Football (Soccer)

[admin]

Good win by Man U to setup a very exciting final indeed.

[Oriphus]

SO thats why Van persie isnt starting as much. Shame cuz he is really good....

The Man Utd match was awesome, really enjoyed it. We always looked like scoring adn RvN was looking a bit better this time. Rooney has some great chances to score as well, and good old Scholes played a great game. Have to say, Roy Keane was extremely commanding as ever in the centre of the midfield, and i still think our team is always so much better with him, than without him. Looking forward to the games on Wed

When's Henry back?

Chris

[admin]

Henry looks likely to miss the Chelsea match (and for the next 2-3 weeks), but he should be back in time for the FA Cup final. We have no luck with injuries this season at all - we had 7 first team players out at the same time during one stage!!

I think Wenger has forgiven van Persie, at least by his recent statements. It's a shame that Todd had to ruin van Persie's moment of celebration by elbowing him, and it definitely looks like intentional from some of the angles. And it's not as if Todd hasn't done this before - twice actually.

[Oriphus]

IM not sure it was intentionally, i think he was just slowing down and looked a bit defeated. Im not sure if it was intentionally, but non-the-less, it was still very unfortunate for Van Persie, although he looked ok when the match was over.

I heard about Henry being out for a bit, unfortunate because i really want Arsenal to hammer Chelsea. First time iv supported Arsenal in a Premiership match ever, usually i just want a draw, but on wed, i really want Arsenal to win. Id rather Chelsea get a good hiding, than coming second in the league to be honest. Who cares about qualifying for Champions LEague, its wee buns lol.....i hope

Chris

[admin]

I didn't think it was intentional at first, but after seeing some replays where it showed that Todd actually jumped up so his elbow can read van Persie's face, and also this picture helped me make up my mind:

http://www.arseblog.com/toddvanp.jpg

Henry is definitely out of the Chelsea game, and so is Ljungberg. One options is van Persie alongside Bergkamp up front , with Reyes and Pires on the wings, but most likely it will be Cesc Fabregas on the right wing, and Reyes/Bergkamp up front. I prefer the first option, but it's not really been tried before. Either way, losing Henry is going to be tough. He should be back sooner than expected, probably in time for the next match.

[lfcrule1972]

Hiya

I think Todd did it on purpose, mind you I think Blackburn are that kinda team, when we (LFC) played them earlier in the season we got kicked in the air too !

Bad result for the Mancs last night - first time in my life I was supporting them so as to prevent the blue scum, Everton, getting the points..... How could Man Utd do that ? Any thoughts on G Neville's stupidity ?
Regards

[lfcrule1972]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/blackburn_rovers/4462309.stm

Looks like Todd got away with it anyway......

[jmet]

Welcome lfcrule!

[admin]

Welcome to the thread lfcrule1972.

An embarrassing results for Man U, and a bad one for Bolton and Liverpool. It just shows that you can never rely on other teams to do something for you - which also means there is no way Chelsea can lose the title now, not if Arsenal had to rely on Man U, Bolton or Newcastle for a good result against them.

Todd gets off scott free, just like Wenger predicted. A few weeks ago, Bergkamp pushes a Sheffield United player on the chest after they had just deliberately fouled one of our players (no card for that, of course), and Reyes, brushes someone's face with his gloved hands, and they both get 3 match bans for it. It looks like they both should have just elbowed the Sheffield United player.

Neville was a bit silly. At first, I thought it was just an accident, knowing Neville's suspect left foot. But the TV coverage didn't show what had happened before, when Neville was arguing with the same guy, so it all makes sense now. And to think that the commentators were just minutes ago praising Neville for his professionalism in trying to calm down Rooney.

I thought Scholes should have been given a straight red for that malicious kick at Kilbane - you could just see the anger on his face as he kicked, and you know it was deliberate, and not a late challenge. Scholes knew it was a sending off anyone, as he started walking off before the ref had even flashed the second yellow.

Anyway, it's definitely a fight for second place now, and while we've got the upper hand now, Man U has got easier games to play. Looking forward to the Arsenal-Liverpool match - hopefully, we can get revenge for what happened earlier in the season.

[lfcrule1972]

Hi jmet and thanks for the welcome admin !

I am really begining to think that Liverpools best chance for Champs League next season is by pulling off three shock wins (2 over Chelsea and then one over AC Milan in the final) in the Champs league. Then we are reliant on the FA demoting the team that finishes 4th to the UEFA cup so that LFC could defend the Champs League. We only have ourselves to blame, too many times our performances have been inconsistent and we have chucked the points away.

We have only won something like 5 away games all season in the Premiership so its not surprising that we are struggling to catch the toffees.

Anyway as has been said before "its a funny old game" and who knows what will happen ? Personally I think Chelski would have to put out the under 11 side to no win it now, I think the Arsenal will hold on to second and Man Utd will have to settle for third.

The Arsenal-Liverpool match should be good, you do owe us one thats for sure, shock of the season that was when Mellor scored the winner at Anfield.....still if we have Gerrard, Alonso, Barros and Cisse all fit it might be a good match, maybe, if we are out of the race for 4th anyway.

Good luck this weekend - hope your teams results go your way !

[admin]

Nothing would please me more than if you lot knocked Chelski out of the CL. If they win it this season, they will never stop talking about it, and I wonder if Mourinho's head would explode...

Our loss against Liverpool, I think, is when all Arsenal fans started to realise that we might not hold on to the title this season. We needed to win that day, and even a draw would have been a bad result. We were so poor in November (and the end of October), it was unbelievable (didn't win a single match except against Spurs 5-4, and drew with bottom clubs Crystal Palace, Southampton and West Brom, scored 17 but conceded 14 goals in those 9 games as well). Without that month, we would still be within 3 points of Chelsea, maybe even ahead of them right now.

We are playing much better now - only conceded 1 goal in the last 9 games (all comps, and that one goal was when we were 3-0 up), but it's too late. The only consolation for our league campaign, other than seeing so many youngsters come through, may be seeing Man U third again (that's the third times in four seasons now), but it's still too early to wrap that one up yet. The FA Cup is crucial, and I hope the same good football is played in that game as it was in the two games with Chelsea this season.

[admin]

And now that Todd is off the hook, the FA should have looked into the Savage tackle on Cesc as well:

http://www.arseblog.com/savagecesc1.jpg

http://www.arseblog.com/savagecesc2.jpg

Note that ball isn't even in the frame for the above two pics. If an Arsenal player had done that, he would have been suspended for the rest of the season. But it is funny that Blackburn are now ahead of Graham Souness's Newcastle - if ever you feel bad about your club's season, just think how much worse it must be for the Newcastle fans.

[lfcrule1972]

Not only was that a horror lunge by Savage it was the abuse he gave Cesc afterwards, as if the guy was play acting. Honestly you can see why Robbie Savage gets so much aggro, well apart from being Welsh !

Newcastles season fell apart after the impromptu boxing between Bowyer (always 10 seconds away from an outburst) and Dyer. They crashed out of the UEFA cup, lost in the FA cup and their league form has gone to pieces too...

[Oriphus]

didn't think it was intentional at first, but after seeing some replays where it showed that Todd actually jumped up so his elbow can read van Persie's face, and also this picture helped me make up my mind:

http://www.arseblog.com/toddvanp.jpg

Actually, that photo is after he has made contact, so he could just be looking round to see what he has hit.

Hi, Ifcrule, welcome to this thread. Glad to have another one here. Admin's well biased towards Arsenal as you have guessed, im well biased towards United, your obviously a Liverpool man - all we need now is a good Chelsea man/woman to get it going lol

An embarrassing results for Man U,

Most definitely it was - changes are needed if thats all we can muster...very disappointing.

Neville was a bit silly.....

Agreed! lol

I thought Scholes should have been given a straight red for that malicious kick at Kilbane - you could just see the anger on his face as he kicked

Yeah, it did show that he was very frustrated, understandably with the performance that United had. However, it doesnt excuse a terrible tackle - im not sure he was intentionally trying to hurt kilbane, but his frustration showed at a late challenge.

I think the Arsenal will hold on to second and Man Utd will have to settle for third

Agree with that. Man U dont have much chance to do anything now. As long as we beat Chelsea we should still be ok for next season. The worst case scenario is getting beaten by them again....I'll be routing for Liverpool in the CL big time, not often i do that. Was routing for Arsenal mid week there are well, but unfortunately they couldnt muster a win. A great performance though, even if Chelsea were the stronger attacking team, but Henry wasnt there....

If they win it this season, they will never stop talking about it, and I wonder if Mourinho's head would explode...

My sentiments exactly. Chelsea dont deserve to buy their way into Champions League history. If they do get past Liverpool, which i hope they dont, then im sure that AC Milan will put them back in their places.....well i hope so anyway. If Liverpool get to the final, i dont fancy their chances against AC Milan, if its them that they meet.

Did anyone see Betis in the first leg of the semi's in the Spanish League cup? Didnt play to well, but held a 0-0 draw with Athletico. Our only hope for a trophy this season though. Mind you, we are 5th, only one point behind 3rd, so maybe we good manage to get into Cl this year, though id settle for UEFA cup.

Chris

[lfcrule1972]

Honestly, just when you think it can't get any worse it - does - bleeding 1-0 to the Palace we seriously need a clear out this summer.

It appears we have to many players who can play the big games but don't want to get motivated and scrap for the points in the premiership.

Take Man Utd (hi Oriphus !), not having the best of seasons and by their standards a poor one but they continue to play until the end and get the points, Newcastle are testimony to that.

LFC just seem like they can't be arsed - yeah it would be great to beat Chelski (I think unlikely tho.... ) and progress to the final against PSV ha ha but we need to be in the CL 4th place as well and we just don't seem likely to do it with 3 games left.....

<sigh>