Arsenal vs Barcelona | CL QF | Wed 31 March 19:45 | ITV1

[ricky1985]

The thing I think that Barca did really well, particularly in the first half, and in comparison to most teams we play, was negate Diaby & Song's strength on the ball. Against most teams, these two have enough strength and skill to hold onto the ball that little bit longer under pressure and pick the best pass rather than the easiest.

Yesterday, Barca did an absolutely fantastic job of closing these two down in particular and disposessing them in situations they'd normally be more comfortable in.

That was their swarm approach to pressing. If it's one player pressing you can use your body to hold them off and then manoeuvre the ball away from them, but, if you've got 2 or even 3 men pressing you at the same time, that becomes impossible. We just didn't have it in us to move further up the pitch and take that tactic away from them. It's one thing pressing like they did in our defensive third, but a different thing entirely to try and do in your own defensive third, as the last 25 minutes showed.

 

[dreamLord]

What ricky said. See, we can't pressurize like that. We do it one at a time, and don't cover for each other. On one occasion Clichy came out to close down Messi, but Nasri didn't notice the acres of space behind him, and Alves was allowed to put in a perfect cross (which, ofcourse Ibra Bendtnerized).

 

[ultradoc]

If eboue plays (like how a few people are asking for here),he'll be too excited at the nou camp. All those dives and late tackles might come back. And then,if messi goes left...

 

[Clrnc]

I don't get why so many people are blaming Wenger for everything, from big games, to players injuries, to Brum match, to world cup being hosted at South Africa to being too optimistic, to putting the best team out...

 

[asajoseph]

If eboue plays (like how a few people are asking for here),he'll be too excited at the nou camp. All those dives and late tackles might come back. And then,if messi goes left...

... bring on Sagna.

His concentration & tactical awareness defensively is poor, but he's done a hatchet-job on quality players in the past in individual games too. And for all the life he brings to our attacking play that Sagna doesn't, well, I don't see how this isn't an obvious decision.

 

[raidersoftheark]

I'd start Eboue, but not at RB. We'll need Sagna to put in a comparable shift, especially if Barca **** all over us again.

 

[ultradoc]

yea, maybe we can play eboue in front of sagna, and as their lb wears out, bring on theo. I'm just cautious about letting in goals becos of our lack of a proper clinical striker who can bring goals out of nowhere.

 

[otfgoon]

On Barca's pressing, I reckon its a strength and a weakness. THere was a couple of times in the second half when Bendtner got a hold of the ball and switched the play in our half and there was acres and acres of space on the other side. That something we should be looking at. If you move the ball quickly when you'v recovered it, you can exploit the space.

Absolutely correct.

We made them look much better than they are, there were acres of space in front of their back four and behind the fullbacks waiting to be exploited.

Also think part of their downfall in the second half was down to tiredness, no way can you maintain that pressure for 90 mins. We see it when other teams try it domestically against us, eventually they get tired.

 

[TakeChillPill]

we should have knicked in the end ( utterly undeserved when you look at our performace) but barca were abosuletely gased/knackered/exhausted; they were there for the taking (if cesc didnt get injured and diaby cud pass straight) i think we could have quite easily scored a few more.

Barca are vunerable; they always have been; its just teams never get the opportunity to exploit them because they never get the ball.

We just need to keep our compsure in the next game when we have the ball and show Barca why we always have 60% possession in European games; also when we don't have the ball press them high up the pitch and get stuck in! however its easier said then done, but the lads can really take heart from the first game!

 

[brady_style]

There was also loads of room between their CB's and Full backs and if could of sprayed some long diagonal balls out of defence we'd have found a way to get at them and negated their pressing game.

Their pressing game is extremely impressive and yesterday they implemented it so well that after the game Guardiola said the first half was the best 45 minutes he'd ever seen his team play.

Barca will give up goals. Atletico put 4 goals past them in one match. Atletico ! They have about as much courage as scooby-do on acid.

We need to press them higher up the pitch. I'd also consider man marking Xavi.

I remember in I think it was 'Oct '99 we played Barca away and for the second half Wenger put Kanu on Guardiola and the rest of the team got tight to the other players it caused them all kinds of problems. If we stop Xavi getting his head up and picking out passes then they won't be as smooth in possesion.

 

[lagos]

Thing about this tie is that if we get knocked out, people will add this as one more reason to forever be seeking "revenge on Barca" "hoping we get Barca in the next round" etc etc. Personally I think we should just organise an annual summer pre season meet with barcelona so we can exorcise our demons, get the monkeys of our back etc etc otherwise some will forever be looking for the hardest route to the CL trophy

 

[Accomplished]

Thing about this tie is that if we get knocked out, people will add this as one more reason to forever be seeking "revenge on Barca" "hoping we get Barca in the next round" etc etc. Personally I think we should just organise an annual summer pre season meet with barcelona so we can exorcise our demons, get the monkeys of our back etc etc otherwise some will forever be looking for the hardest route to the CL trophy

does it matter whether we want them or not? seriously?

 

[Abs]

Diaby was majorly found out last night. Terribly poor.

We really need some energy and discipline in the midfield for big matches, sick of getting turned over so easily.

Just occurred to me last night that Cesc has barely had one top display in a big match since Wenger started playing him as a #10/AM/Gerrard Mark 2. I'm loving his productivity this season but maybe we need to slot him deeper for certain matches.

Not Diabys fault we get found out in big games, he missed both the man u 1-3 and chelsea 0-3 games. we did look better when he came back against chelsea, despite losing. The reason we get found out is very easy and any manager with a brain can see our weakness.

The barca three midfielder were so close to each other and helped each other out, they kept chasing in group which made it very diffucult to play through them. We had Cesc as a second striker who didnt do much defensive work, then Diaby and song had to deal with the three in the middle and messi comming deep playing of Zlatan. Ultimatly the 3 players we are playing upfront are not doing their job good enough, which forces Cesc to join in and we become 4 2 4, once we lose the ball against top teams, they will have Song and Diaby in no mans land and have options to play through them.

This is the reason why Song and Diaby have to be careful with the pressure and are forces to buy time alot of the times when teams are running at us, most of the teams the sh"t teams are not good enough to exploit this and we get away with it. But against the top teams they will destroy you once you give them this amount of space, alot of the time Song and Diaby are forces to go higher up as we pretty much have 4 forwards and they need to close the gap, which forces the defence to also move forward once Song and Diaby has moved forward.

Im sure when Wenger changed to this formation he was counting on the three upfront wold take care of our offensive and the midfield would be compact and control games, for whatever reason this hasnt worked due to many reasons.

1. Arshavin hasnt contributed nearly enough of what was expected of him as he was seen to be vital part of our attack.

2. The main strikers suffered with injuries, missing V.Persie was huge blow, someone who has the ability to keep the ball and let others join in. Eduarde hasnt made the comeback we expected and Bendtner missed 3 months, but has gained alot this season.

3. Playing Walcott and Arshavin as wing strikers is big gamble as both are very hit and miss, and when they are not having a good day, they dont do much good. This is where playing nasri on one of the wings make so much sense as unlike the other two he has the ability to keep possession and more variations on his attacks. I think he will be vital next season as he's finally mixing his game and using all of his tools.

4 Cesc needs to move down to midfield and control the game, he's no Xavi but he's very capable of controlling a game, and being close to Diaby and Song will make us so much more stable,

5. Arshavin needs to either step up big time or be replaced as he's the one doing his job the least right now. We need more goals from whoever is playing his position. If you gonna play with one striker and and one player who can get goals but is more of a balance player who can offer alot of assists like Nasri. You need goals from the third one. Someone like Di Maria would be perfect.

6. We need to invest in a goalkeeper and a centre half who is around 24-25 who can be there for long time. Having a stable partner for Vermaleen and a new keeper is a must, so we can build a partnership for a long time.

I would make some changes in the summer, get rid of Silvestre, Fabianski and Eduardo. dont renew Gallas contract and let Sol go as well, and here's where I will get slaughtered. i would sell Arshavin as well.


Bring in a new keepr and centre half who are good enough to go straight in the first team. Djourou and a Bertley who has had some experience this season can be the back up. I would school Sagna as a centre half as well, so he can play on both positions and cover the positions when needed depending on injuries. With Chammakh comming in free...I would gamble on Di Maria big time to take Arshavins place. We have enough players in Walcott, Vela, EJT, Bendtner who can be covers and do jobs when needed. Then the likes of V.Perie while he lasts, Chammakh, Di maria and nasri can can be the first 3 choices upfront, alot of the time one of them will be out for a reason because we are arsenal

 

[Captain]

Two of the midfield three are average passers of the ball. That is the absolute number one problem.

 

[GunnerPL]

Wow, what a game, I was literally shaking when Fabregas stepped up to take the penalty and I didn't stop until almost an hour after the game. It's matches like this that make me realize how much I care for this club and what an amazing sport this is. That was quite an emotional roller coaster ride.

I can't believe all this Barcelona love that is going on after this game in particular, not necessarily only on here, but literally everywhere else. They are the best team in the world, and rightfully so, but their status seems to have gone up even higher after this game in particular. All they did was do what we get slated for all the time, dominate the game and then not come away with maximum points. They were brilliant in that first half, but it wasn't all down to them, we shot ourselves in the foot with our tactics in that half. A few changes in the second half and we showed everyone they're as human as every other team out there.

Even in the first half where was saw almost none of the ball, we managed to create a few good scoring chances with the very few attacks that we had, which again shows their vulnerability at the back.

I'm not trying to say going to the Nou Camp and getting a result will be an easy task at all, but I can't stand this notion that Barcelona are an invincible side. Apparently that was the best they've played all season and it was one of our worst performances this season, yet they still couldn't come away with all three points. All of this without even mentioning we got back into the game without Gallas, Arshavin, and Van Persie, while playing with a makeshift CB for half the game.

As for Wenger risking our players because we're playing the almighty Barcelona, for those of you that havn't realized, this is a Champions League Quarter Final, regardless of who we draw we would want our best eleven out there, because each and every one of these eight teams got this far for a reason, whether it be Barcelona or CSKA Moscow. If you want to advance in this competition and eventually win it, you have to have your best eleven out there regardless of who you're playing.

I'm absolutely gutted about the injuries, but if we go on and win nothing, it has more to do with the fact that we didn't strengthen our squad when we had the chance, and not that Arsène Wenger ruined our season by risking our players.

The pressure is on Barcelona, not on us, nobody expected anything from us in this tie anyways.

I wonder how Guardiola felt seeing "his" wonderchild be the cause of both his CB's being out of the next leg and putting us right back in it, then stay on and fight for a winner despite clearly being injured. **** off Barcelona.

 

[Alfonso]

Was it just me or did anyone find Henry's 'return' anti-climatical? Maybe because he came on when we were 2-1 down, but he did not seem very happy/humble, looked quite moody when he came on, you could argue he was being professional. Henry is one of my favourite players in the game but I cant help thinking he is a sly fox, the only person Henry cares about is Henry.

 

[Macho]

How was he supposed to be?

 

[thegame24]

Was it just me or did anyone find Henry's 'return' anti-climatical? Maybe because he came on when we were 2-1 down, but he did not seem very happy/humble, looked quite moody when he came on, you could argue he was being professional. Henry is one of my favourite players in the game but I cant help thinking he is a sly fox, the only person Henry cares about is Henry.

I thought he was ****ing up on purpose, on two situations he could have done song but he kept going wider and wider.

 

[Mbaki Mutahaba]

Why are the "critics" ignoring the remarks of Guardiola, a manager that won 5 Cups with Barca last year. He states their performance was the best away ever. They will struggle to play that way again.

So though we could have done this or that better, it doesn't take away that Barca played a superb 30mins and a team of that quality would have given any f*ng team the run around with a performance like that.

Lets take comfort in knowing that kind of performance rarely comes twice a week or even a season and we still came out with a draw. Am convinced we will have a much better game at Nou Camp, as long as we dont give them cheap goals.

 

[Alfonso]

How was he supposed to be?

I dont know, he just seemed cold.