Incompetence or bias, it's all the same to us...

Results

Date	Time	C	Opponent	F	A	R	S
08 Mar	7:45 PM	CL	Barcelona (A)	1	3	Lost

I had hoped that by waiting a day to write this, I might be able to bring a calm and reasoned approach to this article. Unsurprisingly, the injustice of last night's exit is still lingering in the memory, along with the bitter taste of 'what might have been'. The hope is that Arsène can use that same injustice to further motivate our players for the forthcoming games, starting with the FA clash at Old Trafford.

This game was always going to place an unnatural level of focus on Fabregas, and his contribution to Barca's first goal has caused criticism to pour in from all corners. There's no defence really, it was a bad mistake, but you can see what he was trying to do. In a game of that intensity, it often takes a moment of magic to open up some space, and let's face it, he'd watched Barca players doing little tricks like that all night. The difference was that they were doing it around our box instead of their own. So yes, it was a bad mistake, but ultimately, one that did not have to be so costly. For me, the greater crime was to continue to play for an hour of the game with a dodgy hamstring.

No player is bigger than the team, and unfit players should not be on the pitch as they are a liability. It was heartbreaking to read Cesc's comments on Twitter, blaming himself entirely for the result, and I would urge those people who are calling for him to be shipped out in the summer to remember how many games he has won for us. And if you can't remember, reading a report of a game such as Aston Villa (December 2009) ought to remind you.

Another player much criticised after last night was Laurent Koscielny, which I struggle to understand. He and Djourou were as solid as you could hope for against a Barcelona team which is used to dancing straight through the centre of any defence, and the only real 'mistake' he made in the whole game, as far as I can remember, was deigning to be in a 5 metre radius of Pedro. I will touch upon the referee later, but for me, not a penalty – it would have been difficult for Pedro to get anywhere near the ball given that he was running perpendicular to it, just so that he could contact Koscielny. I mentioned in the preview that we would allow Barca to have the ball out wide, and the fullbacks are also taking criticism for some areas for not getting tight out wide. It's difficult to see how this is warranted, given that every single one of Barca's goals in this tie game straight through the middle of the pitch.

The mantra going around before the game was "keep it tight" and take our chances on the break, and to my mind, our defence performed magnificently in the face of the best attack in the world. Some people have criticised the high defensive line, but you have to press up to condense the space so that you have a chance of getting the ball back, otherwise they would just pass you to death. Leaving space on the wings is ok, because Barcelona don't play down the wings for the most part, but leaving big holes between midfield and defence would have been tactical suicide.

No match review of this particular game would be complete without comment on the officials' performance last night, mistakes ranging from the small (think the corner RvP won in the first half) to the ultimately inconsequential (Sagna's undeserved booking) to the provocative (lack of punishment for a scissors challenge on Nasri) to the downright game-changing (no example needed). I've already mentioned the penalty incident, and in terms of refereeing blunders, two other major moments come to mind, both contributing to the 58th minute travesty of justice.

Firstly, van Persie received his first yellow card for handing off Abidal, and yes, it was stupid from Robin. However, it was utterly avoidable if, in the minute prior, the referee had taken some action for any or all of (a) the challenge on Jack Wilshere, (b) the Barca player throttling Nasri, (c) the Barca player throttling van Persie. For the best team in the world, Barca sure feel the need to push and cheat their way through games (against us, anyway – I guess we should take that as a compliment).

The second and more important issue which the referee got irreparably wrong was of course van Persie's second yellow, for a shot taken 1 second after the whistle. In a silent room, it would have been harsh, given that it takes time for a message to travel from the ears to the brain and down to the legs. In a stadium of 95,000 people, where approximately 90,000 of those spent every second of Arsenal possession whistling, it was just downright ludicrous. It was so obvious that even the most dim-witted of dim-witted Sp*rs fans think so. It's becoming increasingly clear why officials don't give post-game interviews – sometimes there just is no possible explanation for a decision.

Yet while no one can dispute that it was a terrible decision (think about it, when was the last time that there was no conceivable defence for a decision?) differences of opinion arise about its impact on the game. Arsène said that with 11 players we would have won the game, and if we substitute "could" instead of "would," then he's got a point. The way I see it is we set ourselves up to contain, just as we did in the first leg, and play heavily on the counter attack. Playing on the counter attack works because if the opposition pushes up their defence too much, they get caught and punished, and if they don't push up, they can't break through easily. However, by taking away the focal point of the attack, there is no reason for the defence to hold back. Even so, had Bendtner had a slightly better touch late on, then Barca might have been punished. It was no surprise that it was Mascherano who made that saving tackle rather than one of the centre backs, who had chosen to maraud forward at every opportunity following the referee's howler.

Pregame everyone was saying keep it tight, 0-0 or even 1-0 at half-time would be good. 99.9% of fans would have taken 1-1 after 57 minutes. Pretty much 0.1% of fans would have taken 1-1 and 10 men after 58 minutes. We were in with a decent chance of getting a result, until a referee from Switzerland, renowned for neutrality, contrived to turn the final 30 minutes into a farce.

Don't get me wrong, I am not claiming under any circumstances that we were the better team – I think our midfield and attack were a little naïve in their attempts to keep possession, despite our defence being laudably miserly – but we went there with a game plan, to keep it tight, and then try and assert ourselves in the latter stages of the game. Pregame we talked of goals from Walcott, Arshavin and van Persie after the 75 minute mark (4 out of our 6 goals against Barca, incidentally), but by the time we got there yesterday, we had been a player down for 20 minutes. The media this morning are talking of despondent, mentally weak Arsenal players. You have to wonder if they have ever played a game of football a player down, and clearly never against a team with the ball retention skills of Barcelona – it must be like playing with 7 against 11. I have played a game with only 7 players against 11, and let me tell you it is shattering.

It's sad, but the only Arsenal articles you can ever read which are even vaguely unbiased are written by Arsenal fans. Any other team would be lauded for a strong defensive performance, or strength in the face of adversity, yet we are criticised for not trying to play football. Last year, Inter had 14% possession, and yet the media was full of epic posts about Mourinho being a tactical genius. Of course, Barca weren't gifted a penalty against Inter, so they could hang on and weren't forced to chase the game. Last night, when it was 11 v 11, they created only one clear cut chance. Incidentally, chances are different to shots, for all those bemoaning our statistic of zero shots. Bendtner's 'chance' didn't end in a shot, but it was still an attacking move worthy of the name. Likewise, Alves' pathetic shot which accounted for Szczezza was not a chance in a game of that magnitude (unless the opposition has a goalkeeper like Rob Green – credit where it's due, Almunia played brilliantly, although I still wouldn't want him taking crosses in the Premier League if there's any way around it).

Overall, it was a gutting evening, and while in previous years I have supported Barcelona when we were knocked out early, the injustice of it all is too raw. Shakhtar, and former Gunner Eduardo, now get my support. And some really good medicine right now would be to see Sp*rs draw Barca in the next round and get thoroughly tonked by them – it would certainly silence the little people from down the road who have crawled out of the woodwork. If you want to see what the media would have to say if the game had finished after 55 minutes, and it was any other English team, just read some of the Sp*rs press tomorrow... I bet the phrase "defensive solidity" is bandied around a fair bit.

What better way to get back to winning ways, than to drub Man United at Old Trafford. I've got tickets, so I'll see some of you there, but no matter where you're watching the game, I don't doubt you'll be able to hear the best away support in the country. We're down, but we're certainly not out.

A small postscript: It seems some of you were a little put out that I didn't introduce myself last time around. I'm a new writer for Arsenal Mania, and I've followed the Gunners since early childhood, as Arsenal is the family club. I'm currently studying at university, but get to as many games as I can. I am occasionally accused of looking at the world through red-and-white tinted spectacles, for which I will neither apologise nor attempt to change. If you fancy more Arsenal-related ramblings, then you can follow me on Twitter @nellypop13, or you can just continue to look out for my posts on this website.

User Comments

User Comments

• Got something to say?
• Read comments

Vs chelsea