The morning after the night before...

It’s 1.33am. I can’t sleep. No, not Temple Run (highest score is now 9.4m), but football. I need to write, right now, while the wounds are fresh. Not even tonight’s episode of TOWIE can take my mind off The Arsenal. 4-0. Emphatic. Arsene Wenger called it ‘a disaster’ and ‘shocking’, labelling it as ‘our worst night ever in Europe’. Tough to disagree. What went wrong?

As soon as our starting line-up was released on Twitter (@fkhanage), I turned to Yeamilson and expressed my dissatisfaction. The selection of Ramsey, Arteta, Song and Rosicky was surprising particularly as we have played with two offensive wingers supporting RVP all season. I wondered if this would have a detrimental impact on the team’s balance resulting in a more cautious approach and with hindsight, I think he got it wrong.

Four years ago, Arsenal became the first English side to beat AC Milan at the San Siro courtesy of a 2-0 second-leg victory that eliminated the then holders from the last 16 of the Champions League. It was a virtuoso performance of defensive efficiency and ruthless counter-attacking football. It was cool, classy and confident. Such is our decline from those hopeful heights of 2008, and such is our mental fragility following the inconsistencies of this season, that even despite a relatively assured opening 15 minutes, the moment we fell behind we fell apart. What followed was one-way traffic as defenders dithered and were dragged about with ease while possession-starved forwards looked on forlornly. Make no mistake. We got what we deserved.

Whilst Arsene may have made a mistake with his starting eleven, there is nothing he can do once the players cross that white line. The players have responsibilities; to fight, to give 100% effort and commitment and to demonstrate why they deserve to wear the shirt. But there was nothing. Outperformed in every position it came down to damage limitation and we were left feeling sorry for ourselves.

You could probably analyse and make reasonable excuses for each goal; extraordinary finish for the first, off-side for the second, an unfortunate  slip by Vermaelen for the third and an incredibly harsh penalty decision for the last but bottom line, we got spanked 4-0. After the game Arsene said, ‘we need to be realistic, we don’t play in dream world.. you have to say, we are out of the competition.’

However, I’m not convinced that this tie is over. Sounds mad, right? Just hear me out:

§  It is perfectly possible to score four goals at the Emirates;

§  We’ve beaten Champions League opponents by 4,5 and 6 in recent years; and

§  The team has NOTHING to lose which will relax us and perhaps even suit our play.

If there is any chance of turning this tie around, we need an Arsenal-of-old style performance. Remember the days at Highbury when we used to fly out of the blocks and take a 1 or 2-0 lead within the first quarter of an hour? The Emirates pitch will allow us to play our natural game and the quick tempo of our play may see Milan come unstuck. Needless to say, tactically, we must be spot on. My personal preference of formation would be:

We have to be bold and Arsene needs to be willing to make brave decisions e.g. dropping Walcott and starting The Ox. You may be surprised with my selection of Andrei Arshavin. Don’t be. This is a guy who’s best position is in the hole, behind the lead striker. Zenit built their team around AA23 and he was incredibly influential in the No.10 position. It is no surprise to me that his best performances in the famous red shirt have been when he’s been deployed in a central position providing numerous assists.

If we get off to a flying start and if decisions go for us on the night, then you just never know. What’s all the fuss about? We’ll do them 5-4!

Finally, we have a massive game in the FA Cup at Sunderland this Saturday and to make things worse, we’ve lost the impeccable Larry Koscielny to a knee injury. It’s too early to say how long he’ll be out for and it’s a devastating blow following Per Mertesacker’s tragic ankle injury. The players need to forget the result against Milan and concentrate fully on beating Sunderland for second time in a week. It’ll be a tough game and I fully expect Arsene to make changes with next weekend’s clash against Spurs in mind (eek!).

Much love Gooners, keep the faith.

Black Bin Bags to 7th Heaven…

I’m struggling to write this blog. Writer’s block you say? Um.. No. I’ve been playing Temple Run so much that I can barely see the screen on my laptop without having visions of a man running along ruined brickwork collecting coins. My eyes hurt and I feel dizzy. Intense gaming on my iPhone has given me chafed thumbs. It’s all been worth it though, I have surpassed the highest score of my biggest Temple Run rival, Gurveenho Singh.

Since my last post, we’ve played four games. As expected, we lost to Manchester United but upon reflection may be it wasn’t deserved particularly as I thought we were in the ascendency for much of the second period. Whilst there was never any danger of a repeat of our 8-2 humiliation at Old Trafford, defensive concerns were evident again. Djorou was picked as right back but may as well have been right back in the dressing room. His clumsiness led to United’s opener and Arshavin’s lack of urgency in defending led to Welbeck’s late winner.

Many Arsenal fans will remember this game for the ‘controversial’ substitution in the 74^th minute. When The Ox’s number went up there were deafening boos from the Arsenal faithful. For me, this was a watershed moment. It felt huge. Not just from a footballing point of view, as the reaction itself was aimed at Arsene Wenger. Never has there been such a display of mutiny towards the manager. Admittedly, the youngster had been our best attacking player but according to Arsene, The Ox had started to fatigue and overstretched his calf. With hindsight, the change makes perfect sense. On this note, I am puzzled by the reaction of some fellow fans. On the one hand, they become angry when our players keep getting injured but on the other hand they criticise when players are rested or taken off as a precaution. Consider Jack Wilshere. Here’s a boy who made 49 appearances in his first season, as an 18 year old. As a result, he’s now crocked and has missed the majority of this campaign. Arsene is in a lose-lose situation.

Sandwiched in between the aforementioned defeat and a goalless draw at Bolton, was a thrilling FA Cup victory over Aston Villa at the Emirates. 2-0 down at half-time, the boys responded superbly in the second half to win 3-2. No idea what Arsene said or did at half-time but it worked a treat. We now face a trip to the north-east to face either Sunderland or Middlesbrough. The 0-0 at the Reebok was a bizarre game. We endured a frustrating evening as we failed to break the deadlock. The game saw 30 shots on goal, yet neither team could find the back of the net.

At the weekend, we hosted Blackburn Rovers. Fellow Gooners will remember the painful 4-3 defeat at Ewood earlier this season. This was payback. My father (FK Senior) joined me for this game and what a game we saw.

RVP’s hat-trick, two goals from The Ox, Mikel Arteta’s strike and TH12’s late goal saw Arsenal thump Blackburn 7-1. I’d like to take this opportunity to mention those fans who had jeered Arsene at the United game, those who had also threatened to protest with black bin bags were the same fans celebrating and enjoying our victory. We all know football fans are fickle but this bi-polar support must stop - it’s not doing anyone any good. We must get behind our beloved team and be prepared to judge Arsene & co in the summer – the league table always lies until May.

That said, I’m not going to get carried away following the thrashing of Blackburn. After all, it’s only three (valuable) points but what a timely boost in confidence. But it shouldn’t come as any surprise. Arsene’s been saying it all along, players are beginning to return from injuries and with Gervinho due back after The ACN, I’m feeling optimistic.

Our next league game sees us travel to Sunderland – the most in-form team over the last ten games in the Premier League. Martin O’Neill’s boys have picked up 22 points from a possible 30 and this will provide a stern test for our resurgence. And an away trip in the Champions League to AC Milan follows just days later… Exciting times my fellow Emirati! X