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Hypothetical of the Week: If you could change the result of one game, which would would you choose?

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GDeep™

League is very weak
Old Trafford 2004, retain our first league title if we didn't get screwed then imo, most wronged I have felt after a match.

Champions League final in 2006 is the obvious one though.
Them years we were constantly getting ****ed by the refs in favour of Utd. Keown said he was shocked we went unbeaten considering how many of our players kept getting suspended that invincible year.
 

Lakersgooner24

Established Member
Most have already mentioned it, but the obvious ones for us in recent memory are the CL Final, CL QF vs Chelsea, losing the unbeaten run against United, Birmingham in '08...

The CL Final and the CL QF vs Chelsea hurt in particular for obvious reasons. I know sport isn't played with hypotheticals, and I don't want to come off "woe is me", but we could have had two CL titles if the rub of the green had gone our way.

I've said this before, but that defeat to Chelsea in '04 was, imo, the biggest failure for Wenger. IIRC, we hadn't lost to Chelsea for years in all competitions leading up to the 2nd leg. We fcked it all up at Highbury to a pre-Mourinho, Claudio Ranieri, led Chelsea. I believe we were knocked out of the FA Cup and CL in a span of a week. So very very disappointing.

A couple ones I don't believe have been mentioned would be the UEFA Cup Final v Galatasaray in 2000, since it's criminal a club of our stature have such a poor European record, and the CL QF vs Liverpool in '08. I highly doubt we would have won the CL in '08, but that loss in the 2nd leg was straight "rip your heart out" stuff. Unbelievable how we fcked that tie up. For me, that and the Birmingham result signified the beginning of our banter-club era.

A non-Arsenal match would be Chelsea v Bayern in '12, especially with the way Bayern blew it. Still pissed that Chelsea are the first London club to win the CL, not to mention seeing the likes of Terry lifting the trophy is something straight out of a horror movie.
 
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Aevi

Hale End FC
Moderator
Where would we be now if we'd won the league this year? Lost 2-1 at home to Swansea, lost the league by 3 points


ashley-williams-swansea-goal-celebrates_3425113.jpg
We lost the league by 10 points that year.

I'd love to delete the match that sidelined Cazorla though, that could have saved us a fair few points.
 

DanDare

Emoji Merchant and Believer-In-Chief
Trusted ⭐

Player:Saliba
We lost the league by 10 points that year.

I'd love to delete the match that sidelined Cazorla though, that could have saved us a fair few points.
Ok I'm getting really confused. Morning coffee hasn't hit yet

I'll change mine to Wenger's 1000th game. Because it was a humiliating battering on a day where we should have got the boss a win
 

Rex Stone

Long live the fighters
Trusted ⭐

Country: Wales
The Nou Camp second leg in 2010/11 is tempting as we had two of the most in inform strikers and attacking midfielders in the world that year.

Probably would have lost to Utd in the final but you never know and the fact Wenger would have beaten Pep with the final form of that Barcelona team would be a huge part of his legacy.

One other one that’s interesting is if we came back to draw 4-4 against Liverpool in the opening game of the 2016/17 season.

We would’ve beaten them to top 4 and with no CL that Liverpool final appearance in 2017/18 is wiped from existence.

Do the trajectories of both clubs change?
 

Rex Stone

Long live the fighters
Trusted ⭐

Country: Wales
Actually no I’ve got a better one. The Sporting Lisbon vs Man Utd friendly in 2003.

In my timeline Cristiano Ronaldo picks up a minor injury in the first minute, Utd never realise they have to buy him after his dominant display and he comes to Highbury.

Then three years later in Paris in the 70th minute as Thierry Henry runs through on goal he squares it to an onrushing Ronaldo for a tap in and Arsenal become the first London team to win the CL.
 
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BigPoppaPump

Reeling from Laca & Kos nightmares
Arsenal vs Chelsea, CL QF 2nd leg. Win that, and possibly get past Monaco before beating Porto in the final. If that happened, it could've opened up so many possibilities:

- Do Chelsea still go for Mourinho? If not, would their new manager make them Champions?

- Does Mourinho end up at Liverpool?

- Winning the League and CL double might've made Wenger less keen to break up that team over the next two seasons, so would Fabregas have got as many opportunities?

- With the Mourinho-less Chelsea not being the force they are, what happens to Ashley Cole?

Chelsea were gonna be successful regardless of who the manager was with the money Roman was spending.
 

A_G

Rice Rice Baby 🎼🎵
A-M CL Draft Campeón 🏆
I'm not sure tbh, they bought the best players in the world and just played them in a super defensive counter attacking way. It's a super safe way to play and definitely works but I just think the success came from no one being able to deal with the spending.
Guys like Lampard and Drogba have talked about the mentality Mourinho instilled at the club though, that's unique. It took them to success even after he left.
 

BigPoppaPump

Reeling from Laca & Kos nightmares
Guys like Lampard and Drogba have talked about the mentality Mourinho instilled at the club though, that's unique. It took them to success even after he left.

So it was mentality that took them to success even after Jose left and not Roman's billions? Chelsea would have been successful with or without Jose let's be honest.

I feel like Chelsea always get a free pass for spending, no one would ever say City's success came from 'mentality' or whatever other nonsense.
 

A_G

Rice Rice Baby 🎼🎵
A-M CL Draft Campeón 🏆
So it was mentality that took them to success even after Jose left and not Roman's billions?

I feel like Chelsea always get a free pass for spending, no one would ever say City's success came from 'mentality' or whatever other nonsense.
Nah it was clearly both, but Mourinho made a difference. If Chelsea had hired Sven Goran Eriksson instead, do you think they would've dominated English football from 2004-2006 in the same manner?

Compare them to Man City who spent loads and won their first two titles on goal difference, then by just two points. They didn't dominate until they hired a manager on that level.
 

BigPoppaPump

Reeling from Laca & Kos nightmares
Nah it was clearly both, but Mourinho made a difference. If Chelsea had hired Sven Goran Eriksson instead, do you think they would've dominated English football from 2004-2006 in the same manner?

Compare them to Man City who spent loads and won their first two titles on goal difference, then by just two points. They didn't dominate until they hired a manager on that level.

Man City came up in a time where Chelsea and United were really strong and spending loads. Roman came when United were in decline and Arsenal were gutting their team. Chelsea's spending mixed with Arsenal/United being weak was a recipe for success.

They got 2nd in the league and CL semi-finals with Claudio Raneri and only one summer of Romans spending, they were definitely on the path of success.
 

A_G

Rice Rice Baby 🎼🎵
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Man City came up in a time where Chelsea and United were really strong and spending loads. Roman came when United were in decline and Arsenal were gutting their team. Chelsea's spending mixed with Arsenal/United being weak was a recipe for success.

They got 2nd in the league and CL semi-finals with Claudio Raneri and only one summer of Romans spending, they were definitely on the path of success.
I never said they wouldn't be successful without Jose though, just that Mourinho took them to another level. They didn't just win, they cleaned up.
 

BigPoppaPump

Reeling from Laca & Kos nightmares
I never said they wouldn't be successful without Jose though, just that Mourinho took them to another level. They didn't just win, they cleaned up.

Well they never won the CL so not really cleaning up, we got in a final and Liverpool got in 2 at the same period so it was doable.

I do agree with elite coaching and the money spent makes record winning teams i.e. Pep and his 198 point City teams. However I think it's much more to do with the money spent than with the quality of coaching.
 

A_G

Rice Rice Baby 🎼🎵
A-M CL Draft Campeón 🏆
Well they never won the CL so not really cleaning up, we got in a final and Liverpool got in 2 at the same period so it was doable.

I do agree with elite coaching and the money spent makes record winning teams i.e. Pep and his 198 point City teams. However I think it's much more to do with the money spent than with the quality of coaching.
Don't forget that Wenger was **** hot and being chased by Real Madrid in those days, he could very easily have come out on top against SGE in a title race. I don't think it's as clear cut to say that another manager could have got all those Chelsea signings to gel like Jose did to win the league in their first season together.
 

BigPoppaPump

Reeling from Laca & Kos nightmares
Don't forget that Wenger was **** hot and being chased by Real Madrid in those days, he could very easily have come out on top against SGE in a title race. I don't think it's as clear cut to say that another manager could have got all those Chelsea signings to gel like Jose did to win the league in their first season together.

He took a team that finished 2nd to 1st with an extra £150 million spending which was more than the whole league combined. You don't think another manager could do that?
 

tap-in

Nothing Wrong With Me
Champions League quarter-final result 2003/04 season. Arsenal 1 Chelsea 2.

If we hadn't got knocked out I believe we would have gone onto win it. Chelsea went on to play Monaco in the semi (which they lost) and the final would have been against Mourinho's Porto. We could have ruined Mourinho's career before it had really taken off.

Agreed, if we're not going for the Barca final because its the obvious choice, this is the one I'd go for. As you say we could have won it that year. I watched it at about 3am on a beach in Goa, when Bridge scored I was gutted. The only decent thing John Terry ever did was fvck Bridges girlfriend!
 

A_G

Rice Rice Baby 🎼🎵
A-M CL Draft Campeón 🏆
He took a team that finished 2nd to 1st with an extra £150 million spending which was more than the whole league combined. You don't think another manager could do that?
They might have, but it wasn't guaranteed against that Arsenal team unless they had a really top manager. We're talking about a hypothetical scenario where Arsenal win the CL the year before so it's possible the club would've built on that instead of falling off the following season.
 
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