By Myles Palmer
__________________
Just kidding, folks !
But Sir Alex will enjoy young Cesc, who has only made two bad passes in the last two home games.
One of my pet theories went up in smoke on Saturday when Arsenal beat Aston Villa 3-1 after being a goal down in three minutes.
I’ve often said that Arsenal’s performances dip after international breaks because their highly original style needs daily fine-tuning.
Previously I reckoned their style can be fragile and the rhythm suffers if the boys have been away for two weeks and only have one day to prepare.
BUT SATURDAY WAS THE BEST-EVER Arsenal performance after a two-game international break.
Arsene switched on the ignition at 3pm and the Rolls Royce purred back into action.
The beautiful machine was in full working order and cruised smoothly through its first 90-minute run after two weeks in the garage !
Let’s face it : Arsenal have the best final ball in football.
Their style reached its apotheosis in the third goal, a dream goal.
Flamini’s ran down the right led to a pass to Henry in the box and TH14 had his back to goal and jabbed the ball to the unmarked Pires to allow the Spanish-Portuguese matador to supply the coup de grace.
When you saw Man United playing a 0-0 at Birmingham and Chelsea losing 1-0 at Man City, you realised just how sweet, fluent and efficient Arsenal’s teamwork is.
FABREGAS is at the heart of it. The oil in the engine, the man who makes the wheels go round.
He is everywhere, having the knack of making himself available all the time.
And he doesn’t pull out of any tackles.
Fabregas is a joy to watch and Sir Alex, a man without midfield class in his side, will enjoy the kid and wish he had signed him.
Legendary adman David Ogilvy wrote a famous line of copy : At 60 mph the loudest noise in your Rolls Royce is the sound of the clock ticking.
If Ogilvy was a football reporter now, he would be penning lines like that about Fabregas.
I’m told that the team has scored about 20 goals in the games he’s played, and eight goals in the games he’s not played !
Villa scored early though Lee Hendrie, sat back a little but, sat back more at 1-1, and lost 3-1 after Arsenal had an astonishing 16 shots on target and 3 shots off target.
THAT STAT MIGHT STAND LONGER THAN 49 PREM GAMES UNBEATEN !
If Arsenal play like this in Athens, they will beat Panathinaikos.
This team is finding new levels all the time, from game to game, as Arsene has said.
They have nothing to fear but fear itself.
Maybe Vieira can recover from his sprained ankle before next Sunday’s game at Old Trafford.
PATRICK would love to shake Rooney’s hand on the kids 19th and then beat Man Roonited 2-0 on their own patch.
Sir Alex started Ruud and Saha, and brought on Rooney and Smith, but could not score.
Ryan Giggs will be needed against Arsenal.
We don’t know his best eleven but we will see it at 4pm next Sunday.
I’m expecting Ashley Cole & Reyes to give Gary Neville the runaround down their right flank.
Incidentally, I didn’t think the Ferreira/Anelka incident was a penalty.
But Chelski looked bang average in Manchester.
October 17th 2004