When recounting Arsenal’s injury predicament ahead of last night’s match against Porto, Early Doors made a glib remark that while the Gunners were missing Arshavin, Song, Gallas and Eduardo, the good news was that so was goalkeeper Manuel Almunia, in a cheap bid for sneery LOLs and ROFLs.

Well, who’s ROFLing now? Porto, that’s who.

Arsenal reserve keeper Lukasz Fabianski put in a calamitous performance that greatly helped the Portuguese side to a valuable 2-1 win in their Champions League last 16 first leg.

Fabianski’s first error – allowing Silvestre Varela’s cross to beat him at the near post – was embarrassing, but would be unlikely to raise the hint of a smirk it popped up on a football gaffes DVD.

However, it was Porto’s second goal, scored by Falcao from a quickly taken indirect free-kick inside the area after Fabianski picked up Sol Campbell’s back pass, which has caused a real stir.

* Campbell could have simply shepherded the ball back to the keeper, allowing him to pick it up.

* Fabianski could have launched the ball clear, or at least into the stand.

* Referee Martin Hansson (every Irishman’s favourite official) could have not been so quick to demand the ball from Fabianski and then give it to Porto.

* The whole of the Arsenal defence, especially with Fabianski complaining to the linesman with his back to the ball, could have reacted quicker, rather than simply ambling back into their area.

* Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger could have taken the embarrassment with more grace, especially when his team have benefited from quick free-kicks in the past. You could say that his team even pioneered the practice.

In fact, the only person who emerges from the whole sorry mess is Porto’s Ruben Micael, who had the presence of mind to take advantage of Arsenal’s dithering.

Wenger described the decision to allow the goal as „laughable” but, as unfortunate as it was for his side, it was completely legal. Once Fabianski gave the ball to the official, he rescinded the right to give his team time to build a wall or do anything else to hold up the play. Had it been in the centre circle, there would not be such a fuss.

Besides, from ED’s completely unscientific, anecdotal evidence, a surprisingly high number of indirect free-kicks following back passes seem to result in goals. So perhaps, the way Fabianski was playing, they would have conceded anyway.

It had all been going so well for Campbell, too. After going behind, he marked his first European appearance in almost four years with a goal.

It was a little surprising to discover that Sol was in the frame to start the match, although given some of their recent defensive performances Wenger obviously felt a change was as good as Mikael Silvestre.

Wenger tried to let the French defender down gently by claiming his selection of Campbell was so that he did not have to field two left-footed centre-backs.

Which all sounds very wise and betrays the sort of tactical nous for which Wenger is famed. But then, have you ever heard a manager bemoan the fact that he was fielding two right-footers at the heart of his defence?

QUOTE OF THE DAY: „The players decided to increase the earnings of one of London’s reputable shops – Harrods. The footballers who have money and are eager to buy a lot, were certain to leave there the big sum but the Miners weren’t allowed to enter the shop. The staff said that the group of customers was too big and suspicious. All of them were wearing similar tracksuits. The players explained that this was the football team and they had no habit of taking tuxedos to the training camp to go shopping.” – A spokesman for Shakhtar Donetsk tells of how tonight’s opponents of Harrods owner Mohamed al Fayed’s team Fulham were refused entry to his Knightsbridge corner shop.

WORD OF THE DAY: „Arguably the greatest centre-forward our country has ever produced had a larger than normal derriere, if you like. I wasn’t talking about me, and I know it’s quite easy for you to make that mistake! I was talking about the best. If you use your bahookie, then fair enough.” – Rangers assistant boss Ally McCoist hails Kris Boyd for using his backside to hold off a defender and score the winner against St Mirren in the Scottish Cup.

FOREIGN VIEW: „Violet anger. What theft!” – La Gazzetta dello Sport makes its feelings known after Bayern Munich’s Miroslav Klose’s late winner against Fiorentina despite being clearly offside.

COMING UP: A night of 15 Europa League clashes kicks off with live text commentary of Ajax v Juventus and Brugge v Valencia, plus scoring of the five other matches at 18:00, before Fulham v Shakhtar Donetsk and Liverpool v Unirea Urziceni kick off along with the rest at 20:05. If you fancy a Shakhtar-Unirea double then you can stick a fiver on that at Eurosport Bet.

Early Doors knows little of the world outside the Eurosport office, having been chained to its desk and forced to subsist on a thin gruel of UHT milk and cardboard. It cares little for football itself, preferring to focus on the childish histrionics and self-regarding largesse of those involved in the game. Its primary interests are training-ground bust-ups, Baby Bentleys and deluded chairmen. Like many Premier League players, Early Doors refers to itself only in the third person.

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Read the article on Yahoo! Eurosport

Early Doors – Your morning briefing blog

When recounting Arsenal’s injury predicament ahead of last night’s match against Porto, Early Doors made a glib remark that while the Gunners were missing Arshavin, Song, Gallas and Eduardo, the good news was that so was goalkeeper Manuel Almunia, in a cheap bid for sneery LOLs and ROFLs.

Well, who’s ROFLing now? Porto, that’s who.

Arsenal reserve keeper Lukasz Fabianski put in a calamitous performance that greatly helped the Portuguese side to a valuable 2-1 win in their Champions League last 16 first leg.

Fabianski’s first error – allowing Silvestre Varela’s cross to beat him at the near post – was embarrassing, but would be unlikely to raise the hint of a smirk it popped up on a football gaffes DVD.

However, it was Porto’s second goal, scored by Falcao from a quickly taken indirect free-kick inside the area after Fabianski picked up Sol Campbell’s back pass, which has caused a real stir.

* Campbell could have simply shepherded the ball back to the keeper, allowing him to pick it up.

* Fabianski could have launched the ball clear, or at least into the stand.

* Referee Martin Hansson (every Irishman’s favourite official) could have not been so quick to demand the ball from Fabianski and then give it to Porto.

* The whole of the Arsenal defence, especially with Fabianski complaining to the linesman with his back to the ball, could have reacted quicker, rather than simply ambling back into their area.

* Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger could have taken the embarrassment with more grace, especially when his team have benefited from quick free-kicks in the past. You could say that his team even pioneered the practice.

In fact, the only person who emerges from the whole sorry mess is Porto’s Ruben Micael, who had the presence of mind to take advantage of Arsenal’s dithering.

Wenger described the decision to allow the goal as „laughable” but, as unfortunate as it was for his side, it was completely legal. Once Fabianski gave the ball to the official, he rescinded the right to give his team time to build a wall or do anything else to hold up the play. Had it been in the centre circle, there would not be such a fuss.

Besides, from ED’s completely unscientific, anecdotal evidence, a surprisingly high number of indirect free-kicks following back passes seem to result in goals. So perhaps, the way Fabianski was playing, they would have conceded anyway.

It had all been going so well for Campbell, too. After going behind, he marked his first European appearance in almost four years with a goal.

It was a little surprising to discover that Sol was in the frame to start the match, although given some of their recent defensive performances Wenger obviously felt a change was as good as Mikael Silvestre.

Wenger tried to let the French defender down gently by claiming his selection of Campbell was so that he did not have to field two left-footed centre-backs.

Which all sounds very wise and betrays the sort of tactical nous for which Wenger is famed. But then, have you ever heard a manager bemoan the fact that he was fielding two right-footers at the heart of his defence?

QUOTE OF THE DAY: „The players decided to increase the earnings of one of London’s reputable shops – Harrods. The footballers who have money and are eager to buy a lot, were certain to leave there the big sum but the Miners weren’t allowed to enter the shop. The staff said that the group of customers was too big and suspicious. All of them were wearing similar tracksuits. The players explained that this was the football team and they had no habit of taking tuxedos to the training camp to go shopping.” – A spokesman for Shakhtar Donetsk tells of how tonight’s opponents of Harrods owner Mohamed al Fayed’s team Fulham were refused entry to his Knightsbridge corner shop.

WORD OF THE DAY: „Arguably the greatest centre-forward our country has ever produced had a larger than normal derriere, if you like. I wasn’t talking about me, and I know it’s quite easy for you to make that mistake! I was talking about the best. If you use your bahookie, then fair enough.” – Rangers assistant boss Ally McCoist hails Kris Boyd for using his backside to hold off a defender and score the winner against St Mirren in the Scottish Cup.

FOREIGN VIEW: „Violet anger. What theft!” – La Gazzetta dello Sport makes its feelings known after Bayern Munich’s Miroslav Klose’s late winner against Fiorentina despite being clearly offside.

COMING UP: A night of 15 Europa League clashes kicks off with live text commentary of Ajax v Juventus and Brugge v Valencia, plus scoring of the five other matches at 18:00, before Fulham v Shakhtar Donetsk and Liverpool v Unirea Urziceni kick off along with the rest at 20:05. If you fancy a Shakhtar-Unirea double then you can stick a fiver on that at Eurosport Bet.

Early Doors knows little of the world outside the Eurosport office, having been chained to its desk and forced to subsist on a thin gruel of UHT milk and cardboard. It cares little for football itself, preferring to focus on the childish histrionics and self-regarding largesse of those involved in the game. Its primary interests are training-ground bust-ups, Baby Bentleys and deluded chairmen. Like many Premier League players, Early Doors refers to itself only in the third person.

Put your knowledge of European football to the test with our game.

Put your knowledge of Spanish football to the test with our Fantasy La Liga game.

Read the article on Yahoo! Eurosport

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