Ding Ding, Round One!!
This is it!!
When we lost our match in Portugal against Braga and on hearing Shaktar had won I knew from that moment that we could meet Barca. There was a sense of inevitability about it and the draw made in December confirmed what I believed would happen.
Then came the media hype…
Quite frankly Barca scare me.
They are a very good team, they have in their ranks three players who were battling out for the FIFA Ballon D’or and six players in the FIFPRO 11.
In the CL this season they have had an average possession of 70% to our 57%, a pass accuracy of 84% to our 75%.
They are in some quarters regarded as the ‘Best Team Ever’.
Make no mistake they are an excellent side but I must say the media have gone overboard on this one, especially in our country where they give us no chance. We are second in the Premier League but still they don’t give us any sort of credit. Barca have been built up as invincible in the eyes of many but I do believe that any team composed of human beings will never be perfect. There is always a chink in the armor.
I have been a keen follower of their games in La Liga trying to find that weakness. They have lost to Hercules and drawn against Mallorca and Sporting Gijon last weekend. Rubin Kazan managed to stifle them away but all the above teams parked the bus and played on the counter.
We are not going to do that – We are not built to do it.
I however found their games against Villareal and Madrid to be interesting.
Barca vs. Villareal.
Villareal play a very similar philosophy to us. They may have lost at the Camp nou but they gave Barca a tough test. They played a highline against Barca but what was most impressive was how well they pressed Barca as a team in midfield. They used a Dutch concept of pressing known as ‘through pressing’ which means that instead of chasing around Xavi they cut out his passing options and as a result Barca could not get going. Messi and iniesta had to drop deeper and deeper in search of the ball and as a result Villareal were able to contain them for long periods.
When Villareal won the ball Neymar and Rossi who are very quick players would break at full throttle towards Pique/Puyol/Busquets giving them a tough time. Barca are quite simply scared of raw pace, even Messi has admitted that.
Barca vs. Madrid
This match will be remembered as one of the El classicos of all time. Madrid, who are boasting of the most expensive squad in Spanish history got absolutely battered. Just like Villareal they played a high line but the difference this time was that Madrid lost heavily.
How did it happen?
It has been repeated so many times that for a team to be successful the sum of the collective must be greater than sum of parts. Madrid on this occasion played what is known as a ‘Broken team’ whereby Ronaldo/Ozil/Benzema rarely dropped back to defend and as a result their midfield was exposed. Despite Madrid playing two holding midfielders in Khedira/Alonso similar to Jack and Song, they were battered.
Ozil failed to drop deep to help out. Messi dropped deep into that gap with Xavi and Iniesta either side of him. When you allow three of the worlds best players to link up in such proximity you are asking for trouble. Villa and Pedro played on the shoulders of the Madrid defenders on the highline and ran onto so many through balls from the aforementioned trio. When Madrid had the ball Barca would swarm all over them, win the ball and another attack would be launched. Pressing has both psychological and physical impact. That’s why Barca tore us apart in the first half at home last season similar to how they played Madrid.
The above two examples indicate how important teamwork is if you are going to play Barca at their own game. Cesc has to drop deep to form a wall in front of the defense to stifle Xavi/Iniesta/Messi of any space. Stay tight at the back to prevent them from threading through balls in between our CBs and FBs. When we win the ball I’d like us to release Theo on the break. We should also aim to take advantage of the offside rule especially with Barca holding a high line. Rvp’s second against Wolves is a perfect example of how to do that.
'Batman' Theo and Robin make it look so simple
Motivation
Arsenal fans must be tired of us being called ‘poor man’s Barca’, I hate it!
We have always played this way under Wenger. We had to endure months of speculation regarding Cesc moving to Barca with Barca players taking turns to taunt us through the media. I still to this day feel the pain of Paris when we were so close to claiming our first Champions League. As good as Barca may be they are still human beings.
I hope our players get past the worship they are receiving at the moment. I don’t want to see Cesc smiling at the cameras as the teams take the field – when we take the ground it is war. We have never lost to a foreign team at the Emirates and we need our fans to make it known to them. They may rule the world according to some but we should show them they’ve yet to conquer this part of the world. Make as much noise as you can as winning such a game could define the next decade for us.
We may well lose tomorrow but if our players give it their all I will applaud them off the park.
It’s about time we got respected and this is the time to do it. We have improved just like they have but ours will be a much bigger improvement. I urge all our fans to keep the faith and get behind the boys. I hope we add tomorrow to the classic nights such as Milan and Madrid. The players should follow Clichy’s lead and play their hearts out.
That’s what we want to see tonight…
PS I have been asked about my predictions. If I had to predict I’d say our trump card is partnership…
Don’t forget, sing loud and proud to the tune of ‘WE’VE GOT…..
SING LOUD AND PROUD
Have a great time tonight and let’s hope our boys do us proud…
Written by K-TR7
Morning all, great post KT…
Today is the day………
morning
morning rsd…. feeling confident??
well least we’re playing the first team this year, which is always a good start,
plus now got a keeper who doesnt knell down
Sagna not playing is my biggest worry ….
by the way would you be interested to coming on one of my live blogs have one coming up with goonerholic which would be nice if you’d join us.
http://realsocialdad.blogspot.com/p/live-blog-schedule.html
sanga banned tonight remember
We will do it…………..up the arsenal……i have a strong feeling that we will beat them…we are not the same team as last year.we have jack in mf, dj at the back the szczesny at goal.song can hound messi.and they will be scared of theo and even arsha/nasri.these guys have pace,without puyol i think theyll have to play maxwell/milito.i hope we give these guys a whipping….i really believe we can if we get our act together….
hi indian gooner – it will certainly be a very different game, players have grown up and matured. we certainly won’t be rolled over…
barca could be in for a bit of a shock tonight….
But, only if the ‘real arsenal’ turn up….
opps NOT playing
Morning all,
Been waiting for this post KTR7, and am not dissapointed great post KT, good points made. I may upset a few gooners here, but well done Spuds, watched the game last night and admired the way you played as a team, even yelled when Lennon and Crouchy stole the show, nice to see a couple of Englishmen do the biz. Enough about them, A nice win tonight will make me yell again tonight even louder, we have the team we have the players we have the manager and we have the stadium but above all we have the home advantage,a goog win and i can sleep like a babe.
what times that rsd??
Hi Steve
I watched some of that game and to be honest, i don’t know how meelan had eleven players on the pitch, Gattuso and Flamini should both have been sent off…
I thought they did well and unlucky not to come away with a better goal difference…
still hope they get battered at home though….
7 th march 8 pm gmt
Morning rico,
in full agreement with you, i like to see all the English clubs do well in Europe, to prove to the world this is the best football played, if we cant win it, then so be it , one of the others, i hate it when the foreign clubs win. Milan were a disgrace, the ref was biased and suprised me when he dissallowed there goal.I hope we get a decent ref tonight
Morning Folks,Kt never dissapoints what a post to get us warmed up for the CL OH TO BE A GOONER
Steve I hate the spuds but in all fairness the Serie A is Serie Z Crap
After watching Milan last night Eric, i think your right
what annoys me tho
if we went got that result it would be lucky arsenal, blah blah blah
melan were crap but still had them under the cosh for the whole of the second half only to be caught on break and lemon wouldnt have even got past yepes if he’d stayed on his feet.
rsd, can you remind me the day before and i’ll plug it in the post??
RSD if we come away with a result tonight, which i’m expecting, i dont care what they say or write
Steve, i don’t – i want them all to lose if i’m honest, but credit to the tiny totts to be battered the way they were and win….
Howdy Erick 🙂
dare i say a non french ref may have sent flamini off last night??
did you see the story about flamini in the french press
Domenech called him up for a game and he looked like he was part of his plans.But one morning He complained that the time for breakfast was too early and that it has to change. He argued with Domenech, saying that it was not normal He had 3 caps at the time and acted like he knew better and like he was Thuram and his 142 caps ! He was never called up again after that !
no wonder wenger didnt try and resign him till last minute
so would you start samir?
Rsd I would If their is a player who can press up the field and very dangerous on the ball is Nasri
Morning all.thanks for the comments.
Howdy Rico
Morning KT must say that was a great write up
Was looking on Wikiwhatever, about Cesc, aparently he was scoreing around 30 goals a season for Barca reserves but never played one game at Barca’s home ground, never played one game for the first team, they wasnt interested in him. Funny how now he has made a name for himself with us, Barca recon his one of theirs, shows you that if scoreing 30 goals a season cannot attract their attention, then he did the right thing coming to us. Wenger dosn’t miss a trick, and he got him for fcuk all, i love it.
rsd, we are best rid of him…..
Ha ha ha ha ha Steve intresting findings Barca did not have Faith in Cesc so Aw got him for free. Apparently we paid One million pounds for Song lol
rsd, if he’s 100% fit, yep, i’d start him….
morning KT, cracking read, thank you …
Incredible about cesc, no wonder the stains feel hard done by, serves them right too – if they couldn’t spot a diamond right under their noses, they don’t deserve him……
‘We’ve got Cesc Fabregas’ ……..
For me, the important thing is how Arsenal are going to play versus a football team with the same style, and technically superior, contrary to League teams, who play football with a little continental “parfum”.
Barcelona has not lost / drew these games just for those reasons.
Every game is a different game. It seems to me that Nasri will not play, but will be on the bench. It is possible to play Diaby. What in my view, would be a good bet.
We must not forget that today is the 1st set part of the tie. Hopefully no expulsions for Arsenal, especially if you can beat and not conceding any goal.
Moreira Diaby out with a Calf strain I would start Nasir no doubt for the simple reason he has more work ethic than AA
‘Hands off Cesc Fabregas’
I dont believe he will start with Nas, AA will get the call, Nas will come on for the last 15mins, if needed, but i doubt he will need to put his boots on.
Morning guys,
“hey used a Dutch concept of pressing known as ‘through pressing’ which means that instead of chasing around Xavi they cut out his passing options and as a result Barca could not get going.”
Isn’t this what I have been advocating for the last two days?
sorry im back
bob wilson just join twitter
its gona be a good day
Will lol as long as it works
Rico, have you heared anything about Verminator, has he got his boots on yet
Well done Will, i knew you wasnt talking rubbish
yes ktr
boooom..
stay as one, play as a unit..close the space not the man..give them nothing, take everything..dont let the fuckers breath..just like we did to chelsea
and once we got the ball…dink…over the top of that high line
GO THEO GO…..
I’m back now, all the housework completed ready for a viewing 🙂
Steve, haven’t heard anything about TV, sadly 🙁
Hi Will and jj
Just what Song said, play against Barca exactly how we did against the chavs, play our game and not to theirs….
tv looked fit at the emirates on sat
i think i heard that it a couple of weeks
but that was last week
Will, you have and its so right…
Last season we let them run on and off the ball and chased around like headless chicken, but this time around we have matured and we have a near on full squad barring TV and Sagna…
Also, Cesc wasn’t at his best, Nasri was nowehere near the player he is now, JD has grown into a top class defender…
And, Theo is twice the player he was last time around and the biggest plus is we have a fit, healthy and on fire Robin……
see http://www.physioroom.com/news/english_premier_league/epl_injury_table.php
If thats a couple of Wenger weeks RSD it could be the end of April
Blimey, i’m sounding like i actually believe we will win tonight 😉
We’ll win rico, i’m convinced Alex is a mighty plus i expect him to break them up a bit he’s a handfull
First five mins will convince me one way or the other Steve, if we come out of the blocks and go at them, great stuff, if we sit back, i will hide behind the sofa for 90 mins 😉
I just pray we don’t concede….. massive game for chesney…
Nottm Forest ladies need £5k to stay afloat; you can donate here http://www.nflfc.co.uk Can you spare a couple of quid?
you guys see this earlier?
Alisher Usmanov has vowed to increase his stake in Arsenal after climbing above Roman Abramovich in Russia’s rich list, Goal.com UK can reveal.
The Uzbek-born billionaire, who is the club’s second largest shareholder, is continuing to plough some of his vast fortune into sweeping up small tranches of shares in Arsenal every week on the alternative PLUS market.
Sources close to Usmanov, who has a stake of just under 27 per cent, say he is targeting the 29.9% threshold already occupied by Arsenal’s largest stakeholder Stan Kroenke and that he has no interest in buying another club, either in the Premier League or overseas.
A holding of 30% or beyond would trigger a mandatory takeover bid for the remaining shares in Arsenal Holdings plc.
Usmanov’s continued interest in increasing his stake in Arsenal comes as Russia’s Finance magazine reports that he has become the third richest man in the country with an estimated personal fortune of $19.9 billion (£12.34bn), an annual rise of four places and $7.5bn (£4.59bn).
so has anyone got a ticket for tonight?
not me rsd, television for me, or behind the sofa 😉
i never believe goal.com where did they copy and paste it from
no idea rsd, if its true could be interesting times ahead….
Goal.com are bunch of fucking wankers. That’s what I think about them, you’ll never c a good article based on us. Guess who was their world player of the week?? -> Shreik
Hi Gurkhaligunner, ok, i get the point 😉
Shrek was dreadful in that game, the only one thing he did was score and that was a fluke…
morning all…great post k…it will be difficult for me to focus on work today, such is the anticipation…we’ve nothing to fear tonight and i hope that players understand it – some may call us “barca lite”, as we are similar but not yet quite as good as them at what we both do, but that does not mean we cannot win the tie…let’s go out, play our game, have a real go at them and see what happens. if we lose tonight, we lose – it happens. just don’t walk out on the pitch already beaten.
that said, i get the sense our players are confident and up for this. we should be a much different proposition than the injury-hit sides we fielded last season. barcelona can be beaten – just like anyone – so why not us to do it?
as painful as it is to say this, i thought spurs were excellent last night. they were all over milan in the first half, and kept their heads and stood firm when milan were in the ascendancy. it was difficult which team was making it’s cl knockout round debut, and which team had been there so many times before. i feel dirty conceding that, but credit where credit is due…
Hi oliver
The players are certainly speaking with confidence, we have nothing to lose tonight as everyone has already written us off…
However, I think they may just be left eating a chunk of humble pie…
we’ll see in a few hours. barca come knowing they can beat us – and that we have never beaten them. but it does not sound like our players are afraid. it is going to be very, very difficult, but it can be done. if we do win tonight, we also have to remember that we have defend said advantage at camp nou in a fortnight, so the job will not be done either way after the final whistle goes tonight. a win would be wonderful, but not if we (and the players) view it as job done…
Italian referee tonight – Nicola Rizzoli
Boo!
KT, a great, positive write. I agree, the job is difficult but not impossible. And who beter than us to be able to do it?
rico, oliver, are we on tenterhooks or are we on tenterhooks? 😀 Tonight, we write history. We have a good a team as any, and I am brimming with confidence.
No messing around Eboue……
Rizzoli took charge of the Champions League quarter-final second leg between Manchester United and Bayern Munich. With the score at 3–1 to Manchester United (4–3 on aggregate), Rizzoli sent off their right-back, Rafael, for a second bookable offence. Bayern then scored again and won the tie on away goals.
Boo agag, very nervous but as KT says, Barca are all humans (i think) they can have an off game – but regardless, if we play our best we can beat them what ever they do…
We just need the side to be in the same frame of mind that played the first half against newcastle, not the second half!!
rico, rafael deserved to go in that match. he was already on a yellow and committed a rash, undisciplined challenge. united jumped all over bayern and were 2-0 within ten minutes, i think. they are scored a third around the half hour mark and looked to be cruising. but then bayern pulled a goal back late in the first half and the nerves set in…robben scored a second after united were reduced to ten men, and bayern held on comfortably to go through on away goals. bayern were the better side over both legs, and rizzoli and his crew handled a difficult match well, i thought…united were the authors of their own downfall, relinquishing a 4-2 aggreggate lead (imagine the reaction if arsenal had done that?) and had a player deservedly sent off. on the evidence of that fixture, we shouldn’t need to focus on rizzoli and his crew…
shouldn’t need to focus on anything other than ourselves. just go out there, uninhibited, play our football in a smart, responsible manner and the result will take care of itself.
I recall the game too oliver – it made a change for utd to dealt with in the right and proper way, they so often get lady luck on their side with decisions like that..
i guess i am just saying that eboue really worries me, he feigns injury and makes silly tackles – this ref won’t tolerate it…
I really hope Eboue shows us all why Wenger keeps faith in him and not just for his off-field fun show…
we are clearly vulnerable on that side without sagna there. it was eboue’s dive in paris that “won” the free kick sol headed in for our goal in the final against barca…we were so close that evening – if only th could have converted that one-on-one versus valdez…if we won the european cup that evening, who knows how thing would have turned out…
I just hope this italian ref is not a Milan supporter, lot of bad press about the italians at the moment, they played a London club, Italions have a way of getting their own back, lets hope he aint bent.cause i believe thats the only way they can beat us
morning steve…somehow, i doubt rizzoli and crew are stewing over what happened at san siro – they have more important things to worry about tonight. i think the general negativity is about one specific italian, and a certain frenchman of italian descent who used to wear our colours…should not make a jot of difference to rizzoli and his assistants…
barca don’t need a bent ref to beat us, i think they are quite capable of turning us over without external favors. we just need to play our game, without reservations, without fear, but play smart and responsible. we are just as capable of beating barca, so we need to focus on that, let get distracted by the officiating crew’s nationality…
Sagna will be sorely missed, but I trust that Eboue has been told in no uncertain terms that he cannot be casually flinging himself to the ground. I suppose Busquets will match him dive for dive though 🙂 Even Messi goes to ground little to easily for my liking.
The Catalans, it pains me to admit, are a great side, but.. we are The Arsenal!!! We’ll do one better!
Got to pop off for a bit, back in a while…
Why do i think you lot dont believe in our team, we can beat anybody and i dont expect any upsets at all, they copied us not us copied them, they have been lucky in catching us understreangth in the past, and they have had a bit of luck catching us with one of the best right backs not being their, plus Nas untried since his hamstring, and also tv not being in the mix but we’ll win tonight and we’ll have them back for the return, then we can realy rub it in
Yes! yes! yes! thank You! thank you! thank you , i am back.
yes yes yes 🙂 🙂
I’ll have some of what your on SDL i haven’t heared that since i took a viagra ha ha
Shut down xavi’s passing options and we’ll contain them.
NIce one Steve 🙂
Hey, KT, great post!!!
Steve, I truly believe we’ll win this one. I said after the draw for Barca to Bring It On. And I haven’t, not for a moment, considered a recasting of that mindset. 😉
SD 😆
of course i believe in our team – how can someone reasonably suggest otherwise? we need to remember this is barcelona we are facing, not leyton orient – barca do what we do, only they do it better at this point. i think we can win tonight, and i am very very hopeful…but i am not going in thinking that barca are not going to have a say in what happens tonight. if we play our football, work tremendously hard – and smart, take our chances when they come, and deny barca time and space, we should win, regardless of what the opposition does. but none of us should be under any illusions that this will be easy – it will not. barca will still carry a psychological edge, as we have never, ever beaten them – they even beat us in dave seaman’s testimonial match. they have accomplished everything we are building towards, and are on course to add to that honours list. tonight is a good a night as any to beat barca for the first time, and i think we can do it. but we will have to work tremendously hard for it, and barca are not just going to roll over. those are the points i am attempting to make.
Thanks agag.szczesny must be wondering how life has changed for him.a year ago he was playing in lower division but now he is getting his CL debut against barca.he made his PL debut at old trafford too.
Hi Agag, glad to hear that, i keep getting the feeling that everybody dosn’t believe in our squad, i know they have made mugs of themselves by letting leads slip and loseing to lesser teams, but i accept that we can’t win every game we play, but i get the feeling that supporters have actually started to believe all these pundits and the paper talk put out, but we never get good press, and if we dont believe in what Wenger and his band of merrymen stand for its a very sad day, when we beat them tonight the talk in the paper will be what the amada will do to us on the return, not how great we played.
I will say we should attack them with dangerous one twos .
Yes , play them at their own game. They are afraid , very afraid. Not of being beaten but of losing the Mystical mask that has being covering them in all competition.
If we should beat them very well then we would have destroyed their invincibility and every team will have a go and that will affect their season.
So i will say we should unleash our thunder bolts in Arshavin And Walcott and leave sneaky RVP in the front – oh oh he will scored and let the general(Fabregas ) feed them with spectacular passes (Worth £80mil) And! And! And! just leave Song and Wilshere to stay in front of the back four to stop iniesta , Messi, and Xavi.
Oh! I tell you they are scare , we equalized without Gallas and arshavin or Fit Fabregas and scored first in the return leg with a Carling cup team .
Now we have a complete team with Nasri on the bench to destroy their game plan totally.
I SAY GUNNERS? BLAST THEM OFF THE FIELD OF INVICIBILITY
steve, if that last reference is to me, it could not be more incorrect. i do believe in our squad and think we have a great chance of winning tonight. once again, it will be very, very difficult, and i believe that fc barcelona will have their moments tonight. a win tonight means that the job will only be half done, we will need to get another result at their place – which i think we are capable of doing – to progress to the q/f…but we will have to give a full ninety-plus minutes of effort, committment and maturity to win here…barcelona are better than anyone we have faced this season, but are still human and i think we can beat them our/their game…italian officials should have nothing to do with the outcome tonight.
I agree, oliver. It won’t be easy. Barca tend to be sublime (Haha. I have trouble complimenting the stains). But if anyone is up to the challenge, it is The Mighty Arsenal. 🙂
KT, my how things have changed. I bet Chesney is glad he did not force the issue of more playing time at the risk of earning the ire of AW. He has his chance now, and well he should grab it!!
Steve, I have never, ever, predicted an Arsenal loss. And I am proud of the fact. 😉 Let the dismissive, pessimistic, down-on-the-Johnny-Foreigners press enjoy their hatchet job on AFC. Tomorrow, they shall be eating humongous servings of humble pie and crow. I am looking forward to it. 🙂
hi agag…just under four hours to go, and, as i predicted earlier, my productivity for today (so far) has been virtually nil…
winning this tie – not just this leg, but eliminating barca – will signal the coming of age of this side. signature win and accomplishment on the european stage. a loss won’t diminish our side much, as few outside of our own support expect us to progess. nevertheless, we should not necessarily look at this as a “nothing to lose” situation – we have ambitions of our own, which include winning the european cup, so a reverse would constitute a big disappointment.
with all that said, i think a big key is for our players to relax, concentrate, and play with the belief that we can outplay barca and beat them this time…with two notable defensive exceptions, we are at full strength and should be able to impose our will a lot better than the makeshift sides of last season did…
Greetings all, Oliver a win 2nite is likely to then herald a below par performance against Orient cos its just Orient…! Until the Squad is as good as the first 11 these games are always going to occur as the attitude just isn’t right consistantly but how many times have we said that this season and in the past.
Oliver, i wouldnt undermine your integrity, i realise your a gooner all the way through. i know its going to be tough i know its not a walk in the park, but if Arsenal players switch into any of these blogs which i’m sure they have a crafty look, i want them to know that we’ll back them whatever, if God forbid we did lose tonight, we have to let them know that we’ll back them to win it back on the return, i have a good feeling this year, we will come up against good teams but i never doubt we can win anywhere and against anyone on our day. And i hope that days today.
morning wath…we’ll see what happens with orient. that is on sunday, i believe. we have resked league fixture versus stoke just three days after that, so rotation for the fa cup tie will be inevitable.
i don’t think arsene can afford not to ring the changes for that one, but i hope not to see a massive eight changes again…bring a strong bench to brisbane road, call on the cavalry if we run into trouble and cross fingers no injuries emerge.
i get what you are saying about an emotional dip for the unglamorous orient fixture, and certainly past history has seen such let-downs. i am hoping for the reverse – a win tonight strengthens belief that we can beat anyone, any time, any place…and that a mixed squad is able to put in a simple, professional winning effort versus orient…
Oliver, think it’s not an issue or a question that we can beat anyone anytime anyplace but it’s always the question of “WHICH” Arsenal side is gonna turn up and thats the problem and thats the weakness.
I forgot to mention this in the post re:Busquets.in all the predictions he has rarely got a mention.he is one of the best one touch football players.last season he was one of the reasons why we got battered.with our pressing being ineffective he circulated the ball so quickly and we could not cope.when xavi/iniesta get pressed so much they look for him.if we fail to press him we’ll be basically allowing barca to dominate.if we do press him we may leave gaps for iniesta/xavi to exploit.Aw has to decide.
Boo – my days work is done, now just waiting for the KO, going to cook a nice italian pizza, hopefully the ref will read this and be on our side 😉 😉
Afternoon all 🙂
A reverse is not within my power to even entertain right now, oliver. 😀 I’m just very, very, very excited about the match. Well, maybe not as excited as SD. 😉 If lessons from last year’s similar tie have been learned, as our players have been claiming, they should find the performance to match it.
KT, top post mate and who’s that plum going on about GO THEO GO……. Surely it can’t be JJ of the “Theo is rubbish and will never be any good”…?
steve, i am sure some players – and club staff – read the blogs and see the comments. i cannot believe they would not be interested in knowing the prevailing supporter mood – certainly if i were a player, i would want to know just what supporters are saying and thinking…and i think if they read this one, they will unanimous support and love…i cannot recall anybody having a pop at a specific player today – perhaps my comment about eboue’s dive in the 2005 final, but that is what it was. but at the same time, i see no harm in saying what i think deep down – that this will be tremendously difficult, fc barcelona are a great side, and it will take an effort above and beyond what this particular side has previously done to win tonight. i have said several times that i think our players are fully capable of doing just that – and winning this tie outright with a result at camp nou in two weeks time. i think the mood has been overwhelmingly supportive.
Hi WATH.how has the sailor been?
rico, go pizza margherita, if i may be so bold as to make a recommendation…
WATH you’ll be surprised by how optimistic jj is nowadays.
on an ordinary day, i think i would be in quite the mood for tapas…considering what will begin in three and three quarters of an hour, i shall pass on those.
oliver – i’m a non meat eater so its pretty much that, but i’m throwing on some pepper, chilli, garlic and spinach 🙂
and you may be as bold as you like 🙂
I’m good KT, JJ optimistic… Hmmm and I just seen pigs fly, big pink ones, yeh and no comments from you needed either lady AGAG 😛
Hi WATH, Erick is right, you wouldn’t believe it was the same JJ, he rates the ‘s***e defender from France too’ 😉
I’m in for a telling off when he comes on later 😉
i used to love tapas oliver, but a bit wasted on me these days….
Who cares about L- Orient who cares?
I dont.
All i care about is today’s game and Carling Cup final.
Whatever happens today , we still have the chance to lift a trophy in 2 weeks time so February is good good good
Beat BArca and win the Carling Cup.
We can play L-Orient 3 times who cares, we will still beat them.
agag, a certain philippine congressman representing mindanao – one emmanuel d. pacquiao – was here in the capital yesterday. he spoke on capitol hill and then he and mrs. pacquiao dined with our president and first lady at the white house. i was in another part of dc when he was here, so i did not have the opportunity to see him…
I think JJ has been smoking his socks with the kinda comments that have been attributed to him lately…! Wait til I see him he’s in for a right hard time the turncoat AKB 😉
SD is on happy pills, rico speaks on boldness, and WATH is… Hmmm. I’m keeping schtum. 😛 (See, I’m very obliging? I choose not to mention that you have had one bottle too many of GG?? 😛 )
sd, immediate focus should be solely on tonight’s fixture, i agree…but once the final whistle goes, i – and wath it seems – will turn our attention to orient and sunday. it’s part of our season and i would like to be in the running for all four prizes for as long as possible. a good, efficient performance from some of our reserves – perhaps a goal or two for chamakh, and a solid defensive effort from gibbs – will boost confidence when we will eventually need to turn to these and our other second/third choice players, as we inevitably will as the season moves towards its conclusion.
WATH, you behave 😉
SD, thats the attitude the players have, It’s Orient who cares, play each game on it’s merits is all we need to do and play each team like they are barca and the consistency should then improve as we won’t then slack off cos its onlt this team or that, look at Ipswich away… prime example of thinkin all we had to do was turn up…! Thats a crap attitude mate !!
I saw it on yahoo news, oliver. 🙂 My friends who know Pacman say he’s very nice. Very extravagant, too. He brought a friend and his girl to a match in Vegas just because they got talking and my friend said he was a fan. 🙂
Me behave Rico, always…. AGAG your so far from the truth it’s scary… Had no GG in weeks it’s why I am loosing the plot 😉
We need the 2006 eboue today.we need to stay tight defensively as barca forwards pedro/villa/messi have amassed 76 goals so far.messi has 40 goals.
I still don’t understand why anyone voted for him though, oliver. How can anyone with free will and a functioning brain…?
agag, he and mosley were doing the rounds hyping their may 7th fight..if i were pacquiao, this would be my last year fighting – i don’t believe there will be a fight with floyd – and i would be devoting my future time and energy to the political career. that said, i’ve always heard it is very difficult to just walk away from fighting if one has been doing it so long.
Teetotalling, WATH? 😯 Are you sure you’re WATH?? 🙂 😀
KT, I hate Busquets. He’s as hateful as Xavi, as far as I’m concerned.
name recognition agag…no disrespect, but how did erap ever get elected president? what kind of a senator was he? from what i heard, he was known for sleeping through meetings more than sponsoring signficant legislation…
fpj (rest in peace) was almost certainly the rightful winner of the 2004 presidential elections. like erap, known as an action hero, rather than a successful politician/public servant…
I never said teetotal AGAG stop being a woman and jumping to conclusions and assuming things 😛 I merely said no GG 😉
GOOD LUCK guys BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
later sd…lets slay the catalan dragon tonight…
Our politics is embarrassing. The Erap regime was a disaster and Arroyo’s was so brazenly corrupt, it doesn’t even bear mentioning. 🙁 We do deserve the leaders we get.
😳 WATH. I should have known better. Grape juice over the wheat concoction, then. 😉
but so do we (here in the u.s.), agag…so do we…
if there was no “hello, garci” and fpj won the election, he would have simply been controlled by erap’s people…
AGAG, don’t despair politics is a world wide phenomenon called “Corruption”
wath, corruption, posturing, and narrow agendas which hinder the greater good…that is how i see politics – especially in the city where i am at this moment…
Oliver, as much as the west go on about democracy they are all as two faced as anyone else in the World, they are all corrupt as far as I am concerned they are just operating on different levels thats all. Just look at FIFA and politics, enough said !!
wath, it would be very difficult to argue your point – if i were so inclined to do so in the first place. democracy is a laudable concept – and works under the right conditions. unfortunately, it is often used as a cover for things more sinister…
I’m off. Beauty sleep and all that. Oliver, I’m sure you’ve heard of a general having just committed suicide here over mad money payouts. Terrible. WATH, Blatter has much to be held accountable for… You be good. 🙂
Spot on Oliver. . . . . Anyway we digress…..! AA is the trump card for us tonight for me, if he’s on song he can win any game as he is special, if he can’t be arsed we start with ten men, I fancy him to turn it on I must admit, I so hope I am right.
You not watching later agag??
AGAG, night sweetie, sweet dreams and enjoy the game and lets hope we smash em…! I always behave 😉
Theo and Song the key men for me WATH and Chesney….
I dont think AA will start 😉
hi agag…you mean general reyes…yes, i have heard about it and have been following the story ever since gen. garcia’s family members were caught bringing dirty money in to the u.s. and the auditor and deputy comptroller have come forward about the payola system. too bad the ombudsman is an arroyo lackey, nothing will be done until she (gutierrez) is impeached.
we’ll see…in a little over two hours, the starting lineups will be announced.
Just a nap, rico. The game is 345 am here. 🙂 Wouldn’t miss it for anything in the world. 😉 Good night, WATH. I never expect you to behave though. 🙂 Good for you 😉 Catch you later, oliver.
Rico, While all the hype is on Theo I reckon AA has a stormer 😉 and converts a few of those easy chances he has completely stuffed up the last few games 😉
See you in a while then agag, dream of Theo battering the stains 🙂
WATH, AA is a fab player when he feels like it, the last few games he has got a lot better – he’s due one and i pray if he plays, its tonight…
we need 11 players to be for the game… then we will win….
Come on then, lets have your score predictions….
Ah so now ur changing your tune to then we will win if all 11 play well. . . . . Hmmmm 😉 Ok am off to get food drinks n game in that order, enjoy and lets hope we smash em…! Chat soon n take care.
Cheeky – don’t leave it so long next time WATH, we all miss your cheek 😉
rico, i say 2-2 again. as hopeful as i am, i think the real birth of this team will be a 1-2 win at camp nou in the second leg.
you have shocked me oliver…
i’m going for a home win, 2-1 and a draw in barcelona…
i have a gut feeling we will actually win this tie – but we won’t actually defeat them in a match until the second leg. as always, i may well be wrong. but i think this will be tight and tense, and each side will nullify the other to an extent. i hope we win tonight, but i am confident that as long as we don’t lose, we can finish the job on their patch…we’ll see…
the season after they beat us in the cl final, liverpool ended their defense of the trophy. they won 2-1 in the first leg at camp nou, and even though barca won 1-0 at anfield, it was enough. i know it is apples and oranges, but i don’t think barca are unbeatable, and i really think we can turn them over…
one of the many keys for me will be our players reaction to a barca goal. for me, it is more of a case of “when” than “if”…but it does not have to be a disaster – keep our heads down, work as we know we have to do, and put barcelona’s not-exactly-airtight defence under lots of pressure…
Come on boys!
evening peeps..
oh so just as i return, WATH disspears back to the YMCA 😉
take care mate, watch out for those flying pigs..the skys going to be full of them tonight u doom mongerer.. 😉
are we up for this or what..
great post ktr..we can do this we really can..totally different team from last year, mindset, form…everything…
hi jj…just over an hour or so to go…if i am being honest, i should not even be paid for today – such is my preoccupation with our team and this tie – no matter. what matters here and now is to win tonight, or at least play well and leave ourselves with a shot in the second leg.
hi oliver
ive been excited all day, found it hard to work myself…
we defo need a win tonight..i dont think we will do any better than a draw in the nou camp so tonight weve got to go for it and take at least a 2 goal lead into the secong leg..
i dont think we can keep a clean sheet v these lot either so its gotta be 3-1..at least..
Can’t wait for Roma vs shaktar!…
nasri starts 😉
lol ktr
i knew nasri would make it
yiiiippppeeeeeeeeeeee
nasriiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
hi jj….
szczesny, eboue, jd, kos, clichy, song, cesc, jack, theo, robin, samir…almunia, gibbs, squillaci, denilson, rosicky, arshavin, nik
Ricolicious.. 😉
this is it ive had that ‘invincible’ feeling all year.. we can take these they aint machines…
they’re human, just like our players…if our players cannot walk out on the pitch and believe they can beat this team, then what is the point of all this?
JJ I wonder how much revenue roma vs shaktar will gain.i have barely seen that game mentioned.they should probably play the Europa league tune in that game as it sure feels like one.
jj, i know you have, i hope you turn out to be spot on……. 😉
put it this way oliver..
jack is our heartbeat in that midfield…he wont allow barca to start against us like they did last year…
ktr the only thing ive seen from that game tonight is on the footy coupon in the bookies lol
i also think its funny how the spuds beat shitty milan in their own back yard yet all day nobody has give a shit..lol
i hope not…we spent the first half of that first leg looking like univited guests to some sort of coronation party…we stood off them and allowed them to do as they pleased with the ball. i cannot believe we will be so passive this time.
villa is a huge concern for me. al had a magnificent first half in that tie last year, but if it were villa instead of ibrahimovic, we may not have even got a draw…then was then, now is now and we have plenty here to concern their defence as well.
difference is oliver is that diaby had one of his off days where he cant be arsed and they pissed all over us in midfield..
no diaby..
jack and song..they wont get the chance to start like that..jack will get stuck in..
i hope so…we have to stay on top of them, not give them room to breathe…we get to unleash robin, samir and theo upon them as well…
back at H/T all,
Come on you GOONERS 🙂
Afternoon all, Arsenal to win today 😀
GOooooo Arseeenaaaaal!!!
see you at full time 😉
im on internet lockdown..im not missing diddly
Hi Stef… see you at H/T…
Theo defending… sheeeet wenger will put him at RB soon 😉
Well that didn’t go so well then…..
fuck
Our players look rattled.
Eboue. Stay on your feet.
I was right about that ref, books Song for his first tackle, has he given us a free kick yet
not good…goal was a bad, bad piece of play from clichy, but it was coming. we cannot afford to waste the chances we get. after the first ten minutes, they started winning the ball, and we started going into a trance. the last 35 minutes of this half were depressingly like the first half of last year’s game…
at least we are still only a goal down. cesc looks awful out there and perhaps this was a game too soon for samir…we’ve caused them problems when we have been direct and put pressure on them, but we are not getting the ball enough – they are executing far better than we are…
jack and kos have been excellent…the rest? well…
nah it werent all bad we created a couple of good chance but we need to score them..
cant take 10 shots to score 1 tonight we need to put them away cos barca will
and clichy needs to sort his positioning out cos that flanks got too much space
hi rico.
We can still win this game I am hoping for 2-1 we had chances as they did.
One mistake from Clichy and there u go the scoreline
tells the story.
VP should have had one, finishing again
Rico, chez is six foot senen and he goes down everytime
oliver, jack has made cesc look average….
i didn’t think song’s booking was harsh…sorry. and i don’t the officials have been our problem so far tonight…another referee may have shown song a second card when barca were dominating possession…
as this was unfolding, i cast my eyes wistfully to the stadio olympico where a nothing special shakhtar side are racking up the away goals against a poor roma side…if only we had won that lousy group we were in.
Kos and jack have been superb.i also loved how szczesny made himself made himself look big when messi chipped him.
Steve, same old, same old with the refs…
Stef, we can’t give them anything, one mistake and a team like barca will punish us.. as proved…
mme, i get what you are saying steve about finishing and chesney……
we cannot let them get another, thats for sure and why does eboue fall over so easy, he could be pretty good if he could stop all that….
Cesc is a bit off with his passes similar to how RVP is with his shooting except the 6th minute chance that 1 could of easily go in.
we got lucky with their second, a JD handball and messi was not offside… lady luck coming our way??
we’ll see what the second half brings. arsene should be ready to make changes early, depending upon what does (or does not) happen. we were all over them in the first ten minutes, but robin couldn’t finish an excellent chance and as our intensity dropped, they began to dominate possession. even though a bad mistake led to the goal, the passage of play during the previous ten minutes suggests it was coming.
we have several players – not least our captain – who need to stand up and be counted in the second half. it’s only a goal deficit, but we cannot allow them as much time and possession with the ball as they had…
now or never, fellas…
ches was the reason messi missed
he made himself massive
Eboue stay on your feet!
Chesney looked taller than messi on his knees.
Also, Eboue when he is staying on his feet needs to pass the ball more and do less dribbles.
We can’t get a sniff so far 🙁
Robiiiiiiiiin!!!
1-1
fucking yes
ROBBBBBBINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNQ!!!
Yeah!
now lets push on and win this thing!!!!!!
AAAAAAANNNDREEEEEEEEEEY!!!! 😀
Fuck yes!
ARSHHHHHHHHHH BEAUTTTTTTYYYYYYYY
come on..
we did well…… 😉
yesssssss!!!!!!!
😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀
WE ARE THE ARSENAL!!!!!
Fuck yes!thank you jesus!
i’m a bit naffed off with nikki, why didn’t he square that ball for robin to make it 3-1???
😀 😀 😀 😀 😀
WE ARE THE ARSENAL!!!!!
you were correct rico – 2-1 to the good guys…
as happy as i am that we have finally beaten barca, i want more…so much more…starting with winning the second leg…
i will do the report at home tonight rico.
Rico, wasn’t that Nasri if you are talking about the free man when B52 chose to shoot.
oliver, you doing the write up or me 🙂
I LOVE YOU!!!
full marks to arsene for how he played this. he stuck with robin, cesc and others who were not playing well, and brought arshavin on for our dm. great moves, great evening, great win!
Chesney will be our number 1 for the next 15 years!he is a fuckin monster…
how can u be naffed with anyone..
we just beat barca… 😉
i am rico – how can i possibly pass an opportunity such as this up??
Koscielny i salute you!
ches is a monster in the sticks
koz and jack hold your heads high lads..
MAGNIFICENT I WILL SLEEP WELL TONIGHT
I TAKE IT WE ARE THE BEST TEAM IN THE WORLD TONIGHT THEN
Koscielny was a beast today so was Szczesny and Jack great game guys.
that is what i was thinking oliver, but, you give up your time week in week out, i couldn’t possible steal the moment 😉 I look forward to it…..
How many of those players stood up????
Actually, lets make it easy, how many didn’t????
Stef, Kos was pure class…..
Jack – well, I cannot believe such play from a 19 year old….
If the Chavs want to buy him, or even the Northern Chavs..
£300 Million should do it – and I mean that!
We didn’t have a doubt did we
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
F*ck you sky and all anti Arsenal pundits!they may rule the world but not here.the 2nd goal was magnificient!just a goal henry would finish in a counter for the invincibles.
we were bloody brilliant
just listened to the i/v’s – pep is a rattled man and wenger is very very hapy….
so am i 😉
jj, we were better than that 😉
steve, i doubted, i doubted big time – i thought we would concede at least two goals…
But… i am proud to admit that i was wrong, and what pleases me so much is that i actually don’t believe we played that well.
Certain players did but as a team, we didn’t all fire… Go to Barca and fire together and we will be in the next round…
Night all, I’m done….
I’ll sleep well, very very well….
Be good 😉
Pep did us a favor when he dropped Vila for Keita.
That’s the moment AW used very well and went all in 😆
Your wrong rico, we played excelent tonight, we defended well as a group and the chances we had which was 6 or 7 we took 2 absolutly blinding,half way with another half to come, we couldn’t ask for any more.
Good night Rico I didn’t stop believing and it paid off 😀
Steve – i disagree, we can play better – we could have finished our chances, thats one improvement…
I am not being negative, in fact totally the opposite – I think we have more in us, where as I am not sure Barca do….
Nobody beats barca at their own f*ckn game…or did we…eat that Mourinho.AW-COACH OF THE DECADE!
I think it came down to fitness in the second half, and we were and always will be miles ahead of any other team…..
Stef – you were and still are so right to do so 😉
the thing in the first half was that they pressed us that much that it fucked them..they are tired
also..although they had alot of possession it was denilson possession..it wasnt harming us we contained them other than a few chances and rvp had a few of his own..
that second half was sublime..we had them and we finished them off..
brilliant..
I just knew we’d do it. 🙂 🙂 🙂
I didn’t agag 😉
Night all…..
bring on leyton orient 😉
YEEAAAHHHSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m sorry guys.. I had to watch the game in an “Irish pub” in Vero Beach Florida.. By myself.. With no sound or atmosphere.. Surrounded by Americans that were more interested in Sports Centre!!!!
Hardly Ideal conditions.. So of course I had to subdue my frigging excitement!!!! So here it is!!! YEAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just got in from the hospital. Were we that good?
We did good Will, very good
Morning, sleep well all 🙂
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