Was 0-0 good enough

[aliboy66]

I know stopping Barcelona score was good,but the way we went about it was what's wrong with football we parked the bus we did nothing going forward every time Cech got the ball he kick it long the ball just came back.I know how good they are but we ain't bad ourself by not getting a goal or playing a bit more attacking I think we missed a chance to show everyone that we got players that are just as good in my opinion as they are ?

Edited April 29, 2009 by aliboy66

[Lofty]

I think the question you should be asking is: would you have taken 0:0 before the kickoff? We won't know whether it was good enough until next Wednesday. Barcelona are quite capable of winning away, just as we are quite capable of beating them at home.

In fact it's an impossible question to answer. Winning 3-1 at Anfield should have been good enough to have put the result beyond a shadow of a doubt. But football being what it is, things don't always turn out as they "should".

To be honest, I'm getting a bit annoyed at the amount of criticism we've been getting over last night's performance. being the first team to stop Barcelona scoring at home all season is a massive achievement in itself. Don't forget we're still without Joe Cole, and last night we were without Ashley Cole, and it has to be said, under those circumstances we coped remarkably well.

Neither does last night's result compare with Liverscum's of a couple of years ago. Back then Barcelona were nowhere near as good a team, and were in nothing like the run of form they've been in this season.

[coco]

We have had teams 'park the bus' at SB all season long, and each time its happened its been up to us to get around the bus, last night we needed to use the tactics to help set up a close 2nd leg where we have home advantage, whats wrong with that ?

[PloKoon13]

The only thing I'm concerned about is how we're going to deal with them at the Bridge.

I know we have home advantage, but I don't see how that's going to completely turn around our performance. A huge problem is going to be stopping them from scoring, because if they score... we need two!

[Mr Chelsea]

0 each was a smashing result, and we would have all taken that before kick off

ok its still an up hill task as we will have to attack a little more at home, but its not impossible

[Mod]

A huge problem is going to be stopping them from scoring, because if they score... we need two!

Definitely! We should just play as defensive as last night and just hope Drogba gets a golden chance or two at goal again and takes it!

These long kicks by Cech need to stop unless he can see Drogba and a few others waiting there for it, that are not hounded by a million defenders.

This has been pissing me off since Jose was here; we have possesion midfield (or even further up), then it goes back to defenders that then pass back to Cech to long kick and give possesion to the other side! We have done it far to much and countless times in games.

[Englishman]

0-0 means we have to beat Barca by any scoreline in a one-off match at home to be sure of going through. I'd have taken that scenario before kick-off last night. I'd say it's preferable to having an away goal but also being 2/3 goals down.

Obviously it's still going to be an uphill task as they're a fine side, but it's at the Bridge and we have enough quality and they have enough defensive frailties for it to be done.

[bjd]

Like Lofty says i think we would all have taken at 0-0 at 7:45pm last night.

I dont think being at home gives us that much more advantage, but we have got to help ourselves. We need to keep the ball better and be more controlled and be relaxed.

Its going to be tough, we need to support Drogba more if we are going to get at them, and i certainly feel they can be got at. We need to take more risks, which against Barcelona is a brave thing to do, but we simply cant play the bus formation unless we are playing for pens, which i really dont want us to do.

I have to say Barcas whinging today has really pissed me off. What did they want us to do , roll over and have our tummy tickled like every other team does at the Nou Camp ? Bring out the red carpet ?

We can play whatever way we want thank you boys. Get on with it.

Edited April 29, 2009 by bjd

[Backbiter]

We need a win. They can settle for a draw.

[loz]

I am more than happy with a 0-0. Yes we did park the bus but I am more than happy to live with that.

What I would say though is that next time we play a team who come out and play for a 0-0 draw from the start then we better not moan about it!!

[blueday3]

I haven't the slightest clue what is going to happen next week. I am content with the 0-0, not particularly happy. We could probably go another 90 minutes without conceding probably, but at the same time we need a goal, and I don't want to rely on a slip up by Barca to see Drogba put one in.

I guess we will have to wait and see. Going to ET would be disastrous in my opinion, because one mistake and we have to score 2 in a very short amount of time, while not conceding another.

[icecoolguy22]

A good result, not great as many pundits put it here. It will be never wrecking from the kick off to the end in the return leg, and I doubt anyone will like it if the score is 0:0 at the 115 minute mark. The nerve will creep in if we lead by a goal with 5-10 minutes to go, players will have 2 minds about how to play it out. Having said that, after a brillant result at Anfield, we almost lose the tie 3 times . At least this time, we will not show any compalacency.

[ivorycoast]

At first I was happy with this result. But realizing that a draw will be enough for them to get through makes me worry.

[Riccardo]

I would have taken the result before hand. Barca have not been held scoreless at home for more than a year, and a team so used to scoring have been made very frustrated. And quite evidently so by all accounts in the press. The advantage we have playing at home is that the Bridge is a much smaller pitch and our players will have less ground to cover in defense. With Barca also having to play Real over the weekend in an important game, and 2 of their key central defenders out, there are a couple of weaknesses we can exploit. Don't forget it is a 2 game tie and someone of Hiddink's genius would have always planned for that. Barca, the way they have been playing this year, will always be formidable opponents no matter where you play them, and while it is always nice to go into the 2nd leg at home with an advantage, it could be far, far worse.

[Chippy]

I've got mixed feelings about the result,

I don't like the long ball football and Cech kicking balls aimlessly towards where Drogba should be Espesially when none of our players are near enough to him to get on the end of a knockdown if he wins it.

I felt after around 65 minutes of keeping them out the nerves settled and confidence grew enough to have risked either bringing on Anelka or pushing a midfielder further up the pitch but again I would certainly have taken this result before kick off.

Much as I don't like to see Chelsea play that defensively we have to face that Barca are the best attacking side we are likely to face and sometimes knowing the opponent and fearing them is a good thing, we have brought the tie back to our place with a very slight advantage and that is Job done at the Nou Camp.

The main advantage other than their injury problems and our having Ash back is the smaller pitch..I think even playing the same type of game we will see Lampard a lot more able to make runs closer to Drogba and we will also be less stretched as the pitch is thinner so hopefully we can get people forward more and we can double up on players easier when we need to.

I would love to see us play them off the Park with our attacking game but that game would only play out in our dreams and this next leg will be where Hiddink proves if he is what we need.

[Dorset]

At the risk of boring you all to tears, I feel particularly well qualified to comment on the 0-0 first leg away 'phenomenon' in the Champions League, as it is almost a carbon copy of the situation that arises in chess when you play your opponent with the black pieces, get your draw, and then have the advantage of the white pieces in the return game. For those of you who do not play chess, the advantage with White is based purely on having the first move to dictate play and this equates perfectly with home advantage in football in so far as the edge is minimal, although it can be substantial from a psychological point of view.

For instance, attacking play and initiative is White’s for the taking, as it is for the home team in football, but he doesn’t necessarily take it at every opportunity and subconsciously is often more guarded if he’s previously won with the black pieces and knows that a draw is enough in the second game. This is what happened to us against the Scousers - the psychology of not needing to win to go through - and we very nearly failed the test. Quite simply, in such circumstances, you put pressure on yourself by altering the usual method of progressing in a two-game contest.

Fortunately, what we are faced with now against Barcelona, following a standard draw with the black pieces, is the classic situation of needing a win and having home advantage (white pieces) with which to achieve it. Forget the wish-washy, namby-pamby away goal - it’s an irrelevance, in what is clearly a favourable situation for us at the halfway stage, and merely a psychological hurdle put there to confuse the main issue - namely, to just go out and win the damn game given the advantage we hold.

Chess at the highest level is renowned, often ridiculed, for the type of boring, blanket performance seen on Tuesday, but it’s effective when deployed that well against attacking players. On Tuesday the Barcelona forwards were the football equivalent of the attacking GM who isn’t allowed to display his genius and, more to the point, he now knows he’s got to try again with the black pieces - an undeniably more difficult task. Ah yes, they say, but Chelsea will have to come out and play this time and one goal will mean two need to be scored in reply. Trust me, that’s all psychological twaddle - we’ve always known that we needed to win at the Bridge and being armed with that status quo security suits me just fine. Let’s face it, if we can’t win with white, we don’t deserve to go through anyway.

Edited April 30, 2009 by Dorset

[Nibs]

The main advantage other than their injury problems and our having Ash back is the smaller pitch..I think even playing the same type of game we will see Lampard a lot more able to make runs closer to Drogba and we will also be less stretched as the pitch is thinner so hopefully we can get people forward more and we can double up on players easier when we need to.

This has to be a big dilemma for Hiddink. Bosingwa played Messi really well the other night and it was much publicised about playing a right footed player to stop Messi cutting inside. It worked once, why not repeat it?

I guess it's pretty much a given that Cole will come straight back into the side, but what if it backfires and Messi wins the battle?

Not sure what I'd do to be honest.

[heckel]

At the risk of boring you all to tears, I feel particularly well qualified to comment on the 0-0 first leg away 'phenomenon' in the Champions League, as it is almost a carbon copy of the situation that arises in chess when you play your opponent with the black pieces, get your draw, and then have the advantage of the white pieces in the return game. For those of you who do not play chess, the advantage with White is based purely on having the first move to dictate play and this equates perfectly with home advantage in football in so far as the edge is minimal, although it can be substantial from a psychological point of view.

For instance, attacking play and initiative is White’s for the taking, as it is for the home team in football, but he doesn’t necessarily take it at every opportunity and subconsciously is often more guarded if he’s previously won with the black pieces and knows that a draw is enough in the second game. This is what happened to us against the Scousers - the physiology of not needing to win to go through - and we very nearly failed the test. Quite simply, in such circumstances, you put pressure on yourself by altering the usual method of progressing in a two-game contest.

Fortunately, what we are faced with now against Barcelona, following a standard draw with the black pieces, is the classic situation of needing a win and having home advantage (white pieces) with which to achieve it. Forget the wish-washy, namby-pamby away goal - it’s an irrelevance, in what is clearly a favourable situation for us at the halfway stage, and merely a psychological hurdle put there to confuse the main issue - namely, to just go out and win the damn game given the advantage we hold.

Chess at the highest level is renowned, often ridiculed, for the type of boring, blanket performance seen on Tuesday, but it’s effective when deployed that well against attacking players. On Tuesday the Barcelona forwards were the football equivalent of the attacking GM who isn’t allowed to display his genius and, more to the point, he now knows he’s got to try again with the black pieces - an undeniably more difficult task. Ah yes, they say, but Chelsea will have to come out and play this time and one goal will mean two need to be scored in reply. Trust me, that’s all psychological twaddle - we’ve always known that we needed to win at the Bridge and being armed with that status quo security suits me just fine. Let’s face it, if we can’t win with white, we don’t deserve to go through anyway.

Soothing words Dorset. Now if you can just boil that down to one sentence and add an insult, you can be Jose's PR advisor.

[Virosh]

This has to be a big dilemma for Hiddink. Bosingwa played Messi really well the other night and it was much publicised about playing a right footed player to stop Messi cutting inside. It worked once, why not repeat it?

I guess it's pretty much a given that Cole will come straight back into the side, but what if it backfires and Messi wins the battle?

Not sure what I'd do to be honest.

I actually don't think Bosingwa was great against Messi, I just think Messi had a terrible game. Bossy really didn't have much to do for most of the game.

On the other hand, since when do we question A.Cole defensive prowess in front of Bossy's ? Before the Barca ties I would have pointed A.Cole as the better defender 10 times out of 10. Let the best left full back in the world face the best winger/forward in the world.

Also, all of you who think the 0-0 was not enough -are you effing kidding me ?! It was always likelier that we would win at home rather than away. If you are all so scared we will not, then we really are all scared s**tless. If we can't win a game against any given club, we don't have what it takes to be at the top. But to say a scoreless draw was a bad result is just ridiculous.

P.S. Great post, Dorset. A very apt simile, very well chosen indeed.

Edited April 30, 2009 by Virosh

[Chippy]

This has to be a big dilemma for Hiddink. Bosingwa played Messi really well the other night and it was much publicised about playing a right footed player to stop Messi cutting inside. It worked once, why not repeat it?

I guess it's pretty much a given that Cole will come straight back into the side, but what if it backfires and Messi wins the battle?

Not sure what I'd do to be honest.

I can understand it is a dilemma as Bos was superb but I would put an experiemnced LB likely one of the top 3 in football in the starting 11 every time in the situation we are in,

I don't think it was because Bos is right footed that he done well, he stuck to the task he was given and Malouda had a hand in it as well as the whole defence being up to the task,

It wouldn't surprise me to see Bos take his RB slot back as Henry was giving Ivan a few problems mostly first half but there are some tough decisions for the manager to make for sure.

[browner]

We defended well but we had nothing going forward! I think that defence was there for the taking on Tue night, but i see they have 2 Key players out for next week, i think if we get an early goal we could go on to score a few against them as long as we keep it tight at the back! Bosingwa was alot better 2nd half i thought, he done rightly! :Whistle:

[geezer]

Bet Arsenal would have bitten our hand off for the same result yet they're confident they can overturn the first leg result and they will have to score at least 2 to go through (which is likely to be the same for us).

[g3.7]

it's very difficult to attack there...

not only because of the obvious quality of their side- we're talking about a large number of world class attacking players here... but also barcelona play using the entire width of the pitch, and the nou camp pitch is impossibly wide. nothing in england can even come close to compare with it.

the bridge is smaller, more on the compact side- we'll be able to press them effectively without 9 men behind the ball. as we've done before.

[loz]

The Nou Camp is hugely wide claim is, I am pretty sure, something of an urban myth. I think it just seems that way because of the immense size of the stadium around it however the pitch itself is no wider than most pitches.

[blueday3]

Thanks for clearing that up loz! I was getting confused thinking every pitch had to be a certain regulation size.

(Not being sarcastic unfortunately)