snuffleupagus
New member
u mean it is crowded on a wednesday night at 245am?serious ah?wah lau
THE FOOTBALL THREAD Vol 2
- Thread starter fgl
- Start date
fgl
Well-known member
Arsène Wenger
UEFA Champions League
Wednesday, March 31, 2010, 19:45
on whether Arsenal were fortunate...
"I must first say that we played against a great team who was dominant in the early part of the game. That's where we were lucky because they had early chances. We gave them too much room to play. But I must say I give a lot of credit to my players because we kept in the tie at 2-0 against a team like Barcelona. If you have no mental strength you can go down to 5-0 but we came back to 2-2. The only regret I have tonight is the way we gave the two goals away. We were lucky to be 0-0 at half time but I am convinced that had we not given those two cheap goals away we would have won the game."
on being outplayed for periods of the match...
"I don't deny that. They are an outstanding team but I believe that most of the shots on goal they had were in the first part of the game. We were in a position at 2-0 when you play against a great side and you have to throw everything forward. You know you can be caught with another goal."
on whether he regrets playing Fabregas...
"I don't know. At the end of the day you have to trust how the player feels and you trust your medical people. There was nothing wrong medically, they told me, and he had a test this morning and said he was ready to play. I haven't spoken to him yet because he has an X-ray - we have to check nothing is wrong with him. I think anyway he is suspended for the second leg and I believe he won't play on Saturday. If it was a muscular injury he would have been better to come off. He wanted to stay on - maybe he thought he would get another penalty."
on his attitude after the booking which ruled him out of the second leg...
"He is fantastic. His mental strength... he didn't give up. I believe the whole team was mentally unbelievable tonight because we kept going and kept going and kept going against an opponent that is class. But I am still convinced we can make life difficult for them in the second game. We have a chance to qualify."
on Barca losing Puyol and Pique to suspension...
"From what I have seen tonight it is not enough!"
on William Gallas...
"William has a calf strain. He will be out for a while now. Again, I took a gamble that didn't pay off. I can say yes, I regret that now."
on Andrey Arshavin...
"He is the same, he has done his calf."
on whether it's easier to accept being outplayed by a side like Barcelona...
"It is not easy, believe me, but you respect it more than when you are kicked. I respect what Barcelona did tonight and you have to say they are a great side. They won the European Cup, the [Spanish] championship, the [Spanish] Cup, and you can see why. I still believe that a part of their superiority was down to their inhibition at the start of the game. We gave them too much room in the first part of the game."
on why he is confident Arsenal can qualify...
"Because we have to study well how we be dominant and win the ball back. I believe that when we win the ball back we always looked dangerous against them. Especially using some weaknesses that we have exploited quite well tonight. We have to go for that."
on Theo Walcott's performance...
"I don't deny tonight that he had a huge impact when he came on and I am very happy about that. I found it absolutely fantastic. He has qualities which can be useful on a big pitch like the Nou Camp but first let's focus on Wolves on Saturday."
on Fabregas' booking...
"I think it was a cheap one and I don't know if you can appeal for yellow cards but I don't think he deserved a yellow card."
on Carles Puyol's red card...
"Yes [I thought it was harsh]."
on whether it was a penalty...
"It was so-so."
on Lionel Messi...
"That was a positive sign tonight, he didn't score and didn't create too many chances."
on the size of the task facing Arsenal in the Nou Camp...
"It would be a big achievement but I believe we can do it."
on whether Barcelona will be kicking themselves...
"Yes, certainly they will have that feeling because in the first part of the game they could have killed us off. But don't forget we had many chances - Bendtner had two or three chances. I believe on the counter-attacks over there we can be very dangerous."
on whether it was 'art' at the Emirates...
"It was art. Art of football, but it was art. I think it was a great football night for people who watched the game with two teams who went for it. It was an exceptional football night, of course."
i didn't watch the match...but from what i hear,
Arsenal were outclassed on their own turf. Barca are on a totally different league and should have scored many more. Arsenal are used to monkeying lesser teams around in the Emirates, but yesterday, they were the ones being monkeyed.
Whoever beats Barca will win the CL.
Arsenal were outclassed on their own turf. Barca are on a totally different league and should have scored many more. Arsenal are used to monkeying lesser teams around in the Emirates, but yesterday, they were the ones being monkeyed.
Whoever beats Barca will win the CL.
fgl
Well-known member
yep ....
the problem with AFC is that they were pressed by barca when off the ball and lightning attacked off the ball by barca ..... this kinda shell shocked AFC for the first 25 mins or so ...
Big gamble on Gallas & Arshavin with didnt pay off .......... Campbell could have done as well as Gallas - maybe better for corners ...
Almunia - damm good shot stopper and saved at least 6 certain goals but judgement still bad - 2 goals combi his / defence fault ... keepers nowdays need to be keeper lovelovelove sweeper as well ...
all in all 2-2 not too bad seeing we were outplayed most of the 1st half but barca will be w/o their 2 1st chioce cbs for the return leg... sooo .... a nice 0-1 win for AFC mite just be posible ... provided we keep it tight and play a counter attacking game there
the problem with AFC is that they were pressed by barca when off the ball and lightning attacked off the ball by barca ..... this kinda shell shocked AFC for the first 25 mins or so ...
Big gamble on Gallas & Arshavin with didnt pay off .......... Campbell could have done as well as Gallas - maybe better for corners ...
Almunia - damm good shot stopper and saved at least 6 certain goals but judgement still bad - 2 goals combi his / defence fault ... keepers nowdays need to be keeper lovelovelove sweeper as well ...
all in all 2-2 not too bad seeing we were outplayed most of the 1st half but barca will be w/o their 2 1st chioce cbs for the return leg... sooo .... a nice 0-1 win for AFC mite just be posible ... provided we keep it tight and play a counter attacking game there
fgl
Well-known member
Arsene Wenger
Arsenal 1-0 Wolverhampton
Barclays Premier League
Saturday, April 03, 2010, 15:00
Wenger: 'This win keeps us in the title race'
11/2 AFC win the Premier LgeFree £20 Paddy Power bet9/1 Arsenal win Champs LgeBet £10 get £20 Free
on a vital win...
It keeps us in the title race, yes. First it was important to forget Barcelona for 24 hours and focus on today's game, and that was not easy. But we did it well - I think we had a good focus. We were a bit jaded physically but we kept going and we were serious, we didn't make a mistake at the back. In the end we got a deserved victory against a resilient Wolves team who had a great goalkeeper. At the end of the day we kept it late as with many times but overall we deserved to win the game.
on all the late goals...
I put that down to our mental tenacity, our unity and the focus of the players who come on. Everybody works in the same direction. And as well, we take advantage of our technical superiority in the final part of the game, most of the time.
on playing against 10 men...
From outside I felt it became more difficult against 10 men because suddenly they dropped 10 yards and got everybody in front of their box. We were not so much anymore under the threat of conceding a goal but it looked difficult to create chances.
on Theo Walcott's late chance...
I was disappointed because I thought he was through but when I watched it again I saw that he had not so much time. But he missed contact with the ball.
on whether he thought a goal was coming...
No, no, but what I knew was that we would continue to go. But I was not certain we would score in the final minute of the game.
on what a draw would have done for Arsenal's title hopes...
Finished. You know if you're five points behind Chelsea with five games to go, you can forget it. But with three points it's feasible because we have a difficult programme but they have a difficult programme as well.
on giving themselves hope for Barcelona...
I don't deny it will be a difficult task. We have to raise above the impression Barcelona left on us in the first part of the match, to have a game plan and stick to it. I believe we have to be audacious and not hide. I do not deny in the first part of the game that Barcelona were over-dominant, but if you look at the chances we created, we had some good ones.
on Nicklas Bendtner's impact...
Bendtner is a player who can take critics. He responds well to it and has that strength. I believe he is improving, which is not unusual for a young player at 22. There is still room for improvement, but he is becoming more of a team player and is working hard. It is all positive.
on Walcott drifting in and out of the game...
It is difficult physically to run at the pace of a 100m runner and give always the right ball at that pace.
Also, it is difficult for a player to make 100m races 50 times. He is not a player who makes a burst of just five yards, he is a player who every time runs 30 or 40 metres, that takes a lot out of you, and when it comes to the situation when you have to cross the ball, he already has a big effort behind him. I do not know yet if he will start against Barcelona, because I have to study what I have to do. I have tomorrow and Monday, so I will have to see.
on whether 86 points will be enough for the title...
I believe so, that’s the only chance we have. I calculated how many games we have to play and how far we can go if we win all our games, 86, so I decided that 86 will do it!
on Karl Henry's sending off...
I must say I don’t believe he went to hurt the player. It was full power but I didn’t see any malicious intent. If he was sent off it’s just for a violent tackle.
on the investigation into Gallas' injury...
They make a story of it in France. It is now a situation where a club is not even any more in a situation when it can decide when it plays its players. They have the right to pay the players, but not when to play them. What I don’t understand, for example, I don’t disagree that I took a gamble on Gallas. But the player declares himself fit, the medical staff declared him fit, the rehabilitation centre declared him fit, but I still cannot play him because maybe France needs him in the summer in the World Cup. During which we pay him as well. You have to leave some freedom to the club to decide when they play their players.
I want the players to do well for the national team as well but the national teams have to accept as well that we lose the players like Robin Van Persie for the whole season, when he goes there for what? To play against Italy in Bari for a friendly when the stadium is half empty. And we lose him for the whole season. We pay him the whole season. They decided to play him. So when we play at home against Barcelona in the Quarter Final of the Champions League, we are still ostracised because we play a player who declares himself fit. That’s a bit too much.
Arsenal 1-0 Wolverhampton
Barclays Premier League
Saturday, April 03, 2010, 15:00
Wenger: 'This win keeps us in the title race'
11/2 AFC win the Premier LgeFree £20 Paddy Power bet9/1 Arsenal win Champs LgeBet £10 get £20 Free
on a vital win...
It keeps us in the title race, yes. First it was important to forget Barcelona for 24 hours and focus on today's game, and that was not easy. But we did it well - I think we had a good focus. We were a bit jaded physically but we kept going and we were serious, we didn't make a mistake at the back. In the end we got a deserved victory against a resilient Wolves team who had a great goalkeeper. At the end of the day we kept it late as with many times but overall we deserved to win the game.
on all the late goals...
I put that down to our mental tenacity, our unity and the focus of the players who come on. Everybody works in the same direction. And as well, we take advantage of our technical superiority in the final part of the game, most of the time.
on playing against 10 men...
From outside I felt it became more difficult against 10 men because suddenly they dropped 10 yards and got everybody in front of their box. We were not so much anymore under the threat of conceding a goal but it looked difficult to create chances.
on Theo Walcott's late chance...
I was disappointed because I thought he was through but when I watched it again I saw that he had not so much time. But he missed contact with the ball.
on whether he thought a goal was coming...
No, no, but what I knew was that we would continue to go. But I was not certain we would score in the final minute of the game.
on what a draw would have done for Arsenal's title hopes...
Finished. You know if you're five points behind Chelsea with five games to go, you can forget it. But with three points it's feasible because we have a difficult programme but they have a difficult programme as well.
on giving themselves hope for Barcelona...
I don't deny it will be a difficult task. We have to raise above the impression Barcelona left on us in the first part of the match, to have a game plan and stick to it. I believe we have to be audacious and not hide. I do not deny in the first part of the game that Barcelona were over-dominant, but if you look at the chances we created, we had some good ones.
on Nicklas Bendtner's impact...
Bendtner is a player who can take critics. He responds well to it and has that strength. I believe he is improving, which is not unusual for a young player at 22. There is still room for improvement, but he is becoming more of a team player and is working hard. It is all positive.
on Walcott drifting in and out of the game...
It is difficult physically to run at the pace of a 100m runner and give always the right ball at that pace.
Also, it is difficult for a player to make 100m races 50 times. He is not a player who makes a burst of just five yards, he is a player who every time runs 30 or 40 metres, that takes a lot out of you, and when it comes to the situation when you have to cross the ball, he already has a big effort behind him. I do not know yet if he will start against Barcelona, because I have to study what I have to do. I have tomorrow and Monday, so I will have to see.
on whether 86 points will be enough for the title...
I believe so, that’s the only chance we have. I calculated how many games we have to play and how far we can go if we win all our games, 86, so I decided that 86 will do it!
on Karl Henry's sending off...
I must say I don’t believe he went to hurt the player. It was full power but I didn’t see any malicious intent. If he was sent off it’s just for a violent tackle.
on the investigation into Gallas' injury...
They make a story of it in France. It is now a situation where a club is not even any more in a situation when it can decide when it plays its players. They have the right to pay the players, but not when to play them. What I don’t understand, for example, I don’t disagree that I took a gamble on Gallas. But the player declares himself fit, the medical staff declared him fit, the rehabilitation centre declared him fit, but I still cannot play him because maybe France needs him in the summer in the World Cup. During which we pay him as well. You have to leave some freedom to the club to decide when they play their players.
I want the players to do well for the national team as well but the national teams have to accept as well that we lose the players like Robin Van Persie for the whole season, when he goes there for what? To play against Italy in Bari for a friendly when the stadium is half empty. And we lose him for the whole season. We pay him the whole season. They decided to play him. So when we play at home against Barcelona in the Quarter Final of the Champions League, we are still ostracised because we play a player who declares himself fit. That’s a bit too much.
fgl
Well-known member
Cesc Fabregas... scoring the equaliser against Barcelona
Arsenal 1-0 Wolverhampton
Barclays Premier League
Saturday, April 03, 2010, 15:00
Wenger - Cesc did NOT play with broken leg
11/2 AFC win the Premier LgeFree £20 Paddy Power bet9/1 Arsenal win Champs LgeBet £10 get £20 Free
By Richard Clarke
Arsène Wenger is satisfied that Cesc Fabregas did NOT play against Barcelona with a broken leg.
The Arsenal captain fractured his fibula winning an 84th-minute penalty against the Spanish champions on Wednesday. But the injury was in the same place as the kick he received from Craig Gardner at Birmingham on Saturday and media reports on Friday suggested that the earlier challenge actually broke the bone.
At his press conference later that day, Wenger strongly refuted the story.
"I am 100 per cent confident [that everything was done properly] and I checked that this morning with our medical team,” he said. “There is no doubt about that. Medically we were clear.
"It will need a big enquiry to tell you exactly when it happened. But we believe that it was from Puyol on the penalty when he kicked Cesc through the legs.
“There were some suggestions that he played with a broken bone but that is not true. We had two independent doctors with X-rays who clarified that the bone was perfectly OK. It was a bruised bone but not broken before the Barcelona match.
“He had a test on the morning of the game, he had another test in the warm-up. I asked him afterwards if he felt perfectly alright and he said ‘yes’.
"The injury is in exactly the place where he got kicked against Birmingham and he has a crack on his bone. That means he already had a bruised bone before the game and the kick from Puyol on it made it split.
"Of course, it was bad news for us because to lose a player of his stature is difficult so we will need even more to fight together to overcome that. When you look at now we have no Arshavin, no Fabregas, no Gallas, no Van Persie - that is a lot. But we want to focus on our targets and can still achieve them."
Arsenal 1-0 Wolverhampton
Barclays Premier League
Saturday, April 03, 2010, 15:00
Wenger - Cesc did NOT play with broken leg
11/2 AFC win the Premier LgeFree £20 Paddy Power bet9/1 Arsenal win Champs LgeBet £10 get £20 Free
By Richard Clarke
Arsène Wenger is satisfied that Cesc Fabregas did NOT play against Barcelona with a broken leg.
The Arsenal captain fractured his fibula winning an 84th-minute penalty against the Spanish champions on Wednesday. But the injury was in the same place as the kick he received from Craig Gardner at Birmingham on Saturday and media reports on Friday suggested that the earlier challenge actually broke the bone.
At his press conference later that day, Wenger strongly refuted the story.
"I am 100 per cent confident [that everything was done properly] and I checked that this morning with our medical team,” he said. “There is no doubt about that. Medically we were clear.
"It will need a big enquiry to tell you exactly when it happened. But we believe that it was from Puyol on the penalty when he kicked Cesc through the legs.
“There were some suggestions that he played with a broken bone but that is not true. We had two independent doctors with X-rays who clarified that the bone was perfectly OK. It was a bruised bone but not broken before the Barcelona match.
“He had a test on the morning of the game, he had another test in the warm-up. I asked him afterwards if he felt perfectly alright and he said ‘yes’.
"The injury is in exactly the place where he got kicked against Birmingham and he has a crack on his bone. That means he already had a bruised bone before the game and the kick from Puyol on it made it split.
"Of course, it was bad news for us because to lose a player of his stature is difficult so we will need even more to fight together to overcome that. When you look at now we have no Arshavin, no Fabregas, no Gallas, no Van Persie - that is a lot. But we want to focus on our targets and can still achieve them."
dudelove
New member
dudelove
New member
Oh and he's not a prodigy already. He's like.. A demigod of soccer at 22 years of age.
Lovehurts
New member
Dudelove - Haha! yea even Mr Wenger himself declared Messi the best player in the world currently so perhaps that bolstered the heartache of elimination a lil. Aiya, we better console FGL. As i said, tmr IF Utd joins Arsenal in the knock out club, we'll need him to console us also =/
loldude333
New member
They've been the best for some time now IMHO, ever since they won 6 trophies last season. I just can't see a weakness in the side. And even if there is, Messi is more than enough to paper over the cracks. Goodness me, 4 goals is amazing. 4 goals scored with class even more so. Hats off to him, demi-god status doesn't befit him man. Godlike is the word.
fgl
Well-known member
yep - damm straight .... no team can touch them sad to say ..
btw with both AFC and manu out ... skali pool win the europa cup .... wah egg on our respective faces after all the tekaning of them ...
fgl
Well-known member
kimura
New member
Good to see back fgl brutha....
'Yesterday's loss is Tomorrow's victory', Gunners ain't call Gunners for nothing...y'all keep on firing.
Barca playing Inter next round? I'm definitely down for that, when Rummenigge was playing for Inter, I was rootin' for them like I was rootin' for DeNiro to pop somebody in The Godfather.
'Yesterday's loss is Tomorrow's victory', Gunners ain't call Gunners for nothing...y'all keep on firing.
Barca playing Inter next round? I'm definitely down for that, when Rummenigge was playing for Inter, I was rootin' for them like I was rootin' for DeNiro to pop somebody in The Godfather.
