By Myles Palmer
What a phenomenal result! A 2-1 win at Anfield with ten men!
Arsenal had not scored a league goal there in Wenger’s five previous visits and the bookies had them at 3-1.After van Bronckhorst was sent off they were 10-1 online, I’m told..
The Swede has been badly missed, as I’ve been saying here.
On Sunday Freddie Ljungberg came back with his hair looking like candyfloss – pink,artificial, fluffy, lopsided. He says his hair is not important, as he’s been dyeing it since he was 15.
And he’s right: it’s his runs, his drive, his determination and pace that are important.He’s gets in where it hurts, more like a striker than a winger, more of a fox in the box, a tiny warrior who is better at scoring than creating chances.
Ljungberg got in twice and Arsenal grabbed two goals.
The first a penalty, when Dudek could not avoid colliding with him, the second a near post stab after a run from inside his own half.
What a great second goal!
Gerrard made a wonky pass to Pires, who showed it to him twice, left him for dead and played,left-footed, a perfect low cross to the near post.
And the candyfloss kid stabbed home an unstoppable goal from fouryards. Magnificent opportunism!
Typical Freddie.The hammer of Lazio and Juventus had done it again.
I was glad I didn’t see the game on TV as it happened.
Sunday was one of those Xmassy days where we went to see friends in Mill Hill and had dinner in Pinner with relatives and then came home and went to a small party round the corner and walked back at 11.15 pm and
watched the video knowing the result.
We knew who had scored and the times of the goals. And we knew van Bronckhorst had been sent off after 36 minutes.
So I watched the game analytically, rather than emotionally.
There was no tension, no anxiety, as we enjoyed the dynamic Parlour playing another stormer.
He signalled his intent by shoulder-charging the fearsome Heskey in centrefield after six minutes. Sign Carrick, but keep Parlour, I would say.
Kanu give his best performance of the season.
A killer pass to Ljungberg which led to the first goal, a great instep flick to Pires in midfield, terrific enterprise and energy throughout.
Pires was creating vital openings as usual.Like the dream square pass that found Kanu just inside the area – he hit it first time and wide.
Arsenal were propelled by a sense of gross injustice, following the Graham Poll controversies in midweek.
It was an absorbing game for 36 minutes.Then Gio fell over and Durkin gave him a second yellow.Ridiculous! He was pushed by a guy twice his size and he fell over, not claiming a pen. You have to be allowed to fall over in football.Falling over is not diving.
But Arsenal carried on playing their excellent pass-and-move game with plenty of sharp fluidity. Liverpool, fielding their strongest eleven, looked quite bewildered and outmanoeuvered.
This match confirmed my view that Heskey misses Houllier, who signed him, nursed him, and dropped Fowler to play him. Then he sold Fowler.
Liverpool have done well since Houllier’s heart op, but Heskey has done badly. He’s missing his boss, big time.
Ref Paul Durkin is a homer who stunk the place out.
He booked Lauren for his first rash tackle. Gave a harsh free-kick against Campbell for mild wrestling with Heskey.Then gave a very harsh free-kick after Ljungberg won the ball from the dawdling Riise.
Overall, Arsenal showed bottle. Real bottle.
I didn’t know they had that much bottle. I had expected them to lose this game. But they battled and scrapped their way through 96 minutes and deserved to win.They made a statement. A big statement. They caught Liverpool on a bad day and made them look utterly ordinary.
Clearly, that 4-0 hammering at Chelsea last week damaged the reds.
They were outplayed at Stamford Bridge, outpowered, thrashed.
That 4-0 defeat rocked Liverpool and hurt them.The last thing they needed was to face a wounded, angry Arsenal team after a 0-0 midweek flop against Fulham.
Anfield was Wenger’s 200th Premiership game.One that will give him a lot of satisfaction.He needed the points but he also needed the statement.
It was a big team effort. Keown did a great job as captain.
What next? Chelsea, Chelsea.
On Sunday Chelsea stuffed Bolton 5-1 at the Bridge after Ranieri told his team they were sh** in the first half.
Some months ago, at Spurs, I started to warm to Ranieri, started to believe he is a good coach.
He had been tinkering,. Obsessively, like a chief mechanic in a Formula 1 racing team. He races his car in a Grand Prix, strips it down, takes the wheels off, checks the engine, tests the suspension, and puts it all back
together again.He is always adjusting, always fine-tuning, always trying new components, something to make it go faster.
Now, at last, it looks as if Ranieri’s mad tinkering is paying off.
Now he has a solid, reliable, high-performance 4-4-2 vehicle that can go to Man Utd and win 3-1 and play Liverpool at the Brdge and stuff them 4-0.
Keeper Cudicini is different class.Agile, athletic, reliable, concentrates, doesn’t spill much, keeps clean
sheets.
Cudicini might prove to be the difference between Arsenal and Chelsea on Boxing Day.
Gallas is better than Desaillly as a week by week Prem
centreback, John Terry can read the game, Le Saux has found himself again as a flank midfielder.
Babayaro? Hope he doesn’t kick Freddie as hard as he kicked Gerrard when I was down there last week. His studs were going into Gerrard’s groin when the big Scouser turned his body at the last split-second, and took the karate kick on his hip. Ouch!
Frank Lampard has scored his first goal at last.
He was showcased by his dad and uncle at West Ham.They sold
Berkovic so that young Frank could get forward, score goals, earn headlines and get into the England team.
That masterplan didn’t work out because Lampard lacks international pace and class. But he is a fair player, an up-and-downer who can improve and score eight a season, maybe, next year.
He was overawed when he first went to Chelsea, but seems to be settling in and playing some half-decent games now.
Dalla Bona? I like him, as I said last week.My kind of player because he keeps in contact with his back four and he also keeps in contact with his front two.
Dalla Bona has four lungs, sprints box to box, and can knock off useful passes with both feet. A useful, busy midfielder who pulls off the occasional nice pass.
Often, Hasselbaink and Gudjohnsen don’t need Dalla Bona’s supportruns. They just get the ball, run with it and shoot. Or they get the ball, pass it to each other, and shoot.
They are the most dynamic strike pair in the Prem.
Two big, powerful, resilient strikers who can hold the ball in central positions, take people on, get passes in, score from distance, get on the end of crosses, break away at speed, and feed each other.
Hasselbaink and Gudjohnsen can both do things Thierry Henry can’t do.But they have no Pires, no Vieira, no Kanu even, to create openings for them
Zenden? Well, Zenden is a Dutch power player who lacks the class of Overmars.
He is braver and bolder, but lacks his artfulness and accuracy.An ebullient flanker who can shoot and cross and tackle. But not, I feel, the kind of player who can give the Gunners big problems.
So Arsenal v Chelsea is more interesting than it has been for years.Because Chelsea have improved so much.
Arsenal’s style is fully evolved, so they spend their time trying to do what they have done before. Arsenal either click and slice through you, or they stutter. They know their game and they try to play their game and when it works it is fantastic.
Chelsea are different because their style is not yet fully formed. It’s a new team, so they are still finding out what they can do.
They are still experimenting, still doing things for the first time.Their team is now pretty forceful, purposeful and incisive, even while still finding their style. They are good, and solid, and penetrating,but still a bit hit-and-miss.
It will be a VERY interesting game which might tell us a lot about how the title race will pan out.
Meantime, I’m having a few days off ANR.
Xmas is more important than football. Having a few laughs and a few loving moments is more important than football.
24th December 2001.