Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

2008-09 Football Thread - The Second Half

Status
Not open for further replies.
Well, if there's any team that's going to get the luck, it's going to be United. <Sigh>

As a Liverpool supporter, one thing I can at least take heart in is doing the double over both United and Chelsea in the league; if we could just manage the Stokes and Middlesbroughs we would have waltzed to the title this season.
 
Well, that went better than I dared to hope. I thought we might have been on the receiving end of a thumping but we put in a great performance (despite apparently having a terrible pitch, Rafa) against a Liverpool side who were nowhere near their best. Play like that in all our remaining fixtures and we should be fine. Unfortunately, we won't play like that in all our remaining fixtures. :eek:

One thing that struck me about Liverpool yesterday – they gave away a number of totally needless corners, Skrtel being the major culprit. There were a few balls that were going safely out for goalkicks that he got his head to and put out for a corner. Given that our major threat in a match like this was liable to be set pieces (and we're not that bad at them either) it could have proved costly, and certainly put him and his team mates under further and quite needless pressure. I don't know if this is a regular thing with him or not, or if he was just having an off day, but if so it's an aspect of his game that might need to be addressed.

As an aside... I don't think I've ever been so embarrassed in my life, Part 5. Cringeworthy stuff. :eek:
 
xUKHCx said:
Then perhaps you shouldn't have gone to the papers :p
Click to expand...
I believe the Hull City chairman has had a sign saying this put up in Phil Brown's office. :D


xUKHCx said:
Do you think Folan was taking tips from Pepe
Click to expand...
I certainly don't know what he was thinking, but it was utter stupidity on Folan's part. It happened at the opposite end of the ground from where we sit so I didn't have the best view, but the red card suggested to me he'd either kicked or stamped on Skrtel – the former was confirmed when we got back to the car and the match was being discussed on the radio.

What Folan should have done was stand well off Skrtel and let him win the ball – he'd have most likely put it out for a corner... ;)
 
Jaffa Cake said:
One thing that struck me about Liverpool yesterday – they gave away a number of totally needless corners, Skrtel being the major culprit. There were a few balls that were going safely out for goalkicks that he got his head to and put out for a corner.
Click to expand...

It seems to me that Skrtel has been off form since his iffy performance against England on international duty. He seems short on confidence. One thing is for sure, Liverpool's defense is looking a little shaky as of late.

Jaffa Cake said:
As an aside... I don't think I've ever been so embarrassed in my life, Part 5. Cringeworthy stuff. :eek:
Click to expand...

Well, I suppose you can't fault his enthusiasm?... :eek:

xUKHCx said:
Do you think Folan was taking tips from Pepe
Click to expand...

Horrible. Possibly the worst part is that Casquero took a terrible penalty after that which was saved, and Real went on to what I think was a totally undeserved win. I have no idea what Pepe was thinking, but that was a Joey-Barton level of violence. Casquero went down a little easily, but Pepe did push him and then simply went haywire. Hopefully he will get a nice long ban plus fines from both league and club.

...BTW, Giggs would not be my choice for the PFA award, unless it is for a "lifetime achievement" sort of thing. He played well this season for a top club (THE top club in England, as much as I hate to say it), but was he really the best player in the Premier league this season? I'm not so sure.
 
I think the Giggs award smacks a bit of sentimentality. Granted, he's been a fantastic player throughout his career and his medal collection can't be argued with - but giving the award to a player who has made only 12 League starts this campaign? Not the right decision, in my opinion.
 
Here's a wee anomoly for you to demonstrate cup runs and the oddity of the way they give out European places.

Rangers booked their place in the Scottish Cup final at the weekend, as did Falkirk. With Rangers likely to be playing Champions league next season, Falkirk will get a place in the new UEFA Cup (Europa League) regardless if they win or loose the SFA Cup. Falkirk also look likely to go down this year, so this means our UEFA Cup competitors for the last 3 years have not been from the top flight (Falkirk, Queen of the South and Gretna.) Just goes to show the 'romance of the cup' idea!

It's the rules when the season started, so I'm not complaining but the likes of Hearts, Aberdeen or Dundee Utd will feel a bit left out if they just miss out.
 
Today is D-day, i cannot wait for the match. Hopefully it doesn't disappoint. I'm not convinced of Bosingwa to be honest, isn't match fit and coming back from an injury whilst the 'little god' is on form.

Messi on the right & Henry on the left + that deadly mid-field. Suffice it to say Chelsea have their work cut out for them
 
daneoni said:
Today is D-day, i cannot wait for the match. Hopefully it doesn't disappoint. I'm not convinced of Bosingwa to be honest, isn't match fit and coming back from an injury whilst the 'little god' is on form.

Messi on the right & Henry on the left + that deadly mid-field. Suffice it to say Chelsea have their work cut out for them
Click to expand...

I'm quietly confident Barça can pull off a decent result tonight. It doesnt matter who plays at left back as Messi will be all over the pitch and if you man mark him then Etoo, Henry and Iniesta will kick your teef in. :D

Because the attacking line is so dangerous you have to zonal mark Barça but then that plays to their advantage because they love to drag the opposition around and then strike quickly.

To beat Barça you need to REALLY pressure them when on the ball. Easier said than done when Xavi and Iniesta play in slow motion and hardly ever lose the ball.

The 2006 Barça team was fantastic but this season they are absolutely amazing. When they go 1-0 down (which is rare) the feeling is usually 'oh well its just a matter of time before we score 2' and invariably they do.

By the way they are averaging over 3 goals a game even at this late stage of the season. 134 goals (in all comps) this season, 85 of which are shared between Eto'o, Messi and Henry.

They are amazing to watch!

Spanish Football, Sky Sports Saturday and Sunday evenings (occasionally midweek too). Watch it! :D
 
Well that was unexpected...kinda reminds me of mourinho 'boring but get the job done' style of play. Credit to Chelsea though.
 
That was an awful game of 'football' - and I use that term extremely loosely.

Pass, pass, pass, pass, crap! Barca needed the metaphorical rocket up the arse and Chelsea just couldn't be bothered. Appalling... grumble grumble...
 
BoyBach said:
That was an awful game of 'football' - and I use that term extremely loosely.

Pass, pass, pass, pass, crap! Barca needed the metaphorical rocket up the arse and Chelsea just couldn't be bothered. Appalling... grumble grumble...
Click to expand...

Hopefully tomorrow's tie will be much more exciting, with the excitement due to Gunner goals, of course!
 
I hope I don't sound like a curmudgeon, but if it's a Man U - Chelsea final again I'll be tempted to give it a miss...the MLS season will be in full swing anyway. :eek:

I'm shocked that it ended goalless. Chelsea did a better job of stopping Barca's offense than most of us probably gave them credit for. Hiddink continues to impress (Though, we shouldn't forget that Avram Grant managed the same and even better in the league last season). I expected a scored draw at least...I don't think Stamford Bridge will hurt Barca's performance too much though; if anything the away goals rule helps them. I'm still pretty confident they will get the job done.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
I hope I don't sound like a curmudgeon, but if it's a Man U - Chelsea final again I'll be tempted to give it a miss...the MLS season will be in full swing anyway. :eek:

I'm shocked that it ended goalless. Chelsea did a better job of stopping Barca's offense than most of us probably gave them credit for. Hiddink continues to impress (Though, we shouldn't forget that Avram Grant managed the same and even better in the league last season). I expected a scored draw at least...I don't think Stamford Bridge will hurt Barca's performance too much though; if anything the away goals rule helps them. I'm still pretty confident they will get the job done.
Click to expand...

you don't sound like a curmudgeon. ;)
 
Was that not the most lopsided 1-0 result in a long time? Arsenal is very lucky they didn't get buried in the first leg like Bayern Munich was.
 
Tonight's offering was no better than last nights.

That's it, I'm not watching anymore football... at least until MOTD on saturday night!
 
We were very lucky...credit to the defense. Midfield and attack didn't really show up for us. I still think our tie was better...we didn't park the bus like a certain London team did yesterday and really tried to play
 
daneoni said:
We were very lucky...credit to the defense. Midfield and attack didn't really show up for us. I still think our tie was better...we didn't park the bus like a certain London team did yesterday and really tried to play
Click to expand...

I'm not sure. There wasn't as much committing people forward as you'd usually see from us, and if that was us really trying to play, then I'm worried. Offensively we did nothing.
 
XIII said:
I'm not sure. There wasn't as much committing people forward as you'd usually see from us, and if that was us really trying to play, then I'm worried. Offensively we did nothing.
Click to expand...

Thats because our attacking players were silenced and didn't really fight for anything. They also kept trying to go in centrally (virtually impossible) as opposed to wide. They tried to play...they just didn't do it particularly well.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back