Twente stretch young Arsenal

Henry Winter
The Telegraph
Thursday, 14 August 2008

Familiar chants filled the air here, from "one nil to the Arsenal'' when William Gallas scored to "Theo, Theo'' after Walcott set up the second for Emmanuel Adebayor, but the Gelredome also reverberated to some unlikely lyrics – "there's only one Steve McClaren''.

As well as taking an unwanted manager, Twente's magnificent fans had also appropriated English football's most famous anthem, "You'll Never Walk Alone''. After walking through a storm with England, McClaren seems to have found some friends here. Even in defeat, McClaren and his purposeful players were applauded from the field.

England coaches rarely find life easy after leaving the Impossible Job, but McClaren impressed here, his tactics confusing Arsene Wenger's side until midway through the second half when Gallas and Adebaylor rendered the second leg largely insignificant.

Used to taking teams out of European contention, McClaren can still take pride from the way his players responded so well to his tactics.

For an hour, McClaren could have permitted himself one of those famous, gleaming smiles. For an hour, his Twente side had outmuscled and out-thought the celebrated visitors from London. For an hour, until Gallas struck from close range, Arsenal had failed to come up with answers to some awkward questions.

McClaren had set Arsenal a range of problems, collectively with the high tempo maintained by his Twente players and individually for Robin van Persie. Arsenal's Dutchman found himself shadowed by Cheick Tiote, Twente's stocky anchorman. Tiote made Van Persie's life a misery in the first half, tackling him relentlessly, body-checking him, even executing a Cruyff turn to spirit the ball away from Arsenal's No 11. Not until the second half did Van Persie demonstrate his gifts.

For an hour, such was Twente's outwitting of their distinguished guests at their borrowed Vitesse Arnhem home (while their own is renovated), that the Twente fans even broke into "there's only one Steve McClaren'', a chant never heard during his England days. For an hour, the "Wally with the Brolly'' appeared the "Man with the Plan'', particularly with Tiote man-marking Van Persie so assiduously.

Van Persie had been dropping off Adebayor in a 4-4-1-1 formation to assist a midfield missing such talents as Cesc Fabregas, Tomas Rosicky and Abou Diaby. During Twente's upbeat opening, Arsenal's under-strength midfield was often outmanoeuvred.

No wonder Wenger's eyes lit up before kick-off when Ray Parlour, out here on commentary duty, wandered across for a quick stroll down memory lane. Wenger could have been forgiven for asking whether his former player, whom he had released to McClaren at Middlesbrough, had brought his boots.

As the first half highlighted, Arsenal were short of experienced midfielders, reflected in the sight of 17-year-old Aaron Ramsey making his competitive debut for the London team with the hugely promising Jack Wilshere on the bench. The last time Arsenal met Twente, in a 1984 friendly, they had such respected campaigners as Brian Talbot, Paul Davis and Stewart Robson in midfield with Paul Mariner dropping back to help out.

Operating alongside Denilson in the centre, Ramsey endured an uncertain start, persistently hounded by Wout Brama as McClaren's plan to swamp midfield took hold promisingly. With pace out wide in Romano Denneboom and the left-sided Eljero Elia, and non-stop industry in the centre, FC Twente worked the ball time and again towards their busy target man, Marko Arnautovic.

McClaren had described his side as the "very big underdog'' in this tie, yet they almost seized the lead after 24 minutes. Using Luke Wilkshire as a decoy down the right, Denneboom exploited confusion between Denilson and Gael Clichy on the edge of Arsenal's box. Denilson let Denneboom go, and the winger darted into the gap, wasting the moment with a hurried shot.

Refused time on the ball by McClaren's well-organised passion players, Arsenal struggled to get into their fast-moving stride. When Clichy and Denilson did embark on some long runs, they were tugged back. Wenger became increasingly unhappy at some of Twente's challenges, but he should also have fretted about his defence, which was occasionally caught square.

When the lively Denneboom then slipped Arnautovic through, the Twente striker had time to compose himself and place the ball past Manuel Almunia, but he hurried his shot, allowing Arsenal's keeper to block with relative comfort.

The drums of the Twente supporters echoed the percussive pressure being placed on Arsenal. Such was the packed nature of the Twente ranks that Wenger's men elected to shoot from range. After a rare Arsenal corner, Clichy let fly from 30 yards, the shot catching Sander Boschker unawares, the keeper shovelling the ball inelegantly out. The ball fell to Bacara Sagna, but the angle was too tight and he skewed his shot into a delighted crowd.

The second half began as the first concluded, with Van Persie being frustrated by Tiote, who hacked him down and then dispossessed him with a far more impressive challenge. Arsenal's frustrations grew because some of Twente's tactics were so underhand, incensing Wenger.

When Adebayor finally created some space down the inside-right channel, Twente's defence was caught out, gaps everywhere. Denilson had spotted this, the Brazilian speeding forward, only to be cynically baulked by Brama. With Van Persie so closely marked, Arsenal needed Adebayor to start roaming, and the tall Togo international began moving to better effect.

Gifted a free-kick opportunity on the right just after the hour, Van Persie's trusted left foot sped into the ball, sending it curling into the box, None of McClaren's men reacted strongly enough, allowing Gallas to bundle the ball home and send a wave of relief flooding through the 300 Arsenal fans.

To their great credit, McClaren's men refused to fold and continued to attack. Arnautovic should have equalised but shot into the side-netting.

Twente's magnificent fans sighed with disappointment, yet their good humour quickly returned, and did not dip even when Arsenal effectively killed off the tie, Adebayor turning in Walcott's terrific cross from the right.

Match details
FC Twente (4-1-4-1): Boschker; Wilkshire, Wielaert, Douglas, Braafheid; Tiote; Denneboom, Brama, Janssen, Elia; Arnautovic.
Subs: Paauwe (g), Zomer, Huysegems, Heubach, Wellenberg, Gerritsen, Chery

Arsenal (4-4-1-1): Almunia; Sagna, Djourou, Gallas, Clichy; Eboue, Denilson, Ramsey, Walcott; Van Persie; Adebayor.
Subs: Fabianski (g), Vela, Wilshere, Bendtner, Hoyte, Gibbs, Randall.
Goals: Gallas 63, Adebayor 82