GWT: Champions League Round of 16

[Pouchkine]

Vintage Wenger for you tonight. Arsenal are a pathetic club.

Great game by the referee tonight, he's generally excellent.

 

[cgf]

Kudos to Juve for fighting back after Bayern gave them a lifeline with the Dybala goal. This has been an awesome match.

 

[Evilo]

Your hate on for Koscielny given your overwhelming support of any French player, especially inferior center backs, such as one playing in merseyside, astounds me.

If you feel I support every french player, then you need to buy yourself glasses.

Might fit your preconceptions, but that's never been the case.

 

[maclean]

Your hate on for Koscielny given your overwhelming support of any French player, especially inferior center backs, such as one playing in merseyside, astounds me.

I like Koscielny alright, but he just broke his own teammates knee..

 

[S E P H]

For all the Wenger supporters....Mertesacker.

- Got caught in no man's land on first goal

- Gave Flamini a **** pass leading to the penatly

Again Wenger supporters, please justify the amount of minutes this walking pylon gets?

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Maybe I am football dumb, but how the **** was ter Stegen able to pick up the back pass from Pique?

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The only difference why Barca is winning is because they have players who can finish. I don't care what position it is, Arsenal NEEDS someone with some ****in' finishing ability. It's something Arsenal has needed for the last 7 seasons. Again Wenger fans, how can you justify this?

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Get Ramsey out of team, for the love of God Barca buy him, I don't care if it's just for 20 million. Just get him off, the most pathetic display in a long time.

That's why Neymar and Suarez aren't Messi. He doesn't miss those

I don't remember a single performance where Suarez was good at The Emirates, he just sucks there.

 

[bluesfan94]

If you feel I support every french player, then you need to buy yourself glasses.

Might fit your preconceptions, but that's never been the case.

Thank you for your concern about my vision, but I assure you I have my eyesight tested regularly and it's never been anything short of perfect.

I have no preconceptions. Merely observations. Sorry to disappoint you. Feel free now to go back and find the few exceptions, such as Koscielny, that merely prove the rule.

 

[Shrimper]

Vintage Wenger for you tonight. Arsenal are a pathetic club.

Great game by the referee tonight, he's generally excellent.

Arsenal pathetic?

Lol wut.

 

[bluesfan94]

For all the Wenger supporters....Mertesacker.

- Got caught in no man's land on first goal

- Gave Flamini a **** pass leading to the penatly

Again Wenger supporters, please justify the amount of minutes this walking pylon gets?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maybe I am football dumb, but how the **** was ter Stegen able to pick up the back pass from Pique?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The only difference why Barca is winning is because they have players who can finish. I don't care what position it is, Arsenal NEEDS someone with some ****in' finishing ability. It's something Arsenal has needed for the last 7 seasons. Again Wenger fans, how can you justify this?

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Get Ramsey out of team, for the love of God Barca buy him, I don't care if it's just for 20 million. Just get him off, the most pathetic display in a long time.


I don't remember a single performance where Suarez was good at the Emirates, he just sucks there.

Who would you play in place of Mertesacker?

 

[BahlDeep]

Maybe I am football dumb, but how the **** was ter Stegen able to pick up the back pass from Pique?

Was the pass done with his foot?

 

[Pouchkine]

Obviously because it wasn't an "intentional" back pass.

 

[maclean]

The only difference why Barca is winning is because they have players who can finish. I don't care what position it is, Arsenal NEEDS someone with some ****in' finishing ability. It's something Arsenal has needed for the last 7 seasons. Again Wenger fans, how can you justify this?

I'd agree, Arsenal played well, but as so often, when they have all the time in the world in front of the net all they can do is panic and overpass or kick it wide

 

[S E P H]

Who would you play in place of Mertesacker?

200 million pound club and can't buy anybody better than Mertesacker? Goes through the whole summer buying one player, who is a goalkeeper?

Was the pass done with his foot?

I don't recall, I think so.

 

[BahlDeep]

200 million pound club and can't buy anybody better than Mertesacker? Goes throught he whole summer buying one player, who is goalkeeper?


I don't recall, I think so.

Well if it was done with anything else than his foot, the goalie can grab it.

 

[Evilo]

I have no preconceptions. Merely observations. Sorry to disappoint you. Feel free now to go back and find the few exceptions, such as Koscielny, that merely prove the rule.

You might be new here, but I've been against the tide about many many so-called "good" or "great" french players like Koscielny (who's good but awfully overrated on these boards), Evra, Malouda and so many others.

But again, it's probably easier for the weakly knowledgable fans to throw the "you overrate french players" tantrum rather than actually argue about players they have never seen play.

Keep in mind people here said I was crazy (or as you said "vastly overrating Ligue 1 players) when I announced the greatness of Drogba, Essien, Hazard and so many others.
But as long as it makes your day, keep it on and continue to think I overrate "every french player" !

 

[Deficient Mode]

2-2 still a great result for Bayern. Juve won't win or score 3 goals in Munich.

 

[Pouchkine]

It was a back pass done with his foot but the referee deemed it not intentional and I agree with it. It was more a reaction-deflection rather than a clear intentional pass...

 

[S E P H]

Well if it was done with anything else than his foot, the goalie can grab it.

That's a really dumb rule, you'll actually get more goal scoring opportunities and exciting games if you don't let that happen IMO. The goalkeeper should only be able to pick up balls when it comes from directly an opponent's foot, or if it is deflected off a teammate via a shot from any part of the body. Able to actually pick it up during times of trouble is the easiest "OJ Simpson Monopoly get out of jail for free card" I've seen in sports.

Obviously because it wasn't an "intentional" back pass.

Maybe you need to look through the Hubble because that was the most intentional back pass I've seen in my life.

 

[bluesfan94]

200 million pound club and can't buy anybody better than Mertesacker? Goes throught he whole summer buying one player, who is goalkeeper?


I don't recall, I think so.

Any names you'd like to mention specifically that we should have bought?

 

[Pouchkine]

Juve can win 1-0 for sure. Lack of competition in the league certainly not helping Bayern and might cost PSG also.

 

[JaymzB]

Not really bummed losing to this Barca team. Yes, Arsenal should have better players in certain positions than they do now, but this Barca front line...it is a pleasure to be around to watch them right now.

I'm not the greatest football historian, but IMO Messi is the greatest of all time. No, obviously it isn't this game that convinced me, but I just want to say it. I feel very lucky to get to see him play this game week in week out.

 

[ProPAIN]

Busquets has rarely dove in 8 years. Please stop peddling ungrounded stereotypes.

Sarcasm? I was at the Parc and saw it with my own eyes. I'm not peddling ****.

 

[S E P H]

Any names you'd like to mention specifically that we should have bought?

Ummmm, I can give you one.....Laporte. He's got a buyout clause that is under the 200 million pound war chest and I don't think he would be opposed to joining Arsenal. It's not like he's coming from Barca, Juventus, or Bayern. There are like 15,000 players in Europe who are better than Mertesacker, hell Gabriel who's on the bench is better than him as well.

 

[Deficient Mode]

Juve can win 1-0 for sure. Lack of competition in the league certainly not helping Bayern and might cost PSG also.

Juve can win 1-0 in Munich? I highly doubt it. Bayern have competition in their league.

Sarcasm? I was at the Parc and saw it with my own eyes. I'm not peddling ****.

Video? He doesn't dive nearly as much as his reputation suggests is all I'm saying.

 

[Pouchkine]

Back passes don't change much overall. It would have given an indirect free kick and with Arsenal they probably would have made 2-3 passes and then no shot on goal...

I'll say maybe some referee might have called this one but not many, the way it's called regularly this wasn't one and that's why the goalie picked it up even without real pressure on him.

 

[Evilo]

And to finish on the subject of Koscielny Jerry, you didn't even know his name when I hyped him up on this site years ago. I said he was a great L2 defenseman impressive in his L1 debut with Lorient. I called him exacty as he is in fact : a rugged excellent CB.
And that's what he is, he's a good CB for a good team.
However, he doesn't have what it takes in terms of concentration, technical ability or judgment to succeed at the very highest level.
That's why he's often a risk in the CL knockout stage (tonight, he gifted Neymar a goal on an awful alignement), and that's why he's behind Sakho in the french NT depth chart.
Sakho raises his game in big games. Koscielny can't. He doesn't have that second gear.
He will (should) never be a starting CB for a team with CL aspirations (not saying Sakho should either BTW).

So before saying I'm biased towards french players, you should think twice : Koscielny is right now exactly as how I described him years ago before you had the slightest knowledge of who he was.