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All purpose football thread 20-21 season II

Boring match - should have just fast forwarded to pens.
Didn't like to see De Gea's gamesmanship before nearly every Villareal pen so it was quite fitting that he was the one to miss.
 
robs said:
Well...that was a little surreal...
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I watched it up to end of normal time when United were well on top, then switched channels to watch a bit of Bates Motel. Came back and surprised to see it had gone to penalties. Some great spot kicks apart from the crucial one.
 
Well there you go. The bookie's favourites lose. Chelsea fans, come Saturday night will you be insufferable or inconsolable?
Will City win their first European trophy in 51 years?
It's all very much up for grabs.
 
Clive D said:
Well you know that City will be picking up the Champions League trophy on Saturday, it’s a given I’m sure you’d agree.
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Nope, said all along that Chelsea are the favourites - just look at their recent record against City. They’ve been in 2 finals & won one so have far more CL pedigree than us.

It’s Chelsea’s to lose.

How you haven’t won that match is beyond me. You have some seriously talented players in that team, Villarreal were hanging on from what I could see.
 
United were trying to win their first trophy in 4 years..... on Saturday, City are going for their THIRD trophy in 4 WEEKS!!
 
Rack Kit said:
Nope, said all along that Chelsea are the favourites - just look at their recent record against City. They’ve been in 2 finals & won one so have far more CL pedigree than us.

It’s Chelsea’s to lose.

How you haven’t won that match is beyond me. You have some seriously talented players in that team, Villarreal were hanging on from what I could see.
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Stop taking the piss.
My sides are aching too much.
 
Rack Kit said:
Nope, said all along that Chelsea are the favourites - just look at their recent record against City. They’ve been in 2 finals & won one so have far more CL pedigree than us.

It’s Chelsea’s to lose.

How you haven’t won that match is beyond me. You have some seriously talented players in that team, Villarreal were hanging on from what I could see.
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Villareal were very disciplined, excellent defensive work and very rarely got out of their own half. Same old problem, breaking down a well drilled defence.
Rashford and Greenwood did not stick to the wings enough, kept coming inside to receive the ball, in an already congested middle third, leaving Shaw/AWB isolated on the wings. Pogba and Fernandes were largely marked out of the game, did not do enough to make space for themselves for two creative players.
United's defense was not too bad, not great but managed to deal with a lot of free-kicks other than the one that was scored, always looked nervous without Maguire. Shaw and McTominay probably had the best performances, Cavani got the goal and kept running till the last minute, closing down.

Had the shootout gone the other way, it would have papered over the cracks. I think not making any subs until so late is a message from Ole to the board, we need top class replacements. A right winger who actually stays on the right, Greenwood is a centre forward but an excellent option to have off the bench for an impact. Whatever double pivot we play in midfield does not seem to work, either we get by on defensive work with Fred/McTominay or sacrifice defence paring Pogba with McFred, I really rate Van de Beek but he does not work in a double pivot, possibly if we actually signed a dedicated Defensive Midfielder such as Rice or Neves for example, neither option would be cheap, or doable without a considerable sale, most likely Pogba and/or DeGea off the books.
Pau Torres had a great game for Villarreal, and long been linked with United, for the ~£50m release clause I think would be a great buy. Downside is we have just given Bailly a new contract, and somehow Phil Jones has another two years on his!
 
“You're playing Villarreal here. You're playing a team that finished 7th in a really poor La Liga. Think of Real Madrid and Barcelona, how bad have they been? Man Utd should win this game comfortably."

Bet Scholes is regretting this rant! :D
 
Didn't watch it as haven't paid for BT sport (never had Sky) in a couple of years now. Felt sorry for de Gea but then heard of potential gamesmanship and he earns more in a week than I do in 10 years.
 
Hoopsontoast said:
Villareal were very disciplined, excellent defensive work and very rarely got out of their own half. Same old problem, breaking down a well drilled defence.
Rashford and Greenwood did not stick to the wings enough, kept coming inside to receive the ball, in an already congested middle third, leaving Shaw/AWB isolated on the wings. Pogba and Fernandes were largely marked out of the game, did not do enough to make space for themselves for two creative players.
United's defense was not too bad, not great but managed to deal with a lot of free-kicks other than the one that was scored, always looked nervous without Maguire. Shaw and McTominay probably had the best performances, Cavani got the goal and kept running till the last minute, closing down.

Had the shootout gone the other way, it would have papered over the cracks. I think not making any subs until so late is a message from Ole to the board, we need top class replacements. A right winger who actually stays on the right, Greenwood is a centre forward but an excellent option to have off the bench for an impact. Whatever double pivot we play in midfield does not seem to work, either we get by on defensive work with Fred/McTominay or sacrifice defence paring Pogba with McFred, I really rate Van de Beek but he does not work in a double pivot, possibly if we actually signed a dedicated Defensive Midfielder such as Rice or Neves for example, neither option would be cheap, or doable without a considerable sale, most likely Pogba and/or DeGea off the books.
Pau Torres had a great game for Villarreal, and long been linked with United, for the ~£50m release clause I think would be a great buy. Downside is we have just given Bailly a new contract, and somehow Phil Jones has another two years on his!
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When Villarreal somehow missed that chance to go 2 up, kill the game & then you levelling, that should’ve been the point where you go on and win it. There was plenty of time left but it sounds like you ran out of ideas and that’s a coaching problem, not ‘need more players’ problem. Utd have more than enough talent to see off most teams and this was match I thought you’d win comfortably because of that. Has Ole taken you as far as he can go?
 
andrew d said:
Chelsea fans, come Saturday night will you be insufferable or inconsolable?
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Definitely not inconsolable.
I, and I'm sure many other Chelsea fans, look upon this match as a bit of a 'free hit' as qualification for CL next season is already secured and rewinding back to the end of Jan nobody in their right mind would have predicted Chelsea being in this final.
In terms of 'inconsolable' nothing can ever match losing on pens to United in 2008 by the width of a post.
 
I feel for De Gea, it’s not a good way to lose. It was one of those occasions where the match hinged on the creativity of the midfield, Villarreal sat back, smothered the game. United couldn’t find a way through. I thought their creative options were poor. Rashford wasn’t great, Fernandes was anonymous apart from appealing for penalties. McTominay had a good game and provided lots of drive. Ultimately they weren’t clever enough to unlock a side set up not to lose. The defending was poor for the Villarreal goal as well.

Just seen who the referee is for Saturday, we have no chance, it’s definitely Chelsea’s to lose.
 
webster said:
Definitely not inconsolable.
I, and I'm sure many other Chelsea fans, look upon this match as a bit of a 'free hit' as qualification for CL next season is already secured and rewinding back to the end of Jan nobody in their right mind would have predicted Chelsea being in this final.
In terms of 'inconsolable' nothing can ever match losing on pens to United in 2008 by the width of a post.
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Yes, that was bad but my worst moment in football was the semi final in 2009 when we lost to Barcelona. My anger at the refereeing of that match was such that I vowed to change the way I watch football and the emotional investment I put into it.

So I won’t be inconsolable if we lose on Saturday.

But I do promise to be insufferable if we win
 
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