CL Round of 16 - Spurs vs. Milan match thread

Glad Spurs got through although you can see now why T/S has been driven to distraction by Crouch ruining a potentially very good team. Gallas and Sandro were immense.

Milan played some great stuff to watch but the front three really do not earn their money do they

Good match despite the lack of goals

Hlebagone wrote:

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:EPL teams are anti football

Good god you're boring.

Spurs didn't park the bus...Milan just weren't good enough to exert any real pressure.

They exerted pressure all game. Just Robinho/Pato wasted their chances.

really good game IMO.

Seedorf MOTM.

Very impressed with Milan - I didn't think they'd lose, I thought they'd get hammered.

Tyldesley mocked Seedorf's claim that Flamini learnt to tackle the way he does in EPL by pointing out that an Italian who retired about 25 years ago used to do some tough tackles.

De Jong incidents are rarer in Serie A and usually punished.

If anyone has ever seen a less intelligent footballer than Crouch then let me know.

Load of shite again but, excellent Serie A approach from Spurs!!! And it pays off! Milan...ffs..Seedorf was their best player, says it all. You can say Spurs were negative, but Milan has 7 goals this campaign. Just not good enough.

Still a tremendous milestone in the history of Spurs, you just know they will lift that cup in Wembley. And they deserve it!

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:

Hlebagone wrote:

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:EPL teams are anti football

Good god you're boring.

Spurs didn't park the bus...Milan just weren't good enough to exert any real pressure.

They exerted pressure all game. Just Robinho/Pato wasted their chances.

51% possession. Wow. Sure they were the more attacking team, and I thought they could've drawn level before half time. But in the second half, they really did very little. Spurs were fine.

Pierre Littbarski wrote:really good game IMO.

Seedorf MOTM.

Very impressed with Milan - I didn't think they'd lose, I thought they'd get hammered.

Tyldesley mocked Seedorf's claim that Flamini learnt to tackle the way he does in EPL by pointing out that an Italian who retired about 25 years ago used to do some tough tackles.

De Jong incidents are rarer in Serie A and usually punished.

If anyone has ever seen a less intelligent footballer than Crouch then let me know.

Thought Pato had some shocking decision making tonight - trying to dribble in the centre of the pitch, surrounded by Tottenham players and taking on an impossible shot.

Pierre Littbarski wrote:really good game IMO.

Seedorf MOTM.

Very impressed with Milan - I didn't think they'd lose, I thought they'd get hammered.

Tyldesley mocked Seedorf's claim that Flamini learnt to tackle the way he does in EPL by pointing out that an Italian who retired about 25 years ago used to do some tough tackles.

De Jong incidents are rarer in Serie A and usually punished.

If anyone has ever seen a less intelligent footballer than Crouch then let me know.

Pato and Robinho for starters.

stinger wrote:



Pato and Robinho for starters.

Both played and moved the ball very well tonight but lacked finishing

Ridiculous to compare them to Crouch really

Nani

Hlebagone wrote:

Pierre Littbarski wrote:really good game IMO.

Seedorf MOTM.

Very impressed with Milan - I didn't think they'd lose, I thought they'd get hammered.

Tyldesley mocked Seedorf's claim that Flamini learnt to tackle the way he does in EPL by pointing out that an Italian who retired about 25 years ago used to do some tough tackles.

De Jong incidents are rarer in Serie A and usually punished.

If anyone has ever seen a less intelligent footballer than Crouch then let me know.

Thought Pato had some shocking decision making tonight - trying to dribble in the centre of the pitch, surrounded by Tottenham players and taking on an impossible shot.

He was poor.

Robinho has great close control - if he could strike a ball he'd be great.

I thought Sandro had a very ropey 1st half hour or so but good after.

VDV and Modric not really in it, Lennon didn't do much.

Gomes

Spurs deserve to go through for the 1st leg result, Chelsea will join them but United will go out.

Hlebagone wrote:

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:

Hlebagone wrote:

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:EPL teams are anti football

Good god you're boring.

Spurs didn't park the bus...Milan just weren't good enough to exert any real pressure.

They exerted pressure all game. Just Robinho/Pato wasted their chances.

51% possession. Wow. Sure they were the more attacking team, and I thought they could've drawn level before half time. But in the second half, they really did very little. Spurs were fine.

Milan had 58% possession (http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/matches/season=2011/round=2000119/match=2003762/postmatch/statistics/index.html).

They created enough clear cut chances to have won the game. Like i said, poor finishing cost them.

Pato makes some great runs though and Robinho just lacks the final touch - no way as brainless as Crouch.

I'm no fan of Toni but when he is on form he wins free-kicks all day long - Crouch with a similar physique does nothing but give them away, totally brainless.

If he can't make the most of his physique then he is pointless.

Why do you incessantly rabbit this 'anti football' nonsense Bobo ?

Can't one team just outperform the other without you wheeling out a silly tag for it

COTR wrote:

stinger wrote:



Pato and Robinho for starters.

Both played and moved the ball very well tonight but lacked finishing

Ridiculous to compare them to Crouch really

I know they are better players than Crouch and were more dangerous tonight, but Pato many times made poor decision on the pitch, so why it's Crouch intelligence being pointed out and not his?

Pierre Littbarski wrote:Pato makes some great runs though and Robinho just lacks the final touch - no way as brainless as Crouch.

I'm no fan of Toni but when he is on form he wins free-kicks all day long - Crouch with a similar physique does nothing but give them away, totally brainless.

If he can't make the most of his physique then he is pointless.

They don't have a similar physique, they have similar height, but Toni is/was a beast physically, Crouch is just very tall. Comparing them to basketball - Toni is/was Shaquille O'Neal, Crouch is Rik Smits. It doesn't mean Smits was brainless though...

COTR wrote:Why do you incessantly rabbit this 'anti football' nonsense Bobo ?

Can't one team just outperform the other without you wheeling out a silly tag for it

Are you going to claim that Spurs wanted to play beautiful attacking football tonight?

Well, we had our chances and considering the team we had available I'm quite pleased with the performance - overall over two legs I believe either team could have gone through. Congrats to the Spurs for two good performances.

Now all those ignorant media dumbasses regurgitating the same old bullshit "Milan are old, slow, in decline, yadda yadda yadda" - I'll be laughing my ass out in the coming years.

The fact of the matter is that over ONE single season our squad has been upgraded both in quality and quantity (with players like Cassano, Ibra, Robinho, Boateng, Van Bommel, Sokratis, Emanuelson, etc) and is basically being renewed (players like Silva, Pato, Abate, Flams, Boateng, Emanuelson, Sokratis, Robinho, Cassano, Merkel, Strasser all in their mid or early 20s).

Now, if we go by the constant press reports that there is indeed a project in place and that rebuilding will continue this summer, then I would assume that the main problem areas we have at FB and midfield will be addressed. Allegri is a great coach, I hope he stays for a long time as I'm pretty certain he can win a bunch of titles as soon as the rebuilding is complete.

stinger wrote:

COTR wrote:

stinger wrote:



Pato and Robinho for starters.

Both played and moved the ball very well tonight but lacked finishing

Ridiculous to compare them to Crouch really

I know they are better players than Crouch and were more dangerous tonight, but Pato many times made poor decision on the pitch, so why it's Crouch intelligence being pointed out and not his?

As I pointed out, Pato makes intelligent runs and then makes a poor decision (that will improve with age, still 21).

Crouch is retarded and can hardly use a lack of experience as an excuse.

Murray wrote:God that was dull.

I really hate that negative, pussy, anti football that Spurs played tonight, it is killing the game.

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:EPL teams are anti football

Hey Bobo, I enjoyed the anti football we played when we thrashed your lot here 3-1

Murray - Milan were simply much better than us on the night. We weren't playing pussy football, we simply didn't click and couldn't keep the ball in midfield/upfront. Look at Modric's performance to sum us up. It's a rarity. Factor in that Milan has nothing to lose and they were by far the better team. That we survived is a credit to our defence and resolve.

But, we didn't play pussy football at the San Siro, or neither in any of the qualifying games. Infact, we're the first team in CL history to have scored 2 or more goals in the group stages.

So if anyone wants to seriously accuse us of being an anti-footballing side - they can, frankly, suck my balls



All credit to Milan - I said in the first game that wasn't the real Milan. They were fabulous in the first half. We got battered, but we're through.

And the atmosphere: 'triffic

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:

Hlebagone wrote:

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:

Hlebagone wrote:

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:EPL teams are anti football

Good god you're boring.

Spurs didn't park the bus...Milan just weren't good enough to exert any real pressure.

They exerted pressure all game. Just Robinho/Pato wasted their chances.

51% possession. Wow. Sure they were the more attacking team, and I thought they could've drawn level before half time. But in the second half, they really did very little. Spurs were fine.

Milan had 58% possession (http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/matches/season=2011/round=2000119/match=2003762/postmatch/statistics/index.html).

They created enough clear cut chances to have won the game. Like i said, poor finishing cost them.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/9417468.stm

Just depends how you calculate.
What you're saying basically, is that if Milan were better at football, they would have won. I agree. Unfortunately, Spurs were better at football and consequently won.

The amount of times Milan launched attacks in the second half that didn't get anywhere - it wasnt a backs to the wall performance from spurs nor parking the bus, it was a controlled defensive performance.

Noah and the Bale wrote:
And the atmosphere: 'triffic

Luckily ITV managed to sort out their faulty sound equipment just in time for us to hear the last 2 minutes of it


*Sorry Glenn

Pierre Littbarski wrote:

stinger wrote:

COTR wrote:

stinger wrote:



Pato and Robinho for starters.

Both played and moved the ball very well tonight but lacked finishing

Ridiculous to compare them to Crouch really

I know they are better players than Crouch and were more dangerous tonight, but Pato many times made poor decision on the pitch, so why it's Crouch intelligence being pointed out and not his?

As I pointed out, Pato makes intelligent runs and then makes a poor decision (that will improve with age, still 21).

Crouch is retarded and can hardly use a lack of experience as an excuse.

I can call you idiot as well, but wouldn't it look better if I at least would try to explain that?

Not really comfortable in defending Crouch, as he's way from my favourite type of players, just don't see this lack of intelligence you mentioned. He is tall, but his physique doesn't allow him to overpower defenders who (if they are smart) are putting their hands on his body (not making any effort to compete with him for headers), don't see how is this relevant to his intelligence, especially when he's trying to play to only strength he has. What should he do differently to not be called as "retarded"?

Re intelligence/decision making:

As Pierre said, Pato makes great off ball runs. However his decision making is indeed quite bad, he often picks the wrong pass or just tries to force his way through players.

Robinho has much better decision making but his finishing really really sucks. I lost count of the sitters he has missed during this season.

Basically, at this point, (a fully fit) Cassano is better than both of them.

Hlebagone wrote:

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:

Hlebagone wrote:

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:

Hlebagone wrote:

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:EPL teams are anti football

Good god you're boring.

Spurs didn't park the bus...Milan just weren't good enough to exert any real pressure.

They exerted pressure all game. Just Robinho/Pato wasted their chances.

51% possession. Wow. Sure they were the more attacking team, and I thought they could've drawn level before half time. But in the second half, they really did very little. Spurs were fine.

Milan had 58% possession (http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/matches/season=2011/round=2000119/match=2003762/postmatch/statistics/index.html).

They created enough clear cut chances to have won the game. Like i said, poor finishing cost them.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/9417468.stm

Just depends how you calculate.
What you're saying basically, is that if Milan were better at football, they would have won. I agree. Unfortunately, Spurs were better at football and consequently won.

The amount of times Milan launched attacks in the second half that didn't get anywhere - it wasnt a backs to the wall performance from spurs nor parking the bus, it was a controlled defensive performance.

I'll go with the official UEFA figures rather than some biased British news site

You can call it a controlled defensive performance if it makes you happy. It was still shit on a stick anti football, similar to what Arsenal did last night.

Pierre Littbarski wrote:

stinger wrote:

COTR wrote:

stinger wrote:



Pato and Robinho for starters.

Both played and moved the ball very well tonight but lacked finishing

Ridiculous to compare them to Crouch really

I know they are better players than Crouch and were more dangerous tonight, but Pato many times made poor decision on the pitch, so why it's Crouch intelligence being pointed out and not his?

As I pointed out, Pato makes intelligent runs and then makes a poor decision (that will improve with age, still 21).

Crouch is retarded and can hardly use a lack of experience as an excuse.

Pato made Dawson look a right donkey tonight eh Pierre.

Oh wait, no he didn't. Infact, Dawson was again superb, just as in the first leg.

What. A. donkey - he's really embarrassed himself in the CL this season, just as you predicted

***Got to love them agendas***

stinger wrote:

Pierre Littbarski wrote:

stinger wrote:

COTR wrote:

stinger wrote:



Pato and Robinho for starters.

Both played and moved the ball very well tonight but lacked finishing

Ridiculous to compare them to Crouch really

I know they are better players than Crouch and were more dangerous tonight, but Pato many times made poor decision on the pitch, so why it's Crouch intelligence being pointed out and not his?

As I pointed out, Pato makes intelligent runs and then makes a poor decision (that will improve with age, still 21).

Crouch is retarded and can hardly use a lack of experience as an excuse.

I can call you idiot as well, but wouldn't it look better if I at least would try to explain that?

Not really comfortable in defending Crouch, as he's way from my favourite type of players, just don't see this lack of intelligence you mentioned. He is tall, but his physique doesn't allow him to overpower defenders who (if they are smart) are putting their hands on his body (not making any effort to compete with him for headers), don't see how is this relevant to his intelligence. What should he do differently to not be called as "retarded"?

Because he has been playing football long enough, surely, to find a way of winning a header without draping his arms around a defender's neck.

I can't make it clearer than that.

Noah and the Bale wrote:

Pierre Littbarski wrote:

stinger wrote:

COTR wrote:

stinger wrote:



Pato and Robinho for starters.

Both played and moved the ball very well tonight but lacked finishing

Ridiculous to compare them to Crouch really

I know they are better players than Crouch and were more dangerous tonight, but Pato many times made poor decision on the pitch, so why it's Crouch intelligence being pointed out and not his?

As I pointed out, Pato makes intelligent runs and then makes a poor decision (that will improve with age, still 21).

Crouch is retarded and can hardly use a lack of experience as an excuse.

Pato made Dawson look a right donkey tonight eh Pierre.

Oh wait, no he didn't. Infact, Dawson was again superb, just as in the first leg.

What. A. donkey - he's really embarrassed himself in the CL this season, just as you predicted

***Got to love them agendas***

Haven't you just

He was the 4th best CB on the pitch out of erm... 4.

He didn't make any massive errors but its the easiest type of game to play for a CB - constantly busy but with everything taking place in front of rather than behind you.

Playing Ibra in CL KO stages is pretty much a night off anyway for a half decent CB.

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:

Hlebagone wrote:

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:

Hlebagone wrote:

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:

Hlebagone wrote:

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:EPL teams are anti football

Good god you're boring.

Spurs didn't park the bus...Milan just weren't good enough to exert any real pressure.

They exerted pressure all game. Just Robinho/Pato wasted their chances.

51% possession. Wow. Sure they were the more attacking team, and I thought they could've drawn level before half time. But in the second half, they really did very little. Spurs were fine.

Milan had 58% possession (http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/matches/season=2011/round=2000119/match=2003762/postmatch/statistics/index.html).

They created enough clear cut chances to have won the game. Like i said, poor finishing cost them.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/9417468.stm

Just depends how you calculate.
What you're saying basically, is that if Milan were better at football, they would have won. I agree. Unfortunately, Spurs were better at football and consequently won.

The amount of times Milan launched attacks in the second half that didn't get anywhere - it wasnt a backs to the wall performance from spurs nor parking the bus, it was a controlled defensive performance.

I'll go with the official UEFA figures rather than some biased British news site

You can call it a controlled defensive performance if it makes you happy. It was still shit on a stick anti football, similar to what Arsenal did last night.

Whatever, try and take the high ground. I'll go with the 58% for the sake of it - look at the the context though. A team chasing a lead for all the game, jeez, i'd expect 58% possession at least.
Milan exerted nothing like the dominance Barca did yesterday, and you seem to have forgotten the first half of the first leg when Tottenham dominated Milan. No one called it shit on the stick football then because it's not. Merely one team dominating the other due to some reason.

Well, to be honest, half of those fouls called against Crouch were unfair. Yes, he uses his hands, but the way the Milan players were positioning themselves he couldn't do much.
And his main problem is that: White Men Can't Jump.

Pierre Littbarski wrote:

stinger wrote:

Pierre Littbarski wrote:

stinger wrote:

COTR wrote:

stinger wrote:



Pato and Robinho for starters.

Both played and moved the ball very well tonight but lacked finishing

Ridiculous to compare them to Crouch really

I know they are better players than Crouch and were more dangerous tonight, but Pato many times made poor decision on the pitch, so why it's Crouch intelligence being pointed out and not his?

As I pointed out, Pato makes intelligent runs and then makes a poor decision (that will improve with age, still 21).

Crouch is retarded and can hardly use a lack of experience as an excuse.

I can call you idiot as well, but wouldn't it look better if I at least would try to explain that?

Not really comfortable in defending Crouch, as he's way from my favourite type of players, just don't see this lack of intelligence you mentioned. He is tall, but his physique doesn't allow him to overpower defenders who (if they are smart) are putting their hands on his body (not making any effort to compete with him for headers), don't see how is this relevant to his intelligence. What should he do differently to not be called as "retarded"?

Because he has been playing football long enough, surely, to find a way of winning a header without draping his arms around a defender's neck.

I can't make it clearer than that.

It's quite difficult when defender is not making any attempts to go for the ball, instead trying basically to go under Crouch. It's similar issue to what Fellaini is aften having and he has similar physique to Crouch. I guess they lack lower body strentgh to help them establish better position when going for a header.