Barcelona vs Manchester United UCL Final 2011 Topic

[Tom]

You can force these things on the training ground but if you ain't mentally up to it. Square pegs in round holes and all that.Do you think Anderson wants to chase and man mark? Sir Alex is wasting him.

[Michel Kane]

It's not like Anderson isn't used to chasing & 'man-marking' over the last couple seasons. Lol. The Anderson I think you're referring to, is long gone.

[MEIRELES.]

UNLEWKEYBarcelona are the gods of football. Greatest team ever with the greatest player ever to kick a football. Unstoppable. We would have given them a better game. Ushited are a disgrace tbh - showed how sh*t the PL really is compared to Spain in terms of technical ability.

[Yoshie]

UNLEWKEYBarcelona are the gods of football. Greatest team ever with the greatest player ever to kick a football. Unstoppable. We would have given them a better game. Ushited are a disgrace tbh - showed how sh*t the PL really is compared to Spain in terms of technical ability.

:lol:Come like saying you're gunna beat up the bully in your class knowing he's gone juvey for two years. You ain't gunna get your turn, be quiet.

[TF S4DK]

TBH, I think you're underestimating how tactically astute O'Shea is & if SAF & his backroom staff properly prepared (as they supposedly did so), what they could bring out of the likes of Anderson for a match like this.Remember, @TF, you thought Lassana Diarra was below-par, but prior to Pepe's sending off against Barcelona in the 2nd leg of the CL semi's, Diarra had Messi ON LOCK. In order to nullify to Messi, on a more individual basis, you'd want an athletic destroyer, preferably similar build to counter Messi's ridiculous centre of gravity. Anderson was the closest player that fit that description.

I don't think Diarra is a bad player, I just don't think he is as good or the saviour that some Arsenal fans think he is, and when he was with us he didn't earn his place in the team and had the f*ck*ng jarring habit of holding onto the ball for way too long and it was annoying cos he'd win the ball and then dead everything he just did, bit like Diaby does at times...Yeah but anyway Pepe got sent off & Messi breezed past him, so it counts for little...Swear someone from Barcelona's coaching staff said the only way you can actually deal with Barcelona when they are on form, well make them wonder WTF, is with defenders/defesive midfielders who have no creative or attacking desire and continually actually ask you to come onto them. Anderson ain't disciplined like that.

[MEIRELES.]

UNLEWKEYBarcelona are the gods of football. Greatest team ever with the greatest player ever to kick a football. Unstoppable. We would have given them a better game. Ushited are a disgrace tbh - showed how sh*t the PL really is compared to Spain in terms of technical ability.

:lol:Come like saying you're gunna beat up the bully in your class knowing he's gone juvey for two years. You ain't gunna get your turn, be quiet.

Have you ever beaten Barcelona at their ground in the past 5 years? tbh I dont even know what team you support. We would have given them a better game than arsenal and ushited. Both english teams put the Prem to shame. PS: Beg you don't quote me ever again.

[Agony]

This season in Europe Pool couldn't even deal with BragaAnd Murks is talking about what they could've done against Barca...

[Captain Planet]

[Mr Q]

Everyone is talking about the tactics that were wrong etc. But I think a lot of people are over looking the fact that there has been very little in United's away performances this season, that ever suggested that outside of Old Trafford they would be at there best.

[Young £]

Why is everyone talking sh*t and not reading properly, and why is their some new found culture on this website to ridicule or laugh at people who watch the game with a bit more detail and insight then you do? I cant reply to all the posts but to whoever said, yes I have a level 1 certificate, and I am currently doing my level 2.But anywayLike I said, with hindsight you can see that Starting Line Up was wrong, I did not need hindsight, when I saw the starting line up I knew Fergie had got it wrong. Why are people saying we dont have the personnel to beat Barcelona?? How many different teams have beat them this year? Are you all being so f*ck*ng ignorant and stupid to think we couldnt of done better than that f*ck*ng disgrace on Saturday.You've got a page full of Arsenal fans proclaiming we couldnt of done what you did?!??!?! f*ck offIt was a one off game, if you play to a system you stand a way better chance of just playing your own way (ESPCIALLY IF YOUR NOWHERE NEAR AS GOOD AS THEM). I feel like im repeating myself for f*ck sakes.. You dont play your "strongest" or "most in form" 11 (unless their as good as Barca that is). You devise a system and then play the players who you think will carry out the role the best for team, I mean, you wanna win dont you? dont you?Cos if you did.. you f*ck*ng wouldnt start just Giggs & Carrick in there and hope for the best. No one isnt saying Fergie didnt have a game plan, thats another thing. Of course he had a f*ck*ng plan, he had a f*ck*ng wrong plan. And then when that f*ck*ng wrong plan wasn't working... he did not change nothing, in fact he made it worse.How only a few people can see that I dont know. Anderson would of made a difference, because unlike Carrick, and unlike Giggs he can stop the ball, and carry it. He can use hes pace and energy to run past 1 or 2 players easy and then play a forward thinking pass. Giggs can do that too, dont get it twisted.... he just didnt. Anderson would of gave you more energy then Giggs, and maybe/maybe not played way better than Giggs did on Saturday.Another thing can we all agree that by the 50th min mark in the game, or even at 3-1. It was evident that our 'game plan' was not working!!!! So why was nothing changed? How can you say that Fergie did all he could with what he had when he made 2 of the stupidest substitutions known to man (Fabio wasn't injured by the way). I mean who doesn't have a plan B in a European Cup Final, the self proclaimed biggest game of the decade and your team got embarrased. It was just simply not good enoughBut like i said, i cant blame the playes too much, they were completely out of their depth. I blame Ferguson for making us look like any pub team for the 2nd time in 3 years.What I would of played is something like this, its not laid out properly, i would need a football manager tactics page or a piece of paper before it would make sense to you, but thats what i would of done. lol go on laugh at it, but I gurantee this team would not of got mocked like we did on Sat. VDSSmalling Rio VidicRafael Carrick--- FabioValencia - Giggs NaniRooney1st and Foremost they are very good, and i mean very good footballers. On the ball, off the ball,1st touch, strength and passing all very good.Rafael & Fabio are ball winners, they enjoy the chasing, harrasing, geting stuck in and winning the ball. Yes we would of been liable to more yellow cards but thats something you had 2/3 weeks to hammer into them in training, Discipline. Messi, Xavi & iniesta would of found themselves under wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy and i mean wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy more pressure if we had rafael and fabio infront of that back 3. And not only that, when they DO win the ball, they also have he ability to beat a man, play a one two, give the ball to Carrick and get our game going. Iniesta and Xavi would have had a harder time keeping up with the Da Silvas then with Carrick for example.Which then leaves us with a back 3. You probably see that and think a back 3 lol your finished. Not really, Messi plays so deep against us that it wouldnt even matter. I would of had enough faith in Smalling to occupy either Pedro or Villa with covering from Rio. Which leaves the twins and Carrick to track the runners from midfield with also covering from Rio, depending on which Barca player had the ball.I'd be here all day if I carried on lol, but hoepfully a few of you will get my drift.Fergie would never have the balls or even the imagination to devise something like that, because it just seems he accepted he didnt have the personnel to do it so he just 'went for it'. Yes, Sir Alex Ferguson im talking about here. You would think we were playing the 8th game of the league not the Champions League Final with most of the choices he made. If he didn't get gassed of hernandez, we should of played VDSTwin - Rio - Vidic - EvraValencia - Carrick, Park, Giggs - Nani RooneyWhich again, would of seen a better performance than we saw on Saturday. Cause seriously, it doesn't get any worse than that.

[Guest Klitschko]

Playing deep was a flopTrying to play on the counter in that manner to Hernandez was a flop, every time the United players got the ball, Pique & Maschereno dropped off 5 yards immedietlyHaving Rooney in a position that meant the midfield was overran against the best midfield in the world, was a big big flop. Park being left on the pitch when he was absolutely shattered was a flop (the second goal partly occurred because he didn't have the energy to close down Messi)at 50 minutes, Nani, and either Fletcher, or Anderson (Im not sure of the bench) should have come on.Not making any changes at 2-1 was ridiiculous, a team shattered mentally and physically chasing shadows against Barca isn't ever going to achieve anythingIt's rare that a team can lose 3-1, and I can't point to any single player, and say 'they played poorly', because nobody on the United team did, having said this, I think Van Der Saar should have saved both the first, and second goal, though he may have been unsighted by Messi's shot it was still fairly close to the middle It was different personel from the 09 final, but a similar tactical f*ck up, Ferguson essentially had United 'play their football', that doesn't really cut it against Barca.

[8BALL]

f*ck your essays...You can make out like you should be Fergies personal tactical assistant all you like.The fact is 9 times outta 10 this Barca team would batter Man.Ure.

[BATTY BOY BUM BANDIT]

@CipherI would say there were definite poor performers for united.I also reckon the first goal VDS couldnt do much. Got done by the eyes. Was a sick sick finish.Deffo should have done alot better for messi's though

[Guest Klitschko]

9/10 they'd batter everyone, because they have far, far better playersHence the need to be spot on tactically

[Guest Klitschko]

@CipherI would say there were definite poor performers for united.I also reckon the first goal VDS couldnt do much. Got done by the eyes. Was a sick sick finish.Deffo should have done alot better for messi's though

For me people were just outclassed, Hernandez had to play exclusively over the top, Rooney was given a job of roughly sticking to Busquets, which left Xavi, Iniesta, and Messi, able to play their way through the duo of Giggs/Carrick and then Park / CarrickValencia was doubled up on, and his one-dimensional play was pretty much showed up, he was excellent tracking back though, he probably commited 8 fouls, of which maybe 2 were legit, the rest being him going shoulder to shoulder with a player who was subsequently 'sent' sprawling, Fabio did wellFerdinand and Vidic did well, Vidic possibly should have closed down Messi quicker for the shot, but that would probably be more dangerous than holding his ground.It annoyed me to see Ferdinand turn his back on Villas shot though, can't stand when CB's do thisEvra did wellGiggs did ok, did well for the first goal, but it got to a point where having a 37 year old player on the pitch looked a very bad idea, he simply wasn't able to competePark ran out of steam on 50 or so minutesCarrick did well early on, he seemed to be out to prove a bit of a point, his distribution was good, got in some good tackles, had a hand in the United goal, but eventually he was faced with the prospect of this

XaviAlves--------------Carrick ----------IniestaMessi

Not a desirable position to be inRooney did excellently for the goal, but he probably should have been the one upfront, he was having to share in the pressing high up with Hernandez, meaning Busquets would be left free, or he was having to stick to Busquets, meaning when United had the ball he wouldln't be free himselfThe fact that Nani came on, went past two or 3 players, and got a good shot away with his left pretty much says all that needed to be said about his exclusion until 85 or so minutes, starting ParkValencia was fair enough, but he should have been brought into play much earlier

[n/a]

Why are people saying we dont have the personnel to beat Barcelona?? How many different teams have beat them this year?

its a one of game broobviously they can and have been beaten, we beat them ffsbut generally speakin if they dont have a real off dayu can put any 3 midfielders in ur squad in tht central area and they will tear u apartfrom when its giggs nd carrick plus 1 ur strugglingu got away with it against chelsea nd schalkebut barca are the best players in the world and there all peaking, theres no shamedont gass anderson its unlikely he would of made a significant difference, not from the start anywayhargreaves in his prime nd fully fit fletcher would of been interesting, but thts hindsight/fantasy

[Guest Klitschko]

^ @YM Pretty muchRooney in the hole was a big mistake tactically, especially when it was Giggs who partnered CarrickI don't see why Ferguson didn't look at the template for beating Barcelona, some odd type of arrogance

[Captain Planet]

f*ck your essays...You can make out like you should be Fergies personal tactical assistant all you like.The fact is 9 times outta 10 this Barca team would batter Man.Ure.

[Heero Yuy]

The Anderson gas is bordering delusional, sure he would of provided energy but disrupting Barcelona is equally as important as ball retention and usage. Both factors that would of left Anderson exposed.

[Guest Klitschko]

Well when it gets to 50 minutes, your level, Giggs and Park have run out of steam, Park is playing in the centre of midfield, Giggs on the left, you are being dominated in possession, and aren't getting close to the Barca playersYou have Anderson, and a not 100% Fletcher on the benchWhat do you do?

[Michel Kane]

The Anderson gas is bordering delusional, sure he would of provided energy but disrupting Barcelona is equally as important as ball retention and usage. Both factors that would of left Anderson exposed.

Who's 'gassing' Anderson?No-one is calling him the world's best midfield enforcer, but for what was needed to NULLIFY Barcelona's midfield, he was the best option.How hard is it to comprehend that?

[Young £]

The Anderson gas is bordering delusional, sure he would of provided energy but disrupting Barcelona is equally as important as ball retention and usage. Both factors that would of left Anderson exposed.

FAIRBUT THE POINT IS GIGGS DID NOTHING, HE DID NOT PROVIDE ENERGY OR GOOD BALL RETENTION & USAGE, SO WHY NOT GIVE ANDERSON A CHANCE TOO? WHEN WE DEFINITELY KNOW HE PROVIDES GOOD ENERGY, DISRUPTING AND THERES QUESTIONS OVER HES BALL RETENTION, USAGEWHY NOT GIVE HIM THE CHANCE TOO WHEN THINGS WERE DEFINITELY GOING WRONG..

[Young £]

@CipherI would say there were definite poor performers for united.I also reckon the first goal VDS couldnt do much. Got done by the eyes. Was a sick sick finish.Deffo should have done alot better for messi's though

For me people were just outclassed, Hernandez had to play exclusively over the top, Rooney was given a job of roughly sticking to Busquets, which left Xavi, Iniesta, and Messi, able to play their way through the duo of Giggs/Carrick and then Park / CarrickValencia was doubled up on, and his one-dimensional play was pretty much showed up, he was excellent tracking back though, he probably commited 8 fouls, of which maybe 2 were legit, the rest being him going shoulder to shoulder with a player who was subsequently 'sent' sprawling, Fabio did wellFerdinand and Vidic did well, Vidic possibly should have closed down Messi quicker for the shot, but that would probably be more dangerous than holding his ground.It annoyed me to see Ferdinand turn his back on Villas shot though, can't stand when CB's do thisEvra did wellGiggs did ok, did well for the first goal, but it got to a point where having a 37 year old player on the pitch looked a very bad idea, he simply wasn't able to competePark ran out of steam on 50 or so minutesCarrick did well early on, he seemed to be out to prove a bit of a point, his distribution was good, got in some good tackles, had a hand in the United goal, but eventually he was faced with the prospect of this

XaviAlves--------------Carrick ----------IniestaMessi

Not a desirable position to be inRooney did excellently for the goal, but he probably should have been the one upfront, he was having to share in the pressing high up with Hernandez, meaning Busquets would be left free, or he was having to stick to Busquets, meaning when United had the ball he wouldln't be free himselfThe fact that Nani came on, went past two or 3 players, and got a good shot away with his left pretty much says all that needed to be said about his exclusion until 85 or so minutes, starting ParkValencia was fair enough, but he should have been brought into play much earlier

Spot, Spot on

[Young £]

Why are people saying we dont have the personnel to beat Barcelona?? How many different teams have beat them this year?

its a one of game broobviously they can and have been beaten, we beat them ffsbut generally speakin if they dont have a real off dayu can put any 3 midfielders in ur squad in tht central area and they will tear u apartfrom when its giggs nd carrick plus 1 ur strugglingu got away with it against chelsea nd schalkebut barca are the best players in the world and there all peaking, theres no shamedont gass anderson its unlikely he would of made a significant difference, not from the start anywayhargreaves in his prime nd fully fit fletcher would of been interesting, but thts hindsight/fantasy

dont quote me again please, i dont type for you to read past what i say and then you say the same thingsignore me

[Young £]

f*ck your essays...You can make out like you should be Fergies personal tactical assistant all you like.The fact is 9 times outta 10 this Barca team would batter Man.Ure.

next person that makes such a stupid post is getting bannedYour not even disagreeing with what were saying? just chatting sh*t because we have a view? a view that is a million times more insightful & more detailed than yoursf*ck off u prick