Ask the fan in the street to predict the kind of start Manchester United might make to a Champions League semi‑final first leg, in their own stadium, in front of their own pumped-up crowd and, chances are, he or she will use words or phrases like "relentless", "attacking", "in waves" and "from all angles". Arsenal, however, did not appear to be in on the secret.
"We were surprised at how they played," the goalkeeper Manuel Almunia said, as he reflected on a torrid opening period for his team at Old Trafford on Wednesday that could conceivably have shut them out of the tie after 30 minutes. "Some of our players were maybe lost at the beginning. But that's normal, it's a big competition, it's a semi-final and it's a big pressure on the players. I was disappointed with the performance. For the first 25 minutes or half-hour we were not switched on, we didn't keep the ball as well as we should have and we know how to do."
But for Almunia, who made a string of first-half saves, the talk would have accelerated to United's prospects in Rome, where the final will be staged on 27 May. Instead, in the Arsenal camp at least, it has turned towards how they feel they can reverse the 1–0 deficit at the Emirates in the return leg next Tuesday.
They will draw strength from the 2–1 home victory over United in the Premier League earlier in the season, believing it shows that United are fallible. Above all, though, they will reason that they cannot play so poorly again.
Almunia and the captain, Cesc Fábregas, apart, there was hardly an individual Arsenal performance worthy of the name. Emmanuel Adebayor had been billed as the potential game-breaker but the lack of support he received only partly explained his anonymity; the striker, who is expected to leave in the summer, appeared lethargic and was second-best throughout to the United centre-halves Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic. He was not alone, though, in sparking only fitfully. Each of Fábregas's midfield colleagues was harassed and, for the best part of the first hour, overwhelmed by their United counterparts. "Sometimes you try to put everything on the pitch but your head doesn't respond enough to your desire," Almunia said. "I hope that next Tuesday everybody is focused on what we have to do. Otherwise, we will be lost."
The notion that Arsenal were caught cold at the outset by United is curious but worryingly there were also suggestions that certain players froze on the big stage. Although the 19-year-old left-back Kieran Gibbs grew into the game after a nervy start, plenty of others stayed on the fringes. Samir Nasri and Abou Diaby occupied unfamiliar midfield roles and struggled, while Theo Walcott failed to reproduce his impressive recent form.
"Maybe they [United] are stronger than us but in terms of desire nobody can beat us," Almunia said. "We have to show that at the Emirates but desire is not enough . Arsenal know very well how to play football but if you don't play as you know in these sort of games, then you are lost." Almunia used that word repeatedly.
Was Arsenal's disorientation linked to the tender years of the majority of their starting line-up? "I cannot be in the place of any other players, I don't know what each player felt inside of himself," the goalkeeper replied. "Of course it's a big pressure on everybody but I think we have enough experience to face these kind of games."
His manager, Arsène Wenger, is keen to have Robin van Persie back for the second leg but the update on his groin injury is not encouraging. The Dutch striker will not play at Portsmouth in the Premier League tomorrow and Wenger said he would "only know very, very late if he could be available for Tuesday or not".
Gaël Clichy is "definitely" out of the United return with a back injury, together with Eduardo, who has "done his groin again". The Croatian might not play again this season while Mikaël Silvestre completes the walking wounded. He will not play against Portsmouth after damaging his groin at Old Trafford and is considered a doubt for next Tuesday.
