Barcelona Vs Liverpool - The European classic..

having won it the previous year doesn't make it half as painful going out. who expects their team to win it every year?

toon h wrote:having won it the previous year doesn't make it half as painful going out. who expects their team to win it every year?

Yeah, plus at least we're in a good position domestically.

Liverpool.
Good luck.

toon h wrote:having won it the previous year doesn't make it half as painful going out. who expects their team to win it every year?

Quite the opposite, it hurts more IMO as you've given up your trophy

But like toon h said, it's not that bad because it's near impossible to repeat the CL nowadays.

Plus the circumstances of our defeat also matter - we lost fair and square to a team that was slightly better than us. Contrast that to getting knocked out by Benfica like you did when you dominated but got sucker-punched, or us losing to Chelsea after a bad-tempered and controversial pair of games. That's when defeats hurt.

Rai Krol wrote:Obispo having a dig against Manchester United, this does not surprise me.

He's right though - Fergie has never been a particularly astute tactician, and tends to rely on high tempo passing and overloading the box in order to turn games his way. Now, Obispo's overlooking the fact that Man U have added more variation to their play since Queiroz came in, but he would, wouldn't he?

Saintsarama KCMG wrote:

Rai Krol wrote:Obispo having a dig against Manchester United, this does not surprise me.

He's right though - Fergie has never been a particularly astute tactician, and tends to rely on high tempo passing and overloading the box in order to turn games his way. Now, Obispo's overlooking the fact that Man U have added more variation to their play since Queiroz came in, but he would, wouldn't he?

I'm overlooking lots of things. Like how awful Rooney and Ronaldo are in Europe

Just don't think they're smart enough, on all levels, to win it. Same with Roma, Lyon etc.

Obispo wrote:

Saintsarama KCMG wrote:

Rai Krol wrote:Obispo having a dig against Manchester United, this does not surprise me.

He's right though - Fergie has never been a particularly astute tactician, and tends to rely on high tempo passing and overloading the box in order to turn games his way. Now, Obispo's overlooking the fact that Man U have added more variation to their play since Queiroz came in, but he would, wouldn't he?

I'm overlooking lots of things. Like how awful Rooney and Ronaldo are in Europe

I actually think Ronaldo's been pretty good in Europe this year. Obviously, the pair of them have abysmal scoring records in the CL, but you and I both know that there's a lot more to football than scoring.

Just don't think they're smart enough, on all levels, to win it. Same with Roma, Lyon etc.

And you're probably right to think that. It would genuinely surprise me if Man U win it this year, much more so than Liverpool. But you know, it's not really fair to compare Fergie to Benitez in terms of tactics. It's like comparing Thierry Henry to Hernan Crespo in terms of proven ability across different leagues.

Who would everyone say was our best player? For me, the defence all had a good game, the attack was terrible in the 1st half but slightly better in the 2nd, and the midfield was invisible throughout.

So I'll go with Puyol, with probably Valdes and Thuram close behind.

What anyone says about us and our chances, I do think people are over looking how good we've been at home this year. Spanked every team so far.

Been shite away from home but we've still sneaked wins at Lille and Benfica which isn't easy.


Like I said we may not win it but writing us off is stupid. Even more so if Carrick, Rooney and Ronaldo can perform like they do in the league as the defence, Scholes, Giggs and Saha are the only one's who have performed well.

kas wrote:Who would everyone say was our best player? For me, the defence all had a good game, the attack was terrible in the 1st half but slightly better in the 2nd, and the midfield was invisible throughout.

So I'll go with Puyol, with probably Valdes and Thuram close behind.

Thought Deco was tidy myself. Probably Valdes though. Don't think anyone played particularly well for you. Alot of 6's and 7's out of 10. Could give it to anyone of a number of players but you still wouldn't say that they played aswell as they should have.

I'd say more 4's and 5's than 6's and 7's. First time I've seen Iniesta and thought he truly had a bad game, though to be fair he had to help in defence a lot, especially bringing the ball out because we struggled with that early on.

Couple of times tonight, it looked like Iniesta was playing left back. I wouldn't judge him on his based on his performance tonight.

Enough smurfism Barça! Being physically strong and technically astute are not mutually exclusive.

What kind of impact will this result have for your club though? Will you renew your team on key positions? Will Rijkaard stay?

blutgraetsche wrote:Enough smurfism Barça! Being physically strong and technically astute are not mutually exclusive.

E.g. Didier Drogba.

What kind of impact will this result have for your club though? Will you renew your team on key positions? Will Rijkaard stay?

Sack the lorra them. And for Christ's sake buy a proper DMC.

blutgraetsche wrote:Enough smurfism Barça! Being physically strong and technically astute are not mutually exclusive.

What kind of impact will this result have for your club though? Will you renew your team on key positions? Will Rijkaard stay?

No change to what was already going to happen in the summer - Rijkaard is staying and the big names will also stay. If anything, this defeat has only reinvigorated their hunger for next season.

3-4 new signings will be made, mainly in defence and the DM position, and if Saviola leaves, a striker will also be signed. A couple of fringe players will also be sold.

Obispo wrote:

kas wrote:Who would everyone say was our best player? For me, the defence all had a good game, the attack was terrible in the 1st half but slightly better in the 2nd, and the midfield was invisible throughout.

So I'll go with Puyol, with probably Valdes and Thuram close behind.

Thought Deco was tidy myself. Probably Valdes though. Don't think anyone played particularly well for you. Alot of 6's and 7's out of 10. Could give it to anyone of a number of players but you still wouldn't say that they played aswell as they should have.

50% of SPORT's users (currently about 2200 votes) are voting for Valdes as well.

Liverpools standouts were Momo, Carragher, Alonso & Kuyt.

For Barca, Deco, Iniesta, & Valdez. Defence was ok.

Disappointed by Xavi, Ronnie & Messi.

Carragher was MOTM for me

risse was massive as well

kas wrote:Who would everyone say was our best player?

Puyol by a country mile.

wow it's tough being a liverpool fan

that felt like benfica mark two last night. incredible how we nearly threw that away.

would have been much more comfortable if we could have held on to a bit of possession at the end but with fullbacks not getting forward and sissoko looking like a pub player in possession it was difficult. will be interesting to see if we are actually a better team without him in the next round.


Carragher and agger joint MOTM for me

Who saw Deco 'attempting' to do the Cruijff turn in the second half .. only to fail.

Haha!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvoqpyatLic

Obispo wrote:Haha!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvoqpyatLic

Oh FFS...

Dunphy is a cunt.

'Put Garcia in a bin' is the only intelligent thing he's ever said.

'Gerrard, totally found out, nothing player'...

How do these people get jobs?

Obispo wrote:Haha!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvoqpyatLic

Wow, that's biased punditry taken to a new level. We do have some awful pundits ourselves, but that's just amazing. I'm speechless.

blutgraetsche wrote:

Obispo wrote:Haha!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvoqpyatLic

Wow, that's biased punditry taken to a new level. We do have some awful pundits ourselves, but that's just amazing. I'm speechless.

He's come out with worse as well probably.

After we beat Liverpool a couple of seasons ago, he called Kewell a Fat Clown and said Luis Garcia should be thrown in the bin.

He spends 5 minutes before every Man United match talking about how shite C Ronaldo is as well.

He's basically after the attention.

I thought Deco played well, some of his touch's and passes were wonderful. Despite being a cheating diving scumbag, I would love him at united.

But Cara was man of the match for me.