UEFA

[Mayareira]

Wow, that's epic lol.

[Asura_Zilla]

To be honest I am quite disgusted by the way the Chelsea - Barca match ended. Despite the fact I'm no Chelsea match (Madrid onry, guess you know why I was rooting for Chelsea >.>), the football (that's right goddammit, it's F-O-O-T-B-A-L-L) displayed by Barca was simply disgusting. Not once before the goal did they successfully create a clear goal opportunity. Sorely disappointed in the skill displayed, and even though Chelsea's play was no beauty work either they definitely deserved the win. However though, I guess this means I get to see Barca stomped on my ManU (Ronaldo can go rot in a cell and die though, I really despise his self-centered way of playing), which is fine by me. >.>

[Mayareira]

Can't blame Barca for playing like that can we?

Chelsea's mentality(against top tier teams) is to score 1 goal, and play retardedly defensive for the rest of the game.

[Chen]

the game was a joke, chelsea where the better team at stamford bridge for sure

if anyone expects a team to go all out attack against barcalona, and not concentrating on defense with messi/eto'o on the pitch thats pretty clueless.

barca got 1 shot on target, dissapointing cech couldnt pull off a save the only time it was asked of him.

abidal getting a red and alves getting a suspension from the yellow means half the work is done for united in the final, with marquez also injured. uniteds strikers don't come close to barcas, but barca need to play a 2nd string defense now with 3 first team players out.

barca shouldn't be in the final but i hope they beat united

[Mugekuge]

Can't blame Barca for playing like that can we?

Chelsea's mentality(against top tier teams) is to score 1 goal, and play retardedly defensive for the rest of the game.

^Yup.

What else can do Barça if Chelsea just decided to put a wall in defense for like 70 minutes, i was counting 8-9 people defending in last quarter, they tried to pull a Catenaccio and at the end they failed, referee was a disaster that's true, but god i can't stand a team like chelsea playing catenaccio as local team, i hate Italy on soccer so much lol.

[Mayareira]

if anyone expects a team to go all out attack against barcalona, and not concentrating on defense with messi/eto'o on the pitch thats pretty clueless.

There is a big difference between all out of defence(anti-football) and all out of attack. I'd understand not-so-skilled teams like Greece, Shaktar Donetsk employ an extremely defensive strategy but a multi million $ team like chelsea? Fuck that, I don't want a 1-0 final.

Fun = Real Madrid vs. Barca match from last week.

Milan vs. Liverpool Champions League finals (oh god that was epic)

Not Fun = Teams like Chelsea, Greece playing with 10 people back in their half, and expecting to score a goal from a corner for the entire duration of the match. Again, Greece is understandable but Chelsea?? In S. Bridge? That was so pathetic.

Positive football won in the end, and I am very happy about it :D

[Plow]

There is a big difference between all out of defence(anti-football) and all out of attack. I'd understand not-so-skilled teams like Greece, Shaktar Donetsk employ an extremely defensive strategy but a multi million $ team like chelsea? Fuck that, I don't want a 1-0 final.

Fun = Real Madrid vs. Barca match from last week.

Milan vs. Liverpool Champions League finals (oh god that was epic)

Not Fun = Teams like Chelsea, Greece playing with 10 people back in their half, and expecting to score a goal from a corner for the entire duration of the match. Again, Greece is understandable but Chelsea?? In S. Bridge? That was so pathetic.

Positive football won in the end, and I am very happy about it :D

this just sounds so... american

[Mayareira]

Couple of articles;

Andres Iniesta and his high-flying Barcelona team-mates were kept at bay by a stubborn and disciplined Chelsea side who walked out of the Camp Nou with a precious 0-0 draw in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals.

The versatile Barca midfielder was frustrated time and again by Guus Hiddink’s water-tight strategy and although it did not impress Iniesta one bit, he remains optimistic of getting a result at Stamford Bridge next week.

“We tried to play our football. All the while, we tried to attack and score a goal, but when the team in front of you do not want to play football, it becomes complicated,” he said in his post-match interview with Cadena COPE.

“The tie will now have to be settled in London. We will go there with a lot of motivation to score and to win. We hope that justice will be done and we can be in the final.”

Barcelona will have another daunting task at the weekend when they travel to the Spanish capital to take on arch rivals Real Madrid in a decisive title battle. Chelsea, meanwhile, will host Fulham before welcoming the Catalans to the Bridge next Wednesday.

And here is another one, coming from the british: 'Football defeated anti-football –talent against power, attack against defence' - Worldnews.com

'Those Who Played Football 0-0 Those Who Didn't Play At All' - Worldnews.com

Harry's Happy Hamster Home: A Victory for Anti-Football

Good News for Attacking Football: Greece are out of Euro 2008 - Euro 2008

So, no its not american. Every single football fan in the world(except maybe chelsea fans) hates anti-football. Its laaaame no one wants to watch their shitty game anymore.

[volcanicweather]

Can't blame Barca for playing like that can we?

Chelsea's mentality(against top tier teams) is to score 1 goal, and play retardedly defensive for the rest of the game.

This is 0% true - 4-4 vs. Liverpool quarter-final, 2-2 vs. Juve round of 16, 3-1 vs. Roma in knockout stage... that's not even including the EPL. Way to make a giant assumption based on 1 match... you need to check your facts.

[Mayareira]

So what? You were actually expecting them to employ an ultra-defensive strategy against;

Juventus: 3rd in Serie A, 11 points difference between them and the leader.
AS Roma: 6th in Serie A, TWENTY FOUR points between them and Inter.
Liverpool: They'd definitely sit on their 3-1 advantage if Liverpool didn't start with 2 quick goals.
EPL: Anti-football does not work in groups/leagues except for relegation battlers.

And here is what "real" giants do;




BBC SPORT | Football | Europe | Real Madrid sack manager Capello

Real Madrid sack manager Capello

Real Madrid have sacked coach Fabio Capello - just 11 days after the Italian led the Spanish giants to their first league title since 2003.

The 61-year-old still had two years to run on his contract at the Bernabeu, but drew criticism for his tactics.

Real president Ramon Calderon told Marca newspaper: "We've laid the foundations, but we need to find a more enthusiastic way of playing."

Getafe's German coach Bernd Schuster is tipped to succeed Capello.

Capello, who joined Real last summer from Juventus on a three-year contract, had also guided Real to the Spanish title during his one previous season in charge in 1996-97.


It was a difficult decision but a unanimous one

Real's sporting director Predrag Mijatovic

Calderon brought Capello to the Bernabeu last July and charged him with the task of reining in the players and clearing out dead wood on the playing staff.

Spanish pundits believe Capello paid a price for his treatment of England's David Beckham.

After Beckham confirmed he was joining LA Galaxy at the end of the season, Capello publicly declared he would never consider Beckham for the first team again.

Capello was forced to back-track on that, and it was Beckham's form which inspired Real to the title.

Capello's dismissal underlined that Real show little sentiment when it comes to firing successful managers.


Real's last Spanish title victory in 2003 was not enough to keep Vicente del Bosque in the job, while German Jupp Heynckes was sacked after guiding Real to the Champions League title in 1998.

Real's sporting director Predrag Mijatovic said: "We have taken the decision not to continue with Fabio Capello next season.

"It was a difficult decision but a unanimous one based on an exhaustive report I made to the board.

"We don't think Capello is the right person to lead Real Madrid into the future given what we want this club to achieve.

"Now we have time to think over who will be the next head coach."

Capello, who previously managed AC Milan and AS Roma in addition to Real and Juventus, maintained his record of winning a league title with every club he has managed.

[volcanicweather]

So what? You were actually expecting them to employ an ultra-defensive strategy against;

Juventus: 3rd in Serie A, 11 points difference between them and the leader.
AS Roma: 6th in Serie A, TWENTY FOUR points between them and Inter.
Liverpool: They'd definitely sit on their 3-1 advantage if Liverpool didn't start with 2 quick goals.
EPL: Anti-football does not work in groups/leagues except for relegation battlers.

How many Chelsea matches have you even seen this season? Because I've seen them all, minus a couple FA/Carling Cup ties against non-PL sides. Your claim of Chelsea scoring one goal and playing "retardedly defensive" is not true at all.

Since when is scoring 6 goals in 2 matches in the champions league against two of the top 10 sides in Europe playing "retardedly defensive"?

Also I like how you give Roma no credit... they've only finished runner-up in Serie A for the past 3 seasons in a row. Sure this is an off year for them, but you're crazy if you think they suck because of one bad season where they struggled horribly initially due to injuries.

Admit it - you're a casual football fan who looks at highlights and doesn't sit around watching matches consistently... because your allegations are straight up retarded.

[Asura_Zilla]

No matter what tactics are used, you're still supposed to use the tactic that benefits you most. Chelsea has always been rather lack-luster on the scoring side, barring long range (Lampard, Ballack) and with Drogba returning just recently their best option for their match against a highly-offensive team like Barca, not to mention with their lack of Rafa Marquez and Puyol thus a rather weak defense was to stay back and play the counter-attack game. Playing smart doesn't mean you play worse. It might seem you play worse, but you're still using the strategy that takes advantage of your strength and the oponent's weaknesses.

Even with a full-out defenssive strategy, Barca's gameplay was pathetic, as there wasn't even a single occassion where they actually threatened Chelsea. Even on counter-attacking they were slow, and usually tried to plow right through the middle instead of through the sides. I mean, Messi's skill can only take you so far, and Eto'o has his limits as well. Imo, if they were playing better football, they'd have been playing more a strategy revolving around Xavi and his long passes.

Overall, if you'd really been paying attention to the game you'd have realized that during the whole game, aside from like two or three free kicks/corners, not even one ball made it into Chelsea's penalty area posing any threat whatsoever, meanwhile Chelsea had numerous opportunities to score. Whoever is trying to defend Barca because of Chelsea's gameplay needs to go rewatch that game over and over.

PS: Regarding Real Madrid, no matter how many coaches they have, none of them will live up to Vicente del Bosque (from recent times), hence it's really not note-worthy, at least not for me

[volcanicweather]

No matter what tactics are used, you're still supposed to use the tactic that benefits you most. Chelsea has always been rather lack-luster on the scoring side, barring long range (Lampard, Ballack) and with Drogba returning just recently their best option for their match against a highly-offensive team like Barca, not to mention with their lack of Rafa Marquez and Puyol thus a rather weak defense was to stay back and play the counter-attack game. Playing smart doesn't mean you play worse. It might seem you play worse, but you're still using the strategy that takes advantage of your strength and the oponent's weaknesses.

Even with a full-out defenssive strategy, Barca's gameplay was pathetic, as there wasn't even a single occassion where they actually threatened Chelsea. Even on counter-attacking they were slow, and usually tried to plow right through the middle instead of through the sides. I mean, Messi's skill can only take you so far, and Eto'o has his limits as well. Imo, if they were playing better football, they'd have been playing more a strategy revolving around Xavi and his long passes.

Overall, if you'd really been paying attention to the game you'd have realized that during the whole game, aside from like two or three free kicks/corners, not even one ball made it into Chelsea's penalty area posing any threat whatsoever, meanwhile Chelsea had numerous opportunities to score. Whoever is trying to defend Barca because of Chelsea's gameplay needs to go rewatch that game over and over.

PS: Regarding Real Madrid, no matter how many coaches they have, none of them will live up to Vicente del Bosque (from recent times), hence it's really not note-worthy, at least not for me

Here's a man who knows football; well said. Del Bosque was a legend both as a player and a manager and getting rid of him for Queiroz was one of the worst moves Madrid ever made. It's hilarious to watch Queiroz drive an insanely talented Portugal team into the ground... if they don't qualify for WC 2010 (which they probably won't, basically they're 4th in their group behind Denmark, Hungary, and Sweden) it will be epic.

[Mayareira]

How many Chelsea matches have you even seen this season? Because I've seen them all, minus a couple FA/Carling Cup ties against non-PL sides. Your claim of Chelsea scoring one goal and playing "retardedly defensive" is not true at all.

Since when is scoring 6 goals in 2 matches in the champions league against two of the top 10 sides in Europe playing "retardedly defensive"?

Also I like how you give Roma no credit... they've only finished runner-up in Serie A for the past 3 seasons in a row. Sure this is an off year for them, but you're crazy if you think they suck because of one bad season where they struggled horribly initially due to injuries.

Admit it - you're a casual football fan who looks at highlights and doesn't sit around watching matches consistently... because your allegations are straight up retarded.

Again, you are missing the point completely. Anti-football is a kncok out stage strategy, generally employed by severely weak sides. It will not work in EPL if you are running for the the title. And yes, I didn't watch their EPL matches beacause they don't show them here.

I am giving Roma the credit they deserve, but anti-football is a SOTON vs. MANU, Greece vs. Spain straregy, not a Chelsea vs. Roma.

I could flood this post with articles of hatred towards the game Chelsea played in a Champions League Semi-Final, but you can simply reach them by google and you seem to ignore all of them.

If Galatasaray were up here instead of Chelsea, I wouldn't give a fuck about defensive vs. offensive football either. But from an objective perspective, 10-man defense + counter attack is a disgrace for British football overall. It was an extremely poor game and other than a bunch of chelsea fans, no single person praised Chelsea's 10-man defense + counter attack tactics.

Casual World vs. Hardcore Chelsea fans supporting anti-football, ok.

[volcanicweather]

Again, you are missing the point completely. Anti-football is a kncok out stage strategy, generally employed by severely weak sides. It will not work in EPL if you are running for the the title. And yes, I didn't watch their EPL matches beacause they don't show them here.

I am giving Roma the credit they deserve, but anti-football is a SOTON vs. MANU, Greece vs. Spain straregy, not a Chelsea vs. Roma.

I could flood this post with articles of hatred towards the game Chelsea played in a Champions League Semi-Final, but you can simply reach them by google and you seem to ignore all of them.

If Galatasaray were up here instead of Chelsea, I wouldn't give a fuck about defensive vs. offensive football either. But from an objective perspective, 10-man defense + counter attack is a disgrace for British football overall. It was an extremely poor game and other than a bunch of chelsea fans, no single person praised Chelsea's 10-man defense + counter attack tactics.

Casual World vs. Hardcore Chelsea fans supporting anti-football, ok.

You're hopeless. All I did was retort your point stating "Chelsea's mentality(against top tier teams) is to score 1 goal, and play retardedly defensive for the rest of the game". It's simply not true. Like I already said, go back and watch matches vs Liverpool, Juve, etc. and you won't see this.

[Mayareira]

In a Serie A, with an A.C. Milan having a poor year if a team falls 24 points behind the leader and barely grabs themselves a UEFA Cup(League now) position, and has a pathetic "0" goal difference, I'd hardly call them a Barca-like top team. Again, at this point I could definitely start calling names like "lol casual lol hopeless", but I find that extremely lame. Juventus vs. Chelsea? Liverpool vs. Chelsea? Anti-football gods weren't with Chelsea there because both Liverpool and Juventus found an early goal.

The structure of top-tier teams like Barca, Madrid won't ever allow them to play anti-football and this is completely independent from their squad strength(i.e. Barca back in 95's with players like Meho Kodro, Carlos Busquets).

This discussion isn't going anywhere. You can keep ignoring every single proof that Chelsea played a very poor CL Semi-final game and keep calling me "hopeless" for all I care. Positive football won, and everyone's happy(hopeless) except "hardcore" chelsea supporters. While we watch a truly enjoyable final, I hope you enjoy your positive football against West Bromwich back in EPL.

[Asura_Zilla]

In a Serie A, with an A.C. Milan having a poor year if a team falls 24 points behind the leader and barely grabs themselves a UEFA Cup(League now) position, and has a pathetic "0" goal difference, I'd hardly call them a Barca-like top team. Again, at this point I could definitely start calling names like "lol casual lol hopeless", but I find that extremely lame. Juventus vs. Chelsea? Liverpool vs. Chelsea? Anti-football gods weren't with Chelsea there because both Liverpool and Juventus found an early goal.

The structure of top-tier teams like Barca, Madrid won't ever allow them to play anti-football and this is completely independent from their squad strength(i.e. Barca back in 95's with players like Meho Kodro, Carlos Busquets).

This discussion isn't going anywhere. You can keep ignoring every single proof that Chelsea played a very poor CL Semi-final game and keep calling me "hopeless" for all I care. Positive football won, and everyone's happy(hopeless) except "hardcore" chelsea supporters. While we watch a truly enjoyable final, I hope you enjoy your positive football against West Bromwich back in EPL.

You've got to be trolling. Extreme trolling, at that, if you think Barca's gameplay was a display of positive football. What's positive about stubbornly heading down the middle every single time without a defined strategy, losing in numbers and in skill, like cavemen? I'm not even a Chelsea fan (Real Madrid only, and if I had to take my pick from British teams I'd pick ManU over Chelsea).

If you approve of such shitty and uneffective strategy, I hope you'll enjoy your final where ManU will more than likely crush Barca as if it was a pre-qualifying stage game.

[Gadritan]

What's positive about stubbornly heading down the middle every single time without a defined strategy, losing in numbers and in skill, like cavemen? I'm not even a Chelsea fan (Real Madrid only, and if I had to take my pick from British teams I'd pick ManU over Chelsea).

Amen. Barca was dominated. The way they were playing reminded me a lot of my old middle school team.

If they come out like that against Man U, they won't stand a chance.

Edit: The fact that I'm even defending Chelsea says something on it's own too. I fucking hate them.

[Colm]

Amen. Barca was dominated. The way they were playing reminded me a lot of my old middle school team.

If they come out like that against Man U, they won't stand a chance.

Edit: The fact that I'm even defending Chelsea says something on it's own too. I fucking hate them.

You need to fight that urge. =\ No one should ever defend Chelsea.

[Mayareira]

if you think Barca's gameplay was a display of positive football. What's positive about stubbornly heading down the middle every single time without a defined strategy, losing in numbers and in skill, like cavemen?

If you approve of such shitty and uneffective strategy, I hope you'll enjoy your final where ManU will more than likely crush Barca as if it was a pre-qualifying stage game.

This is the exact reason why everyone hates anti-football. Against a side that defences with 10-man, all of them resembling african-american porno stars(in terms of size) What else were you expecting Barca to do? Send thru balls? Messi dribbling thru 10-men? Anti-football forces the opposition to play like cavemen, this is exactly how weak teams like Greece gets somewhere. And this is exaclty the reason why an incompetent manager like Guus Hiddink can never manage a team like Barcelona(he was sacked by Madrid board like 10 something years ago). Heck, a "Diego" in his 60's with 2 children wouldn't even employ him as a waiter to serve tea in a small cafe in Catalonia.

If Chelsea was a top tier team with some decent prestige(other than what you get from russian/arab sugar daddies), Roman Abramovich would grab his Blackberry, punch in the numbers of British Airways on the beautiful night of 28 April, and buy a one-way first class ticket back to Russia(he still manages Russian national side) for Guus Hiddink.

FC Barcelona, (Més que un club) will show what positive football is to Manchester United(since ferguson would never play anti-football) on 27th of May.