The morning after the night before, everyone’s a bit dazed or dazzled I am not sure which, Amazing display by Barcelona in what was without doubt the fastest tempo I have ever seen a game played.
For twenty minutes Arsenal hardly touched the ball while the Artisans from Spain painted a masterpiece of pure class all over the Pitch. We call the Emirates the home of football, fair enough, well football came home last night in the form of a lesson in attacking flair no one who saw it will ever forget.
There was only one side in it and only a show of personal brilliance and sheer luck from the much-maligned Almunia in the Arsenal goal stopped us from being buried under an avalanche of goals.
Wenger had gambled with several half fit players, who would have been tested in a normal game, at this pace they had no chance. Arshavin, Gallas and Cesc were soon revealed as passengers. AA being replaced by Eboue after 27 minutes Gallas by Denilson after 40, both of whom made significant contributions.
Brave Cesc stayed on and battled, a shadow of the maestro who normally illuminates this ground, driven by courage and adrenalin allied to a burning desire to show the team of his youth just what they were missing. Well tonight was not the night and his injury caused him to be booked for an innocuous mistimed tackle the agony of disappointment etched on his face when shown the card, underlining just what this encounter meant to him, he was out of the next leg.
Somehow we got to half time at 0 – 0. Wenger looked relieved beyond measure as he strode off
Straight from the kick off Almunia true to form was caught in no mans land as along ball over the top was chased down by Ibrahimovic who lobbed the keeper, minutes later he blasted another through ball past Almunia’s left hand into the top corner. 2 – 0 game over.
Not quite. Barca relaxed and sat back, the game revolved around the middle of the park for twenty minutes until Gallas was replaced. Song moved to centre half. The newly arrived Walcott playing on the right of midfield, changed the game his pace enabling him to run into the spaces and cut inside the fullback, his second such run leading to a goal.
Arsenal were now up for it and pressed and harried, play switching from end to end until Cesc’s courage was finally rewarded as he was brought down in the penalty area the Spanish centre half sent off for denying a goal scoring opportunity, from the resultant penalty Cesc levelled the score, Unfortunately that may well be his last meaningful kick of the season. The tackle and tangle of legs may well have broken the leg; we await the result of scans this morning.
Both sides now with 10 men, ( Cesc a complete passenger) thought they could win it and continued to push for the winner but none came. So a second leg in Spain to come, the score level, but with away goals counting double Arsenal have much to do.
Injuries and suspensions will have much to say in the replay but the reaction to Walcott’s pace says we have a chance
A memorable night and a great game, to live long in the memory. At last the Emirates has a European legend of its own and 60,000 lucky fans can say I was there.
By our guest writer dandan
Arsenal News 24/7
arsenalarsenal.net 
Great post dandan and thanks. I’m going to put all the last comments on so that the chat can continue.
# Stringfellow Hawke Says:
April 1, 2010 at 12:08 pm edit
peaches – how brilliantly did denilson play? he was everywhere, he does not dive in, but just seems to know when to nip in and take the ball and quick release it to the next man.
# peachesgooner Says:
April 1, 2010 at 12:10 pm edit
Absolutely SH – I saw him make passes and break up play in a way we’ve only dreamed of up to now. Maybe he picked up Diaby’s brains by mistake cos unfortunately Diaby was guilty of not doing what we expected.
# Stringfellow Hawke Says:
April 1, 2010 at 12:13 pm edit
diaby had his worst ever game for us, but he is allowed a day off after such a brilliant season.
one day, we will get all 3 midfield players on their game, that day could be next tuesday.
nasri, denilson, diaby look certain to be the starting trio.
# realsocialdad Says:
April 1, 2010 at 12:14 pm edit
must have had me red tints on when looked at there fixtures then
diaby either turns up or he dont no inbetween is there
# Stringfellow Hawke Says:
April 1, 2010 at 12:16 pm edit
rooney ligament damage, out for the season for sure.
# kelsey Says:
April 1, 2010 at 12:18 pm edit
As you know i have had my doubts about Denilson, but he was the real surprise package,he was immense, as was Song and nasri and bedntner did as best as they could.
But Diaby, he faded after 60 seconds 😉 I really expected so much from him.
if Arshavin had a world stage to play on he had it last night, and I honestly can’t remember a single moment of magic from him, injured or not, he will be off in the summer.
# Stringfellow Hawke Says:
April 1, 2010 at 12:19 pm edit
not sure who will want him after last night, kelsey
he dreams of barca.. but why would they want him?
he has been a big let down this season.
# realsocialdad Says:
April 1, 2010 at 12:24 pm edit
Well done dandan (and peaches)
London must be hungover 😉
The ironic thing for those watching on ITV, was that they interviewed Lehmann at half time moments before the second half kicked off,and he said he was impressed with Almunia, and 1 minute later barca scored.
Sorry guys that all looks really confusing and I haven’t got time to make it look better at the moment. If you want to copy and paste your own comments on I’ll edit the old ones out.
What a mess 😦
Lehmann must have hexed him 😆
kelsey – how are you? Bet watching that game was not good for your nerves 😉
haha, don’t worry peaches, we get the jist of it.
i don’t think we should sell aa23, just get his head right and fully focused on playing for this club
lets be honest.. he has had his head in the clouds since russia got knocked out of the world cup.
Someone needs to tell Diaby and Denilson that they don’t need to take it in turns to be brilliant – we have enough love for the both of them at the same time.
Hi kelsey,
We had some heroes and some villains last night. Now is the opportunity for Theo, Diaby, Nasri and Denilson to show their worth. Song will probably play CB against Barça and I expect Sol to play against Wolves. If, and it’s a big if, Sol can play 1 good game a week, Rosicky can play 90 minutes when required AND we don’t get any further injuries, we are still in with a chance of the prem and CL. The added bonuses could be the return of RVP, Cesc and JD by the end of this month.
You could have a point there SH – but Russia had their chances and didn’t take them – must be sad though for him as the captain, he probably won’t get to another one will he. But Russia do play in the Euros don’t they?
yup, he will get a chance for euro 2012
and he should still be ok for WC 2014
Haha SfH … AA with his head in the clouds 😉
Yesterday you were anti and I defended him and today the roles are reveresed. It was like 10 men from the start with him before the injury. I actually think the injury was a blessing in disguise because EE put in some really important tackles to keep it at nil nil for half time.
rasp – did you edit your comment out?
Almunia,resign please and bring Fabianski with you.Arsenal won’t win anything with you both.
am i defending him today? and was i really anti yesterday?
did i say he was not any good? or he attitude stunk?
i said yesterday his attitude stunk, but the boy can play
today, i say his attitude stinks, but the boy can play.
😉
I am with you rasp EE was superb yesterday and didnt bendy work hard.
Our first attack saw Arsh not bothering to run for a ball – he shouldn’t have started – at least Gallas and Cesc put in a shift.
Hi dandan, yes, Nik got his head to every goal kick and worked tirelessly. Their CB’s were poor at defending in the air. He played his part in both goals and never gave up. I hope in time, he will develop quicker feet – that ability to take one touch that creates the space to release a shot.
Hello Alex, trust Almunia to pull off some amazing saves and then mess up two relatively easy chances to be a hero. The first one was ridiculous – he came out and made himself small and the second one he went down instead of staying tall.
Nikki needs to learn the piroette trick – he receives the ball and almost never turns, he always plays it forwards. Yesterday he was in good positions but ended up playing someone else into trouble by pushing the ball further out to the wing instead of coming infield.
….actually forwards or backwards ……
If Song can do the piroette I’m sure Nik should be able to too 🙂
Almunia – a pretty good shot stopper on the ground, a liability when the ball’s above shoulder height, doesn’t claim the ball decisively, always looks a bit ‘scared’.
It’s too late, but after we didn’t lose a single game with Mannone, we should have kept him in goal and by now he’d have the confidence and experience. We have to persist with Almunia to the end of the season now.
i think ewe froze the first half and gave them to much respect. add to that arshavin giving up after 2 minutes gallas and cesc half fit wenger got it all wrong tacticly. we should have went man for man like they did but stood of them and let them play. we cant afford passengers wenger no matter who they are.. play a fit team in barca and if we go out at least we went out with a fully fit team beaten by a better side. gallas and cesc should never have played. we ended up 10 against 10 because of it when we could have had 11 and got a winner
If I could meet Wenger, I would ask him one question, why Oh why didnt you buy Shay Given when he was desperate to come, unless it was finance I cannot think of a reason
agree peache bendy is has learnt the role well no surprise his assists a rising
Hi SfH,
I’m not putting words into your mouth 😉 I was hoping that on the big stage yesterday, he would show some desire and it was totally lacking from what I saw. I don’t want any player who doesn’t want to play for us.
If we could get back what we paid for him (unless injury explains his lack of effort), I’d let him go.
Denilson deserves a mention. he got some passing going and actually won the ball back much better than diaby or song.
I think nerves paralysed arsenal because we are definitely better than that.
Also i hate when people say away goals count double. Its completely inaccurate and doesn’t make any sense.
I’d certainly have taken Cesc off when he limped after the penalty. Who knows how much more damage was done to his injury in those last 10 minutes – it could make the difference between missing the whole season or being out for 3 weeks.
seriously? let him go already…
i’m not sure about that, that night at anfield show exactly what the man is capable of… he just needs his head testing
that’s all 😆
as for almunia, read it summed up perfectyl elsewhere
he is a world class shot stopper, but a very average goalkeeper.
Hi TonyM,
You’re right. The mathematics are simple. We have to beat Barça or draw by 3 all or more.
Denilson showed how effective he can be in European football. I think Barça tired and we looked the fitter team in the last 15 minutes.
Gallas by Walcott after 70???.. oaf
I understand that AA’s wife has not settled in the UK (I think the same was said about Almunia’s missus). These guys are highly paid. I’m sure Mrs Arshavin can afford to catch a plane to Milan anytime she wants to do a bit of shopping. If AA couldn’t feel motivated last night, when will he ever?
If Barça looked at our team last night, they might have thought – ‘I wouldn’t mind having that Song or Nasri playing for us, they sure wouldn’t have been drooling over AA.
Thanks for your comment hmp – don’t bother again if that’s the best you can do.
Our expected post today didn’t arrive and dandan stepped in at short notice to write a few lines to enable us to debate the game.
TonyH.
If you wish to be pedantic, you are correct, however should we draw 0-0 or 1-1 in Spain we will lose, draw 3-3 and we win, Why away goals are worth more than home goals.
Therefor saying away goals count double is a simplistic way of explaining this, which the majority of football fans understand and accept.
Hi dandan,
Thank you for your excellent post. It seems that one or two are being pedantic on a day when we should be feeling a mixture of relief and pride. For a long time it looked like we were going to be on the end of a 4-5 nil thrashing, instead, we have hope. Barça didn’t beat us.
I think TonyM’s comment was well meant, not sure we need the likes of hmp on here though!
Small correction here: Gallas came off for Denilson in the 40th minute, and Theo came on for Sagna.
found you
nice post dandan like the last statement
I always think of it these terms – one away goal is managable to overturn but any more is a lot more difficult especially if the home side score too as they can dig in – mind you I’m not sure that Barça know how to dig in in the same way as we don’t either.
Thanks The Law,
I’m sure you’ve read the previous comments explaining the situation. It’s hard enough to get your facts 100% right when you know you’re being called upon to write a match report, but to look back in retrospect is asking a lot. I’ll pop in and edit the post.
What are your thoughts on the game?
Excellent post. I hate to say it but barcellona almost humulate us last night in the first half. We are now without Arshavin, gallas and our brave captain. But Im sure with in form diaby (he was not very good last night), nasri, Walcott, Ros, eboue and Bent. we have a real chance to qualify. i still think Diaby is the key. he must show one of his brilliant perfomances and we will win.
Sorry for my english
Bad news: Iniesta is back
Good news: we will win
Is OK Rasp. I have been got at by experts so lightweights like hmp are no problem.
It was done in a hurry and I have sole charge of my 18 month old grandson and two year old border collie who are wrecking the joint here this morning.
Thanks for your support the good people here far outweigh the idiots. Will do better next time LOL
it a blog dandan
as long as you get you message across it not like nn are still checking to see you can pass you english o
Hi Ibrahim,
Your english and your sentiments are top drawer.
We have to be optimistic. We have everything to play for. We learned last night that we can compete with Barça if we work hard and believe in ourselves, the spell was broken when Theo made them look human. They learned that we are capable of upsetting them. They are the ones who will be the more nervous in the return leg as they have the most to lose.
Welcome Ibrahim – can’t disagree with any of that. Don’t worry about your english we enjoy comments from everyone.
“away goals count double” is very weak criteria to calculate chances, especially in game like this one. We have an away game to win (and/or) score two times and let see what happend. It is not more than defending well and try to score goals. Barca will do the same.
In the worst senario when we may concede 2 goals we can still score 3 to qualify….. (very funny senario)
Wenger knows now how to defend better and who of our players can hurt barca the most.
I can not wait
PM: lets beat wolves in the weekend first.
Here’s an interesting question to ponder…
Who will be the most disappointed after last night? Barça of course. If we’d played a team that we should have beaten easily and let in two late goals and looked pretty dodgy after that, we’d be ripping into our boys today (well some of us would!).
I looked on other blogs during the game and Theo got slaughtered when he came on .. up until he scored that is …. I have never seen so many people eat their words in the space of 2 minutes 😆
The failure of Arsenal to gain possession of the ball in the first half of this game was extreme and unusual. Diaby and Song were too lazy in their ball retention throughout the game.
Barcelonas passing was good throughout, and yes the speed and intensity, accuracy of Barcelona’s passing of Barca was spectacular in the first half- especially Xavi-. but they were aided in no small part by two factors, the propensity of the Barcelona players to dive every single time they were challenged and the referee favoured them and gave a free kick to them every time they went to ground. The referee effectively prevented tackling of a Barcelona player in possession of the ball. This view of physical contact is a very Spanish interpretation of the laws of the game.
Arsenal gained more control after half time- but their defence was caught out twice with the same ball over the top for the Barca goals. These were basic defending errors- not the products of genius. Why are Arsenal’s central defenders and full backs stationary?
Whilst enormous credit is given to Barca in the first half- at the end they were vulnerable- and we could have won this game with a few more fit players.
blog world, especially gooner blog world, is just that in a nutshell, rasp.
Very good points Goonergerry. I was not impressed with the ref. The yellow for Cesc may have been a blessing in disguise as he’ll miss the next game anyway, but could be back for the semifinal (optimistically) and he won’t have the prospect of a yellow keeping him out of the final.
As good as Barça were, we were poor in the first half. I think our inexperience showed. They revealed frailty in the second half and as you say, we probably should have got that 3rd goal and won the game. Our defence, including the keeper has been our weakness throughout the season.
Hello all, still catching my breath after the roller coaster of a game last night. Who’s going to the Wolves game, anyone for a pre match Peroni fest?
I really want to know why wenger doesnt use eboue more.
He has been one of our best players over the last month or so, but inexplicably wenger left him out completely against birmingham, and I thought that was a major factor in our failure to win.
I wondered why he didnt play any part and many people assumed it might be because he was saving him for this game against barca, but he still chose to leave him on the bench from the start.
I think eboue is one of our most talented, and more importantly one of our most effective players, whether at RB or RW, and it’s crazy to have considered leaving him out of this game. We have many skillful players in our squad, but none that can combine that with such pace and strength, not even diaby it seems. He has some slight faults to his game, but who doesn’t? His qualities are too important to ignore.
He is too good to keep leaving out, and to be honest, if we are going to win our last few premier league games, eboue has to play in every one of them I think. He dominates the lesser teams and really takes the pressure off fabregas and others; and he is very effective offensively and defensively against the big teams.
Hi Davi,
I agree, on current form, Eboue can’t be ignored. I’m pretty sure that if he hadn’t been brought on for AA we would have been a goal or two down by half time. He is refreshingly direct in his attacking play and always looks to get into the box. If his finishing was a bit better he’d be a 5 – 10 goal a season midfielder.
Rasp – I think if hed had a decent number of games, he’d definitely get 5. His finishing isnt quite as bad as it was when he first came, and he does get a lot of chances
1) Cesc should never have started the game. A short term bad decision by Wenger means we may have lost him for the rest of the season. Ditto Gallas.
2) What a disappointment Arshavin has been this season. I thought we had secured a world class player, but he is only that in flashes, otherwise little effort and he has missed as many easy chances as Adebayor used to do. Plus he always seems to be moaning to the media
3) Was Diaby playing. I never saw him create anything
4) I think we are all eating humble pie with regard to Denilson. He was tremendous last night. If he can consistently play like that then we have a star on our hands.
5) Why cannot Walcott play like that when he starts a match. He is always anonymous when he does, but bring him on as a sub and he terrifies defences.
Well it is all to play for next week and I have a funny feeling we may spring a surprise. They must start not in awe of Barcelona and play like they did in he second half (other than giving away two more soft goals.
As we are all entitled to our opinions, here is mine: some of these comments are way too negative. For instance “The failure of Arsenal to gain possession of the ball in the first half of this game was extreme and unusual. ” (Goonergerry).
Gerry, I don’t know if you were there but I’m sure I’ve never been present at a match played to a higher standard, at that speed, certainly in the first half. Barça are the best team in the world and probably one of the all time great teams. Pep said that was the best they have played since he took over (so in nearly 2 years). They were better than us but they are better than everyone. Under those circumstances not gaining possession is not extreme.
They pulled us out of shape, they were quicker to get to the ball and to make use of it. Messi does so much off the ball and when in possession deep, it’s hard to follow him from the stands sometimes, never mind on the pitch.
Alves is faster than Clichy and Nasri. But he is faster than everyone.
careful about the moaning to the media stuff, clockendjim
he may have been in the shower at the time the call came, and somebody else put on an inpersonation 😆
Hi cej,
Diaby definitely looked like the Diaby of two years ago. At his best this season he’s been excellent. Inexperience brings with it inconsistency and I’m hoping that both he and Denilson will begin to become ‘reliable’ in the quality of their performances.
I agree with everything you say in hindsight. If we’d got away with Gallas and Cesc surving the game unscathed we’d say the gamble paid off I suppose. Gallas is out for the season, there is a glimmer of hope that I am clutching on to that Cesc will only be missing for 3 weeks. We could be top of the league and in the CL semi by then.
walcott is the emptiomy of a super sub, tired defenders have no way of handling his speed, a fresh defender can at least use positioning to handle him.
the last 20 mins of most competitive games open up, hence why theo is such a weapon at that stage.
I think the theory that denilson plays better against technical teams like barca, rather than the physical sides that make up the premier league has merit.
The only games Ive seen before where Ive been really impressed with him were against Man Utd, and possibly liverpool and villa at times.
Against the ordinary PL sides, denilson usually gets caught on the ball and seems to feel the pressure more.
SfH, you are being cheeky – the media don’t need to speak to impersonators to wilfully get the wrong end of the stick.
any idea for the coming sat?
i know it’s wolves (only?) but who should/can arsene use?
I would be pleased to know your meaning about the following:
May be Wenger and Arsenal are too proud to counter play the opponent.
Im living in Holland and I follow the Arsenal games through sprort 1 in Dutch TV. Yesterday was marco Van Basten the guest of the game. he thinks Arsenal is too proud to counterplay barca style.
Chelsea did that last year and (almost) succeeded in that. In the final Man. united was also very proud to counter play barca and they had been punished for that. Barca won tha final with style.
May be there is not other way to play the game. Wenger say you can not mark every player, otherwise you can not play your game.
The other point, it seems that we are more dangerous towards the end of each game including yesterday. may be that is the advantage of our motivated young players.
As I stated yesterday, Walcott needed to play yesterday from the start as they fear pace, be it the 1st or 90th. As soon as he come on Maxwell couldn’t go forward and attacks fizzled.
Ibrahim, most people on here would respect Marco van Basten. I’m proud that we played our way, and pleased the outcome was better than Man U or Chelsea managed.
i think whether walcott should start is debatable.
probably theo is more likely to create an instant big impact when he’s on for the last 20+ mins, as he can take advantage of tired players
the main problem is that Arsenal cannot play Chelsea way well.
Arsenal simply dont have strong guys like Chelsea do.
Alfa – but what about his website? who impersonates him on that?
that’s if he has ever heard of his “official” website ❓
If Theo is fit he can still make an impact at the end as well as during the rest of the match.
agreed re: theo, blaze gooner.
maybe you are right.
i just have a feeling that theo normally does a better job when coming on late.
blaze he does, for a fact.
the stats back that claim up very easily.
SfH, he is represented on that by the moderators of the site.
says who? can you provide a link that tells us moderators answer questions on his behalf, and make up quotes and attach them to him.
WHY IN THE HELL WE DONT PLAY EDUARDO ANYMORE…..
IF HE DONT PLAYS AGAINST WOLVES,THEN WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SfH, most of the site seems to be translated by Ekaterina Shlychkova. In addition the front page of the site refers enquiries to the moderators. If you read the endless drivel about Andrey’s underwear preferences and how many press-ups he can do you will be able to judge how much importance to attach to the site.
For instance, his interview after the B’ham match is clearly based on a quick phone call to him while he was on the coach home. He answered a few questions in perfunctory style. Any of those could be taken to be critical/supportive/whatever, depending on how good your idiomatic Russian is.
cos aa is better than him on left
i guess boris and he cant do the centre as good as bendy
would expect to see him on sat
Alfa – my point is, i very much doubt he would allow an offical website, WHICH HE MADE REFERENCE TO DURING HIS PROTACTED TRANSFER TO ARSENAL, to twist his words.
of course the gutter press will, but if you believe he allows his “moderators” to do the same….. hmm
😐
gallas and aa23 maybe only out for 2-3 weeks according to SSN.. not the season.
blimey, west ham are losing it
they are complaining to the PL about fulham’s team selection 😆
Ok I know that but,
If Eduardo came on in birmingham and not arshavin we could kill the game off.
I have to say really that Arshavin is awouful this season and he always, when he misses shakes his head like he could do it better.That is irritating.
CESC last night a apsolute LEGEND, OUTSTANDING.
I hated to see him limping the last minutes that realy got my feelings
the amazing thing about aa23 is there is totally no middle ground
he is either stupendous, or woeful
his shooting at times is mind blowingly bad, most players may make a hollywood style complete air shot once a season, maybe once a lifetime
aa23 makes them every other week
after the 4 at anfield last season, he made about 4 air shots at the next home game at the emirates.. he was egged on by us in the crowd though… shoot every time he got the ball 😆
according to the stats he’s actualy got better this season
Alfa, I wouldn’t worry too much about SFH’s obsession with AA’s website. He obviously don’t know how they run these things so let him carry on believing 😉
😆 oh the irony, well done again.
afternoon livers
happy easter peeps
prob catch you up for game as is me anniversary today and friday is kids day
egg hunt an’all that
you wouldn’t know what Irony is. You don’t have to go on blogs and put capital letters as if what you say is fact. It’s an opinion.
You really are a tool
Hi BoRiS,
We debated Eduardo recently and could not decide if he had been premanently damaged by the memory of his injury or if he just needed games. One thing is for sure, he and others who are more ‘bit part’ will be called upon in the coming weeks and have the opportunity to show us what we’ve been missing. The same case could be made for Vela.
Wow, what a fantastic night. Top post DanDan
I have just read through the comments and I’m glad to see that Denilson has got the credit he deserves.
After such a great fight back it seems a bit churlish to single any one player out for criticism but Diaby played the whole game like a star struck fourteen year old little girl. Theo may get the plaudits but it was Denilson who turned the tide; prior to that the game resembled a the siege of the Alamo but it was his little passes that always found their man that finally enabled Fabrégas to get into the game.
I find the idea that Fabrégas’ leg is broken as being absolutely ridiculous. An x ray takes five minutes and they would have done that last night.
We all know that Fabrégas won’t be playing next week the irony of this is, have you ever noticed how much better Diaby plays when Fabrégas isn’t there?
Livers – you better stop, is somebody going to put him out of his misery?
or shall i keep toying with him? 😆
sorry.. i meant
TOYING 🙂
Hi Alfa mate
Did you enjoy the game last night, silly question, I foolishly tried to keep up with Bob P and Benwell…..big mistake….huge.
london, agreed on diaby, he does play better when cesc is not in the team, i think he gets the free attacking role and it suits his game.
with cesc in the side, he has to balance the defending and attacking aspects of his game.
Hi London, how’s the head? I’ll try to type in a whisper 😉
There’s toying and being a tool..and that’s being kind
Easy to call names, very easy.
Even you handled it well enough 😉
It’s easy to be patronising and sarcastic but i guess you don’t have friends to let you know.
Just don’t reply to my comments lad as I don’t really find you amusing, clever or intelligent enough.
So you call me names, and now you say i have no friends.
What school you at, son? 😆
Seriously speaking, this place was a cool comments section until you showed up.
You have a chip on that shoulder, and cannot accept where you are wrong.
The worst of it is.. you actually think you are smart!!
Classic 😆
Have a nice Easter, AA’ers 😉
SFH, you’ve just named yourself in one ! Well done at last.
Son.. he he, do me a favour
So, let me get this straight. You implied I was wrong and Arshavin updates his own website. Then you say Alfa is wrong… then despite us proving what happens you still think you are right.
Then when I make remarks you make sly digs then say it’s toying.
Seriously have a look at yourself man.
Anyway, I’m offski. apologies to the decent bloggers
Oh dear,
This has just been reported…
……Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas has been ruled out for at least 6 weeks with a small crack to his right fibula, the club has confirmed today.
The injury rules Fabregas out for the remainder of Arsenal’s domestic season. It is a cruel blow to both Cesc and Arsenal and severely dents their hopes of winning the premier league or champions league trophies.
Yeah I see that….think they are saying 6 weeks to give him a chance for the World Cup… however, I think he won’t make it
Livers and SfH,
Don’t let this stop either of you coming on, we value your comments and your company enriches the site. It’s the nature of blogging – every now and then something gets blown out of all proportion, usually when we’re stressed over the team.
Cesc is out of the picture – that should be enough to focus all of our minds. The difficult just became a little harder, but NOT IMPOSSIBLE…..
Livers, it may be a similar injury to Nasri’s fracture in training – he was back in about 6 weeks. I hope for Cesc’s sake he is fit for the World Cup.
Having no Cesc is cleary going to make things difficult but Nasri has shown that he can do Cescs job. He has a reputation for not travelling well so he’s going have to knock that on the head.
Looks like our midfield is now going to be Nasri, Diaby and Denilson/Eboue.
Good job we’ve got a big squad eh……
Did Ivan pay you to write that peaches? 😉
Have there been any pictures of Robin in training – that would lift the spirits.
Yup, I’m on the payroll, my secrets out 😉
London, when I bumped into Bob at Finsbury Park, I knew that the post would be in doubt today 😆
I saw Chaf today, and Keith, so I’ve got the full picture now. I don’t know what’s more impressive, that Cesc was on his feet at the end of the game or that you were :lol:.
What a fantastic night, it makes all of the heartache worthwhile.
Thanks Alfa – you could have filled me in 😉
Peaches, I overestimated London’s powers of recovery on this occasion. It was that kind of night – Cesc scored and played with a broken leg. As BoRiS said earlier, what a legend and it’s a match to tell your grandkids about.
One thing I wanted some other views on: TH’s standing ovation and chanting at the end. I joined in like everyone else but I really wanted to be cheering Cesc and the team who were going off, Cesc in particular who was still on the pitch at that point. I felt it was a little bit out of order for TH to take the limelight at that point. Anyone else feel the same way?
Well Rasp, we got absolutely battered for 60-odd minutes, then they (astonishingly) ran out of steam, and we came back and finished far too strongly for them to cope. Hell, if the ref hadn’t blown the full time whistle as that pass came to Samir, we could well have gone on to win it.
All told though, we were supposed to get well and truly rogered last night, and we weren’t. Sure, that they have 2 away goals going into the second leg makes our task that bit more difficult, but I think we can shock them at the Camp Nou.
Thanks for coming back The Law – that pretty much sums up my assessment of the game too. The plusses were the performances of Denilson and Theo. We can do it without Cesc. I personally don’t think we should field any player who is even as much as 90% fit.
Anyone there 🙂
If so, have they got an update on Cesc, etc please?
Gnarley – hairline fracture of right fibula, out for at least 6 weeks 😦
Cheers chary, although the news does not cheer 😦
TH14
“There was a lot of emotion and there was a special moment at the end,” the France international said. “Like we always do as a team at Barcelona, we went to say thank you to our fans. What happened after that, I never imagined. I would like to thank the Arsenal fans for the welcome back. I have great love for the club and I think the fans still love me. It was amazing.”
He “thinks” the fans still love 😆 Bloody hell!! They adore him.
Morning all.
Well denilson has a groin strain and clichy further back problems.
My question today is that should we have priorised on trying to win the Pl or the CL.On paper the Pl looked more feasable and in fact still is, but to lose a further 3 players in one match really brings us down to the bare bones.
Apparently it is said that cesc had a hairline fracture before the match according to an interview he gave in The Sun. I know it is the Sun, but even so, why did he play.
Morning kelsey
I think we should always prioritise the PL and if we pick up a cup along the way its an added bonus. The nature of cup competitions is that anything can happen whereas consistency is the key to winning the premiership.
Peaches,
In that case is it a feasable arguement that Wenger got his priorities wrong,knowing we most probably would have to beat Barca,Inter and most probably United, knowing that we already had a weakened squad.Whilst on the other hand, there was a slim chance of the premiership
I have to go out now but will be back later to discuss this if anyone wants to.
Morning all
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