Arsenal 3 v 0 Rovers - Cup Semi Final

[92er]

Im pretty damn certain (as we seem to be playing the blame game) that it was Todd that missed the tackle for Van Persies 1st goal, did a half arsed lunge at the ball and missed it.

Neill was skinned and then Todd missed the tackle.

Who was supposed to be marking Van Percie for the 3rd goal?

[AlanK]

Has anyone ever bloody considered its nobody`s fault. Sometimes the skill of a quality forward will undo a defence. Any defence it just happens and you have to say " that was a good goal " rather than " that was poor defending ".

There has always got to be a bloody scapegoat.

From where I was sat and with emotions runnning high, I had no idea V.Persie`s goals were as good as they were until I saw them on t.v.

I certainly did not stick on an anorack and analyse every defenders position.

They were class goals against what has been a class defence. Deal with it.

[nottsrover]

Who was supposed to be marking Van Percie for the 3rd goal?

I think by that stage the game may have been slightly beyond us

If Lucas had sat back in the last 10 minutes and we hadn't considered, no doubt the very same people would be complaining that he didn't push forward and that we didn't have enough width.

As Alan says, Arsenal were the better team, no-one individually (appart from maybe Thommo ) had a particularly bad game. Lets move on.

[thenodrog]

You seriously think he has played better than Matteo in the last few weeks then?  Never mind with stupid you simply are stupid if you can post that rubbish.  Who mentioned personalities?  I couldn't care less what kind of fella he is I simply want him to defend, something he seems incapable of at times this season.

Matteo reminds me of an average sunday pub league player. Fair enough he is not playing in his best position but his passing is abysmal, he is slow and cumbersome, he is one footed, always nervous on the ball and he cannot turn. He is no way a full back and if you think that he is a better player than Neill then I can have no respect for your judgement of football whatsoever.

In fact I'll do it again especially for you Manc........

Edited April 20, 2005 by thenodrog

[American]

Matteo is not in the team for his passing ability. He's in the team to take players like the daft Renaldo out of games.

[philipl]

Well said AlanK!

We conceded a goal to one of the best club sides in the world- of course it was preventable if, if ,if.... but the object of the game is to stick the ball in the net and occasionally we play teams who are rather good at it.

As for the last two, wouldn't we be whining if Hughes had "protected" the 0-1 and not put subs on who were the most suited from our limited resources to find an equaliser frrom somewhere?

No doubt Sparky's video machine has been used to question the defence, midfield and Brad about that goal and work on improving the way we would handle a similar situation in future.

But to call Neill the way some people have done in this thread is ridiculous- typical Blackburn; we're all getting spoilt by Rovers not conceding goals so it is a calamity/witch hunt when we do!!!

[thenodrog]

Matteo is not in the team for his passing ability. He's in the team to take players like the daft Renaldo out of games.

This is the Premier League not the North West counties! The requirement for ANY Prem player is to offer a lot more than just the basics.

[McClarky]

There's no point spending too much time laying blame, they were just plain better than us and were bound to score goals at some point. To be fair all the goals were the result of a great bit of skill by an Arsenal player, thats the difference between the teams. You can put the best defence in the world under pressure and sooner or later someone makes a slight error.

Compare to the Man U game recently. We could easily have been 4-0 down at 1/2 time but at the end we all said it was a great defensive display.

Lets keep it in perspective eh!

[ihtd]

I don't blame anybody for the 3rd goal as it was just a good goal and they are a better team then us but we gave it a shot and we just weren't good enough on the day.

Did any of you guys notice the sniper in the crowd, because those arsenal players went down like they had been shot whenever any of our players went near them.

I enjoyed the day, and i thought our fans were brilliant and no bias being shown there. They might have had more fans than us but they didn't make the noise we made, they only sang when they were winning, we sang when we were three down.

Hopefully we'll be playing in the first cup final at Wembly next year!!!

[CAPT KAYOS]

Has anyone ever bloody considered its nobody`s fault. Sometimes the skill of a quality forward will undo a defence. Any defence it just happens and you have to say " that was a good goal " rather than " that was poor defending ".

There has always got to be a bloody scapegoat.

From where I was sat and with emotions runnning high, I had no idea V.Persie`s goals were as good as they were until I saw them on t.v.

I certainly did not stick on an anorack and analyse every defenders position.

They were class goals against what has been a class defence. Deal with it.

Tend to agree on that Alan, and personally think the annoying thing is more how we actually fell for the same sucker punch as what we did at Ewood - a bit flat footed - which is what most of the goals we have conceded have been like this season.

As for people saying we had to attack, it was a bit of the old a little too late for me and bar Emerton's decent shot and Reid's header I can't remember anything of worthy note attacking wise in the 2nd half. This is the thing that annoys me more as I feel we could have given them alot more to think about in a defensive role rather than making us look amateur and brutish.

[DanLad]

I'm not sure if this deserves a new topic, but it fits in here anyway as it occured to a notable degree on Saturday.

On numerous occasions in recent weeks it seems that too many of our midfielders get drawn to the ball. Now I appreciate that with 5 in the midfield that we should have numerical supremacy, but there seems to be times when, in our eagerness to close down we leave easy passes on. Has anyone else spotted that? If you haven't, then keep your eye out tonight.(although I'm hoping that Hughesy has spotted it) Maybe it's intentional to increase the chances of a mistake by the opponent, but I am always mindful that running round like a headless chicken might make us more vulnerable to the better footballing sides(not that there seems to be that many of them around, really)

JMO

[Cheeky Sidders]

As I type I am half watching Match Of The Day and Reyes has just been booked for blatant diving. I wonder if Alan Handjob et al will choose to comment on it. No doubt it will be ignored by the whinging southern press.

[neekoy]

My response from the Gaurdian regarding my letter about the Semi Final report.

I wonder if they have a generic response button?

Thank you for your letter regarding Paul Wilson's match report.

Your letter is currently being considered for publication, however due to

the volume of letters which the desk receives every week please do not be

disappointed if it is not featured on this occasion.

Once again, thank you very much for taking the time to write to us.

Yours sincerely,

Victoria Barrett

Sports Secretary

The Observer

[Manchester Blue]

If you thought tickets were expensive for the semi then have look at the prices for the final.

£90.00

£65.00

£50.00 — Limited Availability

£25.00 — Limited Availability

unbelievable!

[thenodrog]

If you thought tickets were expensive for the semi then have look at the prices for the final.

£90.00

£65.00

£50.00 — Limited Availability

£25.00 — Limited Availability

unbelievable!

No wonder they wanted us out! Arse and Manc fans getting ripped off big time.......... could'nt happen to a nicer bunch!

[den]

If you thought tickets were expensive for the semi then have look at the prices for the final.

£90.00

£65.00

£50.00 — Limited Availability

£25.00 — Limited Availability

unbelievable!

Just to add to that MB. United have been given 24000 tickets.

Man Utd official site

Assuming Arsenal have been given the same amount, where have the other 24000? tickets gone. It would appear as though some of the fans who spilled a load of dosh for the semis', wont be invited to purchase a ticket for the final. Someone more important will take those up?

[Paul]

"The majority of tickets are priced at £65" So let's be generous and suggest that could be 20,000 tickets. I can't help but wonder if we had beaten Arsenal would the good folk of Blackburn have been able to find £65 a ticket plus travel? Somehow I doubt it.

We can assume the majority of the tickets in the stadium will be £65, say 60,000 at that price is £3.9m revenue for the FA plus a further 12000 tickets at anything from £25 to £90 - say £50 = £600k. So the ticket sales alone raise £4.5m in revenue.

No doubt grass roots footie can look forward to a real bonanza this summer?

[Ianrally]

Having had a few days to compose myself since the semi final games last weekend, I have been left wondering whether the Millenium Stadium or indeed the FA are both fit bodies to be in control of such big games.

Although our beloved fans were extremely well behaved, I noticed that in the game on Sunday both the mancs and the geordies were stood up during the whole match. Not just the exiting bits but the whole 90 minutes.

This on the anniversary weekend of the Hillsborough disaster, the repercussions of which have affected all of us and the stadiums of this land.

If the result last sunday of the standing crowds had led to another crowd problem, then where does the buck stop?

Am I the only one who noticed this? The press were to caught up in the relentless persecution of our Andy to notice such things, but you can bet your bottom dollar that they would have been wringing their soiled hands in mock horror if such an event had happened, and pointing their slings and arrows in all directions.

[Hasta]

It would have been very interesting to see peoples reactions had we got to the final. £65 would have been ridiculous, especially as we'd sat in the same seats a few weeks before for £45. All the usual suspects would have been on here saying 'but it's the FA cup final , it'll be a disgrace if we don't sell xxxxx ', but there's a limit.

Personally I'd probably have gone but it's not far off my limit. £75 I'd have said no way, sat in the pub, spent a tenner on ale, watched it on the TV and have put the other £65 to next years season ticket rather than feeding the fat faces of the FA.

I believe its already agreed that as well as the finals the semis will also be hosted at Wembley for the next 5 or 10 years. How long before the average price of a cup final ticket to the public is pushing £100. Swivel.

Edited April 21, 2005 by Hasta

[Biddy]

I know it's not going to happen but I really hope this all back fires on the FA.

Arsenal and Man Utd have all been there and done that many times in the past few years so I really hope the fans say enough is enough and stay away. If this sells out then it is setting a bad precedent whereby the FA will think that they can start charging whatever they like.

If the stadium was half empty, that would certainly put a dampener on the show piece final for them.

If only.

Personally, I would have gone to the final for £65. Any more and it would have been a toss up on going to the game or just going to Cardiff and spending that money on the night out instead. Most certainly wouldn't even entertain the idea of going if all you could get was £90 tickets.

[CAPT KAYOS]

I noticed that in the game on Sunday both the mancs and the geordies were stood up during the whole match. Not just the exiting bits but the whole 90 minutes.

This on the anniversary weekend of the Hillsborough disaster, the repercussions of which have affected all of us and the stadiums of this land.

If the result last sunday of the standing crowds had led to another crowd problem, then where does the buck stop?

Am I the only one who noticed this?

Nope I did too

But another thibg I noticed is much of the Rovers and from all accounts so where the Arsenal fans in our game.

As we all know though, the disaster at Hillsborough was not the result of people standing in the ground - but of apparent lack of organisation and control by the Police.

As for the tickets for the final - £65 I would have paid as it would be a final (as mentioned previously my limit is £30 unless a one off/special game) but £90 would have crossed the line, as I'm sure it would be with many others.

[CAPT KAYOS]

FA USELESS

Interesting comments from the P/L re the FA - not something new to most of us though.

[broadsword]

Sigh ... !

Lauren comments

"We are prepared. You saw that against Blackburn in the quarter-final.

"They were kicking us all over the place and the team didn't get involved in that way. We have to be calm and play our normal style.

I really must've been watching a diiferent game. Maybe these chaps should see a few games from the Seventies, then they'd know what a kicking was.

Foreign poof.

[waggy]

just watch the media take no notice when united kick arsenal out off there stride on saturday.

[RevidgeBlue]

Sigh ... !

Lauren comments

"We are prepared. You saw that against Blackburn in the quarter-final.

"They were kicking us all over the place and the team didn't get involved in that way. We have to be calm and play our normal style.

I really must've been watching a diiferent game. Maybe these chaps should see a few games from the Seventies, then they'd know what a kicking was.

Foreign poof.

317243[/snapback]

I know this point has been made before, but just wait until Arsenal and the Scum are kicking lumps out of each other on Saturday. Al the commentators wll be chortling about what a wonderfully committed full blooded affair it is etc.