Just re-watched the 2008 CL Final

Yagami

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We really should have put away that chance.

No need to expand on this, if you know, you know.
Would've been one of the best goals we've ever scored. I'm not even watching but you just remember Rooney to Ronaldo to Tevez.

Mad all the English players on the pitch yet that was euro 2008 summer when England didn't qualify.
I know Scholes had retired by then but Scholes and Carrick were the best midfield in Europe that season and both were constantly overlooked.
 

FootballHQ

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Surprised Giggs was so far down the pecking order for the penalties.
 

United58

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Carrick's overview of the shootout is really interesting in his autobiography, he was saying he was absolutely terrified and could barely walk as he went to take it!

The pressure the men were under was insane - brilliant penalties in this shootout, too
 

stubie

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I loved the photoshop images of Terry on here after that game.
 

Yagami

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Carrick's overview of the shootout is really interesting in his autobiography, he was saying he was absolutely terrified and could barely walk as he went to take it!

The pressure the men were under was insane - brilliant penalties in this shootout, too
& he still scored his pen, too! Legend!
 

United58

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Yep! Makes it all the more surprising that Ronaldo missed his
It's insane looking at his career now, but back then he had a small reputation for bottling big penalties; he'd always score the regular ones against the smaller teams but he missed this one and I'm sure there was a big one for Portugal too (or maybe us again?)
 

Solius

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It's insane looking at his career now, but back then he had a small reputation for bottling big penalties; he'd always score the regular ones against the smaller teams but he missed this one and I'm sure there was a big one for Portugal too (or maybe us again?)
Mad that he’s the only player from that game still playing at the top level too. Amazing commitment.
 

Hark Muse

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I watched that match from a hospital bed, having had surgery that afternoon. I turned the tv off just before Terry’s penalty as I couldn’t stand to see the smug bugger win it.

When I heard the cheers from from the other ward, I assumed they were ABU’s delighting in Chelsea’s victory.

How wrong I was. I had no need for morphine that night!
 

United58

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Mad that he’s the only player from that game still playing at the top level too. Amazing commitment.
Mad that he still is at all; the game was 12 years ago! Physically, he's insane - looking after yourself only goes so far, he might have insanely good ligaments and tendons (I know you can work on tendons to a point), played over 1,000 games so far as a player heavily reliant on physical bursts (and carrying quite a bit of muscle since 2005)
 

saivet

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As simple as it was, the tactic from Chelsea to shoot all their penalties VDS' left hand side was very nearly perfect until Terry's slip and Anelka knowing VDS had clocked onto it.

I'm sure it's happened before, but don't recall a penalty shootout where one teams exclusively shoots to one side.
 

RKEANE16

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so many of our penalties in this shootout were amazing; Hargreaves right into the top corner :drool:
I loved Hargreaves so much. Such a shame his time was cut short with us. I thought he was a top player
 

El Zoido

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It's insane looking at his career now, but back then he had a small reputation for bottling big penalties; he'd always score the regular ones against the smaller teams but he missed this one and I'm sure there was a big one for Portugal too (or maybe us again?)
I never had full confidence in him scoring penalties for us. Had a feeling he’d miss the one in the final.
 

el3mel

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I never had full confidence in him scoring penalties for us. Had a feeling he’d miss the one in the final.
He missed one against Barca in semi final of this year, at Camp Nu when we drew 0-0, if I remember correctly. I think he built his state as a great pen taker starting from Real Madrid.
 

hungrywing

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He missed one against Barca in semi final of this year, at Camp Nu when we drew 0-0, if I remember correctly. I think he built his state as a great pen taker starting from Real Madrid.
Blazed it over the bar, if I remember correctly. Happened quite early in the game, too.
 

El Zoido

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He missed one against Barca in semi final of this year, at Camp Nu when we drew 0-0, if I remember correctly. I think he built his state as a great pen taker starting from Real Madrid.
Yeah it was about five minutes in to the game, handball or push from a corner I think.
 

Chairman Steve

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I remember watching Giggs hit a shot that was heading in, then Terry swivelled in the air and headed it off the line, and me cursing very loudly at the screen.

How weird is it in hindsight that of all the managers who have been at Chelsea since Roman ploughed his oil money into them, the two managers who got them to Champions League finals are Roberto Di Matteo and fecking Avram Grant :lol:
 

Bojan11

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I remember watching Giggs hit a shot that was heading in, then Terry swivelled in the air and headed it off the line, and me cursing very loudly at the screen.

How weird is it in hindsight that of all the managers who have been at Chelsea since Roman ploughed his oil money into them, the two managers who got them to Champions League finals are Roberto Di Matteo and fecking Avram Grant :lol:
After that it was another short term manager like Hiddink who came closest. Sadly they were cheated in 2009, I would have preferred playing them to Barca.
 

Lay

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The shootout is why I’ll never talk badly about Anderson, Nani or Tevez. Tevez was a warrior that game and riled up Chelsea players.
 

Offside

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Tevez was a phenomenal player and I don’t care what happened after that you’ve gotta just hold your hands up and say he was top drawer for us.
 
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2 man midfield

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Sure we won the CL with a midfield of Carrick, Hargreaves and Scholes 2 years after all of them were ignored for England :lol: (Hargreaves did battle his way into England's XI tbf)
It's mad isn't it. I remember when Scholes came out of retirement in 2011/12 and paired up with Carrick to haul us back into the title race with something like 11 wins in 12. It wasn't until then that the press started asking why this wasn't England's first choice pairing. What could have been.
 

stevoc

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Tevez was a phenomenal player and I don’t care what happened after that you’ve gotta just hold your hands up and say he was top draw for us.
Don't want to be a dick but the phrase is Top Drawer, sorry but it's a pet peeve of mine and i see it on here all the time.

Tevez was very good in his first season for United. Pity it didn't last and he left.
 

Moiraine

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Fecking Tevez, missed two sitters. Should have been 3-0 half time and game over.
 

Offside

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Don't want to be a dick but the phrase is Top Drawer, sorry but it's a pet peeve of mine and i see it on here all the time.

Tevez was very good in his first season for United. Pity it didn't last and he left.
:lol: typo!!
 

thepolice123

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Knew Ronaldo was going to bottle his PK after he missed the one against Barca. His confidence was crushed. Cech read him perfectly when he did that stop-start run up.

Giggs and Nani's PK were ice cold.

Anderson's PK was definitely a hit-and-hope. Very lucky it went in.

Hargreaves' PK one of the best in a high pressure situation. Absolute top bins.
 

FootballHQ

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As simple as it was, the tactic from Chelsea to shoot all their penalties VDS' left hand side was very nearly perfect until Terry's slip and Anelka knowing VDS had clocked onto it.

I'm sure it's happened before, but don't recall a penalty shootout where one teams exclusively shoots to one side.
Real Madrid in 2016 final were similar and Oblak just kept diving the other way.
 

arnie_ni

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Mad all the English players on the pitch yet that was euro 2008 summer when England didn't qualify.
Virtually a full team of memory

Gk
Brown
Rio
Terry
Cole
Lampard
Carrick
Hargreaves
Scholes
Anyone
Rooney
 

VorZakone

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Real Madrid in 2016 final were similar and Oblak just kept diving the other way.
If I recall correctly Oblak didn't even dive in the first place. His performance in the penalty shootout was horrible. As if he was waiting for a panenka.
 

kaiz

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As simple as it was, the tactic from Chelsea to shoot all their penalties VDS' left hand side was very nearly perfect until Terry's slip and Anelka knowing VDS had clocked onto it.

I'm sure it's happened before, but don't recall a penalty shootout where one teams exclusively shoots to one side.
Real Madrid in 2016 final were similar and Oblak just kept diving the other way.
In 1995, the Basque economist Ignacio Palacios-Huerta, who was then a graduate student at the University of Chicago, began recording the way penalties were taken. His paper, “Professionals Play Minimax,” was published in 2003. One friend of Ignacio who knew about his research was a professor of economics and mathematics at an Israeli university.

It so happened that this man was also a friend of Avram Grant. When Grant’s Chelsea reached the final in Moscow in 2008, the professor realized that Ignacio’s research might help Grant. He put the two men in touch. Ignacio then sent Grant a report that made four points about Manchester United and penalties:

1. Van der Sar tended to dive to the kicker’s “natural side” more often than most keepers did. This meant that when facing a rightfooted kicker, Van der Sar would usually dive to his own right, and when facing a left-footed kicker, to his own left. So Chelsea rightfooted penalty takers would have a better chance if they shot to their “unnatural side,” Van der Sar’s left.

2. Huerta emphasized in his report that “the vast majority of the penalties that Van der Sar stops are those kicked to a mid-height (say, between 1 and 1.5 meters), and hence that penalties against him should be kicked just on the ground or high up.”

3. Cristiano Ronaldo was another special case. Ignacio wrote in the report: “Ronaldo often stops in the run-up to the ball. If he stops, he is likely (85%) to kick to the right hand side of the goalkeeper.” Ignacio added that Ronaldo seemed able to change his mind about where to put the ball at the very last instant. That meant it was crucial for the opposing keeper not to move early. When a keeper moved early, Ronaldo always scored.

4. The team that wins the toss before the shoot-out gets to choose whether to go first. But this is a no-brainer: it should always go first. Teams going first win 60 percent of the time, presumably because there is too much pressure on the team going second, which is always having to score to save the game.

From the book Soccernomics by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski
 

FootballHQ

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Interesting in the post match interview SAF made a point of saying that was the first ever major penalty shoot out he'd won at Man. United manager (he'd won a few in Charity shield). Think Mourinho has a really poor record aswell in them. Of course elements of it are a lottery but all that above is common sense preparation and going first and scoring your penalties always puts scoreboard pressure on the opposition.
 

United58

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In 1995, the Basque economist Ignacio Palacios-Huerta, who was then a graduate student at the University of Chicago, began recording the way penalties were taken. His paper, “Professionals Play Minimax,” was published in 2003. One friend of Ignacio who knew about his research was a professor of economics and mathematics at an Israeli university.

It so happened that this man was also a friend of Avram Grant. When Grant’s Chelsea reached the final in Moscow in 2008, the professor realized that Ignacio’s research might help Grant. He put the two men in touch. Ignacio then sent Grant a report that made four points about Manchester United and penalties:

1. Van der Sar tended to dive to the kicker’s “natural side” more often than most keepers did. This meant that when facing a rightfooted kicker, Van der Sar would usually dive to his own right, and when facing a left-footed kicker, to his own left. So Chelsea rightfooted penalty takers would have a better chance if they shot to their “unnatural side,” Van der Sar’s left.

2. Huerta emphasized in his report that “the vast majority of the penalties that Van der Sar stops are those kicked to a mid-height (say, between 1 and 1.5 meters), and hence that penalties against him should be kicked just on the ground or high up.”

3. Cristiano Ronaldo was another special case. Ignacio wrote in the report: “Ronaldo often stops in the run-up to the ball. If he stops, he is likely (85%) to kick to the right hand side of the goalkeeper.” Ignacio added that Ronaldo seemed able to change his mind about where to put the ball at the very last instant. That meant it was crucial for the opposing keeper not to move early. When a keeper moved early, Ronaldo always scored.

4. The team that wins the toss before the shoot-out gets to choose whether to go first. But this is a no-brainer: it should always go first. Teams going first win 60 percent of the time, presumably because there is too much pressure on the team going second, which is always having to score to save the game.

From the book Soccernomics by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski
That's really interesting! I wonder how much research teams carry out themselves on penalty shootouts