By Myles Palmer
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Arsenal 2 Ipswich 0
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We’ve had the champagne & caviar and now it’s time for fish & chips.
It was superior fish & chips today.And the vinegar was
good, a Swedish brand called Fiery Freddie.
Last week His Royal Highness Sir Alex Ferguson was saying Arsenal might have a blip.
If His Royal Highness had been at this game he would have been worried because Arsenal had a steely cohesion that reminded me of 1998.
They were strongly spinal today. Very, very strong in the important spinal positions.
Adams was positionally immense.
Keown was fiercely determined.
Vieira’s tackling was phenomenal in the second half.
And Bergkamp was ultra-motivated.
Spraying it wide from centrefield, crossing from the left, crossing from the right,trying cute passes in the box, roaring all over the field like an avenging angel and powering forward from inside his own half to bend that trademark shot round the keeper and against the inside of the post.
More than half the people in the ground thought that shot had gone in.
Bergkamp was different class and he held the attack together as the crowd got more and more tense and anxious and frustated and doubtful.
The game had started witb two thirds of the pitch in bright sunlight.
The injured Robert Pires, in a black suit, sat in the directors’ box, just behind Sven and Tord.
The hacks who once voted David Ginola Footballer of the Year finally got something right when they gave this year’s award to the Pires, whose consistent creativity and 14 goals have been such a delight.
Pires is better than Overmars ever was. Less selfish as a player and a nicer guy.
Edu was good for 20 minutes, then faded.
Great to see Ashley Cole back. He needed this game
and should be less rusty against West Ham.
Lauren had white tape just below his left knee. I hated to see that.
But I finally realised why Arsene plays Lauren at right back. Because he is a great passer and the others are not.
Tony isn’t, Sol isnt, Martin isnt, so they give it to Lauren and he is a very reliable distributor.
And when no pass is on Lauren can carry the ball upfield and keep it and make a pass from there.He is the outlet man.
Simple. Why did it take me so long to figure that out?
Parlour struggled out wide on the right. He contributed more when Kanu came on for Edu, which meant Bergkamp and
Parlour switched positions.
Ipswich were organised, honest, stubborn.
They scared us when Reuser headed Finidi George’s cross against the base of the post in 40 minutes.
From where I was sitting Freddie Ljungberg had a lot to do on the first goal and showed a cool knee on the second.
On the first, Keown won the knockdown, the ball broke off Freddie and ran away from the goal.
There was a split-second when I thought:He’s got a helluva lot to do here. It’s a tall order to run after that ball, get to it before anybody else, and hook in a shot on the turn, keeping it down and hitting it hard.
It looked improbable but the improbable is the Swede’s speciality. He is so tenacious that we think his tenacity is greater than his technique. Then he surprises us.
Freddie locked onto that awkward moving ball like a magnet- AND BURIED IT!Terrific technique !
1-0 to the Arsenal, 68 minutes.
Grimandi came on and played brilliantly for 20 minutes, didn’t give it away once.
And he got an assist.
A super cross, as beautiful as a Bergkamp cross, found Freddie racing in.
The keeper parried his header but he knocked in the rebound with his knee from three yards.
Very cool !
Freddie didn’t panic, didn’t try to head it or kick it, didn’t get himself in a muddle. He just let the ball hit his knee and bounce into the goal.
2-0 to the Arsenal, 78 minutes.Match over, back to the top of the table and still with a game in hand.
On the way to the ground we were on the Jubilee Line, mid-afternoon, travelling south, teenage daughter Caroline sitting opposite.
Not directly opposite but the seat next to opposite.
At Finchley Road Caroline glimpses the electronic board and says, “Twelve minutes to Kings Cross. Shall we stay on?”
“Sure, change at Baker Street,” I said.
The train has stopped and it’s quiet and I speak again in a soft voice.
“It’s a bit flat going to see a match that only one team can win. If we get excited we won’t be excited about beating Ipswich, we’ll just be excited about being three points nearer the title.”
Next but one to Caroline are a man and his wife, fortysomethings.He is reading The Sunday Mirror.
The man has overheard our conversation.
He looks at me and nods twice and says, “Well said.”
I assume he’s going to the game. But at Baker Street he doesn’t get off with us.
There are Gooners everywhere.
21 April 2002.