It's basically Spain vs Germany. I've said before that I think the German squad is better than the Spanish one, they just lack consistency and experience.
Bayern have taken the high pressing, keep possession game and gone to the next stage, fantastic organisation and work rate, but always going for the merest sniff of a chance, rather than knocking it around endlessly until a chance appears.
I've been saying this for some time, Barcelona need to get some explosive impact into their attack they are far too ponderous and allow teams way too long to get organised in defense, like when they played Celtic and lost. They ought to buy Bale and get Tello well integrated into their 1st team, then they would be truly destructive again.
I used to hate the idea of Bale going off to Barcelona or somewhere like that, but I'd welcome it right now. I love watching him in the Premier League, but it'd be really beneficial for us in the long run if Spurs started getting worse. If they can go back to being a mid-table team then we can jump in and take their place in the top 7. Also we'd be able to say one of our youngsters made it to Barcelona.
I was limited to BBC text commentary on that one as I was working late and then on the phone to support for an hour while trying to shove Miso down my gob. Gutted looking forward to the final though, I see that they are playing each other in the league on Saturday, talk about dress rehearsal!
During the 2010 World Cup, I wanted Germany to win and said so after they beat England, because they were the best advert for modern football. Spain were a product that only purists would end up enjoying. Bayern v Barca shows the two different philosophies in maturity, and I still think the German model is the better product overall. Thankfully, from an entertainment perspective, Bayern won and that philosophy will flow through the sport. I also think Pochettino's philosophy on how to play isn't a million miles away from the German model. Guardiola is an admirer, and he's the next Bayern manager.
So, the Borussia Dortmund vs Bayern Munich final is to be played on the 25th of May 2013. Ironically, May the 25th is 'Towel Day'. I'll leave that there.
As humiliating as this is for Barcelona, they haven't become a bad team overnight. Rumours of the death of tiqui-taca are greatly exaggerated.
I think there is an element of teams not being scared of them anymore, by all means let them have a knockabout in their own half, but if you close them down and hassle and don't let them play their game once they cross that half-way line they seem to run out of ideas. If you have got a team that can maintain pressing even further up the pitch than that, then you've got a real chance. That's why Real have beaten them every time recently, they weren't about to stand around in awe and clap their passing. Barca need some players that can up that tempo when required.
Think it's a bit if both tbh, Barca's defence has been poor for years now. If I was them I'd sell Alves and get a better defending rb i'd also find a partner for Pique instead of having a converted midfielder or old man.
They have the problem of totally dominting thier own league with another club, when you are winning every league game 3-0 its hard to see any problems
It never was. I know they've dominated for a long time in Spain and generally done well in the Champions League, but Barcelona have always had their weaknesses and they've always struggled against English teams. They were the best club in the world for sure, but that wasn't due to any sort of unbeatable style, they just had the best squad. Fans of the game have been known to get carried away with their desire to label one club and one style as the best, and to define generations by them, but football managers know better than that. If "tiki-taka" had ever been hands-down the best way to play the game, then all the top managers would have been deploying it. There have always been, and always will be, countless different ways to play the game.
Our style was being discussed on Sky Sports and someone said if it was that good a style, why doesn't everyone play like it. The reply was that you had to have the players to do it. As said above, Barcelona have a very good side to play quick passing football...but just because they are successful doesn't mean Leyton Orient would be. And for every system, there is a counter system. I'm still astonished by the 7 nil aggregate score though.
