Does this mean Chelsea will win the league?
Barcelona
- Thread starter SER19
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Barca are playing rediculously well. What Guardiola has done can't be understated. He has got them fitter, harder working and playing as a unit.
Barca have always been the masters of keeping the ball but now they use it so much more effectively and are just as good without it as they are with it.
People talking about La Liga having terrible defenses is having a laugh. Why is the standard of defending so much better in the premiership. Is it really of a higher standard?
Maybe teams in spain play a slightly more open game but when teams do play the top teams they play one up top just like sunderland did at the weekend. But i guess with the standard differences in the premier league that Barca would really struggle to break down Sunderland...
The facts remain, their goal difference and the way they are winning games is something special and i thought about making a thread like this. They are blowing away every team in spain. This isn't happening in Italy and it isn't happening in England but i don't think that is because Italy and England have better defenders i genuinely think it's because Barca have been that good.
For example Atletico Madrid weren't that crap when they should have beaten Liverpool yet they got cuffed 6-1 by barca. SUrely a team that gets cuffed by Barca in La Liga would get cuffed by the Prem league leaders?
Barca have always been the masters of keeping the ball but now they use it so much more effectively and are just as good without it as they are with it.
People talking about La Liga having terrible defenses is having a laugh. Why is the standard of defending so much better in the premiership. Is it really of a higher standard?
Maybe teams in spain play a slightly more open game but when teams do play the top teams they play one up top just like sunderland did at the weekend. But i guess with the standard differences in the premier league that Barca would really struggle to break down Sunderland...
The facts remain, their goal difference and the way they are winning games is something special and i thought about making a thread like this. They are blowing away every team in spain. This isn't happening in Italy and it isn't happening in England but i don't think that is because Italy and England have better defenders i genuinely think it's because Barca have been that good.
For example Atletico Madrid weren't that crap when they should have beaten Liverpool yet they got cuffed 6-1 by barca. SUrely a team that gets cuffed by Barca in La Liga would get cuffed by the Prem league leaders?
I think it's been overstated.
It's just a bit of man-management, the tactics have been largely the same but Rijkaard just never seemed to care much for the motivational side of things.
tatically barca are a side that will never stray far from their footballing beliefs but even on the tactical side he has made changes.
away from home he often plays Puyol at left back. He often uses two sitting midfielders in Keita and Toure away too. He has made them more solid and reliable yet retained the attacking mentality and style. He has the team working harder as a unit and has instilled disapline like no other barca manager.
For a manager that is completely new to the game to have made the team play the way they are and winning the way they are is in my opinion brilliant. It is still early but they are actually on their way to making history and i think you have to say Guardiola is a massive part of that.
Obviously the fact that this is Guardiola's first big job is bloody impressive and he identified their weaknesses from day one and fixed them very quickly. So credit where credit's due, he's done very well.
But I'm confused, what history is this? I assume you mean winning the treble?
I think you're a Barca fan deep down and you just don't want to admit it. You follow them too often to not be one.
history of games won in a row etc. It was mentioned during the valencia game.
I am a "fan" in that i enjoy watching them. I don't support them but i like to watch them because as far as entertainment goes you don't get better. You have seen for yourself this season.
Ahh right, that would be impressive then. I missed last night's game so I didn't hear it, but yeah I've seen them in pretty much every game this season bar the Champions League games, when I just watched the highlights, and then the last two weeks matches because Sky's decided to fall apart on me.
But yeah, ever since Ronaldinho came they've been one of the most entertaining teams in the world and fin the season they won the double and this season they've been undoubtedly the most entertaining.
They dominate possession like no other and even when they were going through some bad form in the last season and a half they still dominated games with ease.
who do you suppor then?
I disagree. We were more scared of Barca than they were of us. Our tactics against them were no different to the tactics used by Sunderland, only difference is Sunderland weren't so lucky. Is this really a great team if we can't play football against the very best? I'm sure I wasn't the only one that was surprised that we struggled to string passes together for the whole two legs, was I?
I don't think we've seen a vintage United performance for a while and yes we will improve in the second half of the season, but isn't that a little presumptuous? Aren't Pool and Chelski also going to improve especially with Drogba and Torres to come back?
Kilmarnock.
I bet you don't have any money on them.
Real Madrid just lost to sevilla 3-4 ... hahaha ... spend so much money but don't get anywhere.
Kaka don't be so daft. It is widely known on these boards that United played quite brilliantly over the two legs. Try and argue otherwise and you are a total only going to be regarded as a wum
Indeed
Our game was called off this weekend due to a frozen pitch despite undersoil heating being a prerequisite of being in the SPL. I know we have it but i also know it hasn't worked properly in years, probably been trying desperately to not have to do anything about it due to the rubbish financial situation of the club
Our game was called off this weekend due to a frozen pitch despite undersoil heating being a prerequisite of being in the SPL. I know we have it but i also know it hasn't worked properly in years, probably been trying desperately to not have to do anything about it due to the rubbish financial situation of the club
I imagine Killie and Motherwell will get fined for that.
Aye not ideal.
So are you suggesting that this United team is not a great team?
We managed to beat them without even playing anywhere near our best. And we also managed to win the Premiership and champions league as well.
I know it can be hard to accept, but Manchester United have been the best team in Europe over the last 2 seasons.
You managed to beat a Barca team that struggled against most teams in spain. They were so poor last year they had to qualify for europe this season.
This is the same league that is rubbish in comparison to the stronger Premiership. A league where defenses are all rubbish and Barca are only so good this season because of how bad everyone else is. Now how bad must barca have been to finish so poorly last season?
Barca were very poor against United but they still had more shots, more of the ball and played the better football over the two legs. Only United fans will tell you otherwise, but the stats and games were there for all to see.
Some on this forum would go as far to say that United executed a game plan perfectly.
Over the two legs Barca created about one chance (Henry header late in the game at OT.)
United created a number of chances (and scored).
Who played the better football? I.e. The better football, not the most eye-pleasing football.
And yes, United did play superbly tactically.
Yeah they really did play brilliantly. Having none of the ball, playing tevez and Rooney as full backs, living off of the hope that Ronaldo could take the whole barca team on since he was the only one up top and counting on Zambrotta to pass to scholes for a moment of brilliance. All in all i'd say it was a special performance from United. Right up there with beating Juve and Bayern.
They made Sunderland look gung ho in that away game.
Frankly, you are losing the grip of reality. Must be your unconditional love of Messi and Barca that makes a usually sensible poster look like a muppet.
I haven't said we played brilliantly. We played well tactically, defended very well and won the game/tie due a moment of pure class.
We didn't play brilliantly. Nor did Barca.
Over the two legs, United were the better team.
So what? Are suggesting we are some how worse off for beating them last season?
who came up with that crap reasoning on here to give you such ammunition?
Be honest. If they had truly played the better football they would have reached the final. They were only more pleasing to the eye. Nothing more nothing less. The more you talk about the game the more you confirm you think United was merely lucky to reach the final ater that tie.
Which is spot on. Especially in the second leg at OT, United were tactically perfect. Barcelona never looked like scoring despite having all the ball.
According to UEFA.com, Barca 8 shots (2 on goal) vs United 7 shots (2 on goal) in the match at OT.
Barca had 58% of the possession, 4 corners vs United's 5.
Barca had 58% of the possession, 4 corners vs United's 5.
Maybe be some of Rijkaard's post match comments will convince you of the folly of your statments:
Wednesday 24 April:
Frank Rijkaard, Barcelona coach:
It was a very even match. United were very well organised in defence and put together some good counterattacks. A victory is what we wanted obviously but the semi-final is still open. ........
Tuesday 29 April 2008
Frank Rijkaard, Barcelona coach:
We did everything but score. It was an even game. I'd say we had the better of the play, but the rules state that the team that scores most goals wins, and Manchester United did that so they go to the final, not us........
Manchester United are the best team in Europe, that doesn't mean we play great football every game. For instance against Barcelona we couldn't get our attacking game going. Instead we defended very well, nullified Barca and managed to win quite comfortably in the end.
Barca were poor in La Liga last season that doesn't mean they played poorly in every game. Against United they were quite good for instance.
I'd agree with Rijkaards words. An honest view on the game from the man.
We managed to stop a team with one of the most deadly strikers, one of the most creative midfielders and the second best player in the world(at the time) from scoring and they had so few chances.
That's executing a game plan well.
And don't give me any crap about how any average Spanish team could've done that and more because apparently up until that point in time that was only the 6th time all season that they played together.
Makes a big difference.
It was a special performance we played the modern catenaccio, sat back, soaked up the pressure and attacked on breaks, untypical of United. The reason being in the past even we played our passing game and attacking brand of football we were never able to beat those Spanish teams, so Fergie choose to play the Italian way to beat them.
Regarding the better team, say if an inform United had a played the passing game and a patchy Barca or some other Italian team had sat back in numbers, attacked on breaks against us and won, almost all our fans would be ridiculing the opposition.
But United were the better team before going in to the match, considering the great form in the league and carried it over to the Big European nights...we had the guts to stick to an alien tactic and come out on top, whilst Barca were clctching at straws with the European cup their only hope of redemption in a sordid season, however good they were in attacking they cannot win. The better team won, it dosent mean the losers were not good but ineffective for the reason they were low in confidence.
It annoys me because Barca were there for the taking an United rather than show why they were the best team in the premiership chose to play quite negatively when every time i'd watched Barca it would take one or two individuals to pull them through. Any team in la liga that showed a bit of an attacking mentality was causing them all sorts of problems and if United went out to attack they would have won convincingly. I'm convinced of that.
Could have won.
or could have been torn apart once or twice, like only Barca are capable of tearing a team apart.
The tactic and plan was obvious. shut up shop, don't give Barca the time and space of which they thrive on, rely on the individual brilliance of the likes of Ronaldo and Rooney to win it. The latter failed, but luckily Scholes turned back the clock and delivered.
Not forgetting we did missed a penalty. The tie could be over by then. We were dominating the starting moments of the first leg, till we missed the penalty. From that on, Barca seems to grow in confidence.
Yet you seem to not want to admit that we got past Barcelona on merit. Especially a Barca side that reserved it's best form and were totally up for that tie. Like their lives depended on it.
Some need to get rid of their red tinted specs.
I'm not saying we didn't deserve to go through, but that our performance was that of an inferior team which we aren't. Barca weren't that good last season and we made hard work of it. That's all.
I believe this United team is great, it'd just be nice to outplay a good side in the same way Chelsea embarrassed us at OT a few years back. Show that we are a better team instead of shrinking into our shell and hoping Rio and Vidic stay solid.
I'm not saying we didn't deserve to go through, but that our performance was that of an inferior team which we aren't. Barca weren't that good last season and we made hard work of it. That's all.
I believe this United team is great, it'd just be nice to outplay a good side in the same way Chelsea embarrassed us at OT a few years back. Show that we are a better team instead of shrinking into our shell and hoping Rio and Vidic stay solid.
Spot on
You mean we'd rather us take risks?
If we'd taken risks like that in the big games against Barcelona, Liverpool or Chelsea last season we might well have lost, and subsequently lost both of our Champions League and Premier League trophies.
Success > stupid, yet entertaining, risks
to be honest i thought it was taking more of a risk to invite a team onto you in the way united did. It wasn't happening for Barca and they probably wouldn't have scored if United came at them. Infact i reckon they would have fallen apart like they often did when put under decent pressure last season.
If it's taking a risk to think you can beat a team playing your normal game then i wish more teams, especially top teams would take risks.
That's just a daft comment, which can't be proven. If United had opened up more, Barca would have had a BETTER chance of creating chances.
There is a difference between not liking the way we approached the tie and talking out of your arse.
Based on the result AND how the games unfolded, i.e over 180+ mins, Barca created feck all, I'd say Sir Alex got his tactics spot on.
They might well have.
The fact that this was Barcelona's biggest two fixtures of the seasons might have meant that they might well have approached the game differently, with a bit more concentration, than your average Spanish game though don't you think?
It'd be great to see for a neutral but the last few times we've played our natural game against big teams always makes me think of our performances against Arsenal, how well we played and how they always seemed to come back with a last minute winner/equaliser so I'd rather just see us win than lose while playing pure football to be honest, for the most part.
Fair enough, i think if you appoached that game the same way then 9/10 you will get beaten in honesty.
If you play a team in great attacking which barca werent i think it's semi suicidal and IF barca scored then it would have been looked at as tactical suicide. they just relied on messi who was playing his first game sinse being out for 6 weeks to open you up. I
Spot on.