HERE are two letters from ANR readers about the Moscow game.
From : Vance
Subject : CSKA v Arsenal
Miles,
I have read your columns. While some are good and a lot of them are off the point. I believe in constructive criticism but yours is awful.
I watched the game and from the onset knew it was going to be a hard game because of the following.
1. The weather conditions: it was freezing out there and how do you expect the team to acclimatize in such a short period. CSKA players are used to the weather.
2. The pitch: it was dreadful from where I was. I knew it was going to be a difficult game. That was why the players were been careful not to injure themselves one slip.
3. CSKA: were organised but did not play that well. The factors above made them look very good.
In the last few minutes we played very well because the player’s bodies were warming up and CSKA players were getting tried. So stop putting up a deconstructive article on How to beat Arsenal. Why don’t you write how we can beat CSKA ?
From : Drew Gray
Subject: Retreat from Moscow
Once again I find myself agreeing with Myles, and I’ve finally bought his book (which is as intelligent and insightful as this column). Enough with the flattery already ! But I watched with mounting frustration as Moscow sussed us out and as Fabregas seemed to still be in the hotel and Hleb and RVP wasted possession criminally.
Afterwards Wenger’s comments about the pitch seemed an echo of years gone by. There were postives from last night. As MP points out, the second half Fabregas was brilliant, Rosicky looked good in parts, the defence apart from the free kick did well, and we should have had an equaliser.
For me the big question is why RVP was so poor, and if he is not up to playing for the team, should we cut our losses and offload him in January ? I like the boy but will he ever come close to providing the sort of selfless performance we used to get from our previous Dutch master?
To Vance, I’d say : OK, you rightly emphasised the terrible conditions, and I did not say how cold it was, or how sticky the pitch was.
Before the game started, I didn’t think Arsenal would lose it. During the game I wondered whether CSKA were the best-balanced team Arsenal have played this season. They are, after all, Russian champions, while Arsenal finished a long way back in 4th place.
When Arsenal play CSKA in London on a good pitch, we’ll see which team is best. That game is nine days away and those days will pass very quickly.I am a notoriously impatient man but I can easily wait nine days. After that game I can offer a sensible view on how good CSKA are. Maybe Arsenal will slice them to ribbons. Who knows?
As for the headline – CSKA Moscow show other teams how to neutralise Arsenal – my headlines are a bit hit-or-miss. Sometimes the headline comes from within the text. Sometimes it’s an obvious one which is there before I start to write. Sometimes it’s a big blank line on the form and I don’t have any ideas, so I just type in the first thing that comes to mind. Often the headline is a bit misleading.
That one was late at night, after the match, it was the last line I wrote before crashing out, and I’m not saying whether I think it was a good headline or a bad one. All I’m saying is that it was the headline that came to mind at that moment.
ON ANR, I could not change a headline.ON arsenalnewsreview I can change the headline every half hour if I want.
As far as previews go, I’ve stopped writing tactical previews, pretty much, because we do not know which players will be playing. Also, I don’t see it as my job to work out how Arsenal should beat the other team.
To Drew, I’d say : Glad you like The Professor.
Two years ago Amy Lawrence told me that Arsene keeps my paperback on a shelf in his office at the training ground. And she said it’s a well-thumbed copy.
On Robin van Persie, I’ve written quite enough already.
I don’t know what the future holds for him. He has a huge opportunity at Arsenal and I hope he can take it. But I have doubts. Does his style fit in with the other forwards? If not, can that be an advantage at times? Is he improving? Will he ever be better than he is now?
Bear in mind that most managers are chequebook managers. They do not develop players.They don’t have time because they fear the sack. At Arsenal, historically, the club always gives a manager’s ideas time to work, apart from Bruce Rioch.Whatever a manager’s ideas, they need to be given enough time to prove themselves.
In developing a team of players from ten countries, it’s hard to create a team spirit. That is why Arsene keeps his older players for as long as he can. It’s a game of partnerships, a game of pairs and trios, a game where you rely on the guy next to you and the guy behind you.
Is Robin van Persie an easy striker to play with ? I don’t really think so. But he can score goals, so he won’t be sold in January, I’m sure of that.
Back in 1997-98, Arsene was developing ONE young player, Anelka.
He gambled that Anelka could learn enough DURING the season to improve and help them win the title. It was a very risky enterprise and at times Anelka was a frustrating player to watch.
I found that period, and that season, very interesting and I still remember fragments of it vividly. At the time, the teenage Anelka was trying too hard. And most reporters wanted to ask a question about Ian Wright and didn’t want to hear me ask a question about Anelka.
One day, after a game, Arsene said, “You had a very bad impression of him today.You’ve only seen 10% of what he can do.”
I said to Arsene, “Can’t you get him to just relax and lay it off? ”
And he said, “I try, I try.”
Now, in 2006-2007, the manager is not developing one player.
He is developing RVP, Fabregas, Senderos, Djourou, Clichy, Eboue, Adebayor and Walcott. A Dutchman, a Spaniard, a Swiss, an African-Swiss, a Frenchman, an Ivory Coast right back, a Togo striker from Monaco, and a teenager who came from Southampton.
He is developing all of them during this season, even Fabregas, who is already mature beyond his years. Who else brings through a young group of various ages and nationalities, all together?
Is it any wonder the performance of individuals varies a lot from game to game ?