Hate To Say I Told You So…

…but I did actually tell you so!

So, Borussia Dortmund, the champions of the Bundesliga, proved to be a tougher task than many gave them credit for, keeping possession for long periods, putting a lot of pressure on us when we finally did get the ball and contributing to an interesting game of football regardless of where your loyalties lie.

In truth, aside from dropping Arshavin and replacing him with Benayoun, there were no real surprises in terms of the starting XI either. I have to admit that I did feel Wenger’s decision to drop Arshavin was a rather odd one though when considering the wisdom of selecting Benayoun over him. The reality was that Benayoun was starting his first game for us, away at the German champions, in the Champions League. A tough ask to say the least. It seemed all the more confusing considering that he could have been “blooded” at home, against newly-promoted Swansea, in the Premier League.  Additionally, and as I pointed out in the post-match report for Swansea, Arshavin was strangely impressive on Saturday and, in my opinion for the first time in a long time, genuinely deserved his place in the side. Maybe Wenger is using a kind of reverse psychology with him. You know, play badly for about 18 months whilst bitching about the club, the team, the manager and your fellow players and retain your place in the team week-in, week-out. Play well for the first time in 18 months and receive the full wrath of the boss and a good thorough benching!

To be totally honest, I thought that Benayoun was a better fit for a late throw of the dice should we be struggling to get a desperately needed goaland lacking a bit of legs and creative energy, but notfor the full 90 minutes. As it transpired, it wasn’t such a terrible idea on Wenger’s part. Admittedly Yossi looked a little lost for the opening 15 minutes of the match, struggling to find a way into the game. In fairness, a great deal of his game relies a lot on the quick-thinking and understanding between him and his teammates and with only 2 weeks gone by since he joined the club, it was unlikely that understanding would be entirely established as yet and so it appeared to be proving. Not being a tough tackler or a midfield boss by any means, the decision to play him must surely have been based upon his general work rate and, in hindsight, I think that Wenger got this one right. After about 15 or 20 minutes it was obvious that Yossi was ready, willing and able to run his socks off for the team and he did a great job of that if nothing else. Apart from the immense Alex Song and the “hectic” Arteta, he probably covered as much of the park as anybody else and broke down the flow of Dortmund’s play on more than one occasion. As for the aforementioned Song, I said in the pre-match report that he would need to have an outstanding game if we were to get anything out of this gamer and so it proved as he relentlessly pursued, harried and, for the most part, snuffed out the creative forces of Götze and Kagawa and provided the crucial first line of defence that proved so effective in protecting our centre back pairing.

The first half went pretty much the way one would expect against a team who love the ball, pass it well, attack in numbers and rarely give you a second to think when you do finally dispossess them. They had a LOT of the ball and created a few good chances which, on any other day may have seen us 2 or 3 down by half time. As it happened, a combination of hard work, riding our luck, a decent amount of profligacy on their part and some great goalkeeping by our resident “Pole between the Poles” proved enough to keep them out before the seeminglyimplausible happened. In the 43^rd minute Van Persie nicked the ball of a slow to react Kehl with a sliding tackle that Tony Adams would have been pleased with before getting up and continuing his run whilst the altogether more impressive than against Swansea Walcott picked up the ball, slotted the simplest but most perfectly timed ofdefence splitting straight pass into the path of Robin whomade no mistake with the finish, leaving Weidenfeller with no chanceas he calmly placed a curling shot to the keepers right. A finish reminiscent of Henry in many ways and Robin continues to impress and grow with each passing game. One can only imagine what we could have achieved over the past few seasons had he been fit more often.

In the time it takes to say “proper old smash and grab in Europe in the style of one of George Graham’s sides” the scoreboard said 1-0 to the Arsenal, the half-time whistle was blown and we looked like we might just be about to pull off an unlikely result.

The second half saw us getting a lot more possession and Dortmund creating far fewer chances. We still have to work on not giving away a raft of free kicks in and around the box, but thankfully Dortmund seemed hell bent on trying to knock down the wall rather than go over or around it and, when they did manage to get the ball into the danger area, our defence looked organised and solid. As the clock ticked down it became more and more obvious that it was going to take something special to break down a resilient and determined Arsenal, but as it proved, something special was exactly what was coming.

With a free kick lofted in from some way out, Gibbs showed real strength winning the header in the face of two onrushing attackers and clearing the ball out of the penalty area. Cue a moment of magic from Dortmund substitute Perisic as he lashed the ball on the volley over the defence and into the far right of the goal. In reality, and I am sure that most players would confirm this, this was a Hail Mary of a shot and 99 times out of 100 it flies over the bar, into one of the 15 or so players in the box, sails wide or straight into the arms of the keeper, but that is not to take away anything from the scorer to whom we must simply doff our hats and move on to the next game thankful to have gained a point in what should really be our toughest match in this group.

In terms of personal performances, Koscielny played with an intensity which I assume is finally being generated by the competition that finally exists for his place and it is actually becoming a joy to watch. He is still sloppy in terms of positioning at times but seems much more willing to put in the effort to retrieve the situation before it is too late.

Gibbs looked his normal self and, whilst the late introduction of Santos gave us a very short glimpse of what our left back position will most likely be filled with once the Brazilian is fully match fit, I am worried that Gibbs is our only other realistic choice at left back. He just doesn’t seem to have the defensive wherewithal to get his job done effectively and crosses as well as you would expect from an Arsenal full back. I personally don’t see what he brings to the team if I am completely honest.

Arteta was busy chasing down every blade of grass on the pitch, second only to Song in terms of work rate and industry. Sagna found himself at sea a couple of times but worked hard and saved the situation on each occasion.

Gervinho showed again what, after only 4 appearances, we have already come to expect of him, looking lively and potentially dangerous almost every time he got near the ball.

Szczesny was assured and commanding and, yet again, appears to be going from strength to strength in the Arsenal goal.

Mertesacker wobbled a couple of times but, in general, looked unhurried and unruffled when dealing with the majority of what Dortmund had to throw at him.

But, and I am sorry to harp on about this but it bears repeating, Song was EXACTLY what we needed him to be. He was energetic, industrious, organized, in position and entirely disruptive to the Dortmund cause. In my opinion he was our man of the match by a long chalk, in fact, he was probably the man of the match overall.

In terms of the group and qualification, Marseille pulling off their own slightly improved version of a European smash and grab with a 1-0 away to Olympiacos puts the underdogs at the top of the group and, in all honesty, we couldn’t have wished for a better result. As wide open as it was before kick-off, the hardest game in the group out of the way and a point in the bag, things look about as good as we could have hoped for after this first round and, given that I expect us to beat the Greeks and for Marseille to grab a sneaky draw at home to Dortmund in the next round, things may well look rosy in our European garden in a couple of weeks.

All in all a good night’s work, as good a result as we could have expected, a good performance and a wonder goal the only difference between winning and coming home with a point. This new team currently in a period of transition – and make no mistake it IS a new team and it IS in a period of transition – is starting to show a lot of the qualities that we have cried out for in the past few seasons: Drive, determination, guts and the will to win in any manner necessary. We may have lost the creative engine room of Cesc and, for three months every three years, Na$ri, but we have gained a few die for the cause blood and thunder players with a wealth of experience and, once they start to gel, I think we will see a tougher and more rounded side that we have not had since those heady days of The Invincibles.

For the relentlessly unhappy among us, this was not a case of Arsenal throwing away yet another win at the death, but more a case of going into the match with a game plan of snatch a goal and hang on defensively and, but for a moment of the highest quality and a slice of luck, we would have pulled it off.

Meanwhile, we will get a chance to see exactly what direction we really are going in in the shorter term with what would,in recent seasons at least, been considered potential banana skinswith Blackburn away, Bolton and Stoke at home and the home game against Olympiacos as well as a chance for “the kids” in our Carling Cup match at home to Shrewsbury. Get through that lot without losing a game and we can genuinely say that we are turning a corner. Get through that lot with 9 league points, 3 Champions League points and our name in the hat for the next round for the Carling Cup and we might even say we have turned that corner.

Time will tell and I for one will be there watching and enjoying this new stage in our fine club’s history.

Come On You Shiny New Look Goooonnnneeerrrrrssssss!!!