[EU] Champions League 04/05 (5 Viewers)
- Thread starter Roverbhoy
- Start date
But at the same time, that Benitez has been intensely studying Otto Rehhagel's Euro 2004 diary doesn't exactly leave me heaping a whole lot of praise on 'Pool as one of Europe's finest. What we witnessed in this CL semi-final seemed less like two football teams playing it out and more like an improvised schoolyard dodgeball challenge.
I won't go so far as to call it "negative" football, as some sportswriters have. I am certainly one who thinks there's great value in excellent defense, solid marking (and btw, Pool's marking tonight was fantastic), and a team-oriented gameplan.
But it only makes me ask, "How can Liverpool be so incapable of displaying anything close to this level of organization and commitment in the EPL?"
I won't go so far as to call it "negative" football, as some sportswriters have. I am certainly one who thinks there's great value in excellent defense, solid marking (and btw, Pool's marking tonight was fantastic), and a team-oriented gameplan.
But it only makes me ask, "How can Liverpool be so incapable of displaying anything close to this level of organization and commitment in the EPL?"
Hiddink calls for killer instinct
Wednesday, 4 May 2005
By Kevin Ashby in Eindhoven
PSV Eindhoven's hopes of defying both the odds and AC Milan to qualify for the UEFA Champions League final may appear slender, yet these are by no means insurmountable as Guus Hiddink challenged his side to find the "killer instinct" which characterised the Rossoneri's play in their 2-0 first-leg victory.
Sterling showing
The PSV coach was left "frustrated" by a sterling second-half showing at the San Siro that saw the Dutch champions fail to force Dida into a save which was anything other than routine. "When you play as well as we did and create five or six good chances, you have to be efficient and score," Hiddink said. "The difference in class was not in the play but in the finishing - they have the killer instinct and it showed."
Impressive bench
PSV have not been hindered by the absence of a world-class striker in their charge to the semi-finals, yet their substitutes' bench for the first leg suffered by comparison to Milan's, which included the attacking talents of Jon Dahl Tomasson, Filippo Inzaghi and Serginho. Indeed, it was the Dane who scored the decisive second goal in the final minute following Andriy Shevchenko's crisp first-half opener.
'Extremely experienced'
Hiddink attributed Shevchenko's strike to "weak defending" and Tomasson's to good fortune, yet was full of praise for Milan's mastery of the counterattacking game - a tactic he expects them to deploy on Wednesday. "Milan love to play that system as they have such dangerous forwards," he said. "They're an extremely experienced team but it is our job to make them afraid, to cause the panic which we did last week."
Different dimension
There will be at least two changes to the PSV starting XI with André Ooijer suspended and DaMarcus Beasley (knee) out for the season following an ill-timed challenge from an FC Twente defender on Friday. Peruvian winger Jefferson Farfán damaged his ankle in that 2-2 draw but has been passed fit to play along with central defender Wilfred Bouma (back). Theo Lucius will deputise for Ooijer and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink will offer a different dimension to Beasley up front.
Defensive riches
Milan are free of injury and suspension but full of confidence following a 2-1 weekend victory against ACF Fiorentina which kept them level at the top of Serie A with Juventus FC ahead of their title showdown on Sunday. Coach Carlo Ancelotti's sole conundrum stems from a surplus of defensive riches, and he must decide whether to field the raiding Cafu or more prosaic Kakha Kaladze alongside Jaap Stam, Alessandro Nesta and Paolo Maldini.
'Lost control'
"I have a quality team which is determined to achieve great things, be that in Italy or in the Champions League," said Ancelotti. "However, we have to be concerned about PSV because we lost control during the second half last week and they looked dangerous. We don't want to do that again because if they are able to dictate the play, they've proved they have the quality to hurt us."
Clean sheets
Despite saying the tie is in "a delicate position", Ancelotti does not envisage a repeat of last season's quarter-final humbling by RC Deportivo La Coruña, particularly as his defence has kept clean sheets in nine of their eleven European games this term - including the four knockout fixtures against FC Internazionale Milano and Manchester United FC. PSV last scored twice at home in a Champions League match in the third qualifying round, but will be acutely aware that Maldini and company are a different prospect to an out-of-sorts FK Crvena Zvezda.
source: channel4.com
Wednesday, 4 May 2005
By Kevin Ashby in Eindhoven
PSV Eindhoven's hopes of defying both the odds and AC Milan to qualify for the UEFA Champions League final may appear slender, yet these are by no means insurmountable as Guus Hiddink challenged his side to find the "killer instinct" which characterised the Rossoneri's play in their 2-0 first-leg victory.
Sterling showing
The PSV coach was left "frustrated" by a sterling second-half showing at the San Siro that saw the Dutch champions fail to force Dida into a save which was anything other than routine. "When you play as well as we did and create five or six good chances, you have to be efficient and score," Hiddink said. "The difference in class was not in the play but in the finishing - they have the killer instinct and it showed."
Impressive bench
PSV have not been hindered by the absence of a world-class striker in their charge to the semi-finals, yet their substitutes' bench for the first leg suffered by comparison to Milan's, which included the attacking talents of Jon Dahl Tomasson, Filippo Inzaghi and Serginho. Indeed, it was the Dane who scored the decisive second goal in the final minute following Andriy Shevchenko's crisp first-half opener.
'Extremely experienced'
Hiddink attributed Shevchenko's strike to "weak defending" and Tomasson's to good fortune, yet was full of praise for Milan's mastery of the counterattacking game - a tactic he expects them to deploy on Wednesday. "Milan love to play that system as they have such dangerous forwards," he said. "They're an extremely experienced team but it is our job to make them afraid, to cause the panic which we did last week."
Different dimension
There will be at least two changes to the PSV starting XI with André Ooijer suspended and DaMarcus Beasley (knee) out for the season following an ill-timed challenge from an FC Twente defender on Friday. Peruvian winger Jefferson Farfán damaged his ankle in that 2-2 draw but has been passed fit to play along with central defender Wilfred Bouma (back). Theo Lucius will deputise for Ooijer and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink will offer a different dimension to Beasley up front.
Defensive riches
Milan are free of injury and suspension but full of confidence following a 2-1 weekend victory against ACF Fiorentina which kept them level at the top of Serie A with Juventus FC ahead of their title showdown on Sunday. Coach Carlo Ancelotti's sole conundrum stems from a surplus of defensive riches, and he must decide whether to field the raiding Cafu or more prosaic Kakha Kaladze alongside Jaap Stam, Alessandro Nesta and Paolo Maldini.
'Lost control'
"I have a quality team which is determined to achieve great things, be that in Italy or in the Champions League," said Ancelotti. "However, we have to be concerned about PSV because we lost control during the second half last week and they looked dangerous. We don't want to do that again because if they are able to dictate the play, they've proved they have the quality to hurt us."
Clean sheets
Despite saying the tie is in "a delicate position", Ancelotti does not envisage a repeat of last season's quarter-final humbling by RC Deportivo La Coruña, particularly as his defence has kept clean sheets in nine of their eleven European games this term - including the four knockout fixtures against FC Internazionale Milano and Manchester United FC. PSV last scored twice at home in a Champions League match in the third qualifying round, but will be acutely aware that Maldini and company are a different prospect to an out-of-sorts FK Crvena Zvezda.
source: channel4.com
Why is everyone assuming it would be Juve in the final had they beaten Liverpool? I think Chelsea would have beaten Juve, they should have beaten us, we got lucky. Silly to assume such things as you don't know how it would have went.
It was funny to see Mourinho almost cry in the interview
And Chelsea hardly wasted the cash considering they have just won their first Championship in a long time. It's good for them that they didn't win the CL, will give them more bite next year
I'd take a league win over a CL final every time. But if we somehow managed to beat Milan.
Thanks for the congrats also :thumb:
It was funny to see Mourinho almost cry in the interview
And Chelsea hardly wasted the cash considering they have just won their first Championship in a long time. It's good for them that they didn't win the CL, will give them more bite next year
I'd take a league win over a CL final every time. But if we somehow managed to beat Milan.
Thanks for the congrats also :thumb:
Agreed. I don't see why everyone's lamenting the fact that we went out to Liverpool, saying "we would be in that final if we beat 'Pool", because it's just impossible to make those kinds of comparisons in football.
Maybe we should just accept that Liverpool got their tactics just right against both us and Chelski, and that we just weren't properly equipped/motivated.
The 'big guns' should have learned their lesson from last season's Champions League, and I think both Juve and Chelsea underestimated the Reds and were too arrogant going into the matches.
Who's to say that we would have simply brushed aside Chelsea, because Liverpool beat them?
That's like saying that Greece would win the World Cup, because they advanced further than Germany at Euro 2004.
I must say I got a certain sense of satisfaction seeing Mourinho humbled, and before I read the comments of "the best team lost" 
I was happy to see Jose going out onto the pitch and hugging the Liverpool players, instead of storming into the dressing rooms as if he'd just won the Champions League
Maybe we should just accept that Liverpool got their tactics just right against both us and Chelski, and that we just weren't properly equipped/motivated.
The 'big guns' should have learned their lesson from last season's Champions League, and I think both Juve and Chelsea underestimated the Reds and were too arrogant going into the matches.
Who's to say that we would have simply brushed aside Chelsea, because Liverpool beat them?
That's like saying that Greece would win the World Cup, because they advanced further than Germany at Euro 2004.
++ [ originally posted by jaecole ] ++
It was funny to see Mourinho almost cry in the interview
It was funny to see Mourinho almost cry in the interview
I was happy to see Jose going out onto the pitch and hugging the Liverpool players, instead of storming into the dressing rooms as if he'd just won the Champions League
