What a finish by Messi! That's what I'm talking about when stepping up! Great placement by Xavi. Brilliant back end cross.
Ronaldo is a very good player but today doesn't appear to be his day nor do I think he's the best player on the pitch today. I think he's been slowed down quite a bit by the Barcelona defense. Overall though, I think any one can make a great argument for him being the best player in the world, as much as I hate to say that.
He appears to be the only guy on Man U who is making an attempt. And he has nice ball handling skills, but to me, Barcelona just plays more like a Team then Man U does. And they could give NBA players lessons in how to flop..
Pique stated that Barcelona had to be outstanding to beat Manchester I believe and they were just that today. Pique did a great job of playing the crosses of Rooney. Great day today.
Hmmm.. Take the: Low Scoring of Hockey The time when there is nothing happening like Baseball The kickers from football The Flops of Basketball And what do you have? Good for Barcelona, and Congrats to them
^^ lol at EVDS's face. Props to Guardiola & Barcelona. 3 out of 3 Copa del Rey Champions La Liga Champions Champions League Champions
I just read this at the AC Milan official site. link Unlike some Milan "tifosi", Guardiola showed a lot of class. Now I respect him more.
I thought that Man Utd were pretty poor tonight and the game was average at best. Certainly didn't live up to the hype. I thought united were missing something in the spine of the team. Ronaldo wasn't up to his best up front and centre, they seemed to miss Fletcher in midfield and the centrebacks were poor - granted Ferdinand has just returned from injury but Vidic seem to revert to the Janaury form when they had thee "blip" in form. I think (and this grates being an Arsenal fan) that Barcelona wouldn't live with Man United if they are in the right frame of mind, which clearly they weren't last night! However, Barcelona were the better of the two teams and deserved victory.
How I saw it was that the reason Man U weren't in the right frame of mind and were missing something was because Barcelona just totally outclassed them. I think if they play that game 10 times, Barca wins 8 of them. Barcelona dictated that game. They dictated the pace of the game, which is usually something that Man U. does. When you take the pace out of the game against English teams, especially Man U., it's like cutting off their legs, especially when a team like Barca takes the pace out of the game. At that point they had to have out techniqued Barcelona, and let's face it, no one is out tecniquing Barcelona. The problem is that no one has been able to take the pace out of the game against Man U except for Porto and Barca (and Man U can out technique Porto and beat them at that game) because they are just so good at playing that uptempo game and forcing upon teams like they did against Inter, Roma 2 years prior, etc.. Bottom Line: It was a bad matchup for Man U. Barca matchup very well against them tactically.
It seems that the early goal - against play just rocked Man United and it allowed Barcelona to control the middle - once this happended United didn't adjust and their midfield were outplayed by Barca's. I'd disagree with the 8/10 in favour of Barca though - more like 7/3 to United (trust me, I really don't enjoy saying that!) United are ruthlesss when they are on form, however Barca were clearly the better side on the night
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=650792&sec=england&cc=5901 I recall Santa Cruz being heavily mentioned with Arsenal last transfer window but nothing occurred. It'll be interesting to watch who they acquire and/or ship off.
Perez on Cristiano Ronaldo. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/soccer/05/29/cristiano.ronaldo/index.html
And takes up the Chelski job! Think this might be a step back from the work Hiddink put in (hopefully! ) http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/8076779.stm
Leonardo in for Milan. I don't like it. Unfortunately I believe that Milan is due for a disappointing few years ahead. I think we'll see them lose Kaka this summer, they've just lost their coach, their captain, their defense is now older and worse than they were (and they were pretty bad), they have no true Goalkeeper, Pirlo regresses every year and he, Gattuso, Ambrosini, Beckham, and Seedorf will all be over 32 (their entire midfield). Outside of Pato, thinks look pretty bad ahead for Milan. They're just too old top to bottom. IMO, Ancelotti knew very well what he was doing. He got out before this team was about to collapse. The more I think about it, the more I see this team struggling for the top 4 in Serie A maybe not next year, but definitely struggling in 2010-2011 and beyone unless they make big splashes in the Market. This all hurts me so much to say because I sympathize and love Milan. Let's hope I'm wrong though. Either way, it's been a historic decade for the team winning 2 European trophies and losing one of, if not the greatest final/game ever in European history.
Looks like it's more than just a normal rumor: Kaka to Madrid http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=652177&sec=europe&cc=5901
In other news, Garath Barry has signed with Manchester City for £12m. First of many for City I expect.
About £5m over rated IMO! Looks like he doesn't want to play in Europe after all! What would be funny is if he can't play alongside Ireland the way Gerrard and Lampard can't play together!
Yeah, Milan GM in Madrid. The rumor now is Kaka for $60 something Euros plus 2 players, including Robben. Ancelotti is now asking Milan for Pato, Seedorf, Pirlo, and Kaka. Ancelotti is a proven winner. It's a shame he fell out of Milan's favor. I'm not sold on Leonardo as a coach, and am actually quite upset that he has been promoted from his Brazilian scouting position - remember, he was responsible for Milan getting Kaka and Pato. I hope his protégée will be as good, but I doubt it. We'll have to see who Ancelotti is able to bring, but I have a feeling Pirlo and Seedorf will go to Chelsea, almost inevitably. If that happens, Kaka's move to Spain becomes more of a reality. Why? We have Ronaldinho to replace Kaka, and with the $60M Euros for Kaka, we also get Robben, Seedorf's replacement. Just trying to put two and two together and it isn't looking good for all those wanting to keep Kaka, including myself.
I really think that Ancellotti did everything possible to stay in good terms with the ACMilan, but he did reach a point where Galliani and Berlusconi where not including him in any decision in the last 3 years, which was very upsetting for Ancellotti, not only because he had to keep hes mounth shut, but also he was under a lot of stress training a team with players of not hes likening or not good enough (defense), but under the constant pressure of winning. I wish him the best and I'M sure that he will do a great job with Chelsea. .......Leonardo is a joke....
Agreed 100%. Ronaldinho is a prime example. Ancelotti didn't want him whatsoever, and it reflected in the amount of playing time he got - even the fact that Ancelotti benched him for his last game as Milan boss - to send a message. I'm sceptical about Leonardo myself....I would've preferred the Van Basten rumors.
Leonardo hes a good scout and he never coach a team before, at list not at this level. Van Basten I was reading that for some reason he can't really communicate with the players which translate in disaster, but at list hes got some experience. I'M not sure whats happening with the ACMilan, but seems to me that for some reason Berlusconi, considering hes Political position and the bad economy, he wants to take a second role, he wants to send a message like " I'M not going to spend a lot of money in Soccer since a lot of people are suffering, therefore me need to be frugal "
Pablo is terrible. I hope he stays in Costa Rico so I don't have to see him play anymore. This was Bradleys worst game in a while. Dude who scored the third goal walked all around him. Torres showed once again he can hold the ball but cant pass internationally. Bummer Edu is injured, would have liked to see him play. Hope to see this line up vs Hondorus Howard Spector*Onyewu*Bocanegra*Bornstein Torres*Clark*Kljestan*Adu Dempsey*Donovan*Altidore I like Adu with the ball pushing up. Clark holding. Please no more Beasley on the back line.
From Sky as well. Also, other stuff including Benzema's future, Wenger very interested in Udinese Zapata and a possible Ibrahimovic - Eto'o swap. http://blogs.soccernet.com/onthemove/
Big game tonight in group 8, with Ireland playing Bulgaria in Sofia. A win would virtually mean Ireland are through, but Bulgaria have their big players back and will be favourites goiing into the game. Italy are pretty much home and dry, as they have Bulgaria at home and Ireland away, which they will not lose both.
Ronaldo to Real Madrid. Apparentely, Real (previous president, not current) and Ronaldo had a silent contract that has just surfaced recently. Real HAS to be Ronaldo from Man U, or they have to give Ronaldo $30M. If Ronaldo refused the move he HAS to give Real Madrid $30M. Now, the going rate was rumored at $128M, but the more likely transfer fee will be in the $80Ms. Now, the current president of Real is trying to get out of the contract, but it will be very difficult. Althought they have $250M available for transfer fees, they don't want to be obligated to buy Ronaldo. Anyways, it looks like Real will be getting Ronaldo and Kaka. They've also been linked to Messi!! Can you imagine? Ibrahimovich rumored to Barcalona Eto rumored to Inter Cassano rumored to Juventus Mexes rumored to AC Milan Robinho rumored to AC Milan (Leonardo wants to play Brazilian style football )
