Hey all...I'm a Arsenal fan first and formost but I do admire/like Barca and when I look at alot of the posters they list Barca along with Arsenal as their team. I liked Barca b/c they had no sponsorship on their shirts, I am a Patrick Kluivert fan (even though he is not there anymore, a magpie ), their history, they play alot like Arsenal, and I admire Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Larsson, and Deco (you can see my story on How did you become an Arsenal Fan ). My question is was there always a link/ loveline with both clubs Arsenal players going to Barca and vice-versa other than Cesc? Still a semi-newbie and trying to just figure out a few thing...Thank ya now...Roscoe!
I don't know about any of this but was I seeing things or does van Bronckhorst really just have "Gio" on the back of his Barca jersey? Does he think he's Brazilian or something?
Guess they wanted to save a buck or two from putting van Bronckhorst on there, I could only imagine the terror that the ManU equipment manager has to go through to get Ruud's name back there!
Well after the dutch players getting axed over the summer he probably tried to be brazilian so he could stay...seems to have worked I don't remember many barca players coming to highbury (only cesc but barca were pissed off about this). Overmars and Petit left in '98 or '99 for 25 million. Gio last summer and silvinho via celta (i think). The board have a good friendship...maybe that started after the overmars deal?
Barca and Arsenal have had a great relationship for years now, and btw they weren't mad at us for getting Cesc, they were mad at the player for not signing a pro-contract. After Arsenal most of us like Barcelona.
no generalism or blanket statement there eh mate? *sigh* i read somewhere he put "gio" on the back so the spanish commentators/supporters would have an easier time pronouncing his name... dunno how factual it is tho~
I heard the Same thing.. And I guess He also wanted people to Buy his shirt. A Greek Player at Bolton did the same thing. -N1
The reason so many of us list Arsenal and Barca as our favorite squads is the fact that these teams are extremely fun to watch (most of time), and they both fight the good fight against the evil empires of Madrid and Manchester. I would hate it if they met in the knockout stages of the CL this year, but I guarantee you I'd be watching, albeit with mixed emotions...
i got into arsenal because of freddie ljungberg. i followed the swedish team pretty heavily when i was in sweden. I also liked larsson a lot as well, but couldn't see any celtic matches on tv like i could with arsenal. I ended up really liking arsenal after seeing them play week in and week out to the point where i can't miss a game now (no matter what the social or monetary cost) Anyway I just recently started watching barcelona games because Larsson was transferred there over the summer, and I love to watch Ronaldinho play too. If arsenal and barca were to face each other i would cheer for arsenal all the way, but otherwise I like barca and eat breath and sleep arsenal
Does this friendship mean that we r gonna get some of barca's world class players in the future I certainly hope so. No1ArsenalFan
Speak for yourself mate, you seem to have forgotten how they 'tapped up' Overmars and petit, I cant stand the lowlifes myself.
You're joking right?! 1) They overpaid us for both of them. 2) We wouldn't of got any more better years from them. 3) Everything worked out fine right?
No , not at all , they were our best two players at the time IMO, and did we retain the title, big no on that one, did we retain the FA cup?
Yeh he wrote Stelios Stelios Giannokopolous On fifa 2005 there is no player called Okocha it says Jay Jay but the commentators say Okocha though Gio looks mad on the jersey though perhaps SWP can get SWP instead of Wright-Phillips which has to start at his left elbow and carry on to his right
Lanesra, two best players?? c'mon.. bergkamp, adams, anelka anyways... ill give ya overmars.. damn what a fine player.. but we got a massive sum of money for those two and were able to finance a monsieur henry from the deal (at the end of the day).. well, maybe that was from the anelka money... at any rate... i think that was good business~ my theory on the barca/arsenal relationship is... NOT the best team in their respective leagues, but the NEXT best.. i dunno.... when i got into football, arsenal were ******** and barca were on top of the world... only one club for me~
List me as another Barca-Arsenal supporter. I also know of another here in NYC and there are probably loads more. I think the major reason (there are so many of us) was mentioned before (the whole comparison between Real Madrid and Manchester), but even that reason can not put into perspective the unique relationship between Barcelona and Real Madrid. It is nothing like the Manchester V Arsenal rivarly, not even Liverpool v Manu or Arsenal V Tottenham. Maybe the old firm derby is close. There is way too much cultural and political history between Barca and Madrid to compare it Arsenal V Manchester. I'd say (and I am not an expert) the Boca V River derby is closest to the Barca V Madrid and also the old firm in Scotland as well. Vizca Cataluyna!!!
your team thing says England Leaders do you go for Chelski? We was leaders for 11 months but now we 2nd i dont think Chelsea will lose more than 1 or 2 more games this season so i think to win we have to do the double of em if we dont Mourinho and Chelsea fans alike will be running their mouths like psycho
Fedwood, Due to the fact that GBK has a personal issue with me and will leave me on a yellow card, i cannot change anything on my profile or my signature/etc. it will change if he ever refuses to abuse the power he has on these boards in giving unnecessary cards. so i am stuck with saying England leaders until that yellow card has been served... im curious??? and mods, please by all means let me know.. GPK said it was because my signature mentioned his name... how long is this going to last? I have nothing but love except for dark savante and zani... ffs, cant we all just get along?? maybe i should PM the head mod or somesuch.. but i know the mods on our board are thorough and efficient~ I think we can do the double vs chelsea... hell, it took them what, 18 games to win vs us? ya, we will get all 6 points from that scared bunch of bunkerball specialists.....
Think we''l have to dissagree, Pettit and Vieira were the best midfield pairing around at the time, Overmars And Anelka were uncatchable,but we broke both pairings up, and that's good Business?, weel I'm sorry I would have prefered the title again, which would have brought in more money,and anyway I didn't start supporting The Arsenal over 40 years ago because they were good businessmen, and yes I do realise times have changed...unfortunatley
oh i totally agree about that midfield pairing.. and could it of won the league vs that '99 side.. ya perhaps.. i would of preferred that too... damnit, i wish i woudlnt think about good business and focus on results sometimes... i agree with you mate~
henry, petit and overmars were in the uefa cup(ghosts except maybe for henry in extra time and overmars in the first half) the season after manure won the flukiest treble ever. anelka went to madrid at the end of the season that manure won the treble. so in order 97-98 - double 98-99 - manure treble. anelka gets sold mid 99. 99-00 - uefa cup year in copenhagen
Besides Arsenal, my next favorite Euro team would also be Barcelona. Of course it's not as much as my love for Arsenal since in all likelyhood I'll only be able to see 1 or 2 league games and a couple of CL games if they're in it. But I've visited the city a couple times and it's great. Started to follow them a little bit when things sucked 2 years ago and Kluivert couldn't nail a ball against the side of La Sagrada Familia and I only began to know the name Javier Saviola. I just love the history and the passion the team has.
I've mentioned a couple times already why I follow the Arsenal. As far as Barça goes, its more of a combination. I am of Anglo-Dutch Heritage (last name is Holland) and when I began to follow football, I cheered for the Oranje. However, the Oranje didn't qualify for the World Cup which was inconvenient and massively disappointing. The Dutch-Barça thing is kind of obvious. I agree with the Real Madrid-Manchester point. I don't know if I conciously used this, but I think its there. I am learning Spanish in school right now, and my concentration for my International Relations major right now is European Studies, so Spain has been an interest of mine for awhile. The political situation in Spain left from the Franco and even medival period is interesting. I am finally going to Spain this December (along w/ London), however I am not going to make any Barça games due to the winter break I fear.