2 - 2 Draw Comes At A Hefty Price

Incredible that our talisman and best player has been allowed to stay on the pitch 2 games running whilst clearly f*'ked! I love the kid and understand why he wanted to stay on but he someone should have told him to come off. Gallas is routinely injured at the tail end of the season so no shock there, not sure if Arshavin took a knock or if it was a muscular injury? Dont worry though guys we have Rosicky waiting in the wings.

Agree with Iceman. Sometimes the medical team cant make an instant diagnosis of the seriousness of an injury, but in the interest of precaution they should have insisted that Cesc sit out the rest of the game - despite Cesc's own insistence on playing on. There was not much time left at that point and we had our tails up while Barca were a bit shell shocked. Wish AW had insisted that Cesc not take a risk.

Yes Nasri and Rosicky can replace Cesc and AA (quite interchangeably) but we know Tomas probably can't handle full 90 mins and so the likes of Diaby, Den and Theo have to be really solid in both attack and defence.

goonerlou, is that official? if so nasri has got his wish and should step up

Not surprising, tho. Not sure why but I'm not gutted. I would be if both Cesc AND Nasri were out for that long.

If we ever pull this off, I am ready to do the Vital Arsenal initiation ritual. :) Seriously, I know we have the mentality but I dont know if we have the quantity to last the race.

I'd be *****ed off, only thing is I've seen this happen before with Wenger and our stunningly incompetent medical department. Gambles taken that dont pay off, rushing players back from injury, only for them to be crocked again. Cesc should have been taken off immediately, even if he couldnt play the next leg, at least he could have minimised damage so that he could play the Premiership before the season end.

Gutted because i would have played arshavin as a striker because his link up play is way better than bendtner and also his movement would have occupied the barca centre backs,bendtner in the first half lost pretty much every balls that came his way,with andrey deft touch and good link up play i felt arsenal had someone who could hurt barca in behind and in front as well. A lot of people have talked about starting walcott but i am not really sure because you need to remember barca were tired and having to run against a player who could be a runner at the olympics was never going to be easy to do which won't happen if he starts as they would be ready for him and would make walcott less effective. I would go with rosicky,eboue,nasri and bendtner as attacking 4 and if in need of more attacking threat and pace bring on theo when they are tired and depending on the game especially if barca are in need of a goal play him on alves wing because he is their only real outlet so theo could exploit the space he would leave in behind,alves is even that quick so imagine if he has to chase theo there is no way he would catch him.. The dilemma is who to play at the back and in the centre because diaby had a mare and song to me isn't really a centre back as he isn't commanding enough as i feel with sol at the back he would have never left ibra score at least one of the 2 goals,i would play song as a midfield 2 with denilson as you are going to need a player who sits and another to be ready for the physical battle that both busquets and toure are going to bring denilson can sit and song be the hard man with the passing ability to find nasri and then release the attacking 4. I think you will have a chance as long as you actually play football and don't get caught with who you are playing against like you were for those 20 to 60 minutes,barca are like the 2007 team,very good going forward but very weak defensively but they are harder workers than that team and protect their weakness very well which is why not a lot of teams have been able to expose them. Rubin kazan,sevilla,atletico madrid were able to defeat them by getting into their faces and harassing them and hitting them very quickly on the break but also they tend to play a high line because both puyol and pique are not renowned for their speed and had aguero scored all of the chances he had,then they could have lost by a bigger margin,now they would be missing the players who are the quickest of their centre backs and are bound to play toure at the back with either marquez or milito who are not known for their speed but are hard men who could deal with bendtner a lot better than they would have against arshavin but he is injured but as long as bendtner can find his a good touch and be aware of his team mates movement and runs,you could have a field day with their slow defence but you are going to be more clinical than barca were against your defence to stand a chance because they are bound to create some chances.

*****ed

Ok then?

Wrong again Amos!! If you take the time to consider the evidence, you'll note that Barca already have two of Fabregas' compatriots playing in the playmaker position, the best in the world indeed in Xavi and Iniesta. Fabregas, brilliant player though he is, is still the only the heir apparent to those two. The Barca heirarchy were watching him like a hawk the other night to see how he matched up against Buskets and Xavi; of course they did!!I'm not suggesting they didn't know he was a remarkable player. But it's human nature to make comparisons, especially if you're preparing a record breaking deal!! So get back in your box if you can't contribute meaningfully. And do try to resist the temptation to be so churlish: it's unspeakably dull.

TRH, if the 'record breaking transfer' that you speak of does not happen next summer, do you promise to bother some other set of fans!? We cant take the horror anymore.

enjoy the match against Wolves.