Wenger is right to say that the shocking Wembley pitch will not help England.
And he is right to say Arsenal gave away two soft goals.
But the Chelsea semi-final was men and boys after the first 20 minutes because his team selection was a pig’s breakfast.
Van Persie was a fish up a tree on the left, Adebayor played like the dunce he will always be, and Diaby dribbled stupidly and lost the ball in the middle third, and even lost it in his own penalty area, which allowed Anelka to shoot and hit the post.
Only a moron would compare a loose cannon like Diaby to Patrick Vieira, a giant warrior-technician who could read the game with uncanny insight as it raged around him, and who could, in half a second, kill your attack with one foot and start an Arsenal attack with the other. Vieira got caught in possession five times in eight years. Diaby gets caught five times in eight minutes.
I don’t care what anybody says or writes, I don’t care about the stats, that game was not close !
IT WAS NOT CLOSE! It was men and boys.
If Wenger had started Arshavin, the Russian could have ducked under Ivanovic’s armpit (he is not a right back) and maybe won the game in the first 20. Song could have helped to keep it won by marking Lampard.
The best player on the pitch by a country mile was Frank Lampard, the son of a pro, a method player, a fine technician, who took the ball off Fabregas twice in three minutes, who showed an astounding will to win, and who hit the passes to create both goals.
When Ashley Cole was pressed by Walcott and Bendtner, he nudged the ball riskily infield. Fabregas and Essien went for it, Fabregas knocked it down and got knocked down, and Lampard instantly realised what had to be done.
He took the ball on the half-volley and launched a Route 1 attack, a ball over the top for Drogba to race onto. Theirs is a productive and lethal partnership. They knows each other’s game. Nobody knows better than Frank where Didier wants the ball. And that pass won the game. On a good pitch or a bad pitch, that was a match-winning pass. And, like the first goal, it was a two-touch goal. Malouda killed the ball with his left foot and fired it in with his right, while Drogba nicked it round Fabianski with his right foot and, with the ball bouncing and spinning, fired it in with his left.
That’s history now.
Anfield is another game, another competition, a chance for Wenger to show us that he was right to rest Nasri, Song and Arshavin so that he could beat Liverpool and finish third. That’s what he did. It was seriously bizarre, but that’s what he did.
The epic battle last Tuesday, Chelsea 4 Liverpool 4, took a lot out of both teams. That game was physically and mentally draining for Chelsea, even though they are strong and mature. That was why they started slowly against Arsenal, who were able to switch off after an hour against Villarreal, and took three key players off because the tie was over and they were cruising. Yes, Chelsea had a day more to recover. But they needed to recover from that eight-goal thriller. If Liverpool had played on Saturday, they would have started sluggishly too.
Eduardo and Sagna are back, so Arsenal can play good football if he picks a good side. Fabianski has a chance to restore his confidence by playing a blinder at a ground where Bruce Grobbelaar used to come out of his box and drop a few clangers.
Obviously, losing an eight-goal thriller was a huge blow for Liverpool because they were playing for a place in the semi-final of the Champions League.
However, their appetite is for the title and that’s why I think Liverpool will beat Arsenal 3-1 tonight.
But I hope Arshavin, Eduardo and Nasri prove me wrong.
PS Did you see Tim Cahill’s power penalty flash over the crossbar in that shoot-out? I could not believe he did that. But Dimitar Berbatov’s limp effort was even worse. It’s a shame Roy Keane was not around to take him by the throat and throw him against the dressing room wall.
Berba is a luxury player , like Veron. Sir Alex should unload him to Spain, where he would be magical in slower games. His ball-control is good as anybody I’ve ever seen, as is his passing and shooting. Berbatov is not a red devil. Tevez is.