Gambling is the best reverse jinx- The Other Teams Thread [R]

I had Chelsea win or draw in Streak for the Cash. My streak is up to 1. (I had two goals or less in our match yesterday.)

 

Magical night at Anfield. Hopefully now fachtman Benitez could STFU and mind his own business.

 

I think my longest in that is about 3. They have some tricky ones.

 

I lost about the same. Thought a Liverpool win was nailed on.

I guess the first few games on the Hiddink reign made me think that Chelsea were big contenders for the CL, but their loss to Spurs downgraded expectations a bit.

Now they look like a great shot at reaching the final. And they have a shot at the league as well if Liverpool lose their way after tonight and we continue to stink.

 

I got to 6 once. It's going to get tough once baseball is the only option.

 

In all honesty, Chelsea getting ahead of Liverpool in the league would calm a lot of Utd supporters' nerves.

Ironically, when the draw was made, today's half was looked at as the heavyweight one but both ties are more or less finished at HT.

 

Depends on what Chelsea mental thinking is, they might think well not even a 2-0 win would do Liverpool any good so we can defend, you can always caught up with what to do, like Porto can, what to do, defend what you have or try to knock your opponent out with a fatal blow.

 

I'd much prefer to have Chelsea chasing us in the league. It'd be a pain if we lost the league, but it would be 1000 times less painful if Chelsea won it and not the scousers. I have grudging respect for Chelsea, and know we only just pipped them to the 2 big trophies last year. Liverpool taking the league from us would be a nightmare.

 

So how does this work exactly, if Liverpool were to win 2-0, do they move on with the shut out? Or if they win on the same margin of goals, does it go straight to away goals?

 

I know what you are trying to say but even with our current defensive frailities, I would be confident of not conceding more than 2 at home if we decide to sit back and defend against an all-stars xi. Porto are not in the same boat and can get eliminated even if they concede only once.

 

Away goals.

 

2-0 is not enough. Away goals. At a minimum they must win 3-1 to get extra time. They must score at least 3 goals not matter what.

 

I know it is a different situation, and Chelsea should by all means be in the semi final but I also know that it is a funny game.

 

If we were to lose the league I'd much rather it be to Chelsea. Hopefully Liverpool collapse.

 

Great result, especially after Rafa going on about us being scared of them again. Couldn't happen to a nicer falla Also, love the zonal marking Rafa, especially against a big side like Chelsea ...

What hacks me off a bit though, is Chelsea played Liverpool just like we should have a few weeks back. Not rocket science either, you need to go with just one striker as you need three in midfield to match them up otherwise Gerrard gets too much room. Plus put one of the holding mids on Gerrard to stop him playing.

Sure we don't have a player with the current form of Essien. But even a sub-par Anderson could probably have done a man marking job, or Fletcher, or O'Shea.

Going 4-4-2 against them in a game we didn't need to win was suicide.

Hopefully others will have learned now, such as Sam Allerdyce for the weekend. Cut of the supply to Torres from Gerrard and you go a long way to nullifying their threat. They really don't have a plan B.

 

What a Magical night and of course at Anfield.

They tried that same bullrush shit that worked so well against Madrid, Villa, Manchester, etc. and it was working well at first against Chelsea.

Chelsea settled and beat the daylights out of 'em. Could have put four or five in if not for some poor finishing. Magical.

 

Do we have a striker that can play that role?

Was thinking the same thing as you in the aftermath of that defeat and ended up siding on the side of "no".

 

I had a streak of six going into today which was ended when China beat Denmark in curling. I was not pleased.

 

-----------------Ronaldo
------Tevez---------------Rooney
----------------Anderson
-------Fletcher-------Carrick

Evra----------------------------O'Shea
---------Vidic---------Rio
----------------VDS

With Fletcher told to man mark Gerrard. We probably could've stuffed them with that formation.

 

Sure, in our standard squad, we don't have a pure "number 9" striker like Torres - we have four "number 10" support strikers.

But against a team that can defend like Liverpool, that is all is outweighed by the need to win midfield and deny Gerrard space.

We went with Carrick/Anderson against Mascherano/Lucas/Gerrard. In the circumstances we couldn't afford both Tevez and Rooney up front. We paid for this big-time.

Although not their ideal job, in a tight game either Tevez or Rooney could have played lone striker. If we had played say Giggs rather than one of the strikers in a midfield three of Giggs/Carrick/Anderson, then Anderson could have done a man marking job which he has done successfully before.

Unlike Liverpool, who have no threat outside Gerrard/Torres, in addition to the lone striker we would still have the creativity & threat of Carrick/Giggs/Park/Ronaldo/Vidic on the pitch.

 

I know this is a Man United forum, but a Man United friend of mine sent me this:



and this:

 

I guess there is a lots of space in Essien's pocket now that he got rid of that defective calculator

 

Rather pointless analysing Chelsea's methodology when their personnel is so vastly different to our own.

The constant running and work of Lampard is just as much a factor in how they were able to contain Liverpool as Essien's sheer power and presence.

MotM in that game was Lampard for me although Essien is getting all the plaudits. Mascherano's suspension gave Lampard so much more space and opportunity to pull Liverpool apart, and they could not live with him. If those around him had been more adroit, I reckon he'd have come out of this game with at least a brace.

We can't play like Chelsea and they cannot play like us. Focusing on our own strengths is paramount - not looking at how a completely different side go about theirs.

 

Who is taking the first shift of SirM's suicide watch? I mean Bayern pasted and now his beloved Liverpool