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A TEAM senses when the mood is turning against it, when nobody believes any
more and the call for change gradually rises from whisper to clamour. So it
had been around the Arsenal for 10 days. This team couldn’t defend a lead,
they didn’t have the tough guys you need to play against teams as
unsophisticated as Stoke. Worst of all, maybe the current side lacked
character. Three long years have passed since Arsenal last won something.
Worsening the problem for the faithful was that when they turned their eyes to
the messiah, Arsène Wenger was looking the other way. He was the team’s most
stubborn believer, but far from reassuring the fans, the manager’s faith in
his young side just increased their anxiety. There has rarely been anything
but fierce support for Wenger during his time at Arsenal, but through last
week the mutterings of disapproval were audible.
As contradictory as it might seem, Manchester United were the perfect visitors
yesterday afternoon. Against what other team would you wish to make a
statement? “A very important game for the future of the team,” said Wenger.
That wasn’t an exaggeration. So many questions to answer: was Denilson more
than a skilful passer of the ball, was Abou Diaby destined to be forever
promising, could a team win a game against United with Nicklas Bendtner as
the only striker, and would Arsenal’s young men be able to stand up to
United’s men?
The most impressive aspect was Arsenal’s enthusiasm for the challenge and the
manner in which they drew strength from the doubts, as if they relished the
examination of character. Their motivation was precisely where it needed to
be, and though United were good, especially through the first hour, Arsenal
were sharper, quicker to close down their opponents and hungrier in the
tackle.
They were helped by Wenger’s intelligence. Without the injured Emmanuel
Adebayor and the suspended Robin van Persie, he didn’t have a proven Premier
League scorer and still had to set up his team in a way that would threaten
United’s goal. He succeeded admirably, ensuring that when Arsenal attacked,
there was always support for lone striker Bendtner.
Cesc Fabregas was immense, Diaby was terrific until he was overtaken by
exhaustion in the second half, and Denilson’s performance in the defensive
midfield role was startlingly good. These were young men standing up for
themselves, reminding us that youth is not always callow, that toughness is
not the preserve of the experienced.
Wenger stood in his technical area, occasionally questioning a refereeing
decision, but for the most part silently willing the team on. How proud he
must have been of his young team; yet you sensed that all he felt was the
almost paternal satisfaction of seeing something he always knew was there.
Of Wenger’s many qualities, perhaps the greatest is his refusal to doubt. He
has said time and again that this is a fine Arsenal team in the making.
Yesterday that was undeniable.
Over the past few weeks Manchester United have been breezing past opponents
and looking like the outstanding team they are. Sir Alex Ferguson just
tweaked the team for this game, playing Gary Neville and the Brazilian
Anderson to give his side the kind of characters you needed to have on an
afternoon when Arsenal were absolutely certain to be passionate.
It seemed like a sensible idea, but it didn’t work. Neville has been a great
United player for many years and a key member of the dressing room, but he
has missed much of the past two seasons with injuries. There were times when
he must have thought that the game he discovered yesterday was nothing like
the one that he left two seasons ago.
Samir Nasri was a constant torment for him in the first half, once twisting
him this way and that before firing in the cross from which Bendtner might
have scored. Then, when Fabregas turned away from him to set up Arsenal’s
second goal, you almost felt sorry for Neville – but, my goodness, he
wouldn’t give you any thanks for that. Anderson was a stranger case. Last
season, his first at Old Trafford, he came to the Emirates with a swagger
and dominated the midfield. This time he was a little subdued.
The verve of 12 months ago was missing, yet he’s still only a kid. He will
recapture the little bit that he has lost, but this was not a good day for
any visiting player to be less than his best.
For Arsenal were inspired, and perhaps nobody as much as William Gallas. He
was a towering presence, at times a virtual one-man wall of defiance: there
was no ball he couldn’t get to, virtually no cross that he didn’t clear, and
he regarded every 50-50 ball as his. He is a strange man, Gallas, as his
contentious leaving of Chelsea indicated, as his passionate and irrational
response to his team conceding a late penalty to Birmingham last season
showed, but he can be an extraordinarily good defender.
Perhaps the difficulties for Gallas since his arrival at Arsenal have stemmed
from Wenger’s original decision to make him captain. Short of alternatives,
the manager may have thought that by making him leader of the team, he would
curb the emotional excesses of the player.
But the captaincy just made things worse and it wasn’t a surprise that when
Wenger was asked about his captain’s fine performance yesterday, he spoke of
every team needing a number of leaders.
Speaking in midweek, Marcel Desailly made the point that Gallas is often
criticised when judged as captain, but that he still scores highly when
assessed purely as a defender.
It is hard to describe just how good he was yesterday, but you could count his
worth in the number of times he was in the right place to cut out dangerous
crosses, in the moments when he made certain he got his body in the way of a
shot or a pass. Not once in the match did his concentration waver.
Brilliant.
He and Arsenal needed to be in that form because United are so good. Wayne
Rooney missed one great chance, Cristiano Ronaldo missed another. On the
surface, this was an afternoon decided by chances missed and chances taken.
Deeper down, another theme ran through this game. It was a match that
Arsenal had to win, a game that would have seemed to Wenger’s team a matter
of life and death.
The young Gunners remain very much alive.
So who is Samir Nasri?
Hailed as the new Zinedine Zidane when he signed from Marseilles for £15.8m in
July
The 21-year-old French midfielder, of Algerian descent, grew up in one of
Marseilles’ toughest suburbs. Worried that he might be dragged into the
city's gang culture, his parents signed him up with the Pennes Mirabeau club
when he was eight
Two years later he was scouted by Marseilles, for whom he played 145 matches,
winning the Intertoto Cup in 2005 and helping them finish third in the
league last season
He made two appearances for France at Euro 2008 and was voted France’s League
One Young Player of the Year in 2007
He is the first Arsenal player to score twice in a league match against United
since Thierry Henry in April 2003
How Wenger won tactical battle
Without his two principal strikers, Emanuel Adebayor and Robin van Persie,
against the Premier League’s best defence, Arsene Wenger faced a formidable
challenge in trying to make sure his side threatened United’s goal. He
achieved this by cleverly using his depleted sources to outnumber United in
midfield and attack United’s defence in ways they might not have expected.
1. WINNING MIDFIELD
By playing five against United’s four in midfield, Arsenal central
midfielders, Fabregas, Diaby and Denilson, were able to control possession
for long periods.
2. THE SURPRISE CALLED DIABY
Wenger gave the French midfielder licence to join lone striker Nicklas
Bendtner and because he was attacking from deep positions, Diaby was often
unmarked and United didn’t seem to know what to do about him. Diaby played a
fine match.
3. CLARITY OF FABREGAS’S ROLE
Sometimes Cesc Fabregas ends up attempting to do too much in the midfield, as
if the team’s most creative player also has to be the shield that protects
the back four. Yesterday Denilson was deployed in the defensive role and
Fabregas was freed to do what he does best. The move also meant United’s
most penetrative passer, Michael Carrick, did not exercise his customary
influence.
4. THE TRANSFORMATION OF GAEL CLICHY
The left back was Arsenal’s least effective player in the first half, standing
off Ronaldo and allowing him far too much room. In the second half, Clichy
got much closer to his rival, played far more positively and was one of his
team’s best performers.
AND FINALLY...
Arsenal never stop passing the ball and though yesterday’s victory was as much
about character as technique, it was also a vindication for the way Wenger’s
side pass the ball. Fourteen passes were played to feet when Fabregas
received the ball just outside the penalty area early in the second half. He
immediately played the pass to Nasri who allowed the ball to run across his
body before firing home the second goal with a fine right-foot shot.
THE CRUCIAL MOMENTS
8 MIN Rooney shoots too close to Almunia after Park’s clever dummy over
Ronaldo’s cross.
18 MIN Rooney has chance of putting United in front but sends ball over
the bar.
22 MIN Nasri brings downs ball half-cleared from a corner and his shot
deflects off Gary Neville into the United net.
48 MIN A 16-pass move which started with Nasri ends with the
Frenchman’s right-foot drive defeating van der Saar.
49 MIN Ronaldo has chance to bring United quickly back into the game
but drags his shot wide.
90 MIN With Rafael scoring for United, the fourth offical holds up the
board for six minutes of stoppage time. Would Arsenal cave in like they did
recently against Tottenham? The answer was no.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING ON THE BLOGS
A great game. Fergie has a problem though. Berbatov seems to be unable to
influence a game the way in which I think United thought he would when they
bought him johnnysteamboat
Arsenal definitely deserved the win. United had loads of chances, and didn’t
put them away. We were far more efficient with what we had, and we carved
United’s defence apart at times Stevie357
I’m a Man U fan, watched the game start to finish and the difference was
Nasri. I always saw him as a Gunner Amarezero.
United should have been 2-0 up before Arsenal had their first chance. Our poor
finishing is why we didn’t win 4-1. The only thing that Arsenal did of note
was score that amazing second goal C-ronaldo7
