BARCA GAME THREAD

[merse_10]

Why's everyone so nervous and excited? We're going to be thrashed, there's nothing to be nervous and excited about.

It's such a formality that I'm barely interested to be honest.

Then fuck off.

Blah blah blah, "fuck off and support da y**s" because I think Barcelona are far superior to us, heard it all before mate.

Now you can fuck off.

Why didnt you fuck off like I said. Dont make this mistake again.

anyone know the definition for the word supporter?

[Rob]

They had 71% possession SEVENTY ONE PER CENT[/b] !!!!!!!!!!! in the first half.

I don't think I've ever seen another team have that much possession against us. When we lose to say Chelsea, we normally have 71% but do nothing with it.

Amazing to think we are still in with a shout. Albeit a very faint one.

[slevinlacey]

What was the forums views on Barcas first goal??? As I was walking out had quite a strong debate with a fellow gooner who came across pretty rude.

Was discussing the goal and me and my dad both said defences fault but then Almunia has made it very easy for Zlatan. I didnt really want to push it too far as I had only seen it at the game. After watching the replay, why didnt Average stay on his line and make Zlatan beat him, by coming out he just made it easy for him.

Surely Al was partyl to be blame, even though he did have an amazing first half and kept us in the tie??????

[Nos89]

Men against boys in the 1st half. It seemed we were beat even before the 2 goals went in.I must admit I gave up hope (too soon maybe but I ve been watching Arsenal all my life.......)

Then Theo comes on and really scares them. Wow. More impact than he has had for ages.He must have a better chance for the World Cup now and that can only be good for Arsenal.

Gutted for Cesc missing the 2nd leg (and maybe more - eekkk ! )
Once again I was convinced he d miss the pen.

Perhaps I need to find some more faith in our boys ability to fight back. Esp.after the huge disappointment of Brum.

We are (incredibly) still in it.What a night !

Hardly men against boys, they didnt bully us off the pitch, they just out passed us. They worked incredibly hard when they didnt have the ball which is probably why in the last 20 minutes they faded and we got back into the game.

Totally agree with you PI7ES. It surprised me how hard they did work, especially Xavi. Even when he mis controlled the ball it still ended up with a Barca player- brilliant. Hope Diaby and Denilson took note. Well, we know we can score two goals against them, unbelievably we're still in this one

[Magic Hat]

Why's everyone so nervous and excited? We're going to be thrashed, there's nothing to be nervous and excited about.

It's such a formality that I'm barely interested to be honest.

You were barely interested in seeing the best team in the world coming to our ground?

Don't think Song is to blame for the 2 goals other then perhaps not communicating, felt Vermalen failed to do his job on both occasions, it was his man and the ball over his side.

Outclassed for 23 or so minutes, well done Almunia for keeping us in the tie almost single-handedly at that point, if we go through to the semi's then Almunia deserves a lot of credit for that. Found some short of shape and defensive discipline after that, couldn't get a grip in midfield but wasn't opened up. Going forward, Nasri and Bendtner were the only ones that looked like carrying any sort of threat. Felt we had done enough by half time to go in and have a go in second half so of course, we make a mess of it, cb and keeper not covering themselves in glory.

Second half was like the second part of the first, Arsenal defending well enough to prevent chances, Barca dominating the ball but oh a sloppy second to concede, what was Vermalen doing? Credit to Wenger for using the one sub slot left to great effect, Eboue and Walcott cuased problems even if the final ball was lacking and we required Valdes to hand us a lifeline. Once we had that goal, we showed the tempo we will need for the second leg, pushing at Barca and causing them problems.

Too many of our players were poor or patchy, good for brief moments then fading. Think our best player was Bendtner, with two assists, as he led the line well and was often one of the few outlets we had capable of taking the pressure off.

Can we get a result in Barca? We can but it will be very difficult and we can not afford such a horrific start again. Looking forward to it

[Swale_Gooner1985]

Playing half the game out of his usual position against the best team in the world, i thought he was excellent, thats my opinion!

he was not at fault for the first goal, he pushed Ibrahimovic out wide doing his job and then Almunia made it really easy for him by rushing out giving him something to shoot at!

[MK Gould]

Must be just me then, never celebrated much when we beat manure in fa cup for instance, always want best team to win i guess.

You're joking aren't you...? Please tell me you're joking.....

How many times have we had 60-70% possession and all the chances - and then been mugged. Think Michael Owen and Liverpool in the FAC Final in Cardiff....think Birmingham last weekend FFS. And how have we felt? Gutted! About time we did it to someone else. Imagine how Barca must feel....2-0 and they fucked it up!

I'd love for the best team to always win - which would have given us a hat full of trophies over the last 5 years. But life and football aint like that. I celebrated even more when we beat Utd on pens than if we'd beaten them 3-0 playing delightful football. And if we're as lucky/plucky next Tuesday as we were last night then I won't be complaining about the injustice....

PS I didn't see Barca offering to give up their semi final place last season after being outclassed by Chavs and only getting through via dodgy refereeing!

[lincs123]

Magic Hat your completely wrong mate. Song was at fault for both goals last night. Although he is not a centre back so a mistake was likely. If we had a bigger squad then we wouldnt have had to put him there. Should a first team centre back get injured Man utd can call upon Evans and Brown, Chelsea can call upon Invanovic, Alex etc.
Squad is too thin and it showed last night.

[donaldo]

Playing half the game out of his usual position against the best team in the world, i thought he was excellent, thats my opinion!

he was not at fault for the first goal, he pushed Ibrahimovic out wide doing his job and then Almunia made it really easy for him by rushing out giving him something to shoot at!

While TV and Clichy pushed up Song played Ibrahimovich onside for both goals.

[dreadai]

For both of their goals, TV was marking Messi, Song lost Zlatan. Not unexpected given he is a midfielder, not a world class centre half. In point of fact, I was impressed that after the first 20-30 minutes, Messi was given no time or space by our team. Maybe they were focusing so hard on negating that threat that they forgot about route 1 football?
After all with Thierry leading the line, the ball over the top doesn't work, but with the 6'10 Ibrahimovic there, it can do.

[Number 5]

Playing half the game out of his usual position against the best team in the world, i thought he was excellent, thats my opinion!

he was not at fault for the first goal, he pushed Ibrahimovic out wide doing his job and then Almunia made it really easy for him by rushing out giving him something to shoot at!

While TV and Clichy pushed up Song played Ibrahimovich onside for both goals.

Whilst I would give Song the benefit for Goal 1 as if the Keeper stayed where he was Song was in a decent-ish position to block any shot or make a clean tackle, Goal 2 was much clearer to see Song culpable.

I noticed that after the 2nd goal from where I was behind the goal, Vermaelen explaining to Song that when he pushes up to his man, Song has to come round and cover him. In essence, anticipate rather than react.

I do wonder if this was mentioned at HT too and not just after the goal as judging by Wenger's post match comments his HT team talk would have been all about getting closer and tighter with the marking.

[Dan_85]

First chance i've had to post since the game... Barca were simply awesome, especially in the first half - a privilege to watch. We owe Almunia a lot for keeping us in it first half. Granted I thought we gave them too much space to play in but the way they zip it around with such speed & accuracy we could have ended up chasing shadows had we tried to close them down at every opportunity. Basically they play the way we aim to, just 10 times better!

Second half was better, especially after Theo's introduction. They seemed to tire a bit from 70 mins onwards & their back four being slightly older had trouble with Theo's pace. Cesc was heroic. Clearly not fit & you knew there was no way he was gonna miss the game or go off after scoring with just 5 mins left. Was nice to see Thierry again, great reception but didn't do a lot. He looked pretty emotional at the end.

We could easily have shipped 10 goals last night but it was a great performance to pull it back. Not many people will expect us to progress in the Nou Camp so I guess we can go there with a bit of the pressure off & who knows what might happen!

[littlefire]

Was nice to see Thierry again, great reception but didn't do a lot. He looked pretty emotional at the end.

[Swale_Gooner1985]

Playing half the game out of his usual position against the best team in the world, i thought he was excellent, thats my opinion!

he was not at fault for the first goal, he pushed Ibrahimovic out wide doing his job and then Almunia made it really easy for him by rushing out giving him something to shoot at!

While TV and Clichy pushed up Song played Ibrahimovich onside for both goals.

Go and watch the second goal again, Song pushed up to try to catch him offside and it was Clichy that played him on, have a look

[MK Gould]

I think you can end up over analysing it. Surely someone is ALWAYS to blame when a goal is scored......that's what Alan Hansen says anyway!

Fact is that we should have been stuffed out of sight last night and weren't so we should all praise the lord and enjoy the fact that we actually have a chance of progressing to the semi's..... !!