Howdy all....:wave2:
First of all, there should be no shame in Arsenal's defeat. I won't castigate Lehmann, since if it wasn't for his heroics in the last round we could have been watching an all-Spanish final.
Yes I'm saddened by the result, but I'm also damn proud of the players for showing so much spirit, despite being a player short for the majority of the match. They did their best against a good Barca team and didn't let themselves down.
I thought there was some dubious decisions from the referee, but it went both ways. If Arsenal
had won one-nil, Barca would be complaining that the ref was conned into giving the free kick that set up Campbell's goal (and let's be honest, Eboue's fall
was theatrical).
Also (and it really hurts me to say this about him) while Henry has every right to criticize, he should also consider the fact that he spurned some very good chances. But like Lehmann, I won't criticize Henry too much - the man's goals has taken Arsenal to glory on more than one occasion (and I'm bloody glad he proved the anti-Arsenal brigade wrong by deciding to stay at Arsenal).
Finally, congratulations to Barcelona. I respect the fact that they are a great side who deserves to be labelled Champions of Europe. Arsenal were 14 minutes away from glory, but ultimately it was a bridge too far (to coin a phrase....
Yes - Henry's remarks (and to some extent Wenger's) does smack of sore losers. But I agree with fox's last comment. People like Henry, Wenger, Mourinho, Ferguson, Gerrard and Benitez aren't content with being runners-up. And while we were happy to pip the "other lot" for fourth place in the Premiership, 4th place & Champions League runners-up is not enough for Henry & Wenger....