Yet 2 seasons at Arsenal he scored 14 goals in 53 appearances "John Hartson"

Even hartson can score against Liverpool

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vhZ2pUgNZU

First off, great post. But I have to pull this out of the mess due to your adamant backing of the decision made in the first leg.

Let me first state; that at first glance, I thought it was a penalty as well in favor of Babel, and I even said it in a previous post in this thread (so this isn't about the decision itself). However, after seeing a few replays in different angles and in slow motion, the less it looks like a clear-cut PK.

For you to sit here and say that was a clear-cut penalty while saying Kyut blatantly grabbing Hleb's arm was not, is ludicrous.



Well I could say the exact same thing in Hleb's case ...
At the end of the day, he was in the penalty area with the ball and Kyut denied him any chance of creating something by off-balancing him (by pulling his arm, clearly shown in replays and clearly deliberate as opposed to the Toure/Babel incident). ... Maybe you could say it's touch-and-go but to say it was definitely not a penalty is silly.

If I remember correctly, you clearly stated it wasn't a penalty and that no one could honestly say it was a definite penalty for Hleb. But with your description above, it's arguable that the foul on Hleb was equal to more of a PK than the one given to Babel.

I understand your biased for Liverpool being a Liverpool fan and all, but there is no way you can sit there and say the foul on Babel was more of a PK than the foul on Hleb.

My father is a Liverpool fan, and he even thinks the foul on Babel was very soft compared to the foul that wasn't called for Hleb.

The penalty focus was on the wrong player ,it wasn't toure it was cesc that grabbed babel arm, putting him off balance.It actually started outside he box but babel fell in,which makes no difference really as they blamed Toure for the foul anyway and he was closest to Babel in the box.

It was definitely a foul so i'm not mad at the ref,making the mistake.

I fully agree.

Adebayor missed one sitter. It doesn't make him bad though. He's class. He's scored about 25 goals this season, and he isn't just about goals. He's had a great season but still people criticise him because he is a bit Bambi on ice esque...

Admittedly, we've been lucky in the CL, but we have played well. We could counter the argmuent that we've been lucky with the fact that we've been very unlucky with the teams we've drawn. Especially when you compare them to Chelsea's, Barca's and Man Utd's.

As for Almunia, he couldn't do much about the Babel goal could he?

So you think he did a less than decent job?

Sorry mate, Gilberto hardly did a thing wrong when he came on. To come into a high paced, intense, all-action Cup game like that to work against a five man Liverpool Midfield at Anfield with a huge lack of game time and no real form behind you - Gilberto did a decent job. I think I'm right to say that.

Flamini was a loss of course - he was our most effective player bar Gallas in my view before going off injured. I'm in no way saying that Gilberto replaced him! But he did a decent job for the circumstances.

I don't think Gilberto did anything to help or inspire the team. He was just there doing the motions. He didn't do anything wrong per se, but did nothing to help the team either. No enthusiasm for the game at hand, no drive, no emotion, nothing; just there as another body on the pitch doing what is need of him but nothing more.

And I do agree about him having no 'real' form due to lack of games. He's one of those players that gets better and better with the more games he plays.

Watching Liverpool Play – It’s Sh!t On A Stick

Taken from an editorial piece in the Guardian by Daniel Taylor

And so the Champions League moves on with United coming to the boil with an impeccable sense of timing. Ferguson's team certainly have no reason to fear Barcelona in the semi-finals, particularly as the Catalan side will be missing Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi.
Barcelona versus Manchester United is not just a football match it is one of the great occasions. Chelsea against Liverpool feels more like a struggle for expression, one that brings back memories of Jorge Valdano's withering assessment of their last semi-final. "Chelsea and Liverpool are the clearest, most exaggerated example of the way football is going: very intense, very collective, very tactical, very physical, and very direct," he said. "But, a short pass? Noooo. A feint? Noooo. A change of pace? Noooo. A one-two? A nutmeg? A backheel? Don't be ridiculous. None of that. If football is going the way Chelsea and Liverpool are taking it, we had better be ready to wave goodbye to any expression of the cleverness and talent we have enjoyed for a century."
The former Real Madrid coach, one of Argentina's scorers in the 1986 World Cup final and now a respected football intellectual, made his point in the most succinct terms. "Football is made up of subjective feeling, of suggestion," he added. "In that, Anfield is unbeatable. Put a sh!t hanging from a stick in the middle of this passionate, crazy stadium and there are people who will tell you it's a work of art. It's not: it's a sh!t hanging from a stick."

He would have stood mroe chance if he stood in the middle of the net. He was over to one side too much and made it an easy finish for Babel.

As for Adebayor, I'm not on about just this game. He misses good chances week in week out. Better watch what I say though or this thread will turn into 'The SPL is sh!te' again

Ok, i don't want to resort to criticising Rooney again, but, he has missed far more easy chances than Adebayor, but he doesn't get the criticism Adebayor gets does he?

Adebayor wastes no where near as many chances. Plenty of people have fluffed more than him this season.

What are you on about? I have heard plenty of people criticise Rooney for missing alot of chances. I can see this debate is not going anywhere with you as your sheer lust for tall black men such as Drogba & Adebayor are blurring your opinion.

I don't even like Adebayor that much. I like Flamini and Rosicky much more. I do think he's a good player though. I think he has been more just good this season.

Yeah i know Rooney has received some criticism for missing chances, but ignore him, and just look at the ridiculing Adebayor has received despite being fantastic this season. I think it comes down to his height. He doesn't look like the most stable or mobile of players, so it's easy to call him a donkey and clumsy when he messes things up.

Adebayor does not deserve the criticism he has received from so called Arsenal supporters on this forum. He has been excellent for the Gunners this year and was running neck and neck with Ronaldo as the league's top scorers for much of the season.

Yeah, I'd agree with most of what you're saying.

But I still don't think I'm fully wrong to say he did a decent job. As I said, in the circumstances and considering his personal hindrances, he was decent.

But if you look at his goalscoring feat and his conversion rate, it's still pretty good.

I agree that he misses some sitters, but he also scores some absolute crackers that you wouldn't have seen going in from various angles & positions. Headers, volleys, 1-on-1s, curlers, piledrivers, chips... he scores all sorts of goals and he has scored plenty this season - enough to be classed as "good enough".

And to give him even more praise, he isn't your poacher-type natural finisher either. Most of his work on the field is in the holding up play, running off Defenders, hussling & hassling entire Defences on his own and using his amazing stamina & energy to run teams ragged and create bags of space for the rest of our players.

Being a "good enough" player does not require the ability to not miss good chances. All great players miss good chances regularly and usually they make up for it by doing something else positively or making up for it by banging in a goal every other game and scoring winners or huge goals against really tough sides.

Look at the teams he's scored against this season - it's not just your mid-to-low Premiership sides.

I will wholeheartedly admit that he's not yet quite refined, nor is he a "great" Striker. But he is a great contributor and always has been, he gives 100% and usually performs well. That's a "good enough" player, especially when they top scoring charts for large parts of the season and have stats to back up their contribution and efforts.

I don't know any Arsenal fan personally that would ever say that Adebayor is not good enough. I think that's ludicrous. Wenger claims he's a "dream of a Striker" because of his versatility, style and all his other beaming attributes. In most games Adebayor will be running the frontline on his own and most of the pressure will be on him to score the goals - Cesc, Hleb, Flamini, Diaby and Eboué haven't scored many. Despite that, Adebayor has done the job. Also considering the fact that by the time Adebayor holds up the ball, hassles four Defenders and makes continuous long runs for long balls, through balls and high balls, he doesn't always have the sharpness or concentration to consistently bang in every good chance or control every pass perfectly.

I think his technique has improved massively this season also. He has a lot going for him now and even when Eduardo, Rosický, Hleb, Cesc, van Persie, Eboué, Bendtner, Walcott etc. have all been fit, Adebayor has been irreplaceable in this Arsenal side - simply because he's had a brilliant season and has been our shining star - without his goals and contributions, we'd be absolutely nowhere! Eduardo nor van Persie nor Bendtner would have been able to do what Adebayor has done (based on injury proneness, injuries or general ability there).

I like the guy very much and I am more than happy to see him lead our line. For me, he is more than good enough. Wenger thinks even more highly of him, and Wenger knows more about ability, potential and player performances than us.

Well said J-Axe. Hopefully that will put and end to the Adebayor bashing and save me time trying to defend him.

I think he's been better than all of the strikers at the top 4 teams in this country, other than Torres. Not bad for someone who ''isn't good enough for Arsenal''...

I'd swap Kuyt + Crouch for him in a shot. The funny thing is, he's actually a bit like those two put together. He's a worker like Kuyt, but also has the height of Crouch and is used as the target up front.

Typical biased comment from a POOL supporter

And why is that? Isn't goal scoring the job of strikers? They are the two highest scoring strikers so what Sticky is saying is legit.

OK.....Ronaldo is a striker and has scored more than both Torres and Adebeyor. Add to that - Rooney, Saha and Tevez are all better than Torres and Adebeyor, and are all strikers. That's why it was a typical biased comment from a POOL supporter. Plus, I'm sure there are plenty of Chelsea fans on here who would argue Drogba and Anelka are better than Torres and Adebeyor.