Come on you Barca !!!
- Thread starter Fronty
- Start date
I'm not the greatest of Chelsea fans (our clubs have a history !), but the Barca team tonight is everything wrong with modern day football - players willing to cheat and scam at every turn.
Messi's play-acting was laughable and a disgcrace to the game.
Barca are a great football club with fine traditions, but Spanish football (Real were much the same last night) needs to take a long hard look at itself - I wouldn't pay money to watch such blatant disregard for sportsmanship.
Messi's play-acting was laughable and a disgcrace to the game.
Barca are a great football club with fine traditions, but Spanish football (Real were much the same last night) needs to take a long hard look at itself - I wouldn't pay money to watch such blatant disregard for sportsmanship.
Class game chelsea fell apart after the second goal and will get killed in the nou camp8) drogba aint worth 24m or 12 or 6?
did morbyd sing any songs
and whoever said that about the barcelona team cheating well i'm afraid that this is everywhere in football and not just in spanish football but well wide.
did morbyd sing any songs
and whoever said that about the barcelona team cheating well i'm afraid that this is everywhere in football and not just in spanish football but well wide.
NITEFLY said:Class game chelsea fell apart after the second goal and will get killed in the nou camp8) drogba aint worth 24m or 12 or 6?
did morbyd sing any songs
and whoever said that about the barcelona team cheating well i'm afraid that this is everywhere in football and not just in spanish football but well wide.
the thing is, it isn't rife in British football. Agreed there are a certain few players who like to try it on (Ronaldo @ ManUre, Robben, Joe Cole), but on the whole, it's an honest, man's game, with respect for fellow pro's and a high level of sportsmanship. Players get stuck-in and don't look to cheat their opponents at every turn.
Stu Hirst said:
Pull urself together Stu, if u are referring to Messi and the red card then how can u accuse him of play acting? Firstly there was no way he could have stayed on his feet! Secondly the red card was for a tackle which affected player and not the ball. Simple. Ok Messi rolled about abit but the red card was for the foul, not the injury!
Barca won fair and square and are as close to Total Football as you can get (not including inempt defending). These Chelsea fans thinking the world is theirs. Tut tut tut!
Stu Hirst said:
Stu, you obviously don't see too many Barça games.
That red was tight, but Del Hierro deserved a yellow minutes before when he nearly broke Messi's knee. So, yellow+yellow= red
And of course, Messi cheated everybody but del Horno who lied in the pitch for five minutes was really injured and was playing fair
silvia said:Stu, you obviously don't see too many Barça games.
That red was tight, but Del Hierro deserved a yellow minutes before when he nearly broke Messi's knee. So, yellow+yellow= red
And of course, Messi cheated everybody but del Horno who lied in the pitch for five minutes was really injured and was playing fair
fair point Syl, unfortunately this is part of the game now and we do see it in the Premiership due to the amount overseas players (funny how Man U have the worst 2 offednders in Ronaldo & Nistelrooy) that we have over here. I must admit the first time I was made aware of such tactics was when I would watch England games on TV in the 70's, West Germany & Italy being the worst offenders, it just isn't very "British"
I thought it was a great game, thought Chelsea were unlucky to go down to 10 men but that's football (you win some you lose some), we really thought they were going to hold on at 1-0 (in fact it was simultaneously when one of friends texted him that Chelsea were playing well with 10 men that Barca scored 
) but then Chelsea could have even lost 3-1 in the final 10 mins.
Anyway it's not over til the fat dog says so, think Chelsea will really have their work cut out at the Nou Camp but stranger things have happened.
And Nitefly, completely agree re Drogba, I could have got that ball in the net Tom actually wanted him to do well in African Nations Cup so that someone would want to buy him and offload him off them
) but then Chelsea could have even lost 3-1 in the final 10 mins.Anyway it's not over til the fat dog says so, think Chelsea will really have their work cut out at the Nou Camp but stranger things have happened.
And Nitefly, completely agree re Drogba, I could have got that ball in the net
Tom actually wanted him to do well in African Nations Cup so that someone would want to buy him and offload him off them play acting is not a british thing but its as much a part of our game now as any country. joe cole, beckham (for years), gerrard, michael owen (even v argentina 98) are all prone to diving or exaggerating fouls. the theme amongst these players is that they're all playing at the top international level.
the difference with foreigners is the level of exaggeration, like robben v liverpool and both messi and del horno in last nights game - its the rolling about and over acting. on the flip side how many times did ronaldinho get his ankles kicked last night and i didn't see him go down once, in fact a couple of times he wanted to play on after being fouled.
as for the game, barca are in a diff class to chelsea and not for the first time chelsea have looked very one dimensional in the big games. bottom line is that for all their riches, chelsea have some ordinary players, gob forbid if terry/lampard/cech got injured.
btw - could that have been more of a blatant pen!!
the difference with foreigners is the level of exaggeration, like robben v liverpool and both messi and del horno in last nights game - its the rolling about and over acting. on the flip side how many times did ronaldinho get his ankles kicked last night and i didn't see him go down once, in fact a couple of times he wanted to play on after being fouled.
as for the game, barca are in a diff class to chelsea and not for the first time chelsea have looked very one dimensional in the big games. bottom line is that for all their riches, chelsea have some ordinary players, gob forbid if terry/lampard/cech got injured.
btw - could that have been more of a blatant pen!!
the thing with chelsea is that they have an abundance of quality in some areas (wide attacking midfield players and centre midfield) but lack quality up front and lack strength in depth in defence.
mourinho rarely ever rests terry or lampard and for me they are as pivotal to chelsea's success as henry for arsenal or gerrard for liverpool.
i think abramovich might f**k it off in a couple of years and then the club would be screwed.
mourinho rarely ever rests terry or lampard and for me they are as pivotal to chelsea's success as henry for arsenal or gerrard for liverpool.
i think abramovich might f**k it off in a couple of years and then the club would be screwed.
silvia said:Stu, you obviously don't see too many Barça games.
That red was tight, but Del Hierro deserved a yellow minutes before when he nearly broke Messi's knee. So, yellow+yellow= red
And of course, Messi cheated everybody but del Horno who lied in the pitch for five minutes was really injured and was playing fair
I watch most of the games shown live on Sunday nights on Sky Sports over here - and play acting is ingrained in the Spanish game.
The skill level is unrivaled, but the cheating is unneccessary.
8)
firslty, nope, I dont think that challenge deserved a red card, it was worth a yellow at most. I think being in the pitch and seeing Del Horno flying into Messi mightve made it look worse than it was, plus the ref was behind the action so probably saw it differently to us sat at home with loads of replays.
Sil is right about him needing to get a yellow before that anyway when he went studs first and knee high on Messi again (even if you get the ball you cant do that!)
Barca were the better team before the red card anyway, not by much, but if you had to bet on someone scoring first , it wouldve been Barca IMO.
I DONT understand Mourinhos tactics of going for a win with ten men. I usually slag him off for being dull so I guess I should be happy he didnt shut up shot, but when youre 1-0 up with ten men you DONT try to get a second, that played into our hands and we just took advantage.
Not counting my chickens just yet though...
firslty, nope, I dont think that challenge deserved a red card, it was worth a yellow at most. I think being in the pitch and seeing Del Horno flying into Messi mightve made it look worse than it was, plus the ref was behind the action so probably saw it differently to us sat at home with loads of replays.
Sil is right about him needing to get a yellow before that anyway when he went studs first and knee high on Messi again (even if you get the ball you cant do that!)
Barca were the better team before the red card anyway, not by much, but if you had to bet on someone scoring first , it wouldve been Barca IMO.
I DONT understand Mourinhos tactics of going for a win with ten men. I usually slag him off for being dull so I guess I should be happy he didnt shut up shot, but when youre 1-0 up with ten men you DONT try to get a second, that played into our hands and we just took advantage.
Not counting my chickens just yet though...
Buckley
Well-Known Member
I take the same attitude to professional 'gamesmanship' that I do during the Saturday games I play in. Going over when you don't need to but you're hemmed in with nowhere to go, backing in on the edge of box and getting a free kick for being pushed or a little nudge to put an opponent off balance just before the ball arrives are genuinely part and parcel of the game. Every single player does these things and you'd just be putting yourself at a severe disadvantage by not doing so.
Once you've won a free kick, however, you get quietly get to your feet and jog off. Simulating near death when you're not even hurt, even if you have actually been fouled, is despicable.
I thought Messi's play acting and the reaction of his team mates was terrible, but I don't buy that Del Horno mistimed his tackle. He'd already tried to 'do' Messi a couple of time, clearly realising he was on for a skinning.
Once you've won a free kick, however, you get quietly get to your feet and jog off. Simulating near death when you're not even hurt, even if you have actually been fouled, is despicable.
I thought Messi's play acting and the reaction of his team mates was terrible, but I don't buy that Del Horno mistimed his tackle. He'd already tried to 'do' Messi a couple of time, clearly realising he was on for a skinning.
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Buckley said:
it is part and parcel. against liverpool, terry, gallas and eidur the snider were all going well over the top in the aftermath to robben's play acting similar to the way the barca players surrounded the ref. the issue is that most teams would have done the same if they had just seen their 18 year old star get poleaxed (again). terry is labelled as this inspirational-do-no-wrong-leader but he is always the first to get into people's faces in situations like that and rest assured would have been trying to mix it right up if joe cole or robben had been flattened like that.
i also agree buckers that del horno had tried to do him a couple of times. as a player you can tell when another player is trying to do this. for me it wasn't just the fouls he committed but it was the way he was attacking every ball/header even when he didn't commit a foul (i.e. going for the ball but with the intention/knowledge that he might go through messi as well, which he did twice)
I agree with Ferd that the challenge didn't deserve a red card but on the other hand, players know at this level that making a tackle like that is likely to lead to a red. Also, Del Horno was being skinned down the left and had dived in a few times before the tackle. I'd like to moan about the Barca play acting but I'm not really in a position to with Robbens performance the other week 
I do think that Puyol should have got a second yellow for his tackle on Robben in the second half though.
I think Mourinho got it right in countinuing to attack Barca though, Ferd, as sitting back with ten men and trying to defend for 50 minutes is suicide against one of the worlds great attacking teams.
I also agree with peoples comments about Drogba - he is lazy and incompetent and it sometimes felt like we were playing with nine men when he came on. I don't know how Grego can seriously think we lack strength and depth in the squad but one area we are very light is upfront and if Crespo goes next season, we will really struggle.
Looking forward to the second leg and still quite optimistic. If we do lose, I am going to kick Sil
(and Ferd)
I do think that Puyol should have got a second yellow for his tackle on Robben in the second half though.I think Mourinho got it right in countinuing to attack Barca though, Ferd, as sitting back with ten men and trying to defend for 50 minutes is suicide against one of the worlds great attacking teams.
I also agree with peoples comments about Drogba - he is lazy and incompetent and it sometimes felt like we were playing with nine men when he came on. I don't know how Grego can seriously think we lack strength and depth in the squad but one area we are very light is upfront and if Crespo goes next season, we will really struggle.
Looking forward to the second leg and still quite optimistic. If we do lose, I am going to kick Sil
(and Ferd)