Somewhere in between euphoria that transcends all sense of logic and outcome, and a cynicism which suggests that actually Barcelona won the game in the long run, comes truth.
Arsenal were very good, Barca too and better in most areas of the pitch. But Barcelona could not take all of their chances. Their disallowed goal is part of the game as all England and Arsenal fans know well.
It is somewhat confusing that the soothsayers and doomsdayers and whoever else are trying to create a context for the result that underpins a false intellect and a logic fitting for the individual that wants to be understood. By this I mean that the media people and bloggers who attempt to contextualise a game of football, with a great sense of meaning and understanding, do so with the primary objective being that their perspective is the right one and possibly only one. Why bother?
So having scoured the media today for the reaction, it is unsurprising to see that Barcelona were better, squandered chances, complacent and (in some parts of the Spanish Press), a spent force. Nice try with a spent force. That is extreme in the extreme.
Then all the conclusions drawn from the Arsenal victory attempt to undermine the validity of the football match. Even Fabregas alludes to half time in the tie, but the three weeks of oranges that we get to eat between now and the second half suggest that some serious evaluation and consideration will be given to the successes and failures of both sides. Normal fare for a half time chat, but in taking stock, new things happen. This is the point of my writing.
Barcelona play sublime football in terms of their drills. But the drills demand colossal focus and it was quite easy to see that they can switch off because of the demanding nature of this. The drills are based on systems that they deploy to dictate, with or without the ball, the available space to use for themselves or the opposition. So what we see from them is a change in formation from 4-4-2, to 4-5-1, to 4-3-3, to even 5-4-1 depending on where the ball is, who has possession, if it is a dead ball – e.g systems for corners, free kicks, goal kicks, and so on. All the time however, there are 2-3 players who are also required to surround and harangue the player/s in possession and not only try to create a turnover, but also position themselves on the eventuality of that happening or not – in an immensely short timeframe.
And yet we beat them. So what did they do wrong and we do right?
Well they were not clinical, they say Messi should have scored 2 but the pressure told. But RVP also should have scored 2 more in the first half and both were nailed on chances that he would have normally taken. We could say the occasion got to both of them for different reasons.
Next, it would be important to highlight that they found it easy to slice our defence up. But firstly, look at who is playing for them and then consider that it is more amazing that they didn’t do a better job. Is that because they are bad or that we stood up to the task, as much as we could? Equally, we showed their weakened defence what they can expect in the second half. Without Puyol, they lost their thunder, without Pique they lose their finesse. These things will worry them as much as we can be worried in the Nou Camp.
Lastly, everyone will expect them to beat us. I expect them to beat us. But I can see Arsenal winning too. The reason for this is the system and players that Arsene has educated ‘live’ for this situation. They have learned everything for this particular test and with a strong first team available, have options and a Plan B. This is something that has always been levelled against us, yet the stronger our bench gets, the more varied our systems can become. This is not without fault and games like West Brom and Spurs show a real downside. However, like Man U, we are conditioned to come good at this time of the season and our second half stats are much better than our first – both in terms of season and individual matches.
I don’t think I need to single out players. The passes for our second goal demonstrated that the lack of fear and the freedom of expression are not always naïve. It was a coming of age, but this doesn’t mean that we will not experience problems and slumps within ‘adulthood’.
So really who cares if Barcelona were better? It doesn’t even matter and the score is almost irrelevant as it is so finely balanced. But that is the point that people don’t seem to recognise. Villa, Alves, Maxwell and Abidal cost more than our whole team. This Barcelona side many believe are the best in the history of the sport. And we went toe to toe with them. We beat them, and we are not afraid to do it again. We can beat their opposition too and we can give them and their rivals a run for their money. We are not the best in the world, and probably not the best in our league, but we showed maturity, stomach, consistency and guile on top of our usual passing game.
And that my friends, is good fecking news (provided it continues) ;)
Bring on Brum, Brauglana, Big Balls. Bring it.
