Champions League - The Final Four

Zomp

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Even as a United supporter, the Barca fan tears are pretty fun. Congrats to the Liverpool supporters on this sub. 50 percent of you are annoying but the other 50 percent are cool. Some of you who I know personally are salt of the earth people so I’m glad you pulled off the upset.

That being said if you lose the next two games I would be fine with it.
 

coremiller

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I don't even think Liverpool played that well. Barca created just about as many chances as Liverpool did but converted none of them. The finishing fairy crapped all over Liverpool in the first leg and shined on them tonight.
 

Zomp

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Now shit yourselves against Wolves and go win the thing and we can both walk away happy this season and make United fans absolutely miserable which is how it should be
Like it or not every United fan is rooting for you guys next weekend and would absolutely be fine with City as champions. I know we’re your rival, but there is a huge difference in the rivalries for United fans.
 

Zososoxfan

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Wow, congratulations guys! I can't get enough of La Liga giants getting bowled over in Champions League, particularly smug Barca fans (not you Zososoxfan though) and the 5,000 people I know who don't know anything about soccer but claim they "love Barcelona." What a way to win it, 4-0 at home after blowing the first leg. Enjoy it!
I take no offense--it's the same way I feel about EPL giants (and Bayern, and Juve) getting knocked down a peg. If you want to be on top, you have to expect arrows slung at you.

Congrats to the Scousers - totally earned it today. Brave performance. Klopp made the mistake of going conservative in the first leg and it should've been Pool's undoing. HOWEVA, Ernie cowered and made no changes. Coutinho is at fault for sucking, but Ernie's the one that put him on the field. 4-4-2 with Arthur/Semedo instead of Coutinho and Barca likely coast to the UCL Finals.
 

teddykgb

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Like it or not every United fan is rooting for you guys next weekend and would absolutely be fine with City as champions. I know we’re your rival, but there is a huge difference in the rivalries for United fans.
Oh I know. And although many Liverpool fans here are Ok as a fan base they’re actually insufferable so I don’t blame you. The intra City rivalry matters for all those kids in Manchester who fought about it but the world may not be ready for a Liverpool as PL and CL champions scouser explosion.
 

Nick Kaufman

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Yeah, I wasn't offended and I am not hot and bothered. This is just part of my easy jokes arsenal. In other news, this is an xgoals charts for both matches.



FWIW, xgoal charts may differ depending on who's gathering the stats, but both games were closer than the final score would indicate.
 

coremiller

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One, I was tongue in cheek and I am not every Liverpool fan.

Two, I don't care that Coutinho's departure worked well for us. He wanted to leave and we begged him to stay yet he forced our hand.

Third and most important, it's vitally important for a team like Liverpool to establish that it's not a stepping stone for a player's ambition before they move on to bigger and better things. They must establish they are the bigger and better thing so that we don't have our best player force a transfer out of the club every couple of years.
Coutinho was so bad today that I could easily be convinced he's actually an undercover Liverpool agent and his transfer for that ridiculous fee was part of some long con.
 

Dummy Hoy

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Yeah, I wasn't offended and I am not hot and bothered. This is just part of my easy jokes arsenal. In other news, this is an xgoals charts for both matches.



FWIW, xgoal charts may differ depending on who's gathering the stats, but both games were closer than the final score would indicate.
The XG I saw had Liverpool slightly ahead. Well deserved.

Edit: if Lackey were a whiney, racist scumbag who bites people.
Isn’t he?
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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JFC, I just saw the score. I'm stunned. Before the tie I would not have been surprised with Liverpool beating Barca. That they won after going down 0-3.... wow.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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I think this is 2015 thinking. I think, with the huge disparity in revenue streams between the EPL and every other league, that no big six team, even Spurs, have to be a stepping stone unless it makes good business sense to sell a player. That includes being able to say no to teams like Real and Barca unless they are getting a stupid ransom.

Obviously what happens with Hazard, Pogba and Eriksen this summer will reveal the accuracy of my belief.
This would be an interesting exercise - what's the global club hierarchy? RM and Barca would have to be 1 and 1a, right? Then City, PSG, Bayern... maybe I'll start a thread to mull over this.
 

Gunfighter 09

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This would be an interesting exercise - what's the global club hierarchy? RM and Barca would have to be 1 and 1a, right? Then City, PSG, Bayern... maybe I'll start a thread to mull over this.

I'm game for that.

City would obviously be the top team in the EPL, and, if they complete the triple in the next two weeks, would probably belong in the top spot over all.

I think six of the top 10 would need to be the EPL big six, all appropriate respect to Ajax, Dortmund, Atletico, non Juve Italian teams etc.
 

MiracleOfO2704

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3-0 down at halftime in the Champions League? No problem!

(ok, yeah, this one will be tough)
Must be something about important headers around the 55’ mark that does it for this club.

For a club that can point to many great Anfield nights, this one might be best of all. That YNWA, with the players and coaches lined up in the box to sing with the crowd...

Only complaint on the night: Dear FSG, this isn’t Boston, stop playing that song at Anfield.
 

SocrManiac

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A key question is... What common set of rules and tactics?

Styles of play and refereeing are both contributors to a team’s success. I don’t think the CL necessarily reflects a team’s construction philosophy.

A European super league that discarded domestic strategy and construction would probably disrupt the current hierarchy. Youth and talent might beat age and experience. For example, currently (or maybe prior to tonight) Spain, France, and Italy can get away with older, more tactical sides in the CL because they can deploy younger players domestically and be assured of making the top four. The older players stay rested and the youth develops domestically. EPL is forced into narrower squad rotation because a far more competitive top division.

I’d love to see more parity in Europe and less consistency in the top 8 and 16. As things are currently constructed, the system continues to reinforce the rich on the continent while the TV agreements create great havoc on the island.
 

DLew On Roids

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Even as a United supporter, the Barca fan tears are pretty fun. Congrats to the Liverpool supporters on this sub. 50 percent of you are annoying but the other 50 percent are cool. Some of you who I know personally are salt of the earth people so I’m glad you pulled off the upset.
I love you Zomp.
Ugh I wish you were here during the racism incident.
Patrice Evra is still a piece of shit, though.
 
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candylandriots

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A huge piece of the puzzle is wages. Recent success and the manager’s reputation play a role, but players are usually following the wages...which track pretty closely with reputation, unsurprisingly.

Here’s the latest UEFA top-20 wage bills. Liverpool fall in at #9 with €244m/season - €10m more than Arsenal, €12 less than Chelsea, & a Ronaldo less than Juve.

The list more or less lays out the club hierarchy I had in my head already. How often do we see player spurn a higher wage-bill club to sign with one lower down on the list? There’s Jorginho, an aging Ronaldo, and Neymar (who also got a fat side contract to be the face of Qatar 2022...).

Ranked in Europe in something!
 

DJnVa

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I mean, I wasn't rooting for them, but that was an amazing thing to see. Congrats.
 

DJnVa

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For today's game---hearing Vertonghen is at least going to be in the 18, if not starting. Aurier is available, but Sanchez is not.

Essentially it's just a "win the game" scenario. Can't be much less complicated than that.
 

Tangled Up In Red

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A huge piece of the puzzle is wages. Recent success and the manager’s reputation play a role, but players are usually following the wages...which track pretty closely with reputation, unsurprisingly.

Here’s the latest UEFA top-20 wage bills. Liverpool fall in at #9 with €244m/season - €10m more than Arsenal, €12 less than Chelsea, & a Ronaldo less than Juve.

The list more or less lays out the club hierarchy I had in my head already. How often do we see player spurn a higher wage-bill club to sign with one lower down on the list? There’s Jorginho, an aging Ronaldo, and Neymar (who also got a fat side contract to be the face of Qatar 2022...).
Kind of shocking to see Palace, Southampton and Wolfsburg on the list.
 

Zososoxfan

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For today's game---hearing Vertonghen is at least going to be in the 18, if not starting. Aurier is available, but Sanchez is not.

Essentially it's just a "win the game" scenario. Can't be much less complicated than that.
Here's how I would line them up:

Hugo

Trippier-Toby-Foyth-Davies

Sissoko-Rose

Moura-Eriksen

Son-Dele

I swear if Poch plays Dele behind or even with Eriksen, I'm going to lose my mind. Eriksen is an excellent player, but his finishing is not as good as Dele. Also, I would put Moura on the wing and let Dele play more centrally. Moura has speed to burn, but Dele is the best player in tight spaces. I assume Winks is unavailable. If that's the case, then I think I'd rather have Rose in the MF than Wanyama or Dier. Rose has been winning every 50-50 ball and should give enough cover to Sissoko to let him get forward. His workrate is also much better and he has been playing better and more consistently than Victor.

All that said, I bet Davies starts on the bench, Rose starts at LB, and Victor starts in the middle with Sissoko. I doubt Poch allows Dele to remain up high and will have him track back and protect Rose. Moura will go up top with Son, create some danger, and ultimately flub his chances. Eriksen will ask to finish moves instead of starting them.


COYS!
 

DJnVa

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Vertonghen is starting. Lamela is on the bench, as is Llorente.

 

Jimy Hendrix

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Dier was so bad against Bournemouth on Saturday that you couldn't reasonably start him today.
He's been a shell of his former self this year. I just hope it's WC fatigue followed by endless injuries never letting him get fit for this year rather than a permanent decline.
 

Gunfighter 09

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He's been a shell of his former self this year. I just hope it's WC fatigue followed by endless injuries never letting him get fit for this year rather than a permanent decline.

I thought he looked pretty good in the fall prior to injury, but I did not recognize the guy we saw last week.
 

Zososoxfan

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Spurs running out the only real lineup they could. Dier for Wanyama the only viable alternative.
COYS!
Reasonable minds may disagree, but I think there is a good case to be made that Rose in the MF instead of Wanyama (and Davies coming in at LB) is a reasonable alternative. But, that's shuffling deck chairs and I agree with your overall premise.

I'm thrilled from a talent standpoint that Jan is starting, but I'm terrified for him on a personal level. I shudder to think what a head collision could do to him right now.
 

Zososoxfan

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I'd like to see Dele in the middle of a front 3 with Son and Lucas attacking their fullbacks
I agree with this and only would add that Son's dynamic play allows Dele to play a bit behind him with both of them setup primarily in the middle. They are both fluid and can bounce out wide based on who joins the attack. Lucas should stay out of the middle and threaten the space behind the more aggressive FB (Tagliafico?). Trippier and Rose will obviously be getting forward, as will Eriksen and Sissoko. Gotta give credit to Poch--he has a real system in place and this club has coped well with significant injuries all season.
 

veritas

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Reasonable minds may disagree, but I think there is a good case to be made that Rose in the MF instead of Wanyama (and Davies coming in at LB) is a reasonable alternative. But, that's shuffling deck chairs and I agree with your overall premise.

I'm thrilled from a talent standpoint that Jan is starting, but I'm terrified for him on a personal level. I shudder to think what a head collision could do to him right now.
Eh, it's not unreasonable. Rose has been not completely terrible at MF in small stints, but I really think they need to attack Ajax down the wings, and Rose can do that much better than Davies
 

DJnVa

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Well technically Mr. Announcer, the Spurs can score 1 and go through on PKs.
 

coremiller

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Spurs conceded in the first few minutes of the second leg against City as well . . .
 

Ale Xander

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Yesterday was one of biggest choke jobs I've ever seen on the club stage.

I mean, all you needed was to score 1, while allowing less than 5.
 

Mugsy's Jock

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Respect to Ajax for continuing to push. I'm all in on Spurs, of course, but Ajax/Liverpool would be entertaining.
 

67YAZ

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Ajax with a late lineup switch up top.
I was going to say that it's a plus for Spurs that Tadic has to move out wide, but he's been simply toying with Trippier so far.

Spurs pushing hard. Should be an entertaining match.
 
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OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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Son is moving like he's carrying a load of bricks. All credit to Spurs for getting this far in all comps with a team this banged up. These guys have been beat to hell.