UEFA Champions League 2008-2009

Too bad he goes unnoticed. He's tons better than Pirlo.

Bayern are flops. I don't follow them much so I don't know what's their main problem, but I think they should be leading the German Bundesliga while they aren't. Ribery needs to go and find a new team. Bayern have a bunch of good players, they just don't make a good team.

Originally Posted by Faяouk

Too bad he goes unnoticed. He's tons better than Pirlo.

Bayern are flops. I don't follow them much so I don't know what's their main problem, but I think they should be leading the German Bundesliga while they aren't. Ribery needs to go and find a new team. Bayern have a bunch of good players, they just don't make a good team.

Pirlo and Iniesta are different players ... Pirlo tries to give the tempo with his passes and especially his long passes (so if nobody moves, he gives no tempo) whereas Iniesta is more an impact player for the entire game, he dribbles one opponent, gives the ball and continue to go forward (and eventually take the ball again to do again the same thing with another opponent).

Don't worry about Ribéry, his end in Bayern is near ... he never stayed as much in a club, he probably noticed yesterday that he was alone in that team, so he is going to ask for leaving at the end of the season to "I don't know where", he'll stay 2 years and will leave for another club ... this guy has no continuity in his head.

Originally Posted by GeoTav

Pirlo and Iniesta are different players ... Pirlo tries to give the tempo with his passes and especially his long passes (so if nobody moves, he gives no tempo) whereas Iniesta is more an impact player for the entire game, he dribbles one opponent, gives the ball and continue to go forward (and eventually take the ball again to do again the same thing with another opponent).

Yeah but both are CM's who's biggest gifts are talent and creativity. So I'm just saying Iniesta deserves praise much more than Pirlo yet Pirlo gets all the praise despite being below par since the world cup.

Originally Posted by GeoTav

Don't worry about Ribéry, his end in Bayern is near ... he never stayed as much in a club, he probably noticed yesterday that he was alone in that team, so he is going to ask for leaving at the end of the season to "I don't know where", he'll stay 2 years and will leave for another club ... this guy has no continuity in his head.

You know it wouldn't be a bad idea at all to sign him. I read somewhere that he was about to sign for us before Bayern (same with Toni), but Galliani stopped the move in the end because Milan don't use wingers. I think we should sell 'Dinho and if we get Ribery he could play with Kaka behind Pato in the X-mass tree. Of course I still want us to sign Adebayour, but I'm just saying this would give us more options. We already got Thiago Silva, so Adebayour + Ribery + New CD + Nesta back + new coach and we're fine I guess. Just my thoughts.

Originally Posted by Faяouk

Yeah but both are CM's who's biggest gifts are talent and creativity. So I'm just saying Iniesta deserves praise much more than Pirlo yet Pirlo gets all the praise despite being below par since the world cup.

But Iniesta has the skills of an AM (which he is) playing as a CM because Barcelona is very attacking team. In Spanish NT, he plays more like an AM.
Pirlo is an AM who was put as a CM and who now plays as a DM ... he isn't able to dribble 5 players in a row, so it's more difficult for him to go forward.

Actually, if we want to compare them:
- Dribbling: Iniesta >>> Pirlo
- Short passing: Iniesta = Pirlo
- Long passing: Iniesta <<< Pirlo

Originally Posted by Faяouk

You know it wouldn't be a bad idea at all to sign him. I read somewhere that he was about to sign for us before Bayern (same with Toni), but Galliani stopped the move in the end because Milan don't use wingers. I think we should sell 'Dinho and if we get Ribery he could play with Kaka behind Pato in the X-mass tree. Of course I still want us to sign Adebayour, but I'm just saying this would give us more options. We already got Thiago Silva, so Adebayour + Ribery + New CD + Nesta back + new coach and we're fine I guess. Just my thoughts.

I don't like Ribéry so I will say no ... don't get me wrong, he's an amazing player, but I don't like him as a person. And the main problem is that Ribéry is at his best on the left side, as Kaka', as Pato ... we need a player who would be able to go sometimes on the right actually.
Eto'o or Rossi in attack, or other players in midfield, when Gourcuff comes from the center of the midfield, he more often goes on the right for example (it's what happens with Bordeaux).

Originally Posted by GeoTav

But Iniesta has the skills of an AM (which he is) playing as a CM because Barcelona is very attacking team. In Spanish NT, he plays more like an AM.
Pirlo is an AM who was put as a CM and who now plays as a DM ... he isn't able to dribble 5 players in a row, so it's more difficult for him to go forward.

Actually, if we want to compare them:
- Dribbling: Iniesta >>> Pirlo
- Short passing: Iniesta = Pirlo
- Long passing: Iniesta <<< Pirlo

Owned.

Originally Posted by GeoTav

I don't like Ribéry so I will say no ... don't get me wrong, he's an amazing player, but I don't like him as a person. And the main problem is that Ribéry is at his best on the left side, as Kaka', as Pato ... we need a player who would be able to go sometimes on the right actually.
Eto'o or Rossi in attack, or other players in midfield, when Gourcuff comes from the center of the midfield, he more often goes on the right for example (it's what happens with Bordeaux).

You clearly got a point. May I know why you dislike him as a person? Your location says France!

Originally Posted by Faяouk

You clearly got a point. May I know why you dislike him as a person? Your location says France!

I'm from France but I dislike many players from France and I criticize a lot more French players than foreigners on this forum !!
I think most of the best French players are very arrogant, but like I said once, maybe it's because our reputation is true ? ^^

I don't like Ribéry because this guy was modest when he was still in Marseille but he changed when his status changed (on the pitch and outside the pitch) ... I mean, since he is called "Kaiser Franck" in Bayern and since French medias try to make him becoming THE superstar or the new Zidane, or even Jesus , and like he seems to enjoy playing the game of medias, he has become very irritating !!

And another problem is that he speaks a very bad French and that's pretty boring because they ask him more and more questions about more and more things (not only about football, soon they're going to ask him what he thinks about the current crisis whereas the guy never went to school !!).

What a match, gives all defenders and especially goalies a bad name lol. Did Cech even cleanly catch a single ball today?

Wow, I chose to watch the Barca match instead because the one Chelsea - Liverpool match I watched scarred me for life. Was the defending so bad?

Alex did his best Roberto Carlos impression with his freekick but otherwise the defenders were nothing to write home about, of course the goalies didn't help at all.
Saw Bayern highlights and that Toni miss was very hehe

Actually, the defenders were poor, but even the tactics were poor: no construction. It was everything about counter-attacking for both sides, nothing prepared.

So it was a good entertainment (for once, I have to admit it, it's the first time I enjoyed a game between two English teams, and I think it's thanks to Liverpool, it looks like they did several games like that this year), but if you watch this game with a tactical point of view, it was horrible from both teams and especially their defenders. Actually, I could even add that if one of the teams had been able to build their actions, that could have been a 8-4 score.

Originally Posted by GeoTav

the tactics were poor

I absolutely disaggree. For me, last night match Chelsea vs Pool was mainly only about tactic and strategy. Both coaches are excellent at tactic and strategy.

I think this article sums it up pretty nicely: Goal.com

It was a very entertaining game, but both teams were so poor, except a few players like Drogba and Lampard. They ran their asses off, but had a hard time getting two succesfull passes in a row, looked like a second division game to be honost. Cech and Reina were rediculess, did any of them actually save anything?? And really what happened to Cech? He was so good a few years ago, now he's bad, really bad. He was a mess in the Juventus games aswell.

Sigh...that's that. Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Barcelona have qualified for the semifinals. Three EPL teams in the semis again with Barcelona as the only non-English team. Here are the results from this week's and last week's matches:

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Final Villarreal 1 - 1 Arsenal Quarter-finals Estadio El Madrigal (25,000)
Final Manchester United 2 - 2 FC Porto Quarter-finals Old Trafford (74,517)

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Final Barcelona 4 - 0 Bayern Munich Quarter-finals Estadio Camp Nou (97,000)
Final Liverpool 1 - 3 Chelsea Quarter-finals Anfield (42,543)

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Final Chelsea 4 - 4 Liverpool Quarter-finals Stamford Bridge (38,286)
Final Bayern Munich 1 - 1 Barcelona Quarter-finals Allianz-Arena (65,000)

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Final Arsenal 3 - 0 Villarreal Quarter-finals Emirates Stadium (58,233)
Final FC Porto 0 - 1 Manchester United Quarter-finals Estadio do Dragao (50,000)

Wasn't that last year semifinal like this (Arsenal, Barca, MU and Chelsea) but with different matches?

Last year was Liverpool - Chelsea, MU - Barca. Year before was Milan - MU, Chelsea - Liverpool