UEFA Cup

[CATCH17]

Chelsea and Liverpool play today.

 

[gazmc_06]

I think that tie is done and dusted to be honest, when Chelsea scored their 2nd I thought it was basically done but the 3rd went in that was the final nail in the coffin.

I don't see anybody scoring 3 against Chelsea without reply, especially at the Bridge.

 

[daschoo]

1 nil liverpool! but no still cant see them doing it

edit : wow 2 nil! cant wait to finish work and run home to catch the second half

 

[gazmc_06]

What a game that was, best game I've seen in a long time.

Come on Chelsea, hopefully the other half of the Blues Brothers go all the way.

 

[thekavorka]

It is a big deal, he still plays on the wing and spends a lot of his time towards the middle of the park. Strikers never track back and great players like Torres haven't scored as many as Ronaldo has....to score more than some of the best strikers in the world when you don't even play up front is always a big deal.

well, he didn't score more than Torres from open play. But that's besides the point.

and the way ronaldo plays, he basically does play up front. he drifts towards the middle all the time. he's the target of so many crosses. The way hes playing this season is basically how Messi is playing...as a RW in a 4-3-3. They may list the formation as a 4-4-2, but Ronaldo's role this year is very similar to Messi.

and great game between liverpool/chelsea. i hope barcelona tears chelsea a new one.

 

[gazmc_06]

Ronaldo plays on the wing and drifts infield when he get's a chance (when the ball is on the other side about to be crossed or there is a space for him to run into) which is what every attacking winger does.

I'm looking forward to the next round, I'm hoping Chelsea beat Barca down.

 

[thekavorka]

so your entire argument is that it's so impressive that Ronaldo leads the league in goals while playing as a winger when only 8/15 goals he scored came from open play? I'd argue that Stephen Ireland's 8 goals from midfield is more remarkable.

 

[gazmc_06]

^It's not an arguement, it's facts. No winger has ever led the premiership in goals two seasons in a row...Ronaldo at this point is doing that. You may not like him, but there is taking away how impressive that is.

 

[thekavorka]

^It's not an arguement, it's facts. No winger has ever led the premiership in goals two seasons in a row...Ronaldo at this point is doing that. You may not like him, but there is taking away how impressive that is.

yeah...he's an impressive FK taker and penalty scorer (which SIGNIFICANTLY adds to his goal tally) too where it doesn't necessarily matter if you're a striker, winger, central midfielder, etc.

 

[UKCowboysFan]

yeah...he's an impressive FK taker and penalty scorer (which SIGNIFICANTLY adds to his goal tally) too where it doesn't necessarily matter if you're a striker, winger, central midfielder, etc.

Whereas Henry & Shearer didn't take penalties, did they?

FWIW, I believe that Ronaldo will be more successful in the Spanish league, than Messi would be in the English league.

 

[thekavorka]

Whereas Henry & Shearer didn't take penalties, did they?

I'm not arguing that. Henry and Shearer got plenty of goals from penalties too. The other guy is saying that it's such a big deal that Ronaldo leads the league in goals because of his position, but only 8/15 of his goals has come from open play where his position would actually matter. Let someone like Stephen Ireland take penalties instead of Robinho. I'm sure Ireland would be near the top as well.

Ronaldo is the best player in the Premier League. I'm not arguing that. I'm saying that because he's an excellent FK taker/Penalty scorer, it's not a big deal that he leads the league in goals because of his position when only 8/15 goals come from open play.

 

[UKCowboysFan]

So, what are the chances for Man Utd & Arsenal tonight.

Both games just about to kick off.

I have a sneaky feeling that Man Utd will get through, even though they haven't been playing well for weeks now.

Don't know about Arsenal, could well go to penalties.

 

[thekavorka]

fantastic strike by Ronaldo. nice to see him play in a 4-3-3. i thought ferdinand/vidic made the difference in the game.

arsenal controlled pretty much the entire game aside from the first 5 or 10 minutes of the 2nd half. I thought we'd miss Gallas/Djorou/Almunia/Clichy/Sagna. nice to see the young guys like Gibbs and Fabianski step up. Silvestre is still a huge question mark. Too bad Gallas is out for the year. I hope Djorou can come back and replace Silvestre.

 

[UKCowboysFan]

Great results for both Man U & Arsenal.
I don't think that the debateable penalty Arsenal got made much difference to the result, they looked comfortable winners.
And I think you are right about Vidic & Ferdinand, although I did think Van der Sar looked a bit flappy.

Don't imagine either team are really looking forward to facing each other in the Semi Finals. That said, I don't suppose either wanted to play Chelsea or Barcelona either.

I bet Platini is spitting feathers this morning, what with three English teams in the Semi's again. In fact I bet he's thinking of ways to ban English teams from the Champions League as he munches on his Garlic Sarnies

So we could have a repeat of Last years final, or a repeat of the final from a couple of years back.

Barcelona are an odd team, they have a great threat going forwards, but I'm not sure how they will cope if Chelsea attack them.

Will be interesting to see what plans they have for Messi, will they man mark him like they did with Gerrard in the first leg against Liverpool.

 

[gazmc_06]

Wonderful strike last night from Ronaldo, that's probably his best game of the season but he still didn't look happy, I think it's been made pretty clear that he wants to play in Spain.

Arsenal looked excellent last night, they are going to be excellent next season if they can keep their players in the transfer window. Man Utd - Arsenal will be a better game than the Chelsea one IMO, but the Chelsea game is the one I'll watch because it's more...interesting. I'd put Bosingwa on Messi (Cole would have played him well but he's suspended), Bosignwa will show Messi outside all the time and he's pretty useless with his right foot. He'll still be dangerous but I think a bit of physicality will take him out of the game quite a bit.

 

[thekavorka]

I dont think Arsenal can keep up this good run of form with the makeshift defense. It's just ridiculous in the back.

Almunia out.
Gallas out of for the season right when he was playing extremely well.
Clichy out.
Djorou out.
Sagna out this saturday with a virus.
Now, it seems Gibbs suffered a groin injury and won't play this Saturday.

It's crazy what we have to go through. It's going to be really tough this Saturday against Chelsea. We'll need some magic from the midfield and strikers.

Hopefully we can get Clichy, Sagna, and Djorou back in time for the CL Semifinal.

 

[Cochese]

Fake Ronaldos goal was absolutely insane.

Gunners lost in the FA CUP becauce Wenger diddnt have the balls to choose the right team.

Should make the Champ League Semis much more interesting.

 

[gazmc_06]

Chelsea were just too physically dominant for Arsenal, they bullied them in midfield and apart from the first 15 minutes, Chelsea had complete control of the game.

 

[thekavorka]

Fake Ronaldos goal was absolutely insane.

Gunners lost in the FA CUP becauce Wenger diddnt have the balls to choose the right team.

Should make the Champ League Semis much more interesting.

Did Wenger not take the game seriously or what? What was up with that formation? No Arshavin, Song and Van Persie on the wing? I didn't like it.

Song would have been a very physical presence in the midfield. Not sure why he wasn't playing.

And Chelsea won because our defense is in shambles due to injuries, and Wenger chose an uncomfortable formation. Both of your goals came due to poor defending. Eboue is not a natural right back obviously. Silvestre is a fourth-choice CB and it shows. And Fabianski was TERRIBLE. i hope either fabianski can bounce back or we can get almunia back soon.

 

[Cochese]

Did Wenger not take the game seriously or what? What was up with that formation? No Arshavin, Song and Van Persie on the wing? I didn't like it.

Song would have been a very physical presence in the midfield. Not sure why he wasn't playing.

And Chelsea won because our defense is in shambles due to injuries, and Wenger chose an uncomfortable formation. Both of your goals came due to poor defending. Eboue is not a natural right back obviously. Silvestre is a fourth-choice CB and it shows. And Fabianski was TERRIBLE. i hope either fabianski can bounce back or we can get almunia back soon.

Dont blame Fabianski. The match was lost as soon as Wenger decided to put puzznilson against Ballack, Essien and the like. This was our best chance for glory and I will NOT forgive him for a long time.