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Arsenal still pursue Valencia
Written by Sawyer | 5th December 2005 | 0 Comment(s)
Many inside Highbury for Arsenal’s final ever Champions League group stage match at the stadium will be surmising that the game itself could be of little importance. However, with around £1m euros for the winner and what may prove crucial UEFA coefficient points to be won, the result of this match should not be under-estimated.
Arsene Wenger has chosen to rest certain first team players, but the majority of those are to protect minor injuries and his decision is probably a wise move. Crucially Thierry Henry is not to be an absentee which further demonstrates Wenger’s ambition to complete the group stage with a 100% record.
It will not be lost on Arsenal that the club has yet to record anything other than victory during their final season at Highbury, and although inconsistencies away from their fortress appear to be undermining their Premiership ambitions, Wenger will not wish their home dominance to be surrendered to Ajax.
Coefficient points will be uppermost in Wenger’s mind, especially with the news that FC Porto has been completely eliminated from Europe to join the other team Arsenal must catch, Valencia, in order to preserve their No.1 seeding for next season’s draw (assuming qualification).
The Dutch four-time European Champions will be no pushovers and judging from their performance at home to RKC Waalwijk at the weekend, it is hard to rationalise their present Eredivisie position (8th).
Their main problem has generally been several injuries coupled with a certain amount of inexperience. Domestically Ajax, as a team, has found the goal as hard to find as Liverpool’s Peter Crouch has up until last weekend.
From my vantage point on Sunday, high over the halfway line at Amsterdam’s ArenA, the football I witnessed was of the highest class as Ajax attacked continually.
Talking to fans afterwards it was quite clear that the game at Arsenal is important for the Amsterdam club with consideration to their finances. It’s fine for the bigger clubs to primarily look for qualification, but for many other clubs the financial rewards available in the Champions League are also of great concern.
Considering the figures released by 442 magazine today regarding the wealth of players and clubs owners, the gulf that exists between Europe’s elite is quite staggering. Ajax and Arsenal are both members of Europe’s G14, but certainly in the case of the Dutch club money is most definitely an issue.
There weren’t many Ajax players that didn’t impress against RKC, but most interesting was the performance of Hedwiges Maduro. The young Dutch International began the game at Centre back and later moved in to midfield. His ability in both positions bore testament to Marco Van Basten’s decision to fast-track him through to International football.
Maduro’s style is reminiscent of the great Frank Rijkaard, and some may wonder whether an impressive Highbury display may have Arsene Wenger mulling over the possibility of bringing him to Arsenal.
Others who caught the eye were Wesley Sneijder, Nigel De Jong (who scored on his last visit) and Swedish striker Markus Rosenberg. There was also a devastating late cameo from substitute Ryan Babel, another who has also quickly found himself involved with The Oranje due to Van Basten’s knowledge of the players he once coached at Ajax.
The only player who failed to deliver an impressive display was alleged Arsenal target, Steven Pienaar. Many believe he will not be at Ajax following the transfer window, but whether Highbury is the destination remains to be seen.
Should both team’s produce the level of performance shown at the weekend then Ajax will surely win, but no-one will expect Arsenal to be as easy to overcome as Bolton found at the Reebok.
Wenger will be pleased to have this game so quickly after Saturday’s debacle, especially safe in the knowledge that Arsenal’s position at the group’s summit can not be called in to question.
It is a shame for Dennis Bergkamp that he is one of the players nursing a slight knock and therefore unable to face his former club, but this should give another chance for the ever emerging Robin Van Persie to gain further experience and stake his claim for a regular first team position.
Considering Van Persie hails from Rotterdam and played for Feyenoord, it certainly should not be viewed lightly that many Ajax fans see the Arsenal man as the future star of Dutch football, following icons such as Johan Cruyff, Van Basten and Bergkamp. High praise indeed; and many Amsterdammers know their football, so who would argue against them?
Further good news for Arsenal will be the return of Alexander Hleb, who produced some fairly promising displays earlier in the season. The Belarusian International will certainly add invention and technique to Arsenal’s offensive play.
Victory for Arsenal should leave them requiring just one more win to reinstate themselves among the top eight for European seeding. Any other result would mean they would need to win their first knock-out round at least. For Ajax money is their motive, and while many will have half an ear or eye on developments between Benfica and Man United, the game at Highbury will be more than a dead rubber.
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