[Bloobell]

Glasgowjag, on Oct 24 2007, 11:40, said:

Did anyone else think that Barca were there for the taking last night?

great to get a draw for rangers but i didnt see much of there star players during the 90 mins

where was Messi, Henry, Ronaldihno??? they had a few chances but i was never that worried that rangers would concede a goal, could and should rangers have got a win last night, i dont think they will get a chance to beat such a poor barca side as last night

Ah the old 'they didn't win so they must be pish' syndrome we Scots suffer from

I thought Rangers worked their balls off to stifle their more creative players and that's part and parcel of football

Funnily enough it looked like Barcelona who ran out of steam and I really thought we would win it towards the end

[StandFree03]

Time to put the crack pipe down, boys.

[Bloobell]

StandFree03, on Oct 24 2007, 11:59, said:

Time to put the crack pipe down, boys.

Let's just say that if Aberdeen play that way and get a draw in Greece you'll be well chuffed SF03

[StandFree03]

Bloobell, on Oct 24 2007, 12:01, said:

Let's just say that if Aberdeen play that way and get a draw in Greece you'll be well chuffed SF03

Of course we would, but I believe this thread is about Barcelona

I don't think Barcelona were in any danger of losing last night. Rangers put in an impressive backs to the wall performance but always had to be absolutely clinical as they would only get a couple of chances. Did Valdes have a save to make?

Good result either way. Wish I had watched the Arsenal game instead though

[Bloobell]

StandFree03, on Oct 24 2007, 12:05, said:

Of course we would, but I believe this thread is about Barcelona

I don't think Barcelona were in any danger of losing last night. Rangers put in an impressive backs to the wall performance but always had to be absolutely clinical as they would only get a couple of chances. Did Valdes have a save to make?

Good result either way. Wish I had watched the Arsenal game instead though

No denying Barca were better than us but we certainly had chances to win near the end, with Bazza and Cousin both coming close

There is a tendency in this country to be blinded by wee flicks and touches but it's goals that win games and I've said all along that with a defence as strong as ours we won't lose many games

[wearealldoomed]

Bloobell, on Oct 24 2007, 12:08, said:

There is a tendency in this country to be blinded by wee flicks and touches but it's goals that win games and I've said all along that with a defence as strong as ours we won't lose many games

There's also a tendency to go over the top in our assessment of how good certain teams are. Barca in club football and Brazil in the international game are the main beneficiaries of the bizarre view that everyone who pulls on a certain shirt is a world beater.

I love watching Barca and have since I was a wee boy, but the fact remains that this team of "superstars" has won a whole two European Cups in their history, in spite of the attractive passing football they've always played. I think what I'm trying to say is that Barca have often flattered to deceive, last night being a cracking example of that.

Rangers thorougly deserved their draw, in spite of what football snobs and blinkered anti OF dafties think. Barca ran out of ideas and energy by the end, and only forced two saves from McGregor in doing so.

[StandFree03]

Bloobell, on Oct 24 2007, 12:08, said:

No denying Barca were better than us but we certainly had chances to win near the end, with Bazza and Cousin both coming close

There is a tendency in this country to be blinded by wee flicks and touches but it's goals that win games and I've said all along that with a defence as strong as ours we won't lose many games

Aye, that was my point though, they only had two chances and they were the ones you mentioned. Valdes didn't actually have to make a save the whole game. Hutton handled it more times than he did.

As I said though, it was a good result.

[Bloobell]

StandFree03, on Oct 24 2007, 12:35, said:

Hutton handled it more times than he did.

[StandFree03]

Bloobell, on Oct 24 2007, 12:42, said:

You ken it

[Lordofthewing]

StandFree03, on Oct 24 2007, 12:44, said:

You ken it

That was class!

[pollymac]

Barcelona WERE crap last night. After about 10 minutes, you could see that the only way they'd score would be to let r*ngers come forward and then break at pace. Every single time r*ngers came forward, Eidur Gudjonsson would break forward at a sedate trot, refusing to release the much needed quick pass.

R*ngers stifled Barca's creative players with two or three (I actually counted 4 on Ronaldhino at one point near the end) quickly crowding the Barca player on the ball. The only way to prevent this from happening is to open the play up to as much of the pitch as possible and play quick decisive passing from defence to midfield to front line - something that Barcelona utterly failed to do at any point last night.

Agreed that they were there for the taking, though.

[NEVERBELIEVER]

Dont think they were there for the taking , but the GERS deserved a draw . Its easy to slag them off , but Rangers although outclassed. fought for everything ..that has to be admired .

[AndyM]

NEVERBELIEVER, on Oct 24 2007, 13:09, said:

Dont think they were there for the taking , but the GERS deserved a draw . Its easy to slag them off , but Rangers although outclassed. fought for everything ..that has to be admired .

Absolutely. Rangers fought brilliantly last night and deserved their point against a team who were much better technically. One more win though should see them through.

I hope your lot can get something tonight. Just hope nobody thinks (Taxi for)Caldwell should play central defence.

[Ric]

Bloobell, on Oct 24 2007, 11:56, said:

Funnily enough it looked like Barcelona who ran out of steam and I really thought we would win it towards the end

Right, that's just madness...

...but not quite as mad as this...

Glasgowjag, on Oct 24 2007, 11:40, said:

Did anyone else think that Barca were there for the taking last night?

Don't get me wrong, I thought Rangers had a really difficult task, really difficult, and they did a superb job to stop Barcelona getting a goal, securing an excellent point.

But... no... either of you...

[Bloobell]

ricster, on Oct 24 2007, 20:31, said:

Right, that's just madness...

...but not quite as mad as this...


Don't get me wrong, I thought Rangers had a really difficult task, really difficult, and they did a superb job to stop Barcelona getting a goal, securing an excellent point.

But... no... either of you...

Rangers had two decent chances in the last 15 minutes

FACT

End of

[Ric]

Bloobell, on Oct 24 2007, 20:38, said:

Rangers had two decent chances in the last 15 minutes

FACT

End of

Rangers were entirely outclassed from the start to the finish. Fact!

They scored as many as Barcelona allowed them to. Fact!

Rijkaard came looking for a point, and got a point. He said so in his after match interview. Fact!


I could keep on saying fact! but it doesn't change my opinion that no, they were not for the taking and, no they did not run out of steam at the end.

This post has been edited by ricster: 24 October 2007 - 19:44

[dave258]

Cousin was clearly knackered after about 65 mins, doesn't anyone else think that if Boyd had come on he would have scored the chance that fell to cousin?

[KnightswoodBear]

dave258, on Oct 24 2007, 20:54, said:

Cousin was clearly knackered after about 65 mins, doesn't anyone else think that if Boyd had come on he would have scored the chance that fell to cousin?

Possibly. Would Boyd have dragged his arse into that position though?

[dave258]

The penalty box? Boyd would still be standing there from the last attack!

[Ric]

I thought Cousin did an excellent job up front and I thought Smith would change him in the dying minutes to waste time, but he just kept plodding on and to be honest I think he offered more in terms of movement than a fresh Boyd would have.

For all the talk of Darcheville (sp?) being your robust front man, Cousin is showing he is no pushover with the added advantage that he seems to have a better temperament than him.