how can that be even thought of as offside? that part of the offside rule is very clear, those with enough experience in playing fifa and pes would know that offside rule. unbelievable how some commentators can think of that as off.
anyways, very crisp finishing from rvp, the keeper was excellent today but rvp was too good for him. felt sorry for walcott and arsha, they should've had at least a goal. and i thought wilshere was tremendous. i recalled someone saying in a few years, ramsey-wilshere would be the next xavi-iniesta. i definitely saw glimpses of iniesta in today's wilshere. hoping that ramza recovers quickly!
cesc had a good game, his passing and theo's pace undid the wolves' defence today. i cant say itll be that easy against barca, but if theo manages to get behind maxwell/abidal, he's as good as through. what i'm concerned about is that we dont lose possession in midfield. barca plays triangles in the midfield and waits for a mistake in the defence before playing a pass. with song and wilshere in the midfield, they should try and disturb the triangular passes, and we know wilshere's ability to spot a run is as good as cesc.
and this game we have an on-fire RvP! there's lots of positives compared to the match last year. altho i wouldve liked to have magic nasri in the team, arshavin seems to be more interested these days and walcott is learning more tricks to get past defenders. if we can hold the fort and maintain a good scoreline in the first leg, the second leg with nasri would surely be an awesome one to watch.
and i'm very pleased with djourou! he was commanding at the back today. thought i saw vermaelen playing.
Added on February 13, 2011, 8:27 amn thanks for the motd again, kanelee!
Added on February 13, 2011, 8:38 amapparently Nasri's not totally out of the 1st leg after all!
Wenger reveals Nasri hope for Barca clash» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger revealed last night that Samir Nasri could be fit for the Champions League clash with Barcelona at The Emirates on Wednesday.
Nasri has been out for two weeks with a hamstring injury but Wenger said:”I would not rule him out.”
That will come as a double-boost for Arsenal on a day when they kept up their Premier League challenge with a 2-0 win over Wolves that was more emphatic than the scoreline suggests and keeps Wenger’s team four points behind leaders Manchester United.
“We showed there was no hangover from the match at Newcastle last week, “ said Wenger. “We showed that with the number of chances we created. We would have had more goals but for their goalkeeper Wayne Hennessy who was inspired. He had an outstanding game.
“It was important that we focused on the game today and we did that. We are now in a strong position in the league. We are in the Premier League race and we have showed we have the hunger. We proved that we did not have Barcelona on our minds.”
Wenger praised the performance of England starlet Jack Wilshere and said:” He tackles and he creates chances. The only thing missing from his game at the moment is that he is not scoring goals. But they will come.”
As for the forthcoming clash with the stars of Barcelona, Wenger said of Wilshere :”You wouldn’t want to put too much responsibility on Wilshere. You need all eleven to be on top form against what is the best team in the world. It is important that we play with belief. Last year, we showed them too much respect in rhe first half and we were lucky to get away with it. We are not favourites to win - but I think we can do it.”
Wolves manager Mick McCarthy admitted:” There was a murder out there and we were the recipients. They were better than us from one to eleven and but for Wayne Hennessy we could have let in seven or eight. They were better than us all over and they slapped us. I have not one complaint. I am disappointed that we lost but not with the effort of the players. No-one left anything on the pitch.
“But when I looked at the back-to-back fixtures against Manchester United and Arsenal I did not think to myself:’We can get six points there.’ We got three and now we have a really important game against West Bromwich Albion coming up. All I could do today was admire Arsenal’s football.”
This post has been edited by Thumpy Ick: Feb 13 2011, 08:38 AM