I think Patrice Evra hit the nail on the head when he described that Arsenal – Man U Champions’ League semi-final in midweek as “Eleven men against Eleven babies”. Quite frankly, I was thinking along similar lines – men v boys, actually – as the Red Devils toyed with Arsene Wenger’s team at the Emirates on Tuesday. Man U showed yet again why they are favorites to retain the Champions League this season while Arsenal looked, yet again, like a group of promising youngsters. Nothing wrong with that, of course, except that Arsenal has been a team of promising youngsters for three to four years now.
Will they ever fulfill that potential? Time will tell, and if they keep buying the likes of Andrei Arshavin they’ll certainly have a good chance. But if, like last year, their best players keep leaving for greener pastures, that trophy drought may extend well beyond the current five year mark.
Tuesday certainly did nothing to bring to mind the thrilling Arsenal-Man U clashes of just a few years ago. When the likes of Patrick Vieira, Robert Pires and Thierry Henry often matched and sometimes bested whatever Man U had to offer. Those days sure served up a more compelling contest than the one-sided fare we sat through last week.
As for Man U, what else is there to say? On Tuesday’s form, the Premiership title is a sure lock. Or can Arsenal, with nothing to play for save pride, be truly expected to mess things up at Old Trafford next week? It was another demonstration of both the resources at Sir Alex’s disposal as well as the wily old man’s tactical acumen. How many managers – if they had them - would leave 60 million pounds worth of strikers on the bench in a Champions’ League semi final, even if they did have a slender lead from the first leg? Yet, with Ronaldo’s special abilities, Man U could afford to start with both Berbatov and Tevez on the bench, and still win convincingly without ever getting out of second gear. Sure, the early goals helped, but, let’s face it; the rest of the game was hardly a contest.
You can’t say the same about what transpired at Stamford Bridge the next day though. That was a full-fledged battle between two highly committed teams. Chelsea’s early goal meant they could then spin their spider-web across their penalty area and sit back and watch Barcelona constantly get entangled in it. Barcelona, needing to come forward in search of a goal, invariably left gaps at the back and Chelsea – who defended superbly - had the better of the game and certainly had the chances to put it away.
Some people say Chelsea’s gameplan was negative and not what they’d call “good football”. I say that’s nonsense. Defending is as much a part of the game as attacking, and it would have been foolhardy on Guus Hiddink’s part to set up his team to Barcelona’s advantage. The only failing in Chelsea’s strategy is that they didn’t see it through. Barcelona had a poor game by their standards, but that’s largely because Chelsea wouldn’t let them play. Ballack and Essien played like an advanced pair of centre backs, denying Eto’o and Iniesta any space in the middle, while Malouda tracked Dani Alvez at every turn. It must irk every Chelsea fan that the one decent cross Dani Alvez managed all game, led to Iniesta’s late, late equalizer – which was also Barca’s first shot on target.
Then there were all those penalty appeals that had the Chelsea players in attack mode – on referee Ovebro – after the game. Okay, Pique’s ball-handling was clear enough and should have been a penalty – unless the ref was unsighted and didn’t see it or ruled it unintentional. As for the other three, I think they were all debatable. When Dani Alvez fouled Malouda in the first half, it’s clear that the initial contact happened outside the box. Drogba did have his shirt pulled – and then left – when he went past Abidal in the box, but he didn’t need to collapse so dramatically and you have admit, that would have been a really soft penalty. As for the last minute Ballack shot into Eto’o, yes, I’ve seen them given but surely a man jumping in the box with his back to the ball shouldn’t be called for a penalty. Besides, Ovebro then sent off Abidal, giving Chelsea a one-man advantage – they never made it count – with a quarter of the game to play.
Nevertheless, I’ll concede that Chelsea were unlucky that they didn’t have another referee on the day, but that’s part of the game. You don’t always get the calls you want or deserve and it’s quite futile to attack the ref after the fact, as Drogba and co. shamefully did on Wednesday night.
It’s often said that small details determine close games and for me, Chelsea fans should consider two incidents as the seek answers for their team’s failure to reach Rome:
First, on 51 minutes, Anelka set Drogba up with a perfect pass and a great opportunity to put Barca away. He did well to calmly take Pique out with a neat cutback, but then, with a gaping goal beckoning, he hit his shot straight at the onrushing Valdez and the chance was gone.
Then, right at the end, when John Terry’s clearance of Alvez’s cross fell to Eto’o in the box, his heavy first touch gave Essien the opportunity to toe poke the ball to safety. He missed the ball completely, allowing Messi to set up Iniesta and, well, to use that time-worn cliché, the rest is history.
Sure, you can blame the referee, but, right or wrong, what he does isn’t within the team’s control. But Drogba had the chance to score, and Essien the chance to stop Barcelona. It was within their control. They failed, and Chelsea failed.
And that’s why it’ll be Barcelona v Man U in Rome on May 27.
A few words on the Premiership race, which could very well end this weekend. It’s Man Utd’s title to lose now since they have to drop 6 points for Liverpool to have any chance at all.
With four games left to play, that’s unlikely to happen, even when you consider that two of those games are usually two of the toughest tests that Man U would face in any season. They host city rivals Man City on Sunday, and then welcome Arsenal to Old Trafford a week later.
With the other two games away to Wigan and Hull, there’s no question that the two home matches offer the only hope of a Man U upset and Liverpool fans everywhere – including yours truly – will be hoping against all hope.
But when you consider that Man U have won 15 of 17 matches at home this season, you’ll understand why it’ll take a minor miracle to dethrone them from their perch. That’s not to say it’s impossible though –even if Liverpool must take maximum points from their last three games (West Ham, West Brom and Spurs) to complete this unlikely scenario.
Bottom Line: If Man City don’t repeat last season’s Old Trafford win on Sunday, the race is done and dusted.
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