Forgot to remember...

The morning after the morning after the night before and I have to tell you, dear reader, that I am still walking around with a smile on my face. It started with the Arseblogger's Arsecast this morning, and the genuinely goosebump inducing intro. The shot of Andrei Arshavin, shirt over his head, arms outstrectched- surely to become an iconic Arsenal image- is now the background image on my work pc. The fact that I didn't really read much of yesterday's reaction to the game- I wanted to keep my thoughts pure for you all. Hell, who am I kidding? Myself. What it means is that I have been able prolong the joy of an historic Arsenal win for as long as is humanly possible.

And that's the thing, it was historic. Whatever anyone says about it being half-time in the tie, Barcelona still being favourites to progress, we can respond that not only did we go toe to toe with the best team in Europe, but we actually grew into that match. And then took the match away from them. It's funny to think that had I been watching on the tv, I would have a clearer picture of the build up to Arshavin's goal, but all I can remember is Nasri running into acres of space, waiting, waiting and then... Caught in the moment, I forgot to remember it. The point I wanted to make at the beginning of this paragraph was that, going back to my Rocky analogy earlier this week, our win against Barcelona was the moment when, in Rocky IV, Rocky cuts the seemingly unbeatable Ivan Drago having taken an absolute pounding. Rocky's trainer tells him when he goes back to his corner,

"You see? He's not a machine!"

Perhaps it's silly to compare a, frankly, far fetched film about a hard headed boxer to the real life rollercoaster that is Arsenal, though I do think there's something ironic in the fact that it was a Russian delivering our sucker punch on Wednesday night. Barcelona are not a machine either, they may purr like one, but they can be caught, cut and jammed up. We proved that two nights ago. What that does to our confidence is the important thing, if we can beat Barcelona, then why can't we beat anyone else this season? I know football isn't that simple, but if we look at the confidence the side have taken from beating Chelsea, then what can beating Barca do for us? More to the point, what does it to the unshakeable Dragos of Barcelona to know that, actually, they aren't so invulnerable after all?

I said earlier that I hadn't read much of the reaction to Wednesday night yesterday. I've rectified that now and Paul Hayward's piece in the Guardian, entitled "Jack Wilshere is the midfielder we have been waiting for" made me feel proud. Proud of Jack's manager and proud of our football club for developing him and giving him the platform to play, proud of Jack for making the most of that platform. I also thought, having observed that perhaps a low key full England debut wasn't the worst thing in the world for him as recently as last week, "You've blown it now, Jack!" A performance like that, when faced with the world's best midfield- and if the Barca three aren't then I don't know who is- is going to send expectations through the roof. As evidenced by Hayward's article not, I have to say, that I necessarily disagreed with much. At least we can be grateful in the knowledge that Jack is a level headed guy at the right club for managing expectations.

Just before I turn away from the Barca game, a word for their fans. Some of you might not like what I'm about to say, but there's been a lot of talk in the comments here about how great they are, how historic they are- as if they are the originators of football- anyone who knows anything about football can tell you otherwise. But having read Barca by Kenny Burns and witnessed the sour faced "Cules" after the game- a game they clearly expected to win- I have a question. "Cules" translates literally as "Arseholes". Are they known as "Cules" because they historically used to sit on their holes at their old ground, Les Corts, or because they actually are regarded by the rest of Spain as arseholes? I ask that with an apology to the guy, Fredi, I befriended in Barcelona in 2007. If you happen to be reading this Fredi, I don't mean you. Unless you are that annoying "Iniesta" guy, in which case I do. No, not really.

Anyway, we will now have to forget about Barca until March the 8th. Next up is Leyton Orient in the FA Cup and a match that will provide a whole different test to the one we have just passed. For a start, Arsène will have to get his players minds squarely focussed on the job in hand. He is also going to have to decide who he can bring in without weakening our chances of winning too much. The early team news is that Djourou, the rock on whom so much of our improvement this winter has been based, will miss the match due to a back problem. Theo Walcott has a slight hamstring "concern", but is expected to be okay. Abou Diaby continues his self inflicted suspension, whilst Bacary Sagna, I think, may well return to the side having sat out Barcelona in the week. There again, with the visit of that fine rugby club in the week, he may well be kept back for that. I'd like to see him start if I'm honest, particularly with Djourou missing and Denilson likely to be involved.

But we can talk more about that tomorrow- hopefully.

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