English & European Football [24th - 29th Apr 2010] spoilers

SS-89 · 29 Apr 2010 at 11:04

Tummy said:
"Great tactical game"

Wasn't just defending! See Inter did attack

What the hell did you expect? they played with 10 men for the vast majority of the game :rolleyes:

against one of the best attacking sides in the game. Barcelona didn't put up a fight until the last 10 minutes of the game so they only have themselves to blame (I agree it was a poor decision for the handball though). I'd like to see you manage inter in that situation and tell them with 10 men and a 2 goal aggregate lead to go on the attack...lol

Far too many barcelona lovers in this thread (I agree they're an awesome side to watch) but the fact of the matter is, against a 10 man inter they couldn't break them down because they didn't play the football they usually do. I'm sure there are plenty of times in la liga that teams have set out their stall to defend, so what was different about this game?

FrankJH · 29 Apr 2010 at 11:13

jakeke said:
Awful game. Hate to see football played like that. It's a game, it's supposed to be entertaining. Instead Inter **** their pants on the way there and played with 11 (or 10) in their own half for the entire game. Not football.

Totally agree - but imagine Arsenal in the same boat, going there with a 3-1 lead , I bet AW would TRY to implement the same tactics (Im pretty sure SAF would as shown three seasons ago)

SS-89 said:
What the hell did you expect? they played with 10 men for the vast majority of the game against one of the best attacking sides in the game. Barcelona didn't put up a fight until the last 10 minutes of the game so they only have themselves to blame (I agree it was a poor decision for the handball though). I'd like to see you manage inter in that situation and tell them with 10 men and a 2 goal aggregate lead to go on the attack...lol

Far too many barcelona lovers in this thread (I agree they're an awesome side to watch) but the fact of the matter is, against a 10 man inter they couldn't break them down because they didn't play the football they usually do. I'm sure there are plenty of times in la liga that teams have set out their stall to defend, so what was different about this game?

I would TOTALLY agree with you if Barca hadnt scored a 2nd legitimate goal though

DanH84 · 29 Apr 2010 at 11:14

he probably wouldn't, which might be part of the reason it's been a few years without a trophy.

mmj_uk · 29 Apr 2010 at 11:16

Raymond Lin said:
Put it this way.

If you are in Mourinho's shoes.

3-1 up, 10 men to play in the Nou Camp for more than an hour.

What would you do?

3-4-2 so that Barca can bang 5 in, obviously.

Once Inter went down to 10 men they had no other option but to park the bus, the sending off could have worked against Barca in the end.

SS-89 · 29 Apr 2010 at 11:17

FrankJH said:
Totally agree - but imagine Arsenal in the same boat, going there with a 3-1 lead , I bet AW would TRY to implement the same tactics (Im pretty sure SAF would as shown three seasons ago)

Spot on! It would be nice to have a free flowing game but no top manager in their right mind with that lead going to the nou camp would go out and attack, let alone with 10 men. Barcelona had 76% possession in total, and aside from the goal and messi's earlier shot didn't look threatening at all. This is supposed to be the best attacking side in the world right? Then why were they not able to score against 10 men? It was a stark contrast to the arsenal game where they tore them apart...

But I do agree that they had a legitimate goal ruled out...taste of their own medicine maybe? they've had more than their fair share of luck in the Champions League over the years.

Bucket · 29 Apr 2010 at 11:38

Just to say about this next weekend coming up - if Liverpool lose to Chelsea 'on purpose' as many fans wish them to - then they are putting 7th place in risk.

Everton have Stoke & Portsmouth - if they win both they are on 63.
If Liverpool lose then they need to draw with Hull.

Yeah - I can't see it happening, but an interesting look on it.

jakeke · 29 Apr 2010 at 11:39

Arsenal would never try to defend imo because they simply don't know how. Arsenal's best form of defence is to try and score. If Arsenal tried to do what Inter did last night it would fail big time.

People say they had 10 men, it's all they could do, but before the sending off Inter were playing exactly the same. They were terrible with the ball at their feet, they literally couldn't keep it. That to me highlights a lack of footballing ability in comparison to Barca. when one team has 10~ passes to your 1 you know you're massively inferior imo. The reason Inter defended is because they weren't good enough to do anything other.

goonerfan · 29 Apr 2010 at 11:45

Tummy said:
I think Mourinho is a good manager, I don't like the ****fest (Richard Keys is in love with him) that seems to follow him about. I do enjoy some of the things he comes out with.

I did absolutely **** myself laughing at his celebrations at the final whistle. Utterly hilarious.

jakeke · 29 Apr 2010 at 11:48

What did Mourinho do at full time? Didn't see

SS-89 · 29 Apr 2010 at 11:48

jakeke said:
Arsenal would never try to defend imo because they simply don't know how. Arsenal's best form of defence is to try and score. If Arsenal tried to do what Inter did last night it would fail big time.

People say they had 10 men, it's all they could do, but before the sending off Inter were playing exactly the same. They were terrible with the ball at their feet, they literally couldn't keep it. That to me highlights a lack of footballing ability in comparison to Barca. when one team has 10~ passes to your 1 you know you're massively inferior imo. The reason Inter defended is because they weren't good enough to do anything other.

No **** sherlock it's obvious to everyone here that Inter are an inferior side to barca when it comes to attacking...with 10 men even more so. The point is that barcelona had 76% of all possession and 555 completed passes and managed only 4 clear chances all game (including the goal and handball goal). What use were all those completed passes when the majority were happening in front of the inter defence and when it came to actually delivering a good pass or cross into the box it failed. The second disallowed goal was a result of a ricochet after lucio tried to clear not from an incisive pass or cross.

mmj_uk · 29 Apr 2010 at 11:59

jakeke said:
What did Mourinho do at full time? Didn't see

He ran onto the pitch doing an aeroplane towards the Inter fans.

jakeke · 29 Apr 2010 at 12:01

SS-89 said:
No **** sherlock it's obvious to everyone here that Inter are an inferior side to barca when it comes to attacking...with 10 men even more so. The point is that barcelona had 76% of all possession and 555 completed passes and managed only 4 clear chances all game (including the goal and handball goal). What use were all those completed passes when the majority were happening in front of the inter defence and when it came to actually delivering a good pass or cross into the box it failed. The second disallowed goal was a result of a ricochet after lucio tried to clear not from an incisive pass or cross.

It's nearly impossible to break down a team with 10 defenders, Chelsea did the same last season. That said Barca had 3 or 4 goal scoring chances, and actually scored 2 legit goals ..

The annoying thing is that the best football side won't be in the CL final due to poor officials and awful football from Inter. It's a shame.

SS-89 · 29 Apr 2010 at 12:04

jakeke said:
It's nearly impossible to break down a team with 10 defenders, Chelsea did the same last season. That said Barca had 3 or 4 goal scoring chances, and actually scored 2 legit goals ..

The annoying thing is that the best football side won't be in the CL final.

It shouldn't be impossible for a side with the array of attacking talent of barcelona. Last season we had 9 attempts on goal, just as many as barcelona with 4 on target, compared to barcelonas 1 on target. Barcelona are excellent at retaining possession so even if you want to go out and attack it's extremely hard to get the ball and play.

jakeke · 29 Apr 2010 at 12:06

SS-89 said:
It shouldn't be impossible for a side with the array of attacking talent of barcelona. Last season we had 9 attempts on goal, just as many as barcelona with 4 on target, compared to barcelonas 1 on target. Barcelona are excellent at retaining possession so even if you want to go out and attack it's extremely hard to get the ball and play.

It is though, defending is much easier than attacking in that scenario. It's easy to stifle the space, run sideways and then smash the ball away every time you can. Yes it takes organisation and willpower, but it's definitely easier than trying to attack. Nobody would have broken Inter down last night. Barca are possibly the best team in football history and they couldn't, the simple fact is that it'll always be easier to defend than attack, that's why most defenders are crap at football (besides Pique

!)

SS-89 · 29 Apr 2010 at 12:10

jakeke said:
It is though, defending is much easier than attacking in that scenario. It's easy to stifle the space, run sideways and then smash the ball away every time you can. Yes it takes organisation and willpower, but it's definitely easier than trying to attack. Nobody would have broken Inter down last night. Barca are possibly the best team in football history and they couldn't, the simple fact is that it'll always be easier to defend than attack, that's why most defenders are crap at football (besides Pique !)

I agree with you on that point but Inter had no choice given the fact they were down to 10 men and were really poor at retaining possession. Unless people have developed fortune-telling abilities all of a sudden, I don't see how anyone can predict how the tie would have turned out 11v11. Like someone said earlier the red card probably worked against barca in the grander scheme of things.

jakeke · 29 Apr 2010 at 12:22

Inter did the same before the red though, their game plan never altered

KNiVES · 29 Apr 2010 at 12:32

I would say that with the red card, Inter effectively turtled. I don't think they wanted to risk attacking with 10 men - so they elected to defend the scoreline. I don't think anyone can really blame them. They did what was required of them to reach the final, and that's the end of that really.

jakeke said:
Inter did the same before the red though, their game plan never altered

That's not strictly true, before the red they were making more attempts at attacking, but after that red they knew they had to hold onto the scoreline.

SS-89 · 29 Apr 2010 at 12:33

jakeke said:
Inter did the same before the red though, their game plan never altered

They started poorly, the front line weren't retaining the ball and the midfield were sloppy. Who's to say with 11v11 that they suddenly wouldn't find their rhythm in the second half? The point is nobody can say for certain. Inter aren't a bad side, they may not be anywhere near as technically gifted as Barca but they proved last week that they are capable of attacking and scoring.

KNiVES said:
I would say that with the red card, Inter effectively turtled. I don't think they wanted to risk attacking with 10 men - so they elected to defend the scoreline. I don't think anyone can really blame them. They did what was required of them to reach the final, and that's the end of that really.

+100000000

jakeke · 29 Apr 2010 at 12:37

Impossible to say whether Inter would have found the ability to control and pass with 11 on the field, but they certainly weren't before the red, they couldn't string 2 or 3 passes together with 11 men

guyfawkes5 · 29 Apr 2010 at 12:37

jakeke said:
Inter did the same before the red though, their game plan never altered

If that was true, then why were Sneijder, Milito and Eto'o on the pitch at all then, instead of more centre-backs and defensive midfielders. :rolleyes:

Inter played a counter-attacking game as they had done in the previous leg before the sending off.

English & European Football [24th - 29th Apr 2010] **spoilers**

English & European Football [24th - 29th Apr 2010] spoilers