Roiling football blather

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baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
I don't know - I always thought (and I'm not doing an Andy Gray - check previous posts!) Mourinho could stop Barca. Pressing Barca is defintiely the key (like Arsenal did, to be fair, for 20-30 minutes of their second leg, and looked like they might go 2-0 up - that's been erased from collective history!). Someone will have to tell me if that's what Chelsea did in last season's SF, as I missed most of the second leg....but I suspect so.

Just watching highlights now - 21 minutes, did you SEE that free header for Lucio???? Unbelievable. Ok, offside, maybe. Didn't stop them later, so I hear.
Edit: 1st goal - where was the marking?
2nd goal - Messi, dont' stand and stare when you lose the ball.
3rd goal - who the hell is marking Eto'o - never mind the offside...

Everyone has downplayed the quality of Inter's players too though (whilst playing up Barcelona to absurd heights - they're not late 80s Milan yet people!). That's a good squad, and things are, ironically, now looking even better for Argentina in the summer. Don't bet against them either, I'd say.

And what happened to the Ibrahimovic vs Eto'o debate?
 
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mixed_biscuits

mixed_biscuits

_________________________
Mourinho on Sky Sports News this morning said that they aimed to stop Messi by narrowing the gap between 'the two lines' - the defence and midfield, in other words. They had also decided not to water the pitch, in order to slow Barca's passing game.

Other things my bro and I noticed:

- Inter were always looking to play defence-splitting or -bypassing (Barcelona's defence was quite high) passes. They had far less possession than Barca but looked in control, because they could create chances whereas Barca couldn't
- Inter seemed to focus on those players who are worse at keeping the ball, often sending two or three men to take them out (eg. Bousquets)

Football strategy must be pretty complex - a pity that the level of analysis tends to be low (Tony Adams said in an interview once that viewers would not be able to understand tactics in all their complexity, and so he has to dumb down his comments when punditing).
 
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C

crackerjack

Well-known member
mixed_biscuits said:
(Tony Adams said in an interview once that viewers would not be able to understand tactics in all their complexity, and so he has to dumb down his comments when punditing).
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It would take ages coming from him, as Adams has a way of making 2 x 2 sound complicated. Moourinho, otoh...
 
S

scottdisco

rip this joint please
enjoying all y'all Inter analysis (didn't see it myself but as others have said, not that it's a given, but you could have said beforehand if anyone can stop Barca it would be Inter w their rather particular style).

in other news i just want to say oh dear Tranmere :eek:

Chris Senior's consolation goal for Alty at Salisbury last night was first rate, he is a shoehorn for Capello i reckon ;)
 
B

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
mixed_biscuits said:
Mourinho on Sky Sports News this morning said that they aimed to stop Messi by narrowing the gap between 'the two lines' - the defence and midfield, in other words. They had also decided not to water the pitch, in order to slow Barca's passing game.

Other things my bro and I noticed:

- Inter were always looking to play defence-splitting or -bypassing (Barcelona's defence was quite high) passes. They had far less possession than Barca but looked in control, because they could create chances whereas Barca couldn't
- Inter seemed to focus on those players who are worse at keeping the ball, often sending two or three men to take them out (eg. Bousquets)

Football strategy must be pretty complex - a pity that the level of analysis tends to be low (Tony Adams said in an interview once that viewers would not be able to understand tactics in all their complexity, and so he has to dumb down his comments when punditing).
Click to expand...

good stuff! the cutting down space between midfield and defence seems to be a classic to stop Messi and other hyper-creative players.

I dont' think it's super-complicated really (everything you've said makes perfect and immediate sense) - rather that most managers, dare I say it, aren't very good at the combination of analysis and communciating that analysis so that players act according to that analysis.

Look at the difference between Mourinho and Wenger. Wenger got the right idea (finally, after disastrous non-tactics in the first leg) that Barca would wobble with really intense pressure on the player with the ball/player who's going to get the ball next (the thrid Inter goal and Arsenal's 2nd leg goal both came from strong pressure/perfect tackles). Unfortunately his players seemed to lose confidence in that once Messi got going, and the defending became catastrophic. Mourinho's the better man-manager - gets players to listen to him for 90 minutes. Love him or hate him, he's within touching distance of entering the pantheon of great managers.

I see uncanny parallels between last night's match and Juventus 3-1 Real Madrid 2003. Real were unquestionably the best side in the world then, looking to become the first team to retain the Champions' League, Spanish club football was in a purple patch, yet Juventus stopped them not with calcio, but with something altogether more intoxicating.

- watch nedved's goal....

What it will take for a side to retain the CL is a fascinating thought. I guess Milan came closest before losing to Ajax, a game everyone thought they'd win.

The B-I second leg promises to be impossibly good.
 
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hucks

hucks

Your Message Here
baboon2004 said:
lol, yep, the rest of my post was somewhat rantish!
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I thought it was v interesting. I also like how clearly you remember that Juve real game - it's not the first time you've brought it up and before you had I had totally forgotten about it.

This thread rules.
 
B

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
cheers - in my current state of essay-avoidance, posts are longer than usual!

As to Juve-Real, I feel everyone has forgotten how colossal Real were in Europe at that point - two wins and two semis 2000-2003 (my own favourites were Deportivo- Man United produced one of their best-ever European performances in one of the QFs vs Depor). Any talk about great European club sides has to go back to that Real side first.
 
jenks

jenks

thread death
Bad day round these parts - Spurs choke worse than the queen mum on a fish bone and Southend are almost certainly down as i write. I suppose we get to play Stevenage - almost a local derby.
 
M

mrfaucet

The Ideas Train
don_quixote said:
if you want to read about tactics you need to read jonathan wilson in the guardian. he is the fucking don.
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This cannot be stated enough. If you haven't read his book Inverting the Pyramid then I'd strongly suggest that you do. It's also worth reading his article on pressing, which focussed on Barcelona in particular, from a few weeks ago in the Guardian.
 
S

scottdisco

rip this joint please
commiserations to jenks.

:(

though, do bear in mind the tuck wagon at Stevenage is worth its own visit. they do magnificent things w eggs on the burgers. (plus i once saw Paul Merson deep in conversation w P Taylor at their bar.)

speaking parochially, still trying to recover from a season in which Alty are officially the second best non-league team in northern England (and not in danger of relegation, which we invariably avoid thanks to our various paper scams). oh, but also Forest Green got relegated. don't know if any Dissensians hold a candle for this lot of Chippenham chancers, but i can't stand them for various reasons, so, frankly, fuck FGR.
 
S

scottdisco

rip this joint please
hucks said:
God, no one makes me feel as inadequate as Ryan Giggs does.
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he has a very good chest of hair.

i do remember mind when he was going through a inexplicably rough patch w the Utd faithful about four years ago and i recall the immortal line in some City 'zine Giggs in tights, a disgrace to my old school Moorside, no wonder rags boo him
 
P

pat

Active member
scottdisco said:
Luton fan eh Pat?

all the best mate, i'm a (rather part-time!) Alty fan. didn't go on Satd but our kid attended and said that you were basically contained. it does rather sound like we just sat there but tbf that's what to expect i guess. he was scratching his head about the six minutes of injury time.

i really hope Luton go up, and i'm not just saying this, your fans are a good bunch. also and sorry to be petty but there are various reasons i'm not Oxford's greatest supporter... ...i got time for York mind you.
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i'm dreading these play offs you know. york are a good little side, and we might have a couple of knocks to key players. messy pants time.

oxford vs luton at wembly would be a great day out though. fingers crossssssed.
 
D

don_quixote

Trent End
i'm dreading play-offs too. leicester and cardiff guaranteed and i can't stand either of them, both administration/finance cheats in the not too distant past. especially cardiff who are going through the whole process now too. cardiff were in the relegation mix when we went down and got an emergency loan from the bloody pfa so they could pay their players and now they could go into administration after going up at our expense?? i would be furious.
 
B

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Good god - Wednesday vs Palace for the last relegation spot. Win, we stay up; if not, they do. Might as well have skipped the preceding 45 games.
 
hucks

hucks

Your Message Here
scottdisco said:
speaking parochially, still trying to recover from a season in which Alty are officially the second best non-league team in northern England (and not in danger of relegation, which we invariably avoid thanks to our various paper scams). oh, but also Forest Green got relegated. don't know if any Dissensians hold a candle for this lot of Chippenham chancers, but i can't stand them for various reasons, so, frankly, fuck FGR.
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Loads of non league fans hate Forest Green - why is that?

Plus one for Luton, from me, too. Always liked them since Ricky Hill, and they had at east 3 Norwich players last year when they were getting fucked by the football league. Chris Martin evidently did a lot of growing up in his year on loan there, so good on em.
 
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