Well ex-listee Rodney Lock and I ventured round the M25 to BorehamWood FC to see yesterday's game.
Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger was at the game (clearly the best dressed man at the game although Rod's Socceroo shirt and my Sydney 2000 T-shirt attracted the attention of Les and Raul and one or two of the players).
Wenger was there with his assistant at Arsenal, Pat Rice (ex Arsenal captain) and dotted amongst the 'crowd' were quite a few blokes who looked liked scouts or agents (mobile phones ringing all the time, some chomping on cigars - clearly the agents - all jotting down notes occasionally).
Borehamwood's stadium was a bit like Brisbane's Perry Park in size and the playing surface looked excellent - so no excuses there.
As for the game itself, well the 1-1 draw was pretty disappointing. We had so much territory and possession that I rather unwisely told Rod after 15 minutes "we'll score 5 against this lot" and we probably should have.
That pattern continued pretty well throughout the game with Kuwait restricted to the occassional breakaway and the odd chance (usually as a result of some poor defending). We didn't play with enough width and were attempting to thread our way through a packed defence in the last third of the field. A difficult thing to do. Also there were some worrying lapses in concentration at the back. (Neill and Laybutt particularly) Hayden Foxe was our best closely followed by Con Blatsis. Nick Rizzo also played well particularly in the second half were he operated a little wider on the left. Some of the others were disappointing though.
Anyway here is my assessment of the players
Danny Milosevic - Didn't have a lot to do. Made one very good save. Brought the Kuwaiti forward down for the penalty. From where I was sitting it looked to be just outside the box but it was a foul and the ref and linesman were pretty well placed so lets not quibble.
Lucas Neill - This boy has been playing in the bowels of the English game for far too long. Very reluctant to go forward and fill the acres of space available down the right flank. Seemed far too cautious. I suspect at Millwall he is being coached into mediocrity
Tansel Baser - In the first half he was pretty anonymous and also seemed reluctant to get forward down his flank. Improved greatly in the 2nd half when Nick Rizzo played wider on the left and he had someone to play with. He was always looking to play it along the ground and keep possession which was pleasing.
Hayden Foxe - clearly the best player on the park and surely the only one who would have caught Wenger's eye. As you would expect very calm on the ball although a couple of times gave possession away unnecessarily by trying difficult 50 yard killer balls which didn't come off. I also felt he was partly to blame for the goal we conceded. As Kuwait broke Foxe was very square with Laybutt and Blatsis and Laybutt was murdered for pace, the ball was played, the guy got away, Milosevic brings him down. Penalty. I felt Foxe should either have pushed his defence out or been going across to cover Laybutt's runner who was the only Kuwaiti who had got forward so the ball had to go there.
Con Blatsis - a polished marker performance. No silly fouls, won everything in the air, kept his concentration.
Steve Laybutt - Hmmm. Lapses in concentration were a worry. Looked very cumbersome.
Marco Bresciano - ordered to be replaced by the referee late in the first half. didn't see the incident clearly but it didn't look too bad although the ref was well placed. Prior to that had been badly fouled himself so a bit of the red mist may have still been swirling around. While he was on he worked hard but didn't do anything outstanding.
Bill Damianos - another disappointment. For a central midfielder who has a lot of the play go through him his first touch was poor. The ball always seemed to flick up into the air giving time to the opposition to close him down. Nothing very penetrating in his passing.
Brett Emerton - worked very hard and caused their defence problems with his pace and aggression and played an excellent ball in for Rizzo's goal. However I expected a bit more "class" from him.
Nick Rizzo - Looked good particularly when he played wider. Very sharp and nippy.
Danny Allsop - big lazy bugger !! Used his body well to shield the ball but was a bit sloppy with his layoffs. Lack of concentration. Probably better used from the bench.
SUBS used
Jason Culina - replaced Bresciano and played well. Showed touches of class.
Jacob Burns - replaced Neill. Didn't see much of the ball but didn't do anything wrong either. Didn't see enough of him really.
Clayton Zane - Reoplaced Rizzo. Bloody hell he is BIG. Scared the crap out of a couple of their defenders but didn't really threaten to score. Looked a bit slow as well.
Kostas Salapasides - replaced Allsop. Added a bit of sharpness up front and combined well a few times with Culina.
Overall I thought we lacked a bit of class and in some cases, pace. Hopefully the inclusion of Harry Kewell and some carefully selected overage players will rectify that.
Highlight of the day - we were sitting up in the stand not far from Raul and Les (we were trying to eavesdrop actually) and during a lull in play midway through the 2nd half Raul suddenly shouted out "FOXEY !!!" for no apparent reason. Foxe looked up but Raul didn't say anymore. It was a bit like he had nodded off and awoke not knowing where he was and just shouted out.
2nd highlight - When we walked up into the stand Les and Raul said hello to us which we thought was good of them and when we left Les made a point of shouting out a "Thanks" to us.
Special thanks to Matt Hall and Rozanna for the details of where the game was played etc.