BARCELONA (at Wembley) PREVIEW
Silvinho to the fore
by Myles Palmer
FEATURES
THE ARSENAL AGM - FULL WRITE UP
FIVE REASONS: ARSENAL COULD WIN IN BARCELONA
CARLTON AND ITV UPSET US AGAIN
JEKYLL AND HYDE PLAY THE NOU CAMP
Rivaldo's off his game, but still dangerous
Davor Suker should try to do what Raul did to Barcelona did last week.
Suker is similar in style to Raul, whose two goals gave Real Madrid a surprise 2-2 draw at the Nou Camp on Wednesday October 13th.
Both are cute left-footed strikers who ghost into scoring positions.
They often finish with deadly finesse, but not always.
Suker is certainly in form, having scored twice against Everton in seven minutes, played two wonderfully incisive passes to Bergkamp and Parlour, and had a freekick very well saved.
I watched the Barcelona-Real Madrid game on Sky Sports.
Raul's first goal was a nearpost header from a move he started by giving the ball to Savio, who crossed from the left.That made it 1-0.
Raul's 85th minute equaliser also came from a Savio pass. Overall, this clash of the titans turned out to be the match of the disappearing centre forwards.
Anelka hit the post after 20 minutes, then disappeared after Reiziger was switched to mark him.
Morientes just missed the post with an instep flick, but disappeared so completely that Guti replacing him was a surprise.
Kluivert disappeared after being sent off in 55 minutes. He bottled a touchline 50-50 with Campo, then swore at the referee.The season's most stupid red card so far?
Rivaldo disappeared when he switched to centre forward to replace
Kluivert. Rival
do had scored to make it 1-1 from a Kluivert pass. But he shimmied,
showboated and dithered far too much, and produced operatics when
Redondo put a rude hand in his face.
In recent weeks Rivaldo has looked jaded, restless and unhappy
with himself. He is playing more selfishly than usual. He put
one good cross on Luis Enrique's head, but lobbed wide at 1-1
when Real keeper Bodo
Illgner surprisingly passed the ball to him.
Rivaldo has fallen out with Louis van Gaal because Cocu earns more than him. He asked the coach for a pay rise and was told where to go.Summer renegotiations are expected.
However, Rivaldo is still scoring goals. He is the world's
World's greatest?
greatest player and he can score in any game against any opposition at any time. So van Gaal always picks him.
It was Figo who put Barca 2-1 up. He cruised inside Julio Cesar and hit a left foot screamer from the edge of the D which whistled past Illgner's left hand.
This was more like the Figo and I know and love. I watched him train the night before Portugal played England. I stood behind the goal during shooting practice at Wembley. One of Figo's 25-yard thunderbolts hit the metal goalpost so hard it rattled the fillings in my teeth.
In the 85th minute, Zenden made a sloppy pass to Redondo, who gave it to Savio. Raul hovered onside, waiting for a perfect pass, which came.
He reached the ball before the advancing Hesp, near the penalty spot, and dinked it over him for 2-2. A big goal in the Spanish season, as Real Madrid are sixth and were without Roberto Carlos, Hierro and McManaman.
Barcelona were winning 2-1 at home with 35 minutes to go.They had not dominated the game, but they had created a winning position.
Kluivert then did his best to create a losing position by insulting
the ref's mother. 
After Kluivert was sent off, Geremi, the Real right back showed he has the potential to become an African Cafu. Geremi kept overlapping, so Zenden was pushed deeper and deeper, trying to track him.
Zenden was having to play an alien game, running back towards his own goal all the time. Wingers hate that.
Mr Wenger will have noticed that it was the two touch players, Savio and Raul, who found the spaces in the last third and did the damage.
He will have noted another interesting point: Savio and Silvinho are similar. Both are small, nimble Brazilians. Savio is a 68 kilo attacking midfielder, Silvinho is a 67 kilo left back who can tackle and play midfield.
Shape is very important. Remi Garde was cool and tidy and gave Arsenal shape. Malz would give Arsenal shape by providing an extra left foot and using his energy to fill holes and link play with simple passes.
Wenger talks a lot about balance and has signed many left-footed players. But Silvinho is a more gifted player than Garde or Maltz or Stephen Hughes.
His sharpness can win the ball, even against a team as good as Barcelona. But he is better on the ball, and rarely wastes a pass. He only wasted two against Preston.
Silvino is also valuable without the ball because he can win it and force mistakes. He can press because he is a flyer, almost as quick as Michael Owen.
We are pretty sure that Wenger likes Silvinho a lot. Against Preston he brought Overmars on at half time for Vernazza, and put him wide on the right, leaving Silvinho on the left. And Wenger has told us that Overmars hates playing on the right!
Wenger has mostly been a model of consistency in his team selections. He picks his strongest team without trying to do anything radical or clever. He obviously thinks that tinkering baffles your own team as much as your opponents.He thinks that tinkering breaks up rhythms, partnerships, angles, understandings. And he is right. A good coach is always trying to develop those things, not interrupt them.
But now he has a bigger squad, more scope for rotation, more chances to make a mistake. Does this 4th Champions League game offer an opportunity for Wenger to surprise Louis van Gaal again?
He pulled a stroke in the Nou Camp by starting Kanu, which nobody
expected. And he pulled another stroke by bringing hate-figure
Suker on early in the second half to create a white-hot atmosphere.
But nothing you do twice is a surprise. And the events of a match
can make meticulous tactical plans obsolete in seconds. 
Wenger would like to attack Barcelona's weak spots without unbalancing his own team too much.But they have only two weak spots.
Barcelona do not defend high crosses and corners very well.
And when you dribble in the last 35 metres, they tend to panic, trip and obstruct.
So free kicks could play a big part in this game.
Bottom line? Play Silvinho and practice your set-pieces. And hope that Overmars grasps his chance to outshine Zenden, who is keeping him
Zenden - keeping Marcy out
out of the Dutch national team.
The draw at the Nou Camp showed Arsenal's players that Barcelona are not superhuman, not unbeatable.
Last year Manchester United drew 3-3 there and 3-3 at Old Trafford.
We can be sure of one thing: If Arsenal ever score three goals against Barcelona, the match will not be a draw.
19 October 1999