Spoiler**************** I'll take the 1-1 away draw. Great game, but Alonso is really out of form right now.
Shocking that we managed a draw given that performance. Should have been a pen on Kuyt. Great run by Stevie G though (for the goal). Pretty sure that was an OG though.
I would've taken 1-1 before a ball was kicked. We looked out of sorts and Arsenal were the better side, but Benitez is the master of scraping out results in Europe and I think we've got a slight advantage going forward. I don't really think there was much in that Kuyt penalty claim. There was contact, but Hleb really made a meal of it. I don't think he was much of a threat to score from that position anyway. Bendtner clearing the ball off our line was hilarious. Definitely would have been a goal if he hadn't been there. I was a little upset that Clichy wasn't booked for his foul on Torres just outside the box. The ref immediately reached for the yellow, thought about it, and decided not to book him (a yellow would have kept him out of the return leg). Torres was in a dangerous position and there was only one defender between him and the goal. Then, a few seconds later, the ref denied Hleb that penalty. I thought it was kind of a makeup for letting Clichy off the hook, but maybe that's just me. This weekend's Premiership game should be pretty fun, considering there will probably be wholesale changes by both teams. I'm guessing Crouch and Voronin get starts, while Carra and Masch (suspended), and maybe even Reina, get breathers. Stevie probably plays in the middle with Xabi, who is just not looking himself these days. Can't wait for next week!
I predict we'll run ressies and squadmen out tomorrow (with a few exceptions). It's just not that important to us. Even if the Bitters close to within 2 pts after the weekend (they play Derby), they still have 2 tough games left (Chelsea and Arsenal), while we only have Spurs on the road (and they're playing out a string). The Link
Very nice effort by our 2nd XI. We definitely deserved at least a point. Crouch was fantastic. How about Damian Plessis? I thought he looked fantastic for a kid, especially considering he made his debut on the road in front of 60K.
What a frustrating loss for Arsenal. A blown PK in the 1st leg combined with a gift-wrapped PK in the 2nd leg doomed the Gunners.
I'm still shaking. Watched it again and still can't believe it!!! We were toast at 2-2 tonight. Bring on Chelskea
I doubt that penalty would have been given in the EPL. Liverpool has proven themselves to be a great Cup team again. Why can't they consistently produce in the EPL? A dream Final: Manchester United and Liverpool. United needs to close the gap from 3 to 2.
Could we please end this ownership saga? Immediately? Here's an interesting bit on Modric, from his wiki:
Swap Babel and SG and you've got it. I LOVE Stevie playing off Torres with 2 DMs covering his lack of tactical discipline. Lot of talk that we'll go after Bentley. He'd definitely be an upgrade over Pennant and Kuyt on the right. My biggest concern / uncertainty is whether we start to see some of the young ressies coming through. Insua, Nemeth, Plessis, Anderson, et al need to get on the squad next year. OUT: Riise (4M), Pennant (6M), Carson (10), Benayoun (6M), Crouch (12M) (hate this, but handwriting is on the wall), Voronin (2M) - TOTAL OUT = 40M IN: Insua, Nemeth, Modric (18M), Bentley (12M), Rafinha (6M), Plessis, Anderson - TOTAL IN = 36M This would leave us with: QK: Reina, Itandje, that highly rated Bulgarian in the Reserves RB: Finnan, Arbeloa, Rafinha CB: Hyypia, Carra, Skrtel, Agger LB: Insua, Aurelio, (Arbeloa) DM: Lucas, Alonso, Monster, Plessis AMF:Babel, Modric, Gerrard, Kuyt, Anderson, Bentley ST: Torres, Nemeth, (Kuyt)
