Maxwell

[diegomessi]

Perhaps, but i was far more afraid of Arsenal than i am of any of the other teams left. It's not arrogance, but perhaps it will turn out to be misplaced optimism. We will see on May the 22nd.

Inter is MILES ahead of arsenal in pretty much every catagory i can think of, other then having a red jersey... Just look at the difference in the way arsenal played chelski and inter did..

(no disrespect)

 

[gimmick]

Max has to play the game of his career tomorrow night. He has been doing well lately so hopefully it continues.

 

[OriginalThinking]

Inter is MILES ahead of arsenal in pretty much every catagory i can think of, other then having a red jersey... Just look at the difference in the way arsenal played chelski and inter did..

(no disrespect)

I'm not so sure. Yes they impressed me against Chelsea, but i haven't been impressed by them in their other champions league games, nor the Serie A games i've seen them play in. Barcelona are vulnerable to pace and Inter have a few players with it, but it's not like Inter are lightning quick. We are vulnerable to cross balls/long balls/set pieces but we should have the Puyol/Pique partnership back to combat that. We can also be guilty of playing slack passes out from defence and square passes in midfield. I think Arsenal are a better team than Inter and if we play with the same intensity as we did against Arsenal away from home then they don't stand a chance. Our biggest enemy in these games is ourselves. For all of Jose's mind games we know how they'll play: conservatively, try to make the pitch narrow and bog the midfield, man mark Xavi to stop him dictating the play and employ wide players to stop Dani and Maxwell from getting forward like they did against Chelsea. Secret weapon, try harder Jose!

EDIT: And i expect them to make lots of niggly fouls to slow down the pace and rhythm of our game and generally frustrate us.

 

[diegomessi]

I'm not so sure. Yes they impressed me against Chelsea, but i haven't been impressed by them in their other champions league games, nor the Serie A games i've seen them play in. Barcelona are vulnerable to pace and Inter have a few players with it, but it's not like their team are lightning quick. We can also be vulnerable to cross balls/long balls/set pieces but we should have the Puyol/Pique partnership back and we are vulnerable to playing slack passes out from defence and square passes in midfield. I think Arsenal are a better team than Inter and if we play with the same intensity as we did against Arsenal away from home then they don't stand a chance. Our biggest enemy in these games is ourselves. For all of Jose's mind games we know how they'll play: conservatively, try to make the pitch narrow and bog the midfield, man mark Xavi to stop him dictating the play and employ wide players to stop Dani and Maxwell from getting forward like they did against Chelsea. Secret weapon, try harder Jose!

You do have a point when i think about which team could damage barca more i think its arsenal with the counter and quckness.... but then again Inter are so much better in defense that we could lose from lack of scoring also... who knows... they just have some players that really scare me...especially defenders

 

[OriginalThinking]

You do have a point when i think about which team could damage barca more i think its arsenal with the counter and quckness.... but then again Inter are so much better in defense that we could lose from lack of scoring also... who knows... they just have some players that really scare me...especially defenders

I simply can't see us going 2 legs without a goal, whereas Inter don't score many goals. They aren't a prolific team. In defence Lucio is a bit of a monster when on form and they have Maicon too, who we all know is a bit tasty. They've got a decent goalkeeper and Samuel is experienced but didn't have a good time in Spain last time around. Zanetti is vastly experienced but isn't as fast as he used to be. If Inter beat us it'll be on away goals. But we have Messi, we'll have a pumped Ibra and our midfield is so much better than Inter it's not true. We've played them in the group stages and were the better team over two legs and i think we're in better form now. They know how we'll play but then so does ever other team in Europe. Against our first choice 11 the only team who have come close to stopping us were Chelsea last season. I think the team learned from that night at Stamford Bridge and we won't let ourselves be outmuscled like that again.

 

[diegomessi]

Barcelona will score, i can't see us going 2 legs without scoring, whereas Inter don't score many goals. They aren't a prolific team. In defence Lucio is a bit of a monster when on form and they have Maicon too, who we all know is a bit tasty. They've got a decent goalkeeper and Samuel is experienced but didn't have a good time in Spain last time around. Zanetti is vastly experienced but isn't as fast as he used to be. If Inter beat us it'll be on away goals. But we have Messi, we'll have a pumped Ibra and our midfield is so much better than Inter it's not true. We've played them in the group stages and were the better team over two legs and i think we are in better form now. They know how we'll play but then so does ever other team in Europe and against our first choice 11 the only team who have come close to stopping us were Chelsea last season. I think the team learned from that night at Stamford Bridge and we won't let ourselves be outmuscled like that again.

good post... i know we can beat them, i just also know they could just as easily beat us..

 

[OriginalThinking]

good post... i know we can beat them, i just also know they could just as easily beat us..

It's possible. I'm confident now but i'll probably be a nervous wreck come the Semi's. I couldn't watch the first 20 minutes of the 2nd leg against Arsenal I was so nervous. It wasn't until I heard that Messi had scored an equaliser that I could turn on the TV! We tend to play a very high defensive line and I was worried that Arsenals pace would expose that. Luckily we controlled the game brilliantly and no-one let their heads go down when they scored. But after that first leg, where we should have destroyed them i was convinced luck was against us. Glad I was wrong!

 

[ryuken]

Beat us they can but dont think that it will be easy

 

[Gnegneri]

Maxwell.

 

[Metaphysical]

Maxwell.

signing of the season.

what a bargain.

 

[Barcaman]

Very good today, well done Maxwell!

 

[House of Flies]

i concur with you, meta.

maxwell is our signing of the season. what a game.

 

[jairzinho]

good game by Maxy. how much did he cost us again ?

 

[silky_soccer]

signing of the season.

what a bargain.

Spot on...

 

[Sultan]

he's a perfect fit our team. great signing indeed.