And here's a great BIG kick in the teeth for all the Arsenal haters out there...


Thierry Henry says he will sign his contract offer today if he can, and that there's no way he could leave the Arsenal fans, who he sees as being just like family.

"I hope to stay as long as I can keep running. I couldn't leave the fans. They're like family,"

"I love Barcelona, but on Wednesday Arsenal showed they had heart. I hope to finalise details today."

This news will obviously infuriate the all the clowns who were so desperate for Thierry to leave, but I have to say, it's not really a surprise to me.

Why would the best player in the world leave the best club in the world?

FIFA President Sepp Blatter agrees with Arsene, Thierry, Pele, Kevin The Grouch and even referee Hauge himself that the game was made more difficult for Arsenal due to bad refereeing decisions.

Arsenal started the game brilliantly and even with 10 men were only 15 minutes from a tremendous victory.

Blatter, head of footballs governing body said about referee Hauge:

"What he did wrong in my opinion is that when such an action [occurs], not only in front of the goal mouth, but everywhere, he should play the advantage."

"Finish the action and then he can come back and whistle"

"He was too fast to blow the whistle."

"At such a level, we expect in FIFA and in the World Cup that such a situation does not occur"

But of course, not being a bunch of completely sad and pathetic sore losers, Arsenal will not write to UEFA demanding that the game be replayed.

It took the so-called best team in the world an offside 'goal' to break Arsenal down, and now it's clear to anyone with a brain that the referee just wasn't good enough to keep the game balanced on the night.

So it looks like even though Arsenal were prevented from winning the game, they won the admiration of true football fans the world over.

Something that most other clubs look like they will never be able to do.

I have to say, there's no reason to be disappionted in losing tonight.

Even with only 10 men, Arsenal led and pressured Barcelona all the way up until there were only 15 minutes left.

I know there will be some fans blaming Jens for getting sent off, but they need to remember just how big a penalty save he made against Villareal, and that he didn't concede a single Champions League goal all season.

I'm sure that he had the same intention tonight, and was only doing whatever he thought was necessary to keep a clean sheet.

I don't blame him anyway.

I don't blame any of the players... I think they all gave their best.

They gave their best against a Barcelona side that most people expected to wipe the floor with them.

This Barcelona side was supposed to step on the pitch, wait around for 90 minutes and the lift the trophy, but they were 15 minutes away from losing.

15 minutes away from deservedly losing to a team that was giving their best, while being down to 10 men.

Arsenal showed tonight that they ARE a big club.

A big club with big players who deserve to be playing at this level.

Barcelona are supposed to be a "MASSIVE" club, but they needed to dig extra deep to get the win.

Juve were supposed to be a big club, and Real are supposed to be the biggest, but in the end it was only when Arsenal were down to 10 men that they were beaten.

The team did so well just to get this far, and in the end they managed to get just 15 minutes away from becoming European Champions.

In a way, I'm reminded of the 'Owen' FA Cup Final.

Just a few minutes away from winning.

It was the first FA Cup in Cardiff, and he popped up to win it for Liverpool in injury time.

I certainly didn't imagine at the time that Arsenal would be back in Cardiff again to win the trophy in 3 out of the next four seasons.

It would be nice to do the same thing with the Champions League.

Anyway...

Next up, the World Cup.

Where do I start!?

What a day yesterday turned out to be!

Early morning - There's coverage almost everywhere about this being the last game at Highbury. It almost seems like FA Cup Final day.

Early afternoon - The anticipation builds. It seems like it's going to be the most exciting day of the season, but Spurs look like they're in the best position to finish 4th.

About 1.00pm - Spurs announce that 10 players came down with food poisoning the night before and want to re-arrange their game with West Ham!!

About 2.00pm - Spurs' request turned down. The game goes ahead.


Talk about a rollercoaster ride!

Arsenal go ahead...West Ham score...Wigan equalise...Spurs equalise...Wigan go 2-1 up...Arsenal equalise...Half time.

Second Half...Thierry scores...West Ham get a penalty...Sheringham passes it to the keeper...Freddie comes on...Freddie is fouled...Wigan down to 10 men as Thierry slots home the penalty for his hat-trick...West Ham score...Wigan are finished...Spurs are GUTTED!!...Arsenal are 4th...Now for Pairs...


Usually, finishing 4th wouldn't seem like such a big thing to shout about, but because it means booting Spurs into 5th, after they were ready to start moaning about deserving to be in the Champions League even if Arsenal win it, makes the difference.


I've been really, really busy lately, which is why I didn't write about the Sunderland/Man City games.

Two very good wins and I didn't write about them.

One of the reasons was that all 3 games including this one almost seemed like one single long game.

Anything less than 9 points, and it looked like goodbye to 4th, so writing about them before they were all finished felt as if I was writing about a game after only 60 minutes had been played.


So now there's one more game to go before the World Cup.

Barca are favourites, but so were Madrid...

So were Juve...

So were Spurs...


Next up, Barcalona.