UEFA Champions League/Europa League 7/8/9 March * Spoilers *

omnomnom · 9 Mar 2017 at 06:37

LOL This thread sometimes.

Clear contact on Suarez for the penalty, any other player and people dont make a massive deal of it. The defenders knee goes into him. He goes down softly but then players do every week, perhaps he shouldn't be all over him.

This wasn't Barca cheating, this was PSG bottling it.

jonneymendoza · 9 Mar 2017 at 07:34

Who bottled it more? Arsenal or psg?

Maundie · 9 Mar 2017 at 07:53

I would have to say PSG as Arsenal were never in control of the tie, all PSG had to do was play a sensible game and they bottled it twice especially after they scored the goal in the 61st minute

omnomnom · 9 Mar 2017 at 08:03

Oh PSG for sure. To concede three goals in the last what 10 minutes, albeit one a debatable penalty, takes bottling to the next level.

fez · 9 Mar 2017 at 09:06

Maundie said:
May as well turn it off now, last 3 breaks in the play and PSG players have gone down 'injured', problem is that if Barca were winning they'd be doing the same and that's why we should have independent time keepers stopping the clock at every break in play.

This is what I did and missed the finish to one of the greatest come backs of all time. I'm blaming you

Maundie · 9 Mar 2017 at 10:17

fez said:
This is what I did and missed the finish to one of the greatest come backs of all time. I'm blaming you

Sorry

drunkenmaster · 9 Mar 2017 at 12:36

omnomnom said:
LOL This thread sometimes.

Clear contact on Suarez for the penalty, any other player and people dont make a massive deal of it. The defenders knee goes into him. He goes down softly but then players do every week, perhaps he shouldn't be all over him.

This wasn't Barca cheating, this was PSG bottling it.

You do realise Suarez dived on multiple other occasions, just the ref only decided to yellow card him for one, that one was his second clear dive in the penalty box, he shouldn't have been on the pitch after the 60th minute or so.

Neymar kept diving, there were other dives. Mascherano has literally admitted he fouled Di Maria in the box which should have been a penalty and a red card... yes they did cheat. PSG were bad, but that doesn't preclude that Barca cheated their way to victory because they absolutely did.

this_is_gav · 9 Mar 2017 at 12:51

I'm not even sure the first was a penalty. I only saw the last replay (I was on the throne when it was awarded) but it looked like Neymar just ran into the guy's head from that one replay.

FrankJH · 9 Mar 2017 at 13:59

Maundie said:
I would have to say PSG as Arsenal were never in control of the tie, all PSG had to do was play a sensible game and they bottled it twice especially after they scored the goal in the 61st minute

Agree totally, I think PSG bottled it - and always thought they would.

PSG had a fabulous game a few weeks ago - full respect to them, but they really arent that great a team. Barca had a very off night admittedly, but cant blame PSG for that - they took their opportunity and went with it.

Last night however - completely the opposite, and PSG could have done better in controlling the game and failed dismally.

Bassmansam · 9 Mar 2017 at 14:33

What an incredible manegerial performance from Enrique to get get his team to win from a 4 0 defecit. He is one of the best managers ever.

ThestigGT999 · 9 Mar 2017 at 15:02

Bassmansam said:
What an incredible manegerial performance from Enrique to get get his team to win from a 4 0 defecit. He is one of the best managers ever.

lol

Bassmansam · 9 Mar 2017 at 15:59

ThestigGT999 said:
lol

Errrgh the media emphasis on managers annoys me so much, i really don't understand it, its about the players you have at your disposal!!

ThestigGT999 · 9 Mar 2017 at 16:20

Bassmansam said:
Errrgh the media emphasis on managers annoys me so much, i really don't understand it, its about the players you have at your disposal!!

true tho you could say how they are used

BaZ87 · 9 Mar 2017 at 16:31

Bassmansam said:
Errrgh the media emphasis on managers annoys me so much, i really don't understand it, its about the players you have at your disposal!!

How do you explain the difference in performance from players when playing under different managers then?

Bassmansam · 9 Mar 2017 at 16:34

BaZ87 said:
How do you explain the difference in performance from players when playing under different managers then?

There may be the odd exception where players down tools for certain managers such as Ranieri this season or Mourinho at Chelsea last season, but generally i don't agree with the idea of "good" managers.

BaZ87 · 9 Mar 2017 at 16:50

I think that view is bonkers. When the very best teams are playing each other and there's little to nothing in difference in terms of quality of player, the way they're motivated and tactically set up is massive.

It's not just players downing tools for managers but the systems and positions they're played in. Take Lallana as a quick example - playing for Klopp in a midfield role he looks 100x the player he was for Rodgers when he played in the front 3.

Bassmansam · 9 Mar 2017 at 17:29

BaZ87 said:
I think that view is bonkers. When the very best teams are playing each other and there's little to nothing in difference in terms of quality of player, the way they're motivated and tactically set up is massive.

It's not just players downing tools for managers but the systems and positions they're played in. Take Lallana as a quick example - playing for Klopp in a midfield role he looks 100x the player he was for Rodgers when he played in the front 3.

How do you credit that to the manager? Could just be his natural development and hitting his peak years.

BaZ87 · 9 Mar 2017 at 17:42

Bassmansam said:
How do you credit that to the manager? Could just be his natural development and hitting his peak years.

How do you credit the manager with changing the system and position a player plays in to get the best out of him?

Had Lallana been 17 and not played better at Southampton than he did under Rodgers then maybe you've got a point but it's clear as day that Lallana's up turn in performance at Liverpool are directly linked to Klopp.

fez · 9 Mar 2017 at 17:53

Bassmansam said:
There may be the odd exception where players down tools for certain managers such as Ranieri this season or Mourinho at Chelsea last season, but generally i don't agree with the idea of "good" managers.

So you think that the clubs paying their managers millions of pounds a year are doing so for ***** and giggles. In a sport worth billions you think that the value of changing or keeping a manager is not a massive consideration.

Who decides what style the team plays, who motivates the players, changes tactics when the game isn't going to plan, figures out the other teams weaknesses and how to exploit them? How do you keep the egos in check, make sure players get on or at least don't negatively effect the team etc. Ultimately the manager is responsible for a huge amount related to the team. The players are the people that execute the plan and ultimately decide the results on the pitch but in a game with fine margins the manager can make a massive difference.

fez · 9 Mar 2017 at 18:05

That does look like a sucky pitch. Just hope we don't get any injuries to Pogba, Ibra or Mkhitaryan

Rostov also look like they are going to beat the crap out of our players at every opportunity.

UEFA Champions League/Europa League 7/8/9 March *** Spoilers ***

UEFA Champions League/Europa League 7/8/9 March * Spoilers *