The SNH Football thread

[LA_Boxers]

If Roy Keane thinks its a red card.......its a Red.

[Forum]

If Roy Keane thinks its a red card.......its a Red.

He comes out with stuff like that about Utd all the time, really seems to have something against his old club

[Liam92]

Expected, but still

[Muncey]

So after last nights performance the old "is he the best player ever" debate has come up again. Lineker claiming hes better than Maradona and people saying he has to prove himself in the prem are wrong because the CL is the biggest stage. I disagree, I think saying he has to prove himself in the prem is more saying he has to prove himself at another team... not at a higher level league. Hes been at Barca since he was about 16 and has always had the likes of Xavi, Iniesta around him.. now Fabregas, Villa, Sanchez ect. ect. Maradona on the other hand took extremely average teams to cup wins including a world cup (albeit with the help of a bit of cheating, but even the great Messi is prone to diving now and then).

I'd like to think hes the best player ever but if you just watch his international performances, you certainly wouldn't say this.. but the same could be said about Ronaldo. Lineker said if he was to play in the prem he'd undoubtabley be the best player in the league, I'd probably agree but I'd disagree he'd be the best player EVER in the prem. Hes still young though so still time to prove himself at an international level, just a shame he'll never move to another European team.. just hope the next generation of Barcas midfield isn't so insanely good as it is now.

[scspkr99]

I don't know it's fair to penalise Messi because he plays with incredible footballers, you only have to watch him to know irrespective of who he played alongside he'd be the best player on the planet.

The comparisons with Maradona are trickier, it's not about what Maradona did with Napoli or Argentina that's the biggest factor it's that we saw so little of him in comparison. I think it works both ways mind, we see so much of Messi that he makes the extraordinary ordinary but his goal scoring record is so far ahead of everyone elses it's untrue.

The best for my money

[murky21]

all i know is that he is the greatest player i have ever watched live in my lifetime, and thats all i really care about/ all i can reserve judgment on. trying to compare players in completely different eras is dumb anyway there are so many variables
inspirational player
almost made me forget about how hard arsenal are gonna get murked tonight

[scspkr99]

some of our lifetimes include watching players from completely different eras

that said I think you're right and whether Messi is better than Maradona is as important as to whether Maradona was better than Pele or whether Pele was better than Garrincha. It's not we're just lucky to get to watch them.

[Forum]

I know they scored some great goals again but i still find Barca boring to watch

[murky21]

I know they scored some great goals again but i still find Barca boring to watch

are you dizzy blud?
is it cos they make it look too easy?

[hutyluty]

barca are really good and all but why do they insist on playing mascherano as a centre half, can they not afford a real one or something?

Milan stood off far too much at the beginning of the game, reverting to Italian type after playing much more aggressively in the first leg in a demonstration of how to play against them, Mascherano and Pique will struggle against Bayern or another large physical side imvho

[Forum]

Milan had their chance and the kid hit the post, was so obvious Barca would go straight up the other end and score after that

[hutyluty]

well yeah, that demonstrates how dodgy mascherano is, he completely misjudged a very simple ball and let Niang through who should have scored. They should sign Vertonghen or someone. Or Shawcross . Pique didnt look very good either tbh, Bojan (aka barca reject who still looks about 11) went past him with ease near the end.

Milan played too much for the counter attack, relying on them denying Barca space on the edge of the box, rather than pressing hard up the pitch like they did in the first leg.

[murky21]

pique is struggling to get into games recently as mentally he's inside shakira

[Forum]

You can see why Juventus are romping the league again, neither Milans seem to have very good teams at the moment..

[hutyluty]

You can see why Juventus are romping the league again, neither Milans seem to have very good teams at the moment..

nah Milan have been good recently, they started off really poorly but have won loads since christmas. i mean they beat barca 2-0 at home (and deserved to) which not too many teams do, just poor tactics and some poor composure from niang/boateng/elshararararwrarwy up front last night. With balotelli upfront i reckon they'd have gone through..

Inter are a shambles atm though which is true. They deserved to get hammered by spurs for wearing red though- disgusting.

[garethom]

For my money, David Murphy is probably the best footballer ever.

[Muncey]

I know they scored some great goals again but i still find Barca boring to watch

are you dizzy blud?
is it cos they make it look too easy?

No I'd agree with this, a lot of the time Barca are so so boring. Think about it, the best games are end to end.. not knowing which way a game will go. If Barca aren't scoring they just have 90% possession passing around outside the box. Luckily they often do score but even then a lot of the goals are just passing it into the net. It is genius but I do find it boring, couldn't watch them week in week out. The way they play force the other team to just sit back and defend as well, so again unless they're battering a team and getting loads of shots in its just possession passing most of the game.

Plus they have no B plan, if they start losing they never switch it up or change anything.. just stick with possession football.

[PinUp]

For my money, David Murphy is probably the best footballer ever.

M8, it's all bout Rory Delap. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar!!

[Muncey]

Billy Sharp > Delap.

[hutyluty]

Billy Sharp > Delap.

billy sharp is a such a chippy little shit.

jonny howson > all

except maybe james milner.