The Soccer Blog: Assessing the Damage From Champions League Defeat

Wednesday, 9 March 2011

Assessing the Damage From Champions League Defeat

By: Sairax | March 9th, 2011
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It’s all gone a bit crazy since the game last night. People are upset at the referee, at the players, at Barcelona. Let’s see if I can sift through some of the rubble and see what we’ve been left with here.

Arsene Wenger is not a happy bunny:

“Two kinds of people can be unhappy; those who love Arsenal and those who love football can be frustrated with the referee’s decisions. When he made the decision it was a very promising game, very interesting. That’s the regret. We lost against a very good Barcelona side, congratulations to them and good luck for the future. We have many regrets tonight because we didn’t expect to lose the game like that. I feel sorry for people who watched the game tonight.

“If you have played football at a certain level, you cannot understand the decision. I cannot imagine that someone who has played football, in a game of that importance, makes that decision at the moment he did. Even if he heard the whistle, I still don’t understand the decision. People who have played football will never accept a decision like that. It killed a promising, fantastic football match. What for? If it’s a bad tackle and a second-bookable offence then OK.”

RvP had his own little rant after the match and called out the referee. A couple of our players have had a go on twitter. What can I say? I don’t think the ref had a good game. Was he the reason we lost? No. I don’t understand some of his decisions though. Sending off Kos for persistent fouling, I would have understood (can you imagine if Song had played? We would have been down to 10 men after 5 minutes). Giving RvP a second yellow for shooting after the whistle blew seemed really harsh, especially since there was about a second between the whistle and the shot. It upsets me that Barcelona didn’t get at least a yellow for Alves’ scissor tackle or the choke-holds on van Persie and Nasri by Abidal, Valdes, and Adriano. Is grabbing the throat some sort of form of communication in Spain that I don’t know about? At the same time, Barcelona could have had another penalty when Messi was taken down. I just found it odd that he called for some fouls and not for others. That is the absolute last thing I will say about the referee because I don’t want us to get too hung up on it.

Robin will not be able to appeal the red card he received in the game. Also, it seems that both Wenger and Nasri exchanged a few words with the referee in the tunnel after the match, to put it lightly. UEFA have opened disciplinary proceedings against them both where they will face charges of improper conduct for using offensive language. It just keeps getting better. I’ll just clarify that I believe the referee must have put in his report the comments Wenger and Nasri made to him in the tunnel and that is what they are being charged for. It is not because of post match comments in the media. Otherwise, I’m pretty sure they would be throwing the book at van Persie.

In injury news, Szczesny, who went off early in the first half with a finger injury, looks to be in doubt for the rest of the season. Nothing has been confirmed by the club, but Wojo might have damaged a tendon in his finger. How serious it is and how much treatment it will need has yet to be determined. Martin and I will, of course, update you with any incoming injury news when we get it. In the meantime, we have a bit of a goalkeeping problem on our hands. Fabianski is out for the season with his shoulder injury. Almunia would be the one between the sticks if Szczesny really can’t play. Who is our backup keeper? Vito Mannone and James Shea are both carrying slight knocks. Mannone seems to be worse off, so I’m not sure that we’ll see him in action, but we could have Shea on the bench for us as his loan spell is almost up anyway.

With regards to Cesc and van Persie: I believe both are fit. Cesc seems to have a bit of an issue with his hamstring, but I haven’t heard that it is serious. What I do wonder is if either of them were more than 50% because it didn’t look like it yesterday. Both had very lacklustre performances and showed very little energy. It worries me if we are rushing them back because having them on the pitch when they are not fully fit just hurts us. We saw that earlier in the season when Cesc kept playing even though his pain and you could clearly see he was struggling. No matter what we think of Denilson, Diaby, or Rosicky, I’d rather have one of them on the pitch if they are fit rather than a frustrated and hobbling Cesc. As for van Persie, well, I was fine with having Bendtner play up top for us. He could have deputized just fine, and he doesn’t get riled up easily either. Ahem. Again, if there are any updates at all on their fitness, we’ll let you know as soon as we can.

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Ok, so I’m going to have to swallow my bitter disappointment for a couple minutes to talk about the match. I’ll let Xavi kick off the discussion:

“This is a fair result,” Xavi told the Barcelona official website. “We were the superior team both in the away game and at home. There’s justice in football. They had clearly come here to defend. They didn’t even have one single shot on goal. I expected a lot more from them to be honest.

“[Javier] Mascherano and [Sergio] Busquets are simply amazing for the team, while Leo [Messi] once again stepped up to make the difference. The only thing that could have been better was our finishing. We should have scored more and we suffered too much. We could have killed the game a lot sooner.

“Arsenal really didn’t want to play football. All they cared about was defending. The red card did affect the game, but the decision was right in my opinion.”

I concede that Barcelona were and are the better team, but I’ll take slight issue with us not coming to play football. Barcelona fans, it is very difficult to get the ball of of you. It really is. It’s also hard to keep the ball when we get a sniff every 10 minutes. I do think that they pushed us back. We played a high line in the first half, but I think we began to sink deeper. Now, was it Wenger’s decision that we concentrate more on our defensive side of our game? I’m not sure. On the one hand, I thought our backline did pretty well, considering the opponent. Our problem was really in the midfield where we were just awful in transitioning. The few times we hoofed it were due to the ball being in a dangerous area or because we simply were being overwhelmed in the midfield and couldn’t string more than 2 passes together. Was it our plan to sit back and not attack? I don’t know, but I doubt it. When have we ever successfully pulled that off? We just aren’t set up that way. I will say that our “attempts” at attacking, particularly in the first half were completely feeble. I really don’t know what happened. It was an Arsenal we are not used to seeing. I don’t think we intended to play anti-football, but maybe they forced us into it. They were on their game and they could have had plenty more goals. We just couldn’t get it together. We didn’t play well, full stop.

At the end of the day, I think many of us were resigned to being knocked out even before the match. At least that was the general sense I was getting on twitter. Cesc tweeted after the game: “Great support from the arsenal fans. I take full blame for the result tonight. One of the worst moments of my life. I apologise.” We’re all feeling a bit low right now. We can be annoyed at the ref, but as Pep said, we were dominated for 90 minutes. That’s why I am hurting today. I just don’t feel much like talking about this game anymore because I tend to get like that after soul-crushing defeats. However, I am a fan. I’m allowed to be a depressed, miserable bastard. The real question is, how will the players respond to this? Will we bounce back to beat the Mancs on Saturday? That would be the most appropriate response. Go win a game. Don’t be the victim. Seize the moment and show them you are bigger than that, boys. There are still 2 trophies up for grabs. We have to look at ourselves and get our act together and go out there and start winning some football games. That’s it. The games we played against Barcelona were unlike any other we will play for the rest of the season. It was a two-legged tie against an incredibly strong team who could beat any one of the teams left in the competition. We tried to overcome them, but we could not. The challenges we face now are so much different and they can be won. Time to stop thinking that everything is going against us and time to just knuckle down and get the job done. We can if we want it enough. Ten league games and a quarterfinal on Saturday. It’s crunch time. Can we handle it?

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Category: Arsenal News, Arsene Wenger, Cesc Fabregas, Injury Report, Manuel Almunia, Randoms, Rants, Robin van Persie, Samir Nasri, Video, Wojciech Szczesny

Tags: Arsenal News, Arsene Wenger, Barcelona, Cesc Fabregas, Injury Report, Manuel Almunia, Randoms, Rants, Robin van Persie, Samir Nasri, Video, Wojciech Szczesny
Tweet « Barcelona 3 Arsenal 1: RvP Sees Red as Blaugrana Dominate To Knock Out Gunners | Home | privateeye@Sairax

Can you please post the link where you read about Xavi's comments. If he has commented about the sending off then he is a douche bag nothing more nothing else.

Though I should not defend someone who I do not personally I will say this much - if you have followed Xavi's life on the field and off the field it does not fit into his character. I agree he is very opinionated about how football should be played and that is being rather dogmatic as each person has his conception of how to play football. But apart from his irritating comments about footbal philosophy I have not heard of him commenting this way on other issues.
ANd then there is this problem of translation. All the translation I see are usually not faithful and dont cretainly reflect what has been said.

But again I can be wrong. I just want clarification.SairaxMaybe the official website has it in catalan, I'm not sureSairaxI did give a link. Click on his name before the quote "Xavi"russianfanhow come we don't play the first game as away (at nou camp) for the second year in a row? i think it would be interesting to see how we in our current form would have coped with Barca first away and then at the emirates.Homey_MillsThat goes back to our meltdown in group play. The 2nd place finishers are the road team in the 2nd leg by rule.MartinOkay, I'm done talking about the refereeing stuff. Let's just hope AC Milan demolishes the Spurs at WHL today, because that would be really funny.Chiang Mai SteveBarcelona have excellent control at "piggy in the middle" which translates into some impressive passing during the game and of course great goals via Messi....but they are also suspect in defence as shown by how easily Wilshere dispossessed their left back in the lead up to Bendtners chance...but I stopped listening to anything Xavi and Iniesta say a long time ago...great players but prize tools....Gigi_manI think a lot of us think that the sending off was decisive, as well as two Barza fans I already spoken to today.
Its frustrating because at that point we were through (didnt know that until reading some of you) and RvP was the guy to be there.

And then come the comments from Xavi, it is difficult to like them after all this.Perry S.Exactly and how many times have we seen the better team lose? Oh right, the first leg. In every sport on this planet, there is no guarantee nor are you somehow priviledged to win just because you are the better team. The better losing happens ALL the time, especially when they can't capitilize on chances...hell, Arsenal is a perfect example of that.ChrisReally, is there any tougher challenge in the world of club football than an away match to Barcelona ? I still maintain our defence did really well to keep them out for 47 minutes. Despite their possession, Barca were impotent in front of goal for much of the match (Messi and Xavi did score brilliant goals though, credit due). But the more I see of Dani Alves, the more I dislike him as a player. Little shit-stirrer.
But we were back in it after the own-goal, only to be scythed down by THAT stupid decision.
Personally I hope UEFA do discipline AW and SN (and why not RvP for his comments too ?). It will keep the focus of attention for a little longer on how far up their own arses UEFA really are, and the lengths they will go to defend the blatant displays of incompetence within their own officials. UEFA, FIFA they are one of a kind.MartinAnd on the charges against Wenger and Nasri, it's disappointing (I was also disappointed that Wenger's handshake comment to Guardiola was "tell the referee congratulations from me," which just seems petulant to me).

But we don't know all the facts yet, so it would be premature to rush to judgment. But if you believed that Drogba should have been punished after the Barca semifinal 2nd leg two seasons ago (and I did) for his post-match behavior towards the ref, it seems like we at least have to face the possibility that Wenger and Nasri may deserve punishment which might see them miss a few matches in next year's Champions League (again, this is still all allegations at this point -- unlike Drogba, we don't actually know what happened or what was said).Darren_VI'm not disappointed in the least. Good on them for speaking out.
Get a ban? No big deal. It's only a group stage game, where we should win anyways. I don't recall Chelsea being too bothered without Drogba.MartinI don't know, I guess at this point everyone knows what I think of people that blame the referee for a result, but I am legitimately worried by this development. Arsenal are rapidly garnering a reputation for being the team that whines about the refs every chance we get -- our fans do it, our manager does it, and our players do it on Twitter quite a bit now. (A) I feel like it just makes us look like crybabies, and (B) I really do think we could start to see a backlash from referees who close ranks and protect their own. I do think refs respond to reputations on some level (see, e.g., how hard it was for us to get a penalty for months after Eduardo's dive).Darren_VA) I really couldn't care less what other fans think. We are all homers to our own teams to a degree anyways. I laughed when Chelsea got screwed v Barca a few years ago. I saw it again, and they got completely screwed that game. People will say what they want to say, because they have their own teams' agenda.
And they will look back at that decision in the future and ask the same thing we are asking 'What the f**k was that?!'

I am not huge on blaming the ref either for the most part. But a call like that is just unheard of at that stage of the game. Wenger said it.... to call that you must not understand that game. It's absurd.Homey_MillsDoesn't every team these days whine about the refs? I heard a lot of whining from Man Utd about the Nani incident on Sunday. Chelsea did their share after their loss to Barca a couple of years ago.
I'm not a big fan of it, but I think it's gotten pretty universal.MartinMaybe on the fans, and even the managers (Fergie whines as much if not more than Wenger does), but I'm pretty sure I haven't seen any other teams' players publicly take to Twitter to criticize officiating to the extent our guys have.Homey_MillsI think whining is a bit like diving. Nobody really likes it too much, especially when it's coming from another team. But it's the way it is these days. And unless there are suspensions arising from it, that sort of thing will continue.Darren_VHow many other teams' players do you follow exactly? That may or may have a slight impact on your perception...MartinTrue. But I feel like there have been a number of mainstream media stories about our players various criticisms on Twitter, and I don't remember reading any similar stories about other teams' players other than Ryan Babel. I'm certainly open to being proven wrong on this.

But if I were Wenger or someone else in charge at the club, I'd just make a team rule -- "Look, we're not going to take away your Twitter, but from now on, no comments about refereeing." Because it seems like it's become virtually every game that at least one or two players complains about the refereeing after the match.Darren_VFair enough.

Of course, if you were manager of the club, we would have to listen to 'frakking' all the time, and who wants that? ;)brentonHis precious Spurs would probably like it.MartinThey would, because Arsenal would almost certainly get relegated with "the Martin" at the helm, and putting up with "frakking" would be the least of your concerns. I'm sure I would lose the locker room within a matter of minutes.brenton"Crouchy, this is the frakking Martin speaking. You look like a frakking praying mantis. Pav, run around and frakking score, dammit! Keane, get the frak out, I thought I sold you. And Jenas, there's a car rental place that needs a spokesperson. That's all you're frakking good for, pretty boy."SairaxOne last thing. Jack Wilshere. That is all.vHFAbout the match, still.

I firmly believe that the blame for the loss is Wenger's. First, he started two players that were clearly not fully fit: Cesc and RvP. If they're not fully fit, they can't defend against the Barcelona bunnies. Second, he made no attempt to play a big striker to hold up the ball when one of Barca's centre backs is a lightweight and the other doesn't play in that position often. There were two moments to do that: from the start, or right after the sending off. Failure to do so cost Arsenal the tie in my opinion.Darren_VRVP did well with what he was charged to do out there. Not sure how he was the problem for you.vHFHe did not do well. There were virtually no instances of him holding onto the ball. He's just not that kind of player (sorry), and a target man was something Arsenal badly, badly needed.

Not introducing Bendtner or (better) Chamakh after the sending off was baffling. I understand why Wenger may have wanted 5 in midfield, but the effect was that (1) Barcelona passed absolutely freely from defense and (2) there was no attacking/hold-up outlet at all.Darren_VSo you think Bendtner or Chamakh would've done better? I disagree completely.
If you want to critisize Wenger, I can understand the anger at the Cesc, Rosicky and maybe Diaby's inclusion. But RVP? Ludicrus.vHFI do think Chamakh or Bendtner would have done better, yes. I believe that they would offer a much better outlet, much better target to pass balls to and would have won a fair share of the many balls that were just booted upfield from the defense.

If in addition to the above RvP was indeed not fully fit, then Wenger's decision to play him is nothing short of stupid.

And to be perfectly clear: I do not criticise RvP here. I criticise Wenger.Darren_VWhere is the evidence RVP was not fully fit? Nothing has been mentioned of it yet at all.

When and where was RVP the one to lose the ball in possession? He wasn't the one, that was the midfield being over-run.

You can blame Diaby, Fab and everyones love child, Wilshere for that. IF you are looking to critisize.vHFWhat is the evidence? How about the prognoses that had put his return to three weeks from now? I don't believe in miracles; I think Wenger did his usual trick and played an unfit first-team player over a fit substitute.

Read carefully: I am not criticising RvP for losing possession. He did what he does well: run with the ball when he did get it. I am criticising Wenger for not playing somebody who would have (1) won the possession more often (2) used it better.Darren_VThat's not evidence. That is pure conjecture. And by watching RVP play, he seemed ok out there to me.

So wait, you are claiming Bendtner would've worked harder than RVP? And you think Bendtner doesn't waste the ball more than RVP? laughable.

RVP gives this team the best chance to win. He is a highly effective player, and easily the most techincal player on Arsenal. To say he doesn't use the ball well is going completely against what all the Arsenal players themselves say.vHFLook, this is turning into a flame thread, and mostly on your account, as you use provocative words like 'ludicrous' and 'laughable', and do not read my comments carefully. I am very happy to exchange opinions, but have no time for a brawl.

Now, to the point. If my reasoning about the fitness is conjecture (which it is), then yours is callowness. Do I really need to go though the numerous examples of Wenger playing an important but unfit player in an important game?

I am not claiming that Bendtner or Chamakh would've worked harder. I am claiming that the outcome of their labours would've been more positive. Hope the distinction is clear. BTW is there any reason you focus on Bendtner rather than Chamakh other than you think it suits your point better?

I am fully on board with your and the players' praise of RvP. He is a terrific player. He's just not that useful in this one particular setting: at Camp Nou in a cup tie when Arsenal's ahead.Darren_VPast result do not correlate to present matters necessarily. I am not saying you are empathically incorrect about RVP's fitness. I am saying that by watching the game, there was no evidence of him being unfit. I am basing my opinion on evidence of the game, not on past experiences and assuming this senario is the same. I mentioned before the game I was worried about RVPs fitness. After the game, I say he looked ok.

I am not only claiming RVP would work harder. I am saying RVP is a much, much better player than Bendtner and Chamakh, in all facets of the game, bar heading the ball. RVP has made a career of holding up the ball and allowing midfielders to run beyond him while delivering precise passes. To argue that because Barca dominated means RVP did not do his job, or was ill-suited for it, missing what RVP biggest strengths to the game are. Which is, bring other players into the game, by is off the ball movement, and ability to play the correct ball nearly all the time.
That's why RVP is the perfect player at the Camp Nou. And why I empathically disagree with you.

If I offended, I aplogize. One of those days. No harm meant, and I will watch how I say things. Sorry.vHFWow, that's one hell of a courteous reply. Makes me remember why I hang out here in the first place. And I am not offended, no; it's just one of these days for me too, and for the same reason apparently.

I too am not 100% sure that RvP was unfit, but this is what I would bet on if there was a bookie offering such bets. I do not feel competent to judge his fitness from his performance, as he was so rarely near the ball...

I agree that RvP is a class apart from Chamdtner, although I would dispute whether he can hold up the ball better than Chamakh. My issue is that (1) he cannot compete for aimless clearances as well as B/C can and (2) he has no inclination to hold up the ball they way B/C do. This is why I believe that unless one day Arsenal show up at Camp Nou with the intention to take the game to Barca, B/C strength, aerial dominance and hold-up play will trump RvP's skill and off-the ball movement. Here I suspect we are in a clear disagreement, as reasonable people may be from time to time.Homey_MillsAre you just saying that because RvP is Dutch?Darren_VI don't really care that we lost (well I do), as I wasn't expecting to win. I do care that that bogus red card for RVP changed the game for Arsenal.
We were leading the tie up to that point, and Barca created one clear-cut chance other than their goal before it. There plenty of football to be played, and RVP being sent off killed us.

Anyone who says otherwise is a complete homer.Perry S.I fully agree and again I will politely disagree with Sairax, Martin, or anyone else who argues the point, but we were up on aggregate to that point and his send off was OBVIOUSLY pivotal. There is no way you can say what the outcome would have been because we weren't granted that opportunity, it was stolen from us plain and simple. After the send off, you could have basically said, "Game. Set. Match."MartinI don't think anyone is really saying it wasn't pivotal. I certainly think it was pivotal. My point is just that:

1. Wojo should have been sent off 3 minutes into the first leg, and Barca should have had a penalty. That was definitely onside. And I certainly think it would have been "pivotal" for Barca to be up 1-0 away and Arsenal down to 10 men -- the tie would have essentially been over before it started.

2. Barca should have had a second goal in the first leg that was wrongly flagged offside. That would have made it 2-0. Even if we had come back to score our two goals, they still would had an away draw and a hugely importand 2nd away goal, and the own goal in the 2nd leg would not have put us in a winning position -- that is certainly "pivotal"

3. And they should have had a penalty awarded last night when Diaby tackled Messi in the box. That would have put them up 1-0 much earlier, and opened the floodgates even earlier. I think that is pivotal as well.

So I'm not claiming the van Persie dismissal wasn't pivotal. I just think it's short-sighted for us, who were the recipients of three pivotal calls that went our way, to seize on the one that went against us as the reason we're not through to the quarterfinal.vHFI agree with you that on the balance of mistakes Arsenal was not hard done by.

There is a caveat, however: the mistakes in Arsenal favour were ones that referees make (and have to make) in the fraction of a second, and thus are more likely, well, honest mistakes. The sending-off of RvP is not in this category.

In other words: it is more difficult to find a good faith explanation of the sending off than it is for the other mistakes.

I do not mean to suggest a conspiracy btw---not yet in any case---just arrogance, petulance and an exaggerated sense of self-importance on the part of referee. Each one is a cardinal sin in this profession, though.MartinYeah, I think that was the point Darren was making, and if so, I agree with that.

Although I would argue that the bad call was more down to the referee letting himself get swayed by the home crowd. If you go back and watch, building up to that, every time Arsenal had a throw in, free kick, or goal kick, or any time we passed it back to Almunia, the Barca fans would all start that infernal whistling, signaling their displeasure at our supposed time-wasting. Even though I don't think we were actually time-wasting, I can't recall us ever really using delay tactics. I think that planted the seed in the referee's head which eventually resulted in van Persie's dismissal. And for me, I think that's the real hallmark of a bad referee (you especially see this in basketball) -- the tendency to get swayed by momentum and the home crowd.Darren_VOk, let's be clear on this Martin.
A missed offside call and a non-penalty is not even close to the same category of a decision as a 'wasting time' 2nd yellow to be sent off.
A foul and an offside are technical errors. Sending a man off like that is a complete misunderstanding of the game, and the context and magnitude of the call. There had been absolutely NO time wasting by Arsenal. It came out of the blue.

Sure we dominated and were always likely to lose. But that is terrible game management by the referee.MartinI guess it depends on how you measure "not even close" -- in terms of how understandable it is that the referee would get it wrong? I'm inclined to agree with that.

But if you're talking in terms of the impact it had on the tie, I would emphatically disagree. Each of those three missed calls which cost Barcelona goals (and in one case, a straight red against us), had the referee gotten it correctly, would have had just as much and probably more of an impact on the outcome of the tie as van Persie staying on the pitch. Honestly, if any one or two of those calls had been called correctly, let alone all three, I would say that the tie would have in all likelihood have been a foregone conclusion by the time van Persie was sent off.

Again, I am not, and have never, defended the van Persie decision -- in my original comment/take on the match yesterday I said it was maybe the worst dismissal I've ever seen, and haven't changed my mind about that.Darren_VMissed offside and missed fouls happen time and time again, within each and every game.
A yellow card for time-wasting rarely happens. And if it does, it comes near the end of the game where everyone knows what the team is trying to accomplish.

The are completely different circumstances. If it isn't, why are ppl not being booked for drying a ball, keepers walking to the other side of the box for a free kick, players dropping the ball for someone else to do the throw in, and countless other 'times wasting' gestures.
We all know they happen.

Why wasn't Arshaving booked for scoring while called offiside on Saturday. I bet that goal was scored some 5 seconds after the whistle went.MartinI agree! It was a terrible call -- I've said it over and over again, I'm not sure what you're actually disagreeing with, or if we're disagreeing, or what we're talking about any more.Darren_VYea, maybe I should go focus on my work for abit....Gigi_manfully agree, better team or not...we were up to it at that moment and it killed us.MartinI think Emiliano Martinez, the Argentine, would be our back-up keeper. He's supposedly quite promising, but I think he's just 17 or 18, so I wouldn't feel great about him getting pulled in. I know Shea is on a short-term loan to Southhampton that I think would be over after the international break, so we should have him back in a couple of matches, and I'm not sure if Mannone can be recalled or not. Hull also grabbed Brad Guzan on loan from Aston Villa for the season, so I'm not sure why they'd need Vito around anyway.

I'm with Sairax -- it was a horrible refereeing decision, but there were plenty of horrible refereeing decisions that went against Barca in the tie, and at the end of the day, we played strong and hung tough with the best team in the world. But they won in the end, and deservedly so.

Xavi's comments strike me as kind of douchey. I don't think anyone actually thinks that we didn't set out to play football in this one -- Barca was just so good they pinned us back. But for him to criticize us for it is just obnoxious. If a 7 foot tall guy played a 5 foot tall guy in basketball, and kept dunking on him, it would be kind of shitty for him to complain that the 5 foot tall guy wasn't trying to stop him from dunking. But whatever.

Manchester United on Saturday. We can still win the double. It's time to buckle down, get healthy, and do this thing.Gigi_manI agree on the decisions over all (well taking the words, I still havent got the nerve to watch).
But our bad call was a red....that is just mean and wrong in so many ways...Homey_MillsAgreed on the Xavi comments. And good analogy too. That's the way I saw it.
I again just wonder what we can do to get to that same level, or close to it. One thing that seems to separate the teams is the level of fitness. Most of the time, if Team A has the ball comfortably in their own end, Team B won't be too bothered by it until the ball gets to about midfield. But Barca's players run endlessly to pressure the ball. And that forces long kicks and punts down the field, where Barca is at least 50/50 to regain possession again. It's unreal.
So the question is why we can't play like that. Do we not have the same endurance?SairaxI still think that wearing the full banana was a mistakeHomey_MillsIt was a mistake in terms of a fashion disaster, or mistake in terms of jinxing the result and causing the loss?MartinI know at least one person who would disagree:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...blog comments powered by Disqus