2008 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL.....MANCHESTER UNITED v CHELSEA

[Doogie Browser]

My take on proceedings from last night.
First of all congratualtions to Man U, commisserations to Chelsea think no one can claim to have 'deserved' to win on their performance it was a cliched game of 2 halves.  Great start by United and could easily have scored 1/2 more plus I had a tenner on Ronaldo at 9/2 for first goal.  Lucky break just before HT handed Chelsea the initiative and they had a good second half.
Just seemed inevitable as time went on that we were going to penalties though if Lampard's effort went in or Giggs used his right foot could have been different.

Regarding the penalties, some great penatlies but do think it was massive error sending Terrry up to hit the deciding penalty - he obviously wanted to hit it though and you can't fault him for that but I can't recall him scoring too many goals with his feet down the years and just felt (like everyone else I am sure) that we was going to miss. 

Was a good cup final for a change and very entertaining, but WTF is Drogba like?  Never stopped crying all night, a bloody mercenary who Chelsea should ship out in the Summer, much like Anelka who does not give a flying fcuk about any team he plays for.

So Norf, the elusive Holy Grail escapes you for another year.  Hard luck, your opinions have been honest (most of the time!) over the season and refreshing to read. Villa still should have took 6 points of you lot though!

[Billys Boots]

Oh and the only person in the Chelsea camp I would feel for is Grant

I also have a lot of respect for Makelele - he had another great game last night, and was in the thick of it for the whole game (unlike many of his more lauded teammates).

[nrico2006]

IMO this was a combination of them gaining some belief and the fact that Scholes was clearly tiring.

I would say Scholes influence was moreso affected by the fact that he probably had his nose broke and his breathing would have been affected even greater as he already has a respiratory condition.  Maybe I'm wrong.  I would have loved to have seen Anderson thrown into the mix or even Hargreaves moved back into the centre a bit earlier as he was not bought to play as a right winger. 

United ruled the 1st half and Chelsea the 2nd, and I would say extra-time was even too.  Glad United won but penalties should be done away with altogether.  Felt sorry for Grant but then he rants about dominating the match etc and I lose sympathy.  They were fortunate to get the goal and they only had a few efforts on target (both hit the woodwork) whereas United had the better chances and should have scored more than once. 

A very noticeable element to Chelseas attitude last night was again their whinging.  Every time Drogba lost the ball or was dispossessed you could see him flinging his arms up or moaning about something.  He deserved a red for striking another player on the face - those are the rules and everyone knows it - it all came about because Tevez kicked the ball out of play instead of giving it back to Chelsea.  That was Chelseas own fault as United had earlier given the ball back to Chelsea in similar circumstances until Chelsea twice kicked the ball out instead of giving it back to the reds.  As for Joe Cole, I liked him as a pro until last night as he is another whining bollox.  He ran to the ref scratching his head vigorously as if he had lice ffs whenever it was obvious that the linesman made the call to give a goal kick instead of the corner.

[Billys Boots]

If Grant had brought Belletti on with 20 minutes left and pushed Essien to midfield, I've no doubt Chelsea would have won.

Like we were saying yesterday Hound, if Essien had played in midfield, Chelsea would probably have won.  Essien at fullback didn't make a great handle of Ronaldo in the first half - the commentary team kept referring to his poor placement in open play and at corners.  Though in the few moments when Essien got a chance to push forward he looked very dangerous, and he had a very good chance with the shot on his left - he should have placed low instead of going for the piledriver, he was in a perfect position to curl it in to Van der Sar's right, instead he went high to his left.  At that point Ronaldo had faded somewhat from the game - the change Hound suggested would have made perfect sense for the last 20-30 mins, and in my opinion was why Chelsea didn't win in 90 mins.  They could also have asked Makelele to push out further to his right, as there was nothing coming through the middle from Utd.  Tactically poor from Chelsea, I thought, though big-red-nose didn't excel himself tactically either.

[screenexile]

As a neutral (Well as neutral as an ABU can be). I thoroughly enjoyed last night's match. End to end, chances red cards, diving, penalties it had absolutely everything you could want from a final. Unfortunately I missed all but the last 5 mins of the first half so I didn't get to see United's dominance up to this point which is why I probably thought Chelski deserved it. Either way a draw and a replay would have been the best way to settle it but with a final of that magnitude it is not really practical to settle it in this way.

As for the players well I didnt' see Ronaldo in the first half and after this he was largely ineffective and made a meal of a few tackles but sure we've come to expect that. Drogba was awful and he's a dickhead, played very poorly last night and still almost got a goal. The sending off was completely warranted as he should know he can't raise his hand... total handbags of course but as a great man once said "you strick strack... you must go!" I think the incident was caused because Tevez had kicked the ball out for a throw in (as Chelsea had done previously) but instead of letting them throw it back in and pass it back to the keepr Tevez motioned at the rest of the team to press the throw in which I think the Chelsea players took issue over... stupidity of the highest order really!

Chelsea's midfield definitely had the measure of Utd in the 2nd half and Fat Frank, Claude and Ballack were very good but unfortunately Drogba couldn't do anything in front of them. I was fairly disappointed in Carrick and Rooney's performance but I'm sure neither of them will be too worried as to what I thought about them.

As for both defences I thought they were awesome! JT and Vidic were out of this world and it was a pity one had to lose. I feel sorry for JT with that slip. He'd sent the keeper the wrong way and everything only for the pitch to decide it for him. His clearance off the line was immense that time.

As for all this "chelsea whingers blah blah blah". You lads have to be kidding me! Ronaldo, Rooney, Anderson and Ferdinand all have no trouble mouthing at referees the same way Chelsea do so give it a break!

Fair play to Man Utd (Ugh I feel dirty) they were the best team this year and not many can deny it. Let's just hope Arsenal show their true promise next season and win all round them!!! (Yeah I'm a Blackburn fan but Arsenal are the only team out of the top 4 I could stomach winning anything)

[maddog]

Has Grant said anything yet about why he bucked his runners up medal into the crowd?

Who does he think he is? Joe Kernan

[Uladh]

More or less everything has been covered. i'd add-

Vidic was mom by a mile.

VDS should have saed at least 2 pens.

had tevez tucked his header away in the first half it'd have been one of the best goals i've ever seen.

Giggs should retire. Opportunities like this to go out on a high won't return.

Rooney was very poor.

Essien is the best midfielder in the chelsea squad, and thank fcuk he was at right back.

Chelsea had the winning of the game for the entire last 20 minutes of normal time and i was surprised united held on.

Chelsea had settled for penalties as soon as it went to extra time, even before drogba got the road.

[magpie seanie]

Wow - that was some roller coaster. Think United caught Chelsea a bit off guard early on by going with 4-4-2 and actually played some really brilliant stuff in the first half. You'd rarely see Chelsea cut open as often as they were in the first half last night. Then along comes a shitty goal and the game changes. Chelsea then controlled the game for the second half though United defended well. Both sides had chances with Giggs' one being a real sitter. Then at the end of extra time a huge overreaction by Chelsea and Drogba gets sent of for slapping the lip he split a few weeks earlier. He really is the worst kind of coward. Pretended to confront Vidic on the way off too. If thats what he wants why don't we lock the two of them in a room for half an hour? He wouldn't be so tough then the jessie.

So to pens. Was 100% convinced United would lose on pens. Felt Ronaldo was going to miss. His penalty technique is crap. Was worried about Giggs but he did well. Don't like Terry so was happy enough for him to miss and no-one likes Anelka. So VDS did the business at 38 with the final save.

Ref was pretty good throughout. Thought Fergie's interjection at HT seemed to backfire. Curiously the officials got a large number of throws and corners/goal kicks wrong for both teams from what I could see. Am biased but thought Makalele and Essien could also have walked. Makalele for kicking Scholes in the face (I think there was intent) and elbowing Hargreaves and fouling and Essien was a lucky boy to only get booked as late as he did. People might say Evra could have gone for his tussle with Cole but I think the contact was accidental and minimal (I would though, wouldn't I).

United have endured a lot of bad luck in this competition (the Dortmund and Leverkusen semi finals spring to mind) so the bit of luck required to win is well due. 50 years on from Munich and 40 years on from that night in Wembley the legend grows still further.

[nrico2006]

(Yeah I'm a Blackburn fan but Arsenal are the only team out of the top 4 I could stomach winning anything)

Why, I seem to remember Wenger often complaining about Blackburns attitude etc in matches against the gunners.

Rooney played a few delightful passes including the cross-field one to Ronaldo which was crossed for Tevez plus he also hit a delightful low cross into the box for Tevez.  Rooney has been injured for much of late so he was never going to be at his best.

[AZOffaly]

He was very disappointed to be taken off. He pegged the jersey on the ground, but someone had given it back to him for the celebrations

Did anyone else notice Terry 'snotting' on Tevez as the handbags died down? Karma is a bitch JT.

[Square Ball]

agree with most of the MON picks, Vidic was fantastic.

Loved Fergies quote on the future, "I will look into each players eyes to see if they still have the hunger" he has thats for sure, also said its a great team young team that will get better.

[North Longford]

Decent game which could have gone either way and I was able to watch it without any inkling of a preference to who won which surprised me as an ABU. Some of the Chelsea boys must have gotten to me more than I thought.
Good points....Ronaldo and Terry missing penalties and Drogba getting sent off........to nicer chaps it could not happen.....some sort of Karma there I think.
On the Joe Cole running to the ref I actually wouldn't blame him. They were 2 desperate poor decisions given against him amd I though it was very obvious in both cases they were wrong. I noticed United players questioniong the odd decision too so its not an exclusive club either !!!
Couple of coontroversies that haven't been mentioned and I wonder on opinions.....
Was Ferdinand not the last man when he obstructed Lampard at the edge of the box in the 1st half and got a yellow?
And what was the story with the linesman raising his flag and putting it down again near the end when Ferdinand came across Cole in the box. It was definitely a high challenge but couldn't believe how little was made of the up down flag. Andy Gray made a brief mention but continued on pretty quicky.
Was delighted for Scholes, he seems are very unassuming chap and almost embarrassed up on the podium.

[Uladh]

had tevez tucked his header away in the first half it'd have been one of the best goals i've ever seen.

Rooney was very poor.

Just a hint of contradiction as it was the best pass of the night. Its a game Rooney would like to forget, he gave quite a few balls away but got in a couple of good passes in the first half. Completely disappeared in the second.

Agreed. He hit a couple of super balls early on but you couldn't gauge his overall contribution as anything other than poor. and i am a big rooney fan.

[EC Unique]

On a night of European glory, Cristiano Ronaldo gave Reds fans even more reason to celebrate when he quashed rumours that he could join Real Madrid this summer by pledging his future to United.

When asked by a TV reporter whether he would be leaving the club with which he has already achieved so much in his short career, Ronaldo gave the emphatic reply all Reds fans wanted to hear.

"No, no, no. I'm going to stay," he said.

It was a fitting end to an emotional night for the Portuguese winger who opened the scoring in the 26th minute, but then missed his spot-kick in the dramatic penalty shoot-out.

"When I missed the penalty, I thought we were going to lose," he said.

"I played well in the game and I scored a goal, but I missed the penalty. I thought it was going to be the worst day of my life.

"But the lads did their jobs. They believed they were going to score, and they scored. Penalties is a lottery, you never know who is going to win, but I think we deserve to win because we played better in the game.

"It means everything to me because we won both trophies, the Champions League and the League, so I feel very happy. It is one of the most happy days of my life. I feel very, very proud."

[the Deel Rover]

He was very disappointed to be taken off. He pegged the jersey on the ground, but someone had given it back to him for the celebrations

Did anyone else notice Terry 'snotting' on Tevez as the handbags died down? Karma is a bitch JT.

Ye i thought he did that Az looked like he was having a word  him and then let fly, don't know why can't stand Jt so i was glad he missed the penalty