'I feel that this team is moving forward'-Wenger

On finishing the season with a flourish…“It was good to let the team get some credit. I believe we played during the whole season in a difficult position but overall it was good to finish well and have the crowd happy before we start next season. At Man United and today it was important for us not to play sloppy and to give a message out that we can come back next year and be strong.”On the season as a whole…“The difficult thing for a manager is feeling that the team has stood still. I feel that we had to re-find a balance after the departures of Hleb and Flamini and the injury to Rosicky. We had a little bit of a dodgy start but in the last 23 games we only lost once against Chelsea here.”On possible squad additions…“I feel the team is moving forward but the question we have to analyse now is are we strong enough to win the League next year? If not, what do we need to add to the squad? That is the basic question we have to answer. There is some great quality here, that is for sure. The squad is very young, that is for sure as well.”On playing Alex Song at centre back…“I wanted to see him at centre-back again today – he played well at Old Trafford. We looked strong defensively there and I wanted to see him again in that position.”On Theo Walcott making way at half-time…“He is not injured. It was planned before the game to change Theo with Nicklas Bendtner.”On Emmanuel Adebayor being here next season…“I think so [he will be here]. He’s a great striker who scores important goals. He has proven that for the two seasons he has been here.“On Robin van Persie’s contract situation…“We want to extend his contract it’s our priority to extend Bendtner’s contract too. We need to get everyone around the table, we have done that a few times but have been delayed after it. He wants to stay, I want him to stay but he still has two years to go anyway.”On the great reception from the home fans…“It makes me feel appreciated and even more regretful that we couldn’t give them what they wanted this season. I am very respectful for their faith in me. It’s very warming and it makes me even more determined to pay them back.”

SWITCH SAYS-

ON Arsenal prospect as a club, Arsenal remains one of the best teams in the EPL and in the world with the best brand of beautiful football, and it will only take a few ingridients to be added to bring the team back to TITLE WINNING WAYS!! Wenger knows!! (LOL)

The season has not been a disaster- Wenger

By Chris Harris

Regrets? Arsène Wenger has had a few this season, but he insists that the 2008/09 campaign has been anything but a disaster. Arsenal secured a 12th successive year of Champions League football and reached the last four in that competition as well as the FA Cup. However, Wenger and his players have been slated in some quarters for failing to lift a trophy. The Frenchman accepts that Arsenal have room for improvement but he is convinced that his squad will blossom in the years to come. “In the big games, we were still a bit young and played a bit the occasion more than the game, because we were under a lot of pressure and wanted to do so well,” accepted Wenger. “But at a big club, it is simple. There is philosophy, a style of play and a culture of how you want to play the game. We have all that. “People think it is a disaster to get to the Semi-Finals of the Champions League and the FA Cup, while finishing fourth. OK, so you can do better. But if that is a disaster, then the future of the Club is very promising.” To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of Wenger’s exit have been greatly exaggerated. Nonetheless, the day will eventually come when the Frenchman bids farewell to the Club he has transformed since 1996. So what will Wenger’s legacy be? His trophy haul speaks for itself but the 59-year-old hopes he will be remembered for much more besides. “First of all, legacy is about leaving the Club in every aspect that is important in a good situation,” he said. “That means you leave a good squad, good young players, a good financial situation, a good structure of the game at the Club. “What is the most important is the Club goes on and continues to improve. That for me is the biggest pride for any manager who has a positive ambition and philosophy. And the state of our club is fantastic.”

SWITCH SAYS

I love the Wenger philosophy!! it is all about perspective how football imitates life, a man applying such phylosophy will no doubt, come out tops eventualy ,so much hope, so much faith, That is the way to go!! lack of siverware this season isnt the end of it, lack of silver ware four seasons running does not mean you cant ever get it right.common Arsenal is one of the best clubs in the world and their time will surely come!! Apply this to your personal life and be happy.Wenger is a life coach!!

Blatter wades into referee debate

Fifa president Sepp Blatter believes making referees fully professional would improve the standard of officiating in big matches.
Blatter spoke out in the wake of Chelsea's controversial departure from the Champions League semi-finals.
"I will repeat it, and I have been saying it for 10 years at least, we must improve refereeing," he said.
"It's time to have professionals. We should only use professional referees in high-level competitions."
Blatter was on a plane during Wednesday's match between the Blues and Barcelona and has yet to see the whole game, but he insists that full-time referees are necessary for the long-term good of the elite game.
"We have professional referees in England, we have professional referees in all sports in France. We have this kind of professionalism in Italy during the season, they are under contract," he added.

Phil McNulty
"We have had professional referees in Mexico, in Brazil and in Argentina and I think this is one of the most important things that refereeing is their profession, this is their job.
"There will always be questions if the referee is good or not good but I will say the future of our game is in the hands of the man with the whistle because there is so much at stake, such as in this match."
Meanwhile, Fulham manager Roy Hodgson has hit out at TV pundit Jamie Redknapp's criticism of the choice of Tom Henning Ovrebo as referee for the Stamford Bridge clash.
Redknapp questioned the decision to allow the Norwegian, who combines officiating with his work as a psychologist, to oversee such a high-profile match.

Ovrebo was criticised on and off the pitch
Barcelona scored in injury time to earn an aggregate victory, but controversy surrounded the performance of Ovrebo who turned down four Chelsea penalty appeals during the match.
But Hodgson said: "Do you want to go down the Redknapp route - only England, Italy and Spain count?"
"There's 60 countries in Europe. Do we say to the other 57: 'Sorry pal, you're not Premier League'."
Hodgson, who managed Viking FK in Norway in 2004-5, added: "Norway is good enough. The average crowd in Norway is 15,000 and that's in a country of 4m. We can only average 25,000 in a country of 60m people.
"What are we going to do in future? Are we going to make certain because the Premier League has Sky Sports behind them and loads and loads of money if you are not in England then forget all about it?
"Are we going to say 'You're from Spain, you might be just about okay but the rest of you, Switzerland, France, Poland, Russia, Austria, Ukraine, Slovenia, Serbia, you don't count?' It's nonsense."

Henry & Iniesta doubts for final

Iniesta and Henry face an agonising wait over the next few days
Barcelona face an anxious wait over the fitness of Thierry Henry and Andres Iniesta ahead of next week's Champions League final against Manchester United.
Striker Henry has had a ligament problem since Barca beat Real Madrid 6-2 on 2 May, while midfielder Iniesta injured his thigh two weeks ago.
"I don't know if they will make it in time - we'll see on Monday or Tuesday," Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said.
"They have faith and the will to be there but it depends on their muscles."
The Spanish giants have growing selection problems, with defenders Dani Alves and Eric Abidal suspended and Rafael Marquez injured for the final in the Stadio Olimpico in Rome next Wednesday.
One player available for Barcelona is playmaker Lionel Messi and Guardiola believes his star man is better than United forward Cristiano Ronaldo.

"They are two great players but I'll stick with my player - I think he's the best," he said.
Messi, in the Barcelona squad that won the Champions League three years ago but then missed the final against Arsenal through injury, is desperate to feature this time round.
"I wasn't able to get on the pitch and enjoy the final in Paris but I have the opportunity now and it is something I'm very excited about - it's the biggest game of my life," he said.
The 21-year-old Argentina international added that he thought his side would be worthy winners of Europe's top footballing prize.
"I know that many people who are not Barca fans admire the club for its brand of football," he said.
"We deserve the title for the football we have played throughout the year. We deserve this reward."
Barcelona are aiming to become the first Spanish club to win the league, domestic cup and European title in one season.
Messi added: "We know that we are close to making history."

Rafael Benitez: Manchester United Are Not Better Than Liverpool

The Spanish tactician says that winning the Premier League does not necessarily prove which team is the best, it simply means they have acquired more points...
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez insists that should Manchester United win the Premier League title this season, it will not be an indication that they are the superior team.The Reds have lost less games than the Red Devils during the 2008-09 campaign and, with two games remaining, have a better goal difference.But with two league matches to play, United are six points ahead of the Merseyside outfit, who are second, and need just one more point to secure the championship.However, the Spanish tactician does not believe that winning the Premier League proves the Red Devils are better than ‘Pool, feeling that there are several top quality teams in England, most notable the so-called 'Big Four.'"It just means they have more points," Benitez is quoted as saying by The Guardian when asked if the best team wins the Premier League."If United win the league it means they will have more points, clearly, but there are some very good teams in different positions in the table."It depends on the time of the season. I don't think I ever said we were playing the best out of everyone, maybe just at certain moments.“I do have a lot of respect for the other teams, but to say who is the best at one moment is not easy."There are a lot of good teams in the Premier League. Without putting them in any order, I'd say Chelsea, United, Liverpool and Arsenal are the best."This year we have shown we are improving and that we are a better team than before. We can still get better but we are in this position because we are winning a lot, have played good football, scored a lot of goals and not conceded many."Eighty points is good, 86 could be much better, and we will try to get there and see what happens."If United have more points, it only means they have more points, that's all, nothing else."

BARCELONA ARE LA LIGA CHAMPIONS!!

Barcelona are worthy Champions of Spain and they will be going into the 2009 champions league Finals with that at the back of their mind, though they face Manchester United the recently crowned English champions in this Epic Battle!!


Barcelona, the recently crowned Cup and League champions, has lost at Mallorca despite taking the lead with a goal by Eto’o.
Mallorca laid on a guard of honour for the champions, and in the first half Barça showed just why they have won the competition. In spite of beginning the match with two reserve team players in Oier and Xavi Torres – with two more, Thiago and Jeffren, coming on in the second half – and others such as Pedro and Cáceres who haven’t been regulars in the starting XI this season, the team still played to its usual high standards. The entertainment on offer was also helped by the fact that neither team had much to play for in the game. The most interesting aspect of the match was Eto’o and his search for goals to extend his lead as top goal scorer. In the 10th minute he put Barça ahead only to miss a number of chances which would have wrapped the game up by half-time. In the second half Barça were made to pay for those mistakes as Mallorca scored twice. The defeat is of no real significance as Barça, who rested key players for the final in Rome on the 27th, had already got the League in the bag when they came to the ONO Estadi. Eto’o scores In spite of the numerous changes in the starting line-up, Eto’o kept his place in the search for more goals to extend his lead as top goal scorer. He took just 10 minutes to do that when he connected with an excellent cross by Bojan from the left to lob a header over the advancing Moyà. The game had got off to the best possible start. Missed chances Samuel Eto’o was the central figure in the first half, as he had at least three more chances to extend Barça’s lead. However, on each occasion he came up against Moyà who had the best of all the one-on-ones. Despite not having much automatic understanding with each other, the reserve team players and first teamers who haven’t been regulars this season still played in the Barça way of possession football. Mallorca make a comeback The second half started much like the first. Barça had the ball, Mallorca ran after it and Eto’o continued to be unlucky, missing another two clear chances. In the end Mallorca made Barça pay for those errors when Arango equalised from a free kick (73’). Straight after the goal Thiago made his debut when he came on for Gudjohnsen. With their next chance the home side made it 2-1 when Cléber Santana headed home a Jurado centre. Mallorca had had just the two chances and took both of them to turn the game around. The result wasn’t really fair for Barça, who still had time to hit the woodwork twice through Eto’o, on the second occasion from a penalty in injury time. But it mattered little: the League had already been won.

Manchester united 0 Arsenal 0

United 0 Arsenal 0
United are once again champions of England and inevitably, it was achieved the hard way, with a nail-biting goalless draw against Arsenal at Old Trafford.A tense, nerve-wracking afternoon saw few chances at either at end, as a largely dour match dragged agonisingly to its conclusion. Hearts were in mouths for United fans throughout the afternoon, and never more than when Cesc Fabregas struck the post with six minutes remaining.Victories over Manchester City and Wigan had the champions six points clear of second-placed Liverpool going into the match, meaning a point would secure a record-equalling 18th league title. Mindful of the dangers of playing for a draw, the Reds were quick out of the traps.Barely 15 seconds had passed before Cristiano Ronaldo got the better of Kieran Gibbs, exposing the space behind the young full-back to race onto Darren Fletcher’s through-ball. The Portuguese declined to continue his sprint, however, and his cross was cleared before it could reach Ryan Giggs.
That early opening heralded a sustained spell of United pressure, which only served to heighten the expectant buzz which had hummed around Old Trafford long before kick-off.
However, Arsenal, still reeling from their Champions League exit at the hands of United, and the subsequent scrutiny of their silverware drought of recent years, were not at Old Trafford to simply roll over for the champions-elect.

BARCELONA wins spanish cup finals 2009!!

Total football (1-4)
David Saura (special correspondent)
Three years after Paris, Barça have once again won a major trophy. They came from behind to beat Athletic 4-1 and in doing so, gave a lesson in creative football. Total football is back!
On Wednesday night, Mestalla witnessed FC Barcelona win the first trophy in a potential treble. The first is in the bag, the second is almost won, and the third will be decided in Rome. Nobody said it would be easy, but despite the missing players and the tiredness, Guardiola’s side has stayed faithful to their philosophy, and if they play like this on the night of May 27, then Manchester United will have a very difficult job indeed. Guardiola off the mark At Mestalla, Barça produced their enviably competitive spirit to eventually win the game comfortably despite conceding an early 9th minute goal. They reacted by sweeping aside Athletic Bilbao to the tune of four goals and in doing so, provided Pep Guardiola with the first trophy of his managerial career. It was a victory for good football. Clash of styles It was always going to be a fascinating encounter, between the two teams that have won this title the most times. Yet it was also a clash of styles, and two very different ideas of what football is about. Barça’s combination passing game against Athletic Club’s high balls and physical approach. The first half produced what most pundits had expected. As early as the 9th minute, Athletic were awarded their first corner following an excellent Pinto save. Yeste sent the ball over to the far post, where Toquero was waiting to beat both Keita and Xavi in the air and head the ball straight into the back of the net. In imitation of Endika’s exploits 25 years previously, the Basques were into an early lead against their Catalan opposition. At this stage of the game, the red and whites were not only a goal to the better, but also seemed to be enjoying the lion’s share of the play. Xavi conducts reaction Barça were struggling to bring the ball out of defence, with the Basques applying constant pressure to the centre and full backs. But following a disorientated first quarter of an hour, Xavi in particular starting guiding matters back in the right direction. With deft through balls to Eto'o and Bojan, gaps started appearing in the Bilbao defence. In fact, Eto'o could easily have tied the match in the 20th minute following an excellent assist from Xavi, but the Cameroonian dallied just that little bit too long to get a decent shot in. Touré becomes Messi Barça’s pressure was causing more and more concern to Athletic, whose lines were pushed further and further back. Barça were evidently more composed, and got their reward on the half hour. The unexpected protagonist was Touré, playing today at centre back. In an individual move displaying both skill and strength the Ivorian advanced from midfield and slalomed around three defenders before sending a low, powerful drive straight into the bottom right hand corner of the goal, just beyond the reach of Bilbao stopper Gorka. The two goals were a reflection of the respective styles of the two teams, Bilbao scoring from a corner and showing their superiority in the air, while Barça’s was a display of sheer skill and flair. The sides went in at the break in very different moods. Barça’s goal had knocked the wind out of the Basques, while Barça could even have gone in as leaders if Alves’ well-taken long range free kick had hit the target. Barça dominate second half The game restarted with Barcelona absolutely dominating almost every aspect of the game. This was made clear by the way Messi enjoyed three consecutive chances. Surely there was a goal on the way. And there was, in the 52nd minute, and it had to be Leo Messi who scored it. The Argentinian latched onto a rebound in the area and directed the ball past Gorka to put his side into a well-deserved lead. More and more Barça had been offering almost all the good football, and as they have always done this season, rather than sit back on their lead, they went straight out in pursuit of more against a team that was losing confidence as every minute went by. The third goal was a clear reflection of the way the game was going. Alves regained possession in his own area, played it out to Messi, and the Argentinian flew off on a counter attack. Messi played it through to Bojan, who finished the move off in spectacular style. It had looked like a pass to Eto'o would have been the most simple option, but the young striker from Linyola did what was expected of him and sent ball narrowly below the opposing crossbar. Total football It was all too much for Caparrós’ side to take, and yet there was more of the same to come. Barça produced their fourth from a dead ball situation – a free kick on the edge of the area that Xavi converted in magnificent fashion. Once again with a shot that squeaked in just inches from the post - Gorka could do nothing to prevent Barça taking a 4-1 lead. There were still 25 minutes to play, but with the result already way out of doubt, it was essentially just a matter of running down the clock before the celebrations could begin. It was a scintillating, ambitious display of perfect football from a Barça team that after three dry years, finally has a major title to celebrate.

courtesy Barcelona fc website

ARSENAL FC ENGLAND, HAS WENGER LOST IT?

@ ARSENAL FANS
SWITCH SAYS
Arsenal is very much on course, even with the so called small boys they are presently Ranked in top 4 in the WORLD. Like i will always say it is not just buying players that win titles but lots of other factors, there are many teams in the EPL English premier league that spent more than Arsenal this season but did not make it near the Top 4!! By the way even Chelsea that spent so much and with all the so called Big players has not won any title for 3 years Running, Liverpool has Big boys and conceded 4 goals against Arsenal and Are not going to collect any title this season. It is not the Ingredient that makes the food but How applied. Arsenal will surely get some players but not like some Arm chair fans are shouting!!
WENGER SAYS!!
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/wenger-our-targets-may-not-need-big-cashArsène Wenger is only after “the right type” of players over the summer – and he may not have to spend big money to get them.
Despite defeats to Manchester United and Chelsea in the last week, the Arsenal manager does not feel his side needs major surgery. He wants improvements “in the right areas” but has ruled out a raft of signings.
As ever, Wenger wants quality over quantity in his transfer dealings.
“I don’t think the squad needs major investment,” he said. “At the moment I don’t know what funds will be available [anyway]. But I just believe we need to continue to improve. I’m not as doom-and-gloom as everybody wants to make it after a defeat.
“Of course we play in a strong league against top quality opponents.
“So we need to improve in the areas that are right. That doesn’t mean quantity - and not even quantity of money - it’s just the right type of players."
[Monday, May 11, 2009]
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The WENGER philosophy is Tight and a team like Arsenal that made it to where they are now with the so called Young boys needs just to add that element that will turn the basal metal into GOLD, just add one two or three right players and the difference will be clear!! Wenger is a very Good Manager who can make something out of nothing and great things out of something!!

IS THE SWORD NOW MIGHTIER THAN THE SHIELD?! BARCELONA VICTORY OVER CHELSEA FALL OUT

SWITCH says

Hiddinks tactics almost worked, yes, Almost. so can we say the sword is mightier? Hmnn. Hiddink's Tactics is the type people praise after a victory and condemn after a loss, But by and large, condemnation mostly follows "Negative " -Win or lose!! But like someone said (quoted)


"Hiddink may have chosen the right tactics against Barcelona over two legs, and Chelsea are undoubtedly unlucky to go out (just as they were last year when they deserved to win the title), but it must also be recognized just how negative the Blues were in both legs. It was Catenaccio stuff that would have had Helenio Herrera dancing around in his grave." Carlo Garganese was decidedly unimpressed by the Blues' unfancy approach to elimination."

The Chelsea- Barcelona match cant really be used as a yard stick to determine the mightier of the sword and the shield, because of the poor officiating and the controversy it generated, but the sword (largely believed to be the best form of defence across many games) used by most succesful soccer countries/clubs in the world, the Samba of brazil(for istance)thus The sword is the most attractive and can be said to be the very best!!

BARCELONA DEFEATS CHELSEA!!

Barcelona advanced to the European Champions League final against Manchester United in dramatic fashion, tying Chelsea 1-1 Wednesday night when Andres Iniesta scored in the third minute of second-half injury time.Michael Essien scored on a 20-yard shot in the ninth minute for Chelsea, which lost last year's final to Manchester United on penalty kicks.
But Iniesta beat goalkeeper Petr Cech after collecting a ball from Lionel Messi and tied the aggregate 1-1 in the home-and-home, total-goals series. Barcelona, which finished a man short following Eric Abidal's ejection in the 66th minute, advanced because of a 1-0 advantage in away goals.Manchester United will try to win the title for the fourth time when it meets Barcelona on May 27 at Rome, following victories in 1968, 1999 and last year. Barcelona won Europe's top club soccer crown in 1992 and 2006.Chelsea players surrounded Norwegian referee Tom Henning Ovrebo after the final whistle at Stamford Bridge, angry they weren't awarded at least two penalty kicks - one for a free kick he gave outside the penalty area after a foul that was within, the other for a hand ball that wasn't called against Samuel Eto'o.Didier Drogba, who had gone down twice inside the area, was pulled away from the official by Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink.Barcelona was without Thierry Henry, who didn't dress because of a knee injury.Essien scored off the bottom of the crossbar, beating goalkeeper Victor Valdes after Ashley Cole fed Frank Lampard, who pass went off a Barca defender and came loose outside the area.Valdes later raced off his line to beat Drogba to the ball. Chelsea should have had a penalty awarded when Florent Malouda was brought down by Daniel Alves a yard inside the area, although the referee ruled it happened on the edge.Drogba should have made it 2-0 in the 53rd minute when he collected a pass from Nicolas Anelka and turned past a defender only for Valdes to block his shot with his leg.

DEFENSE OR ATTACK - IS THE SHIELD MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD?? BARCELONA/CHELSEA (case study)

Chelsea style or Barca style ??


---------In Soccer, A school of Thought favour free flowing soccer, where there is fantastic display of skills and the Fans are entertained, as in the word entertainment is what qualifies football as a game, games are meant to be enjoyed by the Spectators, anything Outside this, that is employing what analysts call Negative tactics, ugly Tackles, just to win Games without actually playing is considered as anti-football.
The other school of thoughts says Soccer is all about winning , all about putting the ball at the back of the Net and it does not matter how it is done, a fantastic acrobatic Adebayo champions League(2009) goal that left the Fans like WOW!! or a goal mouth scramble involving some heavy pushing.

The first Leg Of the Chelsea- Barcelona (2009) champions league Game At camp nou has again raised the issue Which is stronger THE SHIELD OR THE SWORD?? RUGGED DEFENCE committing seven men to the defence or Free flowing soccer??
Barcelona is Known for their flair for fine and robust attacking soccer that has seen them score 100 goals this season most of those goals came in style giving the spectators their tickets' worth BARCELONA are a skillful side, they are smart and can turn the pace of the game up or down, and has proved that it is possible to play good soccer and still win a league title.

On the other hand chelsea are very powerful physically, which makes it difficult for most decent attack to penetrate without being roughly muscled off the ball, but a player like messi sure knows how to handle such a defence, chelsea dont play they just win (says xavi) and not a few sport analysts share this opinion- the blues are good at winning games, but they dont make good viewing,the Blues have been able to record some impressive results so far but they do not play in the same crowd pleasing way as the Blaugrana side do,chelsea employ an effective style of playing but not at all attractive,Nou camp did not be changing tactics just to ensure that they neutralise the non- pleasing playing stamford bridge side in the first leg though they breached the chelsea defence but could not make the best of it, and Chelsea could have score an undeserved goal against the run of play.

The first leg of the Champions League semi-final lived up to expectations. Both Barça and Chelsea tried their best to play the match on their own terms but in the end it was the Premier League side that got the goalless draw they wanted.Faithful to their attacking style of football, Barça had to contend with a highly defensive line-up of four defenders and five midfielders. The result was an overwhelming 67% of possession for Barça, with 515 completed passes as against 182 for Chelsea. 22 shots to 3 Barça had 22 shots on Cech’s goal. An individual effort from Eto’o (min 69), a header from Bojan (min 90) and a left foot shot from Hleb (min 92) came closest to beating the Chelsea keeper. Chelsea had just three shots throughout the match, the most dangerous from Drogba just before the break which was frustrated by an excellent double save from Valdés. Fouls and cards Barça players committed just seven fouls during the match, some thirteen fewer than the visitors. However, both teams received two yellow cards, a fact that didn’t go down too well with manager Pep Guardiola and his players.

This was close to the tactics employed by Greece national team some years ago to Win the European title, but it was not to be a style to stand the test of time like the samba style of Brazil that has won the Brazilian many titles

Unfavourable precedents Finally, Chelsea got what they came for and took a 0-0 draw away from the Camp Nou, the first time Barça has failed to score at home for over a year. The last time was also in the Champions League last season against Manchester United, who played a similarly defensive game to force a 0-0 draw. There have been two goalless draws for Barça in the first leg of a European competition. The other occasion was against Liverpool in the UEFA Cup in the 2000-2001 season. On both occasions, Barça were subsequently beaten 1-0 at Old Trafford and Anfield respectively and denied a place in the final.


As The second leg of this great encounter plays its self out, will the Chelsea tactics which many has even described as CATENACCIO or even ANTI-FOOTBALL prevail and give them the victory over a Barcelona side that plays the crowd pleasing soccer?? Is the SHIELD MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD?? Time will tell!!

BEAUTIFUL FOOTBALL!!

Soccer is a Game, and games are primarily and purely for entertainment, Spectators watch matches to be entertained, that is why they buy Tickets hoping to get their moneys worth and perhaps a little more. BOTTOM LINE is that soccer was originally invented for entertainment, something meant to be enjoyed- apart from the delight of seeing one's favourite team win-victories gotten playing beautiful, artistic , or fantastic football creates more impact on the retina of the mind.FOOT BALL IS A BEAUTIFUL GAME!!

SOCCER

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players, and is widely considered to be the most popular sport in the world.[1][2][3] It is a football variant played on a rectangular grass or artificial turf field, with a goal in the centre of each of the short ends. The object of the game is to score by manoeuvring the ball into the opposing goal. In general play, the goalkeepers are the only players allowed to use their hands or arms to propel the ball; the rest of the team usually use their feet to kick the ball into position, occasionally using their torso or head to intercept a ball in midair. The team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is tied at the end of the game, either a draw is declared or the game goes into extra time and/or a penalty shootout, depending on the format of the competition.
The modern game was codified in England following the formation of The Football Association, whose 1863 Laws of the Game created the foundations for the way the sport is played today. Football is governed internationally by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (International Federation of Association Football), commonly known by the acronym FIFA. The most prestigious international football competition is the FIFA World Cup, held every four years. This event, the most widely viewed in the world, boasts an audience twice that of the Summer Olympic Games.[4]