Poll: UEFA Champions League Final Man Utd vs Chelsea - 21st May **Spoilers**
- Thread starter Loki
- Start date
It was a cracking game and fair play to the referee for standing up to the Chelski bullies and finally Drogba gets what he deserved.
If last nights childish behaviour has taught UEFA anything it is that they need to address the ruling regarding putting the ball out of play. I know that there is no rule to say you have to, but there is the unwritten rule of putting it out of play and then returning the ball back to the opposition when play resumes.
However, there were times last night when Chelski exploited this rule and this ultimately led to them letting themselves down with the whole Drogbagate debacle.
I can count two occasions at least. Drogba and J.Cole were laying dying on the edge of the United box when United had the ball in the Chelski half and they sportingly decided to kick the ball out so that the striken player could seek treatment, yet no sooner than the ball left the pitch the player was up and away. As a result, the ball was played all the way back and United had to then take a throw in deep in their half under pressure.
Personally, they should change the rule that states that if the ball is kicked out by the opposition for a player to receive treatment then the throw in should be awarded to that team (providing the ball isnt blasted 90 yards) or the defending team returning the ball back to the sporting team where they kicked the ball out from. The prime example being the Tevez moment which led to the big arguement.
Finally, on a side note. I felt sorry for both Makelele and Scholes when they clashed heads, I really couldn't see what their bookings were for. Scholes you could argue should have been booked, but Claude didn't do anything.
If last nights childish behaviour has taught UEFA anything it is that they need to address the ruling regarding putting the ball out of play. I know that there is no rule to say you have to, but there is the unwritten rule of putting it out of play and then returning the ball back to the opposition when play resumes.
However, there were times last night when Chelski exploited this rule and this ultimately led to them letting themselves down with the whole Drogbagate debacle.
I can count two occasions at least. Drogba and J.Cole were laying dying on the edge of the United box when United had the ball in the Chelski half and they sportingly decided to kick the ball out so that the striken player could seek treatment, yet no sooner than the ball left the pitch the player was up and away. As a result, the ball was played all the way back and United had to then take a throw in deep in their half under pressure.
Personally, they should change the rule that states that if the ball is kicked out by the opposition for a player to receive treatment then the throw in should be awarded to that team (providing the ball isnt blasted 90 yards) or the defending team returning the ball back to the sporting team where they kicked the ball out from. The prime example being the Tevez moment which led to the big arguement.
Finally, on a side note. I felt sorry for both Makelele and Scholes when they clashed heads, I really couldn't see what their bookings were for. Scholes you could argue should have been booked, but Claude didn't do anything.
Blaming the pitch now are we
(that was a joke by the way)
That means he should have put one of his other 9 pairs of boots on. Not the pitches fault, wrong choice of studs.
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I still think you are being a bit harsh on Terry even if you let him ride on Drogbas back, to me it looked like as if he slipped just before striking the ball and that could have happened to anyone. Drogba has no excuses really, just petty behaviour although not a huge surprise.
You might want to edit the swearing though, you caught all but the bit after the ref.
Gotta agree with that.
Terry saved Chelsea with the header off the line.
As far as the pitch goes, people were sliding all over the shop.
Van Der Sar slipped to let the Chelsea goal in, not to mention a Ballack shot that went over he slipped for that and it could have easily been 2-1.
Van Der Sar got his feet stuck in the ground a fair bit.
A lot of players were sliding and slipping when trying to get away, as I was actually just hoping nobody got hurt because it would be so easy to slip and do yourself some serious damage.
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It is odd, he doesn't make the England squad either, but it keeps him fresh. The fact is he is fantastic and he plays for the best team in Europe as our first choice CM, so he's doing something right.
Spurs fans might not admit it because he left them, any worth their salt will tell you he was a massive part behind their push to 4th that season and was their best player by miles, they've done nothing close without him and still haven't replaced him.
He's past his best, but he's not past the best of many others. For me, Scholes is the second best CM I've ever seen (after Zidane).
He's more mobile and better defensively. No he can't pass the ball like Alonso, but Alonso can't get around like Hargreaves.
Fair enough, thought it must be.
ME TOO!!!!!
And he would never have had used that as an excuse for the goal. IMO, even if he didnt slip, he wouldnt have saved it.
All this "its the pitch's fault", "pitch was slippery", "I slipped, so its not my fault", is complete nonsense. If you are pro footballer, from England especially, you should be used to adapting your game/style to wet and slippery conditions.
If it was a Saudi Arabian footballer, say, who slipped and used that as an excuse, then fair enough. But an English footballer?
Give it a rest. It was an unfortunate (or fortunate if you're a Manc) incident. Sometimes things happen outside your control, even if you're the greatest player in the world.
Says a lot? Yeah it does really, considering their success in the past 2 years.
'Your' - i'm not a United fan. Whereas with you being a Scouse fan, I feel a little bit of bias might be creeping in
Scoles is the main reason Man united have won the leage the last two seasons, along with Carrick. It's not a coincidence that Scholes returning and the purchase of Carrick led to a turn around in success.
I'll stick by my guns, under no circumstances would I take Alonso over Scholes, Carrick or Hargreaves.
First of all, I apoligise for calling you a United fan, no one deserves that.
Secondly Scholes is the reason United won the league this season? Then why have the vast majority of United fans been calling for is head after every game? Last season he was excellent, I'll give you that.
Imo Carrick was carried by Scholes for a lot of last season, Carrick did the simple things - backwards passes (he likes those) while Scholes was the creator. This season I thought Anderson was the star performer in the first half the season, outshining Carrick despite being just 19. The one game I saw Carrick put in an excellent performance against a top team was against Chelsea, 3 days after they had lost their manager I must add. He has played pretty well against the lesser teams, but we knew he could do that anyway and there are many (cheaper) midfielders who could do a similar job.
Gone backwards? Spurs achieved the same position in the league the season after he left, so it clearly wasn't that sorely missed. I really don't understand that arguement, I'm pretty sure they did better in the cups than in previous years as well - Carling Cup semis, UEFA quarters wasn't it?
As you say Carrick does do a job for you, I don't deny that, but he's not in the same class as previous United midfielers and imo, he's the weakest member of your first XI.
Alonso and Carrick are actually both very similar players, they both start attacks and play just in front of the back four, but I can't think of an attribute which Alonso has that Carrick can do better. Logically if United fans feel he is their best central midfielder (I dissagree), then there isnt a United CM who'd take Alonso's place at Liverpool
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I did think about that, and Beckham was fantastic, but a lot of Beckhams passes were great crosses, where as being in the middle, Scholes were creative from right/left/center, where as again, Beckhams were from right to left almost exclusively.
I'm not condoning it as an excuse at all, I'm saying the pitch wasn't that great - but both sets of teams had the same pitch to play on.
I don't honestly see why people can point the finger at Terry though.
At least he had the guts to go up and take a penalty, heck it wasn't even him that missed the last penalty it was Anelka.
Surely people should be berating Drogba for getting sent off, as he would have taken a penalty last night.
I think some fans are just looking for excuses, when really there isn't any at all. It was a fabulous game, the two teams couldn't be separated and it was the lottery of a penalty shootout that decided it.