an equaliser within three minutes of Adebayor's opener. Wenger will remind his men that they reacted by packing the second half with their best football for months.
The manager would have to avoid reference to the fact that there was no finishing power. Wenger had every right to deplore the denial of a merited penalty, but he was also happy to keep that topic to the fore rather than discuss any of the intrinsic handicaps within his team.
Arsenal, for instance, have less power than they did in the days when, say, Sol Campbell and Patrick Vieira were prominent. On Merseyside, the side must nonetheless be durable against Liverpool, the masters of attrition. Wenger has to address the frailty at right-back that ensued once Bacary Sagna had hurt his ankle at Chelsea.
Justin Hoyte no longer seems to be in contention and, on Wednesday, Touré floundered in the position. The physical presence of Eboué might be productive in the role, although he did fail to make the slot his own, provoking the move for Sagna. But the Ivorian's muscle would be valuable in defence, rather than midfield, at Anfield.
So long as Arsenal are resilient the return leg will test Liverpool's nerve. Under Rafael Benítez, they have never been in this precise situation after the first leg of a Champions League tie. The nearest equivalent was in their encounter with Barcelona last year. Liverpool had been predatory at Camp Nou in taking advantage of a muddled showing by Frank Rijkaard's line-up to beat them 2-1 with goals from Craig Bellamy and John Arne Riise. Then, as now, Benítez had a second leg at home when a clean sheet would guarantee progress to the next round. Liverpool sought to keep the Barcelona match at Anfield under stern control and did so, rather well, without huddling too near their own penalty area. However, Eidur Gudjohnsen scored for Barcelona with 15 minutes left and the stadium trembled until the close of stoppage-time.
It had been a fine achievement for Liverpool to prevail, but these are fixtures played to fine margins. For all that Benítez has won the Champions League once and reached another final, his caginess immediately after Wednesday's draw was much more than a professional courtesy. He will not have forgotten that his defence of the trophy came to a halt when, instead of overhauling the 1-0 loss endured in Lisbon, Liverpool were beaten 2-0 by Ronald Koeman's Benfica at Anfield.
Liverpool, of late, have had passages of assertive football and utterly outclassed Everton in the first half last Sunday before settling for a conservative 1-0 win. For all that, the side will only launch itself at Arsenal if there is no other choice.
It is an occasion to prey on the mind of both sides. Should the visitors be able once more to keep Fernando Torres at bay, anxiety will escalate. Arsenal have not won a Premier League game there since 2003, but there will be a recollection on Merseyside of last season's 3-1 victory for Wenger in the FA Cup, as well as a less relevant 6-3 spree in the Carling Cup.
The emphasis from Benítez next week will be on control, of confining Arsenal to the innocuous areas of the field. The visitors, for their part, must summon up spirit as much as their undisputed skill to play the game on their own terms. They did come back with a late Fábregas goal to draw the Premier League match 1-1 in October. But with their challenge for the title nearly at an end, Arsenal have to go to Anfield with a degree of bloody-mindedness to complement the smoothness of their attacking football.
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utusanLFC :
another London bias writer. What ever. But it is important to include the article in this blog so that we know what are the bias writers wrote about us.
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