Arsenal -v- Barca, Champions league Q/Final 1st leg

eZe^

Hope Fabregas is alright, he looked to be in alot of pain for the closing minutes. By god I wish VV saved that peno though. The 2-2 draw will forever take away from the performance Barca put in, it was so good, 2-1 would have definitely made it go down in history as one of our best away performances of all time.

The Sparrow

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

How would Arsenal know his leg was broken? If Fabregas says he's ok to play on they're hardly going to haul him off in a Champions League quarter final, just in case he gets injured and misses the world cup.

His injury is a bigger blow to Arsenal than Spain anyway.

Substitute know his leg was broken with know he was injured, probably seriously.

He could barely walk! It doesn't matter what he says, it was plain for everyone to see he was injured and that it could only get worse by leaving him on.

It is a bigger blow to Arsenal but they may be the main cause of it. How fit wass he really to play? Yesterday Wenger said he was 40% fit so how could he recover the other 60% in one day? And then by leaving him on they may have made the injury worse.

Excuse me if I don't feel sorry for a club that didn't properly look after the welfare of their own player. My sympathy is much more with Spain who may be losing one of their best players because Arsenal didn't look after them properly.

Pro. F

The Sparrow wrote: »

Haha I didn't mean he literally ran through him like he was a ghost or something!:D

Here is how I look at it. The ball was in the air and Fabregas started to swing at it as Puyol was closing down on him attempting to get the ball. But Puyol got nowhere near the ball but instead impeded Fabregas by stopping him complete look the forward motion of his shot. Fabregas's foot was off the ground and in a swinging motion when Puyol bundled into him and stopped that swinging motion and got nowhere near the ball. Therefore it is a penalty.

Imagine if it was from the side and Fabregas had his leg off the floor and was finishing a swinging motion and inches away from taking a shot and a defender came from nowhere but got nowhere near the ball and only succeded in impeding the player finishing the movement towards the ball. Nobody would argue with that being a penalty.

Well this is the same thing accept it happened behind Fabregas and his swing towards the ball was only beginning.

What you're saying makes sense alright. For me it's all about whether or not Puyol got close enough to the ball to play it. The way I remember it I thought he did, maybe I'm miss remembering.

Re Fabregas: I could well beleive he broke a bone when he kicked puyol's leg with his foot. Maybe took a chip off his shin, iirc that can happen sometimes when you shock your foot by kicking something solid. He seemed to be pointing to his shin later. Fair play to him for struggling on when his team needed him, I've big respect for that.

eZe^

None of this really matters, good stats though.

Royale with Cheese

Why should you feel sorry for Arsenal? They took a risk, it didn't work. However they have absolutely no responsiblity whatsoever to the Spanish football team.

L'prof

eZe^ wrote: »

None of this really matters, good stats though.

That's horrible, make it go away!!!

Ush1

He doesnt start for spain and tonight we saw why....xavi f*cking hernandez baby!

The Sparrow

eZe^ wrote: »

None of this really matters, good stats though.

Ah but of course Xavi is on top... what a man!!

What surprises me about those stats is the amount of passes that Pique completed even though the majority of the game was played in Arsenal's half. Especially when you compare it to the amount of passes Vermaelen completed.

eZe^

jasonorr wrote: »

That's horrible, make it go away!!!

Amazing to think Denilson was your best passer, and he came on in like the 70th minute or something.

The Sparrow wrote: »

Ah but of course Xavi is on top... what a man!!

What surprises me about those stats is the amount of passes that Pique completed even though the majority of the game was played in Arsenal's half. Especially when you compare it to the amount of passes Vermaelen completed.

Pique is a fantastic passer, he's excellent at those cross field balls, and his pass for Ibrahimovic's first goal was beautiful. He's the very definition of a ball playing centre back.

The Sparrow

eZe^ wrote: »

Pique is a fantastic passer, he's excellent at those cross field balls, and his pass for Ibrahimovic's first goal was beautiful. He's the very definition of a ball playing centre back.

Yeah some of the passes that he made today were sublime. With Rio getting on, it's a shame for Utd that he didn't stay.

Mickeroo

everdead.ie wrote: »

It's possible he fractured his leg and then as he took the peno and played on the fracture got bigger and bigger untill it was a break.

A fracture is a break

x PyRo

eZe^ wrote: »

Amazing to think Denilson was your best passer, and he came on in like the 70th minute or something.

He came on just before half time, he always completes the most passes for us usually as he takes the safe option by passing it backwards or sideways, never going forward.

eZe^

x PyRo wrote: »

He came on just before half time, he always completes the most passes for us usually as he takes the safe option by passing it backwards or sideways, never going forward.

D'oh! I coulda sworn he came on around the same time as Walcott. My bad.

me-skywalker

carlos queiroz the man who told fergie to sell pique and buy nani... hmmm something doesn't add up.

kryogen

me-skywalker wrote: »

carlos queiroz the man who told fergie to sell pique and buy nani... hmmm something doesn't add up.

yeah that sentence doesnt add up

x PyRo

eZe^ wrote: »

D'oh! I coulda sworn he came on around the same time as Walcott. My bad.

After the day you've had your brain's fecked! :pac:

Theo is God.

That is all.

kryogen

Walcott did actually provide a catalyst for Arsenal

but tbh, i think we all knew he was the type of player that Barca would suffer against

small and fast

x PyRo

kryogen wrote: »

but tbh, i think we all knew he was the type of player that Barca would suffer against

small and fast

If that was the case then we would have won, one thing we don't lack in is small fast players.

kryogen

x PyRo wrote: »

If that was the case then we would have won, one thing we don't lack in is small fast players.

nope, ask a Barca fan if you would like their opinion, the type of attacker the Barca defence struggles against is small and fast guys

Arshavin could have been a huge player tonight, wasnt to be, Nasri didnt step up either, Walcott did however and every time he ran at them he terrified them

you dont have as many as you might think, your options tonight at the start were Arsh and Nasri, they didnt do the job, they were the only two small quick players that were going to be running at the Barca defence

Bednter-no
Song-no
Fab-no
Diaby-no

x PyRo

kryogen wrote: »

nope, ask a Barca fan if you would like their opinion, the type of attacker the Barca defence struggles against is small and fast guys

Arshavin could have been a huge player tonight, wasnt to be, Nasri didnt step up either, Walcott did however and every time he ran at them he terrified them

you dont have as many as you might think, your options tonight at the start were Arsh and Nasri, they didnt do the job, they were the only two small quick players that were going to be running at the Barca defence

Bednter-no
Song-no
Fab-no
Diaby-no

Arshavin has been bad this season so i couldn't see him being effective at all, Nasri isn't quick enough to trouble them in behind at all. Eboue, Walcott & Vela would be the only ones fast enough to trouble them imo. Haven't a clue where Vela is though?!.

Nasri played ok i think anyways, didn't get much ball although he looked weak defensively but then again anyone would against Alves' bombing runs!

Why the "no" beside Diaby ?. He's one of our best runners and as quick as anyone on the team. He bet Agbonlahor in a sprint when we played Villa a good while ago! Although he was dire in Central Mid today, i would of switched him and Nasri if i was Wenger, neither contributed anything defensively but if Diaby was on the left where he has played many times before he could of stopped Alves going off on a run down their right, whereas Nasri couldn't keep up, nor had he the defensive mindset to do it anyways.

Walcott's pace would trouble any team if he used his pace right, which he doesn't always, usually making some shockingly bad runs into the middle when he should be hugging the touchline like he was today. If he does that in the Camp Nou i think we have a great out ball which we usually don't have when he's not there and weather it's Maxwell or Abidal they won't be able to live with him, just depends if Walcott uses the ball correctly and continues putting in decent crosses which he has been doing of late finally, maybe he's going to live up to the massive potential placed on his shoulders finally ?. That's probably the reason he needed the surgery on his shoulders last year.

He's the only hope we have in the Camp Nou of beating Barcelona and qualifying as we've no one else who'll trouble them like him, but hopefully we're not as shocking defensively as we were today! Sorry, i've kind of went off into my own little world in my reply, just trying to make head or tails out of our chances for the second leg! The only one is Theo, or if there's a miracle and RvP comes back but that'll not happen.

peabutler

Pretty sure that Cesc is wrong TBH, I'd say he has bad bruising, similar to TV pre-United.

Pepe LeFrits

Cesc isn't a doctor; he really isn't qualified to say if he's got a broken fibula or not.

peabutler

I agree, the fact that he spoke witht he Doctor/Physio tells me it can't be that bad.


Wenger has also said Gallas is out for the season but I have to ponder where is Djourou and if he is not getting back soon I think we should recall Senderos.

Ush1

Did you hear Dunphy after it on the spot being asked about Lyon vs Bord. He says yeah Lyon will probably go through and I love French football?? Very random.

ctrl-alt-delete

kryogen wrote: »

Walcott did actually provide a catalyst for Arsenal

but tbh, i think we all knew he was the type of player that Barca would suffer against

small and fast

And you'd think they would have plenty of practice in training with Messi

Ush1

Ush1 wrote: »

Did you hear Dunphy after it on the spot being asked about Lyon vs Bord. He says yeah Lyon will probably go through and I love French football?? Very random.

thats not like him :pac:

peabutler

peabutler wrote: »

where is Djourou and if he is not getting back soon I think we should recall Senderos.

Djourou's legs must be made of spaghetti sticks.

Warper

I can't see any team stopping Barca. They are clearly the best team in it and have hammered practically every team left in it over the past 12 months - Inter, Utd, Lyon, Munich have all fallen. They are an absolute joy to watch and probably the best team I have ever seen. And Ibrahimovic I am sorry for doubting you.

cson

Warper wrote: »

I can't see any team stopping Barca. They are clearly the best team in it and have hammered practically every team left in it over the past 12 months - Inter, Utd, Lyon, Munich have all fallen. They are an absolute joy to watch and probably the best team I have ever seen. And Ibrahimovic I am sorry for doubting you.

I implore anyone that thinks they are unstoppable to watch the first half of their first leg match versus Stuttgart. The Germans were all over them and should have been a couple up at half time. Now Barcelona are an excellent side and really should have beaten us out the gate last night. About 5-0 would have been a fair reflection I think and thats coming from an Arsenal fan. But I don't think that they are unstoppable; they certainly can be got at if you approach the game correctly tactically imo.

eZe^

Warper wrote: »

I can't see any team stopping Barca. They are clearly the best team in it and have hammered practically every team left in it over the past 12 months - Inter, Utd, Lyon, Munich have all fallen. They are an absolute joy to watch and probably the best team I have ever seen. And Ibrahimovic I am sorry for doubting you.

Way to jinx us you bollix!

Arsenal still have everything to play for.

redout

I wouldnt count the Gunners out of this.

Remember that Barca have El Clasico after the Gunners next week.

A very big week the Blaugrana have to prepare for.

ctrl-alt-delete

cson wrote: »

I implore anyone that thinks they are unstoppable to watch the first half of their first leg match versus Stuttgart. The Germans were all over them and should have been a couple up at half time. Now Barcelona are an excellent side and really should have beaten us out the gate last night. About 5-0 would have been a fair reflection I think and thats coming from an Arsenal fan. But I don't think that they are unstoppable; they certainly can be got at if you approach the game correctly tactically imo.

I agree,

I said it lastnight and i think Wengers gameplan should be to get the ball out to the wings. The likes of Nasri and we seen Walcott could cause trouble running at their defense. They didn't seem to cope too well with balls being whipped in.

The problem is it is such a task to try and stop them playing their game, you can't stop that quick passing when every payer out there is so good at it, they must do nothing but play one touch games in training!

For me, for Arsenal to have a chance, Bendtner has to play up front in the centre and stay there. Arsenal need Nasri and Arshavin/Walcott out wide. The play needs to be directed out that way when Arsenal have the ball, and try and avoid the Centre of the park where possible. They are not going to have a chance with Fabregas missing. The fact that Barca's Central Defense will be changed will be a bonus for this style of play for Arsenal. Alright it is not the way Arsenal like to play, but i think given the circumstances it is the only way they are going to beat Barca.

You are going to get chances, they will come Arsenal's way, even last night at times in the first half i thought Arsenal would never get into the game, but they did.

I think if United come up against them they will have the same problems, United's central midfield will not be up to the task, we seen that in last years final, however their style of play is much more suited to what will beat Barca.

eZe^

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWd6ycUxPjw

adox

Haven't read through this thread so probably repeating what other posters have already posted but, Barcelona were an absolute joy to watch for an hour last night, the best football I've seen in a long long time. If there's a better midfielder in the world right now than Xavi, I'd like to see him.

I really can't see anyway back for Arsenal in the tie, even with both CBs out and the Jammy peno Arsenal got to tie the scores. It must be fantastic to be a Barca fan. I really hope they pip Madrid for La Liga.

ctrl-alt-delete

eZe^ wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWd6ycUxPjw

We used to kick up a fuss when i was younger in football training when we were told the game at the end of the physical stuff would be one touch.

We used to sometimes push him out to two touch, we laughed in his face when he told us it would make us better players!

Watching Barca last night i wish i could go back and heed the advice

That manager was waaay ahead of his time lol

Warper

eZe^ wrote: »

Way to jinx us you bollix!

Arsenal still have everything to play for.

Up yours you PRICK!

eZe^

IRISHSPORTSGUY

Barca will do what they did to Stuttgart to Arsenal at the Nou Camp. If you think they are scary away from home...

PDN

As an Arsenal fan I'm actually looking forward to the second leg. Barcelona were fantastic for the first hour or so last night, but from games I've watched in La Liga this season I doubt if they will hit those heights again so soon. They played the best they have all season, and yet we're still all square going into the second leg.

Also, their defence is dodgy (as is ours) so the away goals thing doesn't matter as much as it would playing against any of the other quarter finalists. Barcelona have got to be favorites to go through - but I could easily see it ending up as a score draw or even a win to the Arse.

If both teams play like they did for the first 60 minutes then we'll get hammered. But if they both play like they did for the last 30 mins then Arsenal may yet have a trip to Milan or Moscow coming up.