By the way... Força Barça!!!!!

roland · Post by **roland** » Fri May 08, 2009 2:19 pm

i really enjoyed the game.. and i also don't think that barca sucked in the second game.. it's just extremly difficult to play against this well structured (hiddinks = imo best coach in the world.. ) chelsea team..

the referee is usually really good but this night he sucked ... he made mistakes on both sides (wtf red card???) ..

so imo this was a great semifinal.. (think about the two great goals..) i feel sad for chelsea and hiddinks but i'm also a little bit happy to see barca in the final, cause i think they can do better against man-u..

PsyTox · Post by **PsyTox** » Fri May 08, 2009 2:22 pm

truely don't like chelsea, think it was great that Barca won after all, but saying that UK football is all about boring long passes etc... euh? I think after the spanish competition, the premier league is pretty amazing. When i turn on the telly in the weekend to watch a match, i'm always stunned by the level and speed of how the game is played in UK. And despite my anti-feelings for chelsea, they do put on a good game most of the time. And Hiddinck is one of the best managers around I think

That being said, that goal from barca made me burst out in tears and I yelled half of the neighborhood awake I think, sorry people of Zwevezele

Too bad we have such a TERRIBLE collection of football teams in belgium. What a bunch of poor sods

Catching The Waves · Post by **Catching The Waves** » Fri May 08, 2009 2:35 pm

wikey wrote:
Catching The Waves wrote:The British football establishment praise the great World Cup and European Championship teams to the skies. Brazil, Argentina, France, Spain, Holland, etc. are held in the highest esteem. Yet, when it comes to playing football themselves, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland (& even the Republic of Ireland) all pack their defences and play the tedious long ball game.

Hungary gave England a football lesson in the 1950s - and it still hasn't sunk in. Skill, technique, the ambition to score lots of goals, the willingness to take risks: it all goes missing during the big competitions. Far too many English Premiership teams play a negative, ugly game. Only Arsenal and Manchester United are willing to go for it like continental teams. Football is about fantasy and glory. Grinding out a 1-0 win can be fun every now and then, but as a weekly diet? Bleurgh.

As for the final? May the best team win.
that is by far the worst thing i've ever heard.

did you not watch the Liverpool Chelsea legs?
they wont be beat for a long long time yet. As for willingness and risks gone missing. you are forgetting football clubs are a multi million pound business. Do you think if chelsea had been 2-0 down at nu camp but tried to play nice football, abramovich would be full of praise for Hiddink because they 'took risks' Absolutely no chance!

Win at all costs and the glory will come

If that is by far the worst thing you've ever heard, I envy you.

I'm utterly bored with the "keep it tight" mentality. Most Premiership games are full of teams playing five across the middle. I had to suffer eight years of Eriksson and then McClaren getting England to play the most godawful football and I'm tired of it. Most Premiership teams play into Manchester Utd's hands because they play one lone striker, five players across the middle and defend for 90 minutes. Man U have the ball for most of the match and therefore tend to win most games - rather like Chelsea v Barcelona.

I agree with the Barcelona fans - come out and play football. Business, business, business - if Abramovich wants guaranteed success he should stick to his business investments and leave sport alone.

roland · Post by **roland** » Fri May 08, 2009 3:22 pm

PsyTox wrote:
Too bad we have such a TERRIBLE collection of football teams in belgium. What a bunch of poor sods

are you kidding?? you guys have anderlecht.. i'm from austria, that's really sad.. =)

Krul · Post by **Krul** » Fri May 08, 2009 3:41 pm

roland wrote:
PsyTox wrote:
Too bad we have such a TERRIBLE collection of football teams in belgium. What a bunch of poor sods
are you kidding?? you guys have anderlecht.. i'm from austria, that's really sad.. =)

anderlecht is past its glory days. Standard Liege is pretty good for Belgian standards, but if you compare them to other countries they're just mediocre.

roland · Post by **roland** » Fri May 08, 2009 4:19 pm

yeah maybe anderelecht is past its glory days.. but i enjoyed watching their championsleague games.. there was this fast swedish midfielder.. i can't remember his name but he was incredibly fast..

does anyone know how things are gonna develop for chelsea?? do they wanna keep hiddinks or not?? he is still coach of the russian team isn't he??

wikey · Post by **wikey** » Sat May 09, 2009 10:36 am

[quote="seamus"]their stupid alcoholic red-faced manager quote]

Thats just smacks of jealousy mate, If you look beyond your unjustified hatred for Man U then you will see that they are the definition of a very successful professional football team, with the best manager in football for the last decade or so.

I don't have a preference really for the premiership in terms of teams, but you need to admire these top teams who perform week in week out in the toughest league in the world, add to that European ties as well, no one does it better than Man U i'm afraid!

PsyTox · Post by **PsyTox** » Sat May 09, 2009 11:08 am

roland wrote:
PsyTox wrote:
Too bad we have such a TERRIBLE collection of football teams in belgium. What a bunch of poor sods
are you kidding?? you guys have anderlecht.. i'm from austria, that's really sad.. =)

Anderlecht is not what it used to be mate

They have one really good player (Boussoufa) who has a higher IQ than all the rest combined, but otherwise... Brugge is pathetic these days, and a sucky manager that keeps the few good players they have on the bench (El Rio Van Heerde).
Would put my money on Standard for sure. That's about the only team that comes even close to some level. Just hope they don't sell off all their best players in the transfer period.

Too much business in football these days.