Can Adebayor do it in the Ukraine?
Can Theo Walcott, the goal prince of Zagreb, become the king of Kiev?
Certainly, Walcott has been a different player since that hat-trick in Croatia. He has an aura now. He is much more confident. He rides tackles, can zoom off on a slalom from inside his own half, looks clinical in the final third, and, at the moment, is keeping us on the edge of our seats.
Being the star of a 4-1 away win by England, against the so-called No.5 team in Fifa’s world rankings, WAS a turning point for the 19-year old.
So, inevitably, we say that Theo Walcott “came of age” that night in Zagreb, just as Ashley Cole came of age in Valencia in 2001, the night that Arsenal lost a quarter-final but found a left back.
If Arsenal get three points tonight, Gooners won’t care which player scores the winning goal. They just want to get off to a good start, as Chelsea did when they beat Bordeaux 4-0, as Liverpool did when Steven Gerrard turned Marseilles upside down with two goals in six minutes.
Last season Arsene needed a player to come through for him, and Adebayor came through with 30 league goals, including six against Derby and three penalties.
But Ade didn’t score his first Champions League goal till March, in Milan. He became one of Arsenal’s main men and got a new contract which reflected that improvement. An £80,000 a week striker should be good enough to score his first CL goal in September, not March.
This season Arsene needs another youngster to come good, so that his transfer strategy makes sense. He can develop Wilshere and Ramsey patiently, but Nasri or Walcott have to deliver to make this an interesting season. If those two do well in patches, that might not be enough.
Nasri is out tonight, so Walcott has a chance to build on what he has done recently.
Cesc Fabregas always raises his game in the Champions League. Nights like this, challenges like this, turn him on. I always fancy Fabregas to score in an away game in Europe.
Of course, we don’t know what service the front lads will get because we don’t know how good Dynamo Kiev will be tonight.
Also, I’ve got a funny feeling about this game.
I think Kiev might play like an away team. If they really fear the counter-attacking pace of Walcott and Adebayor, Dynamo Kiev might sit back and knock the ball around in their own half.
Oddly, if Arsenal play the game in the Kiev half, they will have less space and therefore they’ll be passing the ball at shallower angles, so Kiev may be better able to intercept and break. I’m saying this because the Blackburn game was the worst game for Kiev’s new Russian coach Yuri Semin to have scouted in person. His worst nightmare is a wide open game like that with chances at both ends. He will be looking to nick a tight game, not make his mark as the impresario of a thrilling spectacle.
As Arsene has hinted, Kiev know far more about us that we know about them. It’s impossible to say whether centre forward Maksim Shatskikh, now 30, is a carthorse these days, or still the explosive goalscorer of five years ago. Shatskikh was signed in 1999 to when Shevchenko was sold to AS Milan, and was always more Shearer than Sheva, never as fast or improvisational as the Ukraine’s main man.
Arsenal have never won in the Ukraine or Russia, and the small stadium, holding only 18,000, will work against the visitors. Their nerves will be stretched, as well as their defensive organisation.
Winning would be a huge step, given previous disappointments in the city.
It’s a test but also an opportunity. If Adebayor, Walcott and Fabregas play at their best, Arsenal could pull off their first win in the Ukraine.