Sol rolls up his sleeves and walks the talk

Champs
By Boris Mellor
October 24 2005

Two weeks ago Arsenal gained victory against Thun in the last 60 seconds, last night they good as won in the first 80 seconds They hold the record for the earliest goal ever (Gilberto), and are consistently amongst the late scorers of Europe. That’s Arsenal, never do anything that’s just average.

This was a massive result, Ajax had only been beaten once at home before by Premiership team in the CL, and we won’t talk about them. We actually could have made a better team from the injured and suspended. No Lehmann, van Persie, Henry, Gilberto, Bergkamp, and Senderos.

 

So predictable Arsenal, having sold Vieira, and let Edu go, with Pires and Ljungberg past it (according to some critics) took everyone by surprise with an eighty second goal. Which when you think about it is quite predictable with Wenger – that is you never get what you expect.

 

Arsenal bossed the first half and could have scored at least another, then on 68 minutes Reyes evaded the offside trap and lured the goalie into giving a penalty. Pires took the perfect penalty. Two nil  to the Arsenal, so now I expected an easy coast to victory. Wrong Arsenal conceded within 120 seconds. I forgot they always go jelly legged whenever they score.

 

Ajax finally began to play for real, tricky wing play, incisive forwards, flicks, lobs and the rest. I now feared we would concede again, that we would tire, that we wouldn’t be able to keep them at bay. Wrong again – now the defence marshalled by Campbell rolled up its sleeves, and for the most part, restricting Ajax to distant shots. It was now one hell of a game, that’s what entertaining football is all about

 

Every player played his part, Reyes made both goals, the midfield supplied Reyes. Ljungberg never stopped running, and took his chance brilliantly. Pires ice cool for the penalty dropped deep to cover the defence. Toure ably assisted Campbell, and Lauren and Cole always threatened. But Man of the Match was Sol Campbell, before the match he talked the talk, they had to unite and roll up their sleeves. We have heard similar stuff from players before, but when Campbell says it, it is for real. He hadn’t just talked the talk, he walked the walk. He was magnificent in defence, but also pushed the team forward and gave them the will to win.

 

Lets have no carping about this victory, nobody expected a midfield of Flamini and Fabregas to do as well, or Freddy and Jose to combine so effectively. Two goals without Henry, so we concede one, so what, the team always had it in their grasp. But then you expected that didn’t you?