Soda Jerk Posted May 30, 2011 Report Share Posted May 30, 2011 Fantastic performance which made me feel silly for doubting Barca this time. They haven't been at their best lately but when it really counted they played some of their very best football.Now even if Barca somehow collapse next year I think you can look at the team of 08/09 to 10/11 as one of the truly great club sides, if not the greatest. It's amazing to think that in the last 3 years players like Xavi, Puyol and Iniesta have won 3 consecutive league titles, 2 Champions Leagues and in the season they didn't get the CL the World Cup with Spain.Abidal playing the whole match was incredible and it was great to see them giving him the armband so he could lift the trophy first.Hopefully this match has gone someway to repairing their public image after it was damaged so badly in that awful match against Madrid.As long as they have a coach who can maintain motivation within the players I imagine we'll see Barca take another 2 or 3 Champions League trophies in the next 5 years.They can only be beaten if they have an off day, or they get kicked around like Real Madrid did. Ridiculous side just now. It proves how good they are when they've got Mascherano looking seasoned, comfortable and untroubled at centre back!! I also thought Rio and Vidic were superb, yet Barca still scored 3 goals.When Puyol's injury kicked in, I did wonder how they'd keep on going without him. They did just fine, and if he left due to his injury troubles, they'd probably still be fine. Xavi is the big one to consider, but as Pep said to Xavi when he first broke into the side "You'll retire me, but Iniesta will retire us both". I imagine Iniesta will drop a little deeper into Xavi's position and they'll no doubt sign Fabregas eventually. No one ever wants to leave Barca either, unless they're not getting a game, so they'll be fine for many years I imagine.Set of bastards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted May 30, 2011 Report Share Posted May 30, 2011 Qatar buying World Cup shocker.Wait. Everyone already new that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodsinho Posted May 30, 2011 Report Share Posted May 30, 2011 I know the 2011/2012 season thread has been created but I'm not done with 2010/2011 yet...Looking good for Swansea. 3-0 up against Reading in the play-off final and it's not even half time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda Jerk Posted May 30, 2011 Report Share Posted May 30, 2011 Was hoping they'd win, for a Premier League debutant at least, since QPR and Norwich have seen it all before, and so have Reading. I also don't like Reading since they became Steve Copell-less. He was their likeable factor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain America Posted May 30, 2011 Report Share Posted May 30, 2011 This is a great football match! Glad I'm off work today!EDIT: ANOTHER goal! Fuckin' yas. Game on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodsinho Posted May 30, 2011 Report Share Posted May 30, 2011 I'm feeling an increasingly strong urge to go home and watch the rest of this match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ghost Of Fudge Posted May 30, 2011 Report Share Posted May 30, 2011 swansea going up then. a non-english team, eh? cue old firm looking pissed off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodsinho Posted May 30, 2011 Report Share Posted May 30, 2011 albeit a non-english team who have been members of the english football league since 1920. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted May 30, 2011 Report Share Posted May 30, 2011 I know the 2011/2012 season thread has been created but I'm not done with 2010/2011 yet...Right on. Feels way to early for a new thread. Think I'll keep posting here for a while. Not that there'll be much to talk about. Fucking Summer.Maybe some exciting transfer action will happen. Suarez to demand a move to Man U? That would be fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted May 30, 2011 Report Share Posted May 30, 2011 I was forgetting for a second.COPA AMERICA IN JULY!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ca_gere Posted May 30, 2011 Report Share Posted May 30, 2011 I think arsenal's transfer activity promises to be interesting. Wenger doesn't seem to know when to let go but he needs to do some clearing out. Next season will decide his fate for sure, he needs a rophy. If he buys shrewdly and doesnt disrupt the team's cohesiveness then he'll prove what a great manager everyone knows he is. However, he's got little time to rebuild and will no doubt point to that if he fails and gets the boot. Cahill would be a good aquisition. Strong leader at the back. Him with vermaelen would surely put an end to defensive woes. Aside from that they just need a couple of solid performers as back up for some of the delicate flowers in the team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain America Posted May 30, 2011 Report Share Posted May 30, 2011 I think arsenal's transfer activity promises to be interesting. Wenger doesn't seem to know when to let go but he needs to do some clearing out. Next season will decide his fate for sure, he needs a rophy. If he buys shrewdly and doesnt disrupt the team's cohesiveness then he'll prove what a great manager everyone knows he is. However, he's got little time to rebuild and will no doubt point to that if he fails and gets the boot. Cahill would be a good aquisition. Strong leader at the back. Him with vermaelen would surely put an end to defensive woes. Aside from that they just need a couple of solid performers as back up for some of the delicate flowers in the team.I'd prefer to see Wenger bring in Chris Samba, give the team a bit of toughness as well as solidfy the back. They also need another midfielder another striker assuming Bendtner is gone (an upgrade on him would help anyway) and a midfielder. It's a big job but like you say if he can do it without disrupting the spine of his team and just add a couple of pieces they look ready to mature into a really good team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda Jerk Posted May 31, 2011 Report Share Posted May 31, 2011 I was gonna suggest Samba too. He is a monster. I'm surprised he's been at Blackburn so long, as he is terrific, yet it's only just now that big clubs are taking notice. He was great at Hertha Berlin too. I wish United would bring him in, to completely push the once-good-but-now-fucking-dreadful Jonny Evans completely out of the equation.I think all the top sides need to strengthen, because it is a given that City will spend a quarter or a billion again on every player who is rated 84+ on Fifa 11. United have got old legs to replace, and their central midfield has needed attending to for a few years. Arsenal need some muscle, and someone who can play when RVP can't (Though I thought Chamakh was doing very good, but then all of a sudden couldn't get into the team, not even being brought on as a sub?). Chelsea look soft in their midfield too without Ballack, and Mikel is being found out as being quite a useless player. God knows what they will do with the Drogba/Torres situation. It seems only logical to keep Torres because of his age, but when he's on song, Drogba is the best around, but he's not gonna be able to keep doing it that much longer.The Berbatov situation is very interesting, and puzzling to say the least. He's had arguably his best season in English football. Fair enough, Hernandez has pushed him out of the equation a little, but to not even be on the bench in the CL final? Something's not quite right. The season he's just had is probably what every United fan was expecting him to have when he joined. He finally steps up to the plate and as a result he's likely to be on his bike. Strange. If he does go, surely he'll have to be replaced. Rooney, Hernandez and Wellbeck isn't enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monster Zero Posted May 31, 2011 Report Share Posted May 31, 2011 Even as someone who isn't too fussed about footy generally, I got a bit of a semi at David Villa's goal on Saturday night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ca_gere Posted May 31, 2011 Report Share Posted May 31, 2011 That's yer scholes retired. All in all a great player. Not a fan of one team players generally, suggests they are a bit of a wuss and it's hard to gauge how good they actually are/were. Le tiss is the exception coz he was just all round ace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodsinho Posted May 31, 2011 Report Share Posted May 31, 2011 Paul Scholes - Good at Football Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted May 31, 2011 Report Share Posted May 31, 2011 Thinking about it Fergie must be a little annoyed that this Barca team has come along at just this time. He'd only managed one CL final appearance in his first 20 years in charge. Something that definitely bothers him, he's said before how he thinks they should have won it more times. Even his great sides often struggled to get it just right in Europe. Then all of a sudden United reach 3 finals in 4 years, this year getting to the final without even much of a struggle. Unfortunately for him he's twice come up against a side that are just too good for united and more particularly a side perfectly set up to expose the weaknesses of his side. Rather than 2008 being the first of a great period it is just the second of 2 wins in 25 years. Because of this, in all these best team ever debates going on there isn't a Fergie side being seriously discussed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda Jerk Posted May 31, 2011 Report Share Posted May 31, 2011 I don't think Fergie has ever compiled an unstoppable footballing side, especially not in Europe, but even domestically, United have nearly always been written off at the start of the season as not being strong enough, and it's always come down to Ferguson getting the best out of an arguably unglamerous bunch and proving everyone wrong. No United side will go down in history (apart from perhaps the 99 side, who won the final without the pivotal Keane/Scholes duo who destroyed Juventus a few weeks before) but no doubt Ferguson will.Shame to see Scholes go. As has been said, good at football. Not many like him, especially not English players anyway. Wilshere is the most common comparison these days, but he's still got a long way to go to match him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted May 31, 2011 Report Share Posted May 31, 2011 Fergie will obviously and rightfully be remembered for his long term ability to reinvent his side and constantly win things over such a long period. About as great as an achievement as a manager could achieve. I just wonder how much it gets to him that he hasn't won more Champions League titles. And I find it a funny coincidence that just when he's got close to rectifying that fact this Barca team has developed.I don't really think the 99 side will or should go down in history as an all time great team. I doubt people outside of the UK would consider them at all. I think the 07-09 team was best. sadly for Fergie rather than adding the one or two players needed to push even further forward he lost a couple of the best ones, obviously the most important being CRon.Great player Scholes. Although I still think he used his cannae tackle rep as a cover for him liking to hack people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda Jerk Posted May 31, 2011 Report Share Posted May 31, 2011 It was clear Scholes was a nasty piece of work. He loved a good kick. Roy Keane passed the baton. No doubt Rooney will get it now.The 99 side was tremendous. Bayern ruled the final because United were missing their midfield, but they were incredible in the run-in to the final, and still had enough fight to win the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted May 31, 2011 Report Share Posted May 31, 2011 They obviously were a very good side with probably the best midfield the premiership has ever seen. But a team wins the champions league every year. Obviously the teams which win it more often in a short period will be remembered more. Since I was still really big in to Serie a at the time I always remember that that Juve team was having a pretty bad year and only finished 6th. I know it shouldn't really take away from Utd's performance against them but still. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda Jerk Posted May 31, 2011 Report Share Posted May 31, 2011 True. I think the 99 team is worth remembering as well due to winning the Treble, as the Barca 09 side did. Especially as they were completely written off at the beginning of that season, as they had lost Cantona to retirement, bringing in Sheringham and Yorke as replacements, but both were seen as not good enough at the time. Then they went and won the lot.I think they'll be remembered for sure, but not as much as teams who have done it over a prolonged period like Barca are doing now, and Liverpool did in the 70's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted May 31, 2011 Report Share Posted May 31, 2011 I'd be quite interested to know what more people outside of Britain think of that team. I imagine last years Inter side will go down in Italy as a great team but less so in the UK. It might be a similar situation with the 99 side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda Jerk Posted May 31, 2011 Report Share Posted May 31, 2011 That's fine with me. Just like when Americans think everyone on the planet loves baseball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted May 31, 2011 Report Share Posted May 31, 2011 Don't think Americans even like baseball these days.I find comparing sides of different eras a bit silly anyway. But since the season is over there's not much better to talk about.For example it's a little wierd to see journalists who weren't even born at the time argue that Madrid of the 50's were the best ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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