I've had one of my gut instinct moments....

[KolaKubes]

.... and Liverpool will get thrashed in Athens.

I do not necessarily welcome this but this is what my belly was telling me this afternoon.

It's rarely wrong. Sorry Pool fans. ;)

[obviously, I invite a "bumping" of this on May 23rd if I'm all wrong ;) ]

[xvis]

Liverpool are a better side than 2005, and I don't think Milan are as good as then.


..so I think it will be a lot more of an even match than that time, in what was one of the most unbalanced finals I've seen.



;)


I'd agree with RonnyB's summary of the United semi-final match, and judging by the Italien press reaction it was one of Milan's best performances of the season, ..but United gave them every oppurtunity, which I don't think Liverpool will.


I said I wasn't going to watch it after the semi's, ...and still may not!

[Professor Piehead]

.... and Liverpool will get thrashed in Athens.

I do not necessarily welcome this but this is what my belly was telling me this afternoon.

It's rarely wrong. Sorry Pool fans. ;)

[obviously, I invite a "bumping" of this on May 23rd if I'm all wrong ;) ]

Hardly a surprise from a supporter of the Euro-washouts. Spotted and jotted.

[KolaKubes]

We will see if Liverpool can re-create that 6 minute performance from Istanbul, otherwise Milan will be lifting the big-eared fella.

[no, not this bloke]

http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/fifa/gen/fi/20060707/i/1535309999.jpg

[wat_boy]

masch must get tight on kaka who is their best and most dangerous player obviously and try to mark him out of the game, if this can be done i expect liverpool to win the game

[lionelhutz]

.

I do not necessarily welcome this but this is what my belly was telling me this afternoon.


well you do seem to have your head stuffed up your ass a lot so you could be right

[wat_boy]

well you do seem to have your head stuffed up your ass a lot so you could be right

hence why he's speaking out of his hole :p

.... and Liverpool will get thrashed in Athens.]

[3pointplay]

Not gonna happen liverpool will win it.

[KolaKubes]

Milan are not a very jaded Chelsea side.

They also won't stupidly bomb long balls on to Carragher and Agger's head all night.

In Pirlo, Kaka, Gattuso, Ambrosini and Seedorf, they possess one of the few midfields that can stand toe to toe (and I suspect better) with Liverpool's in the key area on a football field.

Without supremacy in this area, Liverpool's weaknesses elsewhere will be rather cruelly exposed.

That said, it's a game of ball, Liverpool are undoubtedly a better side than they were in 2005 but, then, that side was quite some way off Milan for about 110 minutes that night.

Liverpool can win it, but I doubt it.

Incidentally, any Pool fans willing to actually debate why I'm wrong on this rather than just saying I'm "stupid and smell of poo"?

Please, I would be pleasantly surprised.... ;D

[Aphex]

Incidentally, any Pool fans willing to actually debate why I'm wrong on this rather than just saying I'm "stupid and smell of poo"?

Please, I would be pleasantly surprised.... ;D

2005 would be a bit of a start...

[Sound]

As I said before, Milan are the clear favourites but wont have it all their own way as Liverpool wont stand off them like Utd did. Kaka will be man-marked and if he isn't Rafa would want his head looked at.

Milan are just the type of team that could play the Pool off the park but conversely Liverpool are just the type of team that could blow Milan away if they play with the right intensity.

Cant wait.

[Professor Piehead]

Milan are not a very jaded Chelsea side.

They also won't stupidly bomb long balls on to Carragher and Agger's head all night.

In Pirlo, Kaka, Gattuso, Ambrosini and Seedorf, they possess one of the few midfields that can stand toe to toe (and I suspect better) with Liverpool's in the key area on a football field.

Without supremacy in this area, Liverpool's weaknesses elsewhere will be rather cruelly exposed.

That said, it's a game of ball, Liverpool are undoubtedly a better side than they were in 2005 but, then, that side was quite some way off Milan for about 110 minutes that night.

Liverpool can win it, but I doubt it.

Incidentally, any Pool fans willing to actually debate why I'm wrong on this rather than just saying I'm "stupid and smell of poo"?

Please, I would be pleasantly surprised.... ;D

You smell of pooh and you're stupid.

No really, the same shite was probably dribbling it's way out of your cakehole in 2005.

[KolaKubes]

As I said before, Milan are the clear favourites but wont have it all their own way as Liverpool wont stand off them like Utd did. Kaka will be man-marked and if he isn't Rafa would want his head looked at.

Milan are just the type of team that could play the Pool off the park but conversely Liverpool are just the type of team that could blow Milan away if they play with the right intensity.

Cant wait.

Ah, the very man.

Yes, it will be an interesting clash of styles and Liverpool are armed with the sort of players that Utd needed to deal with Kaka.

However, one cautionary note, I say the "sort" of players. For me, Kaka was everything that Ronaldo could or maybe should be. A heady blend of lightning pace and directness.

You close him down, he pops off an intelligent pass and is gone again looking for the return. You stand off him, he runs at you, possibly to devastating effect. Go in hard on him, you're left giving Pirlo opportunities to score from set-pieces. Man mark him and you create all sorts of space for players like Seedorf and Ambrosini and Pirlo.

As we know, if there's one man who will come up with an idea to deal with Milan tactically its Benitez.

Additionally, Liverpool survived (and I use the word advisedly) an encounter with Barcelona earlier in the competition, a team with arguably far more potency in attack than Milan.

However, that Barcelona side displayed a quite shocking arrogance and complacency against a Liverpool side that they seemed to think they could play without even the slightest nod to the necessity of defending.

Milan won't be so complacent. This is a team that has a very good balance between its attack and defence. If Liverpool are to make special arrangements for Kaka, what is that going to take from Liverpool going forward? Can Kuyt, Crouch or Bellamy craft a goal from nothing?

I don't think so.

The only chance I see for Liverpool is if they score first. Perhaps from a set-piece. Otherwise I think they'll struggle to break down Milan and I doubt they'll keep Kaka et al. quiet for 90 or even 120 minutes.

Like I say, of course Liverpool have a chance. I just think its a slim one.

[STEVIEG]

Cup game

Anything can happen


Milan will be very hungry but Liverpool will be willing to take the tiring Italians to extra time and peno's yet again


Rafa got it wrong last time (Kewell > Hamann) but may get it right from the start this time
Milan may not surrender and lose concentration though

Impossible to call

[KolaKubes]

You smell of pooh and you're stupid.

No really, the same shite was probably dribbling it's way out of your cakehole in 2005.

What, that Milan were going to win?!

Me and everyone else who's watched a game of football.

I was actually hoping at half-time that it wasn't going to get too embarrassing for Liverpool, something which still gets derision from fellow Utd fans.

It may have been a gripping game from there on in, but Milan were the ones who deserved to win on the night - more so even than Munich did in 1999!

[KolaKubes]

Cup game

Anything can happen


Milan will be very hungry but Liverpool will be willing to take the tiring Italians to extra time and peno's yet again


Rafa got it wrong last time (Kewell > Hamann) but may get it right from the start this time
Milan may not surrender and lose concentration though

Impossible to call

Why would Milan be tiring? Resting their entire team in domestic games of late.

In fairness to Giles, he's been making a good point of late that you can't really call games until you see the teams up against each other. That mix of styles and formations can produce some funny results. For example, why do Arsenal struggle against Bolton perennially?

All I'm doing is making a call based on gut feeling and a wee bit of rationale from what could be gleaned from the recent CL rounds. Milan went to Munich and won 2-0, went to Old Trafford and came within a sniff of getting a draw with two crucial away goals and blew Utd off the park at the San Siro.

If they reproduce their performance from their last game in the CL in the final, Liverpool haven't a hope. They're making far too much of Utd's tiredness, players missing etc, the major point was that Milan were sensational.

I say unless Liverpool score first its a foregone conclusion.

[ho chi feen]

Liverpool are a better side than 2005, and I don't think Milan are as good as then.


..so I think it will be a lot more of an even match than that time, in what was one of the most unbalanced finals I've seen.



;)


I'd agree with RonnyB's summary of the United semi-final match, and judging by the Italien press reaction it was one of Milan's best performances of the season, ..but United gave them every oppurtunity, which I don't think Liverpool will.


I said I wasn't going to watch it after the semi's, ...and still may not!

The season?

That was probably Milan's best performance in a good two to three years.

[STEVIEG]

Why would Milan be tiring? Resting their entire team in domestic games of late.


Like Liverpool


I meant that they tire late in games and Liverpool will grind it out if need be

As poor as United were they were well on top in the second half and it was Gilardino's breakaway goal and Kaka, Gattuso and Seedorfs determination that gave them a fresh look in the last 20 minutes

They would have been really tired if it had gone to extra time and i could easily see Liverpool bringing them that far or beating them


I would probably call it as Milan if pushed but there's nothing in it really

[wat_boy]

this same milan team you seem to be creaming yourself over kola has lost to aek and lille and struggled badly against a very poor celtic side, I'd say liverpool have a great chance not a slim one tbh

[Sharkey]

As I said before, Milan are the clear favourites but wont have it all their own way as Liverpool wont stand off them like Utd did. Kaka will be man-marked and if he isn't Rafa would want his head looked at.

.


i would also like to see a combination of arbolea and riise on the left instead of zenden. milans right full caused alot of damage to united so the extra cover would be no harm and its not as if we'd be losing out an any great attacking threat by leaving zenden out of the team.

[lionelhutz]

Incidentally, any Pool fans willing to actually debate why I'm wrong on this rather than just saying I'm "stupid and smell of poo"?


why youre wrong? the match hasn't been played yet knobend.

go back to wanking over those dreamy shots of roni with his shirt off. youre an embarassment to those decent utd fans in t'other thread

[POL]

.... and Liverpool will get thrashed in Athens.

I do not necessarily welcome this but this is what my belly was telling me this afternoon.

It's rarely wrong. Sorry Pool fans. ;)

[obviously, I invite a "bumping" of this on May 23rd if I'm all wrong ;) ]did you feel it in your waters?