Champions League Final - The Big Cup Build-Up Thread

[Everlasting Seconds]

Our referee for the night https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/48271220

Champions League final: Damir Skomina to referee Spurs v Liverpool


Slovenia's Damir Skomina will referee the all-English Champions League final between Tottenham and Liverpool.
The 42-year-old awarded Manchester United a controversial late penalty in their last-16 victory over Paris St-Germain in March.
PSG forward Neymar was later given a three-match ban after he called the decision "a disgrace" on social media.
The Champions League final takes place at Estadio Metropolitano in Madrid on Saturday, 1 June at 20:00 BST.
Skomina was in charge when United beat Ajax in the 2017 Europa League final as well as the Uefa Super Cup match between Chelsea and Atletico Madrid five years earlier.
He was fourth official at the 2013 Champions League final between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich and has been referee in four of the competition's matches this season, including Liverpool's 1-0 win over Napoli which secured a place in the knockout stage.
He will be assisted in the final by his compatriots Jure Praprotnik and Robert Vukan. The fourth official will be Antonio Mateu Lahoz from Spain.
The video assistant referee role has been assigned to Danny Makkelie from the Netherlands, who will be supported by countryman Pol van Boekel, plus German officials Felix Zwayer, and Mark Borsch.
Italian referee Gianluca Rocchi will take charge of Europa League final between Chelsea and Arsenal in Baku on 29 May.

No Mike Dean then

 

[fluffybunnyuk]

i'm keeping my powder dry. Dont want to get CL final fatigue. I'll wait until next saturday before jumping on the bandwagon.
Old age is a bugger. Not sure i can cheer for more than a week pre-match.

 

[SirNiNyHotspur]

This is the guy that sent off Gomes v Inter (4-3) so on 1st thoughts that may seem bad but the red was totally deserved and shows he's not afraid to get red out which is a good thing v Klopps Thugs/Divers FC who have got unlimited get out of jail free cards from the pathetic premier league refs.

 

[Shadydan]

This is the guy that sent off Gomes v Inter (4-3) so on 1st thoughts that may seem bad but the red was totally deserved and shows he's not afraid to get red out which is a good thing v Klopps Thugs/Divers FC who have got unlimited get out of jail free cards from the pathetic premier league refs.

Liverpool have lost 4 times and won once with him, we've had him three times and won twice and lost once.

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

Present state

 

[wrd]

i'm keeping my powder dry. Dont want to get CL final fatigue. I'll wait until next saturday before jumping on the bandwagon.
Old age is a bugger. Not sure i can cheer for more than a week pre-match.

I'm 28 and I can't focus on anything whatsoever, feels like my life is on hold until June 1st and I'm just trying to find things to pass the time.

 

[mpickard2087]

There’s 3 set ups for corners and 2 for free kicks. Corners are zonal, man marking or both with men on the post. You can’t practice blocks because you don’t know where the opposition are going to reverse block. Your best options are to have a big man at the front that’s good at jumping from a standing position. You then need the middle to be good at jumping from a standing position.

How the hell apart from jumping can you practice something. Trippier could float 500 crosses, but doubt more than 2 would land in the same spot in a row, so how do you expect us to practice a corner taken by Trent Alex Arnold.

You can study them, and you can prepare for them, but if you have someone with the leap of there 2 dangerous CB’s you need to try and make sure your either there before them or your body prevents them. Our trouble is the best we have at getting high from a running position is Moura, but he definitely not the same build.

Prepare as best you can, practice something you don’t know what’s going to happen is ridiculous

You don't have to know what is going to happen. You can practice many things, break down the mechanics and improve technique.

• How to use your body to (legally) block/impede the man you are marking, and technique of it.
• Other tricks that push the line but give you an edge - eg. one of the best ones is to stand on their toes.
• Speed, agility, concentration, marking exercises. Just getting used to literally trying to stick with someone. One on one and also then with multiple people within that zone.
• One of the most important is just to get people in the mentality and mindset of wanting to head the ball and making sure they're attacking it. Too many goals we concede where we have a lot of players on the scene and no one taking responsibility or showing the determination to attack the ball and win the duel.

And you can break down exercises into hundreds of other ways. And that's without even touching on tactical set ups, who marks who and does what job etc.

That is what you prepare for, and what I don't think we do much of given what I see week in week out.

 

[Grey Fox]

I'm 28 and I can't focus on anything whatsoever, feels like my life is on hold until June 1st and I'm just trying to find things to pass the time.

You'll go blind

 

[Nately22]

While there are only a few bars on the square itself, and there are bars on the square itself, there are bars, there are plenty of bars near plaza colon.

It's pretty darn central.

Ah ok. I did find a bar/tapas place, but it was one of the roads just off Colon rather on the square itself. This was April 2017, so perhaps its been developed since then.

 

[Nately22]

Well they are doing events in Plaza Mayor so no way near enough space. Also Plaza Mayor is crazy expensive.
Colon is way bigger than those squares. There are plenty of bars near buy and a few on the square itself. I don't see this as an issue. I would say its liverpool who have been shafted into a shopping district further from town.

Nice. I thought we'd been shafted. I haven't been Felipe II, so can't comment on what that's like. Just Colon and Plaza Mayor and Plaza Santa Ana.

 

[Lighty64]

You don't have to know what is going to happen. You can practice many things, break down the mechanics and improve technique.

• How to use your body to (legally) block/impede the man you are marking, and technique of it.
• Other tricks that push the line but give you an edge - eg. one of the best ones is to stand on their toes.
• Speed, agility, concentration, marking exercises. Just getting used to literally trying to stick with someone. One on one and also then with multiple people within that zone.
• One of the most important is just to get people in the mentality and mindset of wanting to head the ball and making sure they're attacking it. Too many goals we concede where we have a lot of players on the scene and no one taking responsibility or showing the determination to attack the ball and win the duel.

And you can break down exercises into hundreds of other ways. And that's without even touching on tactical set ups, who marks who and does what job etc.

That is what you prepare for, and what I don't think we do much of given what I see week in week out.

you do know when the opo take a set piece most of the time they are attacking with movement that helps you jump higher. if you run from the edge of the area, you will jump higher than from a standing position, if their team mates get their blocking right your be having a scenario of Alli jumping from a standing position to de Ligt having that extra spring.

there is nothing you can do if the opo get their block in right, other than hope someones jump diverts it to safety.

if it was as easy as you make it sound, no corner would ever result in an opertunitity. our problem is we are not the best in height, hence why we don't score enough from set pieces

 

[Jemster]

No Mike Dean then

Nah, he's busy with Tranmere's league 2 playoffs...

 

[JCRD]

What are the chances of tickets remaining after the first three phases... missed cut off and now just hoping people decide not to take up the opportunity... although i suspect everyone will buy regardless of whether they can go or not then sell the tickets at a premium... thats what I am suspecting..

 

[cjbyid]

What are the chances of tickets remaining after the first three phases... missed cut off and now just hoping people decide not to take up the opportunity... although i suspect everyone will buy regardless of whether they can go or not then sell the tickets at a premium... thats what I am suspecting..

I reckon it'll drop down.

 

[mpickard2087]

you do know when the opo take a set piece most of the time they are attacking with movement that helps you jump higher. if you run from the edge of the area, you will jump higher than from a standing position, if their team mates get their blocking right your be having a scenario of Alli jumping from a standing position to de Ligt having that extra spring.

there is nothing you can do if the opo get their block in right, other than hope someones jump diverts it to safety.

if it was as easy as you make it sound, no corner would ever result in an opertunitity. our problem is we are not the best in height, hence why we don't score enough from set pieces

Why cant we run and jump with them?

It's also a poor excuse to say we aren't big enough. In recent years we've fielded teams most week where basically all the players were 6ft+ and yet we still managed to look awful with them.

As I said previously you will never eliminate goals conceded at set pieces. BUt the amount of chances we give up, not just goals, and the amount of times I see players not doing their jobs properly well I'm definitely concluding that there is an issue. If you really think there is nothing that can be done then ok, but I'm never accepting that is true. However I think there are too many managers/teams who neglect this part of the game when it can be a vital marginal gain.

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

I'm that glad. I was looking for the set-piece thread, and behold I've found it.

 

[Oh Teddy Teddy]

Am I the only one that has had the Champions League Song stuck in my head constantly for the last week?

Naw my colleague is a spurs fan too and keeps muttering “the champioooonnnnsss” under his breath every hour or so.

 

[spurs mental]

I wish you would all start listening to me.

 

[JCRD]

I reckon it'll drop down.

Hopefully man - fingers and toes crossed

 

[Lighty64]

Why cant we run and jump with them?

It's also a poor excuse to say we aren't big enough. In recent years we've fielded teams most week where basically all the players were 6ft+ and yet we still managed to look awful with them.

As I said previously you will never eliminate goals conceded at set pieces. BUt the amount of chances we give up, not just goals, and the amount of times I see players not doing their jobs properly well I'm definitely concluding that there is an issue. If you really think there is nothing that can be done then ok, but I'm never accepting that is true. However I think there are too many managers/teams who neglect this part of the game when it can be a vital marginal gain.

because they are running from the edge of the area. you tell me 1 team that would defend a corner on their own edge.

it's pointless discussing it, because there is no way in my eyes if the perfect delivery is sent in, in my eyes it's a case of hoping the defenders do their job and manage to either win the header or block the main threat. if there was a way of dealing with it no one would ever score from a set piece, because every coach would of sussed it by now