Euro: 2019 Champions League Final

[SouthGeorge]

It doesn't matter if your intention is to block the ball when you're standing in the box with your arm out like that and it absolutely prevents a potentially dangerous ball into the box; come on you can't do that otherwise hey why not just have everyone in the box stand there with their arms out?

Cross in with like 6 people in the box 2 minutes into the game isn't dangerous. It's so not dangerous that there was no goals scored off crosses the whole game and there was probably like 40. So he took away 0% chance at scoring and they gave Liverpool a pen which is like 80%. I hate the rule and always have and it ruined this game. I don't know how they fix the rule. I'd say it needs to be a judgement call from the ref but I don't trust the refs. Like if it's iffy, let it go but if the same player has two iffy ones then call it. Or if it's a cross in and they got numbers or looks like the guy on the other end will have a quality chance of scoring. Cross into 8 people or a ball that looks like it's going 10 feet wide hits a hand that doesn't deserve a pen. It's ruined many games.

 

[les Habs]

Ok, after a crappy nights sleep....

1)At least the referee was consistent in calling handball. I think he was wrong but.....FFS, keep your ****ing arm down, Moussa.
2)Spurs controlled the play, but so what? Was like watching a fighter with no power just jab for 12 rounds. Ok, you threw more punches but you couldn't bruise a peach.
3)Starting Kane probably cost them the game. Hear me out. The opening goal wouldn't have happened had Lucas been there. He wouldn't have been where Kane was on the pitch and it's likely the play wouldn't have developed as it had and the handball wouldn't have happened and everything that followed would have been different. No way to know what would have happened, hell, Liverpool could have won 5-0, but that PK wouldn't have happened 30 seconds into the match.
4)I really dislike Liverpool supporters
5)I REALLY like the Liverpool squad. I love how they play. They all seem like really good guys, and that does matter when it comes to how one feels about another teams squad.
6)I REALLY like Klopp.
7)4 and 5 and 6 above really suck when combined.
8)I don't know how anything other than injuries will prevent Liverpool from winning the PL next year. ManCity scratched and clawed their way to win this year by milliseconds. That was the sound of a last gasp with that group of players. They won't re-set, but they will not be the same team next year.
9)If you had told me before the season Spurs would end up 3rd in the PL and runner up in the CL, I would have been thrilled. But now, I think it's sunk in that this was their chance. They won't win the PL unless Liverpool steps on their dick. And everything broke SO perfectly for Spurs make the finals this year, I mean, they can't expect that again.
10)From being a fan of the Falcons and the Sharks and Blue Jackets, one would think I would be used to disappointment. Not disappointment, but heartbreak. Not real heartbreak, but sports heartbreak. The Sharks have the best record in the NHL since 2001 and have won ****-all. The Falcons, losing to the Patriots like that is a loss very few other sports fan can understand. But I am not used to it. It sucks.

A lot to disagree with here, but I'll just cover a couple of points:

4) I dislike some, I like others. Hell, I think I like a Madridista or two. But no more than two!
5) I don't like the Liverpool squad. I mean I don't like a lot of players and I don't even like every Barça player (which has always been the case). Either way I don't find a lot of likable players at Liverpool. I can't stand Mane and don't know how anyone would like him. Don't get the hype around Salah either. I also don't like Keita or Shaqiri. On the flip side Robertson seems alright. I've always somewhat liked Milner. I like Wijnaldum the player. In terms of ability I respect them as a team.
6) I can't stand Klopp. He's arrogant and after last night's performance he's a hypocrite. He's one of the top two managers in the game, but I wouldn't want him at my club.
7) Now this I agree with. It's kind of amazing how supporters of a club who turn you off can turn off to that club.
8) Whether Liverpool win it next season or not, City will still have a very strong season. They will be finish 1st or 2nd and if it's the latter there will still be a title race.

While BR invited some NBA player in the US, BeIN Sporta had Jose and Arsene as pundits and it was great

I agree about Nash, but I have zero interest in listening to Mourinho. I can't wait for someone to hire him so I don't have to encounter some nonsense about his punditry.

 

[Evilo]

Fabinho is very likeable.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

The charge of arrogance aimed at Klopp is one I just immediately disregard as "sour grapes" or sheer contrarianism. I've seldom seen a person in a position of such prominence act less arrogantly, more accessible and more likeable. Even when he tells people off, he does it in a very human, very relatable fashion.

It's like literally something people almost immediately like about him. Mostly just because of that he managed to become well-liked and respected in England while managing a highly polarizing club that is typically loathed by other clubs' fans - as a German no less. The people that are still generally seen as humorless, rigid control freaks in popular English culture.

 

[les Habs]

The charge of "sour grapes" aimed at myself is one I just immediately disregard as ignorance or downright stupidity. He is arrogant and condescending.

 

[les Habs]

Klopp said that Guardiola phoned him to congratulate him and both agreed to "kick each other's butts" next season.

 

[Evilo]

Sour grapes would be blaming the wind for a disappointing game. Or that the other team lost 3 players to injury in one half and had to play an injured one up front, and yet when outplayed, blame those injuries.

He's totally arrogant. Then again, many top players/coaches are. It's also part of what makes them champions.

 

[Evilo]

Ndombele is part of the CL team of the year.

 

[YNWA14]

I think some of us have a very different definition of arrogance. I hardly consider Klopp that.

 

[robertmac43]

Felt right waking up this morning with the knowledge that Spurs did not have a CL trophy :p

 

[les Habs]

That's an unbalanced team. Only 1 RB, 1 LB and 3 CBs.

 

[Stray Wasp]

You could in fact argue the attacker had the intent of hitting his arm.

Funny you mention that, because the thought occurred to me when I watched the incident a second time, and repeat viewings strengthen that suspicion.

Admittedly, hindsight makes it easy to reason from effect back to cause, but Mane looks up, sees Sissoko, and 'delivers' his 'cross' having made a very unorthodox, pretty minute movement to reposition his body that leaves him slightly off balance and leaning back as he strikes it.

Now, you'd expect to see a player look up before delivering a 'cross'. You could say Mane was playing the ball when he wasn't conventionally balanced in the hope of giving his onrushing teammates an extra split second's advantage over the Spurs defence - on the one hand it's consistent with Liverpool's aggressive start to the game, yet on the other the ball wouldn't his reached his colleagues with much pace and would have been difficult to make much of. And it contrasts jarringly with the very fluid movement he uses to shield the ball from Trippier as he checks back to wait for runners.

It so happens that not long after the PSG-Man United game I was chatting about handball with, of all people, a Spurs fan and expressed my big concern that the current handball law could encourage players deliberately to kick the ball at opponents to win penalties in the way that field hockey players intentionally try and hit the ball against opponents' feet to win fouls and penalty corners. The last thing football needs is increasing reliance on set pieces as a means of scoring goals.

If Mane did that credit to him for making use of a daft direction from the powers that be, and Sissoko has to take his medicine (by the bye, assuming he was trying to point out to his colleagues the dangers of late runs on the left side of Spurs' defence, surely it would have been more logical to point with his left hand - from one camera angle it looked as though his finger was pointing into the stand behind the goal).

 

[YNWA14]

All the big names and such aside, Tadic had an incredible season and was absolutely fantastic in the CL against the biggest teams as well. Really impressive to see him with that Ajax team and in a new role. His numbers this year were staggering; 38 goals and 24 assists.

 

[les Habs]

I haven't said it yet because it looked pretty obvious to me, but I agree that Mane tried to hit that ball off Sissoko's arm. Of course it hit his chest and then went off his arm, but...

 

[YNWA14]

Funny you mention that, because the thought occurred to me when I watched the incident a second time, and repeat viewings strengthen that suspicion.

Admittedly, hindsight makes it easy to reason from effect back to cause, but Mane looks up, sees Sissoko, and 'delivers' his 'cross' having made a very unorthodox, pretty minute movement to reposition his body that leaves him slightly off balance and leaning back as he strikes it.

Now, you'd expect to see a player look up before delivering a 'cross'. You could say Mane was playing the ball when he wasn't conventionally balanced in the hope of giving his onrushing teammates an extra split second's advantage over the Spurs defence - on the one hand it's consistent with Liverpool's aggressive start to the game, yet on the other the ball wouldn't his reached his colleagues with much pace and would have been difficult to make much of. And it contrasts jarringly with the very fluid movement he uses to shield the ball from Trippier as he checks back to wait for runners.

It so happens that not long after the PSG-Man United game I was chatting about handball with, of all people, a Spurs fan and expressed my big concern that the current handball law could encourage players deliberately to kick the ball at opponents to win penalties in the way that field hockey players intentionally try and hit the ball against opponents' feet to win fouls and penalty corners. The last thing football needs is increasing reliance on set pieces as a means of scoring goals.

If Mane did that credit to him for making use of a daft direction from the powers that be, and Sissoko has to take his medicine (by the bye, assuming he was trying to point out to his colleagues the dangers of late runs on the left side of Spurs' defence, surely it would have been more logical to point with his left hand - from one camera angle it looked as though his finger was pointing into the stand behind the goal).

I think Mane did it intentionally, but it doesn't change my outlook on the call. You simply cannot be in the box and have your arms open like that; even if you say your intent is not to block the ball you are intentionally making yourself bigger, in a very unnatural position, so even if Mane did want to make a cross it wouldn't go into the box. How ridiculous would it be to be allowed to just stand in the box with your arms out like that? The blame should solely be on the player making that dumb decision in the first place and I still have no idea what the logic would be behind saying that it isn't a penalty.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

I think some of us have a very different definition of arrogance. I hardly consider Klopp that.

As the old saying goes, you can't please all of the people all of the time.

 

[HoseEmDown]

It doesn't matter if your intention is to block the ball when you're standing in the box with your arm out like that and it absolutely prevents a potentially dangerous ball into the box; come on you can't do that otherwise hey why not just have everyone in the box stand there with their arms out?

He wasn't just standing in the box with his arm out. He was tracking back and had his arm up before he got into the box, I doubt he even knew he was in the box because half his body was still on the line when the arm was hit. The ball was actually going back outside the box when it hit him and not traveling towards goal. It was a horrendous call and changed the game. I wouldn't say it cost Tottenham because they still didn't score but the game wasn't the same after.

 

[John Pedro]

All the big names and such aside, Tadic had an incredible season and was absolutely fantastic in the CL against the biggest teams as well. Really impressive to see him with that Ajax team and in a new role. His numbers this year were staggering; 38 goals and 24 assists.

Amazing season, but his goals totals were inflated by pens, 11 pen goals in the Eredivisie alone. 17/13 would still be a great season in Eredivisie, though.

 

[YNWA14]

Amazing season, but his goals totals were inflated by pens, 11 pen goals in the Eredivisie alone. 17/13 would still be a great season in Eredivisie, though.

Yeah, that's fair, 14 of his 38 goals were penalties (though I think he won a fair few of them). Still, like you said, amazing season. 24 goals and 24 assists is pretty incredible even if you remove those.

 

[Live in the Now]

I think there is a little too much "they won, so their approach must have been right" reasoning here. If Tottenham score the equalizer in the second half, then the approach suddenly doesn't look so good anymore.

Actually, I have weird feelings about this myself. It was the correct approach as they did the exact same thing at Wembley against them and it worked. The defending part was excellent. They executed the attacking part absolutely horrendously. In the first Spurs game they had absolutely amazing chances that they bottled but this time their best chances were from very far outside the box.

Approach was great but the execution of the attacking facet, I think everyone knows was terrible.

 

[Savant]

I haven't said it yet because it looked pretty obvious to me, but I agree that Mane tried to hit that ball off Sissoko's arm. Of course it hit his chest and then went off his arm, but...

That was Suarez move at Liverpool. Not sure if he still does it at Barca, but he won many a penalty that way for LFC.

 

[les Habs]

That was Suarez move at Liverpool. Not sure if he still does it at Barca, but he won many a penalty that way for LFC.

Oh yeah, Suarez would totally do something like that.

 

[Live in the Now]

Just so everyone knows there was an officiating conference in January where the referees were told by UEFA to whistle all those as penalties.

 

[Savant]

Just so everyone knows there was an officiating conference in January where the referees were told by UEFA to whistle all those as penalties.

Yeah I mean there really isn't any controversy. Ref called it right. Checked VAR and didn't change his mind. None of the Tottenham players even put up a fight about it. Lesson learned. Don't extend your arm to make yourself bigger. Unnatural position, etc

 

[Savant]

Oh yeah, Suarez would totally do something like that.

Yeah I mean once PL defenders started to over protect from being nutmegged by Suarez, he would start aiming for their hands when they squared up. Won many PKs for Gerrard