I've followed Amy's career since she was a young Arsenal ladette. She wrote this on Sunday morning in the Observer:
Cole better off in blue as Arsenal fret over back four
Ashley Cole faces his old team-mates for the first time and while Jose Mourinho can purr over his impervious back four, Arsene Wenger, whose defence have an average age of just 21, has plenty to worry about. Amy Lawrence reports
Sunday December 10, 2006
The Observer
Far be it for anyone to second guess the emotions of a man who virtually crashed his car at the idea of a pay rise to only £2.8million per year, but when Ashley Cole lines up against his old brotherhood for the first time this afternoon, one thing he is bound to feel is considerably more secure than the men he left behind. And not just financially.
Glancing along his back four the first face he will see is John Terry - Premiership establishment, England captain, hard as they come, backbone of the champions, and king of Jose Mourinho's 'untouchables'. Further along is Ricardo Carvalho and then Geremi, two solid and wise defenders who are both at their peak age of 28.
Article continues
Did he do the right thing? Was it all worth it? In that split second before kick-off when Cole sizes up the rest of his defensive unit, he will feel justified. Unlike Arsenal, nobody ever analyses how Chelsea will cope if somebody is missing from the equation because there are other competent cogs waiting to slot into the machine.
Down at the other end of the pitch, four of the boys Cole shared a dressing room with not so long ago will also be looking across at each other for a little bit of last-minute encouragement. With an average age of 21, and fewer than 100 Premiership appearances between them, there can seldom have been a less experienced defence fielded for a game between two of the top sides. Arsene Wenger is pinning his faith in Emmanuel Eboue, Johan Djourou, Philippe Senderos and Gael Clichy to handle 13 stones of pure Ivorian hitman. It may not be a pretty sight.
They must also contend with Andriy Shevchenko, who is aiming to take his place among the group of Mourinho's guaranteed picks. 'When I am fit I will be there too,' he said. 'Having no rest after the World Cup and having to change country, culture and team was a big pressure. It is natural to have problems adapting. I spoke a lot with Jose and I have a lot of respect for him. I have never thought once about going back to Milan.'
For the third season running, Wenger has had his plans seriously spoiled by defensive disruption and the Premiership challenge has quickly fizzed out, so there is a pattern here. In 2004-2005 he lost confidence in Jens Lehmann, dropping him for reserve keeper Manuel Almunia with miserable consequences. In 2005-2006 he used 26 different defensive combinations as Sol Campbell went walkabout, Cole was broodingly absent and Lauren needed long-term rehabilitation. And now this.
Inwardly, Wenger may be cursing that this most challenging of away fixtures takes place now. One week before or after and he would have at least had either Kolo Toure or William Gallas available. But outwardly, the Arsenal manager has no option but to argue that this could be the making of his young defence.
The focus of attention will inevitably be on the Swiss international pairing in the middle, particularly as Senderos has in previous encounters with Chelsea displayed a pathological fear of Didier Drogba. 'Those experiences affected him, of course,' Wenger admitted. 'But since then Philippe since has gone through a whole Champions League campaign well where he faced some tough opponents like Zlatan Ibrahimovic and David Trezeguet. Drogba will see a different Senderos now. He's a strong character, resilient, highly motivated and dedicated and I feel there will also be Swiss complicity. Djourou and him will support each other.'
Wenger also anticipates a big performance from Cole's replacement, Clichy, who has discovered that being understudy is easy compared to the main billing. 'This is a good challenge for him because he will be compared to his role model,' said Wenger. 'Gael has the potential to be as good as him and after a year out he is doing amazingly.'
Eboue is under the spotlight for different reasons. After a tussle last weekend with Robbie Keane, the Ivorian right-back with a liking for theatricals was told to cut out the diving by his manager. 'We had a chat about that and we don't want him to do that at all,' Wenger confirmed. 'He is a player who does everything at full speed and sometimes these players can be unbalanced easier than a player at normal speed. But we don't want him to exaggerate and he does not want to either.'
Chelsea have failed to score only once this season and logic suggests corners will be a key factor, given Chelsea's success from and Arsenal's terror of the inswinging set piece. 'Part of the game will be decided there, so the best way is not to concede any corners,' Wenger said brightly. Well, there's a first time for everything.
Wenger confesses that organising the back four is not his speciality. 'The defensive side is not my favourite part, no. When I arrived here, I had Lee Dixon, Nigel Winterburn, Steve Bould, Tony Adams and Martin Keown; they were all 30 plus. But I can show you pictures of Tony Adams at 21 and you see him again at 31 and he is not the same player. He made mistakes at 21 that you would say today of our players, it's horrendous. It is all part of the experience.'
Simply surviving Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea have never lost a league game under Mourinho, is not in Wenger's mind. Really? 'I just want us to win the game. I don't care if we are first to beat Chelsea or not. What is important to me is to close the gap between us. We have a good opportunity. In a big game, I believe 100 per cent my players can deliver. They are fearless and I want them to show that.'
Could that have the same psychological impact as when Manchester United abruptly ended Arsenal's 49-game unbeaten run? 'I feel still a bit bitter about the way that ended,' Wenger lamented. 'We want to do it in a different way.'
