Liverpool/Arsenal CL Quarter final 2nd Leg match thread

[RedinSweden]

I just read this thread from the start of the match to the end. Ace it was.

 

NP owns this thread though. One of the few on the forum who share my hatred of Arsenal. They bring out the best in him.

 

I salute you NP.

[Nunavut Patrick]

I just read this thread from the start of the match to the end. Ace it was.

 

NP owns this thread though. One of the few on the forum who share my hatred of Arsenal. They bring out the best in him.

 

I salute you NP.

 

Cheers mate.

 

I am loving the sour grapes from Wenger. He's makes Mourinhi seem sane.

 

Rafa does to Premiership managers what Clouseau does to the Inspector- makes them babble nonsense and reduces them to tears.

 

Having watched the match three times now here is the difference:

 

My daughter asked me what Rafa is writing on those little sheets of paper.

 

I reply 'He is plotting a cunning plan'

 

We score and Rafa's expression hardly changes- he's already thinking about the next tactical move he will make or the other manager will. They score and Wenger's jumping about and looks like he's thinking of Moscow, then we score and he looks like he's going cry.

 

Wenger should know, having been to an EC Final, that you need to fight your way there. When they went and lost in Paris they clawed their way there. Obviuosly the myopic deluded ninny lost that lesson plan-he may have a collection of beautiful footballers (c. London Press) but they're tin men. Look at the way Adebayor celebrated- they thought they were through, we knew we had a job to do.

 

Oh, and thank God for Ryan Babel as I couldn't handle another 20 years of Michael Thomas' goal being replaced by Theo Walcott's run.

 

Fuck you Arsenal. You lost your bottle.

[WaltonRed]

I'm done with the french after that from him last night.

 

Classless cunt.

[MLB]

Bit late coming to this one, obviously, but what a fucking night. I thought we won more by good fortune than by good judgement, but I'll take that ever day of the week. The team selection was bonkers and didn't really work very well, but thankfully Arsenal faded and we showed tremendous spirit and endeavour to take over the game after the first 25minutes.

 

I thought the best players on the night were the defenders. Didn't think much of the performances of Alonso, Reina and Gerrard, although the latter can be forgiven after being marooned on the left wing. The positives far, far outweighed the negatives though, and I think we now have a very good chance of winning the whole thing. Excellent.

[silverlining]

Bit late coming to this one, obviously, but what a fucking night. I thought we won more by good fortune than by good judgement, but I'll take that ever day of the week. The team selection was bonkers and didn't really work very well, but thankfully Arsenal faded and we showed tremendous spirit and endeavour to take over the game after the first 25minutes.

 

I thought the best players on the night were the defenders. Didn't think much of the performances of Alonso, Reina and Gerrard, although the latter can be forgiven after being marooned on the left wing. The positives far, far outweighed the negatives though, and I think we now have a very good chance of winning the whole thing. Excellent.

 

Boss summation, although I thought Xabi was decent and Stevie showed great courage with the penno.

[Paul]

Some (very) late observations:

 

1. Rafa has got brass fucking bollocks and a first class mind.

 

2. Crouchinho must stay. Check his fucking magic twinkly feet for that shot he conjured out of sweet fuck all: a flick from behind him to bring it around Gallas, another volleyed touch to set it and then a shot on the half turn. He should be fundamental to our Plan A, B and C; he's a fucking player by any measure.

 

3. Aurelio had the match of his Liverpool career. He was fantastic at the back and clever on the ball. Why, injuries not withstanding, has he waited so long to show this?

 

4. Skrtel - sold; he's the real deal. He may well have a few fuck ups and wobbles in him as he's only young, but he's a top class defender.

 

5. Who says Carra's shite going forward? Or that he's slow? Consistently did it in one of the biggest games of his career (which is some statement in itself) against the fastest team on the planet.

 

6. Dirk's drive is inhuman. Has anyone ever seen another player work so hard in a game of football before? Seriously - I don't think I ever have. Part of me is perversely glad that we might not be able to afford to replace him. He deserves a crack at another season as first choice simply for his passion. Whether he gets one is an entirely different matter, mind but I've got to give him massive respect for last night.

 

7. Torres - he's a Red. Nice one.

 

8. Babel is fucking deadly coming off the bench (as I happily suggested prior to the match).

 

9. How fucking ace was the smile on Gerrard's face after he put that (beautifully taken) penalty away? Usually he looks like he's got the cares of the world on his shoulders, but he looked like the most relaxed and happy man on the planet as he ran towards JAR to celebrate.

 

10. Anfield - best ground in the world for the big occasion.

 

11. Watching that match sitting in the dark on a ward at Alder Hey and not being able to make a sound for fear of waking the infant patients was almost as mad as the madness I was watching. The last 15 minutes were the twitchiest of my life until Babel's clincher when I leaped up and down in silence.

 

12. I feel strangely confident about Chelsea, regardless of where we play them in the second leg.

 

13. Viva la Rafalucion!!!

[RedKnight]

With regards to Chelsea it would be highly ironic that, after all the battles with José, that someone like Grant finally does us.

[zigackly]

How fucking ace was the smile on Gerrard's face after he put that (beautifully taken) penalty away?

 

 

With regards to Chelsea it would be highly ironic that, after all the battles with José, that someone like Grant finally does us.

 

Except he won't. If Chelsea beat us it will be because we make mistakes or because their players take it on themselves to beat us despite him.

[Liam]

I still get a buzz watching it back on Youtube! I hope we go all the way so I can buy The Road to Moscow 2008, the DVD.

[ratcatcher]

Feck me, that was some game! It had just about everything. Why some bitter chavs, arse and filth fans to name some call us boring and negative I'll never know.

 

I really dont know why Benitez tinkers with the side so much. A formation that brings us so many results is suddenly ditched because crouch scored on saturday! WTF? Well it Peter lad but I just didnt see the point in the change.

 

Thought arse played us off the park in the first 20min and reina is surely having a dip in form. Distribution was once again lacking and even he will admit to being disappointed being beaten on his near post. It was firmly struck though.

 

Get in Sami! What can you say about the old war horse? A great header just when we needed it. The game ebbed and flowed and just when it seemed arse were bossing the game, Torres who'd been anonymous up to then smashed in a superb goal. Thank god adebayor is nowhere near as good!

 

For the life of me, I dont know how Alonso and Aurelio didnt whack Walcott on that run. Alonso's tackles are piss poor at the best of times. I thought we were out when they got the second but thank goodness the dutch ref wasnt in charge for Babel's penno a minute later. Talk about getting out of jail!

 

What a pressure point on Gerrard too. Can all his detractors now just do one? Finally, babel's quick break and it was all over.

 

Please, please Benitez, transfer our CL form the the PL next season!

[Liam]

I was saying to a mate how Diaby was shite the other day... how wrong was I. I must have watched all his off days in the past because I thought he was Arsenals best player yesterday and a constant menace while he was on. Some real clever passing from him and great movement.

[DJLJ]

I see the toys are out of the pram from their second goalie.

Evening Echo: News

 

Lehmann: I could have kept Gunners in Europe

 

10/04/2008 - 1:14:40 PM

 

Jens Lehmann claims he could have prevented Arsenal from going out of the Champions League, if only he had been given a chance.

 

The 38-year-old goalkeeper spoke of his anger at being consigned to the bench and attacked both manager Arsene Wenger and the man who is keeping him out of the side, Manuel Almunia, in an interview with Germany's Kicker magazine.

 

"I stayed here to win the Champions League and I saw good chances to play, but I have not had these (chances) and that makes me very angry," he said.

 

The Germany number one was left to seething as he saw his European dream ended for another year following the Gunners' 4-2 defeat at Liverpool in Tuesday's quarter-final second leg.

 

"For me personally, it is a tragedy, particularly since I did not have a chance to prevent it," he said.

 

"I have had such thoughts (about being able to prevent defeats) ever since the coach took me out of the team following the 0-0 against Milan."

 

Lehmann turned down the chance to move to Borussia Dortmund during the winter break and pledged he would fight to regain his place in the Arsenal team.

 

In doing so, he may have compromised his chances of remaining first choice for Germany at Euro 2008, and Lehmann cannot believe the gamble has not paid off, with Almunia still standing ahead of him in the Arsenal goal.

 

"To be sitting on the bench behind somebody who only started to play when he was 30 is not funny," he added.

 

"I am very angry."

 

Furthermore, Lehmann feels he has been treated badly by Wenger, claiming he has not been given a fair chance.

 

He said: "If the coach had spoken to me before the start of the season then I would have been able to decide if I wanted to sit on the bench.

 

"He has a different opinion and I don't really believe he can be happy with it."

 

But Lehmann does not feel he will be able to prove Wenger wrong by shining at Euro 2008 with Germany, claiming his manager would probably not even notice he is there.

 

"If he has not seen it yet then he won't see it at the European Championships either if I perform well," said Lehmann.

[dave u]

"To be sitting on the bench behind somebody who only started to play when he was 30 is not funny. I am very angry."

 

Haha thats boss.

 

Little known fact, but Almunia is rb14s stunt double.

[Stu Monty]

"To be sitting on the bench behind somebody who only started to play when he was 30 is not funny. I am very angry."

 

Haha thats boss.

 

Little known fact, but Almunia is rb14s stunt double.

 

Since when did mincing about require a stunt double? Has he branched out into extreme mincing or danger mincing or something?

[Dirk]

Since when did mincing about require a stunt double? Has he branched out into extreme mincing or danger mincing or something?

 

He does Radical Mincing, have you not seen the pictures of him mincing by at 170mph in his racing car?

[Stu Monty]

He does Radical Mincing, have you not seen the pictures of him mincing by at 170mph in his racing car?

 

I have not. I heard suggestions that he was some sort of Talladega Nights style racing-leg but assumed it was all just a big smokescreen to cover up his glaring femininity. What does he race then?

[silverlining]

I have some sympathy with Lehmann, because while he is mental, I don't think Almunia is a great keeper at all. That said, I don't really think he'd have saved any of our goals, although maybe he would have done better for Babel's clincher.

 

Seems like all managers, no matter how good, or how much they've won, always have one or two blind spots. Wenger's persistance with Almunia seems a bit odd, not to mention Eboue on the right. Or Senderos.

[Dirk]

I have not. I heard suggestions that he was some sort of Talladega Nights style racing-leg but assumed it was all just a big smokescreen to cover up his glaring femininity. What does he race then?

 

 

He races Radicals. Gotta love Roger's sunflower helmet.