UEFA Champions League/Europa League 8/9/10 March *** Spoilers ***
- Thread starter Cosimo
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Caporegime
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Shot wise, through on target, one on one with the keeper, or slimly missing the post 3 goals was VERY flattering to Arsenal, next to no play in the final third, thats exactly what happened, we barely ever got in the final third, the amount of touches Arsenal players had in their box was a joke, and again no shots, pathetic. It could easily, with no change at all in the game just the finishing being better, been 7 or 8-1, with us barely getting in their half let alone the final third.
We weren't contained we were absolutely dominated, considering Kos should have been sent off and Diaby DID foul in the box which should have been the first penalty, 3 goals conceded is ruddy lucky, we were FAR closer in the tie last year despite a larger gap in the scoreline, for one thing we scored by our own player putting the ball in the net and it wasn't our only shot of the game.
Anyone that thinks we weren't dominated, well, has no clue what is meant by it.
Almost as bad as a Utd fan, forget who, on here saying Utd Dominated Chelsea because they had 4 whole shots, 1 on target, 3 from outside the box, while Chelsea had 9 shots, 4 on target, in the first half....... no, THAT wasn't domination, THIS game was, absolutely. Shots, one way, posession, one way, traffic, one way, corners, one way. By what measure were we not dominated exactly? We offered zero threat throughout the game, literally nothing, we didn't close in midfield, their walked into our half, waited for the pass behind the defence and made it, no pressure at all.
Hell, even by your specific goal amount, Arsenal scored no goals tonight, Barca players scored 4
Caporegime
Arsenal are the first team to not have a shot in a Champions League game....since the Champions League began 
Caporegime
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Arsenal are the first team to not have a shot in a Champions League game....since the Champions League began
But then it's hard to when you don't have the ball, and when you DO have the ball you perform backheels just on the edge of the 18 yard box...
Soldato
Can't believe that arsenal are only talking about the sending off. In the overall balance of the tie the important calls by the ref have gone arsenals way. They are just coming across as bitter, very bitter. Overall take away the final 20mins at the emirates and barca dominated both games.
Caporegime
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Why do people keep saying this? The majority of the Arsenal fans in here have already said we didn't deserve to go through with the way we played.
Soldato
Why do people keep saying this? The majority of the Arsenal fans in here have already said we didn't deserve to go through with the way we played.
Not talking about the fans talking about the players and manager. Arsenal fans have been graceful in defeat.
Caporegime
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You know what Wenger is like he never admits fault and very rarely criticizes his own players, even when asked if the greater team won he said something like "a great team won" so it doesn't surprise me. I'm glad he gave the ref a mouthful though, he was absolutely dire for both teams but no matter what Wenger or the players say, the better team clearly won, and won in style. As for player reactions, I only heard van Persie and he has absolutely every right to be ****ed off, the decision was a terrible one, sure it probably wouldn't have affected the game a great deal if he stayed on but we won't know. They dominated the first half when we had 11, who's to say it would have changed as the ten minutes or so when van Persie was still on nothing changed, that's not his fault, the tactics were **** poor and we couldn't keep the ball when we had it. Dare I say we needed Alex Song to stand a chance.
Caporegime
Several fans have said that the referee was incredibly biased though, one even suggesting he took a payoff.
Caporegime
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I think that may have been a tongue in cheek comment, or at least I hope so.
I can understand why they'd be annoyed at the ref but they have to look at the bigger picture and see that the ref made **** decisions for both teams. Barcelona should have had a penalty quite early on as well as a few other bad calls against them. If anything I'd say that Szczesny was more of a turning point, Almunia did brilliantly and I was very impressed, but to limit ourselves to only two substitutions and have the defence sat in front of somebody who they're not entirely confident of and that changed the game more than the sending off. Not to mention the fact that two of our best players looked to be still carrying injuries but were played anyway, and then the others who just couldn't be bothered. I think Djourou and Koscielny had their best games in that match, but there's some things you can't defend against, and you certainly can't defend against Barca when your midfield has been as inept as ours was yesterday.
We were soundly beaten last night by a team who must be one of the best the world has ever seen.
It's amazing the way they hunt for the ball when they don't have it. 3-4 of them attack the player on the ball like raptors. You would think that because of this they would leave holes to exploit but the whole team knows what to do and there is no space even with a mob of them going for the ball. Amazing stuff.
We didn't perform as well as we could though. Nothing like the first leg. We seemed over-awed to be honest and Fab apparently tweaked his hamstring after 15mins. No one really did themselves any favours performance wise apart from Almunia (and I never thought I would ever say that). Actually that's unfair on the defence as before the sending off I don't think our goalie had a save to make really did he for all of the possession they had?
Balls out for the league now though no excuses. Can only hope that our best players this season Nasri, RvP and Djourou stay fit for the remainder of the season.
It's amazing the way they hunt for the ball when they don't have it. 3-4 of them attack the player on the ball like raptors. You would think that because of this they would leave holes to exploit but the whole team knows what to do and there is no space even with a mob of them going for the ball. Amazing stuff.
We didn't perform as well as we could though. Nothing like the first leg. We seemed over-awed to be honest and Fab apparently tweaked his hamstring after 15mins. No one really did themselves any favours performance wise apart from Almunia (and I never thought I would ever say that). Actually that's unfair on the defence as before the sending off I don't think our goalie had a save to make really did he for all of the possession they had?
Balls out for the league now though no excuses. Can only hope that our best players this season Nasri, RvP and Djourou stay fit for the remainder of the season.
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Soldato
Well, how gutted do I feel this morning.
I have to admit I had to switch it off after the Pen went in. You can't really argue with the result really. I thought that it was going to finish 3-1, however I thought that it would be Arsenal to score first. Instead I was wrong, we didnt score first and we didnt score. It was really the only chance they had and it took an own goal to go in. Barca were the better team, they play well and just seem to have the luck on heavy touches. Damn, I wish I was that good at football!
At the end of the day, we shouldnt have been playing Barca, but Roma instead.
Oh well, roll on the weekend where we get knocked out of the FA Cup against an angry Man U.
Edit:
Oh yeah, and I won't even comment on the Swiss tit.
I have to admit I had to switch it off after the Pen went in. You can't really argue with the result really. I thought that it was going to finish 3-1, however I thought that it would be Arsenal to score first. Instead I was wrong, we didnt score first and we didnt score. It was really the only chance they had and it took an own goal to go in. Barca were the better team, they play well and just seem to have the luck on heavy touches. Damn, I wish I was that good at football!
At the end of the day, we shouldnt have been playing Barca, but Roma instead.
Oh well, roll on the weekend where we get knocked out of the FA Cup against an angry Man U.
Edit:
Oh yeah, and I won't even comment on the Swiss tit.
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Soldato
lol, what an ugly good footballer. I have many anger issues at his ability to be able to control the ball when it comes at him at 100mph. Grrrr........
<rage quit>
Soldato
Come on mate, but for some poor decision making frm Alves and some good saves by Almunia Barca would have racked up at least 4 goals and let's not forget that your goal was an OG after no pressure from your team before hand
Just face facts
Thought Barca were the better side and deserved to go through, but that decision was dreadful and it did change the game. Strangely I thought with 11, Arsenal defended brilliantly, worked their arses off and Barca didn't really look that threatening, as soon as they went to 10 men the game changed though. I do think Arsenal could have gone through if RvP stayed on which is a bit of a sickener, but overall Barca did play better than Arsenal.
Loads to take out of the tie though for Arsenal, loads of fight, spirit and some great defensive displays
Loads to take out of the tie though for Arsenal, loads of fight, spirit and some great defensive displays
Soldato
Arsenal went there with a gameplan of doing their best to keep out Barcelona until they perhaps started to tire in the second half. Losing their main outlet at round about the time they would look to counter and exploit spaces more just shot their plan to pieces.
Those looking solely at the stats to form a judgement on who deserved to win need to open their eyes a little wider and see the bigger picture. You don't go to Barcelona and play your own open expansive game as you will struggle. You go there with a game plan and try to counter. Despite having a lot of luck in getting level, Arsenal's game plan was working up until the red card. First half it wasn't possible to counter as Barcelona weren't committing as many players forward as they otherwise might have been expected to. Second half they were pushed so far up the pitch it was scary.
The red card decision just shot any chance Arsenal had out of the window and it was a poor poor poor decision. After that, there was only going to be one result.
How many times have Arsenal dominated a team like Barcelona did today, only to go and lose 1-0 and people turn around and say "The other team deserved that, Arsenal don't deserve to win if they don't take their chances...". Then when Arsenal play with the tactics of that other team, they are laughed at for the stats?
I just don't get it.
At the end of the day, I don't think anyone can really complain about Barcelona going through. Its just a pity it was put on a plate for them when they didn't necessarily need it to be.
On a side point, I literally cannot stand Barcelona's players. The arrogance and hypocrisy of them just infuriates me. Xavi and Alves are terrible for it, and disappointingly Iniesta seems to have gotten in on the act. They are the best team in the world, they don't need to resort to such pathetic behaviour.
Those looking solely at the stats to form a judgement on who deserved to win need to open their eyes a little wider and see the bigger picture. You don't go to Barcelona and play your own open expansive game as you will struggle. You go there with a game plan and try to counter. Despite having a lot of luck in getting level, Arsenal's game plan was working up until the red card. First half it wasn't possible to counter as Barcelona weren't committing as many players forward as they otherwise might have been expected to. Second half they were pushed so far up the pitch it was scary.
The red card decision just shot any chance Arsenal had out of the window and it was a poor poor poor decision. After that, there was only going to be one result.
How many times have Arsenal dominated a team like Barcelona did today, only to go and lose 1-0 and people turn around and say "The other team deserved that, Arsenal don't deserve to win if they don't take their chances...". Then when Arsenal play with the tactics of that other team, they are laughed at for the stats?
I just don't get it.
At the end of the day, I don't think anyone can really complain about Barcelona going through. Its just a pity it was put on a plate for them when they didn't necessarily need it to be.
On a side point, I literally cannot stand Barcelona's players. The arrogance and hypocrisy of them just infuriates me. Xavi and Alves are terrible for it, and disappointingly Iniesta seems to have gotten in on the act. They are the best team in the world, they don't need to resort to such pathetic behaviour.
[ASSE]Hinchy;18631776 said:
Precisely. Easier to ignore the people who dislike Arsenal. It's hilarious just reading a page or two back and seeing all the usual suspects bashing Arsenal when if roles were reversed they just choose the exact opposite opinion just to serve their dislike for Arsenal. It is a little sad but it's what you expect