Man Utd vs. Barca (2nd leg)

Predhead

Xavi6 wrote: »

OH RLY?

I'll just direct you to this post I made at 22.08



Nice one on reading the thread though :rolleyes:

Sorry I don't have my entire life to spend on here like some.

Xavi6

Predhead wrote: »

Sorry I don't have my entire life to spend on here like some.

Well if you don't read the thread then how can you comment on it? If you do comment then there's a could chance you could be proved wrong.

Anyway, apology accepted.

Memnoch

PHB wrote: »

Ronaldo tonight:

14th minute: Made the run which led to Yaya Toure coming over to double mark him, Zambrotta ****ed up, Scholes had the space, bang.

20th minute: Got in behind the Barca defence, squared it back for Park only for him to miss narrowly wide

52nd minute: Put a great ball back into the box only for Nani to fluff the chance completely.

56th minute: Recieved the 1-2 with Tevez, playing him right back in for him to have a shot on goal

59th minute: Broke with Nani playing a one two which resulted in Nani getting a chance to shoot (and then blasting over shockingly)

Infact the only noteworthy United attack that didn't involve him was Parks ball into Nani, which if you watch carefully, you'd notice that Ronaldo was sitting in order to, and I know this is absolutely nuts, cover the space left by Evra.

Ronaldo didn't set the world alight. But in the first game Ronaldo should have had 3 penalties . In this game he played as the lone striker and he set up his teammates for at least one sitter and one decent chance, and was directly involved in the goal (albeit with a bit of luck) He didn't win the game on his own like he's done for us most of the season, but I'll take those performances against probably the 3rd best club in Europe every time

What was Mr. Alans phrase? The most effective player in the world right now?
Messi was gorgeous to watch, no doubt about it, but there was nothing to show for it bar one shot which was weak at VDS's goal.

It's funny how despite the clear evidence of the two legs Utd fan(atics) refuse to admit that Messi is the better player, which he clearly is on every level.

You're ignoring a few basic fundamentals in your analysis. Firstly that United's defence was godlike (and what won them the game), while Barca's defence was comical at times.

Secondly, As barca got more and more desperate to claw back the goal, it left more and more space for the United attackers to run into, while United always had plenty of men behind the ball.

Your end product talk is also total nonsense. Messi created lots of opportunities throughout the game, playing through balls and stretching united's defence to near breaking point. Unfortunately the rest of his team weren't as inspiritational and couldn't finish off the moves. And yes often the goal-scoring chances were intercepted by brilliant defending, but that is a far cry from "no end product."

Messi vs Ronaldo over the two legs?

Messi dribbled better.
His passing was superior and more insicive. He was able to creat space and find telling passes despite United's amazing and dogged defending.
He never dived once or threw a tantrum, just got on with playing the game as it should be played.
Gave 100% commitment for the entire time he was on the pitch for his team.
Was the most influential attacking player on the pitch in both games.

I don't expect you to concede on these points because your adoration for United and Ronaldo is akin to religion at this point.

But I would hope fans like you will stop harping on about his so called greatness, at least until he produces a messi-like show-stopping performance in a big match, which he YET AGAIN, failed to do.

Hobart

Fair play to Manu. A great job at defence won it for them, coupled with Barca's inability to create any solid chances. Again Manu were not at their free flowing best, but did the job that needed to be done, and you cannot argue with that.

The whole Ronaldo v Messi arguement is ridiculous tbh.

Pal

I am astonished that Man United spent so much money on Carrick.
He is clearly out of his depth at this level.
Barca should have exploited the left back position where Carrick seemed to be loitering all night.

I have reservations about Nani too. He is woeful.

gucci

Over the 2legs Uniteds sheer hard work paid off. Almost every man on the team worked themselves to the core (Tevez being a shining example for any player last night)
Barcelona never threatened enough the way their possession stats should show. United played deep for 2games, attacking on the break (more successfully last night) but Barca failed to push men centrally forward until last 10 mins. I thought Abbigal was shocking, his distribution very poor, and was disappointed by Decos overall contribution.

Man U are in the final now, and as a liverpool supporter the final has the potential to be one il be afraid to watch (Liverpool Vs Utd) or one i wont want to watch at all (Chelsea Vs Utd) :D:D


Does anyone know how much Tevez ran last night? I'm sure there is some way to get the info from the electronic tracking they do for tv, just cant find it on the uefa website.

Prufrock

Great win for United. Great defensive display. Should be a great final.

kerash

Barca

PHB wrote: »

Messi was fantastic, except he couldn't get anything from it. His final ball wasn't good enough. Dribbling alone doesn't make a player. His dribbling tonight was absolutely unreal, like outstanding, but his final ball wasn't anywhere near good enough. That said, he's still coming back from injury so it's unfair to judge him on tonight, but it's stupid to draw conclusions from it.

Ronaldo did a job for us tonight. He played up front on his own. How would messi have done up front on his own I'm not sure, but we never actually saw that.

Ronaldo never actually got to play in his favoured right wing position tonight, instead he did a job for the team, and played up front on his own! He chased down defenders (not as much as Tevez but enough to defend from the front) broke behind the defence a couple of times, and as I said already, the fact that he was double marked led to our goal.

Messi put in a great performance with no end product. Ronaldo put in a professional performance which was part of a team effort. Which team won?
Messi was probably the better player over the two legs in terms of general play, but in terms of end product Ronaldo had him. Is that surprising? Nope.

Also the idea that Ronaldo is a prick is just silly. He may be an arrogant ****er, and may moan and dive on the pitch, but off the pitch he has always seemed to be incredibly nice, considered towards fans, and an all round nice guy. He's just the give people love to hate. Sure for the last 2 years, every single away game the entire stadium have boo'd him

Messis' final ball wasnt good, neither was Ronaldos.

Ronaldo played up front on his own, because he wont work for the ball like Tevez or Rooney will.

Ronaldo put in a typical Ronaldo performance, self-serving. To say he put in a 'team' performance, I'll call it fanatical ignorance. All you have to do is compare his work-rate to Tevez. Tevez helped the team Ronnie did little chasing down and gave up on balls he should have fought for/chased. Thats my major problem with him, if its not into him 99% of the time he wont work for the ball.

I'm not a Ronaldo hater or anything, in fact i'd love to see him complete his game by doing the above mentioned, then he would truly be a great player, however he lets himself down. and for a player with such skill and potential, can be very frustrating to watch.

Mitch Connor

kerash wrote: »

Messis' final ball wasnt good, neither was Ronaldos.

Ronaldo played up front on his own, because he wont work for the ball like Tevez or Rooney will.

Ronaldo put in a typical Ronaldo performance, self-serving. To say he put in a 'team' performance, I'll call it fanatical ignorance. All you have to do is compare his work-rate to Tevez. Tevez helped the team Ronnie did little chasing down and gave up on balls he should have fought for/chased. Thats my major problem with him, if its not into him 99% of the time he wont work for the ball.

I'm not a Ronaldo hater or anything, in fact i'd love to see him complete his game by doing the above mentioned, then he would truly be a great player, however he lets himself down. and for a player with such skill and potential, can be very frustrating to watch.

Yeah, that would have been great - i'd have love to see the leading striker back defending all the time - would have provided a great out ball. Ronnie does what he is best at and asked to do. He doesn't track back like Ronney or Tevez - they do not score like him. Different jobs for different players.

Gillie

Ronaldo aside, Park, Scholes, Tevez, Brown, Evra and Hargreaves were brilliant last nite.

Utd deserved it overall. Well done.

Boggles

Asking why a loan striker is not tracking back is just as stupid as saying why isn't your goal keeper getting forward more.

The level of stupidy directed at Ronaldo is unbelievable. There were alot more players in the game then him and Messi, why not debate some of the players that actually contributed something significant.

"Well Messi went passed players" - Big Fúck, I'd suggest Evra went past more players over the 2 legs, discuss him, discuss Tevez, Puyol, Deco, Iniesta, Scholes, Brown.

kerash

Barca

Tauren wrote: »

Yeah, that would have been great - i'd have love to see the leading striker back defending all the time - would have provided a great out ball. Ronnie does what he is best at and asked to do. He doesn't track back like Ronney or Tevez - they do not score like him. Different jobs for different players.

I didnt say he should defend:rolleyes: a player of his class should be able to make more for himself. I compare him to Tevez up front, not defending. A class player should be well able, he'll only do a bit of work when he feels like it and not when it needs to be done.

He'll give up on a lesser quality ball half the time rather than try to make something out of it. He wont track back because he wants everything in to him, thats no good in a game that requires United to dig in and do some work..Some ppl have rose-tinted glasses when it comes to ronnie....

kerash

Barca

Boggles wrote: »

Asking why a loan striker is not tracking back is just as stupid as saying why isn't your goal keeper getting forward more.

The level of stupidy directed at Ronaldo is unbelievable. There were alot more players in the game then him and Messi, why not debate some of the players that actually contributed something significant.

"Well Messi went passed players" - Big Fúck, I'd suggest Evra went past more players over the 2 legs, discuss him, discuss Tevez, Puyol, Deco, Iniesta, Scholes, Brown.

Askin him to run a yard isnt much....:rolleyes:

I was commenting on Ronaldo as a player.

I though Evra did very well, although I wouldnt usuall think a lot of him.

Boggles

kerash wrote: »

Askin him to run a yard isnt much....:rolleyes:

I was commenting on Ronaldo as a player.

I though Evra did very well, although I wouldnt usuall think a lot of him.

So Evra did "well" and you donate half a sentance to him, why not expand a bit on the players that did play and contribute instead of jealously wánking over Ronaldo and his short comings page after page.

It got tired along time ago.

Mitch Connor

kerash wrote: »

I didnt say he should defend:rolleyes: a player of his class should be able to make more for himself. I compare him to Tevez up front, not defending. A class player should be well able, he'll only do a bit of work when he feels like it and not when it needs to be done.

He'll give up on a lesser quality ball half the time rather than try to make something out of it. He wont track back because he wants everything in to him, thats no good in a game that requires United to dig in and do some work..Some ppl have rose-tinted glasses when it comes to ronnie....

Messi is the player that should have tracked Scholes for the goal - must be a terrible player. Ronaldinho must always have been poor too - never did much tracking back either. Ronaldo worked very hard last night.

_blank_

Lads.

It's really, really simple.

Do you think that if Alex Ferguson, even for a second, thought that Ronaldo was a lazy shíte, who doesn't track back, that he wouldn't fire him out of Old Trafford in the blink of an eye?

Alex Ferguson TELLS Ronaldo to play like he does.

Of course he does.

So, at the end of the day, everyone whinging about the lad, about his non-defensiveness, are talking out of their holes.

kerash

Barca

Boggles wrote: »

So Evra did "well" and you donate half a sentance to him, why not expand a bit on the players that did play and contribute instead of jealously wánking over Ronaldo and his short comings page after page.

It got tired along time ago.

Go back a few pages i commented last night after the game....theres no point repeatin myself.

I was picking up on a comment i read there now. I didnt go into Evras performance because I dont expect as much from him as ronnie. I do hope for class performances from him, I like to watch him play, i'm a neutral by the way. I know he can be fantastic, but I thought he could have done things better last night.

I donno what you mean re;jealously w*nking over ronnie. sorry for having an opinion.

EDIT: I never, said Ronaldo should defend ffs.

Also George Best the best attacker Man U ever had, if he lost the ball when ever he was attacking he'd make dam sure he'd retrieve the ball but Ronnie last night would just watch the defender run away with it. and saying that Best wasnt infalable either because he could be greedy, he found it hard to pass the ball sometimes. Every player has his flaws and attributes I was just pointing out some of Ronaldos to counter and argument.

Mr Alan

For the benefit of the tape-i wouldnt criticise Ronaldo for not tracking back last night.

Messi was the outstanding player over two legs. Something I would imagine pisses Ronaldo off no end.

Funny everyone praising Evra for last night, i actually thought, defensively he was caught out a few times and was a little reckless going forward as much as he did.

Fair play to Utd getting to the final, interesting to see if Ferguson maintains his European approach for it.

Boggles

kerash wrote: »

Go back a few pages i commented last night after the game....theres no point repeatin myself.

I was picking up on a comment i read there now. I didnt go into Evras performance because I dont expect as much from him as ronnie. I do hope for class performances from him, I like to watch him play, i'm a neutral by the way. I know he can be fantastic, but I thought he could have done things better last night.

I donno what you mean re;jealously w*nking over ronnie. sorry for having an opinion.

EDIT: I never, said Ronaldo should defend ffs.

Was that the post you Called "Ronaldo a Lazy Git"?

Boggles

Mr Alan wrote: »

Messi was the outstanding player over two legs. Something I would imagine pisses Ronaldo off no end.

Yeah poor Ronaldo, he will just have to console himself with a Champions League final. I feel for him. :rolleyes:

kerash

Barca

Boggles wrote: »

Was that the post you Called "Ronaldo a Lazy Git"?

I presume you play football, what would you call an attacker who stood back and watched a defender walk out with the ball into midfield if you were playing mid field.

yes i thought ronnie was a lazy git, at times, I dont expect him just to score goals, he gets paid for more than that. Theres 11 players on the team.

If united hadnt a good keeper and good backline ronnies goals wouldnt be worth a Sh!t to them.

Scholes showed his class last nite but he is not without his flaws either, before the goal, i was commenting that maybe he's getting too old, not able for the younger players resorting to fouling.

I though Rio was class in the two legs. A MOTM contender.

I'm not trying to get at individuals on this forum or united fans, I just gave my opinion on one player who was being mentioned a lot.

astrofool

Do people sign up to boards, make the pre-requisite number of posts to get access to soccer, JUST to post or participate in a Ronaldo thread, and post the same thing over and over and over and over..........

_blank_

kerash wrote: »

I presume you play football, what would you call an attacker who stood back and watched a defender walk out with the ball into midfield if you were playing mid field.

Like his manager told him to.

kerash wrote: »

yes i thought ronnie was a lazy git, at times, I dont expect him just to score goals, he gets paid for more than that. Theres 11 players on the team.

He gets paid to do what the manager tells him to.

Not what you, me, other fans, Eammon Dunphy or any other clown who wants to have a go at him "expects" him to do.

He's a high profile player at a high profile team. Do you still think that if he was taking the piss and not doing the explicit job that his manager gave him to do, then he wouldn't be dropped?

Seriously?

Do you not think that Ferguson has told him not to worry about defending? So he does exactly this?

redspider

(I didnt read all of this thread, maybe just as well, I just glanced at a few ....)

A good result for Man Utd last night that gets them to the much coveted CL final which Ferguson has been seeking for 9 years now. The differences between the defences was the key for me, not only in their defensive skills but also going forward - compare the left backs Evra with Abidal for example. Abidal had a very poor touch, but Evra got himself very far advanced a lot and played like a forward/winger whenever he got the chance to push on.

Barcelona have some outstanding individuals, but as a team, they have a few weaknesses which is costly. Even saying that, the match was mainly Barcelona, although goals always 'change' games and it probably would have been different if Man Utd hadnt scored when they did. ie: we may have seen more of Man Utd's attack and less of Barcelona's.

The Man Utd goal came out of nothing, Zambrotta did everything right but made the cardinal sin of passing the ball into the middle of the park aimlessly when he had a safe pass to his left and to the right back position. Thus Scholes found himself with a gift in acres of space in the middle and let fly from 27 yards or so and it flew into the right corner. Valdes may have done better, as he waited to jump for a split second, but it still would have gone in in my opinion (did anyone measure the speed on it?). It was also close to being blocked by the defender, millimetres from hitting his back.

There's a fine line between success and failure in football. That was Scholes only attempt at goal on the night, so it wasnt as if he or Man Utd were peppering their goal. The attempts at goal barometer on the night read Barcelona 13 to Man Utds lowly 6. The goal also came as a gift rather than a well-worked move. For those expecting a Man Utd feast of attacking football, this wasnt it. Man Utd won 'ugly' to a certain extent, as many teams have to do, such as Chelsea and Liverpool have in the past. Valdes only made one other save on the night, Man Utd had just two attempts on target.

As for the 'Itchy and Scratchy' show, Eamo, Liamo, Gilesy and Souness - Dunphy as usual tried to make it controversial. Both himself and Brady were both right in their own way. Barcelona is having an internal crisis this season and they are badly affected by it. Such as Ronaldinho refusing to play and wanting to leave, and earlier in the season the players not passing to Henry, Henry not being picked, Rijkaard on notice, etc - ie: big trouble in the camp. For all that they were close to getting the away goal and going through. Deco had a shot from 20 yards (closer than Scholes) which just went inches wide with VD Sar beaten and he had another that went close. Messi nearly unlocked things a few times. And Krkic if smarter could have been in on goal as well.

Messi was mesmirising. I found it ironic that afterwards when Giles and Dumb-phy were eulogising about their "love-child" Scholes (they do go overboard), that Messi had left him for dead as if he wasnt there. Meanwhile over on Setanta Pat Dolan was highlighting the number of bad tackles that Scholes made. People need to draw their own conclusions. Dunphy would have us believe that players are either brilliant (Scholes) or very very poor, as in Park and Carrick. In reality, they are in between, with good moments and bad moments. This was a team effort by Man Utd.

Ferdinand and Brown were the effective 'stars' of the show. V D Sar made a few good saves as well. Man Utd were getting 9 players back behind the ball and making things difficult for Barcelona. Tevez and Park made heaps of tackles.

It may not have been a 6-5 (on aggregate) classic that Ferguson in previous seasons would want from his players, but at 1-0 it is more effective and gets him to the final.

Redspider

kerash

Barca

DesF wrote: »

Like his manager told him to.


He gets paid to do what the manager tells him to.

Not what you, me, other fans, Eammon Dunphy or any other clown who wants to have a go at him "expects" him to do.

He's a high profile player at a high profile team. Do you still think that if he was taking the piss and not doing the explicit job that his manager gave him to do, then he wouldn't be dropped?

Seriously?

Do you not think that Ferguson has told him not to worry about defending? So he does exactly this?

Ah jaysus Des,

I never mentioned that Ronaldo should defend, I'm pointing out that he can do more up front. Of course he wont get dropped he'd get on any team, but even if he played for Longford Town i'd point out the same points he can improve on. I cant see SAF saying to Ronnie wait for the ball to come into your feet and dont bother challenging.

Sizzler

Xavi6 wrote: »

Another 2.45am kick off for me. Barca better not let me down.

If the game was called "keep ball" instead of football Barca won...but its not

Xavi - Worlds best midfielder? You're having a laugh.

Xavi6

Sizzler wrote: »

If the game was called "keep ball" instead of football Barca won...but its not

Xavi - Worlds best midfielder? You're having a laugh.

Lol what a difference a week makes. Last week Xavi was one of the world's best, ran the show at the Nou Camp etc etc and now all of a sudden he's not. Maybe look a little closer to home for players that don't do it in big games.

Nice to see yet another of the 'gracious in victory' brigade.

_blank_

Messi was the best player in the two games.

No doubt about it.

Anyone who claims otherwise is blind and a clown.

A blind clown for all to see.

Sizzler

Xavi6 wrote: »

Lol what a difference a week makes. Last week Xavi was one of the world's best, ran the show at the Nou Camp etc etc

Who said that

I wouldnt have said that. Collectively Barca were impressive last week at *keeping the ball*, same again last night with Messi their only real attacking threat. I sh*t myself everytime he got the ball tbh.

I won't profess to have followed Xavi's season in every game but for a lad I have seen in several games live this season he would not make it into the pantheon of the world's greatest midfielders, far from it in fact.

Killme00

Barca (Barca fans)

Sizzler wrote: »

If the game was called "keep ball" instead of football Barca won...but its not

Xavi - Worlds best midfielder? You're having a laugh.

I would have him in the Utd team in a heartbeat, he is absolutely class

I also like Inniesta

PHB

Barca (Barca fans)

I never claimed he wasn't. I just said in terms of end product, Ronaldo created more. And he also played out of position. He did a job for the team last night, I don't see how anyone couldn't see that.

Also the idea that Carrick was a waste of money, jesus christ what the hell game were you watching? He defended ****ing fantastically, like really impressively, and got the ball up the pitch to a United player pretty much every time. Also played a lovely through ball which Ronaldo ran onto and led to Parks chance.

I still can't get over the fact we won that game without Rooney. We've always been **** without him, and Ronaldo and Tevez did their best to give us a bit of attacking shape and we ended up creating 3-4 real goal scoring chances.

_blank_

PHB wrote: »

I never claimed he wasn't. I just said in terms of end product, Ronaldo created more.

Also the idea that Carrick was a waste of money, jesus christ what the hell game were you watching? He defended ****ing fantastically, like really impressively, and got the ball up the pitch to a United player pretty much every time. Also played a lovely through ball which Ronaldo ran onto and led to Parks chance.

Would you be in agreement that United don't deserve to be in the final, by virtue of the fact that they grunted through both legs, played a defensive game and only scored one goal in the two games.

Would a Barca team that tried to play nice, flowing football would be more deserving of a final berth?

If not, then do you still contend that should Chelsea win the league, they won't deserve it?

PHB

Barca (Barca fans)

DesF wrote: »

Would you be in agreement that United don't deserve to be in the final, by virtue of the fact that they grunted through both legs, played a defensive game and only scored one goal in the two games.

Would a Barca team that tried to play nice, flowing football would be more deserving of a final berth?

Well imo, the reason we weren't able to play good attacking football last night was because Rooney was out. Without him we're a shadow of ourselves attacking wise. That Ronaldo is out 2nd best striker says it all to be honest.

I hate Fergie's away European tactics, I really do. I hate not playing the way we can. Why restrain the best attack in the world? But last night after Rooney and Vidic were out, I couldn't fault them one bit. We had no right to win that game, and I think everyone thought that Barca were favorites when they saw that team sheet.

I still maintain though that we intended to attack Barca away, it's just we played utterly ****. The intent was there though, it's just that Yaya Toure had such an amazing game we couldn't get anything going.

Also, last night we did show attacking intent and imo were the better team going forward, as we created some other good chances, Nani being the most obvious. We played inbteween defensive and offensive football, and that's best shown by Evra, who a couple of times was willing to bomb forward leaving Messi unmarked (indeed all those great runs that Messi made tended to be when Evra had over-committed himself)
That said, without Vidic or defence is very dodgy when dealing with breaks. Brown played well lsat night, but imo he's still a bit dodgy at times. Our midfielders had to sit deep to cover up our defensive weakness. Hargreaves had to play at RB.
Hargreaves being able to play in midfield would have allowed us much more possession, but you gotta take these injuries as they come and come through them with big team performances.

My reasons for believing that Chelsea don't deserve to win the league aren't to do with how they play football. It's to do with how they've managed to get to where they are in terms of points tally. It's not due to defensive football, it's due to a lot of good fortune imo.

_blank_

Are you, in fact, Bertie Ahern?

PHB

Barca (Barca fans)

DesF wrote: »

Are you, in fact, Bertie Ahern?

Give it time.

Mitch Connor

To be honest, while i am delighted we made it into the CL final again, at last, i was a little disappointed with the way we have done it. We made it the way Liverpool have done in the past - the way i have moaned about. We did it with defensive football. I would have prefered to have really gone for it. However, i'll take the result, obviously.

Mr Alan

PHB wrote: »

It's to do with how they've managed to get to where they are in terms of points tally. It's not due to defensive football, it's due to a lot of good fortune imo.

And there was me thinking you always say, "the league table doesnt lie"?!

Or do you mean that, "the league table doesnt lie, except when its unfavourable to Utd. Only then do dodgy ref decisions and luck come into it".

You make me laugh.

Ronaldo didnt live up to his-"no problem, then i will score in Manchester" speech, disappointing

Boggles

astrofool wrote: »

Do people sign up to boards, make the pre-requisite number of posts to get access to soccer, JUST to post or participate in a Ronaldo thread, and post the same thing over and over and over and over..........

Haha Brilliant.

Soccer Access:

Have you 50 posts? - Yes
Have you read the rules? - Yes
Have you submitted your essay on how Ronaldo doesn't track back or play well in the big games? - Yes

Well get in there fast son we havn't read the same thing over and over again about Ronaldo in 15 minutes.

Xavi6

Well the United +1 crew were out in force last night so there's two sides to the coin.

Boggles

Xavi6 wrote: »

Well the United +1 crew were out in force last night so there's two sides to the coin.

I think the "United Crew" were entitled to be out last night, agreed?

Xavi6

Oh of course but see you've misquoted me. I said the "United +1 crew" i.e. that's all they had to add to the topic. Infact, one or two were evening posting the same message that they were quoting! (I'm looking at you Kaisersoze1908). Not to mention the one who told the Barca fans to 'fuck off'.

jank

Some of the **** thats going on here is that why i think i want chelsea to go on and win it. The lesser of 3 evils.

MrPillowTalk

Barca (Barca fans)

I love that little ginger beauty

LegacyUser

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

What am I jealous of?



If you compare the two Ronaldo was outclassed. He spent more time diving and whingeing in the first leg as opposed to contributing as Messi did. In the second leg, it wasn't a contest. Messi was deadly every time he had the ball and the likes of Carrick had to stop him illegally (and take a yellow card).

Best of luck in the finals but I really hope it's nothing to do with sport analysis or you're f*cked mate. :pac:

I don't need luck...I have brains.

Ronaldo was outclassed? Then you need to get rid of the clown glasses you seem to be wearing...

http://www.halloweenscene.com/mm5/graphics/00000001/24908%20clown%20specs.jpg

In case you don't realise, Ronaldo was being fouled all over the place last night...and that's not from the Sky Sports crew...that's fat Pat dolan off Setanta saying it...

Mitch Connor

If Messi was deadly every time he got the ball, why did he not score? he was threatening - not deadly

kryogen

Barca (Barca fans)

Memnoch wrote: »

It's funny how despite the clear evidence of the two legs Utd fan(atics) refuse to admit that Messi is the better player, which he clearly is on every level.

You're ignoring a few basic fundamentals in your analysis. Firstly that United's defence was godlike (and what won them the game), while Barca's defence was comical at times.

Secondly, As barca got more and more desperate to claw back the goal, it left more and more space for the United attackers to run into, while United always had plenty of men behind the ball.

Your end product talk is also total nonsense. Messi created lots of opportunities throughout the game, playing through balls and stretching united's defence to near breaking point. Unfortunately the rest of his team weren't as inspiritational and couldn't finish off the moves. And yes often the goal-scoring chances were intercepted by brilliant defending, but that is a far cry from "no end product."

Messi vs Ronaldo over the two legs?

Messi dribbled better.
His passing was superior and more insicive. He was able to creat space and find telling passes despite United's amazing and dogged defending.
He never dived once or threw a tantrum, just got on with playing the game as it should be played.
Gave 100% commitment for the entire time he was on the pitch for his team.
Was the most influential attacking player on the pitch in both games.

I don't expect you to concede on these points because your adoration for United and Ronaldo is akin to religion at this point.

But I would hope fans like you will stop harping on about his so called greatness, at least until he produces a messi-like show-stopping performance in a big match, which he YET AGAIN, failed to do.

just because you lengthen your post doesnt make it true......you cant compare a guy playing as a lone striker whos team didnt control possession to a guy playing as part of a team,the focal attacking player in the team with the most control of the ball......

his passing was not more incisive, Ronaldo created more chances for his teammates then Messi did, thats a fact. check it out

what telling pass did he find? when exactly did Barca score?

He did dive. Second half of the game last night, like a sniper shot him, sorry to burst your bubble....all players will do it unfortunatly, and despite the god like status, akin to religion that is bestowed on Messi he isnt above it either, although i agree it isnt a major part of his game

Ronaldo gave 100% commitment last night, i was there, i saw it with my own eyes....he was questionable in the away leg, but he did what he was asked to do last night

Im not a blind lover of Ronaldo, i dont ignore his flaws, but i dont ignore Messis either, he has no right foot, he always has to cut inside, bla bla bla..

it doesnt matter tbh, they are both amazing players and it was a joy to see both play well up close and personal


one more thing? people are asking why a lone striker didnt track back much, which he actually did more then you think, why isnt there a thread full of pages dedicated to why Messi stood there and let Scholes run past him and pick up the ball freely?? he just let him passed, didnt track him at all and watched as he buried it!!!!

does it make him ****?? by you peoples logic i guess it does

Mr. Presentable

Man Utd (United fans)

Look, the side that deserved to go through to the final is going through. They scored a goal and the opposition didn't. Thems the facts of the matter.

I won't be watching tonights game having choked down the hoofy that was the first leg, and won't be watching the final - I will be doing my hair that night.

Football is not, for me at least, all about results whatever the cost or method. Football, for me, is skill, technique, flair, style, class and athleticism. But that's not the winning recipe currently. The winning recipe now is power, strength, cynicism, cheating and "work rate" (damn you Alf Ramsey).

Ironic that football was born in England and is now being killed there.

Mr. Presentable

Man Utd (United fans)

PHB wrote: »

good fortune imo.

"Good fortune" comes into determining every title. On your reckoning nobody deserves anything.

Boggles

kryogen wrote: »

just because you lengthen your post doesnt make it true......you cant compare a guy playing as a lone striker whos team didnt control possession to a guy playing as part of a team,the focal attacking player in the team with the most control of the ball......

Hey Kryogen there is no point debating with that guy, he made his opinions on ronaldo and United fans pretty clear last week when his sent me this cowardly private message.

Memnoch wrote:

United fans are famous for their blindness, but this is a new low and the first time for me that...

not that you will care but I actually find your posts about Ronaldo so blindly idiotic that I'm having to put you on ignore. Grow a brain. Idiot.

He is a cowardly troll, don't feed him.

An Citeog

Tbh, I'm pleased with Ronaldo's performance last night. He showed maturity and intelligence in the way he played and it's something that has been missing from his game against top quality opposition. He didn't rip the Barça defence open time and again but he worked hard and sacrificed himself for the team, while playing out of position. The main advantage Messi has over Ronaldo though is his ball control. It's absolutely phenomenal, like the ball just sticks to him and that's why he finds it so easy to beat a man. Ronaldo on the other hand is far more powerful than Messi and can play pretty much anywhere. He's also got a phenomenal goal-scoring record and is extremely effective. Truth is, I'd rather have Ronaldo in my team than Messi. For all Messi's huffing and puffing last night, how many clear-cut opportunities did he create? Ronaldo provided an outlet for United's attack and could have had 3+ assists if Park, Tevez and Nani had put away their chances.