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Arsenal 2-0 Werder Bremen: Adams is back
But while he may be approaching his 34th birthday, Tony Adams remains a key figure in Arsenal's attempt to salvage some silverware and a Champions League place from a season that has threatened to go pear-shaped. In the monumental performances that have illuminated his career, the display against Werder Bremen last night was not among the most memorable. But his influence in helping Arsenal secure a 2-0 advantage to take to Germany next week was incalculable. His presence simply galvanises and inspires. And while Arsenal have won matches without him before and will doubtless do so again, there is no doubt that they are a more formidable team with him in the heart of defence. Oleg Luzhny looked more certain, Silvinho was constantly reminded that a full-back's first duty is to defend and David Seaman clearly looks more comfortable with Adams as the second line of protection to the Arsenal goal. 'He is a great player for us,' Patrick Vieira has said on more than one occasion and manager Arsene Wenger must be dreading the day that Adams decides his body has been punished enough. He gave serious thought to retiring at the end of last season and Wenger must thank the gods every day that Adams opted to continue. On the field, Adams may be the voice of Wenger - but more than that he is the spirit of Arsenal and his approach typifies the Highbury ethos. Defeat, to Adams, is never on the agenda. His domination of the Werder Bremen frontline last night was not the most demanding task he has ever been afforded but so complete was his mastery of Ailton - who passed for the Germans' forward threat - that the Brazilian sulked out of the action 10 minutes from the end. Whatever the Portuguese phrase for 'banging your head against a brick wall' is, he was certainly muttering it. As an attacking force, Werder were nullified to such an extent that Seaman had not one shot to deal with all night. It was the easiest win bonus he has ever picked up. But for his counterpart, Frank Rost, who made reflex stops from Adams and Thierry Henry, the tie would have been Arsenal's this morning. Instead, the Germans still have a chance and any team that has eliminated Parma and overturned a 3-0 first leg deficit against Lyon must be respected. And Wenger knows that. 'It is a good result but not good enough to say that we are through,' warned the Arsenal manager. 'It is still 50-50. They have a big tradition of recovering results, especially at home. They played with three defensive midfield players at Highbury. They will change that in Bremen.' They will have to because last night they were content to sit back, soak up pressure and clearly hoped to keep the scoreline within manageable proportions. But for all their defensive depth, they looked vulnerable to the pace of Henry. The Frenchman has recovered his confidence and self-belief after his exile from the full French squad. He is back in favour now and his 15th goal of the season after 21 minutes exposed the vital flaw in Werder's make-up. Vieira hit a raking pass from his own left-back position to release Henry. The Germans looked so cumbersome that Henry could have run backwards and still beaten the back-tracking defenders to the ball. As Rost came out, the ball zipped past him. The lead could have been doubled 15 minutes later when Adams hit a volley from Dennis Bergkamp's corner but Rost fisted it to safety and after 71 minutes, Henry suffered a similar fate. But the second goal Arsenal needed arrived 10 minutes after the arrival of Nwankwo Kanu for the tiring Bergkamp. In truth, the Nigerian did not have a huge impact. Indeed a huge groan greeted his mis-hit shot in the 76th minute as it appeared another opening had been squandered. But Freddie Ljungberg read the pace of the ball quicker than any of the Werder defence and a dreadful shot became a peach of a pass as the Swede left Rost stranded. Henry came off for the last 12 minutes but by then the damage had been done. 'He can get better,' said Wenger who, according to Henry, labelled him 'rubbish' when the young Frenchman was first switched to his central role. 'Against Werder, he was super rubbish,' quipped the manager. 'He has taken a huge step forward from when I first moved him in from the wing. He has done very well to adjust to that position. In fact, he could have scored more. He can get even better - I would say 50 per cent better. There is a lot more to come from Thierry Henry.' And so, Wenger must hope, is there a lot more to come from Tony Adams. Last night was the proof of how Arsenal need him
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