UEFA Champions League Final | FC Barcelona v Manchester United | Pre/During Match Discussion [R]

^^apparently the guy packing is Park

 

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Just thought I'd point this out...

 

Bilbao should be a warning sign. They played with fury for the first twenty minutes and definitely caused some problems. ManU is a much stronger, fitter team so if they want they can exert this kind of pressure for a much longer span. Barca needs to be wary of this, score early and control the tempo.

(that being said, SAF will probably opt for a boring conservative counter game).

 

LOL Big difference.

 

Nevertheless, it is statistically incorrect to assert that Manchester United has a far better defense than Chelsea

 

Hi my Blaugrana Friends! or should I say Blograna pals? anyway, Should be an interesting final. congrats on your Bilbao victory.

 

For all the claims that Barca are suspect in defence one thing that needs to be stated is that Vidic is very, very vulnerable, especially to pace, he's been caught out numerous times this season, if ETO/Henry and Messi can target him then I can see him getting sent off. Pep should show Barca the video of the Man Utd v Liverpool game at Old Trafford this season.

 

Haha exactly - Liverpool beat Man U (and especially Vidic) like a drum that great day.

Here's hoping Barca does that same score (or clean sheet) to Man U in Rome!

 

Pep should get on the phone to Rafa.

Vidic has been sent of 3 times this season and it could/should have been double that.

 

If he were a car he'd be a shitbox..something like a Chevy Vidic. Slow, unreliable and prone to trouble.

 

So, what do we think the backline is going to be?

Knowing Pep, I think the most likely formation at this point is:

Puyol--Toure--Pique--Sylvinho

However, he seems really reluctant to use Sylvinho in big games. While I personally think Sylvinho is fine in Spain, I would worry about Rooney and Ronaldo killing him with pace.

I'd like to see us experiment with Caceres at LB (or even Keita) before the final to see if we have another option.

 

Sorry, Vidic had a bad spell but he's possibly the best defender in the premiership, there was talk of giving him world player of the year during the first half of the season. Has anybody watched united? Look how many balls are put in to uniteds box and how many he clears. I would trade him, on ability alone, for Rafa, Puyol, Pique or any other defender really. He's one of the reasons that United are so hard to break down on a good day.

If he was injured, I'd be delighted. Henry on O'Shea is our best bet to break them down. It seems like O' Shea is just playing at the highest level as some kind of joke as he's the most mediocre player in the world. Doesn't even stand out on the Irish national team and we have very few good players (except Stephen ****ing Ireland who won't play for us!)

 

No way that Keita doesn't play in midfield (Unless Toure plays in midfield). I don't think you guys will play Busquets + Xavi + Iniesta in the final of the CL. Would be interesting if you do.

Caceras would get shredded for pace by anyone in our front 3, even Berbatov. From what i've seen of him, he's been pretty poor. The CL final is not the place to play a player lacking form and experience.

 

He's good at clearing balls played into the box, agreed, but Barca don't play that game. Where he falls apart is if quick players run at him, he has been caught out time and time again when that happens, Messi/ETO/Henry and Iniesta should target him as much as possible.

 

Caceres is probably our quickest CB so I fail to see how that's logical. Berbatov? You're taking the piss.

 

He's been poor, but his problem is not pace. He's actually quite fast. With injuries and suspensions, we're going to have to "experiment" one way or another, which is why I would like to see us try different things before we get there.

 

They're not going to have the space to run at him the way Torres did. Liverpool plays a lot of quick long balls to Torres in a way that we don't to our forwards, especially with Marquez out.

 

I think our starting 11 in the final will depend a lot on the availability of Iniesta and Henry.

Regarding Caceres, I'm under the impression that Pep has ruled him out for this season (For important games, at least) because Martin has yet to make his adjustments in Pep's system. Same thing applies for Hleb, methinks.

They haven't had much chance to play, to be fair to both of them, but the likes of Pique and Henry/Iniesta have simply played too well all season.

So as much as I think Caceres is just about the only player who can keep up with Ronaldo's pace, I'd be surprised to see him start.

 

You think he can offer the steel in midfield that Keita can?

One of the reasons you guys kept the ball so well last season against United was because Toure destroyed any attack we had before we could even get it started. Given that United SHOULD be attacking more this game, Keita would be more useful, no?

 

I think it will be Puyol-Yaya-Pique-Sylvinho....although as it was mentioned above, there is a reluctance on Pep's part to play Sylvinho. The problem is that he lacks the pace. I couldn't imagine us using two non-regular defenders on defense for the Champions League final, so I would expect Keita to play in midfield. I would even put him as the holding midfielder. He has been very solid lately, he, Alves and Pique are the transfers that have worked well for us. I wouldn't feel too bad even if we played Busquets as the holding midfielder, but Keita has more experience.

I would like it much more if Berbatov did play for Man United, I think he doesn't quite fit their system as well, as he is much slower than the other forwards. I wouldn't want Tevez to feature in the match, to me....he is the key guy for them, outside of Ronaldo.
A lot of United fans may laugh at such a statement....but from what I've seen of him this season (which is probably about a third of their matches), he is a definite danger.

 

Iniesta is actually better in midfield at pressing and recovering the ball than Keita is, IMO. People tend to equate "short, skinny and technical" with "not physical," but I don't think it applies in this case.

Also, ManU's midfield isn't really physically powerful in the way Chelsea's is. They are very active in terms of defensive pressure, but that's not the same thing.

 

I would also feel much better with Tevez on the bench, and gone from United next year. He's a danger man.