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

[dyeruz]

Fullbacks are like the lever of a side, it's they who move the ball up and down the pitch.

Think someone mentioned it wasn't technical the reason we lost ? yes it was .
If Wenger doesn't trust Eboue to start then maybe we need to buy another full back because everytime Sagna got on the ball in our own half he lost it through a miss placed pass but its not just against Barca was it , Sunderland did a good job pressing him as well and Birmingham and Rosicky was merely a bystander for the entire match .

You are right it just handicaps the entire side .

I thought it was interesting that Guardiola opted for Adriano the winger at LB. The idea was to further supplement their ability to completely peg us back in our half, and keep us there. There was one moment which summed up how football isn't as straightforward as it might seem. You had Nasri the LFW positioned at LB with the ball, who was being pressed by Alves the RB. He essentially defended against Nasri by attacking him, rather then sitting back and inviting him to come on.

Interestingly, when Alves was caught out in the 1st leg as Arshavin scored the winner at the Emirates, the explanation offered by Guardiola was almost unbelievable. He didn't say what 99% of people would have, and state that Alves should have defended better by tracking back. He said that Alves didn't attack well enough throughout the game. Think about that, in order to prevent the goal conceding situation, he didn't attack well enough to stop it from manifesting in the first place. This little segment does not even scratch the surface in regards to how a fullbacks role is in an attacking side.

I wonder what the game plan would have been with Walcott there

 

[TakeChillPill]

Might sound like a daft question but has anyone seen whether or not RvP was actually offside, there was no replay of the offside decision and cant find any analysis regarding it on the net...i'd be interested to see it, it looked really close!

 

[Jbruin]

There was 1 replay and it was ridiculously tight if I remember, borderline onside.

 

[blaze_of_glory]

My manure friend has just tried to tell me that it was deserved because RvP "looked at the linesman and then kicked the ball away in frustration."

 

[NasrisShoelace]

I can't even remember it to be honest. It was quite a good right footed volley wasn't it?

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

they just replay the van persie offside one time why one time they dont show if this was even offside it really make you nervous

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

My manure friend has just tried to tell me that it was deserved because RvP "looked at the linesman and then kicked the ball away in frustration."

 

[Jbruin]

My manure friend has just tried to tell me that it was deserved because RvP "looked at the linesman and then kicked the ball away in frustration."

Can you please throw a turd at his mother.

 

[blaze_of_glory]

Just as I was thinking that maybe Barca was now my least favourite team too.

Nope, still manure.

 

[TakeChillPill]

My manure friend has just tried to tell me that it was deserved because RvP "looked at the linesman and then kicked the ball away in frustration."

Can you please throw a turd at his mother.

Whether he did or didnt thats not the point, it just wasnt a sending off decision...any good coach will tell you to stick in the back of the net just in case...just like arshavin did on the weekend eventhough he was onside

 

[TakeChillPill]

Just as I was thinking that maybe Barca was now my least favourite team too.

Nope, still manure.

TBH the mancs out of manchester aint too bad, the genuine fans have a good knowledge of football and usually hold arsenal in high regard despite our rivalry, same goes for liverpool fans....but its these glory hunter Man U fans, who know nothing about football who make up the majority of man u fans in the uk that really get up peoples nerves...the only games they watch are the ones in the final and then hark on about how they love man u lol

 

[blaze_of_glory]

Just as I was thinking that maybe Barca was now my least favourite team too.

Nope, still manure.

TBH the mancs out of manchester aint too bad, the genuine fans have a good knowledge of football and usually hold arsenal in high regard despite our rivalry, same goes for liverpool fans....but its these glory hunter Man U fans, who know nothing about football who make up the majority of man u fans in the uk that really get up peoples nerves...the only games they watch are the ones in the final and then hark on about how they love man u lol

Yeah well I live in Canada, so basically every manure supporter I know only supports them because they are successful. The guys I know do watch most of their games, but they have no reason to support them other than the fact that they are big and famous and successful.

Lol one of them was born in Scotland, but has no problem supporting England because Scotland is not good enought to have a chance of winning anything.

 

[Hunta]

Anybody see where Crouch had a shot about 5 seconds after the whistle went for offside v Milan? He got no yellow

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

Anybody see where Crouch had a shot about 5 seconds after the whistle went for offside v Milan? He got no yellow

yeah i see it and make me feel really sick

 

[blaze_of_glory]

We were royally screwed, there is no two ways about it.

 

[The Sleeper]

I loathe every single Barcelona player now. Bunch of stinking hypocrites for acting the way they did to Wilshere, when they were rolling about all the time.

Arsenal player fouled and stays on grass? = they all surround the ref and try make out he's faking it.

Barca player not fouled and rolls on grass? = they all surround the referee and feign anger and try get Arsenal player booked.

If there's any justice, they will get beaten by someone in the competition. I'd love it if Tottenham played and beat them, even.

And **** that Xavi git for saying the ref made the right decision with Robin. The right decision for THEM, maybe. But not the correct decision as an impartial referee.

Other than that, we played with fear, and our passing was way too slow. We can have all the ability in the world but if we continue to keep freezing with fear in the big occasions, we play like amateurs. Wenger really has to sort that out. But can he? I can't think of any other team right now that displays so much fear and nerves, honestly. I watch other teams and their players all seem stoic and going for it. We need a couple of older heads in the summer, and no Silvestre types either. Leaders with guts. Hell, I'd even take Joey Barton. Okay, I wouldn't, but you get the point. Courage is lacking in a big way. Takes some humility to admit it, and fix it. Either that, or we keep pretending to ourselves we don't have a fear problem.

 

[Anzac]

I see Mascherano hasn't taken long to join the annual Barca player wankfest & has said much the same as their chief prick Xavi.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8689_6804360,00.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.football365.com/story/0,1703 ... 60,00.html</a>

As for being hypocritical = their 74% possession came courtesy of their illegal tactic of player obstruction to regain possession, and their 900 passes came courtesy of them playing 3 passes in the space most teams play 1 - Denilson would fit in perfectly.

 

[banduan]

As for being hypocritical = their 74% possession came courtesy of their illegal tactic of player obstruction to regain possession, and their 900 passes came courtesy of them playing 3 passes in the space most teams play 1 - Denilson would fit in perfectly.

Spot on mate.

 

[General]

Funny thing is that we tend to be associated with Barca as two teams who love to play the game the way it should be played and within the spirit of the rules but after this latest episode any link with this bunch of irritants should end. It may sound like sour grapes and admittedly we are no angles but in Barca who have a team who will do anything to win, from blatant cheating to endless gamesmanship. It is a measure of the class they carry that last year after they’ve been beaten by Inter, they turned on the pitch water sprinklers to prevent their players of celebrating and Valdes even had the nerve to try and physically restrain Mourinho from going to applaud the Inter fans. Let’s be honest, they are a rule onto themselves and the team is full of loose canons with very little regard for the rules or the opposition. I’m sure Wenger will go a away and assess our own failings but it’s would be a tough task under the circumstances. People say Barca dominated and deserved to go through but this is football and possession + dominance don’t always equal a win as we found out in the last two encounters against them at the Emirates. You can sugarcoat it and wrap it up however you want but at 1-1 it was all to be play for. Busacca couldn't have chosen a better time to hand them the advantage.

 

[Webdesignlab]

Can't believe that Spuds are dong better than we are. It's a fecked up world.