Manchester United 1 Arsenal 0
John O’Shea 17
With Diaby and Adebayor in the team, you’re playing with nine men.
So last night was nine against eleven. Unless you think it was nine against thirteen.
No wonder Arsenal lost 1-0.
Yes, they can go through at the Emirates nest week. But if Arsenal reach Rome, they will still be the fourth best team in the EPL, and a poor fourth at that.
For once, Sir Alex picked a balanced team that functioned well. Darren Fletcher was the right call because he got the other 10 right. Anderson is a furious skirmisher who set the tone as United did what Fulham did, what Hull did, pressed and hustled in Arsenal’s rear third, denying them the ball, stifling their rhythm.
Manchester United annihilated Arsenal for the first 35 minutes but only scored one goal.
Carrick beat Diaby in the box with embarrassing ease and his cross flicked off the boot of Silvestre to the totally unmarked O’Shea. Cristiano Ronaldo and O’Shea were standing there with no defender within fiive yards of them ! So O’Shea smashed a volley past Kieran Gibbs, who was guarding the post.
The brainless Adebayor had vacated the space, jogging away to leave two red shirts unmarked. He does things you have never seen a professional footballer do. Different stuff in every game, too.
Wenger does not teach defence, so Gibbs didn’t know he should have been charging O’Shea. He’s needs to learn good habits but has nobody to learn good habits from, nobody shouting at him. He works in a French creche where nobody shouts at the pampered enfants and, of course, the child-millionaires are not allowed to shout at each other.
That is tragic because Gibbs was Arsenal’s best player last night. Even better than Almunia.
Why could Arsenal not score an away goal?
Because Fabregas can only release Adebayor, he can’t play with Adebayor.
Because nobody can play with Adebayor. Ade’s ability to not anticipate a cross, a rebound, a short pass, in uncanny. His ability to be on his heels, not his toes, at the crucial moment is absolutely uncanny. In 40 years of watching football, I’ve never seen anything like it.
You see that in every game and its ridiculous in every game. With Arsenal 1-0 down in 28 minutes in the biggest game of the season, Fabregas flicked a short pass into the box for Adebayor but he didn’t read it. Torres or Rooney or Arshavin would have read that pass and been in on goal. But Ade would never read it in 1,000 years.
When Fabregas was out for three months with a knee injury, Adebayor missed those early passes, those 40-yard through balls that released him and allow him to use his pace and strength. He is a clumsy power player, a blunt instrument, nothing more. He’s not what you want, he’s what you’ve got. He is loathed by most fans, who pray that he is sold this summer.
While Sir Alex picked a balanced side, Wenger chose all his favourites.
He has given Nasri a deeper role in central midfield. so he has had to pushed Fabregas into a Teddy Sheringham half-striker position, so Fabregas’s jobs now are (1) combine with Ade (2) combine with Theo and (3) score goals. He scored two superb goals against Middlesbrough, a team that didn’t turn up.
In essence, Fabregas is playing in a role that doesn’t use his talent, which is the early pass, especially the early long pass.
To keep Fabregas there, Wenger has to buy a striker with a brain, someone who knows when to move and where to move, someone who can make runs to the near post for Walcott’s crosses. This team is not equipped to benefit from what Walcott does.
Of course, if he had Vidic and Torres, he might be able to play Nasri and Fabregas together in central midfield.