2011-2012 football (soccer) thread - Page 341

On April 25 2012 05:11 mememolly wrote:


2 if you include the ref

On April 25 2012 05:50 Steveling wrote:
What I(and many others with me, I think) don't like about that win, is that they won in the manner that I would expect my local team Olympiakos to play against Barca.
They were inferior, they knew it, they decided to play defensively, and they somehow won. That's not what I expect from a big team. There's no pride in that.
But then again, you have Arsenal/Real trying to play ball and getting humiliated so can't really blame Chelsea for choosing that way.

On April 25 2012 08:44 Sated wrote:

Tenacity and leadership are not as important as knowing where the fuck to stand. Puyol and Pique do not seem to know where they should be stood at any particular moment in time, unless it involves being offensive (which isn't actually that useful as a defender).

Outside the top 4?

Tottenham: King, Dawson, Nelsen (maybe).
Chelsea: Terry, Cahill (would make an excellent Barcelona centre-half with his attacking mindset and passing ability).
Everton: Jagielka.
Liverpool: Skrtel.
Fulham: Hangelaand (maybe)
Sunderland: O'Shea, Brown (both maybes, ex-United so I am biased).
Stoke: Huth.
Aston Villa: Dunne.
Blackburn: Samba (until he left, of course)

EDIT: Some of those teams have defensive midfielders who are probably better centre-halves than either Puyol or Pique. It's actually quite funny.

EDIT2: Not all of these players would be ideal for Barcelona because some of them can't pass the ball very well, but they are all better defenders than Puyol/Pique. This is kinda my point: Pique and Puyol only work as centre-halves for Barcelona because they can pass the ball very well and can kinda make a half-arsed attempt at defending...

On April 25 2012 12:11 Klogon wrote:


I largely agree with this, although they are great because they fit the system. So it's not really a knock to them.

On April 25 2012 12:11 Klogon wrote:


I largely agree with this, although they are great because they fit the system. So it's not really a knock to them.

On April 25 2012 13:41 Rebs wrote:


Please, these are all over exaggerations. With that wonderful little PL bias. None of these players would be any better even without their ability to pass the ball well in a Barca system. Based on pure defensive qualities alone they would all get skinned way more than the Pique's and Puyol's should they have to face good counter attacking play. With the space available to opposing teams the way they attack its always a danger regardless of who you are. The margin for error is next to nothing. The space has always been there, most attempts to hit them on the counter just havent been sharp enough. Naturally the weakness has finally come to be exposed consistently and Barca will have to do something to change that, but that has little to do with the defenders themselves..

pointing out stuff like "Puyol's positioning on the first goal is just nitpicking" What about Chelsea on the first goal ? What were the 10 defenders in the box doing after the corner? Was that not horrible positioning? Please dont nitpick to prove a point look at the averages wether against English opposition or otherwise and dont be miopic.

None of those players you mentioned will not get exposed time and time again with the space that is available on the counter. Theyd be chasing shadows even if they were bred into the system and got used to it.

However its pretty easy to put a Puyol or a Pique and in a conventional defensive system and have them perform better than the majority of those players. While none of those defenders would work with Barca, nearly all of those defenders can be easily replaced by a Puyol or a Pique. Ill give you a Dawson or a King (if he ever plays a game) everyone else is nothing special at all. Sitting back and heading the ball, while lunging in for tackles every now and then isnt exactly the embodiement of defending.

Its easy to ignore in hindsight that Chelsea while doing enough did not fail to give oppurtunities to Barca to win the game 10 men or otherwise. Just because its not made a big deal of by myself personally doesnt mean you should ignore it. I could make the same criticism. How lousy a defense do you have to be to let Barca in with 10 men in a 20 by 20 space ? See ? Its retarded fingerpointing at isolated stuff that has no bearing on the overall quality. I mean give Chelsea's attacking threat some credit. Lamps pass was ridiculously good (just like in the first game) and Ramires run and finish were good enough to deserve a goal against the best of defenses. As it stands this is still petty logic, "oh they never have to defend, so they arent really that good." Ofcourse they do and only in situations where the opponent has the entire pitch post half line to work with against 2-3 defenders. Your Huths and Hangelands would spend most of the time kissing the grass while attackers whiz past them.


Should it become a regular feature, yea sure then we can start talking.

On April 25 2012 13:41 Rebs wrote:


Please, these are all over exaggerations. With that wonderful little PL bias. None of these players would be any better even without their ability to pass the ball well in a Barca system. Based on pure defensive qualities alone they would all get skinned way more than the Pique's and Puyol's should they have to face good counter attacking play. With the space available to opposing teams the way they attack its always a danger regardless of who you are. The margin for error is next to nothing. The space has always been there, most attempts to hit them on the counter just havent been sharp enough. Naturally the weakness has finally come to be exposed consistently and Barca will have to do something to change that, but that has little to do with the defenders themselves..

pointing out stuff like "Puyol's positioning on the first goal is just nitpicking" What about Chelsea on the first goal ? What were the 10 defenders in the box doing after the corner? Was that not horrible positioning? Please dont nitpick to prove a point look at the averages wether against English opposition or otherwise and dont be miopic.

None of those players you mentioned will not get exposed time and time again with the space that is available on the counter. Theyd be chasing shadows even if they were bred into the system and got used to it.

However its pretty easy to put a Puyol or a Pique and in a conventional defensive system and have them perform better than the majority of those players. While none of those defenders would work with Barca, nearly all of those defenders can be easily replaced by a Puyol or a Pique. Ill give you a Dawson or a King (if he ever plays a game) everyone else is nothing special at all. Sitting back and heading the ball, while lunging in for tackles every now and then isnt exactly the embodiement of defending.

Its easy to ignore in hindsight that Chelsea while doing enough did not fail to give oppurtunities to Barca to win the game 10 men or otherwise. Just because its not made a big deal of by myself personally doesnt mean you should ignore it. I could make the same criticism. How lousy a defense do you have to be to let Barca in with 10 men in a 20 by 20 space ? See ? Its retarded fingerpointing at isolated stuff that has no bearing on the overall quality. I mean give Chelsea's attacking threat some credit. Lamps pass was ridiculously good (just like in the first game) and Ramires run and finish were good enough to deserve a goal against the best of defenses. As it stands this is still petty logic, "oh they never have to defend, so they arent really that good." Ofcourse they do and only in situations where the opponent has the entire pitch post half line to work with against 2-3 defenders. Your Huths and Hangelands would spend most of the time kissing the grass while attackers whiz past them.


Should it become a regular feature, yea sure then we can start talking.

On April 25 2012 18:13 Pandemona wrote:
Real Madrid (1) vs (2) Bayern Munich
Semi Final 2nd Leg - Kick Off 7:45 BST 8:45 CEST 2:45 EDT

Team News

Real Madrid - Have a fully fit squad to choose from basically, minus the the major doubt in Carvalho with a thigh injury, everyone else is fit.
Possibilties are around that both Kaka and Higuain will return to the starting line up and Marcelo might be prefered to Coentrao at left back

Bayern Munich - Have a rested team as several players where rested at the weekends game in bundesliga over werder breman. Bastian Schweinsteiger is set to retain his place in the line up but Daniel Van Buyten and Breno are both out injured for the tie.

Other News -


If Xabi Alonso, Coentrao, Ramos or Higuaín see a yellow card, they will not be able to play the Final and David Alaba, Philipp Lahm, Thomas Muller, Toni Kroos, Luiz Gustavo, Holger Badstuber and Jerome Boateng risk suffering the same fate.

So will it be fate and Mourinho vs Chelsea again or will Bayern hold there nerve in the Bernabou and lead themselves out in a champions league final at there home stadium!!

On April 25 2012 19:16 HwangjaeTerran wrote:
I guess I want RM to win. I'm no fan of either team or any of the players but Robben makes the scale tip in RM's favor.
And I seriously hold a grudge for that Lahm guy too.

Go Christina, just this once I lubs you <3<3