UEFA Champions League 2009/10 Thread

[Dynamite]

I wonder how many more players will have to get injured before Nani gets another start?

[Dont Fear The Reaper]

Is Nani even making Carling Cup squads now?

[Whisper]

I wonder how many more players will have to get injured before Nani gets another start?

Many, hopefully.

Obertan has surprised everyone with how well he has started at the club and I would argue that he has already edged above Nani in the pecking order. He's certainly done more than Nani has this season, not that that's saying much.

Add to that the likes of Giggs, Valencia, Park and Gibson, all of whom can play wide, and Nani is way, way down the order. In truth it's where he deserves to be. He played ok tonight but he still lacks the application, in my eyes at least, to go with his obvious talent.

Is it too late for Owen to make a run at the World Cup squad do we think? I would say yes, purely because Capello seems set with his forwards (in Rooney, Defoe, Crouch and Heskey). I'm not sure much beyond the way of injuries will change his mind, regardless of form.

Having said that, a champion's league hat-trick is no mean feat, as poor as Wolfsburg were at times. If Owen can go on a bit of a run and get some more games under his belt then who knows. That'll do wonders for his confidence at least. For me he is still the best natural finisher we have in the country. He's lost that bit of pace sure, but finding that bit of space in the box is something he will never lose. But we shall see. Personally I'm just hoping he takes this form into the rest of our season. If he plays well enough that Capello has no choice then all the better.

Edited December 8, 2009 by Whisper in the Wind

[Guest Sanctimony]

Obertan is an absolute star in the making, from the little we have seen of him so far he seems to have that special something where he can make a difference in a game. If he keeps been given the opportunities i can see him becoming better and better. He'smost definetely ahead of Nani in the pecking order so far, thats for sure.

[Baddar]

I don't know where the Obertan hate has come from up to now to be honest. I've noticed there's been very mixed reviews on him, but every game I've seen him play for United, he's done well enough in it. Maybe with the exception of the Chelsea game where by the time he come on, United didn't really look like getting a goal.

Some of the runs he makes and general skill out wide is good to watch. He's doing what Nani has been doing since he joined United, except there's a better end product. Nani needs to be doing more of what he did for the first goal last night, as opposed to lifting the ball over a players foot brilliantly, darting forward at pace only to pass the ball to the nearest defender, as happened at one point in the game last night.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

*Torres saw his chance for a quick sniff*

[Liam]

EDIT: Bah, wrong topic >_>

[stokeriño]

And the draw is:

Stuttgart v Barcelona

Olympiacos v Bordeaux

Inter Milan v Chelsea

Bayern Munich v Fiorentina

CSKA Moscow v Sevilla

Lyon v Real Madrid

Porto v Arsenal

AC Milan v Manchester United

Oh look, both of the two ties I predicted happened. SHOCK AND HORROR.

[Pesci]

Inter/Chelsea and Milan/Utd look like awesome ties, now that Inter have actually started trying in the CL and Utd don't have Rondaldo. Becks back at Old Trafford will be awesome, hopefully he curls in a 30 yarder or something.

[IAceI]

Beckham back to Old Trafford.

Mourinho back to Chelsea.

Benzema back to Lyon.

As if it could have been scripted any nicer.

I quite like the draw, outside of Barcelona and maybe Arsenal it's all quite tight, Bordeaux will probably get through but for the last 16 there's some tasty match ups.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

Probably the hardest draw we could of got, but I'm really looking forward to it. We're still out for revenge after they knocked us out a few years back, so hopefully we're fired up for this one. Beckham finally returning to Old Trafford is going to be unbelievable, just cant wait to see that.

[Dynamite]

Delighted with the win last night! To win at San Siro with 3 away goals is brilliant and something I didn't expect at all. For much of the first half we were pretty terrible and could've easily have been down by 2 or 3. We got lucky with Scholes' goal but after that we did improve and were actually quite dominant for a good portion of the second half. The Seedorf goal and Carrick's silly red took the shine off the result though.

It's a huge loss that Rio has been suspended for the league games because the defence looked like they had never seen each other before. I'm a big Evans fan but he had a shocker. Rafael just couldn't handle Ronaldinho but did grow into the role until that shaky ten minutes at the end. Rooney couldn't get into the game much initially but his two headers were perfect and really show his class at the moment. Overall, it wasn't a particularly good performance but was a brilliant result. At 3-2 with no Carrick in the side (will this force Fergie into bringing Anderson back from exile?) the match is still open but as long as we can grab a goal at OT then I don't see Milan beating us by 2.

[Noah]

Ace

Posted 27 August 2009 - 11:42 PM

I think Lyon may do quite well,

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

Lyon was quite a shocker to me I must say. That said, I don't see them advancing still.

Fantastic result for us, although it's a slight shame we couldn't keep it at 3-1. I don't think it's too big of a deal though, I just cant see Milan EVER scoring two or more at OT. They've got some great talent, but I really expect us to win at home. Hopefully Vidic is back in time, because despite all the praise people have given Evans, I still think he's shakey as hell at times.

Only noticed yesterday that half the games are being played too, why is this?

[Dynamite]

Evans has generally looked really good when played with Rio or Vidic, it's just alongside Brown where he hasn't done too well recently. I think yesterday's performance from him was partly due to not playing with Rio for a long time and that there wasn't enough enough midfield protection in front of him from Carrick and Scholes. I'd certainly trust him over Brown for the return leg if Vidic isn't back by then.

I'm guessing having only two games played per day is a way of UEFA making more money? Either way, it's definitely a better way for the fans to watch the games rather than having four on at a time though.

[Liam]

.......Fabianski *slaps forehead with palm*

[GA!]

SOL CAMPBELL! (what the fuck?)

[therockbox]

Good old Sol, still as mentally unstable as ever.

[HailtotheYo]

add Fabianski to the list of

"needs to be shown the fucking door/shot in the face twice" list

hooooooooooolllllyyyyy shit man

[therockbox]

Yes, every young player, especially goalkeepers, should be fucked off after one bad game.