I'm really sad. But was a great match.

There's a famous old saying here in Brazil (dont know if you've heard before): "Boys can win matches, but men win championships".

(something like that)

Sad, but true.

Yeah, good saying.

Didn't Flamini play a fair few times at right back in the past? And Gilberto in the centre?

Both would've been better than Sendedross.

Walcott can't start games yet he's not as effective when he starts for some reason.When he knows he only has about 15 - 20 minutes to make an impression his concentration level his at a much higher level,and he knows he has a very small margin for error.I think off of this performance he should be given a few more starts and i think wenger will do that.Babel looked like he may be in this same position for Liverpool if you judge this performance against his previous games before today.

A lot has been said about senderos blowing it for Arsenal and i think he played his part,but for me Gallas and toure are just as culpable.The goal by Hyypia was pure comedy.Flamini getting stretchered off was the deciding factor without question.I thought Eboue could have been subbed earlier and i agree he could have went right back from the start,but i would have brought Bendtner on in that case.Cesc was very ordinary today for the most part and i don't think the press have picked up on his lack of performance in the second half of the season.

Torres was shackled for the most part so i think he needs another look before being called great.He did get a goal ala Ronaldo against Liverpool after not being in the game,so he must get some credit for that.

Would have been great to see Arsenal go through ,but the injuries proved to much to overcome this year.

yeah flamini played there for quite a while and was really good

i hope one face philippe goes in the summer

and my man scored also again

Word is Hoyte and Gilberto are out in the summer. I think Wenger will keep Senderos for the Carling Cup.

What a [beep!] goal from Walcott, I mean Abebayor.
Then have it cancelled out twice by Liverpool.
[beep!] corker from Torres though!

you've just made my night by saying Hoyte. i wish senderos wasnt so clumsy, because i really like the guy.

The plan with Walcott paid off for Wenger if you look at it, he came on at the right time, showed his pace and an at tired legs and created a goal after almost running the entire length of the pitch. Had they not conceded that penalty then it all went to plan in that respect. In my opinion that is the ideal way to use very young pacy player such as Walcott. Bring them on mid way through the Second Half and let them run at players and inspire confidence also in the players around them. Too often in games players like Walcott when they start can get sussed out fairly quickly by full backs, rendering them quite uneffective over the ninety minutes.

Yes, Flamini played RB quite a lot last year. Gilberto played CB next to Toure while Gallas had his injury problems.

But this year, I feel and Wenger probably feels the same, that Senderos is better back there than Gilberto. Gilberto has been a shadow of himself from last year. Flamini needed to stay in the middle, and while he was there, Arsenal were dominating the midfield and were in control. Soon as Flamini got hurt and got taken out, that's when control of the middle was lost to Liverpool.

But I feel that he should have had Eboue at RB, and Walcott/Gilberto start at RM. Eboue has no quality in front of goal, can't put a cross, can't put a shot on goal, can't do anything. Hell Toure is a better RM than Eboue is.

Gilberto been treated rubbish this season. He could be playing for a top team. He should go

Firstly, congratulations to Liverpool and Benítez. There have been some downer moments for Liverpool this season with what has been going on with the Yanks and the doubts over Rafa's future and so on. Their League form was criticised heavily and at times they were really classed as a team struggling to make top 4 and classed differently from the rest of the big Clubs.

They've come through that and Benítez is still sticking by his plans, his players, his tactics and his beliefs. It's paying off again. The European success so far has been impressive yet again, and yet the team is still growing. Torres has been sensational and there are little partnerships forming throughout the team that weren't there last season which have made them a stronger unit. Mascherano has also been sensational and a great addition to the First XI.

At the Emirates Liverpool came and basically played a full concentration tactical game of chess football. It worked and although at times they rode on a wave of true luck, they kept at it and did the job. As dire as they were in the first game, it worked, end of.

At Anfield, they changed their game plan and again, it worked. At times they rode their luck again but they did the job. 4-4-2 worked, Crouch's addition worked nicely and they were "compact" as usual.

We played well enough over two games to beat most teams. We showed spirit, fight, ability and enough quality to do it. But we were just edged out, unluckily I feel at times. Rare and amazing decisions from Referees over the course of the 180+ minutes did come into effect, but you can't go on about that. It's a part of football and in this case it swayed towards Liverpool's favour.

On the performance last night itself: Well it was a cracking game. Interesting and intriguing from first minute to last. It had it all. I thought we completely outplayed Liverpool early on and looked the more confident outfit. We looked like the home team for 25mins and with Diaby's well taken goal, it looked like we were breezing through the game. Then one mistake and one magic moment from Hyypia and suddenly our boat was flipped - Liverpool showed their mettle and took advantage of their confidence boost. Equalising goals like that, especially in that style are really gut wrenching for opponents and again it effected us greatly. I was impressed with how we later got back on top and started playing the football again, but Liverpool were compact and Adebayor was well handled.

Can't argue too much with Wenger's selections. Eboué is unpredictable and with his pace & skill he can turn a dead end into a goal opportunity - sadly he hasn't quite got much end product and he doesn't seem to have the intelligence to make much happen at all really. I don't care about width, stretching or counter-attacking speed - in these sort of games you need somebody who can keep the ball and pass it, Eboué struggles with those instrumental basics in these type of games and he's a letdown. Walcott is more effective coming on as a sub as floody rightly pointed out, but I would have preferred a 4-4-2 with Eboué dropped for either Bendtner, van Persie, Gilberto or Walcott as they're all much more intelligent players and are better at keeping that vital ingredient, possession.

Senderos' marking for the corner was poor, but then so was Hyypia's marking for Adebayor's first goal in the 1st leg. I don't hear you slating Hyypia like he's some sort of Sunday League performer.

Senderos' mistakes are highlighted a lot because he has a bad reputation for making some naff mistakes and because he isn't a classy athlete, he can easily be made to look clumsy - but he's got qualities and when he doesn't make a mistake he is a great player for us. I thought he defended the threat of both Torres and Crouch quite decently tonight and he has had better games in more recent weeks. In the first leg, Torres did absolutely nothing against him and Senderos rarely put a foot wrong. Wenger doesn't stick by him or move Touré to RB for nothing despite having two good available RBs who have done the job before. Senderos actually compliments Gallas more as well because there is a better balance, and you can see how well Gallas did over two legs in comparison to the most recent games where Touré and Gallas were paired at CB. Even look back to last season as a close example for when Crouch tore Touré & Gallas apart simply because they didn't have the right qualities or balance to cope with a player like Crouch - yet look at the Carling Cup and F.A Cup games where Arsenal scored nine at Anfield and knocked out the "cup team" - Senderos was excellent, especially against Crouch.

I would rather have somebody better than Senderos - I agree he can be clumsy and is capable of making mistakes. But I feel he's hugely underrated and highly slated by idiots on forums who can't appreciate the good work these players do 95% of the time. Touré and Gallas have put in worse performances than Senderos game-to-game since Senderos has come into the side in recent months.

Anyway, it doesn't matter. Both sides made some ridiculous mistakes in both legs and in turn football fans were treated to a more interesting tie because of the stupid goals from slack defending. We made some stupid slip-ups in the first leg and after the game I was confident we'd not get through at Anfield and I was right. It was a big job and we made it harder for ourselves by gifting Liverpool some great opportunities out of nothing.

There was a balance though, because there was also a lot of quality. Torres' goal was a cracker and I thought Adebayor's goal (worked by Theo Walcott) was superb as well. It was a good game, but Lady Luck laid her finger on the Scouse bastalds yet again!

thats what i was waiting for.

great post once again Axe

Quality post Axey

Just got in now and can't really fault axe's post much.

In the interest of fairness I will say this. On first viewing I was screaming penalty (probably more to do with the adrenaline and passion) even on the second viewing at first it looks like it, but then you see it clearly from a good angle and it is NEVER a penalty. Yes it was clumsy and the jumping makes it look much worse than it is.

The best summing up of the game I have seen thus far.

"Arsenal took us to school for 30 minutes,

we took them to work for 60."

Absolutely gutted... But we have to accept that even though those penalty incidents(including the first leg one) might've helped us a lot, we lost the match fair and square to Liverpool and I want to congratulate the Liverpool team and fans for their victory...

Another trophy less season now which is IMO not a deserved one for the players as they played well to deserve atleast one of the four trophies. But we have to take it in the chin and get some more good players in the transfer window(Please Mr. Wenger) to improve in the next season and win some trophies. We lost the league and CL through our own fault and excuses like injuries, bad luck, etc. will not take away that fact...

Here's hoping that from now on we win all our games to take the second spot atleast in the league table which will ensure automatic qualification to Europe...

who got knocked out last night .....Arsenal .. we would not be slating Senderos if we had got through ....simple as that .. Of course mistakes were made by both teams over thw two legs ...you wont usually score goals unless players make errors , but no one cares if their team gets through .. Senderos may play pretty well 95% of the time but its the mistakes that sometimes cost us dearly .....last season in the Champions League and FA Cup ....now the Champions League again this season .

I dont think Senderos is underated ...he can be useful and has done well for us but his faults are often shown up in high profile ...important games such as these ....one or two mistakes could be all that stands between victory and defeat ..

you said it yourself about Senderos ..he can easily be made to look clumsy - but he's got qualities and when he doesn't make a mistake he is a great player for us.

Do we need a player who is so easy to make a fool of ..... everyone can be a great player if they dont make mistakes ...Eboue when he does not make a complete hash of things has shown he has qualities .

But you are right we have to accept it ...the bad luck and injuries have not helped and is a major reason why we will end up with nothing again ....

Toure was stupid as well to tussle with Babel to concede the penalty ....which i remain convinced was not a penalty .

Our problem this season has clearly been in defense ....too many mistakes by a few players costing us goals ...Gallas , Clichy , Toure , Senderos ....all guilty at some point ... we can always score goals but at the moment we seem to need to score 3 or 4 every game to make sure of winning .


Arsene Wenger needs to strengthen the defense in the summer and maybe a top class striker .....

Never a penalty. Should have been a penalty at the Emigrants. Shows how lucky Liverpool are.

What a run by Walcott. That could have been the start of the English media jizzing in their pants over him but Gerrard & Babel stole his thunder

Could someone please explain to me what the feck Almunia was doing for Babels goal? He would have been better of to go and stand at the corner flag.

Adebayor wouldn't get a game for Celtic he's that bad.

Why didn't Crouch & Gerrard play?

Do Liverpool fans still rate Alonso that high??

Senderos.....LOfeckinL....right hand to god, I'm better

Why did Arsenal sit back when they scored the first. If they had've played the way they started they could have hit Liverpool for 4 or 5




I pray to Baby Jesus that Barcelona win this tournament

what match did you watch then ....Crouch and Gerrard did play ..


Any Premier League striker would get a game with Celtic .....

Twas sarcasim for the pair of them doing nothing for the entire game (bar scoring a penalty)

Adebayor is rank