If you register for free, you will be able to post threads, vote on polls and lots more. If you have problems with the registration or logging in, please contact the administrator.
AC Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso has dismissed Champions League final opponents Liverpool as a 'long ball' side.
Gattuso and his team-mates saw off Manchester United in the semi-finals this week to set up a repeat of the 2005 final, when Liverpool recovered from 3-0 down at half-time to win on penalties.
Of the two sides, former Rangers midfielder Gattuso believes United are the better team and accused Liverpool of using outdated tactics.
He said: 'I feel there is a noticeable difference in talent and that we have beaten the better side of the two.
'United have far more technical players, who are quick and able to do things on the ball. They do not have those individuals.
'What they have is a way of playing as a team. They are like an Italian team of 10 years ago. All they try to do is defend together, with everybody behind the ball and just one striker. Every ball is a long ball.'
------------------------------
I think he's under the impression Chelsea beat us in the semis.
The game cosisted of chelsea get the ball kick it to drogba..drogba dives. Liverpool get the ball kick it to crouch crouch heads it tamely to a chelsea player.
Liverpool were 60-40 in possession the first half, they rarely played a long ball game. Plus, against a team like Chelsea, with a player like Crouch, you'd be stupid not to try the long ball game. It's like telling Milan not to play a short passing game - you play to your strength.
But, the thing with a Benitez team is that they're always very versatile. The same Liverpool team also boasts of Agger, Mascherano, Alonso and Gerrard - 4 of the best technical players in the premierleague.
Can't say the same about ManU, and that was their pitfall in Milan - no plan B. Also, I was extremely pleased when Vidic messed up, because he has been by far and away THE most overrated player in the league. Just because he's excellent at attacking set-pieces doesn't make him a good defender. And in the same week, Agger proved what a great young defender he is - learnt from his mistakes and totally thwarted Drogba. And scored a fabulous goal too.
And he wasn't even nominated for Young Player on the Year. Travesty. Similar to Sissoko not being nominated last season. Are you seriously telling me that Micah Richards had a better season?!
The thing that pisses me off about English teams that play long ball is that they see how boring a game like that can be (Liverpool-Chelsea) and they keep doing it. I don't get it.
Yeah Liverpool had 60-40 posession, but where was this posession? It's like the whole other manchester united argument. Posession means nothing without being able to do something with that posession. Now Liverpool did well to keep the ball away from Chelsea... but they weren't passing like Milan was. If you only get one goal and like 4 opportunities to score a goal with having 60% of the posession and your only goal comes from a corner or free kick... there is something wrong.
The Chelsea-Liverpool series was quite honestly the most boring from all of the Champions league that I have seen this year. Two teams that really played the same way (maybe Chelsea are a bit more guilty than Liverpool of the long ball, but still, both do) and didn't score many goals.
Liverpool has some great players like you said, but what is the point of those great players if your style of play neutralizes their skill?
And I like that in your list of technical players you listed Agger (defender), Mascherano (DM), Alonso (DM), Gerrard (well he can do a lot of things, but for the sake of it we will say CM). That is a lot of technical power centered in your defensive side of the ball and going to the midfield. Maybe that's why they pass around there to eachother and then one of these technical guys of yours sends the ball up to Crouch.
Liverpool did try to use a lot more wing play in the game though. I give them credit for trying. But Pennant or Gerrard didn't do much with the crosses. So you went back to the old game plan and so did Chelsea and that's why the game got so borrrrring,
Anyways manchester United have a lot more fluid technicality with their players, and this is centered in the attack. Scholes, Giggs, Ronaldo, Rooney are all players that make things happen. And they had a god awful game against Milan.. but compared to Liverpool they are a lot more posession minded and technically sound.
And about playing your strength and sending the ball to Crouch... the only chance Liverpool has of taking avantage of Milan is to use his height. This won't work with long balls because maldini and Nesta are perhaps the best tacklers of the ball once a player is in front of them and touches it. Crouch would NEVER gain control of the ball in the middle of that defense. So what do you do? You play a more posession minded game and attack from the flanks. It's the only chance you guys have got to getting Crouch in a position to use his height to his avtantage against Milan.
But getting there will be harder than you think. I think that the agressive play by Milan will ust dismantle Liverpool like it did Manchester United.
Sure liverpool had loads of posession, passing through the defenders until someone had enough room to pull there legs back far enough to welt it up top.
As soon as a liverpool player touched the half way line they lobbed the ball up to crouch or the winger on the opposite flank.
Quote:
The same Liverpool team also boasts of Agger, Mascherano, Alonso and Gerrard - 4 of the best technical players in the premierleague.
Can't say the same about ManU
Yeah because, Ronaldo, Scholes, Giggs, Rooney have no technique at all.
The fact we didn't play the long ball was definately not our pitfall at milan.
As for Vidic being credited as a good defender for his attacking capabilities, that is just disgusting.
I said ManU don't have the same versatility, and they honestly didn't have a plan B against Milan. Undoubtedly, Milan, played a better 45 minutes in Istanbul, but even then, in his first year, Rafa had a plan B - brought on Didi, and reverted to a 3-5-2 (if memory serves me correctly).
Also, I'm sorry but in my opinion Vidic is way way way over-rated. I remember the Liverpool ManU game (where ManU stole it after playing MUCH MUCH MUCH more boring football than Liverpool) and 3 or 4 times in the first half itself, when he got dragged out to the flanks, there was a flurry of rash tackles and needless free kicks. Also, I don't think he is a very good reader of the game, and without Ferdinand (who on the other hand is a very good reader of the game), Vidic is really exposed.
Man United have played some really exciting football this season - granted - but even after the brilliant attacking football it could have been so very different. The 2 results against Fulham (away) and Liverpool (away) could easily have been 6 points dropped instead of 6 points gained. The gap between the top 4 isn't as wide as the table makes it out to be. Arsenal picked up 4 points against United this season, and Liverpool have beaten Chelsea twice at home and once in Cardiff already this season. My point is that Liverpool are close, really close to the top 2, and so are Arsenal.
With Reference to Horia :
Milan wouldn't have been allowed to play the way they did against United, if they played against Chelsea or Liverpool. ManU went out with a central midfield of Fletcher, Scholes, and Carrick - 3 very good players, with excellent technical ability but none of them can be classified as 'terriers' or tacklers or 'gattusos'. Chelsea would have put Makelele and Mikel (whose been playing really well recently) in front of the back four and they would have thwarted most of Milanese attack (and if you remember, for all their attacking flair, they scored 2 goals which ManU shouldn't have conceded, ie defensive errors; ref : 'cutting our own throat'). And without those 2 goals, ManU would be in the box seat come half time, even after a poor performance.
Horia, I agree with you on most of what you say but in a game like Liverpool vs Chelsea, the managers, and players know the opposition so well that it's almost impossible to play a fluid game, for either team.
And as for Crouch not being effective against Milan, we'll just see about that.
Mistaken Identity.. ? 
Linear Mode
