Soldato
Good find that BaZ87, excellent pub ammo. 
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.Champion's League Final **Will include spoilers**
- Thread starter Greenlizard0
- Start date
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He had a split second to make a decision and he took the right one in his mind at that time. It is easy for all of us here to sit and say well he should have done this in hindsight and for the ref after the game is well over to say the same. He didn't have the time we had to decide what to do, he saw the clear foul stopping the goal scoring chance and blew his whistle in a matter of a few seconds.
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ballistic said:
Depends on what the rule is doesnt it. Afaik, its the denial of a clear goal scoring opportunity that gets u sent off. Lehmann did not deny Barcelona a clear goal scoring opportunity because Giuly was there with an empty net, so he could well have gotten away with giving the goal and a yellow.
I can't help thinking that Arsenal missed Vieira's presence in there last night. The wingers were absolutely terrific last night. Ljungberg and Hleb ran and ran and ran, incredible. But somehow i felt that Arsenal perhaps had a bit of a soft centre and needed some leadership that Henry wasnt able to provide. I'm not critisising any of the players here, I just dont think they had that strength of character to see the job through. It was Henry's job to inspire and rally Arsenal and up front all on his own its not an easy thing to do.
Having taken the lead and then playing so valiantly to keep it for so long, I think that if Arsenal had some real leadership in the middle capable of playing good balls to Henry and carrying the fight they would have won the Cup, regardless of all the refereeing decisions on the day. Arsenal needed a Gerrard yesterday, and I think if they had him, or Vieira they would have won.
Oh well.
Nearly the whole of yesterday to stew about the result on my own with a mixture of hangover and a cold, and that's about all I can manage to summarise the result.
Oh well.
Even though the referee was awful, I personally can't really complain about the red card to Lehmann. From how it happened it seemed fair, if a little harsh (although given the choice I'd much rather have taken a goal against and kept eleven men). It's just incredibly frustrating that we looked the better team for the first 20 minutes until that card, and even after we played well, still having a bunch of chances in the rest of the first half. But credit to Barcelona, they kept going and were all over us in the second half, and deserved the win by the end. Further credit to the crowd at the pub I was at too, we sang our hearts out throughout the entire game, right up until the final whistle. Ten men didn't faze us, an idiotic ref gave us fuel, and even after conceding two in a half we had no chances in, we kept on hoping. Last but not least, full credit to the lads for playing so well, and getting so close. As I said, we looked the better team at the start, and even for most of the first half. The only real lapses in defense were the ones Barca scored from, beyond that we were solid. I can't really complain at the result given how things went, but it's so incredibly frustrating to think that while also knowing that with eleven men we really could have won that game, fair and square.
Still, Champions League finalists, with a fantastic young squad and the best player in the world. Maybe next year we'll manage it. Oh well.
Nearly the whole of yesterday to stew about the result on my own with a mixture of hangover and a cold, and that's about all I can manage to summarise the result.
Oh well.
Even though the referee was awful, I personally can't really complain about the red card to Lehmann. From how it happened it seemed fair, if a little harsh (although given the choice I'd much rather have taken a goal against and kept eleven men). It's just incredibly frustrating that we looked the better team for the first 20 minutes until that card, and even after we played well, still having a bunch of chances in the rest of the first half. But credit to Barcelona, they kept going and were all over us in the second half, and deserved the win by the end. Further credit to the crowd at the pub I was at too, we sang our hearts out throughout the entire game, right up until the final whistle. Ten men didn't faze us, an idiotic ref gave us fuel, and even after conceding two in a half we had no chances in, we kept on hoping. Last but not least, full credit to the lads for playing so well, and getting so close. As I said, we looked the better team at the start, and even for most of the first half. The only real lapses in defense were the ones Barca scored from, beyond that we were solid. I can't really complain at the result given how things went, but it's so incredibly frustrating to think that while also knowing that with eleven men we really could have won that game, fair and square.
Still, Champions League finalists, with a fantastic young squad and the best player in the world. Maybe next year we'll manage it. Oh well.
WushuMaster said:
Good post and I completely agree with it.
It shows how thin our midfield is when we've got Flamini coming on. Now I like this lad, and I think he is underrated but still.. he is only young and has done much better at full back than he has at CM.
One of our biggest downfalls was the complete fatigue of 3 of our most important players; Henry, Fabregas and Hleb. With them all looking like they'd died if they ran another yard we lost the ball so many times in the midfield area and in the final third and if you do that against Barcelona you'll soon concede.
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To be fair, the three players you mentioned were still beating players to the ball and running 40 yards to make tackles. Like i say i dont think its easy to criticise any players for putting in that performance, with eleven players it wouldn't have been an issue. What I mean by leadership is things like Carragher in the CL final last year rallying everyone and clearing balls even with cramp. I can only think that thats where u need a bit of an experienced head in there.