well, since henry, a hugely experienced and world class player in his own right, plays with messi every day, I think his opinion may have more weight than mine and, shock, horror, urs too.
If ronaldo is a striker, why do they keep playing him in the same wide position as messi? So ur saying that ronaldo has scored all those goals and won all those awards while playing out of position? Wow, what a guy
Also, why didnt messi score 2 goals last night? You predicted a barca white-wash when chelsea had to attack. They had one shot on goal in the 94th minute which came from a mistake from essien. Classico?

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 07/05/2009 11:11:50    277027

messi is never in the box? he never scores from outsideit! his 2 goals against madrid were in the box, the volley he hit straight at the keeper was in the box and the sitter he missed was in the box, so was his goal v bayern! why cant you ronaldo haters give one decent point to say he's not world class? comparing him with messi is a waste of time (hes taller,stronger,better in the air, more prolific, (except this season which he had ankle surgery), more mature (messi will get even better but we'r talkin about now), equally good with both feet, clinical, has helped his team to more trophies, can take free kicks (if alves is better than messi he must be bad), can play as a winger, in a front 2 or up front alone and has helped his international team to a major final. the list goes on, messi is great ronaldo is better. in 2 years when messi is the age ronaldo is now maybe it'l all be different.

speedy12 (Fermanagh) - Posts: 592 - 07/05/2009 11:31:29    277035

ronaldo position is classified as a striker and he is always in the box when he gives his pass of because he knows he dosnt have a football brain and creativity of a real player like messi. so he just goes for headers all day. messi plays deeper on the wing and drifts into the centre of midfield hense the reason he wont score as many goals but will have much more assists. he has much more influence on the game. everything last night he was in the middle of and made a show of chelsea on 3 different occassions with 3 players trying to tackle him. ronaldo wasnt man-marked by two players like messi was when he played against arsenal and porto and their defences are rubbish. chelsea often had 10 men behind the ball. saying that he set up the goal and controlled the game. much better player than ronaldo and was much more effective. showed again he was the best player in the world. very professional also VISCA FUTBOL CLUB BARCELONA- MORE THAN A FOOTBALL CLUB, CATALONIA NOT SPAIN, GREATEST CLUB IN THE WORLD

32_4_1 (Meath) - Posts: 4124 - 07/05/2009 11:59:51    277063

Lets just hope Barcelona finish the job now and go on and beat United in the final i dont support either team but im really looking forward to it already and ill defintelty be shouting for Barcelona,lets see if United will actually try an attack or will them adopt the cynical approach of Chelsea,I for one hope they have a go and make it a cracking match which could go either way.

UptheDeise (Waterford) - Posts: 225 - 07/05/2009 12:32:00    277095

32_4_1 County: Meath Posts: 259 277063 ronaldo position is classified as a striker and he is always in the box when he gives his pass of because he knows he dosnt have a football brain and creativity of a real player like messi. so he just goes for headers all day. messi plays deeper on the wing and drifts into the centre of midfield hense the reason he wont score as many goals but will have much more assists. he has much more influence on the game. everything last night he was in the middle of and made a show of chelsea on 3 different occassions with 3 players trying to tackle him. ronaldo wasnt man-marked by two players like messi was when he played against arsenal and porto and their defences are rubbish. chelsea often had 10 men behind the ball. saying that he set up the goal and controlled the game. much better player than ronaldo and was much more effective. showed again he was the best player in the world. very professional also VISCA FUTBOL CLUB BARCELONA- MORE THAN A FOOTBALL CLUB, CATALONIA NOT SPAIN, GREATEST CLUB IN THE WORLD No harm to you mate, I've tried having a reasonable discussion with you, and you're obviously enthusiastic and passionate about Soccer and Barca, but that is the greatest load of rubbish I've ever read about soccer. I don't even know where to begin disagreeing with you!!! You're entitled to your opinion but unfortunately little of it is based in any kind of fact just an angry, irrational grudge against a portuguese footballer and a childish, fanboy love of an Argentinian one. Like I said before, ultimately its you thats losing out because there is so much soccer to be enjoyed, yet you will miss out on it cos your infantile rage prevents you from watching it with an open mind. Tragic really.

Breffni40 (Cavan) - Posts: 12293 - 07/05/2009 12:34:08    277096

Breffni hit it on the head, there is so much wrong, you dont know where to start, i find it hard to believe that someone could have such views.

Who 'classified' ronaldo as a striker? Urself is it? Why does he play 95% of his games on the wing then? Doesnt have the football brain? He doesnt pass like messi because he shoot from those distances and more often than not they go in. I would rather goals to passes any day, and i would say they influence the game a lot more than a nice pass.

I dont know what you were watching lastnight but all I seen messi do was pass a simple ball to iniesta for the goal. It took essien missing the clearance for him to get it. What about his rubbish shot about 20 minutes earlier, if it was ronaldo it would have been a goal, plain and simple... If he controlled the game why did barca have to wait till the 94th minute to get a shot on target? Thats the way he wanted it eh?

Arsenal have a better defence than anyone in spain

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 07/05/2009 16:11:15    277338

no whoever made the rules of football classify him as a striker. cf, rf,lf, lw, rw are all striker positions. am, dm, lm, rm. cm are all midfield positions. and cd, ld, rd sw are all defenders positions. its common knowledge.

all ronaldo does is either shoot or header or lose the ball trying to run. for the amount of shots he takes he's got to score sometime. id say if you were to see his ratio for the amount of free kicks he's taken to what he's scored it would be VERY POOR.

is the rubbish shot your talking about when 3 defenders tried to tackle messi but yet he skipped amound them all with ease just like he did all night. he is also the best dribbler in the world

its you master who dosnt have a clue if you cant see the influence someone like kaka, messi, ronaldinho, riquelme have over the whole game even if they dont score. barca were playing chelsea when they had 10 men behind the ball. ronaldo would be nowhere to be seen if they played a defensive chelsea like that. but chelsea wouldnt play against united like that because chelsea know theres no need as united arnt as good. when barca played united last year ronaldo was nowhere to be seen yet messi was brilliant again. pity about the rest of the out of form barca. ronaldo wont get a look in come the final. sure united have to get the ball first

32_4_1 (Meath) - Posts: 4124 - 07/05/2009 18:55:21    277511

Ok. Check this out for commentary. This is how to do it lads. Marty, start takin notes [url=]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVGxrCdjcKQ

spudenator (Laois) - Posts: 1052 - 07/05/2009 19:41:58    277545

32_4_1
I do see the influences they have, but you should add ronaldo to the top of that list.

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 07/05/2009 21:22:10    277635

32_4_1
County: Meath
Posts: 265


all ronaldo does is either shoot or header or lose the ball trying to run. for the amount of shots he takes he's got to score sometime. id say if you were to see his ratio for the amount of free kicks he's taken to what he's scored it would be VERY POOR.

is the rubbish shot your talking about when 3 defenders tried to tackle messi but yet he skipped amound them all with ease just like he did all night. he is also the best dribbler in the world

i kaka, messi, ronaldinho, riquelme

but chelsea wouldnt play against united like that because chelsea know theres no need as united arnt as good. when barca played united last year ronaldo was nowhere to be seen yet messi was brillian


Some very good points. Ronaldo is good at free kicks but ratio wise the daddy is Juaninho of Brazil and Lyon. Phenomenal conversion rate. And Messi is the best dribbler in the world.

Riquelme? What a player.

And yes Chelsea, given their dominance over United in the last 5 seasons in head to head games, would not fear United as they did Barcelona.

Good result for United last night as due to their style they would fear Chelsea more than Barca, certainly a Barca with 3 first choice defenders ruled out.

Might be a good final. Depends on United's attitude.

patrique (Antrim) - Posts: 13709 - 07/05/2009 21:22:35    277636

the master of the free kicks was sinisa mihajlovic when he was at lazio

bigcook (Longford) - Posts: 129 - 07/05/2009 21:54:08    277668

i wouldnt add ronaldo to my top 50

mihajlovic and juninho are certainly the two greatest free kicks takers ive ever seen and their ratio for converting frees is amazing

for long shots in open play you cant look to far past wesley sneijder and chip shots the greatest ever was river plates genius ariel ortega

32_4_1 (Meath) - Posts: 4124 - 07/05/2009 23:58:53    277810

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oowGKod7rck&feature=related

all aspiring young players and free takers should take advice from this guy

32_4_1 (Meath) - Posts: 4124 - 08/05/2009 00:10:18    277815

patrique
County: Antrim
Posts: 3250

270800
Two close off side decisions against E'To, a clear penalty for Henry, no red card for Ballack, on such close decisions the designated team can triumph. And no Puyol or Marquez next week.


Am I a prophet or what. I posted the above last week after the first game.

patrique (Antrim) - Posts: 13709 - 08/05/2009 02:02:28    277832

Breffni39 County: Cavan Posts: 542 270938 patrique County: Antrim Posts: 3151 270800 Two close off side decisions against E'To, a clear penalty for Henry, no red card for Ballack, on such close decisions the designated team can triumph. And no Puyol or Marquez next week. Did you see Pique? On that display he is the second best central mid-fielder United ever had, after Paul of course. Croos field, defence splitting 40 yards balls, what a gem. Who let him go? Haha LOL!! Whats it like swimming with those egyptian fish Patrique????? Getting the excuses in very early! United let him go cos he simply was not good enough! Good for Barca, not good enough for United!! Typical comment from yourself anyway in pulling a dig at United out of nowhere. They never seem to be out of your thoughts Patrique? Do you not worry about coming across as bitter in every post you make on the non-GAA board? I wasn't a bit surprised to see that result last night. Every year we hear the same thing "Barcelona are the team to beat"" and every year they flatter to deceive. I await an update.

patrique (Antrim) - Posts: 13709 - 08/05/2009 02:03:53    277833

08/05/2009 02:02:28 patrique County: Antrim Posts: 3252 277832 patrique County: Antrim Posts: 3250 270800 Two close off side decisions against E'To, a clear penalty for Henry, no red card for Ballack, on such close decisions the designated team can triumph. And no Puyol or Marquez next week. Am I a prophet or what. I posted the above last week after the first game. Ehh...No. Yeah, you posted that with the benefit of the first game suggesting Chelsea were the "designated team" and the following week, with no predictions from yourself, "the designated team" are out. I think thats the opposite of prophecy to be honest. 08/05/2009 02:03:53 patrique County: Antrim Posts: 3252 277833 Breffni39 County: Cavan Posts: 542 270938 patrique County: Antrim Posts: 3151 270800 Two close off side decisions against E'To, a clear penalty for Henry, no red card for Ballack, on such close decisions the designated team can triumph. And no Puyol or Marquez next week. Did you see Pique? On that display he is the second best central mid-fielder United ever had, after Paul of course. Croos field, defence splitting 40 yards balls, what a gem. Who let him go? Haha LOL!! Whats it like swimming with those egyptian fish Patrique????? Getting the excuses in very early! United let him go cos he simply was not good enough! Good for Barca, not good enough for United!! Typical comment from yourself anyway in pulling a dig at United out of nowhere. They never seem to be out of your thoughts Patrique? Do you not worry about coming across as bitter in every post you make on the non-GAA board? I wasn't a bit surprised to see that result last night. Every year we hear the same thing "Barcelona are the team to beat"" and every year they flatter to deceive. I await an update. This just in, Patrique acting smug despite no real vindication of anything he has said. Reports say he is becoming increasingly obsessed with a successful Manchester based football club.

Breffni40 (Cavan) - Posts: 12293 - 08/05/2009 10:24:17    277905

united will tank this barca team they are the most overrated team in club football. they have some very good players but have very little penetrating power as seen at stamford bridge. Plenty of possession but never created a chance until that goal. iniesta is the best player in the world in my opinion. messis not all hes cracked up to be, ronaldo plays better on the big days aka champions league final last year. Chelsea should have beaten them 3-0 created countless chances and unfortunately couldn't take them which was the difference in the end. I'm a chelsea fan and was annoyed with drogba feigning injury and sulking when he was taken off with the injury! As for the referee, well he was a disgrace and the less said the better.

passerby (Tyrone) - Posts: 724 - 08/05/2009 11:57:21    278009

ferguson will be licking his lips...
Here's what i expect..
Ferguson will complain about the standard of reffing in the chelsea game... He'l employ a similar counter attacking style that chelsea did and its bye bye barca

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 08/05/2009 13:27:47    278116

barca have been getting too much praise for keeping the ball, its easy for them because they go nowhere with it. united try to score and take risks in doing so. they could pass it about in pretty patterns all day if they wanted but it doesnt win games. barca are also seriously short on midfield depth. xavi iniesta are the only players who can crate outside there front 3.
oh an lw and rw are wingers, not strikers. giggs is a winger not a striker. a certain mr messi is aprt of a front 3 when it suits the arguement but a winger/midfielder when it doesnt apparently

speedy12 (Fermanagh) - Posts: 592 - 08/05/2009 15:38:36    278253

so passer by wednesday was the defining match for messi to show wheather he was a big match player or not. you give him one chance yet ronaldo has bottled it time and time again on the big stage but thats ok. and actually if you could see between the lines its not just goals that makes a great player. when was the last time ronaldo took the game by the scruff of the neck and controlled it. NEVER. he's not a great player and never will be. messi was central to everything barca done on wednesday and they won it with an assist from messi. its not all about step overs in shiny boots passer by. chelsea done nothing for 160 minutes except get a fluke. barca completely dominated. chelsea wouldnt even have had their penalty claims if it wasnt for the worst decision of the night which reduced barca to 10 men. they will have puyol and henry back for the final. they will win easy enough. if chelsea employed that tactic of 10 men behind the ball against united they would just play scoreless draw after scoreless draw with ronaldo doing nothing. so barca are getting a lot of criticism for playing beautiful football and doing what they needed to do which was win against a 10 man defense. chelsea goal was lucky and against the run of play and barca shouldnt have got a red card. barca also should have had a peno in the first match united couldnt pass like barca if they spent another 100 million on their team. and ronaldo is a striker, messi isnt. messi drifts back and forth from central attacking position to right midfield and the only time he really features in the box is when he makes runs into it. ronaldo on the other hand plays higher up that wing and picks up positions in the box for about 70% of the game. ronaldo at 21 scored 9 goals in 33 games in portugal and sporting didnt improve in the slightest when ronaldo was there. but then again i suppose their teams had the best defenses in the world then

32_4_1 (Meath) - Posts: 4124 - 08/05/2009 16:29:10    278320