Barca v. Man Ure

[sxcobbler]

Bright start by United.

[Insider]

Total annihilation. RIP English football.  Or should I say good riddance?  As a nation we have to change, and at every level. 

[IwishIwasafly]

I actually felt sorry for Manchester United tonight and believe me that takes some doing.They were mere spectators for the vast majority of the game.

[Ted]

Total annihilation. RIP English football.  Or should I say good riddance?  As a nation we have to change, and at every level. 

What a daft thing to say. Firstly, there were only 3 English players in the Man Utd team, and secondly, an English club reached the final of the competition ahead of the champions of all the other competing nations apart from Spain. Even Real Madrid resorTED to apalling tactics to try amnd combat the threat, and that didn't work either..Sometimes you just have to say that the opposition man for man are better.

[Insider]

What a daft thing to say. Firstly, there were only 3 English players in the Man Utd team, and secondly, an English club reached the final of the competition ahead of the champions of all the other competing nations apart from Spain. Even Real Madrid resorTED to apalling tactics to try amnd combat the threat, and that didn't work either..Sometimes you just have to say that the opposition man for man are better.

I didn't say English players, I said English football.  There is a debate going on right now on 5 Live about the fact that no fewer than 7 Barca players were 5'8" or shorter.  Iniestga, Messi, Pedro. Xavi all only 5'6.  Mascherano at 5'8 played centre half, they had no recognised "striker" (David Vila at 5'9 was the closest they get).  Englsih football is obsessed by strentgth, height and muscle.  Michael Carrick boasts 6'2 but couldn't beat an egg with the ball at his feet.  And half of our fans are creaming themselves at the signing of a muscley lump to lead out attack.  I rest my case.

[sbedscobb]

For years English youth sides have put forward big lump players, 6ft 12 year olds and totally over looked smaller gifted players which doesn't happen in places like Holland and Spain,  top English youth sides always thrash their european counterparts until they reach aged 15 and then its game over for our boys.

[Baldy]

Blimey. What a team that Barcelona are though. Unbelievable. They humiliated Manchester United who were chasing shadows for much of the game.

[Power Football]

Messi gets the headlines, but to me the key to way Barca play is that combination between Iniesta and Xavi. It's incredible just how many times they passed the ball to each other last night.

11 out of the 18 in the match day squad came through their youth system, how impressive is that?

[Ted]

I didn't say English players, I said English football.  There is a debate going on right now on 5 Live about the fact that no fewer than 7 Barca players were 5'8" or shorter.  Iniestga, Messi, Pedro. Xavi all only 5'6.  Mascherano at 5'8 played centre half, they had no recognised "striker" (David Vila at 5'9 was the closest they get).  Englsih football is obsessed by strentgth, height and muscle.  Michael Carrick boasts 6'2 but couldn't beat an egg with the ball at his feet.  And half of our fans are creaming themselves at the signing of a muscley lump to lead out attack.  I rest my case.

You said English football RIP.Are then all of the other nations analising their football so severely ? I've always admired German football, but the german representatives in the Champions league were annihilaTED home and away by Man Utd , who were subsequently annihilaTED by Barcelona.I can't for one minute envisage the Germans saying "German Football RIP".

[BackOfTheNet]

You said English football RIP.Are then all of the other nations analising their football so severely ? I've always admired German football, but the german representatives in the Champions league were annihilaTED home and away by Man Utd , who were subsequently annihilaTED by Barcelona.I can't for one minute envisage the Germans saying "German Football RIP".

Severely analising? That makes me feel disgusTED.   

[wazzacobbler]

As a neutral I really enjoyed last night's match. It was a footballing masterclass by Barca and United looked tired after 15 minutes of chasing the ball. I wouldnt be surprised to see Barca dominate the European game for the next 3-5 years playing like that.

[Wolvo]

Total annihilation. RIP English football.  Or should I say good riddance?  As a nation we have to change, and at every level. 

What a load of rubbish. If you made a dream team from a pool of every player who doesn't play for Barca, they would still lose. Barca are a special team who would beat anyone home and away (including every international team). If you watch Spanish football on a regular basis, the overall quality across the league is of a poor standard and no match for the superior Premier League.

[cobbler56]

I have to agree with Wolvo, there are two teams in the Spanish League, the rest are just dross. Valencia finished third and they were 25 points behind Barcelona, fourth placed Villareal were 34 points behind.
Barcelona and Real Madrid pay extraordinary amounts of money for and to players, of course they are superior, it's not that surprising. As for the injection from the youth set-up, well almost every spanish kid wants to play for one of the big two so of course they have their pick of the best of the crop. Again, hardly rocket science.
 

[Claret Lady]

Well done Barcelona - I like anyone who beats Man U 

[Insider]

You said English football RIP.Are then all of the other nations analising their football so severely ?

This is as big a wake call to English football (and the rest of Europe) as the 1953 England defeat to Puskas' Hungary.  You've obviously not been in Italy over the last couple of months where Gazzetta del Sporto has for weeks been running an inquest on the state of Italian football and has been alive with talk of how they close the gap to Barca.  Apparently Franz Beckenbauer led a similar panel discussion on German telly last night.  But then I doubt the Ted caravan gets much further than the Aquadrome.  Or is it Crow Lane these days?

[mackemcobbler]

This is as big a wake call to English football (and the rest of Europe) as the 1953 England defeat to Puskas' Hungary.  You've obviously not been in Italy over the last couple of months where Gazzetta del Sporto has for weeks been running an inquest on the state of Italian football and has been alive with talk of how they close the gap to Barca.  Apparently Franz Beckenbauer led a similar panel discussion on German telly last night.  But then I doubt the Ted caravan gets much further than the Aquadrome.  Or is it Crow Lane these days?

If English football is in such a bad state as you make why have England had a club in the final of the CL 7 times in the last 6 years winning twice.As for last nights game it was the most 1 side CL final i can remember since AC Milan hammered Barca 4-0 in 1994 allso 1 of the best

[Wolvo]

Too add to mackemcobbler's point, was England not the best represented nation in the knockout stage of the Champions League?

[mackemcobbler]

Too add to mackemcobbler's point, was England not the best represented nation in the knockout stage of the Champions League?

yes you could right infact i think English clubs are the most consistant performers in the CL with 1 or more getting to the QFs or further most seasons

[Wolvo]

So to sum up, the standard of football in England is excellent. Liverpool and Man City should add even more competition to the Premier League next year too. So really, Insider wants a dream team consisting of Messi, Ronaldo and Zidane to be playing in England?

[Exe]

I have to agree with Wolvo, there are two teams in the Spanish League, the rest are just dross. Valencia finished third and they were 25 points behind Barcelona, fourth placed Villareal were 34 points behind.
Barcelona and Real Madrid pay extraordinary amounts of money for and to players, of course they are superior, it's not that surprising. As for the injection from the youth set-up, well almost every spanish kid wants to play for one of the big two so of course they have their pick of the best of the crop. Again, hardly rocket science.
 

I disagree that the rest are dross, Valencia ran Man Utd close in two games in this season's CL and Villarreal made the semi final of the Europa League only to fall apart in Porto with an uncharacteristic display. There are some fantastic individual talents in the league outside the top two and some very entertaining teams who serve up a better spectacle than their Premier League counterparts. There is a financing problem for the "other" teams that unfortunately will not be solved because it would require Barça and RM to become the turkies who vote for Christmas and enter into collective TV rights, thus diminishing their ability to compete with the Premier League clubs in the short to medium term. Also, on the "two team league" issue, it's interesting to note that the Premier League has had the same top two in 6 of the past 7 seasons, just as in La Liga, and nobody outside the top two has won either league since 2004. Granted that the points gap has been far bigger in Spain in the past two or three seasons but that has more to do with the top two pushing each other on to greater heights whilst I think the Premier League's top teams have got worse. Maybe that's better for the league, as in Germany, because it makes things slightly less predictable which is surely good for the fans.