Ribery has to step up. We can focus on players that maybe miss, but they at least get into position. Ribery has been absolute absent. No actually he missed a sitter also by reaction not alert enough and let a defender get to him. Maybe worse than the Robben and Gomez miss. The ball from Robben came a bit to high to press it down. The ball of Gomez was a sitter but indeed a bit bouncy. First touch was not good enough. Props from Robben to take the penalty. He had the nerves to do it after the missed one against Dortmund and took it. Alaba is for me one of the greatest rising stars in the game. Why did Schweini not head the ball on goal but started the head volley in front of Real goal? With a firm head swing he should have been able to put some speed on the ting and head it in. Was a weird moment. The throw in from Robben was also nice. Extra Time.
Ha and there is the direct response to my observation. Ribery is taken off. Good move, he was horrible.
Have you seen how Alaba stepped up with the penalty and how good he was in this game? That kid is going places.
He is 19. I think when he will be 28 like Lahm is now. He will be the undisputed Best LB in the world. And Van Gaal is a genius. One of the greatest coaches of all times. Alaba came to play a charity U-16 match & was selected for Bayern but Van Gaal debuted him for Bayern at 16-17. He was adamant that he was CM & did not want to play elsewhere. Vaan Gaal then said " HE is a LB who does not believehimself to be a LB" After years of playing CM & LW finally in an odd game where Bayern had half the team injured Alaba played LB & the rest is history.Same with Muller & Badstuber,picked them out from Bayern Reserves in the Third Division. Uli Hoeness fought that rookies dont deserve a chance. But Vaan Gaal fought on. Lahm to RB from LB. Schweni to to CM from RW,Kroos to CM from LW. Genius. True Visionary. This team has been shaped by him. If he was not so egoist & stupid he would be legendary now. Neuer should be Vaan Gaal's dream GK,a GK with extra-ordinary distribution skills but Van Gaal fought against him tooth & nail.
Other thing is Gustavo reminds of Mark van Bommel. Makes 100 fouls a game & gets some stupid yellow but does not have the intelligence & manipulation power & leadership quality of MVB. He is only 22 odd though & super fast. Anyways no mention of Lahm. He is like Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. 1st leg was horrid in the ROnaldo goal & then he set up Gomez. This leg lost Ronaldo again & he scored. Then made 6-7 Extra-ordinary Sliding Tackles & made ROnaldo his bitch. Then Horrid penalty Miss. And them the Gomez misses. Great Positional sense,obviously very little tactical sense & Hit/MISS finishing. Someday he is in God Mode,someday like today he misses 2-3 very Clear Cut Chances. Better team won. So happy for Alaba though. He will the CHL final with Badstuber & Gustavo. All 3 out. But despite that being only 19 he gave his all. Everything. No Dissapointment nothing. I read his interview & all he was telling Heyneckes was it was his dream to play CHL final with bayern at Allianz Arena. He was very afraid of getting a yellow. But he got a completely ridiculous one on the hand ball. He will probably Cry today. He is a kid. This is his 1st Full time Season with Bayern as a Starter.
Chelsea doesn't stand much of a chance imo. Cahill will probably make it, but Luiz injury looks more serious.
But Bayern are without three key players, so I think it's a wash. I suspect Chelsea will play the same way they did against Barca but Bayern have height and are good in the air around the box. 2-1 Bayern in normal time.
To be honest. Bayern will not have a lot of players. Breno & DVB are injured for the season. Badstuber & Gustavo are suspended. SO Tymo (CDM) will have to play CB. Lahm have to move to LB so that Rafinha at RB who is shit at defense or play Contento at LB who is mediocre & has played 2-3 games the whole season. Then they will probably have no reason & will start with Kroos-Schweini at CM with muller as 2nd Striker in an Ultra-Attacking Line Up because they dont have Many Defensive Players left.
& Final is in Allianz Arena & the support for Bayern will be huge. If Bayern will get an early goal I predict a 3-0 drubbing odd. If Chelsea can get an early goal then they might scrape through 1-0 as they are expert at defending with 11 men. Advantage Bayern I guess. Quality Wise far far superior than Chelsea especially in attack. But Stranger things have happened in Attack. The Mentality is all that counts
Tonight Madrid showed by the 4-2-3-1 just doesn't work. Alonso and Khedeira were worthless throughout the match as neither one went forward. Bayern were able to cope pretty well since Ozil was a non-factor for the most part. Don't know why Mourinho insists on this formation when he has so many good attackers and he could really put teams on their back heel. Can't say I'm disappointed since I really dislike Madrid but as long as Mourinho is there I don't think he wins the CL.
Come on man Bayern have the best Fullbacks & mid-field in the world now . Yea better than Barca because their FullBacks & Wingers are Light years ahead. Lahm-Robben Alaba-Ribery Gustavo-Kroos-Schweni Gustavo is becoming a defensive beast & Kroos is the Heart & Soul of Bayern. He is like an even better version of Schweni & dictated the whole mid-field. Its a good team. Gomez has SHIT LOADS of goal & Neuer is probably the best GK in the world. Yea Bayern's coach does not have balls but still its a great team. Nothing to be ashamed about. Real got badly owned in the midfield. Personally I would have gone for a 4-3-1-2 formation Ronaldo Benzema OZIL Sahin-Khediera-Alonso Ronaldo just does defend or have the speed & crossing left to be a Winger anymore. Real lost the midfield. Sahin killed Bayern while being in Dortmund. Di Maria & kaka were rubbish. Sahin-Khediera-Alonso would be Super SLow but atleats they would have good long balls & actually compete in the midfield not outclassed in the centre of the pitch
Should both Luiz and Cahill not make it means Chelsea are without 6 key players, that's double the amount! Imagine their makeshift defense against Robbery + Gomez..
Go back and read my original post. I said nothing about the quality of the Bayern players but of the poor decision by Mourinho to stick with a formation that was designed to fail since it never got enough players forward into the attacking portion of the midfield. The only player going forward other than the front three was Marcelo who did OK in that regard. Heynkes also did a smart thing and had Ozil man marked for a good portion of the match thus negating him. To say that Bayern's fullbacks and wingers are light years ahead of Barca is just not true (but then you are always prone to hyper-exaggeration). Barca plays a totally different type of formation and game and one cannot generalize about the quality of their players versus another team's becasue of this. Gustavo essentially marked Ozil out of the match as I already noted. I have always liked Kroos and am glad that Heynkes has made him the main playmaker. This is advantageous since Schweinsteiger, who also has quality, can now make runs up to join in the offense giving them an added attacking player (in contrast to Khedeira and Alonso who never do). Gomez is a terrible finisher when facing talented oposition. He's OK for the Bundesliga but nothing great at a higher level. Neuer was not even Germany's number one choice as keeper and it was Rene Adler's unfortunate injury that put him in as a starter in the WC. Otherwise he would not have seen any action. He's a very good keeper but not as good as Casillas, Cech, or Buffon (and maybe a couple of others). His kicking today was up to the quality of Oliver Kahn (and if you have ever seen him kick, you know that this is not a complement). Correct, they did get owned in the midfield. Your proposed lineup is even worse than the one that Mourinho put out there. You really want a player who has appeared in THREE games out on the field in a CL semi-final? Get real. Sahin cannot even get off the bench. I would have started Kaka in place of Khedira or Alonso and brought on Higuain sooner rather than later. This doesn't even warrant a response since it so ludicrous (he can defend quite well when he wants to but Mourinho lets him get away without doing so. SAF had him defending quite well when at ManU. So what?
Neuer IMO has the best kicking skills of all times. If you had any idea about kicking (Which you dont) you would see Bayern players were passing the balls to Neuer with 2-3 players around him in his weaker foot. It is real credit to Neuer that he kick with his left foot as well. I dont think there is any debate. Neuer has like 5-6 assists & I cant think of any other GK having this.And not just kicking,he can slide,head,dribble,throw,command the box. I dont exaggerate. Neuer is much better than Casilas. He is the most intelligent GK I have seen. Besises Buffon himself said that Neuer is the No.1 GK in the world as did Peter Schmeichel & they are 2 Great Goal-Keepers. About Mario Gomez I dont get this ridiculous good enough for BL. If his scoring his good enough for BL only then Ronaldo & Messi are also not good enough for CHL scoring wise. Allright Mario is a shit technician but he has 13 CHL goals & last year he had 8 off 8. That proves it. He scored against Real,City,Napoli. And I am not hyping Bayern. Their Full-Backs are light-years ahead of Barcelona. Alves can defend. He is so shit at defending. Lahm can have stupid moments but he comes with 6-7 Fantastic Tackles. ALaba was great,as a 19 year old both in defense & attack. Both of them attack & defend well. Abidal is out & neither Alves & Adriano cant defend to save their life & Puyol as LB is a dud,slow & 0 attacking power. And compare that to the quality of wingers. Tello & Cuenca something or turning a CAM Iniesta into a LW & compare that with Robben & Ribery. Light years ahead. Sahin should start. Simpley because he is the best young CM in Football today IMO. It does not matter if he plays 3 or 2,he had Schweni is his pocket at Allianz Arena & has fantastic long balls. If they treat him right Sahin is going to far eclipse Xabi Alonso. Kaka coming in a dud. That is one of the RIDICULOUS things I have heard. He does not track back or have the defensive work rate as a Alonso or Khediera. Real will get out-played again in the Mid-field & that would leave way too much space for Robben & RIbery. That will be a DUD one if he comes for Alonso. Anyways Ronaldo does defend. Its no secret. In the whole game he tracked back barely 2-3 times. I dont care what he did at ManU. Time has flown. He is older,slower & not as good a dribber. He has no business playing wings. He can score shitloads of goals. So play him as a ST.
If Bayern are so great, why do they have trouble in the Bundesliga? Out NT keeper, Tim Howard kicks better than Neuer. If Mario Gomez had any skills at all (other than being big and strong) he would have 60 goals at this point and rival Messi and Ronaldo for most goals in Europe. Tello and Cuenca are 20 years old and come back in 5 years and make this argument. As I noted, you cannot compare players within different systems. Alonso and Khedeira don't defend particularly well, all they do is stay at the midfield line and hope to pick up attacking players (BTW, Alonso is one of the most overrated players in all of Europe; he has a decent free kick but that is about it - if you look at Madrid matches he is totally winded by the 2/3 mark of the match despite not doing any running). Sahin could not even carry Christian Eriksen's kitbag. His move to Madrid was wrong (just as Wesley Sneijder's was) and he will be out of there within the next 18 months since he will never be able to start or play much as long as Mourinho plays a 4-2-3-1; he's not as good as Ozil.
Ohh please Christian Eriksen could not wash Sahin's boots. Sahin overtook Robben,Ribery,Schweni,Vidal to be BL Best Player. Eriksen is an above average talent. Sahin is an Extra Ordinary Talent. Eriksen is over hyped & let him go into a place where defense is not a joke. The other Bayern BL thing. Why did City & United get kicked out of the Group Stages. Bayern's focus has never been on the BL. BL can come to bayern every year but a final in Allianz Arena is a once in a 100 years opportunity. Everyone knows this. Bayern has a total 20 Out-FIeld players,2-3 of whom are rookies & play with the reserves in the 4th Division. Breno is in jail. 3-4 players are always injured. There's only a 14-15 Usable Un-injured Outfield Players available. How can they win a league & CHL with 0 Depth. Robben,Ribery,Gomez,these guys were playing 2 matches for a week for like 7-8 weeks at a strech. And its no secret to how Bayern lost its matches. Park the Bus,10 Man Defend,sneak a Goal. They have not been outplayed 1 Single Match. And if Robben had converted the penalty & scored the sitter Bayern could probably have been BL champions as well. Skills about Gomez?? Yes he is unskilled technically but there is 1 Basis in which he owns Messi & Ronaldo. That is in getting in Goal Scoring Positions. Technically & Skillwise he is a dud. But on his day he will put 3,4 & will not miss any. And Gomez already has 40+ Goals which is quite Good. 12-13 Goals in CHL is not a matter of joke. If Gomez's goal-scoring is mediocre with 12-13 goals then Messi is equally mediocre with 14 Goals(from a Goal Scoring Wise) And Neuer's distribution is One of the Best in History if not the BEST. There is no one light years ahead. Talking about Alonso,at this point of he is nothing exceptional but he is better than Puyol & Xavi who are nothing more than dead weight.
I suspect that you are quite delusional. If Sahin is so great why isn't he getting matches at Madrid? Eriksen had fine matches in international competition, played for his team in the WC and will be key to their Euro campaign as well. What will the wunderkind Sahin be doing this summer?
Sneijder was rotting in the bench at Real too. As was VDV. They such too?? Robben was treated like trash & sold off. Huntelaar did not get matches. List goes on. Higuain is the bench. Nothing much to add. He was injured for the 1st half of the season & had no pre-season. It is stupid to expect him to perform. Manchester United,Dortmund & Inter have already made enquiries about him. And last year he beat Robben,Ribery,Schweni,Gomez,Neuer,Vidal fair & square & was BL Player of the season. Eriksen is 1 Level below him. Sahin starts for Turkey when fit. And Gomez had 13 Goals so far in CHL,12 if excluding the qualifiers. That is the 2nd highest of all times after Messi's 14 this year. While I can understand he being shit technically & skillwise,saying he is only good enough to score in BL is Plain Ignorant of a lack of proper footballing knowledge. Gomez has scored against every opponent he has faced -> City,Villareal,Napoli,Marseille,Basel & Madrid. He has 4 Goals against Basel,a couple of them very good & he did not miss a single chance then. He scored the fastest Hattrick in Champions League History against Napoli. I think you are knowledgeable poster who has maybe seen football for a vast number of decades but I think you should eat your words in this case.
None of these teams play good defense. We will see how Gomez does in the Euros coming up. His NT career to date has been undistinguished. I will gladly reconsider my evaluation of his ability if he does as well as Klose has done on the NT (though I think Klose had much more innate ability than Gomez). As for Sahin/Eriksen; I'm afraid you will not get me to change my mind on that one. I suspect Sahin will be out of Madrid within the next 18 months. It would have been guaranteed with Canales coming back from loan to Valencia but it looked like he suffered another serious knee injury in yesterday's Europa League tie with Athletico and could be out for a long time.