reddevil878:

Berb4ever:

 To beat Barca I think 4 players in midfield and a two strikers upfront will do.

 I'd go for Raul and Huntelaar upfront because of their skills and because Barca defenders are sloppy.

I would go with the following line up with a 4-4-2 formation:

                                    Neuer

Papadopoulos   Howedes     Metzelder      Escudero

Matip                Jurado          Kluge            Moritz

                         Raul              Huntelaar

 

 

 

Errrrrrr.... Schalke against Barcelona? I thought this was a forum for United fans

 

That was irony...It's too early to think about Barcelona...

 

supersid009:

                                       Van der Sar

Rafael                Ferdinand           Vidic              Evra   

                         Fletcher            Park

Valencia                      Rooney                   Nani 

                                 Hernandez

SUBS: Kuzcak, Smalling, O'Shea, Carrick, Giggs, Berbatov 

 How about this 4-2-3-1 with 2 DMs & Rooney as the playmaker in the hole? While defending it wud become a 4-5-1 & this formation is perfect for counter attack, which is what we are best at.

I think this formation shud also work against Madrid if they make it to the final

 

Yes, I love this line up! The formation too! Rooney plays well in the "hole", and he will have the space he needs. I just wonder about Anderson and Giggs too though. Anderson brings aggressiveness going forward. Giggsy brings experience and composure. That's a tough call.

                                       Van der Sar

Rafael                Ferdinand           Vidic              Evra   

                         Fletcher            Park

Valencia                      Rooney                   Nani 

                                 Hernandez

SUBS: Kuzcak, Smalling, O'Shea, Anderson, Giggs, Berbatov 

 How about this 4-2-3-1 with 2 DMs & Rooney as the playmaker in the hole? While defending it wud become a 4-5-1 & this formation is perfect for counter attack, which is what we are best at.

I think this formation shud also work against Madrid if they make it to the final tho against them I wud start with Giggs instead of Park as Real's defence is better than Barca & wud require Giggs' guile & creativity to penetrate.

Berb4ever:

 To beat Barca I think 4 players in midfield and a two strikers upfront will do.

 I'd go for Raul and Huntelaar upfront because of their skills and because Barca defenders are sloppy.

I would go with the following line up with a 4-4-2 formation:

                                    Neuer

Papadopoulos   Howedes     Metzelder      Escudero

Matip                Jurado          Kluge            Moritz

                         Raul              Huntelaar

 

 

 

Errrrrrr.... Schalke against Barcelona? I thought this was a forum for United fans

 To beat Barca I think 4 players in midfield and a two strikers upfront will do.

 I'd go for Raul and Huntelaar upfront because of their skills and because Barca defenders are sloppy.

I would go with the following line up with a 4-4-2 formation:

                                    Neuer

Papadopoulos   Howedes     Metzelder      Escudero

Matip                Jurado          Kluge            Moritz

                         Raul              Huntelaar

 

 

 you lost like that the other final, did not create one single scoring opportunity, just at the end after inclusion of a second striker

 

ManUtd1212:

 

wow, for a bonus point Einstein.

what is the capital of England?

 

loooooooool :D !! you gotta admit he's good a great point :D !

 here is the line up i would go with;

Vidic: nuff said 

Rio: see vidic

Evra: better than the rest

Brown. added height and better crosser of the ball than the other right back. when focused better defender as well.

Park: few years ago he man-marker pirlo out of a game at the san siro. can he do the same to xavi?? give him a try

Nani: if park is on the pitch we need a creative force on the other side, none better

Fletcher: give me a chance to prove he was the missing link in 2008. we will need his energy but only if he is 100% healthy

Giggs: the guile to split the defense and have shown the willingness to run for 90 minutes.

Rooney: drop him back to put some pressure on bausquets(sp) plus he is really dangerous as a second striker

Hernandez: hurry the defenders and keep then honest. not to mention he is on good form.

I think this gives us a good balance defensively and offensively. we can't hold then off for 90 minutes yet we can't go all out attack. i saw real tried that and got hit for 5. our biggest asset will be not giving the ball away cheaply in our own half or at all

 

subs: Anderson, berba, rafaeal, Kuz, Carrick, smalling

 Aggresive from the whole team, but still not lost your head. No riddicilious tackles. Follow them everywhere.

Self belief

No respect/No fear. They are a really good team, but not invisible. 

Attack quick, with at least 5-6 players when we get a chance. 4 players holding against is enough

I forget. If we meet them in the final. Barcelona weakness are in the airlines. Precise crosses from Valencia, Giggs or Nani against Hernandez and Rooney will be a dangerous veapon. Or on the corner or freekick. Let Giggs take it from the right. Hard crosses that curl in to Vidic, Hernandez or whoever.

Real Madrid have better defend in the air than Barca. Barca players are not high, they are not powerful in the air. So many freekick around outside the box are dangerous...if the crosses are precise. United shall train on it if we are going to meet Barca in the final.

But Real Madrid can beat them. If they are aggresive enough witht the whole team and give the Barca defenders lesser time with the ball.

 

 - Not too much respect. Self belief is important.Confidence.

- Aggressive as a whole team. Like Barcelona are playing when they dont have the ball

- Its not a good tactic to let the Barcelona keeping the balll possesion without aggresive pressing from the whole team. Like Real Madrid did. When Real Madrid first to start to push up higher on the field and be more aggresive pressing with the whole team. Barca's players get lesser time with the ball. Real Madrid scored against Barca 11 with 10 men. They was better and best....when they have to attack Barca...and let Barca have lesser ball control. If you fear your enemies. Yeah the match is lost already...before the match.

Better to loose 2-3 or 3-4 than 0-1. At least you have gave the fans 2 or 3 goals to celebrate.

 REMEMBER. Counter attack is best and fit against team that loose the ball easily. Do the Barca players do that?They use the play the ball from the defender. If we are aggresive with the first defend press against their defend. And block the ball from their defend to their midfield or Messi. Then we will have a good chance. Counter attack will not fit agaisnt Barca. it will never work. 

 

Somehow, in all due humility, I don't think that will work any longer.

We defended with our lives on that night, and to be honest, we were really lucky to get through to the CL Finals. They had chance after chance after chance.

 Having observed Barca, I know one thing for sure. They play simple, quick passes in a triangle. If you watch any Barca game, you will notice that they tend to switch positions very quickly and their passing often goes around in a triangle. The triangle passes which goes on normally "traps" one opposition player in the middle, and therefore, it is quite hopeless to intercept any of the passes. That is their whole game. As if that isn't enough, they have a master dribbler in the form of Messi.

 Unless Barca is having a bad game, I don't see us being able to defend for the whole game and just sitting back. I've always believed in Joga Bonito, something Eric Cantona himself advocated.

 The trick to playing Barca is that offense is the best form of defence. Barca are not that strong defensively and they do make a lot of mistakes. Its just that we rarely see it because most teams are afraid to have a go at Barca. I imagine having Hernandez and Rooney up front, pressuring Barca, and us playing the way we did a few years back. Attack, attack, attack, wing crosses, attack, attack, attack, wave after wave, after wave. That's the only way against Barca.

Counter attacks are good, but simply hoping to hit them on the counter is like waiting 20 minutes before you see the ball again. It's hopeless. United are strong on the wings, and that is simply the way we play, the United way. 

 Go all out or defend with our lives. I prefer the first. It's what Manchester United used to be. A force of nature on the attack.

DONT FORGET WE WON IN THE SEMI FINAL OF 2008 AGAINST THEM . SAF IS A GREAT MANAGER AND HE KNOWS WHAT TO DO .

I think a big part of barca's verticality comes from xavi/iniesta. I recall a match between Barcelona vs Almeria, where Almerias Coach put a player marking Xavi at all times and that game ended 1-0 thanks to that.

After annulling barca's midfield, id say the next step would be to do something about Dani Alves. Messi is a constant threat, so, its obvious the defense has to be extra careful with him.

DR08:

In retrospect, it was mistake to play open match vs Barca on CL final two seasons ago.  We underestimated them, especially without Fletcher and overlooking how easily we could be defeted in midfield.  They won us both in speed and cohesion... I have never felt so impotent...

We also underestimated Guardiola for his inexperience on matches of this grand magnitude.  On the other hand we were so eager to show that our CR7 was in other class compared to the "who's Messi?".  Frankly, we were cocky, favorite and had all the reasons to celebrate the victory even before the can of worm was opened.  We learned to be humble for underrestimating our opponent and overrestimating ourselves... At least I was.

However, Barca was lucky to go thru Chelsea on Semi, and we underestimated Guss Hiddink's tactical plan to sit back and counter attack.  People criticized Hiddink for cowerly plays and expressed discontent for Chelsea to let Barca dictate the possessions...  We later admited that Guss Hiddink had the right tactic and understood the strenght and weakeness of Barca better than anyone...  Chelsea was practical but unlucky...

I am not a fan of Chelsea but hate to see unjust outcome of a futball match dictated by ref's errors;  Deserving penalties were not called in favor of Chelsea and Barca was lucky to score on final minutes by Iniesta...  If it was not for those factors, we would have met Chelsea in final and outcome may have been different...

If we do meet Barca in final again, we will revenge.  I do not think SAF will make same mistakes twice.  We have edge on defence and have players capable of changing the outcome of a game with fast counterattacks.  I don't know how SAF will surprise us, but this time we won't take Barca lightly. 

Personally, I feel that trying to battle out the midfield vs Barca is playing their tempo and style of the game.  Then again with return of our full fit midfielders we have legitimate chance to show who owns the midfield.  I am glad I am just a fan.~~

Lastly, do not understimate Real Madrid.  The are becoming legitimate contendor under the management of Mourinho.  Mouinho know how to win and showed last season with Inter Milan.

This is one of the most intelligent posts i have seen on this site.

most of d team didn't dare to attack barca,sit back then counter... d best attackers team should be real rite now,let's see how real perform 1st,if barca win then SAF will decide whether to defence or attack. for me,i think barca is d best team ever cos they've d best player in every position,most of their players equiped with skill,so sharp upfront and everyone is hardworking! from my own point of view,we must play like wimbledon(d crazy gang) high ball,long ball with accurate pass and tackle hard but clean. d problem is after we lost mark huges or vanisterooy,d striker with giant size tat can hold d ball well,we have no 1 to do tat if our tactic didn't work out. our players almost d same size with barca players,so it's very hard to play like tat... but i still think that's d only way to beat barca!