Arsène Wenger: Arsenal cannot be stupid versus Suárez, Messi and Neymar
• Wenger wary of Suárez in Tuesday’s Champions League visit of Barcelona
• Hull City’s Steve Bruce says promotion is priority despite 0-0 FA Cup draw
Hull City’s Eldin Jakupovic saves a shot from Danny Welbeck of Arsenal in the FA Cup. Photograph: Jason Dawson/Rex/Shutterstock
Understandably, there have been times when Arsène Wenger has allowed the “what if” scenario to play out in his mind. What if that infamous £40m plus £1 bid for Luis Suárez had been accepted by Liverpool? “It happened to me before but not now,” the Arsenal manager mused.
Enough water has flowed under that particular bridge and, as he prepares for Tuesday night’s visit of Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, Wenger finds himself not so much regretful as full of admiration for the qualities that Suárez brings to the sparkling spectacle of the Catalan club’s attack. The French complicité is the word that chimes with him to describe the special connection between Lionel Messi, Suárez and Neymar. He searches for the right translation but there is no single English word to do it justice. It is a kind of telepathy, an empathy, a deep alliance, an understanding without words.
The value of Suárez to this complicité is, Wenger reckons, crucial. “Suárez gives that to a team. He did it at Liverpool, he did it playing for Uruguay with Cavani and Forlán and did it well. Suárez is the kind of guy who manages to create that spirit in teams. Apart from the individual talent the three have, they have a great solidarity. When you see someone like Messi, who could score his 300th goal, give the ball to Suárez when he had the opportunity to score that means there’s really something in there.”
Almost as soon as the final whistle blew on 90 uninspiring minutes against Hull City in the FA Cup that were clearly not much of a warm-up, attention turned to the rather more mind-boggling problem of how to contain Barcelona. The warning bells of knockout pressures in seasons past clang for Wenger. “Looking recently in these big games, in the first tie at home we can’t be stupid,” he warns. “Many times we’ve won away and at home we’ve conceded. We have to find a good balance between defending and attacking. Individually, all their players are difficult to stop. We have to find a way to do it collectively.” Might Arsenal try to sit deeper than they usually do, as was the case in beating Bayern Munich at the Emirates last autumn? “I believe that at some point in the game we’ll have to be deep because of the way they play. You can’t always stop them high.”
That balance between attack and defence is a tricky enough one to pull off, perhaps even more so as Arsenal’s key forwards are for one reason or another not at their sharpest. Danny Welbeck has his first start of the season under his belt but is presumably not quite ready for a challenge of Barcelona’s intensity. Olivier Giroud is playing well but has not scored in his last seven appearances. Alexis Sánchez has taken part in six games since returning from injury but is not yet totally retuned.
All of them, plus Theo Walcott and others, had reasonable chances repelled by Hull’s Eldin Jakupovic, the top performer for Steve Bruce’s second string. Returning to the Emirates to meet an old foe whetted the appetite for what he wants Hull to return to as quickly as possible. “We’d love to go to Wembley again and try to win the FA Cup but my sole priority is getting the club back in the Premier League,” Bruce said. “We want to come to Arsenal, we want to come to Liverpool, we want to go to Man U. Keep re-establishing the club to make it bigger and better. That’s got to be the aim.”
While Arsenal take on Messi, Suárez and Neymar, Hull focus on a trip to Ipswich Town in the Championship at exactly the same time. A replay is something neither club will appreciate, especially as finding a date for it is proving a logistical nightmare.
Man of the match Eldin Jakupovic (Hull)
• Hull City’s Steve Bruce says promotion is priority despite 0-0 FA Cup draw
Hull City’s Eldin Jakupovic saves a shot from Danny Welbeck of Arsenal in the FA Cup. Photograph: Jason Dawson/Rex/Shutterstock
Understandably, there have been times when Arsène Wenger has allowed the “what if” scenario to play out in his mind. What if that infamous £40m plus £1 bid for Luis Suárez had been accepted by Liverpool? “It happened to me before but not now,” the Arsenal manager mused.
Enough water has flowed under that particular bridge and, as he prepares for Tuesday night’s visit of Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, Wenger finds himself not so much regretful as full of admiration for the qualities that Suárez brings to the sparkling spectacle of the Catalan club’s attack. The French complicité is the word that chimes with him to describe the special connection between Lionel Messi, Suárez and Neymar. He searches for the right translation but there is no single English word to do it justice. It is a kind of telepathy, an empathy, a deep alliance, an understanding without words.
The value of Suárez to this complicité is, Wenger reckons, crucial. “Suárez gives that to a team. He did it at Liverpool, he did it playing for Uruguay with Cavani and Forlán and did it well. Suárez is the kind of guy who manages to create that spirit in teams. Apart from the individual talent the three have, they have a great solidarity. When you see someone like Messi, who could score his 300th goal, give the ball to Suárez when he had the opportunity to score that means there’s really something in there.”
Almost as soon as the final whistle blew on 90 uninspiring minutes against Hull City in the FA Cup that were clearly not much of a warm-up, attention turned to the rather more mind-boggling problem of how to contain Barcelona. The warning bells of knockout pressures in seasons past clang for Wenger. “Looking recently in these big games, in the first tie at home we can’t be stupid,” he warns. “Many times we’ve won away and at home we’ve conceded. We have to find a good balance between defending and attacking. Individually, all their players are difficult to stop. We have to find a way to do it collectively.” Might Arsenal try to sit deeper than they usually do, as was the case in beating Bayern Munich at the Emirates last autumn? “I believe that at some point in the game we’ll have to be deep because of the way they play. You can’t always stop them high.”
That balance between attack and defence is a tricky enough one to pull off, perhaps even more so as Arsenal’s key forwards are for one reason or another not at their sharpest. Danny Welbeck has his first start of the season under his belt but is presumably not quite ready for a challenge of Barcelona’s intensity. Olivier Giroud is playing well but has not scored in his last seven appearances. Alexis Sánchez has taken part in six games since returning from injury but is not yet totally retuned.
All of them, plus Theo Walcott and others, had reasonable chances repelled by Hull’s Eldin Jakupovic, the top performer for Steve Bruce’s second string. Returning to the Emirates to meet an old foe whetted the appetite for what he wants Hull to return to as quickly as possible. “We’d love to go to Wembley again and try to win the FA Cup but my sole priority is getting the club back in the Premier League,” Bruce said. “We want to come to Arsenal, we want to come to Liverpool, we want to go to Man U. Keep re-establishing the club to make it bigger and better. That’s got to be the aim.”
While Arsenal take on Messi, Suárez and Neymar, Hull focus on a trip to Ipswich Town in the Championship at exactly the same time. A replay is something neither club will appreciate, especially as finding a date for it is proving a logistical nightmare.
Man of the match Eldin Jakupovic (Hull)
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