CheLOLsea

[sandman]

Every single one FineROFLain. And LOL at thinking yoyu'll get any sense of the manic depressive mob on here.

[Franchise FC]

This is more like it.
Two teams intent on playing attacking football as befits two of the biggest clubs in the world with 13 (?) European Cups between them compared with last night where one relatively little club with no wins and only a bit of recent European football pedigree were playing a side right up there with Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
The little club played it as if they were Barnsley,Crawley or Bournemouth playing away at Old Trafford hoping to just hang on in there and get a break-hardly the stuff of potential European Champions and the most negative of teams since Red Star Belgrade.
I do think it must be some sort of record for a team to play 2 games,have 3 shots,score 3 goals and get just 2 corners in football generally and there surely can not ever have been such stats for a team reaching a European final.

It would be understandable if this team cost next to nothing as with Barnsley,Crawley or Bournemouth but when it has cost more to assemble than the opposition then the style of play is almost unforgivable.

zzzz boring

Reading played like this against southampton and brighton, in fact we were dominated by whu and forest also albeit to a lesser extent...but this doesn't fit your agenda.

Reading away at Brighton is hardly a football event to compare with a European Champs league with hundreds of millions watching on TV and expecting to see some classy football.
A poor comparison.l

The clubs involved would have NOT ONE MOMENT of thinking about the spectacle and 100% effort on winning at all costs.
Their fans would be absolutely the same.

[FiNeRaIn]

Every single one FineROFLain. And LOL at thinking yoyu'll get any sense of the manic depressive mob on here.

Ok, do you think our standard of football is entertaining? I can assure you that whilst its effective it is not pretty on the eye, even rtg's have admitted that this season so really you just have an agenda with Chelsea. I don't like them as a club but you have to respect the performance they gave and EVERY other team ( including real madrid who usually do it) would have done the same.

[Franchise FC]

Every single one FineROFLain. And LOL at thinking yoyu'll get any sense of the manic depressive mob on here.

Ok, do you think our standard of football is entertaining? I can assure you that whilst its effective it is not pretty on the eye, even rtg's have admitted that this season so really you just have an agenda with Chelsea. I don't like them as a club but you have to respect the performance they gave and EVERY other team ( including real madrid who usually do it) would have done the same.

It's not often I agree with you FR, but on this occassion you're asolutely spot on.

[BR2]

who cares what millions of people are thinking, the clubs care about themselves...not neutrals....as they SHOULD do. There were probably a lot of people watching the Saints/reading game, it didn't stop them having most of the ball while we were pounded and counter attacked all game.

why would chelsea care about your opinion as some random neutral fan?

I'm not asking Chelsea to worry about what I think on a messageboard used mainly by fans of RFC,I'm expressing an opinion as a fan of football and Chelsea are the latest example of non-entertainment,just as Wimbledon and Stoke have been accused of in the past-their excuse/reason was always that they had vastly inferior players whereas Chelsea fans would never feel that is the case with their big-spending club.

If teams don't entertain then people will turn off the game-it is an entertainment and not just a competition or a sport.
Look at what is happening at Villa where the fans feel that they are not being entertained with long ball regularly played up to a lone striker and goals coming along too rarely,crowds are falling and they might get relegated playing crap football.
This is a big subject and possibly beyond your comprehension and that of TMB but IMHO sport (partly because of the massive earnings involved)needs to be an entertainment or else eventually it will fail and players will be performing at empty stadia with no atmosphere-is that what you want?.

I do comprehend what you are saying, however what you are failing to comment on is that Reading have employed a similar style more or less all season and in particular the last month. Browsing other teams message boards I was seeing comments like " can see how they are where they are, awful football but effective, no stars but play as a team and defend really well" bla bla. Not a single comment expressed the belief we played enjoyable football. So I take it you won't be turning up to watch Reading anymore as we tend not to put more than 5 passes together and the opposition have most of the ball all game?

That's a different point altogether.
I agree that Reading's style pre-Roberts was far from easy on the eye.
Since Roberts arrived Reading have altered their style and are much more of a passing side.
Reading however is not a top club with top players so we have to play (like Stoke and Wimbledon had to) a certain way to succeed and the hope is that by achieving this success we can get better players who will be capable of playing a more expansive game.
In the meantime we played defensively at Brighton and Southampton,conceding possession and hitting them on the break.
Our sole aim was promotion.

In Chelsea's case they have a more expensively assembled side than Barcelona full of international players and a finalist a short while ago and yet chose to park the bus (at home as well) and just hope and pray that they got an opportunity or two which in fact became 3 opportunities over 2 games producing 3 goals and 2 corners along the way.
Bayern Munich on the other hand took the game to Real Madrid (a Real Madrid about to win the best league in the world and one that beat Barcelona away last weekend)both at home and away and eventually got their just rewards by being adventurous and entertaining and football fans across the world will want to watch them again.
Chelsea on the other hand will be a massive turn-off to football fans just as those Italian sides of the 70s and 80s became with such a negative approach to the beautiful game.

The result in the Chelsea game was everything according to some posters-fine but if both teams played that way there would be no game whereas if both teams played the Barcelona way or indeed the way that both Real Madrid and Bayern Munich played there would have been a game rather than just the one team trying to score goals.
I do appreciate that defending is an art and often winners have the best defences but often those defensive records (like Barcelona's and Man Utd and Real Mardid) come about because the teams spend most of their time attacking.
I want to see loads of goals which does happen in our Premier League and even if we end up losing 7-4 or 6-4-at least we tried to win those games and didn't just hope to get away with a 1-0 defeat and at best a 0-0.

This may be a load of waffle but unfortunately maybe I don't get turned on by defenders and spoilers but I love watching creative sportsmen (other than Kevin Pietersen obviously but that is more about him being South African)and want to be entertained.
As far as Reading is concerned I have to accept that financial constraints mean that I won't be watching the best and most creative of players but I am saddled with my team ,it is not a choice unlike paying to watch stuff on TV.

[who are ya?]

Chelsea did what they had to do and Liverpool are shit. Get over it

[TBM]

This may be a load of waffle.

Yup ^^

Chelsea had 10 men, no centre backs, they won the game, they are in the final.......it doesn't matter how they did it, the fact is they did and all that matters to them (and their fans) is that they got the job done. They still had to score goals against Barca, and they scored 3.

As Mourinho said "The Chelsea boys were heroes yesterday, absolute heroes. I know some people think Barcelona are the masters of the game and will criticise Chelsea like they criticised Inter Milan two years ago. But they know nothing about character, about effort, about a team with 10 men resisting tactically, physically, everything"

[Extended-Phenotype]

I just don't get what Reading have to do with it. We aren't a 'global football power' nor have a team which costs billions.

[FiNeRaIn]

Agreed with Mourinho here, Barcelona games actually bore me whenever I watch them. All it consists of is barcelona having 75% posessions all game, playing it out from the back in no hurry to push through and eventually wearing down the opposition by creating space. The tempo makes me want to yawn. I want to watch a game where the opposition are actually allowed the ball for a change and we can see how both sides go at it. Its not fun watching one side hog the ball and just pass it around all game.

[TBM]

Agreed with Mourinho here, Barcelona games actually bore me whenever I watch them. All it consists of is barcelona having 75% posessions all game, playing it out from the back in no hurry to push through and eventually wearing down the opposition by creating space. The tempo makes me want to yawn. I want to watch a game where the opposition are actually allowed the ball for a change and we can see how both sides go at it. Its not fun watching one side hog the ball and just pass it around all game.

Exactly - i doubt the game would have been "better" had Chelsea gone at them and Barca won 5-0.........goals don't make games exciting, i actually enjoyed seeing Chelsea defend for their lives, the effort all their players put in was superb - you could see every tackle was committed.

[BR2]

What I would find interesting is the view of Arsenal Fans.
In the past they played boring football (1-0 to the Arsenal)but regularly won things.
They then changed under Wenger to play scintillating football and won things.
Now under Wenger they still play attractive football but don't win things.
Would the fans prefer them to revert to the boring but successful or exciting but not successful?

[Platypuss]

Agreed with Mourinho here, Barcelona games actually bore me whenever I watch them. All it consists of is barcelona having 75% posessions all game, playing it out from the back in no hurry to push through and eventually wearing down the opposition by creating space. The tempo makes me want to yawn. I want to watch a game where the opposition are actually allowed the ball for a change and we can see how both sides go at it. Its not fun watching one side hog the ball and just pass it around all game.

Exactly - i doubt the game would have been "better" had Chelsea gone at them and Barca won 5-0.........goals don't make games exciting, i actually enjoyed seeing Chelsea defend for their lives, the effort all their players put in was superb - you could see every tackle was committed.

Football is most exciting (most especially for neutrals) when there's tension. Tuesday night had that in spades.

[BR2]

Agreed with Mourinho here, Barcelona games actually bore me whenever I watch them. All it consists of is barcelona having 75% posessions all game, playing it out from the back in no hurry to push through and eventually wearing down the opposition by creating space. The tempo makes me want to yawn. I want to watch a game where the opposition are actually allowed the ball for a change and we can see how both sides go at it. Its not fun watching one side hog the ball and just pass it around all game.

Exactly - i doubt the game would have been "better" had Chelsea gone at them and Barca won 5-0.........goals don't make games exciting, i actually enjoyed seeing Chelsea defend for their lives, the effort all their players put in was superb - you could see every tackle was committed.

Do you think you would have enjoyed it if it were some Eastern European side doing the same away at Chelsea and stifling the game?

[soggy biscuit]

'Anton Ferdinand is in discussions with his lawyers to see if refusing to shake John Terry's hand at the weekend would prejudice his forthcoming court case'

[leww_rfc]

Really hope Bayern tonk them in the final

[who are ya?]

'Anton Ferdinand..

zzzzzzz

[BR2]

Agreed with Mourinho here, Barcelona games actually bore me whenever I watch them. All it consists of is barcelona having 75% posessions all game, playing it out from the back in no hurry to push through and eventually wearing down the opposition by creating space. The tempo makes me want to yawn. I want to watch a game where the opposition are actually allowed the ball for a change and we can see how both sides go at it. Its not fun watching one side hog the ball and just pass it around all game.

Exactly - i doubt the game would have been "better" had Chelsea gone at them and Barca won 5-0.........goals don't make games exciting, i actually enjoyed seeing Chelsea defend for their lives, the effort all their players put in was superb - you could see every tackle was committed.

Football is most exciting (most especially for neutrals) when there's tension. Tuesday night had that in spades.

Don't disagree with that.
When Crawley and Burton played away at Man Utd in the FA Cup and hung on until they nearly dropped that was exciting with the tension of a David v Goliath game.
Last night was tense and exciting because two Goliaths were battling it out with each other.
On Tuesday night Chelsea acted like Davids when they aspire to be Goliaths.
I was a neutral for that game so wanted to see both sides attacking and they didn't.

[ZacNaloen]

And if Chelsea had done that they'd have lost massively. It's just not in their interests.

[TBM]

And if Chelsea had done that they'd have lost massively. It's just not in their interests.

There we go....

Chelsea weren't playing for "the neutrals" - they were playing for themselves and point me in the direction of one Chelsea fan who didn't enjoy it

[BR2]

And if Chelsea had done that they'd have lost massively. It's just not in their interests.

With what they have spent on players over the years to try to bring in what they considered to be some of the best players in world football wouldn't you think they would have had the same approach as Bayern Munich "We are as good as this lot so we'll go out and try to win the game even though we have a first leg lead"?
There are plenty of big egoes in that Chelsea side plus some top players like Cech,Ramires and Drogba wouldn't you think they would have been arrogant and confident enough to do a Bayern Munich?

It would be interesting to hear Abramovich's views on these 2 performances and how he feels about the way Chelsea played and the way they played when they reached the final v Man Utd under Avram Grant.
There is a clamour for Di Matteo now because he plays all the old Chelsea lags and they have done a bit better with highlights being 0-0 draws against Spurs and Arsenal but you get the impression that Abramovich wants sexy football as well as winners and for that reason Di Matteo may not get the job even if ,against all the odds,they actually win in Munich.