ARSENE ALWAYS TALKS about trying to improve from game to game.
And his kids are doing that.
This was a decent team effort and Arsenal’s first ever win against Ajax means they now top the weakest group with six points
His kids got a flying start against the Ajax kids with a Freddie goal in 80 seconds.
Ajax kicked off and made 20 passes – if you include a free-kick – and then Flamini intercepted a sloppy square pass by young left winger Emanuelson.
His pass found Reyes zooming through the middle and he found Ljungberg in the D and Freddie scooted into the box to within six feet of reserve keper Vonk, sat him down and flicked the ball over his legs with wicked cool.
One of the most refrigerated finishes of his career.
He was playing as a half-striker, which he could not do effectively against a top 8 Champions League club.
Let’s get that straight : Freddie is a third striker, not a second striker. His goals are priceless. Two against Lazio, two against Juventus, lots of goals in the Champions League.
When the pressure is on, Freddie Ljungberg scores.
John Terry still has nightmares about the little Swede charging past him and stunning everyone with that preposterous curler in the FA Cup Final.
BOUKHARI had a useful shot which Almunia spilled and then he spurted into the box after a Campbell boob left Sol and Ashley stranded downfield.
Boukhari passed inventively to Pienaar, who wasted the best chance of the game, sidefooting over from 12 yards.
In 69, Fabregas launched a typical counter-attack, releasing Reyes, who mugged Vonk by nicking the ball past and tumbling over his shoulder.
Pires converted the penalty for 2-0 and then Rosenberg made in 2-1 with a tap-in after a Galasek 30-yarder thumped the post and fell dead at his feet..
A small step forward, then.
But, mathematically, a giant stride towards winning a group Arsenal were expected to win.
THE LOSS of the suspended Patrick Vieira seemed to cost Juventus a lot of fluency.
But on a night when most goals came from set-pieces, Trezeguet, Mutu and Ibrahimovic scored in open play for a 3-0 win against Rapid Vienna.
At Old Trafford, Giggs and Simao scored from free-kicks and after 85 Van Nistelrooy shinned home the winner against Benfica from one yard after Ferdinand misheaded a Giggs corner.
I didn’t bet on Arsenal or Man United and I’m now wondering whether Arsenal could beat Benfica, if they were to meet.
I did bet on Barcelona – Udinese to produce more than 2.5 goals and that finished 4-1, with Van Bommel and Messi starting and all the goals coming from the restored Ronaldinho(3) and Deco.
Won two bets on Juventus, but lost on Bayern Munich, who could only beat Bruges 1-0 with a Demichelis stab from a corner.
IS TONIGHT’S Liverpool-Chelsea game the big one?
Or Sunday’s Premiership clash?
Commonsense tells us Sunday is the big one, but I’m expecting drama and pulsating action tonight.
Yes, both managers are cagey tacticians, but Mourinho has a stronger team and a more creative bench.
I like Peter Crouch, but I’ve never been sure about Reina, or any 22-year old keeper.
Benitez would not have bought Crouch if he thought Morientes was gonna make it.
We know that Luis Garcia and Stevie G can threaten Chelsea, but will they ?
I hope so. We all hope so.
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AJAX (4-1-2-3): Vonk; De Jong, Grygera, Vermaelen, Emanuelson (Juanfran 85); Galasek; Pienaar, Lindenbergh; Babel, Charisteas (Rosenberg 57), Boukhari (Manucharyan 70).
Subs: Lobont (g), Heitinga, Escude, Boakye.
Booked: Grygera, Pienaar, Vonk, Galasak.
ARSENAL (4-4-1-1): Almunia; Lauren, Toure, Campbell, Cole; Hleb, Fabregas, Flamini, Pires (Clichy 88); Ljungberg; Reyes (Quincy 81).
Subs: Poom (g), Song, Cygan, Eboue, Lupoli.
Booked: Toure.