26may1989 wrote:..Hleb was the only one in red who looked really on top of his game today...
26MAY1989,
I'M NORMALLY IN AGREEMENT WITH YOU ON MOST THINGS BECAUSE YOU TALK A LOT OF SENSE, BUT I'M SORRY, I JUST COULDN'T LET THIS COMMENT GO WITHOUT REPLYING!
I THOUGHT THE BELORUSSIAN WAS VERY QUIET, AND IN FACT I'D GO AS FAR AS TO SAY POOR, UNTIL HE WAS SWITCHED TO THE LEFT AFTER THEO CAME ON.
NOW EVERYONE KNOWS I'M NOT HLEB'S BIGGEST FAN (NO, REALLY!!), BUT I SIT BEHIND SOMEONE WHO IS, AND EVEN HE - WITH HIS HLEB-TINTED GLASSES FIRMLY ON - HAD TO ADMIT HLEB WAS NOT PERFORMING UP UNTIL THE LAST FEW MINUTES.
A FELT IT WAS A BELOW-PAR PERFORMANCE BY EVERYONE AND TIREDNESS MAY WELL HAVE PLAYED A PART. I FELT ON THE WAY TO THE GROUND THAT WENGER WOULD MAKE A COUPLE OF CHANGES TO FRESHEN UP THE TEAM AND WAS SURPRISED HE DIDN'T - ESPECIALLY IN CENTRE MIDFIELD.
I THINK THAT SHOWED IN THE TEAM'S DISPLAY, WHICH ALTHOUGH GOOD IN PARTS, WAS VERY BITTY FOR MOST OF THE MATCH AND BELOW THE LEVELS WE HAVE PREVIOUSLY SHOWN. HAVING SAID THAT, HAD DIABY'S GOAL NOT BEEN DISALLOWED AND WE HAD GONE 3-0 UP, WE MAY HAVE GONE ON TO WIN COMFORTABLY AND BE SPEAKING IN TOTALLING DIFFERENT TONES ABOUT THE DISPLAY.
ALTHOUGH GETTING THE THREE POINTS WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING, I HOPE THE PLAYERS AND MANAGER LEARNT SOMETHING FROM THIS MATCH - NAMELY THAT WE SHOULD NEVER TAKE THINGS FOR GRANTED AND THAT OCCASIONALLY WE NEED TO CHANGE ONE OR TWO PLAYERS.
(ONLY JOKING MAGIC 
) 