Against big Ibrahimovic, I’d play Sol Campbell.
Against little Bojan, I wouldn’t.
Bojan will run behind Sol all night. He could run behind him in a telephone box.
I’d play Sagna at centreback because he’s quick and agile and reads danger. He is Arsenal’s most natural defender. It’s an instinctive thing. He reads danger and does the right thing automatically. Sagna doesn’t have size but Arsenal don’t need size tonight, they need mobility and fitness.
That’s what I think this morning : Arsenal’s back four should be Eboue-Sagna-Vermaelen-Clichy.
Obviously, it’s not my job to pick Wenger’s team for him. It’s my job to comment on how his team plays. That’s why I don’t do it. I haven’t picked an Arsenal team for about five years.
However, since I’m picking teams for the first time in five years, I’ll pick Guardiola’s too. He should play Yaya Toure at centreback with Milito, who is very slow since a serious knee injury put him out for a year. Yaya Toure would snuff out Bendtner. Marquez is an elderly Mexican bandit and will get sent off.
The sparky, steely Iniesta, the world’s most under-rated footballer, is fit again. Should he replace Keita or come on for half an hour to warm him up for Real Madrid at 9pm on Saturday? Use Iniesta from the bench, I think. Keep Keita-Busquets-Xavi as the midfield three. If it ain’t bust, don’t fix it.
I watch Barcelona a lot and sometimes at home they take a long time to score, as when they played Malaga when they needed to win to go top, after Real Madrid had won.
It was their 24th league game and the first time they had been off the top since November and the pressure was on and they missed chance after chance after chance. Ibra’s flicks were not working. By 60 minutes, their geometry was becoming esoteric. Barcelona were finding angled passes I had never seen in my life, into spaces I had never seen in my life, and they were still as far from scoring as they had been at any time in the game. Malaga defended very well and robustly and I’ve never seen Pep Guardiola look as dubious as he did that night. It looked as if Pep was thinking : How the hell are we gonna score here?
Then Pedro hit a rocket for 1-0 in 68 minutes. But Valdes made it 1-1 in 80 minutes. Then Barcelona made it 2-1 and stayed top. It was a very close contest because everybody wants to beat you when you are champions and Barca have had to get used to that. It’s not easy to go out twice a week and be the best team in the world, month after month. They’re not robots. They’re only flesh and blood, like the rest of us.
What else?
The main thing about Barcelona these days is that Messi does not start on the right very much. With Maxwell and Alves wide, and Pedro working back when he is not looking for a shot, Messi waits for a quick pass from Busquets or Xavi, waits to start one of those skipping, accelerating, threatening dribbles.
The other big factor is that Messi became a poacher last season. He started to go into the box off the ball, after previously dribbling into the box. He started to look to stab in crosses. So Messi in 2008-2009 became very dangerous when he didn’t have the ball -Arsenal have to be very aware of that threat too. His sharpness is a shooting sharpness as well as a dribbling sharpness.
Do Arsenal have a chance without Fabregas and Gallas? With Almunia in goal? Against the best team in the world?
Well, losing Gallas and Song is bad news. And losing Fabregas is very bad news because Arsenal can’t play without Fabregas. Nasri did well last week but he is a different type, more of a ball-holder than a quick passer. And losing Arshavin, who should have been playing just behind the striker all season, is unfortunate. But at least it means Wenger won’t be obliged to play the Russian in the position he wants to play.
Let’s wait and see. It’s a huge pitch at the Nou Camp and Maxwell and Alves use the flanks well. Although I would play Abidal at left back, not Maxwell.
That’s why Walcott should start. If he doesn’t, Barca will just play a high-energy pressing game from the kick-off, score early, score again, and walk it.