Alex Baptiste's take on the play-off final

[Don Quixote]

They managed to beat us 6-0 with their horrible football.

 

[Icy Gull]

It's all very well knocking the way a team play but if they swat you aside like they did to us at the end of the season, it's hard for it not to sound like sour grapes. WHU had already stuffed Blackpool twice, he'd have been better off just keeping his mouth shut.

 

[BigGully]

There are different way's to win football matches, granted.

An effective and successful long ball game is more enjoyable to watch than a failing tippy tappy passing game.

But I think the example on the Blackpook v West Ham and the Chelsea v Barcelona games does not offer good reasoning to those individual results.

 

[DT Withdean]

Tony Gale - West Ham legend & massive fan, stated this morning that Blackpool outplayed them in the final. An accurate and honest assessment.

But that's football ... look what Chelsea did to Barca & Bayern.

 

[Silent Bob]

Ok, but Chelsea didnt beat Barcelona because of achieving 20% possession and creating very few chances.

Exactly.

Chelsea beating Barcelona doesn't vindicate dinosauric football, if Fabregas had had his boots on the right feet at Stamford Bridge Barcelona would have gone through comfortably.
Why people want to rewrite history in order to advocate not playing football is a mystery to me.

West Ham went up because they have players of huge quality (for this level), Blackpool played better than them in the playoff final (not in terms of style, in terms of posession and creating chances) but West Ham scored and Blackpool didn't. Whatever your style, if you miss easy chances you won't win.

 

[BigGully]

No, it really isn't. Would much prefer to play a good style of football and struggle than win playing an abhorrent form of the game.

Although I share your sentiment, lower level ( league 3 & 4 Spanish ) tippy tappy football offers very little as a spectacle, but is necessary for that to then develop into a Barcelona for example.

I can never think of a reason to use a direct style for youth football, but you can see some cracking games at our lower levels, even though the skill levels are questionable, whilst the obvious commitment commendable.

However. those that use the Blackpool play off game or Chelsea Barcelona game as an example to detract from the virtues of playing good possession football, are wrong.

 

[liverpool_one]

f*** blackpool average attendance of just over 12500 in a ground that only holds just over 16000 for a team that spent the season pushing for a playoff place. even coventry palace etc averaged better. f*** em, their fans should be ashamed.

 

[Silent Bob]

f*** blackpool average attendance of just over 12500 in a ground that only holds just over 16000 for a team that spent the season pushing for a playoff place. even coventry palace etc averaged better. f*** em, their fans should be ashamed.

Or it's just not that big a place.

 

[Tooting Gull]

He's been suckered into that one by a journalist, no question.

Something you can maybe say if you have won, otherwise it makes you look a tit. Blackpool only have themselves to blame anyway, they missed some great chances to score, maybe four or five, and Baptiste himself blazed one well over from about 10 yards.

I thought West Ham were pretty average at the Amex, but we certainly caught them on a good day at UP.

 

[DT Withdean]

Stamford Bridge: Chelsea 2 attempts on target, Barca 15
Camp Nou: Chelsea 3; Barca 14
Allianz: Chelsea 6; Bayern 21

Di Matteo turned his £350m squad into a defensive unit, with some fortune along the way, got them the cup.

Abramovich will want flair in the longer run. One of the reasons he sacked Mourinho, was a disatisfaction with the pragmatic style despite spending £100m's.

 

[Danny-Boy]

I would rather face two games against Blackpool next season than West Ham. Except for the gate revenue of course.
Like Leeds in Div 1 they would always be trying to get out and back up, driven by their supporters.

Gotta feel sorry for Huddersfield in that respect, they must be tearing their hair out up there.