La Masia

I am happy that ManU lost. It puzzles me, I must admit, exactly how it happened. I saw them come very close to scoring an opening goal, at 9 minutes I asked Bill "Has Eto'o even touched the ball?," and a few seconds later Iniesta fed him at the edge of the box and after one move, the ball was in the net and even if it had not, there would have been a penalty because somebody slid in and tried to break both of Samuel's legs--after the shot was past Van der Sar!

It was literally "just like that." And from that moment, something in ManU's demeanor changed. Barça had acres of space to play "OLÉ!" football. The tight marking and smothering midfield that choked Arsenal to death, combined with the relentless pressure from Rooney, Crissie, and Park went missing. I really couldn't believe what I was seeing. It wasn't as though both sides were playing attacking football; it was that ManU were doing NOTHING.

Messi's goal wasn't brilliant. I mean, the technique was class, and that he took the chance and hit the net was professional, but let's be honest: Messi is a little man, and little men don't soar to the sky and blast headers in the 6 yard box. He was alone. No Vidic, no Ferdinand, no Donkey O'Shea, and certainly not Evra, a.k.a THE MAN.

What was I watching? Dreams of the Quintuple (or in the case of Crissie, the Cuntuple) reduced to a league title and the Carling Cup, that's what. Ferg's mercenaries either weren't capable of doing the business at hand, or they simply couldn't be arsed. They certainly were against Arsenal.

I suppose it could be chalked up to confidence. That doesn't seem likely but it could be. Wouldn't most clubs be confident against no-hopers like Adebayor, Diaby and Silvestre? But against the men of Barça, the early goal seemed to make the Mancs tentative, both in defence and attack. I'm sure the hairdryer was on full blast at the half, because they came out and at least gave some appearance of closing down space. Anderson, who had been invisible, was replaced by the king of the headless chickens, Tevez. Work rate, the good old English characteristic, would carry the day! Come on lads, get stuck in! Thus the introduction of Scholes, whose job it was to cripple anyone in a blue and red shirt. Crissie did her part with a few choice thrown elbows, too.

And it did absolutely nothing to Barcelona. It seemed to anger Puyol, who started doing his usual bizarre antics, and Xavi, who got in Crissie's face after a particularly stupid foul.

Valdes did his part when asked, but he rarely was. The back line was not challenged much, mostly because the six players in front of them (and the excellent Keita when he came on) were simply that dominant. Silvinho and Puyol don't have to do the job that English fullbacks do--not in the way you might think. The "hoof it up the wing and make an overlapping run" method wasn't employed. They did get forward some, but when you have Messi and Henry, what do you need with opening up your flanks to counter attacks?

In the end, the Mancs were meek. What joy! What glory! I danced the schadenfreude polka at The Bulldog with a crowd of celebrating Catalans. If I can't watch Arsenal win, then watching ManU or Chelsea lose is absolutely the next best thing. (Special thanks to The Bulldog for "free pint glass" day, because I could always use a few more.)

Now a word about Arsenal...
Today's Guardian has a well-intentioned column about the perceived similarities between Arsenal and Barça, both in playing style and long-term club development. It's utter rubbish. While it's true that the Catalans' academy has produced a large number of players, the difference is that those players don't immediately bolt for another club when they want bigger wages, and that their club has the resources to buy some of the top players in the world to balance out the side. How much money do Barcelona have? Enough that they donated their shirt sponsorship to Unicef. I'm waiting for WWF or Save the Children to show up on Arsenal's shirt. Yes, of course.

Rather than go player by player on the Arsenal team sheet and say how each of them wouldn't even make the Barcelona reserves, I'll just say that beyond Arshavin, Fabregas, and possibly Van Persie, not one of the Arsenal players is good enough. Diaby's every touch is negative, he sucks the life out of the movement of the team. Watching his performance v. United compared to the control and vision of the Barça midfield was shocking. Adebayor's worthless, "I'm trying to get sent off here, ref!" performance against ManU would never be tolerated in Barcelona. There's no sense in comparing the two clubs, much less the two groups of players.

Arsenal seem like a collection of individuals rather than a team, and I don't simply mean because of their attitudes. I mean, it seems as though it's just a random collection of players with no scheme in mind as to what they're supposed to be doing. What is Vela's role? What is Ramsey's? What does Djourou do? Eboue? Nasri?

Couldn't Vela be the Tevez at the Grove? Or, rather, could he? Arsenal are unsettled right now and that more than anything else is likely fueling the discontent coming from the fans. Wenger has been buying players for years who don't seem to do anything or don't seem to have a place. If you have long-term absences due to injury, then these players should be capable of providing cover. If you have multiple injuries at one position, then the same should apply. How is it that Vela isn't good enough to cover for all the injured strikers at Arsenal? Why couldn't Nasri step in for Fabregas?

Don't buy players who can't play, there's an idea. If they're developing, then let them develop. If you need cover, buy a few competent, experienced Premiership players (NOT SILVESTRE!) who can step in and play with confidence.

Arsenal are not like Barcelona. Full stop.