Champions League Final 2009: FC Barcelona vs ManUtd: Champions of Europe!

[oyetunde]

Way to miss the point.

I didn't say Peps tactics were bad I just said Man Utd would of tried similar things against Chelsea to what we did, trying to stretch the defense by pulling it out wide and putting crosses into the box to be attacked. Ribery will play on our left hand side, and he won't change anything. Even if he drifts past 2 or 3 of them he will get nothing. How do I know? because Iniesta did the same. Ribery can run with the ball but Chelsea gave our players nowhere to run to.

You can buy height without compromising your game. There are alot of good ball playing players out there who are tall. The point is our weakness right now is our lack of height in attack, no matter if Alves hits a peach of a cross in there is no Barça player within 10 yards of it and on the rare occasion there is hardly any of them are tall enough or good enough in the air to challenge effectively against an English back 4.

Same with set pieces, we have Pique and that is about it to aim for in set pieces. Marquez and Puyol get joy in the Liga but they get nothing against English teams whose midfielders are as tall and good in the air as they are, not to mention the defenders. Toure rarely gets stuck in in corners, usually hovering at the edge of the box incase the other team tries to break. So it is left to Pique whose height intimidates opponents in La Liga when he goes up for an attacking corner because there aren't many giants like him about, but in the EPL the likes of Terry, Vidic and Rio all deal with people his height week in week out. That coupled with the fact Pique hasn't exactly been superb at winning aerial duels during atacking corners this season...

There is no harm in adding an extra dimension to our game with a player like a Dzeko or an Adebayor (preferably not him, but i'm talking types of players here) who can challenge and win the ball aerially with the English centre halves. Alves often put in early balls for Sevilla because Fabiano and Kanoute would attack any cross, and currently we don't do it enough. Villa and Ribery would be fine against defenses who let us keep the ball at our feet and play it, but against strong teams who will muscle them off the ball we need another dimension...we need a bigger and stronger forward who can tussle with them, can attack crosses from Alves and just generally make the CB's night uncomfortable because he is good in the air aswell as with the ball at his feet.

Llorente from bilbao would be perfect
hell he scored a header against england
but we all know the "smart people" that but our players would rather buy another sexy shorty like villa

 

[Guardian]

----------:valdes:------
-- :toure:-- -- --
---------- ----
------ -----
-- ------------ --:henry:
--------- :etoo:---

 

[oyetunde]

I think that SAF will start the game carefully and will start with his most experienced players. He will give more freedom to Ronaldo and he will choose a more defensive startegy:

-------Van der Sar
O'Shea--Rio--Vidic--Evra
--Scholes--Carrick--Anderson
------Rooney-------Park
----------Ronaldo---

Tevez is not going to start, he's under pressure and his future is not clear yet, Berbatov is too slow for the counter attacking united style and Giggs will start off the bench. I believe that SAF will play with Park, because the Korean is damn quick.

I think that Man United are the favourites for this clash and sadly, usually the favourites win the final. The only real chance for Barca is if Henry and Iniesta are 100 % fit, unfortunately I don't think it will happen. Messi and Xavi are the keys for winning the cup for Barca now. Considering that Pep doesn't trust Sylvinho and Caceres I wouldn't be surprised if he goes for this line up:

Valdes
Puyol--Toure-Pique--Keita
---Busquets---
Xavi---Iniesta*
Messi--Eto'o--Henry*

*if they are fit.

if i see yaya in the back 4
i will take some valium and ask 2 be woken up after the match

 

[ZenI]

and that's how our formation will look

I agree 100%! Even if Caceres haven't played to much lately, I'd prefer to have Yaya in DM position. Besides, we were lucky a couple of times against Chelsea cause' Yaya made a couple of mistakes and I'd rather see Pique and Puyol as CBs. Since Man U will play more 'football' than Chelsea did, we will should play Yaya on DM and then I mean DM! No offensive runs for him! Since Sylvinho is not a great defensive player, we should use him in the offense togheter with (hopefully) Henry. Messi should have more of a free role since Alves isn't playing, and play more in the middle and Iniesta more to the left to help out Henry. For some strange reason Eto'o has played a bit to far to the left, in this game he should stay in the centre and even more to the right .

 

[Evil]

Lol I can´t imagine Ronaldo playing as the striker, he´d probably roll over at evrey oppertunity given when Piqué or Puyol just get close to him. Wouldn´t be surprized if ManU won a few penalties as well.

 

[Quash]

I'd give Messi a more central role, his dribbling will work well against the center imo because i've watched the EPL for a long time and when Rio and Vidic are against explosive pace and ball control, Messi's forte, they look much more suspect, Vidic particularly. Eto'o showed against Villareal that he can score when it's instinctive. He's a predator, it's when you give him any time on the ball he tends to fumble it or lose it due to a poor first touch, Chelsea goal is a perfect example. Eto'o fluffs the first touch, then Essien misses it completely and Messi is free to make the pass. So imo it might work well to play Eto'o upfront with Messi in the hole. Iniesta played one of his best games for us at RW, I didn't expect that but it was awesome to know he can fill in there when needed, it gives us more options. Messi to open up the defence and maybe score, but Eto'o would still be a threat in the box rather than Messi cutting in from the right all the time which gives defenders more time to position themselves.
----------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------:henry:

--------------------------------------

------------------------:etoo:--------------
:004:

 

[ZenI]

I'd give Messi a more central role, his dribbling will work well against the center imo because i've watched the EPL for a long time and when Rio and Vidic are against explosive pace and ball control, Messi's forte, they look much more suspect, Vidic particularly. Eto'o showed against Villareal that he can score when it's instinctive. He's a predator, it's when you give him any time on the ball he tends to fumble it or lose it due to a poor first touch, Chelsea goal is a perfect example. Eto'o fluffs the first touch, then Essien misses it completely and Messi is free to make the pass. So imo it might work well to play Eto'o upfront with Messi in the hole. Iniesta played one of his best games for us at RW, I didn't expect that but it was awesome to know he can fill in there when needed, it gives us more options. Messi to open up the defence and maybe score, but Eto'o would still be a threat in the box rather than Messi cutting in from the right all the time which gives defenders more time to position themselves.
----------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------:henry:

--------------------------------------

------------------------:etoo:--------------
:004:

Not bad, we can capitalize on having Iniesta and Messi on the same side with their quick passing. That can unlock the Man U defense imo.

 

[puta madrid]

---------valdes
puyol----pique---toure--sylvinho

----------keita
----xavi---------iniesta
messi------eto'o---henry

Thats our only option I think. Can not risk cacersas in such a huge match.

If only we are at full strength ..... I would be 100% convinced that we will win it, but, thats life

 

[nebeer]

I have a feeling that Caceras would do fine if he plays. Though the final call will be Pep's.

 

[puta madrid]

Though the final call will be Pep's.

ya think ?!

 

[DivineVisitor]

We need Yaya in his DM position, when Xavi and Iniesta are there with him we control matches so much more effectively. Yaya is as much a part of that key as Xavi and Iniesta. And i really hope Pep thinks this too. Carceas needs to be given playing time to get his match sharpness up and then give him the chance. I think he can shine if we need him to, seen him come away with some fantastic sliding challenges and stand up to players. Made the odd mistake aswell but understandable really considering he has hardly played.
Yaya was a little shaky in the CB position. Did well all things considered, but Man Utd is a different kind of animal, we need to dominate the midfield against them and for that we need Yaya, Iniesta and Xavi in the midfield. If we dominate midfield we run less risk of our defence being exposed.

 

[jairzinho]

If we dominate midfield we run less risk of our defence being exposed.

i agree...we can't allow manure to run us ragged in the midfield...we have to control the pace and flow of the game and maintain possession..to do that we need an enforcer in midfield to break up any play from them in the middle.:toure:

 

[Barca_Cunninggate]

Messi will win against Ronaldo

 

[X.A.U]

I agree with Yaya as a DM, he did a good job with Chelsea game, but he was too slow and luckily VV saved us few times. Now Manchester Untied front way faster than Drogba and cos! And all depends on the tactics, we can have Yaya as a deep DM to support the defense when needed but still a DM.

Messi should have a free role, and don't stick with one position. Henry on the left.

In the back we can have:

Puyol-Caceres-Pique-Sylvinho

 

[Heath Newton]

But Berbatov is slow . He will do us no harm :grin:

just gonna make a note of that.....
"berbatov slow,won't harm us"

I have a feeling Ronaldo will bottle it.....again.
We'll own the ball in midfield as the likes of Carrick & Anderson are no match for Xavi, Iniesta, Yaya. playing us in an open game of football would be suicide.

might be,but maybe our attack is miles better than your defence,and your attack with all it's possession and occasional opponent's keeper with clean kit,won't break down our very good defence.they're each as likely as each other tbf.
and the assumption that we'd lose an open match to you is gaining ground here,and it's ALL it is,an assumption.

Lol I can´t imagine Ronaldo playing as the striker, he´d probably roll over at every opportunity given when Piqué or Puyol just get close to him. Wouldn´t be surprised if ManU won a few penalties as well.

here's hoping we do then eh,just to prove that the lemon taste in your mouth wasn't bitterness,and it's just because you're a lemon.
you can come on here then and say i told you so.

Messi will win against Ronaldo

like he did last year............