[vlad is the man]

False Light, on 16 March 2010 - 22:00, said:

For a team who needed to score, Chelsea's lack of ideas going forward was really poor. Inter were much better than Chelsea but I wasn't overly impressed, although by no means am I saying Inter were poor. Inter are a good team, as they've shown on numerous occasions this season, so this performance was hardly a shock. They were solid at the back and Drogba was dominated again by Lucio and Samuel, while Eto'o and Milito caused Chelsea's defence problems and Sneijder put some lovely passes through to them. 

Agree with all you have said.

But how many times did an Inter defender bring down a Chelsea player when defending a free-kick or corner. It was ridiculous at times.

[Ayr_United_1910]

mozam76, on 16 March 2010 - 22:03, said:

Souness has been brilliant tonight - he quite clearly hasn't bought into the whole Sky/Mourinho Wankathon, and Keys was clearly rattled that Souey wasn't toeing the party line. Tremendous.

Sneijder was tremendous but MOTM for me, by a ways, was Zanetti. The guy is a long time hero of mine and he was awesome, in both legs.

Sorry never read this before I posted. Spot on. Souness is great, Keys is a wee f@nny.

[vlad is the man]

Ayr_United_1910, on 16 March 2010 - 22:03, said:

Watched the game, wasn't that great a game for the neutral but Inter def deserved the victory. Had a wee chuckle at the pre and post match analysis from Souness and the gang. That wee pleb that hosts the show was trying to turn it into the Jose show and Souness just wasn't having it lol. Thought that was quite amusing.

It wasn't a 'great game' but I thouroughly enjoyed it. Not only in terms of some of the football that was played but the tactical battle annihilation.

[McKee]

vlad is the man, on 16 March 2010 - 21:46, said:

This.

I think I said all of this to my Old Man. Zanetti gets older but just doesn't get any worse. If he is left out the Argentina squad it will be a travesty.

Exactly, he is still the best fullback in the world, and has been since the 90's. Motta was also excellent tonight, and his wind-up tactics worked a treat.

I had to cringe at Richard Key's pathetic attempts to take the gloss off of Inter's win with the no Italians mention.

[Gall09]

Inter thoroughly deserved the win, as has been said Chelsea just couldn't get through Inter's defence and didn't create enough. How many blocks did Inter's defenders make? And Sneijder was just immense.

One thing i did agree with Andy Gray on was his point about something being done regarding the defending at corners. Now it happens every week, and tonight saw Walter Samuel chase Drogba round the box before grabbing him round the waist and throwing him to the ground, not once looking at the ball. I agree with Gray when he says even if it means giving 5 penalties a game, something has to be done and when defenders realise they will be punished for it they might stop. I know there will always be contact between players, but it's starting to take the piss.

[7-2]

ClarkeyAUFC, on 16 March 2010 - 21:46, said:

Off topic but John Collins is f*cking annoying me by referring to Sevilla as "Seville".

He's a Brit using the English pronunciation. What's the problem?

[Zanetti]

Sneijder is such a fantastic player, anyone who follows Serie A at all will have known that already. He's one of the best passers out there. I thought it was a decent game but I was much more interested in the result, and it was the one I wanted. Inter deserved it, it was a competent performance and they got the job done very well. Looking forward to the next round now.

[McKee]

While we are talking about Gray, he is becoming exactly like Hansen. It was hillarious how hard he tried not to give any credit to Craig Gordon in the Sunderland V City game.

[False Light]

vlad is the man, on 16 March 2010 - 22:03, said:

Agree with all you have said.

But how many times did an Inter defender bring down a Chelsea player when defending a free-kick or corner. It was ridiculous at times.

I really really hate shirt pulling, pushing and wrestling at corners and freekicks. It's utterly ridiculous that defenders get away with it, especially as forwards are far more likely to be pulled up for it. 

[Thistle_do_nicely]

Mourinho's eyes were really bloodshot in the post-match interview and he didn't look too good (hair's getting a lot greyer now, not clean shaven etc. etc.)

Probably the stress of the Italian media getting on his back so often and tonights massive game.

Anyone else see Terry having a sweary moan at the fourth official after the game along the lines of "that's fucking shit that is, fucking shit" or something? Icing on the cake watching a true cretin like that so wound up.

Edit; oh, and Sky's coverage is hilarious to watch when English teams are ballsing up in Europe. Gray seemed so reluctant to give Inter any credit whatsoever, after Eto's goal he almost seemed to want it to have been offside so he could have a moan at the linesman, and anyone else notice Richard Key's smarmy "Funny you should mention Italian style, because Inter don't even have any Italians in their squad" remark after the game? Further edit, glad to see I wasn't the only one who picked up on that as folk have posted earlier in the thread about the bitterness of Keys' comment.

This post has been edited by Thistle_do_nicely: 16 March 2010 - 22:33

[heedthebaa]

mozam76, on 16 March 2010 - 22:03, said:

Souness has been brilliant tonight - he quite clearly hasn't bought into the whole Sky/Mourinho Wankathon, and Keys was clearly rattled that Souey wasn't toeing the party line. Tremendous.

.

I always get the impression Souness fucking hates that wee lick ma toosh Redknapp

[mozam76]

heedthebaa, on 16 March 2010 - 22:24, said:

I always get the impression Souness fucking hates that wee lick ma toosh Redknapp

Oh he does, there's no question. Ruud looks at Redknapp all pityingly, as if to say "shush little boy" - Souness looks at him as if he'd like to deck him. Quite rightly too.

[vikingTON]

7-2, on 16 March 2010 - 22:08, said:

He's a Brit using the English pronunciation. What's the problem?

Which English dialect do you use that pronounces 'a' as 'e'?

[pub car king]

chelsea oot drogba off fucking great. but best of all at the full time whistle there was a cut away from the panel with jamie redknapp looking like a wee boy who was sent to the corner and told to shut up. lets look at the panel souness 3 european cups played with one of the greatest ever english club sides ruud 2 european cups and a european championship played with the phenominal milan side and then jamie redknapp with his 1 league cup from 1995 and relegation at southampton

[bunkmedal]

vlad is the man, on 16 March 2010 - 21:58, said:

I'm unsure he'll take Milito. I think Martin Palermo is a probable as is Gonzalo Higuain after originally being out of favour. Supposedly Milito hasn't impressed when playing for the national team.

But if he keeps up performances like that and scoring goals in Serie A he'll give Diego something to think about.

Sadly this is correct. Argentina have got at least five forwards better than Palermo, but Maradona will take him anyway because he thinks he's some sort of messiah due to his history at Boca Juniors - the fact that Palermo scored the late goal against Peru just makes that even more of a certainty.

[Jeff Venom]

Really enjoyed that game last night and I echo the Schneider comments...for anyone who has seen him in the flesh (like when he dicked on Scotland at Hampden) he is absolutely tiny as well! A joy to watch sometimes...

I must say though some of the wrestling at corners was just unreal but hey ho, Chelsea not getting their own way can be pretty sweet. Plus Drogba could have broken that boy's ankle the way he stamped on it. The Inter guy did look as though he ran into him deliberately but it was a pretty good Judo throw/roll Drogba did to ground him the deliver his finishing move which for him unfortunately was spotted by the ref.

[H_B]

Gray - "Well, Inter were a lot better than I thought they were".

Yes, Andy. That's because you, Jamie and your other Sky Sports Premiership pals know absolutely f**k all about European football.

[Colin M]

H_B, on 17 March 2010 - 09:19, said:

Gray - "Well, Inter were a lot better than I thought they were".

Yes, Andy. That's because you, Jamie and your other Sky Sports Premiership pals know absolutely f**k all about European football.

To be fair, if you look at Inter in the last few years they have been well short of progressing against English teams. Liverpool breezed past them last season. They obviously have good players - perhaps ironically they looked far better without the reliance on Ibrahimovic who never seemed to turn up for games like last nights.

Italian clubs have (had?) fallen well down the pecking order - look at how easily Man U despatched AC Milan, who are only 1 point behind Inter in Serie A.

Of course, Mourinho is no mug and the performance last night (apart from, or you could say including, the man-handling in the box) was perfectly executed. Samuel and Lucio were rock solid and the midfield was superb.

[winaukee]

After watching both the Inter - Chelsea games you have to say Samuel and Lucio are probably the best centre half partnership kicking about at the moment especially against physical players like Drogba.

Cambiasso was great in both games and the Argentina midfield of him and Mascherano must be fun to play against since both of them are like little terrier dogs nipping at your heels.

Souness's performance in the studio was worth watching alone.

[LAGer]

I was pretty bemused when watching Gillette Soccer Special before. They were all asked for their predictions, and obviously they all said Chelsea, but then Paul Jewell & Paul Merson both agreed that Chelsea would have far too much quality for Inter, and would turn them over quite spectacularly at home, much like United did to Milan. Makes me even more pleased that Inter out thought and out played them, and hopefully Jewell & Merson will eventually realise that there are quality players outside of English football after all.

Also, most English pundits (including Gray & Redknapp) were adamant that Lucio's domination of Drogba in the first leg was nothing more than a fluke. All insisting that it'd be different at Stamford Bridge. Unfortunately for them, Drogba was nowhere to be found again.

This post has been edited by LAGer: 17 March 2010 - 10:39

[David W]

Colin M, on 17 March 2010 - 09:42, said:

Liverpool breezed past them last season.

It was Man U they lost to last season - Mourinho wasn't in charge when Liverpool put them out 3-0 on aggregate. Even then, Inter had Materazzi harshly sent off at Anfield after 30 minutes and Burdisso sent off just after half-time in the game at the San Siro.

[banterman86]

Colin M, on 17 March 2010 - 09:42, said:

To be fair, if you look at Inter in the last few years they have been well short of progressing against English teams. Liverpool breezed past them last season. They obviously have good players - perhaps ironically they looked far better without the reliance on Ibrahimovic who never seemed to turn up for games like last nights.

Italian clubs have (had?) fallen well down the pecking order - look at how easily Man U despatched AC Milan, who are only 1 point behind Inter in Serie A.

Of course, Mourinho is no mug and the performance last night (apart from, or you could say including, the man-handling in the box) was perfectly executed. Samuel and Lucio were rock solid and the midfield was superb.

They had a really good summer in terms of transfers didn't they? Eto'o Sneijder, Militio, Motta, I imagine they even broke close(ish) to even. It's probably the kind of summer man utd fans may have expected on the back of Ronaldo leaving. Not that I'm saying either is the "righ" way.

I missed the first ten or so minutes of last night, and then was probably more focused on my pint than the game, were inter playing 4-3-3?

[Colin M]

David W, on 17 March 2010 - 10:40, said:

It was Man U they lost to last season - Mourinho wasn't in charge when Liverpool put them out 3-0 on aggregate. Even then, Inter had Materazzi harshly sent off at Anfield after 30 minutes and Burdisso sent off just after half-time in the game at the San Siro.

I had a feeling I was a year out! In any case, they have fallen well short in recent years.

They have obviously changed somewhat, there's still a feeling that they won't be eventual winners though. As Chelsea were potential winners in many minds, I think most observers would have expected them to go through when the draw was made.

[craigkillie]

7-2, on 16 March 2010 - 22:08, said:

He's a Brit using the English pronunciation. What's the problem?

If he was talking about the city, then fair enough, but the team's name is Sevilla.

If I was going on holiday to the city to take in the football, I would go to Seville to watch the Sevilla game.


I missed the game last night, but just watched some short highlights. Drogba deserved to go. Chelsea were unlucky not to get a penalty, but you rarely see those given. What was Terry moaning about?

[dubs]

perthshirebell, on 16 March 2010 - 21:54, said:

inter wont win the champions league they dont have a good enought set of players.

Tripe. If you beat Chelsea home and away you clearly do have a good enough set of players. Something if you'll remember correctly the great Barca failed to do (either home OR away) last season.

H_B, on 17 March 2010 - 09:19, said:

Gray - "Well, Inter were a lot better than I thought they were".

Yes, Andy. That's because you, Jamie and your other Sky Sports Premiership pals know absolutely f**k all about European football.

To be fair I don't think there's a person watching that last night who wasn't amazed at how solid/effective Inter were. I backed them at 5's and even I didn't think they were that good. It was about as good as an away performance in Europe as you are ever likely to see.

This post has been edited by dubs: 17 March 2010 - 11:29