Thursday, April 06, 2006

last night's game was drab. Juve, despite having Nedved back, lacked creativity up-front, and never really looked liked they were gonna claw back the deficit from the first leg. Ibrahimovic was the biggest culprit, with his lack of urgency and his unwillingness to chase a lost cause. Juve's misery was further compounded by Nedved's sending-off following a horrendous tackle from behind on Eboue. Capello will have to do major reworking on his team in the summer if they are to even come close to winning the European Cup.

Arsenal's no-sweat showing last night will mean that they go into Saturday's massive game high on confidence. Utd will have to cut off the supply line to Henry, and also to his strike partner should there be one. in recent weeks. Adebayor has partnered Henry up-front to great effect, and should he play, Utd will have to be wary. our guys will also have to close down on any space that Arsenal have, to disrupt their slick passing system, and to pressure them into mistakes. Reyes and Pires will go into the game fishing for freekicks, so Utd will have to be careful not to give needless freekicks around the penalty area. in my view, of Arsenal's back-four, Sendoros appears to be the weakest link, especially when pace is concerned. Arsenal will be in trouble if Ronaldo or Rooney runs at Sendoros and exploits any space that may open up between him and Flamini, Arsenal's makeshift leftback. their goalkeeper Lehmann will go into the game in great spirit, so an early goal will be crucial to sow doubt in the minds of the Arsenal players. Arsenal will have a good bench of players to call upon, so Fergie will have to drum into his players the need to concentrate on the task at hand for the full 90 minutes, and not look too far ahead. looking forward to what should be a cracker of a game. come on Utd!

i heard the crickets at 12:13 pm

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