Arsenal Thread

agreed. that's why I always think that the defensive/destructive midfielder are the most unappreciated position in football, rather than the goalkeeper as many say. those players are the true glue for their teams and are only realized as very important pieces when they miss some games.
 
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It doesn't look a penalty from Webb's angle but then he should have booked Suarez for diving.
Don't mistake me, it *was* a pen but I can understand why he didn't give it looking at that gif.

On the subject of the 2 games, they were great examples of how early goals change games. In both games Liverpool came flying out of the blocks. In the first game, Skrytl scores from an offside position and Liverpool step it up even further. In the 2nd game Sturridge misses 2 easy chances and Arsenal go up the other end and score and ended up being relatively comfortable for about an hour or so. Liverpool fully deserved to thrash Arse in the first game but it may have been different had the flag gone up. Liverpool would probably still won tho considering the suicidal high line of Arse.
Same deal with our defeat to Chelsea, if we put away our early sitter it's a different game. In the end tho we didn't and Chelsea went on to a deserved victory.

When two closely matched teams meet the first goal is so important
 
Yep from the gif and seeing the angle Webb saw the foul I can see why he didn't give it as it looks like Ox got a touch on the ball.
 
Its done and dusted and Liverpool are not a joke anymore they have a fear factor about them. Anyhow-CL Night coming BayernFC it doesnt get better then this!
 
I think Webb thought Ox clattered into the ball and Suarez, and it ricocheted back off him out of bounds. I could see why he thought that from his angle, but obviously he's wrong.

However, Suarez actually did an inverse pike there. It's remarkable. If he'd actually have been hurt in any way, he would have ripped a pulled muscle/further broken a bone problem.

I think it should have been a penalty and a yellow card for simulation.
 
beachryan said:
I think it should have been a penalty and a yellow card for simulation.
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Thats a good suggestion! Would be amusing to see aswell.

But then you have to fall to get anything, in the 1st half Sterling had his ankles clipped in the box and lost his balance. Had he gone down it would normally have been a penalty, instead he stumbled on a tried an offbalance shot and got sod-all.

Overall it was a shocking performance for both teams.
 
TikTikTikTikTik said:
Thats a good suggestion! Would be amusing to see aswell.

But then you have to fall to get anything, in the 1st half Sterling had his ankles clipped in the box and lost his balance. Had he gone down it would normally have been a penalty, instead he stumbled on a tried an offbalance shot and got sod-all.

Overall it was a shocking performance for both teams.
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Sterling was stupid to dont pass that ball to Allen it could easily be a goal but he try to score from an impossible angle and out of balance , this is what I dont like from this guy , sometimes he seems to don't be very smart player at all, his decision making its very poor.
 
cfdh_edmundo said:
One big thing the game highlighted was how much Flamini was missed in the match at Anfield and the home match to Man Utd. Flamini is your key player as there is no one in the squad who can really play that role. Maybe Diaby could if he didnt lurch from injury to injury, and maybe this Kallestrom guy could if he wasnt also injured, but at the moment you would be lost without him. There is noone else with a ball winning, destructive (to the opposition) mentality in your midfield. Even if say Giroud got injured, although it would be a massive blow, you at least have options like Bendtner and Sagbo but there is no one at the moment who can fill Flamini's role. Arteta is not a destructive ball winner, he's a very good footballer, but a creative one, his positional sense and marking skills arent good enough to be a defensive player and he can get caught out (like vs Palace away). The same is true of Wilshire, an accomplished midfielder but not really a pure defensive one.
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This is so true. I noticed Flamini made an instant impact this season, and we're much more difficult to score against with him on the pitch.

What really blows my mind is that he was an opportunity signing, as he came on a free and Wenger probably wouldn't have bothered paying for his transfer, or for another DMF for that matter.
The need for a genuine DMF simply wasn't acknowledged by Wenger, therefore he'd been using Arteta and sometimes Ramsey in that position.
This is a real worry for me. To think that the boss can miss something so obvious.
I completely agree that the DMF position is often overlooked and even dismissed as the beautiful football antagonists, but hell do teams need them!
 
1st time I really understood a DM's importance or value was w/ RM's Claude Makelele . Once he left and went to Chelsea you instantly knew his role is flying below the radar.
 
Brilliant comments, Sky should hire him! :LOL:

Seriously, Mourinho is at it again. And he's so predictable: guess what he said recently? That this current Barcelona side is the weakest he's seen in the last 5 years.

How convenient. Now that Barcelona just beat Man City, this is a way of further degrading one of his rivals - and had they won against Barcelona, he would have undermined City's achievement. It was a win-win situation for him.

And most importantly, he can say this now when he's no longer Real Madrid's manager. Because when he spent his time in Spain being Barça's bitch, he would be able to say it was a completely different story. What a piece of work this guy is :LOL:
 
Yep hopefully we can get a 1-0 or even 0-0 to have a chance.

I just hope we don't he bummed at home! I can't bare it!

But I think if we want any chance of getting past them we need a 2-0 at home, definitely not to concede.....but I don't see that happening.

Come on gooners!
 
Probably because of Giroud's form and his personal problems. Can't think of any other reason apart from YOLO.
 
No Ribery, Muller and Schweinsteiger is a plus and their CBs can be got at but still going to be an uphill battle.

Gotta hope that your defence doesn't have one of those games.
 
God they need to change the triple jeopardy rule. I believe they will after the world cup. It's a joke.

Yes, definite penalty, but what is the keeper supposed to do there? He has to challenge Robben. Now it's a clear goal scoring chance (penalty), a red card and a suspension for the next leg.
 
Godotelli said:
Given that they missed the pen would it be fair that the GK stayed on? Robben had an open net from 3 yards
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A penalty is by definition a goal scoring opportunity. Therefore the keeper hasn't deliberately denied him one.

Robben could have stumbled, been taken to wide, pulled a Torres etc. It wasn't actually a goal yet.

The rule was made for the 'Solsjkaer' type situations - when a player very deliberately cheats to deny a chance.

That was a 50/50 ball. If the keeper gets there a split second earlier, it's a foul on Robben and no cards.

The rule is broken, they've already spoken about fixing it.
 
A penalty isn't an open net from 3 yards out. Whether it's a sin bin or something, there's no way that the GK should be given the chance to save the pen.
 
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