₦airaland Forum

a review of the 2009 final - 2 parts

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2011/05/25/champions-league-final-2009/

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2011/05/26/uefa-champions-league-final-2009/

did berba win the golden boot. . . . . .how was the tie with CT32 resolved!!?

@ coogar,

you call me a 'fanta-tist' (or whatever), but realistically visualize this; if UTD won the ball in a good position in midfield & all that was needed was as excellently, perfectly weighted thru ball for Hernandez or Rooney to latch onto & be 1-on-1 with Valdez. . . . . . who would rather be making that pass Ando, Fletcher or Giggs!!?

montelik:
^^^^
D truth is I totally understand and agree with d sentiments of those who want 3 in d center, I want us to play that way too and  I am also not too confident of Giggs capabilities against Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets and Messi when he comes deep. But you play with d hand you are dealt. Fletcher isn't fit enough and badly off match tempo. Gibson is a no go for this sort of occassion. Scholes form has been terrible 2nd half of season not to mention his age, work rate and tendencies to pick silly bookings. Playing O'Shea there would be a huge risk.So we apparently don't have 3 quality central midfielders who can give us d platform to simultaneously contain Barca as well as enable us to constructively go forward and win d game.

We have to gamble a bit.

I understand and appreciate all these too. . . . but i feel we are spending way too much time occupying ourselves with containing FCB rather thinking of how to hurt 'em attack-wise; which in itself is conceding defeat without kicking a ball!
I swear if i see a midfield 3 of Ando-Carrick-Fletcher, that's it, ain't watching!

@ montelik,

my sentiments exactly. . . .if we come into this game too defensive-minded, then we run the risk of paralyzing what little offensive capability we have. with the likes of Giggs out there, at the very least we have a ray hope as to where a goal might come from; yeah, but with the likes on ando, fletcher

& if its about chasing, harrying & pressing, Giggsy can do so with as much verve & efficiency as those two!

So, i guess we can now safely say JM is in charge of the team on the pitch and is getting all the players he wants --- Sarhin, Althintorp, Callejon. . . . . . who's next!?

usbcable:
and who said it was him that requested for his sack

He might not have asked for it but certainly the fact that both do not see eye-to-eye is a major influence.


Valdano is gone now. . . . .JM doesn't have an excuse - now he'll start to feel the full brunt of the heat if RM is staring at the back of FCB next term!

Inspite of all the arguments against the Giggsy+Carrick combo. . . .i still see us going that route, IMO it is the best way to go.

& seriously, if we invest so much into trying to stop or stifle FCB, we might wound playing a system where even if we wanted to attack, it would be hard!
Giggs, still has the legs thats what people fail to realise - with him, rooney & hernandez around, i'm sure FCB will be a lot wary about the threat they can pose with their pace, expecially if we create opportunities to burst through the center of their defence.

Furthermore, having a giggs at the center and park out left gives us an option of the 2 swapping if need be - so defensively alves is faced with a problem of playing 2 players of varying styles & we have an option of quite possibly sparing a substitution!

I'm absolutely certain that Giggs will start in that CM area. . . I can understand the fears of having Giggsy in there but the baba still has fuel in his tank plus passion, determination, intelligence and experience which we'll need more than all the gusto of Fletcher / Ando can muster.
We need someone to release that ball quickly, incisively and intelligently onto the run of Chicharito when we break up their play. Scholesy and Gigsy are the only 2 candidates quite capable of that.
I reckon the strongest starting team we can put out there is:

VDS

Fabio (!Oshea) Ferdinand Vidic Evra

Valencia Carrick Giggs Park

Rooney

Hernandez


Just like in the Chelsea game, Giggs and Park can swap places every now and then. . . .Rooney roams and will drop deep into midfield to help.

FCB make it easy for us some the way their full-backs space out when they pass from the back, if we can nick the ball at the half-way point, one through might be all it takes to get Hernandez in behind em.

Expect the same team that played Chelsea (minus Evans, Oshea, Fabio) to be the team that starts against Barca in Wembley. . . . .definitely, Rooney & Chicharito up top with Giggsy in the heart of midfield.

What makes the victory even sweeter is that H.Webb didn't give us the 'big' decisions that would have potentially swayed the match irrevocably in UTD's favor and given blues fans some excuses to cling to till the new season starts

Beautiful. . . . no better way to have wrapped up the title - brilliant performance all thru. . . .my, my how Valencia skinned Cole all evening

1 UTD 4 LIFE!!!

Well, in hindsight, this loss is good ~ gears us up for the challenge next week. . . . now, we know just what we need to do and what we can afford to do.
Its still in our hands!

Special one kor'. . . .special monkey ni

Goal. . . . .RM 0 - 1 Zaragoza

An absolute howler by Casillas - how often do we hear that. . . . .hmmmmm is there a shocker on the cards!!?

Berbatov and Brown fit again. . . .

Krayola:
Mourinho the delusional chump.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cAJYAfcMgI?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name=[/flash]


The person that made this video is a super hero. The guy try

You can say that again. . . .great presentation

Wouldn't be bad if Spurs chose tonight to nick points off Chelsea at the Bridge. . . .in fact, if they took all 3; it'd be heartily welcome

Emperoh:
In what sense pls? Cost wise, player quality, good of the game?
What really?

I meant. . . .it'd be a good deal any which ways we want to look at it; the lad's good, solid, confident and most importantly young!

If we can't get him then I wouldn't mind the that Ben Amos or that Danish dude manning the sticks long-term ~ Kusczak, no way hombre!!!

Another round of shi-shi for the eagles. . . . i predict Nig 0 - 2 Cameroon

Real Madrid 0 v 2 Barcelona (April 27, 2011)

Unforgettable i tell ya
The look on Jose Mourinho's face. . . . .priceless, absolutely priceless

Premier League - Papers: United to nick Neuer

It is probably not a surprise after his performance on Tuesday night, but Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is now being heavily linked with Manchester United.

The move makes sense: United need a goalkeeper with Edwin van der Sar retiring in the summer, and after the match Sir Alex Ferguson said that Neuer was perhaps the "finest" goalkeeper United have ever come up against.

The common perception seemed to be that Neuer was guaranteed to sign for Bayern Munich in the summer - but the goalposts seem to have changed since Tuesday night.

Now Bayern are saying they will not be held to ransom over the Neuer transfer fee - but Schalke are starting to smell the chance to get more cash.

"His value on the transfer market is already very high, I don't know if it can still go up," Schalke sporting director Horst Heldt said. "But watching this match, I said to myself, 'Why sell such a player?'"

Bayern chief executive Uli Hoeness said: "We want Manuel, and where there's a will there's a way. But Schalke cannot now demand an astronomical price."

A good few papers, both quality and tabloid, are now linking Neuer with United, with the Daily Star claiming a £24 million bid could seal the deal as Bayern are reportedly not willing to pay over £20m.

http://eurosport.yahoo.com/28042011/58/premier-league-papers-united-nick-neuer.html

This won't be an unwelcome development!

mojounited:
^That's the spirit right there vinisky

sure. . .that is the spirit the players need to have when they step out on the Wembley turf!

dayokanu:
The same place where other real madrid players were

Remind me pls. . . . did Di Maria play in this game!!?

Barca dey crase

And bottomline is. . . . . .the game was all about tit-for-tat ~ you play rough, we simulate. Barca simply played a different kind of 'dirty' against Real's 'dirty'.

All the time they want to take advantage of Barca's desire to play football and only that, but this time the script was well and truly flipped. Ah, the stunned look on JM's face. . . . .absolutely priceless. He sure didn't see this one coming!

I think we are all missing the point here - Pepe's tackle was clearly a bookable offence; doesn't matter the color of the card because he'd still have been sent off ~ at that point he was already on a yellow!

[quote author=mama-gee link=topic=109253.msg8225335#msg8225335 date=1304040860][color=deeppink]How is that supposed to affect the thread/ issue at hand?[/color][/quote]Erm. . . .area-mama, did you see the LION_el KING Messi!?

Mourinho made a change at half time, bringing Emmanuel Adebayor on for Mesut Ozil – who completed just two passes in the first half – and pushing Ronaldo to the right of midfield. This change has been questioned in the immediate aftermath of the game, specifically the decision to bring on Adebayor over Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain, but it made perfect sense – Adebayor had a very big impact in the previous two Clasicos from the bench. He was the logical choice.

Unfortunately, Real couldn’t really take advantage of his strengths. He won a long ball after 40 seconds of the first half, but generally had no support to get on the end of flick-ons. Real’s expected approach – get the ball wide, then hang up crosses (something that worked so well in the cup final) broke down before it even begun, because Xabi Alonso exerted little influence on the game, and his long balls to the flank were often wayward, as the chalkboard on the right shows.

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2011/04/28/real-madrid-0-2-barcelona-tactics/#more-6449

Jesus, Joseph and Mary. . . . .

Erm. . . .dayo. . . .please where was this your fabled, sublime, twinkled-toed, nazi-turk last night!!?

@ usbcable,

thats where you miss the point. . . .if Barca fans feared, they feared because of the squad they presenting for the game. No Abidal, Iniesta, Maxwell, Adriano - Mascherano played CB, Puyol played LB and the bench Afellay, Bojan, Sergi Roberto (honestly speaking, does any of those names strike fear in your heart!?); hardly the way we know Barca to line-out in such a big match!

Well. . . .sometimes, to be the best you have to beat the very best ~ if its Barca v UTD for the final, so be it!

At leats we know it all boils down to just that 1-game & anything can happen there!