The Football Thread.......

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Barca
724 passes, 19 shots (10 on target)

Arsenal
199 passes, 0 shots

Possession - 69:31 to Barca.

I think Barca deserved that.
 
alexw9 said:
They are leagues above any other team in the world and have been for the past two seasons, they're incredible.
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I agree with what you said here but the one major issue I have with Barcelona is the fact that they
still feel the need to dive, card wave, whinge, moan, and generally cheat like petulant kids.
 
Not saying Barca didnt deserve it... but using that argument Arsenal should have won the Carling Cup. Doesnt help when at 1-1 a key player gets sent off.
 
How often do the big games get overlooked because the major talking points are the performances of the officials?
 
I need to find a post I put up a while ago......
 
lawrie29 said:
As every Spurs fan is, I am very very happy!

Well done Birmingham+Barcelona, very pleased for you, always nice to have a club outside the "not quite so big anymore" four win.

Serves Arsenal right for saying they where going for a Quadruple!

I am waiting for the complaints form the grumpy Frenchman about the ref, the pitch, the ball, injuries etc, as well as the Gooners saying that it's not a "big" trophy and they would rather not win it......
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Ridiculous decision to book RVP for the 2nd yellow and for that Arsenal fans can feel hard done by.

I would have liked Arsenal to go through but if Nicklas Bendtner had put that chance away in the 87th min and Arsenal had progressed - that would have been a bigger injustice.

Barcelona were deserving winners comprehensively out-playing and out-working Arsenal in both games.
 
Johnny Thunder said:
I agree with what you said here but the one major issue I have with Barcelona is the fact that they
still feel the need to dive, card wave, whinge, moan, and generally cheat like petulant kids.
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This is annoying and really frustrates me when watching top level teams, but unfortunately they all seem to do it. Doesn't make it right I know - just saying that Barca aren't alone in it.
 
Just done a little bit of research. If you discount Kenny Daglish , who has not managed a club since 2000, and Steve Kean who is in his first role as a manager, out of the 18 remaining managers in the Premier League, only 4 managers have had a longer wait than Arsene Wenger in winning a title of some kind.

They are:
Mark Hughes - Never won anything as manager.
David Moyes - Won the 2000 League 2 title.
Roy Hodgson - Danish League winner in 2001.
Avram Grant - 2002 Israeli Cup winner.

All of the other Premier League Managers have won (League, Cup, or promotion which I say counts in this example) more recently.

So Wenger is currently the 14th best manager in the league by those stats.

I don't think he can stay at Arsenal if he doesn't get some silverware this season, reckon they would be made to keep him.
 
joescrivens said:
Here's the way I hope the season goes.

Arsenal lose against barca and out of Europe - check
Arsenal lose to united in the fa cup after beating LO
Both of these keep arsenal with more focus at home to catch manurenited

Chelsea win on Tuesday and then Liverpool beat manure on Sunday making them drop 6 points. - check
Arsenal catch them and overtake them
Manure stay in the fa cup and champions league till the semis and then lose, keeping them stretched long enough to also lose out on the league
Ferguson retires because he is clearly blind as a bat for saying there was nothing in the Rooney elbow.

Liverpool win the Europa league, put together a strong finish for 5th place.

:-) a guy can hope
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we're getting there
 
joescrivens said:
Liverpool win the Europa league, put together a strong finish for 5th place........we're getting there
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The giddy heights :naughty:

Joking aside (and completely igoring the United match as that didn't really happen) it's been a fair old turnaround for Liverpool.
 
dinners said:
The giddy heights :naughty:

Joking aside (and completely igoring the United match as that didn't really happen) it's been a fair old turnaround for Liverpool.
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Tell me about it. That Europa league has sub standard all over it, even the production on the tv is substandard, the presenters, commentators, teams, officials .... Everything. It's just such a poor competition.

I wouldnt be surprised if the trophy was made of tin foil
 
CaptainPenguin said:
As an ex referee I am ashamed to be associated with the same profession as that card happy cretin,he should never ref a game again,As a posting on the newspapers article said if the streaker had attacked the ref should the players have just stood by and done nothing for fear of a red card once the little Hitler had recoverd his composure
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With due respect, as an ex referee, you should know that the LOAF required that Vickers be dismissed from the field of play, so the 'cretin' was enforcing the rules he is there to uphold.
 
Barca were always going to dominate at Nou Camp - Arsenal did well in the first 30mins or so, albeit defending.

Cesc shouldn't have played, he was blatantly not fit and was guilty of giving possession away for the first goal. I know they didn't have an outright replacement for him but he was utter useless last night. Whilshere I felt was their best player.

The RVP sending off was absolutely ridiculous. People will moan that referees get a lot of stick but there is no way that decision can be defended - laughable. And yes, it did hinder any chance Arsenal might have had - he was at least an outlet.

Arsenal were outplayed, that's true, but the game changed even more so with the sending off.

Well done to Barca and Messi proved once again why he's an absolute genius with that goal...
 
^^ Couldn't agree more.

If only RVP was on the pitch and had the chance to score instead of Bendtner............
 
Arsenal where being dominated when they had 11 players on the pitch and I honestly couldn't see that changing even if Arsenal finished with 11 men, Barca where playing at a different level. The chance at the end, if taken, would have been an injustice imo.

BTW 2nd yellow as extrememly harsh, however VP picked up a stupid first yellow in the first place. Also Arsenal should never have been playing Barca in the first place, to come 2nd to Shaktar in the group stages was what cost them a place in the next round.
 
Wenger and Nasri being charged by the FA for comments to the ref.

TBH, I can't say I blame them, but Wengar just comes across as a sore loser.
 
So - attention switches to Spurs tonight.

It could be fairly close encounter I think.

Here's hoping for an invisible ref for a change.
 
RVP's first booking is being overlooked with all the talk of the second. As a senior player RVP has to rise above the frustrations and the incident for his first booking was avoidable.

In Europe the referee's are very picky, RVP has enough experience to know this. As a striker playing off the shoulder, as RVP does, there is always a chance of being offside and shooting. So there is always the chance of this being misunderstood as time wasting and thus picking up a yellow.

If RVP had not lost his cool in the first half and been booked needlessly then he would have still been on the pitch.

In the same instance defenders have a responsibility to not pick up needless bookings (back chat / not retreating / kicking ball away), as there is a good chance that they will mistime a challenge and pick up a second card.

The players need to look at their own behavior sometimes as they do put the referee's in to difficult positions.
 
Sure, his 1st booking was silly, and if the 2nd was a debatable foul then thats down to him for having the 1st one. But in RVP case, no-one has said that it was a 2nd yellow and it was a shocking decision. Not the first time Barcelona have found themselves being helped by a ref in CL???
 
We were fractionally outplayed in the first leg but luck went our way and then we we're convincingly outplayed in the second leg and luck went against us. Rant and rave all you like about the ref, the red card, and whatever else, but in 300 minutes of football we were the weaker side and I don't believe even with 11 men on the pitch we'd have seen a different result. I know football's a competitive game and you want to stand up for your team but I wish more people would take a step back and give credit where credit's due. That first leg was probably one of the finest games of football I've ever seen and to have Arsenal as a part of that is a privilege, OK it was made sweeter by winning on the day, but even if that hadn't been the case I'd have loved every second of watching the match.
 
But I thought Bendtner was the best player in the world? He certainly thought he was after scoring a hat trick against my lot last week

No idea what all that cocked ear nonsense was all about, timely reminder to himself mainly that he isn't very good and sure he will soon be playing elsewhere more suited to his abilities.
 
MG TF 135 said:
In Europe the referee's are very picky, RVP has enough experience to know this. As a striker playing off the shoulder, as RVP does, there is always a chance of being offside and shooting. So there is always the chance of this being misunderstood as time wasting and thus picking up a yellow.
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There are near enough 100,000 fans at the Nou Camp and there was a second between the whistle going and him shooting!

And who time wastes with 35 mins left on the clock :cuckoo:

I agree that he first yellow was silly, but there is no defence for his second. NONE. The ref has had a shocker
 
cambsno said:
Not the first time Barcelona have found themselves being helped by a ref in CL???
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Gets pulled up every time, yet there are always examples in the same leg to prove that this is simply not the case.

Laddies and Gentleman, Mlurd and the jury, I present Alex Song in the first leg. Booked inside the first 10 mins (06:09 according to the BBC) for unsporting behaviour, he then proceded to fly into tackles left right and centre and was lucky to avoid a second yellow in the first half. If there was/where a conspiricy to aid Barca advancing, then surely Song would have been sent packing....

Secondly, during last nights game, I present Pedro. Fouled in the box he stayed on his feet on his feet and playing on. If he went down he would have earned a penalty for his side, even if he didn't he still should have earned a penalty but it was not given. Again, a easy call to make that did not go Barca way....

To conclude, Refs make mistake and there is no conspiricy in favour of Arsenal....there's just tinted view of selective moments in games that fans (on both sides) pick up on while ignoring the bigger picture.
 
I know there's the Spanish connection but did anybody else find it a bit cringe worthy last night when Fabregas went down the whole Barca line up (prior to them walking out) shaking hands, smiling and laughing and just being over touchy feely with them all.

A few Arsenal fans were ranting about it on the radio today and a few pundits commented on how inapropriate it was of him (especially being captain) when the rest of the side were lined up looking pretty focussed.
 
tijuana taxi said:
But I thought Bendtner was the best player in the world? He certainly thought he was after scoring a hat trick against my lot last week


Not just Bendtner, his Mum and Dad think his the best player in the world too. :lol:
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Is Bendtner not the best player in the world???
 
Sorry, course not, not in that shirt.........
 
COME ON YOU SPURS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Well done Spurs.

I settled down on the sofa to watch it with no kids to distract me or anything. Flipping fell asleep at about the 15min mark and woke up to the news at ten.

Oh well - at least I can watch the highlights now.
 
dinners said:
Well done Spurs.

I settled down on the sofa to watch it with no kids to distract me or anything. Flipping fell asleep at about the 15min mark and woke up to the news at ten.

Oh well - at least I can watch the highlights now.
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what highlights? it was a dull game if you werent a spurs fan
 
Not much to say about Spurs really is there? No one expected them to get this far, not to mention beating Inter and AC Milan on route, and to also expect them to go further in the C-L than the gooners....... who would have though it?

Whats more funny is that Tottenhams neighbours decide to show interest in the Carling Cup this season (because pressure is on for Wenger to win something) and they could not even beat Birmingham.

A very Happy Week for Spurs Fans........... C'mon you SPURS !!!
 
Didn't Leeds Utd have a great CL campaign a few years back? If I remember rightly, they also over spent on players and wages but unfortunately they never managed to qualify again.

Would hate to see this happen to spurs.
 
Thought all you Bendtner fans would enjoy this clip from todays Racing Post in an article by Bruce Millington

Bendtner got his just deserts at Barca.

To earn the accolade of the most abysmal sight on a football pitch this season takes some doing.
The victor has to beat off some formidable competition from perpetrators of ugly tackles, divers, actors and cheats.And that winner is Nicklas Bendtner for cupping his ear to Leyton Orient fans after scoring against them in a recent FA Cup replay.
It was an atrocious spectacle and perfectly summed up this woeful excuse for a footballer who isn't fit to wear the Arsenal shirt as a leisure garment let alone as part of the first team. yet thinks he's some kind of 21st century Pele.
So it was a joyous moment when the arrogant oaf made an embarrassing hash of a simple chance to take Arsenal into the quarter-finals of the Champions League in Barcelona on Tuesday.
In a moment of solidarity with the unjustly insulted Orient fans. I responded to his laughable howler by cupping my ear at the TV screen
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The Greek said:
Didn't Leeds Utd have a great CL campaign a few years back? If I remember rightly, they also over spent on players and wages but unfortunately they never managed to qualify again.

Would hate to see this happen to spurs.
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The difference is, we spend £8 mill on Van Der Vaart, not silly money on players.

Spurs were not expecting to qualify for the CL. We were not expecting to get through to the knockout phase. We did not expect to get to the quarter finals.

It is not in the business plan to repeat a CL run. It is in the plan for Europa league, quite rightly.

Levy is a bit too shrewd to fall that way (I hope!)
 
TriggerHappy said:
We were fractionally outplayed in the first leg but luck went our way and then we we're convincingly outplayed in the second leg and luck went against us. Rant and rave all you like about the ref, the red card, and whatever else, but in 300 minutes of football we were the weaker side and I don't believe even with 11 men on the pitch we'd have seen a different result. I know football's a competitive game and you want to stand up for your team but I wish more people would take a step back and give credit where credit's due. That first leg was probably one of the finest games of football I've ever seen and to have Arsenal as a part of that is a privilege, OK it was made sweeter by winning on the day, but even if that hadn't been the case I'd have loved every second of watching the match.
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I can't give credit to Barcelona when they moan like kids, act up to the referee with diving and trying to get him to book opponents, blatant faking of injuries, dirty play/fouls they get away with playing at home and playing against ten men.
RVP's first booking was not a booking. He did nothing, watch the replay. RVP was grabbed around his throat by another Barcelona player and nothing was done. He was then sent off because he shot on goal 1 second after being flagged offside and not hearing a whistle. That's abotu as harsh as it gets. In fact, I've not seen many refereeing performances worse. The whole evening the ref influenced the game giving decisions Barcelona's way. I thought referees were above listening to the home crowd and basing decisions on the reactions of home sides? Apparently not.
Yes it is all too easy to blame officials, but every time two big sides meet it's always decided by the referee. Barcelona did not beat Arsenal, they were handed the victory. The reason they dominated was that every single attack the had overalps down both sides because Arsenal were having to play a tight formation with a man down. Not hard to beat any side that has only ten men let alone Barcelona playing against you.
Barcelona are probably the best side in the world currently, but they don't need ot behave the way they do. They have tallent.
I'll stop being a bitter Arsenal fan when a team beats us properly and luck is not against us constantly like in the Carling Cup final as well.
 
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