401 replies to this topic

[Calibandar]

Howard Webb failed to give well deserved red cards to Ramos and Marcelo yesterday. Ramos only got yellow for the tackle from behind on Muller, which is some really mild punishment from Webb.

But I don't want to blame Webb, because these are the Butchers that we are talking about, so every game that Madrid cannot confidently win, they behave like thugs. Sometimes they get away with it.

I'm glad Bayern won, they deserved it. They played to win after Madrid scored the equalizer whereas Mourinho's tactics were to defend the draw. Fair's fair. Hopefully Munich will be able to hold on to this next week, but that will obviously be a tough one.

Still, there is not much between these two teams. Hopefully tonight will be a better game to watch.

Edited by Calibandar, 18 April 2012 - 05:22 AM.

[Inigima]

Jon AS, on 18 April 2012 - 12:20 AM, said:

I don't know anything about stuff like that when it comes to Granada. They are a very small club and haven't had an opportunity to build much of a reputation in this respect. According to Wikipedia their greatest success was reaching the Copa del Rey final (then Copa del Generalisimo) in the 50s.

They are still in danger of being relegated, and in Spain relegation can be pretty brutal on a club; it wouldn't be surprising if they found themselves in the third or fourth division a few years after leaving the Primera División, which could make watching them on TV difficult.

They also have some kind of deal with Udinese Calcio in Italy, where they'll take plenty of Udinese players on loan to get them playing practice or something, who are then either going back to Italy or are sold for profit, so not getting too attached to players is probably a good idea.

All right, thanks man.

[Commerford]

Bayern probably going to win it as the final is in Munich. Glad Madrid lost, can't stand that team, especially as they still play Pepe.
http://www.youtube.c...h?v=11enIeWNJbE

I'm a Brentford fan (Come on league 1 play offs!) so yea just an English team doing well in CL is good enough for me.

[BLU-RAY]

Ugh, come on Chelsea. This is vaguely embarassing.

[Soylent Brown]

Chelsea might want to consider taking Drogba off before he hurts himself diving.

[BLU-RAY]

Yeah, he's been poor.  But the real problem is having Meireles in the side over... anyone on the bench. Essien, Torres, Sturridge, hell, Bosingwa or Malouda would be preferable.  He's an absolute passenger, and he's a constant red card threat as well.

And yes, just to forestall the rest, it's pretty unpleasant to watch Drogba diving.  On the other hand, he gets played more physically than just about anyone in soccer... except Messi.

ETA: Well, he's earned his keep.

Edited by DVD ROTS, 18 April 2012 - 02:32 PM.

[Soylent Brown]

And that - probably - is why I'll never become the manager of Chelsea.

It's not so much that Drogba is fouled more, I've just noticed over the years that he seems to have the odd game where he goes down constantly, and they tend to be the ones where he's not quite as up for it and doesn't score.

[Inigima]

DC United v Montreal tonight. There's a good chance I won't be able to watch most or all of the game, so send those good vibes. For DC, obviously, fuck Montreal.

[BLU-RAY]

Well, to be fair, he played a solid game against Tottenham on Sunday, and he's getting older for someone who plays a style predicated on physicality.  But, not really an excuse for the amount of time he spends on the turf.

Are Barca actually contending for La Liga currently?

I guess they are, 4 points out with 5 matches left, including a Clasico.

[Rane]

Did not expected that. Barca wasted a lot of chances though.

Edited by Rane, 18 April 2012 - 03:45 PM.

[Ser Hippie]

Chelsea defended well but Barca really should have won that comfortably; they had their chances but simply wasted them.

[Horza]

Chelsea did their homework, Barca decided they'd wing it.

[Soylent Brown]

Yeah, Chelsea defended very well, and Drogba took his chance brilliantly.

There are occasions where you watch Barca and it seems they're just screaming out for a Peter Crouch or something.

Fucker would score 200 goals a season.

[mormont]

Yeah, Chelsea rode their luck a little but they looked much better in the second half - much better discipline. Barca were no better than OK by their own standards: Messi and Xavi were forced a little too deep, but with better finishing they could still have scored at least two. They'll be confident of winning the home leg, but they'll have to work a bit harder.

[Eloisa]

IMO Chelsea's tackling was a cut above the usual tonight (except Meireles early on).

[Inigima]

DCU 1 - 1 Montreal. I only caught the second half, I was hoping for better results from DC. Looked like their passing play was running circles around Montreal, but it just didn't seem to shake out for them.

[Horus Bergeron]

Chelsea got the result that they needed.  No away goals.  As much as they could have asked for from their home leg.  Will it work at Camp Nou is the only question.  All they have to do is keep it close.

[Calibandar]

Quote

Chelsea got the result that they needed. No away goals. As much as they could have asked for from their home leg. Will it work at Camp Nou is the only question

Let's hope that it doesn't, as football fans. That was an awful display last night. I didn't know you could have 11 players in your own penalty box for 90% of the game, but apparently you can. About as defensive and ugly a manner of playing as there is, not just in the premise of the line-up, but in execution as well. 4 defenders, 5 midfielders and 1 strikers, and that one striker rarely saw Barca's half.

I do hope that Chelsea will get hammered in Camp Nou, that way they will still be eliminated and have played like zombies.

I

[baxus]

Calibandar, on 19 April 2012 - 03:11 AM, said:

Let's hope that it doesn't, as football fans. That was an awful display last night. I didn't know you could have 11 players in your own penalty box for 90% of the game, but apparently you can. About as defensive and ugly a manner of playing as there is, not just in the premise of the line-up, but in execution as well. 4 defenders, 5 midfielders and 1 strikers, and that one striker rarely saw Barca's half.

i'm sorry, but drogba saw enough of barca's half to score one on them
also, despite what barca's fans might wish for, 70% possession does not grant you a 2-goal bonus on the final match score.
chelsea sat back and tried to catch barca on breakaways - a legitimate football tactics, though not very interesting to watch. at the end of the day, chelsea played this game to win it, not to entertain the fans (i'm sure most of their fans understand and appreciate that)

trying to outplay barca would almost certainly prove disastrous for chelsea, so they adapted their style and managed to get the result they were hoping for (with lady luck on their side, no doubt about it).

barca is the more likely team to go through, mostly because the chances of them missing as many shots as they did last night are slim to none.

[mormont]

I don't know that it was that bad a display from Chelsea. I love watching Barca play, but it's a consequence of their style that other teams are going to play counterattack against them, because really, they have to. What else can you do when you don't have the ball? Kick the opposition around until they give it back?