Barcelona Preview - Come On You Gunners, It's Our Time!

ARSENAL DNA

     Well well well. The match we've all been waiting for. We travel to the Camp Nou on Tuesday to take Barcelona on for the second leg of the Champions League round of 16. Because of our win at the Emirates of 2-1, a draw is acceptable, but defeat is not unless it is by one goal and we score more than one.
Ex:
3-2 ~ We're through.
1-0 ~ We're out.
1-1 ~ We're through.
0-0 ~ We're through.

4-1 ~ We're out.

     But this side is very different from the one that lost last season.

     While we are currently suffering from injuries, it's not as bad as last year. This year, we're only missing Theo and Song. Oh, and what's that you say? I've forgotten to put van Persie on the injury list? Nope! Wenger included van Persie last minute into the squad that's flying to Barcelona. While I doubt that RvP we will start, including him on the bench means Arsene probably intends to play the Dutchman.
     Not only that, but when a player is injured, Wenger usually has that player stay in London to get their fitness back. Still a little strange, though, because Wenger said six weeks out. There was some speculation that Wenger did this on purpose as a mind game, but he silenced the rumors.
     Therefore, I think this will be our starting lineup:

                        Bendtner

     Arshavin                             Nasri

                        Fabregas

               Wilshere        Diaby

Clichy     Koscielny     Djourou     Sagna

                        Szczesny

     While this is a fairly strong lineup (without RvP as a starter), I don't think it's the best we could do against Barca. I suggest this lineup:

                      Chamakh

     Nasri                              Bendtner

                       Fabregas

               Wilshere      Denilson

Clichy     Koscielny     Djourou     Sagna

                       Szczesny



     Yes, I know Arhsavin isn't there. But here's why I picked this lineup-

• Busquets will play center back for Barca in the absence of Puyol. The aerial presence of Chamakh would be hard to deal with.

• I feel that Bendtner is much more of a threat on the wing. Not only that, Maxwell doesn't go forward too often and when he does he isn't very effective. Therefore having Bendtner on the wing wouldn't leave us too vulnerable.

• Nasri has played on both flanks for us, but when I watch him play on the left I feel he is much more effective because he can turn onto his right foot. Also, he would protect Clichy better from the threat of Alves and if Arshavin played there we wouldn't have much defensive cover on Alves. Barca fans say Alves is just as dangerous as Messi, so let's not underestimate him.

• Bendtner and Chamakh could together get into the box and we could put crosses in. Good luck Busquets.

     One of the cons to having this lineup is that Maxwell is their weak link (compared to Alves) and Bendtner wouldn't test him as much as Nasri would. Anyway, on to the squad that is suspect Wenger will play.

     I see it as good and bad. Bad because Arshavin will not cover Dani Alves well, but good because Arshavin is very direct and the Russian can catch Barca on the break. Another thing I disagree with is if Diaby were to start. Diaby's height compared to Iniesta, Xavi, and basically the entire Barcelona attack is notable. Therefore, when in a one versus one situation, he would be much slower and and simply would not be effective. Also, another problem with having Diaby play is that he takes too long on the ball which slows our play down.
    
     On the other hand, Denilson's passing is sloppy, defensively he is weak, and going forward he rarely makes an impact. However, I say Denilson, because his style of play is more for the Spanish game than the English. His height means his tackles would have a higher succes rate (I believe) compared to Diaby's. Hopefully his passing won't be as sloppy as it usually is if he does play.

     So that's done. I'd rather have Denilson than Diaby. In any other match I'd pick Diaby, but Denilson gets the o.k. from me for this one.

     From Barcelona's standpoint, it's not too much of a worry that Busquets plays center back, because he's played their before. Abidal meanwhile isn't a worry for them either because he regularily fills in for Pique or Puyol.
     Because Busquets drops back to defense, either Keita or Mascherano will play the holding role. My guess is Keita, because Barcelona payed 17 million to have Mascherano warm the bench. If Mascherano does play, it's good and bad. Mascherano is an annoying niggling little cunt, and I don't like that. On the contrary, his passing isn't very good so if he were to play he may disrupt Xavi and Iniesta's midfield dictatorship.

     Up top, the usual for Barca. Sagna will have to deal with David Villa, and I think he will deal with him fairly well, since Eboue did alright. However, communication between Sagna and the rest of the defense will be key tonight when Villa drifts inward.
     Then there is Clichy vs. Pedro and Dani Alves. Last time out we didn't see much of Pedro, but we did see a lot of Alves, especially when Arshavin came on in the first leg and pushed Nasri over to the right flank. Not only that, but when Alves came far up the pitch, Clichy seemed unaware and therefore his positioning was poor. I think the difficulty of Clichy's job depends on who plays in front of him.
     And then there's Messi. Last time out Koscielny had a brilliant match, and quite oddly kept Messi fairly quiet. Hopefully Koscielny can replicate his performance, but it's hard to replicate perfection.

     There are some people that will try to make comments about Fabregas's 'faithfulness' and his 'dedication'. Thankfully the skipper has silenced all of the stupid, beaten to deat comments by saying this:

“I am not here to shut up comments or to beat anyone specifically, I am just here to win for Arsenal Football Club. Sometimes I don’t understand these reactions or comments about people saying I want this or I feel this. I want to win for Arsenal and that’s it. I don’t put anything extra in my head because I play against Barcelona in the Nou Camp. It is a special game for everyone because it is a special stadium and we play against a good team. That’s it. It's one more game that we want to win. I don't like people talking about what I feel. Only I know what I feel. I want to do my best for Arsenal, and that is it. "I just want to do well tomorrow, to keep improving myself and for the team. That is all."

     Very well put, and I must say I am more than pleased with that quote. He shows hom much Arsenal means to him, and despite the fact he wants to one day play for Barcelona, he will let that moment wait.

     But I don't want this match to be about Cesc; we need to focus on earning a draw or defeating Barcelona. My predicted scoreline is 1-1, and I usually like to name the scorer, but I have no clue. What do you think the scoreline will be? Comment and tell me.

     So now let's talk some tactics.
     As we all know, we are no Inter Milan side that can go to the Nou Camp and simply defend for an entire match. We are by defintion an attacking side, so that's what we'll do. When we have the ball, I expect we will try our best to play the possesion game, and that we won't commit many players forward, especially Clichy and Sagna.
     As we did in the Emirtaes, I also expect that we will keep a high line to try and stop Barca from possesing the ball in our third to the best of our ablity. There is no doubt they will do so, and what's most important is that we don't lose our shape, to not get distracted by the fluid movement of Barca's forwards.
     When we can, we will counter attack, and I think it's our best chance of scoring. Arshavin scored the winning goal two weeks ago via a counter attack, and with the pace of our wing players we should be a real threat. Therefore, I doubt Keita/Mascherano will venture too far forward, along with Maxwell. I'm sure Alves will not restrain himeslf from going forward though, and that's why I think the player chosen for left wing will have a hugely important part to play in the match.
     It's our time tomorrow. We have come so far with such a young squad, and I think we deserve to adavnce past Barcelona.
     Have yourself a good Tuesday, and hopefully a good Wednesday (night) as well.