2011/12 UEFA Champions League - Semifinals 1st & 2nd Leg

Is Neville commentating tonight?

Still don't know when he turned into a Chelsea fan.

Fucking cesc fag, I swear he has done something to pep, to the point pep will try anything to get him in the team, pep is truly the pupil of beilsa, sometime they over complicate what really just needs to be simplified, lets hope this works

What a weird Barca team, no fullbacks FFS

Pep has lost the plot.

messiah wrote:Fucking cesc fag, I swear he has done something to pep, to the point pep will try anything to get him in the team, pep is truly the pupil of beilsa, sometime they over complicate what really just needs to be simplified, lets hope this works

Murray wrote:What a weird Barca team, no fullbacks FFS

Pep has lost the plot.

It makes a bit more sense than the team at the weekend, since he's gone for a true 3-4-3 without any hybrid elements. But yeah, I would have played it safe with a classic 4-3-3.

Anyway, it's done now, let's just hope for the best.

all chelsea need to do is stretch the pitch and hit us on the counter and we are fucked.

Luis wrote:

worms wrote:

Luis wrote:Without Drogba I can't see who would score in this Chelsea side. Barca to win 2-0 for me; they have so much more quality it's unreal. If Barca don't make it through then Uefa have fixed it.

You really believe Drogba's injured?

Do you also fear for his health when he goes down holding his face?

You misunderstood me. No one is likely to score for Chelsea bar Drogba. Drogba has always been a diving conte but to be honest it's payback for when Barca cheated Chelsea out of the CL and for all the time they waste. I don't condone it but do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Why do you forget the 1st leg were we should have had 2 penaltys and in the 2nd leg when Abidal was wrongly sent off

fcb wrote:

messiah wrote:Fucking cesc fag, I swear he has done something to pep, to the point pep will try anything to get him in the team, pep is truly the pupil of beilsa, sometime they over complicate what really just needs to be simplified, lets hope this works

Murray wrote:What a weird Barca team, no fullbacks FFS

Pep has lost the plot.

It makes a bit more sense than the team at the weekend, since he's gone for a true 3-4-3 without any hybrid elements. But yeah, I would have played it safe with a classic 4-3-3.

Anyway, it's done now, let's just hope for the best.

The classic 4-3-3 would be more sensible, I just don't see why he needs to mess with something so successful. It's like Tiger changing his golf swing after winning 14 majors - he keeps hitting it into the trees now.

Alves isn't really a full back anyway. You'll have 70-80% possession. Makes more sense to play Alexis, who will provide the same width that Alves does, but at least offers more of a goal threat.

Surprised he's gone for Cuenca over Pedro though.

3 - 4 - 3.I am happy with the formation,the reason Alves is dropped is because he is pretty useless against teams who play as defensive as Chelsea will,Alves's best quality is his overlapping runs past the oppositions back line but with Chelsea playing so deep this will be useless,he doesn't have the technical quality to play as a winger for a team like us either,he needs space to run into which he wouldn't have got today.

I've got a bad feeling Chelsea are going to sneak this.

messiah wrote:all chelsea need to do is stretch the pitch and hit us on the counter and we are fucked.

Yeah but what will they stretch the pitch with? Their team is full of central players to make the middle crowded again, as they did last week.

It was obvious RDM would repeat his lineup so Pep played a team to counter that.

Murray wrote:I've got a bad feeling Chelsea are going to sneak this.

Chelsea will definitely get to the final.

Lets see if this 3 - 4 - 3 formation was worth all the bother it has caused!Playing with no fullbacks or wingbacks in a CL SF is unique in itself.

fcb wrote:

messiah wrote:all chelsea need to do is stretch the pitch and hit us on the counter and we are fucked.

Yeah but what will they stretch the pitch with? Their team is full of central players to make the middle crowded again, as they did last week.

It was obvious RDM would repeat his lineup so Pep played a team to counter that.

This

Chelsea rarely play with width these days under RDM

Disco Benny wrote:

fcb wrote:

messiah wrote:all chelsea need to do is stretch the pitch and hit us on the counter and we are fucked.

Yeah but what will they stretch the pitch with? Their team is full of central players to make the middle crowded again, as they did last week.

It was obvious RDM would repeat his lineup so Pep played a team to counter that.

This

Chelsea rarely play with width these days under RDM

yeah but is a simple adjustment to add some width to the team.

Yellow card watch: Mascherano, Puyol, Cole, Ivanovic, Ramires, Meireles.

So neither side will have defenders left

Good thing Madrid and Bayern have serious yellow card concerns too.

----------------------

From the Guardian: "It just looks like a collection of players Guardiola has picked tonight rather than any system," says Gary Neville.

Has he never heard of a 3-4-3?

Murray wrote:What a weird Barca team, no fullbacks FFS

Pep has lost the plot.

Pep is showing balls by using this formation after it failed on Saturday,he knew he got it wrong on Saturday but that game and this game are two completely different games,the easy thing to do would be to play 4 - 3 - 3 with Alves but he hasn't.

Maybe he hasn't learnt from the 2nd leg 2 years ago against Inter,you need to attack right from the start and get a goal in the 1st half to settle nerves.

worms wrote:3 - 4 - 3.I am happy with the formation,the reason Alves is dropped is because he is pretty useless against teams who play as defensive as Chelsea will,Alves's best quality is his overlapping runs past the oppositions back line but with Chelsea playing so deep this will be useless,he doesn't have the technical quality to play as a winger for a team like us either,he needs space to run into which he wouldn't have got today.

I agree Alves does not look very effective as a winger, his best comes when he plays as FB and starts his runs from deep. I think a 4-3-3 with 2 attacking FBs would have made more sense, though I am not sure how good or bad Adriano is these days.

The centre of this pitch is going to be incredibly congested. I wonder if playing Mascherano, Puyol, Pique and Busquets is also slightly defensive-minded so that they have possibly one extra man in the team who is relatively competent at defending set pieces.

Come on Barca

Flags?! Really?!

Gary Neville

I'm watching it in Portuguese to avoid Gary Neville

Flags are so cringeworthy it's unreal. What's wrong with scarfs?!

Score Messi you prick!

Bloody hell...don't tell me it's going to be another one of those nights. Come on Messi, don't waste chances.

So Messi is playing on the tip of midfield, Cesc on the left, Cuenca on the right, and Alexis as the '9'.

Cahill is definitely f*cked. Where is David Luiz????

He injured too. This means Bosingwa

He's*