tmonkey

Williamson beaten in the air by Moses.

Carlton Cole played for England.

Look, man: teams lose yearly in the CL and no one complains. The only reason people are complaining about Barca is because they have achieved so much - they have done what no team has done before. So whenever they lose, it's a big deal. But the only reason they win so much is because they play with this style, which is unmatched. They're not going to abandon the whole reason they've achieved so much in their greatest hour of need. They're going to do what they've done for four years because for four years, they were the best club team on Earth and did what no club team has ever done before. For you to suggest that they abandon that is just unbelievable. They missed Villa a lot today but they still had a ton of chances to kill the game off earlier on. The penalty miss just seemed to have such a big psychological effect on them. I'm not saying they should abandon a successful style of play. Just that they need to do what they've done previously with Eto'o and Villa, i.e. incorporate a striker into the team so that they have someone who specialises in taking chances. At the same time, not having midfielders in central defense would help too.

Absolutely sickening. Chelsea may have half their first team missing for the final, but the remaining half is easily good enough to do exactly what they did today, i.e. camp in their own half and take the few chances that come their way. And Barcelona ffs. I think Guardiola took the Total Football concept too far with there being no strikers in the team.

Papiss has the answer to that question.

Kwanka ffs.

Time to rape them now. Lube up boys.

Having no other striker puts far too much pressure on Messi's shoulders. Mark him out of the game and he'll drop deeper looking to create chances, but those chances will be falling to midfielders who don't excel at tucking chances away. They just need to accomodate one Eto'o/Papiss type striker and let Messi play off him.

He'll start scoring again once he sorts out his ridiculously inconsistent first touch. Biggest thing holding him back atm, and it wasn't there pre-ACoN so must be a mental/confidence issue of some sort.

Crazy technique for that shot.

ROFL.

That was a boss pass.

OMFG. Cabaye. Cisse. OMFG.

Ben Arfa is the best player in the league now.

Yes.

Shadow of a flying giant pig being the most interesting thing in this half.

Arsenal look like they're playing for a draw.

Genuinely think we'll win by 5 goals or more.

Why is this not on TV anywhere?

IMO Simpson is a decent defender only if you: 1) Ignore the way he backs off like a coward, giving the man on the ball the space and time to do whatever he wants (cut in for a shot, go outside for a cross, etc). I've never seen a fullback back off as much as he does, we're talking about him maintaining 3-4 yards of clear space at times whilst the opposition player moves towards our goal with the ball. 2) Ignore the frequency with which he runs out of position to attempt a sneaky interception/tackle whilst he's on the blind side of the opposition player, but almost always fails (because he's s*** at this particular type of tackle), getting turned easily by the man on the ball, or getting cut out of the game as the man on the ball flicks it forward for an overlapping runner, or giving a foul away. 3) Ignore all distribution, dribbling and crossing attempts. But that's a given as we all know he's s*** going forward. 4) Allow the success of the team overall to influence your opinion of how well Simpson himself has played. 5) Give him extra leeway because he's a possible England international, is relatively youngish, slightly pacey, and is one of the few remnants of our successful and relatively popular Championship winning side. I'll be the first "hater" to admit that he does have decent defensive games here and there, mainly when there isn't a left winger causing him problems or when the opposition decide to focus on the other flank (especially if Raylor is playing there), and furthermore he is decent defensively in certain scenarios - e.g. clearing the ball off the line, defending a cross coming in from the other flank, competing for a long/through ball played in behind him when he's shoulder-to-shoulder with his man, etc etc. But he's still way too flawed for my liking. And that's ignoring how bad he is on the ball.

Struggling to think of someone to compare him to. He's not as direct as Andy Cole was, for one he looks to be a much better footballer with his very intelligent linkup play and ridiculous first touch/instant control. Maybe Hernan Crespo when he was at his best (and very mobile) for Parma? But anyway, he's fucking amazing. Time to add "Left Back - Competent" in FM now.

And yet again, get Ben Arfa on the ball and something gets created. Such a clever little pass into Rayylor I think it was.

No fucking way. What a finish.

Ba can be really sloppy at times.