West Coast Connection Forum
Lifestyle => Sports & Entertainment => Topic started by: Elano on May 27, 2009, 02:46:57 AM
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(http://d.yimg.com/a/p/afp/20090527/capt.photo_1243391591373-1-0.jpg)
As Manchester United FC prepare for their 66th and final match of a mammoth and potentially momentous campaign, Sir Alex Ferguson has called for one more performance of "determination and courage" from a squad which has risen to every challenge this season.
'Character'
A far cry from the razzamatazz of Rome and a UEFA Champions League final against FC Barcelona, Sir Alex pointed to United's win at Stoke City FC on 26 December – which came after travelling back from their FIFA Club World Cup triumph in Yokohama – as a match which "showed the true character of the team". He said: "The team elevated themselves in accepting the challenge of going to Japan which was a big test for us. Everybody found it difficult sleeping over there and to come back and beat Stoke on Boxing Day was a fantastic win. When you have a bunch of players who are talented and don't want to lose, then that's special."
'Maturity'
Recent performances in Europe have also given Sir Alex renewed hope that United can become the first team in the UEFA Champions League era to win successive titles. "When the chips were down in Porto we rose to that, it was a fantastic performance," said the Scot of their last-eight decider in Portugal, adding of the semi-final: "In the second leg at Arsenal the team showed their capabilities again. They didn't play beyond themselves but to their capabilities and when they do that they're a very good team. What you see over the last year is maturity; we've won the league again and have a fantastic squad."
Rousing words
The squad may be the most talented ever assembled at Old Trafford, yet it is the manager who continues to drive them to greatness. Before the 1999 final victory against FC Bayern München at the Camp Nou, Sir Alex told his players that they would always regret it if they were able to get up close to the famous trophy without actually getting their hands on it. Rather than being carefully scripted, however, the 67-year-old revealed on the eve of the game that he had not "thought about one word" of what he would say before sending his players out at the Stadio Olimpico. "These things usually happen to me about three in the morning when I am trying to get some inspiration from the deep chambers of my tiny little brain," he said, "but at the moment nothing is coming out."
Heat
Inspiration is not something United have been short of, yet the manager knows "a bit of luck" could be equally important if the English champions are to get the better of their Spanish counterparts in the Eternal City. "Certain things will be important such as concentration and the bit of luck that teams get in a certain moments which can decide or turn a game," he added. "It will be a game in which both teams won't want to give the ball away; what we do with it as opposed to them will be the deciding factor. The heat won't affect preparations but if it's uncomfortable we'll have to rely on the determination and courage of our players and that's something I'll be looking for."
Hristo Stoichkov joked to uefa.com that the attacking style his old Camp Nou team-mate Josep Guardiola has fostered at the helm of FC Barcelona is something of a surprise given that the coach was "never asked to go across the halfway line" in his playing days.
Camp Nou colleagues
The 43-year-old Stoichkov and Guardiola, 38, were team-mates at Camp Nou from 1990 to 1995 and 1996 to 1998. However, the Bulgarian – Barcelona's final ambassador for tonight's UEFA Champions League decider against Manchester United FC – said the former defensive midfielder's playing style did not mark him out as a man who would go on to fashion such an attack-oriented side as the current Barça.
Local pride
"He was never asked to go across the halfway line; from there on it was our business," the forward told uefa.com. "When I played with him he was very young so he had to run a lot and make simple passes. Still he was a key element in the 'dream team' of the early 1990s. A player like that is very easy for a coach. He is Catalan, he feels at home at Barça and he knows better than anyone what Barcelona stands for."
'More than just a club'
Stoichkov was a member of the Barça team that lost 2-1 to United in the 1991 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final, but on the eve of the clubs' most auspicious meeting yet, he preferred to look back on another final; the one in 1992 which saw Barça beat UC Sampdoria to claim their first European Champion Clubs' Cup. "The 20 May that year was my greatest day with Barcelona," he said. "For the first we felt on top of the world. It was a great; we felt like we were more than just a club."
Phenomenal team
Two years later, Stoichkov scored twice in a 4-0 UEFA Champions League group-stage win against United. "It was easy," he recalled with a broad grin. "That team was very strong with players like Michael Laudrup, Romário, Ronald Koeman." He added at least another ten names from that famous squad before concluding reverently: "That was a phenomenal team."
Amazing opponents
The same could be said of both tonight's finalists in Rome. "They are both really amazing," Stoichkov admitted. "They just became champions in Spain and England by playing great football for the whole season and they are not just winning games; they are entertaining the fans. They share the same mentality even if Barcelona have a very young coach and United a very experienced one. It doesn't get better than this."
'Messi against Ronaldo'
Stoichkov was sure Barça would not be undermined by the absences of suspended full-backs Daniel Alves and Eric Abidal plus the injured Rafael Márquez as they bid to complete an unprecedented Liga, Spanish Cup and UEFA Champions League treble, noting: "A great team never thinks about missing players." The big excitement, though, is sure to focus on United's Cristiano Ronaldo and Barça's Lionel Messi, with 1994 European Player of the Year Stoichkov saying: "It's Messi against Ronaldo. Whoever wins will also get the Ballon d'Or."
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Hoping for a great game tonight!
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im a manutd supporter but im never confident for them when they play against other big clubs, but hopfully theyl win
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i have a feeling a player like tevez or iniesta will decide it not messi or ronaldo
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messy is a best player of the world !!!!!!!!! 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)
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Go Barca.
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I don't know what team has the best chances and I don't care who wins... 2 perfect ingredients for a great game to watch! :)
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eto'o 1-o for barca
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hXukzc_YLTM/SN2ElwzlJfI/AAAAAAAAGBg/ryhhvbVAKJs/s400/kanye-west-told-you-so.jpg)
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WHAT A GOAL!!! :D ;D
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messy is a best player of the world !!!!!!!!! 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)
that is still Ronaldo
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The best team won... Great game! :)
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What a fucking great game! I loved every second of it!
LOL at Cristiano, a grumpy diver.
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What a fucking great game! I loved every second of it!
LOL at Cristiano, a grumpy diver.
:baseballbat: :rant:
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2 complaints:
The ref didn't send Scholes off the pitch and C. Ronaldo showed again what a bad loser he is.
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messy is a best player of the world !!!!!!!!! 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)
that is still Ronaldo
Not the last 12 months.. you haven't seen many Barca or ManU games this year, have you ?
Barca pretty much owned ManU, haven't seen them this outclassed, since the 1st half against Tottenham. ;D
Disclaimer: Yes, I know about the second half, thank you very much.
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Watch it Jome. Speaking about Tottenham in a CL thread is blasphemy!
;D
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;D ;D
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i knew they wer gonna lose, its a shame :'(, hopfully next time. 8)
formation was all wrong for manutd, really dissapointed with sir alex fergusons tactics. shouldv either put player in ther normal positions with ronalod on the right and rooney upfront. i wouldve played tevez or berbatov in the start of the game, 4-4-2 formation
GK: Van Der Sar
DR: O'Shea
DC: Ferdinand
DC: Vidic
DL: Evra
ML: Park
MC: Anderson or Giggs (although giggs is my fave player of all time!)
MC: Carrick
MR: Ronaldo
FC: Rooney
FC: Tevez or Berbatov
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The best team won... Great game! :)
Personally, for all the hype built up for this game, I thought it was very dissapointing. We definitely should of started with 2 strikers and not played Giggs or Anderson. I actually think we really missed Fletcher tonight.
United started off very brightly, especially Ronaldo and we probably should of scored in them first 10 minutes. We had 5 shots in that time.
The way Carrick just let Iniesta, a player of his class just run for the first goal was ridiculous. As soon as Eto'o cut inside there was only gonna be 1 result.
After that we didn't create many great chances and I knew the second goal was coming. But Giggs should definitely of scored that chance he had.
And the way the commentators were going on about how well Messi played was a bit over the top. He hardly did anything the whole match apart from his goal.
So overall, Barca definitely deserved to win as they had the better of the chances and the game was a dissapointment. :(
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i knew they wer gonna lose, its a shame :'(, hopfully next time. 8)
formation was all wrong for manutd, really dissapointed with sir alex fergusons tactics. shouldv either put player in ther normal positions with ronalod on the right and rooney upfront. i wouldve played tevez or berbatov in the start of the game, 4-4-2 formation
GK: Van Der Sar
DR: O'Shea
DC: Ferdinand
DC: Vidic
DL: Evra
ML: Park
MC: Anderson or Giggs (although giggs is my fave player of all time!)
MC: Carrick
MR: Ronaldo
FC: Rooney
FC: Tevez or Berbatov
I always like it when some nitwit who doesn't know half as much about soccer as any manager tells what the formation and tactic should have been like. You'd almost think he spends time with the players when they're training.
Maybe you can ask Daz Dillinger how Man U. would have defeated Barça.
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Yeah! Boring game but Barcelona deserved it.
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(http://img.skysports.com/09/05/218x298/Thierry-Henry-Manchester-United-Barcelona-Cha_2311593.jpg)
Fully deserved. I got the chills when he raised the trophy!
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(http://img.skysports.com/09/05/218x298/Thierry-Henry-Manchester-United-Barcelona-Cha_2311593.jpg)
Fully deserved. I got the chills when he raised the trophy!
He has actually won everything now. Fair play to him.
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(http://img.skysports.com/09/05/218x298/Thierry-Henry-Manchester-United-Barcelona-Cha_2311593.jpg)
Fully deserved. I got the chills when he raised the trophy!
He has actually won everything now. Fair play to him.
Still need the World Club Championship.
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lol at all the Ronaldo bashing, it was inevitable. True fact is Ronaldo had a great game and was easily the best player on the pitch for Utd. The defensive marking was awful and Utd played nothing like themselves. There normally a team who controls the ball and makes smart passes in order to move forward; this was abandoned from the moment Barca scored their first goal, and Utd suffered. They panicked and jumped to the long ball which was awful.
And that's it, Messi is now better than Ronaldo ::) he scores 1 goal and thats it, the world is over. Really, his goal was nothing magical, just more of an example of the poor marksmanship by the Utd defense. Anytime the shortest player on the field scores a header, you know something is wrong.
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Cristiano had a great game? What?
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Cristiano had a great game? What?
he was the best player for Man Utd and had a few goal opportunities.
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Cristiano had a great game? What?
he was the best player for Man Utd and had a few goal opportunities.
Agree with Lunatic here. He didn't have a great game though.
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And that's it, Messi is now better than Ronaldo ::) he scores 1 goal and thats it, the world is over. Really, his goal was nothing magical, just more of an example of the poor marksmanship by the Utd defense. Anytime the shortest player on the field scores a header, you know something is wrong.
Oh man, you gotta be joking.
Seems like you should stick to American sports.
People who know Football know that Messi has been on fire for a long time now, he simply does things that no other player in the world can.
Stats this season:
League - 31 games / 23 goals / 11 assists
Cup - 8 games / 6 goals / 1 assist
Champions League - 12 games / 9 goals / 5 assists
Total 38 goals in 51 games, and let's not forget how he scores his goals and sets other players up.
Stop fronting Luna, CR isn't on his Messi level this year.. he was better last year, and got his award, now it's Messi-time.
Scoring yesterday was just icing on the cake, he was still way ahead of the competition.
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And that's it, Messi is now better than Ronaldo ::) he scores 1 goal and thats it, the world is over. Really, his goal was nothing magical, just more of an example of the poor marksmanship by the Utd defense. Anytime the shortest player on the field scores a header, you know something is wrong.
Oh man, you gotta be joking.
Seems like you should stick to American sports.
People who know Football know that Messi has been on fire for a long time now, he simply does things that no other player in the world can.
Stats this season:
League - 31 games / 23 goals / 11 assists
Cup - 8 games / 6 goals / 1 assist
Champions League - 12 games / 9 goals / 5 assists
Total 38 goals in 51 games, and let's not forget how he scores his goals and sets other players up.
Stop fronting Luna, CR isn't on his Messi level this year.. he was better last year, and got his award, now it's Messi-time.
Scoring yesterday was just icing on the cake, he was still way ahead of the competition.
NO i shouldn't i'm of Portuguese descent and have been into football always
Clearly that was poor marksmanship. i'm not saying Messi didn't have a great year, I just think THIS is the goal that is gonna see many call him better than CR, when really the goal was the product of awful defense and nothing more.
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NO i shouldn't i'm of Portuguese descent and have been into football always
Clearly that was poor marksmanship. i'm not saying Messi didn't have a great year, I just think THIS is the goal that is gonna see many call him better than CR, when really the goal was the product of awful defense and nothing more.
Ahh, makes sense.
Most experts and neutral fans been saying Messi >> CR, BEFORE the final and semi-finals..
Scoring in a CL final doesn't make the buzz any smaller, of course.
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NO i shouldn't i'm of Portuguese descent and have been into football always
Clearly that was poor marksmanship. i'm not saying Messi didn't have a great year, I just think THIS is the goal that is gonna see many call him better than CR, when really the goal was the product of awful defense and nothing more.
Ahh, makes sense.
Most experts and neutral fans been saying Messi >> CR, BEFORE the final and semi-finals..
Scoring in a CL final doesn't make the buzz any smaller, of course.
and were are u from? probably hate the Portuguese ;D lol
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Norway, we're as neutral as the Swiss.. (not just the ref, pun intended) ;D
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The first goal won this match, it totally knocked the confidence out of united and they never really got a rhythmn into their game again however u cant take ANYTHING away from barca they dominated the game and deserved to win it, i was so happy to see Henry lift that trophy! Being that im an arsenal fan it was great to see, he deserves it, is and will always be my favourite player 8)
*O and i just had to get in on this debate/argument, Messi has been the best in the world all season, his stats prove this, Ronaldo deserved that crown last year but this year hes been hit and miss, no hate/dick riding but thats the truth, i dont see how u can deny that, shit i'd even say Iniesta has been better than CR this season, hes improved like crazy and is simply becoming amazing
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Ronaldo single handily defeated Arsenal in the semi's..The same semi's Utd would have never been in if he didn't score a MIRACLE goal against Porto in Portugal...
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Gibbs slip and Almunias hesitation singlehandedly knocked Arsenal out of the semi's, Ronaldo's goal in Porto was awesome ill give you that but then ill argue right back that Man U shouldnt have even gone into that game at 2-2 as Portos centreback made one of the worse back passes ive ever seen in the first leg which gifted united a way back into a game where they were average...im not gonna go on for like the next 5 posts arguing over this and that, but its clear your a Ronaldo fan and while i can respect that, he's been hit and miss this season and u cant deny that, he was a ghost during the first half of the season and didnt show in BIG games (Arsenal - Emirates, Liverpool - Old Trafford etc) Whereas Messi been consistant throughout and is the main reason Barca won the treble
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Gibbs slip and Almunias hesitation singlehandedly knocked Arsenal out of the semi's, Ronaldo's goal in Porto was awesome ill give you that but then ill argue right back that Man U shouldnt have even gone into that game at 2-2 as Portos centreback made one of the worse back passes ive ever seen in the first leg which gifted united a way back into a game where they were average...im not gonna go on for like the next 5 posts arguing over this and that, but its clear your a Ronaldo fan and while i can respect that, he's been hit and miss this season and u cant deny that, he was a ghost during the first half of the season and didnt show in BIG games (Arsenal - Emirates, Liverpool - Old Trafford etc) Whereas Messi been consistant throughout and is the main reason Barca won the treble
I think Ronaldo was fantastic against Arsenal and is the reason they won. Heck, i'm not saying your wrong but I have a friend who is an Arsenal fan and HATES Ronaldo..he's about as annoying as soccer fans get, and he admitted Ronaldo is the best player in the world after those 2 legs. Man U shouldn't have been 2-2, but that is mainly beyond the control of Ronaldo. He didn't score that easy goal, Rooney did.
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Iniesta should be up there in the discussion when it comes to the best player this year ... been a monster all yearand clearly has been playing better than Messi these latest 2-3 months ...
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its gerrard or messi....ronaldo went missing first 4-6 months of this year although he has been good at the back-end of the season...gotta say messi probably edges it
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manu was playing for 10 minutes and then they stopped, then started the Iniesta show, dude is just amazing, hes everywhere lol.
What a play by iniesta
what a goal by eto
what a play by xavi
what a goal by messi
what a miss by henry (i think if they didnt win he would hang himself when he thinks of 06 misses)
what a average game by c.ronaldo
what a miss by ferguson playing with rooney on the side
damn...i can go on and on
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I'm glad henry finally won the trophy, game was boring though... i expected more but hey, atleat barca won!
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And that's it, Messi is now better than Ronaldo ::) he scores 1 goal and thats it, the world is over. Really, his goal was nothing magical, just more of an example of the poor marksmanship by the Utd defense. Anytime the shortest player on the field scores a header, you know something is wrong.
You haven't watched the whole game i guess.
You are canadian,stick to the hockey
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XAVI and INIESTA are two fuckin aliens,the way they play football should be studied in school.
Messi is unbelievable ok,but those 2 players are the 90% of barcelona.
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And props to Guardiola:he has won EVERYTHING the first year (with this barca is kinda easy ok,but big props to him).
Nobody like him in the history of Barca 8)
7 of the 11 barca players came from la "cantera" (youth team),even guardiola. :raisetheroof:
FUCK MADRID
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"it wasn't really messi who was the problem. it was iniesta and xavi. they can keep the ball all night long. ;D
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Edin Dzeko shits on CR 8)
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"it wasn't really messi who was the problem. it was iniesta and xavi. they can keep the ball all night long. ;D
Thats what im sayin, tho they arent big stars as Messi (im not sayin hes a star for nothing, he is one of the best in the world) but deserve to be praised , they are doing helluva job on the field, Iniesta is just mystery to any defence, he just goes straight in from the middle field from the side, it doest matter. Xavi is on a similar level...all three of them are Barcelonas children.
lol @ Dzeko comment, we can mention Dzeko in here in few years when he makes career in a big club that will achive sth with him, but not in some average sausage eater Bundeslige playin for Wolfsburg and scoring against Karlsruhe and Cottbus LOL
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i knew they wer gonna lose, its a shame :'(, hopfully next time. 8)
formation was all wrong for manutd, really dissapointed with sir alex fergusons tactics. shouldv either put player in ther normal positions with ronalod on the right and rooney upfront. i wouldve played tevez or berbatov in the start of the game, 4-4-2 formation
GK: Van Der Sar
DR: O'Shea
DC: Ferdinand
DC: Vidic
DL: Evra
ML: Park
MC: Anderson or Giggs (although giggs is my fave player of all time!)
MC: Carrick
MR: Ronaldo
FC: Rooney
FC: Tevez or Berbatov
I always like it when some nitwit who doesn't know half as much about soccer as any manager tells what the formation and tactic should have been like. You'd almost think he spends time with the players when they're training.
Maybe you can ask Daz Dillinger how Man U. would have defeated Barça.
mate your just gay, its abit obv that the formation used was not good
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lol at all the Ronaldo bashing, it was inevitable. True fact is Ronaldo had a great game and was easily the best player on the pitch for Utd. The defensive marking was awful and Utd played nothing like themselves. There normally a team who controls the ball and makes smart passes in order to move forward; this was abandoned from the moment Barca scored their first goal, and Utd suffered. They panicked and jumped to the long ball which was awful.
And that's it, Messi is now better than Ronaldo ::) he scores 1 goal and thats it, the world is over. Really, his goal was nothing magical, just more of an example of the poor marksmanship by the Utd defense. Anytime the shortest player on the field scores a header, you know something is wrong.
In my opinion the best player on the pitch for United was van der Sar. Without him Barca had scored 2 or 3 more goals. Ronaldo had a few good scenes in the first 15 minutes, but after that he acted as lethargic as his whole team.
And Messi IS better than him. We don't have to argue about that. ;) Just face the facts. Nuff said.
To the game itself: Barca just showed Manu how to play modern football. Short,quik and controlled passes combined with individual class. At the end of the first half there were 5-6 minutes where any player of United touched the ball even once. To remind yall, after that the crowd started booing every time a Manu Player got the ball, what is also represantative for the whole game.
With Xavi and Iniesta Barcelona definitly got the best midfield in the world right now. They both played in another dimension yesterday. Busquets also played a solid, inconspicuous part. We don't have to talk about the offensive players.
To summ it all up: Barca totally deserves this title. No question...
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damn I knew the winner of Baca-Chelsea would win the trophy, but it surprised me that ManU was that tame. In the second half, there was little difference between ManU and Bayern. Although they won the league with phenomenal 90 points, it was not their year...No doubt Chelski and Liverpool both would've beaten manU this year.
Barca on the other hand played a perfect season, despite their luck against Chelski there's no doubt that Barca is the best team of the world at the moment.
Really interesting how quickly things can change in football, last year Barca was crap and ManU was dominant. Same thing with the superstars: Kaka, then Ronaldo and now Messi (although he is more the symbol for the whole Barca offensive, Etoo Henry and especially Iniesta and Xavi have equally tributed to this success.) But that makes football so exciting. No player and no team dominates more than 1-2 years these days.
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http://www.youtube.com/v/si641o4iUJY
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a) Messi is way better than Ronaldo this year. Last year Ronaldo was the best, no doubt about that but to say that he's also the best this year is reaching. He was on and off this year and yeah he did score against Arsenal and Porto but that was from freekicks or long distance shots. Which were both crazy and he definetly got that game on lock but as far as everything else on the pitch he was pretty average.
b) Manchester was lucky to get to the final anyways. First real opponent they had in the whole CL and they got owned.
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what a bunch of retards, celebrating their teams win by demolishing other peoples proprety, instead of finding some good piece of ass so they can also score that night.
ps. they need to be sent to working camps to use they energy for sth positive.
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‘We lost to best team in the world,’ says Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney praised Barcelona last night as the best team he has played against for club or country.
The Manchester United forward, who was once compared to Pelé by Sven-Göran Eriksson, the former England head coach, conceded that he has never been given such a footballing lesson and admitted that he was happy to defer to Andrés Iniesta as the best player in the world after the defeat by Barcelona.
“I’ve never played against a better team than this,” Rooney said. “They’re a brilliant team. Iniesta for me is the best player in the world, he’s incredible. They’re a great team, they pass the ball well and if you don’t take your chances, they punish you, which is what they did tonight.
“It’s disappointing, but I thought Barcelona were the better team and deserved to win. They scored a good goal early on and [lionel] Messi’s was a great goal at a difficult time for us. We’re still a young team and can come back, I hope.”
Sir Alex Ferguson believed that the game was decided by Xavi Hernández and Iniesta rather than Messi, who underlined his status as favourite to win the Ballon d’Or by dominating his personal duel with Cristiano Ronaldo.
“Messi wasn’t as much of a problem as Iniesta or Xavi,” Ferguson said. “They can keep the ball all night long. This was our 66th game [of the season] and we showed resilience and courage. Next year we will be better. That’s what this club demands.”
Rio Ferdinand, who was dragged out of position for Messi’s headed goal, conceded that none of his team-mates had performed close to their potential. “Not one of us can say we played well tonight,” he said. “It’s a shame. We created five or six chances, but they were the better team.”
Did Sir Alex Ferguson get his tactics wrong?
It is difficult to question the tactics of a manager who has won more than thirty trophies, but it looks like Sir Alex Ferguson got it all wrong in Rome last night.
Chelsea – and United in the past - have proved that the best way to play against Barcelona is to be physical and strong. Give Barcelona time and space and they will destroy you.
For some reason, Ferguson decided to try and play Barcelona at their own game in the Stadio Olimpico and United’s fate was sealed when Samuel Eto’o scored after only ten minutes.
To make matters worse, Ferguson gambled at half time by bringing on Carlos Tevez, switching his formation and making the game even more open.
United did not turn up last night. They did not compete. There was no passion. There was no fire. There was no spark.
Ferguson does not owe United anything but if he had taken Barcelona more seriously last night the result could have been very different.
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Wayne Rooney threat was wasted against Barcelona
Manchester United deserved what they got. If you cannot expose that vulnerable Barcelona back four with all the attacking talent at United’s disposal in Rome, something is badly wrong.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s side simply didn’t gel. They underachieved from back to front. Cristiano Ronaldo was frustrated and no wonder. United cannot expect Ronaldo to win games for them single-handedly all the time. He needed others to chip in. But where was Wayne Rooney? Defending, mostly — one of the greatest attacking talents on the planet was modelling his game on Park Ji Sung.
Ferguson was understandably desperate to nullify Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry, because you cannot allow them to take on defenders one on one. An early example of the danger came when Messi got half a yard on the defence and blasted narrowly over the bar.
So Rooney found himself doing defensive duties. He’s more willing than most forwards to track back and help out — perhaps too enthusiastic. He struggled to get into the game and didn’t offer enough up front. There are times when a player must ask for help from a team-mate and say: “You keep an eye on him, I’ve got to push forward.” On such a big stage, United couldn’t afford Rooney drifting in and out of the contest. He needs to learn to be braver.
There comes a point in a match, if your team are losing or you’re anonymous, when you have to make your own mind up. Great players make great decisions. They don’t need to rely on a manager telling them what to do on the touchline. Rooney should have placed less focus on his defensive duties early on, even if Ferguson hadn’t given him permission to do so.
It was especially frustrating because Barcelona looked so vulnerable at the back. Carles Puyol was a red card-in-waiting if United had only run at him more often.
There was nothing fundamentally wrong with Ferguson’s tactics — after all, United started strongly — but they were knocked out of their stride by Samuel Eto’o’s goal and lost confidence, appearing to be panicked because they were looking to get rid of the ball too quickly at the back.
The main problem was that United stood off again and again. Without the suspended Darren Fletcher and the injured Owen Hargreaves, they did not have a protector to patrol the space and make tackles in front of the back four — the role that Michael Essien performed for Chelsea in the semi-final against Barcelona.
Still, it was strange after the terrific season that United have had for them to be showing an opponent so much respect. And bizarre that they did exactly what everyone knows you mustn’t: give Barcelona’s playmakers the time and space to pick their passes. United will look back on last night with huge regret.
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i knew they wer gonna lose, its a shame :'(, hopfully next time. 8)
formation was all wrong for manutd, really dissapointed with sir alex fergusons tactics. shouldv either put player in ther normal positions with ronalod on the right and rooney upfront. i wouldve played tevez or berbatov in the start of the game, 4-4-2 formation
GK: Van Der Sar
DR: O'Shea
DC: Ferdinand
DC: Vidic
DL: Evra
ML: Park
MC: Anderson or Giggs (although giggs is my fave player of all time!)
MC: Carrick
MR: Ronaldo
FC: Rooney
FC: Tevez or Berbatov
I always like it when some nitwit who doesn't know half as much about soccer as any manager tells what the formation and tactic should have been like. You'd almost think he spends time with the players when they're training.
Maybe you can ask Daz Dillinger how Man U. would have defeated Barça.
mate your just gay, its abit obv that the formation used was not good
That's easy talking afterwards and not being involved.
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i knew they wer gonna lose, its a shame :'(, hopfully next time. 8)
formation was all wrong for manutd, really dissapointed with sir alex fergusons tactics. shouldv either put player in ther normal positions with ronalod on the right and rooney upfront. i wouldve played tevez or berbatov in the start of the game, 4-4-2 formation
GK: Van Der Sar
DR: O'Shea
DC: Ferdinand
DC: Vidic
DL: Evra
ML: Park
MC: Anderson or Giggs (although giggs is my fave player of all time!)
MC: Carrick
MR: Ronaldo
FC: Rooney
FC: Tevez or Berbatov
I always like it when some nitwit who doesn't know half as much about soccer as any manager tells what the formation and tactic should have been like. You'd almost think he spends time with the players when they're training.
Maybe you can ask Daz Dillinger how Man U. would have defeated Barça.
mate your just gay, its abit obv that the formation used was not good
That's easy talking afterwards and not being involved.
you as well lol? i knew before the game that they shouldnt hav used this formation and even ronaldo said the same thing. check skysports.com
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Cristiano Ronaldo, best player in the world? get a grip...
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Fair play to barca they deserved to win.