Quite frankly why the Blackburn fans booing Henry I had no clue. Perhaps they thought Henry dived for a free kick? Make no mistake, Henry is NOT a diver. Remember the F.A. Cup final last season? Within the first minute he could have gotton Lundekvam sending off had he chosen to fall into ground after the Southampton defender clearly pulled his shirt. Henry did not. And even Lundekvam acknowledged that afterward.
In today’s incident, Henry had lost his balance, with a further push from a strong defender Stuart, no way he would be able to keep his balance. The oppositions’ defenders never learned the lesson - you don’t go on and bully Henry, because he would make you paid. Just ask Danny Mills! Henry responsed with an unstoppable free kick shot that gave their ‘keeper no chance.
Credit to Blackburn, they did give us a difficult time to break down their defence. But the important thing is we won, 1 down, 10 to go in the Premiership. Well done Gunners, let’s keep on going!
With Chelsea also winning, the pressure now is on Man Utd. Gary Neville has been going on saying we would have our share of bad run sooner or later. Let’s see if he could play as well as he talks!
Final score: 2-0 to the Arsenal, goals in the second half from Henry and Pires. Clean sheet too, woohoo!
14 Responses to “Don’t make Henry angry…”
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March 13th, 2004 at 2:15 pm
Hi guys, Blackburn Fan here.
The reason Blackburn fans booed Henry was because of the fact it was the decision that he was on the end of which cost rovers any chance of taking anything from the european’s best! If you speak to them now, they would tell you that - we arn’t blamming Henry, but he didn’t help his case by lifting his leg at Friedel and going down looking for a free-kick prior to that big decision. I am gutted at the result, not because we lost to Arsenal but because we were denied a chance of taking anything from the game because Alan Wiley is incompetent. If it was a decision like that which denied you the chance of winning the league on the last day of the season, imagine how gutted you would be!
On another note - I think Henry is second if the the best player in the world although i’m sure you would agree that he was kept fairly quiet today (Bar the stupid decision).
Thanks,
James -www.roversactive.co.u
March 13th, 2004 at 2:15 pm
Hi guys, Blackburn Fan here.
The reason Blackburn fans booed Henry was because of the fact it was the decision that he was on the end of which cost rovers any chance of taking anything from the european’s best! If you speak to them now, they would tell you that - we arn’t blamming Henry, but he didn’t help his case by lifting his leg at Friedel and going down looking for a free-kick prior to that big decision. I am gutted at the result, not because we lost to Arsenal but because we were denied a chance of taking anything from the game because Alan Wiley is incompetent. If it was a decision like that which denied you the chance of winning the league on the last day of the season, imagine how gutted you would be!
On another note - I think Henry is second if the the best player in the world although i’m sure you would agree that he was kept fairly quiet today (Bar the stupid decision).
Thanks,
James -www.roversactive.co.uk
March 13th, 2004 at 2:38 pm
I understand the feeling. Just like the year when we lost the F.A. Cup final to Liverpool, thanks for Owen, and thanks for the referee (dropped his contact lens perhaps) for fail to spot 3 clear cut handballs or fouls in Liverpool penalty area.
Having said that, i suppose bad decisions from referee has almost become a “norm” these days. I don’t know if they are incompetent or they simply need help. Today’s game is so quick, how can we expect a man in his late 30s or 40s being able to running up and down the field catching up with players like Henry, Owen for 90 mins? Even a small basketball court has two referees in charge of the game, and we are talking about a hugh football pitch?!
Anyway, if you watch the replay on TV, you would see a Henry clear cut onside run has been ruled offside as well. Had him been ruled onside, it would be an one-on-one with Friedel.
Finally, as i stated in the post, i do agree Blackburn had life very difficult for the Gunners today. Especially at the first half. From Arsenal’s point of view, we really need Ljungberg at the right flank, Gilberto is not a right midfielder, and clearly has been struggled with his new position.
March 13th, 2004 at 2:43 pm
Gilberto on the pitch for the whole match…
Clean Sheet…
see a correlation?
I do… he’s a fantastic defensive midfielder.
Thats why Arsene keeps picking him, and thats why we remain undefeated!
March 13th, 2004 at 2:47 pm
Ture. But we almost failed to score as well. Compare to previous matches, we didn’t create too many clear cut chances in the match. We broke the deadlock from set pieces. If we didn’t score on that occassion, it may end up as a very difficult game for us.
March 13th, 2004 at 3:59 pm
Who let this Rovers idiot on this honorable site???
March 13th, 2004 at 5:55 pm
We DID score… We DID win…
We are not so fantastic that every match is going to be a cake walk. We don’t blow the doors off every team we beat. We find a way to win the close matches. We do all the little things that seperate us from not only the rest of the leagues also rans… but from United & Chelsea. Gilberto figures into that equation in a very big way. Virtually all the players have factored into an amazing run so far. Long may it continue.
I don’t see it getting any easier, week in week out.
But I don’t see us slipping up this year either.
March 13th, 2004 at 6:10 pm
Where is the sportmanship!!!!!
Please everyone with something positive to say is wellcome be it a Gunner or not..
Be nice to others
March 13th, 2004 at 6:21 pm
Hmmmm,
Alan Wiley was Sh**T but dont use that as an excuse. I can see where you coming from but we outplay B’burn by far. Hard luck but some good points.
March 14th, 2004 at 1:08 am
Um, I didn’t see a NO ROVERS FANS ALLOWED sign on the homepage…
Furthermore, he wasn’t disrespectful.
— Geoff
March 14th, 2004 at 6:48 am
Its the non consistency of ref’s that gets me, Rovers haven’t had a penalty this season - although i can produce countless example’s of time’s when we should of. Thats the type of thing that makes me. I also didn’t see anything wrong with Babbel’s header against you lot at Highbury, Babbel rose early and Toure backed into him (In My opinion). What about Van Nistelrooy playing on his own offside rule - we scored a goal against United playing to Ruud’s rules and it didnt count!
Anyway, its gone now - can’t do anything about it, you’ve got the points and Rovers have’nt. Good luck for the rest of the season and I’m rooting for you to win the champions league and Premiership - although i don’t think i need to explain why i don’t want you to win the FA Cup
Thanks, James
March 14th, 2004 at 7:18 am
Stag, I have been a Gooner since the George Graham’s era, of course i understand sometimes we have to squeeze out a victory through sheer hard work and determination. And I like Gilberto as well as every Gunners in our squad, what i been suggesting was Gilberto didn’t seem too comfortable on the right flank. Ljungberg had an injury, and Parlour is out for the season, so we don’t have too much choice at the moment. With Gilberto on the right, at least we could keep our width balanced, and his ability to hold on to the ball is also useful. And also, as u stated, his defensive ability would help out our defence. But i do feel compare to with Freddie on the right, we are less effective, at least in terms of going forward.
March 14th, 2004 at 12:34 pm
4-1, City trashed United!!
March 14th, 2004 at 5:56 pm
I have to agree with you Andez, with a proviso. I think Freddie is in the best form I’ve seen in about a year, give or take a few weeks. I was beginning to wonder if he was going to get back to the top after his injuries last season. His desire to do so was never in doubt, but sometimes a body just won’t cooperate. In his current form, I think Freddie is the no-brainer pick for that right wing spot.
Second, I think Gilberto has contributed a great deal to the success of the team this season as a “12th” man. I’m not nervous with him in the game, which isn’t always true of some of the other lads coming off the bench. Even with Parlour healthy, Gilberto is my second pick.
Third, Parlour. I love Ray Parlour. Nobody gives more on the pitch or sets a better leadership example, but I don’t think his body is equal to the Arsenal side that is evolving. He is losing pace, and while an excellent example of a defensive midfielder, he simply doesn’t have the credentials on offense. The proto-type for a “new” Arsenal midfielder is a man with a solid strength\pace ratio who is equally adept at offense and defense. And when I say adept I don’t mean average. He is *good* at offense and defense because in the “new” Arsenal, average isn’t good enough. We leave average to Man U! [sorry, couldn't resist
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