Barça -v- Arsenal, Champions league Last 16 2nd leg

NTMK

Malty_T wrote: »

Yeah, I meant diehard lol. I can see moderate fans coming replying to that terrible worded post by the numbers. Diehard, diehard. Such an important word that I left out.:o

delusional is the word your looking for im a diehard fan but i know utd have some weak points and are in trouble if they dont sort the midfield


but a few points about the match
- RVP sending of was harsh
- ref was poor
- Barca dominated the game
- Barca were denied a clear penalty

whether Barca would have won the game at 1-1 11 vs 11 is anyone's guess?

Sgt Pepper 64

steelcityblues wrote: »

Well done to Shakhtar too.

Wonder if they can go any further?

Not if they draw the "Best Team In the World"

CHELSEA!!

IvySlayer

I still feel bad for Arsenal and RVP in particular, but would have Wenger still insisted on defending if he wasn't sent off?

Headshot

Malty_T wrote: »

Gotta strongly disagree here. Many of the barca fans think their team are off form. Just read redout's comments on how he sees barca.

I see gimmick deleted his post....

Redout is one of the limited number of barca fans that I highly respect.

I want to get back to match discussions here so can anyone tell me where the ref is from ?

daithijjj

eZe^ wrote: »

Inter succeeded with 10 men.

A massive difference for inter though was just the savage back 4 they had with experience, Zannetti, Maicon, Lucio and Walter Samuel, those lads have seen it and done it all. Whatever about arsenal and their good atributes, in these ties theres a whiff of naivety.

bookie basher

NTMK wrote: »

delusional is the word your looking for im a diehard fan but i know utd have some weak points and are in trouble if they dont sort the midfield


but a few points about the match
- RVP sending of was harsh
- ref was poor
- Barca dominated the game
- Barca were denied a clear penalty

whether Barca would have won the game at 1-1 11 vs 11 is anyone's guess?

also kocielny should have got a 2nd yellow when he brought down pedro in the box

Turtwig

Headshot wrote: »

I see gimmick deleted his post....

Redout is one of the limited number of barca fans that I highly respect.

I want to get back to match discussions here so can anyone tell me where the ref is from ?

Switzerland.

(Wikipedia has already been updated about the RVP incident.)

CSF

IvySlayer wrote: »

I still feel bad for Arsenal and RVP in particular, but would have Wenger still insisted on defending if he wasn't sent off?

Probably, but what would have been different is he would have had an attacker to get the ball to and necessitate Barca keeping some players back defending

Pepe LeFrits

Malty_T wrote: »

Well, I'm going to have to rewatch the match now, cos I do seem to remember some very dangerous breaks from Inter. Unlike Arsenal, who had only really the Bendter fluff and the Nasri corner flag run. Inter had a number of serious counter attacks iirc.

I wouldn't bother dude, I don't care. I'm just pointing out that the stats mean absolutely **** all.

IvySlayer

Headshot wrote: »

I want to get back to match discussions here so can anyone tell me where the ref is from ?

Another planet.

Turtwig

CSF wrote: »

Probably, but what would have been different is he would have had an attacker to get the ball to and necessitate Barca keeping some players back defending

Actually barca didn't change their style all game tbh. The wing backs still trounced forward like they all game and Mascherano dropped in to cover.

Mister men

BERBA wrote: »

you obviously dont like arsenal mm :eek:

Bingo Berba. Obsessed much?

TheTownie

bookie basher wrote: »

thought barca were fantastic when they didnt have the ball, they gave arsenal no time on the ball at all, arsenal couldnt get their passing game going at all

The reason for that, and it happens in every match, is Barca have a mentality of winning the ball back within 30 seconds. They work on that in training and if all if all else fails, foul the player to prevent a break away. Their good at the old systematic fouling when they want to be.

As for the game, Barca were obviously the better side. Arsenal were very unlucky to have a man sent off but with roughly 5 mins to go and Bendtner gets a one on one like he did, I think you can have no complaints.

For all the injustice in the game, Arsenal had the chance to steal it and couldn't do it or more accurately Bendtner couldn't which is ironic for such a cocky git. And he off the bench, fresh as a daisy, its criminal really.

Turtwig

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

I wouldn't bother dude, I don't care. I'm just pointing out that the stats mean absolutely **** all.

It's a good match though for watching proper defending. Stats when used the wrong way mean **** all, but they shouldn't be dismissed.;) But yeah in football well over 80% of stats quoted are useless in providing a picture of a complex game.

IvySlayer

How often do Busquests and Mascherano start together btw?

cson

Mister men wrote: »

Bingo Berba. Obsessed much?

Are you obsessed much? You did something very similar in the Milan - Spurs game a fortnight ago. Did North London fiddle you as a child or something?

Headshot

Malty_T wrote: »

Gotta strongly disagree here. Many of the barca fans think their team are off form. Just read redout's comments on how he sees barca.

Malty_T wrote: »

Switzerland.

I just dont know how these ref's get a job in the CL. it should be only the top 4 leagues

Mister men wrote: »

Bingo Berba. Obsessed much?

anti arsenal, anti spurs and anti utd

your a busy obsessed man

NTMK

Headshot wrote: »

I just dont know how these ref's get a job in the CL. it should be only the top 4 leagues

in all fairness they're **** too

daithijjj

Malty_T wrote: »

Actually barca didn't change their style all game tbh. The wing backs still trounced forward like they all game and Mascherano dropped in to cover.

This is why walcott was such a massive loss to arsenal, if walcott was on there would have been far less abandon from 1 of the full backs. And also it would have given arsenal an outlet other than rosicky who was terminally bad throughout.

flahavaj

Headshot wrote: »

I just dont know how these ref's get a job in the CL. it should be only the top 4 leagues

I don't see how being from a bigger league necessarily means being a better ref tbh.

monkey9

IvySlayer wrote: »

How often do Busquests and Mascherano start together btw?

Hardly ever. Could that even be the first time?? And even then it's only cos Busquests was playing centre back tonight!

everdead.ie

I see Fabergas was playing through injury since the 15th minute how long is he due out for?

TheTownie

IvySlayer wrote: »

How often do Busquests and Mascherano start together btw?

Busquests is ahead of Mascherano in the pecking order hence Busquests starts and Mascherano doesn't. He plays if a player needs resting or is injured.

cson

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

Aggrieved - absolutely

Using it (as some have here) to state that Arsenal were winning 3-2 at the time therfore they would have won the tie if the sending off did not happen is just :eek:

I wouldn't think from reading the last few pages of the thread that people are saying Arsenal would have won but that they certainly would have had a better chance at 11 v 11. Chances are Barcelona would still have scored, and deservedly so in my opinion. Be that as it may sometimes the deserving team doesn't always win [look at Ireland v Italy in the 6 Nations]. I know I've watched games where Arsenal didn't deserve to win but do you say at the end of it "hey, you know what we didn't deserve the 3 points, lets share it 1 each" - of course not. If we had won I'd still say the same thing - Barcelona deserved it - but I'd still say you have to score the goals to win the game.

Mister men

cson wrote: »

Are you obsessed much? You did something very similar in the Milan - Spurs game a fortnight ago. Did North London fiddle you as a child or something?

I call it as i see it. If you don't like my opinion you know where the ignore button is.

Moving along i wonder if Wenger will buy some quality this Summer to man up his team. They are possibly two or three players away from a side capable of winning the Champions league i'd say.

cson

flahavaj wrote: »

I don't see how being from a bigger league necessarily means being a better ref tbh.

I'd agree - look at the shit that refs the PL most days.

TheTownie

daithijjj wrote: »

This is why walcott was such a massive loss to arsenal, if walcott was on there would have been far less abandon from 1 of the full backs. And also it would have given arsenal an outlet other than rosicky who was terminally bad throughout.

Ah sure the only reason Rosicky started was because he couldn't trust Arshavin to track back and do it diligently.

CR 7

CSF wrote: »

For me, the only risk he took was the risk of not scoring.A player should never do anything other than put the ball in the net no matter how they feel about whether they're offside until they hear the whistle, we'd all be up in arms if the whistle hadn't went up and he stopped.

That's the thing, the slight chance he might have seen the flag counts for nothing, until the whistle goes. There was no way he shot to waste time. The worst you could accuse him of is shooting out of frustration, but he was past the defenders and the keeper didn't act in any way to suggest he was offside. I'd say it's unlikely they'll take action about his interview, as anyone with a clue will see it was the wrong decision.

Interesting twitter posts by Cesc and WIlshere already:

@cesc4official
Cesc Fàbregas Soler
Great support from the arsenal fans. I take full blame for the result tonight. One of the worst moments of my life. I apologise.

@jack_wilshere
Jack Wilshere
Arsenal fans great as always! Sorry about the result,good luck to Barca,great team! Oh yeah and the ref was good aswell....

cson

everdead.ie wrote: »

I see Fabergas was playing through injury since the 15th minute how long is he due out for?

Cesc was playing tonight?

I jest, I doubt he was even 90% fit for the match and it showed

Headshot

flahavaj wrote: »

I don't see how being from a bigger league necessarily means being a better ref tbh.

Even the bigger league refs make a balls once in awhile but they are better than the likes of the swiss refs

Remember the WC where the refs were from the back of beyonds and were crap?

With the refs from the bigger leagues, they are trained better and able to handle the pressure better than the likes of a swiss ref

IvySlayer

Headshot wrote: »

Even the bigger league refs make a balls once in awhile but they are better than the likes of the swiss refs

Remember the WC where the refs were from the back of beyonds and were crap?

With the refs from the bigger leagues, they are trained better and able to handle the pressure better than the likes of a swiss ref

Phil Dowd. Mark Halsey. Mark Clattenburg.

That is all.

cson

Park Ji Sung wrote: »

Interesting twitter posts by Cesc and WIlshere already:

Clubs should have a Twitter ban on the day/night of matches to let the players cool off.

TheTownie

Mister men wrote: »

I call it as i see it. If you don't like my opinion you know where the ignore button is.

Moving along i wonder if Wenger will buy some quality this Summer to man up his team. They are possibly two or three players away from a side capable of winning the Champions league i'd say.

They've been two or three players away for years now.

Wenger strict policy on buying cheap players and/or youth players, while admirable and to an extent successful, is holding Arsenal back at this stage.

Headshot

IvySlayer wrote: »

Phil Dowd. Mark Halsey. Mark Clattenburg.

That is all.

I said the refs arent perfect, far from it but I would trust them more than a ref from a poor league

But that's my own personal view

Turtwig

cson wrote: »

Clubs should have a Twitter ban on the day/night of matches to let the players cool off.

Post match interviews are hazy too. Van Persie was clearly boiling and the interviewers were none too happy to goad him for it.

Desire to Aspire

I just saw the highlights of the match there. When I first heard about Van Persie's sending off, I thought "fair enough - it was probably a yellow card offence so he should go."

However, after seeing the replay, I think it is an absolute ****ing disgrace. In all fairness, it was one second between the whistle and the shot, and the crowd were very loud at that point. Van Persie was spot on in his post-match interview and his comments were fully justified. He'll probably end up being fined though.

Turtwig

Desire to Aspire wrote: »

I just saw the highlights of the match there. When I first heard about Van Persie's sending off, I thought "fair enough - it was probably a yellow card offence so he should go."

However, after seeing the replay, I think it is an absolute ****ing disgrace. In all fairness, it was one second between the whistle and the shot, and the crowd were very loud at that point. Van Persie was spot on in his post-match interview and his comments were fully justified. He'll probably end up being fined though.

Nah he wasn't. His comments were never justified. Calling the referee a joke is bad but saying he was joke even before his sending off decision was made is really asking for it.

TheTownie

IvySlayer wrote: »

Phil Dowd. Mark Halsey. Mark Clattenburg.

That is all.

Ah sure none of those clowns would be allowed ref an English team in the CL anyway.

flahavaj

Headshot wrote: »

Even the bigger league refs make a balls once in awhile but they are better than the likes of the swiss refs

Remember the WC where the refs were from the back of beyonds and were crap?

With the refs from the bigger leagues, they are trained better and able to handle the pressure better than the likes of a swiss ref

Judging by this season alone they're not training their refs half well enough tbh.

Whatever about refs from the Maldives and the likes getting world cup matches, I have no problem with refs from Denmark, Norway, Greece getting big CL matces as long as they're good enough. That Danish guy a few years back that looked like MacGyver was brilliant.

Some of the best refs in recent years have been from outside the big four leagues - its the same game with the same rules to be enforced anyway, no matter where you referee. Its not as if a Turkish ref or a Scottish ref wouldn't have difficult atmospheres in which to ref games. Limiting it to just English, Spanish, Italian and German refs would rule out a lot of extremely capable officials IMO. You'd actually end uuisng a lot of the poorer refs for sheer want of numbers from those countries - as opposed to the cream of the crop from each nation. Makes no sense to me.

Desire to Aspire

Malty_T wrote: »

Nah he wasn't. His comments were never justified. Calling the referee a joke is bad but saying he was joke even before his sending off decision was made is really asking for it.

Yeah, I didn't actually hear the full interview. Thought it was, but it was just the bit on the goal. Never heard that bit, disgraceful comments to be honest.

Desire to Aspire

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't there a referee from Uzbekistan in the World Cup who pretty decent?

TheTownie

flahavaj wrote: »

That Danish guy a few years back that looked like MacGyver was brilliant.

Anders Frisk. He was Swedish !



Edit: This is him doing his John Travolta impression! :pac:

Blatter

I think the crowd at the Nou Camp always play a major part in CL games. I couldn't imagine for one second how intimated refs feel going there.

This is the third time in recent memory in a big CL game at the Nou Camp, somebody was sent off.

Drogba - massive uproar, referee had to retire because of death threats.
Motta - last season, another joke of a decision.
RVP - Another clear joke, for all to see.

TheTownie

SOCCER4LIFE wrote: »

I think the crowd at the Nou Camp always play a major part in CL games.

You know what they say....

Win the crowd and you win your freedom ! :pac:

IvySlayer

I say FIFA needs to look at cloning Pierluigi Collina.

daithijjj

TheTownie wrote: »

Ah sure the only reason Rosicky started was because he couldn't trust Arshavin to track back and do it diligently.

Thats true but wengers hand was pushed into that decision. He basically had a choice of picking between 2 attackers for a defensive job. If he could have chosen walcott arsenal would have had pure pace down one side and barca couldnt have pushed up as much. They got entrenched because of no outlets, rosicky couldnt even hold onto the ball, at least walcott could have had a proper gallop at them on the counter.

Turtwig

TheTownie wrote: »

You know what they say....

Win the crowd and you win your freedom ! :pac:

By Dying.

UnitedIrishman

Referee's will always be prone to errors, even more so at the top where the pace of the game is ridiculous - I would not have liked to have been linesman tonight with the amount of runs being made by the Barcelona front three.

It could be a lot worse - Jack Taylor got to referee cup finals all the time in the past and he was exceptionally bad (according to a lot of former players) or a lot more were bribed etc. Very hard for that to happen these days without anyone knowing. The majority are honest at least - if slightly irratic.

TheTownie

IvySlayer wrote: »

I say FIFA needs to look at cloning Pierluigi Collina.

How could you clone those EYES ! The rest of it would be easy but those eyes are some crazy shít! :eek:

Turtwig

IvySlayer wrote: »

I say FIFA needs to look at cloning Pierluigi Collina.

Colina refereed the Czech Republic vs Greece in the semi finals of the euro's whenever Greece won it. Collina made some truly atrocious decisions in that game. Every referee has an off day and in fairness to this referee he's normally quite good.