SOCCER:CESC FABREGAS has offered a scathing assessment of the tactics employed by Ipswich Town to establish a first-leg lead in their English League Cup semi-final with Arsenal, claiming the Championship side resorted to "rugby" kicking at Portman Road and that the natural order will be restored at the Emirates in the return.
Arsenal suffered a 1-0 defeat to Tamas Priskin’s second-half goal on Wednesday night to leave their pursuit of the club’s first silverware since 2005 in some peril.
The Premier League side enjoyed the monopoly of possession for long periods but, as their manager, Arsene Wenger, conceded, created very little as they laboured to impose their quality, with Ipswich unsettling them defensively, particularly after the interval.
Priskin’s goal was the result of one of numerous balls lofted over Arsenal’s vulnerable backline, a tactic of which Fabregas was dismissive. “I don’t know if it is long ball or it is a rugby kick but it worked for them,” he said.
“In England a lot of teams play like that and it works for them, they create chances like that and it is their football. I can only remember two opportunities for them but it was from a long, long ball because, playing football, they could not really get behind us or [get] attacking. “We just have to put the ball on the floor and try to play football – that is what we do. I still think we played well. We were good enough but just did not put the ball in the back of the net.
“The result is a bit disappointing because I think we were the much better team. Credit to them because they played well but Arsenal made the football. The other team refused to play football.
“They were lucky to score in a long ball. But it was one of those nights and now we have to make it at the Emirates in two weeks’ time.”
Ipswich’s victory was all the more impressive given that they are struggling in the second tier, had been thrashed 7-0 at Chelsea in the FA Cup third round on Sunday and were still under the caretaker management of Ian McParland. The Scot cleared his desk yesterday and departed, with Paul Jewell taking training for the first time since succeeding Roy Keane as manager.
Fabregas hopes to emulate the performance mustered by Chelsea, to smooth Arsenal’s passage to Wembley with a second-leg victory on January 25th. “We still have to play at the Emirates,” the Spaniard said. “It is not the same to play at Stamford Bridge as it is to come to Ipswich. At home they play in front of their fans, they are more motivated, the pitch is not as good as at Stamford Bridge, so they play their game.
“They know how to do it and did it very well, so credit to them. Now we will see how they cope at the Emirates against us. We played our best players in this first game but it is only half-time. We still have to go to the Emirates and we are confident we can do it there.”
Meanwhile, Arsenal have been warned they may have to wait until the summer if they intend to sign the Bolton centre-back Gary Cahill. The Bolton manager, Owen Coyle, is desperate to keep the highly-rated defender this month despite interest from several clubs but has admitted he will not stand in Cahill’s way at the end of the season should his valuation be met.
“I have always said I am not one for standing in anyone’s way,” he said.
“If it is the right thing for the player and the right thing for the football club, that is something as managers we have to look at.”
