The past two weeks have not been the best for us gooners. In the CC final we were expected to win but our players froze in the occasion and pressed the self destruct button. It was a difficult pill to swallow. Against Sunderland we were dire to say the least and no matter what complaints we have regarding the officiating we did not exactly give a good account of ourselves. Our best players are almost predictably visiting the sick bay during squeaky bum time. We are so close to winning the PL and most fans I know would rather we get knocked out of the CL now and give our best to win the league.
This may be true because we’ll reserve our best players for the title run in. However a big defeat at the Camp nou 3 days before visiting Old Trafford would suck our confidence dry and we may implode giving you a sense of de ja vu. I’m sure the boss is of the latter view and will pull out all stops to win the tie. This was billed as a critical week in our season. We have failed to clear the first huddle by failing to beat the mackems. The next huddle awaits us in Spain. Beating Barca would give us confidence and momentum to go to the mancs at the weekend. It would galvanize us similar to how winning that shootout against Roma in 08/09 helped us reclaim fourth place.
Even the most optimistic fan will be fearing the worst for tonight’s clash. Under Guardiola Barca have never won a first leg away tie in the knock out stages of the CL. In the 2nd leg ties they usually are off the blocks early tearing apart teams in half an hour. The likes of Bayern were battered 4 goals within half an hour effectively killing off the tie. This has created a reputation that has made teams fear them. Teams go there and park the bus to limit the damage but it seldom works. Once Barca break through the resistance the visiting teams normally receive a hiding. Inter and Rubin are exceptions but inter had started that game playing with a high line with three forwards but due to Motta’s red card they hard to change tactics. They had a 2 goal lead to defend to defend unlike us and despite progressing they still lost that game 1 nil.
We have our work cut out tonight. Due to the away goals rule if we score 1 goal they will need 3 to progress. Score 2 and they’ll need 4 goals. The longer we frustrate them the more they will start to panic. They will over commit men forward leaving acres of space in behind and it is for this reason that we’ll miss Theo Walcott. Arshavin and Nasri are no slouches either but Theo’s raw pace would have been very useful.
In order to counter attack properly we’ll need to win the ball back first. We’ll need to stay compact in the middle stifling messi/xavi/iniesta of any space. This will force them wide and with JD against their small forwards we’ll be able to deal with crosses. When we have the ball Barca will swarm all over us like a pack of wolves. During this phase of pressure they use 5-6 players. They’ll chase after the ball and if they don’t win it back after 5 or so passes they retreat and lure you to attack them.
It is in this phase of play that they win most of their games.
Defenders hate marking space and therefore they’ll be caught in two minds of whether to push up and hold a high offside line or stay back. This indecision allows the likes of Villa and Pedro to break the offside trap easily into space in behind the defense and as a result teams get torn apart. Clichy in the past few games has been suspect to this and it may prove costly if he repeats that error tonight. Our defensive unit has to work flawlessly as any indecision will be punished.
To overcome this we have to play quick and direct passes to prevent them from re-grouping. At the Emirates Jack’s one touch pass took out 4 of their players and as a result we had acres of space to counter into. We have Bendtner and Chamakh in the team; why not use their aerial ability? We are not known for playing the long balls but we may have to. Surprise them a bit and they won’t see it coming. No room for tiki taka tonight. Direct football is the only way forward. Play this way and they’ll get rattled.
I may discuss tactics all I like but there are more crucial factors that will decide the tie. AW said the players were scared of playing at Wembley. The Camp nou is even more intimidating. Its 90000 capacity full of passionate Catalonians will make for an intimidating atmosphere. Several of our players have not played there including our captain. Can they handle it? We also have to want it more than them. Our so-called ‘senior players’ should take a leaf out of Jack’s book. His grit, drive and desire should be emulated if we are to stand a chance.
Let’s hope our payers give their all tonight. If they do that we’ll applaud them off the pitch. We need to avoid a big defeat that may lead to Sky shoving ‘Playstation Messi’mantra to another level. We don’t want to see our demolition set on a loop by Sky for another year. I know it’s hard to be optimistic but if there is even a 1 in a million chance we have to keep the faith. Our team won at the Bernabeu with the likes of Senderos in it. We were underdogs then but we beat the odds. We have several of such victories when we expected the worst. It’s not impossible fellow gooners, football is a funny old game and who knows what will happen tonight?
One thing is for sure; strap your safety belts as we may be in for a bumpy ride. Have your doctors on speed dial as we may have several heart stopping moments tonight.
COYR!
Written by K-TR7
Morning all
good read KT – can’t wait for the match, we have nothing to lose tonight so lets go there and win 🙂
Back later folks…
Morning all.
Nice post KT, right I’m off to start on the GG so by kick off I am numb and a 3-0 drubbing doesn’t bother me…!
The most important factor to winning is not fearing Barca and allow them time to pass freely. The high line is useful tactic if not dismantled by a HIGH Clichy.
Also important are the set-pieces, with Cham & Bendt in the team we need to cross the ball into the penalty whenever our full backs go up. Barca players are usually in the middle of the park as they pressure so any counter-attack must be conducted from the our full back and wingers like Nasri, Arshaving who can cross. Barca usually in counter-attacking situations have two or three defenders in the penalty area so that would make our crosses aim better.
We cannot play like the other game in counter-attacking situation if Van Persie is not playing. VP can profit from quick passing on the floor by beating his man and unleashing his fierce shots, but neither bendt nor chamack can match that. So we have to play to their strenghts.
Morning all,
Tip top wrrte up KT,
Although a detailed post, i get the impression you dont fancy our chances, my way of thinking is that this is exactly the type of game were likely to win, i know they are not a bad side and their playing at home in front of a few hundred fans but i still fancy us to go there and kick their arses, yeh our form has not been great and we have one or two tossers but i still fancy us, yeh they have Messi Iniesta Villa but we have Bentner Eboue Denilson, and i still fancy our chances, i’m a man of vision and i visulise a win for us i dont know how or how many but a win is on the cards no doubt about it, but still a good read.
Hi wath/osi.Good points osi.we should take advantage of set pieces.barca is the shortest team in Europe with an average height of 177cm.
Hi steve.i wrote this post on Sunday after a disappointing 2 weeks.rvp has certainly boosted our chances and i truly now believe we’ll give it our best shot.
Thats the spirit KT
Nice write up KT am so so so nervous oh to be a gooner
I hate to say it but I think our only chance now Song is out too is for AW to shock everyone and pick our strongest defensive team.
I would love to start the game with
Chesney
Sagna Djourou Kossy Clichy
Eboue Diaby Gibbs
Cesc Wilshire
RVP
Subs: Almunia Nasri Arsharvin Bentner Chamakh Miquel
Steve, Nikky, Eboue and Denilson thanks mate
I would go for that line up Gunner pete but Nasir for Eboue the only change
K-TRY7 I have mixed feeling about Van Persi return he definitely is great player and difference maker, however, a half fit VP cannot play a highly intensive game like this. Also I think we think Chamack starting and focus on crossing and strong defence we can do ok. What I cannot stand is VP starting that game and getting injured again and miss on other more important league games. I think we the best chance ever since I can remember to win the league title So for me I sacrifice this game and rest VP for the title run-in.
I dont think Miquel is in the squad
Osi, never give up on any chance of winning cups Van the man was injured early on and we kept going if he gets injured he gets injured we will just have to replace him with some one else this is the Champions League
Spot on Gunnerpete although Nasri for Diaby for me and Chamakh up front for an hour and told to leave his heart n soul on the pitch and then RVP to replace him with half an hour to go…! That team would cause them problems defend the channels and have the quality in the middle to deny them space, chances of wenger trying to pick a team to get a result though are zero…! So it’s not gonna happen.
Eric, i’ve got a feeling we’ll see all three of them before the nigts out.
Osi rvp has only been out for 1 week therefore i don’t think fitness will be a problem.rvp also has the ability to score a goal out of nothing and we may need that.AW has said PL is priority and rvp won’t play unless he is 100%.i also think he wasn’t seriously injured as we were made to believe.
Steve am not nervous at all.lets go for it.
I would like to see Robin and Chammy left on the halfway line and as soon as we get the ball punt and run.
KT 11 against 11 we wont beat them at passing and we can’t defend them off we have to score, if we score first they will go potty
Steve, lets see what Aw can do with this squad and unlike KT am so nervous
Wath need that GG so bad
Its international women’s day today…shout out to Rico and Agag have a good one
The thing that beats all teams, is fast forward attacks, even the great Barcelona couldnt handle that. We scored to amazeing goals against them like that, and they couldnt stop it, we all seem shit scared of them, i bet they are not relishing our visit either.
I am predicting a 2 all draw.
Guardiola said they have ‘many wilsheres’ in their B team.fair enough.what irks me is the way he implied that jack only plays because we aren’t in a hurry to win titles.its unfair on jack who fought for his place to prevent the boss from buying a midfielder.i really respect Guardiola but if he meant to devalue jack it would really be a classless act.maybe thats why the likes of Jon toral harper/cesc/merida all left as we give a player a chance if he is good enough.if they had many wilsheres why are the continously tapping up cesc?…one thing is for sure;we have got under Guardiola’s skin.he didn’t like rvp’s surprise and he knows we have the ability to score away goals.
By for now Eric have faith mate
Steve without Theo, its hard to hit them on the counter eh
KT, kicking them out of the CL would be what the best response to their mouthing off
Yeh its going to be hard but Nas ran like the wind and that upset them enough.
Lets hope Theo gave somebody his rocket boot lol
Erick we may not have theo’s pace today but in order to execute a quick counter you also need quick thinking players.
I cast my eyes over the other posts this morning, and i noticed that Pep G has quite alot to say about us, that means he feels a bit edgy, after tonight he’ll need a holiday, and he will have time to have one.
K-TR7 I think people of the media are reading too much into this story of Guardiola. I was disappointed in his words when I first heard but then I thought and looked that the Barca first team and thought Wilshere couldn’t get in that team. Who would he replace Xabi, Busquets, Iniesta can’t see that happening.
There’s also a guy in the Barca B team, I don’t remember his name, who’s hugely talented as Wilshere if not better. That’s not disrespect to Wilshere, for me, what was more disrespectful from Guardiola is that he’s typifying Arsenal as an amateur club with no pressure to win anything. Thats false there’s huge pressure on Wenger at the moment to win something than ever before, and Wenger wouldn’t gamble to start Wilshere if he’s not good enough.
Steve barca may not admit it but they would not have wanted to face us.they are under pressure to win the tie.little is expected of us despite our advantage.Aw did a fast one on them.we know who will start for them.Guardiola likes to know every little detail of his opponents but he doesn’t have a clue of how we’ll play or who will start.it has put them on the edge and if we score first it will be game on.
K-TR7 SAID:
“Erick we may not have theo’s pace today but in order to execute a quick counter you also need quick thinking players.”
Totally agree with that. A good example of that is the textbook intelligent counter-attack against Barca themselves, that saw Nasri got behind them and then stopped and looked around to pick Arshavin. I thought Theo would never pick Arshavin.
Osi, take no notice of all that crap, all his trying to do is Mind games like Mourinho, his lost one game to us and his shitting himself that it will be twice, imagine the media interviews he would have, trying to explain, his shitting himself no doubt about it, and its going to happen.
Osi thats exactly what i meant.if Guardiola had developed a cocky attitude it may come back to haunt him.he is a classy guy but his comments were disappointing.
Osi are you referring to Thiago Alcantara/Jonathan dos santos/Nolito?
I expect us to get battered.
KT watching him at the Ems, he was twitchy and looked uncomfortable,he walked off with the hump, and he’ll feel it again tonight, bye bye Pep
Who would you rather start,diaby or denilson?
Wouldnt want to fit all that on a shirt KT
Will we’ll survive.
This squad is not as good as Wenger wants you to believe.
Neither I’d shoot the pair of them. Gibbs Miquel, i know they are not midfielders but nor are the other two
AA is the perfect counter attacking player as his decision making in the final third is always spot on.he also has the advantage of good acceleration,excellent balance and dexterity of both feet.i remember him tear the dutch a new one in extra time at Euro08.if we’re still in it by the 70th minute we’ll have a very good chance.
“Osi are you referring to Thiago Alcantara/Jonathan dos santos/Nolito?”
Yes that’s the name. That guy is hugely talented and couldhave got into our team.
There’s one thing that people miss about Wilshere; his determination to win the ball which is Barca-esque, his tackling abilities, his leadership, yes leadership. I remember in the game against Barca Arsenal players , cesc, Nasri, VP were all looking like confused and beaten, but he just decided to fight fight and HE was the real winner that day.
When I read comments like “I expect us to get battered.”, I really got scared Coz I know that it can be true. Please stop scaring us.
K-TR7 the one I meant is Thiago Alcantara. Unbelievably talented lad.
morning all…great analysis k…we’ll see how it goes tonight. regardless of the result, i think our players will give an excellent account of themselves. this will be difficult, but not impossible and we just need to relax, play our game, and play smart and responsible…
no big deal for me about pep’s comments. i don’t think he was taking a pop at jack – if he was, he is a fool, as jack more than held his own against barca’s superstar midfield in the first leg. and regarding the pressure to win, perhaps that was more a reference to mourinho’s arrival in madrid and how the pressure to finish ahead of them is more intense than it has been recently – and it is always pretty high. only he knows what he really meant with his comments, but for me it is no big deal…arsene didn’t seem to be too bothered either, i note…
Our team is a bit Jeckal and hyde, you never know what your going to get, plus they dont like a lot of this six or seven player changes, we never seem to do well with that approach. i believe they like things settled and they feel comfortable, i know a big squad is helpfull for injuries, but its easier to accomodate one or two players, than the whole team.
Barca players are treating this like a final.you can be sure they’ll be up for it.i expect them to swarm all over us in the first 20 minutes.we’ll have to weather that storm.JD and kozzer have only conceded 0.29 goals a game in the league compared to 0.64 goals a game by rio/vidic partnership.sagna is back from suspension.my only worry is how clichy loses concentration at vital moments playing forwards onside.villa and pedro will look to play on the shoulder of the last defender and thats why we need our defensive unit to be on the same wavelength tonight.communication as JD said is vital in order to keep them at bay.
Osi i agree.Thiago Alcantara will be a top player.
Hi oliver.one thing is for sure;we have got under Guardiola’s skin.
Rvp passed his fitness test this morning.its now up to Aw to decide if he’ll start or be a substitute.
Can’t the kick-off, hours look like days. I’m bit scared, optimistic, apprehensive. What would be the consequences if we play VP, Cesc, loose and end up with injured VP and Cesc, and a looming match against Red Evils.
K-TR7, that’s good news, where did you got that from?
Would you start either Cesc or RvP?
Osi the spanish media are reporting it.
Hi Will i’de start them both, we need a goal and Cesc can feed And Van can bury it
Spanish Media Are Panicking just like Barca Players. I think we have that fear factor this around. Once you can hurt an opponent you’re more likely to hurt them.
Problem we have Steve is, if one or both of them break down in the first 15 minutes, then what?
Their worried about us thats for sure they are not looking forward to this i know, a weakened team once a 10 man team, and a reasonable squad and they lose yep their worried
Will if they both last for Ninety minutes i would be supprised but if they do damage in the time there on i would be very happy, i am not like you Will, you look forwards which is very commendable, me i look at one game at a time, i am pretty sure Robin is not fully fit and the same goes with Cesc but it means something to them and thats the spirit i want to see, its within our grasp and i say lets grasp it
6hrs to go… Come on Arsenal. Osi your on fire spot on with your analysis
I want tonight:
Chamack to shoot
Nasri to dribble
Diaby to Pass
Clichy to understand more about offside rule
Sagna to cross
Arshavin to hold onto the ball
Cesc not to look for a killer ball every time he gets the ball as the ball come back quick when he misplace his passes.
The team to sometimes get hold of possession, pass around and suck the pressure.
I am just thinking Steve, they both start, the both break down and then we waste two subs which may be needed later on in the game if we have run ourselves stupid.
Thanks ERICK, I’m just in a good mood and my brain is working properly.
Will who is to say they won’t break down at OT?lets take it 1 game at a time.if they are available use them.
Tell you the truth Will, i wasn’t expecting either of them to make it and i still gave us a chance, i feel even better with them both in, and i think and hope they are both proffesional enough to bow out if they didnt think they could compete, after all they are supposedly the best team in the world, and the afore mentioned players are two of the most experienced we have.
Osi against sunderland nasri almost scored a goal from a porto-esque mazy run.lets hope nasri is ready to dance tonight.
The Egyptian Revolution is complete: people have just got rid of the most brutal National Security Apparatus that specialised in torturing innocents citizens of Egypt. These security agents wanted to burn all documents that would incriminate them and their masters who were toppled by people. All corrupted former ministers of the infamous MUBARAK have just got banned from traveling abroad. What a Revolution.
But tonight we will see IF WE can beat the system of corrupted Barca team who tortured us so long. We already managed to do in the first game, but tonight we should BURN a la Egyptian people all their remaining papers or players and their manager.
We will complete our REVOLUTION against Barca.
You are not getting my point. It is not about losing them, it is about having to waste two subs that might be needed during the last 10 minutes if players have run themselves ragged.
If chamakh plays put ’em crosses in.
I now get it will.lets hope that if they get picked they don’t break down.
K-TR7, The guy is unbelievable dribble especially in tight areas but he doesn’t do so often. I mean it is not unwise to dribble in their half and have more ambition. I don’t think they have super defenders who can stop you and they also don’t defend in numbers especially in counter-attacking situation.
One of the main reasons messi ran riot last season was our midfield.we played a 4-3-3 with diaby and nasri infront of denilson.when we pressed barca it was almost like a 4-1-4-1 isolating denilson against messi who toyed with him by moving from side to side.this time we play a double pivot with two holding midfielders which will definitely help limit space for messi to operate in making him less dangerous.
Will i get your point, but in The Champions league against Barca we have to pull every rabbit we have out of the hat, if it backfires so be it, but if our team go out there tonight with their heads held high and it didnt happen, but they gave everything i would be proud of them, and say they gave their all, and then i would move on to the weekend and try and get behind them, try and lift their spirits, as Shanks said, Its not life and death, Its more important than that.
K-TR7 SAID: “One of the main reasons messi ran riot last season was our midfield.we played a 4-3-3 with diaby and nasri infront of denilson.when we pressed barca it was almost like a 4-1-4-1 isolating denilson against messi who toyed with him by moving from side to side”
I totally agree with, but Almunia was also the reason the score was that big.
Steve Palmer I, too, will be proud of the team even if they loose provided that they perform to their outmost, fight and give everything they can. But, if they show the same attitudes against Birmingham I will be pissed off, and they should be ashamed of themeselves.
Precisly Ozi, i could start throwing things then, and her indoors will do what she normally does and go to bed and leave me to mope
Agreed osi.Almunia certainly didn’t help by sitting down every time messi broke through.
Is there going to be a match analysis on this site tonight? even if we loose. or Will the the writers be mourning? Any way I’ll come crying here if we loose tonight or just savouring the delight of a rare VICTORY.
I think it also didn’t help that we had to play with two left footed CBs with one of them being silvestre.vermaelen was also another reason.he tried to stay too tight on messi most of the time.he didn’t choose his moments wisely when to drop deep or push up.as a result he left a huge gap at the back.ibra scored twice at the Emirates due to this.at the camp nou messi’s 3rd goal further exposed this weakness.
K-TR7 you said”
“I think it also didn’t help that we had to play with two left footed CBs with one of them being silvestre.”
You mean two CBs one of them left footed and one of them with not feet at all.
See you again ya all
Later osi.
Afternoon everyone, you guys ready for the little kick about later 🙂
Afternoon rico,
is there a game tonight then
My nerves are so calm you would think we are facing Barnet.
still two-and-a-half hours to go yet…rico, i have the report…
I believe so Steve 🙂
Thanks Oliver, I hope it turns out to be a celebration one 🙂
KT, Barnet would give us a good game these days 😉
Come on you reds.
Arsenal have won 14 out of 15 ties in which they won the 1st leg of the UEFA competitions.the only time we lost is in 2000/2001 when we beat Valencia 2-1 at home only to lose 1 nil away…C’MON BOYS!!!
*1st home leg*
Mascherano usually gets the better of cesc.lets hope it doesn’t happen again.
Sorry KT but for a game like tonight, stats go out the window – i don’t believe in any of that old clap trap today….
Tonight is all about Wenger playing the best team, the right team to outdo Pep and that means no place for Denilson but I’m sure he’ll play…
Evening guys…
I expect to get battered so I am calm.
Howdy Erick…
Nowt to lose Will, that’s what I think… Nice early goal for us though and who knows…
Question is, will Wenger risk RvP from the start or keep him for a ‘just in case’…
I would have him as sub and I would have the guys pumped up to go straight from the start.
I say now that is in the first 5 minutes, our passing is not working, we will lose the game.
I dont expect any upsets 2.1 to us, we have the best league in the world i expect to see why
In the 1st leg we contained barca for large parts of the game.we used through pressing whereby we cut off their passing options.we were so compact at times that the distance between rvp and the backline was no more than 25 metres just like Milan under Sacchi.they did however trouble us when messi decided to run with the ball which meant we had to commit to either closing him down or cutting off passing options.this indecision was exactly how they scored their goal.i expect them to run at us more and we’ve got to have a plan in place to combat this.
Will, I would start him, if he’s not ready he should have stayed at home…
Steve – i’m for a draw, 4-4 😉
0-0.
Ill settle for that as long as we get our 4 first<you home now
Yep Steve, safe and sound 🙂
Szczesny;sagna,clichy,kos,JD;Diaby,jack,cesc;rvp,rosicky,nasri.
ive just got home and ive seen the team..all i know is diaby needs to have the game of his life tonight..and im abit miffed to why rosicky is playing but if he finds the form of two years ago then thats a fucking good team weve got out there
il read the post now 😉
Rosicky is starting because clichy will need help defensively against alves/pedro.he can also tuck in to help cesc and jack.he has been poor but i really hope he has a good game.he also owes us a 30 yard rocket.
Nearly the best team we could have, shame about Theo and Vermi perhaps the next leg
Robin starts then….
Hi jj…
Steve – nice one, against Real Madrid no doubt, or the Mancs ….
No point taking him if he’s not going to be out there rico
Diaby can be awesome on his day.i guess Aw wants some raw power in there.he also has excellent close control meaning he can draw barca players and if he can release it quickly we can then counter.he can also help at set pieces and he can counter very well with his long strides.
AA is our trumpcard.he doesn’t have energy to start this kind of game.
top stuff ktr
the tactics are spot on..
the fear factor will be a massive hurdle tonight..but we have a lead to protect and we also like a big pitch..
its all about the first half tonight…
the longer we frustrate them the more they will leave gaps at the back
if we go in level or a goal up in at half time then weve got a great chance..but we have to score..
Hi jj.thanks.have you read the comments?there was some good debate today.
yeah u can see why rosicky was picked over aa
but aa will be our supersub.
same tactics as the grove…
lets go get em boys
yeah ktr there was some good stuff with osi earlier
Diaby concerns me, he’ll be like a headless chicken against this Barca side….
im tempted to go into media lockdown for a few hours..
i dont want to watch im too nervous im never nervous..
i just want to turn the telly back on at 11pm and see a 2-2 result 😉
He’s due a blinder rico, i hope its tonight.
Rico lets hope that doesn’t happen.C’MON!!!
diaby concerns everyone rico
but you know how he is he spends 200 games out injured plays a dodgy game, plays a blinder and then hes injured again
i hope tonights his blinder
if we see the best of abou tonight barca wont know whats hit them
then again if we dont then we are fucked
so come on diaby pull you finger out of your arse and dont let this side down..
barcas defence is shite tonight..
mascherano never did anything against us when he was at pool either
we’ll open them up..
we just need to put some away..
preferabley early
I think this game hinges on the referee’s decisions i hope this swiss guy is srtaight.
this is the ref that gave dudu the pen v celtic 2 year back
Wont mind if he gives us one JJ
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
‘ Or walk with Kings – nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!
right this is it
no retreat no surrender
no matter win lose or draw go out their give it your all and do us proud..
Yeh come on you Gunners
Fuck.kos on a yellow.
That’ll be that then…..
🙁
Chesney injured!Almunia on.
This ref is bent
Cheating dirty Spanish b’stards…..
No wonder RvP was fuming, so would I be if someone grabbed me around the throat…..
They should be down to ten now!!!
And Diaby is crap!!
Too right Steve, bent to bits!!
Fuck!WTF is fabregas doing?
what a horrible time to concede the goal…just when i thought we could hold out…what was cesc thinking?
Shambolic by cesc!!
ok
so cesc thinks he plays for them already
we were holding out well then george graham style until he decided he was going to give the ball to messi
not out of it yet
one goal and its back on..
gotta feeling barca will tire in the last 20 like they did at home and thats what weve been playing for..
we need to be a little sharper in this half but i think weve played purposely to take the game to them in the second so we just gotta score..
Is it against the rules for arsenal to put in a tackle or what, they obstruct us on every forward move and we get nothing, the linesman flags and the ref plays on until he gives a card to kos, i dont mind us not winning but play fair
if nothing else, it is following the pattern of the first leg – and first leg from last year. go behind and then have a real go…
we have to settle down, keep the ball and try and attack them. very little of that in the first half. the timing of the goal was absolutely brutal, as i thought barca were rushing things and getting frustrated. and to defend so hard under such pressure, and see our captain undo everything and gift it to them on a platter…
we got away with a clear pen shout steve
diaby on messi
ref was right there and he gave nothing..
the situation doesnt change we all know we needed an away goal and if we get it we can win if we defend the same way…
the plan was to hold barca until they tire and then aa comes on and we go for the away goal
messis goal doesnt change anything we will still go after the goal we just need to defend like we did in the first half up until 70mins and then go after them
How is the game guys?
2 words…. fucking embarrassing !!!!
george graham style defending will
was doing ok until cesc passed the ball to messi with a minute left of the half to play
No passion no fight no commitment and no intent, says something when a 19yr old shows most up for actually looking like he’s interested. Losing is one thing but least show up and give em a game….!
So another Birmingham?
nothing like brum
come the fuck on………..
yess!!!!!
that came from nowhere! game on!!
thats disgustin
like your supposed to hear the whistle in the nou camp
hes a striker they shoot
ffs
game off? that was absurd from robin – the ref may be poor, but he has to be smarter than this…he had already been booked…
JJ now tell me he aint bent
we have to be smarter from this…that was childish and petulant…
30 minutes to hang on…just like the situation in the first half, except that we have an away goal and they have to score two…one just gets them extra time if we do not score another…
Whats the use of Cesc being on the pitch pls mr wenger…? obviously not fit strolling around giving the ball to his mates so we playing with 9 v 12…! total stupidity…! going out without even a whimper…!
couldn’t hold on…drat..
we’re all square, but we have to get another goal now…and with ten men.
now we are 3-1 down…
The task is now harder.
Barca, the Man Utd of Europe.
we’ll see what we are made of. we can either accept this without a whimper, or go for it and try and score another goal…if we can get it to 4-4 aggregate, and it stays that way, we will go through…
Will the ref allow us to score?
Catch you all tomorrow….
Disgusted.
Night all.
the game was dead after an hour
the ref killed it
We had no shots at all.
so that is that for another season…barca were better on the night, we barely had a sniff…perhaps we could have held on, but our captain and vice captain both imploded – tough to beat a side like barcelona when we are inflicting such wounds on ourselves…
Lets go for the league.
Don’t just blame the ref JJ we were fuckin awful…! Not good enough simple as that and the lack of effort yet again was totally unacceptable. Why play Cesc who was clearly not fit?. Another wenger masterstroke. played like we were just waiting to get beat and if it wasnt for the spanish waiter it would of been ten…!
Almunia really played well.lets hope chesney isn’t badly injured.
That is one of the most disgusting displays of refereeing i have ever witnessed i knew we would have a man sent off as soon as we scored and the referee couldnt wait we must appeal
i agree with wath and k…busacca did us no favors, but we imploded when the going got tough…did we really think we were going to get any change here at camp nou?
the scoreline could have been embarrassing if not for al…we did not have a single shot on goal, and when nik had his one instant to be the hero, he froze and didn’t even force a save…
fuck the cl anyway
thank fuck its over now we can concentrate on the trophy we do have a chance of winning…
and robins back so its on…
bollox to the cl its a fucking circus..nothing but a distraction..
I cant understand your mentality our boys played there hearts out, they were fcuked played with ten men for half the game and you slag off the players this game was fixed before the start, they can’t beat us with a full team
4-3 looks better than 6-3 but i was really impressed by the way we defended.kudos to that.now lets make the mancs chase the ball on Saturday.
i aint just blaming the ref wath
but how does anyone get passed barca in the nou camp??
they sit back and defend..
we did no different and it was working just fine until the ref sent robin off for shooting..
we didnt play like we normally do but it was no different to how chelsea, inter and anyone who else goes there plays…
Jack covered over 12km today.i really like the guts he displayed.
most of them shots came after robin was gone..
how you supposed to defend v barca in the nou camp with 10 men..
If only rvp had been on the end of jack’s pass…
im not bothered anyway im going off the cl everytime we play in it it becomes a fucking circus..
total distraction..
its nice to be in it but as soon as the big teams come to town it puts our season in turmoil..
our boys have been concentrating on barca for the last month and we have dipped..
back to business at the weekend..
JJ it was a tough ask.there was only 1 second between rvp shooting and the ref blowing the whistle.it was also very noisy and Aw has a right to be furious.
😥 What a disaster. Stupid ref.
it was a riduculous call
we were up against it as it was but we were holding out and that decsion just killed the whole thing
JJ we’ll now not have midweek CL games.lets go for the league now.
Barca barely troubled us in the 1st half.that sending off gave us no outlet and disrupted our pressing game.lets win the league first.we’ll go after the CL next year as champions of our own country.
nobody is slagging anyone off. busacca could have – and should have – given robin the benefit of the doubt – but he didn’t. as much as i hate it and how it changed the game, i am pretty sure that he was within his rights to award the card once robin kicked the ball after the whistle went. i think he should have considered the stakes and given our player the benefit of the doubt, but he didn’t…
busacca had nothing to do with cesc’s suicidal backheel – which undid all our desparate defending. al saved us from further humiliation…
if you see it as us losing only because of the ref, that is your opinion. my opinion is that he gave us no favors, but we were outplayed and barca were the better side tonight.
We’d have done enough 11 v. 11. That decision cost us. That backheel flick from Cesc was painful though.
its the league all the way ktr
it was the case before this freak show..im sick of the CL its a lottery the league is where its at and now we can concentrate on it..
let the mancs and chelsea worry about the extra games we can finally have a weeks rest between games from now until may…
it proved one thing tonight
we can defend…
if weve got eleven men..
One myth has been busted:we can defend.kozzer and djourou were fuckin immense.
JJ we have an excellent defense.you can see why with JD/kos we have conceded only 0.29 goals a game in the league compared to 0.54 by rio/vidic.
I said before the game it was going to be down to a referree’s decision, how blatent can it be, would messi had been sent off, never in a blue moon. football is fixed i hate to say it but its true even the pundits didnt want to talk about it they just wanted to talk about how great Barca was their realy great against ten men ten against twelve fffing cheats
we defended like demons ktr..
we were winning the tie
we were being outplayed easily but we werent being broken down..
until robin got sent of for shooting, infront of 110000 screaming ppl, with the ref 50 yards away, one second after the whistle blew
what a twat…
worst player for me Diaby
barca were great but most of the shots they had came after robin got sent off..
fuck it anyway we got beat in the nou camp we always do bollox to it bring the fucking mancs on..
yeah diaby was shit..fluffed his lines..
but cesc didnt turn up either..
we got fucked in midfield
didnt in defense tho..
or gk..which was a suprise..
Not many PL teams will even see our goalie.we actually have a defense.
First time visitor to HH – but after that game I now truly beleive that the CL is fixed. But at least Mr Wenger has just spoken to the media unlike that sulky git from Manchester.
JJ Jack ran his heart out.he was our best midfielder and was very disciplined.
So what the hell do we do with Diaby now? I’m done making excuses for him.. At least the likes of Rosicky still show that they want to fight for the team and not mope around admiring the opposition!!!! I mean someone 7 inches shorter than him and 5 years younger than him showed him repeatedly what was required from him and yet nothing!!!!!
football is run by the officials the prizes are sorted before the competitions are played no one can convince me its any different Yeh Barca deserve to be called the best, but two games against them with ten men thats a joke
i want those fucking mancs guts at the weekend now
Hi DJ, Cpt John
NEW POST UP AS I’M BITTER!!!