yyaldrin

in je ogen waait de wind
so good! now let's hope they'll crush ajax in the final! barcelona - ajax would've been the worst possible final.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
All the "Messi owns football" articles from last week look a bit silly now. Among lots of other things obviously.
 

version

Well-known member
I think starting Busquets and Rakitic against Liverpool at home was a very poor decision. You could probably get away with one of them alongside Arthur and Vidal, but the two of them together against that kind of press is just asking for trouble.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I think starting Busquets and Rakitic against Liverpool at home was a very poor decision. You could probably get away with one of them alongside Arthur and Vidal, but the two of them together against that kind of press is just asking for trouble.
Alba was worse than I've ever seen him before. That weird choice to cut that back to Messi in the first half... just bizarre. Like last week Klopp couldn't legislate for those amazing goals, today how could Valverde plan for that? I think his tactics were right playing three strikers and saying "I know Liverpool are gonna go at us and probably get one but with the strikers we've got we'll get one and then it will kill them".
 

version

Well-known member
I dunno what happened with Alba, it's like something just snapped inside him and he lost all ability and composure.

Like last week Klopp couldn't legislate for those amazing goals, today how could Valverde plan for that? I think his tactics were right playing three strikers and saying "I know Liverpool are gonna go at us and probably get one but with the strikers we've got we'll get one and then it will kill them".

Valverde got his selection wrong, imo. I think they'd have fared better with Malcolm in place of Coutinho, Arthur in place of Rakitic and Semedo in place of Roberto.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I dunno what happened with Alba, it's like something just snapped inside him and he lost all ability and composure.
Valverde got his selection wrong, imo. I think they'd have fared better with Malcolm in place of Coutinho, Arthur in place of Rakitic and Semedo in place of Roberto.
Hard to disagree with hindsight. Watching the highlights Barca did actually have quite a lot of chances - for me though somehow none of them seemed likely to be a goal apart from the Alba one. Liverpool were so much better overall though (and honestly apart from the goals - if one can say that they were better in the first leg too). It's not really about singling out the Barca players cos they were second to the ball all over the pitch - Liverpool's team and system was bettter. Liverpool kept the ball better and passed it better and faster where it could hurt them. And this time they weren't afraid to stick it in the mixer, I think last leg they had the ball on the wings a lot but waited for the perfect pass to be on and ultimately let the chance slide. This time they realised that if they kept putting good crosses in from those positions they would get a goal. Same with the inswinging (rather than outswinging) corners, no need to try anything fancy, when they put the defence under pressure they were only stopped by a good save from Ter Stegen. I've heard a lot about how Piquet has been better than ever this year - maybe so but as an actual defender I've never rated him that highly. Sure if they have the ball the whole time he can help build from the back etc but backs against the wall I'd have Van Djik (and many others) over him every time.
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
I read a bit about football rather than watching it - can people on here explain to me why non-liverpool fans seem to nearenough universally despise liverpool?
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I read a bit about football rather than watching it - can people on here explain to me why non-liverpool fans seem to nearenough universally despise liverpool?
Some bullshit about how the fans are insufferable. I think it's just jealousy really cos they are playing exciting football and doing well with it. Basically what everyone wants for their team. Most fans normally have to settle for at most one of the above. It's just the same as how everyone hated United for years as far as I can tell.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
For Valverde, thinking about it. I'm sure that at 3-1 he was thinking that they would still nick one so no need to changei his tactics. Probably thought I'll do something if it goes 3-2 - but they got the third so soon after the second and then he was done. And everyone was saying "Why did he leave it so long?". I feel sorry for the guy, they are doing unbelievably well in the league and they have really only lost two important games in the last year - but all the fans are going "Fuck Valverde".
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Messi also had angry confrontations with Barca supporters apparently - wouldn't be too surprised if the unthinkable happens and he seeks to move elsewhere. To have given that much to that club, and be treated in that way, as no longer an immortal...well, that has to have repercussions. And that Barcelona team has been found out - I can't see them winning the CL again without a massive rethink.

Wijnaldum's second was a peach, one of those moments where time seems to stop. Valverde got the diagnosis right, saying that Liverpool blitz opponents, and those 2 goals in 2 minutes were proof they can do it even without Salah and Firmino. It's hard to think of a better performance, given the injury list (esp when Robertson went off) and the circumstances.

Klopp is a genius at motivation - was rewatching the highlights to one of Dortmund's games vs Real Madrid a few years back and the intensity was electric, just like last night. Mind you, he also chose the right clubs.
 
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IdleRich

IdleRich
Yeah, your reward for playing at a superhuman level is being castigated when you don't reach it one week. Pretty stupid, but when you have that many fans a lot of them are bound to be idiots, I was looking at the Barca Twitter last night and some of the comments are pretty infantile.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Apparently Messi was crying his eyes out in the dressing room. You can't say he doesn't give his all. It's weird that so many supporters assume that if you have a bad game that automatically means you weren't trying.
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
I'm quite gutted that Barca are getting De Jong now, as I imagine his inclusion will immeasurably improve their midfield and probably restore them to the semblance of contenders, even if not at the very top. Would be more interesting to see what happened if they weren't able to solve every problem with cash and status (every player still wants to go to Barca)
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
The nature of these clubs is that they always want a quick fix. Lots of comments saying "We need Ten Hag" and it's kinda weird. It's like they think that they are completely entitled to just have him and if they don't it will somehow be a travesty. For me the problem for me is very simple; for a long time they had a midfield built around Xavi and Iniesta with Messi scoring goals and Busquets - horrible slimy cheat that he is - tidying everything up beautifully and attacking from the back - and the supporting cast, be it Suarez or whoever was good as well of course. Now Xavi and Iniesta have gone and soon Busquets and Messi will be too and you can't simply replace players like that, they can't just buy the "next Messi" cos there isn't one, I don't think that there is a "next Iniesta" either really. So you need a bigger rebuild, but fans aint gonna like that cos it might be that it gets worse before it gets better. Like with Real. What you need is someone who can rebuild and at the same time paper over cracks so they win (or at least maintain a level) while doing that - some trick to pull off.
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Kind of like an elite version of United Class of 92 - La Masia's class of 200? .

Ferguson's strategy failed for a few years after those players retired, but his genius was to be able to find a way again - buying big, but buying smart as well.

Liverpool's record of making elite players from canny purchases at smaller clubs, and filling out the squad with hard-working older heads (OK, maybe only Milner fits this description, but hard to imagine this squad without him) is working a treat. Hoffenheim, Southampton, Newcastle, Hull, Schalke, Sunderland... It's like a Euro-friendly throwback to how top squads were built in the 80s and 90s. And then making the purchases from big clubs when really needed, like Allison - well that transfer fee virtually got repaid last night.
 
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Corpsey

bandz ahoy
Some bullshit about how the fans are insufferable. I think it's just jealousy really cos they are playing exciting football and doing well with it. Basically what everyone wants for their team. Most fans normally have to settle for at most one of the above. It's just the same as how everyone hated United for years as far as I can tell.

But they don't hate Man City as much
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
everyone hates man city.

God, that was absurd. Almost too much, like being served the two best meals of your life in one week and knowing it's the pinnacle. Because really, nothing's going to top that, is it?

I can see the final being a classic too, tho
 
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