By Myles Palmer
____________________
Arsenal 0 Valencia 0
____________________
One of my better previews.
I’m gonna take the liberty of giving myself 70% for it.
A FEW LINES FROM ANR YESTERDAY:
Losing to United is excusable if Arsenal beat Valencia.
Ljungberg after DB’s cross,Henry with the one-on-one, Ljungberg when he turned cleverly and shot, Bergkamp with the header, and Wiltord – Arsenal had five chances.
But they were not good enough to defeat the Spanish champions.
The best thing thing about this game is that it’s not a quarter-final like last time..
After a 0-0 I wouldn’t give five pesetas for their chances of winning a second leg in the Mestalla.
In a mini-league, four points from two games is excellent.
Vicente is a useful young winger but not a GREAT young wingerlike Joaquin at Real Betis.
Nothing special, was he?
Carew is a blunt instrument, but an effective blunt instrument, a target man who gives them an option Arsenal do not have.
Carew beat Cygan too often. A Crespo,a Raul,a Vieira, a Shevchenko, an Inzaghi, will take Cygan apart limb from limb.
Individually, Valencia don’t look that impressive.But collectively they are superb : a great unit, a marvellous functionality, a reliable shape,a practical, pragmatic solidity built on partnerships, experience, hundreds of games full of good habits.
Wherever the play was, Valencia usually had a mastery of that zone.They controlled most of the shifting zones of the game, while being unable to deny Arsenal some chances in the box.
They are one of Europe’s top four teams. For Arsenal to climb into the top four they have to be able to beat teams as powerful as Valencia, and that is a big step.
For six years Arsene’s warriors have improved in Europe, but real progress has been slow : only one quarter-final so far.
This season they have been winning away and looking good enough to take it one step further.Tonight they stuttered, fell a little bit short of where they hoped to be by now.
The result was OK, but the performance was a bit dodgy against a team they beat 2-1 twenty months ago.
We shall see in February.
It’s only a few weeks away :Ajax will tell Arsenal where they stand.
I don’t think Valencia will be especially scared of Thierry Henry.
Should a striker widely touted for European player of the year ever be this peripheral?
On nights like this Henry defines Arsenal. You wonder if the team can ever be better than him.His limitations are Arsenal’s limitations, that’s what it boils down to, if you can end a sentence with a preposition, which we pedants don’t like to do.
If Thierry has a bad game, Arsenal don’t win.
They did not fly to London expecting to lose.They didn’t reach two CL finals by a fluke.
Valencia played as if they knew they could draw 0-0 with 10 men or with 9 men or even 8.
It’s a tough one to call because Valencia know how to draw.
I thought Arsenal would nick a 1-0 win, but the all-important goal proved elusive.
I reckon PV4 will start, but Parlour might come on for him.
Parlour came on for Vieira in 37 minutes.A dead leg, not his thigh strain.
Tonight’s game will be very tight and it looks like the kind of game where Wiltord is unlikely to play well.Hope I’m wrong about that.
Bonus points for the Wiltord call!
Arsene obviously agreed.
Wiltord was on the bench – and came on to miss the best chance of the game at the death, scuffing his half-volley against keeper Palop’s foot.
Fans moaned about Bergkamp not starting in Manchester, but I think AW was saving him for tonight.
Dennis started and played well in a more advanced role where he is sometimes used in Champions League games. That worked but it was one of the few ploys which did.
____________________________________________________________
What else can I say about this 0-0 draw?
I just think Arsenal needed to restore the sequence, as much as win three points.
After a defeat, they needed a win, not a draw, and now,after two games without a win, they need a win at Spurs on Sunday.
Which they will get against a team of thirtysomethings.
December 10th 2002.