Itās great to see Lavezzi has really settled in after a slow start in Paris.
It will be one of Milan, PSG or Juventus who win the CL this year.
[FONT=Calibri]Good to have the CL back[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri]I have had to work for the last 3 months and that combined with following Beitar Jerusalem, not to mention the massive issues in Beitar at the moment after we signed 2 guys from Terek Grozny , see my summary in the Israeli league thread later , watching the african nations cup and my own sporting involvement have curtailed my posting.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri]Now I have some time to contribute again which is nice for all of us.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri]I watched Valencia ā PSG tonight, it was a decent game of ball with PSG streets ahead , lavezzi is a lovely footballer and I really enjoyed watching PSG, they will have a big say in the businesss end of this thing I feel as totti rightly pointed out earlier in the year.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri]Depending on herself, I might try and watch the celtic game later, disappointing result but surely not suprising, celtic have spent the last 2 months scrapping against the like of inverness and loosing to st.mirren in prepration for this game and really playing utterly meaningless games in a dead , non competitive league, Juve have had a nice break and played Milan in the Coppa Italia amoungst other teams of a slightly different standardā¦ whatever momentum celtic built up in October November from playing top class opposition was surely destroyed by going to the likes of Iverness on a Saturday morning in janauary for a pointless game.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri]I see lads here are talking about Ambrose, I guess playing Burkina faso is not really at the same level as the CL, anywayā¦ ill be delighted if someone can tell me how Rami Gershon was not involved tonight, this guy is decent, played for standard liege, regular for Israel and lennon picks fucking ambrose over himā¦. Fuck me , that ās a crime[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri]On another note it was upsetting to see Celtic fans sing Youāll never walk alone at the Juve fans tonight to remind them of Heysel, I know there was all this shit about the crowd intimidating Juve, as if there is not enough hostility in Italian football but this was a step too far[/FONT]
Scott Brown still remains a terrible footballer . Typical shit bulldog type midfielder that British football produces by the bucketload. Ran around like a spa for the first hour and was ridiculously out of gas soon after. His defending for the second goal was farcical
Stokes is not a better striker than Hooper and you canāt really be suggesting he should have played tonight after playing his first league game of the season on Saturday. Watt is still learning the game having been playing park football a couple of years ago - heās a viable option off the bench in these games and he was correctly used in that manner again tonight (though I would have taken Forrest rather than Commons off, unless the latter was injured). I feel youāre being obtuse for no other reason than wanting to be proven correct on the internet having set out your anti-Hooper position way back when.
Your comments on him are like a Tipping King rugby football tip - full of sweeping statements, omissions and inaccuracies but quick to applaud yourself for being correct when the stars align and he doesnāt score. Heās been good for us in Europe this season from his qualifying round goal to the home and away goals against Spartak Moscow and he was also injured in the midst of the group phase and missed Barca at home for example. He wasnāt poor in the first half - he had some good interchanges / step overs with Commons and held the ball up well. He wasnāt too impressive in the second half but we didnāt maintain our collective level of performance for the full game. Ambrose missing the easy header at 0-1 was crucial in hindsight.
thatās actually a decent point, he is bloody useless.
guys like him need the āhunsā around him in order to be effectiveā¦ heās ok when you want someone on your team to stoop to the level of el hadji diouf in a game where such theatrics are necessary to decide the outcome, but up against someone like Pirlo itās a different matter as its about using the football
[quote=āBandage, post: 736974, member: 9ā]Stokes is not a better striker than Hooper and you canāt really be suggesting he should have played tonight after playing his first league game of the season on Saturday. Watt is still learning the game having been playing park football a couple of years ago - heās a viable option off the bench in these games and he was correctly used in that manner again tonight (though I would have taken Forrest rather than Commons off, unless the latter was injured). I feel youāre being obtuse for no other reason than wanting to be proven correct on the internet having set out your anti-Hooper position way back when.
Your comments on him are like a Tipping King rugby football tip - full of sweeping statements, omissions and inaccuracies but quick to applaud yourself for being correct when the stars align and he doesnāt score. Heās been good for us in Europe this season from his qualifying round goal to the home and away goals against Spartak Moscow and he was also injured in the midst of the group phase and missed Barca at home for example. He wasnāt poor in the first half - he had some good interchanges / step overs with Commons and held the ball up well. He wasnāt too impressive in the second half but we didnāt maintain our collective level of performance for the full game. Ambrose missing the easy header at 0-1 was crucial in hindsight.[/quote]
Stokes is most certainly a better striker than Hooper. I am not being obtuse at all, I think that the reason you have bandied that out against me is because I am right an it is in fact you who is wrong and having vehemently argued this point with me in the past are not trying so you have tried to use strong and decisive words to distort the picture. Hooper doesnāt really have much to his game apart from being a good finisher and having a big arse which makes him hard to move off the ball, heās extremely poor with his back to goal, his technique isnāt great as he has a very touch, his attitude is really poor - he refuses to jump for the ball and would actually rather give away a cheap free kick than do this. The thing that annoys me about Hooper is that he has regressed over the past two years and his attitude continues to get worse and worse, he used put a decent shift in when he first came here but no longer makes any effort in closing down and making selfless runs into the channels. He doesnāt play with any real intelligence.
Stokes on the other hand looks to have made real strides since joining us. Heās a better player technically, he is not a one dimensional player and the most important aspects for me is that he has a better attitude, he has more intelligence and he is a player who is willing to makes sacrifices in his game by making intelligent runs that free up space for others. Stokes is a team player whereas Hooper plays for himself. Stokes also seems to have developed on areas his game lacked in, he looked to have improved physically in the game against Inverness on Saturday, I always felt he was weak in the air but he rose very commandingly to head against the bar last Saturday against Inverness in a situation where he was second favourite. Stokes is very fit too, he does a lot of closing down in addition to making loads of intelligent runs down the channel.
Hooper was embarrassing against Barcelona in the Nou Camp, he was embarrassing against Benfica in Lisbon and he was embarrassing tonight, he played well against Spartak away from home but didnāt do much against Spartak at home bar clinically dispatching a mistake from the defender. Celtic donāt have the luxury of carrying a player like Hooper in Europe. Lennon has set his place in this side in stone which is rather disappointing. Celtic dominated proceedings in the first half against Hooper and I canāt think of one instance where he made a worthwhile contribution. If we had a striker worthwhile Iād have been confident he could have done something to influence the game. You canāt afford a passive striker when you are playing good sides like Juventus, even more so a relatively untalented one with a bad attitude.
Stokes is nowhere near Hooperās class. Please grow up.
[quote=āmickee321, post: 736975, member: 367ā]thatās actually a decent point, he is bloody useless.
guys like him need the āhunsā around him in order to be effectiveā¦ heās ok when you want someone on your team to stoop to the level of el hadji diouf in a game where such theatrics are necessary to decide the outcome, but up against someone like Pirlo itās a different matter as its about using the football[/quote]
utter bolloxā¦you lean on the cuntā¦because heĀ“ll destroy you with his touchesā¦scott brown or any other british player will never use the football better than Pirloā¦factā¦so you try to unsettle himā¦just like continental defenders will always try to unsettle teams from corners by holding onto them because they generally arenĀ“t as good as defending set pieces as british teamsā¦
scott brown is good at what he doesā¦
Celtic gave everything they had tonight and have to be commendedā¦they were never going to match juve talent wiseā¦the big difference in any sport as you go up the levels is that you get punished for your every mistake at the highest levelā¦and celtic were punished toniteā¦juventus have some really top class footballersā¦the efficency of their play was top classā¦celtic really missed a target man upfront i thought as their build up play called for oneā¦especially as juve really sat back deep from the off and invited celtic on ā¦like i said yesterday no better team than an italin a team to kill the crowd earlyā¦
KIBā¦ your comment on brown for second goal is nonsenseā¦Brown made a lung busting run to get backā¦ he was tired and running full steamā¦he had to gamble on it being a shot as he was making up the groundā¦no way he could have pulled up to turnā¦he had to commit in the hope that it wud be a shotā¦
[quote=āscumpot, post: 736997, member: 182ā]utter bolloxā¦you lean on the cuntā¦because heĀ“ll destroy you with his touchesā¦scott brown or any other british player will never use the football better than Pirloā¦factā¦so you try to unsettle himā¦just like continental defenders will always try to unsettle teams from corners by holding onto them because they generally arenĀ“t as good as defending set pieces as british teamsā¦
scott brown is good at what he doesā¦
Celtic gave everything they had tonight and have to be commendedā¦they were never going to match juve talent wiseā¦the big difference in any sport as you go up the levels is that you get punished for your every mistake at the highest levelā¦and celtic were punished toniteā¦juventus have some really top class footballersā¦the efficency of their play was top classā¦celtic really missed a target man upfront i thought as their build up play called for oneā¦especially as juve really sat back deep from the off and invited celtic on ā¦like i said yesterday no better team than an italin a team to kill the crowd earlyā¦
KIBā¦ your comment on brown for second goal is nonsenseā¦Brown made a lung busting run to get backā¦ he was tired and running full steamā¦he had to gamble on it being a shot as he was making up the groundā¦no way he could have pulled up to turnā¦he had to commit in the hope that it wud be a shotā¦[/quote]
Iād disagree completely with that, itās not about using the football or applying the pressure or unsettling them. The reason Italians have had some much success throughout the years is because they are clever and they are cunning. Pirlo actually relishes being harassed and harried like Brown was doing for a period tonight, he actually made a fool of him in the first half when he was getting very aggressive. Spain and Barcelona have been very effective in playing a high intensity pressing game in recent years and the key to that has been steroid and pressing in packs.
The Italian tactical approach is much more classy and refined - we teach the brain, we donāt pierce the vein. The British approach is far too irrational and impulsive, they are too thick to get the big picture.
Stokes is a much better footballer that the man with big bottom and bad attitude.
No, heās not.
Pirlo was completely knocked out of his stride tonight and the statistics show he was dispossessed 6 times - thatās a massive amount for him. Sure there was that one stand out moment, after he had the tussle with Brown in the first half, where he shrugged him off and sprayed a wonderful pass. But he was ineffective for the most part. People are using the final scoreline as a starting point in making judgements on individual performances. Celtic suffered due to individual lapses from Ambrose for two goals but I would say we won the midfield battle - perverse though that may sound (again, from looking at the 0-3 scoreline).
Oh yes he is, Stokes is a player who offers an outlet for his team and a player who can impact on the game directly. Hooper is someone who doesnāt and who canāt and his pathetic use of his big bottom sickens me.
No, youāre completely wrong there.
he made a lung/gut busting run alright but critically stopped on his heels and allowed a gap for the flick to be made. He sure as shit shouldnt have allowed Marchisio to turn him in the box like a non league player after it either.
I remember Brown being out on his feet routinely when they last played in the Champions League. His is the epitome of what is wrong with British midfielders.
Juventus were distinctly average all night. 2 of their 3 goals were down to piss poor individual defending from Ambrose. The plucky Scots had better chances arguably and better attacking play.
Hooper was shite but if Anthony Stokes just back from injury was the answerā¦
The mong from the north has previously wanted Lawwell, Lennon and now Hooper out.
Wouldnāt have expected you to get itā¦
[quote=āKIB man, post: 737013, member: 208ā]he made a lung/gut busting run alright but critically stopped on his heels and allowed a gap for the flick to be made. He sure as shit shouldnt have allowed Marchisio to turn him in the box like a non league player after it either.
I remember Brown being out on his feet routinely when they last played in the Champions League. His is the epitome of what is wrong with British midfielders.
Juventus were distinctly average all night. 2 of their 3 goals were down to piss poor individual defending from Ambrose. The plucky Scots had better chances arguably and better attacking play.
Hooper was shite but if Anthony Stokes just back from injury was the answerā¦
The mong from the north has previously wanted Lawwell, Lennon and now Hooper out.[/quote]
He stopped on his heels because Marchisio stopped. Did you want him to keep running past him and into the advertising hoardings? He didnāt have a great game but I think Scumpot has it right - he was always stretching even to get back there as we were caught with Matthews ahead of the ball. He canāt really slow quickly enough to prevent Marchisio from ducking back inside.
Brown tried to get in Pirloās face for a five minute spell in the first half and those were the five minutes where Pirlo was most influential in the game. I agree that we won the midfield battle, but I think that was because we were well organised and cohesive in that area as opposed to unsettling the opposition. I think itās a hard game to guage due to a variety of circumstances, despite dominating the midfield we were toothless in attacks and we never looked liked scoring, Bonucci and Barzagli cruised it tonight, had they been under more exerted pressure then Iām sure they would have changed, I feel as if Juve were happy to let us come at them as what we had didnāt worry them. Conte is a master tactician, he reads games very well and is extremely flexible in his approach and changes.
[quote=āIl Bomber Destro, post: 737000, member: 1052ā], he actually made a fool of him in the first half when he was getting very aggressive.
.[/quote]
i think youĀ“ll find Pirlo actually lost his footing himself that time with brown if you watch the replayā¦
We looked capable of scoring on several occasions in the first half in particular. And though our performance level dropped as the game progressed, Ambrose missed an absolutely gilt edged chance in the second half at 0-1. So to state we never looked like scoring is incorrect.
Like you, I watch Juve regularly and I think youāre giving them too much credit for their game management tonight. That was a bit rope a dope as far as Iām concerned and they never exerted their usual control and were quite fortunate. Yet they won 3-0.