Wow, we must have been good. Make that brilliant. Breath-takingly brilliant. The sublime pass and move football on show as we dispatched Braga 6-0 was so sumptuous that even my mate Adrian didn’t moan last night. Once. Well, I say once, he did grumble that I hadn’t smuggled in a hip-flask of firewater for a half-time gargle. If we can keep Adrian quiet all season with super football such as was on display in this one-way walloping of the Portuguese outfit then we will win something. Of that I am sure. Critics herald Cesc suitors Barcelona for their exquisite art form. Can we match that level this season? Can we become ‘Barsenal’?
As we bask in the reflective glory of the hammering it is difficult to gauge the importance of the victory because we don’t really know how much a poor Braga helped our performance. In other words was it because we were outstanding or because they were shite? Bit of both if you ask me. The old football saying is you can only beat who is put in front of you and the morning after the night before that couldn’t be more apposite. And had AA been on his game we could have had TEN. Or am I being a bit, er, ‘arsh? We were hungry, full of desire, determination, flair and finesse. The combination of grit and guile works wonderfully.
I said after the win over Bolton that if Cesc maintains this imperious form we could lift the title. Or at least a significant trophy other than the Emirates Cup. But as AW said, his masterful contribution took him and us to another level in our opening game of Group H. But what do I know? Let’s hear from our leader.
He said: ‘Cesc had a big influence tonight. I think he has taken another dimension. People forget he’s 23 years old, where other players start. He’s a fantastic influence and it’s important he leads this team to winning. It’s a fantastic opportunity for other young players to play alongside him. I like the fact he gave the ball to Vela instead of playing alone. It reflects what we want to do and reflects the attitude of a leader. He loves this club. People doubted that, but I never doubted that. He enjoys the way we play and what do you want more to be happy?’
‘I think it’s important we take encouragement from what we’re doing at the moment, but keep our feet on the ground. We can be very creative, be dangerous and score goals. As long as we have not won the Champions League, people will question the way we play. But you win it with quality. I believe we played the game we wanted to play: at a high pace with top technical quality and with a lot of creative attacking and good concentration and a good collective spirit. Our game is based on that and for long patches in the game we managed to express that.’
And from the man of the moment: ‘I think I had a lot of opportunities and I had a one-on-one. I’m disappointed. I wanted to score a hat-trick. It’s the only thing I haven’t done as a professional and I wanted a hat-trick today. It was a good performance but, in the last 10 minutes, we played too easily and we should have stepped up. We had good discipline until then, but we will have games where you can’t get it easy at any moment. So we have to make sure we do it for 90 minutes.’
And that starts again at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, Cesc, you beauty. Forget the Spaniards my son, stick with Barsenal!
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