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There is no way or realing anyalying that game as tactics went out the window from an early stage. When you take of Mascherano and Torres acause you think the game is over nd then score 2 more goals to get yourself back in the game, you know its a mad game. I still think that Man Utd will win this tournament.
Unbelievable game but if I were Guus Hiddink i'd be absolutely furious with the Chelsea players for their inability to defend. I'd say he's in the dressing room right now telling them what Barca will do to them if they play like that!
7 goals conceded in 2 home games i'd be furious if I were Chelsea manager.
Is it not the winners of United-Porto go on to face Barca?Quote:
Originally Posted by rambler14
No its not.
Ah right, cheers.Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilMcD
In the final, yeah...Quote:
Originally Posted by Dunny
Barca will win this tournament.They will destroy Chelsea.Chelsea will probably do at the Nou Camp what Man Utd did there last year and park the bus for most of the match.
I NEVER seen anything like Drogba tonight,he spent more time on the fu**ing ground then he did standing.He was a disgrace,an embarassment.HE ROLLED BACK ONTO THE PITCH in the first half when he was "injured".Some ppl call that smart play,i call it blatant cheating:mad:.Im not much of a liverpool fan btw,im more of a chelsea hater.
in fairness he ran Liverpool ragged while acting the c*nt. Quality player. Much rather play with him than against him alright.
Phil Thompson said afterwards on SKY "I knocked my monitor here and Drogba fell over". Top player, total embarrassment to football.
Let's save the "total embarassment" tag for the coach who took off the best striker in the world with 12 minutes left. The man is a joker and the fact he gets a free pass from Liverpool fans, generally, is galling.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
Let's call a spade a digging implement - he was happy last night when Liverpool went close so he would, once again, get a pass for the pluckiness and spirit and all that stauff - he should be berating those players and they should be berating him. If we had posted yesterday that Liverpool would score 4 times last night and were still 10/1 to go through, we could all have bankrupted Paddy's.
It took him 6 years to figure out Stevie Me is not a midfielder and he takes Torress off when the game was still alive - and that is even before we get into the zonal mindgames - clown.
isn't sport great? We have had some epic encounters of late. The rugby, the Italian game, the golf last weekend and now that game. Benitez must have felt a bit foolish as he took Torres off as they needed 3 and then Liverpool score 2 in quick succession. Don't blame him but I had to laugh. Sure the game wasn't full of flowing football but it was compulsive viewing.
Much underrated player in my opinion is Benayoun (not sure of spelling). Very creative and gets in to very dangerous positions.
Who said the CL was boring ;) ?
What a load of tosh, nobody in the world thought that game was alive at 3-2 down. Its easy to waffle on with the benefit of hindsight, but its also embarrassing to do it.:rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Angus
I did. Chelsea were uneasy at the back all night. What had Rafa to lose by leaving Torres on for the rest of the game? Liverpool dont have a game for another week, so it wasnt down to tiredness.Quote:
Originally Posted by Roadend
Chelsea were a defensive mess last night and there for the taking. Taking all things into account, I still think they will beat Barca, that will be a completely different game.
3 down with 20 minutes to go:confused:. The pictures of the downcast Liverpool supporters at this stage behind the goal showed those fans weren't sharing your optimism. Imagine if Torres had been injured in those last 20 minutes. People would have been castigating Benitez: "Why was he left on when there was nothing to play for?" Anyway, if he had stayed on, Liverpool might not have scored those goals.Quote:
Originally Posted by reder
Hindsight is a great thing.
With respect, nobody would have said that - the whole point of having world class players is that they can turn games. Since when is there a strategy of keeping your world class players off the pitch just because a game is won or lost ?Quote:
Originally Posted by OwlsFan
If Torres had got injured, he would have got injured - things happen, injuries happen - now if Liverpool were 8-0 up or down from the first leg, yes, no need to trouble your best players but this game was close - neither side was defending and this was a truly bizarre decision
Obviously history has proven me wrong but I did not think it was close at 6-3 agg. and I suspect I am in good company.Quote:
Originally Posted by Angus
That said I didn't see the sense in bringing off Torres but I presume it was down to the fact that Benitez, in his paranoid wisdom and feeling the game was up, wanted to eliminate the possibility of Torres gettin a knock. He did the same late on last year and Babel scored to keep the tie alive briefly and back then they didn't even have the PL to save him for.
I can't understand how Liverpool keep getting away with persistant fouling. Mascherano had committed 4 fouls within half an hour no card? These fouls aren't dirty but it's something I've noticed in Liverpools play the last while. Persistantly body checking Arbeloa fouling for the goal was a yellow card he shortly seen one later with a knee high tackle on Essien.
On Benitez I think he got very lucky with Chelsea in my opinion falling asleep and believing the game was over. They kept going and made some game of it.
I can't wait to see what happens with Ivanovic at right back vs Barcelona. He will be run ragged he was a centre back playing out of position and it looked it. Cech is a lost cause at this stage. It's sad to see he was a great keeper but now he more worried about his health and when that happens I think it's time to step aside he should have been taken off imo
I think ivanovic will shift to the left with essien playing right back v barca coz of the the lack of a left backQuote:
Originally Posted by Axe Man
Quote:
Originally Posted by Weatherman
If he is played at left back that's even worse considering who he will be trying to stop. The two players on the right for Barca are top quality.
Bosingwa may be back but taking Essien out of the middle would be disastrous. He will be the player they need the most in front of the back four where Iniesta and Xavi love operating.
How does Cheating and diving all night make Drogba a top player??????IT WAS PATHETIC!!
Cant wait for Messi,Xavi,Henry,Iniesta,E'to to take them apart!!!I mean if that Lucas guy can score against them then ANYONE can.
I'm a Man Utd fan but even I must admit that when he was on the ball he was outstanding in fact he ran the show when he was on the ball but still, even though he was having a stormer of a game he insisted on throwing himself on the ground.Quote:
Originally Posted by eamo1
The manager did. Benitez decided to set his sights on the league as Liverpool were 3 down with 20 minutes to go. I have been watching football for more years than I care to remember and the number of times I have seen a team score 3 in the last 20 minutes against another top side to win a game are few and far between. In any event Torres wasn't having one of his better games. The first two Liverpool goals were abberations (goal keeping error and stupid penalty) while Chelsea had dominated the second half - there was nothing in it as far as Benitez was concerned. Hindsight makes him look foolish but I repeat the game would have been different if he had stayed on and those goals may not have been scored.Quote:
Originally Posted by Angus
Ifs and buts etc etc. Very enjoyable game though.
The "cheating and diving" as you call it doesnt make him a top player, more the way he terrorised the Liverpool backline, tore each of the defenders a new arsehole and caused, i think, 3 of them to pick up yellows. Carragher was shown up as the useless mug he is yesterday. Living off one decent season a few years back. :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by eamo1
Still think Barcelona will destroy them.
Bit harsh there Stu.
He bullied Liverpool defenders, fine. They bullied him and he falls over, dives and rolls around on the ground. What are they supposed to do. The man is a cheat.
maybe a tad harsh but my hate for Chelsea is only superceded (slightly) by my hate for Liverpool so i reckon ive been pretty fair all round... :D
Ha ha, join the club SKStu ha ha !!! I still Man Utd will win the European Cup. I could be wrong but I think they will. Only team left in it with an Irish player.
Some guy is posing as Ronaldo tonight. Harrying tracking back and getting tackles in. Who is this imposter.
what a goal that was. O'Shea and Rooney worked well down the right. Berbatov was a disappointment again. Two tasty looking semi finals.
Nice to see O'Shea now as a regular in the Man U starting line up and did well ok. Comfortable win for them as well. Once again the "vital away goal" rule played no part in any team going through.
One decent season emm 2005,2006 & 2007 works out at three to me.Quote:
Originally Posted by SkStu
That is not true because Liverpool were 2 nil up at one point on Tuesday night and were level on aggregate but still needed a goal. As a result they were not as defensive as they would have been if they did not need that goal. Although it was not the decisive factor in any of the games, the concept of the away goal had a significant effect on the Chelsea V Liverpool game and to a lesser degree the Porto V Man Utd game, as Man Utd were nervous for the last 15 mins and were dropping deeper due to the fact that 1 more goal and they were out on away goals.Quote:
Originally Posted by OwlsFan
The point is that it's a goal primarily. The commentators almost treat it as some sort of divine goal. It is only significant when the teams are tied - then it becomes an "away goal". Of the 12 games in the last two rounds, two were decided on the "away goals" rule. As for the Porto match, Man U were defending a one goal lead and would have been defending deep, even if the first leg had been 0-0 or 1-1. It wouldn't have been as nervy ok but they still would have played the same. In the Liverpool game, the away goal rule did have an influence ok but it didn't affect the result, that was really the point I was making.
You used the phrase no part. I don't think this is correct. It was not a decisive part but to say no part is incorrect.
I absolutely hate the away goals rule. Scoring the same amount of goals as a team and getting knocked out is mental imo. It's on a par if not worse than the coin toss to decide the winner from the early days. It was introduced to encourage the away team to play more offensive football but this doesn't happen. In fact all it does is makes the home team more cagey and the away team is still pretty well pleased with 0-0. Give me penalties any day of the week or at least play extra time before they come into play, like the Carling Cup semies.
Another pet hate of mine would be the harsh suspensions. Is it still only two bookings to miss the next match? if it is I think it's awful. For example if someone got booked for Barca in the first leg of the last 16 and picked up another one in the semi final 2nd leg (6 games later!!) would he miss the final yeah?
Its 3 yellow cards now.
I'll have to choose my words more carefully in future :pQuote:
Originally Posted by NeilMcD
I always think that if your team draws 1-1 away first then rather than "having a crucial advantage" it should be thought more as insurance against concession of an away goal at home, which can happen against any opposition. You'd be foolish to play for 0-0 at home.
And is that for the whole competition or are they wiped clean after the group stages? does anybody know where one could check the state of play in regard to yellows/suspensions? I tried uefa.com but couldn't find anything.Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilMcD
imagine if torres had stayed on and scored the winning goal ....:DQuote:
Originally Posted by OwlsFan
can understand taking him off if you have another excellent forward on bench to replace him to try and get back into game .. but unfortunatly liverpool dont.... 20 mins is a long time in football to try and rescue a game ... why did hiddink not take of drogba then with 20 mins to go when chelsea had game sown up & nothing to play for :confused:
cheating and diving all night make drogba a top player ...Quote:
Originally Posted by eamo1
he is a top player when he cuts out all that s**T.. even with all his falling over he fairly gave carragher & skertel the run around...
ronaldo / gerrard / torres to name a few are also very fond of cheating & diving for their clubs... :ball: