Armed and Fully Operational

By: Martin | April 16th, 2009

If you show me a glass which is half full of water, I will tell you that that glass is half-empty. Call me a pessimist, a cynic, or whatever, but I look at things and think of how they could be improved. I’ve always been that way, and I’ve never really felt any great need to apologize for it.

I say this because I generally look at Arsenal performances, even when we play well and win, and try to point out what we could have done better. But frankly, I’m pretty much at a loss to point out very much negative after last night’s game. We’ve scored more goals and had bigger margins of victory this season, and it’s true that Villareal are a side that’s mediocre away from home and was playing shorthanded, but we were in complete control of the match from the opening whistle. Aside from a brief stretch at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half, when Villareal were dominating possession, I never felt we were in danger of coming away from the game with anything less than a win.

We had several scoring chances early, and capitalized on one of them when Cesc gave an Eboue pass the slightest deflection into the path of a charging Walcott, who was through on the goalie and scored on an absolutely sublime chip shot over the keeper’s head into the corner of the goal. Walcott’s always had the pace to trouble teams, but there has been a question about whether he could develop the touch and skill in passing and finishing to really become a world-class winger. But Wenger says that Walcott has shown that he can finish in practice, and is now starting to translate that into games. If that’s the case, look out world, because he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with–hopefully we can extend his contract (up in 2011) this summer and he’ll be a Gunner for years to come. He terrorized Villareal all day long, and they didn’t have an answer for him.

We should have scored later in the first half when Adebayor had a decent header chance off a saved van Persie free kick, but didn’t get all of it, and it was cleared off the backline at the last inch. Then came the spell I mentioned, when Villareal seemed to improve and hold possession a little bit. However, I don’t ever remember feeling under siege, and they weren’t creating any great scoring chances. It ended soon enough.

For all the talk of how van Persie and Adebayor don’t necessarily bring out the best in one another, the second goal showed a glimpse of how their games can be complementary. Robbie did what he did best, which is get possession outside of the box, where he’s a legitimate threat to pass or shoot, which causes defenders fits. Here he opted to pass, and it was a perfect pass which Adebayor used a perfect first-touch to control, which put him through on goal. From there, he was as cool as the other side of the pillow, and confidently beat the goalie with an accurate side foot shot. At that point, given the 2-0 lead and the way we had dominated the game, we had booked our place in the semis. I’m not sure about that celebration dance, though–but if the best my “glass half-empty” approach can come up with to complain about is how we celebrate all our goals, that’s not a bad problem to have…

The other big incident was the penalty. The announcers on ESPN said it was a soft penalty and a bad call, but I’m not so sure. While it happened in the corner of the penalty box, pretty far from a dangerous position, the defender did clearly take Theo out, so I didn’t think it was too bad of a call. Eguren compounded Villareal’s troubles by getting a second yellow and sent off. The ref was trying to walk away without booking anyone, but Eguren said one last thing before he did. I’m not sure what it was, but the ref’s reaction was pretty immediate, so Eguren must have used some of the magic words and called the ref a “funky winkerbean” or somesuch. At any rate, van Persie buried the penalty, and we only had to hold a 3-0 lead against 10 men to advance. This gave us a chance to substitute out van Persie, Adebayor, and Walcott, all of whom we’ll need rested for Saturday’s game against Chelsea.

It was a nice moment at the end of the game when the Emirates faithful sang Pires’ name to the rafters. Pires said afterwords that it was “very nice and very inspiring,” but that he wasn’t expecting it because he wasn’t sure how well the fans remembered his time with the club. We all remember, Robert, and after the way things ended, I think everyone is happy you got the send off you deserve after everything you did for the club.

As I said, there’s really not much to complain about. Adebayor again showed that when he puts in the work he’s one of the most effective strikers in the world–I felt like he was harrying their defenders all day. Robbie was also very effective, especially considering he was coming back from an injury and was a question to even play in the game. Cesc and Nasri didn’t have their best days, but Cesc set up the goal and both were still solid. Toure was his normal reliable self at the back.

However, there were several of our young players who I think took huge steps forward last night, and it gave us a glimpse of what is to come if this team stays together. I have to admit, I was one of those people who for a long time said, “I don’t understand what Arsene sees in Alex Song, he’s just not good enough to play for Arsenal.” Well, this morning I am delighted to say that I was completely, 100% wrong. That’s why Wenger is managing one of the greatest clubs in the world, and I’m writing for some website. Song has been very good lately, but I thought last night was as good as I’ve ever seen him play. He was using his toughness and physicality to bully Villareal’s midfielders off the ball, and just seemed to be popping up everywhere. If he can consistently play at that level, I think we’ve found the guy who can be Cesc’s midfield partner, because he’s so good in the holding role it allows Cesc to get forward and run the attack. And for a team that’s often criticized as “soft,” Song brings a much-needed element of toughness and physical play that could end up serving the team very well.

Also distinguishing themselves were our full-backs. It may be blasphemous, because I love Sagna and Clichy, but I thought last night was one of the better performances we’ve gotten all year from the full-back positions. Eboue continued his transformation from the beginning of the season, and last night was holding possession, making good passes, and getting forward and helping the attack when he could. Ditto for Kieran Gibbs, who looked like a different player than the guy wearing that shirt against Wigan on Saturday. He covered his side defensively, but got involved and made some really penetrating runs when the opportunities presented themselves. More than anything, he just seemed to be making good decisions, which is an impressive quality for a 19-year old playing on such a big stage. He could very well replace Cashley in the national team some day, and has a bright future at the club.

As does Fabianski. While he was never really called upon to make a big save, he did a good job organizing his backline and dealing with balls into the box. His athleticism and willingness to leave his line served us well last night, as Giuseppe Rossi took advantage of Silvestre’s slowness to get behind the defense several times, but each time Fabianski got off his line and cleared the ball away from danger. He still looks tentative in distribution sometimes, but I think he can be a world-class keeper in a few years’ time.

All in all, a comfortable, dominating performance. The team was rightfully proud, and will hopefully take confidence going forward. Adebayor said that we can beat any team in the world. Frankly, if we play like we did last night, he’s right. Theo said the way they’re playing right now, teams are scared of us from the moment they take the field. This team has overcome so much adversity this year, and to hear players saying things like this, when just 6 months ago the team’s captain publicly attacked the team’s players for lacking courage and the will to win, shows just how far we’ve come. I really love this team and these players, and no matter what happens from here on out, winning games like this and being in the hunt for big trophies is going to do wonders for their confidence and development in the years to come.

So it’s a semi-final date with Manchester United. Now, United is better than Porto, and our chances of making the final would have been better facing Porto than the Mancs. But you know what? Maybe it’s crazy, but I really wanted United to win. I want to play them. Maybe they are the best team in the world, but they’re certainly not unbeatable. We beat them earlier in the year without Adebayor or van Persie. Liverpool just trucked them at Old Trafford. Villareal, a team we just dismantled, held them to a 0-0 draw at Old Trafford. Mark my words–some team is going to beat them and put a stop to this quadruple/quintuple nonsense. Why not us? If you want to be the king, you have to kill the king. In boxing, if you want to be the champ, you have to beat the champ. This is no different–we want their crown, and I want us to go take it from them directly. If we beat them to make the finals, it would be one of the most famous victories in the club’s storied history, and we’re fully capable of doing it. Kolo Toure says he “can’t wait” for it. Walcott isn’t scared. Adebayor is “ready” for them. The boss says the team “relishes” the challenge, which is as it should be.

Now it’s on to prepare for our showdown with Chelsea at Wembley on Saturday–a win there would make this one of the biggest weeks in recent memory at the club. I’ll be back with a preview tomorrow. But today, let’s relish this. This is only the second time Arsenal has advanced this far in the Champion’s League. Not long ago, we were languishing in fifth place, all the talk was about how we were “in crisis” and a club in decline, ungrateful reactionary fans were calling for Wenger to be sacked, and there was much to worry about. Now, we’re comfortably in 4th position with designs on 3rd, on a great run of form, and the players are happy and brimming with confidence. Most importantly, we’ve got a very real chance of lifting a trophy for the first time since 2005, which is what it’s all about.

Today is a great day to be a Gunner. Let’s enjoy it.