Unlucky Arsenal

[Lee H]

just a real shame that the keeper got sent off so soon

Nah not really.

If you go for the last man you need to make sure you get the BALL, not dive in his way blocking his route, thus causing him to dive theatrically and ensure the keeper gets sent off. It happens to all clubs at one point or another, just a shame it was so soon after kick-off but there has been earlier.

Fingers crossed next year we'll (the UK in general) have more teams in the champions league, and I've just read that celtic have got in due to arsenal getting beat. That's a bonus if we've ever seen one

[Anders]

thats probably more to do with the alcohol than the football.

Weatherspoons seems to attract yobs. Like anything, e.g. the Police, football supporters will mirror the demographic of the general population. Shame we can’t vet people before allowing them into games (and the Police!)

Lehmann was the last man, red card I’m afraid. The ref was pretty poor though. Why was advantage not played?

[chicken]

It's normally fine, apart from the odd bit of trouble on a Friday/Saturday night, but then considering the number of people in on those nights, even that amount is pretty low. Put one football match on on a wednesday night (which would normally be a quiet night) and the place just explodes!

I'm probably overreacting a bit here to this thread because last night annoyed me, but the main reason for all the violence was exactly the kind of comment that this thread starts with. People mocking the losing side, rather than spending their efforts congratulating the winners.

[jackvdbuk]

i was ecstatic when they scored.... seeing as i placed 25 smackers on them to win damn.... they should of won really

[Clunk]

its a good job we arent in a witherspoons full of drunken idiots then isnt it?

[JimmyBoy]

personally, once every other english team had gone, i was hoping arsenal would do it, but even so:

[Clunk]

haha excellent mate

[pp05]

Arsenal played well but it was a tall order against a possession side like Barca.

[jackvdbuk]

well they did have 10 men for like 7/8 of the game

[Raz316]

Im proud of them, yeah we could have scored more, but my god scoring with 10 men against arguably the best team in the world is fantastic.

Oh and as for that mastercard thing, as of 2pm today that'll mean jack ****

[FarmerJon]

TBH the goons fought hard, but were more than a little lucky despite all their claims of being hard done by...the Barca goal should have stood AS WELL as Lehman going off (try playing an open game with 10 men against barca...i can promise you it won't be so close) & their goal came from the worst dive of the night from Eboue (which considering Deco was on the pitch is pretty impressive!). Henry appears to be staying, but you still have problems...Lehman's getting on now, and with Bergkamp and Pires off & several of your others stars another year older I doubt that you'll have another champs league run like that next year....ah well one man team even more then!

[Raz316]

I agree, we werent hard done by, the sending off was fair (yeah they probably should of had the goal too) and eboue's dive was indeed embarrassing. I doubt we will do as well in the champions league next year but at the same time there is no reason to think such a thing.

Pires hasnt quite left yet, and bergkamp this year has only really made cameo appearances so, as much as i love the guy, it isnt that much of a loss. Our defence is coming together well and alot of our younger players are coming through nicely too, this team will be together for a while im hoping.

[Clingy]

How annoying

I dont like Man U (and hate Alex F), but clearly remember being delighted when they won. I am astonished at the delight some people are showing because they lost???

Lets face it...what team do you support? Cause Arsenal (who I also historically dislike) did one helluva lot better than your team. Well done to them and they were only 15 minutes from being crowned the best team in Europe.

[Kebab]

TBH the goons fought hard, but were more than a little lucky despite all their claims of being hard done by...the Barca goal should have stood AS WELL as Lehman going off (try playing an open game with 10 men against barca...i can promise you it won't be so close) & their goal came from the worst dive of the night from Eboue (which considering Deco was on the pitch is pretty impressive!). Henry appears to be staying, but you still have problems...Lehman's getting on now, and with Bergkamp and Pires off & several of your others stars another year older I doubt that you'll have another champs league run like that next year....ah well one man team even more then!

Rules do allow for the goal and the red card to stand, but no one has called for it, even Blatter, the head of the Footballing Authority called for a yellow as the goal is deemed punishment enough.
Eboue dived,fair enough, but Henry getting a card for being kicked by Van Bommel, I guess that was very lucky for Arsenal, oh and Puyol and Marquez, constantly pushing, shirt pulling and kicking Henry without a yellow card was very lucky for Arsenal too. Actually, not winning the CL was very lucky as well, because something worse could have happened should we have been unlucky. I guess we could have eaten lasagna or something.

Lets see tottenahm play 10 men against 11 (12) man Barca, oh wait, yeah you would need to be in the CL first.

Even with Bergkamp or Pires going we have cover. Actually, bergkamp played 10 games this season, including subs. So him going wont make that much difference. He was a great great player, but becaus of his age he didnt have a great impact this season.

And several others leaving? Did you make that up? Or are you saying that in your capacity as the 3rd best keeper in the premiership?

A part from ashley cole, no one of note is considered to be leaving. And even then, seeing Cole's attitude on the pitch, I am convinced he will stay.

[FarmerJon]

If you bothered to read what I wrote you'll see that I said some of your stars are a year OLDER, the only ones i mentioned leaving were Pires & Bergkamp...its possible Cole will, but it strikes me that he may well be the kind of guy to go on a Bosman in a couple of years time & pick up the cash for himself....In terms of players being older, I include Campbell in there & Ljungberg too, both of which are gradually fading away in terms of their ability. I would probably add Lehman to that list too come to think of it. you do have some players who will improve (eboue and senderos at the back in particular and a little spanish kid in the middle of the park too), but on the whole you guys need some serious expenditure if you're thinking of anything above 4th next year & I don't believe you'll have as easy as time of it in the CL either, since you'll have to qualify. Also, by the end of the year half of your players were knackered...how do you think Henry's going to be after a worldcup followed by CL qualifying before the english season starts? Gerrard JUST managed it, but i think we'd all agree he's about as amazingly fit as they come...
Oh, and in terms of Sepp Blatter i don't think he should be considered exactly an authority on the laws of the game...its HIS tinkering with some of them that have helped lead to the offside rule being rubbish. The people to look at are referees....look at Jeff Winters comments on the subject & then have a think... and yeah Henry was tackled badly a few times & certainly shouldn't have had a yellow, but Ronaldinho hardly got an easy time of it now did he?

[Kebab]

Well the only team that can afford not to spend anything to progress next season is chelsea. Arsenal wont allow Cole to leave on bosman, so they will sell him before he does that. But I think (well I hope) he will sign the new deal that is in fron tof him.

In terms of spending: another striker or attacking midfielder, and a keeper would be the areas where we need to spend. And even then I am sure Van Persie, and Adebayor willl be v good strikers to compensate for Henry's abscences. At the back we have cover, Campbell and Senderos are fighting it out and when campbell leaves, there is Djourou and Hoyte waiting. Both of whom have had premiership experience this season and played very well. Lehmann will have his last season next year I think so yeah we do need another Keeper, Robinson would nt be a bad choice, so lets hope he comes to his senses and crosses the road.

But Even with the team we have now, we have more than enough quality to finish 4th, and if we have more luck with injuries than we ve had the past two seasons then we could even push for 2nd.

And if you want to be in the top 6-7 you guys still need decent wingbacks, and quality cover for your midfield, Carrick, Lennon and Tainio are or will be quality but, Davids is uber old, Jenas is not worth the price you ve paid for him as you said, and that's it there is no one else (well Huddlestone still has to play in the premiership). You also need a a 20+goal a season striker, Berbatov could be that guy provided you don't cripple him, and he still will need 6 month to adjust, so in all probability he wont score 20 next season.