Most Painful Arsenal defeat in ten years?

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

What from personal experience would you say is the most painful defeat that Arsenal have incurred in the last decade, the winner for me is obvious but I have a few other contenders.


Birmingham City 2-1 Arsenal February 2011

The pessimist in me saw it coming throughout the second half, just knew when Foster was single-handedly (although not literally) keeping us at bay that it wasn't going to go for us. It wasn't a terrible performance, we looked unsure at the back but when don't we?.....but we just lacked that spark that was going to win us the game. To make matters worse I was in hospital on the day that match was played. Until we win silverware again this match will remain too painful for me to talk about in any great length.


-----Other Contenders---------------


Everton 2-1 Arsenal October 2002
My first year of University and in my naivety really bought into the invincibility of our team having not lost a game in the league since the 3-1 defeat to Newcastle the previous December, and in the days of teletext I was constantly updating it hoping for a late winner what I got instead was a someone Rooney giving the toffees a 2-1 win. The name wasn't unfamiliar to me as I knew an Everton fan who was raving about him as being the next big thing....but wow was i devastated.

Man United 2-0 Arsenal October 2004
Another unbeaten run unceremoniously ended, another Rooney inspired heartbreak. I have never before or since been as nervous about a game as much as this one, this game was going to make it 50 not out......going unbeaten at Old Trafford again would give us momentum to make a charge for consecutive league titles, instead that foul little goblin dived over sol campbell's leg and Mike Riley bought it and we ended up winning only once in the next five games and going five points behind Chelsea. Also the game where United decided they could kick our players allover the park and the officials decided they could get away with it.

Arsenal 1-2 Chelsea April 2004
Going out of the FA cup to United three days previously had been disappointing but at the same time we'd won that competition the last two years running and so was less of a bitter pill to swallow. This presented for me our best chance to date of winning the European cup and it all seemed to be going our way when Reyes gave us the lead, then Lehmann spilled Makelele's long ranger and Lampard tucked in the rebound and the rest I can't even bring myself to type. Our first defeat to Chelsea in any competition in six years, but unfortunately a sign of things to come.

Barcelona 2-1 Arsenal May 2006
Disappointment in the heart breaking manner of the defeat, rather than the performance where I felt we fought gallantly for ages despite being down to ten men, to know we were 15 minutes away from the biggest win in the club's history......sob.


Arsenal 2-3 Leeds United May 2003
There was always a sense we were fighting the inevitable in this game, that we were hoping to take United to the last day rather than any solid hope that we might still win the title, we'd rather thrown away that hope the previous week when we were held by Bolton despite being 2-0 up. We were the better side throughout and chasing the winner until Viduka danced passed the leaden Oleg Luhzny to plant the ball past David Seaman and give United the title with a game to spare.

Any others you can think of that I haven't mentioned?

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

realise i've forgotten the arsenal 2-3 spurs game, closest i've come to crying as a fully grown man. Maybe what happened on sunday was so redemptive that I was able to forget about it.

[Ollie the Optimist]

the defeat to the scum last season at home, the 5-1 defeat to them where fucking painful.

[Cripps_orig]

CL QFs 2004

Win that and we'd have won the CL.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

CL QFs 2004

Win that and we'd have won the CL.

Yep, yep we would have :-(........despite the pride of winning the title at WHL and going the season unbeaten I still remember the Arsenal dartboard joke

[Syn]

:ilt:

Arsenal 2-3 Tottenham.

Man Utd 2-0 Arsenal with the Rooney dive was pretty bad too.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

recently its deffo liverpool 4-2 arsenal in 2008 champions league quarters.

just the pure emotion of being ecstatic one minute then a minute later they've scored through a penalty and bang we're out.

couldnt believe it.

still cant.

[Dennis Bendtner]

Barcelona 06. Ouch. A reflection of the occasion rather than particular screw-ups from the team, though.

[Marc Overmars]

CL defeat to Chelsea, I found that one a tough pill to swallow. All the defeats since have been horrific as well of course (CL vs Liverpool, CC vs Brum etc) but at least I knew we were a bit shit and wasn't half surprised when we ballsed up. Back in 2004 though we felt untouchable and that's why it was such a shock - espeically as it was Chelsea who we always used to beat.

Worst defeat of all though has to be the 99 FA Cup semi. All Dennis had to do was stick away that penalty and how history could have been oh so different. :(

[Cripps_orig]

CL defeat to Chelsea, I found that one a tough pill to swallow. All the defeats since have been horrific as well of course (CL vs Liverpool, CC vs Brum etc) but at least I knew we were a bit shit and wasn't half surprised when we ballsed up. Back in 2004 though we felt untouchable and that's why it was such a shock - espeically as it was Chelsea who we always used to beat.

Worst defeat of all though has to be the 99 FA Cup semi. All Dennis had to do was stick away that penalty and how history could have been oh so different. :(

More than a decade ago

[Marc Overmars]

More than a decade ago
I know but had to mention it because the scars remain.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

CL QFs 2004

Win that and we'd have won the CL.

Yep add to that the 06 final had henry not ballsed up his chances instead of showing off for his potential employers we'd be champs of Europe by now.

That fa cup semi final that ryan Giggs wonder goal still hurts now. The brum loss in the cc hurt so fecking much.

[GP]

A little over 10 years but the 2001 cup final still haunts me.

We were completely robbed.

[Özim]

CL defeat to Chelsea, I found that one a tough pill to swallow. All the defeats since have been horrific as well of course (CL vs Liverpool, CC vs Brum etc) but at least I knew we were a bit shit and wasn't half surprised when we ballsed up. Back in 2004 though we felt untouchable and that's why it was such a shock - espeically as it was Chelsea who we always used to beat.

Worst defeat of all though has to be the 99 FA Cup semi. All Dennis had to do was stick away that penalty and how history could have been oh so different. :(
Yeah CL semi final defeat to Chelsea was horrible, I was gutted we got beaten by an inferior side when the CL was ours for the taking.

Agree about the FA Cup as well though it was longer than 10 years ago, I was left numb after that game, it was such a battle and to lose it the way we did was heartbreaking.

[Xhaka Can’t]

A little over 10 years but the 2001 cup final still haunts me.

We were completely robbed.

Same here.

And the bullshit Houllier came out with after the match still rankles.

[Marc Overmars]

A little over 10 years but the 2001 cup final still haunts me.

We were completely robbed.

Hmm yeah, I try to blank that one out.

Worst birthday ever. <_<

[Letters]

This is a difficult one as more recent defeats remain fresher in the memory.

I think the Birmingham one is a good shout. It wasn't a great performance but it looked like we were going to sneak an important win which is a good sign in a title run-in. A trademark Clichy lapse of concentration later (which I don't think should have been a penalty but he gave the ref a decision to make when it should have been cleared easily) and we lost 2 points. We never really recovered.

Last year against Liverpool was probably the game which made me angriest. We scored late on and looked like getting an important win in the title run in which would have halted a poor run in the league and seen us go only 4 points behind Utd with them still to play at home. Then Eboue....gaah! I can't even talk about it, it still makes me angry. :fury:

We only won one league game after that :doh:

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Manc utd 6 Arsenal 1 rememeber going to school the next day and getting stick buy some manc fans.

[Dennis Bendtner]

Galatasaray hurt. Especially when my dad told 7 year old self after the shoot-out that there wasn't a second leg. Lol wat a spaz.

[Ernesto]

I kinda agree with you on the ones you've picked out, Herb.

The other one I'd add to the list are the 2-1 defeat by Tottenham in 2010 to effectively end our title challenge. It was such a valiant effort by our players, but I remember TV5 getting injured during the game, we had injuries going INTO the game and Danny Rose hit a shot like he never ever will again.

Losing at Liverpool 4-2 in the Champions League in 2008? We were about to ram the whole "special European nights" crap right down the Scousers' throats that season, until Babel decided to take a dive. Probably a blessing in disguise, given that we could've faced Chelsea thereafter and potentially ManUre in the final. That would've been a world of hurt, right there...

Some of the abject crap last season (4-4 at Newcastle, losing at home to Spurs, the 1-1 against Liverpool after RvP had scored the lastest EPL goal EVER to put us 1-0 up) just left me more numb than openly upset. This season, again, the debacle at Old Trafford and the San Siro were still not enough to give me a sleepless night. A sign of clearly losing interest in football? Or just all things Arsenal?

[Fist of Lehmann]

Just wonderin'. Why do you do this to yourselves?

I know that GW is a miserablist commune for people who like to listen and Morrissey and cut themselves but shit man this is a bit far.

Call me a weirdo but I've really enjoyed this season, it's had the lowest lows followed by the highest highs. You need one to appreciate the other. To pick out all the worst bits would be slightly neurotic.
To pick out the worst bits of every season...just plain nuts.

[Cripps_orig]

Just wonderin'. Why do you do this to yourselves?

I know that GW is a miserablist commune for people who like to listen and Morrissey and cut themselves but shit man this is a bit far.

Call me a weirdo but I've really enjoyed this season, it's had the lowest lows followed by the highest highs. You need one to appreciate the other. To pick out all the worst bits would be slightly neurotic.
To pick out the worst bits of every season...just plain nuts.

I can understand the lowest lows but what would be the highest highs? :blink:

[Fist of Lehmann]

I can understand the lowest lows but what would be the highest highs? :blink:Highest highs and lowest lows in the context of a football match.

If you understand what "lowest lows" in relation to losing a football game might be, take a wild guess at what highest highs might represent.

[selassie]

Last season against the Spuds was painful. It made me initially really angry and then actually quite sad, really f*cked up my weekend!

2004 CL Quarter-Final against Chelsea was really hard to take because at the time I thought we were the best team in Europe and thought we were going to win CL, it really came as a shock to lose to them.

[LDG]

I think for me;

Birmingham - The Eduardo legbreak match where it all went tits.

Newcastle - 4-4. I remember GB ringing me and us contemplating suicide.

Yeah the cup final hurt, yeah, there's been big defeats at the hands of rivals etc, and I've had worse prior, but those are the two that really got me completely depressed.

[Flavs]

A little over 10 years but the 2001 cup final still haunts me.

We were completely robbed.

This i was there and still bear the mental scars

[Ollie the Optimist]

I can understand the lowest lows but what would be the highest highs? :blink:

chelsea, scum, henry scoring his two winners. four magical moments right there

[Flavs]

Highest highs and lowest lows in the context of a football match.

If you understand what "lowest lows" in relation to losing a football game might be, take a wild guess at what highest highs might represent.

Pushing onto beat Manyoo 3-2 when they were the wankiest collection of rapists and child molesters since Wormwood scrubs did their own version of mean machine.

I fucking hate David Platt but i will always admire him for that game alone.

[Flavs]

Kanu's hat trick at Stamford Bridge when they were still Chelsea

[Flavs]

(On a roll now.)

Beating Barca 2-1 at the emirates

The 5-3 against Middlesbrough which is my personal fav

Beating Liverpool with THAT Henry goal to win it

Henry torching Jamie Carragher to score in the FA cup against the dirty scouse bastards

Ian Wright scoring 2 past Forest in front of the mural while rebuilding Highbury

Ahh the memories

[Marc Overmars]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsCF_F1twJ8&feature=related

I wish we still won trophies. :(

[Cripps_orig]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsCF_F1twJ8&feature=related

I wish we still won trophies. :(Lee Dixon behind the goal :bow:

[LDG]

Lee Dixon behind the goal :bow:

:gp:

:lol:

Love that bit!

[Flavs]

:gp:

:lol:

Love that bit!

Why is he there??

[GP]

Just warming up probably.

[Marc Overmars]

Just realised he burned Big Man in that. :haha:

Freddie. :bow:

[Flavs]

Just warming up probably.

in a shirt and trousers? Shit i know we have relaxed since Graham went but come on

[Flavs]

Just realised he burned Big Man in that. :haha:

Freddie. :bow:

And Petit :lol:

Almost as good as Bobby's slide tackle on Vieira when we beat Juve

Turncoats :pal:

[GP]

in a shirt and trousers? Shit i know we have relaxed since Graham went but come on

He's in trackie bottoms and a tshirt.

[Coney]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsCF_F1twJ8&feature=related

I wish we still won trophies. :(

Terry falling over and letting the Arsenal man through... now where have I seen that before.... ;)


Terry :pal:

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

my personal highs:

- Winning the penalty shoot out against United in 2005 fa cup final despite being dicked over during the 120 minutes
- 5-1 win over Inter
- 4-0 win over PSV Eindhoven in 2002 ending a wretched away run in the Champions League
- Being first English side to beat Real Madrid at the Bernebau and beat AC Milan at the San Siro
- 1-0 win over United in 2002 to win the title at Old Trafford
- coming from 1-0 down to win 2-1 against Leicester City to go the whole season unbeaten
- winning 2-1 at Anfield despite playing most of the game with ten men in 2001, winning there for the first time in nine years
- 4-2 win over Wigan coupled with Spurs losing at West Ham to give us 4th

[fakeyank]

Losing to Barca in the CL final- I was damn proud to be a gooner that day. We gave it everything!

Wasnt a loss but this is my no.1- draw against brum in the last minute with Clichy running away from the ball as if it was a ball of fire. Eduardo's injury and the throw away of 8 points lead... ahh still makes me sick to my stomach

Loss to Chelsea in CL QF after Lehmann decides to pass the ball back to Gudjohnson (?). I believe that team wouldve won the CL. Didnt Monaco or some pub team win it that year?

Losing last years CC final.. really thought we could kick on if we'd have won that

:(

[Coney]

Loss to Chelsea in CL QF after Lehmann decides to pass the ball back to Gudjohnson (?). I believe that team wouldve won the CL. Didnt Monaco or some pub team win it that year?

Yes - we would very likely have won it. We played chavs 6 times that year - met them in the PL twice, the CC, the FA Cup and 2 legs in the CL. I think we won all of the games 2-1 with the exception of a CL match and they went through to fuck up in the semis. ****s.

[Ernesto]

Yes - we would very likely have won it. We played chavs 6 times that year - met them in the PL twice, the CC, the FA Cup and 2 legs in the CL. I think we won all of the games 2-1 with the exception of a CL match and they went through to fuck up in the semis. ****s.

Allow me to be pedantic. I'm pretty certain we didn't play Chelsea in the CC that season. You're quite right, we beat them in the league by 2 goals to 1 both home and away and we beat them 2-1 in the Cup (Reyes). We drew 1-1 in the first CL QF tie at Stamford Bridge (Pires equalising after Gudjohnsen opened the scoring) but I'm sure we didn't play them in the Carling Cup. We went out to Boro in the semi's that season. The last few times we've played Chelsea in the Carling Cup have ended in heartbreak- 2-1 in the final in 2007, 0-5 at Highbury in 99, and 4-3 on aggregate in the semi-finals in 98, having gone into the 2nd leg with a 2-1 lead.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Losing to Barca in the CL final- I was damn proud to be a gooner that day. We gave it everything!

Wasnt a loss but this is my no.1- draw against brum in the last minute with Clichy running away from the ball as if it was a ball of fire. Eduardo's injury and the throw away of 8 points lead... ahh still makes me sick to my stomach

Loss to Chelsea in CL QF after Lehmann decides to pass the ball back to Gudjohnson (?). I believe that team wouldve won the CL. Didnt Monaco or some pub team win it that year?

Losing last years CC final.. really thought we could kick on if we'd have won that

:(

Yep with our new manager Jose.

[LDG]

Allow me to be pedantic. I'm pretty certain we didn't play Chelsea in the CC that season. You're quite right, we beat them in the league by 2 goals to 1 both home and away and we beat them 2-1 in the Cup (Reyes). We drew 1-1 in the first CL QF tie at Stamford Bridge (Pires equalising after Gudjohnsen opened the scoring) but I'm sure we didn't play them in the Carling Cup. We went out to Boro in the semi's that season. The last few times we've played Chelsea in the Carling Cup have ended in heartbreak- 2-1 in the final in 2007, 0-5 at Highbury in 99, and 4-3 on aggregate in the semi-finals in 98, having gone into the 2nd leg with a 2-1 lead.

http://www.gettysburgflag.com/images/AutisticChild.jpg

[PGFC]

:haha:

[Ernesto]

http://www.gettysburgflag.com/images/AutisticChild.jpg

:d

Does anybody remember that Fat Scouser Neil Mellor scoring against us in the last minute at Anfield? That was a painful one an'all.

[Coney]

Allow me to be pedantic. I'm pretty certain we didn't play Chelsea in the CC that season. You're quite right, we beat them in the league by 2 goals to 1 both home and away and we beat them 2-1 in the Cup (Reyes). We drew 1-1 in the first CL QF tie at Stamford Bridge (Pires equalising after Gudjohnsen opened the scoring) but I'm sure we didn't play them in the Carling Cup. We went out to Boro in the semi's that season. The last few times we've played Chelsea in the Carling Cup have ended in heartbreak- 2-1 in the final in 2007, 0-5 at Highbury in 99, and 4-3 on aggregate in the semi-finals in 98, having gone into the 2nd leg with a 2-1 lead.

np. Don't forget to flush your Google history, btw. :good:

[Dog Toffee]

The CL final is surely the most painful due to how close we came and how much was at stake. All gooners should have been offered free councelling on the NHS after that.

[Syn]

I'm not sure it was too 'painful'. I think everyone was proud of the team after that. So although it was gutting to lose, we at least had that.

The ones that stick are either the ones you feel cheated in (ref giving Birmingham a pen in 2008) or collapsing because of a lack of mental strenff like in the spuds game last year.

[Dog Toffee]

Oh I was proud yes, but to see those greasy monkeys lift the CL after we came so close. Utterly painful IMO.

[Cripps_orig]

I see a lot of people mentioning the Birmingham game in 08.

We didnt lose that game...

If there was a most painful draw thread then by all means go ahead and name it

[Syn]

I see a lot of people mentioning the Birmingham game in 08.

We didnt lose that game...

If there was a most painful draw thread then by all means go ahead and name it

Oh well done. You win the internet again.

Who gives a fuck. We're all crying over spilled milk here. There don't need to have separate threads for it, really.

[Cripps_orig]

I know GW isnt the brightest bunch of people. You yourself have proven that many a time over the past few months but naming a draw kind of defeats the purpose of the thread doesnt it?

Just saying cos i would actually like to know what peoples most actual painful defeats are.

[Syn]

I know GW isnt the brightest bunch of people. You yourself have proven that many a time over the past few months but naming a draw kind of defeats the purpose of the thread doesnt it?

Just saying cos i would actually like to know what peoples most actual painful defeats are.

I was just using it as an example of why I think defeats like in the CL final might not be the most painful even if they were very significant. In my initial suggestions, I named defeats. And people are naming plenty of defeats. There's really no need to be a pedantic little dick about it.

[Coney]

I was just using it as an example of why I think defeats like in the CL final might not be the most painful even if they were very significant. In my initial suggestions, I named defeats. And people are naming plenty of defeats. There's really no need to be a pedantic little dick about it.

It was a moral defeat. So that makes it a defeat. Even if it was a draw. :good:

[Dog Toffee]

So we can name wins, that we think are moral defeats?

[Syn]

So we can name wins, that we think are moral defeats?

Sure, why not?

Care to name any?

I've got one. Henry scored 2 penalties against Portsmouth in the "FFS Pires dived! Ban him!" game. So we scored 2 goals, and they scored 1 so it was a victory. But one of them was ruled out because the ref made him retake it. But then that penalty only came about from a dive, so it was really moral defeat.

[Cripps_orig]

In that case

The 2-2 draw in 04 at WHL that won us the title.

To lose a 2 goal lead against the Scum was painful and although we won the title that day, i like Lehmann didnt join in with the celebrations

Also beating Spuds 5-2 just last weekend. Wasnt a defeat but winning that game meant Wenger staying in charge for a while longer so felt like a defeat

Syn logic is pretty awesome

[Letters]

I know GW isnt the brightest bunch of people.

Oh the ironing :lol:

[Cripps_orig]

Oh the ironing :lol:Im a part of GW so i include myself in that

Whats your point?

[LDG]

Yeah, I felt aLwful last weekend too. Didn't feel right smashing the fuck out of the spuds with FIVE goals.

[Syn]

Syn logic is pretty awesome

It wasn't my logic. It was Coney's. I was just discussing why defeats like in the CL final might not feel like the most painful - because we weren't cheated and the players really did give it everything. I used an example of being 'cheated' that wasn't a defeat. Big fucking deal. But the overall point still stood. Everyone has been discussing defeats. You talk about there being a 'purpose for this thread' - what fucking purpose is there? We are discussing painful defeats. A game slips in from over 10 years ago or a draw is used as an example to show why a particular defeat might not be so bad, big fucking deal. If your self-worth wasn't tied up in pointing out insignificant errors on the internet, you'd probably be a more useful person.

[LDG]

:haha:

[Letters]

:popcorn:

[Cripps_orig]

Yeah, I felt aLwful last weekend too. Didn't feel right smashing the fuck out of the spuds with FIVE goals.Its all about the greater good tbh

[Cripps_orig]

It wasn't my logic. It was Coney's. I was just discussing why defeats like in the CL final might not feel like the most painful - because we weren't cheated and the players really did give it everything. I used an example of being 'cheated' that wasn't a defeat. Big fucking deal. But the overall point still stood. Everyone has been discussing defeats. You talk about there being a 'purpose for this thread' - what fucking purpose is there? We are discussing painful defeats. A game slips in from over 10 years ago or a draw is used as an example to show why a particular defeat might not be so bad, big fucking deal. If your self-worth wasn't tied up in pointing out insignificant errors on the internet, you'd probably be a more useful person.Just out of curiousity, what has been your most painful DEFEAT?

Note i said defeat. I even bolded it and put it in capitals so i dont want no wins or draws or whatever else the fuck you think a defeat is.

In your own time

[Dog Toffee]

Moral defeat?

[GP]

It wasn't my logic. It was Coney's. I was just discussing why defeats like in the CL final might not feel like the most painful - because we weren't cheated and the players really did give it everything. I used an example of being 'cheated' that wasn't a defeat. Big fucking deal. But the overall point still stood. Everyone has been discussing defeats. You talk about there being a 'purpose for this thread' - what fucking purpose is there? We are discussing painful defeats. A game slips in from over 10 years ago or a draw is used as an example to show why a particular defeat might not be so bad, big fucking deal. If your self-worth wasn't tied up in pointing out insignificant errors on the internet, you'd probably be a more useful person.

:haha:

slam dunk

[Letters]

Oh well done. You win the internet again.

Who gives a fuck. We're all crying over spilled milk here. There don't need to have separate threads for it, really.

:haha:

:gp:

[GP]

Syn is awesome tbh

[Marc Overmars]

CL defeat was awful but we gave it everything and were under the kosh for a lot of the game, due to the fact we were playing a better team, with a man short. I found that easier to accept as much as it hurt.

Far more painful defeats personally over the years for me.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

CL defeat was awful but we gave it everything and were under the kosh for a lot of the game, due to the fact we were playing a better team, with a man short. I found that easier to accept as much as it hurt.

Far more painful defeats personally over the years for me.

Nah i thought it hurt because had Henry put his chances away we'd have won the cup tbh, from then on i knew we'd never win the CL ever under Wenger.

[Dog Toffee]

Oh you prophet you.

[Ollie the Optimist]

Nah i thought it hurt because had Henry put his chances away we'd have won the cup tbh, from then on i knew we'd never win the CL ever under Wenger.

how does henry missing chances mean that wenger will never win the CL? i dont get that logic

[Dog Toffee]

Thats because its a retarded comment.

Wenger is God.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

how does henry missing chances mean that wenger will never win the CL? i dont get that logic

It does not. and i never meant it that way. But that was out best chance to win the CL we with a decent team. With the teams we have had since there was no way they'd ever win the CL because all the other big teams got better add to the fact Wenger won't spend/not given the money to make a positve charge in the cl.

[Dog Toffee]

We should have won the group. We didnt, got Milan, got thrashed. Teaches us a lesson really.

[Cripps_orig]

We should have won the group. We didnt, got Milan, got thrashed. Teaches us a lesson really.We did win the group

[Olivier's xmas twist]

We did win the group

:lol:

ACH :bow:

[Dog Toffee]

Oh yeah. So Milan came second then? fuck.

[Xhaka Can’t]

Winning the group was a painful defeat.

[Dog Toffee]

But it was a moral win.