As The Arsenal’s pending trip to Camp Nou draws closer, let us spare a thought for the largely unsung heroes, The Away Fans, always outnumbered, but never out gunned. Week in, week out, they follow their beloved team around Blighty & Europe, always providing that little piece of home for the players and management when away on their various crusades.
On Tuesday April 6th 2010, a few thousand Gooners will set up their battle standards in a small pocket of enemy territory, somewhere in Catalonia, and with this, I cannot help but draw upon another famous date in English history, Friday 25 October 1415 The Battle of Agincourt.
For those who are not familiar with the Battle of Agincourt, it was a major English victory against a larger French army during the Hundred Years’ War. The battle occurred in northern France. The victory brought France to its knees.
The battle is notable for the use of the English longbow, which Henry employed in very large numbers, with English and Welsh longbowmen forming the vast majority of his army. The French army numbered some 50,000, whereas the English and Welsh amounted to only 8 to 10,000.
One English account describes the day before the battle as a day of remorse in which the English soldiers cleansed themselves of their sins to avoid Hell if they died. By contrast, the French were confident that they would prevail and were eager to fight. The French believed they would triumph over the English not only because their force was larger, fresher and better equipped, but also because the large number of noble men-at-arms would have considered themselves superior to the assembled commoners (such as the longbowmen) in the English army.
The French suffered heavily.
Fast forward some 595 years. Barcelona, although they won’t admit it publicly yet, believe they will triumph over The Arsenal not only because they are a bigger club and their players are better equipped to play total football, but also because they think La Liga is superior to the Premier League.
So, I say, bring it on Barcelona. History proves that a Champion Team will beat a team of champions. And for those few thousand Glorious Gooners who stand proud at the final whistle, may we salute your conquest as we would have the long bowmen all those years ago. Give’em the old V sign, complimented by a nice big raspberry.
But may we also give praise to the name Henry, even though this time round he will be on the losing side.
Regards GG9
Footnote: The French claimed that they would cut off the arrow-shooting fingers of all the English longbowmen after they had won the battle at Agincourt. But of course, the English came out victorious and showed off their two fingers, still intact.
I wrote this piece prior to the Brum draw, & things have changed since, especially with respect to personnel. With respect to this, may I add the line made famous by Winnie the Pooh (Churchill)
“Never was so much owed by so many to so few”
Arsenal News 24/7
arsenalarsenal.net 
Morning all on possibly the scariest day since May 2006.
Thankyou GG9 for a good read this morning – battles eh you either love them or hate them.
Ten and a half hours to go
Morning peaches and GG9. I guess Alves and Pedro represent the French cavalry. Barcelona are a great club and it was a privilege to watch them at the Emirates. It will be even more of a privilege when we beat them tonight.
Great write up Gnarley – I often feel proud of the way the travelling Gooners out sing the home fans. As you say “Always outnumbered, never outgunned”. Words to move mountains with, top stuff GG9.
Yeah i was in the sunderland crowd aerlier in the season but right next to the travelling gooners… i couldnt even here the mackems sing, all but for the goal! hmmm
morning all
looking forward to tonight, we are so underdog that there is no expectation – go out and play boys.
I think we have to start with sol and move sagna in to cb when he is done.
We must press as they did in the first leg but for the whole game, thats a big ask, but this is a one off occasion – i wonder who will get injured tonight 😦
Morning tommy – we have to have everything crossed for no more injuries please.
AW said he would be guided by Sol himself as to whether he starts/plays…….
Evening all
I guess those who are going, will have already left. I think The Arsenal can get 2 goals which will canel out their 2 away goals.
Its a bit like 1989 @ Anfield, although 0-1 would suffice. Go Go Gunners, it will be a 4.45am start here, but I’ll be up for it 😈
*cancel
Morning all,
Great write up GG – rallying cry, we can disect all the tactics we want, but if we win it will be down to the Lionheart spirit (even tho’ Theo’s the only brit 😛 )
GG9, I think we have to score 2. If we shut out Barcelona at home it will rival anything that Adams/Bould/Keown/Dixon achieved.
Sorry Nigel 🙂 Adams/Bould/Keown/Dixon/Winterburn
Now Rosicky is 50:50 😦
Can we get Landsbury back from Watford? Perhaps Pat Rice will be on for the 2nd half.
Cheers ras, Alfa, chary. Any definite word on Song? & if out who will replace him.
Cripes there was a time back in the old Highbury days that if you got there early you got a got vantage point. If you turn up today you might get a game 😆
Back 4 today Alfa will be Sagna, Sol, Vermy, Clichy? I like our chances with those 4, so long as one of them velcros themself to Messi for 90 minutes 🙂
GG, the news I heard was that Song hadn’t even travelled and is definitely out. Sol is the one who is a ‘maybe’ and it sounds like you can add Rosicky to that list now. Does anyone know if Eastmond has travelled?
Morning GG9 and thanks again for the post.
kelsey put the squad up yesterday I’ll go and find it.
NO VELA 😦
Eastmond travelled and so did Merida and Traore
Arsenal squad to face Barcelona:
Manuel Almunia(Superman)
Lukasz Fabianski
Nicklas Bendtner
Eduardo
Abou Diaby
Samir Nasri
Denilson
Fran Merida
Theo Walcott
Craig Eastmond
Tomas Rosicky
Armand Traore
Emmanuel Eboue
Gael Clichy
Bacary Sagna
Thomas Vermaelen
Sol Campbell
Mikael Silvestre
Almunia
Sagna Vermaelen Sol Clichy
Diaby Nasri Denilson
Eboue Rosicky
Nikki
That was the preferred line-up yesterday once we got our heads around no Song.
Good Read GG9
Can someone tell me what has happend to Vela?
Yep, can’t argue with that line up Peachy, it’s pretty much all we’ve got, assumuinhg our pair of “50-50” players are ok.
Mozart & Nascar both in peaches 🙂 They could be like ferets down a rabbit burrow. Cause no end of trouble for barca. Then unleash Theo
“assumuinhg” – crikey, what the hell does that mean?
Of course I meant “assuming”.
Or down a scotsmans kilt 😆
Morning all, I’d actually think about playing Diaby as one of the front 3 rather than Eboue
Cheers peaches. Anyone heard from Big Raddy 😉 Is he still in Italy?
Great word chary 🙂 morning
Can’t find anything on Vela – hes not listed as injured.
You don’t think kelsey was being sneaky and left him out of the list to wind us up
Morning Livers – who would you put in his place if he plays up front?
Raddy is still away in Italy GG – he must be gutted to be missing all this
But surely he will be get to see it on the tele. How could he plan a holiday that didn’t allow for a tele 😛
I think he’ll be able to find somewhere to watch the game he just doesn’t have much access to the internet.
Just checked on Carlos Vela News and the guy who writes it is very confused as to why Vela hasn’t been included in the squad.
Looks like Merida is preferred, of the inexperienced ones.
I thought Merida was off back to Spain 😉
Maybe he’s got a one way ticket GG? 🙂
Actually I hope not as he will be international quality one day
Good morning all, a great night awaits
Clever well researched Article GG, Hope our Frenchmen are wearing arrow proof vests.
I have a feeling Theo,s day has come, He and Clichy will prove invaluable today, the wings are the keyto turn that defence. As long as our midfielders get to the edge of the box to support Sam and Bendy.
Ras
I rate Merida as a goal scorer more than Vela TBH. That one he hit against The Poo in the CC was enough to get me on board the Fran Merida bandwagon. But then I here he was to sign with Athletico someone.
Cheers dandan
Just swap the Eboue and Diaby places around from your team Peaches…..
Still think it’s Theo time however..
From recent articles from Guardiola I get the impression he feels the tie should already be done & dusted, & that they will just finish Arsenal off. God I hope Arsenal sticks it up’em
Ok All, I’m off to get some shut eye for the 4.45am start. Maybe the best team win, The Arsenal.
A night of sporting theatre awaits us.
Got to love being a gooner.
Whatever the result tonight, we are blessed to be supporting this club.
Catch you later Gnarley; and SfH – as I said to Peachy, we’re all in this together.
Keep the faith.
Give our support to the gunners — since gooners are the only ones that trust Arsenal still have a chance in this tie.
and one more thing: NO more injuries PLEASE!
quite right, chary
we are certainly in this together.
Thank you for your job
The Calm Before the Storm
London, what on earth is the 3.06pm post about?
in around an hours time, our semi-final opponents will commence battle
early KO for the game in russia, and Inter are not out of the woods
the plastic pitch will cause them trouble.. same pitch that casued england trouble 2 years ago.
they only have a 1-0 lead
this could easily be a 1-0 CSKA job that goes into extra time.
do you think that pitch would cause arsenal problems SFhawke???
anybody here???
so with the wind down of work and all that, im starting to get a lil nervous now…. think its gonna be one more of those armchair games that i stand for the duration 😦
sounds like rosicky and denilson and campbell are doubts tonight…
talksport are now debating the sending off on saturday…. typical. like there is nothing better to discuss right now. Theres a shortage of gooners phoning in…. result!
Yup TommyS – I’m so nervous I’m contemplating painting the bathroom ceiling this evening instead of following the game.
bet you dont!
how do you stand chary with the start theo brigade?
Hi tommy, chary,
I’m just pacing and looking at my watch every 30 seconds … time seems to be going backwards 😦
hey rasp.. its a whole week and a day til the spurs game. me thinks arsene should just throw everything we got at barca tonight
i think a plastic pitch that makes the ball bounce funny would cause any team problems.
talksport have changed debate already…. only 2 callers 1 arsenal 1 liverpool…
its working… no callers and they soon shift topic!
Definitely tommy. I expect Song to be back for the spuds. We have a nice long rest after this one – it’s got to be hell for leather and nothing less.
rasp, crack open a beer, and relax.
whatever the result, it’s just so much fun being a gooner.
imagine supporting a dire team like liverpool or chelski?
sfhawke.. after we trounce the catalans tonight who would you prefer next – cska or inter? bearing in mind the pitch and the travel….
Cheers SfH, I’m already proud of our boys, if the inconceivable happens tonight and Barça scrape a lucky win, I will still feel that way.
oh it sure is fun, gonna make sure my boys are guided into “arsenaldom”
TommyS – my opinion on that (Theo to start or come on as sub)changes every 5 minutes !
i would defo prefer inter, they are there for the taking
and its another glamour tie.
😆 same here chary, i cannot for the life of me decide if i want him starting or coming off the bench.
LOL my opinion keeps changing too chary – if he starts then it may mean barca are more conservative but then if he comes on late as sub, then the game could already be over…. hmmmmmmm
we cant afford to have any passengers tonight mr diaby
tommy that verbatim is exactly what keeps going around and around in my head.
cannot for the life of me remember when team news caused so much excitement.
my biggie is to defo see Traore start, he must start for me.
really? whats clichy done wrong… i thought he played his sox off first leg!
in fact i think he played that well i thought he was putting himself in a spanish shop window 😦
But we’re agreed Sol & Rosicky have to start, if available, though?
yeah team selection and our guessing games are all well and good, but irrelevant in the end…. we don’t have all the facts as Mr Wenger does.
No doubt i’ll have some questions about tonights team sheet and hopefully at the end i’ll have none! 🙂
i agree chary and i’d extend that as far as denilson toooo!
clichy AND traore
clichy left back, traore is a winger
as proven on his displays for pompey
Yes, TommyS – Denilson is a must. OK guys, catch you later. Come on you rip roaring gooners !
al
sag,sol,tv,gael
den,nasri,diaby
eboue,nikki,rosicky
hmmmmm theo theo theo!
Theo Nikki Armand as the front 3… that is what i want to see.
ohhhhh maybe you gotta good point there mr hawke..
right im off, gotta get home and get my route sorted for my pacing around the living room tonight!!!
I’ve just had a premonition and heard this commentary in my head
….. and Nicklas Bendtner has put Arsenal ahead with just 5 minutes to go … can they hold on? ……..
watching on sky sports, richard keys is in the camp nou
WOW, looks a peach of an evening for football.
Rasp, Rasp, wake up, wake up… 🙂
I think Theo will start, because he should and because he’s been talking like he will.
I AM EXTREMELY ….
NERVOUS
WE HAVE A HIGH DEFINITION TOILET 😉
I AM SH
ITT
ING
MYSELF
I knew my toilet would come in handy, then.
kelsey 😉
Right chaps – what time do we get the team news?
I’ve managed to wile away the hours doing almost nothing at all…….girls work, you know the type of thing…..
Anyone around?
Theo to start or off the bench?
They are really bigging up Theo over here as a big threat, and it looks like Sol will start.
I haven’t been able to sleep properly.
Still an hour to go 😯
Big Sol has unfinished business.
sol looked to be walking freely just now entering the dressing room.
nasri rosciky bendt start
walcoot and solvestre start
Sol on the bench Woolcott starts yessssssssssss
almunis sagna silves verm clichy
den diaby nasri
walcott bendy rosicky
confirmed.
An hour to go SH and the wingers are go.
marquez and milito at the back for them
marquez 😆
who is in goal.?
almunis sagna silves verm clichy = sounds like a roman emperor.
😆
that back 5 better battle like roman centurions tonight, they are the bedrock of the route through
no good scoring 3 and letting in 5
eboue to terrorise tired legs!
well i didnt figure for sylvestre but hey ho Arsenes the man
i can hear the gooners sing,
but they can’t see a bloody thing!
binoculars out for the travellers tonight…… cmon!
denilson looks nervous before a ball has been kicked.
Listen to those away fans….. COME ON YOU REDS….
This is really good pressure. We’re not allowing Barca to play
Sooopeeeerrr sooopeer Nikkkkk hahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Shit
1:1 is much better than 0:0, if we get a second we have 2 away goals and we’ll be favourite
OK 2:1 and still 1 goal puts us in the driving seat.
The Lionel Messi Show.
Nasri not in the game nor is Walcott.I actually thought they played better as a team in the first game.
oh well, let’s at least hope we reserve some dignity.
time for the half time talk of the century mr wenger….
2 cushioned passes by Silvestre to Messi for 2 goals 😉 Why didn’t Sol start?
think that 3rd barca goal was a TV error, 2nd goal was good, 1st was lucky rebound to set up messi
our full backs don’t really know how to defend, the number of times sagna has allowed a man to run past him for a pass is not good.
denilson is a rabbit caught in headlights.
but all in all, not a lot we can do about a player of that quality.
they really are a one man team, would love to see what the result would be if he was not fit.
not a chance it would be 3-1 Ht.
no way.
You are obviously not allowed to tackle barca players. Its not in the rule book 😉
I don’t think Diaby has covered himself in glory either. Still, if we get one back and they don’t score we’re still in with a chance.
We should have held on to the lead for longer than 3 minutes 😉
yeah after the opener diaby could have played walcott in!
then there was the offside that wasn’t offside….
the refs not much cop is he?
denilsons tackle on messi…. yellow card! huh… pathetic
Ok all, heres hoping 🙂
lets hope barca tire again!
Diaby’s gone back to his bad old ways. He seems half a yard off the pace. We really miss Cesc.
…..and Song
worst game rosicky has ever played for us
amazing how we have had so many poor shows over the 2 legs
Clichy needs a good smack for that its the second time hes taken a shot when Niks been in a good position
barca are feeble, they are not even playing this half.
i have lost my respect for them
barca have the luxury of Messi for the entire season. They would be an average team without him. Arsene Wenger needs to buy in more quality players. At times he gets frustrated on the sidelines, but not as frustrated as some fans.
Agree, SFH, Mozart was poor 😦
Anyway, moving on to more pressing matters. Blimey the Spuds away game is going to be tough.
well we’ve been saying all day that no one can afford to go missing tonight and they all had to play well…. i think nasri bendtner sagna clichy and denilson can say that they played ok…. the rest went missing.
so tottenham in 8 days, can’t wait!
My bet is that the club will announce tomorrow that Van Persie will feature in the spud game.
I think we should have started with EE instead of Theo. We missed Cesc badly and although Nik scored, I think Chamakh would have been better for us, so I can’t wait to see him in the squad.
If I had one wish right now it would be to punch Busquets in the face, one of those ones that you run up and really give it your all. Horrible piece of work.
clichy was brilliant, back to his best.
I feel uncomfortable criticising individual players but the complete lack of inter play between Nasri and Diaby was really disappointing. Both of them are so much better than the account they gave of themselves tonight.
Yep I agree with that: excellent performance by Clichy.
i thought nasri worked hard tonight
Who knows, perhaps with Song, Gallas and Cesc playing, things might have been different.
yes i thought gael did really well, shop window display again…. hopefully his shooting would have put off suitors
I feel for the away fans. All I had to do was turn the tele off 😉
Evening OK we wait for next year. I would argue Diaby had a good game, Messi had two lucky bounces, but still an astonishing player. They pressed and played us off the park,Bottom line we were not good enough. I hope Barca go on and win it now.
I’m not going to give a post mortem of the season until it is done & dusted in May/when we are outa The Title race, but a loss like this one is not good for the soul 😦
who said we are going to be out of the title race?
Inter will give Barca a good game. Their styles are quite different. They are a big physical side, Jose is good tactically and they defend well. If the ‘character’ that we have claimed is there, we will pick ourselves up and give totnum a good hiding.
SfH – you are getting a slagging off elsewhere – I don’t understand why?
It was moi SFH. Poor wording there. It should read /if we go outa The Title race 🙂
rasp, over on aclf, there are some nutters on there
broke one of their main men last night, he decided to quit the forum.
then came back.
they are worse than le moaners.
do you not post on there rasp? only read?
This is a fabulous Barcelona team – Arsene accepted that they were much better than us even though we did create some chances. If we could have got it to 3-2 something more could have happened but it was a big ask having gifted Messi a couple of goals.
I thought both Nasri and Diaby worked hard that’s to say they ran around a lot my point is that their inter play was disappointing. I cannot think of a single situation in which a one two between them enabled them to go past a Barça’s midfield and drive forward. I say this because they are more than capable of doing just that.
london, this barca side make it so hard to play against, this time they conserved their energy bettter, this allowed them to slow the game right down, rest, and then press like cage animals for 90 mins.
its a great tactic… why dont we employ it?
SFH
Was getting jip from one person and we all know that he is a couple of strawberries short of a punnet.
Good idea, where can we find a Messi.
Couldn’t agree more SFH
I had no idea that Barça had that in their locker.
you guys listening to 5 live?
stick it on
Its a small world. Diaby did hold onto the ball to long going for the 2nd. But its easy for me to say I spose 😉
even wenger just mentioned that diaby moment in his press conference
was a key, key moment… 60 secs later.. they score.
Yes I am listening to 5 live 🙂
graham taylor talking much sense.
Who is this bloke? He speaks well
ex england boss, gg9 😉
Thanx for that 🙂
Night all guys.
nite london
title is still well on 😉
See ya London
Blimey, I’d better get ready for work 😉
Election coming up for you all I hear. Don’t get a hung partliament. We just got one with The greens holding the balance. It’ll be like someone throwing a magic boomerang over the place, where all time stnads still.
Hopefully Sol and Song will be back for spuds
I think Song was the biggest miss tonight but we kinda knew that would be the case
don’t get me going on the snake oil salesman david cameron
even after the mess labour have made, i would rather keep them in than let that fake run this country.
he is the devil.
I heard your Liberals may get to hold the balance of power.
Australian Labor Party are great @ throwing money @ problems, but don’t have the backbone to pay back the debt. Sounds like your Santa Claus Brown is just as bad. But hey 15 years of the Cameron types here & we are an economic power house. Its your choice.
Isn’t Gordon Brown’s handle “better the Devil you know” 😆
Very very proud of the boys tonight !!!!
Some less than majestic moments f8rom most at times, but overall a very good effort under the circumstances.
The best team in the world including the on fire worlds best player PARKED THE BUS at HOME, whilst 3-1 up!!!
End of story.
Special mentions for Denilson who was superb, Clichy the powerhouse, and Nasri for his tireless efforts.
Great goal from Super Nik and he worked very hard, but really shoud have worked the keeper more with the half chances he had and done a bit better at times in the build up play.
Difficult night for us, but a very good effort, offset by some poor decisions both offensivley and defensively.
All in all, I’m happy enough consdering what and who we were up against.
Ps, Its areal shame that Barca dive so much, andthat the ref was complete tool.
Nite all
Ps. Great post Gnarley
Cheers Sharkey
And agree, in particular, on Denilson. He is starting to impress with good honest workman like performances. I liked his tackle on Messi early 🙂
gnarley – to be honest mate, politics is one big scam
is does not really matter who is in charge, but moreover what matters is at what stage in the economic cycle a party is in power.
they then look like heroes.
here, labour took over from the tories in the 90s after a period of doom and gloom, at the same time the world economy was booming… every major nation was doing well from circa 95-08… donald duck could have been in charge of the labour party.
the tories are nailed on to take control, and the ultimate sleazeball cameron will become the next prime minister of this country within 6 weeks.
sickening.
So it will be Sleazeball V No Balls. The world awaits the outcome.
Now as you all sleep, may I take the opportunity to thank everyone who commented, for their kinds words re my post. Its a bit intimidating being a Colonial passing comment about the game that England invented, but I did ok, I think.
As the saying goes (well not for Spuds 😆 ), there is always next years CL fixture list, which is comforting. Now, its time to turn attention to Spuds. Wouldn’t it be great to put paid to their chances of 4th spot, & @ the same time keep Arsenal’s fight for 1st spot well & truely on course. The pheonix rises Wednesday week 😀
evo where are you?
Stringfellow. Donald duck WAS in charge of the labour party back then, as in I couldn’t give a Donald duck about you lot, as long a my beautiful wife and I make a fortune.
Good effort by the lads under the circumstances last night, was a privilege to see that performance by Messi
Evening/morning dandan
Messi was supreme. How the hell did Arsenal keep him under control @ The Emirates?
Alex Song
Morning all.
I have come to notice that there are diverse opinions on here, which is fine, but please never let it get like the other site.
A few reflections on last night obviously open to debate.
Would a fully fit team have made that much of a difference to the overall result.
Not a day to slag off individuals, we were outclassed in every department, and yet got stuck in.
30% possession in both games, tells a lot.
Should Almunia be a captain on a night like this.
i believe the team were nervous and the occasion was just too much yet again.A game to far for some of the less experienced players.
A wonder show by barcelona with messi absolutely brillant.
Will Wenger address the frailities in our team in the summer ? something we have been saying for a number of years, or is the priority to remain financially stable for the next 5 years or so. I feel a balance must be addressed otherwise he will find it harder as each season progresses to maintain a title chasing team.
I’ll take it London that that is gospel. So as well as blanketing Messi he filled in for Billy G. No wonder Song gave Zlatan so much room for the 2 goals.
Kelsey
Le Gaffer would do himself a big favour, as well as every other Gooner on the planet, by bringing in a couple of players with real edge. Torres is praising Arsenal. He could be the difference in such a tie next season.
gg9, he would never buy him at the price Liverpool would be asking.
I’m not convinced Torres is capable of being an Arsenal player. Chamakh on the other hand has all the qualities to play Wengerball.
Morning Kelsey
True, very true, but unless Le Prof releases the grip on The Clubs finances, more of the same will continue. Its this factor that gets under the collars of those who damn AW IMO
London, I’m sort of using Torres as an example. What I mean is there are plenty of top quality type players out there, of his ilk, who would be very interested in signing with The Arsenal. But we all know how history has proven that AW’s stubborness to pay just that bit more over his fair market assessment of a player, ends up being a deal breaker 😦
GG9
Are you suggesting that Song was to blame for the Ibra goals at the Emirates, I think you are. Both those goals came from the right……the area that is patrolled by Vermealen.
Think about the two goals the first was the lob, from the right, and the second he smashed in, again from the right. Vermaelen was responsible for that area not Song. I read a couple of similar comments……this is mindless Song bashing and is truly amazing that it still exists.
No its not mindless Song bashing. My wife playing Taylor Swift all the time is song bashing. What I’m suggesting is that by your point that Song kept Messi quiet, he should be cut some slack with respect to those 2 goals. I don’t mind Alex Song TBH.
GG9
Wenger doesn’t pay for players the board do, the manager of any club can only suggest, after that it is down to the board to make the funds available. It has nothing to do with Wenger’s stubborness that is an idea that certain blogs spew out and use as a stick to beat the best manager we have ever had.
Well its time, London, that he began “suggesting” with authority. Don’t forget George Graham. He had less time to weeve his magic, & created the legacy of a rock solid back 4 that AW inherited.
And once again, I’m not anti Arsene Wenger.
Maybe the david dein factor is missing.it is no coincidence that since he parted ways with the club the burden of being manager and asking the board to enquire or buy players is not as easy as it was.
I maybe completely off track, but somehow i think i might be right.
Oh good morning London.
I’m with you on that on GG suggesting “With Authority” should diffinitely be the order of the summer.
I know you are not anti Wenger or anti Song for that matter GG. They are misconceptions that I always feel compelled to address.
You may be right Kelsey but his is never ever coming back.
Morning everyone. Despite the outcome I’ve really enjoyed our Barcelona adventure. We’ve played our part in two of the best matches ever seen in the Champions’ League, taught the rest of the world a few lessons about real football and been beaten by one of the best players and best teams of all time.
We could have won the second leg, proved by the fact that we scored. We obviously missed Song, Gallas and Cesc as well enormously. On the other hand, Barça have shown us how to beat the Man Us and Chelseas of this world and how much better at keeping the ball we have to be (and we are already the best in the EPL).
We won’t buy any big players in the summer. For the board it is more important that we are the most profitable club in the world than the most successful (also in contrast to Barcelona who are financially stable but reinvest their money in their club, community and charity).
202 🙂
Morning Alfa
I slightly disagree with your dig at Arsenal, I believe that the ethos of the two clubs is the same that is to say that they both want to be profitable and both want be the most successful in the world. Barcelona are ahead of us in that respect at the moment but I believe that has got more to do with the fact that we have had to move stadiums recently……but this will change.
GG9, I’ve tried but I give up 🙂 202?
Tried what Alfa? Wacky backy 😳 😛 😎
Morning London. Do you still wish you had gone? I was looking forward to us all heading to Madrid – ah well.
You know I am not really digging at Arsenal but we don’t have the same ethos as Barcelona. Maybe we are just behind, I can accept that, but every time the board has an opportunity to take a step on towards where Barcelona are now they choose not to take it and make AW stand in front of the cameras and say that there are no good players available worth buying.
Couple of examples: Barcelona donate their shirt sponsorship to Unicef. No strings attached, they just give it away. Worth £10m a year maybe? Their annual report is about 100 pages long, mostly filled with descriptions of their various community sports clubs and teams and community events. You know all about their role in Catalan culture much better than me. The proportion of wages paid to non-playing staff is relatively low – we choose not to reveal our figures on that score.
Arsenal is the best club in the UK by a very long way in terms of being run properly and playing properly but behind the bust of Herbert Chapman it is very much about money these days.
GG9 – is that where I was going wrong? 😆
Yes while on the subject of greatest Arsenal manager, what about Herbert Chapman. An era of supreme domination, only halted by WWII. If Hitler hadn’t been such an edgey geezer, Arsenal may well have already won 25 Titles 🙂
Morning all,
In the circumstances, we did our best last night and that wasn’t good enough against the best team on the planet.
Good – Clichy, Nasri, Denilson, Bendtner, EE, Nik
Par – Almunia, Sagna, Diaby, Vermaelen, Theo
Below par – Rosicky, Silvestre, Eduardo
Arsene – no criticism except in retrospect would have been better to have started with EE and not Theo and Almunia should not be captain. He gave a very good honest press conference after.
Footnote: I think we should let Eduardo go in the summer, maybe a new start somewhere else is what he needs.
GG9, you are a surfer, right? 💡
Yes Ras, Eduardo is shot, poor fella, coz before the leg brake (can I mention cricket on here) he looked like developing into a really top class fox in the box.
Rasp, that’s a pretty balanced view, I can go with that.
I don’t know about Dudu leaving. We wouldn’t get much money and maybe a pre-season will sort him out.
No strictly speaking Alfa, more a beach bum type when down the coast with my surfie mates.
It looks like we’ve done the deal for Chamakh, so I’m confused as to why we have been linked with more strikers recently. We MUST sign a ‘finished article’ goalkeeper in the summer – NOT a 20 year old with potential and another first choice CB if we want to be able to compete with the likes of Barça next season.
Rasp, did you see Akinfeev in the Inter CSKA match? He looked very good.
Akinfeev and Lloris would be top of my list. £15m for a GK of their quality would be money well spent.
Good morning everyone.
I agree with most of you this morning, both sides were understrength, but they had their best player out there.
They were much better than us in both games, they are not that older than us, a lot was down to tactics and management.
What do we want, pure football or a winning team? I feel Barca will have that test next round, which will be interesting.
I don’t feel Barca showed us how to beat Man U or Chelsea, but just another way of beating us.
If our team stays together another two years maybe we will get better and better, but I feel sometimes AW gets the tactics wrong. When you get experienced players in they will automatically help him out.
I feel a bit shell shocked today, like a great plan going wrong. It’s a bitter pill, as they say.
But at least we know how much better we have to get.
Lloris v Chamakh Mark II is on tomorrow.
Hi Alfa, chaf,
Yes, We’re all shell-shocked. It’s not a time for excuses or player assassinations, but sober reflection.
We have a new post coming up very shortly from a new guest writer … we’re all in for a treat.
Morning all, feeling pretty desolated, despairing and depressed today. Yes, Lionel Blair Messi did turn us over but 2 of the goals seemed like Almunia blunders, the second was a lob and the 4th was through the legs. Still, you may say it’s immaterial to the bigger picture and we would have lost anyway with 5 of our first choice XI out.
Morning all
Theres a NEW POST