Prem Match Weekend Mar 11/12

MrJoeSoap

Arsenal were top quality at the end.

jesus_thats_gre

Good old Liverpool back to normal me thinks.. They were a shambles today and Arsenal would have been very unlukcy not to have walked away with 3 points..

Although, the sending off and nature of Gerard's pass to Henry makes me feel slightly robbed.. Even though we deservedly lost. Strange feeling indeed.

Necronomicon

Two blunders evened themselves out and Arsenal deserved the win I think. Lehmann's attempted save was woeful (don't care how much complaints there are of these balls swerving, it should have been punched away from goal) and it landed right in the path of Garcia. Then Gerrard....well, almost identical to the England vs France in Euro 2004. Both teams seemed to pick up from where they left off in their respective CL games.
I thought the sending off was really harsh after I saw the replay, Alonso clearly slipped and fell into Fabregas(was it?).
5 points behind United, and United have a game in hand. United have thrown away 2nd place in the previous two seasons while in pole position so I'm not going to get too carried away, but can't see the team throwing it away a 3rd year running.

okidoki987

Arsenal are back to their best

Mind you they should have had it wrapped up by the time Liverpool scored their "goal" (definite foul on Cees).

Did I hear right during the match that the winners of the Champions League this year will not automatically qualify for next years competition?
If that's correct then the biggest match Arsenal will play for the rest of the season will be the Spurs match.

jank

3 much needed points for Arsenal. The ref was a joke at times altough i think Alonso deserved to go. 2 stupid challanges.
It was a foul on Cesc leading up to the pool's goal. It was a typical **** goal from them

Arsenal need to start putting teams away. They are creating loads of chances but not scoring many. Bergkamp's legs are gone. They are missing RVP alot! Wouldnt mind seeing a bit of Walcott at some stage this seaon.

Cesc is turning out to be one of Arsenal's player of the season. He should be a shoe in for young player of the year!

He rarely makes a wrong pass and decision. He is always in space looking to go forward. The one thing id like to see him do is score more goals but that will come as he gets stronger. If he continues at this rate then he will be in the starting XI for spain at the world cup

mike65

No the other way round, if Arsenal win and dont finnish in the top 4 the forth place team will be in the UEFA Cup. That way Prem only get 4 places in the next CL.

Mike.

wheres me jumpa

Watched the United game and thought it was case of Jekly and Hyde. At times we looked so good but then there were times we made some silly errors, none fatal though. Newcastle started brightly and it would have been interesting to see how the game would have went without us been gifted a goal.

Good to see Rooney sparkle was a bit worried about him lately. Saha proved one thing for me today. When he is in the team United play like the United of old. Counter attacking, quick passing, balls over the top etc. But he proved today he is a woeful finisher. Good player to have in the squad nonetheless.

Having seen the likes of BEckham, Ince, Stam etc. go through similar experiences to RVN I am a tad worried that he may be let go in the summer. I really hope this isnt the case but im not confident at the moment.

Good win for United. The Liverpool result makes it all the more important.

Chucky the tree

jank wrote:

3 much needed points for Arsenal. The ref was a joke at times altough i think Alonso deserved to go. 2 stupid challanges.
It was a foul on Cesc leading up to the pool's goal.

How is slipping and falling into someone a stupid challenge? :rolleyes:


I think this match and benfica match has showed how much we have really missed sissoko. Hamann just dont have the fitness or pace to run after players and close them down all the time. Thats what we needed today and against benfica.

segadreamcast

Chucky the tree wrote:

How is slipping and falling into someone a stupid challenge? :rolleyes:


I think this match and benfica match has showed how much we have really missed sissoko. Hamann just dont have the fitness or pace to close run after players and close them down all the time. Thats what we needed today and against benfica.

Actually - yeah - Sissoko's absence does correlate with Liverpool's downturn in form for sure... never really thought of that. He's a good player alright, buckets of energy; a definite one to watch for the future there.

smemon

today proved to me that arsenal are the better side of these two. liverpool can't knife teams the way arsenal can.

they also play more attractive football and leave matches open which they've been punished for this season in england, however theyve reaped the benefits in europe.

liverpool are still the 4th best side in england. close to arsenal and utd, but just lack that killer edge.

Chucky the tree

smemon wrote:

today proved to me that arsenal are the better side of these two. liverpool can't knife teams the way arsenal can.
.

United cant knife teams the way arsenal can either. But of course, united are still better then arsenal, just cos..

PHB

Arsenal are magic when teams try to play against them, absolutely magic, and you require real real real real real class the same type as Arsenal to keep up with them, something Liverpool don't have.

What they do have is incredible determination and belief, and a rock solid defense, yet for some reason, Benetiz decided to play the way Arsenal do today, and they got killed for it.

jesus_thats_gre

jank wrote:

3 much needed points for Arsenal. The ref was a joke at times altough i think Alonso deserved to go. 2 stupid challanges.
It was a foul on Cesc leading up to the pool's goal. It was a typical **** goal from them

Arsenal need to start putting teams away. They are creating loads of chances but not scoring many. Bergkamp's legs are gone. They are missing RVP alot! Wouldnt mind seeing a bit of Walcott at some stage this seaon.

Cesc is turning out to be one of Arsenal's player of the season. He should be a shoe in for young player of the year!

He rarely makes a wrong pass and decision. He is always in space looking to go forward. The one thing id like to see him do is score more goals but that will come as he gets stronger. If he continues at this rate then he will be in the starting XI for spain at the world cup

Good to see you back to your good old self..

Arsenal were the better side today and deserved the win.. Just remove ur other statements.

smemon

Chucky the tree wrote:

United cant knife teams the way arsenal can either. But of course, united are still better then arsenal, just cos..

no, i agree. but look at the stats, utd scored 56 in the league so far, l'pool just 34. (plus utd have game in hand). for the record arsenal have 45.

anyway, you dont need to look at stats to see arsenal are a better footballing side than liverpool, just re-run todays game;)

clean sheets don't win you matches before anyone tries to say liverpool have a rock solid defence. you need goals to win games. and the emphasis should be put on scoring rather than defending.

Necronomicon

Just watched MOTD2 there, surely this weekend has a record amount of goal of the month entrants!

Chucky the tree

smemon wrote:

no, i agree. but look at the stats, utd scored 56 in the league so far, l'pool just 34. (plus utd have game in hand). for the record arsenal have 45.

The most important stat is the league table, can you give me a quick recap as to where liverpool are, and where arsenal are?

smemon wrote:

anyway, you dont need to look at stats to see arsenal are a better footballing side than liverpool, just re-run todays game;)

If you watched the match in Anfield you would have a different view as to who the better "footballing" side was.

smemon wrote:

clean sheets don't win you matches before anyone tries to say liverpool have a rock solid defence. you need goals to win games. and the emphasis should be put on scoring rather than defending.

Again, i am feeling very forgetful tonight, so can you please check and see who has won more matches this season, liverpool or Arsenal?

Rikand

The two from mendes and the Gallas strike for definite!

oh and henrys second, the thru ball from Gerrard was phenomenal!

smemon

Chucky the tree wrote:

can you give me a quick recap as to where liverpool are, and where arsenal are?

3rd and 5th respectively. atm, liverpool have come down from the clouds and are back to their former selves so i wouldnt be surprised to see those 2 swap places come may.

your right, liverpool have been the better side all season, but their last few matches make them look like a side that's run out of steam, whereas arsenal look like they're just changing up the gears now.

jank

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

Good to see you back to your good old self..

Arsenal were the better side today and deserved the win.. Just remove ur other statements.

Like what??

Either make a case if you disagree with me or STFU..

Isnt this a discussion forum??

Thanx 4 The Fish

Jank, I will have no qualms with banning you. Keep it civil or quit posting until you can.

BTW Smemon, Liverpool have played 10 more games than most teams in the prem, running out of steam is to be understood. If Uefa had formalised the ruling that got Real in at the expense of the fourth place team before then at least it would have been a fair fight at this stage of the season.

Fair play to Arsenal, played well and Fabregas looks superb, think that the sending off was harsh, the ref was looking the other way then turned around and carded him without knowing what happened, can't be rescinded though can it, seconmd yellow and not a straight red so unless the ref says he was wrong nowt can happen.

jank

Sorry...

redspider

Arsenal 2-1 Liverpool

Arsenal deserved the win. Liverpool though, who are at a low ebb at the moment, suffering more from the effects of the CL, did make some fight of it in the 2nd half. I was fearful of a 3 or 4-nil the way things were looking at half-time. But Liverpool did quite well given the difficult circumstances. What Alonso was doing getting a yellow in that area of the pitch for the 1st incident is anyone's guess, and the 2nd yellow was a clumsy accident, so
unlucky for Liverpool to have him sent off. I was in stitches at one point when Henry moved over to the right and was in a one-on-one race against Hyypia, talk about a Hare v the Snail situation.

Benitez changed things again tactically for this match with just Crouch up front and Garcia in behind. Kromkamp still isnt up to this level, at least
in this game and my judgement is still reserved on him. Kewell and Fowler came on and the game became more even. Liverpool were creating a few half chances, and got a goal from a spill. Somethig which I mentioned as a tactic a few games ago. Gerrard should just forget about trying to involve Crouch in his moves. Liverpool were missing Riise once again, and Warnock and Krompkamp just did not work out at all and is a pale comparison to Riise and Kewell on the left.

In the 1st half, a sublime Henry goal and typical for the right-footed left "winger" who doesnt cross fom the bye-line. But as is nearly always the case with Henry FC, they create quite a few chances but do miss quite a few. That has always been the case when averaged out and I'm sure Henry's stats this season would be similar to previous seasons with one of the lowest conversion rates in the top-flight (goals/goal attempts), although it must be kept in mind that he does this when facing a couple of defenders and from a long way out ... and he does score! Pires should have finished his chance though.

The game was looking like a draw when Gerrard had a moment of panic, very similar to the Eng v Fra incident, and gifted the chance to Henry witha bad backpass. A draw would have been a point gained by Liverpool. A solid 3 pts for Arsenal keeps them on track for 4th, but there may be tougher matches ahead.

For Liverpool, its now a chase to secure 3rd place and to try and have a good run in the FA Cup, and for Benitez, its a test for him to change things around up-front. Interesting to see Pongolle creating chances over the weekend ...... but not for Liverpool.

redspider

redspider

smemon wrote:

anyway, you dont need to look at stats to see arsenal are a better footballing side than liverpool, just re-run todays game;)

Football fans have a very short memory.

Its not very long ago that: Liverpool 1-0 Arsenal

And it was a fully deserved win for Liverpool.

The thing about football is that players and teams performances vary, and quite a bit at that. Thats why its not very predictable at times. Arsenal may be on a high at the moment, but I would be very surprised if they would maintain that for the rest of the season. Time will tell.

Many analysts are of the opinion that Arsenal play a great style of football, one that is wonderful to watch, a quick tempo passing game. I enjoy watching them. But as has been shown over the years, it is not effective at the top level in the CL as much as other teams approaches, and has come unstuck in the English league.

It is all based around Henry, and Wenger's assembly of players who are good at passing and have pace, a speciality boosted by Wenger's wonder-concoctions, as well as an unusual formation with Henry out left.

Things could unravel for Arsenal. Juventus who have a defence compared with Real Madrid will be a much sterner test, and there will be a few defences in England looking to hold them. Of course if Henry gets a bad injury, that could spell the end of it for him at the club.

There's a few interesting aspects to the run-in this year. A pity that the league title is not one of them!

redspider

BaZmO*

redspider wrote:

Juventus who have a defence compared with Real Madrid will be a much sterner test

Is that the same stern defence that conceded 4 goals against the mighty Werder Bremen? Hmmmm....

Davei141

So you disagree about juventus having a stern defence?:rolleyes:

Pepe LeFrits

Great result yesterday, Fabregas and Henry were brilliant again. Toure (apart from the near-howler when he lost the ball under his legs) and Eboue were very impressive again too.

Necronomicon

Thanx 4 The Fish wrote:

think that the sending off was harsh, the ref was looking the other way then turned around and carded him without knowing what happened, can't be rescinded though can it, seconmd yellow and not a straight red so unless the ref says he was wrong nowt can happen.

I remember Ronaldo having a yellow card rescinded for a dive against Villa when the replay showed his heel was clipped. It was his second yellow and he was sent off, but the one-match ban was overturned.
Anyway, whatever about the ref, surely the linesman should have seen it! He's supposed to be in line with the play, so you'd think he couldn't have been more than 10 yards away from the incident, or else he was just asleep.

Gangsta

Also, when Pires was on, the linesman just shuffled across a few steps and called him offside?wtf, lol. I think Arsenal deserved that bit of luck/great pass from Gerrard;) They were clearly the better team.

Also Chucky, This is the first time the pool have been in front of arsenal in nearly ten yrs. Don't be gloating just yet.

Chucky the tree

Gangsta wrote:

.Also Chucky, This is the first time the pool have been in front of arsenal in nearly ten yrs. Don't be gloating just yet.

How was i gloating?