Yes my good friend Lazie.....We were simply outclassed in every facet of the game. We played a Barcelona team that was missing 3 starting defensive players yet we could barely trouble Valdes. Barcelona treated us like they were our father to rhatid. They deserve to be Champions plain and simple. I wish I could curse the Barca fans (I'm looking right at you Ben ) but I have to big them up for that performance. Barca went into the match with a message to send and boy did I ever receive it.
My biggest complaint from our end Lazie has to be with Sir Alex Ferguson. Chelsea showed the blue print for how to beat Barcelona in that semi-final round yet Fergie decided that we were going to try and play with them? It made absolutely no sense. Hiddink showed the world exactly how to play Barcelona....Keep numbers behind the ball, get stuck in hard on every 50-50, wear them down and hit them on the counter. The problem is that when you decide to play Barcelona straight up you open yourself to losing the game before it even starts. In an open game against a Barca team you will put yourself in a position to chase the entire game due to their ability to keep possesion for long stretches of the game. Hiddink understood that.
I'm sorry but I think Ferguson was extremely naive in how he approached the match. You're first job as a coach is to put your team in the best possible position to win. After that you let the chips fall where they may. Ferguson failed miserably in that regard.
It was almost as if he was a double agent. He made a decision to play a style that suited Barcelona perfectly. By deciding to play them straight up he allowed them to play in their comfort zone. They had the time and space to do the things that they do better than anyone else in the world. It was bizzare. I would love to be a fly on the wall when the Man U coaches were sitting around discussing how they were going to approach the game. They must have been well inna dem waters.
I almost wonder if Fergie made the mistake of looking at his series against Arsenal and somehow drawing from that experience in forming his approach against Barca?
Oh well live and learn Lazie. Next year damn it. And while I'm at it....Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham all suck. Ah that feels much better... - T.K.
My biggest complaint from our end Lazie has to be with Sir Alex Ferguson. Chelsea showed the blue print for how to beat Barcelona in that semi-final round yet Fergie decided that we were going to try and play with them? It made absolutely no sense. Hiddink showed the world exactly how to play Barcelona....Keep numbers behind the ball, get stuck in hard on every 50-50, wear them down and hit them on the counter. The problem is that when you decide to play Barcelona straight up you open yourself to losing the game before it even starts. In an open game against a Barca team you will put yourself in a position to chase the entire game due to their ability to keep possesion for long stretches of the game. Hiddink understood that.
I'm sorry but I think Ferguson was extremely naive in how he approached the match. You're first job as a coach is to put your team in the best possible position to win. After that you let the chips fall where they may. Ferguson failed miserably in that regard.
It was almost as if he was a double agent. He made a decision to play a style that suited Barcelona perfectly. By deciding to play them straight up he allowed them to play in their comfort zone. They had the time and space to do the things that they do better than anyone else in the world. It was bizzare. I would love to be a fly on the wall when the Man U coaches were sitting around discussing how they were going to approach the game. They must have been well inna dem waters.
I almost wonder if Fergie made the mistake of looking at his series against Arsenal and somehow drawing from that experience in forming his approach against Barca?
Oh well live and learn Lazie. Next year damn it. And while I'm at it....Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham all suck. Ah that feels much better... - T.K.
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