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?
