Barcelona v Arsenal, April 6, 2010, Pre/Dur/Post Match [R]

It WILL be done!!!!!!!

 

I have a watertight three-step plan that the lads can't fail with:

1. Score twice*

2. Don't let them score

3. Score a few more times, for safety's sake.

*If step two is followed to the letter, you only need to score once. But refer to step three for further guidance—again, for safety's sake.

 

As per the prev match's thread, Ibra's now ruled out for Tues w/ calf injury.

That plus Pique & Puyol, makes it more & more conceivable that...

 

Walcott shouldn't start. Well, I keep going back and forth on it, but I just think we'd be better served with Eboue on the right, Nasri on the left, Rosicky in the hole, and Bendtner up top.

My opinion may be unduly colored by the fact that Theo was trying to provide service to the too-small and too-slow Eduardo today, but I feel like Theo's best impact will be as an impact sub 65 minutes or so in, to either seal the game or get us back into it.

 

Agreed mate. Unlike yesterday, when Walcott starts, he tends to be subdued, and drifts in and out of the game until he is eventually subbed off. Bringing him on at a later stage, after having a solid player like Eboue out there, seems more appropriate to me. But that's me, not Arsene!

Anyhoo, this is really a game to enjoy. Another footballing spectacle.

 

Hopefully they will look alive this time. Last game we looked like a bunch of geriatric chain smokers with broken hips trying to chase after a bunch of professional athletes.

 

rubin kazan and dynamo kiev played here this season without barca coming out on top.

cant make any score predictions, but barca will have a weaker team than on wednsday, hopefully arsenal will be able to make tactical changes rather than forced substitutions, they wont be carrying an unfit fabregas so will have 10 outfielders this time.

the barcelona carousel is certainly dangerous and barca are heavy favourites for a good reason, but remember, these guys are perenial chokers in history, many times they are favrourites and ko'ed by sides of much less quaklity than arsenal. their home fans will turn up expecting barca to hit six. if they game is close and you can frustrate them, the crowd gets on their backs, players get more frantic and desperate, space opens up. seen it a million times.

i think its right to start eboue over theo. barca has nice wide flanks to run into, which is ideal for theo, but he clearly makes more impression from the bench when there are tired legs to run at. also, eboue is more defensively solid.

with zlat out, their front line could well be henry, messi and pedro. 2 out of 3 of those are containable, but unfortunately messi could win the whole match single handedly. hope he disapears early on like in the emirates match but cant count on it.

anyway, in 11 attempts zlatans teams have never won. so if you can avoid 00 or 11 there is a very real chance of arsenal progessing, the zlatan curse is a powerful thing.


edit- denilson should start imo, he was great in the previous tie when he came on, song was solid at cb and could handle most of what was thrown at him, prefer this than risking sol, who has been fine so far, but still, you never know.

add to this, goal .com, who are shit, are saying that not only is zlatan v doubtful for the match, but also iniesta is not planned to be played till the madrid matchup next weekend, and , possibly even better, yaya is doubtful due to a knock. this is a fairly decimated squad if you include the loss of pique and poo-yol. given that marquez is a joke these days, that leaves them with milito and abidal as cbs, that is if abidal is fit as he has been out for a while.

lots of good news, but unfortunately when we , utd, played them in the final, they had similar problems and it didnt affect the outcome.

 

I think Walcott has to start. It's a completely different proposition than against a slower moving Prem side. Only Theo's pace can keep Barca defenders honest about bundling forward in numbers. His impact on the game wasn't necessarily because of timing, but because they had to respect his pace. After scoring so quickly, they'll be even more inclinded to think twice about the counter.

Look at the number of chances Barca had at the outset. We can't wait and give them the chance to pour forward in numbers. We need to be able to get at them as well, and early. We need to set a tone from the beginnig. Theo doesn't need to score right away, but he needs to help set the balance of the game from the start.

I'd go:

Rosicky - Bendy - Walcott
Nasri - Song - Eboue
Clichy - Vermaelen - Campbell - Sagna

We have to win. And that means scoring goals. If we can get a lead and set a good pace of the game, that leaves us with bringing on Denilson if we need to play a bit more defensive. And Diaby if we just need to add something different to the game.

The one piece that makes me uneasy is Sol. Messi's pace makes even quick defenders squirm. For this one match, I'd consider playing Song with TV5 and bringing Denilson into Song's role. I'd ask Denilson and Eboue to pinch centrally in front of the back four, giving Eboue the licence to get forward and join the attack when permitting, but telling Denilson that his primary responsibility is to sit.

I could also see:

----------Bendy
Rosicky-------------Walcott
----------Nasri
-----Diaby------Eboue
Clichy - TV5 - Song - Sagna

Bringing on Denilson for Rosicky if we need to be more defensive, and pushing Nasri further up field. Diaby needs to be better in posession this time around.

 

I agree that this is a different matchup and Walcott serves a vital on the counter whereas Wolves tended to bunker a lot which makes Walcott less useful.

I don't think that Sol should or will play particularly with Ibra out.

Denilson MUST start. We need ball handlers who show for the outlet pass.

 

Whomever scores the first goal will have a huge mental advantage. I'd even go as far as predicting that the team that scores that goal will end up going through.

 

score predictions are absolutley futile going into this one. i'll bet more than 1 out of every 10 people who predict the scoreline for this will be wrong.

 

Eboue has never, and will never play in the midfield three. The two big questions are who partners TV at the back and who gets the start at right forward. If Sol starts then I think we will see a midfield of Song, Denilson, Nasri. If Song starts at the back then it will be Denilson, Diaby, and Nasri.

I agree with you on Walcott starting instead of Eboue. There is going to be alot of space for him to exploit on counters and I like the Idea of him attacking Maquez and Mohito.

I'd prefer to see:

---------------Bendtner

Rosicky---------------------Walcott

---------Diaby------Nasri

-------------Denilson

Clichy--Vermaelen-Song--Sagna

--------------Almunia

 

This. Assuming Song is in central defense I think this is our only real option.

 

"Arsenal boss Wenger expresses concern over Alex Song. Has groin problem ahead of Barcelona"

 

0-5

Messi
Messi
Xavi
Pedro
Henry

It will be a repeat of the first half in the first leg, but without the miraculous saves. We just don't have the sharpness or work rate to get a result against any top side, much less against Barca at the Nou Camp. Expect to see a lot of light jogging, sloppy passing, 20 seconds of lamenting over what could have been every time we lose the ball, and another 20 seconds before we try to win the ball back again etc.

 

I like this pick. However i would start Eboue instead of Walcott. I need Wilcot to come off the bench for the last 30 min and terrorize their defence. Ibra is out and both Puyol and the other guy are out. I hope we are can do better this time. "we will make life miserable in their own backyard". CAN'T WAIT TUESDAY!!

 

That's insane! I hope and think Barça will go through but I cannot see it being by such a lopsided score.

 

rewinder,

i'm not sure if you are trying to be funny. if so, i would urge you to seek medical help. your brain cells probably aren't producing enough seratonin, leading to excess anxiety, irrational paranoia and/or depression...

in any case, if song plays at cb, denilson absolutely has to play. otherwise we will get torn apart. also, i think eboue will start over sagna. you need your match winners on the field despite the risk, and eboue, has a certain match-turning ability that sagna doesn't (recall arse-barca final).

finally, the key to this game is diaby. i totally blame diaby (and song to a lesser extent) for the disaster that was the 1st half on wednesday night. he is expected to keep the ball, harrass the opposition and generally be someone difficult to get around. on wednesday, he was none of those. it is difficult to understate his role/responsibility in this team, particularly when fabregas is playing high up the pitch.

if diaby plays like good diaby, we win, perhaps even win big. if not, we probably lose.

 

Had to make up for my lack of effort last time

 

you support arsenal but are predicting their biggest ever defeat in europe in 50 years of european competition? weird.

 

Yup, I am.

It took a goalkeeping miracle to prevent that the last time around, in a game we were better positioned to win.

 

1-0. Someone will score for their team and it will be the winning goal. And that team will celebrate and that club will go through to the next round.

Thats my prediction.