Are We Done Like Dinner? and Boy, I Am Spoiled!

The photo says it all, doesn't it? On Thursday, at his prematch press conference, Wenger stated we needed to be perfect in the last games of the season to stay in the title race. Well, we definitely were not perfect yesterday. On top of which, Manure and Chelski stomped their opponents, and our view of first place is a very long distance away indeed. Can we still win it? Yes, it is still mathematically possible. We can make up ground on them next week as the top two play each other. After that, they still don’t have the easiest schedule, so …maybe…just maybe. We have to do our job, though, and finish teams off.
Yesterday’s lineup was packed full of possibilities. Our back was pieced together because of Vermie’s suspension, but still looked solid. We had Diaby and Denilson in front of them and the the quartet of our Captain, Rosicky, Theo, and Bendtner up front. Right from the go, it did not seem like we were playing our game. The short, quick passing and the one-two give- and- go attempts seemed to be missing. The boys also seemed to misread each other as passes were easily picked off or went out of bounds as the receiving player ran a different way than the direction the pass was intended. The ball seemed extra bouncy. Then the commentators noted that the pitch was “bubbly”. Great. We do not do well on poor pitches. It affects our passing and gets us out of our groove. We just could not get into the flow.

Then on top of a bad pitch, we had a bad ref. Howard Webb gave out two yellow cards to us before 30 minutes ran down. Song’s was in the first 16 minutes. Clichy’s yellow was based on the lightest of touches to Birmingham’s Gardner. How ironic as that guy was tackling using both feet, scissoring people and did not get a yellow until the 83rd minute even after Cesc was injured by him and limped for the last ten minutes of the first half. Thankfully, he came out looking okay for the second half. Webb’s worst offense was his denying Diaby his goal. Diaby was the man of the match for me. He pushed us forward, was instrumental in keeping possession, and was rewarded when he barged a man off the ball, and shot. Webb called a foul…on Diaby or was it on Cesc from the play before? It was confusion and the game should have been 1-0. I played basketball in high school and know a team has to play above the referee. We didn’t. Nasri and Arshavin then came on for Bendtner and Theo. They both made an instant impact. Nasri, Mr. Swivel hips, had a great goal and Arshavin gave Birmingham’s back four immediate trouble. But…we missed vital chances and, to me, that has been the running mantra this season. Nasri chose to pass instead of taking a second shot at goal. The pass went nowhere. Shavy couldn’t hit anything right with either foot even with a clear shot at goal. Manchester United and Chelsea went into half time 1-0 and 2-1 respectively. They came out swinging second half and won BIG. That’s what we need to do. Winning at the last minute is exciting, but can lead to massive disappointment as yesterday did. I almost feel sorry for Hull who suffered a last minute goal from us…no, not really.

Anyway, we have a huge match this Wednesday against (drum roll please) Barcelona. It’s at home which is nice as our players don’t have to worry about traveling. I’ll be highlighting them more later his week as I look over the Spanish League.
Onto being spoiled…I watched my first MLS game last night as well. The Chicago Fire versus the New York Red Bulls whose new fantastic stadium is in…New Jersey. Hmm. The good news is the American game is not as “clunky” as I had expected. It mostly held my attention due, in large portion, to the way the Red Bulls played. The New Yorkers came in attacking, scored a goal before halftime (Lindpere who is from Estonia – isn’t that the country from the Princess Diaries…digressing), and continued attacking after with great energy. The Fire slowed down as the game progressed. We do have Brian McBride, former US team member who also played for Fulham and Everton of the EPL. He attempted a great bicycle kick in the 23rd minute of the game. He brought a pass down with his chest, "pedaled" it towrad the goal, but it bounced off the post. Chicago did not lack opportunities. They just did not shoot! I was yelling at the television “Shoot, Shoot! Clear openings but no one seemed to want to pull the trigger. Even my Dad, not soccer fan…yet, asked “Why don’t they shoot"? It kind of reminded me of the movie Hoosiers when the coach is telling his players “Pass four times before you shoot”. Did Manager De Los Cabos tell them they had to make a certain number of passes before shooting? Drove me crazy. The passing also left a lot to be desired. Now, I am taking into account this was the first game of the season and therefore fitness and rust may have been factors. Passes were easily given away, and there often seemed a pause between passes – not a flow. As if the receiving player had to think before moving. At Arsenal, it seems passes are made, not only to an individual player, but to a space on the pitch where a player is going to be. Apparently, there have been a lot of changes in the Chicago side so maybe the players are just going to have to get to know each other and gel. It should be interesting to watch the process.

Okay – a very long blog today...I’ll be back tomorrow with info about the Spanish League. Everyone – keep your heads up and get behind our boys for Wednesday. Cheers!