coogar:

dayokanu, let's discuss like true football pundits here.
forget the jibes and jeers from the no-marks.

where did it go wrong last night? you had all the advantage,
by far you had the better team and yet your strikers choked.

Chelsea were destined to win the European Cup. That's it really.
Count the amount of chances Barca,Bayern and Napoli could not convert and you'll see there was absolutely nothing any other team could have done.

AjanleKoko:



I don't think Robben is overrated. Rather he strikes me as a flawed genius, and his achilles heel is rooted in him wanting to do things his way.

Him and Ribery looked like they were competing with each other last night. Like they were trying to see which of them would win the game for Bayern.

Could not have said it any better really

chic2pimp:
Chelsea were destined to win the European Cup. That's it really.
Count the amount of chances Barca,Bayern and Napoli could not convert and you'll see there was absolutely nothing any other team could have done.

destined? a club that finished 6th in the premier league?
any of the top 3 teams in england would have taken that chelsea side to the cleaners.
they had no terry, ramirez and ivanovic and cech hardly made any save in the 90.

i think bayern were tired and they lacked depth.
their first 11 was better but beneath those, the bench lacked quality.
yes, gomez and robben missed some sitters but how many clear-cut chances did they get?

AjanleKoko:



I don't think Robben is overrated. Rather he strikes me as a flawed genius, and his achilles heel is rooted in him wanting to do things his way.

Him and Ribery looked like they were competing with each other last night. Like they were trying to see which of them would win the game for Bayern.

Someone even said Ribery lost interest in game and was probably tired, hence he left 'injured'
Its nt their faults. They dont really have competition to deal with. Chelsea had a star like torres on the bench, others like Malouda, essien etc. bayern had non except olic

coogar:

destined? a club that finished 6th in the premier league?
any of the top 3 teams in england would have taken that chelsea side to the cleaners.
they had no terry, ramirez and ivanovic and cech hardly made any save in the 90.

Ofcourse they were destined to win it. The amount of chances Napoli alone missed in Naples says they were.
On the face it the top two would but as Man United found out in the 2005 FA CUP finals there is nothing u can do if it isn't your day.

coogar:
i think bayern were tired and they lacked depth.
their first 11 was better but beneath those, the bench lacked quality.
yes, gomez and robben missed some sitters but how many clear-cut chances did they get?

There is no doubt about that beyond the first 11 bayern are very weak.
You said it yourself they missed sitters. What else could be more clear cut than sitters?
Swap Drogba for GO-MISS and bayern woulda won that game

Arjen Robben was caught on Camera looking totally Forlorn and depressed at a dinner to mark the end of the UCL... Even his Girlfriend couldn't help cheer him up...


www.nairaland.com/attachments/707864_Robben_1_jpg0fabd4f434da8ff20a6584d3a789e558
www.nairaland.com/attachments/707865_Robben2_jpgd033fa9f13055002b3efd64ba08d32cb

chic2pimp:
Ofcourse they were destined to win it. The amount of chances Napoli alone missed in Naples says they were.
On the face it the top two would but as Man United found out in the 2005 FA CUP finals there is nothing u can do if it isn't your day.

the most intelligent thing you have said since i have known you.
so you get sense like this. pls do this often.

There is no doubt about that beyond the first 11 bayern are very weak.
You said it yourself they missed sitters. What else could be more clear cut than sitters?
Swap Drogba for GO-MISS and bayern woulda won that game

sitters(robben's penalty miss and gomez trying to set himself and getting caught).
cech didn't make enough saves to even say bayern really caused chelsea any harm.

half of their shots were blocked by chelsea's defence.

Simple when you aint destined to win nothing more you could do

Look at Barca vs Chelsea if chelsea had lost both legs 8:0 aggregates there wouldnt have been any complaints

Bayern had 20 corners Chelsea had one and scored. Cech that isnt known for his penalty prowess now turned to Kahn.

A German team losing on penalties isnt what happens often
Even in 1999 Man Utd game was balanced

Even most Chelsea fans and players cant understand what went on. Dont think i have seen a more lopsided final and still lost.

Most of,our players even lost faith either due to age or pressure

Some even declined to take penalties.

coogar:

the most intelligent thing you have said since i have known you.
so you get sense like this. pls do this often.

Ofcourse it would make sense to an Olodo like you after all it heaps on Mn united

coogar:

sitters(robben's penalty miss and gomez trying to set himself and getting caught).
cech didn't make enough saves to even say bayern really caused chelsea any harm.

half of their shots were blocked by chelsea's defence.

Bayern dominated and IMO had enough opportunities to win that Game. They were never really going to create much clear cut opportunities with an Ultra Defensive 4-5-1 formation.
Credit to Chelsea though this was be the best Defensive performance in yrs. A.Cole, Cahill and Luiz blocked everything in sight.

chic2pimp:

o fcourse it would make sense to an Olodo like you after all it heaps on Mn united

lol!

Bayern dominated and IMO had enough opportunities to win that Game. They were never really going to create much clear cut opportunities with an Ultra Defensive 4-5-1 formation.
Credit to Chelsea though this was be the best Defensive performance in yrs. A.Cole, Cahill and Luiz blocked everything in sight.

bayern would always dominate. they are a possession team. half of their squad
are regulars in their national team too. so their team chemistry is like barcelona....
they dominated jose mourinho in 2010 final as well but the reactive teams this season
all won the big prizes.

athletico madrid mauled bilbao and it was bilbao that did all the playing.
dortmund mauled bayern munich in the cup final, chelsea ran away as the winners
when it was bayern that did the playing. maybe it was written like you said but
bayern have themselves to blame.

waiting for euros now. if germany fails to win that competition then this present generation are a waste of time!

dayokanu: Simple when you aint destined to win nothing more you could do

Look at Barca vs Chelsea if chelsea had lost both legs 8:0 aggregates there wouldnt have been any complaints

Bayern had 20 corners Chelsea had one and scored. Cech that isnt known for his penalty prowess now turned to Kahn.

A German team losing on penalties isnt what happens often
Even in 1999 Man Utd game was balanced

Even most Chelsea fans and players cant understand what went on. Dont think i have seen a more lopsided final and still lost.

Most of,our players even lost faith either due to age or pressure

Some even declined to take penalties.

Exactly there is absolutely nothing you could have done. Bayern could still be playin til this very minute and still won't have won.

I thought Milan vs Liverpool would be as close as it got to one team dominating and then ending up loosing but this surpasses it.

coogar:
bayern would always dominate. they are a possession team. half of their squad
are regulars in their national team too. so their team chemistry is like barcelona....
they dominated jose mourinho in 2010 final as well but the reactive teams this season
all won the big prizes.

athletico madrid mauled bilbao and it was bilbao that did all the playing.
dortmund mauled bayern munich in the cup final, chelsea ran away as the winners
when it was bayern that did the playing. maybe it was written like you said but
bayern have themselves to blame.

waiting for euros now. if germany fails to win that competition then this present generation are a waste of time!

It's quite simple Attack wins Hearts and Minds and on the odd occasions trophies but Defence ultimately wins games and ultimately championships.
Look at Inter,Greece,Porto I could go on and on.
Defence solidity is the foundation those titles won by those teams was built on.
Ofcourse Bayern have only themselves to blame. So do Barca really.

I see them going quite far but don't see them winning it.
Word on the street is that Hodgson is going to play the exact same way come euro 2012 and I can't say I blame him.

chic2pimp:
It's quite simple Attack wins Hearts and Minds and on the odd occasions trophies but Defence ultimately wins games and ultimately championships.
Look at Inter,Greece,Porto I could go on and on.
Defence solidity is the foundation those titles won by those teams was built on.
Ofcourse Bayern have only themselves to blame. So do Barca really.

I see them going quite far but don't see them winning it.
Word on the street is that Hodgson is going to play the exact same way come euro 2012 and I can't say I blame him.

with that joke of a midfield that hodgson is taking to the euros,
france and sweden would be silly if england qualifies from that group.
the only hope this time around is joe hart. for the first time since seaman,
england has a decent player between the sticks.

dayokanu,
Thierry Henry had his fair share of chokes, but that is not to excuse Robben..
I'll excuse Euro 2000 on his behalf because France eventually won.But Robben has had chances to win three major titles in 2seasons and hasn't done anything to vindicate himself in the vent of a loss.
The world cup in 2010 presented him with two clear chances to win it.then yesterday's debacle appeared.
As per the German team, I wouldn't write them off completely.What I observed is a lack of a natural leader and a rallying point.Previous German sides have had a Matthaus,a Koehler, a Sammer, a klinsmann, a Ballack to rally them for the common cause.Now aside from maybe Neuer and Lahm, who arent on the level of those i listed: I'm not sure there is someone who can rally the troops.
There is the obvious sprinkling of talent, Schweisteiger, Muller, maybe Kroos, I think they can go far. Winning it might be another thing entirely but I won't write them off completely.My only fear is that this loss won't scar these players to the point where it affects them for good.

StarBoard: dayokanu,
Thierry Henry had his fair share of chokes, but that is not to excuse Robben..
I'll excuse Euro 2000 on his behalf because France eventually won.But Robben has had chances to win three major titles in 2seasons and hasn't done anything to vindicate himself in the vent of a loss.
The world cup in 2010 presented him with two clear chances to win it.then yesterday's debacle appeared.

if you want to win a final, leave robben out of the team.
he's the biggest bottler in the history of the game. i will
not forget sneijder's defence splitting pass that sent robben
on the way - one on one with goalie and he choked.

As per the German team, I wouldn't write them off completely.What I observed is a lack of a natural leader and a rallying point.Previous German sides have had a Matthaus,a Koehler, a Sammer, a klinsmann, a Ballack to rally them for the common cause.Now aside from maybe Neuer and Lahm, who arent on the level of those i listed: I'm not sure there is someone who can rally the troops.

lahm is a fantastic leader but he's too cool.
he's a very good penalty taker too so i don't know how
robben got ahead of him in the team. robben has missed
a few this season at crucial times...why did he get the nod?

There is the obvious sprinkling of talent, Schweisteiger, Muller, maybe Kroos, I think they can go far. Winning it might be another thing entirely but I won't write them off completely.My only fear is that this loss won't scar these players to the point where it affects them for good.

ozil is their brightest talent. bayern missed a trick by letting him slip to real madrid.
£12m and hollywood fc allowed germany's best talent to wander abroad. that's a fatal mistake.
gomez has to find form before the euros. podolski, muller, ozil and kroos are good value in the german shirt.

i think germany has a chance. if the tiki-taka kings bottle it, germany might take the prize.
the european battle starts on the 9th of june.
time to get my germany shirt to cheer the nazis!

coogar,
England won't go past the group stages. Unless France aren't a force in Europe and Sweden aren't the usual hard nut to crack.
Look at the shambolic midfield Hodgson wants to prosecute the assignment with.Sprinkled with players who have little footballing positioning sense left or don't have any left/never had any previously.Leaving Michael Carrick behind tells me that he's either too incapable to fit him into a pattern that will bring the best out of England or he's too clueless to do same.
And Wayne Rooney is suspended for the first two games.Is it Andy Carroll or Danny Welbeck that will bring in the goals?Jermaine Defie?Then he decided to leave Rio behind for some silly, inexplicable and illogical reason.
Their campaign has been sabotaged first by Capello and his shenanigans and his decision to stick by Terry despite everything.
So I don't envy Hodgson as he tries to make the best of an already disastrous situation.But he accepted the job and it his headache.

the leadership has to come from lahm as d captain and now manuel neuer and very importantly schweinsteiger.also dont forget that a new group is joining the team for d 1st time dis summer for a major championship e.g hummels,gotze,reus e.t.c there r some potential leaders n champions there

coogar:

with that joke of a midfield that hodgson is taking to the euros,
france and sweden would be silly if england qualifies from that group.
the only hope this time around is joe hart. for the first time since seaman,
england has a decent player between the sticks.

Whilst the Midfiels id far from being world beaters they should be able to do the job Roy requires of them.
I mean If any of Gerrard,Lampard, Barry, Parker and co can't exert their influence over the Swedish Midfield then they might as well never put on a three lions jersey.
I duly expect France and England to Qualify from that group.
Hart is potentially even better than Seaman

coogar
I just want to highlight the fact that Germany might not have the leader like they've always had in the past.
Maybe it has something to do with the youth movement ushered in by Leow.
The talent is always there, but I'll never forget how Ballack almost single-handedly dragged them to the finals in 2002 world cup.If he played vs Brazil, the result might have been different.
I remember how Matthaus and Samner drove the Mannschaft to titles in 1990 and 1996 respectively.
I remember Karl Heinz Rummenigge doing so in 1982 and 86, maybe not single-handedly.

I look around the present squad.I still can't pick out the obvious leader.Lahm may be captain but he's not the vocal, lead-by-example type who is on everyone's case when they step out of line type of character they need to win it.
Odil is a gem, but I'm not sure he alone can Marshall the squad from an attacking standpoint.

I never thought the day would come when coogar would support a German side. But I am fed up with Spain winning everything so I guess I'll join you for just this once. . .

dayokanu: Simple when you aint destined to win nothing more you could do

Look at Barca vs Chelsea if chelsea had lost both legs 8:0 aggregates there wouldnt have been any complaints

Bayern had 20 corners Chelsea had one and scored. Cech that isnt known for his penalty prowess now turned to Kahn.

A German team losing on penalties isnt what happens often
Even in 1999 Man Utd game was balanced

Even most Chelsea fans and players cant understand what went on. Dont think i have seen a more lopsided final and still lost.

Most of,our players even lost faith either due to age or pressure

Some even declined to take penalties.

Lamentations of an excuse fabricator.
Lopsided final ko, paraplegic final ni.
Please explain in 3 short, simple sentences why Bayern should choke in 3 clear cut opportunities to win silverware this season and when exactly did Bayern become bottlers?
What is your proposed remedy? a trip by Kaizer and co to go and dobale at The Synagogue to stop this slide into decadence?

England will always struggle to beat Sweden.Im not so sure they'll come out from that group.
Without Rooney leading the attack they will not get the goals required to ensure passage in the first two games.
It's an already hamstrung case even before they begin.

StarBoard: coogar
I just want to highlight the fact that Germany might not have the leader like they've always had in the past.
Maybe it has something to do with the youth movement ushered in by Leow.
The talent is always there, but I'll never forget how Ballack almost single-handedly dragged them to the finals in 2002 world cup.If he played vs Brazil, the result might have been different.
I remember how Matthaus and Samner drove the Mannschaft to titles in 1990 and 1996 respectively.
I remember Karl Heinz Rummenigge doing so in 1982 and 86, maybe not single-handedly.

i think about this often too. i look at the influence stephen keshi commanded in his time
in comparison to yobo these days. i came down to a conclusion: it's human perception.
we were mostly babies when those oldies played so we had this undying respect for what they did.
you can say the same about most teams in the world todays. the players of those days were just more
professional than today's bunch of self-seeking mercenaries......

I look around the present squad.I still can't pick out the obvious leader.Lahm may be captain but he's not the vocal, lead-by-example type who is on everyone's case when they step out of line type of character they need to win it.
Ozil is a gem, but I'm not sure he alone can Marshall the squad from an attacking standpoint.

i just think lahm has to be more vocal. he's an outstanding professional!
with schweinsteiger and khedira providing the base, ozil is potent enough to
cause chaos to any difference. podolski on the left, muller on the right.
germany have a perfect team! only spain can undo them.

I never thought the day would come when coogar would support a German side. But I am fed up with Spain winning everything so I guess I'll join you for just this once. . .

they make the best shirts these days.
umbro have lost ideas and england's shirts in the last 5 yrs have been rubbish!
i am not sure if i should get france or germany but it's going to be either adidas or nike.

StarBoard: England will always struggle to beat Sweden.Im not so sure they'll come out from that group.
Without Rooney leading the attack they will not get the goals required to ensure passage in the first two games.
It's an already hamstrung case even before they begin.

England should have more enough fire power to defeat Sweden.
C'mon it's sweden not the Argies or the Samba Boyz we are talking about here.
If Roy has them set up properly and playing well, they should at the very least(worst scenario) get a draw.

chic2pimp:

England should have more enough fire power to defeat Sweden.
C'mon it's sweden not the Argies or the Samba Boyz we are talking about here.
If Roy has them set up properly and playing well, they should at the very least(worst scenario) get a draw.

even with a fit squad, england have never beaten sweden.
france is well-equipped. laurent blanc knows english players
like the back of his hand. france should win that one with mr evra
giving walcott a mare!!!

the ukraine game is the dicey one. it can go either way or end in a draw.
so england might need others to drop points to qualify.
their chance of qualifying is about 40%.

Lahm is a quiet leader who isnt vocal

I think Schweinisteiger is the more vocal leader in the team.

Robben is whiny and cowardly prima donna, He would be the first to go to the penalty spot in regulation time, but when its after extra time when guts are needed the most, He would run from the penalties like against madrid and yesterday. I think we should have a new penalty taker. I also think Shaqiri would push Robbery for starting slots


As much as we might hate on Robben but we should also know that before Robben we could barely get past the CL second round. With Robben we have now played 2 CL finals in 3 seasons, He might have proven to be the X factor or world class player needed to propel Bayern from the Second round debacles of years ago to regular finalists. Now someone needs to take over when we get into finals.

Starboard, The finals Henry won was because someone else came to their rescue Left to Henry he wouldnt have won anything, In 2000, if not for Zidane and Trezeguet, Can you count the number of tame shots Henry shot into Toldos arms in that final?

Robben can probably take you to the final, Someone needs to take it from him there

dayokanu: Lahm is a quiet leader who isnt vocal

I think Schweinisteiger is the more vocal leader in the team.

Robben is whiny and cowardly prima donna, He would be the first to go to the penalty spot in regulation time, but when its after extra time when guts are needed the most, He would run from the penalties like against madrid and yesterday. I think we should have a new penalty taker. I also think Shaqiri would push Robbery for starting slots


As much as we might hate on Robben but we should also know that before Robben we could barely get past the CL second round. With Robben we have now played 2 CL finals in 3 seasons, He might have proven to be the X factor or world class player needed to propel Bayern from the Second round debacles of years ago to regular finalists. Now someone needs to take over when we get into finals.

Starboard, The finals Henry won was because someone else came to their rescue Left to Henry he wouldnt have won anything, In 2000, if not for Zidane and Trezeguet, Can you count the number of tame shots Henry shot into Toldos arms in that final?

Robben can probably take you to the final, Someone needs to take it from him there

robben has no german blood cells in him, he's a bottler.
this is why people marveled when schewini missed his pen. it's unheard of.
what happened to cristiano in 2008 happened to him - he should learn from balotelli.

when they do that run up and they pause.......they expect the keeper to dive a certain way.
the moment the keeper stands still and not move where they want him, it becomes a confusion.
even at that, the distance to the ball becomes shorter and makes the kick more predictable.

coogar:
waiting for euros now. if germany fails to win that competition then this present generation are a waste of time!

These generation of players are still young. The oldest being Lahm 28 and Schweinsteiger 27. The others are still young. Neuer 26yr(Young for a keeper), Hummels 1988, Boateng 1988, Badstuber 1989, Khedira 1987, Ozil 1988, Muller 1989, Marco reus 1989, Mario Gotze 1992, All of them way under 25yrs and would likely get better

Ozil, Gotze, Hummels, Muller, Khedira.

The future looks bright for them

coogar:

robben has no german blood cells in him, he's a bottler.
this is why people marveled when schewini missed his pen. it's unheard of.
what happened to cristiano in 2008 happened to him - he should learn from balotelli.

when they do that run up and they pause.......they expect the keeper to dive a certain way.
the moment the keeper stands still and not move where they want him, it becomes a confusion.
even at that, the distance to the ball becomes shorter and makes the kick more predictable.

Thats the problem with that type of kick. You try to be too fancy and you miss it. See the power all Chelsea players were packing behind their shots, Luiz even ran from the Center circle.

All the other players were too young and were already nervous wrecks before the kicks Contento, Kroos, Boateng have never played at any level similar to this. Once it got to penalties, Chelsea had the advantage with the experience in their ranks

Lampard, Drogba, Cashley have all played penners at the top level

Regarding the lack of leaders in Germany, I think its common to all teams

There is no Gazza, Baggio, Matthaus, Effenberg, Deschamps, Blanc, Dessaily, Laudrup, Dunga in world football again

This is the generation of Busquets, Anderson Ozil etc

dayokanu:

These generation of players are still young. The oldest being Lahm 28 and Schweinsteiger 27. The others are still young. Neuer 26yr(Young for a keeper), Hummels 1988, Boateng 1988, Badstuber 1989, Khedira 1987, Ozil 1988, Muller 1989, Marco reus 1989, Mario Gotze 1992, All of them way under 25yrs and would likely get better

Ozil, Gotze, Hummels, Muller, Khedira.

The future looks bright for them

i meant the lahms, kloses, gomezs and metresackers.
the present generation(that smashed england in the under 19 championship) have high hopes.
too much hope sef!

chic2pimp:

England should have more enough fire power to defeat Sweden.
C'mon it's sweden not the Argies or the Samba Boyz we are talking about here.
If Roy has them set up properly and playing well, they should at the very least(worst scenario) get a draw.

When both Played in a friendly last November, England laboured to a win via an own goal at Wembley.
Prior to that, England hadn't beaten the Swedes since 1968. In the Euros , Sweden has won 2and drawn once of the three ties they've had so far.
The Swedes know how to play the English at full tilt.So when Hidgson carries this muppet-like side, I wonder how he's going to win.

where is fat ibime?

he fainted n his wife did mouth to mouth to revive him when torres
scored at nou camp. feck knows what happened when drogba scored
the decisive penalty kick. who knows where to find ibime?

dayokanu: Regarding the lack of leaders in Germany, I think its common to all teams

There is no Gazza, Baggio, Matthaus, Effenberg, Deschamps, Blanc, Dessaily, Laudrup, Dunga in world football again

This is the generation of Busquets, Anderson Ozil etc

True that.
Which is one reason why I wont write their chances off.
But I'm guessing it would help if all these youthful guys had someone through which their creative talents were channeled.
It's no use having all these great prospects (Muller especially) when there's no one to harness their skills.For all the veterans you mentioned above, they were decent at best in terms of talent, except that they had this ability to get the best out of their teammates.But they were hard workers too.
So what could be responsible for most international sides having no enforcer/talisman/leader?