Inter Milan v Manchester United Match Thread 24th Feb 09

Dave!

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Ever since Real Madrid hammered Utd at the Bernabeu about 8 years ago Ferguson has been ultra cautious away from home.
He is so afraid of losing that he plays too defensively.
Fortune favours the brave.
It was a lost opportunity tonight ,tie should be over.

Didn't we like... win the CL last year?

Bubs101 wrote: »

What performance.

Exactly!

jesus_thats_gre

titan18 wrote: »

He's better than Rivas or Cordoba tbh.He's a very good cb.

Look, you obviously think Inter done better than I think but if you are an Inter fan, I cannot understand how you wouldn't be very worried about that performance. It was more proof that the Italian league is on and has been on a downward spiral for the past 12 to 18 months.

One thing I will say though, I think Juve could cause Chelsea problems tomorrow. They look to be a far more considerable threat than Inter or Roma ever will be this season. I genuinely believe that they are in contention this season.

jesus_thats_gre

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Ever since Real Madrid hammered Utd at the Bernabeu about 8 years ago Ferguson has been ultra cautious away from home.
He is so afraid of losing that he plays too defensively.
Fortune favours the brave.
It was a lost opportunity tonight ,tie should be over.

In Europe, they play virtually identically to how Liverpool play. I know most United fans instinct will be to shout me down but just think about it.

Boggles

Bubs101 wrote: »

.The ref and the linesman took at least 1 goal away from them,

What goal?

titan18

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

Look, you obviously think Inter done better than I think but if you are an Inter fan, I cannot understand how you wouldn't be very worried about that performance. It was more proof that the Italian league is on and has been on a downward spiral for the past 12 to 18 months.

One thing I will say though, I think Juve could cause Chelsea problems tomorrow. They look to be a far more considerable threat than Inter or Roma ever will be this season. I genuinely believe that they are in contention this season.

I'm an United fan.I'm just calling it how I saw it tbh.

The Italian league has been on a downward spiral for a long while and is actually better this year than the last few years.

Dave, I think that Ibra saw that he wasnt getting any service up front and moved out the field and over to the left as it was the weakest point of the United defence.Towards the end of the match, he moved back to the center.He tends to roam though, and look for the ball in most games

Paul Tergat

Mitch Connor wrote: »

I'd still make Inter favourites for the tie, we needed to score tonight.

I can't see how you can say this? was it based on that performance or the mourinho thing still in your head?

They looked really poor, lacking ideas/creativity/any sort of fluidity with their passing.

I think we can shut them out at OT and get at least one at home.

I am pretty confident now and we are the favourites surely!

Bubs101

Boggles wrote: »

What goal?

Ibra onside controls the ball perfectly.... that is 9/10 times a goal, no doubt. Also the penalty shout was very very good so one of those. In most games one of those would have garnered a goal

jesus_thats_gre

titan18 wrote: »

I'm an United fan.I'm just calling it how I saw it tbh.

The Italian league has been on a downward spiral for a long while and is actually better this year than the last few years.

Interesting.. I just don't believe for a second that they have a hope in hell of winning the CL. Some folk here seem to think that they are in the top tier of European football when, realistically speaking, they are in the second tier.

Considering they were the home team tonight, United have infinitely more positives to take from tonight. Inter have barely anything considering it was a weakened United team.

Boggles

Bubs101 wrote: »

Ibra onside controls the ball perfectly.... that is 9/10 times a goal, no doubt. Also the penalty shout was very very good so one of those. In most games one of those would have garnered a goal

Haha. :D

No the ref and linesman did not take a goal out off Inter, whatever about Ibra's 90% strike rate from hypothetical goal scoring situations.

An example of a goal being taking off a team would be Evans against Blackburn on Saturday.

P.S it was never a penalty.

titan18

Bubs101 wrote: »

Ibra onside controls the ball perfectly.... that is 9/10 times a goal, no doubt. Also the penalty shout was very very good so one of those. In most games one of those would have garnered a goal

9/10?Ibra would have buried that without fail.I dont think it was a penalty but I've seen them given.Think it would have been harsh though.

Headshot

Bubs101 wrote: »

Ibra onside controls the ball perfectly.... that is 9/10 times a goal, no doubt. Also the penalty shout was very very good so one of those. In most games one of those would have garnered a goal

yes i agree that incident with Ibra was onside but how can you tell that was going to be a goal he was on the point of the corner of the box afaik when he got that ball,so to say he that a 9/10 goal is a bit much and that peno incident was so-so

I think adriano went down way to easy

Bubs101

I agree that I don't personally think Rio did anything to him solely because Adriano is too strong to be pulled down by one of Rio's hands but he was really ****ing stupid to hold him like that.

Oh and Boggles, your gimmick's gotten old.

ShiverinEskimo

I'm happy enough with the result given what we saw tonight. Inter were at home and didn't create much. United passed it around with authority and confidence - something that will only increase at home.

I compare it to Barcelona last year when we left the nou camp with a 0-0, with our defensive record I'm confident enough, especially with Vidic back.

Boggles

Bubs101 wrote: »

Oh and Boggles, your gimmick's gotten old.

I apologise I found your virtual strike rate statistics funny, no offense ment.

Quint

Jasus lads, you better hope that the united players aren't as over confident as the fans!

Also, put your house on Bayern Munich after what Dunphy said about them

ShiverinEskimo

Quint wrote: »

Jasus lads, you better hope that the united players aren't as over confident as the fans!

Also, put your house on Bayern Munich after what Dunphy said about them

IT's not over confidence to be fair. We dominated for large periods of the game which was away from home with an under strength team. It's by no means a done deal, far from it, but United fans have a right to feel confident.

keane2097

titan18 wrote: »

Can you explain how United were by far the better side in the first half

I think at this stage it's fairly obvious that we need to add a stipulation to the charter that people must make a commitment to being drug-free when posting.

redout

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Ever since Real Madrid hammered Utd at the Bernabeu about 8 years ago Ferguson has been ultra cautious away from home.
.

3-1 is a hammering ! What planet are you from ?

eZe^

To say you'll easily get past Inter by 3-4 goals in the return leg is most definitely over confidence. Fair enough you can be optimistic as you are now favourites to proceed, but to say you'll destroy them is imo a little ott.

titan18

keane2097 wrote: »

I think at this stage it's fairly obvious that we need to add a stipulation to the charter that people must make a commitment to being drug-free when posting.

I am drug free, and alcohol free.Its just what I saw in the game.United were better than Inter in the 1st half, no doubt, but they didnt outclass and destroy them.

Inter are a very good side and they showed glimpses of what they can do in the 2nd half, Ibrahimovic was MOTM imo.He ran the game, when he moved out at around the 35 minute mark

redout

titan18 wrote: »

I'm an United fan.I'm just calling it how I saw it tbh.

Jesus age christ brother you could have had us all fooled tonight so !

Iang87

ok i wanted quote myself from earlier when i said ronaldo would do nothin and ibra would run the show and apologise for being wrong.

Whilst Ibra wasn't bad tonight imo i think ronaldo was excellent. this is about the first compliment i've ever given him but credit where its due. he looked up for it from the first minute. Once again apologies for earlier should i have caused anger with my ronaldo bashing

Headshot

titan18 wrote: »

Inter are a very good side and they showed glimpses of what they can do in the 2nd half, Ibrahimovic was MOTM imo.He ran the game, when he moved out at around the 35 minute mark

MOTM match

did you watch carrick tonight,controlled the midfield easily and Julio Ceasr was immense

Julio Ceasr would probly be my MOTM

forgot to mention, Cambiasso had a great game too

Bubs101

redout wrote: »

Jesus age christ brother you could have had us all fooled tonight so !

It makes you realise what a United fan who's not full of **** posts like though. It is possible Boggles.

titan18

redout wrote: »

Jesus age christ brother you could have had us all fooled tonight so !

Ya, I'm objective, not biased at all when it comes to United and I watch enough football.I like Inter aswell though.

Headshot, ya I agree, Carrick, Cesar and Cambiasso were class, but Ibra was all over the pitch, led Inter out of their poor play imo at the end of the 1st half, when he came out to get the ball.

It was his energy, enthusiasm to get on the ball and make something happen, his skill, his intelligence, the ball that he controlled on his chest before the offside flag went up.When he got the ball, there was a sense that something magic could happen, that he was going to ghost away from his marker and play a ball through, and create a goal.It was his sense of urgency on the ball and he was always looking for it and was unmarkable for the United defense.He was sublime out there.

Maybe a load of sh1t but whatever.

Paul Tergat

Bubs101 wrote: »

It makes you realise what a United fan who's not full of **** posts like though. It is possible Boggles.

Hang on thats total crap. If anything he has got it wrong tonight - i just cannot see how you can say how UTD weren't easily the better in the first half. On this occassion Boggles has it right and that lad has it wrong imo

Also, fair ****s to Iang, Ronaldo had a good game tonight and went close a few times. For once a few of his free kicks hit the target. I think he took a bit of pace off em to get them on target. Looked to run and commit defenders too, always a threat.

eZe^

titan18 wrote: »

Its just what I saw in the game.United were better than Inter in the 1st half, no doubt, but they didnt outclass and destroy them.k

Lads, realistically that's a fair enough analysis imo. No need to be jumping down his throat, it's not like for 45 minutes United ran Inter absolutely ragged, causing them to chase their own shadows and defend for dear life. Yeah, Inter were outplayed in the first half by United on numerous occasions, but's it's not like Inter played like Southampton either.

Cesar was MOTM imo, fantastic keeper, in the category just below Casillas and Buffon.

Boggles

Bubs101 wrote: »

It makes you realise what a United fan who's not full of **** posts like though. It is possible Boggles.

Could you point out what shíte I posted.

2 posts before the match

Really looking forward to this now, it's today we miss Hargreaves would be such a comfort to have him fit for at least the away leg, especially with Uniteds defensive problems.

Tonights match will be a hard one to call, God knows what team or formation Ferguson will play, I have a feeling it could be a bore fest, 0-0 or 1-1 will be the most likely outcome IMO.

I think over the 2 legs the gulf in class will show, United to go through with 2-3 goals to spare. The only thing that scares me in that Inter team is José.

I wouldn't be overly surprised if Evra, Ferdinand, Evans and O'Shea started in defense, Ferguson playing silly buggers.

It's my opinion Bubs, so far tis pretty spot on.

Harpy

united were really good tonight, wasn't expecting that at all..
Ronaldo was very good fair play to him..
two weeks time is going to be very tense... hopefully we can keep them out but i'm worried not getting a goal tonight, after such a good performance could come back to bite us in the ass.. not as optimistic as a lot of people on here at all..

redout

I thought that Cambiasso was immense especially in the second half. He was my MOTM.

Nalz

Bubs101 wrote: »

Ibra onside controls the ball perfectly.... that is 9/10 times a goal, no doubt

Ive read it all now, seriously I have seen it all.

Anyone who thinks the above, thinks that United weren't the better team on the night and by far the better team in the first half needs there head examined.

Would have been a soft penalty (the Adriano Rio incident) never the less it could have been given.

And fair play to John O Shea, great performance. Apart from his poor pass in the opening minutes he was very solid. Him, Ronaldo and Evans were very good tonight. VDS had very little to do. Inters midfield were very poor and somewhat disorganized, which was a shock for me as they were prepared by José.

United to sneak through, 1-0 or 2-0 at OT.

Bubs101

Trilla wrote: »

Ive read it all now, seriously I have seen it all.

Anyone who thinks the above, thinks that United weren't the better team on the night and by far the better team in the first half needs there head examined.

I never said that but the above quote is true.

Headshot

Bubs101 wrote: »

I never said that but the above quote is true.

i dont know how you can say that about the offside incident

Bubs101

Headshot wrote: »

i dont know how you can say that about the offside incident

I was referring to the Ibra would score 90% of those (conservative estimate) which is 100% true, bring it up in the next Serie A thread if you want educated input on it as opposed to alot of people here who just don't watch that league yet feel the need to comment on how **** he is anyway. Man Utd dominated the first half and the game over all but Inter had better chances so overall I'd say it was an even game

That_Guy

Poor match in my opinion with a serious lack of conviction in front of goal from both teams.

The lineup from United was questionable but SAF seemed to get it right in the first half. Completely outclassed Inter. Not many goal opportunities bar Ronaldo's free kicks. United kept the ball well and took the game to Inter who seemed to lack any sort of creativity and played very narrow. When they got the ball they just kicked it into wide areas with nobody there to latch onto it.

Second half was a lot better from Inter's point of view. Fair enough they didn't threaten very well and had a few wild shots at goal, but they kept it well and showed much better quality than they did in the first.
United just seemed to lack any sort of forward drive but they did defend very well and dealt with Inter's threats very well. I'm still not sure why Tevez wasn't brought on at any stage. He's always a threat and works harder for his team than anybody when they don't have the ball.

Referee was pretty fussy throughout with frequent breaks in play which really got on my tits.

Some of the better players on the pitch for me tonight were Ronaldo (for his first half performance), Ibra for Inter, Cesar and Evans.

I think by far the worst player on the pitch tonight was Muntari. His passing, until he was subbed, was dreadful.

I'm not sure if a draw is a good result for United. I reckon that Inter now have the advantage going into the second leg knowing that if the game goes on and it's still 0-0, they will only have to score once leaving United with it all to do.

That's just my two cents on it anyway.

Headshot

Bubs101 wrote: »

I was referring to the Ibra would score 90% of those (conservative estimate) which is 100% true, bring it up in the next Serie A thread if you want educated input on it as opposed to alot of people here who just don't watch that league yet feel the need to comment on how **** he is anyway. Man Utd dominated the first half and the game over all but Inter had better chances so overall I'd say it was an even game

my mistake then about the offside incident but may i ask what better chances are you talking about

Bubs101

Headshot wrote: »

my mistake then about the offside incident but may i ask what better chances are you talking about

Cambiasso had without doubt the best chance and I'd put the Adriano open goal second

Boggles

Bubs101 wrote: »

Cambiasso had without doubt the best chance and I'd put the Adriano open goal second

The Ball was hit behind Cambiasso, he did well just to fling a body part at it, it was a quarter chance at best.

How had Adriano an open goal with 2 defenders and a goalkeeper in front of him? :rolleyes:

Nalz

Ryan Giggs two chances were both from better build up play and should have converted at least one of them. Ronaldo could have played it back and squared it twice for tap ins in the first half. Berbatov had 3 chances, 2 of them half chances but could have scored. Ronaldo had two decent shots saved and a great header.

United apparently shaded posession

United were definitely the better team in the first half and better overall

But of course people having no doubt and 90% sure Ibrahimovic would have scored after taking the ball on his chest and another half ass ding dong in the box makes the game even steven? Balls it does.

Sure if Ronaldo had have delayed that pass or played it slower as park was sliding in, in the second half (or if berba wasnt held back at far post) etc etc etc...

ifs and ands pots and pans.

United - better chances, better play, better team

case closed.

Headshot

Bubs101 wrote: »

Cambiasso had without doubt the best chance and I'd put the Adriano open goal second

ah yes forgot those 2 ,but the ball came very quickly to Cambiasso and it was slightly behind him and the adriano chance wasnt an opened goal and he missed hit it anyway

but ill throw this back to

I taught Ronaldo had the best chance with the second header which just missed the goals by inches

kinaldo

I thought Man Utd played well, and that Inter played about as well as they could in the 2nd half, whilst looking very much second best overall. I really did think beforehand that Mourinho might have gotten a bit more out of them but no, so I'll be happy to see them gone. Boring, overrated team.

Nalz

Evans O Shea and Ronaldo best for United

Ibra, Caesar and Zanetti for Inter

imo

ziggy

This post has been deleted.

Boggles

Headshot wrote: »

I taught Ronaldo had the best chance with the second header which just missed the goals by inches

Yeah best chance of the match, 91 % of the time he usually scores them which is 121% true divided by Pí.

Bubs101

Boggles wrote: »

Yeah best chance of the match, 91 % of the time he usually scores them which is 121% true divided by Pí.

You forgot to carry the 1

Loomis

titan18 wrote: »

Inter had more possession than United in both halves.

Outside of Giggs chance, United didnt actaully threaten Cesar, some Ronaldo free kicks and a Berbatov header was the rest on target

United didnt get that much shots on target in the whole match.

I'm a United fan btw

Eh, I think Berbatov's header was actually off target. It was Ronaldo who had a bullet header on target. And another one went just wide with the keeper stranded. The keeper made a good save from one free kick and another one went just wide.
Everytime United had the ball in the first half they looked like they could get at Inter. And most of the time they did. It was one of the most one-sided halves I've ever seen between two big teams; reminds me of when we played Barcelona off the pitch one year when we lead 2-0 at half time.

titan18 wrote: »

Officialy, Inter had 2 shots on target and shaded United in possession.

Also, Ibra was 1 on 1 with VDS except for a bad offside call, and Cambiasso should have scored.

And Giggs should have scored. So should Ronaldo really. If his header was anywhere bar right at the keeper it'd have been a goal. His free header going just wide should have been a goal really too. Not to mention Berbatov being rugby tackled in the second half if you want to go into penalty claims.

Seriously, I've no idea what match you saw but you're very much alone in what you apparently saw. United fan or not.
Watch these highlights - in 7mins 40 seconds of highlights of the first half it is all United bar about 50 seconds of play from Inter (most of it being a replay of a foul and Cambiasso waiting to take a free). Where they didn't actually create anything anyway. If they weren't utterly outplayed in the half then where is the footage of their play worthy of being in a highlight reel?

SteM

eZe^ wrote: »

Lads, realistically that's a fair enough analysis imo. No need to be jumping down his throat, it's not like for 45 minutes United ran Inter absolutely ragged, causing them to chase their own shadows and defend for dear life. Yeah, Inter were outplayed in the first half by United on numerous occasions, but's it's not like Inter played like Southampton either.

Cesar was MOTM imo, fantastic keeper, in the category just below Casillas and Buffon.

Inter were nowhere near like Southampton, I'd put them closer to Spurs. Maybe West Ham.

Loco

Disappointed we didn't get 1 or 2 goals from those chances.

I'll be chewing my fingers off at Old Trafford in 2 weeks!

Spud83

Very disappointed with that score line (after seeing the performance), but I was happy with the performance. A lot of people would have taken that before the game. However United have gone out a few times before in situations like this and it will be a very nervous game back at OT.

Was especially disappointed with the lack of substitutions last night. Park looked knackered well before he was taken off and so did Giggs. Ronaldo looked a bit tired too but its hard to tell if he was actually tired or just being lazy. He needs a rest IMO and he has to be given one in either the CC or the Fa Cup.

The plus side is that hopefully we will have a fully fit team for that game, and that we will also have the FA Cup before the second round so hopefully that should help us get to the Inter game without all the knocks being carried in our defense.

ROCKMAN

Think Ronaldo had one of his best games for a while , And I think the keg to this was he discipline he showen last night ,played as a winger and stayed out wide for the most of the game. Which lead to him causing problems for Inter all night . I believe he was playing to very clear instructions,