From Alex Tenenbaum : We had them
Dear MP,
I’m sure you’re getting a barrage of emails, so this is unlikely to get on the website or a reply.
I don’t think that you’re giving us enough credit for the Barca game.
We had them. I was in the stadium. They knew and we knew it.
Wenger’s game-plan worked. Maybe Cesc wasn’t fit. Maybe RVP wasn’t. Maybe Arshavin should’ve played. Maybe Almunia should’ve been sold in January and we could’ve had James Shea in goal… It worked.
But there is more to this result than meets the eye.
It was the best way to lose. Early on. Easing our fixture list. We weren’t embarrassed. It won’t affect us from here on, I don’t think.
Cesc being at fault is no bad thing. Maybe it’ll teach him that he’s not too good for us. If Arshavin had played we’d have been made mince-meat out of. He cannot run. He came on for 15 minutes and he couldn’t run in the 92nd.
He’s overweight and unfit. Great talent. Great player to have. Can he keep up with Dani Alves and Lionel Messi? Can he ****? We’d have been 3 down at half time if he’d started.
Sorry MP, but look at Clichy with Arshavin and with Nasri in front of him. He’s a different player. He’s not exposed to being left with a marauding right back and right winger at him and actually looks like what I remember him being a few years back… a defender.
It also taught me that Jack Wilshere will be our captain in the not-too-distant future. He’s a lion and a core of him, RVP, Vermaelen and Nasri are the generation of Gooners we need to carry us through Cesc’s exit.
Now for the key point…
April 26th/27th – Champions League Semi Final 1st Leg
April 30th/ May 1st – Arsenal v Manchester United
May 3rd/ May 4th – Champions League Semi Final 2nd Leg
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Myles replies:
Good email! But don’t assume United will be in the semi.
If Marseilles draw 1-1 at Old Trafford on Tuesday night, United are out.