By Myles Palmer
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I QUITE LIKE Rosenborg.
Wondered whether they would be a superior Nationwide outfit, but they are better than that and they gave a good account of themselves against an Arsenal side which lacked the nous to press home an early advantage.
Huge pressure on the home side, a heavy defeat possible, catastrophic start for them, conceding a Ljungberg goal in six minutes – most sides would take ten minutes to recover composure after that early shock.
Rosenborg were vulnerable and Arsenal should have killed the game in the first half hour.
WHY DIDN’T THEY?
Because Pires isn’t Bergkamp.
Because they lack the confidence to play their normal attacking game.
Because every season they stiffen up, become inhibited, as soon as the Champions League starts.
They get anxious and freeze a little bit.
And that affects their Premiership form as well.
But a 1-1 draw is OK and Arsenal top their group.
So it’s only a blip, a hiccup.
Sol played well, did very well on the goal to touch the loose ball to Freddie.
But I wonder whether Arsenal will ever be able to play 1-0 football effectively.
Let alone play 1-0 football for 84 minutes after an early goal.
Rosenborg play 4-3-3 and that system means that your wide left player pushes up on Lauren, so the right back is not unmarked.
So Sol and Kolo could not use Lauren as an outlet as much as usual and his winger Storflor was lively, as I suspected he might be.
Rosenborg’s 53rd minute equaliser came from a 13-pass move by Arsenal, playing the ball around in their own half until it broke down when Edu was tackled by ROAR STRAND, who roared into the box to meet a low cross and score from 16 yards.
Excellent technique to slam the ball so hard with the side of his foot and keep it under the crossbar.
A well-constructed goal.
That’s what I mean about 1-0 football : It’s not Arsenal’s game, not what they are good at.
Arsenal are good at cranking it up a gear, good at spurts and powerplays, purple patches where they score three in 20 minutes.
To control the tempo of the whole game they would need Bergkamp AND Fabregas.
At 1-1, the game opened out, Ashley Cole and Vieira were excellent, but too many promising positions were wasted.
Conditions in Trondheim were good, so no excuses there.
LAST NIGHT we heard that two players had a tiff in the team bus after the game.
So what?
If players are annoyed they haven’t won, that’s good.
Today we read that Lauren sat alone in the bus for 10 minutes and Vieira followed him out and they had to be separated.
These things happen. They are both good guys, both adults.
It’s an emotional game, so that tiff is no big deal.
However, Lauren was fouling more than usual and got booked and the goal came from his flank.
That’s football. You just have to get on with it and win your next match.
OK, fluency was lacking in Trondheim, mainly because of how hard Solli, Strand and others were working to close Arsenal down.
I reckon Fabregas is needed and hope he will play against Charlton.
Overall, the Champions League is still gives Arsenal a conundrum they cannot solve.
You want to attack, but you want to play keep-ball too, because you cant get the ball back so quickly in the CL as you can in the Prem.
Everybody knows that is the problem, but it’s a very tricky balance.
Losing a goal after a 13-pass move in the middle third shows us that Arsenal are no nearer solving the conundrum.
Even Arsene can’t devise a way of playing attacking keep-ball.
INTER MILAN are under-achievers, but Inter-Mancini looked good in a 3-1 win at Anderlecht.
Adriano is a monster who combines Brazilian chest control with cannonball shooting and thunderous heading.
The Copa America has worked wonders for his confidence and Martins is an electric partner.
Any team with those two (plus Toldo, Veron, Zanetti, Davids, Vieiri) should be good enough to reach the semi-final.
Is Roberto Mancini an A-list coach?
We don’t know, but this season is a massive one for him and it’s going well so far.
Olimpiacos beat Liverpool 1-0, the first time a Greek club has done that.
And Liverpool were lucky to get nil, from what I saw.
BARCELONA thrashed Shakhtar Donetsk 3-0.
Barca are playing the freshest football around, lots of quick moves and short passes, everybody hungry for the ball.
Not bad for a team with 8 new players.
Ronaldinho now has 22 goals in 50 games for them.
And he’s not as sharp as he can be. I think he’s still carrying an ankle injury.
Players like him take a lot of kicks on the ankle.
WAS I WRONG TO RAVE ABOUT ROONEY?
Well, I’m adamant that Wayne Rooney will score goals against Juventus, Bayern, Barcelona, Valencia, Inter-Mancini or any other big club you care to mention.
His talent is obvious, his future career less so.
Rooney might have half a career, like Best, and finish playing proper football at 26, or he might play 600 games like Ryan Giggs and win 14 medals.
What he won’t do, I’m sure, is smash his knees up in kamikaze tackles, like Gazza, and spend a decade making comebacks.
Rooney knows how to look after himself.
I still remember the night Gary Jacob called me on the way home after reporting a Spurs v Everton Youth Cup game for The Times.
“We’ve got to sign this kid, he’s incredible ! He’s better than Michael Owen !”
When I saw the two goals Rooney scored in that 3-1 victory, I was gobsmacked.
This stocky boy took a freekick 40 yards out and when the ball rebounded to him off the wall he just volleyed it into the top corner !!!!!!!!
If you missed my Roo rave, click on the home page and go to : Rosenborg a mystery, Rooney an assassin.
October 1st 2004