Arsenal v AC Milan: 6 Things We Learned About the Gunners

About 30 minutes have passed since Arsenal beat AC Milan 3-0 Tuesday night at the Emirates, and I'm still trying to decide how I feel about that.

On the one hand, Arsenal destroyed one of the best teams in Europe by three clear goals—three goals to none!—and deserved every last bit of it.

The three-goal margin fell just short of the four Arsenal needed to stay alive—for another 30 minutes of extra time at least—in the Champions League, their one last hope for silverware this season. Even so, Arsene Wenger's men-at-arms battled valiantly in defeat.

On the other hand, I have questions.

Where the heck was all of this three weeks ago?

How—please, somebody tell me—did this Arsenal team lose 4-0 at the San Siro to this AC Milan squad? Did Robin van Persie really miss that chance of all chances?

And lastly, wouldn't it have been better—less painful, at least—to win 1-0 or 2-1, or just lose the match entirely, rather than subject ourselves to this?

I don't have the answers to all those questions. I'm just a numb fan who waited until the worst possible moment—that split second when we all just knew van Persie was going to put away that chance and tie it up—to really start believing.

Numb or not, though, I learned a few things about Arsenal on Tuesday. Most of them point to a better future.

Follow Mike on Twitter: @MikeCummings37

So Close. So Far.

The best takeaway for Gooners from Tuesday night's excruciating win was this: It turns out Arsenal's players do have a backbone.

It's easy to quote the gung-ho company line before games like this, and to an extent, most of us probably believed that's all Wenger and his players were doing.

Not so, apparently.

Instead, the supposedly soft-touch Gunners backed up their words with a really gutsy performance that in fairness was probably worthy of a quarterfinal spot.

It's a shame, too.

A shame that the first leg played out so poorly, and a shame that Arsenal's players didn't show any life three weeks ago in the San Siro.

On Tuesday night, you could actually see Arsenal running out of gas in front of your eyes as the second half melted away.

But even though they lost the tie, they earned back some respect with that stout showing.

Three weeks ago, Arsenal disappeared entirely and won zero respect.

Funny how a single team—whether it's Arsenal or AC Milan—can have multiple personalities like that.

Even Robin van Persie Can Miss

We'll never know how Robin van Persie, who is perhaps one of the two or three best strikers in Europe right now, missed that chance.

You know which one.

You've seen the play, and the replays—and you've probably been thinking about it nonstop since the final whistle.

How do you think RvP feels about it?

Here's a guess: He'll be thinking about this one all the way to the grave.

Look, this time, there's really no big-picture lesson to be learned.

Van Persie should have scored, and if he had, Arsenal would probably be in the Champions League quarterfinals right now. (What? You're gonna tell me Arsenal would have lost a penalty shootout after all that?)

Sometimes you just miss.

The Squad Still Needs Investment

Such a strong win can't paper over Arsenal's problems. For all their dominance, the Gunners sputtered to the finish line in the second half.

And that's because they had nothing on the bench.

Injuries have plagued Arsenal all season, and Tuesday night was a perfect example.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain left the game after giving everything he had, but all Arsenal had to replace him with was Marouane Chamakh.

Theo Walcott limped off six minutes from time, and where a super sub could have turned around the match, Arsenal instead inserted Park Chu-Young.

Wenger didn't even bother to make a third sub, even though Arsenal clearly needed a change heading into the closing moments.

But what could he have done?

Reserve midfielder Oguzhan Ozyakup, with all of two Carling Cup appearances for the senior team, was probably Wenger's best available option.

Blame injuries all you want, but it doesn't change the fact that Arsenal need investment in the squad this offseason.

With a couple more dangerous attackers on the bench Tuesday night, Arsenal might still be alive in Europe.

The Ox Is for Real

As if we didn't know that already, Tuesday underlined it 10 times over.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is a star.

Once again, Arsene Wenger has uncovered a young gem hidden in obscurity (if Southampton is obscurity, that is).

The Ox proved it again Tuesday night with his tireless—OK, maybe he got tired right there at the end—runs, deft ball-handling and overall smart play.

He knew right where to go to win that first-half penalty, and AC Milan struggled to keep him contained for every single one of the 75 minutes Ox spent on the pitch.

Oh, and he's still 18.

Bravo, kid.

Odds and Ends

Tuesday night furthered the rehabilitation of both Tomas Rosicky and Laurent Koscielny.

But it also showed how frustratingly thoughtless Alex Song can be.

Rosicky worked hard in the midfield and performed admirably against AC Milan's heavy hitters. He also took his goal very well and, in general, showed again that we were wrong to think—as we did just a few weeks ago—that he was finished at Arsenal.

After the final whistle, Rosicky appeared more affected by the near miss than most. That reaction showed just how committed he remains to the cause.

Koscielny also took his goal well. More importantly, though, he partnered impressively with Thomas Vermaelen as Arsenal kept a clean sheet against Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robinho and AC Milan.

Not many teams have done that lately.

Then there's Song, who didn't play poorly. It's just that whenever Song has the ball with an opportunity to attack, he always picks the wrong pass.

That aggravating quality of his came out once again in the final minute of stoppage time as Arsenal pushed desperately for the all-important fourth goal.

Once Song took possession, the dream pretty much died.

Real Reason to Hope

It's already been said, but it bears repeating.

Arsenal fell just short in the tie, but on the night, they dominated one of the best sides in Europe. What's more, Arsenal deserved every bit of that 3-0 win.

How about that, huh?

Three weeks ago, Arsenal had fallen farther than ever before in Arsene Wenger's tenure. Right after the San Siro Swoon, Arsenal crashed out of the FA Cup with an equally inept performance against Sunderland.

But then Wenger rallied the troops and pulled off a memorable 5-2 comeback win over Spurs.

A week later the Gunners beat Liverpool 2-1 when they had no business doing anything of the sort.

On Tuesday they crushed AC Milan—AC Milan, y'all.

That's reason to celebrate—and reason to hope for the future.

Fourth place—or even better—is there for the taking.