The Football.....

[MarkF]

It's one thing when colossal stupidity forces such measures on you but if that's the way of the future, then there is no future. Bayern didn't play like that in the lion's den they found themselves in. They played fearless football for the entire duration of the game.

It takes bravery and imagination do do what Bayern did, I very much hope that they win the final.

 

[dellzeqq]

FWIW, they did what they had to do at the Nou Camp, but I think it was more Barca's unwillingness to adapt that killed them off - as Fabregas said, they didn't compromise their style and were always trying to score that perfect goal with a pass or three too many. I think Chelsea going down to ten men actually galvanised the plan to sit back and soak up predictable attack after attack.
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the irony is that the Chelsea of the early nineties tried to walk the ball in to the net. It was their undoing - although, to be fair, they did win a European trophy. Dennis Wise, for all his personal failings, was at the centre of a midfield that tried to pass the opposition to death.

 

[MarkF]

Love the way Athletic Bilbao play football, so fluid. Their ground is one of the best I've been to as well, great atmosphere, so many good bars near it too....

They have produced 6 classic games in a row by refusing to take a backward step, against Man U, Schalke 04 and Sporting. I thought Sporting were unlucky and technically superior but Bilbao just kept trying to score, and they did, a fantastic game. I didn't think there was anything heroic or even good about Chelski's 2 performances v Barca, I thought, considering the "tools" at their disposal as one of the game biggest clubs, it was all utterly dispiriting, feck 'em!

BTW It is shame that San Mames is being replaced with a bowl, it is the best (along with Gijon's El Molinon) classic Spanish ground.

 

[dellzeqq]

Not at all! If it was Liverpool, Man U, Newcastle, Arsenal, Everton etc., I would most likely be supporting them, dependant on the opposition. However Chelsea or Man City are IMHO bankrolled by spoilt rich boys who deserve to be brought down to earth. At least in Man Citys case the money has been earned honestly, from oil. Chelseas on the other hand is from very dubious origins!

Crikey! If you're looking for virtue in the ownership of football clubs then you're on a lonely quest. Of the list above only Everton is what one might call respectable. Liverpool are owned by futures traders, Newcastle by Mike Ashley, Manchester United by people I cannot describe for fear of Sean's house being taken away from him (but think hoovering of river estuaries), and Arsenal have an oligarch shareholder and another fuelled by Walmart money. And it goes on, and down, right the way down to Crawley Town.

 

[ceepeebee]

Agree with that, was hoping to get to a last game before they move but no joy. Good shout on el molinon as well, I was there in the summer of 10 and they were modernizing rather than moving.

 

[dellzeqq]

another irony. 29 years to the day before the Chelsea/Barcelona semifinal, Barcelona parked the bus against Leeds, playing 9-1-0, and almost got away with it. Leeds overcame Barcelona, but lost the final against Bayern after the referee effectively handed the whistle to Franz Beckenbauer.

 

[PaulB]

Crikey! If you're looking for virtue in the ownership of football clubs then you're on a lonely quest. Of the list above only Everton is what one might call respectable. Liverpool are owned by futures traders, Newcastle by Mike Ashley, Manchester United by people I cannot describe for fear of Sean's house being taken away from him (but think hoovering of river estuaries), and Arsenal have an oligarch shareholder and another fuelled by Walmart money. And it goes on, and down, right the way down to Crawley Town.

And here's when you have to decide whether you should dial Emma or leave her alone! I know lots of Evertonians who take no solace in their being 'respectable' (unwanted, as we say) and would gladly sell to some whore-monger to get nearer that tantalising tit of desire. Equally, I know committed fans of my team who won't watch them anymore because of the way football's gone. If it's inborn, then you (I know I am) are ripe for exploitation as the money-men know you take pride in showing your "commitment to the cause". Therefore, they can mess you about to their desire and piss you off while simultaneously keeping their hand in your pocket. If you knew of the messing about, expense and inconvenience of our cup-final trek next week, you'd have to consider us A) Stupid and gullible or B) Admirably loyal. I've put up with a lot and keep saying if it goes any further, then I'm off but then we take this contempt and come back for more. It's tragic really but there's an inexhaustible market ripe for exploitation out there and they keep coming back for more.

 

[dellzeqq]

And here's when you have to decide whether you should dial Emma or leave her alone! I know lots of Evertonians who take no solace in their being 'respectable' (unwanted, as we say) and would gladly sell to some whore-monger to get nearer that tantalising tit of desire. Equally, I know committed fans of my team who won't watch them anymore because of the way football's gone. If it's inborn, then you (I know I am) are ripe for exploitation as the money-men know you take pride in showing your "commitment to the cause". Therefore, they can mess you about to their desire and piss you off while simultaneously keeping their hand in your pocket. If you knew of the messing about, expense and inconvenience of our cup-final trek next week, you'd have to consider us A) Stupid and gullible or B) Admirably loyal. I've put up with a lot and keep saying if it goes any further, then I'm off but then we take this contempt and come back for more. It's tragic really but there's an inexhaustible market ripe for exploitation out there and they keep coming back for more.

absolutely. It's a vale of tears, although there are degrees of horribleness......

 

[User482]

It's one thing when colossal stupidity forces such measures on you but if that's the way of the future, then there is no future. Bayern didn't play like that in the lion's den they found themselves in. They played fearless football for the entire duration of the game.

Chelsea and Bayern played in exactly the same way: to win.

 

[dellzeqq]

in terms of footballing history, it looks to me as if the Barcelona era is over, just as the Madrid, Ajax, Bayern, Liverpool and AC Milan eras ended. They'll have to rebuild. Their defence just isn't as good as it should be, they have no real aerial threat (and they couldn't make use of Ibrahimovich who is now looking the business again at Milan), and they've got out of the habit of getting to the goal-line.

They pay the highest wages in football and they're half a billion euros in debt (losing forty million euros on Ibrahimovich wasn't that smart). As a club they're inward looking and argumentative, and I reckon Guardiola is leaving because he sees trouble ahead...

 

[Ajay]

Not at all! If it was Liverpool, Man U, Newcastle, Arsenal, Everton etc., I would most likely be supporting them, dependant on the opposition. However Chelsea or Man City are IMHO bankrolled by spoilt rich boys who deserve to be brought down to earth. At least in Man Citys case the money has been earned honestly, from oil. Chelseas on the other hand is from very dubious origins!

Neither do I have a chip on my shoulder with regards to my nationality, but like most Scots I am fiercely patriotic and also like to differentiate between England and BRITAIN. There is a HUGE difference!

Yeh, I know, just pulling yer leg big man, just as there's a huge difference between London and England.
I don't want Chelsea to win, the European Cup doesn't belong in London, but if they do, having beaten Barcelona and then Bayern in Munich then they'll deserve it and I'll doth my cap.

 

[Ajay]

in terms of footballing history, it looks to me as if the Barcelona era is over, just as the Madrid, Ajax, Bayern, Liverpool and AC Milan eras ended. They'll have to rebuild. Their defence just isn't as good as it should be, they have no real aerial threat (and they couldn't make use of Ibrahimovich who is now looking the business again at Milan), and they've got out of the habit of getting to the goal-line.

They pay the highest wages in football and they're half a billion euros in debt (losing forty million euros on Ibrahimovich wasn't that smart). As a club they're inward looking and argumentative, and I reckon Guardiola is leaving because he sees trouble ahead...

Exactly, their arrogance in not adapting their game to the opposition has been their undoing. With Pep dumping Ibrahimovich and insisting everything is played short and narrow through Xavi Iniesta and Messi, they have no options. I'm not suggesting they should play the Stoke way, but if they had used anything approaching an orthodox centre forward, be that Ibrahimovich or Peter Crouch (bless him) against Chelsea's 10 man makeshift defence they'd have won!

 

[ceepeebee]

I'll wager that Llorente will be at Barca next season - which is a shame as I wish Liverpool could sign him.

Problem with Zlatan is that, good as he is, he's a very disruptive influence on a squad (roundhouse kicking teammates for a giggle, that sort of thing) and, a couple of games (Sweden vs Italy in...2002?) apart is a bit of a flat track bully. Barca buying him was a mistake in the first place on that basis.

 

[dellzeqq]

I'll wager that Llorente will be at Barca next season - which is a shame as I wish Liverpool could sign him.

Liverpool may be in a better position to sign him.

 

[ceepeebee]

Guardiola has confirmed that yes, he's leaving barca at the end of the season.