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Anyone watching the UEFA Cup Final?
Cracking stadium. Oh for Ireland to have a stadium like that for our home games. Modern version of the classic 4 sided footy ground, my favourite.
Decent game - reminds me a bit of the old European finals. Shame on the EPL clubs who couldn't be arsed trying to get to play on a big night like this.
1-1 so far. A great finish for Shaktar, poor keeping for the equaliser.
Yup cracking game. Shaktar keeper had an awful shocker for the equaliser!
Unfortunately watching it on TV3.
Cascarino is a complete muppet. He says he'll go for Shakhtar because of the Brazilians in their side. :rolleyes:
The game's very good though. Shakhtar seem like a very good side. I always liked Werder, especially under Schaaf.
Setanta isn't much better. Des Curran and Pat Dolan are tools. Every cross is "teased in" according to Des. There's plenty of killer phrases like that, but that one really gets to me.
Shaktar play some lovely intricate triangles in an around the box. Very Arsenal-like in the way they seem intent on walking the ball in at times.
Deserving win for Shakhtar. I thought Werder were terrible, couldn't play it around at all.
Any time they went direct they created chances, did they not cop this?
yeah, best team by a mile won it.
The two goalkeepers were shocking
Werder were very disappointing but really missed that Brazilian Diego who was outstanding in both legs of the semi final. They were also missing another lad who got a red in the semi second leg.
Cascarino was correct in the end.Quote:
Originally Posted by superfrank
Thought the second half was pretty poor and Werder offered very little until they fell behind in extra time.
It's a competition for mid ranking European teams. Hard to get excited about it really. Not sure the new format will help much next season
A bit annoying that he was right. It was a very glib statement.
I thought Shakhtar were worth the win. I was a bit disappointed by Werder, I thought they could have done a lot better.
The opening analysis was terrible. "Why aren't the English teams dominating like in the CL?", rather than talking about the 2 teams that were actually in the final.
Only highlight of the programming was Mark Lawrenson. He, at least, seems to try and make the most of being a commentator in a meaningless match, and shows an interest. The rest of the guys in the studio didn't want to be there.
Sorry but praise for that man cuts me deep!!Quote:
Originally Posted by brianw82
My moment was when the camera panned to a lovely Ukranian lady in the crowd and Trevor says "Well they're happy anyway"Quote:
Originally Posted by brianw82
Lawro did his best to lighten the mood but Trevor Never was having none of it
They're not dominating it because they've no interest in it. What's the point in the likes of Harry Redknapp trying to qualify for it and then complaining when they doQuote:
Originally Posted by brianw82
Man City did their best to do well in the competition to be fair. I think Villa and Spurs would have done the same only their circumstances didn't really allow them. Spurs were in a proper relegation battle at the time they were knocked out and I wouldn't blame Villa for concentrating soley on getting Champions League football. Neither side, especially Villa have a squad capable of challenging on all fronts. It was fine for Man City because they were mid-table with no chance of a Champions League spot or relegation.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ciprian Marica
The trouble is half the league will be in the relegation dog fight and the other half will have its eye on 4th place if one of the top 4 is struggling. Hence most have no interest in the UEFA Cup or any of the domestic cups. So we have teams like Arsenal fielding babies and winning nothing yet again. Live by the baby, die by the baby.Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
Great for Ukrainians, even if their forwards feigned injury if a gust of wind tossed their hair.
The 2nd half was complete muck and the extra-time was dreadful. Let's hope the Champions League Final lives up to all the hype now
Fair point. I was thinking more of Harry Redknapp at the start of this season when he was still at Portsmouth. After winning the FA Cup last year and qualifying for the UEFA Cup I'm nearly sure he was still having a moan about competing in it.Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
I do get the impression though that there is a certain snobbery towards the UEFA Cup in England, rightly or wrongly.
It now exists for everything except the League Title, avoiding relegation and the Champions League. Everything else is in the halfpenny place.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ciprian Marica
Read a good piece during the week that stated the reasons manager like redknapp want to qualilfy for it are purely monetary. Nearly all clubs have bonus payments for players and managers if they qualify for europeQuote:
Originally Posted by Ciprian Marica