Soccer

[ruincrow]

"The real unsung hero of this team. A dynamo in the centre of midfield breaking up whatever the opposition try to create then forces United forward." Thus did the Sun describe Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-sung this season. The British tabloid gave Park eight points out of 10 for his performance.

Manchester United clinched its 19th title in the English Premier League this season with a 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers last Saturday. With 77 points from 22 wins, 11 draws and four losses this season, ManU fended off a challenge from runner-up Chelsea, which has 71 points from 21 wins, eight draws and eight losses.

Edwin van der Sar, Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney, and "Chicharito" Javier Hernandez got higher scores than Park with nine points. Manager Sir Alex Ferguson received a perfect 10. ManU plays Barcelona in the final of the UEFA Champions League at Wembley Stadium in London on May 29.

작� 열쇠 � 세� ,키위닷컴
i like his play. i'm looking forward to his next season too.

[tinybear]

So who do you think will win this weekend? ManU or Barcelona?

[Dodds]

So who do you think will win this weekend? ManU or Barcelona?

Barca should win it.

[Slakemoth]

Park doesn't seem to get as much playing time for Man U as he probably should, but he certainly has an impact on the game when he is in there...

I gotta go with Barcelona for the Champions League final, but if any team can give them good go of it, Manchester United is the one. It will be tough for Barcelona to punch through the defense, and Man U have shown themselves to be deadly on the quick turnover.. Chicharito will need to be contained, or he will get them... Of course the same can be said of Messi... just unbelievable...

Will also need to factor in that 80% of the stadium at least will be English fans... the sound will be deafening.

gonna be a good one for sure.

[Dodds]

Messi is a god. No 2 ways about that, he is just unstoppable when in form.

[Slakemoth]

You got that right... he is absolutely amazing.

I think Vidic will have his hands full dealing with him...

[Dodds]

Oh good point, that will be some match up. Vidic will have the advantage in the air though lol.

[Slakemoth]

haha... I think most everyone will have the height advantage on messi..

Vidic will have to be careful with Messi, but I think he can handle it. It will be interesting to see how much the referee will "let go" in this match... He will not want to card anyone out, but for sure the beasts of Man U will look to give Messi a bit of a beating to try to slow him up. Of course I fully expect Puyol to do the same to Chicharito... I'm betting you will see both those guys scraped off the turf a fair number of times..

A victory here would also be a great way for Van Der Sar to go out in style and retire.

all this talk has got me excited for the match....

[Dodds]

It should be a good one, I just hope Man Utd believe they have the quality to go out and attack Barca. They do in abundance, although they have not been playing well this season. Still won the EPL though. Hope it lives up to the hype.

[Slakemoth]

I honestly think Man U are the only team right now that could beat Barcelona.... My beloved Chelsea pooped out big time, and were just a mess this season, Real Madrid showed they can do it occasionally, but just got owned by Barca last month.. Inter was a shell of themselves.... most all the other EPL teams are too inconsistent.

Barca will need to be on form to crack the Manchester defense.. especially since Barcelona like to work the ball around the 35 and then attempt to burst through... If you give Manchester United the time got the mids back to defend, and not to mention Rooney running around, I think they will have trouble... but who am I kidding... greater strategic minds than mine on both coaching staffs have been working this out...

Most come at Barcelona with the same strategy.. go at them fast and furious, and don't let them settle into their possession game... its a sound strategy if you can keep it up for 90 minutes.... but you let them inside once, and they'll make you pay.

[Dodds]

Chelsea have been weird this year, started off unstoppable, then god knows what happened, then signed Torres. Not a good plan, his head is not in the right place.

[Slakemoth]

Yeah, that little signing hasn't quite worked out for us...

Will be interesting to see who gets the Manager's job now. and how he deals with the line-up. I'd be fine to get rid of Anelka, and I think Torres can make some stuff happen, but as you pointed out, the mid season melt-down was crazy.. did not make sense at all.

oh well... there's always next year.