Barca v Chelsea Round2

Partly guessed this part of Jose's post match comment wouldn't make it on here today, not sensational enough in the current climate.

"Despite the disappointment, he did have some words of complement for the victors.

“Barcelona are certainly a great team. We are completely different teams. They have great qualities in one aspect, we have great qualities in another. But if they are in the next round, they deserve to be there. They can think about the quarter-final, we can think about the Premiership and the FA Cup.”"

He shoud have also added that Barca can think about La Liga also.

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Originally Posted by cfdh_edmundo

Was hoping Werder would beat Juve, they were the most attacking and positive team left in the competition and Juve are the diametric opposite.

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You obviously didn't see this game then as the min they got the goal they sat back in that oh so familiar fashion that clubs do, despite the fact that there were goals a plenty to be had like the first game.

Does anyone think the ould pink shirted fella was on the take? Good grief it was a howler and a half, you have to wonder......

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Originally Posted by Clifford

Partly guessed this part of Jose's post match comment wouldn't make it on here today, not sensational enough in the current climate.

they deserve to be there.

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That was to a spanish audience. First question asked by ITV "Did the best team go through?" "No I don't think so..."

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Originally Posted by Dodge

That was to a spanish audience. First question asked by ITV "Did the best team go through?" "No I don't think so..."

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I watched it on Sky Sports news last night, not the Spanish version either. Who cares what he said first, I'm only highlighting that he did give them credit, which people don't want to accept.. not trendy to do so at the mo.

Of course he's not going to come out and say publically that his team were
s h i * e. No other manager I know does.

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Originally Posted by NeilMcD

But every neutral would love to seem them win it I am sure.

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Complete generalisation. I am a neutral and I wouldn't necessarily love to see them win it. I'd sooner see a small club like Villa Real win it. As a supporter of a relatively small club in England, I much prefer to see smaller clubs having their moment in the sun rather than the massive clubs, no matter how flamboyant their style of football.

No but some of them admit they were beating by a better team, and not just "they beat us so they deserve to be there" patronising crap.

I don't care one way or the other BTW. I think Mourinho's right to Feck with the press and everyone's heads. Just don't think anyone claim he's anything less than a poor loser

Well you sound like an bit of a crank so :) :) Villareal play pretty defensive football whereas Barca play fantastic football to watch. I will rephrase my post so. I believe that most neutrals woudl like to see Barca win the Champions League.

Fact is Mourinhio is a bad winner and a bad loser. To be one is not nice to be both is the sign of a ********.

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Originally Posted by OwlsFan

Complete generalisation. I am a neutral and I wouldn't necessarily love to see them win it. I'd sooner see a small club like Villa Real win it. As a supporter of a relatively small club in England, I much prefer to see smaller clubs having their moment in the sun rather than the massive clubs, no matter how flamboyant their style of football.

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Also on this logic therefore you should go for the smallest club all the time. Do you shout for Southend if they play Sheff Wed. To be honest Sheff Wed would be one of the biggest clubs in the Championship so I presume most weeks you dont cheer for them. Did you chear for Israel V Ireland last year then.

poor game - great goal. disapointed by chelseas constant diving. fair play to Barcelona for bein a bit more tactically saavy than they are ever given credit for. fancy one of the big italian teams to take them tho. highlight of the night was the look on john terrys face as he ran back to halfwayline after peno as if to say " we are back in this game lads" only for reff to blow whistle 5 seconds later. too much made of mourhinho and his mind games.biggest thing is that he gets his teams to play such ordinary (but admittedly effective)football. great if you are a chelsea fan but not much for the neutrals(of whom neilmcd is our leader;) ).

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Originally Posted by klein4

poor game - great goal. disapointed by chelseas constant diving. fair play to Barcelona for bein a bit more tactically saavy than they are ever given credit for. fancy one of the big italian teams to take them tho. highlight of the night was the look on john terrys face as he ran back to halfwayline after peno as if to say " we are back in this game lads" only for reff to blow whistle 5 seconds later. too much made of mourhinho and his mind games.biggest thing is that he gets his teams to play such ordinary (but admittedly effective)football. great if you are a chelsea fan but not much for the neutrals(of whom neilmcd is our leader;) ).

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Ok as leader I kick you out. :) :)

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Originally Posted by NeilMcD

I believe that most neutrals woudl like to see Barca win the Champions League.

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Have to agree with the leader of the neutrals on this one. A win for Barca over any of the defensive Italians and Luckypool will be great for football. An Arse v Barca final would be mouthwatering to see Henry and Gums goin head to head. Saving that I'd like Ajax or Lyon v Barca final - that gives the perfect winner in my opinion.

Does anyone think the ould pink shirted fella was on the take? Good grief it was a howler and a half, you have to wonder...... Quote

I take it that you didn't see the full highlights then. The Bremen keeper Weise I think was his name had an outstanding game complete with some of the best saves you're likely to see a keeper make. It was really cruel that it had to happen to him. Just the way he fell to the ground to try and smother the ball caused him to spin around and the ball to pop out. Could that be the slice of luck that all champions need?

ure having a laugh NmcD if you dont think Crespo is a superstar player - he is a great player who changes games. a fantastic player so too are duff and cole on their day as is robben.

btw carvalho is fcking amazing - he's a defnder but so what?? - defnders are part of the game too - and i'd add terry and ferreria to that class

this barca team has to win the cl to convince me, and my money and mouth is saying they WON'T!

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Originally Posted by Dodge

You're confusing club and team there. Porto have two european cups, they're not a better team than Barca...

Agree that they can't be considered a great team until they win it though.

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you're confusing me with someone confusing club and team there.

I know what I said.

Barca Scummer.

To me it would be Lyon against Barca. I think Lyon are a great team to watch and have been knocking on the door to for a while.

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Originally Posted by wws

ure having a laugh NmcD if you dont think Crespo is a superstar player - he is a great player who changes games. a fantastic player so too are duff and cole on their day as is robben.

btw carvalho is fcking amazing - he's a defnder but so what?? - defnders are part of the game too - and i'd add terry and ferreria to that class

this barca team has to win the cl to convince me, and my money and mouth is saying they WON'T!

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Chelsea have not won the Europea ncup ever either l.


When I say superstar I mean Pele, Maradona, Cruyff, Best, Platini, Van Basten, Zidane, Rivaldo,

Chelsea do not have anybody of this calibre. Somebody that every team in the competition would put in their starting 11 and that wows the crowds.

In my view only Rooney, Ronaldihio and Henry and Shevchenko and possibly Eto fall into this category at the moment.

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Originally Posted by wws

ure having a laugh NmcD if you dont think Crespo is a superstar player - he is a great player who changes games. a fantastic player so too are duff and cole on their day as is robben.

btw carvalho is fcking amazing - he's a defnder but so what?? - defnders are part of the game too - and i'd add terry and ferreria to that class

this barca team has to win the cl to convince me, and my money and mouth is saying they WON'T!

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Carvalho the same guy that clattered the Barca player in the 1st game and gave away a stupid free that led to the goal. He is a very very good player but not a superstar. As I said there is only about 2 or 3 superstars per generation and Chelsea dont have any of them at the moment.

entering the realms of silliness there Leader!
Crespo is world class. it not his fault he doesnt like bein at chelsea.
and rooney hasnt exactly inspired united to great things this season. still fancy arsenal to win it outright and Liverpool to go out tonite.

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Originally Posted by klein4

still fancy arsenal to win it outright and Liverpool to go out tonite.

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didn't want to hear that - you'll pox it now!! :D

I'm sticking with Arsenal are crap, Henry doesn't do it in the big games and Wenger is found out tactically in Europe. No matter what happens it's always nicer to be in Europe longer than Utd and Chelski :)

I tipped liverpool for it last year and they won so dont worry...

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Originally Posted by klein4

entering the realms of silliness there Leader!
Crespo is world class. it not his fault he doesnt like bein at chelsea.
and rooney hasnt exactly inspired united to great things this season. still fancy arsenal to win it outright and Liverpool to go out tonite.

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I never said that Crespo was not world Class did I. I just said that he was not a superstar player in the same way that Henry or Ronaldinhio are.

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Originally Posted by KarlosIRL

didn't want to hear that - you'll pox it now!! :D

I'm sticking with Arsenal are crap, Henry doesn't do it in the big games and Wenger is found out tactically in Europe. No matter what happens it's always nicer to be in Europe longer than Utd and Chelski :)

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Karlos is this the same competition that last year you said did not reall matter that much and that the Premiership was far far more important.

Crespo is a quality player. Italy is still hardest european league to score in & i believe he has excellent record there.

Now that Barca have beaten the strongest defense in the competition they are surely favourites.

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Originally Posted by NeilMcD

Karlos is this the same competition that last year you said did not reall matter that much and that the Premiership was far far more important.

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I said if i remember correctly that it's not as important as winning your League and I stick by that. It's a cup competition and often the best team don't win it and it's why Arsenal have a chance this year. We've had better teams than this Arsenal one and gone out far earlier and performed worse. It's still nice to get further in it than your rivals (doesn't make it any more important though). Same goes for every cup competition they enter.

It's a great prize to win but it doesn't make you the best team in europe imo, it just makes you the winners of the european cup. I'd honestly rather be really challenging for the league than playing Real Madrid tonight (all though doing both is preferable no doubt).

It is however a great competition to watch and I'd love Arsenal to win it but it's priority number 2 in the list for me.

Nah, its definitely the competition everyone in europe wants to win. Means far more to any club than a league win

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Originally Posted by NeilMcD

Also on this logic therefore you should go for the smallest club all the time. Do you shout for Southend if they play Sheff Wed. To be honest Sheff Wed would be one of the biggest clubs in the Championship so I presume most weeks you dont cheer for them. Did you chear for Israel V Ireland last year then.

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Now now, you're being pedantic in the extreme. I am not a neutral when it comes to Sheffield Wednesday. Furthermore, I was talking about "massive clubs" - not the "shocks" rubbish of the FA Cup where one small club beats a medium sized one. If Villa Real have more divers and cheats than Barca, I would soon switch my support to the latter. The style of play of a team doesn't affect whom I support - their on field antics would.

I still stand by my statement that the only difference between Barca and Chelsea was the Brazilian.

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Originally Posted by KarlosIRL

I said if i remember correctly that it's not as important as winning your League and I stick by that. It's a cup competition and often the best team don't win it and it's why Arsenal have a chance this year. We've had better teams than this Arsenal one and gone out far earlier and performed worse. It's still nice to get further in it than your rivals (doesn't make it any more important though). Same goes for every cup competition they enter.

It's a great prize to win but it doesn't make you the best team in europe imo, it just makes you the winners of the european cup. I'd honestly rather be really challenging for the league than playing Real Madrid tonight (all though doing both is preferable no doubt).

It is however a great competition to watch and I'd love Arsenal to win it but it's priority number 2 in the list for me.

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Good Answer Karlos.

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Originally Posted by OwlsFan

Now now, you're being pedantic in the extreme. I am not a neutral when it comes to Sheffield Wednesday. Furthermore, I was talking about "massive clubs" - not the "shocks" rubbish of the FA Cup where one small club beats a medium sized one. If Villa Real have more divers and cheats than Barca, I would soon switch my support to the latter. The style of play of a team doesn't affect whom I support - they're on field antics would.

I still stand by my statement that the only difference between Barca and Chelsea was the Brazilian.

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I dont think the logic of your arguments stands up to all arguments.


Which Brazilian are you talking about Motta, Silvinhio, Ronaldhinio

Going back to Mourinho (Sorry, can't resist) in the Spanish press he was qouted as saying he was now backing Benfica because it was a Portuguese club and he was Portuguese, genuinely Portuguese, not like others.

It sounded very much like a dig at Deco, who if I recall made some comments about him before the first leg.

The man is losing the run of himself

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Originally Posted by Dodge

Nah, its definitely the competition everyone in europe wants to win. Means far more to any club than a league win

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I guess I'm not everyone so (but i am living outside Europe at the mo!) :)

I get much more satisfaction winning the league over 38 games than winning cups (european or otherwise!). We could win the European Cup without losing a game this year but it wouldn't compare to the unbeaten league season of 03/04 for me. There would be great scenes and I'd be delighted & all that jazz but we still wouldn't be the best team in Europe. The best teams in Europe haven't won the competition. Liverpool's team is a better team this year and might go out.

I do strongly think it's more important that we do well in the league and there would be no more euphoria in getting to a champions league final and losing for example than finsihing 4th in the league :)

Yeah but WINNING it is everything. Anything else is nothing

I think your head is right Karlos but there is a small bit of your heart that must wish u could have a night like Liverpool or like Man Utd had a few years ago. I agree with you though the League is a great thing to win and its a pity that sides such as Porto and Liverpool have won the Champions League recently as I do like to see the best side in Europe win it and I believe Barcelona to be that side followed by Juventus and then Chelsea.

Only difference the Brazilian? Not a chance.

Mourinho moans about playin with 10 against 11, yet they still managed to take the lead. Think back to before the sending off, where Barca outplayed Chelsea as Mourinho's tactics forced them to counter-attack.
Rijkaard learned from his errors last year. Belletti, regular in La Liga, didnt play after being skinned last year. Mourinho refuses to change his ways. They needed a goal at Anfield and never looked likely till injury time. Ditto last night
He has been a fortunate manager(Tim Howards last minute clanger v Porto). With the money at his disposal he surely should be able to create an attacking side capable of winning titles.

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Originally Posted by Dodge

Nah, its definitely the competition everyone in europe wants to win. Means far more to any club than a league win

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Yeah Rico has already said Cork City priority is Champions League this season.

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Originally Posted by Over the post

Going back to Mourinho (Sorry, can't resist) in the Spanish press he was qouted as saying he was now backing Benfica because it was a Portuguese club and he was Portuguese, genuinely Portuguese, not like others.

It sounded very much like a dig at Deco, who if I recall made some comments about him before the first leg.

The man is losing the run of himself

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2+2= 65 per chance?

The question was would he like to see Barca go on and win it now, he said he'd prefer Benfica to win it as he's from Portugal.

From the Guardian


Mourinho must start trusting talent
Kevin McCarra




Chelsea's late arrival in the tunnel at Camp Nou was a miscalculation. A three-minute delay was nothing like long enough on a night when it would have taken a postponement of the fixture to thwart Barcelona. Gamesmanship is always embarrassing when the opposition fail even to notice the ploy, and Frank Rijkaard's players were ready to show their superiority whenever the match kicked off.

Only an unmerited penalty gave Chelsea a 1-1 draw and spared them defeat in each leg. This is turning into a season of slight decline for Jose Mourinho's team. The almost certain retention of the Premiership title and a continuing FA Cup challenge seem signs of rude health, but the deficiencies of Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool have undermined Chelsea.

ADVERTISEMENT
Trouble was brewing at the group stage in the 1-0 defeat by Real Betis and the inability to score in either draw with Liverpool. Any assumption they would effortlessly return to a higher level when required was exposed as a delusion on Tuesday night.

If they are to be measured against Barcelona then a process of decay has occurred. Last season, Chelsea did lose at Camp Nou after Didier Drogba had been dismissed, but until his departure they had led 1-0 and should have scored on another occasion as they absorbed attacks and turned them into a launch pad for ventures of their own.

There was none of that to be seen this week. Rijkaard has learned from experience, with the inclusion of Edmilson and Thiago Motta introducing some steeliness to his otherwise idealistic conception of football. Even so, Chelsea were poorer. No amount of talk about the referee Terje Hauge's rulings in the first leg can disguise the fact.

Natural as it is for Mourinho to denounce the red card for Asier Del Horno at Stamford Bridge, it is a strange truth that the side's best spell of the whole tie came when they were without him there, at the opening of the second half. Whenever 11 Chelsea players faced 11 Barcelona players, the Premiership men were second best.

Mourinho will have to ask himself what changes might be necessary. He and Rafael Benitez, when they were respectively at Porto and Valencia, made a virtue out of their relative lack of money. They were the managers who exposed the decadence of the star system embodied by Real Madrid, putting the emphasis on strategic signings, preparation and tactical plans.

While Mourinho will return to the transfer market, the only haughty temperament permitted at Stamford Bridge will probably be his own. Within his own framework, though, a way has to be identified to encourage a degree of exuberance.

Chelsea might well ask themselves if it is really of benefit to turn Damien Duff into a drudge, running hard to get back and cover as well as to ferry the ball to the attack. His dashing display for the Republic of Ireland against Sweden last week was a reminder he can still be the exciting winger he once was.

Mourinho does require some game-changers and it was depressing at Camp Nou to see the side stuck in a rut. He needs to get more out of Arjen Robben and there are occasions when Joe Cole could be allowed to indulge in some individualism. Even Shaun Wright-Phillips might provide some of the missing unpredictability if he settles at Chelsea.

With Drogba looking clunky in Barcelona and Hernan Crespo's long-term attachment to the club being questioned, a new centre-forward may also be essential to bring focus to the attacks.

First of all Mourinho will have to sacrifice some of his own power by letting the more skilful players enjoy a degree of independence when everything rests on talent rather than tactics.




This is the point I was trying to make yesterday. Mourinho does like to have individual superstars because his ego is so big he wants to get all the attention.

http://football.guardian.co.uk/fiver/

See the fiver for a better analysis

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Originally Posted by NeilMcD

Also on this logic therefore you should go for the smallest club all the time. Do you shout for Southend if they play Sheff Wed. To be honest Sheff Wed would be one of the biggest clubs in the Championship so I presume most weeks you dont cheer for them. Did you chear for Israel V Ireland last year then.

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Do not entirely agree with you on that point.
Of course nobody will argue with you over the fact that Barca have a strong squad, that their kind of playing is attractive not only to their fans but also to many neutrals. I think the point OF wants to make is that thanks to money you can (or at least you have the power) to attract big names which, of course, makes it much more easy to make it to the end. I got many friends who for sure will support teams like Villareal, Lyon or Benfica not because they themselves support smaller teams or play for smaller teams but those three clubs (Benfica perhaps being a little exception) have put many effort over the last couple of years to invest in youth and home grown talent.
That's also a reason why FC Porto deserved their title 2 years ago.
What's the point of spending 2 nights a week in front of your TV to see the same teams winning over and over again the CL ?