RSSLuck, more than anything, costs Arsenal. Report and player ratings
Blameless for the first three, looked like he had charged back towards goal and not got his positioning right for the fourth.
7
Got forward really well at times, especially early on. Caught out for the penalty, but was so unlucky.
7
Beaten in the air for the second but overall read the game well.
6.5
Punished so harshly for falling asleep on the second, will regret not sticking tighter to Torres for the second. Used to be relied on as the Champions League man, that mask slipped.
5
Got a bit of grief down the left early on, perhaps not helped by the not always reliable Diaby. But tore forward, got in one great cross and was his usual excellent self.
7
We had ceased to dominate before he went off, but losing our most energetic midfielder certainly did us no favours. Excellent early on.
7.5
Fantastic early on as we tore Liverpool apart and got the goal we deserved. Worked really hard all night and was so unlucky to be a loser.
7.5
So dangerous in our start, Liverpool could not get near him and he set up Diaby for the opener. Then put Adebayor in with a magnificent curving ball for the crucial missed chance.
7.5
Initially unrecognisable from the player of recent weeks. Then, like Diaby, faded. And I’m afraid that when his chance came in the second half, he simply wasn’t up to it, shanking needlessly into the side netting when he had all the time in the world to square for a perfectly placed Adebayor. Has been found wanting at the big moments.
6
This guy on the other hand can at least boast four goals this season and he had a lot to do to turn his early chance into a goal. Really good first half, faded later, but not a bad night.
7
At the heart of all our early work, his confidence appeared to have returned. His later miss and subsequent goals spoke for themselves really. Was the miss one of those things that happen to all strikers? Or was it just not good enough?
6.5
Can’t really be faulted for his effort after coming on and it was certainly not one of his worst performances.
7
Initially got involved, then struggled.
6
What an incredible run. Perhaps we didn’t get it to him enough, but pass it his way every time and teams will just put three men on him. It’s a balance.
7.5
Liverpool 4 Arsenal 2 (Agg 5-3)
By Goodplaya, in footballistic agony.
IF refereeing decisions really do even themselves out over the course of a season, then we should be in for one hell of a treat over the last five games.
In what started off as one of those things at Birmingham, last night we were once again robbed, simple as that.
The best I normally wish for Chelsea Football Club is immediate death.
But for one two legged tie I hope and pray they pound that shower of flukey, league shirking, fourth place, history surfing, not mounted a title challenge for 17 years, Scouse chancers into the oblivion their season merits.
My brother tells me I’ll see sense in the cold light of day but right now that Liverpool victory feels utterly hollow and I want them to pay.
Elsewhere on the internet, I’ve been reading grandstanding pieces about how Arsenal are flawed, Arsene doesn’t have it, the youth approach does not work etc bloody etc.
And in the papers you will read little about our character to get back to 2-2 and everything about glory Anfield nights because tight deadlines require conclusions to be filed on 80 minutes and when the penalty canceled out Adebayor’s leveller it was so much easier to stick to the glory Liverpool line than tear things up to incorporate plucky, unlucky Arsenal.
But if you’re looking for someone to agree with all the above then you’re in the wrong place because I simply can’t.
By all means, try to comprehend how Bendtner blocked the ball a week ago, scrutinise Senderos’ marking, pore over Adeabyor’s missed chance and wonder why Kolo was turned by Babel.
But the truth is the reason we are out and Liverpool are through is a great whopping dollop of luck.
A week ago Alex Hleb danced his way through on goal and when Kuyt went to tackle him, it was as blatant a penalty as you will ever see. Last night Ryan Babel was a yard inside the box when Kolo Toure made fleeting contact as he tried everything he could to get out the way.
It was a three out of ten penalty at best, but out came the arm and in came salvation for Liverpool. Make no mistake, these are not small gripes. They are two decisions, both wrong, that decided a tie that over 180 minutes, we had the better of.
People will fall back on the easy cliche that we lack the mentality for big European nights. Funny that, I obviously dreamed that San Siro game.
The truth is that in 90 minutes we scored twice as many goals at Anfield as god’s very own Jose Mourinho managed across two semi-finals. Where we made mistakes, we made mistakes. Youth had not a great deal to do with it.
We started outstandingly and for once took our chance and got our goal. Then when we were pegged back thanks to poor marking and an outstanding header we weathered the storm and the game plateaued before we conceded to just about Liverpool’s only other chance - a well taken goal that might have been better defended.
One goal was still enough to take us through, but at Anfield, that’s no easy feat, especially after when a chance comes, your star striker misses a sitter.
But people forget (and it’s to the shame of many of the more critical Arsenal fans that it took Clive bloody Tyldesley of all people to point it out), that time and time again we have shown incredible spirit to fight back and get the goal when we have needed it.
And we got it. Theo Walcott’s balls dropped when he didn’t so much charge through the midfield as through the entire Liverpool attack, midfield and defence before squaring for Adebayor who scored. For a second you felt it was as if the earlier chance had been the one Michael Thomas had missed at 1-0 19 years ago and that like Thomas, Adebayor had not passed up the second opportunity.
Then luck struck. Sure, Kolo should not have been turned and might not have been had he been at centre-back.
But I’ve looked at it again and I just don’t think it is a penalty. All Kolo is ever trying to do is to get out the way. Nothing more and the contact is slight. I’m not saying their man dived because he didn’t, but sometimes players come together and just because they do, it’s not necessarily a foul. What is even more gutting is that Gallas was there to thump the ball straight out of play.
From memory, it was cheaper than any penalty I can think we have had this season and at the other end it would never have been given.
Forget five times, forget Rafa Benitez the tactical genius. Over two legs the reason Liverpool progressed was by luck, pure and simple. That can happen in cup competitions and it is the reason why they rely on them and we dare to aspire higher.
You do wonder if we’ll ever get a decision again. We have not had a single vaguely generous decision for yonks, while everything that could have gone against us, has.
The only thing I’ll say about the fourth goal is: Jim Beglin, go f**k yourself. Seriously, do.
Jim, in case you missed it, came out with the immortal line “Well, I guess the penalty does not matter so much now.” Now, I readily accept our play is sometimes cavalier. But even we might just have had someone other than Cesc Fabregas between the edge of the Liverpool area and Manuel Almunia’s goal had we not been chasing the game specifically because of that penalty.
As Arsenal fans, we have a choice. We can either go along with the bullshit spouted by the pundits who revel in Arsene Wenger’s misfortune. They are the ones who conveniently forget how they penciled us in for fifth and are now judge anything less than first as failure.
Or we can try to look at it with a cool, pragmatic, realistic head. We can ask the very real question as to why it was that we cracked pretty comprehensively when five points clear - while still acknowledging that with five games left we are six points off first.
You can ask if fickleness cost us at Anfield but at the same time remember the utterly deserved two leg win over Milan.
You can ask whether we can improve our striking, while remembering we have scored more than Chelsea and only seven fewer than rampant United.
You can say we need to buy good, experienced players - while not spouting the tripe that Arsene only buys nobodies when in fact Baptista, Gallas, Rosicky, Eduardo, Sagna and Diarra are six of the last eight players to have arrived at the club.
Yes, it’s almost certainly now three years without a trophy. But a decade ago we began three barren years and they ended with a double and the Invincibles two years later.
Yes, I am bitterly, bitterly disappointed. But I just can’t see what there is to achieve by lashing out at anything and everything. Were we a hopeless shower then fair enough. We’re not.
No football team is perfect and just as you want to criticise our players for mistakes so Liverpool will be asking how Adebayor got so free in the first leg, what Reina was doing for the opener last night and why Walcott ran past five players.
That is football. I just think that on the big decisions, we were outrageously unlucky over the two legs and that is what settled the tie, wrongly, in Liverpool’s favour.
It was hard to ask for more from the players.
9 April 2008 at 8:57 am
unless ‘luck’ means defense and liabilities on the field, i think you are mistaken
9 April 2008 at 9:00 am
in all likelihood we will end up with nothing to show for this season but i feel there are a lot of lessons to be learnt. for starters wenger will have to forget playing the same individuals week in week out. the epl is too long and strenous you cant expect some1 to go the distance without taking a breather. our defnce also needs a change by getting people who complement each other not similar individuals. i also feel we need good old wingers and we must ply pple in their right positions. well its sad whats happened to us but we can learn from our mistakes!!!
9 April 2008 at 9:03 am
4 games played against Liverpool this season , for all that so called superior football of Arsenals they failed to win ANY of those 4 games. So much for superior football.
*waits for all the arsenal “yea buts” to come*
9 April 2008 at 9:06 am
No buts. You won one through a dodgy penalty.
And for all the failings of our league campaign it was better than any you have had in 17 years.
9 April 2008 at 9:06 am
‘luck’ in this instance means when referring decisions go in favour of one team rather than the other which has the impact of deciding the winner of the tie. Key decisions: the two penalties and Mascherano staying on the pitch for 90 minutes, simply ridiculous.
9 April 2008 at 9:09 am
Thanks Goodplaya for saying many things we wanted to say.
We carried the game to Liverpool at Anfield and if the gods had been kinder, we would have been through.
Ade did well to score, and played a major part in our first goal. To criticise him for the one(s) he missed would be unjust.
Hleb made one glorious assist for Diaby and made one defense splitting pass that Ade failed to capitalise on. Again, criticising Hleb would be unfair.
Walcott did his bit with a fantastic run to set up our second goal. Tactically, Wenger got it right to bring him on as an impact sub.
I’m gutted but my support for Arsenal continues to be unwavering.
9 April 2008 at 9:17 am
The season before Arsenal went the entire league season undefeated, they led the table for most of the season but eventually lost to Man U, partly due to complacency and also because some of Man U’s opponents throwing their matches away (eg Liverpool 0-4, Newcastle 1-5). As we all know by now, the next season Arsenal played with much vengence and went through the entire season undefeated.
Remember Bayern Munich ? After a totally “against-the-play” result against Man U in the 1999 CL final, they won the title the following season (or was it the two seasons later.)
Let’s use this season’s injustice to spur Arsenal on next season. There should be extra motivation and fire for Arsenal the next season, starting from the first game. The sense of injustice can be utilised the power and fire to win next season’s titles.
9 April 2008 at 9:20 am
Nice try at winding us up “Hats off”, why don’t your blokes go and mount a league challenge in the next decade if they’re so wonderful. And it was you that won the game for Liverpool wasn’t it? You were that bloke Torres who scored Liverpool’s second goal weren’t you? Oh you weren’t? Funny that. In that case it’s an outstanding achievement in life sir, coming onto an Arsenal blog and proclaiming that your greatest success in your life is that you support the club that beat ours. Your parents must be proud.
Nice segue that to what I want to say, I’m proud of our players. That’s the way football rolls sometimes, we didn’t get what we deserved. I didn’t mind so much the incident with Hleb in the first leg, even though it appeared a penalty I just think they need to be stonewall to be given.
Which is why it’s so gutting that we got a referee in the secong leg who was either influenced by the crowd or truly does not understand the game of football. Getting in a tangle of legs (due at least to some of your own clumsiness) at the edge of the box when you do not have control of the ball and there are covering defenders (and hence NO possibility of a goal being scored) is not a 3 out of 10 penalty, it’s a 0 out of 10 penalty.
So from that point of view, we would be fickle to be anything but proud of our players and should not be calling for their heads (although a better right sided midfielder may be a transfer target, please?). We don’t need to gut this squad, we need to augment it. I’ve enjoyed the season immensely, tonight hurt because for 60 wonderful seconds the team the media wrote off as the 10th best in England was in the CL semi finals. But I’m certainly not downhearted by the future, we are the Arsenal, and we will win again, I believe soon.
9 April 2008 at 9:26 am
today i think luck was not on their side but i guess wenger needs to bolster both the defence and forward
9 April 2008 at 9:27 am
Sorry to continue my rant, but I forgot to mention that I again watched the game before work with my Liverpool supporting mate, two excited blokes up at the crack of dawn in Australia who enjoyed a hell of a game, hanging shit on each other as the goals flew in, really enjoying a pulsating contest…
And then the penalty. He couldn’t look me in the eye. There was no pay out, no stirring me up, he knew full well what had happened. He patted me on the back after the game and told me “he didn’t know what to say, he hated games being ruined like that”.
Goodplaya, don’t let your anger over tonight blind you towards the greater evil. We do want Liverpool to do Chelsea over. I couldn’t bear to think those blue bastards would be the first London club to win the CL with their blood money. I’m conflicted, but I will be supporting Liverpool, the lesser of two evils.
9 April 2008 at 9:27 am
I have to agree with everything you say here, Goodplaya.
The person I feel most sorry for is Wenger. He’s led the charge this season, forging his own path in a unique way with dignity and respect for the game of football.
Sure he’s made mistakes. I don’ think the squad is deep enough, and we do appear to be lacking in central defence and on the wings. But we’ve been undone in both the PL and CL this season by atrocious decisions, whether it’s penalties for/against, or offside decisions.
Now we’ll all have to put up with the moronic garbage from the press (and sections of our own fans) about how Wenger’s youth policy has failed/lack of experience/no bottle etc, yawn yawn yawn.
Here’s hoping we win the rest of our games this season. Travelling to old trafford is now going to be a massive ask…
9 April 2008 at 9:39 am
i’m afraid if we continue performing like this then arsenal fc will always be a breeding ground for other established players and clubs
9 April 2008 at 9:43 am
Well said Will 2000. Wenger has “led the charge this season, forging his own path in a unique way with dignity and respect for the game of football.”
I have tremendous respect for Wenger and what he stands for, including many quotable quotes or jibes like “financial doping” practised in another part of London.
9 April 2008 at 9:44 am
great article, sums it up very nicely for me
9 April 2008 at 9:46 am
As everyone I am gutted but we will be back, no one expected us to be anywhere close to where we’ve got this season.
We only need a few tweaks (and a little luck) in the team to get us over the wall.
9 April 2008 at 9:47 am
Oh, get a life. It’s only a game.
9 April 2008 at 9:52 am
Great post Goodplaya. It is good to read a proper perspective on the game after reading the crap in the newspapers.
In cup games, you need a bit of luck and we had lousy luck in these games. I’m sure people will talk about how you “make your own luck” or whatever, but the bottom line is that two penalty decisions over two games will cost any team. You can possibly make stuff up over the course of a league season but in these kinds of games, it’s a killer blow.
I’m proud of this team though–they fought hard, they gave it their all, and were unlucky to come up short. The transformation from last year to this year is nothing short of remarkable and we have a lot of positives to take into the summer.
9 April 2008 at 9:53 am
Luck or not we need to tighten our defence and this summer sud see us buying new players. Again Theo -fantastic, right to pass the ball to him as he draws defenders.We need to sort our the ‘liabilities’ and bring new faces in. Shudder to think that L’pool might beat us to third spot.
9 April 2008 at 10:08 am
If there was ever an argument for a fourth official (tv ref) this is it. How does a team get shafted by 3 major decisions in 7 days!!!
Its a joke, and not a good advert for CL officials. But typical that Benitez will be praised for being the twat that he is, I hope Liverpool get smashed ,and lose their 4th spot to Everton.
9 April 2008 at 10:10 am
The biggest problem is - we can find spirit only when we are in a losing position (0:0 at Chels, 0:1 vs. Liverpool home x2, 0:0 at Anfields, 1:2 at anfield), whenever the current result on the screen is good for us (1:0 at Chels, 1:0 at Anfield, 1:1 at Anfield), we do not know what to do and give the initiative fully to the opponents.
9 April 2008 at 10:10 am
Also, please let Walcott start every game till the end of the season, Im tired of seeing Eboue make crap crosses and offer nothing to the team.
9 April 2008 at 10:20 am
Good stuff as usual, goodplaya.
And fuck the media, we are the Arsenal.
Keep the faith.
9 April 2008 at 10:20 am
OOOHHHH We’re all a bit bitter aren’t we!?
Liverpool won because we scored 5 over the 2 legs compared to your 3. plain and simple.
all of you wishing Liverpool to crash and burn are only hidding the fact that it is Arsenal who have crashed and burnt. BIG TIME.
Stop wollowing in you own self pitty and show some class. you’re all taking the lead of your whinning manager. petulant. as if no one has the right to beat you. hard luck. you had the league wrapped up, but self destructed, you got hammered at OT 4 - 0. We managed 3 - 0 with 10 men. poor old arsenal!
My heart bleads.
NOT
YNWA!
9 April 2008 at 10:31 am
I think the main thing we all need to remember is we all love watching arsenal play !
the future is very bright and the only old players likely to retire in the next 4 years is gallas and gilberto !
try same the same about united ,liverpool and chelsea.
Its often over used but Wenger knows!
and I think 0 trophys in 3 years is a small price to pay for having a big new stadium and a great squad of youngsters.
Arsenal WILL be around for a very long time and financially are the most secure in the premiership (very important bearing in mind the cost of borrowing at the moment )
9 April 2008 at 10:33 am
Well we will see this sunday in our League game
at OT ….
lest we forget as we crashed out of the FA cup ….
Liverpool lost to barnsley !!
haha
what a joke
9 April 2008 at 10:34 am
“Liverpool lost to barnsley !!”
And Arsenal lost to Liverpool
the joke my nameless friend, is on you!
der der der der der der der deeeeeeerrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!
9 April 2008 at 10:35 am
When you walk through a storm
hold your head up high
And don’t be afraid of the dark.
At the end of a storm is a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark.
Walk on through the wind,
Walk on through the rain,
Tho’ your dreams be tossed and blown.
Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart
And you’ll never walk alone,
You’ll never, ever walk alone.
Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart
And you’ll never walk alone,
You’ll never, ever walk alone.
9 April 2008 at 10:36 am
erm….yea quite clearly thats how it works !
shows how much you know about football
you confusing your competions her !!
9 April 2008 at 10:36 am
x2 ynwa!!
9 April 2008 at 10:37 am
“erm….yea quite clearly thats how it works !
shows how much you know about football
you confusing your competions her !!”
not really, I know it’s not really a comparison. but the joke IS on arsenal. and im laughing.
9 April 2008 at 10:37 am
And we are all still waiting to hear that whilest stevie g and torres were playing you theiving scouse c*nts were breaking into their houses and robbing them!!
9 April 2008 at 10:38 am
BUT I do hope you stuff UTD! lol
9 April 2008 at 10:38 am
You will never walk alone !!!
its far to hard to carry the plasma screen tv
9 April 2008 at 10:39 am
the only people ‘robbed’ last night where arsenal if you believe you’re whinning lot.
9 April 2008 at 10:39 am
I think there is nothing better than someone who gets lucky and wins something then feels the need to go and gloat
9 April 2008 at 10:41 am
James you are a dimwitted, charmless twit. I am sure you are one of those people that thought you would be challenging for top spot this season and we would be struggling for fourth. It didn’t work out like that though. For this fresh young Arsenal team 2008 has been an annus miserabilis of the kind that tempers the spirit and deepens the resolve. We will be back, we will be better and we will win. Objectively speaking, as the years roll by your team, will only ever be competing with the likes of Newcastle, Aston Villa and Everton. Enjoy.
9 April 2008 at 10:41 am
Racism. Racism. Racism in refereeing!!! that is all there is to say.
9 April 2008 at 10:42 am
surprised you lot dont turn up wearing replica ref kits
first the two sendings off against inter …
then Kuyts mate at emirites
roll back a season or so against chelsea with phantom goals….
bring on the video evidence …
9 April 2008 at 10:42 am
http://static.flickr.com/78/155733289_44299089e6.jpg
9 April 2008 at 10:43 am
http://www.whimports.net/content_images/Logo%20FWS.JPG
9 April 2008 at 10:44 am
i can go on all day. believe me!!
im typing from cloud number 9 and it’s called Torres!!
9 April 2008 at 10:45 am
like I said Luck !
and if you cant even realise that then it kinda highlights what sort of twat you are !!!
grow up and take your scouse coloured glasses off !!
lets just hope for everyones sake that you do get lucky again and knock the chavs out !
9 April 2008 at 10:46 am
well played gooners, that defeat was really cruel and we had no luck. but there’s no doubt we need to strengthen the squad, poor old cesc and adebayor are mentally and physically knackered. you have to assume rvp and rosicky will be injured at least half of every season so we need reinforcements so we can rest players more and keep them on their toes so they don’t coast, which has happened a bit this season eg with hleb in the second half of the season.
i think the summer will alllow arsene to perfect theo’s transformation into a new thierry henry and i think we’ll see him starting regularly next year. and let’s pray we find someone dumb enough to buy eboue. plus we need a top centre back cos we haven’t got one at the moment.
9 April 2008 at 10:47 am
Im fishing and im getting some BIG BITES!
http://www.kalumriverlodge.com/fly-fishing/fly-fishing051.jpg
Love it, love it!
btw Ive been a season ticket holder since 1990 and go all the games, so i know what i saw and that was liverpool overpowering and overcoming your lot. fully deserved IMO. Like I say, you’re all a bit bitter today and I understand.
I would be if our season had collasped within the space of 4 weeks
9 April 2008 at 10:49 am
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44551000/jpg/_44551601_gerrard3_getty416.jpg
9 April 2008 at 10:51 am
I am very proud of the way Arsenal fought and played in what was a great game of football.
Luck certainly was against Arsenal but, at the end of the day, the squad was always too small to compete right to the end of the season. The injuries were crucial to a side with such a squad - to be missing players like Rosicky, Eduardo and van Persie was ultimately unsustainable.
End of the day Arsenal have competed well against the other 3 teams in the top 4 all of whom have at least one player who cost more than the entire Arsenal team.
Real success next season and beyond will only be possible if some real money is spent.
9 April 2008 at 10:55 am
james, are you trying to say it wasn’t a pen against kyut last week?
9 April 2008 at 10:57 am
Well I really hope the next time we play you and we win …you come back to take all the abuse
…
9 April 2008 at 10:58 am
“james, are you trying to say it wasn’t a pen against kyut last week?”
it was a Pen. but the trouble was that Hleb was already looking at the ref as he fell which may have made the ref believe he was looking for it. had he of just gone down without the theatrical look then I think it would have been given.
9 April 2008 at 11:00 am
goodplaya, great article and i couldn’t agree more. liverpool have been extraordinarily lucky against us this season- their best performance was last saturday for fucks sake!!! in the first game, i thought that as soon as we scored the goal we should have put on utd tops, then the scousers would’ve just fallen completely apart!!!! no offence, but they are not a good team and their realtive success in the contest over the last three years indicates that the CL really is a bit of crapshot. frankly, much as it pains me to say it, the best team in europe i have seen this season are manure- if they play the final against liverpool, i reckon it would be worth having a punt on them winning by at least 3…..and that is one night when i will be as far from a fucking tv, computer or any other form of media as it is fucking possible.
utd -v- scouse in CL final…what a horrible fucking thought.
9 April 2008 at 11:01 am
he was looking at the ref because kyut had turned him 180 degrees!!!
9 April 2008 at 11:03 am
“he was looking at the ref because kyut had turned him 180 degrees!!!”
go watch it again, kuyt has a pull and then quickly pulls his arm fully away, so please stop exaggerating your view of it through tinted glasses. hleb over reacted, FACT
9 April 2008 at 11:07 am
You bore me, James Davies.
9 April 2008 at 11:10 am
“You bore me, James Davies.”
OH SH*T. Im very sorry. let me land because I don’t give a flying f**k. just more reason for me to keep up the bore fest…..
9 April 2008 at 11:10 am
go and walk alone ….
9 April 2008 at 11:11 am
go back to your scouse forum!
9 April 2008 at 11:11 am
sorry but im having WAY too much fun on here!!
9 April 2008 at 11:12 am
RAW PURE EMOTION
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44551000/jpg/_44551681_babel270pa.jpg
9 April 2008 at 11:22 am
and sssssssssssshhhhhhh :D
9 April 2008 at 11:24 am
Whoever you are, grow up.
9 April 2008 at 11:28 am
you could say the same to wenger. word is someone has just found his dummy.
9 April 2008 at 11:36 am
Believe me, at the end of the season Arsenal will be Champions of England. Win at Manchester. Manchester drops points at Chelsea and Blackburn. Chelsea will drop points too and we are first at the end!
BELIEVE ME!!!
9 April 2008 at 12:23 pm
Even in the light of day last night is still hard to take. I can’t remember feeling this gutted after losing to barcelona in 06; it’s a feeling made up of impotent rage, disappointment, and frustration. A couple of months of bad luck and our season is in danger of turning in to a season of ‘ifs’ and ‘could’ve beens’. Like a dagger, the image of last the Babel penalty is transposed against the image of Kuyt bringing down Hleb last week. It’s still lurking even though I’m at work, popping up as I burn through spreadsheet after spreadsheet.
Perhaps it is true that you have to spend to bring in success, but for a few moments we were going to show all the mercenaries foreign and domestic, that you don’t have to spend £60 million on players every season, that you can pass the ball around and win, that you don’t have to benefit from good old-fashioned inconsistent refereeing. Gooners will understand, but ‘people’ like the lad Davies won’t. I hope you come on here next season James Davies.
9 April 2008 at 12:34 pm
james davis you need to book yourself in to see a psychiatrist and ask them about your overwhelming need to come on other clubs’ fan sites and enrich them with your gloating wit. Why don’t you tell us why gerrard did nothign to stop your gobby masher mouthing off to the ref at old trafford the other week, but only decided to exercise his captain’s authority in intervening when masher refused to leave the field? Also, please enlighten us as to why your captain always plays like a c*** for England, but is the inconsistent contrast when he dons the red of the Scouse? Furthermore, we would all like to know how was it your team of plastic dollar cowboys managed to bend over and pull their shorts down for the salfordians the other week? We await your explanation with barely baited breath.
9 April 2008 at 12:35 pm
“Gooners will understand, but ‘people’ like the lad Davies won’t. I hope you come on here next season James Davies.”
i fully understand. i understand that you’ve had 4 chances to beat us this season and haven’t. i understand you got hummilitated at man utd, broken and birmingham and hit the self destruct button.
i understand that we marched on last night. your season is over. next season?? im not interested because we’ve still got something to play for this season
unlike you.
thanks for listening.
9 April 2008 at 12:36 pm
“james davis you need to book yourself in to see a psychiatrist and ask them about your overwhelming need to come on other clubs’ fan sites ”
because it’s sssssoooo much fun. and you mellons keep reacting to my bites. thanks for the entertainment!
9 April 2008 at 12:38 pm
brilliant piece.
9 April 2008 at 1:07 pm
Barca 06 was bad enough, but this was truly horrible. At least in 06 Jens deserved to be carded (and we still played them off the park for 80 mins); this time we lost due to some seriously bad luck. Sure, the defence was shaky, Gilberto is a pale shadow of his former self, and big Phil was at fault for the first goal, but when it comes down to it this tie was decided by the bad decisions of two referees. Not Benitez’s ‘tactical genius’; not the baying of the Kop; not our lack of skill, hunger, energy or drive. No, it was simply a tale of two bad penalty decisions. On such things a whole season rests. A horrible, horrible way to go out.
But at the same time, I have to hope Liverpool beat the Chavs, if only because if they were to win the CL, the final nail would be hammered into the coffin of good football.
It might sound like a funny time to say it, but keep the faith. Arsene Knows.
9 April 2008 at 1:14 pm
James Davies
Take a leaf out your captains book and admit that u were fortunate over the 2 ties.
Good luck in on the only comp u play for.
9 April 2008 at 1:17 pm
roll on the chelski machine, then. thanks, little lad, you’ve made my mind up for me. Let’s see how stevie g and the rest of your investments play in the semis. I don’t think I’ve reacted to your ‘bites’ you cretin, surely you meant to type, ‘baits’? Go away, little faceache.
9 April 2008 at 1:21 pm
“James Davies
Take a leaf out your captains book and admit that u were fortunate over the 2 ties.
Good luck in on the only comp u play for.”
am I supposed to be hurt by that comment. at least we’re still in a competition. rather that then lost 4 - 0 to utd and get spanked spurs. that must of hurt a great deal.
“Windsor Davies Says:
9 April 2008 at 1:17 pm
roll on the chelski machine, then. thanks, little lad, you’ve made my mind up for me. Let’s see how stevie g and the rest of your investments play in the semis. I don’t think I’ve reacted to your ‘bites’ you cretin, surely you meant to type, ‘baits’? Go away, little faceache.”
you’ve not reacted to my bites?
well your post there is a reaction you clueless tit.
9 April 2008 at 1:35 pm
the ref was hell-bent to give a penalty to Liverpool. Otherwisw how that could be a penalty in the first place and secondly that’s definitely no yellow card for sure. hard done by poor refreeing.
9 April 2008 at 1:41 pm
“Pathetic”
adjective
“Arousing scornful pity or contempt, often due to miserable inadequacy.”
Applies to knob jockeys who post on fan sites of opposing clubs as if they just scored the winning goal in a major cup final when in reality they are fat slobs who can barely reach their remote control in their meaningless existences that are solely defined by the fortunes of the club they support (not play for).
You’re right Mr Davies. I congratulate YOU on YOUR achievement of PLAYING for Liverpool last night and SCORING the WINNING goal.
Oh. Maybe not.
Get a life you twat, contribute something to humanity. Kick a football yourself maybe or study at Uni or do anything productive instead of being a cum stain on the tissue of society. You want a bitch fight? No wonder us Aussies kick your English arses at everything. 98% of our population don’t even play football and we beat you 3-1 on your own patch. And let’s not start on the cricket. If writing antagonistic messages on a blog to get a rise out of people is your idea achievement then like I said, you are truly one pathetic and inadequate human being. Tosser.
9 April 2008 at 1:44 pm
“White Ox Says:
9 April 2008 at 1:41 pm
“Pathetic”
adjective
“Arousing scornful pity or contempt, often due to miserable inadequacy.”
Applies to knob jockeys who post on fan sites of opposing clubs as if they just scored the winning goal in a major cup final when in reality they are fat slobs who can barely reach their remote control in their meaningless existences that are solely defined by the fortunes of the club they support (not play for).
You’re right Mr Davies. I congratulate YOU on YOUR achievement of PLAYING for Liverpool last night and SCORING the WINNING goal.
Oh. Maybe not.
Get a life you twat, contribute something to humanity. Kick a football yourself maybe or study at Uni or do anything productive instead of being a cum stain on the tissue of society. You want a bitch fight? No wonder us Aussies kick your English arses at everything. 98% of our population don’t even play football and we beat you 3-1 on your own patch. And let’s not start on the cricket. If writing antagonistic messages on a blog to get a rise out of people is your idea achievement then like I said, you are truly one pathetic and inadequate human being. Tosser.”
AND HE SCORES HIS BIGGEST CATCH YET. Go put the bbq on ya f**king Kangeroo nob end.
jog on bitch, jog on
9 April 2008 at 1:48 pm
As our luck is bound to even out next season, I’m backing Arsenal to win all four main competitions, the Grand National and the flipping Boat Race too!
9 April 2008 at 1:58 pm
Agree with arseblogger:
“It’s the funny thing about football, isn’t it? The hurt. The first two-thirds of this season was just joyful, so incredibly enjoyable and promising, and the last third has been one disappointment after another, a couple of results/performances apart. So while it’s easy to lash out and feel aggrieved about this that and the other right now we can’t forget the good stuff either. It would be terribly unfair to do that in my opinion. And when I say funny I don’t mean haha funny. At all.”
9 April 2008 at 2:28 pm
James Davies,
did you need to study for a degree in advanced logical analysis to post the massively insightful:
“OOOHHHH We’re all a bit bitter aren’t we!?
Liverpool won because we scored 5 over the 2 legs compared to your 3. plain and simple.”
It’s like an Argentina fan winding up an England fan after Maradona’s hand of god goal, by claiming we won because we scored one to your nil, you’re a bit bitter?
Well, James, the reason you scored two more goals than us was down to many things, I won’t deny there was some poor Arsenal defending that contributed to our demise.
However the Hleb penalty was a much clearer penalty than the Babel one, and Babel’s was given while Hleb’s was not.
If you think this had nothing to do with the result then you’re more of a halfwit than I had imagined, do you really expect Arsenal fans not to comment on these rather controversial decisions that swung the game Liverpool’s way?
From the off you have commented and behaved like a small child trying to wind up someone, not particularly impressive when the vast majority of people on this thread are discussing things sensibly.
I’m not bitter, I’m gutted we lost though.
And I think I’ve got a right to point out that we played well, did ourselves credit and were very unlucky not to progress.
Either way I’d rather be bitter than an immense juddering c*nt.
9 April 2008 at 2:34 pm
by the way James,
if you look over the match last night,
when Eboue was clipped in the box he stayed on his feet and tried to get the cross in,
there was as much contact then as there was with Toure on Babel,
clear penalty too then was it?
9 April 2008 at 2:58 pm
What a classless, nasty piece of work James Davis is. On a day when he should be celebrating with his fellow supporters and looking forward to a semi final he heads straight to an Arsenal site to try and wind us all up. It’s shameful really & not the sort of behaviour you’d expect from a fan of a club that apparently has the best supporters in the world is it?
Can we ban his IP please Goodplaya? He is polluting what is usually a thoughtful and well mannered discussion.
As for the game, over 2 legs it’s hard not to feel hard done by - I though Liverpool committed foul after niggling foul at Ashburton Grove without much punishment, and how Mascherano managed to get away with out at least a yellow card in the first 45 mins last night is beyond me - it seems to me that there is cynical intent to virtually everything that man does on the football pitch.
We looked tired though - even the first 20 minutes last night looked like the last bursts of pace from a team who has just run out of steam and run out of players. Fantastic as out play was I never thought for a moment that we could continue in that vein for the whole match.
Finally after Torres scored last night I couldn’t help thinking that, despite people saying that we need wingers and perhaps a defender or two, of the top 4 in the English teams we have the poorest options up front.
Last night I thought that Torres was an inspiration - his movement is outstanding and despite the poverty of the service he gets from a team that are permanently hamstrung by their arrogant manager - Benitez seems to trust his tactics more than the abilities of his own players - he never lets his head or his own confidence drop. I’m sorry to say that with Van Percy seemingly unable to stay fit for a whole season and with Ade good but not great, we could really do with a striker like that.
9 April 2008 at 3:16 pm
TBH people it was some of the distinct lack of class some of the earlier comments showed that prompted me to start the winding up. I’ve never know such bitterness except from Evertonians! I like arsenal, they’re a breath of fresh air. but like you manager there’s a tendancy to spit the dummy out and whine when things go against you. as if you think that playing good football gives you the right to win, and when you don’t it’s always someone else’s fault. and again the attitude at times is that you invented good football and it is the cancer of football if teams dare to try and nulify you. im sorry but grow up. arsenal didn’t invent pass and move, hence the old saying 1 - 0 to the arsenal. because there was a time you were dull dull dull.
and as many of us liverpool fans say about the premiership - ‘always next season’
peace
9 April 2008 at 3:26 pm
At least there is a grown-up side to James Davies deep down inside.
peace
9 April 2008 at 3:50 pm
Why are you all replying to a twit who supports a club that only competes for one trophy every season, who NEVER even tries for the league, a club that doesn’t give a damn about the league or the FA cup, that gets beaten by BARNSLEY!! At least we TRY to win the league.
Goodplaya is right, the scousers won this tie on PURE LUCK, that’s it. And a blatant dive in the penalty box. Their players dived all night and Mascherano should’ve been sent off early on.
Oh and that famous Anfield atmosphere, several gooners who were at the game reported that the atmosphere was no louder or quieter than the Emirates. When we scored, they were just as quiet as our fans were at the Emirates. The atmosphere was no different from other stadiums at an important game. Also heard that the Pool fans applauded our players and fans at the end of the game, as our fans did the same to them.
I was prepared for us losing but it’s difficult to accept losing to a team that was not better than us. We made defensive mistakes but so did they. The difference was that in the first leg they got away with a blatant foul in the penalty area that should’ve given us a good chance to score another goal, while in the 2nd leg they were awared a very soft penalty. In other words, the difference was in the officiating. I’m not one to blame failure solely on officiating, injuries, etc. Yes we’ve had bad luck, bad decisions, too many injuries. But the manager could’ve made better decisions that would’ve mitigated the affect of at least some of those factors. But when we play as well as we did and concede as many goals as the opposition and then lose only because of two ref decisions, it’s very hard to take.
We can’t let this get to us—there’s a lot to be proud of with this team so stretched and exhausted and dealing with injuries, constantly dismissed in the media. We provided the best games in the CL this season for neutrals to watch, v. Liverpool and Milan (not to mention games in the earlier rounds). We have to see the rest of the season out with our heads held high. Liverpool’s games are never exciting or interesting to watch, only when they play us. Who’s going to watch them play Chelsea???
9 April 2008 at 3:59 pm
marcus
Not forgetting that when the game started, we were the underdog who needed an away goal. The opening minutes were simply exhilarating until we conceded the equaliser from a corner.
I’m proud of the this team.
9 April 2008 at 4:15 pm
fair enough,
I think all that a few of us are trying to say is that luck does have a rather significant role in these big games,
sometimes you win em, sometime you don’t,
it’s just not going to be our year,
I still love being an Arsenal fan, I’m proud of the way the team behaved and played,
even Eboue behaved himself!
9 April 2008 at 4:19 pm
Yeah, eboue actually stayed up on his feet when he could’ve dived to get a foul while their players dived all freaking night long.
Something else to consider: imagine if we had won last night with a dodgy penalty by a blatant dive by one of our players against Pool or the media luvvies Man United. We’d never hear the end of it.
9 April 2008 at 4:28 pm
True, Marcus, true. Mind you, I must admit there’s a teensy wee bit of me that is pissed off at Eboue for choosing last night of all nights to stay on his feet…
Oh, and I reckon Sunday’s going to be a real cracker of a game. Theo to start - I think we can safely say he made his case last night.
9 April 2008 at 4:30 pm
“Why are you all replying to a twit who supports a club that only competes for one trophy every season, who NEVER even tries for the league, a club that doesn’t give a damn about the league or the FA cup”
totally disagree there. for one, the last 2 season’s liverpool finished above arsenal, so are you admitting you didn’t care about the league as well.
secondly about the fa cup, you last won it in 2005, us in 2006, so again you’re point is shown as complete dribble.
sorry, but facts are facts.
9 April 2008 at 4:31 pm
James Davies is clearly a Liverpool fan and living the dream on the dole, no one else can write that amount of drivel whilst having a job. Enjoy your win and enjoy the UEFA Cup next season, oh and enjoy Jeremy Kyle.
9 April 2008 at 4:36 pm
work in a bank’s internet loans team, access all day, not many calls
dream come true.
try better with your steriotyping
9 April 2008 at 4:38 pm
I wish I had your life
9 April 2008 at 4:45 pm
DO NOT FEED THE TROLL
9 April 2008 at 4:46 pm
Couldn’t eat any more, im stuffed from earlier bites. :D
9 April 2008 at 4:54 pm
Stop saying Arsene Knows. If he knows why is that pile of crap Eboue still wearing an Arsenal shirt.Why cant he see Senderos is an accident waiting to happen.We have won 2 out of 12 games.The squad is not strong enough.We need a major clearout it time to spend big.We want world class stars not 15 year olds.We need to start winning trophies
9 April 2008 at 4:54 pm
alright, you win, James davis, f**k off and die, scum. You have all the class of the average chelski fan, in fact less, because none of your other liverpool mates seem bothered with the result to come on here and take the p1ss. In fact, you must be a shitenham 5hitspur fan masquerading as a liverpool scouser. Your mum!!!!!!!!1
9 April 2008 at 5:05 pm
and your dodgy scouse perm
9 April 2008 at 5:06 pm
James Davies
As long as Liverpool keeps Rafa around, who’s good for Europe but bad for the Prem, you’ll never mount a credible league challenge. The fact that Rafa got you into another good CL run will keep him there until Everton overtakes you to 4th spot and Liverpool don’t win the CL then you lot will have nothing to fall back on.
A REAL big club like Arsenal, United, and Chelsea have been fighting for ALL 4 competitions every year, and our lack of results is simply down to our Manger’s unwillingness to built a bigger squad to add depth when we need it at the business end of the season. There is no cigar for Arsenal doing well for 2/3 of the season then faltering in the final third, and I can accept that’s Arsenal’s problem.
Liverpool also wants the league, but Rafa have no idea how or it is suspected he either prefers the glory of the CL or he may be a better tactical manager for cup ties rather than a league season.
I think it’s fair to say that simply looking at end results don’t do justice to a football club. If that’s the case, Liverpool should not be even playing in the Champions League when you have not been champions (or even 2nd place) for over 17 years.
9 April 2008 at 5:10 pm
I think Arsene does know!!!
He could easily spank 50-60 mill on 4 players and then we would be financially underpressure and certainly would not have the quality stadium we have today .
if we had gone out and bought a viera replacement we would not have cesc
and with an ashley cole replacement no clichy
lest we forget toure was also a youngster once !!
9 April 2008 at 5:13 pm
exactly marcus,
it’s something I think Arsene is furious about,
Liverpool dive around like jessies for ninety minutes and the media don’t really mention it,
you can guarantee if Eboue had been Babel there would have been endless talk of cheating and diving,
that’s what pissed me off watching last night, our players were so honest and the ref gave them zero protection second half,
Liverpool players kept hacking away from behind and getting nowhere near the ball, but the ref gave no free kicks unless the player dived over,
this meant that he awarded several non free kicks to torres for his theatrical dives, while Adebayor was kicked lumps out of and got nothing all night,
amazing how some Arsenal players have a reputation for going to ground easily, when in comparison some Liverpool players are on another level as far as going to ground,
Kuuyt and Torres to name but two of their cheif con artists
9 April 2008 at 5:14 pm
I hope for next season wenger keeps faith with Diaby denilson, walcott and denilson …all of which have shown promise
maybe spend on a winger to support rosisky and hleb
and then focus on bringing through lansbury randell etc
think Gilberto should move on for his own good .
Once a great player who we all owe a lot to .
now he doesent fit into the tactics
9 April 2008 at 5:18 pm
“You’ll never, ever walk alone”
Funny that. Liverpool forget to mention “who” is walking along with them. It’s the ref in both legs!
New motto:
“You’ll never, ever CHEAT alone”
9 April 2008 at 5:19 pm
“As long as Liverpool keeps Rafa around, who’s good for Europe but bad for the Prem, you’ll never mount a credible league challenge. The fact that Rafa got you into another good CL run will keep him there until Everton overtakes you to 4th spot and Liverpool don’t win the CL then you lot will have nothing to fall back on.
A REAL big club like Arsenal, United, and Chelsea have been fighting for ALL 4 competitions every year, and our lack of results is simply down to our Manger’s unwillingness to built a bigger squad to add depth when we need it at the business end of the season. There is no cigar for Arsenal doing well for 2/3 of the season then faltering in the final third, and I can accept that’s Arsenal’s problem.”
Again mate i’ll point to the fact rafa’s been more successful that wenger in the time he arrived. we’ve finished above you twice.
please stop trying to delude yourself. ive said nothing about us challenging for the league. yes we haven’t challenged, but the same goes for wenger in europe. one final in 12 years, and 11 seasons of being nowhere near winning it isn’t real acceptable.
rafa’s been here 4 seasons and won an fa cup, finished above you twice, won a super cup, community shield, the champions league, and another final, and last night ended your season which will go down as a collasped failiure.
facts show that regardless of your brand of football, out of the 2 managers, rafa’s delivered the goods.
9 April 2008 at 5:23 pm
and as a result of the 200 million he has spent
you have foriegn owners who cant stand each other ,
more debts than and american homeowner
a small old stadium and NO future
9 April 2008 at 5:28 pm
but following the motto you will never walk alone
at least when you all trapse accross to goodison to watch the only team left in liverpool following liverpool “doing a leeds”
you wont be walking alone !
9 April 2008 at 6:05 pm
Spot on again Goodplaya. Thanks for talking sense.
9 April 2008 at 6:07 pm
Should have added that we did OK. To have taken part in such a terrific match means that we can walk away with our heads held high.
The two penalties are hard to take though.
9 April 2008 at 6:08 pm
ah wayne you just make things sweeter and sweeter with your comments. trying to hurt me? trying to make me worried. not a chance you softy. we will always and forever be LFC and going strong.
even with the backdrop of boardroom arguments we were still strong enough to beat you on the pitch.
nice try loser.
9 April 2008 at 6:15 pm
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=eCNe2zw6kdM&eurl=http://www.anfieldred.co.uk/2008/04/09/some-videos-from-last-nights-game-against-arsenal-filmed-from-the-front-of-the-kop-incl
ENJOY
9 April 2008 at 6:43 pm
James Davies Says:
9 April 2008 at 1:21 pm
“James Davies
Take a leaf out your captains book and admit that u were fortunate over the 2 ties.
Good luck in on the only comp u play for.”
am I supposed to be hurt by that comment. at least we’re still in a competition. rather that then lost 4 - 0 to utd and get spanked spurs. that must of hurt a great deal. (and 3-0 to united doesnt)
No james it not a playground tit for tat battle i was just stating the captain of your football club was more gracious and gave us more credit than you are.
Like i said good luck for the rest of the comp and we’ll meet again next yr!
9 April 2008 at 6:50 pm
I am a liverpool fan and would like to congratulate Arsenal on the quality of their football last night. Some of it was breathtaking, however.. it does not give you a divine right to win.
Both the Hleb and Babel fouls were penalties, we got ours, you didn’t. That is football, remember ‘the invincibles’ and Pires diving for the penalty at Portsmouth?
Why is everyone so surprised that the ref gave a penalty in front of the Kop, that’s the nature of 2 legged football, you get a home-leg where you can rally your team and put pressure on the ref. Had Arsenal made any noise at Emirates and created a bit of atmosphere you may well have got your penalty.
Unfortunately you didn’t, you don’t deserve such a team. Next year put as much effort into supporting your team on the night as you do in excusing them afterwards and you might actually win something.
9 April 2008 at 6:57 pm
Trust me on this, 55,000 people called very loudly for a penalty at the Emirates.
9 April 2008 at 7:26 pm
I’ve been howling at the moon for the best part of 20 hours and the one eyed (most of us Gooners), the gracious (liverpool fan @ 108 above) and the not so gracious (the nameless)can probably see why. Other people have commented on the shocking, shocking decision for the pen and its timing meant it was even more critical. With hindsight it would have been better if he’d given it for the Kuyt dive (where there was marginal contcat with Diaby) in the first half. At least we’d have had time to come back from that and the chances are he wouldn’t have given another one.
But…once the bitterness subsides we should reflect that we led this tie 3 times and held onto it for 3 minutes, 13 minutes and 2 minutes respectively. It can’t all be bad luck and criminal refereeing decisions although they play a part. There’s also some painful lesson learning to be done and clearly I hope we come back next year with the beautiful game allied with a bit more know how to close a game down.
9 April 2008 at 7:47 pm
“however.. it does not give you a divine right to win.”
This from a Liverpool fan, you can’t make it up!
Jim Davies, HOW IN BLOODY HELL CAN YOU SAY RAFA’S BEEN MORE SUCCESSFUL THAN WENGER WHEN HE CAN’T EVEN WIN THE F–KING LEAGUE!!!! You’re a club that is INCAPABLE of winning the league — those are the “facts”, clueless. You don’t give a damn about even TRYING to win the league!
You can’t handle challenging for a long campaign like a league competition while trying to WIN it. Wenger has won it 3 times in less than 10 years. And he did the double twice in 5 years.
Oh and Wenger has won more games against Rafa than Rafa has against us. Rafa’s record of games against Wenger is poor whereas Wenger has defeated Rafa at that great temple of Anfield several times. Exactly how many times have you won against us at our home ground?
9 April 2008 at 8:58 pm
jamie davis, if you’re such a big liverpool fan, how come your behaviour on our site is the very antithesis of the ‘reclaim the Kop’ campaign? You probably know sweet FA about supporting a football team, let alone the history of your club and its fans. F**king mug.
9 April 2008 at 9:17 pm
Spot on, Goodplaya - What a relief to read such insightful analysis, rather than the “Wenger out”, “must spend £70m and buy 8 players” ranting in certain quarters that was already driving me up the wall before this match.
Flamini to be captain, one new centre back (fast AND tall preferably) and a winger will do me - and we’ll rule the world next season
9 April 2008 at 10:01 pm
maybe we’re not tough enough. we seem incapable of holding a lead in big games recently. Cesc, Hleb and Walcott were rolling on the ground when we equalized rather than concentrating on getting back to the halfway line. Adebayour was doing some strange dance in front of the fans. Concentrate and get back for Christ sake! And why did Cesc or Toure not put in a tackle on Babel outside the box - and once in the box, let Gallas take care of business instead of jumping out of the way. The ref was always going to give it even if contact was minimal or non-existant. We should have killed off Pool in the 1st 30 minutes when we had them on the ropes. Instead we looked really good without penetrating. Lots of pretty boy stuff with no end product. Go for the 2nd - knock em out. And what is it about keepers and rushing out needlessly. That first goal would never have happened if Almunia hadn’t come off his line a minute earlier to kick into touch. The ball would have been shepherded out for a goal kick. No point in saying that Lehmann would have done any better - he would have come out too. Yes - we were unlucky, but sometimes you have to make your own luck - or go out and win by 2 goals to counter that 1-goal you’re going to concede based on poor refereeing. We play too cagey, drop off too deep and relax when we score. It happened against Chelsea too - time to cut it out. Agree with Big Johan. A fast, tall, experienced centre half is needed. I never thought I would say it, but if we do find such a player, then it’s that player, Gallas, Sagna, Clichy - and Kolo is first sub. I love Kolo, but boy has he been poor since the ANC. The goal against Pool in the 1ts leg, Drogba’s 2nd in the Chelsea game, Taylot’s goal in the Bolton game, and the penalty last night (even if it wasn’t). And it’s not all because he’s out of position. That’s a bullshot argument. Look at Carragher for Liverpool and Brown for Utd, even Essien for Chelsea. I hope he can get back to his best, but if not…
9 April 2008 at 11:36 pm
Guys,
I appreciate there have been a lot of comments just my thoughts:
I know the penalty decisions were not good, but Goodplaya a few weeks back you said that “when you don’t play well then you make yourself prone to bad decisions”. Personally I think that as Arsenal fans we need to look internally for the things we can control to see where improvement needs to be found and I think that over the 2 legs we defended very poorly, and lacked a little bit of class at the cutting edge as well.
I think that Liverpool through Torres mainly looked dangerous and our defence never looked comfortable - and that is also reflected in our recent results (cheap goals against Villa, Boro etc). Since the ANC Toure has been a shadow of his former self, and big Phil just doesn’t convince me that he can cut it, I hope I am wrong but for the past 3 seasons we have been finding excuses for his mistakes. We have really missed Sagna at right back and the solid defence of the first half of the season (at least it felt that way?) has dissapeared. For me that has been our problem - lapses of concentration - all of the defence have been guilty of it in recent weeks - not just one or two players.
Personally I don’t have a grudge against Liverpool - we had a thrilling couple of games with them (the league encounter was stale) and the games will live long in the memory, and now we are out I can admit that I would much rather see Liverpool pick up the trophy ahead of Chelsea (imagine Cole with a CL medal…. “shudder”) or Man Utd. If they were to meet Barca though I would love to see Henry complete his medal collection.
The only thing I would say about the penalty is that the timing was a killer. Right after getting back into it - I had the feeling that if we had held a couple of minutes at least then we could have picked them off on the break (how Babel did) but you really can’t blame Liverpool for anything.
Congrats to Liverpool it really was a classic game in my opinion I am devastated we didn’t win, hopefully we’ll get the chance again next year…
9 April 2008 at 11:47 pm
That’s hilarious, Mr. Davies knows how to copy and paste (rocket scientist he is) and then throw out insults suggesting he was looking for “bites”.
How abouth this you toolbag…
“TBH people it was some of the distinct lack of class some of the earlier comments showed that prompted me to start the winding up. I’ve never know such bitterness except from Evertonians!”
WTF? I actually like Liverpool you halfwit, it’s YOU we’re directing our bitterness at, someone whose reason for being appears to be a football club they don’t even play for.
And as for “Go put the bbq on ya f**king Kangeroo nob end.”
So that’s an insult eh? Well gladly I’ll put the bbq on, I love doing it. I love living in a country where the sun ALWAYS shines, the weather is great, barbecues and beers kick absolute arse, and I can afford to do it because I’m not cashing in my dole cheque like most scousers. Anytime you want a steak and a beer you’re welcome everyone. Includes you too James (though I might leave yours on a bit long).
10 April 2008 at 10:04 am
You know what else ‘kicks absolute arse’?
we’re through, you’re out.
thanks for the fun.
10 April 2008 at 10:31 am
http://sport.setanta.com/en/Sport/News/Football/2008/04/10/Champs-Lg-Ref-on-Babel-pen/
PROOF IT WAS A PEN
Can you all shut up now and except you wern’t good enough over 2 legs to beat us?
ta la’s
10 April 2008 at 12:14 pm
james davis, please learn to use spell-check, you sausage-fingered oaf.
10 April 2008 at 12:52 pm
who’s James Davis? you couldn’t even spell my surname right whilst trying to be critical of my spelling.
classic!
what a pleb!
10 April 2008 at 1:19 pm
“You know what else ‘kicks absolute arse’?
we’re through, you’re out.”
Mate, who is “we”? I don’t play for Arsenal, I support them. You don’t play for Liverpool, you support them. That makes you part of the “we” does it? I hurt when I lose a game of cricket or football to a pack of arse holes (playing sport is obviously something you don’t do) when playing for my home town and on occassion state. That’s “we”. That’s hurt.
Arsenal going out of this comp? So fucking what. There will be a next season you twat. And there will be winners and losers again. I’ll support them again then and I won’t wind anyone else up if they happen to win a trophy because guess what, I HAD NOTHING TO FUCKING DO WITH IT. I’ll celebrate my own achievements thank you very much. But if you wanna go around calling the football club you support “we” as if you’re an intricate part of it, well I’ve already defined the word pathetic for you. Scroll up and have another read because it describes you perfectly.
10 April 2008 at 1:24 pm
Actually skippy, I DID have something to do with the win. as someone standing on the Kop that night ‘I’ & ‘we’ perhaps influenced the ref for the Penalty decision. so I take part of the credit. it feels great you know.
or, perhaps it was the clear foul by Toure after Babel had turned him inside out.
Or maybe it was a bit of both.
10 April 2008 at 1:27 pm
unlucky lads, maybe next year u will win something, maybe even the league cup!
COYS!
10 April 2008 at 1:46 pm
Mate I’m tired of bitching about the penalty decision. You won. Well done. It was a great tie and you came out on top. I admire the Kop, you won’t find better supporters anywhere and by and largely it’s because of the way they get behind their team as opposed to worrying about anyone elses.
You sadly seem to be the exception to that rule. It seems to be all you’ve got in your life is winding people up and believing the achievements of others are your own. Good life that.
10 April 2008 at 1:48 pm
Well done, Goodplaya - this is the best review of the game on Tuesday I’ve read and fully reflects my views. The only thing that hasn’t been mentioned as far as I’ve seen (and wasn’t in ITV’s highlights program) was that 30 seconds before Torres scored, Adebayor was (wrongly) flagged offside when receiving the ball one-on-one with Reina!!
10 April 2008 at 1:48 pm
And yes, I’m waiting for the childish “nyah nyah nyah we won” comeback which is all you’ve got. You don’t seem to be very good at addressing anything I’ve put to you. But then we can’t expect too much out of the intellectually disabled.
10 April 2008 at 1:53 pm
White Ox I’d give you an intelligent reply if I believed you where worth it.
thanks for the lovely comments though
YNWA
10 April 2008 at 1:56 pm
No champ, the denial of giving an intelligent reply is proof in itself you can’t come up with one. It’s the moron’s equivalent of “I know you are I said you are so what am I?”
Of course, if you’d like to prove me wrong…
10 April 2008 at 1:57 pm
And it’s “were” worth it fuckwit, I don’t know “where” I’d be worth it. You’re a self fulfilling prophecy you are.
10 April 2008 at 2:01 pm
Great, cheers, ta la!
10 April 2008 at 2:05 pm
I thought so, ya got nothin’
You are right about one thing though, it has been fun, catch ya next time Arsenal play Liverpool?
10 April 2008 at 2:25 pm
Looking forward to it. The last 3 games were close, nail biting and epic. Just make sure that if it isn’t us who wins the league next year that it is Arsenal.
couldn’t stand Utd or Chavski winning it! lol
10 April 2008 at 2:32 pm
Bugger me, are we coming to agreement on something? That’s no fun, it was much better when we were hanging shit on each other.
For sure, I reckon 20 years has been too long for a club like Liverpool to go without winning the league, my best mate supports Liverpool and I tell him that all the time. Hopefully one of our clubs is not too far away, I wouldn’t begrudge Liverpool a title at all.
Just promise me your boys will beat Chelsea and then United in the final, I would enjoy that.
10 April 2008 at 2:36 pm
If we do beat Chelsea I’d hate the idea of facing Utd in the final. Ok, it would be out of this world to win, but losing would be unthinkable. I went to the final in Athens last year and while it was gutt wrenching to lose at least there aren’t many gloating Milan fans in my area to have to face on a daily basis! Secondly I only went to Athens because it was Milan and not Utd we were facing. Far too much scope for violence if it was Man Utd.
So again I’d only go to Moscow if it was Barcelona we were playing.
10 April 2008 at 2:38 pm
and further more I’d like to say sorry for my childish antics in this article. Not my best moment, but I can be a little shit at times.
Well played Arsenal and good luck next year!
10 April 2008 at 2:40 pm
Funny you say that, if we’d have hung on against your boys I couldn’t have beared the idea of losing to Chelski or Manure, they’re just so detestable. And I thought you might touch on the violence, what is it with those wankers, it’s a game of football for crying out loud.
In fact whilst I’m not one for conspiracy theories I don’t think it’s so unbelievable that UEFA made sure that Arsenal got paired with Liverpool because our clubs get on pretty well, any thoughts on that?
10 April 2008 at 2:41 pm
Don’t apologise mate it was good fun!
Goodplaya probably doesn’t think so though, we’ll get banned soon…
10 April 2008 at 2:42 pm
I’m not saying sorry for the banter, but for the personal digs that were a little OTT
10 April 2008 at 2:48 pm
Yeah well I probably had a few of them myself so sorry for being a twat.
It hits a nerve when others come onto Arsenal sites to shit stir is all. So yeah ya got me. Smart arse.
10 April 2008 at 2:53 pm
lol
just take some comfort that you have year round sun. looking outside of work here it’s pissing down and will probably do the same all ’summer’
10 April 2008 at 2:57 pm
LOL! So I was right with that call!
Never mind mate, if you ever find your way down under I’ll “throw another shrimp on the barbie” for ya. Just promise me you’ll take me to the Kop or something.
Now that would be an experience.
10 April 2008 at 2:58 pm
It’s a deal
take care Ox, i’ll be back next season
JD
10 April 2008 at 3:01 pm
One issue. Bad luck with injuries. What would our season be like if Rosicky, van Persie, Sagna, Flamini and Eduardo injuries. Those are the hardest to swallow. I think the deciding point was when Eduardo and Sagna were injured. That penalty wouldn’t have happened with Sagna, and we wouldn’t have lost at Chelsea with him in the team. You can all imagine the implications….
None of the other teams can show to such bad luck with injuries.
ANd then the penalty decisions….. they still hurt, and will hurt for years, just like that #?=)?#=$)#?$=) Chelski goal at Highbury… pain pain pain
10 April 2008 at 3:02 pm
Too easy, look after yourself, and make sure you don’t disappear if we win next time tho, we need our revenge!
10 April 2008 at 3:07 pm
Fair enough, i’ve saved this onto my faves list so I don’t forget.
10 April 2008 at 3:10 pm
Cheers, see you next season (You won’t sell us that Torres bloke will you? Didn’t think so).
10 April 2008 at 3:47 pm
lol, one that Wenger missed out on. Having said that we did have the chance to sign C. Ronaldo for 4m the season before he went to Utd. But Houllier and Thompson thought it was too expensive! mellons!
10 April 2008 at 4:42 pm
why should I show you the respect of spelling your name correctly, you crapulous little jackanape? Moron you are, master debater you probably are as well. Every pun intended.
10 April 2008 at 4:44 pm
it’s not about respect. it was about you mocking my spelling, yet spelling things incorrectly yourself.
thanks
10 April 2008 at 6:13 pm
you’ve missed my point, son.
10 April 2008 at 10:29 pm
F U C K E N
L O S E R S
Boo Hoo we had injuries cos we’re the only team in the entire league that has anybody injured
Boo Hoo we’re the only team to ever have a bad peno decision given/not given
UR TEAM IS SHIT thats why :-)
11 April 2008 at 1:20 pm
Arsenal Clowns, that’s not what I make your mum say when I pleasure her in to ecstatic raptures.
11 April 2008 at 7:19 pm
What do u make her say then ? ? ?