FC Barcelona v Arsenal - Tuesday, March 08, 19:45, SS1

[Proof]

How we could approach them in such a negative and passive way is beyond me.

We all know their weakest point is their defense, plus they were playing ******* buiscuit head at CB.

Then only way to win this was by playing our game, I thought we had learned that from the first game, everyone was saying how well we did by playing OUR style of football and we succeeded.

You can't have the possession against Barcelona. Staying compact, taking advantage of their aerial weaknesses, scoring off a set piece or springing on the counter is the best and maybe the only way, to beat Barcelona.

 

[mccroix]

How we could approach them in such a negative and passive way is beyond me.

We all know their weakest point is their defense, plus they were playing ******* buiscuit head at CB.

Then only way to win this was by playing our game, I thought we had learned that from the first game, everyone was saying how well we did by playing OUR style of football and we succeeded.

You can't have the possession against Barcelona. Staying compact, take advantage of their aerial weaknesses, scoring off a set piece or springing on the counter is the best and maybe the only way, to beat Barcelona.

I'm not talking about dominating in posession, I'm talking about the way we played in the first leg. There Barcelona dominated in posession but we still played our game when we had the ball. Yesterday we hoofed it towards RvP, which is absurd. Look at the games Barcelona dropped points this season, the most of the games the opponent came out to play and not to defend with 10 men.

Regarding performances, I just have to point out what a massive game Djourou hat yesterday. TOP class.

And as I said in the other thread I find it shocking that Wilshere seemed to be only one being annoyed by the way Barcelona bossed as around towards the end. Diaby, Nasri etc showed no resiliance and just let them take the piss. You could se the anger and frustration in Jack's face in one challenge at the end, that's the way you have to react, the others showed no pride at the end and accpeted defeat. I would go mad if the opponent was doing that kind of show boating with me

 

[progman07]

Last time I say it, and I don't even care if you put me back into the Lobby for it, but:

1. first game, they had a perfectly right goal disallowed. It would've been 2-0, which we couldn't have turned, surely.
2. second game, they had a penalty claim in the first half (Diaby on Messi), if they had won it, they would have had even more time to kill us.


Alright guys, this situation is similar, you complained about the EXACT SAME STUFF against Sunderland, difference is, we happened to be on the other side this time.

Yeah, the Robin and Abidal incidents were totally ****ed up by the referee... but he was eually terrible on both sides. Also, don't put me like Robin didn't kick the ball on purpose. It's like saying, Robin is such a bad striker he takes a stupid snapshot not even hitting the target. Nah, Robin knew exactly that he was offside, otherwise he wouldn't have fluffed our one and only chance so easily. Yeah, the decision was still stupid, he shouldn't have killed the game with that sending off, but I don't believe Robin either.

 

[clockwork orange]

The 2nd half was not going the way the 1st half was. That's why van Persie got that shot at goal. That's why after the 1-1 Guardiola was about to bring on Affelay, if it wasn't for that idiot - who only once send off a player in his previous 35 CL matches - destroying the game. The 2nd half wasn't shaping up like the 1st. We would have had more space. Barcelona weren't confident at all.

 

[Kroket]

Last time I say it, and I don't even care if you put me back into the Lobby for it, but:

1. first game, they had a perfectly right goal disallowed. It would've been 2-0, which we couldn't have turned, surely.
2. second game, they had a penalty claim in the first half (Diaby on Messi), if they had won it, they would have had even more time to kill us.


Alright guys, this situation is similar, you complained about the EXACT SAME STUFF against Sunderland, difference is, we happened to be on the other side this time.

Yeah, the Robin and Abidal incidents were totally ****** up by the referee... but he was eually terrible on both sides. Also, don't put me like Robin didn't kick the ball on purpose. It's like saying, Robin is such a bad striker he takes a stupid snapshot not even hitting the target. Nah, Robin knew exactly that he was offside, otherwise he wouldn't have fluffed our one and only chance so easily. Yeah, the decision was still stupid, he shouldn't have killed the game with that sending off, but I don't believe Robin either.

I still think you're clutching at straws here just to defend your own viewpoints. Which is fair enough I suppose but still an odd way to look at it. We turned around a 2-0 deficit last year and although the penalty call is a valid point I think it's not as stonewall as some of the it's-our-own-fault-mob are making it out to be. Also, I'm sure you recall Van Persie fluffing more than one chance in the game at our place, and last night's miss was aided by the defender putting him under huge pressure, probably because the Barca player hadn't heard the whistle either.

We were up against a better team, there's no one denying that. But we did have a gameplan that seemed to work out for us. We were in front for large parts of the tie, we were close to knocking out the best team in the world. It's an ice-cold, stonewall fact that the referee killed any chance we had of surviving. There were no guarantees we would have progressed with Van Persie but it was effectively over when the referee made his mistake, robbing us from the opportunity to cause an upset.

 

[Big Poppa]

Any sort of result at the Nou Camp is always gonna be a smash and grab. Dunno what people are talking about saying we didn't deserve a result. Did you honestly expect us to have Barca on the backfoot?

I think it's the extent to which we were on the backfoot. We didn't even muster a single attempt on goal. The Barca team had 70% possession yet still ran 4km more than us, an average of 400m for every single outfield player. If we had gone through, it's hard to argue we'd been fortunate. Robin got a harsh 2nd yellow, but if we're really honest, it had little bearing on the course of the tie. None more than Messi's disallowed goal at the Emirates at least.

I didn't expect us to dominate Barca at the Camp Nou but we had quality players out there renowned for passing football who couldn't string two passes together. Nobody could hold up the ball long enough to buy time. Nobody could carry it enough to give us space. It'd be less disappointing were it the first time we lost this way but it seems like Wenger through pride, doesn't want to ever adapt his tactics towards nullifying the opposition. If we don't have the sort of players to for it (as I keep hearing) then we need to get them! We need more leaders and more unified aggression. The biggest difference between Arsenal and Barcelona isn't technical ability, it's hunger and determination to win the ball and never lose a single 50/50, concentration, discipline and focus. Whatever the referee did tonight, that's what disappoints me the most.

It is technical ability. Rosicky tried very hard and so did Sagna, but neither of them could replicate Pedro and Alves on the ball.

I would disagree. Technical inferiority was a factor but not as big as other things. We knew if we progressed from this tie it wouldn't be
because we had superior technical ability. The whole world knows they are superior to every other team around based on technique - yet they can still be beaten, or at the very least pushed very hard, by teams who are willing to match or better their appetite, work-rate and organisation. Hercules beat theam in Camp Nou, as did Rubin Kazan. Neither were anywhere near them technically.

Eboue over Sagna yesterday wouldn't have made a blind bit of difference in my opinion because as a team they ran harder than us, recovered from a turnover of possession quicker than us, and maintained better discipline than us. I'm yet to see anyone justify how a team that collectively had so much more of the ball than us could have run so much harder physically. That's a pretty damning combo.

Their forward players and creative players are not just there for ball playing abilities like Rosicky - they can compete too. If you add their superior technical ability to that, the outcome is exacerbated. We can do little about the difference in technical quality, but we couldn't even counter them because we were not making enough off the ball runs into space, and could not win the ball high enough up the pitch.

 

[Clrnc]

Since Opta started analysing every Champions League game in August 2003, Arsenal are the only team ever to record zero shots in a match.

 

[Mastadon]

Last time I say it, and I don't even care if you put me back into the Lobby for it, but:

1. first game, they had a perfectly right goal disallowed. It would've been 2-0, which we couldn't have turned, surely.
2. second game, they had a penalty claim in the first half (Diaby on Messi), if they had won it, they would have had even more time to kill us.


Alright guys, this situation is similar, you complained about the EXACT SAME STUFF against Sunderland, difference is, we happened to be on the other side this time.

Yeah, the Robin and Abidal incidents were totally ****** up by the referee... but he was eually terrible on both sides. Also, don't put me like Robin didn't kick the ball on purpose. It's like saying, Robin is such a bad striker he takes a stupid snapshot not even hitting the target. Nah, Robin knew exactly that he was offside, otherwise he wouldn't have fluffed our one and only chance so easily. Yeah, the decision was still stupid, he shouldn't have killed the game with that sending off, but I don't believe Robin either.

The cold hard truth. We didnt deserve to go through over the 2 legs. Some decisions went for us and some went the other way. Overall we are out because Barca are clearly the better team. However, if blaming the referee helps you to overlook that fact that we didnt get a single attempt (can someone tell me has that ever happened to us???) then by all means go ahead.

 

[fabo]

Seriously, I blame Wenger for this.

How we could approach them in such a negative and passive way is beyond me.

We all know their weakest point is their defense, plus they were playing ******* buiscuit head at CB.

When I realised Rosicky was in the line up I knew we only came to defend.

Then only way to win this was by playing our game, I thought we had learned that from the first game, everyone was saying how well we did by playing OUR style of football and we succeeded. And then Wenger comes up with the Italian bullshit way of playing. If we had played our game with Arshavin we could have set them under pressure, maybe score the first goal and then we'd see how they would react

In addition he should have started Nick or MC IF he only wanted to defend, hoofing the ball up towards RvP is a ******* joke

Mate, it's exactly like I said yesterday......people were creaming because Busquets and Abidal were playing CB but the problem was always gonna be actually doing anything to expose them, such is Barca's dominance. And it proved to be true as we failed to get a shot on target in 90 minutes.

I don't think we were negative at all - we had a high line for long periods. And we were doing OK until the crucial goal on half-time which was very poor defending. It's a risky tactic as we were susceptible to through-balls all the time but we were in the tie for most of the match.

Our problem was on the ball when we did eventually get it - there were just too many weak links and that's enough to undo any good work........Sagna, Clichy, Diaby, Cesc, Rosicky........none of these guys retained the ball well enough. Nasri on the other hand was very good under pressure.

 

[clockwork orange]

They are the better team and showed better football over 2 matches. That doesn't take anything away from the fact that with less than 40 minutes left to play we still very much in the match. They could only score because we gifted them a goal & thereafter we came back. With 11 v 11 we would have had a decent chance (even with 10 v 11 we nearly Nik-ked it). The 2nd half at Emirates was different too. It was still anybody's match before Robin ridiculously was send off. We were robbed of a decent chance of an upset and that's not clutching at straws.

 

[celestis]

Since Opta started analysing every Champions League game in August 2003, Arsenal are the only team ever to record zero shots in a match.

Just watched the game tonight , we made them look good in the 1st half and we did not compete 50/50's well either . Too many loose balls in posession . I won't be surprised if someone knocks Barca out of the CL because we folded basically and showed no attacking intent .

 

[DanDare]

Some people astound me. The first half minus Fabregas' stupid back heel was the most mature and tactically astute football I've seen Arsenal play in recent years.

We made the pitch about 15m long for nearly all of the first half and Barcelona created little. If we had gone in at half time 0-0 there's no reason why we couldn't have repeated the performance in the second half.

What did people want? Us to play "our football" like last time? We would just have conceded more. You can't have possession against Barcelona in the Bernebau. We set up perfectly well. Well done Wenger on that.

 

[Bossa]

This season is draining the life out of me.

So many referee who have cost us. Its like we are just not meant to be win a trophy

 

[Kraig]

go in at 0-0 at HT and we would have won the game. the fact they knew they were coming out 2nd half with us needing to score took pressure off them. One brainfart from our 'captain' and nighty night.

 

[Thommybhoy]

Since Opta started analysing every Champions League game in August 2003, Arsenal are the only team ever to record zero shots in a match.

I know for a fact this is not true! I clearly remember Stuttgart-Chelsea in whatever season that was, when it ended 0-1 with Meira o.g. and Chelsea had 0 shots.

 

[Webdesignlab]

RVP did hear it ... I would, on threat of my balls being chopped off, have to admit it. But still ... that was a 'brave' decision by the referee. He knew how high the stakes were. RVP should have had a warning ... however from the first moment that RVP saw he was going to get no service ... he acted like a silly schoolboy and was diving into this and that situation. He deserved ... let's say ... 'close scrutiny' and so has to take a lot of the blame.

Still a ****ty way to out ... I don't care if we were the worst team ... so what? ... how many times have WE lost against 'worse teams'? It happens often enough and so ... we did have a chance until the RVP fiasco.

 

[sabret00the]

The thing about a bad run is that it can either crash your season or it can just be a blip. We need to ensure that ours is a blip when we look back on it at the end of the season.

 

[dyeruz]

Some people astound me. The first half minus Fabregas' stupid back heel was the most mature and tactically astute football I've seen Arsenal play in recent years.

We made the pitch about 15m long for nearly all of the first half and Barcelona created little. If we had gone in at half time 0-0 there's no reason why we couldn't have repeated the performance in the second half.

What did people want? Us to play "our football" like last time? We would just have conceded more. You can't have possession against Barcelona in the Bernebau. We set up perfectly well. Well done Wenger on that.

No, by all means set your team first with 11 fit players, Fabregas backheel was the result of him not being fit and as a result not being sharp enough to do what he usually does and hold the ball and always looking for the pass and passing it to a player, not Arshavinesque backheels. You invite pressure against Barca eventually you get done and not taking Fabregas off when we went down to 10 men just compounds it for me.

 

[Mastadon]

Some people astound me. The first half minus Fabregas' stupid back heel was the most mature and tactically astute football I've seen Arsenal play in recent years.

We made the pitch about 15m long for nearly all of the first half and Barcelona created little. If we had gone in at half time 0-0 there's no reason why we couldn't have repeated the performance in the second half.

What did people want? Us to play "our football" like last time? We would just have conceded more. You can't have possession against Barcelona in the Bernebau. We set up perfectly well. Well done Wenger on that.

Our defensive performance was fantastic but I dont think giving the ball away as soon as you get it back against a team like Barcelona is mature and tactically astute. Everytime we got possession we booted it up the pitch to RVP and it came straight back at us.

 

[dyeruz]

This season is draining the life out of me.

So many referee who have cost us. Its like we are just not meant to be win a trophy

How did the ref "cost us" in the Carling Cup final?