Our first tie of this calendar year’s Champions League competition, hosting the very team and favorites to win it all, the same side that eliminated us in the quarterfinals of last year’s competition.
When this draw was made late last year, many (particularly in media) characterized it as effectively a bye for FC Barcelona. For our players and us gooners, it is anything but; rather it is an opportunity to show we have come of age, and to exorcise demons of Champions League campaigns past.
The big pre-match discussion was whether Samir – missing since the FA Cup tie versus Leeds United – would be available. Suspense on that count was ended on Tuesday, when both he and Arsene declared him completely recovered from his hamstring tweak and available for selection. There was more encouraging news from his later training session, and by Wednesday morning, the sense was that he would start. 40 minutes prior to kickoff, this was confirmed with our starting lineup of:
Szczesny, Clichy, JD, Kos, Eboue, Jack, Song, Cesc, Theo, Samir, and Robin.
Almunia, Gibbs, Squillaci, Denilson, Rosicky, Arshavin and Nik rounded out our bench.
All-in-all, a much stronger lineup than we featured last season, when key players either were already out, or began to drop like flies. The only two first team regulars absent were Tommy (out for the past five months) and Sagna (one match suspension). Barca had central defender Puyol absent, with Abidal deputising for him. They also featured a far, far better striker (David Villa) than last year (Ibrahimovic). Add the return of Iniesta to their side, and we were looking at a much stronger Barca side as well. Would our stronger side prove to be enough to overcome their stronger side this evening?
Barcelona took the opening kickoff to get us going after weeks of anticipation. We won an early free kick which Robin whipped in, but no red shirt was able to get on the end of it and Valdez made a comfortable catch. Just a few minutes later, Cesc’s fine chip into the box found Robin, who forced Valdez into an excellent close-range save. Barca immediately countered and Song was forced to bring Messi down, at the expense of a yellow card. Seven minutes in and already booked, not a good omen. Despite that setback, we quickly regained possession and moved the ball briskly and confidently, looking far, far superior to the intimidated side that started the first leg last season.
We controlled the first ten or so minutes, but Barca gradually began to assert themselves. With a quarter of an hour gone, an Iniesta ball split our defence, found Messi who diverted it to Villa, took the return pass, drew Szczesny and chipped it just inches wide of our goal. This was a real let-off and warning to our players to up the intensity and not allow the Barca midfield time and space to find their forwards. But Barca began to control possession and we started chasing shadows in midfield. Szczesny was alert enough to cut out an Iniesta pass with Villa lurking. At this point we were no longer able to keep possession and build any attacks, with Barca continually winning the ball off us and putting pressure on our defence. On 25 minutes Theo brought us a respite on the counter, zipping into the Barca half, and feeding Cesc’s who’s cross beat Valdez, but also Robin, and Abidal was able to clear. The goal Barcelona had been threatening duly arrived on 26 minutes with Clichy switching off to keep Villa onside. The latter collected Messi’s through-ball and finished smartly past Szczesny.
What we had all feared happened, so the question became how would our players respond? Within two minutes, we were carved open again, but this time our keeper saved at Villa’s feet. We tried to respond, but Robin badly mis-hit Jack’s cross, and our third good chance went begging. Kos won the ball in Barca territory to get an attack started, but Cesc’s eventual shot was blocked. Pedro was then put clean through, with Szczesny saving his shot. Messi put the ball in the net from the rebound, but the offside flag allowed us to breathe again. With five minutes remaining in the first half, we looked far more likely to concede a second than equalize. We finally were able to string a series of passes together, but Theo’s shot from outside the area was blocked. We had a decent spell just before the interval, keeping the ball and creating a couple of half-chances. But we couldn’t trouble Valdez and we trudged off at half-time down a goal.
Arsene did not make any changes during the break and we got the second half going hoping to turn things around. We started briskly – much like the beginning of the first half – and put some pressure on. Jack quickly came to the fore and got a shot off which Valdez saved without much difficulty; at least that was a statement of intent. Ten minutes in, Theo crossed twice into the area, Robin retrieved the ball from the second clearance, but shot wastefully over the bar. At this point, we were seeing more of the ball than the last 30 minutes of the first half, and putting the Barca defence under pressure.
For all of that, however, we were not troubling Valdez enough, Robin being the main culprit for the tame/wasteful finishing. Samir started to come more into the game, and he quickly won a corner off Pique. The ball found Robin in the box, but he could not get a shot off, allowing Barca to clear. We kept the pressure on and Pique was booked for bringing Cesc down, meaning he (Pique) will now miss the second leg. Cesc took the free kick, but was unable to trouble Valdez. At some point, we would have to make this pressure count.
As the hour mark arrived, we were controlling play and pushing Barca back. Samir put a low cross into the box, which Robin slid in to connect with, but put the ball wide. After exchange of passes with Cesc, Robin produced another tame shot directly at the keeper. Our number ten was well below par this evening; good finishing would have seen us leading the match at this point. As a reminder that Barca are ever dangerous, Iniesta put Messi in on goal again – this time he placed his shot under Szczesny, but could only find the side netting. With 22 minutes remaining, Arsene made the first change, bringing Song (already on a yellow) off for Arshavin. This was a bold substitution that would weaken our solidity, but increase our attacking options. Guardiola simultaneously made his first change, bringing Keita on for Villa.
With 15 minutes to go, Arsene made a second roll of the dice, bringing Nik on for Theo. Almost immediately, Jack forced a corner off Abidal, but Arshavin’s delivery was too close to the keeper. Barely a minute later, however, we finally made the pressure tell. Clichy took a pass from Arshavin, clipped a great ball over the top to Robin, who allowed it to run almost to the by-line, before squeezing a shot between Valdez and the near post! The latter feebly stuck a right arm out, but had no chance to save it. Finally!! Not content for 1-1, we immediately set about trying to go ahead. Five minutes after Robin equalized, Cesc sent Samir through on the counter attack with a peach of a long angled ball. Samir drew three defenders, checked his run inside the area, and laid the ball into the path of Arshavin, who drilled it into Valdez’ right hand corner!! From 0-1 to 2-1 up in the space of five minutes!!
My first thought was to get another, and bring a possible two goal lead to Camp Nou – so were our players, as we continued to hammer away at a clearly stunned Barca! Nik tried to replicate Robin’s goal from a tough angle and forced Valdez to put the ball wide for another corner. With 2 minutes of normal time remaining, Barca reminded us they would not go without a fight, Alves forcing Szczesny into another save. Guardiola made his final change with a minute of normal time, Adriano on for Iniesta. We had a moment of panic in the first minute of stoppage time, when Arshavin’s weak defensive header allowed Alves a sniff. Kos, as he was all night long, was there to mop up and we were not troubled for the remainder of the stoppage time. The whistle went shortly after, and we claimed a 2-1 victory and our first ever victory over FC Barcelona!
Not only did we finally beat Barca, we did it playing our (shared) philosophy of football. There was no Mourinho-esque stop them from playing. We took the game to them in the second half and overran them. Guardiola may have inadvertently helped our cause by bringing Villa off with twenty-plus minutes remaining, and giving us one significant striker less to worry about. Even so, we were dominating play at that point, keeping the ball in Barca’s half and putting them under plenty of pressure. When we finally equalized, we hit them again, virtually before they had time to catch a breath, through a counter-attack, much the same as we did against Ipswich, when we struggled to make a breakthrough deep into the second half. Perhaps this late resilience is an additional identity we are taking on.
There were heroes in red and white all over the pitch. For me, our two standout players were Jack and Kos. The former belied his age with a mature, composed display. He was at the heart of much of our good play, kept the ball well and kept things moving for us. Kos was excellent in the center of defense, reading the game great with timely interceptions and putting his body where it hurt on more than one occasion. Despite missing several good chances, Robin never hid, and took his goal exceptionally well. Cesc and Samir both improved after subdued first halves, and both played big parts in the winning goal. Clichy’s failure to step up with JD and Kos allowed Villa to collect Messi’s pass in an onside position and put them 1-0 up; yet our erstwhile left back defended much better in the second and provided the pass which unlocked Barca’s defence for Robin to equalize. Defending will probably never be Eboue’s biggest strength, but he also had a better second, taking the ball into Barca’s half and improving his passing. Like Jack, Szczesny stood tall throughout the match, was beaten only once, and made the goal seem smaller than it actually is on more than one occasion.
Arshavin continued his good recent work, and got one of his biggest goals in an Arsenal shirt.
I must give special mention to Arsene, who I thought also had a marvelous match. We were set up right from the outset, and even though Barca dominated us for most of the first half, he didn’t panic, and we adjusted after the interval. He made a bold (and completely logical) decision to swap much of our defensive protection (Song) for an attacker not known for defensive work (Arshavin), while also protecting the former from a potential second yellow. He then removed one of our biggest weapons down the flanks (Theo) to give us more muscle and another option up front (Nik). The moves paid off handsomely and we came back to win this leg. More than the in-game strategy and adjustments, however, this result serves as validation of the philosophy and principles he has built this team around. This single result does not mean we are suddenly a better side than Barcelona – I do not think we have surpassed them at all. It does suggest validation of two of Arsene’s main claims: that we have closed the gap on Barcelona and have improved enough that we can now beat them; and that our full strength side is a match for anybody, on any night.
As we bask in the afterglow of this achievement, it will be useful to remember the job is only half done. As happy as I am for this result, I want so much more, starting with qualification for the next round of this competition. To get there, we will have to navigate the tricky matter of the second leg, at Camp Nou on March 8th. That is a good three weeks away, so we can enjoy this and turn our attention to other things. Much will depend upon whom we have available for selection in that return leg, as well as if we have won the Carling Cup, and what our respective league form (and position) is like.
Barca will rightfully start the second leg as clear favorites to progress, having gotten an away goal here, and carrying an extremely formidable record on home turf. But we have finally broken our proverbial duck against them, and now know we can beat them. And they now know that too. There is no way that the current 2-1 scoreline will be enough for us, and Arsene has pledged to attack and look to score there, so we’ll see how it goes. We no longer have anything to fear from them, we just need to bring the same commitment, mindset and effort to Catalonia in three weeks time.
Regardless of how things turn out on March 8th, it is impossible not to feel that our Arsenal side grew up in a big way this evening. Our next trick will be to carry that confidence and maturity over to our next fixture – let us not let ourselves down by taking Leyton Orient for granted on Sunday. Many thought our Champions League campaign would be over by this evening; but we are still in all four competitions. Arsene will probably rotate the side – at least to an extent – for Sunday, but whomever wears the shirt, just make sure we take care of business. Dominant, feared sides take nobody for granted and give their best for each and every match.
Consistency of effort and attitude will develop consistency of performance and results, and will bring us to the summit.
Like all of us, I greatly enjoyed this match. I want our players to make this feeling and result(s) the rule, not the exception…
Written by Oliver
Morning all..
Cracking post oliver, thank you….
Great post Oliver…..!
Grat post Oliver, great night to be a gooner.
here are some of my thoughts.
I have now watched the game a second and third time,and each time it gets better.
AS RVP said we had a twelfth man that being the fans, they were fantastic,especially when a goal down.The library was a collasium.(sp)
Jack really was man of the match considering his age,the importance of the game, and when you watch him,he is forever looking up where to send the ball(are you reading this Theo.)
Kos gets better with every game and on a night like this, described by lee Dixon, as one of the best matches he has ever seen) we had 11 heroes.
I am still not sure if RVP meant what he did or was it a cross,but who cares.
The only downside for me is Eboue.From the first few seconds he huffed and puffed and just does not install confidence,and to an extent Theo especially in the first half tracked back to help him, otherwise our lionel looked out of his depth.
Nasri playing a full game astounded me, which proves never believe what you read.
Cesc, just smile a bit more it would make my day.
No question that several players knew they had been in a game and looked shattered.
Nevertheless we are still very much in the tie as we are definitely capable of scoring and their defence will be weakened with Pique suspended.
With regards to Song, if you look back through the archives this season,he nearly always starts slowly with a few aimless passes and the booking was unfortunate so early in the game.
As a side note Wigan had 5500 fans in last night for a cup replay, so there is a great divide in the PL.
Morning WATH and Kelsey…
Morning Lady Rico 😉
Jack was outstanding and actually made Cecs look average, Nasri grew as the game went on and AA’s finish was what dreams are made of….
Didn’t someone say he could be the match winner WATH 😉
Walcott, for all the stick he gets he certainly helped out Eboue, his level of fitness is incredible..
But, i still say we could have played better and that will be in Camp Nou when Barca think they are home and dry….
Is that Mr Brady in you picture kelsey??
Really good write up.
I’m immensely proud of our achievement last night and we should take huge confidence from that
One thought, we worked out how to win against Barca football – other teams have that same attitude and approach when they play against us
We should learn from that, the mental focus and heart displayed last night is something we need to bring to every game we play
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Rico,!!! Oliver!!!,PJ!!!,WATH!!!!,Kelsey!!!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAHHHHHHHH
OH MY GOD !!!!!!!!
Hi PJ, good to see you here on HH…
The win is massive, much more than just the result. Finally, we have beaten a side who think they are ‘untouchable’ – well we showed they are not and if only we could have been more more accurate on goal, we would be off to spain way ahead of them….
Morning SD, you happy or something 😉
rico that picture is of Jack Kelsey 😉
Morning all, good honest post Oliver,
Well have you all calmed down a bit, i must admit i was running up and the path shouting my head off, after half a bottle of southern comfort drunk straight out the bottle i have a slight hangover, but the memory will last a lifetime. Its easy to say i knew we would win, but i had a good feeling about this game, Barca never dissapointed, they are a great team no doubt about that. Having said that, we beat them, so i don’t have to say anymore. wheres the asprin
Morning all.Rvp is really good at scoring from freakish angles.well done.i also loved our 2nd goal which is a direct counter the invincibles would’ve been proud of.
oops, sorry kelsey, i thought it was Liam Brady 😉
I knew jack was good but yesterday he blew me away.the way he escaped pressing by letting the ball run,dropping the shoulder and then accelerating forward was just class.he looks like he can be a Ballon d’Or contender.
Morning Steve,
You need more than asprin by the sounds of it 😉
Hi KT, just listening to Romford talking about our second goal. He said had Barca scored that everyone would be raving about it for days but…..
Szczesny’s celebration when we scored the 2nd will last forever in my memory.
I was just having the same conversation at home KT, he is so clever, his shoulder doesn’t drop until right at the last second and the oppo cannot read which way he’s going…
Last night he made Barca look silly at times, he has little fear and Xavi and Iniesta nust have wondered what was going on…..
When did we last see one of our keepers celebrate in such a fashion….??
Seaman days i bet….
Chesney and Jack, two of our youngest and both unfazed by the little spanish team from Barcelona…
Rico i told you a few weeks back that kos was the man to play against barca as he is excellent at defending 1 v 1 and is very quick.he was a warrior out there and he was one of the main reasons why barca rarely threatened in the 2nd half.
IS THIS THE ROAD TO THE SPAINISH AMADA
WE WILL BE TRYING EVEN HARDER
KT, i didn’t need convincing, he’s quicker than at the start on the season and he reads the game so well..
(Ladies look away) I had a tear in my eye when Rvp celebrated with Aw.i was moved by it and it shows just how the players appreciate what he has done.when AA scored i went bananas …
Morning all, great post.
What a night. Jack made spit run down my chin last night! Xavi, Iniesta, Cesc, all had a footballong lesson from a 19 year old. Catalonia football academy? Heh, they didn’t consider the midfield maestro factory that is Stevanage!!
His pass in the build up to the second totally wiped out four players. If he’d have taken a touch that goal would never have happened.
Surely Kelseys picture would be Jack Kelsey?
KT, also, with TV out, who else would have played 😉
Steve 😆
.
Szczesny impressed me by how big he made himself when facing their forwards.messi’s misses were as a result of chesney making himself big and coming out quickly when messi sprang clear.it was experienced goalkeeping.
KT, check the post, I love seeing grown men cry 😉
Rocastle thats why i enjoyed that 2nd goal so much.jack’s pass wiped out 4 players,cesc took a touch then released nasri with a 50 yard through ball with the outside of his right boot.nasri drew 3 defenders attention,rvp made a ‘dry run’ confusing them only for AA to curl it in around the hapless defenders after sprinting half the length of the pitch…poetry in motion.
I am calm now , I have being given different kind of work load this morning and all i am doing is just smiling at everybody at work.
Oh God , i screamed yesterday till i lost my voice , it was incredible. Jack Wilshere was the man and everybody else were up for it.
Wao ! what a game.
Barca underestimated us and they probably got carried away by their own achievement in the Spanish league.
They are a great team no doubt but if they have watched enough Premier League games , they would have known not to give RVP that kind of space near the post because he can score from the tightest of angles.
WAO , i am still Buzzing.
Why we are still Second in the league, i wouldn’t know because we have played some fantastic football this season and you can feel it that there is still more to come.
Rico, absolutely superb goal. And yeah, big shout to Chesney, Almunia would have lost his onions and come screaming out with those one on ones. He stood up and made himself big. Messi waited and waited, Chesney won the battle of wills.
Oh and we’ve taken the spuds thunder!!!!
Morning Rocastle, he was something else wasn’t he, didn’t take long for the paps to be writing about how barca may now make a bid for him instead of cecs…
well they can naff off, they are both ours 🙂
SD, i think most gooners are still smiling from ear to ear…
Rocastle, he won’t be happy with the one they scored though i bet, he’ll go away and learn from that.. That is where i think he differs from Al, he’d just carry on making the same mistakes over and over… Chesney is young, he’ll get better and stronger….
What spuds game – its all about Gattuso this morning… 😉
If i was Guardiola id be after jack.
Did you see the picture KT???
If I was guardiola I’d be looking to take over from Arsene in a few years time. He’ll have a ready made pool of world beaters with the best youth system on the planet.
What was unusually nice last night was knowing we needed to make a change, bit having no idea who to take off. They were all amazing.
Part from Eboue. His cross field pass to Messi was a thing of beauty, but I’m not gonna get on his back.
Pep has only signed a one year extension to his contract Rocastle – i wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him take over from Wenger….
I wouldn’t mind either, as long as Bouldy is his deputy 😉
Got to pop off for a bit, back later…
Where is JJ I wanna tell him how crap Theo was last night !!!
They Under estimated us and they wouldn’t do it again at Camp Nou but i am afraid it is too late for them now.
Now let’s take the Carling Cup.
Fabregas is a great player and he is the most important player we have right now.
But in terms of leadership RVP has being doing that job perfectly this season and he showed tremendous leadership yesterday with his work rate and his wonder goal.
Ebue was not good at all going forward but for his last minute clearance – kicking the football high into the goal just erased all his short comings yesterday.
Maxwell and Messi didn’t get much success going past Ebue, so he defended well.
I’ve seen it rico.jack had 94% completion rate in passing despite how we were being pressed.wow!
Special praise needs to go to Wenger for answering fans calls for ‘World Class’ additons this season: Chesney from Brentford, Wilshire from Bolton and Kos from ‘Leyton’ L’orient. 🙂
I am not happy.
I’ve heard from a few sources that Guardiola will take a year out to settle in London before taking over when AW goes upstairs.
He can bring Messi with him if he likes…..not that we really need him!!!
Last night was simply immense. Sends shivers down my spine again just reading the review of it! Great Review BTW. I think it shows good character (classic Wengerism) that we can appreciate that Barca are still a better team, who play amazing football.
I thought we were at our very best last night, with quick incisive counter-attacking football. Barca barely gave us a second on the ball in the first hour, they harried and hassled us all over the pitch. But I think this helped us as it made us play swiftly, and not taking that extra touch or pass.
Little Jack was just awe-inspiring, so comfortable recieving the ball under pressure AND doing something useful with it. That quick ball to Fabregas (mentioned above) for the second goal was simply sublime.
Personally, i think Guardiola’s substitution of Villa was a big turning-point in the match. That allowed us to drop Nasri deeper, which got enabled greater ball retention in the midfield. It also removed one of players that was pressuring the ball high up to pitch, which again made it a little easier to build from the back. I suppose the point Im slowly meandering to is that if the roles were reversed and we let a 1-0 lead turn into a 2-1 defeat after making a similar change…. say Nasri for Denilson, then Wenger would be slated in the press (and probably on the blogs too) for being naive etc, however i haven’t really seem any of this this morning. I suppose it’s only a credit to the way the team performed and the Barca change was only made as Guardiola could see that we were getting more of a hold of the midfield around the hour mark and barca were beginning to tire!!
I just hope we can keep everybody fit for the return leg in 3 weeks, and hopefully we’ll be going there on the back of our first trophey in 5 years.
Allez lez rouge 🙂
Anyone know how big the gate was last night
who’s stats are you using kt?
morning all
If anyone can translate any Spanish…. I’d be interested to see what are they saying in La Marca???
Does Litle JW have some Barca DNA on him now???
http://gunnerblog.com/images/WilshereGunnerblogBody.png
Check out this t-shirt gooners!!
you seen ladyarse has knocked up the arshavin t shirt as seen last night http://bit.ly/gUFeGT
In case any journalist is reading please ;
Can you please ask Balotelli if he now knows WILSHERE ?
who?
Wilshere is moulding into a dogged no-nonsense player which Arsenal have needed for a long time! He can fill the gap viera and gilberto silva left behind!
Balotelli? Whats that, an italian waiter?
Afternoon y’all
Still buzzing after last night’s result and long may it continue!
Big game coming up at the weekend as so far, we havent been finding these FA Cup games easy tbh…
Each game gets bigger than the last IMO
Afternoon all….
Sorry for those stuck in moderation, you are out now and welcome…
Will, why are you not happy??
Is that known as ‘T-Buzzing’ 😆
Because Rico, I had to spend the night in hospital so I missed the game and ITV are not showing a rerun today like they usually do.
Who cares about FA cup , i don’t . We have a Carling Cup to claim and we have just scared all our rivals by beating Barca. I bet Fergie is worried now.
FA Cup can walk , i am not interested and i know Wenger is not that kean either, you will see by the team he is going to pick for Leyton O game.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/arsenal/8330224/Spanish-media-reaction-to-Arsenals-Champions-League-win-over-Barcelona.html?
I saw that you had been at the hospital on yesterdays post, hope all is ok?? I didn’t want to pry 😉
SD, would make those 8/9 changes for the weekend??
Will Puyol be back for the return leg or is he out for a while??
Could be interesting if both he and Pique are missing…
Not really well right now but I will be. I just thought ITV showed a rerun the day after or is that Sky?
‘morning all. wonderful performance, wonderful result, wonderful night. this is one of those moments one wishes to last forever – but they never do. it’s the morning after and time to turn our focus to more mundane things such as the fa cup trip to brisbane road, and then stoke’s visit on tuesday.
thanks for the feedback everyone, and thanks for taking the comments, rico…
That article is bizzare, one loss in the CL and all doom and gloom for them – we are all the same though, blame the ref and the manager….
and hands of cesc, he’s going nowhere….
Hi oliver – great read as usual, nice one 🙂
but we can play better i say 😉
rico, i think puyol is projected to be available for the second leg – as i remember, he was not ruled out of yesterday’s tie until the start of this week. pique will not be there, he serves a one-match suspension for accumulation of yellow cards.
we’ll have sagna back, we’ll absolutely need him for that second leg.
we can always play better. for 35 minutes of the first half, they ripped us to shreds and could have scored a bunch. but they didn’t and we had a right go in the second half and dominated them.
i suppose they are not at all used to this feeling, perhaps that explains some of the bitterness i have seen from certain media and barca supporters – particularly the nonsense about how messi’s offside goal should have stood. pep was gracious as always, but villa and xavi come off as sore losers. i have little use for michael irvin, but to quote him after a dallas overtime win over ny giants in 1994, “take losing like a man”…
i was hoping it was an injury to keep him out longer oliver, shame, would have been good for the two of them to be out…
sagna for the second leg is one heck of a boost to the squad, eboue didn’t do too bad though..
pep was more gracious than our own boss is sometimes, i thought he was going to be spikey in his i’v after the game when asked if we were the better side… but he calmed after…….
its going to be a tough couple of weeks now, especially for wenger – we have a CC final and two sticky fixtures prior to that, especially stoke…
but, orient at the weekend on a not so good surface is the worst, the players from last night will be shattered and for once i wouldn’t be against a lot of changes for this game…
Fantastic post oliver.we expect nothing less.Jack wilshere’s development is nothing short of meteoric.im still buzzing…
eboue was much better in the second half i thought – perhaps he was sorted out at the interval? regardless, we need sagna in that position in the second leg.
changes for orient are inevitable. but at least have a strong bench. i disagree with sd and anyone else that thinks we should just forget about the fa cup. in previous seasons, arsene fielded cup sides more designed to give starters a rest than give us a chance to win – and the bad result, more often than not, had a knock-on effect in subsequent matches. we’re not going to build on tonight’s result if we adopt an indifferent attitude to the next match, regardless of which competition it is in. winning breeds more winning, and that is the best way to keep form and momentum going.
thanks k…he was a standout last night – and that is saying something, considering the multitude of heroes we had out there last night…
No, not the cowboys?
I don’t want us to forget the FA Cup either oliver, its a tough one for Arsene though, three fixtures to get through and we need to win them all without picking up injuries….
Playing Sunday helps us….
Boo!!! You had everything covered, oliver. Well-done! I trust everyone’s had a good night/morning. 😉
I’m sleepless but happy.
I think this year Aw seems to be taking tactics seriously which is indicated by how good his subs have been.’Through marking’ worked but we had to let Alves go free but covered all his passing options.Aw i salute you.
rico, the offshoot of that is that the stoke fixture is tuesday. but if we can navigate that, we have a longer break prior to the carling cup final the following sunday. arsene has to rotate for this coming sunday, but i hope for a strong bench and less than wholesale changes.
al for szczesny, squil in for jd, gibbs for clichy, arsh for theo and either nik or chamakh for robin. that is five changes, not excessive, and with the primaries available from the bench in case we run in to trouble.
Is it just me, or were Barca in part undone by their passpasspassing?? I thought they were showing off a bit in the first half. Smug sons of… Certainly, they were showcasing their supreme skills, but they look knackered in the second half. Ha.
k, i have been the first to call arsene out when he does things such as play arshavin up front alone, or when we sits on his hands as a game slips away from us…but he deserves a ton of credit last night – his subs were well timed and had a definite impact. his calm demeanor helped prevent our players from panicking when barca overran us in the first half, and he sent the team back out with intent, focus, and the believe that we could turn this around.
morning agag…it was indeed a remarkable night…
So, who should be rested against Leyton Orient and who should get more games?
Chamakh/Bendy to start? Whats the deal with Chamakh anyway, was he even on the bench last night??
t, chamakh was not on the bench. i don’t think he was injured, i do think that arsene wanted to make sure he had depth for midfield and supporting forwards. i think he will at least be on the bench – if not starting – for orient.
The madrid game at the Bernabeu was the making of cesc.yesterday’s was the initiation of jack into the big boys club.he has Arsenal DNA in his veins and Barca DNA in his boots after kicking some spanish ass last night.
I thought so too Oliver, Chamakh came on as a sub against Wolves at the weekend if I’m correct so he aint injured. I’ll like to see more of him though, I think its fair to say he did a decent job in RVP’s absence….
KTR7 LOL!!
I’ve watched the match thrice. And have observed that when Nasri or Walcott were charging goalwards at full tilt, all the defenders of the Stains looked majorly panicked.
For all of messi’s accomplishments he can’t seem to chip a goal in England or buy a goal against a Mourinho team.
Hey, TB. Howdy?? Very funny, KT. 😆
And despite what Villa and Xavi say, they were not the better team. They were toothless in front of goal and ours was a deserved victory. No doubt about it.
Anyone think Stoke will be excessively physical to make a point about beating the team who beat Barca?
Agag barca were playing negative tiki taka as a form of defence.unfortunately for them most teams the play against get exhausted as a result but at the same time barca get exhausted too due to all the pressing they do.when they met us we have a bigger squad and lots of stamina.when they tired we were able to have a real go at them.as i mentioned in my post yesterday about villareal using rossi/neymar we used Nasri/AA/theo as they fear direct players.we played more like the invincibles and thats how to beat barca.thats why i have saluted Aw for his tactics.
oliver – i forgot that bit about the tuesday game, but i think the big boys will face stoke and they should be well rested 🙂
Agag we had more shots on goal than them and as they say you can’t win the lottery if you don’t buy a ticket.
will, i agree stoke will be excessively physical -because that is who they are…pulis seems to have an intensely personal dislike of arsene, so i am sure they will put it about. tuesday will be the first time we play them since the shawcross tackle on ramsey, and i think the hard feelings are still present – on both sides.
Hi agag, you enjoyed that a little bit then 😉
KT re the dna 🙂
Nobody should ever talk shit about the kozzinator…ever!
Afternoon all,
Anything happened?
I agree with Oliver’s comments about our game with Orient on Sunday, its important to keep the winning going, and allthough as Oliver has stated maybe a few changes, but we must push on and command this game, if all goes well and we score maybe two or three goals early, it will feel like training ground training, and become a pleasure, rather than a punnishing game, and the feelgood feeling will continue, i would say a must win game again.
wenger was smart taking song off too, risky but smart and in the end won us the game.. but song would have seen red by the end i am sure…..
stoke only know one way to play, long hoof ball, hoof up the a**e and in yeerrrrr face… 😉
we’ll beat them though at home, and beat them well…….
The Camp nou tie will tell us alot about this team’s mental strength.the atmosphere will be nothing like most of our players have experienced.if we go into the 2nd half without conceding i’ll start believing.However we must be prepared to face an onslaught.we need to counter them effeciently as they’ll pile bodies forward…they have to.if we score 1 they’ll need 3.
KT, I swear, the Stains looked positively terrified of our runners. Theo is one of our Mr. Nice Guys, and is bodily shoved off with regularity in the league… it was nice to see him as one to instill in the Stains fear. I love it. They tried to pin Walcott back, and succeeded, but tired themselves out in the process. Well-done, Monsieur Wenger. Well-done!
I enjoyed myself thoroughly, rico. And Nasri is only going to get better, and we’ll have Bac back.I’m glad our boys had man flu, recently.
The commentator were so dismissive of our chances, I wanted to punch him.
afternoon steve…i think most of us are sneering at the biased “arsenal didn’t achieve much last night” english media commentators…and having a pop at some of the bitter barca players who maintain we got what we didn’t deserve…
i temper the latter with a quiet word of praise for a certain josep guardiola i sala, who remains a class act. as rico said earlier, arsene can do worse than follow pep’s example in both victory and defeat…
Did anybody notice Cesc push Pique for no good reason?? Haha.
Whats the story with Rambo is he back yet or what.
Agag i said yesterday that the media will only talk about the return, and not about how well we played, i never expected any different reporting its allways the same, the good thing is our players will not get too confident for the return. The most important game is our next one lets concentrate on that one.
man flu agag 😆
I enjoyed listening to Parlour this morning, as an ex gooner he was very fair gave praise to both sides, he thought Pep made an error in taking of Villa which we all agree but he also said we did well to soak up that period of pressure in the first half the way we did…
Anyone in the media can sit and talk about Barca’s missed chances but may they not forget how many we missed too, Nikki could and should have squared the ball instead of trying to copy Robin, had he done so i am sure we would being going to spain 3-1 up..
however, he didn’t, just like messi didn’t score, we didn’t either…
but we scored two and they didn’t and thats why we deserve all the praise….. the bitter and twisted spud, chav and manc fans in the media can go take a long walk of a short pier……
I know this is dreaming but if we can get two quick goals over there, I think the game is ours.
rambo still at cardiff, and playing well for them. as i remember, his loan was only supposed to be for a month, and was done at least partially to give him playing time that he was unable to get during his loan spell at forest (due to the snow-induced match postponments)…i am interested to see if we bring him back after the month elapses or let him stay there. i would like to see him back – he’s our player and i think he will easily move ahead of one or two players that are part of our squad.
When theo made runs through the middle they were rattled.
I think he is back march 1st Steve…
I was about to bring up your comment, Steve. You beat me to it.:) How it was a goalkeeping error by Valdes blah blah. How in Camp Nou, we were previously humbled by one man blah blah. How we were outpassed blah blah. Tiresome, really. Who cares about the pretty, triangles, right? We won fairly and squarely playing to our strengths and their vulnerabilities. And how fantastic was Kozzer at putting out fires? He. Has. To. Replicate. That Performance. In. Three Weeks.
Afternoon Oliver nice blog realy enjoyed it.
I did write the other day about the mutual respect the two managers have for one another. I know Wenger sometimes shows his little bad loser character, but when he said in his after match chat, that they are still the fovorites in the return, and i believe he’s honest in that, shows he has huge respect for them as well, i have only seen him show that kind of respect to two teams in all his years with us, and thats Utd & Barca.
You tell them, rico!! Up theirs, eh?
Will, thats not dreaming….
Barca have four matches to play before the return leg, two of which are away, the last two of those fixtures are on the 2nd and 6th March – they could be tired again before we arrive to batter them….
I think we will get a draw out there….
Absolutely agag, they can say what they like, all that will do is make our team more determined….
thanks steve…i agree that arsene was both pragmatic and respectful…and i absolutely agree that barca will start the second leg as favorites to progress…last night was difficult, march 8th will be five times as tough…but we have nothing to fear…you know that, i know that, arsene knows that, and pep knows that…
And our Mr. Arsenal Man, Man of the Moment, Man with Lovely Thighs (according to rico), was all smiles and swagger as he clapped the fans and took to the tunnel. Now this is what a fit RvP is all about. Substance AND Style. 🙂
Bendtner has to take some credit for vp’s goal.Bendy was making a run inside and valdez came out in anticipation of a cross and must have thought there was no way wonderboy would score.however they didn’t do their homework to know rvp is more likely to miss a sitter than a shot from such angles.
Thanks for the info on Rambo. I would pull him back as soon as possible, he would excell in the atmosphere we have at the moment, with Nas And Fab with tender hammys if we rest them i want to see quality take their place, not got a great deal of faith in some of the others, but with him back we have a great midfield, we wont have to worry about Barca showing interest in Cesc believe me when i say they will be looking at the other midfielders we have.
Hi AGAG,I’m sure you were pleased with Clichy’s assist as per the 1st goal 😉
Since the establishment of the knockout stages of the CL in 03-04 13 CL KOs 1st leg home ties have finished 2-1 to the home team.7 of those 13 winners have ended up going through.
agag, i think you will recall it was you who pointed out his thighs 😉 😉
T-buzz, great pass with his right foot i do believe 😉
Wasn’t the last time clichy used his right foot a super pass for song to score a winner?? may have the wrong goal scorer, you know what my memory is like…..
I think your memory might be spot on, that game was against the Hammers I think?
Whichever way, boy done good lol
Another thing i would like to mention and its not a knock against Theo, but you have a guy who runs the hundred in allmost record speed, but he dosn’t attack down the wing that often, he checks back or comes inside, the other night i watched Lennon for the Spuds and noticed that at every oppotunity he goes down the flank and frightens the life out of the defenders, Theo should use the speed he has more in my opinion, i would still like to see him used down the middle at sometime, like before he loses it
99th minute 😉
Steve, i think that could be because when he looks up no-one is up with him, he has to check back to give our players catch up time….
I mentioned thighs in a completely footballing context, rico. 😉
TB, I’m always pleased by Clichy. 😀 If I sound like I forgot that mega pass, it’s only cos even when he’s not at his best, I think he’s a top, top player. Clangers? What clangers? Clichy? No way. As AW is inclined to say, “I didn’t see it.” 😉
I’d love to see him play through the middle, Barca would have been scared last night if he had, their defence isn’t exactly fast, little ball through the middle, ‘billy the wizz’ theo breezes by at a rate of 100 mph and goal… 🙂
agag 😛
AGAG, that was what i didn’t understand , if they were the ones passing and we chasing , how come they were the ones tired ?
it probably just shows that premier league players are fitter than Spanish League players.
Where Nasri found the strength to sprint pass Barca’s defence is beyond me.
OLIVER- I had this attitude yesterday , i was optimistic because i knew we have all our guys fit and we have being playing well and i have being reading the endless interviews since Monday and noticed that all the Barca players were proud , cocky and underestimating us.
So it reflected in their game ,they became cocky after their goal .At a point, 5 of them was passing among each other in less than 3 yards from each other.(Total disrespect).
On the FA CUP, look i have studied Wenger for a while now, he is not going to take the FA Cup seriously and he will make 9 changes and if we loose , it wouldn’t affect the rest of our season because most of the guys that won against Barca wouldn’t have played in the FA CUP therefore their last memory will be remembering Messi hitting the side net like 7 times 🙂
CRALING CUP and PREMIER LEAGUE MATCHES are WENGER’s priority now.
Just watch.
With the way our central defenders have been performing, has me thinking about the impending return of Vermaelen, i realise its not going to be the next game but,defensive midfield springs to mind, how often do we see such a group of leftys like the quality that we possess, i hope this is not going to cause us problems. What do we do with all these quality players. which brings me back to the next transfer window and who we need, i still stand by what i have said in the past a player for cover at right back, the only weakness in our side that i can see.
SD, your pre-match comments yesterday and celebrations today still make me laugh. 😀
I’m sure AW will rest players. That’s not too bad. MC would get a run out. Work off that rust. So would Diaby and Deni and TR, if he’s fit.
I have the solution, Steve. Get van der Wiel. 🙂
sd, i agree with a lot of what you say, and you may well be right that arsene won’t toss and turn at night if we fail to advance in the fa cup. but i completely disagree with the premise that going out of the fa cup won’t affect our season. past history has shown that it has – a good example is the shadow side’s pitiful 4-0 surrender at old trafford at a point in the 07-8 season where we were challenging strongly. that clearly had a knock-on effect. or 08-9 season where arsene benched arshavin for the s/f tie versus chelsea – we lost and cl exit and end of premership dream followed in rapid succession.
one may view these events in isolation, but i do not. i think our players want to win everything we compete for and when we lose – or are sent out to lose – it has a definite effect. in my opinion, you cannot build the winning culture we so desperately want by lightly dismissing competitions we are in…
Hi SD,
Every competition is important SD, in my mind winning everything we enter is top priority, we have a great squad, players comeing back all the time, and not just ordinary players quality players, with a rotation system like two at a time we can dominate games and give ourselves a good chance of winning everything, there is no need for many changes to rest players we can handle the rest breaks, but with quality cover. supporters will only realy believe we can win more than one competition when the first one is in the cabinet, we must take one game at a time and focus on every game , no one game is more important than the next, so lets win them all.
SD
Pep said they were tired after their draw at the weekend, so much so he cancelled their training the following day 🙂
Diaby will be banned for the FA Cup match agag ….
VDW for me too – he can play RB and CB 🙂
Every game gets bigger than the last and thats the approach AW should employ, irrespective of who we play next, never take em for granted. He can rotate but within reason.
Thats just my advice…..
And on that note, its home time and I bid you all good evening!! I’ll still be buzzing all the way home or as Rico rightly said, T-buzzing (nice one rico 🙂 )
Adios
He is. I forgot. Good. 🙂
And he’s cute. 😉 we missed out on the Spuds astute DVD ;), so we should get this Dutch instead.
Be safe, TB. See ya, keep on T-buzzing.
Oliver, true true but competing for 4 trophies might hurt us and Wenger knows this, it is just a matter of time before he sacrifices one competition.
But Today Oliver ! I don’t want to think about the FA CUP . i just want to enjoy today , tomorrow then may be Saturday i will be thinking of the FA CUP.Come on man Enjoy Today.
This is for you all Gunners. GEEEEEEEEEET IIIIIIINNN THERE !!!!
This is for you all Gunners. GEEEEEEEEEET IIIIIIINNN !!!!
See ya T-buzz, enjoy your evening 🙂
agag, i thought that would make you happy, mind you, we could do with him for sunday but …
we’ve got denilson…..
Bye
Did you realise that David Villa cost 30mill and that the whole team we fielded last night amounts to 35mill just thought i would remind you all, i know you knew,am i smileing
SD, Ian Wright said the same, i think he hopes its the CL that gives way, i did too if i’m honest but now we our our little toe into the quarters, if we had to lose one…
i couldn’t chose any now – i hope all four, lets not forget that we will be down to three after next weekend and we could even have our first trophy in five years in the bag…..
Steve, i didn’t realise they cost so little – wonder what they are now worth though…
crazy isn’t it… The Torres fee would get us a good second string aswell 😉
sorry sd, don’t agree…recent history has shown – at least to me – that writing off specific comeptitions hurts far more than going for all. it undermines confidence and belief, and sends the message that winning is not so important after all. there is absolutely no reason why we cannot compete hard for all four trophies, with comittment, desire and responsible rotation when the situation dictates. throwing out a shadow side, packed with fringe players who have no real future at this club and the attitude that losing is nothing to worry about does nothing to serve this club’s interests.
one week from sunday we have the carling cup final – when that match is complete, for better or for worse, we will only have three (hopefully) competitions to worry about. with that in mind, why should we lightly dismiss the fa cup when only a single fixture remains for the carling cup?
Just a quick one. That Arsenal team is worth £550 Mill now minus Wilshere who could command a £100Mill buy out clause. 🙂 🙂 Bye for real now
Oliver we may have our differences, but i’m glad our views are clear on this one.good on ya mate.
Our first 11 is amazing!
GET IN!!!!!
steve, i think we see more things similarly than we do differently…
i understand sd’s point about not burning the players out – certainly they are not machines. i do think, however, they are fitter – and hungrier – than we sometimes give them credit for. what i completely disagree with is the premise that we must disregard at least one competition in order to effectively compete on the other three fronts. i maintain that we can have a real go at all four competitions through minimal rotation in certain instances, strong benches when we do rotate and responsible in-game player management. we don’t have to give up on anything if we do not want to.
A ricolicious says,
one more game and its down to three.
rotation should be viewed as much as for giving certain squad players match minutes to maintain sharpness and readiness, as for resting first team regulars. for sunday, we should be able to accomplish our goal of advancing to the next round of the fa cup by minimizing the squad changes – no more than four or five at the most – getting an early lead, and using our three substitutes to give partial rest to some of the starting first teamers, and partial minutes to other squad players…this will clearly be situation dependent – if we play poorly, we may have to use more first teamers than we want to get a result. but if arsene can make it clear to the squad that the fa cup remains a priority and that the result is the most important thing, there is no reason why we should not win comfortably and have the opportunity to rotate addtional players for, say, the final third of the match.
Absolutely Steve, then we are no different to any other side and we can cope..
We have Rambo coming back, TV dues back soon and we can still recall Bartley, JET and Lansbury if things get sticky with injuries…
Only Citeh have a deeper squad than us and they are still rubbish 😉
Also, I bet if we were a fly on the wall in a room when Arsen said to any of the players now ‘do you want a rest’?
not one would say no, i am sure – they are footballers and they must want to be involved in every game – we are doint the best we have done in a long while, they must be able to smell silverware…..
I watched an i/v with the Orient manager and a few of their players – they are desperate for a replay to take them back to The Ems – not just to play at such a wonderful ground but for the money. One player, who i think once played for us, siad jokingly that if they get a penalty in the 90th minute to give them the win, he would consider blasting it high and wide…
we on the other hand need to get the game over by half time and then rest a few….
JD is definately out for sunday…. afc.com and Theo has a ‘slight hamstring’….
I had a call from a friend this afternoon, a Man U fanatic hadn’t spoken for a while, he just wanted to offer his appreciation of the way our boys played, he is looking forward to our clash a bit later on, i believe he said that tounge in cheek. He’s a man that that very rarely gives praise to any other than Man u, I said the eyes of the world would be on the game last night, and i believe we have ruffled a few feathers.
Stoke fixture is now Wednesday….
Steve, in other words he is getting scared too 😉
Man utd fans should appreciate arsenal’s fight back. Do you think arsenal can go all the way now?
rico, whats that about JD
Hi Imzahmed,
I believe we can, but it wont be easy, we will have to work our socks off, and at times we will make mistakes, but the answer is to make less mistakes than your opponents, then its in the hands of the Gods.
He’s out for the weekend Steve with a back injury… hoping its just a ‘man flu’ kind of injury, Theo is also a doubt with a hamstring strain…..
wenger has also said he will make changes….
Winning breeds confidence, confidence breeds winning.
rico,
He knows we were not at our best on the last clash, and they hit a goal from nothing, but if any team scare Utd its us
Hi Imzahmed, i’m with Steve on this one, i think it’s really down to us now – Barca no longer feel that we are just going to ‘turn up’ for the next fixture, we really have a good chance of going through despite Barca being clear favs with the away goal…
But if we can get a quick goal over there its game on…. This is just why i like playing the away leg second, unlike most. We know what we are up against..
Then, as Steve says, in in the hands of someone else to give us a good draw…..
Agree there Will but we now know he will rotate…
By that i hope he means..
AA for Nasri
Chamakh for RvP
Gibbs for Clichy
Eboue for Theo
Squilli for JD
But, I know it doesn’t, we will see more than that…
Hi Steve
The 2nd leg will be awesome! The big question though can wilsher overcome the fear of a mega stadium like the nou camp?
Imzahmed – i think last night showed us that our Little Jack is fazed by nothing in football…..
Look back to a year ago when we played Barca – we had players on the pitch a lot older and wiser than Wilshere but they crumbled..
No, not Jack…..
We will see in two weeks. its setting out to be a terrific fixture!
I love the fact that Demento says Man Utd never change tactics for other teams but always play their own game. Is that why he parks the bus, fills the midfield and hit long balls to Shrek?
I expect an onslaught in the first 20 minutes.thats typical of them.
Imza the return leg is in 3 weeks not 2.march 8.
thanks for letting me now.
Imzahmed,
One important plus for us in the return, is the inclusion of Sagna, in my eyes one of the best right backs in the world, apart from his dogged defending he also aids the attack as well.Maybe a return for Vermaelen if not as a starter, a good sub to have on the bench.
KT, we all expect that, thats what they did to us last night to a degree in the firts half for 30 mins. We held strong and weathered the storm. We can again…
I said earlier that they have fixtures on the 2nd and 6th march, they’ll be knackered when we arrive…..
And that Shrek goal was fluke Will, another game, row Z….
Steve – Spot on re Sagna… Spot on….
I am off. Good night, good people. 🙂
Remember when xavi said we’d be out of the title race by january and cesc would join them?well we just beat them at our own game and there is nothing more id love than us to KO them in the 94th minute at the camp nou.they have some really arrogant players.
Night Agag,
Athough i got a great deal of satisfaction out of our result last night, i still get the same satisfaction with Man u and we have a possible three games with them, bring it on
Nighty Night agag, go catch up on the sleep you lost last night 😉 😉
i read that somewhere today too KT, that’s come back to bite him on the butt…
There is nothing like a win over the mancs steve, it sits just a little bit behind a win over the tiny totts….
off for dinner, see you in a bit….
I am just waiting for Man UTd to hit a sticky patch and lose two or three.
evening..
great post..im still buzzing..
i was arguing today with the lads at work how said we were lucky..
my response was simple..
when inter and man utd beat them by containing them with good defending its amazing
when arsenal do it its lucky??
FUCK OFF.. jelous bastard… 😉
how good was lil jack..ive been having an arguement with a manc fan on my FB all season and he says he aint afraid of us..lol..i said if xavi and iniesta take a back seat to jack what the fuck are fletcher and carrick gonna do..??
hes gone quiet 😉
whilest it is true it is only ‘half time’
these are the nights we live and breathe for as fans..
these are the games we remember forever and live forever in arsenal folklore..
we beat the mighty barca and it wasnt by luck we beat them fair and square..
contained them in the 1st half making them do ‘denilson’passes and then put them to the sword in the second after tiring them out..
what a game..what a night..
this is the confidence we needed..weve beaten chelsea city and barca this season we are no longer scared of the ‘big teams’
we can clear up this season..if the team stays fit, who is their to stop us????
JJ, that was a you remember where you were night.
Hi jj
i couldn’t agree more about the ‘denilson passing’ – all looked fancy but what did they gain from it??
exactly buddy
if i read correctly you were in hospital??
you all good my man??
hey rico
fuck all 😉
you see..we know all this shit from being arsenal fans..we know what its like when we start passing about like that and have 70% possession against chelsea etc but have no shots..
its like ktr said to win the lotto you gotta buy a ticket..you dont shoot you dont score..
they can play like that for 90mins in the nou camp for me..it wont get them anywhere doing 5 yard triangles on the half way line…they can play in that part of the pitch all night long for me..you dont score from there..
Wrighty is back jj…
http://www.newsnow.co.uk/A/476528700?-19387
no arguement from me there jj, i feel pretty confident about going over there… i think they will get all the possesion and little joy on goal – IF JD, Chesney, Kos, Sagna and Clichy saty fit…..
NOt really JJ but I will be better, it is not life threatening.
We need to not be over awed and we need to get our shooting boots on. I have a feeling that their fans are so used to success that if we get a couple of early goals, the fans will turn on them.
I asked earlier Will, i’m sorry to hear that though 🙁
Sorry Rico, missed it. Don’t want to say what I have but it is not life threatening but it can be life changing.
🙁 I’m real sorry to hear that Will……..
fingers crossed for you mate..
i had a mare last year..not health wise but it changed me..i was a mess..
i noticed wrighty lol
double smash..wish it would have been evening tho..
miss all the fun thru the day 😉
You were jj, you though Theo was cack – thankfully you are better now 😉
Didn’t see wrighty about there much though jj, just others insulting his post, not able to see his humour surrounding it all…. iriots….
Well said Cesc………
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_6758169,00.html
Naff off Big ears……
Gary Lineker claims Arsenal have their work cut out against Barcelona despite their 2-1 triumph.
Lineker describes Barcelona as “the greatest club side we will ever see” and fears for Arsenal in the second leg of the Champions League first knockout stage at the Nou Camp.
Speaking at the UEFA Champions League final ticket launch in London, Lineker said: “There have been some incredible results, and great results of course for the two north London sides. I love watching Barcelona and I honestly think they could well be the greatest club side we will ever see.”
Asked if that put Arsenal’s victory at the Emirates into context, Lineker added: “Very much so, but it’s only half-time and I still think Arsenal have their work cut out because Barcelona are something else, not only the way they play their football but the way they work so hard.
“They have so many wonderfully gifted players.
“They have got to go on and win two or three Champions Leagues before we can really put them as the best side ever but I think they could conceivably do that.”
You should read the sun comments on an Arsenal article.
i did rico lol
he wasnt that good last night though really but 60 mins of chasing him helped knacker them out for sure
fuck off prick
they said all this shit about us before last night..
bollox to em we can do this and when they do they will have to be quiet or anything else they say will qualify them for a straight jacket
What will all these pundits do if we win the tie?
jack made cesc look second rate and i loved it – only because we finally have a player who will step up when someome else is having a tough time…
and thats not me being harsh on cesc, he’ll shine in spain, the sun usaully does, and he’s certainly like wengers ‘son’ 😉
Will, they will hate seeing us win the CC if we do, let alone anything else… 🙂
Right you fine Gents, i’m done in – hopefully catch you all tomorrow…
Be good and stay safe
nighty night….
Jack is amazing, I don’t remember seeing a lad of some technical promise at that age.
they will shut their mouths will
nobody can say we were lucky
anyone who beats barca over two legs isnt fucking lucky
night ricolicious
i dont mean to damper the mood will..
but with jack coming of age im not bothered if cesc goes this summer..
if we get 70mil for him i would snap their hands off..ship him out go get hazard with 50mil pocketed and make rvp captain..
i wonder if weve made a dvd of last night.??? lol
it wouldnt suprise me if we did if we won the whole tie..id buy it 😉
No, I would keep Cesc.
Imagine am attacking squad of:
Cesc
Nasri
RvP
Theo
Hazard
AA
JeT
Lansbury
Chamakh
What a bench that would be.
yeah it would be nice to keep him 😉
get hazard as well lol
im just not that bothered anymore if he does leave i guess..not like i used to be..
I expect him to leave but if we can keep him, imagine th epace of Hazard and Theo on the flanks with the trickery and guile of Cesc, Nasri, Rvp and AA playing them in.
it would be out of this world football..
the years of patience are paying off aint they..
its been a ride and its been frustrating..but its about to happen
it is happening..
i still think we lack a dribbler sometimes in matches..we have loads of players who can keep close control but nobody who can take it round 3-4 players with pace on the wing..
hazard fits the bill..he could be our messi…
And there is that Japanese kid who is turning heads in Holland. I can see us making big money and not having to spend a penny.
morning….
new post up