CL Round of 16 - Spurs vs. Milan match thread

Congrats Spurs--fully deserved. On the balance of the two legs, if Milan were to make it through, it wouldn't be robbery.

I thought Tottenham played very intelligently, apart from some lapses that allowed Abate, whom I thought played very well, to cause issues.

A good tie, which was ultimately decided by one single mis-tackle by Yepes (should have really gone for it and gotten the red).

Forza Italia!Forza Milan! wrote:Congrats Spurs--fully deserved. On the balance of the two legs, if Milan were to make it through, it wouldn't be robbery.

I thought Tottenham played very intelligently, apart from some lapses that allowed Abate, whom I thought played very well, to cause issues.

A good tie, which was ultimately decided by one single mis-tackle by Yepes (should have really gone for it and gotten the red).

Fair assessment. Although I wouldn't say we played intelligently in the first half. We were just shit - not sure whether to attack or defend, a psychological effect of having a 1-0 lead. You guys came our like we did in the first leg at Milan, we little fear, and pressurised us into mistakes / panicking.

Very fine margin, but I'd say we deserve to be in the next round based on our entire CL season to date as opposed to this tie on it's own. It does show we can defend though, which is a nice bonus

Noah and the Bale wrote:

Forza Italia!Forza Milan! wrote:Congrats Spurs--fully deserved. On the balance of the two legs, if Milan were to make it through, it wouldn't be robbery.

I thought Tottenham played very intelligently, apart from some lapses that allowed Abate, whom I thought played very well, to cause issues.

A good tie, which was ultimately decided by one single mis-tackle by Yepes (should have really gone for it and gotten the red).

Fair assessment. Although I wouldn't say we played intelligently in the first half. We were just shit - not sure whether to attack or defend, a psychological effect of having a 1-0 lead. You guys came our like we did in the first leg at Milan, we little fear, and pressurised us into mistakes / panicking.

Very fine margin, but I'd say we deserve to be in the next round based on our entire CL season to date as opposed to this tie on it's own. It does show we can defend though, which is a nice bonus

Yep...all the best too.

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:

S4P wrote:Your comment has no meaning to it. Not that I expected anything less.

Of course it does. Not that i expected you to understand it.

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:

S4P 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.

Incredibly, this comment comes from an Inter Milan fan too.

Incredibly, this comment comes from a Chelsea fan.

As I said, it has no meaning/relevance.

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:

It's good to see you generalise and assume that 20 teams (i.e. the EPL) play shit on a stick football because of the performances of 4 teams in a couple of games. Perhaps you should watch some EPL teams play (Blackpool would be a good team to watch) before making such ridiculous statements.

Yes i'm sure the likes of Blackburn and Stoke play beautiful football in comparison to Arsenal and Spurs.

So you highlight Stoke and Blackburn - the 2 most negative teams in the EPL - and 2 CL matches to conclude that all 20 EPL teams are anti football.

Arsenal had as many shots on goal as Inter Milan when they visited the Camp Nou - so using your logic, we can only conclude that "all Serie A teams are anti football".

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:

]Anyway, let's see how well your hypothesis holds up with the evidence. Tottenham are the top goalscorers in this seasons competition. They are perhaps the last team who you could conclude as playing 'shit on a stick' football.

They played shit on a stick football last night.

They are still the top goalscorers in the competition. One negative performance (their only CL match which hasn't technically started as 0-0) out of 8 is hardly enough to start labelling them as anti football.

Happy to see Spurs getting through a tough patch great result hope the drawer works out for them they will need it now they are into the final eight.

debaser wrote:

Allez les rouges wrote:

Deluded F*ck wrote:I predict a nervy 1-1 or 2-1 to us.

Bale/Lennon counter attack to seal it.

@ Fey we're actually more decorated in Europe than Arsenal, the goons haven't even won the UEFA Cup/Europa League - ever!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969–70_Inter-Cities_Fairs_Cup

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993–94_European_Cup_Winners%27_Cup

Naughty TS.

Birmingham City reached the final of the Inter City Fairs Cup twice, which proves it's not a real tournament. And winning the Cup Winners Cup doesn't exactly disprove the point you've never won the UEFA Cup.

Spurs have 2 UEFA + 1 CWC to your 1 CWC + 1 Fairy Cup. So he's spot on really.

I never knew Spurs were so much more succesful then the Arsenal in Europe. I did knew Spurs lost a final in 1974 to a certain club

Though Allez is right that the intercity fair cup is the same as the uefa cup.

Anyway,speaking of Spurs succes in Europe. Dutch commentator said Spurs spend over 350 million euros in the past 5 years

Is this true? If so a QF in the CL seems only logical!

S4P wrote:

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:

S4P wrote:Your comment has no meaning to it. Not that I expected anything less.

Of course it does. Not that i expected you to understand it.

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:

S4P 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.

Incredibly, this comment comes from an Inter Milan fan too.

Incredibly, this comment comes from a Chelsea fan.

As I said, it has no meaning/relevance.

Have a think about it.

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:

It's good to see you generalise and assume that 20 teams (i.e. the EPL) play shit on a stick football because of the performances of 4 teams in a couple of games. Perhaps you should watch some EPL teams play (Blackpool would be a good team to watch) before making such ridiculous statements.

Yes i'm sure the likes of Blackburn and Stoke play beautiful football in comparison to Arsenal and Spurs.

So you highlight Stoke and Blackburn - the 2 most negative teams in the EPL - and 2 CL matches to conclude that all 20 EPL teams are anti football.

Arsenal had as many shots on goal as Inter Milan when they visited the Camp Nou - so using your logic, we can only conclude that "all Serie A teams are anti football".

All the other EPL teams in Europe have been largely negative.

Inter completed dicked Barca at the GM. Arsenal played the same defensive shit on a stick football at the Emirates.

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:

]Anyway, let's see how well your hypothesis holds up with the evidence. Tottenham are the top goalscorers in this seasons competition. They are perhaps the last team who you could conclude as playing 'shit on a stick' football.

They played shit on a stick football last night.

They are still the top goalscorers in the competition. One negative performance (their only CL match which hasn't technically started as 0-0) out of 8 is hardly enough to start labelling them as anti football.

[/quote]

Group stages mean practically nothing these days. KO stages are the serious games, and with that much more at stake, Spurs decided to play pussy football.

Group stages mean practically nothing?

Inter and Arsenal would probably argue that point as just another bullshit statement if both go out because of the tougher draw they've had to face for fucking up theirs.

Keep em coming, it's amusing listening to you fudge your way though this thread accusing us of pussy football after having gone awol when we were winning the group and beating Milan away

"Inter completed dicked Barca at the GM. Arsenal played the same defensive shit on a stick football at the Emirates."

http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/matches/season=2010/round=2000031/match=2000487/postmatch/report/index.html

http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/matches/season=2011/round=2000119/match=2003758/postmatch/report/index.html

The stats look remarkably similar to me. Not sure how you can make a tenable distinction between the two. Your agendas are just unfunny and tireless. I hope you enjoy promulgating this shit, as its just boring for anyone else.

Noah and the Bale wrote:So let me get this straight:

- We are an anti football EPL shit-on-a-stick football team because we played poorly in our first ever knock out round CL leg against a Milan side who came 1-0 down with nothing to lose and finally played to their potential, ignoring the other 7 games in the CL where we scored more than any other team in the competition and were applauded for our attacking, and often naive, style?

Logic!

Dude, you are almost sounding embarassed/apologetic about your teams performance... Don't be. You should be very proud of how your team played against Milan in the 2nd leg. They took a lot of pressure, and got the job done. For a team with no experience at this level, what Spurs have done is amazing. In the group stages, Spurs played with the "nothing to lose" flair of a novice, but in this round Spurs played with a maturity that frankly I thought they did not possess... for the first time Spurs looked like they wanted to win, rather than trying hard to impress. Thats why I applaud Spurs more for this round, than those high scoring games in the group stage.

I guess most people found this game rather boring - I can understand most neutrals consider lack of goals a killjoy... I however found it quite enjoyable. It was top quality football, very high on pressure and intensity, kept me and my mates on the edge of our seat most of the time... few games tick so many boxes for me.

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:All the other EPL teams in Europe have been largely negative.

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:Group stages mean practically nothing these days. KO stages are the serious games

Chins

bluenine wrote:

Noah and the Bale wrote:So let me get this straight:

- We are an anti football EPL shit-on-a-stick football team because we played poorly in our first ever knock out round CL leg against a Milan side who came 1-0 down with nothing to lose and finally played to their potential, ignoring the other 7 games in the CL where we scored more than any other team in the competition and were applauded for our attacking, and often naive, style?

Logic!

Dude, you are almost sounding apologetic about your teams performance... don't be, you should be very proud of how your team played against Milan in the 2nd leg. They took a lot of pressure, and got the job done. For a team with no experience at this level, what Spurs have done is amazing. In the group stages, Spurs played with the "nothing to lose" flair of a novice, but in this round Spurs played with a maturity that frankly I thought they did not possess... for the first time Spurs looked like they wanted to win, rather than trying hard to impress. Thats why I applaud Spurs more for this round, than those high scoring games in the group stage.

I guess most people found this game rather boring - I can understand most neutrals consider lack of goals a killjoy... I however found it quite enjoyable. It was top quality football, very high on pressure and intensity, kept me and my mates on the edge of our seat most of the time... few games tick so many boxes for me.

Cheers mate. I get what you're saying, and I kind of agree from a defensive perspective - it was nice to see that we are able to soak up intense pressure. However, let's not kid ourselves - had Robinho or Ibra had their shooting boots on in the first half, they would and should have scored at least once.

I was much more impressed with our display at the San Siro than last night. The result was good, but I don't honestly subscribe to the train of thought that we set out to contain Milan and play defensive football. Why would we play like that when we've been incapable all season?

Our attacking players simply didn't perform. Modric was awful (for once), as was VDV, Pienaar. Crouch couldn't touch the ball without the ref blowing for a foul.

So as a result, we fell back deeper and had to rely on a defensive minded display.

I think our second half display was far better, and certainly not defensive - we played further up the park and it was much more comfortable.

I'm not criticising the team as I would not have believed for a second we would get this far. However, I much prefer the cavalier football we play to what we showed on Wednesday. That's where you and I differ

S4P wrote:

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:All the other EPL teams in Europe have been largely negative.

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:Group stages mean practically nothing these days. KO stages are the serious games

Chins

You do realise the KO stages have started...

[quote="Noah and the BaleCheers mate. I get what you're saying, and I kind of agree from a defensive perspective - it was nice to see that we are able to soak up intense pressure. However, let's not kid ourselves - had Robinho or Ibra had their shooting boots on in the first half, they would and should have scored at least once. [/quote]

Very true. Milan can only blame themselves for that.

I was much more impressed with our display at the San Siro than last night. The result was good, but I don't honestly subscribe to the train of thought that we set out to contain Milan and play defensive football. Why would we play like that when we've been incapable all season?

Our attacking players simply didn't perform. Modric was awful (for once), as was VDV, Pienaar. Crouch couldn't touch the ball without the ref blowing for a foul.

So as a result, we fell back deeper and had to rely on a defensive minded display.

Why the long balls to Crouch then?

Noah and the Bale wrote:

bluenine wrote:

Noah and the Bale wrote:So let me get this straight:

- We are an anti football EPL shit-on-a-stick football team because we played poorly in our first ever knock out round CL leg against a Milan side who came 1-0 down with nothing to lose and finally played to their potential, ignoring the other 7 games in the CL where we scored more than any other team in the competition and were applauded for our attacking, and often naive, style?

Logic!

Dude, you are almost sounding apologetic about your teams performance... don't be, you should be very proud of how your team played against Milan in the 2nd leg. They took a lot of pressure, and got the job done. For a team with no experience at this level, what Spurs have done is amazing. In the group stages, Spurs played with the "nothing to lose" flair of a novice, but in this round Spurs played with a maturity that frankly I thought they did not possess... for the first time Spurs looked like they wanted to win, rather than trying hard to impress. Thats why I applaud Spurs more for this round, than those high scoring games in the group stage.

I guess most people found this game rather boring - I can understand most neutrals consider lack of goals a killjoy... I however found it quite enjoyable. It was top quality football, very high on pressure and intensity, kept me and my mates on the edge of our seat most of the time... few games tick so many boxes for me.

Cheers mate. I get what you're saying, and I kind of agree from a defensive perspective - it was nice to see that we are able to soak up intense pressure. However, let's not kid ourselves - had Robinho or Ibra had their shooting boots on in the first half, they would and should have scored at least once.

I was much more impressed with our display at the San Siro than last night. The result was good, but I don't honestly subscribe to the train of thought that we set out to contain Milan and play defensive football. Why would we play like that when we've been incapable all season?

Our attacking players simply didn't perform. Modric was awful (for once), as was VDV, Pienaar. Crouch couldn't touch the ball without the ref blowing for a foul.

So as a result, we fell back deeper and had to rely on a defensive minded display.

I think our second half display was far better, and certainly not defensive - we played further up the park and it was much more comfortable.

I'm not criticising the team as I would not have believed for a second we would get this far. However, I much prefer the cavalier football we play to what we showed on Wednesday. That's where you and I differ

I think you are not giving enough credit to Milan's performance last wednesday... If you had repeated the "cavalier" football that characterised your group stage, chances are Milan would have won the tie... coz the intensity with which they played, they would have outscored you. The reason Milan couldn't score after so much pressure and intensity (apart from some poor finishing) is that Spurs had numbers & determination in defence... Personally, I don't think Spurs had planned to be so defensive... I think they approached the game with the usual cautiousness that comes with having a lead, and then read the situation & reacted to it smartly.

I wonder would you have seriously prefered to play "cavalier" and get knocked out, as opposed to play like you did and win the tie??

Give your team more credit for choosing the tougher, smarter route, when it would ve been so tempting to cross that brave-foolish line just to look good...

bluenine wrote:

Noah and the Bale wrote:

bluenine wrote:

Noah and the Bale wrote:So let me get this straight:

- We are an anti football EPL shit-on-a-stick football team because we played poorly in our first ever knock out round CL leg against a Milan side who came 1-0 down with nothing to lose and finally played to their potential, ignoring the other 7 games in the CL where we scored more than any other team in the competition and were applauded for our attacking, and often naive, style?

Logic!

Dude, you are almost sounding apologetic about your teams performance... don't be, you should be very proud of how your team played against Milan in the 2nd leg. They took a lot of pressure, and got the job done. For a team with no experience at this level, what Spurs have done is amazing. In the group stages, Spurs played with the "nothing to lose" flair of a novice, but in this round Spurs played with a maturity that frankly I thought they did not possess... for the first time Spurs looked like they wanted to win, rather than trying hard to impress. Thats why I applaud Spurs more for this round, than those high scoring games in the group stage.

I guess most people found this game rather boring - I can understand most neutrals consider lack of goals a killjoy... I however found it quite enjoyable. It was top quality football, very high on pressure and intensity, kept me and my mates on the edge of our seat most of the time... few games tick so many boxes for me.

Cheers mate. I get what you're saying, and I kind of agree from a defensive perspective - it was nice to see that we are able to soak up intense pressure. However, let's not kid ourselves - had Robinho or Ibra had their shooting boots on in the first half, they would and should have scored at least once.

I was much more impressed with our display at the San Siro than last night. The result was good, but I don't honestly subscribe to the train of thought that we set out to contain Milan and play defensive football. Why would we play like that when we've been incapable all season?

Our attacking players simply didn't perform. Modric was awful (for once), as was VDV, Pienaar. Crouch couldn't touch the ball without the ref blowing for a foul.

So as a result, we fell back deeper and had to rely on a defensive minded display.

I think our second half display was far better, and certainly not defensive - we played further up the park and it was much more comfortable.

I'm not criticising the team as I would not have believed for a second we would get this far. However, I much prefer the cavalier football we play to what we showed on Wednesday. That's where you and I differ

I think you are not giving enough credit to Milan's performance last wednesday... If you had repeated the "cavalier" football that characterised your group stage, chances are Milan would have won the tie... coz the intensity with which they played, they would have outscored you. The reason Milan couldn't score after so much pressure and intensity (apart from some poor finishing) is that Spurs had numbers & determination in defence... Personally, I don't think Spurs had planned to be so defensive... I think they approached the game with the usual cautiousness that comes with having a lead, and then read the situation & reacted to it smartly.

I wonder would you have seriously prefered to play "cavalier" and get knocked out, as opposed to play like you did and win the tie??

Give your team more credit for choosing the tougher, smarter route, when it would ve been so tempting to cross that brave-foolish line just to look good...

Whoa there - hold your horses big guy: you mustn't have read any of my earlier posts if you're suggesting I hasven't given credit to Milan's performance. Even in the post above - "The result was good, but I don't honestly subscribe to the train of thought that we set out to contain Milan and play defensive football. Why would we play like that when we've been incapable all season?" - the point here being that Milan played a big part in not allowing us to play our normal football.

However, I don't buy your argument that if we had successfully played our normal attacking game we would have been outscored / lost. We've played and dominated a number of teams as good as, if not better, than Milan in the last year or so (Chelsea, Arsenal, Inter, United for example) at home playing "cavalier" football.

The key difference this time was our players were making unforced errors and hesitant decision making in the first half, partially due to Milan's performance of course, but also clearly due to psychological impact of finding ourselves in a new situation holding a slender lead over 2 legs. Not something we've experienced in Europe before, and different from a league or group stage setting. The players looked nervous - that is not the same as looking assured and parking the bus, because 'Arry simply would not have told them to park the bus, because we have never played like that under him and been successful. Our defence has been a joke for most of the season.
I'm pretty certain that had this game at WHL occurred as the 1st leg of the tie it would have been very different. It's not about disrespecting Milan, it's simply our strengths are our attacking players, not our defensive ones. FFS, Dawson + Gallas is not the first central defensive pairing you'd rate as one of the best in europe

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.

Well..Rooney has been charged for swearing after scoring a hat trick, so he's running him close.