KaKa Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 Is Gerrard really better in the middle? Not so sure about this ... Mascherano was the better player and didn't deserve to go off it blatantly cost them the second goal as KaKa was in acres of space for the first time all night. Should have taken off Pennant and moved Gerrard to the right to accomodate Crouch and the change should have been made much earlier. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bramble OG Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 It wasnt Rafa's fault it was the refs accourding to there msg board: "that ref has been well against us" "FUCKING CHEATING REF! FUCKING CHEATING REF!" "that ref was fucking bought!" "they paid the ref" "My Dad said before the match that the referee had been paid by the Mafia." "Hard pill to swallow this one.....With all the controversy of Italian teams buying off Ref's!!!!" "The refferee was absolute shit. We didint get all the corners, and he was always for Milan. He missed the handball in the first goal ..." Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 Is Gerrard really better in the middle? Not so sure about this ... Mascherano was the better player and didn't deserve to go off it blatantly cost them the second goal as KaKa was in acres of space for the first time all night. Should have taken off Pennant and moved Gerrard to the right to accomodate Crouch and the change should have been made much earlier. Spot on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Knightrider Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 He's a great manager but if he won them it last time, then he lost them it tonight. Will be under pressure now at Liverpool and it will be interesting to see how he handles it. You can't knock the man's achievements though or his quality. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
1878 Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 Oh, the irony of Liverpool fans complaining about refs and luck. You couldn't make it up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parky Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 Is Gerrard really better in the middle? Not so sure about this ... Mascherano was the better player and didn't deserve to go off it blatantly cost them the second goal as KaKa was in acres of space for the first time all night. Should have taken off Pennant and moved Gerrard to the right to accomodate Crouch and the change should have been made much earlier. Spot on. Kin hell even Kaka can see it. blueyes.gif Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alan Shearer 9 Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 JUSTICE Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 Individually, Milan are stronger than Liverpool in virtually every position, yet Benitez's side dominated the majority of the game. He's now taken a very average team (a team who you think are on a par with us barring Gerrard, Parky) to two Champions League Finals in three years, beating clubs filled with world class players along the way. Fair enough, he may have been too slow to change things this evening, but to call him clueless... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parky Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 He's a great manager but if he won them it last time, then he lost them it tonight. Will be under pressure now at Liverpool and it will be interesting to see how he handles it. You can't knock the man's achievements though or his quality. I have been on his case all season on this very board. He hasn't got it. I know now. Milan have no wingers and Seedorf is right footed on the left. Milan play in 2's and 3's off Kaka.....You never need to start against that with 2 def mf. Play being compressed down the middle. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Knightrider Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 Gerrard's best position for me is down the right, where he can come inside and play balls in between the two centre-backs or the centre-back and full-back as well as attack the near post for crosses. Wasted in the role he was used in tonight. Rafa effectively tried to use him as a centre-forward, crazy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaKa Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 Is Gerrard really better in the middle? Not so sure about this ... Mascherano was the better player and didn't deserve to go off it blatantly cost them the second goal as KaKa was in acres of space for the first time all night. Should have taken off Pennant and moved Gerrard to the right to accomodate Crouch and the change should have been made much earlier. Spot on. Kin hell even Kaka can see it. blueyes.gif Careful ... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Knightrider Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 He's a great manager but if he won them it last time, then he lost them it tonight. Will be under pressure now at Liverpool and it will be interesting to see how he handles it. You can't knock the man's achievements though or his quality. I have been on his case all season on this very board. He hasn't got it. I know now. Milan have no wingers and Seedorf is right footed on the left. Milan play in 2's and 3's off Kaka.....You never need to start against that with 2 def mf. Play being compressed down the middle. He got this one spectacularly wrong but one bad selection doesn't make him a bad manager Parky or takes away from the fact that he usually does get it spot on - see wins over Barca and Chelsea for example and wins against Juventus and AC Milan two seasons ago. He hasn't convinced in the league like but given time and freedom in the transfer market he could. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaKa Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 Individually, Milan are stronger than Liverpool in virtually every position, yet Benitez's side dominated the majority of the game. He's now taken a very average team (a team who you think are on a par with us barring Gerrard, Parky) to two Champions League Finals in three years, beating clubs filled with world class players along the way. Fair enough, he may have been too slow to change things this evening, but to call him clueless... Couldn't disagree more. Milan are old. The player that has carried them all season is Kaka. Stop him and you stop Milan. Simple. A Man United team with Hargreaves playing the role Mascherano did tonight would have destroyed Milan. They were absolutely awful and clueless with Mascherano on the pitch shadowing Kaka. They could hardly get it out of their half. With only Inzaghi (old and slow) as their striker they were infinitely worse than Liverpool. The loss of Crespo and Sheva was huge for them. Awful team in my opinion. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tooj Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 Don't know as well how you expect to win a European Cup Final with Pennant and Zenden on the wings. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parky Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 Individually, Milan are stronger than Liverpool in virtually every position, yet Benitez's side dominated the majority of the game. He's now taken a very average team (a team who you think are on a par with us barring Gerrard, Parky) to two Champions League Finals in three years, beating clubs filled with world class players along the way. Fair enough, he may have been too slow to change things this evening, but to call him clueless... Couldn't disagree more. Milan are old. The player that has carried them all season is Kaka. Stop him and you stop Milan. Simple. A Man United team with Hargreaves playing the role Mascherano did tonight would have destroyed Milan. They were absolutely awful and clueless with Mascherano on the pitch shadowing Kaka. They could hardly get it out of their half. With only Inzaghi (old and slow) as their striker they were infinitely worse than Liverpool. The loss of Crespo and Sheva was huge for them. Awful team in my opinion. Agreed. And totally beatable on the night......Benitez got it all wrong. Even when Kaka was wasted around the 60th min Liverpool still only had one striker on the pitch. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parky Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 Don't know as well how you expect to win a European Cup Final with Pennant and Zenden on the wings. I can't believe Zenden started honestly can't. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ritchie Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 Is Gerrard really better in the middle? Not so sure about this ... Mascherano was the better player and didn't deserve to go off it blatantly cost them the second goal as KaKa was in acres of space for the first time all night. Should have taken off Pennant and moved Gerrard to the right to accomodate Crouch and the change should have been made much earlier. Spot on. I agree with most of that, but Bellamy's pace would have been more threating against Milan's back four than Crouch's height. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaKa Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 Should have just gone 3-5-2 again and it would have killed Milan, just like it did in the second half a couple of years ago. Especially as Milan were playing one old, slow striker up front. Agger, Hyypia, Carragher in defence. Finnan, Gerrard, Mascherano, Alonso, Riise in midfield. Kuyt & Crouch upfront. Would have also allowed them to keep the three stooges Pennant, Zenden and Kewell off the pitch. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Snrub Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 Taking off the best player on the pitch who had Kaka in his back pocket instead of taking off Pennant, probably the worst player to ever play in the CL final (on par with Traore), and switching Gerrard to the right was one of the worst tactical decisions I've seen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alan Shearer 9 Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 Milan is not a totally shit team Nesta - Quality Pirlo - Quality Gattuso - Quality Kaka - Quality Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaKa Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 Milan is not a totally s*** team Nesta - Quality Pirlo - Quality Gattuso - Quality Kaka - Quality Kaka is the only one really. The rest are good but their time has been up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alan Shearer 9 Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 Milan is not a totally s*** team Nesta - Quality Pirlo - Quality Gattuso - Quality Kaka - Quality Kaka is the only one really. The rest are good but their time has been up. Bollocks; Pirlo was quality tonight as was Nesta before he went off. I agree that a lot of their players are past it to some extent but to say they're a shit team is daft imo. Milan would trounce us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmonkey Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 Bit harsh on Benitez. The first goal was a fluke, nothing that could have been done about that, and his tactics were pretty sound, with Milan being dominated the entire match by a bunch of mostly mid table Premiership players who collectively form a strong side. The second goal was clearly only a result of them pushing up. Maybe there can be complaints about the substitutions, but then thats different to saying he got it wrong right from the start. And lets face it, hes taken an upper mid table Premiership side full of said average players to two CL finals, winning one, and an FA Cup in between, on top of establishing them permanently as a top 4 club with the potential to challenge for the title. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parky Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 Milan is not a totally s*** team Nesta - Quality Pirlo - Quality Gattuso - Quality Kaka - Quality Kaka is the only one really. The rest are good but their time has been up. I'd add Pirlo. You made a very good point about tracking earlier and old rednose must be rueing not having someone like Hargreaves in his side atm. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 Milan is not a totally shit team Nesta - Quality Pirlo - Quality Gattuso - Quality Kaka - Quality Apparently we're ignoring that. Can you explain how Milan got to the final, then? Or was every manager Ancelotti came up against 'clueless'? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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