Insider
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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
And the England national team hasn't made it to a major final since, never mind actually won one since 1966. I forget who won the last World Cup and Euros. Barca have won three of the last 7 finals (an English team just one) and have beaten English teams in all of them. I don't disagree that the past decade has seen success for Man Utd, but what we saw on Saturday was football at a different level. Our top clubs can shrug their shoulders and hope that Barca's side gets broken up or wins it for the next 4-5 years and gets old. Or they can try to compete, which is basically what Fergie has said (and just about every sports commentator, pundit and analyst here) and seems to on the verge of a big clearout. And as for Wolvo: "So really, Insider wants a dream team consisting of Messi, Ronaldo and Zidane to be playing in England?". Where have I said that? What I am arguing is that English football has to change its whole approach to development, tactics, coaching and priorities. Nearly all Barca's squad were home grown. They've been training together since they were young kids; Messi may be from Argentina, but he's been at the Nou Camp since he was 11. If you still don't get it, go read Brian Glanville's article in yesterday's Sunday Times - I read it last night and I'll doubtless now be accused of plagiarism - but I've pretty much heard the likes of Pat Nevin, Steve Claridge, Gullitt, and many others saying exactly the same thing.
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cobbler56
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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.
Villareal finished 34 points behind Barcelona. Stoke finished 34 points behind Man Utd. I'm happy with that comparison.
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Exe
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What comparison are you making? Manchester United are a clearly inferior side to Barcelona, and dare I say it, to Real Madrid as well. The champion of La Liga is far superior to the champion of the Premier League so doesn't it stand to reason that they would be further ahead of their domestic rivals? I guess we'll see how Stoke fare in the Europa League and if they equal Villarreal's semi final appearance then you may have a point, but I somewhat doubt it.
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Wolvo
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Villareal finished 4th as opposed to Stokes 12th. The only way to compare Villareal would be to Arsenal, and Arsenal you would think are a superior side and would probably get at least to the semi's of the Europa league if they don't make it to the Champions League.
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Pink Army!
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Exe
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And admittedly that's a fair comparison, I think the 3rd and 4th placed teams in the Premier League are inevitably stronger than their La Liga counterparts because they're better funded. Ultimately I enjoy watching both leagues, there's some decent football played in each and lots of talented individuals. I don't particularly care which is the better league, it's an abstract notion dreamt up by TV marketing executives to flog subscriptions, I'll watch Bundesliga, Serie A or La Liga and all entertain in their own way and I'd prefer to watch Osasuna v Sporting rather than Villa v Sunderland (9th and 10th in each league) but that's just me. For all of the Premier League's wealth and so called dominance, it's developed a bizarre habit of providing losing finalists in the Champions League.
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Wolvo
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I'll watch Bundesliga, Serie A or La Liga and all entertain in their own way and I'd prefer to watch Osasuna v Sporting rather than Villa v Sunderland (9th and 10th in each league) but that's just me. .
Thats true, I am a massive fan of watching teams in La Liga (providing Barca or Madrid aren't playing). However, I feel English football (as opposed to English players) is currently in a good state. Its not as if we are getting hammered by other nations, Tottenham comfortably beat AC Milan! Its just Barca are a freak team ... however, this is not uncommon throughout the history of football. One team always has to be the best in the world, and currently it is Barcelona, and consequently the national team has reaped the rewards of this. I feel Serie A are currently in a bad state, they play the most boring defensive football, corruption never seems to disappear and the bigger teams are all looking aged and past it.
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Pink Army!
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Exe
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Well I don't feel any patriotic fervour when it comes to the Premier League, I certainly couldn't ever use "we" when referring to the top league's franchises' results in Europe. Tottenham was the only English owned team, and the only English managed team in the Champions League this season. Next season there won't be a single one. Some believe that English football is taking over the world, I happen to think that the world has taken over English football. I don't necessarily see that as a negative but it certainly negates the calls to support "English" sides in Europe as some kind of patriotic duty.
I'll admit I haven't seen many Serie A games this season but the few I have watched haven't been boring or dominated by defensive football. Napoli have been very entertaining and Inter have some fantastic attacking talents but it's nowhere near the heights it hit during the early-mid 90s.
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Power Football
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Not normally one to question Ferguson's wisdom but the more i think about it the more i think he ballsed up his team selection....
A central midfield 2 of Carrick and Giggs was never going to be a match for the Xavi Iniesta combination. He would have been better off leaving Hernandez out and playing 3 in central midfield, like he did in the majority of European games leading up to the final.
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Wolvo
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« Reply #28 on: April 27, 2012, 16:57:49 pm » |
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Total annihilation. RIP English football. Or should I say good riddance? As a nation we have to change, and at every level.
Chelsea in the final? England beat Spain in a friendly? Not one Spanish team in the Champions League final. I think some of the comments in the this thread were a tad excessive.
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Pink Army!
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Tyler
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« Reply #29 on: April 27, 2012, 17:12:54 pm » |
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I don't. What Insider was getting at was that attitudes of English football towards tactics and development needs to change. It still does. It's a 'win at all costs' attitude all the way through junior football, when it should be towards producing better footballers
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