The English Football Thread

Unknown Soldier · 05-19-2012, 05:16 PM

Wow Chelski finally did it! Bayern threw it away on at least three occasions and Chelsea's amazing run of luck didn't desert them.

jackhammer · 05-19-2012, 06:50 PM

Great game for lots of reasons. Chelsea rode their luck but they have done since the group stages and it almost inevitable that they would do it.

On pure football performances have Chelsea deserved to be winners? No. On spirit and dogged determination? Hell yes. That sort of backs to the wall spirit has been missing for a long time in football and it's great to see it's still alive.

Bulldog · 05-20-2012, 03:08 AM

Barring Robben's penalty in extra time, I think I counted barely 2 or 3 shots on target than Bayern Munich had. Bearing in mind that they had 30+ shots off target, that's absolutely abysmal. True, Ribery and Robben were well-marshalled by the Chelsea backline, but on last night's evidence I really don't know how Mario Gomes has scored 40-odd goals this season. He was absolutely awful.

Chelski took their chances better, defended better and displayed better teamwork. They deserved to win as far as I'm concerned. After all, possession isn't all it takes to win matches. If it did, Wigan would be competing in the champion's league next season.

I'm no Blues fan, but I'm happy for them, more so because they toppled the media darlings Barcelona - hopefully people will stop jumping on that bandwagon now. I doubt it though.

Unknown Soldier · 05-20-2012, 04:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bulldog

Barring Robben's penalty in extra time, I think I counted barely 2 or 3 shots on target than Bayern Munich had. Bearing in mind that they had 30+ shots off target, that's absolutely abysmal. True, Ribery and Robben were well-marshalled by the Chelsea backline, but on last night's evidence I really don't know how Mario Gomes has scored 40-odd goals this season. He was absolutely awful.

Chelski took their chances better, defended better and displayed better teamwork. They deserved to win as far as I'm concerned. After all, possession isn't all it takes to win matches. If it did, Wigan would be competing in the champion's league next season.

I'm no Blues fan, but I'm happy for them, more so because they toppled the media darlings Barcelona - hopefully people will stop jumping on that bandwagon now. I doubt it though.

The Bayern finishing was abysmal, I don't know how they got to the final with finishing like this. Robben and Ribery have scored great goals in the past but I often seen them hit wild shots more often than not over the years. I've always thought of Mario Gomez as a lumbering CF and can't believe that he's scored like 40+ goals this season. Last night he played like the Mario Gomez that I usually see. He also reminds me of the Italian CF Toni who has a similiar style and build and equally useless in front of goal in those really big matches, out of interest Toni played for Bayern a few years ago and also scored around 30-40 goals in one season.

**Goofle** · 05-23-2012, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jackhammer

Great game for lots of reasons. Chelsea rode their luck but they have done since the group stages and it almost inevitable that they would do it.

On pure football performances have Chelsea deserved to be winners? No. On spirit and dogged determination? Hell yes. That sort of backs to the wall spirit has been missing for a long time in football and it's great to see it's still alive.

Come on. That kind of football is detrimental to the game. "Backs against the wall" spirit is fine, but not when it's played by a multi-billion pound football team who have not shown an ounce of attacking philosophy throughout the whole tournament.

Barcelona and Bayern deserved to win their games because they made an effort to win. Chelsea rode their luck and ended up winning it. Fine. That's all well and good for them, but football loses out in the end.

Urban Hat€monger ? · 05-23-2012, 08:46 AM

I think that's a bit unfair to Chelsea. If you look at the statistics they scored 25 goals in 12 games throughout the tournament.
13 in the group stages (in 6 games) & 12 in the knockout stages (In 7 games)

That doesn't strike me as being over defensive.

Bayern only managed 4 more throughout the tournament and 7 of those were against Basel.

**Goofle** · 05-23-2012, 09:07 AM

I don't want to sound patronising, but did you watch the semi's and the final? They barely left their own half in all three games. I am all for solid defensive teams, which Chelsea can be, but they did not "deserve" to win the Champions League one bit. Especially considering the amount of money they have spent building a team that basically plays an advanced form of Stoke-ball.

**Goofle** · 05-23-2012, 09:08 AM

Saying that, I am very happy for Drogba and Lampard. Nothing but respect for those two giants of the game. Lampard is right up there with the best midfielders of all time, and it would have been a shame for him to have not won the Champions League before he retired.

Dvorak · 05-26-2012, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goofle11

I don't want to sound patronising, but did you watch the semi's and the final? They barely left their own half in all three games. I am all for solid defensive teams, which Chelsea can be, but they did not "deserve" to win the Champions League one bit. Especially considering the amount of money they have spent building a team that basically plays an advanced form of Stoke-ball.

...but then who did deserve to win the competition? If Barca and Bayern were unable to fully capitalize on their dominence in these games, then they didn't deserve to win it either.

Chelsea were often on the back foot in these games. Not many teams go to the Nou Camp or the Allianz Arena and dominate their opponents... and even fewer manage to score two goals in the Nou Camp whilst down to ten men.

To be fair, the performance in Munich was not great. However I would expect Stuttgart (who came 6th in the German league) to be very much on the back foot in a game vs Man Utd at Old Trafford. I will also say their performence in Munich was vastly superior to Man City's, who have spent more £ in recent years and play a technically better game of football.

I am not the greatest lover of Chelsea FC, but fair play to them I say.

right-track · 05-26-2012, 06:17 PM

No love for the 3 Lions tonight?

05-19-2012, 06:50 PM	#3722 (permalink)
jackhammer Ba and Be. Join Date: May 2007 Location: This Is England Posts: 17,331	Great game for lots of reasons. Chelsea rode their luck but they have done since the group stages and it almost inevitable that they would do it. On pure football performances have Chelsea deserved to be winners? No. On spirit and dogged determination? Hell yes. That sort of backs to the wall spirit has been missing for a long time in football and it's great to see it's still alive. __________________ It be my music and film collection. “A cynic by experience, a romantic by inclination and now a hero by necessity.”

05-23-2012, 08:46 AM	#3726 (permalink)
Urban Hat€monger ? The Sexual Intellectual Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Somewhere cooler than you Posts: 18,605	I think that's a bit unfair to Chelsea. If you look at the statistics they scored 25 goals in 12 games throughout the tournament. 13 in the group stages (in 6 games) & 12 in the knockout stages (In 7 games) That doesn't strike me as being over defensive. Bayern only managed 4 more throughout the tournament and 7 of those were against Basel. __________________ Urb's RYM Stuff Most people sell their soul to the devil, but the devil sells his soul to Nick Cave.

05-20-2012, 03:08 AM	#3723 (permalink)
Bulldog why bother? Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: UK Posts: 4,840	Barring Robben's penalty in extra time, I think I counted barely 2 or 3 shots on target than Bayern Munich had. Bearing in mind that they had 30+ shots off target, that's absolutely abysmal. True, Ribery and Robben were well-marshalled by the Chelsea backline, but on last night's evidence I really don't know how Mario Gomes has scored 40-odd goals this season. He was absolutely awful. Chelski took their chances better, defended better and displayed better teamwork. They deserved to win as far as I'm concerned. After all, possession isn't all it takes to win matches. If it did, Wigan would be competing in the champion's league next season. I'm no Blues fan, but I'm happy for them, more so because they toppled the media darlings Barcelona - hopefully people will stop jumping on that bandwagon now. I doubt it though.

05-26-2012, 06:17 PM	#3730 (permalink)
right-track Atchin' Akai Join Date: May 2005 Location: Unamerica Posts: 8,723	No love for the 3 Lions tonight?