UEFA Champions League Final - Manchester United vs. Barcelona
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Caporegime
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So, whoevere it was who talked about putting Hernandez in ahead of Raul in the euro team of the season. Like i said, if Hernandez does a Raul, and goes missing for 90 minutes in the final, does that discount hernandez from being an option too? Like i said, if your team gets hammered as a striker there is little you can do sometimes. But you shouldnt hold the game that you lost against the striker now should you?
Soldato
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No, I never thought Utd were in it before the game kicked off. I told my brother (Utd supporter) that it would be 3-1. I always thought Utd would score but I thought Barca would always score more.
I never got to see most of the 1st half as my daughter has chicken pox and was looking after her but the from what I saw they didn't look very enthusiastic or threatening for a cup final. That is just my opinion though as I didn't watch it all.
Utd may have had a brilliant 20 minutes or so that I missed in the first half but the season for EPL ended in disappointment for footballing reasons in my eyes.
My point though is that I don't think anyone won the league this year, it was lost by everyone else. Utd though are still the best of the worst challengers and have that 19th title. I guess that is all that matters.
Caporegime
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Well now that things have calmed down...
Disclaimer: I'm not disappointed by the result, it would have taken a magical performance from the side to win that, saying that we still didn't play to anywhere near our capable level, that is disappointing.
Players:
Edwin Van De Saar: Not a good game to finish on really, made a couple of good saves but he could have done much better with 2 of the goals and his ditribution was poor.
Patrice Evra: Not too bad, don't remember him making many mistakes, hard to exert influence against Dani Alves
Nemanja Vidic: Superb, made some absolutely brilliant challenges, not sure if him or Fabio were at fault for the first goal though
Rio Ferdinand: Did well but tbh was a spectator for large periods, more on that later
Fabio: Didn't do too badly, a couple of good challenges and seemed to support the attack better than Evra the few times we managed to get forward
Micheal Carrick: Started well, made some good challenges and was probably our best passer, tired as the game progressed.
Ryan Giggs: Really poor, wasn't closing down enough and didn't exert control when on the ball
Antonio Valencia: Absolutely appalling, was very lucky not to walk, I counted a good 6 fouls from him, fortunately for him the ref gave him 3 or 4 before booking him. In attack he was as effective as a wet fish, he managed one cross the entire match and it was about 10 ft long.
Ji Sung Park: Not too bad, not as good as he was against Chelsea though. He closed down well and did very well against Messi in the first half, on the ball his control was frustrating.
Wayne Rooney: Had a great game considering, was always productive on the ball and scored a great goal.
Javier Hernandez: Not even poor, he just wasn't involved in the match at all. It was a mistake to start him and it was utter incompetence not to take him off.
Tactics:
Fergie claimed he would learn from 2 years ago, he really didn't. We didn't set ourselves up to play our game or to counter theres, we did a half way job and it wasn't good enough. We were 10v11 for most of the match because Hernandez wasn't involved, would have been much better to have an extra midfielder.
We also weren't pressing them at all, all our midfielders were standing off Xavi and Iniesta, even in the first half, why allow him that much time??
Messi was never marked, he should have had someone on him, I lost count of how many times he was given the ball without a United player within 6m of him.
Fergie's subs were absolutely baffling. He left good players behind to overload the bench with midfielders.....then didn't use them
After 50-60 mins Giggs, Carrick and Park were tiring, why didn't he bring on Fletcher and Anderson for some fresh legs? It was just stupid really, against a team like Barca where you are chasing the game you need to use your subs and Fergie just didn't. Nani should have come on earlier when it was clear how **** Valencia was playing, he did more in the first 5 mins and linked up well with Rooney. Scholes was just a weird sub, Anderson has been playing ten times better lately but was ignored completely.
I mentioned in the transfer thread that Fergie's bias towards players is coming across more and more. Giggs was appalling tonight but he still wouldn't sub him, he brought on Scholes despite there being far better options available. Nani is one of our most talented players but was brought in far too late. He wouldn't take off Hernandez even though he must have touched the ball about 5 times over the entire match, why bring along Owen if you don't have the faith in him to give him a go?
And the most damning evidence of his bias was dropping Berbatov, if Owen wasn't going to be brought on then why leave behind our only other striker? Say what you want about scoring form, his experience, ability to hold up the ball and skill would have given us more possession than Hernandez's just running around offside doing nothing.
Disclaimer: I'm not disappointed by the result, it would have taken a magical performance from the side to win that, saying that we still didn't play to anywhere near our capable level, that is disappointing.
Players:
Edwin Van De Saar: Not a good game to finish on really, made a couple of good saves but he could have done much better with 2 of the goals and his ditribution was poor.
Patrice Evra: Not too bad, don't remember him making many mistakes, hard to exert influence against Dani Alves
Nemanja Vidic: Superb, made some absolutely brilliant challenges, not sure if him or Fabio were at fault for the first goal though
Rio Ferdinand: Did well but tbh was a spectator for large periods, more on that later
Fabio: Didn't do too badly, a couple of good challenges and seemed to support the attack better than Evra the few times we managed to get forward
Micheal Carrick: Started well, made some good challenges and was probably our best passer, tired as the game progressed.
Ryan Giggs: Really poor, wasn't closing down enough and didn't exert control when on the ball
Antonio Valencia: Absolutely appalling, was very lucky not to walk, I counted a good 6 fouls from him, fortunately for him the ref gave him 3 or 4 before booking him. In attack he was as effective as a wet fish, he managed one cross the entire match and it was about 10 ft long.
Ji Sung Park: Not too bad, not as good as he was against Chelsea though. He closed down well and did very well against Messi in the first half, on the ball his control was frustrating.
Wayne Rooney: Had a great game considering, was always productive on the ball and scored a great goal.
Javier Hernandez: Not even poor, he just wasn't involved in the match at all. It was a mistake to start him and it was utter incompetence not to take him off.
Tactics:
Fergie claimed he would learn from 2 years ago, he really didn't. We didn't set ourselves up to play our game or to counter theres, we did a half way job and it wasn't good enough. We were 10v11 for most of the match because Hernandez wasn't involved, would have been much better to have an extra midfielder.
We also weren't pressing them at all, all our midfielders were standing off Xavi and Iniesta, even in the first half, why allow him that much time??
Messi was never marked, he should have had someone on him, I lost count of how many times he was given the ball without a United player within 6m of him.
Fergie's subs were absolutely baffling. He left good players behind to overload the bench with midfielders.....then didn't use them
After 50-60 mins Giggs, Carrick and Park were tiring, why didn't he bring on Fletcher and Anderson for some fresh legs? It was just stupid really, against a team like Barca where you are chasing the game you need to use your subs and Fergie just didn't. Nani should have come on earlier when it was clear how **** Valencia was playing, he did more in the first 5 mins and linked up well with Rooney. Scholes was just a weird sub, Anderson has been playing ten times better lately but was ignored completely.I mentioned in the transfer thread that Fergie's bias towards players is coming across more and more. Giggs was appalling tonight but he still wouldn't sub him, he brought on Scholes despite there being far better options available. Nani is one of our most talented players but was brought in far too late. He wouldn't take off Hernandez even though he must have touched the ball about 5 times over the entire match, why bring along Owen if you don't have the faith in him to give him a go?
And the most damning evidence of his bias was dropping Berbatov, if Owen wasn't going to be brought on then why leave behind our only other striker? Say what you want about scoring form, his experience, ability to hold up the ball and skill would have given us more possession than Hernandez's just running around offside doing nothing.
All I can say is that Wembley was AWESOME. Seats couldn't have been better if God hand picked them himself. Atmosphere was top notch and both sets of fans behaved exemplary. Ant & Dec was in the same hospitality suit (Gold Bar South) as us and really nice guys. Although, I wouldn't have recognised them had the girl I was with not pointed them out.
When Messi banged in the second goal I though the stadium was going to come down. The noise was ... wow. Barca's fans never stopped cheering and singing. The Mancs, apart from when Rooney scored, was pretty much dead quiet the whole game. Had a pair of binoculars with me and watched Guardiola perform quite a bit. Very animated at times. We left our actual seats around 10:30pm for the hospitality suit, close to an hour after final whistle and the Barca fans were still going full strength. All and all, a great night.
Now I've been told to expect tickets for next year's final in Munich too. Can get used to this you know
When Messi banged in the second goal I though the stadium was going to come down. The noise was ... wow. Barca's fans never stopped cheering and singing. The Mancs, apart from when Rooney scored, was pretty much dead quiet the whole game. Had a pair of binoculars with me and watched Guardiola perform quite a bit. Very animated at times. We left our actual seats around 10:30pm for the hospitality suit, close to an hour after final whistle and the Barca fans were still going full strength. All and all, a great night.
Now I've been told to expect tickets for next year's final in Munich too. Can get used to this you know
Caporegime
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Thats a fair summary from Shamikebab,
except id say that Evra got caught out a few times i mean pedro was surely his to mark right for the first one?
And even ill concede that carrick didnt look totally awful, when compared to the performances for Antonio 'Are you there' Valencia and 'OMG dont give me the ball' Park.
There is no slower and less skilled midfield in the top 4 than Giggs, Carrick, Valencia and Park. Even throwing Anderson for his 'mobility' and effort value could have worked at HT for giggs or hernandez and push giggs up a bit and stuff but oh well.
except id say that Evra got caught out a few times i mean pedro was surely his to mark right for the first one?
And even ill concede that carrick didnt look totally awful, when compared to the performances for Antonio 'Are you there' Valencia and 'OMG dont give me the ball' Park.
There is no slower and less skilled midfield in the top 4 than Giggs, Carrick, Valencia and Park. Even throwing Anderson for his 'mobility' and effort value could have worked at HT for giggs or hernandez and push giggs up a bit and stuff but oh well.
Caporegime
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Forgot to add a bit abour defending against Barca.
I can't help but feel a flat back four is wasted against them. They don't operate a striker in the normal sense and 90% of their play is just in front of the defence. I think it would be far better to have a back 3, with one roaming player who can move with their players. That way someone can go with Messi when he drops deep. Ferdinand and Vidic both played well but were just watching a lot of the game. I know doing something different would mean changing the basic nature of our play, but we can see that doing what we usually do just doesn't work. Barca play a good 5/6 players in midfield on the attack and a flat back four is not effective.
Essentially instead of:
x-----x------x-----x
----------x----------
Play a:
x---------x---------x
------x-------x------
Allowing two dedicated roamers to close down players when they drop deep.
I can't help but feel a flat back four is wasted against them. They don't operate a striker in the normal sense and 90% of their play is just in front of the defence. I think it would be far better to have a back 3, with one roaming player who can move with their players. That way someone can go with Messi when he drops deep. Ferdinand and Vidic both played well but were just watching a lot of the game. I know doing something different would mean changing the basic nature of our play, but we can see that doing what we usually do just doesn't work. Barca play a good 5/6 players in midfield on the attack and a flat back four is not effective.
Essentially instead of:
x-----x------x-----x
----------x----------
Play a:
x---------x---------x
------x-------x------
Allowing two dedicated roamers to close down players when they drop deep.
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Caporegime
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I was thinking the sane this morning really back 3 or 4 but its pretty risky to try if having never played that before. Maybe if Rio had been given option to push into the midfielder especially when we had the ball? Heck even pique was popping up in our box and we had 2 up.
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Caporegime
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Playing Hernandez backfired. Constantly offside and otherwise not in the game. And berbatov wasn't even on the bench!
Barring a fair bit of luck barca were always gonna win anyway though.
We always stick to what won the big quarter or semi. Like in 09, ronaldo up front beat arsenal so we tried it again against barca. Hernandez worked V's Chelsea so we tried it again.
Soldato
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To be honest I think you Man U fans just have to accept even Man u can and were beaten by a better side. Fantastic final for the neutral though
Soldato
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I thought Evra was our worst player last night by some distance, offered nothing in defence or attack and was constantly caught out of position. There was one moment at 2-1 where Alves waltzed in behind him and Evra didn't even react as the ball was played straight over his head to leave Alves 1v1 with Van der Sar. Suicidal defending and a pretty common feature of his performances this season.
Thanks.
Taken on my Canon G12. Someone earlier moaned about taking pictures, well at least a quarter of the crowd had a camera and most of the rest were using phones. You really can't blame people as it's a probably a once in a lifetime experience for many people.
It was a fantastic evening. Wembley is a fantastic venue, the seats, the view, the facilities and the sheer scale of the place. There was a great and very friendly atmosphere. I was in with a mix of fans, people chatted, took pictures, it could have been a BBQ party at home. The noise generated by the fans was just awesome. The Barcelona fans really did put the Man U lot to shame. You should hear them when they start singing and chanting. You would have thought there were at least 50,000 present and I can now understand why the Nou Camp is so daunting.
After the first ten minutes it looked like Man U were really going to make it a game but then as you saw Barca came into the game scored. Rooney’s goal lifted the home support but even then there was a horrible feeling that we hadn’t seen Barca start playing. We all know what happened in the second half. Barca were in a different league, their movement and positioning off the ball is something else. Barca were thoroughly deserved winners, the very best playing what looked like a very average if not sometimes mediocre side. I suppose that sums up this year’s premier league.
It was a special game, I will treasure the whole experience and maybe even try and get a ticket for another final.
Caporegime
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Most of the goals Barcelona have conceded this season have been from counter attacks so it wasn't really surprising to see Hernandez start the game. If Berbatov had started he would've slowed the game to a crawl allowing Barcelona time to get men behind the ball. Could've included him in the squad and brought him on midway through the second half but he's looked useless in this years competition and offers nothing as an impact sub.Playing Hernandez backfired. Constantly offside and otherwise not in the game. And berbatov wasn't even on the bench!
I'm guessing you aren't the sort of person that takes positives from a situation? Should I moan about how we got thrashed in the final and because of that we aren't worthy of being Premier League Champions?
That was no diss to Liverpool, we broke the record of being most successful club in our domestic league, given that at the start of the season I did not expect us to do it I am happy with just winning that.
I'm guessing you aren't the sort of person that takes positives from a situation? Should I moan about how we got thrashed in the final and because of that we aren't worthy of being Premier League Champions?
Caporegime
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When you try to play the one two off park it just wont work because park is so poor in control and in passing the ball which didn't help evra going forward. Defensively I think he was tryibg to do too much and got caught out a lot.
Unlucky Utd....cant say im surprised at the scoreline...didnt think Utd had enough to beat Barca.
Fan bloody tastic result for Barca...2nd time in 3 yrs they have beaten Utd...sublime performance by Barca and Messi in particular, running rings around Utd like he did in 2009...simply the best thats what Barca are.
Better luck next yr Utd....did well enough to get to the final of the CL.
Fan bloody tastic result for Barca...2nd time in 3 yrs they have beaten Utd...sublime performance by Barca and Messi in particular, running rings around Utd like he did in 2009...simply the best thats what Barca are.
Better luck next yr Utd....did well enough to get to the final of the CL.
Soldato
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Every single time Barca were on the edge of our area Evra would get sucked in to the middle leaving Pedro/Alves completely on their own, as you saw for the first goal. It's amazing that he didn't realise this at one point in the 90 minutes and hold his position on the left.
So true, he was turd.