** WARNING : This report contains descriptions of Arsenal tactics and may send some readers back to sleep if read too early in the morning ***
Tonight was memorable for something that I haven't seen for a
long, long time.
An inspired performance by a Liverpool No. 7 which turned the
match.
Macca was excellent; he found space, made some great runs, scored
twice and gave a moderately entertaining post match interview.
What a star.
Arsenal on the other hand were dreadful.
Sky gave their line-up as 5-3-2. 8-1-1 more like it.
And commentator Alan Parry kept on saying how well Arsenal were
playing and how they're a team everyone would like to see doing
well.
Hang on there Alan.
To settle the argument I looked up the ultimate arbitrator of football disputes - "The Jaron Encyclopedia of Football". Here's what it says :
-- Begin Entry --
Remarkably unpopular English football club. Founded in 1886.
Home ground Highbury, north London.
Arsenal are infamous for a style of direct football that makes eating a dribbly pie at half time a scintillating experience by comparison. Having won several trophies during the 1970's, including daylight robbery of the 1971 FA Cup, the team's fortunes declined despite two consecutive FA Cup Final appearances in 1979 and 80. In 1986, Arsenal were revived by the managerial appointment of George Graham ( qv. Football Crooks ). However club tradition still dictated fielding a team totally devoid of flair players, ( qv. Perry Groves, Ray Parlour ).
With the new manager came a revolutionary new tactic, the goalkeeper as playmaker. Pioneered by John Lukic, and elevated to an art form by David Seaman (qv. "Nayim from the Half-way Line" ), this strategy involved the 'keeper leaving the box under the protection of the offside rule, advancing 20 yards and thumping the ball into the opponent's penalty area. To derive maximum benefit, a lanky skill-less striker was deployed to knock the ball down to his team mates, ( qv. Alan Smith, Niall Quinn, Martin Hayes ). The objective, of course, was to win corners; whereupon the entire team would charge the goalmouth from the six yard line as soon as the ball was punted into the box.
Having scored, their fans chant "One-Nil to the Arsenal" until the final whistle. This ire inducing ritual is performed safe in the knowledge that their team will put 11 men behind the ball and that Tony Adams ( qv. "Getting Sloshed and Driving into a Wall" ) will crunch anyone daring to run through their legendary offside trap.
Intriguingly, a recent scientific study also proved that Arsenal are the luckiest team in football, ( cf. League Championship 89, 91; League Cup 87, 93; FA Cup 93; ECW Cup 94 ).
-- End Entry --
So I was right.
Anyway, back to the match.
It provided the chance to take a look at Matteo, who was a bit
shakey to start off, ( I diagnose Babb Syndrome ), but otherwise
played really well.
I'd still pick Scales ahead of him, but he looks an excellent
prospect.
( You can see why Rush and Leeds were so interested in him ).
Aside from Macca, I'd single out Barnes, who was magnificent. What idiot said get rid of him ? He kept things ticking over when frustration could have set in, tackled well, made both goals and looked really sharp. He's stopped taking the ball off the feet of the central defenders too.
As for Colly : the crowd were obviously keeping him going about his terrible Diadora adverts, as he fired the ball *really hard* into the stands loads of times.
And not forgetting the "Roy uses substitutes shocker". Lee Jones and young Thompson got 5 minutes. And Jones scraped the post in a cameo that bodes well for the future.
And even better, that Nike advert with Eric Cuntona wasn't shown at half time. So I didn't have to sit through 5 minutes of "ooh ahh cantona" from the Man U supporters in the pub.
So I left happy. :)