Who would have thought it? Barcelona losing to Arsenal? Oh but it happened in the most unlikely fashion! To those who didn't watch, (hermit crabs, junkies, politicians), Arsenal hosted the first leg of their Champions League last 16 showdown against Barcelona last night. And a good 90% of the population
knew the home side wouldn't cut the mustard against Barcelona. A quick look around the bookies, (ironically full of hermit crabs, junkies and politicians), odds were pretty much reflective of that, as it was 3/1 for Arsenal to win. Well done to those who kept faith in the British side and bet on them winning because, after letting in a goal in the first half, they came back with 2 simply wonderful displays of footballing poetry.
Up until the second half and 2 much needed substitutions, Arsenal were showing us how
not to play football. Some passes were ok-ish, some passes were so off the mark you would think they were passing to the fans or an invisible buddy, others were the equivalent of picking up the ball and neatly placing it at the feet of a Catalan player. Walcott was the clumsiest child of them all. The away side showed us how to play skillful football, with speedy, neat touches, ballet like footwork and an annoying amount of perfectly executed back-passes. I mean seriously, one of these days they'll play a whole match kicking backwards. So odds at half time of Arsenal winning were a justified 16/1 with Barcelona leading with one goal from David Villa. Anyhoo, a minute after said clumsy shoes Walcott left, Van Persie scored a beauty that he shot from so close to the by-line that even the keeper didn't see it coming and. And Arshavin scored the winner a few minutes later and the gooners went crazy, for once upon a time Barcelona took home a Champions League trophy with a 2-1 win over Arsenal in the gunner's first and only time in a CL final.
Arsene - the biggest daddy of them all
Best moment for me was seeing Van Persie celebrate by running over to Arsene Wenger and giving him a big old hug. Heartwarming. Why was this my favourite moment? No, it's not because I'm a girl and we get emotional over these things.
It's because that one act of appreciation shows just why Arsenal can, and should, topple the giants of European football, for they possess something those teams don't. And it's not just the ability to put your arms around another human being.
In football, to obtain success there is a die hard level of managers believing in their players, and telling those players to believe in themselves, to believe they are the next Pele. Which, if it works, will most of the time turn them into really great, talented players but with a slight tendency to become totally self absorbed and think they are bigger and better than the club. Not so much the case with Arsenal.
Wenger doesn't just believe in his players. They believe in him. And maybe that can only come from years and years of experience. And if there is one thing young managers like Guardiola should learn from him, it is that
you need to know how to fall and to fail before you can learn how to get up and succeed. And Wenger has been there through it all for 15 years.
Granted, since he took the helm in 1996 Arsenal haven't finished below 4th in the league but they have finished in some dismal places in Europe. And it's extra painful when the historical first and only time he took them to a Champions League final, they lost. Wenger has nurtured most of his players from the day they could crawl, so he isn't just a manager, he's a father figure. If seen through the eyes of a player,
Arsene is a man who has managed you since you were still a boy, harnessed your talent, watched you and helped you become a world class player, and even built the stadium you call home. So of course they feel like they owe it to him above all else. Everytime they have done badly in a game, whether that be just the first half or the whole 90 minutes, they never want to turn it around for themselves; they turn it around for him. And this united feeling amongst the team will always keep their team united. (Though that was not the case for serial footballing whore Adebayor once upon a time).
Ok so it's not like Guardiola manages a bunch of Diva's, and he's been there a couple of years, but the player-manager relationship is completely different. Barcelona players are simply the god's of football. Guardiola is a very clever manager. Yes he inherited a great team, but so did Benitez with Internazionale and that balloon deflated instantly. So Guardiola is a young man with intelligence. The player-manager understanding and commitment is flawless. But the relationship isn't personable. And when the going gets tough, they will lose out to
a team like Arsenal who have almost as amazing players, but have the one thing Barcelona do not have; the drive to want it even more for the man who made them the elite class they are today. They should really have played like that from the very first minute but passion doesn't flare up from just wanting something, sometimes you'll only see what you want when it's is being ripped from your very hands on your own turf. In the same sense, Arsenal can achieve anything if they played every single game for their manager. Basic instinct has determined that you will always fight harder for someone else than you will for yourself.
Similarly, in the case of Liverpool, Dalglish may have only become manager in the last month, but the relationship between him and the players is so personal. He is the king of Anfield. The father those players never met, but still the father nonetheless. They want that personal relationship that they haven't experienced and Dalglish is only more than willing in his true home. He is Liverpool. The players know the real daddy is back. And it is not themselves, it is Dalglish they now play for.
