Apr 25
A disgruntled fan’s views on the Barca game
Being a Manchester United fan comes with some responsibility: you just have to taunt every single Liverpool fan you come across and if you attend games, make the atmosphere incendiary – it would really help players. In return, you are the fan of a club who has a divine right to domestic success and your team plays some of the nicest football out there. Or not.
There was huge anticipation ahead of the Barcelona – Man Utd game in the Champions League semi-final. Many bloggers or journalists or drunk ‘experts’ (call them what you will) made everyone believe that this would be the game of the season. In all fairness, the game wasn’t all bad. Messi was outstanding, Xavi and Iniesta had some blinding moments and even Thierry Henry looked on form. The only problem is that these were all Barcelona players.
It was a bit exciting to watch Barcelona play like they used to when Ronaldinho was in his prime, but what was less than exciting was the way Manchester United played for the nil-nil draw. With that I am not happy. In fact, I would have been happier had United lost but had a go at Barcelona than play the way they played. You can argue all you like, but that is the way I feel.
The issue that I am raising here has been debated for ages. Would you rather have your team play well and with not-so-good results, or would it be better if they defended like Italians? Normally a team like Chelsea can afford to defend since it has some the best defensive midfielders in the world and a mind-boggling back four while they lack attacking versatility. Manchester United — on the other hand — is mostly top-heavy and they should be able to take on just about everyone.
Last year’s semi-final was much worse than this from our point of view. The team had run out of energy by that stage of the season and they were steam-rolled by a very well rested Milan team. When we left the competition last year, our heads were not held high. We had been outclassed. If we lose this year, we will be able to say that it was a dog-fight which might have gone either way.
We would have gained the respect of our Catalan opponents by trying to hold them off. Had we challenged them and lost, everything would have gone out the window. No praise from the fans and even less from everybody else.
Fans have to remember that football is entertainment first and foremost. If your team wins something, you win nothing, but if your team plays football the way it was meant to be played, the way you try to play on the playground with your friends, you are entertained. Right now football is held hostage by some greedy fuckers who want to get as much money out of the game as possible and are willing to sacrifice everything to get there.
As much as I hate to admit it, I was hoping for a late Barcelona goal at the Nou Camp on Wednesday simply because I thought they had outplayed us and outclassed us and because Rijkaard had done away with everything Ferguson had ever built, in my eyes. I will always be a Manchester United fan but that performance was something which I hated and which I never want to see again!
Hopefully Ferguson can make it up to us next week.
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- Porto it is then…
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Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (541)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Stephen (454)
Craig Mc (344)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
i agree to the above. i also hated “our” game. but i can not deceide whether it was “clever” or just plain inability to confront big teams….
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Fergie’s first responsibility is the club, and the club’s first responsibility is to win trophies. Everything else comes afterwards.
Ideally you’d win by playing pretty, and considering how United have played all season, I think they’ve done more than enough to ward off the comparisons with Chelsea.
This whole ‘we would rather play beautiful and lose’ smacks of an Arsenal-like obsession with being the best looking team in the world. Truth is – when we’re good enough, we won’t need to defend. We’re NOT the best in terms of talent (shock! horror!) and at least in midfield and up front not ahead of Barcelona (leaving current form aside for a moment).
Perhaps starting with Anderson would have made a difference, but i think Fergie kept him back for the next 2 games and those are equally vital as well. Other than that, we lack a target man up front and we needed Hargo at right-back because there was no one else fit and experienced to take that role (no O’Shea if you noticed – Fergie took this quite seriously).
United played the game according to circumstances. In an ideal situation this team would have attacked more – then again, if it was ideal for Barca they’d have everyone fit and raring to go as well and we’d have had to face a fit Ronny instead of Henry
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You would rather us loose than play like that??!!
Comments like that are disgraceful, United are all about winning games of football. Yes I agree the performance was poor and the tactics were negative, but saying things like that make you sound like Arsenal, “we don’t mind loosing but we play great football”, rubbish.
We will play better at OT and hopefully go thru but if we go thru and play like that I will equally be happy.
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I’m sorry, but you can’t be a “real” fan if you actually wanted Barcelona to score at any point during the game!!!
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I witnessed two many heroic defeats to be grateful if we go through with a dogged but unspectacular performance.
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I must say you make a lot of sense. Winning is all that matters today. Which is not good for the game.
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I can sympathise with your views as my initial reaction was the same as yours.
We are Manchester United. We die for our cause. We attack and we slay!
But what I think is important here is that we didn’t lose. I don’t care who you are. A true red would never want United to concede any goals at all!
We can either have 2 extremes. Including an ultra efficient Chelsea team or beautiful flowing Arsenal.
In Barcelona we played like Chelsea. I am upset we didn’t keep the ball better and yes we aren’t the best in Europe but we should have made a good account of ourselves!
We yet again offered the opposition too much respect and let them play us. They have grown in confidence and I am very wary of the game at Old Trafford as I don’t believe Barcelona will defend like United did. They will be hunting for the away goal.
I am angry, upset, and frustrated. But if ya can’t win then don’t lose.
Ronaldo learnt something in Barcelona. Don’t believe your own hype. He looked a determined figure at the post match interview.
So don’t despair. Fergie has taken us this far. Let him take us a few steps further.
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I find it sad when people agree with someone saying ” I was hoping for a late Barelona goal, becauase they deserved it”
If we were outplayed by the dippers in the final, if we get there would you think the same?
We should just care about us, not the so called beautiful game. all I care about is whats in the cabinate at the end of the season.
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There was a time when someone from real madrid said we dont buy destroyers “read Defenders” and we will keep buying big name playmakers and attackers etc and i thought there will be days when even if u put 11 forwards on the pitch and u cant win coz if its not your day its not as simple as that
But anyways i understand ur mentality of losing with pride and playing beautifully but seriously if we have to play like shit and get results of 1-0 and nick the trophy i’m up for it its about time we start dominating europe and fucking throw the dippers off the u know what
Its the “Name of the trophy”(something i have heard of a lot when watching 99 final highlights) is what i want and if we play like a diff team in europe to get so be it
We are creatively too good at the premeirship and if this arsenal type arrogance is what you have we’ll be left saying like wenger that trophys will come .
I want us to dominate europe and thats it shady tactics or negative play call it whatever u want
UTD vs Looserfools at moscow and we kill them is all i want
and yeah chealsea’s home dominance needs to be broken tomorrow too so beaing a bit greedy here
i have a lil blind faith in fergie and his tactics i’ll admit that coz i’m not that good at understanding startegies as a many of the members here as a reason i dont post much but spend hours just reading the comments on the preview pages after the games
but yes it was acknowledge by fergie as well that maybe too many players were not playing where they were suppossed to but i guess we went there with a reason to keep a clean sheet and we achieved it and yes it was painfull to see us losing posseion like that but the end result is we win at Ot and we go to the final and thats something i would have taken without skipping a hearbeat at the start of the season so my dear friend Andrei look at the bigger picture here and leave this crazy attitude of rather losing than winning with flair as u always lose gold u never win silver
cheers
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I think SAF hates playing that way too…I think this is the year he finally worked out how his team should play in Europe (three in the middle) but…he doesn’t quite have the right squad to pull it off convincingly yet
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I can understand being disappointed in our failure to attack but to wish for a Barcelona goal? How could you? Having missed out on the chance to take a 1-0 lead out of Camp Nou is bad enough for the team to deal with; conceding a late goal would have crushed them. With the Chelsea match coming up, I’d rather not have the team spirit in tatters, thank you very much.
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well for the first time ever i was so disaapointed with the fucking attitude and idea of this blog writer, how can u fucking wish that we conceed a goal at the last minutes even though we have been outpayed, what difference wil it make to u that we never qualify for the final in moscow, well if u think u dont have anything to do then maybe u stop writing on this blog and just forget u have a job to do by posting rubbish comment
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I have yet again read Ronaldo pimping himself in Spain saying one day he would like to play in Spain.
This is not the behaviour of a Man Utd player and he needs to put a sock in it.
Fergie have a word. Cos he needs to get his priorities right.
Ronaldo tried to be clever against Barcelona and crumbled under the pressure. Now before you all get upset.
What happened to his bob and weave on his run up? What happenened to puttin his laces through the ball? He bottled it and tried to be clever on the biggest stage of them all.
Why is he striking free kicks from 40 yards? He should be crossing the ball in from that range and creating chances. He is a factor in why we didn’t keep the pressure off the defence by doing this.
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citizens, RR didn’t write this…
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When I saw the lineup, I was thrilled to see Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez in the starting 11. The intention there was definitely not to play defensively. The idea was to get an away goal on the counter attack. Credit to the Barca midfield for pushing us back throughout. We looked defensive because we were over cautitious. The formation was similar to the one that was fielded against Roma away. Even then, the focus was not to let them score and wait for the counter attack. Rooney and Park kept tracking back in the Roma game too. Fergie was only hoping for a repeat. That unfortunately, did not happen.
It will be cruel to lose playing attacking football after coming so close to the trophy. It makes great sense to play defensively away from home and wait for the onslaught at OT. Atleast, against quality oppositions. We are just a match away from the final where we can play all-out attacking football and thrash the dippers. Playing a few matches defensively is definitely Ok with me if it is to become the Champions of Europe.
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Err – if Andrei feels in his opinion Barcelona deserved a goal the way they played, SO WHAT??? He is entitled to state his opinion without all the flak. If United had played like Barca did and not scored, we would be saying they deserved a goal for their great play on the night. I think that is all that Andrei meant. I am sure as a true red fan, he said that tongue in cheek, and is glad they didn’t score against us really.
Steve – All you care about is silverware in the cabinet at the end of the season, me TOO. But would you feel that way if United dished up that style of football every week?. Because I can assure you, our ground would be half empty if they did!!!. I want trophies as much as you, but our play in Barcelona took the term winning UGLY to an entirely new level. If we don’t turn this around on Tuesday, (which I hope we do by the way,) then we will have made ourselves the fools of Europe for producing nothing worth a shout in the first leg. I hate the way we have been crowing all season about how Chelsea and L’fool are boring, and then we embarass ourselves on the world stage with a performance like that.
Well, the next two games will make or break our season, and I hope with every fibre of my united mad being, that they go in our favour. Come on you Reds.
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They will beat Barca at Old Trafford 2-1 and all will be well again in the RED WORLD. SAF is playing a 180 minute game NOT two 90′s. Keep that in mind.
Plus he has 2 BIG games in 4 days. He has to manage this as well.
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Hey guys. I think you should back from the writer. I ma sure in his heart he really didn’t wnat us to conside. He is just more frustrated then most of us and he chose the wrong way to say it. It’s just many of us will feel like we were betrayedn shit need to go to class now, but I will post more
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We drew 0-0 and now all we need to do is win at Old Trafford. I fancy our chances. Home advantage still counts for a lot. AC Milan beat us in the semis even though they LOST the first leg. I agree our tactics were negative and defensive but how many times have we got destroyed away from home in the past in the Champions League? Way too many times!
We can out-attack most teams in Europe but not Barcelona. Therefore it makes sense to play more defensively so we are not exposed on the counter attack which would have happened if we had gone with our usual approach of throwing everything at the opposition on the attack. Instead we soaked up pressure and rarely looked in any real danger.
On the return leg I think the difference will be Rooney. If we have him up top supporting Ronaldo our attacks will be more effective. Tevez was abysmal.
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I dont care about the style,however we do play In style in the premiership but in Europe its a different ball
game.However We did not play as expected Apart from the brilliant Defending of our defenders\
all the others went missing Cmon u GUYS AC milan 0-0 Arsenal!!Does it ring a BElll!!!Hmm seems like
United have the advantage but guys i need to remind you we have lost so many times before whe we drew
Away to the opposition:JUst have a sneaky feeling we’ll lose coz after the chelsea game we will be exhausted
So i’m really sorry i thimk we will win the league but the UCL????????
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I totally agree with the post.How many believe that Porto and Greece deserved 2 win the CL and the European Borefest Championship respectively in 2004?We played 200% worse football and from henceforth we shouldn’t brag that we are an attacking team.Disgraceful “performance”.
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I hope those of you criticising Utd and praising Barca are aware that the roles will be completely reversed at OT.
It’s how latter stage Champions League matches are played. Home team barrages, away team defends like hell and hopes for a cheeky away goal. It’s been proven, as much as I hate to admit it, by Liverpool (and to an extent Chelsea) to be an effective tactic to reach the final. And as it’s been mentioned, when we get to Moscow, we will see the attacking football we all love to watch, whoever might be lining up in the other half of the pitch.
I must say that it’s sad that this is how two legged cup competitions like the Champions League are won these days, but I will be much happier at the end of this season, if we’ve won the PL and the CL, than I was last season with just the PL. We must look forward, this is 2008, not 1999. To win the CL we must do what needs must!
The main point to concentrate on here (and the one Fergie is concentrating on I am sure) is that the Utd defense is strong enough to go to Camp Nou and come away with a clean sheet. That is a very positive thing, do you think that the Barca defense can achieve this at OT? Now, at the Theatre of Dreams, we concentrate on tearing them a new one, the way they tried and failed to do to us. To the pessimists; you just wait and see.
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what planet are you on you wanted barcelona to get a late winner you are not a real united fan, barcelona had all the ball but did not have the legs to stretch united, real madrid 5 years ago outplayed us, why dont you spoiled brats get behind the boys stop grilling them, I was dissapointed with united but lets move on and lets hope in the next two games united put has massive smiles on our faces.
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Jay:I can guarantee u that the roles will not be reversed.Barca never compromise in much the same way as Arsenal and Real Madrid.Barca has been my 2nd team over 12 years and they are not called “more than a club”4 nothing.They never abandon their style no matter the occasion unlike us.We attack the likes of Fulham, Bolton,Toons etc but when push comes 2 shove we play 10-0-0. And since 1999 the following won or reached the final whilst playing attacking football:Real Madrid(twice),Barca,Arsenal.No Manchester United 4 all our clever football.We only got there playing our game.
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Hi all. I have read this board for a long time and never posted, but I feel obliged to now. I just don’t get the big deal about the Barca game. SAF has said, rightly in my opinion, that a team such as Utd. should have more European trophies. I presume that to resolve this he and his staff have tried to figure out why Utd. don’t do better in Europe.
Well, why don’t they do better in Europe? Because they typically get slaughtered away from home by good teams. How do you fix this? Play well enough away that you’re not behind after the away fixture and then win at home. What did Utd do? They went to the Camp Nou and drew one of the best teams in Europe (albeit a team that’s in the midst of a dodgy spell). So all that remains is to win at home, which should be expected of any great team, and progress to Moscow. Mission accomplished.
I do think however that Barca might have been there for the taking. If we had pressed at all we might have gotten more out of the game and if Ronny had scored things would have been different. But SAF’s European tactics are what they are. Just think, a draw instead of the mauling at the San Siro last year and Utd. would have gone through (I know, I know – the injuries).
Don’t get me wrong, I love beautiful football. I, for example, disagree with Grognard (and others) about the type of striker SAF should buy. Utd. need a Torres and not a Huntelaar (apologies Grognard from a fellow Canuck if all you’ve ever really meant is that we need some one more clinical than Rooney or Tevez). BUT if we need to trade that beatiful football ONLY for European away games to win the CL again (and more often), then so be it.
p.s. Sorry, I see that I few people have posted something similar while I was typing and thinking things through.
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In conclusion (and just before I go back 2 hiding from my Chelsea and Liverpool friends whom I’ve ridiculed 4 supporting drab teams),I’d like 2 say a few things.ManUtd and Brazil have sold themselves over the years 2 the arch-enemy of football-NEGATIVE TACTICS their once sworn enemies.Secondly,football is full hypocrites and ignorance.We scorn the likes of Arsenal 4 playing great and winning nothing and then brag about how we play the best footie but defend Saf 4 boring 300million fans around the world at the Spanish Theatre of Dreams to comatose levels.Arsenal are the sole unconditional proponent of beautiful game in the UK like it or not.It is an insult 2 Italian football 2 make comparisons with our away style.Italians actually counter-attack rather than survive 4 92min
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What we have here is a bunch of supporters that are spoilt rotten and who have have developed inside them an over inflated arrogance about what United represents and what kind of style they demand they play. Trust me, Fergie does not like having to play like that either. But what he has realized after 20 years of CL clashes is that there is a way to play at home and another way to play on the road, especially in the late stages of this very competitive and very prestigious tournament to highly skilled teams who are incredibly solid at home. We are talking about every European league’s champions or top 3 or four finishers in only a few of the top nation leagues. This means elite competition every round and the reality that you are probably playing a team that has an unblemished or almost unblemished home record. These teams never got to the big dance because they are used to clubs waltzing in to their park and handing them not only a loss but an attractive butt kicking.
A big dose of Reality elixir is needed here for the author as well as the posters that will not get off Fergie and United’s back. How many times Fergie stubbornly traveled to a continental city on a cool European night only to have United lose or have their asses handed to them by a home side that was offensively prepared and with the cheers and support of thousands in the stands? Too many by my count. Our record in Italy and Spain is terrible over the years. At some point you weigh your options and you have to stick your ego into your pocket and do what is best for the club. Getting a 1-0 or 0-0 win was what the doctor ordered. Set up shop in our own third and defend like hell to keep a very good team from scoring.
Why is it that we have so much praise for the defenders in major historical conflicts that were siege like in nature like Masada, Borodino Waterloo, the Alamo etc? Yet we feel that in football our warriors have to go on the road and get out from behind their fortifications and fight until they are destroyed by the other team that outnumbers them by at least 50,000 souls. Never take for granted the added adrenalin that flows in the body of a home team thanks to the energy, noise and atmosphere generated by the home supporters. Also, this is not Derby or Plymouth Argyle they are playing.
United’s performance on Wednesday night was heroic and a master class in defensive football under extremely hostile conditions. For all the pundits that say Barcelona showed up and played well. I say RUBBISH to that nonsense. They never got one fantastic crack at goal all night and they scored zero in the process. United played so well in their own end that this game should be used as a blueprint for all teams to copy any time they play in the Catalan capital again or if they are to visit Madrid, Milan, Munich etc. No it was not pretty but neither was Stalingrad, or the the Battle of the Bulge. Some times you just have to dig in fight or play against your nature in order to succeed. If history has taught us anything it is that the aggressor doesn’t always win against a well organized and fortified defense. Especially away from home.
Lets give credit to Fergie and the lads for a job well done and hope they can now turn it around a bit and show their supporters and the world that they are not Chelsea and that they are now on the offensive after a long winter siege. Sorry for the military analogies but what better way to bring home my point and make some of you realize that playing on the road against great teams is like facing an army that outnumbers you and that is hostile in it’s intent and has an advantage with terrain. Now it is for us to turn the tables on Barcelona and blitzkrieg them into submission. I would expect nothing less from Fergie and the boys. Lets see if Barca have the mental strength and talent to withstand a blitzkrieg United style. I have a feeling they don’t and that at the end of the day Manchester United will be booking their plane tickets for Moscow. 2-0 United.
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With all due respect mate, Fuck Off. Capital F, capital O. You are talking out of your ass.
Groggy my boy, I would go to hell and back seconding your comment. I would really like to see Zambrotta and his thugs take the pressure from a packed OT and defend when all could clearly see how Barca panicked everytime United got 3 men into their half and went into a by-hook-or-by-crook mode with regard to challenges.
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i suggest u change and support le arse. they always entertain.
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I second that, Crognard you are spot on.
When Liverpool in the 80′s were playing awful football and winning the league that was terrible, I think we have been spoilt over the years and some people are getting a little carried away.
I remember us in 94 trying to play free following football against Barca and loosing 4 nil.
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Watching the game on wednesday night gave me very mixed emotions coz there was positives and negatives to be taken from it, Ill start with the positives.
To start with we defended brilliantly and despite what the Barca players and supporters have been saying. apart from maybe 2 or 3 occasions they never looked like breaching us and it was the most comfortable that I have personally felt wathing us in a CL semi final.
Some of the Barca individual performances have been blew completely out of proportion considering the lack of penetration in their play.
Considering a semi final is 180 mins long and the remaining 90 is at our ground, a nil nil draw gives us at least a good fighting chance of qualifying for the moscow final.
Now for the negatives and unfortunately there are a few.
Listening to SAFs and some of our players interviews after it was clear that the intention was to keep the game tight defensively with the hope of being able to hit them on the counter attack when we could which is not negative away from home, its sensible tactics considering there is still 90 mins to play at OT. But the worrying thing for me was that if this was our game plan then SAF got the player selections and their starting positions completely wrong which is why our attack never got going all night long.
Ronaldo has scored a lot of goals this season, but he has scored them when he has started wide and has been allowed to drift in field at different points during the match, making him hard to tie down and giving us a flexability that opposing teams find hard to combat, why change it now and make him easier to mark by playing him up front were the defenders can keep a close eye on him, especially when you have a natural forward in Wayne Rooney playing in Ronaldos position, meaning your failing to utlise the attacking talents of both players. Play them in their natural positions and let them influence the game to the best of their abilties. Watching Rooney play on weds was like watching someone playing with shackles on and I for one felt sorry for the kid.
Also the selection of Park baffled me coz he offers very little on the counter attack and defensively he is ok, but no more than ok, Nani or Giggs would be more than a match for his defensive capabilities and 10 times more of a threat on the counter attack.
Barcelona played an extra man in midfield against us and pressed the ball quickly whenever our midfielders had it and this totally neutralized any momentum we sought to establish, to beat them on tues night we must do the same to them, not outside our own 18 yard box but closer to the half way line and then hopefully we can get a grip of the game and allow our creative players to do their thing. The inclusion of Anderson in the middle is simply a must for me coz he can dominate in there with his energy, speed and strength,[eg. The Emirates and Anfield]
To finish on a positive note, we definately have the players to hurt Barca who were less than impressive at the back on the few occasions that we attacked them and if we can get at their back four for sustained periods then I think we will win. So come Sir Aex, set the team up right and let them make history
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Touche, Grognard, touche…
I have had mixed feelings about the result. If Barcelona just score 1 at OT, then we have to score 2 and we just cant score 1 and sit back coz if they score 1 blah blah blahhhhh
Rooney at rightwing was a total absentee. I think it would have given the Barca defense more challenge if he had been playing more of a center forward role.
The defending obviously, was IMMENSE. Each and everyone in the 11 was a beast of a defender on Wednesday (well except Ronaldo probably, him playing center forward) and people forget that the game is not all about attack attack attack. Sometimes you need to get off ur high horse, play the “UGLY” game to win trophies. And 50 years later, thats what people will remember. WINNERS.
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well.all of us are disappointed but then it was part of fergie plan.just trust fergie.he knows what to do at old trafford..the game is a pass now..let us move on..we should focus our attention and discussion on the next 2 games that will make or break our season..
but just my 2 cents here..i was disappointed with united 2 days ago but now when i think about it again, i think we played well in term of defensive display..
i am sure the lads will improve their game at old trafford as right now they have the idea on how barca play..
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GROGS SIR
take a bow! what a reply! wooh!
I totally concur. It was really foolish of some people here to underestimate a team that has the likes of Messi, Etoo, Henry, Iniesta, Xavi and others. Fergie was spot on with his tactics of containing them and the team produced a great performance to his script. They had no decent chance on the goal despite all the possession and shots. That itself tells that while eye catching, they were wasteful and must be utterly disappointed that they couldnt score even on home turf and playing at their best! How much confidence would they carry in the theatre of dreams (or nightmares for some!!).
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Looking forward! That is what we have to do now. The first leg of the Barca game is gone, lets wait and see what will happen at Old Trafford. I think United will win. BUt now we need to look to tomorrow. Chelsea away, no team has won at Stamford Bridge in 4 years. If United win, they will be Champions. If they draw and win agaisnt West Ham, we are champions. If we lose, we still lead. I really do believe that United will win tomorrow. Since we have played a little worse than we can these last couple of weeks I think tomorrow will be the game that makes United hit top form! I believe that United will win 2-0 with Rooney and Ronaldo scoring. Will be a close game, and since this game can win the title for United I think they will give everything to win. Cant wait for tomorrow!
And Grognard- I couldnt agree more! You wrote what I have been thinking when people say that Barca outplayed us. Except for the military stuff, but still an amazing comment! Take a bow.
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If u call people idiots u will be quite rightly given the boot from this blog.However what merits the statement that I should support Arsenal a team I totally detest because I mentioned an undisputable fact.I also hate it when so called true fans stand on their pedestal and tell the rest of us the “spoilt bunch” how 2 support my team.We obviously support 4 different reasons.I want 2 be entertained and to win at the same time.Others want 2 be entertained sometimes and others want 2 win at all costs.It is not an obviously secure path 2 glory 2 play defensively Grognard.Both Barca and Arsenal reached the final as recently as 24 months ago playing their game.Before that Real did it twice and we also did the same in 99.So the argument of the more negative the tactics the higher the chances of success will remain a theory and should be applied by cowards like Mourinho and Benitez.
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What no one seem to have mention is how impossible it is to perform 100% with three tough games in a week esp at the end of the season. Wednesday performance was ugly, but got us the desired result. More importantly I though that the way we played was quite economical, hardly pressing them beyond our final third.
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Jaywire, you are entitled to your opinion and I also like to see the beautiful game being played by my team and most of the time they dont dissapoint, but I dont think its as simple as being entertaining OR defensive coz if your team can play both ways then surely they have a greater chance of success and if playing that way in the Nou Camp ultimately leads us to Moscow I for one wont be complaining
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And by the way please take off your ManUtd contact lenses when u want 2 make objective comments and analyses.When was the last time that a 0-0 away with the next game at home a good result.Its advantage Barca,because they can score once and go thru and they would have rested key players.The whole world is ridiculing us and all we do is support Saf unconditionally.No team has ever come 2 the Nou Camp and played as much rubbish bar United and Celtic.Not even Chelsea or Liverpool but I guess I should be supporting those two according 2 the “True Fans Society” since it is taboo 2 point out blatanly obvious negatives of United’s away games.
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Guys, you have to remember that Barcelona can’t possibly play much better than they did at Nou Camp, while SAF can present a totally different United at Old Trafford.
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Jaywire, if your comments are being directed at me please read my above post[no 31] were I did criticize SAFs team selection and how it affected our attacking play coz I dont believe he meant it to be as negative as it turned out, it just turned out that way because of the team he picked.
I agree that nil nil is not a brilliant result but its not a bad one and gives us more than a fighting chance of progressing
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Fred the Red-Its all very well 2 play a primarily defensive game and hope 2 get an away goal.It is considered by some 2 be smart.However,putting 11 behind the ball 95% of the game and generally showing zero intention 2 go forward is ridiculous and disgraceful.Even Italians don’t do that.Even they are ridiculing us after former AC Milan coach Sacchi has blasted us.Im not just implying entertainment,I’m also talking about common sense.Can anyone tell me if a team has ever come 2 OT in CL and played like we did or if u’ve ever seen such a negative “gameplan” by an away team besides Barca vs Celtic and Villareal vs Everton.In fact we were arguably worse than the 2 British teams
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Fred I was not referring 2 u but its just the timing of posting.I think i posted late and u posted earlier otherwise not at all referring to u
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grognard,
for once i agree with you.
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Jaywire, you are entitled to your opinion my freind and its not compulsory for you to agree with me but as I stated above I dont think it was SAFs intention to get 10 men behind the ball for 90 mins, it just turned out that way because of his questionable team selection.
You might argue that he had the chance to change it during the game, but we looked comfortable in the match so to change it then could have backfired and in a two legged tie is it not better to address the problem between the two matches when you have time to fix it properly. Im sympathetic to your position but sometimes things dont go according to plan and a decision to hold what you have is a sensible one.
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James f-Whilst Barca played well,it was because they were constanly being gifted with possession 4 unknown reasons.And they are masters of ball retention home or away.I know that having supported them 4 over 12 years behind United of course.They play very patiently and will crack open any defence home or away when on song
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Jaywire, I too have had to fend off the atacks of Liverpool and Chelsea fans for the way we played on wednesday, but there comes a point when you have to forget about it and move on, theres a match to be played on tuesday and as a 25 year United supporter who has seen us fall too many times at the last hurdle I hope you can forgive me for putting the result in front of the performance just this once.
Lets get to Moscow first, and if we can do it the beautiful way on tuesday night, even better
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Fred mate, u are right.Agree to disagree.Wish others could be more sensible though.As soon as u criticise Saf the Chief Justices of Manchester United FC pass ridiculous judgements and promptly sentence u to become an Arsenal fan.Anyway I’ll keep supporting my team even if they come up with such rubbish as they did on Wednesday.They are the only reason why i watch the extremelly overrated EPL with severely limited quality
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I believe the way tha match ended and the way we played wasnt intended to be like that, SAF wanted to defend and play the counter-attack ofcourse he made the mistake of playing Ronaldo and Rooney out of position but thats that and in my opinion we got the better result, we will win at OT I have a good feeling about that match.
And I cant believe any United fan would want us to concede a goal, thats just inexcusable. We play at least 40 games a season and more than 90% of them we play our very entertaining style that I can forgive them when they dont, I remember my uncle once tell me a true champion is the team that gets the result with or without being the better team I dont agree with him a 100% because thank god we play probably the most entertaining football in europe but if we occasinally need to play the way we played wednesday than its ok with me.
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Jaywire, Im not a Fergie basher for the sake of it coz I think he has been brilliant for United and if you supported United during our 26 year wait for the title then you will appreciate everthing he has done for the club and the style in which his teams have done it. But his one flaw as I see it is his failure to devise a system of play that utilizes our attacking players against the big teams in europe and it frustrates me even more this year coz we currently have a squad of players to match anybody.
Lets hope he does on tuesday night, where its a quality game with us coming out as victors
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