Up For Grabs Now

Two and a half minutes of my life that might as well never have happened were those I just spent watching our squad for tonight gently jogging about, to a climactic electric guitar backing soundtrack, as if the vision of our whipper-snappers ambling around London Colney in distinctly pedestrian fashion wasn’t blood-curdling enough for Arsenal TV Online’s free video.

No, there’s an advert for a Bruce Willis movie before it, so if we just show Eboue scratching his balls and the sound of passing traffic everyone will (completely unjustifiably) think our video’s crap.

Or maybe this is one of Arsene’s special training methods. Do we always train to electric guitar, I wonder?

Maybe that’s why Ade’s so angry with everyone at the club – he used to put on hardcore Togonian rap about shopping, but then Denilson said it gave him a mild headache. Van Persie put on some bland electric guitar music instead, and eight weeks later, Ade got his revenge by stamping on his face.

Just as plausible as the other explanations I’ve heard for Ade’s thuggery if you ask me, including his own garbled mutterings about the various people who do or don’t love him.

Tonight we face a Standard Liege side shorn of their highly rated skipper Steve “Definitely” Defour, but we may well have to face the Belgian Butcher Axel Witsel, who will be well rested as he’s in the middle of an eight match ban for chopping another player’s leg in half. Highly rated player, Witsel, and it’ll be interesting to see how he fares against us.

In turn, we will, predictably, be without most of our players, but look certain to see Vito Mannone start in goal. Fabianski must be kicking himself. Except if he did he might injure himself some more and squander still further this rare opportunity to stake his claim ahead of our marvellously hirsute Spanish English Neutral (Swiss?) Waiter Goalkeeper.

There are those who have already written off Mannone on the strength of very little, really. They’d rather see Wojciech Szczesny have a go, if only in the vain hope that David Pleat may have to attempt to pronounce his name in a live broadcast.

Personally, I’m more concerned with letting SuperJack have a run-out. It’d also be lovely to see Sanchez Watt make his bow at Europe’s top table. Blessed with the finest name to emerge from Arsenal’s academy since Quincy Owusu-Abeye (his full name is actually Herschel Sanchez Watt), Sanchez has long been a firm favourite here on UpForGrabsNow. He’s got pace, skill and a rare hairstyle/great name combination that promises much.

That said, we’ll probably go with Mannone, The Back Four, Song, Fabregas, Diaby, Rosicky, Bendtner and Eduardo.I’d be tempted to put Rosicky in central midfield instead of Diaby and put Wilshere on the left, but I’d say it’s more likely that Diaby will start on the wing with Eboue roving around the midfield like a maniac.

Always interested to hear your thoughts.

One man full of thoughts today was Arsene Wenger, who has had his say on everything from Eduardo to player quotas to Vermaelen and Adebawhore.

Most impressive was his quip about Mark Hughes, which I enjoyed mainly because Hughes is exactly the kind of guy the English media love to paint as an honest, straight-talking, decent-family-values guy, when in fact he’s a nonsensical git whose teams have always been a bunch of thugs - until he could afford to buy players of Adebawhore’s calibre. And as soon as he did that he started stamping on the limbs and faces of former team-mates.

But Hughes won’t last long at City. And let’s hope the mental Togonian doesn’t either.

FREE AT LAST: With his caging quashed, the 'Boruc One' is set to be unleashed on Europe's penalty boxes once again

With all the doom-mongering and transfer-related whingeing that’s been going on, only the very perceptive will have emerged from this summer having retained the memory of Arsenal actually owning any players whatsoever. And some good ones, too.

Grabber has done a fine job of swarthily surveying our array of attacking players like the seasoned trooper that he is. Now it’s my turn, with the case for the defence.

Manuel Almunia: combines a career as a top-flight goalkeeper with a part-time role as a German-baiting waiter. Also combines being Spanish with being English, and not getting picked for Spain with not getting picked for England. An Arsene favourite. For years completely unfancied by all, sundry, and everyone else as a bench-warming, cross-flapping enigma, you’ve got to admire the pluck of the man Mad Jens once complained had “only started playing football aged 30″.  Hope he stays fit.

Lukasz Fabianski: A blonde girl in a pub once told me that Fabianski is the best looking Arsenal player since Flamini. Be that as it may, his carefully slicked down fringe didn’t do much to quieten the howls of agony when he inexplicably charged past the onrushing Drogba at Wembley in the spring. Still, we all make mistakes, and he’s made some decent saves. Only 24, and improving. But hope Manuel stays fit.

Gael Clichy: A big season for Gael as he tries to dislodge Evra from the France team. Evra looks permanently furious and fights with passing groundsman at the drop of a rake. Clichy is extraordinarily fast, but developed a nasty tendency to fall over at crucial periods, such as in injury time against the hated foe. Hopefully this will be stamped out and he will finally learn to shoot. A top player who should be looking to last the season this year.

Bacary Sagna: Arguably the best player in the world. Sure, you’d have to argue that one pretty well, but if we had eleven Bacary Sagnas… well, I’d stick four in defence and the rest would have to compete with the others for places. One could probably play in midfield somewhere. And we might get away with playing a couple in the Ladies team. A magnificent defender, a soldier, and a gentleman.

Thomas Vermaelen: If you can’t sign Nemanja Vidic, why not sign someone who looks a bit like him? Steely of eye, iron of jaw and proud of forehead, Vermaelen has all the physical attributes to prove the doubters wrong about Wenger’s ability to buy defenders. Plus, he’s captained Ajax already and at 24 should have valuable experience and some great years ahead of him. I think he will prove to be a very shrewd buy.

William Gallas: Still here. After all the huffing and sulking, Wenger did the unthinkable and got rid of plucky Kolo instead, which leaves a lot of responsibility with Gallas. Unfairly maligned for his generally solid performances in my opinion, Gallas’ experience will be hugely important. He should realise that it’s his last season at the top, nail his colours to the mast and play a blinder. Could still be a world-beating stopper for us if his head is right and he can gel with Vermaelen.

Johan Djourou: Cited by Wenger as one of the many (three) tall players in our squad, this could be a breakthrough year for the young swiss, who has clearly muscled himself well ahead of Senderos in the picking order. Must steer clear of injury, but a first team spot is certainly not beyond him this season.

Emmanuel Eboue: So good, we profiled him twice. Arguably the best player in the world. Mad, bad, and often dangerous to pass to. Let’s hope that when he does get on he plays in defence, that he continues to cut inside so thrillingly (and entirely unpredictably) and that he wins a penalty at Old Trafford with a dive so egregious that it shocks the world. Reportedly wanted by Barcelona as a replacement for the tediously magnificent Dani Alves, and who can blame them?

Back 4 Extras: Arsene Knows. More than anything he seems to know how to find lithe quicksilver young left full-backs. Kieran Gibbs will have to fight it out with Armand Traore to be Clichy’s back up this year, though both players could surely also be useful on the wing if pressed into action. Mikael Silvestre continues to cement his place as a firm fans favourite, which is why we all hope he’s used sparingly.

Alex Song: Turned himself into a bit of a lynch-pin by the end of last season, though that was partly because we didn’t have any other players left. A good start could see him kick on to become a major force, though you still wonder if Wenger doesn’t see him as a defender. The face of Arsenal’s cosmetics range, there is still time to make yourself smell like Song. Prone to dozing off against correctly-termed lesser teams, our soft underbelly is likely to completely collapse without him, unless we get another defensive midfielder soonish.

Denilson: Famously “not as good as Kaka”, as the woman behind me repeatedly insists on pointing out, Denilson is a very promising talent, who must be looking to really impose himself on the team this year. Blessedly injury-averse, the ever-present young square-pass merchant isn’t going to convince everyone, but he’s convinced Mr Wenger, who will want him, like Song, to add a bit of grit and consistency to his game. Also like Song, likely to be the scapegoat for any poor results.

Aaron Ramsey: Tidy, skilful and a future mainstay. Looked overawed at points last year, but should know his way around by now. Not one to hang about and clearly convinced of his ability (just in a Welsh, rather than Danish way, if you get me) Aaron is likely to see a lot of gametime, especially if no other central midfielders arrive. Did I mention that some Arsenal fans want to see a defensive midfielder brought in?

Prognosis: The patient is a bit off-colour for this time of year, and looks thin around the middle. Would benefit from a muscular injection in defensive midfield and centre-half. What an original conclusion.

Thank God the season’s here. There’s been far too much Arsene-bashing from the press and some fans, and futile, circular, transfer-related harping. A win on Saturday would be the best way to forget all about it.

In any team, but especially one as raw as Arsenal’s current crop, the sale of two of your most experienced players represents a risk. Selling them to the team tipped by many as your closest challenger is a gamble so big and fat you could put lend it some goalie gloves and call it Paddy Kenny. 

At first glance, Manchester City’s strategy would seem to be a winner. If you’re going to spend big, better still to weaken your key rivals by signing their stronger players. It makes sense.  They got our vice-captain and longest serving player, and our main striker. Which sounds pretty devastating.

But Mr Wenger is definitely up to something

Famed for his ability to sell off damaged goods at the right time, some are suggesting that Arsenal are getting more money for Toure and Adebayor than they’re worth; that like many others to leave N5 they will soon discover that Arsenal made them look like rather better players than they actually are; and that both players are in decline in any case.

Let’s hope so. Our massive financial disadvantage is only going to get bigger if we lose out on Champions League football next spring, an eventuality which would in all probability prove pivotal to the modern history of the football club.

My instinct is that Mr Wenger has got this right.

Toure was a stop-gap who grew into a lynch-pin, treasured by all at the club, but rarely considered a truly top-class defender. The last of the Invincibles, he will be missed by many, but more for his character and heart than his ability.

He was always one of those players whose eventual market value was difficult to predict, and the £16 million figure mentioned seems like good money for a player who was unhappy enough to request a move in January.

Which leaves Gallas, Vermaelen, Djourou, Senderos, Song and Silvestre, and, to be honest, a lot of Gooners praying for another centre half.

At the arse-end of last season, Mr Wenger regularly lamented our lack of height in defence, which points towards a certain 6′5” Norwegian Cottager.

Hangeland for Toure? Sounds like the right kind of roulette to me.

Much in the tradition of my contributions, this week I refuse to degrade myself to the level of other commentators by seeing how long I can make hilarious leaving puns about Emmanuel Adebayor: ‘AdeBYEBYEor’, ‘Adebay-OFF’. ADEBAYOFF HAHA YEAH SEE! I shall instead ask you more intelligent readers a different question:

Why are Manchester City assembling the laziest team in the history of football?

It must be difficult having unlimited money. Forced to labour under the impression that winning things will somehow now be very easy, and happen irrespective of having an aggressive Welsh wanker managing your club, as an owner or chairman you are forced to set yourself little games to amuse yourself. Different people do different things. Roman Abramovich got around this problem by firing one of the world’s best managers, hugely respected by his team, and replacing him with an unqualified Uncle Festa lookalike, and then a succession of other unsuitable foreigners after he proved to be surprisingly good. Manchester City’s chairman is approaching the issue differently, instead choosing to purchase a wide and exciting range of the world’s laziest footballers. Clearly he was inspired by the sight of Craig Bellamy and Robinho sitting in a chair for training (or something), and decided that if he bought a whole team like that it would make the Premiership a bit more interesting.

This is the only way to explain the otherwise ludicrous amount of money he has spent luring the gangly, bone-idle Togolese cash hole up to Eastlands. As an Arsenal fan I cheer, but as a fan of football I weep tears of hysterical laughter mingled with great sadness. Never in the field of human football has so much been paid by so few for so little. Oh well. Hopefully he can continue to score against Spurs, and we can continue to laugh at them. Other than that there is little hope, given that his previous record suggests he operates a system whereby the number of goals he scores per season is inversely proportional to his salary.  £40,000 – 30 goals. £80,000 – 15 goals. £150,000 – seven goals if they’re lucky.

More fool them I say. 

We’re back. And we didn’t miss much, did we?

Vermaelen signed, youngster after nipper signed up on ever longer contracts, and Mr Wenger made a brief appearance  on French radio. You didn’t really need your daily splash of UpForGrabsNow to get you through that, did you?

The truth is, it’s been no time for blogging. No, now is the time of year for basking in the hot sun, and the warm afterglow of Arshavin’s quadruple at Anfield.

There’ll be no football for ages and it’s no use torturing yourself by wistfully flitting through Arsenal.com’s exhaustive serialisation of the Player of the Year poll results – “Revealed Today! 34th in our poll was… Amaury Bischoff!”

That way lies insanity. Better to tough it out with a spot of Wimbledon and occasional chortles at GuardianFootball’s superlative Rumour Mill.

One rumour to burst from its cold chrysalis and emerge blinking into the glorious flash-bulbs of a shirt-holding-up-ceremony with all the trimmings, was our interest in former Ajax skipper Thomas Vermaelen. He looks a shrewd signing. Great experience gained as captain of a major European club at just 23, and Tommy will surely be pressing for a starting spot in what’s been a problem position ever since Sol. He looks a bit like Vidic, I think, which means he possesses the eyes of an especially calculating cougar about to clamp it’s jaws around the neck of a hapless snow-hare, and appears to have had a sizeable steel plate embedded deep within his forehead. Let’s hope he plays like Vidic, too.

I expect to see a couple more brought in within the next few weeks, but Mr Wenger will be patient and try to pick his moment. Unless a lot of agents are telling a lot of porkies (not altogether unlikely really) we’re keeping an eye on a range of central defenders, from Werder Bremen’s Brazilian man-giant Naldo to Stuttgart’s promising Serdar Tasci.

What’s that? No midfielders?

The Arsenal Midfield Transfer Target Mystery grows deeper by the day, with every hack and his swarthy hound scrapping for a place within the very broad consensus of opinion That Arsenal Need A Tough-Tackling Midfield Enforcer If They Are To Challenge For Major Honours Next Season (the concluding phrase of every report on Arsenal’s transfer policy for the last, um, 3 years – with a brief interlude during Flamini’s good form).

Everyone is agreed. Mr Wenger has to buy a big hairy troll-man to guard Fabregas.

But who? Nobody seems to have a scoobie, frankly. The papers have largely (and mercifully) stopped bothering with the customary nods towards Inler, Cana, M’bia and Matuidi. They’ve been nodding towards that lot, and a few others, for bloody ages. They’ve probably got really sore necks by now. You’ve got to stop somewhere.

So it seems like there are a few things that need to be set straight.

Firstly, the self-styled Militant Tendency amongst the moaners have got to sit down and be quiet. Now. If they need an outlet for their misguided fury, they should join UKIP, where they can fight it out with harmless others.

Put up, or shut up! … In fact, no, just shut up.

Terrifyingly, some of them even got to speak to Wenger directly this week, clearly an experience he did not enjoy. And why should he? He is the club’s greatest post-war manager, having brought untold success and stability to the club and maintained elite performance despite having bugger-all cash and rotten luck. He shouldn’t have to deal with this sort of shit. Of course he’s made a few mistakes, but that doesn’t give any gibbering idiot with a copy of SuperGoals and a reading age of seven the right to have a go.

Such people are not Arsenal’s affliction alone. You only need to look at the behaviour of the United fans who, on the day that they won the title against one of their bitterest enemies, chose to celebrate by whingeing incessantly about the future of one member of the club’s stellar strikeforce and throwing beer-cans at the front of the stadium. A protest about transfers. On the day they retained the world’s most prestigious championship. From which tree etc…

We need a massive show of support for Wenger this weekend to let him know that Arsenal are not a club supported entirely by psychotic Football Manager fantasists, and that some of us know a good thing when we see it.

Wenger leaving would be a catastrophe. If he were to do so as a result of the people who’re meant to be supporting Arsenal, it would be truly, truly shameful.

Secondly, Guillem Balague (the man vilified by many for this whole Arsene to Madrid thing) is not an idiot, nor is he a bad journalist. He’s a very good and very well-connected one – especially about anything involving Real Madrid or Spaniards in the Premiership. Back in December it was Balague who was first to report the full extent of Fabregas’ injury, when the rest of the press thought they were doom-mongering by putting him down as out for only 3 weeks. He has clearly got a very interesting phonebook.

However, he is Spanish and he is a Madridista. The Spanish style of football journalism, as anyone who read Marca during Henry and Vieira’s various on-off transfers can attest, makes no bones about launching into extensive, detailed speculative accounts of what could happen, given recent news-flow. Balague’s more imaginative claims at the end of his piece on Wenger, where you can pretty much hear 5 being made out of the addition of 2 and 2 between every sentence, is really more of a stylistic flourish than anything to get het up about. You’d be unlikely to find a British journo mapping out a possible course of events with such confidence and precision, but that’s just a cultural preference.

While suspicious of sure-footed prognostication, British hacks certainly do a fine line in bare-arsed, shame-faced fabrication. The Daily Heil, for example, has a proud history of racism, sexism, Nazi-sympathising… and talking complete and utter codshit about Arsenal FC (apologies, James from The Apprentice). This week they tossed in the figure of £13 million and announced that this was to be Arsene’s summer transfer pot. Not 2 days previously, Arsene had told the shareholders meeting (which was right after a board meeting):

We spoke about funds and yes there is money available.

There! Right there! He said there was only £13 million and so he’s going to leave! He said it in front of everyone! Now it’s true!

“Money available” = “£13 million”. Fact of the British Press. Baffled? You wouldn’t be the only one.

The last couple of years haven’t been the easiest as an Arsenal supporter. Don’t get me wrong, of course we have come through much bleaker and more difficult times than the recent period, it’s just that there’s something especially painful about the feeling of coming close time and again, something especially frustrating about glimpsing so much glorious potential only for it to peter out at crucial moments.

Somehow, this season there’s the sense that something has to go for us, and that with a bit of the luck that we’ve seemed to miss for the last few seasons, this team could achieve something incredible.

Arsene couldn’t have summed up the feeling of every Arsenal fan better:

This is the moment we’ve been waiting for… there is something special we all hope will come out at this stage of the competition.

The great thing about being a Gooner, particularly under Wenger, is that you can look forward to every game knowing that if the team plays as well as it can the other team simply won’t stand a chance. Regardless of who they are, how expensive their side is and how many medals they’ve already got in their starting line-up.

But at the highest level, tonight’s level, we still haven’t seen this team keep up that incredible quality of performance for long enough to win through. Liverpool last year. Chelsea  ten days ago. It’s so frustrating because we know that the side is capable of winning. But make no mistake, the reason we can’t sustain that level of play is because it’s bloody difficult to reach in the first place, something some Gooners understand better than others. There’s a sense that though we’ve seen patches of just how devastating our game can be, we still haven’t quite realised what it is capable of doing to the opposition if sustained over 2 legs.

Tonight, of all the big Arsenal nights, is the time when these players need to perform. There are some games you never forget, games that become definitive of players, teams, even clubs. Remember Wiltord in 2002. Remember Giggs in 1999.

Tonight we face a United at the height of their powers. Talk of their recent form can be dismissed - these are big game players who know how to raise it for the big nights and how to perform when it really matters. They are the champions of England, Europe and the World, and tonight Arsenal have the chance not just to burst their bubble of dominance, but also to inflict the sort of defeat that announces the arrival of a major force in European football.

It’s a huge opportunity, one we can’t afford to waste. It’s also the sort of fixture our players should live for. Teams like Real Madrid and AC Milan are constantly turning the heads of our young players, and have been for many years. Well, neither of them are in the semi-finals of the Champions’ League, however much they might think of themselves. Tonight is a chance to show that clubs don’t get bigger than Arsenal FC, and that for footballers with real ambition, Arsenal is the place to be.

Let’s hope our boys make it count.

Far too nervous to type properly, let alone attempt any cheeky gags.

No. Today is not the day for such tomfoolery. It is a day for soldiers, for stiffening the sinews and summoning up the blood. And hopefully ribald celebration come 7pm.

With our defence decimated (count them – no Almunia, no Gallas, no Sagna, no Clichy, no Djourou, possibly no Gibbs) we could very well end up with Alex Song at centre half and Silvestre at left-back. If anyone has any other suggestions, please can you let me (or preferably Arsene, actually) know asap. Word is that Gibbs is looking better than previously thought, though it’s a very big game for such a young fella to be coming into in doubtful shape. He will have to imitate the action of the tiger this afternoon, if he plays.

Song played in central defence at Old Trafford at the end of last season and did pretty well – Wenger always said this would be his long term position (though that has probably changed now). But he’s on form and high in confidence, so it may not be the worst thing, though it would leave our midfield shorn of its enforcer against Lampard, Essien and Ballack. <gulp>

It could be a very telling team selection today from Arsene, I think, especially (and for very different reasons) in the top half of the pitch. My guess is that he’ll sacrifice Nasri for Arshavin and play a kind of 4-4-1-1 as he did the other night, with Van Persie dropping pretty deep.

In their game at Anfield, Guus was intelligent enough to figure out that Liverpool minus Gerrard = Not That Great, and that Gerrard divided by Essien = An Easy Win for Chelsea. I really hope he won’t try and pull similar feats of central midfield algebra on Cesc today, but I rather worry that this is exactly the evil scheme up his sleeve. If Cesc’s playing with Essien on top of him all day, he will need to have an absolute blinder which, being famously good at football, is certainly not beyond him.

Is there an argument for playing the evanescent Eboue ahead of Theo? How much might Eboue’s knowledge of Arsene’s shady activities Last Summer win him favour for today’s team sheet? Interested to know what kind of front 6 you’d pick if you were everyone’s favourite alsatian Alsatian.

Chelsea’s Bruisers are in top cup form, and they showed on Tuesday that they’re not afraid to spoil a good story. Their main threats are: Hiddink (as RvP pointed out, the luckiest man in the world and apparently beloved of referees and linesmen all over the world), Essien, Lampard and Drogba.

The other night, Drogba was about as good as they get. Pretty unplayable. Let’s see some of that from Ade today, please, and none of that from Arsenal reject Didier. Wouldn’t it be great if Song totally outplayed him? That would really give the English press something to be confused about.

COME ON ARSENAL! Let’s give them a good Duffing! (We’ve been doing it since 1947 after all)

A comfortable win, then, and it bodes well for the rest of the season. If you had told me after we lost to Man City that come mid-April we’d be in the semis of the Champions League and the FA Cup, whilst secure in fourth in the Premiership, I’d have chomped your hand off quicker than Frank Lampard at a buffet.

Still, that’s where we find ourselves, after a convincing performance the other night in which it was easy to forget that Villarreal are a famously tricky team to play against. Proving that his statement of pre-match intent was no joke, Wenger started with a bullish 4-4-2, with Alex Song as the only holding midfielder. It’s a sign of how far he’s come that the boss entrusted him with that responsibility in such a crucial match. As it happened, he didn’t let anyone down, and demonstrated more of the niggly, occasional behind-clattery robustness and positional sense that has made him, in the hyperbolic words of my kid brother, ‘Awesome’. Picture that two years ago, when ‘we’ve only got one Song’ was an anthem of high relief, as opposed to the triumphant chorus at the end two nights ago.

Theo started the goals, with a deft chip after an incisive run onto Cesc’s backheel, a goal that was spookily reminiscent of a young Freddie Ljungberg. We then had most of the play in the first half though no more goals, despite Ade crapping a header almost over the line.

At the start of the second half they looked a bit less rubbish, with Fabianski called on to do some clearing and racing out, which to his credit he did effectively each time, and refreshingly devoid of the Lehmann technique of cack-handed charging. He and the jury-rigged defence did well, even though the Spaniards sin Marcos Senna were about as penetrative as George Michael at a Sex in the City singalong.

Finally Ade, taking a break from being permanently offside, latched onto RvP’s stonker of a ball and poked it home. From then on Villarreal wilted visibly, and more goals seemed on the cards. When it came, as it happened, it was from a slightly dubious penalty after Theo went down under what looked like a pretty innocuous challenge. Anyway it wasn’t that relevant, and Robin stepped up to slap it into the top-right hand corner. Game over.

An enjoyable evening all round, not least for Chris Kamara, who exactly predicted the correct score in his column in Nuts magazine, of which I am a devotee.

Also for Super Bob Pires. The comfort of the scoreline gave the crowd some room, and towards the end a long, deafening chorus of ‘Su-per, super Rob’ and ‘You’ll always be a gooner’ went around. It was lovely to see and hear, I hope he was pleased – he certainly deserved it. Though he was visibly off the pace on Wednesday he still dropped the occasional shoulder, and shuffled those feet that never quite seem to touch the ground as little reminders of what once was. It was a fabulous return for a tremendous servant to the club. What a legend. If you’ve forgotten, here are some reminders.

So United in the semi. That’ll be fun, won’t it?

A magnificent performance from the boys, who threatened to run riot in the first half and then strolled through the second. Villarreal were surprisingly poor, and rarely have I seen one player (Marcos Senna) missed so conspicuously – it was like their defence and midfield had completely lost their bearings.

There’s been more than enough yabbering about what happened. I only want to add a word of praise for Alex Song, man of the match for me, who put in a mighty shift at the heart of midfield. Whether he was spoiling, blocking, chasing, clearing, or passing searching balls out wide, everything he did – pretty much – seemed to come off on a night where he came of age as a top flight footballer.

How do you replace The Invisible Wall? Perhaps with a Very Visible Wall.

Minor Gripe: Ade. Now, over the tie he scored twice and of course that’s what you ask for in a striker. From a distance, he did well, making decisive contributions in both matches. But, wouldn’t it be so much nicer if he appeared to give one? If he found himself onside every so often? If he was on his toes ready to pounce for loose balls in the box and if when moves broke down he got back into a dangerous position rather than losing interest and looking mystified? I’m not saying he shouldn’t start, because 4 goals in 3 games is rather a nice ratio, but I just don’t see why this has to be accompanied with such a grudging attitude, as if playing for Arsenal is this horrible thing that he’s being forced to do. Plus, the game would have been over by half time last night if he’d been that interested in it. Interested to get some readerly opinion on him.

Amid the hype (see below) about the United match, no-one should forget that this is only the second time in the Club’s history that we’ve made it to the semi’s of the Big Cup. Greater and far more celebrated Arsenal teams with big names and world-beating reputations have failed to get this far before, so to make it here with what is essentially a youth team is a sensational achievement.

Now it’s time for the kids to do some proper giant-killing.

Ten years ago, in season 1998/99, we should have won the double for the second season in a row. Instead, United won the FA Cup Semi-Final, pipped us in the league thanks to some shameful rolling over from T*ttenham, completed the treble with an incredibly lucky win against Bayern… and we still haven’t heard the end of it.

We now have the chance to knock them out of Europe, deny them the chance of back-to-back Champions’ Leagues and put a massive dent in their league campaign. It doesn’t get any bigger.

We will be playing at home in the second leg, by no means a decisive advantage but one which it’s great to have before a ball’s been kicked. Arsene said the percentages in favour of the home team in the second leg is 55-45 – which isn’t half bad if he’s right (and yes I’ve read Finkelstein on the subject, I just don’t really believe him). In any case, when we’re at home in first legs, things always seem to get very cagey and we end up going away with a very slim lead to defend.

It’s still 2 weeks away, and we’ve a massive match at Wembley in between, but I already feel too nervous to eat. I’m off to put a few quid on a spectacular Eboue winner at the Emirates.