Champions League Final - Arsenal v Barcelona

Guy:Incognito

mr_angry wrote:

In fairness, I think Lehmann made an honest attempt to play the ball,

Funniest line ever. Did you even watch the match? When Eto'o went by him, he looked up and reached full stretch to grab and hold onto his ankel. Could'nt have been any clearer cut.

cournioni

gandalf wrote:

What galls me is the pathetic joy from mainly Man United fans here, you are absolutely pathetic !!!!!

Wahey!! Go Barcelona, a team that played football when they were clearly done an injustice when they had a perfectly good goal disallowed. A team that didn't blatantly trip a player when he was through on goal. A team that didn't dive to get one of their goals. A team that put the ball out for an injured Arsenal player and didn't get the ball back from Arsenal when play resumed. A team that didn't moan and bitch about a ref after he clearly gave big decisions Arsenal's way and nearly cost them the game.

I really admire your teams fair play gandalf. Football won on the night, and that is the most important thing.

Paul Tergat

English press tomorrow will be great fun!

mike65

Wenger talking on fivelive - notes the Lehmann foul and missed chances.

Mike.

Slash/ED

evad_lhorg wrote:

with eleven....

...They were a goal behind and showed no competency at chasing the game whatsoever in that situation.

Fighting Irish

Zakrze wrote:

- There is no way a referee who is deemed to be not good enough for World Cup should be allowed officiate.

I don't think he was "deemed not good enough" he just wasn't picked, you know they only need so many referees

Chucky the tree

Chucky wrote:

Oh shut up! I'm sick of idiots like you. And it's 'their' not 'there'.

Keep your pants on. You'll only end up getting yourself banned.

So you thought the ref was good? and got most of the decisions right?

mchurl

p_larkin99 wrote:

I don't think you can criticise Wenger (i really don't like him) but any decision he made would have been scrutinised...if they had brought on a striker and they then lost it would have been " oh...well he could've played tight and got to extra-time first". it can't be stressed enough how much decision making is changed when you do down to 10 so early...he could have done with 9 subs to change the whole team who looked v tired!

Well i think he should of acted when they fell behind. At that stage Arsenal had nothing to lose and surely its the same being beaten 4-1 as being beaten 2-1? You may as well take the risk while you still have a chance of staying in the match.

Fighting Irish

Why are people talking about bannings? The mods around here must be strict

cgf

Check out Sky 1 now for real CL footie

evilhomer

Chucky wrote:

Barca's defence was great - Puyol was magnificant! He made so many important tackles against Henry.

Puyol was the only good defender of the 4,

Marquez was lucky not to have gotten two yellows for some horrendous tackling.

Oleguer let Campbell away from him far too easily for the gaol.

Gio was anonymous for the whole game.

What defending did Belletti have to do?

The only reason Barca only conceded one goal was because of poor finishing from Arsenal (Henry in particular), it was most certainly not because of their incredible defence.

Big Ears

Makaveli wrote:

Yep, his head and chest were ahead of the last defender so he was offside.

I'd just like to clear this up , if part of the striker is infront of the defender but part of him is in line with the defender the call for whether it is offside or not is open to the interpretation of the referee .eg. a striker being nearly fully ahead of his man but having the back of his ankle in line with some part of the defenders body can be deemed onside .

Well done Barcelona , they were the better team on the night and in the competition as a whole .

A feel Kolo Toure deserves a special mention for his performance . He was fantastic tonight and was easily my man of the match .

Paul Tergat

mchurl wrote:

Well i think he should of acted when they fell behind. At that stage Arsenal had nothing to lose and surely its the same being beaten 4-1 as being beaten 2-1? You may as well take the risk while you still have a chance of staying in the match.

well all the same you cant just play all out attack, you still need a balance to your play....like i said the players looked so drained that i think if he'd have asked them to push on they wouldn't have been able to...were all 3 subs gone by the time they were behind?

Chucky the tree

p_larkin99 wrote:

you can't compare it to that, you were 3-0 down at half time and won, Arsenal were 1-0 up and lost, totally different!

Not much different really. At half time pretty much ever pool fan thought it was over. We managed to come back, but i was gutted at half time. I was just hoping we would only lose 3-0 and not 5-0.

Paul Tergat

Fighting Irish wrote:

Why are people talking about bannings? The mods around here must be strict

I think people are getting carried away, people are just putting views across but some people like to try and wind up certain fans of teams (usually utd) to get a reaction from them.

cournioni

By the way... Worst player on the pitch = Oleguer. Absolutely terrible. Belletti was superb when he came on. As was Larsson.

Paul Tergat

Chucky the tree wrote:

Not much different really. At half time pretty much ever pool fan thought it was over. We managed to come back, but i was gutted at half time. I was just hoping we would only lose 3-0 and not 5-0.

mate it's totally the opposite, you had to put up with that for like 30 mins max? and you one it, its completely different...

Chucky

Chucky the tree wrote:

Keep your pants on. You'll only end up getting yourself banned.

So you thought the ref was good? and got most of the decisions right?

I'm impartial to whether I get banned or not. I rarely use boards.ie anyway. The referee made mistakes but any human would in such a quick-paced sport. I'm sure that he regrets not allowing the goal but in the heat of the moment he did what he thought was right.

Fighting Irish

p_larkin99 wrote:

I think people are getting carried away, people are just putting views across but some people like to try and wind up certain fans of teams (usually utd) to get a reaction from them.

I think this place is making people get carried away, i say let people talk about what they wanna talk about its not gonna hurt anyone

evilhomer

Big Ears wrote:

A feel Kolo Toure deserves a special mention for his performance . He was fantastic tonight and was easily my man of the match .

I agree Kolo was fantastic.

Although I have to say, Rikaards tactical changes were the difference for me.
All the subs he brought on made a huge difference. Inesta wrapped up the midfield when he came on.

Paul Tergat

PORNAPSTER wrote:

By the way... Worst player on the pitch = Oleguer. Absolutely terrible. Belletti was superb when he came on. As was Larsson.

I think it must be noted that when players come on against 10 men theyre always likely to look better due to the space that they have and the lack of energy the 10 men have left!

Chucky

Oh God, the callers on You're On Sky Sports are such idiots.

mchurl

p_larkin99 wrote:

well all the same you cant just play all out attack, you still need a balance to your play....like i said the players looked so drained that i think if he'd have asked them to push on they wouldn't have been able to...were all 3 subs gone by the time they were behind?

No they had used two subs and then brought Reyes on. Yes i understand you need a balance to your play, but with ten imutes left in a champions league final and your trailing by a goal, you really need to take the game to your opponents and be aggresive and i dont think arsenal done this at all. They didnt even have a half chance in the last ten minutes never mind a chance, and i think this ws simply done to the lack of attackers in the Barca half.

Paul Tergat

Fighting Irish wrote:

I think this place is making people get carried away, i say let people talk about what they wanna talk about its not gonna hurt anyone

i totally agree, thats what makes football what it is...having banter and a laugh at other teams, i cant stand taking abuse about my team but i like to have a good laugh at others too.......some people are just more sensitive than others...you can imagine people pm-ing the mods complaining of how somebody abused their team....its all a good banter IMO

WhiteWashMan

Chucky wrote:

Oh God, the callers on You're On Sky Sports are such idiots.

you obviously havent been reading some of the views on here.

cournioni

p_larkin99 wrote:

I think it must be noted that when players come on against 10 men theyre always likely to look better due to the space that they have and the lack of energy the 10 men have left!

True, but Larsson clearly made the difference when he came on. Two great assists.

Paul Tergat

Chucky wrote:

Oh God, the callers on You're On Sky Sports are such idiots.

indeed they are!

WhiteWashMan

p_larkin99 wrote:

i totally agree, thats what makes football what it is...having banter and a laugh at other teams, i cant stand taking abuse about my team but i like to have a good laugh at others too.......some people are just more sensitive than others...you can imagine people pm-ing the mods complaining of how somebody abused their team....its all a good banter IMO

dude. believe me it happens....

from one report i had today.....

Contributing to nothing other than trying to get a rise out of me. Concentrating on getting a one up.

i mean, havent people ever heard of ignore?

Paul Tergat

mchurl wrote:

No they had used two subs and then brought Reyes on. Yes i understand you need a balance to your play, but with ten imutes left in a champions league final and your trailing by a goal, you really need to take the game to your opponents and be aggresive and i dont think arsenal done this at all. They didnt even have a half chance in the last ten minutes never mind a chance, and i think this ws simply done to the lack of attackers in the Barca half.

oh ye he brought on reyes, but just think how hard it must be to try get the ball off of 10 class players (on the ball) and then summon the strength to go and attack them...very difficul IMO...can't blame Arsenal for their effort.....

throwing caution to the wind may have been an option (stick Campbell up front and launch balls up to him) but thats not the way Arsenal play, and i do admire them for that....although that may not be the best way to win trophies though

Chucky the tree

Chucky wrote:

I'm impartial to whether I get banned or not. I rarely use boards.ie anyway. The referee made mistakes but any human would in such a quick-paced sport. I'm sure that he regrets not allowing the goal but in the heat of the moment he did what he thought was right.

What about the other mistakes?

Henry clearly won the ball and gets a yellow? Eboue's dive, Deco's dive which he saw but didnt book him. THe barca player won the ball against ljunberg i think and got booked aswell.

Both sides suffered from his terrible decisions. It was comical.

Paul Tergat

PORNAPSTER wrote:

True, but Larsson clearly made the difference when he came on. Two great assists.

he did, too class touches show he still has it good luck to him in the world cup (NOT) but he had a huge hand in helping them win it in the end!

Paul Tergat

WhiteWashMan wrote:

dude. believe me it happens....

from one report i had today.....

i mean, havent people ever heard of ignore?

i can understand it mate, or just take it in jest and dont let it get to ya...it must be heavy work being a mod on the soccer forum with all the "banter" going on.

cournioni

The referee was brutal, whatever way you look at it. But one thing is for certain, he did not cost Arsenal the game. Arsenal just weren't good enough, and Barca were the better team by far.

Paul Tergat

Chucky the tree wrote:

What about the other mistakes?

Henry clearly won the ball and gets a yellow? Eboue's dive, Deco's dive which he saw but didnt book him. THe barca player won the ball against ljunberg i think and got booked aswell.

Both sides suffered from his terrible decisions. It was comical.

true...he didn't ref it right...probbest biggest moment in his career and he made a mess of ref-ing the game!

I just hope theres no talk of bad ref-ing in the World Cup! cant wait

WhiteWashMan

Chucky the tree wrote:

What about the other mistakes?

Henry clearly won the ball and gets a yellow? Eboue's dive, Deco's dive which he saw but didnt book him. THe barca player won the ball against ljunberg i think and got booked aswell.

Both sides suffered from his terrible decisions. It was comical.

it was football.....

it happens every week.

i saw some crap decisions (i saw not one foul against an arsenal player coming in from behind in the first half) and i saw some good ones.

in the end, i dont think the ref made any decisions that effected the outcome of the game.

of course, the goal should have counted. and eboue should sue the groundsman for that long blade of grass he fell over...

perhaps the arsenal fans have taken spurs sour grapes, hard cheese and tough shít. i hope they dont have any games to play, as they may get ill from it...

PORNAPSTER

PORNAPSTER wrote:

True, but Larsson clearly made the difference when he came on. Two great assists.

totally agree about HL. very effective player.
he was very effective v chelsea too.


in fairness Arsenal had a good stab at it with 10 men but it just wasnt meant to be. but make no mistake the CL campaign was a success as they got further then they ever did. if they keep TH this season will have been a success and the club will only progress with the emirates stadium and all. congratulations barca and comiserations arsenal

Chucky the tree

WhiteWashMan wrote:

it was football.....

it happens every week.

i saw some crap decisions (i saw not one foul against an arsenal player coming in from behind in the first half) and i saw some good ones.

in the end, i dont think the ref made any decisions that effected the outcome of the game.

of course, the goal should have counted. and eboue should sue the groundsman for that long blade of grass he fell over...

perhaps the arsenal fans have taken spurs sour grapes, hard cheese and tough shít. i hope they dont have any games to play, as they may get ill from it...

I never said Arsenal were hard down by. Both teams where. I have seen some crap decisions myself, but its been awhile since i have seen so many in one game.

CorkMan

Great game! Larsson was great when he came on, changed he game. He really deserved it for the career he has had.

La Liga IMO is the best league in the world ATM. 4-0 Sevilla in the UEFA Cup and now Barca 2-1 against Arsenal in the champions league, IMO though. I am glad that it was a good final though, two big guns (though not on a scale as Real V Barca or a Milan V Barca) going at it and Barca deserved it in in the end.

Can't wait for the excuses from the english press tomorrow! BTW what are those fools saying on You're On Sky Sports?

elvis2002

Can you believe someone was claiming on sky that Henry had no passion for Arsenal tonight and missed the goal chances on purpose because he's already signing a contract as we speak. ... Henry is too good for Arsenal.

smemon

i have to say im glad to see the majority agreeing barca deserved to win and not being brainwashed by sky.

yes, arsenal played well at times considering they were a man down, but they deserved to be a man down, and didnt deserve to be a goal up at half time. all of that went in arsenal's favour though and they were 1-0 up with 10 men when really it should have been 1-0 down with 10 men at half time

for me, thats where i think sky are totally out of order trying to blame the ref for arsenal losing. henry got booked and it wasnt a booking - i accept that. but what about the time he shouldered your man over the touch line? that desered a yellow. so it evened itself out.

eboue actually could have been sent off too looking back, he was rightfully yellow carded for a high challenge and also dived for the free that led to the goal which could well have been another yellow and hence a red, meaning arsenal on another day could have been 1-0 down with 9 men by half time.

please try and tell me how arsenal were cheated now???

GuanYin

Despite the sending off, it was a decent enough game (as good as can be expected).

To be fair, neither team looked the title of champions of Europe.

Larson made the difference, although to be honest I think Arsenal changed for the worse after Flamini replaced Fabregas - for me that was the turning point.

Referee was awful at times but none of his decisions (except perhaps the hint of offside about Eto'os goal) change dthe game.


Lehman can have no complaints. The referee had a choice between going by the rules or giving Barca the goal. I think either decision would have been accepted, although at the time I wonder if Barca would have taken the goal?

Almunia was dreadful for the two goals but made a fantastic save knocking Eto'os shot onto the post.

All in all, Arsenal can have no complaints, nor can Henry, he didn't really criticise his own performance. He missed two clearcut chances one on one with the keeper.

Feel sorry for Arsenal in so far as they were always going uphill after Lehman was sent off.

Still, Arsenal did well and should be proud enough. They still need someone in midfield and another goalscorer. If Henry stays and they strengthen, they should compete on all levels neaxt season.

Necronomicon

The two teams suffered equally from the ref, he was awful! Pitty all the talk is going to be about the sending off.

PHB

You really can't blame Arsenal for their effort, they were fantastic.

After the sending off, they knew exactly what they had to do, and they did their best in doing it. They got the free kick up the pitch, just as they are meant to. And they converted one of them. Then they defended strongly, and allowed more chances to be created to do it.
Their tactics were absolutely perfect.
The only reasons they failed were because
A. They didn't finish the chances they created.
B. Barca were just too damm good, and couldn't be held off forever.

Henry talked a lot about them being proud of their preformance and they should be, it was excellent.

CorkMan

Imagine if Barca had a fit Messi and Xavi! They would have been unreal.

mchurl

p_larkin99 wrote:

oh ye he brought on reyes, but just think how hard it must be to try get the ball off of 10 class players (on the ball) and then summon the strength to go and attack them...very difficul IMO...can't blame Arsenal for their effort.....

throwing caution to the wind may have been an option (stick Campbell up front and launch balls up to him) but thats not the way Arsenal play, and i do admire them for that....although that may not be the best way to win trophies though

Clearly not the best way but you cant blame Arsenal for sticking to their principles i suppose, but a change could of made all the diiference.

Makaveli

Although it was disappointing to not see Messi, I think Rijkaard made the right decision in leaving him out. He's still young, has the World Cup coming up and there was no point in risking him.

Pepe LeFrits

Pretty gutted at the outcome of the game but no complaints. It was a pity they ****ed up the offside trap at the beginning 'cos with 10 men the gameplan went out the window. Delighted with the effort of the players though, they ran themselves into the ground trying to make up the extra man and did so well to keep Barca out as long as they did.

Disappointing end to the season from an Arsenal pov but it's encouraging nonetheless to have made inroads in Europe with such a young team. There'll be other chances to make amends at some point.

The tube ride home was surprisingly uplifting, seeing everyone in the tube carriage stand to attention to a chorus of "Stand up if you 'ate Tottnumb..." was good, as was some dude admitting that "if you gave me the choice of watching Campbell's goal or having sex with my girlfriend, I gotta admit, I'd pick Campbell's goal" which had a lot of random bystanders trying to stifle chuckles

As an aside I thought it was amusing that the Ronaldinho vs Henry final that was hyped up so much never materialised. Ronnie's main contribution was missing a lot of free-kicks while Henry was limited to the occasional run and scuffed shot. Sorry Sky...

Jivin Turkey

I think Barcelona deserved to win the CL. But I don't think they are as good a team as so many people make out. I mean they are being touted as the best in the world in years by some. They hardly played amazingly tonight, nor did against Milan, nor Benfica, nor Chelsea IMO. But when you knock out teams of that calibre you are obviously doing something right.

Arsenal will be disappointed as they created as many clear cut chances as Barca despite only having ten men. Henry should have sealed the deal with his one on one at about 70mins. Alas he didn't, and it was hardly surprising seeing them finally pegged back after giving the ball away constantly for 30mins.

On the sending off, I think it should have just been a goal given. I'm sure plenty of people here think the same too but are just getting their backs up thanks to the media and/or their bias. I mean how many times do you see players trying to foul other players while clean through only for the forward to be strong enough to shake them off and go on and score? Do you ever hear calls for a sending off and a goal? No. Never. It never has and never will happen. I'm sure the people calling for the goal and red are the same people that would have said that Liverpool were lucky last year against Chelsea.
Why didn't you call for a goal and a red then too?

Being the pedant that I am, I'll be sure to bring this up again when it happens their teams next season

Well done to Barcelona. They were probably the best team over the season. They have some quality (as well as some seriously dislikable) players, and they will be around for quite a few years IMO. Beletti's goal was fantastic, and it's a pity it was Ljungberg who lost his man as he had had a stromer up until then.

On another note, I don't think Henry will leave Arsenal just yet.

A Dub in Glasgo

Jivin Turkey wrote:

I mean how many times do you see players tryingto foul other players while clean through only for the forward to be strong enough to shake them off and go on and score?

Trying? Lehman did pull down the player who rounded him and was just about to score!! Last time I checked, that is a sending off offence?

Jivin Turkey

A Dub in Glasgo wrote:

Trying? Lehman did pull down the player who rounded him and was just about to score!! Last time I checked, that is a sending off offence?

It is. But what if Eto'o got back up and scored, it still would have been. Just like when you see a player try to pull someone back but when they get away. You don't have to knock a player over to commit a foul.

You see it happen all the time but it is never both a red and a goal. It's one of those things in football, like an unwritten rule, that a goal is sufficient advantage that a player does not get red carded. You won't see it happen again, and as I said, I'll be pedantic and highlight it next season and you won't see the same people demanding the goal and the red.

If the goal had stood and Barcelona went on to win 4-0 in the most classic fashion of all time, you wouldn't hear a single call here for a Lehman red card.