My Take On Arsenal's Defeat At The Nou Camp

The last week has been quite the proverbial emotional rollercoaster for an Arsenal fan. A frustrating stalemate against Sunderland aside (Although we did manage to close the gap at the top ever so slightly), we went down 3-1 to Barcelona at the Nou Camp, convincingly so, but NewsNow just doesn't let one get over that game, still bombarding fans with news, reactions, opinions, counter-opinions, rants, ourbursts, and blogs (Err..) related to the defeat.

What really happened on Tuesday night?

Arsene Wenger has realized that his Arsenal side cannot match the movement of Barcelona. This doesn't necessary mean quality of passing. While some Arsenal players might be as good technically, the way Barcelona move and create angles due to which passes even in the tightest of situations can be made, is their biggest area of superiority. The Gunners just don't have that sort of movement, which is why Barca's pressing left them clueless when they did have the ball. They just did not take up good enough positions to receive the ball. THAT, is the difference between the two sides (Besides Xavi, Iniesta, Villa, and Messi. Oh well..).

Wenger knew after last season, and even after the first leg this time, that the Catalans would have most of the possession, so he relied on Arsenal's very own area of superiority - fitness. Quite paradoxical when you consider the number of players the Londoners have lost to injuries over the past five years, but still true.

In both home legs against Barca in the last year or so, Arsenal outlasted Guardiola's men, scoring all their goals in the second half against a visibly tired backline. Which is why Wenger tried to do the same at the Nou Camp, but the enigma that is Massimo Busacca meant that Wenger's plans were destroyed in South Park-esque fashion.

The Gunners tried to play whenever they did get the ball in the first half, but just couldn't. Fact. Barcelona dominated, and were brilliant with or without the ball. I doubt Wenger wanted to sit back and soak up the pressure, but yes, while defending, he definitely asked his team to be more compact. Also, with Fabregas apparently feeling a twinge in his hamstring in the 15th minute, the skipper sat deeper too, and played "safe".

It surprisingly worked very well for Wenger too, as Barcelona were restricted to very few shots on goal (Two, I think), with a committed Koscielny and a desperate Djourou doing their very best to deny the hosts any space inside the box. No goals up till half time would have fit in perfectly with Wenger's plans, who was banking on his players to take advantage of Barca's tiredness in the last 20 minutes of the second half. However, Fabregas' trying-to-be-cute backheel changed it all, as Iniesta played an absolutely stunning dinked pass to Messi, who finished cleverly past Almunia.

It was 1-0 at half time, but some tireless running and a decent corner kick later, Arsenal were level. Diaby's leap fooled them all into believing that he was actually trying to score, and Busquets headed into his own net. It was just the kind of luck Arsenal needed to clinch this tie. With the Gunners ahead on aggregate and level on away goals, Barcelona would have really had to work hard to break down what was a stubborn defence up till then, and at the same time deal with any counter attacks, especially towards the end.

But Busacca ruined it all in one moment of madness. No matter which way you look at this, Van Persie should not have been sent off. In fact, the yellow card he received at the end of the first half for a push on serial cheat Dani Alves, was harsh too, with the home crowd's reaction influencing Busacca as much as anything else.

Busacca literally turned offside into a yellow card offence.

Some thoughts on why he should not have been sent off:

1) RVP's first yellow was harsh, with Alves making the most of it. But yes, it was silly on the striker's part.

2) For the second yellow, he was hardly offside. He was nearly onside, and had every right to go ahead and shoot as long as he wasn't sure of the whistle.

3) Did he waste time in any way? His shot took the ball nearer to Valdes, than it would have if he had collected the pass and stopped!

4) The whistle went one second earlier. RVP didn't seem to stop, and kick the ball away in frustration or anything of the sort. He collected the ball, created space, and shot.

5) He didn't kick the ball into the stands, it was a proper shot on goal, not something you get sent off for, surely.

All in all, if that was a yellow card, we will see hundreds of yellow cards across Europe EVERY week for the same offence. Can football afford that? Strikers, even if they hear the whistle for sure, do take a shot and get the ball into the back of the net to find their rhythm and just get a bit of confidence. It happens all the time, even 5 seconds after the whistle has gone! And absolutely no one complains about it if they aren't booked.

Also, it's strange that the hosts' players were merrily allowed to grab Arsenal players by the throat, with not so much as a warning (It's usually a red card offence) by Busacca! Surely, if an Arsenal player had done that, you'd hear the home fans jump off their seats in a fit of rage, and Busacca doing the needful. And yes, I must acknowledge that Barca should have had a penalty as well in the first half.



Barcelona deserved to go through, definitely. They dominated the second leg completely, but that really isn't what football is about, is it? I've seen Arsenal dominate games from start to finish and end up losing on countless occasions, but somehow no pundit talks about how Arsenal deserved to win, once the game is over. Why? If Bendtner had scored that goal, the same pundits would be saying how Arsenal showed character and 'defended like heroes'.

Wenger tried to adapt slightly to the situation, which he hardly ever does. He did it because he was up against the best team in the world, as simple as that. The people that now say that he 'betrayed his philosophy', are the same people that say he should 'have a Plan B' when Arsenal lose playing the Arsenal way. Football's opinions have largely become a paraphrase of the scoreline, which is a real shame.

As far as Barca players are concerned, congratulations, but stop talking about how RVP deserved to see red. If you must, talk about your dominance, which saw you deservedly go through, but defending the ref only makes the slight suspicion grow, that Uefa does not want you to crash out of the Champions League so soon. Go through key decisions that have gone their way in the last three seasons in this competition, you'll know.

Hopefully the anger within the Arsenal dressing room galvanises the players for the matches ahead. The match against Manchester United could not have come at a better time. Win this, and the league could be ours.

Ferguson senses the danger, but can Wenger and his boys pull themselves together to take advantage?

What Have We Learned From India's Adventure At The Asian Cup?

Also published here.

Well, the Indian team is back from Doha after the group stage of the Asian Cup, having lost all three games against Australia, Bahrain, and South Korea, conceding 13 goals, and scoring thrice. However, realists all over the country won't be too displeased with our performances, and it indeed was a learning experience like no other for the current squad, in their entire careers.

But what have we, observers/fans/pseudo-pundits, learned after watching our team play?

I'll put my two cents' worth in:

(A Lack Of) Fitness

We've probably known this since forever, but never has the national team's below-par fitness level been exposed the way it was in Doha. In all three games, our opponents looked two or three notches above us in terms of pace, strength, and stamina. Looking at the positive side of it, at least we now know exactly how far behind we are physically, which will hopefully lead to steps being taken to ensure the kids of today reach the level required.

What Kind Of Football Do We Want To Play?

What has been a problem with the Indian team over the years, despite their successes in tournaments like the Nehru Cup and the AFC Challenge Cup, is the lack of identity when it comes to the way they play the game. Bob Houghton has done a good job with the national side, but even after five years at the helm, he hasn't been able to help the lads come up with a particular style of play which would suit their skills. This is not to suggest that we should try to play like Spain, not at all. The fans won't mind even if we play like a Stoke or Blackburn and climb up the rankings, but there has to be a certain style.

At the moment, one doesn't know what to expect while watching India. It seems they try and pass the ball for a while, and if it doesn't work a few times, they keep hoofing it to the likes of Yadav (Understandable, since he's a big lad), Chhetri and Bhutia (Ridiculous). To their credit, the latter two make the best of a bad situation, but really, we can't go on like this forever.

No Creativity In Midfield

While a few players stood out during the group stage at different moments - Renedy, Abhishek, and Gouramangi against Bahrain, Chhetri and Surkumar against South Korea, Nabi against Australia, and Subrata Paul overall, it's worth noticing that neither of our central midfielders had a decent game at the tournament.

Both Climax and Pradeep couldn't cope at that level, and misplaced one pass too many even when they were on the ball. The situation cries out for a change of some sort, with more importance being give to midfielders who are comfortable on the ball, are good passers, and look to go forward and create chances at every opportunity.

Time To Step Up

There were many younger players waiting in the wings back home, who would have loved to be there in Doha with the rest of the squad. Perhaps now is the time, after having given the older generation their moment in the big time, to groom these youngsters and give them opportunities at the international level.

And this doesn't just mean starting the likes of Mohammed Rafi and Sushil Kumar, but giving some new names a chance as well. Hopefully, preference will be given to fitter and faster players, who can pass the ball.

Never Say Die

One of the major positive aspects emerging from the Asian Cup, and perhaps which has kept all Indian football fans reasonably happy despite the three defeats, is the spirit and fight shown by the lads on the pitch. They kept their head down and continued battling despite going one, two, or three goals down, and defended India's pride.

The game against Korea comes in for special mention. Park Ji Sung and co were simply in another world when it came to technique, pace, and passing, but the back four and Subrata Paul worked their socks off to prevent a cricket score, especially in the second half. This is where Bob Houghton does deserve a lot of credit, and if we can maintain this mentality and couple it with better skills, we'll be on our way up sooner than you'd think.

Look For Skill, Not Height

Speaking of skills, this Asian Cup busted many an Indian's myth about our footballers. For years, we've heard declarations like, "The talent is there, but there's no money", or "Our players are skilful, but the pitches are bad", or "We are not behind the rest in terms of skill, but only on fitness".

Well, the truth was out there in front of our eyes, which made it overly evident that we were nowhere close to any of our opponents when it came to skill. Barring Chhetri, who showed some nice touches, and Renedy, whose delivery and finishing was superb, none of the players really showed much skill on the ball.

The kids of today must be encouraged to work in this direction. We are all talking about height at the moment, but what's the use of the extra inches if the player doesn't have the requisite skill to keep possession? Everyone knows Spain didn't win the World Cup because of their height, and while taller players must be preferred in the case of two equally-skilled players, no 'minimum height cut off' should come into play in younger age categories, as is being mooted for in some quarters.

Forget The World Cup, For Now.

This is a sad truth, but those who were hoping to see India challenge for a 2018 World Cup spot will have to realize that it is not going to happen. We are seriously off the pace even at the Asian level, and with training facilities and overall football infrastructure still not up to scratch, we will probably have to wait for well over a decade before we seriously stand a chance to be a part of the showcase event that celebrates the beautiful game.