the 370Z.com OFFICIAL football (soccer) thread

[batman_4]

I am by no means a CR7 fan but he said something i feel 100% is true!


"It's always the same with them [Barcelona]. This is the fourth consecutive season that something like this has happened. [Jose] Mourinho is right, just look at what happened with Arsenal, Chelsea and Inter," said Cristiano Ronaldo at the end of the game."

Barca always sways the Ref's calls in big games by their swarming tactic.

[phelan]

Lionel Messi and Jose Mourinho mask Barcelona shame - ESPN Soccernet

But if we can examine the match itself in isolation, and even taking into account that wonderful slaloming run and strike from Messi, strangely this felt like a match that saw Barcelona emerge with even less credit than Real, if searching for credit on such a night is only marginally less onerous than attempting to identify flashing moments of dignity in the career of Katie Price.

Oh my god...could it be? People are finally realizing that Barcelona, for all their tiki-taka footballing, are a team filled with arrogant, prissy little cunts???

I mean, god DAMN Victor Valdes reacted faster than he would saving a free kick! Straight out of goal and into the ref's face waving an imaginary red card. They ALL do it. And meanwhile Alves is squealing like a little girl on the pitch, gets stretchered off, then pops up AND COMES RIGHT BACK ON. Where have I seen THAT before?

Same old Barca, always cheating. Hell, even El Capitan (Cesc Fabregas) does it. Oh wait...he wants to go back to Barca.

God help me, Adebayor actually said something that makes sense:

"Whenever you play against Barca, whenever you touch them they are on the floor crying like a baby," he said. "Everyone talks about Barcelona and their fair play but I think they are very far away from fair play. Whenever you make contact when going for a one-on-one or 50-50 ball they are on the floor crying, putting their hand up near their face. Their manager, fans and the players on the bench are always crying. Barcelona is a fantastic club, has fantastic players, but they have to stop that."

BAH!

Oh, and Arsene? Shut up AND FOCUS ON FIXING YOUR OWN TEAM. Wenger rejects conspiracy theories

[Jon@AAMComp]

After having time to digest and analyze yesterday's tie, I have to agree with the points stated here. I'm not overlooking the fact that players on Real's side did a little bit of diving themselves, but the overreacting of Pedro, Sergio Busquetes and Dani Alves was a disgrace to the game. There was an instance in the first half where Pedro was looking to make a run down the flank and on the replay, clearly changes direction to intentionally run into Arbeloa, then fell to the turf clutching his face; with Pep Guardiola throwing his arms up and Mourinho looking on in disgust. Busquetes attacking Marcelo from behind and going down clutching his face when the Real Mardid player used his arms to shield Sergio on his CHEST. And of course the challenge on Dani Alves which caused Pepe to be sent off. If memory serves right, Pepe did not have any cautions before making this challenge. A straight red with no cautions would have to be one of two things: a player intentionally trying to physically hurt another, or the last man fouling a player during a goal scoring opportunity, its that simple. And to be fair to both teams, Angel Di Maria and Pepe took a dramatic dives themselves, but in these cases, their entire team didn't crowd the official asking for the player to go into the book.

I have no doubt the protest from the players influenced the official to go straight to his pocket and have sent Pepe off, which some whisper was done only to bring the numbers level, as a Barca player was sent off just after halftime. All in all the game turned into a very ugly display of poor sportsmanship from both sides, ruining a potentially great matchup.

I agree with Mourinho here:

"One day," Mourinho said, pointedly using the Barcelona coach's full name, "I would like Josep Guardiola to win this competition properly."

"Why Ovrebo [two] years ago [when the Norwegian referee did not give Chelsea a series of penalties against Barcelona]? Why couldn't Chelsea go to the final? Last year it was a miracle that Inter got there playing with 10 men for so long. A miracle. Why weren't there four penalties against Chelsea [in 2009]? Why send off [Arsenal's Robin] Van Persie [in the last 16]? Where does their power come from?

"It could have been 0-0 tonight, but then suddenly we are down to 10 men and they have a free path to find solutions that they could not find before then: we could have played for three hours and they would not have scored. But today we have seen that it is not difficult – it is impossible."

José Mourinho rages at 'plot' to put Barcelona in the final | Football | The Guardian

The Chelsea game left a bitter taste in my mouth for UEFA officials. I can remember at least 2 solid instances during that game where there were clear penalty kicks, but they weren't called. Van Persie given a straight red for kicking a ball? What is this madness?

Regardless of if you love or hate United, you can respect the fact that for the most part, Sir Alex will not tolerate none of the nonsense of diving and flailing around looking for a free kick. He used to tell Ronaldo when he was at United, as long as you have this shirt on, there will be none of that. I can respect that about him.

If I was a Real Madrid player, I would go to the Camp Nou with such a fire in my belly I would hardly be able to contain myself. Looking at elimination even if Barca draw means you have nothing to lose. I would press high up the field and attack them right out of the gate. No zonal marking, put a man on a man and pressure them every time they touch the ball. I wouldn't let them sit back and play keep away with 1,000 passes, lull you to sleep then hit you with that killer final ball. Test the resolve of their defense straight away. Inter did that last year, and they carved out a result. For all Barcelona's accolades, defensively, they are not that strong. Their strength is in their ability to dictate the game. I think should they advance to the final with United, Sir Alex will do this with Rooney, Hernandez and Nani.

I wish I could be a Barcelona supporter. They have it pretty easy.

[phelan]

^ well put jon.

in unrelated news: VVV Venlo go ga-ga for toy-box prodigy, 10-year deal for toddler - ESPN Soccernet

bwaaahahahahahahahaha!!!!

[cow]

I just finished watching the match (still on the road). I thought it was a red card. Alves was a coniving cnut (shocking!), but the challenge was reckless.

YouTube - Dani Alves dive against Real Madrid 2011

[Red370]

Thoroughly enjoyed the match yesterday. We came out scorching hot, almost carving out a chance in the first 30 seconds of the match. ManUre looked defeated from the get go, the Schalke game apparently zapped every ounce of energy they had.

A few things I took from the match:

Koscielny's game has grown 10 fold. He was strong in the tackle, stuck to his man like glue, stayed with runs, got forward on a few occasions, hes going to be a force in the years to come. I'm wondering if he could slide to the right to make room for Verms.

Where the fvck did Ramsey come from? From last week to this one, something happened, he had a statement to make and with Fab on the bench, he certainly did just that. Very solid in possession, didnt give the ball away, passes were spot on and a very well taken goal, the kid made me proud today.

Wenger made a statement of his own today, that we can beat a top club without Fab in in the lineup. It seems hes already preparing to ship him out, if Ramsey can stay healthy and if we can buy cover, I feel comfortable with him going and with the amount of money he'll bring to the club for signings. One thing was missing though, the cheeky passes that Fab always seems to get just right, the creativity wasnt quite what it is when Fab is on the pitch. But I digress, i've resolved to see him go, it'll be better for the squad I think, w/o all the tapping up and rumors and comments in the papers/news.

Lastly, Sczes is our keeper for the future. His positioning yesterday was perfect, he ran out a few times, but when he realized he underestimated the balls, he tracked back and got back on his line, a good showing really. He also seems really vocal at the back, I always see him shouting instructions, always great to see from a keeper.

[Red370]

BTW, its bullshyt that FIFA isnt investigating the Vidic BLATANT handling in the box, easily should have been a penalty and a sending off.

[phelan]

1. I've liked Kos since he joined us. Lots of hatred for buying a kid who was in Ligue 2 only two years ago, but he has the ability to get the insanely tough tackles timed right. Problem is, he needs to work on his defensive position so he doesn't need to rely on his tackling. Kos just gets a lot of shtick for B'ham CC lulz

2. Where'd he come from? He never left bro Ramsey and Wilshere are the new tag team. Did you see the cheeky pass he put over the top to Wilshere (who then uncharacteristically bobbled his first touch)? There's a bit of Fab left in Ramsey. No homo.

3. I really, really hate to start thinking of the squad without Fabregas, I still think there's a chance he'll stay and try one more time, especially after us shelling ManU after five tries and getting the elusive 1-0 win we've been clamoring for (win any way we can, one-nil to the Arsenal style will suit us just fine if we have to). Ramsey can be a spark plug, but I think if we over-rely on him he'll burn out just like Wilshere sort of has. Kid's tired. Ramsey / Fabregas tandem would be killer.

4. Duh. Tuesday Club seems to have it in for him though, they want an experienced GK like Reina, and Szczesny pushing for the position as a reserve GK. Not sure if I agree with that.

5. Absolutely. Vidic hid it well though, didn't he? Only RvP saw it and was like "WTF!!!" but nobody else reacted. It happened fast, but the assistant HAS to see something like that.

6. Jon@AAMComp: You're welcome.

7. Eggh...the home shirt really is kinda blah. Also, I find it amusing that Cesc, Clichy, and Arshavin, the three players who might leave, are in the official press release photos. Hmph, where's Jack, Theo, and Robin??

8. Anybody see at halftime Eboue did...well...what Eboue does, and tried to give Jack a hug? Jack had a total "gtfo" face and pushed his arm aside. The kid's a battler, nice to see he's all business until the full 90 is up.

[Jon@AAMComp]

Originally Posted by phelan

6. Jon@AAMComp: You're welcome.

Cheers for that. 3 points off the pace, heading to Old Trafford Sunday to close the gap. Well, try to close the gap. Goal diff is identical, so should we win the game and not concede, we'd be top of the table on goal difference. What an end to the season this is going to be.

Faylun come at me br0. Meet DEFENSE

Team: F.C. Barcelona Inter
Name: bERnArD1Nh0 r8edr03
Ranking Points Summary:
Performance Points: 3 23
Team Star Rating: -3 5
Final Result Points: 1181 1446
Current Skill Level: 11 13
Rank Points to Next Level: 19 154
Match Stats:
Score: 0 4
Total Shots: 3 7
Shots on Goal: 2 6
Possession: 45% 55%
Passing Accuracy: 80% 80%
Tackle: 28% 75%
Cards: 1 0
Fouls: 2 0
Corners: 2 1

Team: Chelsea Inter
Name: MANNYHR r8edr03
Ranking Points Summary:
Performance Points: 7 24
Team Star Rating: 0 0
Final Result Points: 1156 1317
Current Skill Level: 11 12
Rank Points to Next Level: 44 83
Match Stats:
Score: 1 2
Total Shots: 3 7
Shots on Goal: 3 4
Possession: 44% 56%
Passing Accuracy: 71% 80%
Tackle: 53% 61%
Cards: 2 0
Fouls: 2 2
Corners: 1 2

Team: Inter Milan
Name: r8edr03 JDUB1123
Ranking Points Summary:
Performance Points: 36 6
Team Star Rating: 0 0
Final Result Points: 1260 1221
Current Skill Level: 11 11
Rank Points to Next Level: 40 79
Match Stats:
Score: 2 0
Total Shots: 7 4
Shots on Goal: 4 2
Possession: 64% 36%
Passing Accuracy: 80% 78%
Tackle: 84% 47%
Cards: 0 0
Fouls: 2 1
Corners: 1 1
Thanks for playing FIFA Soccer 11 and good luck in your next match!
Manage your club online here.

[cow]

You go girl.

This sucks. I don't want another Barca/Man U final