Champions League Thread (the dawn of time - 2014)

[ARay]

To be fair, Manchester united were simply outclassed in the second period by Barcelona.
Messi's and Villa's Goal were brilliant shots. Granted the 2nd one could have probably been saved (but it still was a heck of a goal).
Messi ran rings around the midfield and Xavi had a 90% pass completion.
Abidal looked solid even after returning from his ordeal.

I think it was Rooney's sheer brilliance in the first half is what kept Man Us hopes alive. But in the end, even they could not keep up with the waves of Barcelona attacks.

 

[kevinx]

Failure? Premiership Champions for the 19th time and CL Finalists again? I think not - at least we were there. Your lot whoever they were obviously weren't.

Oh - and if you did your best, that's not failure. Failure is when you don't even give it a decent go.

Edit: Arsenal got an even bigger footballing lesson in the 2nd game at the Nou Camp than we did tonight. If Arsenal are your team, after the season you've had vs the season you could've had, I'd keep very quiet if I were you.

Edit: @War - Remember that Rooney was a basic non-starter for half the season. Next season he'll be on it from the go and rest assured, Sir Alex will bring in some new players. There will also likely be some surprises from the youth team - and remember what happened last time we bought some 'kids' through. Hernandez will be even better as well.

As far as I know, Fletcher wasn't fit.

When u try ur best and it doesn't work well its also called a FAILURE! Well i really congratulate Man Utd for giving their best for the BPL. chelsea wasnt able to perform well and certainly failed under Carlos Ancelotti. Arsenal has the most talented Youth players. Now when the new board takes over Arsenal they are going to strong their side and are going to be a big contender for the title. Certainly Man UTD are champions and are one of the best and richest teams in the world.

 

[JBlues08]

Our defence was great, but their attack was simply better. Disappointed by Van der Sar in the second goal, hes such a class act, he could have saved. Villa strike was just pure class.

Your defence was great?

They were at fault for Barcelona's second and third goal as nobody went and close Messi and Villa quicker. Van der Sar wasn't even at fault for any of the goals. And not to mention, Evra had a poor poor game at left back too.

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I've been hearing conflicting stories whether Fletcher was fit or not all day ha. But if he indeed wasn't SAF can be excused, but if he wasn't then it was big blunder.

I think Fletcher wasn't 100% fit to start the game and that was fairly evident in the last few Premier League games. I thought SAF maybe could have brought off Hernandez for Anderson to play in midfield and stick Rooney upfront alone just to combat Barcelona's midfield and take advantage of Mascherano playing at center back.

By the way, it seems funny that no one has mention anything yet about Berbatov.

 

[P Squared]

Berbatov's not even on the bench...

......

 

[Haarithan]

"For Berbatov it was a difficult decision," said Ferguson. "Picking my team I found easy, but picking my subs I found very difficult. I tended to overload the midfield positions because I thought that was the position that was most important.

"I gambled with just one defender (on the bench) to allow me to get as many options in midfield and wide positions. It was a choice between Michael Owen and Dimitar Berbatov and if you are looking for someone to nick a goal in the last few minutes you want Owen's experience."

Fergie insists axed Berbatov did not storm out - ESPN Soccernet

 

[JBlues08]

......

Sorry, I did not see that post but what I meant in the previous post was nobody talked about Berbatov being left out completely. Then again, why bother?

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Fergie insists axed Berbatov did not storm out - ESPN Soccernet

Not sure about that. Looks like he maybe gone this summer.

 

[BKB1991]

Your defence was great?

They were at fault for Barcelona's second and third goal as nobody went and close Messi and Villa quicker. Van der Sar wasn't even at fault for any of the goals. And not to mention, Evra had a poor poor game at left back too.

Great, was probably the wrong word to choose, but they certainly did well, the CBs made some crunching tackles and at times they kept us from a proper drubbing. But surviving wave of attack after attack wasnt easy and they certainly didnt crumble. Evra was disappointing, he was out of his position in the lead up to the first goal. You could blame one of the CBs for not coming to attack Messi there, but I reckon it should have been the job of a midfield player there to come and attack him.

Anyways this squad for me is one of Uniteds weakest in a while. Last season Rooneys brilliant form helped us get to second, but this time around we relied on other teams having their bad spells as well.

As far is Fletcher is concerned there were rumours he just wasnt fit enough. Giggs didnt have a great game as well, which didnt help Carrick as well. I think the lack of game time to Anderson and Fletcher in the leadup to the final didnt help their cause. Anderson is a player I want to see more of next season, he brings that buzz to the midfield we need.

Berbatov could be out. When you are the top goal scorer and dont make it to the bench in the CL final you know theres a lack of faith from the manager. I think we could do with another striker, Owen isnt what he once was, Berbatov sleeps in big games, and you just cant depend on Hernandez and Rooney to keep scoring for you.

Lets hope we get a good keeper as well or we could be entering the post-Schmeichel era again

 

[P Squared]

Berbatov could be out. When you are the top goal scorer and dont make it to the bench in the CL final you know theres a lack of faith from the manager. I think we could do with another striker, Owen isnt what he once was, Berbatov sleeps in big games, and you just cant depend on Hernandez and Rooney to keep scoring for you.

I don't really think we need to buy another striker since Welbeck and Macheda are on loan and I don't know about Macheda, but Welbeck has impressed at Sunderland.

 

[Dipak]

And seriously , is there a better player in this world than XAVI ??

Nope. I rate him as one of the best midfielders in the world. He is an amazing play maker

 

[m_vaughan]

I don't really think we need to buy another striker since Welbeck and Macheda are on loan and I don't know about Macheda, but Welbeck has impressed at Sunderland.

Macheda has been poor in Serie A.

 

[MasterBlaster76]

When u try ur best and it doesn't work well its also called a FAILURE!

'Failure' and 'Man Utd' aren't two (three) words you can put together. Who do you support anyway?

To be fair, Manchester united were simply outclassed in the second period by Barcelona.
Messi's and Villa's Goal were brilliant shots. Granted the 2nd one could have probably been saved (but it still was a heck of a goal).
Messi ran rings around the midfield and Xavi had a 90% pass completion.
Abidal looked solid even after returning from his ordeal.

I think it was Rooney's sheer brilliance in the first half is what kept Man Us hopes alive. But in the end, even they could not keep up with the waves of Barcelona attacks.

Yes, Barca ruled the midfield. I can't help but wonder - would the midfield from the 'class of '99' have been ruled so comprehensively? We need to inject some steel into it as I have been saying for ages - we need a midfield general like Keano was.

Your defence was great?

They were at fault for Barcelona's second and third goal as nobody went and close Messi and Villa quicker. Van der Sar wasn't even at fault for any of the goals. And not to mention, Evra had a poor poor game at left back too.

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I think Fletcher wasn't 100% fit to start the game and that was fairly evident in the last few Premier League games. I thought SAF maybe could have brought off Hernandez for Anderson to play in midfield and stick Rooney upfront alone just to combat Barcelona's midfield and take advantage of Mascherano playing at center back.

By the way, it seems funny that no one has mention anything yet about Berbatov.

Yep - as soon as I heard that Berba wasn't even on the bench - I remarked to my mate that I reckon he's gone this summer. In hindsight, maybe Berba would've been a better choice as starter - he can hold the ball up more than Hernandez can - and as I've said before, Hernandez, like Solskjaer before him, often doesn't have the best of games when starting. If Fletcher was fit, he definitely should've played but I don't think it would've made much difference.

However, you're right - while the defence had an OK game overall, they really should've got right in the Barca attackers' faces for the 2nd and 3rd goals - and the defending for the 1st goal was like a training exercise for Barca.

 

[MasterBlaster76]

Sir Alex made a good point - this will probably have the same effect on us the 4-0 defeat in the Nou Camp around 1994 did - it spurred us on and helped us reach the next level.

 

[Auwais]

It's been a good season for us, regardless. If you'd told me, pre-season, that we'd get 19 and reach the CL final to boot, I'd have bit your hand off.

 

[MasterBlaster76]

It's been a good season for us, regardless. If you'd told me, pre-season, that we'd get 19 and reach the CL final to boot, I'd have bit your hand off.

Yep. I wish I'd put something on it, would probably have won a few quid. I expect a few new faces though - usually Sir Alex doesn't talk much about signing people, but this Barca defeat and the manner of it have spurred him on, I'm sure.

 

[JBlues08]

Five lessons that Manchester United failed to learn against Barcelona | Guardian

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