meh.
missed a sitter. looked disinterested. but also looked like he could score at any time. had one disallowed, which I havent seen a replay of, but was marginal for offside I thought. not one of his better nights.
Gilesy and Bill are nearly at the end of the road on tonightâs evidence. Shook.
Judging him by his own standards 4/10. By anyone elseâs around a 6 or 7/10. Set up the goal and looked dangerous a good few more times. Went out of it a good bit in second half but still doesnât stop trying and looking for the ball.
I actually thought that to myself when I was watching them pre-match. Bill doesnât look well at all.
Houghton: and they could be without Puyol
Bill: I think Puyol is due to be back
Houghton: Ya but he could get injured in training :blink:
Eh they could all get injured in training Ray
Superb second goal by Arsenal. The passes by Wilshere to Fabregas to Nasri and to Arshavin then for the finish - all sheer quality. 
When Gilesy kicks the bucket his hair should be grafted onto the next senior analyst. Magnificent.
Even Bendtner was inovolved :o
Wilshire best on display for me, Koscielny not far behind, Messi was disappointing by his stratospheric standards, astonishing decision to take Villa off by Pep imo.
The RTĂ boys are fit for pasture.
Cunny Kenningham is waiting to step in.
Looking at these highlights; Messi seems to have ignored two opportunities to set up tap ins - one in either half - and itâs possibly the same greed that cost them against Inter when he kept dribbling into tackles. Barca would be some side if they had Ronaldo instead of Messi.
Itâs become fashionable :lol:
Defending takes discipline. Maintaining a defensive line doesnât.
Was disappointed with the technique of the Arsenal players in the first half, their touch seemed heavy and they we incapable of keeping the ball, remember Van Persie in particular showing some poor control. Thought Wilshere was the only Arsenal player that came anywhere near to matching Barca for ball control, passing, technique â show in his stats too, was Arsenalâs top passer as Rocko pointed out.
Donât know what happened Barca in the second half, they looked completely disinterested and just seemed to give up when they took off Villa.
Keeps the dream alive for a few more weeks anyway.
Great week for North London.
Spot the consumate team player here:lol:
Thatâs class
Riise :lol: :lol: :lol:
No point having an ass and braying yourself.
According to Sid Lowe, Messi has now played seven times in England with Barcelona and he has not scored once.
i thought about this as well Brian and i actually thought they became a bit complacent, as almost as if they expected Arsenal to fall over and the expected goals would inevitably arrive for them.
if you look at their results of late with the obvious exception of Sporting Gougons at the weekend, many of their victories have been 4 or 5 goal routs, i wonder at times do Barca just expact a team to fall over once they get on top and score, it certainly looked this way in the first half after Villa converted and Messi seemed to be poised to strike at some stage.
No doubt they consider Arsenal a good side, but shur other good sides in Spain have put up minimal resistance also ( Real Madrid in december and Espanyol in january).
once Arsenal scored, barca seemed a bit unure of what to do next, but i am quite sure that Guardiola will have them well briefed for the return and TBH if puyol is back id expect Von persie and bendtner ( who i think will start ahead of Walcott) to be in for a much tougher time and you wont see Messi , Iniesta as un-clinical ( ??) as they were tonight.
i often wonder exactly how good is the Spanish league?
ok, take out Real / Barca what are you left with?
Valencia struggled last night against a poor Shalke side, Athletico Madrid , Villareal, Seville are decent sides also ( better than most in seria A) in my mind.
there is a lot of rubbish there too, pedestrian matches against xeres, hercules, malaga, santandar cant be doing barca any good, at least in the EPL teams in the bottom 3 (eg wolves) can on their day put it up to the likes of man yoo, this never happens in Spain where the divide between the top 2, the say next 4 and the rest is massive IMHO
Maybe Andy Gray was right all along? At least Ronaldo has proven he can score at the Britannia and such places.
To Ronnie.
barca are shit