As to the Champions League (aka competition for teams that come fourth) I think that this week could be the end of the English involvement.
I fear for Arsenal (actually I don’t) with the makeshift defence they’ll have to put out. I think BM will be too good for them. (Also what is the deal with Henry - he seems to go AWOL on big games?)
Chelsea do have a chance of beating Barcelona, but I don’t think they will. Barca are a corking side and their style of play will be hard to deal with. Basically it’s a great defense against a great attack.
From the Arsenal perspective the only way we’re going to win tonight is if we forget defending and just play with the aim of out scoring Bayern which, given their defense and the presence of Hargreaves, is probably a no hoper.
FWIW i’ve got a fiver on an Arsenal 3-2 win, and a tenner on Bayern winning 2-0.
Lately yes, but i don’t necessarily think that this is anything to do with him - more that the big teams are just far better equipped (both tactically and defensively) to deal with him.
I have been reading a book on the Hillsborough disaster. As a yank I am pretty distant from the whole affair, I must have been 21 or so when it happened. I only recall it being on the news for a few days and then not much else. I was wondering what were some UK dopers recollections of that day and the aftermath. I’d been interested to hear your recollections.
Well, I was being facetious, but I just checked at UEFA.com and they don’t show Hargreaves starting or on the bench, so I guess it will be a fair match.
And both Bayern and PSV jump out to early leads in today’s games, with Liverpool also going up in the fifteenth minute, keeping hopes for old England alive in the Championship. I read where no German side has ever scored in the Liverpool stadium, so maybe this will be enough.
If you’re reading a book about it, you’ll appreciate the strong feelings it arouses. My own memories are tuning in to watch the game one Saturday evening in Hong Kong, and being initially surprised that there were a few people on the pitch. There was no sense of foreboding, presumably because this type of thing wasn’t uncommon. Looking back, the thing that strikes me is how long it took for the game to be stopped, although it was probably only a matter of seconds. Everything seems different with hindsight.
But the main memory is losing the commentary but continuing to get the pictures, as I suppose no one at the local TV station knew what had happened or knew what to do. For about 20 minutes or so I watched as the cameras panned in on people climbing over the fences to get out of the Leppings Lane end and on resuscitation attempts on the pitch. It was grim but but compelling viewing.
CL quarter-finalist crap unlike, say, your North London superiors. And, if this particularly anti-patriotic scouser had his way, like AC Milan and Barcelona and unlike the Fulham Broadway Plutocracy or the Scum From the Bottom Of the M62. Not bad since injuries have us calling up the youth team and Igor Biscan!
I nearly went: my dad couldn’t get us tickets. My schoolmate Stuart went with his dad Roy. Stuart came back - Roy managed to throw him over the railings. His dad didn’t.
That was a Saturday. On Monday it was a school trip to Alton Towers (a UK theme park), all pretty somber. Some of the kids had been at the match, and had seen people die, their bodies crushed and mangled and then laid on the pitch in full view. One or two had almost died themselves. Some people on the coach were reading the Sun, which printed the most gratuitous pictures and blamed the crowd rather than the crowd control police. The Sun has been boycotted in Liverpool ever since, for two decades.
The city was in shock for several months. Arsenal fans might joyously remember beating Liverpool 2-0 at Anfield with the last kick of the season (as in “Fever Pitch”), but they beat a ghost team in a stadium full of zombies. Perhaps it is best that they got to experience such joy, since it would have been wasted on us.
If Manchester United win through against Milan, at least you can console yourself with the thought that “the Scum” have a Scouser playing for them. As well as assorted Frenchmen, Argentines, Irishmen (North and South), Dutchmen, Welshmen and even a native of Madeira.
Wrong side of Stanley Park, rog. The last Liverpool to Scum transfer was back in the 1960’s - those blue twerps are notoriously disloyal. We tried to take advantage by selling them Gary Ablett. Unforunately they got their own back with Abel Xavier.
I’m afraid I’d support a starting XI of Stalin, Eichmann, Hess, Goebbles, Himmler, Mao, Pol Pot, Pinochet, Mussolini, Khan (Genghis) and Khan (Kublai) against your lot any day.
Football: I think that’s that for the Arse. They’ll have to chase the game at the library and that will leave them open for a counter attack. That away goal gives them a glimmer of hope, but no more than that. Looks like I was right about the defense. I only saw the highlights, but at least two if not all the goals were defensive blunders. How long is their centre half out for? Will he be back for the next leg? They’re terribly vulnerable without him.
One of the few rays of light for a spurs fan is the continuing whitehall farce that is the Arse in Europe. (BTW lads if you want to get to see some european trophies, get a cab down the Seven Sisters Road and we’ll show you three. Yes they are a bit dusty, but it’s still three more than you’ve got ))
Liverpool were a suprise (and cost me a few bob). Yes they are crap (well crapish ) - they’re a one man team and he’s off in the summer. Very few teams could lose a player of that quality but for Liverpool it’s a HUGE blow.
Hillsborough: This was an accident waiting to happen. Almost the same thing happened to us on the same terrace a few years earlier in a semi against Wolves. Thankfully no one was killed, but several people were badly hurt - and no lesson was learnt. Fans of several other teams will tell you the same thing, so it’s not as if the warning signs weren’t there.
Whilst I dislike sitting down at games I’ll happily accept that it is better than a possible reoccurance.
I’d remind you that neither he nor some £35M odd of our other recent signings were playing last night, and I think a good price for Gerrard might be sound business overall - Liverpool at times seem over-reliant on him, seeking a pass to him where another option is post hoc the better decision (see this article by Scott Murray in the Grauniad, which makes a lot of sense). What Benitez did at Valencia was nothing short of incredible - I’m prepared to trust his judgement implicitly.
In a way I hope you’re right. I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for the bin-dippers, and if they can challenge the other three it will make things a bit more interesting.
))