I previously gave you 11 reasons as to why we could win, and we won. Here are my thoughts as to why we won:
- Our ‘Never Say Die’ attitude – we kept battling until the 93rd minute.
- We were the underdogs. Arsenal perform best when no one expects it.
- The fact that Barcelona had all the possession made us hungry for the ball. We fought for the ball and had to finish the few chances we gave ourself.
- Pedro didn’t turn up on the night, simple as. Would have been a different story if Pedro was the player he usually is.
- The referee didn’t send Song off – this could’ve been disastrous.
- Wilshere was world-class.
- Koscielny showed us why he was worth all those millions we spent in the summer.
- Arshavin’s recent poor form meant he wanted to prove himself once again. Took his chance fantastically.
- Fabregas didn’t have his greatest game, but he was still head and shoulders above Iniesta and Xavi.
- We were confident from our last game. An easy 2-0 thrashing against Wolves.
- Last but definitely not least, the support our fans gave. I’m absolutely gutted I didn’t get a ticket for the game. But the 60,000+ Arsenal fans in the Emirates gave our team that extra boost.
I know I’m going to get comments from some of you saying that we haven’t progressed to the next round yet, and we still have get a draw at the Nou Camp. But I am confident, and so should you be! Anyway, that’s 2 weeks away, we’ve just beaten arguably the best team on the planet. Lets go f**king mental!!!
Leyton Orient this weekend. Pretty sure a few of the boys will get the weekend off, and a well-deserved rest ahead of Stoke next week and the Carling Cup Final! Wonder if Arsene will play it cautious – the last thing we want is a replay 3 days before the 2nd leg against Barca.
Thursday, 17th February 2011 at 6:00 PM |
i agree with u
Thursday, 17th February 2011 at 6:34 PM |
I think pedro was not allowed to turn up. He did his usual sitting on the shoulder tactic. Arsenal’s defence was magnificent tactically. They kept it narrow, kept a solid line closed down the space.
Th ref better have not sent off Song, the first card was very soft anyway.
Thursday, 17th February 2011 at 6:43 PM |
Agree with you there. Pedro was forced out the game by the defence. Our offside trap was too good on the night.
Not so sure about Song, it got to a stage where I really thought he was going to get sent off.
Thursday, 17th February 2011 at 8:27 PM |
Great to read mate. I too was very worried song was goin to get the red an was glad arsene didnt get so stubborn and took him off. It was a great team performance, get in there.
Thursday, 17th February 2011 at 8:56 PM |
The best news is: BACARY SAGNA IS BACK GOD BLESS HIM!!
Thursday, 17th February 2011 at 9:39 PM |
Thank you..really informative!!
Friday, 18th February 2011 at 12:21 AM |
i dont think you’ve got as much down as you may think. Though your comments on Song, Kocielney and Wilshere was right, i don’t see Arsenal as underdogs in ANY match ( though i get the point that they do play more to their full potentiel against better teams), i don’t think that it was the “never say die” attitude that did it for us, i think that it was “luck” based on skill from especialy RVP, and the magic pass from Clichy that got us back in the game, and i do not agree with you on the arshavin part either. i think that his form will improve after the goal but i dont think that he played very well in the match beside that goal (which was beautiful). And the thing about about barca having the ball, didn’t play at all well for us, as you know that usually is our way of playing, but our taking of chances was better, but yet not good enough, and had RVP played as he use to it would have been 3 or 4-1 or 2 without a doubt!
Personally i loved that Nasri got back in time, but i dont think that he was at all at his best (of course, since he just came back from an injury) but i a sure that he will be 10 times more important in the next match when he is back in the form he has been in all season!!
i DO belive that we will go through to the next round, and a big deal of that has to do with the winning result. We will be able to play our own way, a little further back on the pit, AND barca is forced to push forward, thus allowing more space for players like walcot and arshavin, and depending on how wenger plays them, it will allow nasri and fabregas to create more chances and create better passes than last match.
i think we can all agree that Arsenal plays the most beautifull football in the world (at least i think so) and ultimately i belive in both the champions league and or the premier league.