[Macros]

My god what abject failure.

[Tiste Simeon]

It was almost too easy... *shifty eyes*

[Cougar]

Where is Toby?

I thought Arsenal were very unlucky, I mean they were overun, Utd got two fairly outrageous/unusual goals and the game was over inside 11 mins.

Adebayor was a waste of space.

I though that the sending off was a fairly attrocious decision though.

[HoosierDaddy]

Rough match for Arsenal today. Red card was... weak, but in the box with a 3 goal lead you have to know better than that. Arsenal's whole flow was off the entire game... they just didn't string the passes together like they needed, and in good games do, to win this one.

I'm hoping for a Barca victory tomorrow just to get a nice mix in the CL finals in Rome. I think Barca actually matches up better to United than Chelsea does, and will present more attacking problems to bother United's back line than Chelsea would cause.

[polishgenius]

I'm not so sure. We're capable of dominating either of those teams, because we've got the balance - Chelsea have a physical edge but we have the technical, while Barca are better technically but we can slap them about like we did Arsenal if we really have to. Barcelona are clearly the more dangerous but should we get that domination Chelsea could weather the storm. And should Barca get the domination we can do likewise then batter them on the break quicker and better than either is capable of hitting us.

Basically I don't care who we get, because we can adapt to either. I'd probably fear Barca a mite more but I'd also rather play them because it's more interesting.

[Cougar]

I'd imagine that for any English fan the obvious choice is Barca, much better to lose to them than Chelsea. That would be unbearable

[Tiste Simeon]

Cougar, on May 6 2009, 12:07 PM, said:

I'd imagine that for any English fan the obvious choice is Barca, much better to lose to them than Chelsea. That would be unbearable

Amen to that! Scummy chavs... Plus it would be nice to have a game that wasn't another premier league giant slug-fest like last years final!

[Thelomen Toblerone]

The better team won is all I can say. Even if Ronaldo makes Tom Daley look like an amateur. Hopefully Wenger will now realise that he HAS to buy someone. I appreciate he can say he was without 2 of his 1st XI defenders and a cuptied creative midfielder, but that just goes to show that you need to have squad depth too, so you still need to buy.

At the risk of sounding dangerously de ja vu-ish from last summer, we need to buy at least one CB, a DM, and ideally a GK too to either be a better backup than Flapianksi or to push Almunia for the starting spot. With those good additions and Arshavin available, I think we'd be able to mount a damn-sight better challenge for silverware. Two semis isnt terrible, so the gap isnt enormous and can be covered with just a few good additions. Please. PLEASE ARSENE!!!

[Thelomen Toblerone]

Chelsea were robbed right there. Barca didnt look convincing at all though, and when you consider Man U's defence is better than Chelsea's, I cant see Barca being able to threaten much at all in the final. Man U should crush them.

As I predicted a long long time ago (I'll look for the quote in whichever thread it was), Man U will win both the title and the CL fairly comfortably.

[Macros]

Man; Ballack, Drogba, Lamps.
Banned for 3 champions league games.

I don't care if a defender pulls out a bat and bludgeons your striker down, the referees decision is final until post game review.
So do yourself a favour and shut the fuck up.
Golfers - professional players, they call their own damned fouls, fifa need to step up, ANYONE but the captain/ man felled in a tackle mounthing gets card instantly.

On the game, only caught the last 15 mins, still haven't seen the sending off or the chavski goal. Piques handball was a pen, not Eto'os (imho)

[Cougar]

Well the Chavs got thoroughly fleeced there, I'm ecstatic to say.

Utd vs Barca, well Chelsea have shown the way forward with their massed defence but Utd don't play that way, nor do we have a player as good as Essien in his position. If Messi and Iniesta can get the ball down and go at the Utd defence then we could have some problems. It will be vital that Vidic and Ferdinand get the protection from the midfield.

Fortuantely for Utd; no Alves, no Abidal, no Marquez and Barca look really short at the back. Puyol is not great and neither is Milito and the fact that Utd let Pique go and kept Evans lets you know everything you need to know about him.

[Tiste Simeon]

How much are you betting the ref gets mysteriously "disappeared" by ex-KGB at some point in the near future?

[Thelomen Toblerone]

In next seasons CL English teams can draw eachother in the group stages iirc, so if anyone gets Chelsea that hsould be good for morale, playing them without three of their best players.

[Macros]

or spotted in spain wearing fur coats and driving a brand new ferrari?

[Cougar]

Drogba paid the price for being a diving cheat too often. I think he called the Pique handball 'ball to hand' and the last one he would have done well to see off the underside of the shoulder at high speed.

[dktorode]

Bendtner is pants

This post has been edited by dktorode: 07 May 2009 - 07:12 AM

[Shadowthrone]

Why I think Barca will win:

An opinion piece

With Marquez, Abidal, and Alves out on the backline I believe this makes the back four stronger defensively.

You will have Caceres - Puyol - Pique - Sylvinho all of whom are more defensively sound than Abidal and Alves.

If Iniesta and Henry are back for the match, which they have said they will be there will be no problems for Barca up front. United's defense has been solid but not impenetrable since they stopped the record run and a full strength front three will cause them all kinds of problems.

Barcelona dominate the play no matter who they face and unless United plan on playing like Chelsea did (which would be repulsive). Ronaldo could be a game changer as can Messi, but I think Toure Yaya will be able to close down Ronnie's space which will frusterate him to know end hehe.

If Henry and/or Iniesta does not play it is a different story but we will just have to wait and see.

[polishgenius]

Shadowthrone, on May 15 2009, 11:12 PM, said:

Toure Yaya will be able to close down Ronnie's space which will frusterate him to know end hehe.

There are, I think, two small flaws in your plan - the first is here, simple fact is Ronaldo isn't a player who needs a great deal of space to work in, he's spent the last couple of seasons being double-marked in a lot of games and generally the more he gets frustrated the more likely he is to do something. He won't necessarily go on his runs but his one-touch play is grossly underestimated. Look how he did Arsenal playing as a striker, just knocking the ball down into space for others a lot of the time. If Toure (or anyone) is stuck with the job of man-marking him all that'll do is leave them out of position when he does get the ball away cleanly. You're better off cutting his supply at source, which leaves you with the other flaw:

Ignoring Wayne Rooney, who's arguably a better player than Ronaldo (he most certainly has been this season). He'll probably play on the left again and that'll will not only give Messi something to think about other than mugging Evra, but give him room to dominate a defensively weak right side for Barca. If he turns up he can win the game almost by himself. I don't think Barcelona are set up to deal well with that long, deep crossfield pass to the onrushing Ronaldo/Park/Tevez which has been decimating teams for large parts of this season.

I'm reasonably confident. I think we'll line up like we did against Arsenal in the second leg but with Tevez instead of Fletcher, which will give Barcelona problems physically and set us up perfectly to hit them on the break. We can't outplay Barcelona on a technical level so we'll go to our physical advantage, try to unsettle them in midfield and use the pace and power allied to our own technique on the break.

On the other hand, I'm a bit worried about Xavi and a lot worried about Iniesta- the latter in particular I think we'll have problems dealing with should he play. Anderson will have to be in close attendance.

This post has been edited by polishgenius: 18 May 2009 - 11:20 PM

[Macros]

I think Anderson will be united weak point next week

[Cougar]

The match will be determined by two pretty simple factors:

1. the ability of the Man Utd midfield to protect their defence, if they do not eliminate the space in front of the back for then Vidic will be exposed to attackers with pace and control.

2. How well the Barca defence play against Rooney, Cacares is a far superior defenderto Alves, but that isn't hard. Puyol and Pique are prone to blind panic. Toure will be the key to this battle I suspect.