Did van Persie’s red card really change the game?

I agree with that the game could have been easliy won by Barcelona, even without the sending off.

So what do you expect from a team that doesn’t buy any good players and doesn’t get great homegrown players.

Arsenal only knows how to sell players and fool their loyal fans – and loyal fans can also be fooled into believing the B.S

I wonder how wenger is explaining the loss in the Carlin cup final to Birmingham – yellow cards?

i am not an arsenal fan by any means.united for life!!!!!!!!! but if u think that the sending off did not affect the game then you must be watching soccer with blinkers on cos it is not always the best team that wins the game.we have seen many times how the big powerhouses of soccer in all leagues dominate games by basically camping in the opponenets half but yet they come away with a loss and at times a draw because of good defending by the opposing team and also by the opponents making use of the “one” chance that they get.when van persie was sent off barca had only scored once and irrespective of how good barca is there is no gaurentee that the outcome of the game would have been the same.we cannot say for sure that arsenal would have scored or won but when you have to play 10 vs an 11 man barca side it cheats you from playing the game on level fields so it leaves lots of ifs and buts to be answered therefore in my book the decision changed the game cos no matter if you play the best soccer in the world(barca)nothing is guarenteed until the final whistle blows.it is not how you outplay the team or how many chances you have but how ,many times you score and when van persie was sent of barca had only scored once.i guess we will never know

One thing that i’m prettey sure about is that barca went in this game knowing that they had won it already. i mean,how else can that red card be explained????

busacca should learnt how to be patient with with players and how to control anger this is because van persie had already insulted busacca when he awarded the first yellow card. This is busacca kept in mind that he could hold longer than a game period

Daniyal – Don’t get me wrong I do like Arsenal, and I respect the way you play. I do hope you win something this season (I would say you deserve to but we all know there’s no justice in football lol).

I just get tired of the arrogance of most Arsenal fans that when something doesn’t go their way, It’s everyones fault but theirs. This seems to be something fundamentally instilled by Wenger.

Just wish you’d occasionally put your hands up and say ‘We were outplayed’.

All that Arsenal needed was one goal to advance. They didn’t need to win the entire game, just the aggregate.

I can understand where Wenger’s anger comes from. Me and my school team lost yesterday, and when that first goal our opponent’s scored was called onside rather than rightfully off. I got red carded (while on the bench) for questioning the integrity of the referees’ licenses and eyesight.

I guess I know what it feels like to be like van Persie a bit, and I definitely know how Wenger feels. These refs are blind nowadays.

Bacon310- Poor man’s barcelona? Arsenal and barcelona don’t play the same game. Arsenal play a high tempo passing game, barcelona play a tika taka football passing game. both pretty different. Becasue of the way barca play they hold onto more possession. Possession stats don’t win you leagues, otherwise we would win the EPL every year. The reason we sat back in the first half was because we were waiting for the barca players to get tired(like they have done in 2 out of the 3 games they played against arsenal) That is the consequence of the high pressing game barcelona play. It was the strategy. You can keep quoting all the stats you want, but the only really relevant stat is that before RVP was sent off Arsenal were going through and they were cheated by a decision which turned the game completely in barcas favor.

Well 50% I blame the ref & 50% I blame Bendtner.You haven’t talked about him at all.If RVP was in place of Bendtner then the chance for arsenal to go 3 -2 at the 88th minute,it would’ve either been a goal or a penalty because if Bendtner didn’t bring the ball to his left(weaker) foot then it would’ve been a penalty because Mascherano was coming in with a sliding tackle.it would’ve been 4 – 4 on aggregate with Arsenal with 2 away goals & Barca with 1 goal,So arsenal would’ve progressed.But Barca were superb on the night no doubt about it & by the way Koscielny SuX!!!!!.

In my opinion…losing a player during a game always changes the game…how could it not? You go in with 11, and you lose one, so now you have 1 less than the other team…of course it changes the game – how could it not?

I don’t trust RVP – after he claimed innocence on his slide tackle on Adebayor, I thought he was a punk for trying to take Ade out and then acting all surprised that Ade kicked back…you got what you deserved for that RVP. Personally, in the Barca game, I think he heard the whistle and still decided to kick and thought he would get away with it. It’s the ref’s call tho – RVP knew he shouldn’t have done it and he’s claiming his innocence again…but i don’t buy it. He screwed it up for his own team by doing that…

and just b/c Arsenal seem to be outplayed in the first half, that should not lead anyone to believe they’d be outplayed in the 2nd half too… like Wenger said, how many times have we seen games decided in the last 5 minutes?

Barcelona looked like they were going to win even before the red card. Raph, I don’t know what game you were watching but in tough La Liga games where Barca only manage four shots on target a game, they can still win by two. The card didn’t ruin the Gunners chances of winning.

Even if they were the better team….it is not a law that the better always win when the opposition have their own game plan (Inter Milan). We were doing just fine before the sending off despite Barca’s dominance…the tie was 1-1 ffs. The same thing that happened in the first leg was going to play out again before the sending off. It changed the game ….like it or not.

I can’t believe arsenal fans are still saying the red changed the game, it didn’t. And don’t give me the ‘defensive masterclass’ argument, because your no Inter, your a poor mans Barcelona, proved by this game.

Barcelona were the better team and deserved to go through. Now stop whining about ‘the injustice’, because we all have every sympathy about the red card, but I’m quickly loosing that sympathy because all the Arsenal fans seem to see is the referees inadequacies, and avoid talking about their own.

You are very wrong to say no team comes out with a game plan of defending for a period then come out at the later part of the game when the other team is getting tired to get something out of the game. So many times, teams have adopted that tactics against us in the premiership. It happened in the first leg when Barcelona dominated for most parts and we came out stronger in the second half to find more space and won the game. The same thing was going to play out before Van Persie was sent off and it destroyed the plan the team hard. The game was still tied at 1-1 before the sending off and what made you think if Van Persie had stayed on we wouldn’t have had ten shots on goal in the last 35mins? Arshavin and Bendtner would have come on to cause serious damage to Barcelona. My point is…we would have won the game despite Barcelona possession via counter attack…. afterall Barca defenders are human beings and will get tired as well.

I agree with you AJ we lost the two legs 4-3 and fro 40 minutes we were with 10 people vs 13 of Barca ie ref 95,000 crowd and this period we managed to concede only two goals and one was a penalty i am sure RVP could have taken a better use of that chance that NB had. All these shenanigans that Arsenal were outplayed does not necessary mean that picture this arsenal were outplayed 4-3 by Barcelona because that is what it was.

The fact of the matter is, up to the point when van Persie was sent off, Arsenal had only allowed Barcelona 3 efforts. One was a bad miss by Pedro, another Alves’ free kick, and the last was Messi’s goal. 3 efforts, in comparison to the 13 the Catalans finished the game with. Furthermore, before van Persie was sent off, Arsenal were winning the tie. The total domination of Barca only became effective once Arsenal’s manpower was reduced. Look at Inter’s performance last year at the Nou Camp. They defended very strongly, and actually only looked like they might lose the draw when they conceded in the dying minutes, only for the Barca goal to be written off. Arsenal came very, very close to repeating Inter’s defensive masterclass, were it not for that decision. We had already seen at the Grove how Barca would eventually tire if they couldn’t get through. Returning to the Inter game, it’s telling that at the time of the disallowed goal the ITV commentator remarked, ““You know, I’m not surprised the players couldn’t hear the whistle Clive, because it really is deafening here.”

Appalling refereeing and, consequently, surprisingly bad punditry from the British press, who have an eye for post-game statistics but no apparent awareness for analysing what happened when.

u must be a very foolish person are u a suit sayer to no what would have happened with van persie on the pitch? Let me tell u smt when it was 1-1 the barca players were not comfortable and i believe the baised ref to.if it was persie that had nb last chance of the game do u no what would be the outcome? Pls be more flexible

I do not necessary agree with you, that football is all about possession Inter made it by defending what happened at Emirates is we let Barcelona run themselves out and we came into the game and i am 100% sure that is what Wenger was looking at even at 3-1 we needed only one goal to go through defending is an art so is possession. Muirinho did it with inter.

I do not necessary agree with you, that football is all about possession Inter made it by defending what happened at Emirates is we let Barcelona run themselves out and we came into the game and i am 100% sure that is what Wenger was looking at even at 3-1 we needed only one goal to go through defending is an art so is possession. Muirinho did it with inter.

u must be a very foolish person are u a suit sayer to no what would have happened with van persie on the pitch? Let me tell u smt when it was 1-1 the barca players were not comfortable and i believe the baised ref to.if it was persie that had nb last chance of the game do u no what would be the outcome? Pls be more flexible

The fact of the matter is, up to the point when van Persie was sent off, Arsenal had only allowed Barcelona 3 efforts. One was a bad miss by Pedro, another Alves’ free kick, and the last was Messi’s goal. 3 efforts, in comparison to the 13 the Catalans finished the game with. Furthermore, before van Persie was sent off, Arsenal were winning the tie. The total domination of Barca only became effective once Arsenal’s manpower was reduced. Look at Inter’s performance last year at the Nou Camp. They defended very strongly, and actually only looked like they might lose the draw when they conceded in the dying minutes, only for the Barca goal to be written off. Arsenal came very, very close to repeating Inter’s defensive masterclass, were it not for that decision. We had already seen at the Grove how Barca would eventually tire if they couldn’t get through. Returning to the Inter game, it’s telling that at the time of the disallowed goal the ITV commentator remarked, ““You know, I’m not surprised the players couldn’t hear the whistle Clive, because it really is deafening here.”

Appalling refereeing and, consequently, surprisingly bad punditry from the British press, who have an eye for post-game statistics but no apparent awareness for analysing what happened when.

I agree with you AJ we lost the two legs 4-3 and fro 40 minutes we were with 10 people vs 13 of Barca ie ref 95,000 crowd and this period we managed to concede only two goals and one was a penalty i am sure RVP could have taken a better use of that chance that NB had. All these shenanigans that Arsenal were outplayed does not necessary mean that picture this arsenal were outplayed 4-3 by Barcelona because that is what it was.

You are very wrong to say no team comes out with a game plan of defending for a period then come out at the later part of the game when the other team is getting tired to get something out of the game. So many times, teams have adopted that tactics against us in the premiership. It happened in the first leg when Barcelona dominated for most parts and we came out stronger in the second half to find more space and won the game. The same thing was going to play out before Van Persie was sent off and it destroyed the plan the team hard. The game was still tied at 1-1 before the sending off and what made you think if Van Persie had stayed on we wouldn’t have had ten shots on goal in the last 35mins? Arshavin and Bendtner would have come on to cause serious damage to Barcelona. My point is…we would have won the game despite Barcelona possession via counter attack…. afterall Barca defenders are human beings and will get tired as well.

I can’t believe arsenal fans are still saying the red changed the game, it didn’t. And don’t give me the ‘defensive masterclass’ argument, because your no Inter, your a poor mans Barcelona, proved by this game.

Barcelona were the better team and deserved to go through. Now stop whining about ‘the injustice’, because we all have every sympathy about the red card, but I’m quickly loosing that sympathy because all the Arsenal fans seem to see is the referees inadequacies, and avoid talking about their own.

Even if they were the better team….it is not a law that the better always win when the opposition have their own game plan (Inter Milan). We were doing just fine before the sending off despite Barca’s dominance…the tie was 1-1 ffs. The same thing that happened in the first leg was going to play out again before the sending off. It changed the game ….like it or not.

Barcelona looked like they were going to win even before the red card. Raph, I don’t know what game you were watching but in tough La Liga games where Barca only manage four shots on target a game, they can still win by two. The card didn’t ruin the Gunners chances of winning.

In my opinion…losing a player during a game always changes the game…how could it not? You go in with 11, and you lose one, so now you have 1 less than the other team…of course it changes the game – how could it not?

I don’t trust RVP – after he claimed innocence on his slide tackle on Adebayor, I thought he was a punk for trying to take Ade out and then acting all surprised that Ade kicked back…you got what you deserved for that RVP. Personally, in the Barca game, I think he heard the whistle and still decided to kick and thought he would get away with it. It’s the ref’s call tho – RVP knew he shouldn’t have done it and he’s claiming his innocence again…but i don’t buy it. He screwed it up for his own team by doing that…

and just b/c Arsenal seem to be outplayed in the first half, that should not lead anyone to believe they’d be outplayed in the 2nd half too… like Wenger said, how many times have we seen games decided in the last 5 minutes?

Well 50% I blame the ref & 50% I blame Bendtner.You haven’t talked about him at all.If RVP was in place of Bendtner then the chance for arsenal to go 3 -2 at the 88th minute,it would’ve either been a goal or a penalty because if Bendtner didn’t bring the ball to his left(weaker) foot then it would’ve been a penalty because Mascherano was coming in with a sliding tackle.it would’ve been 4 – 4 on aggregate with Arsenal with 2 away goals & Barca with 1 goal,So arsenal would’ve progressed.But Barca were superb on the night no doubt about it & by the way Koscielny SuX!!!!!.

Bacon310- Poor man’s barcelona? Arsenal and barcelona don’t play the same game. Arsenal play a high tempo passing game, barcelona play a tika taka football passing game. both pretty different. Becasue of the way barca play they hold onto more possession. Possession stats don’t win you leagues, otherwise we would win the EPL every year. The reason we sat back in the first half was because we were waiting for the barca players to get tired(like they have done in 2 out of the 3 games they played against arsenal) That is the consequence of the high pressing game barcelona play. It was the strategy. You can keep quoting all the stats you want, but the only really relevant stat is that before RVP was sent off Arsenal were going through and they were cheated by a decision which turned the game completely in barcas favor.

I can understand where Wenger’s anger comes from. Me and my school team lost yesterday, and when that first goal our opponent’s scored was called onside rather than rightfully off. I got red carded (while on the bench) for questioning the integrity of the referees’ licenses and eyesight.

I guess I know what it feels like to be like van Persie a bit, and I definitely know how Wenger feels. These refs are blind nowadays.

All that Arsenal needed was one goal to advance. They didn’t need to win the entire game, just the aggregate.

Daniyal – Don’t get me wrong I do like Arsenal, and I respect the way you play. I do hope you win something this season (I would say you deserve to but we all know there’s no justice in football lol).

I just get tired of the arrogance of most Arsenal fans that when something doesn’t go their way, It’s everyones fault but theirs. This seems to be something fundamentally instilled by Wenger.

Just wish you’d occasionally put your hands up and say ‘We were outplayed’.

busacca should learnt how to be patient with with players and how to control anger this is because van persie had already insulted busacca when he awarded the first yellow card. This is busacca kept in mind that he could hold longer than a game period

One thing that i’m prettey sure about is that barca went in this game knowing that they had won it already. i mean,how else can that red card be explained????

i am not an arsenal fan by any means.united for life!!!!!!!!! but if u think that the sending off did not affect the game then you must be watching soccer with blinkers on cos it is not always the best team that wins the game.we have seen many times how the big powerhouses of soccer in all leagues dominate games by basically camping in the opponenets half but yet they come away with a loss and at times a draw because of good defending by the opposing team and also by the opponents making use of the “one” chance that they get.when van persie was sent off barca had only scored once and irrespective of how good barca is there is no gaurentee that the outcome of the game would have been the same.we cannot say for sure that arsenal would have scored or won but when you have to play 10 vs an 11 man barca side it cheats you from playing the game on level fields so it leaves lots of ifs and buts to be answered therefore in my book the decision changed the game cos no matter if you play the best soccer in the world(barca)nothing is guarenteed until the final whistle blows.it is not how you outplay the team or how many chances you have but how ,many times you score and when van persie was sent of barca had only scored once.i guess we will never know

So what do you expect from a team that doesn’t buy any good players and doesn’t get great homegrown players.

Arsenal only knows how to sell players and fool their loyal fans – and loyal fans can also be fooled into believing the B.S

I wonder how wenger is explaining the loss in the Carlin cup final to Birmingham – yellow cards?

I agree with that the game could have been easliy won by Barcelona, even without the sending off.