By Myles Palmer
It’s very cold in London today- Valencia won’t fancy that.
It will be a night for cycling shorts.
Plenty of Gooners have been getting bent out of shape by Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Man United
I was never happy with timing of the fixture.
United away three days before Valencia at Highbury?
It never sounded right or felt right. I never really fancy Arsenal just after France have played, or just before a really big Champions League game.
In Manchester they were out out-run, out-pressed and outsmarted by a ferocious,proud,vengeful United team.
But I figure : Losing to United is excusable if Arsenal beat Valencia.
The best thing thing about this game is that it’s not a quarter-final like last time.
Arsenal can lose and still go through, which would hardly be be the case if it was the first leg of a quarter-final
Clearly, Valenia are stronger,more confident,than last time.
Because they are Spanish champions.
Because little Aimar -he’s 5’7″ – is 23 now and has become a deadly goalscorer and well as nimble playmaker.
In the 2-1 game in April 2001 the teams were :
ARSENAL: Seaman; Dixon, Keown, Adams, Cole; Pires,Parlour, Vieira, Ljungberg (Wiltord, h-t); Kanu (Lauren,84min),Henry.
VALENCIA: Canizares; Angloma, Ayala, Pellegrino, Carboni;Mendieta (Vicente, 89), Baraja, Aimar (Angulo, 68), Kily Gonzalez; Carew, Sanchez.
Referee Dick Jol of Holland had a good game and got the final in Milan.Where Valencia drew 1-1 with Bayern and then lost on penalties.
Canizares and Kily Gonzalez are injured.
TONIGHT’S PROBABLE VALENCIA TEAM : 13-Andres Palop; 23-Curro Torres, 4-Roberto Ayala, 2-Mauricio Pellegrino, 15-Amedeo Carboni; 10-Miguel Angel Angulo, 8-Ruben Baraja, 6-David Albelda, 14-Vicente,21-Pablo Aimar, 7-John Carew.
So French iron man Angloma has gone and Mendieta is at Barca now.
Baraja has become a powerhouse and a regular first choice for Spain.
Vicente is a useful young winger but not a GREAT young wingerlike Joaquin at Real Betis.
Carew is a blunt instrument, but an effective blunt instrument, a target man who gives them an option Arsenal do not have.
Individually, Valencia don’t look that impressive.
But collectively they are superb : a great unit, a marvellous functionality, a reliable shape,a practical, pragmatic solidity built on partnerships, experience, hundreds of games full of good habits.
I watch a lot of Spanish football on TV because I find it more attractive and varied than the Premiership.
There’s something about the geometry of Valencia’s shape, their width, their steadiness and accuracy, that makes them truly formidable.
IT WAS NO SURPRISE WHEN THEY BEAT LIVERPOOL TWICE.
And I don’t think Valencia will be especially scared of Thierry Henry.
They did not fly to London expecting to lose.They didn’t reach two CL finals by a fluke.
They know how good they are but they also know that Bayer Leverkusen lost 4-1 at Highbury last season.
Leverkusen were blown away by fast,confident, slick passing in the first 25 minutes.
I did not see Nigel Bidmead’s BBC1 South East News sports report previewing the Man Utd game, but you may have done.
Nigel wanted to do something on power football, saying that size matters, and he asked Arsene on camera if they play power football and he said,”Yes, but with pace as well.”
He interviewed a fitness trainer, Ulich, who works at Chelsea and Palace.
Ulich said that, “Everyone who comes in here says that when you’re standing in the tunnel alongside Arsenal they all look so big and strong.”
Will Arsenal’s size intimidate Valencia?
Or are they big strong pros who have been round the block a few times?
Aimar is a twinkletoes touch player who has spent his whole life playing against bigger boys and bigger men.
Club football in Buenos Aires,where he was a wonderkid with River Plate,is full of bandits and villains.And the Primera Liga is no cakewalk.
Aimar has built a career on an ability to skip away from 13-stone six footers.A bright international player with his finesse can always produce a clever run, a cute pass, an accurate shot into the corner of the net.
So it’s a bit simplistic to say that Aimar will be powered out of this game by Vieira and Gilberto, especially as Vieira may not be 100% fit.
Bottom line?
It’s a tough one to call because Valencia know how to draw.
They drew 1-1 with Ajax in Valencia. They can be a 1-1 kinda team.
How serious is Vieira’s thigh strain?
I reckon PV4 will start, but Parlour might come on for him.
On Sunday Tony Adams said you can’t play both Pires and Ljungberg in away games and I agree with him.
From now on, against good teams, Arsene should play two from three of Pires,Wiltord and Ljungberg.Otherwise, as Tony says, they are a bit too open.
Tonight’s game will be very tight and it looks like the kind of game where Wiltord is unlikely to play well.Hope I’m wrong about that.
Fans moaned about Bergkamp not starting in Manchester, but I think AW was saving him for tonight.
Interestingly, Dennis did NOT play against Valencia last time.
We shall soon see.I fancy a 1-0 win.
Barcelona and Newcastle should produce more goals on ITV2.
Just had an email from my pal Alex in Brazil who says that Bobby Robson has told Spanish papers that,”Thierry Henry today is like Ronaldo in my Barcelona.”
Well, I think they are similar in temperament, but not in style.
Both are likable, happy-go-lucky lads.
December 10th 2002.