Jacobs - Jack Wilshere Arsenal D.N.A

The Number 19

Wenger doesnt sell his best players

PEP GUARDIOLA,
FORMER BARCELONA MANAGER

H olloway Road is alive with noise, fizzing with expectation and anticipation as Bailey patrons down their pints and punters finish off food outside burger vans. On Highbury corner, red and white and yellow and blue jerseys mix with the traffic, clogging up the buzzing thoroughfare as workers navigate the early-evening rush. Crossing the busy junction and across to Highbury fields, ducking under the bars towards the bright lights of The Grove, the atmosphere is one of fate of what will be, will be. Up towards Drayton Park Station, past the giant A-R-S-E-N-A-L lettering where fans pose for photos and programme-sellers jangle change, the sounds of the Emirates Stadium fill the air with that unique sense of anticipation reserved only for European nights.

And its Arsenal ARS-ENAL F.C . were by far the greatest team the world has ever seen! Gooners fill the ground with noise as the teams arrive in the tunnel ready for the big game. The stadium emcee reads out the names of the Arsenal first team as the crowd dutifully fills in the blanks. In goal, Wojciech Szczsny! Number three, Bacary Sagna! Number four, Cesc Fbregas! The players, meanwhile, walk out into the bright lights of the stadium and onto the perfectly maintained Emirates pitch. Eleven men with one objective to beat the best football team to have ever played the game.

The match begins in much the same way as the previous encounter 11 months before. Barcelona, replete in cool mint green, dance around the slick Emirates pitch, playing their trademark tiki-taka and waiting for the right moment to play the ball through to their talented forwards. On 15 minutes, the Catalans have a glorious chance when Andres Iniesta plays a perfectly weighted pass through to Lionel Messi who, under pressure from Arsenals Johan Djourou, dinks the ball past Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczsny and past the outside of the far post. Its a massive moment early on in the tie and really should have been 1-0 to the Catalans.

Arsenal, though, grow into the game, and resurrect the steel and spirit of generations past by soaking up the Barcelona pressure and reciprocating with direct and formidable counter-attacking football. The Gunners Robin van Persie, Theo Walcott and Cesc Fbregas all have chances to put their side on the path to victory, but it is Barcelona who draw first blood in the tie: as Johan Djourou and Laurent Koscielny push up and keep a high line, Gael Clichy remains rooted to the spot and subsequently plays David Villa onside; Messis through ball is exquisite and true, while David Villa, as ever, slots home under the onrushing Arsenal keeper, and peels away to celebrate by the corner flag with his teammates.

The second half begins in similar fashion, until the Catalans high-pressure pressing game begins to show. As Barcelona tire, Arsenal take full advantage, and on 78 minutes their perseverance finally pays off. Arsenal left-back Gael Clichy plays a cunning pass over the heads of Barcelonas attack-minded full-back Dani Alves and Robin van Persie, from a very tight angle, drives the ball past a poorly positioned Victor Valdes to send Arsenal level. Moments later, after good defensive work from a certain 19-year-old Arsenal midfielder in the number 19 shirt, the Gunners peel away from the Catalans again: the youngster begins the move, sliding the ball to Cesc Fbregas who plays a wonderful ball through to the right flank where it is picked up by Samir Nasri. As Barcelona retreat and regroup, Nasri picks out Andrei Arshavin who is sprinting through the heart of the Barcelona half; the Russian strikes the ball sweetly into the back of the Barcelona net and sends Ashburton Grove into raptures.

And its Arsenal ARS-ENAL F.C. Were by far the greatest team the world has ever seen! Arsenal 2 Barcelona 1 the best scoreline of the season so far, and one of the most significant scorelines of the Number 19s budding Arsenal career to date.

In the 18 months prior to the game, Wenger and the Arsenal faithful had seen the emergence of the most promising talent since the days Fbregas stepped out against Rotherham United and celebrated scoring his first Arsenal goal by returning home and eating a Kinder Egg. The previous March, when Arsenal travelled to the Camp Nou to futilely try and capitalise on a 2-2 first leg home draw against FC Barcelona, young midfielder Jack Wilshere was recovering from a home defeat against Manchester United. The player, on loan from Arsenal, was plying his trade with Bolton Wanderers, contributing to a team that was struggling to keep itself above the Premier League parapet. Intended by Arsne Wenger to be his finishing school, Owen Coyles Bolton Wanderers were slowly turning Wilshere from a boy to a man, and consolidating a process which had begun as a nine-year - old after he was scouted by the North London club. Dextrous, graceful and a true Arsenal lad, he was now, in February 2011, the chief instigator of an Arsenal move which resulted in them scoring the winning goal in a historic victory over one of the best teams for a generation FC Barcelona.

The boys rise from promising youth team prospect to the first name on Wengers team sheet is the stuff of dreams for most 20-year-olds. Young, tenacious, competitive and driven, his presence in the tunnel at the start of the game is, arguably, a microcosm of Arsne Wengers latest Arsenal project: that is, youth, intelligence and raw, unbridled talent. Comparisons were already being made with Arsenal youth team coach and former player Liam Brady the chief instigator, no less, of that FA Cup final goal against Manchester United in 1979 and the young man from Hitchin had already etched his name into the playing fabric of the north London club even before taking to the pitch against the Catalan giants.

If that wasnt enough, by the time he was leaving the pitch after helping dispatch the Spanish side 2-1, he was being hailed as one of the truly exciting stars of both Arsenals and Englands footballing future. In French academies and African villages Wenger has pursued players capable of executing his vision of what football should be: a game of pace, skill, fluidity, adventure, said Paul Hayward in an article in the Guardian. But all he had to do was motor north from the clubs training ground at London Colney to a heartland of suburban Arsenal support. There he found the most gifted young English midfielder since Paul Scholes, who made his debut for Manchester United at the age Wilshere is now. The difference, says Hayward, is that Scholes played Port Vale when he was a 19-year-old wonder kid; Wilshere, on the other hand, is a first team regular and has just received all the plaudits for containing the likes of Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi and David Villa. The Independents James Lawton concurred: Wengers men showed strength where there was once weakness For a while this was mostly a tribute to the pride of Cesc Fbregas and his brilliant and dogged English lieutenant Jack Wilshere. They said no, they would not submit to the ceaseless passing rhythms of Messi and his assistants Xavi and Andres Iniesta.