***The Official Arsenal Gunners" Thread***

[rsnomar05]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

I have a feeling it'll be just that, except Denilson in place of Diaby.

Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised to see Denilson in there at all.

I know Song is a vital piece of our lineup and having a holding middy would help, but if I were Wenger I'd have Wilshere, Cesc, and Nasri be the midfield with Rosicky and Arshavin out wide. I'm just not confident in Denilson enough right now to trust his holding midfield skills.

[Krebstar]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised to see Denilson in there at all.

I know Song is a vital piece of our lineup and having a holding middy would help, but if I were Wenger I'd have Wilshere, Cesc, and Nasri be the midfield with Rosicky and Arshavin out wide. I'm just not confident in Denilson enough right now to trust his holding midfield skills.

I agree. I'd much rather put Wilshere in Song's spot and perhaps have Cesc play back a bit further to help him, while letting Nasri roam forward and even going to the win and switching with Rosicky.

[ZM Punk]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

I would much rather see Diaby in over Denilson.

Both have been non factors this season but at least with Diaby you know that he has that chance to have a brilliant game every once and awhile.

[Krebstar]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

I would much rather see Diaby in over Denilson.

Both have been non factors this season but at least with Diaby you know that he has that chance to have a brilliant game every once and awhile.

Yeah, if it comes down to the two of them, I'd rather see Diaby. His physical size and strength on the ball could definitely be an asset. Sadly, I think we'll see Denilson picked. Perhaps he can put one of those fantastic curling shots in.

[Krebstar]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/mar/07/pep-guardiola-jack-wilshere-arsenal

Guardiola claims Barca have "many players" in their second team that are just like Jack Wilshere. Right...I bet so.

Oh, he also doesn't think Arsenal are under any pressure to win trophies. Interesting, because I sure feel like we are.

Lastly, he claims Wenger doesn't sell his best players, such as Wilshere or that Fabregas guy that they continuously try and get. Because we wouldn't sell him, ya know. Hooray for getting some laughs before the game.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/feb/21/barcelona-arsenal-jack-wilshere?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487

[Altimus]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

Edit:

Haha, wrong thread.

[Krebstar]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

Best of luck, boys.

I can't watch, so I'm waiting to hear anything about the game until after I watch the replay tonight on FSC. Work can not get over quick enough.

[rsnomar05]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

This is much better attacking flow from Arsenal in the second half. Hopefully they keep it up.

Edit: Red card, seriously? There is no way Van Persie could have heard that whistle. Absolute BS. RVP shouldn't have gotten the first yellow, but still, this is crap.

[Other Guy]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

This is much better attacking flow from Arsenal in the second half. Hopefully they keep it up.

Edit: Red card, seriously? There is no way Van Persie could have heard that whistle. Absolute BS. RVP shouldn't have gotten the first yellow, but still, this is crap.

Complete BS. After replay, they said there was 1 second between whistle and kick.

[rsnomar05]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

Complete BS. After replay, they said there was 1 second between whistle and kick.

Yeah, and it completely changed the face of the game. Barca weren't going to lose down a man.

[darweezee]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

Clear robbery, 17 (Barca plus referees) v 10.

A soft red card to Van Persie, c'mon, I barely heard the Champions League anthem before game's start and you expect him to hear a whistle.

I will be bitterly disappointed if we don't finish with a trophy, any trophy. Still crossing my fingers for the Premiership and FA Cup.

[KG]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

Yeah, and it completely changed the face of the game. Barca weren't going to lose down a man.

It didn't change the game. He barely got any touches when he was in there. It would have hurt more had it gone to ET. Ya'll were playing with fire the whole time with a high line knowing that Villa, Pedro, Alves, and Messi were timing their runs. Without closing down it was only a matter of time before Iniesta and Xavi picked the lock.

Now I'm not saying his red was just.

[~LiverpoolRed~]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

It's a dislocated finger for Szczesny. That could be a lengthy stay on the sidelines for a goalkeeper. I've seen outfield players return relatively quickly from that sort of injury but not from goalkeepers who use their hands all the time. A plus out of all that is that I thought Almunia played pretty well especially in the second half.

[misterbroom12]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

That red card was unbelievable. Never have I seen such a soft call in my life. While he wasn't on the ball to often or defending much it still changed the game immensely. We had 10 men behind the ball and had RvP as an outlet option and as someone who kept the defense for Barca honest. With that awful card and 10 men, there was no threat from us at all and allowed Barca to pour on the pressure even more. Very proud of how well we defended for the most part and Almunia was immense. Hard enough to beat Barca, even harder when they have an extra teammate who is holding a whistle.

[Krebstar]

Re: ***The Official Arsenal "Gunners" Thread***

It didn't change the game. He barely got any touches when he was in there. It would have hurt more had it gone to ET. Ya'll were playing with fire the whole time with a high line knowing that Villa, Pedro, Alves, and Messi were timing their runs. Without closing down it was only a matter of time before Iniesta and Xavi picked the lock.

Now I'm not saying his red was just.

To say it didn't change the game is foolish and you know it. Come on, man. Going down to 10 men doesn't change a game? Despite their dominance in possession, losing your best goal scorer and a threat which makes the already shaky Barca CB's stay back changes the game.

Do I think we would've won if RVP stayed on? We had a better chance, but it was still going to be a small one.

Also, I'm not saying it cost us the game, because it did not, but the refereeing in general was an absolute and utter comedy show. It started off with Alves' tackle on Nasri in the first half. He won the ball, but then blatantly clamped his legs together forcing Nasri down. I believe that has been known as a scissor tackle all season. Winning the ball and then fouling someone is still a foul. But I expect nothing else from the classless pile of **** that is Alves.

Second, it seemed as if players were allowed to just clatter into each other all game, while then falling over each other and nothing was called. This goes for both sides. The refereeing continued to be a joke.

Then, RVP's red card. People can argue all ****ing day and night about whether or not his sending off impacted the game, but it was not a red card. Period. That rule is meant for time wasting. Cases where it's evident a player is simply kicking a ball away knowingly. RVP was taking a shot on goal.

As for his first yellow, I have no issue with him wanting to lash out at someone after Abidal grabbed him by the throat and shoved him. Where was the red card on that? Perhaps that would've changed the game. ****ing joke.

Bottom line is Barca played exceptionally well, but there were calls and missed calls throughout the game that had an impact on it. More than they should have.

While I would love to beat Barca, as I loathe them, our exit in this competition was inevitable. I'd much rather focus on the league, which we have a real chance of winning. We were never going to win the CL this season, so I'd rather be out now than suffer a loss later in the competition.