Caporegime
Still better than he was when he was in the Championship when people were calling for him to get his first international cap
Weekend Football Thread. *spoilers* 29-31
- Thread starter Tummy
- Start date
That's an incredibly grey area. Providing Almunia won the ball first and completely dispossessed Rooney then it's not a foul. However if the ball was still within Rooney's reach then a foul should be given but it's safe to say that had any official thought Almunia got a touch on the ball then regardless of the rules, a foul wouldn't be given.
edit: You're right regarding the rest of your post though. As soon as Almunia comes flying out, makes a challenge and doesn't disposses Rooney then it's a foul.
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To all you Arsenal fans - just read Fletcher's quote
""I went for the challenge and felt I got the ball," Fletcher said.
"Maybe I am due a bit of luck after what happened in the Champions League semi-final last season.
"These things happen in football. I know I played a bit of the ball and a bit of the man but in the heat of the moment you are not 100% sure."
Spot on if you ask me - Man Utd and Fletcher still paid the greater penalty (no pun intended), in the great run of things one EPL game means nothing over a season - and its an away game
Karma coming back to Arsenal *2 if you ask me
""I went for the challenge and felt I got the ball," Fletcher said.
"Maybe I am due a bit of luck after what happened in the Champions League semi-final last season.
"These things happen in football. I know I played a bit of the ball and a bit of the man but in the heat of the moment you are not 100% sure."
Spot on if you ask me - Man Utd and Fletcher still paid the greater penalty (no pun intended), in the great run of things one EPL game means nothing over a season - and its an away game
Karma coming back to Arsenal *2 if you ask me
Caporegime
This...to me Almunia shouldnt have come out...god knows why he does a Lehmann now and again
...i was glad to see Arshavin got a goal but damn you Diaby...giving the game to Man Utd with his stupid defensive error.Anyhow annoyed and gutted that Arsenal lost when they should have won it...loved Wengers bottle kick then him getting banished from the sideline...what an prize pillock that ref was and thankfully he will be getting an apology...loved his quip at the after match interview when he said he thought it was a good kick
.Anyhow our first loss and hopefully the only one this season...have to win games now as we have slightly dropped off the pace now.
Impressed with the Spurs and their cracking start to the season...but dont think it will last for long as they have had a really easy first few games...hopefully Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Man Utd will give them a right good spanking. Man City also having a easy time of it with their opening games so far.
Aye agreed, think I briefly said on here yesterday that Arsenal missed Fabregas, his final ball and composure was the only thing missing from Arsenal yesterday, and a lethal striker.
Soldato
Agreed BaZ but when you watch from seconds 1:10 - 1:20 you can see that the only thing Alumunia touches is Rooney. He makes no contact with the ball. And as such it's foul, no real debate in my eyes but that's easy for me to say given we were awarded the pen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZGntvzCQw4
Not having a go at you per se but fans love to call these incidents grey. If Rooney stayed on his feet, was he already going down ?? Did Alumunia mean to do it etc etc etc but they aren't grey, they are emotive and that's the difference.
Edit. And by the laws of the game, the Arshavin incident was a stonewall pen
As an Arsenal fan, I cannot see how people can say the Rooney pen wasn't a penalty. Almunia clear as day makes contact with him before the ball. Was Rooney going down before Al got to him? Yes, probably, but tbh it's irrelevant as he could have been preempting the contact and trying to protect himself from injury. Wasn't that the excuse used for Eduardo? (Who I believe did dive, but the uproar has been nothing short of disgusting.)
That said, the match was good from an Arsenal perspective. Hell, I don't think i've ever been so at ease with a defeat at OT before. Arsenal were better, pure and simple, with some very "average" players. Denilson, Diaby, Song and Eboue all starting would have have been a disaster last season, all seems different this season. If it weren't for a piece of pure stupidity from Almunia (who needs to be replaced IMO) and a hopefully once-in-a-career style mistake from Diaby the result would be different. Diaby and possibly Denilson wouldn't of started anyway if a few injuries ever come back.
Utd must surely be worried though. That wasn't an impressive performance at home to a not-brilliant Arsenal side and I can't help but feel your gonna need more than that to win the league.
That said, the match was good from an Arsenal perspective. Hell, I don't think i've ever been so at ease with a defeat at OT before. Arsenal were better, pure and simple, with some very "average" players. Denilson, Diaby, Song and Eboue all starting would have have been a disaster last season, all seems different this season. If it weren't for a piece of pure stupidity from Almunia (who needs to be replaced IMO) and a hopefully once-in-a-career style mistake from Diaby the result would be different. Diaby and possibly Denilson wouldn't of started anyway if a few injuries ever come back.
Utd must surely be worried though. That wasn't an impressive performance at home to a not-brilliant Arsenal side and I can't help but feel your gonna need more than that to win the league.
I wasn't commenting on the Rooney penalty, Almunia clearly didn't touch the ball and it's a penalty. I was commenting on the point you made that even had Almunia touched the ball then it's still a penalty. That's the grey area, not the Rooney penalty.
Why do you keep thinking that I'm doubting Rooney's honesty? You done it yesterday too
People are mainly being pedantic for the sake of it I think, after what happened in the week. Y'day was Almunia's mistake, Rooney just made it look better like almost every player in the league does every week, just like Eduardo tried to do, intentions of the player were the same in both circumstances but Eduardo got punished and others don't, but yesterday was a penalty
Soldato
ROFL
Caporegime
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A little concerned but not vastly - we always start the season slowly and also (and more to the point) we only got 5 points off the top four last season, and we already have 3 this season (and two more than we got off Arsenal last season after the boring 0-0 in April/May) and we still won the title
The EPL may well end up being more competitive this season, but no-one can say that for sure just yet
IF Hargreaves makes it back from injury and consistantly into the 1st team by Jan as predicted that would be a huge bonus (although it could all be too late aswell of course)
Man of Honour
IF Hargreaves does regain his fitness do you think he'll play at the expense of Carrick?
With Carrick playing his more natural offensive game (albeit deep lying) with OH playing the more traditional Mascherano role of crunching tackles / short passes as they played a lot in OH's first season
edit - mind you, there are some rumours (and not looking invalid from some of the things happening around the club) that Carrick and SAF have had a falling out over something ....players need to be rotated, but Im not convinced thats the only reason
edit - mind you, there are some rumours (and not looking invalid from some of the things happening around the club) that Carrick and SAF have had a falling out over something ....players need to be rotated, but Im not convinced thats the only reason
Man of Honour
Ok, how would you line up in midfield then as Carrick has to play (best player in his position) and OH (consistently in the 1st team) too as you mentioned so what's your ideal line up?
Soldato
JG said:
Owen Hargreaves, when fit is as good as any other English player for the job that he does.
Ideal line up with the squad we have at present assuming all fit
---------------VDS------------------
Brown -----Rio-------Vid--------Paddy
?????-----Hargreaves----Carrick---Nani
--------Rooney-------Berbs----------
I have purposely left the right hand side with a question mark. I think we have a major hang over from the loss of Ronaldo. Yeah he could fall on his ass at the drop of a hat but there was absolutely no doubting that he was world class and had pretty much everything that an attacking player needed. Pace, Power, Height, Technique, Skill, Awareness and bravery. It's not often that you get that mix in a player and his loss has made a big void in our team. People would say that it was him or Messi as the best in the world but I suspect Messi would leave a similar hole in any Barca team.
Back on track, Right Hand side !!!, Fletcher, He has gone from a very average right hand sided midfielder to a competent central midfielder. He can play the right hand side of a Carrick, Hargreaves. If you go for a midfield 4 then I think Valencia is OK but it begs the question which of the top 4 sides would he walk into at the moment because thats the benchmark you have to look at. He's ok and I will give him some credit in that he is strong, powerful and quick and can certainly pick a cross out but I think he will come good in the next two years not necessarily now.
The problem Utd have is that they don't have anyone to set the pace and rhythm of the team.
Edit: I would also get rid of Neville as team, club captain. It should have been Rio's job a good 2-3 years ago
VDS
Brown / Fabio Rio Vidic Evra
Valencia OH Carrick(might lose out to SAF's lovechild Scholes) Nani
Rooney
Berba/Owen
Loki I totally agree with you about Valencia / Fletcher - I would wholeheartedly choose Rio as club captain also IF he didnt have these persistant back issues, yes I know we have survived for a season (and looks like this one as well) without our club captain on the pitch - but that really HAS to change asap, and thats why I would ask Rooney to do it (even though there is a lot of risk with that also with his volatility on occasion....which has improved hugely over the last season but still gets him into trouble). Lets face it I really dont think Rio's back is ever going to get completely better - IF he was ever going to be properly fit again then definitely Rio over Rooney for a few years at least
Brown / Fabio Rio Vidic Evra
Valencia OH Carrick(might lose out to SAF's lovechild Scholes) Nani
Rooney
Berba/Owen
Loki I totally agree with you about Valencia / Fletcher - I would wholeheartedly choose Rio as club captain also IF he didnt have these persistant back issues, yes I know we have survived for a season (and looks like this one as well) without our club captain on the pitch - but that really HAS to change asap, and thats why I would ask Rooney to do it (even though there is a lot of risk with that also with his volatility on occasion....which has improved hugely over the last season but still gets him into trouble). Lets face it I really dont think Rio's back is ever going to get completely better - IF he was ever going to be properly fit again then definitely Rio over Rooney for a few years at least
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Soldato
Nani got a lot of stick last year for his performances and rightly so, but you can't expect him to do the job of Ronaldo with only playing a handful of games. What has encouraged me so far this season is that he appears to be getting a bit of an understanding with Evra.
Right hand side is a problem because there is no regular RB at present to build that foundation on. It will be interesting to see if and where Oberton fits into the big scheme of things. Reports have been mixed at best. Some say he is another kid produced from Clairfontaine school of excellence so that automatically makes him another Terry Henry. Yet he got loaned out by Larry White at Bordeaux because his form was gash
