Euro 2008 (Official Man City LOL Thread)

[Pastorius]

You do hate Liverpool with a passion though, and I'm sure you're hoping for nothing more than for us to not even qualify for CL next year.

There are some quality clubs to challenge the top 4, I just don't think any of them will do it. Spurs are most likely.

[pppoe]

arsenal are getting relegated this season.

[mph4ever]

You do hate Liverpool with a passion though, and I'm sure you're hoping for nothing more than for us to not even qualify for CL next year.

There are some quality clubs to challenge the top 4, I just don't think any of them will do it. Spurs are most likely.

who me, no, i'm just a realist mate

i like to see liverpool do well, truly i do, i just think that rafa's time might be up since he hasn't really delivered anything that counts. sure, he has won the most barmy cl final ever but he has done nothing different to houllier, the bloke who won the famous "other" treble. if liverpool don't challenge for top spot then its fail

[Pastorius]

I would tend to agree with you, I just think we don't have the strength in depth that Chelsea and Utd do, and we tend to go through bad patches and draw rather than win.

Also, failing to win 1 match against other top 4 opposition hurt us a lot. Fixing those 2 things would give us a real chance of challenging.

[mph4ever]

i just think gerard should be allowed to run games, play him to his ability. hes by far the best midfielder in england and should be given the opportunity to express himself

[Britney Diva]

Gerrard has never run a game in his life. He's an incredibly talented player but he doesn't run games the way a Fabregas or a Roy Keane would.

[TakeWarning]

Or Scholesy.

Anyone else see that Man City lost to some nobody team? It's concerning how bad the English teams are doing in European qualificaiton right now.

[Britney Diva]

City didn't really qualify for Europe anyway. I remember Celtic crashing out 5-0 to a nothing Slovakian side in the CL in Gordon Strachan's first game in charge, and they've gone on to win the SPL three years on the run. I can forgive Mark Hughes a few teething problems, particularly given the unsettling nature of Sven's departure.

[mph4ever]

Gerrard has never run a game in his life. He's an incredibly talented player but he doesn't run games the way a Fabregas or a Roy Keane would.

i dunno, any time liverpool have played out of their box then gerard has been the centre of attention, running the game. and he has all the talent of the others its just liverpool have had some stupid managers that have felt the need to buy useless players to fit their style of play and not around what gerard can do. and he is the solution to englands midfield problems too except they always feel that lampard or beckham or such like have to be squeezed in. give him a defensive midfielder and let him go express himself, he'll run a game, no bother. but you have to have decent players around him. last season all he had was torres that fits decent in the real sense

[sgrevs]

i dunno, any time liverpool have played out of their box then gerard has been the centre of attention, running the game. and he has all the talent of the others its just liverpool have had some stupid managers that have felt the need to buy useless players to fit their style of play and not around what gerard can do. and he is the solution to englands midfield problems too except they always feel that lampard or beckham or such like have to be squeezed in. give him a defensive midfielder and let him go express himself, he'll run a game, no bother. but you have to have decent players around him. last season all he had was torres that fits decent in the real sense

I agree with you, but I think the reason Rafa wanted to sign Barry was because he saw that him and Gerrard had played well together for England.

Also, I think last season Gerrard and Mascherano connected pretty well and did some great stuff.

[Britney Diva]

He's had defensive midfielders filling that role for years- Hamann, most notably, but also Alonso and Mascherano- but he is just not that type of player. He can produce outstanding moments of individual class, but he can't dictate the pace of a game or change the point of attack. Until last season, it was always Alonso who fulfilled that role because he has the vision and passing ability to do it. Gerrard is exactly like Lampard- they're both direct players who are at their best when playing off an anchor and more creative players. I mean, it's no coincidence that Benitez has set up Liverpool's midfield as a carbon copy of Chelsea's.

[VomitStainedCretin]

lols at Man City losing at home against Midtylland (sp?).

[mph4ever]

He's had defensive midfielders filling that role for years- Hamann, most notably, but also Alonso and Mascherano- but he is just not that type of player. He can produce outstanding moments of individual class, but he can't dictate the pace of a game or change the point of attack. Until last season, it was always Alonso who fulfilled that role because he has the vision and passing ability to do it. Gerrard is exactly like Lampard- they're both direct players who are at their best when playing off an anchor and more creative players. I mean, it's no coincidence that Benitez has set up Liverpool's midfield as a carbon copy of Chelsea's.

i wouldn't put lampard in the same bracket as gerard. gerard is way more creative than lampard, lately, if anything, lampard always seem like an extra

i'd be interested to hear about the carbon copy midfield. its not something i had thought about

[sgrevs]

i wouldn't put lampard in the same bracket as gerard. gerard is way more creative than lampard, lately, if anything, lampard always seem like an extra

i'd be interested to hear about the carbon copy midfield. its not something i had thought about

Me too. I also feel Lampard's last 2 seasons (I think?) have certainly been sub-par, by his standards anyway.

[RandyfromPennywise]

He's had defensive midfielders filling that role for years- Hamann, most notably, but also Alonso and Mascherano- but he is just not that type of player. He can produce outstanding moments of individual class, but he can't dictate the pace of a game or change the point of attack. Until last season, it was always Alonso who fulfilled that role because he has the vision and passing ability to do it. Gerrard is exactly like Lampard- they're both direct players who are at their best when playing off an anchor and more creative players. I mean, it's no coincidence that Benitez has set up Liverpool's midfield as a carbon copy of Chelsea's.

Great point. Agree with you. The reason why Lampard was one of the best midfielders in the world in 2004 and 2005 was almost entirely because of Claude Makélélé. That's not taking anything away from what Lampard did, but without a player of the class of Maka behind him, he wouldn't have been afforded the space or freedom to do what he did (which was score lots of goals and get in to attacking positions very often). I agree that 'Pool's midfield is the same as the successful midfield of Chelsea three-seasons ago, but I wouldn't be 100% certain that Rafa has done it that way to copy Chelsea - I mean, 4-2-3-1 is a massively popular formation these days. But anyway, everyone wants to be Chelsea, so yeah.

i wouldn't put lampard in the same bracket as gerard. gerard is way more creative than lampard, lately, if anything, lampard always seem like an extraBullshit, unless you mean that you wouldn't put Lampard in the same bracket as Gerrard because Lampard is in a higher bracket.

sgrevs saying Lamps' last two seasons have been below par
Well par for Lampard is runner-up World Player of the Year, so hitting par is quite difficult. He was injured a lot in the last two seasons which has been abnormal for him, but he's still produced when it's mattered. I have said this time and time again in this thread - Chelsea are nothing without him. Even Terry - who is vital to us - can be covered for with Carvalho and Alex or Gallas in years gone by, but no one has ever covered for Lampard when he's been out. When Lampard doesn't play, we lose most of the time.

[mph4ever]

Bullshit, unless you mean that you wouldn't put Lampard in the same bracket as Gerrard because Lampard is in a higher bracket.


hahaha, gerard is the better player. he can change the tempo of a game, don't see that from lampard. he was available throughout the summer and no one wanted him. hes a good chelsea team/system player but thats about it.

[talk show host]

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Former-England-Boss-Steve-McClaren-Speaks-Double-Dutch-During-Interview/Article/200808315079307?lpos=World%2BNews_6&lid=ARTICLE_15079307_Former%2BEngland%2BBoss%2BSte ve%2BMcClaren%2BSpeaks%2BDouble%2BDutch%2BDuring%2 BInterview

that's hilarious

the man is a plonker.

[RandyfromPennywise]

he was available throughout the summer and no one wanted him. hes a good chelsea team/system player but thats about it.
Haha you should do stand-up or something.

[Pastorius]

Gerrard or Lampard?

[mph4ever]

Haha you should do stand-up or something.

i'm not trying to be funny. he excelled in jose's system and chelsea got the benefit of it.

[Brosef Stalin]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask but is SopCast working for anyone else? I'm trying to connect to matches and I'm getting ****ing nothing.

[Frankie]

****in ave it ya cockney twats

1-0 !!!!!!

[mph4ever]

it huth breaks up berba then i'll be sick but happy for boro

[Brosef Stalin]

Only one goal against WBA. How terrible.

Good to see Nasri score on his Premiership debut. Let's hope he scores one every match!

[Britney Diva]

The Blackburn-Everton match is something else. Lescott and Robinson are both having shockers, brutal defensive work on both sides at times.

[Frankie]

Rovers have nicked it 3-2

[Surtr]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask but is SopCast working for anyone else? I'm trying to connect to matches and I'm getting ****ing nothing.

SopCast stopped working properly for me about 4-5 months ago. I've given up on fighting it. :(

[Ghoul Hunter]

The Blackburn-Everton match is something else. Lescott and Robinson are both having shockers, brutal defensive work on both sides at times.

That game had me losing my **** even though i'm American and know nothing of either team :o

[Britney Diva]

:o

Sunderland look surprisingly good so far. Diouf and Malbranque could be very good signings.

Poor result for Sunderland in the end. Great finish by Torres, but he should never have been allowed get the shot away. Chimbonda is still useless, by the way.

[RandyfromPennywise]

i'm not trying to be funny. he excelled in jose's system and chelsea got the benefit of it.

Saying that "no one wanted him" is a farsical comment. Every single club in the world would have him if given the chance.

My brother reckons SopCast stopped working for him tonight too.

Arteta is class, can see him having an awesome season. Top-drawer free-kick that was. The first Bolton goal, can't remember who it was, that was magic too.

[Pastorius]

*wipes brow*

Nice one Torres, not happy with our performance though. Should have had a penalty in the first half.

[Britney Diva]

It was a clumsy challenge but it could have gone either way.

Liverpool didn't pose a threat the entire game. Distribution was poor all over the pitch and Dossena looks like the biggest hoofer on the planet. I can't really see where the creativity is coming from in midfield.

[Pastorius]

Can't believe we're thinking of selling Alonso really. He was the only person making things happen. We were terrible I admit.

I'm still waiting for Keane to find his role too, he needs to sit back a little more.

[Iai]

It was a clumsy challenge but it could have gone either way.

Liverpool didn't pose a threat the entire game. Distribution was poor all over the pitch and Dossena looks like the biggest hoofer on the planet. I can't really see where the creativity is coming from in midfield.
Alonso, it seems. But yeah, Sunderland looked handy today.

Delighted with a 2-1 win over Spurs.

[Brosef Stalin]

I couldn't get SopCast to work but I came across a site called Justin.tv. It's set up like YouTube but with streaming video. The connection is OK but it's delayed a few minutes and sometimes it buffers three or four times really quickly.

[Britney Diva]

Yeah, Alonso created the opening today, but it looks like he'll be competing with Mascherano, bizarrely. Keane got in Torres way when he had an open goal- looks like their partnership needs a bit of work. But in their defence, neither of them were given adequate service. And Chimbonda is still a stick.

[Brosef Stalin]

How is he competing with Mascherano? Their roles are like totally different.

[Pastorius]

They're both central midfielders, and no way is Gerrard getting replaced. That's how they're competing.

[Britney Diva]

How is he competing with Mascherano? Their roles are like totally different.
That's the point. At the very least, he should be considered in a wide position, since he can't offer any less width than Kuyt and Benayoun.

[Pastorius]

Oh God I know, we desperately need width. We had absolutely no options down the wings tonight. I hope we buy a winger before the end of the transfer season.

At least Holland are out, Babel will be back soon!

[Britney Diva]

I don't get it. I thought the reason Benitez replaced Finnan was because he was too cautious, yet Arbeloa seems deathly scared of even attempting to make a run. I can't say Dossena looks any better at the moment either, but I guess one game isn't enough to judge.

[Iai]

Babel will make a huge difference this season. Plus having Mascherano and Alonso competing gives tactical options and flexibility, which is basically Rafa's #1 concern and it always has been.

I thought he'd do this actually:

Reina
back four
Monster Masch - Alonso/Barry
Gerrard
Babel - Keane
Torres

[Frankie]

Decent formation that tbh

With Aliadiere playing well right wing today and Emnes not starting I still dnt know boro's best formation.

Alves looks lively he should of had atleast 2 today !

[RandyfromPennywise]

I couldn't get SopCast to work but I came across a site called Justin.tv. It's set up like YouTube but with streaming video. The connection is OK but it's delayed a few minutes and sometimes it buffers three or four times really quickly.

My brother also showed me rojadirecta.com which is a Spanish site which has a lot of stuff, check it out if you like. He watches that justin.tv site a lot as well.

I'm still waiting for Keane to find his role too, he needs to sit back a little more.Still waiting? It was the first game of the season today!

[Pastorius]

He's had games before then.

HURRY UP KEANE

I guess I am being hasty. I'd give him 4-5 weeks more and if he hasn't shown improvement then I'd get testy.

[mph4ever]

Saying that "no one wanted him" is a farsical comment. Every single club in the world would have him if given the chance.

every single club in the world - thats ridiculous. lampard wouldn't fit into every single club and some clubs have far better players than him to bother

we should probably leave this since never the twain shall meet

[Frankie]

every single club in the world - thats ridiculous. lampard wouldn't fit into every single club and some clubs have far better players than him to bother

we should probably leave this since never the twain shall meet

nah your just talking bollocks with all due respect.

[poorquality]

Well I doubt there's a place in the Man Utd team for Lampard >_> Scholes > Lampard.

[Frankie]

Scholes is on the verge of being past it

[poorquality]

Then Anderson will replace him or even Rodrigo Posebon who looks like a brazillian Scholes in the making >_>`

[mph4ever]

chelsea are cruising, playing some good football too. i'd have thought portsmouth might have been more up for it, 'arry needs to have a word with his lads and keep it respectable

[talk show host]

portsmouth have hardly touched the ball so far.

[Pastorius]

Cue "chelsea for title" proclamations

[Frankie]

Chelsea For The Uefa Cup ?!

Lmao newcastle fans crack me up

They're ona bout finishing top 6 or even top 10 :lol:

They've got 2 strikers who are made out of glass and are ageing, as well as having the most diabolical defense in the prem.

[TakeWarning]

Wow. Portsmouth really got ripped to shreds.

Fantastic goal aside, Deco looks a really good addition to the Chelsea midfield.

CHELSEA FOR THE TITLE

[sgrevs]

That's the point. At the very least, he should be considered in a wide position, since he can't offer any less width than Kuyt and Benayoun.

I sincerely hope Rafa is reading this thread.

Reina
back four
Monster Masch - Alonso/Barry
Gerrard
Babel - Keane
Torres


This is pretty much what I was thinking though.

Great game by Chelsea, Pompey hardly showed up though.

[mph4ever]

one all at half time and united lacking a serious attacking threat, campbell looks ok but rooney has to play as a midfielder.

chelsea showed up and done the job well

[mph4ever]

not much better in the second half although possebon looked good. jonas for newcastle looked like a bloke who will get the fans on side.

giggs to a hamstring, carrick out for three weeks with ankle trouble, looks like the blip might come early this year hehehehe

[Pastorius]

Ooooof good to see United getting off to a not great start.

May as well gloat now while I can.

LIVERPOOL ABOVE UNITED GET IN

[sgrevs]

^^Hell yes!

Not so great in fantasy this week, my defence and keeper got me about 6 points combined.

[Britney Diva]

I picked David James and Micah Richards. OOPS.

[mph4ever]

james made a terrible mistake to allow deco to score

[Pastorius]

I had an alright weekend fantasy wise, Bosingwa was my only defender to perform.

[RandyfromPennywise]

Well I doubt there's a place in the Man Utd team for Lampard >_> Scholes > Lampard.

Lampard would walk in to United first-team, just like he does at Chelsea. He'd walk in to Deco's previous position at Barcelona. He'd take Ambrosini's or Flamini's spot at Milan. There aren't many central-midfielders who are better than him.

You'd prefer Carrick over Lampard?

Spat Out Sexy Men has it down. Captaining your Fantasy team Dave: you've seen the light son.

Top of the league, we're having a laugh.

[poorquality]

Lampard would walk in to United first-team, just like he does at Chelsea. He'd walk in to Deco's previous position at Barcelona. He'd take Ambrosini's or Flamini's spot at Milan. There aren't many central-midfielders who are better than him.

You'd prefer Carrick over Lampard?

Spat Out Sexy Men has it down. Captaining your Fantasy team Dave: you've seen the light son.

Top of the league, we're having a laugh.


I'd deffo prefer a Carrick Scholes central partnership than a Lampard Scholes partnership mainly because Lampard likes playing attacking mid, as does Scholes neither can play a defensive minded role.

I also really couldn't see Lampard walking into the United team ahead of Scholes, he'd be a squad player. Maybe after Scholes retires, but then Lamps would be old himself...so really no place in the united first XI for lampard in my eyes.

[Britney Diva]

All the midfielders except Ronaldo are squad players at United. I'm not entirely sure how Lampard would fit into the United midfield, actually, we don't really have any players like him. Scholes is the closest, but even then they're very different players.

[RandyfromPennywise]

You're all delusional if you don't think Lampard would be a definite starter at United. He is a very different player to Scholes. He's a much better player than Carrick. If you had him, you would play so that he would play the vast majority of games, of course you would, you're fooling yourself in to thinking that Lampard is shyte and that your midfield is the bomb if you think otherwise.

[poorquality]

I don't think Lampard is shite, just that he wouldn't play well with Scholes as they're both attack minded. Also I'd pick Scholes over Lampard any day of the week. We wouldn't rebuild our team around Lampard, it's good enough as it is.

We've won more with Scholes than Chelsea have with Lampard >_>

Also I find it funny you imply we're being delusional about Lampard, when i've never heard anyone else be such a huge biased fan of him. Which I accept as you're a Chelsea fan, we all have our biases. But you're making it seem like Lampards gods gift to the premier division.

[Frankie]

Lamps was never in such an iconic midfield as Keane, Becks, Giggs and Scholes tho tbh

[RandyfromPennywise]

I don't think Lampard is shite, just that he wouldn't play well with Scholes as they're both attack minded. Also I'd pick Scholes over Lampard any day of the week. We wouldn't rebuild our team around Lampard, it's good enough as it is.

We've won more with Scholes than Chelsea have with Lampard >_>

Also I find it funny you imply we're being delusional about Lampard, when i've never heard anyone else be such a huge biased fan of him. Which I accept as you're a Chelsea fan, we all have our biases. But you're making it seem like Lampards gods gift to the premier division.He is God's gift to the Premier Division. No, sorry, ok, I'm lying. If there was a god and he decided to give a gift to English football, he did it in the shape of the one, the only, the greatest, Gianfranco Zola. But Lampard would be one of the other options if Franco wasn't available as a gift that day.

But in all seriousness, it's not bias to say that Lampard is one of the best central-midfielders in the Premier League, is it? Is it bias to say that he's one of the best in the world? I reckon he'd be in the top group, with the likes of Deco, Pirlo, Gerrard, Iniesta and them lot. Maybe that's just me. But I watch him in every match he plays, and he is very good. He has great vision, great anticipation, fantastic shooting, is great under pressure, has great passing ability - short and long, is extremely fit, has a great work-rate, seems to have a great attitude towards football. Am pumping up his tyres here a fair bit. Whatever. Super Frankie Lampard.

Anyone seen that Pirlo Crossbar Challenge clip on YouTube where he hits the bar 6 times out of 10 shots from 18 yards? The man is superb. His technique is sublime. He and Deco have similar qualities.

[poorquality]

I wouldn't say he's that good all around, I always saw him as someone who just gets the odd goal from shooting tons of times in a game, never really noticed amazing passing ala Scholes etc. His stats on the Chelsea website say:

Shots/Goals Ratio 0.15
Shots on Target Ratio 0.56

He's getting just over half on target, and shooting around 6.8 x more than he's scoring or something.

I'm trying to find scholes alternative i'll edit if I can

EDIT: I did find last seasons # of passes/pass completion ratio and Lampard didn't make the top 10 but:

Scholes 1592 89.70%

Though to be fair in passes per game:

Paul Scholes 66.33
Frank Lampard 57.42

It's a close battle, Scholes is just much more accurate.

Unfortunately I can't find the shot/goal ratio for Scholes. So I guess my point on that is moot as I can't back it up.

Still I do think Lampard is overrated, he's a great player and all, I just wouldn't put him in the best in premiership catagory, ahead of Scholes or Gerrard or Fabregas atleast....I just personally rate all 3 as better than Lampard.

But as opposing fans we're never going to agree really, but hey where'd we be without opinions.

[Talos]

But Scholes is 33, hes far too old now.
Id play Lampard instead of him every time.

[poorquality]

But Scholes is 33, hes far too old now.
Id play Lampard instead of him every time.

You say that but Scholes did brilliantly last season, and has started this season's pre season well. Also Lampard isn't exactly the youngest person in the world. I'd still pick Scholes every season upto and including this one. Until he starts performing badly there's no one better at what he does.

[RandyfromPennywise]

Yeah, it's true. I hate it how most people just see a number and say he's too old. Who said that at 34, you suddenly become shyte?! Zidane was still ripping it up at 34, one of the best midfielders in the world at 34. Zola had one of the best seasons of his life at 36. Scholes is still brilliant, no question. If United had Lampard, you'd play a 3-man central midfield with those two and one defensive midfielder like Hargreaves, I reckon that'd work pretty well. Anyway, just finally on Lampard, well your opinion is what most people's opinion is - that he's good at getting goals and is heaps attacking, and that's it. There's a lot more to his game than that, but it's just because he consistently gets 20 goals a season, that's the first thing people say about him. But back to one of my main points - Chelsea without Lampard can't win games, and Lampard doesn't score in every game, so that says something about his quality right there.

So Lamps scores one out of every six shots? That's pretty good I'd say. In the World Cup '06 he had something like 25 shots and didn't get one goal!!

Australia about to take on South Africa in a friendly, looking forward to it a lot. Scott Chipperfield back in the squad for the first time in ages, two years maybe, and generally a pretty strong squad. Hope Nicky Carle gets some time, he's quality.

[poorquality]

I think it'd be more 1 goal every 12 shots or something as his accuracy is 0.56. But yeah I agree with all you said about age.

I could see United playing a :

Rooney
Tevez Ronaldo
Scholes Lampard
Hargreaves

Set up, but once we get our new striker it'll be:

Berbatov
Rooney Tevez Ronaldo
Scholes Carrick

probably.

[TakeWarning]

Hope Nicky Carle gets some time, he's quality.

Definitely. After seeing him play in the Championship last season, I'm surprised none of the weaker EPL teams took a chance on him.

[poorquality]

So another dismall performance by England and apparently people are finally getting pissed off at them.

Anywho club before country...United sold Silvestre to Arsenal, I'm shocked, not because we sold him, but because Arsenal bought him.

He's alright to have as cover, but is getting on I can't see why Arsenal would want him other than he's french.

Also does this mean that de Silva is our backup now? I hope so.

[Pastorius]

I'm going to Reading this weekend, so I thought I'd get this in now.

Have it Frankie, 8-0.

[mph4ever]

mikael to arsenal. good move for him. no doubt toure and gallas will suffer injuries in the middle, or sendoros will suffer from poor form like hes prone to. wouldn't like to think of him as cover for clichy at left full. i think arsenal players will get very frustrated with silvestre's misplaced passes. maybe ferguson knows what he is doing hehehehe

england need to learn that there is no place for lamps in that team. playing that formation to get all your best players on the pitch is just stupid since best players=/=best team.

[Britney Diva]

Jesus God, another League of Ireland striker signs on at Reading! Leory Lita must feel like the walls are closing in on him- four Irish strikers now. Coppell must be using the same scouts as Roy Keane, honestly. It'll be interesting to see how Mooney adapts to the Championship, if he can force his way into the team at all. It depends on whether Doyle leaves before the transfer window closes, I guess.

England weren't too bad from what I saw. The Czechs were much better in possession, though, which is worrying since they're not exactly a world-class side at the moment. I suspect Capello may be another manager who's too weak to choose between Lampard and Gerrard.

[mph4ever]

or maybe he is just proving his point, demonstrating what went wrong in the past. i am sure being able to recognise this would have been a major part of his application.

[sgrevs]

Liverpool apparently looking to buy either Downing or Riera. Either would be pretty good for our left I reckon, we need someone decent out there.

[talk show host]

Jesus God, another League of Ireland striker signs on at Reading! Leory Lita must feel like the walls are closing in on him- four Irish strikers now. Coppell must be using the same scouts as Roy Keane, honestly. It'll be interesting to see how Mooney adapts to the Championship, if he can force his way into the team at all. It depends on whether Doyle leaves before the transfer window closes, I guess.



Bit surprised by that. After the Hunt signing it seems like one of our strikers might be leaving, I just hope it isn't Doyle. Is top scorer of the Irish League much to shout about? I have no idea.

[Frankie]

Downing aint going.

Not this season anyway.

But yeah 2-2 draw at the weekend with L'pool.

8-0 pasta you crack me up :p

[sgrevs]

Downing aint going.

Not this season anyway.

But yeah 2-2 draw at the weekend with L'pool.

8-0 pasta you crack me up :p

Damn.

I'm going 2-1 Liverpool, but 8-0 would be nice.

[Frankie]

I'm afraid only middlesbrough have the monopoly of winning by 8-anything. Or haven't you heard :p

[Britney Diva]

Bit surprised by that. After the Hunt signing it seems like one of our strikers might be leaving, I just hope it isn't Doyle. Is top scorer of the Irish League much to shout about? I have no idea.
Well, Doyle did it in 2005, if that means anything. It's probably the equivalent of running away with the Championship golden boot two years running, i.e. if his name was Andy Johnson there'd be premiership clubs queuing up to blow 12 million squid on him. I have no idea if he'll be a success at Reading, but his time in Ireland has already outstripped Noel Hunt and even Doyle.

I don't know if Liverpool can score 2 against Middlesbrough. I think either side could nick and 1-0 win and would be delighted with that.

[Frankie]

a 1-0 win would do me fine

I'd own pasta for weeks and weeks.

[mph4ever]

silvestre to arsenal. that was his choice once united agreed to let him leave

[talk show host]

Well, Doyle did it in 2005, if that means anything. It's probably the equivalent of running away with the Championship golden boot two years running, i.e. if his name was Andy Johnson there'd be premiership clubs queuing up to blow 12 million squid on him. I have no idea if he'll be a success at Reading, but his time in Ireland has already outstripped Noel Hunt and even Doyle.



Well hopefully it'll work out. Doyle's said today that he might be off. :( To Villa by the sounds of it.

[sgrevs]

silvestre to arsenal. that was his choice once united agreed to let him leave

I don't see how he'll get any more playing time at Arsenal. He should have gone to somewhere like Wigan or something if he actually wants to play.

[Britney Diva]

Not that anybody would ever wanna join Man City or anything, but he'd probably have more chance of breaking into Arsenal than the Richards-Dunne partnership.

[mph4ever]

I don't see how he'll get any more playing time at Arsenal. He should have gone to somewhere like Wigan or something if he actually wants to play.

good point, hes been a squad player as the thin end for a while. although if senderos goes it may allow a few more games for him. and arsenal may have done a good piece of business since silvestre is more versatile than senderos.

[Frankie]

0-0 so farrr and we're not doing to bad

I'd take that or for us to nick it 1-0

[mph4ever]

sick scousers, play like rubbish and steal it at the end, poor old boro

[Britney Diva]

Wow, Stoke 3-2 up on Villa. Looks like O'Neill's defensive problems haven't really eased- that's 5 conceded in 2 games.

I was sort of disappointed with Sunderland's reaction to going 1-0 up today. They sort of dug their heels in when they really needed someone to put their foot on it. Nice to see Spurs lose again though :-D

[Happy]

Wow 2-1 to Sunderland...

[mph4ever]

hey, fulham, right on, gooners

[poorquality]

Sunderland won me £35 :D then lost £6 as I had a accumulator is Arsenal to win, City to win and united to win

[mph4ever]

off the wall a little but.......

imagine wenger's job came under pressure. hes gone too long without achievement. problem for arsenal is that any other manager coming in would have to spend serious money to reinforce. who could possibly replace him? its a very unique position that he has put himself in.

[sgrevs]

0-0 so farrr and we're not doing to bad

I'd take that or for us to nick it 1-0

Sorry bro, we certainly didn't deserve 3 points from that...

I'm going 2-1 Liverpool, but 8-0 would be nice.

...but I was right about the score in the end.

[poorquality]

Bah Chelsea are very lucky, Wigan deserved something from that game, apart from Deco's freekick they didn't test Wigan's keeper at all I don't think.

[mph4ever]

scolari says the result is more important than the performance - very samba

[RandyfromPennywise]

It's fkn ridiculous, a hard-fought away win and all of a sudden it's boring boring Chelsea? Give me a break. It's lose-lose with Chelsea. If they went out and started passing it around and trying tricks and conceded a goal playing 'samba', everyone would be on them. They go and win 1-0 with no style, and everyone's on them. Seriously, fukn up the lot o' ya.

[mph4ever]

no, thats not the case, i just thought it was interesting that scolari had come out and said that. sure everyone knows chelsea are a stylish and entertaining team that play as if their only objective is to outscore the others and please the crowd

[poorquality]

Oh I'm not accusing Chelsea of being boring Randy, far from it, they were brilliant in their first game.

I was saying they were poor in the match against Wigan, not boring, poor. Wigan were on top for a lot of that match and deserved something from it. Especially as you didn't trouble their keeper except the freekick, while Cech had to work a fair bit.

If United suffer the same at Portsmouth, i'll say they were poor, not boring. Boring for me is scoring 1 goal then sitting back on it, keeping posession and doing nothing with it except letting the clock run down. Which doesn't apply here because Wigan were the ones who had possesion and chances and Chelsea put in a good defensive showing, but they were poor going forward.

[Talos]

I was disappointed with the Chelsea game yesterday, I didnt watch the whole thing but saw the highlights on Match of the Day. I usually enjoy watching Chelsea but yesterday I didnt really, the freekick was good and Deco is playing well with them.

Thats all im gonna say, its too hard to judge after only 2 games, especially when they played great in the first game.



What about Arsenal though? They looked poor against West Brom and played awfully against Fulham.
Get rid of Adebayor hes a waste of time, I personally dont think he can work with the rest of the Arsenal team who are all very fast and do one touch passing. Arsenal need strikers like Henry when he played for them, who can keep the ball, run at players and finish from more or less anywhere. Any team needs a striker like that, but Adebayor isnt one of those strikers.
RvP was also good back in the day but from what ive seen of him lately, hes pretty crap as well.

[Frankie]

Adebayor was 2nd most prolific scorer last season and RvP has had a lot of injuries

[Talos]

He scored a lot but I dunno I just dont think he fits in with Arsenal.

[poorquality]

A bit like RvN at united you mean? I know where you're coming from...

[pppoe]

Yer, I think Arsenal need a new striker and a new right mid. Eboue is pretty ****.

[TakeWarning]

They need a solid defensive midfielder.

As for a getting a new striker, don't think so. Adebayor was decent last season and Eduardo will be back in a few months.

[Britney Diva]

Get rid of Adebayor hes a waste of time, I personally dont think he can work with the rest of the Arsenal team who are all very fast and do one touch passing. Arsenal need strikers like Henry when he played for them, who can keep the ball, run at players and finish from more or less anywhere.
Well they got rid of Henry because he didn't really fit in with the rest of the team. Adebayor is perfect for Arsenal; he doesn't have his pace, but he can score goals from anywhere, just like Henry and he's technically superb.

[Mother]

Why is this thread still alive ?



If you are discussing things other than the Euro 08 then why is the Thread title still the same.

[TakeWarning]

...why does it matter?

And don't answer that because I don't care.

[Britney Diva]

Why is this thread still alive ?



If you are discussing things other than the Euro 08 then why is the Thread title still the same.
to annoy you

[mph4ever]

not long until we see if manu have got in gear. play portsmouth and could be 2 points behind or 4 or 5 points behind and then miss the game with fulham. so next time they play will be 3 weeks time against liverpool away and then chelsea away. man thats some tough going.

[pppoe]

They need a solid defensive midfielder.

As for a getting a new striker, don't think so. Adebayor was decent last season and Eduardo will be back in a few months.

Oh. See, I wasn't sure when he was going to return.

Whatever happened to Rosicky? I haven't seen him in ages.

[poorquality]

United line up for tonight, you heard it here first:

Rooney
tevez
F.de Silva Possbon Scholes R.de Silva
Evra Vidic Ferdinand Brown
VDS

>_> If i'm right i'm going to start betting on football again

[Talos]

I dont think Arsenal will get a new striker anytime soon, but if I was in charge I wouldve let Adebayor go in the summer and replace him.

Oh and I think Rosicky is still injured.

[Britney Diva]

United line up for tonight, you heard it here first:

Rooney
tevez
F.de Silva Possbon Scholes R.de Silva
Evra Vidic Ferdinand Brown
VDS

>_> If i'm right i'm going to start betting on football again
I think Fergie said O'Shea would probably start in midfield. Might be wrong though.

I hope the match is on TV in the US ugh.

[mph4ever]

one of the commentators on sky said the other day he was in the crowd for the newcastle game and when o'shea was brought on the groan was deafening

[poorquality]

United line up for tonight, you heard it here first:

Rooney
tevez
F.de Silva Possbon Scholes R.de Silva
Evra Vidic Ferdinand Brown
VDS

>_> If i'm right i'm going to start betting on football again

Ok I was wrong, very wrong.

Line up:

Rooney Tevez
Evra Anderson Scholes Fletcher
O'Shea Vidic Ferdinand Brown
VDS

Would of gone with my one personally >_> Anderson only stepped off a plane a few hours ago or something.

[mph4ever]

sweet little victory, nice little display, no where near full strenght but its still happening. everybody back for liverpool and chelsea and we'll be grand

[Pastorius]

Sup Frankie?

2-1

2-1

2-1

2-1

2-1

2-1

2-1

[TakeWarning]

I hate Liverpool.

Twice this season already Gerrard and Torres have got them the three points after unconvincing displays, and their fans insist on rubbing it in.

[Pastorius]

I hate Liverpool.

Twice this season already Gerrard and Torres have got them the three points after unconvincing displays, and their fans insist on rubbing it in.

We all know that we're playing terribly at the moment, but I think most of us are just happy that we're playing badly and still coming away with the 3 points. It's what serious teams have to do, and it's what we didn't do last season, I think we drew 6 times at home last season, it's unacceptable.

[Britney Diva]

I have a feeling this season will be much the same as last year.

Us: Liverpool are crap!
Liverpool fans: Oops, we won again!
Us: Oops!

[Talos]

All the big teams have started of dodgey so far, but you cant really tell anything at this stage. Maybe in a few weeks time but im just thinking, could it be because all the smaller teams are getting better; buying better players, using better tactics, etc?
It would make the premiership more interesting but is it possible?

[Surtr]

I'd say its because United are plagued with ****, Liv'Pool suck dick anyway, Chelski are a poor team to begin with they've got the players like **** but still somewhat struggle at times playing together wise and Arsenal are Arsenal.

[Talos]

Last season Arsenal wouldntve lost to Fulham. Theres something going wrong there.

[Pastorius]

yeah liverpool suck that's why we're second

*throws bait*

[Surtr]

*Takes bait*

Nah man, I don't mind Liv'Pool, its just you know it and I know it, you're playing poor, and really you played really poor last year too, and you played fairly poor the year before too. You've got a quality team that should be fighting with Chelsea not Arsenal.

[poorquality]

I think teams are getting better, Fulham, Wigan, Sunderland, Hull and Stoke to name a few are teams who've done what everyone wouldn't of assumed they could, they're attracting better players and playing better as a team. It'll still end up with the usual top 4, but I think there won't be a big gap between the top 4 and midtable prem sides by the end of it.

It's wierd I thought Spurs would be strongest out of the non-top 4 going into this season, but they've been the biggest disapointment. I guess losing Keane and this Berb stuff really has unsettled the team.

Speaking of, you see Ramos wants this all over with before end of transfer window so he can sign a replacement striker, but Levy said he's happy for Berb to rot in reserves if United don't meet their valuation? Bit silly really, they'd still be down two strikers and have no money to sign a new one.

[Talos]

Yeah Spurs have got the players on paper, doing **** on the pitch though.

[Frankie]

Sup Frankie?

2-1

2-1

2-1

2-1

2-1

2-1

2-1

i h8 u

[Britney Diva]

I think teams are getting better, Fulham, Wigan, Sunderland, Hull and Stoke to name a few are teams who've done what everyone wouldn't of assumed they could, they're attracting better players and playing better as a team. It'll still end up with the usual top 4, but I think there won't be a big gap between the top 4 and midtable prem sides by the end of it.

It's wierd I thought Spurs would be strongest out of the non-top 4 going into this season, but they've been the biggest disapointment. I guess losing Keane and this Berb stuff really has unsettled the team.

Speaking of, you see Ramos wants this all over with before end of transfer window so he can sign a replacement striker, but Levy said he's happy for Berb to rot in reserves if United don't meet their valuation? Bit silly really, they'd still be down two strikers and have no money to sign a new one.
Daniel Levy is a moron. This Berbatov business is ridiculous. Spurs are now demanding an apology from United before they do business- what age are they, five? It's embarrassing. And we're supposed to sit by and pretend that they didn't tap up Juande Ramos?

Spurs won't challenge the top four because they haven't got a particularly good squad. Jol bought extremely poorly and Ramos has had to counteract that, but I think offloading a player like Malbranque is suicide when creativity is the very thing they're bleeding with the loss of Keane and Berba. Kevin-Prince Boateng and the like may prove to be excellent players, but right now they're massively unproven.

[mph4ever]

thats what happens when you let little bearded men with funny hats into football, glazers, levy, abramovich

[Pastorius]

*Takes bait*

Nah man, I don't mind Liv'Pool, its just you know it and I know it, you're playing poor, and really you played really poor last year too, and you played fairly poor the year before too. You've got a quality team that should be fighting with Chelsea not Arsenal.

You think it doesn't annoy us too? We know we should be doing better in the league, I'm sick of only concentrating on one piece of silverware.

Like I said, what we need to be doing is playing well, but when we're not, playing poorly and winning is fine by me.

[mph4ever]

so i've had a few beers and get a text that says chel 2 - stoke 3 in the carling cup and i think, well you know what i thought and then i remembered that the others teams don't join until the next round, poor old cheltenham

[talk show host]

reading thrashed luton 5-1. I forgot it was on though.

no doubt it'll be Man United away or something next anyway.

[mph4ever]

my dads cousin used to play for luton back in the day. dunne, he was captain of ireland too

and t-rex was still a predator and not a band

[TakeWarning]

Daniel Levy is a moron. This Berbatov business is ridiculous. Spurs are now demanding an apology from United before they do business- what age are they, five? It's embarrassing. And we're supposed to sit by and pretend that they didn't tap up Juande Ramos?

Spurs won't challenge the top four because they haven't got a particularly good squad. Jol bought extremely poorly and Ramos has had to counteract that, but I think offloading a player like Malbranque is suicide when creativity is the very thing they're bleeding with the loss of Keane and Berba. Kevin-Prince Boateng and the like may prove to be excellent players, but right now they're massively unproven.

We've just loaned out our third-choice striker,(behind Berbatov and Bent) so we must be pretty confident in finding a replacement. Or very very stupid.

But about the Berbatov deal, Spurs don't need the money, because we've only spent a net total of 4.5 million pounds.

[RandyfromPennywise]

Oh I'm not accusing Chelsea of being boring Randy, far from it, they were brilliant in their first game.

I was saying they were poor in the match against Wigan, not boring, poor. Wigan were on top for a lot of that match and deserved something from it. Especially as you didn't trouble their keeper except the freekick, while Cech had to work a fair bit.

If United suffer the same at Portsmouth, i'll say they were poor, not boring. Boring for me is scoring 1 goal then sitting back on it, keeping posession and doing nothing with it except letting the clock run down. Which doesn't apply here because Wigan were the ones who had possesion and chances and Chelsea put in a good defensive showing, but they were poor going forward.

Yep fair point.

Vince Grella has signed for Blackburn for £4m. I really hope he does well. He's a defensive midfielder, so I guess he'll take Tugay's spot? But there's certainly no guarantee of a starting spot, what with S. Reid and D. Dunn who are both quality players, but I'd rate him ahead of Mokoena. Looking forward to being able to watch more of one of my favourite players too, which is always good.

Spurs have signed Павлюченко for £15m, but waiting on a work permit, which he should get, you would think.

Luke Wilkshire's gone to Dinamo Moscow from FC Twente. Probably wanted to get away from McClaren. First Aussie ever to play in Russia. Good luck to him. Moscow's an awesome place too.

[badtaste]

Hell yeah, good work to both the Aussies, hopefully they'll kill it. Kewell is doing a great job at Galatasaray as well.

[sgrevs]

Spurs have signed Павлюченко for £15m, but waiting on a work permit, which he should get, you would think.



Is that Pavlyuchenko? Maybe you should have typed it in English as most people in here don't speak Russian...

[Iai]

Northampton beat Bolton :cool:

[Happy]

Daniel Levy is a moron. This Berbatov business is ridiculous. Spurs are now demanding an apology from United before they do business- what age are they, five? It's embarrassing. And we're supposed to sit by and pretend that they didn't tap up Juande Ramos?



Possible stalling until the end of the transfer season?

[Frankie]

Is that Pavlyuchenko? Maybe you should have typed it in English as most people in here don't speak Russian...

regardless its a good singing.

[Happy]

Maybe we'll win a match :D

[Frankie]

nahhhhh

spurs for the drop ?!

[Happy]

lol its just a slow start.

[Frankie]

Verrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyy sloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow

[RandyfromPennywise]

Is that Pavlyuchenko? Maybe you should have typed it in English as most people in here don't speak Russian...

Anglophone arrogance!

Vamos Liege!!

[TakeWarning]

That's awesome, I love watching Vinnie Grella.

Also, has anyone seen Pavlyuchenko play other than at the Euro's? To be honest I wasn't that impressed.

[Britney Diva]

I wasn't impressed with him at the Euros. He reminds me of Luca Toni: he gets into a lot of goalscoring positions... and then hits the corner flag. I would be sceptical about how well he'll adapt to a top-quality league.

[TakeWarning]

I just looked at his goal-scoring record on wikipedia: 77 in 147 for Spartak. It also said he plays for Melbourne Victory and has a paralysing fear of the word "cheese", so that could be wrong.

Either way, he's an improvement on Spurs current striking options.

[poorquality]

I think this'll trigger the Berbatov transfer along now, though there's speculation Barcelona have been keeping tabs silently on the whole ordeal, and Spurs would love to sell to Barca then to United even at a couple million less, just to stick a big middle finger up at us.

[Britney Diva]

Afraid of cheese, eh? So pretty much the polar opposite of Robbie Keane, then, judging by the latter's cartwheel-and-guns celebration.

[talk show host]

Liverpool are making a bit of a meal out of this, they look awful.

[Pastorius]

Oh my lord Liverpool, I almost killed myself tonight.

[sgrevs]

Big lol at Liverpool

[Frankie]

That's awesome, I love watching Vinnie Grella.

Also, has anyone seen Pavlyuchenko play other than at the Euro's? To be honest I wasn't that impressed.

Hes a good striker tbh dont judge him on his Euro performance

[Talos]

I wanted Liverpool to lose so bad.

[nowhesingsnowhesobs]

I wasn't impressed with him at the Euros. He reminds me of Luca Toni: he gets into a lot of goalscoring positions... and then hits the corner flag. I would be sceptical about how well he'll adapt to a top-quality league.

I agree. It remains to be seen whether he's actually an improvement on Bent.

Also, did anyone else lol at Sunderland paying 8m for Anton Ferdinand.

[poorquality]

I thought it was a good bit of business for Sunderland actually, a solid central defender really, don't see why West Ham wanted rid of him

[talk show host]

It sounded like it was out of Curbishley's hands when he was on motd last week. He didn't seem too keen on the idea of losing him.

[Britney Diva]

I think he had a release fee clause.

[mph4ever]

and at least he didn't get the top lip of his brother

has anyone heard what david o'leary is up to these days?

[RandyfromPennywise]

and at least he didn't get the top lip of his brother



Fkn ay! What a donkey monkey man that stupid wanker Rio Ferdinand is. Ever see him on those English version of Punk'd-type shows? He acts like such a fkwit, honestly, I'd be ashamed to even be considering someone like him to be captain of my country.

I just looked at his goal-scoring record on wikipedia: 77 in 147 for Spartak. It also said he plays for Melbourne Victory and has a paralysing fear of the word "cheese", so that could be wrong.Vandal.

I agree. It remains to be seen whether he's actually an improvement on Bent. If Berbatov leaves, it not a matter of being better than Bent, it's a matter of being better than whoever the bloody-hell else they've got to play up front, I guess dos Santos, but not even. So really, if they lose Berba, they just need numbers more than anything.

[Frankie]

http://msn.football365.com/story/0,17033,13852_4055588,00.html

lulz

[Pastorius]

He's right though.

[poorquality]

I dont see why complaining about the weather means he wants out >_> he came out and said he was happy playing at United he just didn't like the weather.

I don't like the weather, most people who live here don't like the weather, it's an opinion it doesn't mean anything

[mph4ever]

i never saw such a ridiculous thing. cech was given goalie of the year, terry got defender, lampard got midfielder. at least they had some sanity in making ronaldo forward of the year and overall player of the year hehehehe

[Pastorius]

GROUP A
Chelsea
AS Roma
Bordeaux
CFR Cluj

GROUP B
Inter Milan
Werder Bremen
Panathinaikos
Anorthosis Famagusta

GROUP C
Barcelona
Sporting Lisbon
Basel
Shakhtar Donetsk

GROUP D
Liverpool
PSV Eindhoven
Marseille
Atletico Madrid

GROUP E
Manchester United
Villarreal
Celtic
Aalborg

GROUP F
Lyon
Bayern Munich
Steaua Bucharest
Fiorentina

GROUP G
Arsenal
FC Porto
Fenerbahce
Dynamo Kiev

GROUP H
Real Madrid
Juventus
Zenit St Petersburg
Bate Borisov

[talk show host]

Feel a bit sorry for Bate Borisov there :-(

[Pastorius]

Liverpool draw PSV again. If we don't carry on being retarded schoolchildren we'll be fine I think.

[Britney Diva]

i never saw such a ridiculous thing. cech was given goalie of the year, terry got defender, lampard got midfielder. at least they had some sanity in making ronaldo forward of the year and overall player of the year hehehehe
Cech, really? Sometimes I feel they make these lists to reward players for being great years earlier.

Jesus God, United draw Celtic again. I doubt Celtic will be able to make the knockout stages this time round with Villarreal in the group.

[mph4ever]

i feel for celtic. last time out they beat us in glasgow and qualified ofr the knock-out stages. maybe that can happen again. villarreal are a good side though so it will be touch and go

[RandyfromPennywise]

Cech, really? Sometimes I feel they make these lists to reward players for being great years earlier.


But you hate Cech though.

SWP has gone back to Citeh. Great signing for them. Guess that means Robinho is close to coming to Chelsea. I read a story yesterday quoting SWP as saying he won't go to Everton or City. British football media is a load a bollocks, on the whole.

Chelsea's draw for the Champo, not too bad. Roma main threat.

[Britney Diva]

I don't hate Cech, I just don't think he's the best goalkeeper in the league.

[poorquality]

I agree, maybe before his head injury, but after he's had a few howlers, and I don't think is the best in the league letalone last seasons European best. Also I don't see how Lampard won midfielder ahead of someone like Gerrard who was the sole reason Liverpool even made it to the semi-final, and is the sole-reason they do anything worthwhile.

Terry I'm not too sure about, I think Ferdinand inched ahead of him in the end, but it was a close thing so I guess i'm not too fussed that Terry got it. That near goal line clearance against Utd in the final must of pushed him ahead >_>

[badtaste]

GROUP A
Chelsea
AS Roma
Bordeaux
CFR Cluj

GROUP B
Inter Milan
Werder Bremen
Panathinaikos
Anorthosis Famagusta

GROUP C
Barcelona
Sporting Lisbon
Basel
Shakhtar Donetsk

GROUP D
Liverpool
PSV Eindhoven
Marseille
Atletico Madrid

GROUP E
Manchester United
Villarreal
Celtic
Aalborg

GROUP F
Lyon
Bayern Munich
Steaua Bucharest
Fiorentina

GROUP G
Arsenal
FC Porto
Fenerbahce
Dynamo Kiev

GROUP H
Real Madrid
Juventus
Zenit St Petersburg
Bate Borisov

Hmm, lots of new teams, how nice.

[mph4ever]

just thinking about celtic. i don't know if i like strachan or not. he is a strange one. not too sure what the relationship between him and ferguson is like either

you heard the one where the reporter asked strachan for a quick word? "velocity" and he walked off

[badtaste]

lolol

[TakeWarning]

Hmm, lots of new teams, how nice.

Bate Borisov and Anothorsis will both get pummelled.

Which kind of detracts from the quality of the whole thing.

[badtaste]

I believe in miracles.

Like when Chelsea drew with Rosenborg.

edit: disappointing to see that Kewell and Galatasaray didn't qualify. Would have loved to see him in European action.

[Pastorius]

Liverpool to sign Albert Riera if he passes his medical. Not at all convinced by this signing, he's unproved in the PL, could have gone for SWP. Hmmmm

As long as he gives us some width I'm happy

[VomitStainedCretin]

Bate Borisov and Anothorsis will both get pummelled.

Which kind of detracts from the quality of the whole thing.Yeah, I'm happy for them to have gotten there in the first place.

I predict Liverpool will at least make it to the last four but will play extremely poorly in the vast majority of their games, winning only through luck or the competence of their central 'spine' players. That at least has been the recent pattern.

[Britney Diva]

Terry I'm not too sure about, I think Ferdinand inched ahead of him in the end, but it was a close thing so I guess i'm not too fussed that Terry got it. That near goal line clearance against Utd in the final must of pushed him ahead >_>
I would have Vidic ahead of Ferdinand, I think. Ferdinand's turned into a very classy player, but I still think he's a little lost without Vidic, much the way Carvalho seems to struggle a bit when he's forced to step into Terry's shoes.

Zenit St. Petersburg have started well, Pogrebnyak probably should have tested Van Der Saar on at least one occasion. United haven't really found any fluidity yet.

Also wtf, Micah Richards was supposed to be out for 10 days to 2 weeks after his concussion and played yesterday. He's obviously made of whatever John Terry's made of.

[Pastorius]

please lose united

[Britney Diva]

Can't say we haven't had enough chances- O'Shea should have won the game on his own by now.

edit: Jesus your man should have sewn it up there

[poorquality]

I know the game meant nothing really, except to give us a game in hand in the prem which is undesirable. But two points:

i) New striker, yes please
ii) In a game that in no way effects our season, why oh why does Scholes go and do a stupid thing like that. I take it that's a European 3 match ban?

[Pastorius]

It's a ban yes.

[poorquality]

Yeah thought so, luckily only one match as it was a 2 yellow thing

[Pastorius]

Still, so un-Scholes like isn't it.

[poorquality]

Hell yeah, it was hilarious really, a small hand reaching out from the crowd knocking the ball home...never thought it'd be Scholes in a million years. Though lovely control and direction he got on the ball >_> top corner

[Frankie]

I fear in typical middlesbrough style stoke will beat us after out playing 2 classy teams ¬_¬

Prove me wrong please boro, also Digard needs to start. He is very very promising.

[Britney Diva]

That was probably the best goal ever scored with a hand.

[TakeWarning]

Liverpool to sign Albert Riera if he passes his medical. Not at all convinced by this signing, he's unproved in the PL, could have gone for SWP. Hmmmm

As long as he gives us some width I'm happy

He didn't do too well at Manchester City a few years back if that's what you're counting as unproven.

[mph4ever]

utd get boro in the league cup. toughest draw you could have at this stage i reckon

[Pastorius]

He didn't do too well at Manchester City a few years back if that's what you're counting as unproven.

Well, I'm taking it in that he's never proved himself in the Premiership.

Also, Frankie, outplaying....but not outscoring

2-1

2-1

2-1

2-1

2-1

[Britney Diva]

haha the West Ham fans still boo Paul Ince, 20 years later

[Happy]

I will boo Berbatov for a long time. Maybe not 20 years.

[pppoe]

Finally, Eboue does something good. Great to see Van Persie scoring goals again.

Adebayor's miss was ****ing terrible. It was pretty much gifted to him.

[talk show host]

Doyle got a hattrick today, good to see him up and running again, finally. Lita wasn't in the squad at all and radio Berkshire reckon he's off to Pompey. Rather Lita than Doyle, I guess.

[Frankie]

Well, I'm taking it in that he's never proved himself in the Premiership.

Also, Frankie, outplaying....but not outscoring

2-1

2-1

2-1

2-1

2-1

ama punch you >:-[

butttt wheey boro 2-1 win

[Pastorius]

2-1, that's a familiar result, have Boro ever been on the other side of that result?

[Iai]

utd get boro in the league cup. toughest draw you could have at this stage i reckon
****.

[mph4ever]

****.

why?

[Pastorius]

Wow, nice free kick Alves.

Wigan lol as well. Liverpool better get their **** together tomorrow or we're gonna lose to Villa for sure

[Britney Diva]

Wigan had 4 shots on goal all match and won 5-0 :0

And Hull's brilliant solution to this problem was to go out and sign Paul McShane- brilliant!

[Frankie]

****.

have the faith m'negro

[Surtr]

Watching the Chelski v. Spurs match here. Its been a while since I've gotten to sit down and watch a match. Feels nice.

[poorquality]

Chelsea looked a bit toothless as the game progressed. Draw is a good result for Spurs and probably the fair result on the day. Anelka missed a shot after a lovely first touch in the 1st half that Drogba and any other top quality forward would of buried. He's been a massive dissapointment to me, I expected big things from whatever club he joined.

[Collis]

ama punch you >:-[

butttt wheey boro 2-1 win

Hey up, did you go to the game yesterday?

I was in the away end with the Stoke following. And to be honest, when we both had 11 men I feel we were the better side ... but obviously we didn't for all the match and we were justly punished.

Still, people wrote us off at the start of the season and I am 110% sure that we will be good enough to stay up this year.

Also, the Boro crowd were shocking. Was rather funny when Huth clapped our fans at the end, maybe he was wishing that his own supporters were the same as ours. Hehe...

[Pastorius]

Liverpool looking shockingly bad in attack, and sometimes I really don't know what Rafa is thinking with is changes, I would so have put Babel on to test Reo-Coker at right back.

[Britney Diva]

I think he threw the towel in with the Benayoun change. I was disappointed at Villa for not taking the game to Liverpool more after Torres went off. That Ngog lad was invisible the entire time he was on the pitch. Keane was poor but at least he put himself about.

[Pastorius]

Yeah, would have loved to have seen Keane slot that change away, beautiful ball from Mascherano. Glad he's back.

Benayoun was not a positive change at all was it, Ngog is pretty much getting battered by Premiership defenders. He's got pace though, a future promise I think.

[Minus The Flair]

Bullard in the squad for England's qualifiers. Good news.

[Pastorius]

True, I rate Bullard highly, he's in my fantasy team.

Also, youthmovies, nice one. Saw Foals last week

[Britney Diva]

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/08/31/anfields_wasted_space_could_be.html

This is the best thing I've ever read ever.

[Pastorius]

I agree though. Benitez seems to punish good performances.

[TakeWarning]

Good article, I've never got why some managers insist on playing players out of their natural positions. Especially putting right footed players on the left wing.

[Frankie]

Man City taken over my an Arab investment group, and theres also talk of them signing Berbatov and breaking the English transfer record.

Corluka goes to spurs as does Pavlyuchenko.

[poorquality]

Apparently so Frankie, they've matched Spurs' evaluation of him and it's apparently been accepted. Also Villa is apparently back on the Market to an English move. chances are I reckon United will sign Benzema.

I love transfer deadline day. But **** city for stealing our player if they do >_>

[Happy]

What? Berba off to city? Won't he just hate it there too?

[talk show host]

Berbatov to Man City would be hilarious.

[poorquality]

Well chances are Spurs just wont accept Uniteds offer, giving Berb little choice but to play 1st team for City or stay at Spurs in the reserves where he doesnt want to be.

[Happy]

hearing that its been accepted too, this is hilarious!

[poorquality]

The city guy who took over is apparently worth 10x what Abramovich is worth and wants to be top 4 this season, 1st in prem next, and champs league winners in 3rd season, insisting money is not an object and they intend to spend significantly more than Abramovich has put into Chelsea to achieve their goals.

Greeeeaat. -_-

[Happy]

I can see that not happening.

[Pastorius]

wooooooah, 10x what roman is worth?

that's some serious money. Still, be nice to see what a bottomless wallet can put together.

I can't see it happening either, the team won't gel quick enough to be 1st next season, and strength in depth will be a problem too. Squads don't just come together with cash.

[poorquality]

Worked for chelsea for a couple seasons where they walked the premiership. They're apparently releasing a list tomorrow of potential targets..for January I assume

[talk show host]

they're also eyeing up David Villa and Mario Gomez according to the beeb. I guess it's rubbish but it'd be great to see City just buy a load of world class players on the last day of the transfer window.

[TakeWarning]

This Berbatov saga is great, apparently Real have chipped in with a 36 million pound bid.

Meanwhile on redcafe.net, panic ensues. :D

[Frankie]

Xisco is also having a medical at Newcastle, which could spark owen leaving.

Also Saha is meant to be going to Everton on a pay-as-you-play contract.

Robinho also wants to join chelsea.

[Happy]

He doesn't deserve to go to Real.

[Frankie]

Full transfer list so far :

In: Everton (Saha), Liverpool (Flora, Gulacsi), Newcastle (Gonzalez), Portsmouth (Belhadj), Tottenham (Pavlyuchenko, Corluka)

Out: Bolton (Dzemaili), Fulham (Zakuani), Man City (Corluka, Vidal), Man Utd (Saha), Stoke (Parkin), Wigan (Bouaouzan)

[Pastorius]

Liverpool sign Drogba for £4m

[Frankie]

lulz

[sgrevs]

Liverpool:

OUT: Steve Finnan (Espanyol, Undisclosed)

I can't say I didn't see it coming, but does this mean Arbeloa is our only right back now? And I didn't think he'd go to Spain.

[talk show host]

Presumably that would be part of a Riera deal wouldn't it?

[Frankie]

£36.5 million is what Real are reportedly bidding for Berbatov.

Which is mental.

The BBC's coverage is always hilarious also

'1742: "I'm outside Derby's training ground and I've not seen anything - talent, skill, committment, nothing. I've been here for almost a year."

:lol:

[mph4ever]

neil lennon gets his head kicked in by a heavy set bloke wearing a blue top and his mate who had been shouting sectarian abuse at him. sick, sick, sick, they just won't let it die

[Frankie]

Robinho in a shock move looks as if hes off to Man City now for £32million.

[talk show host]

wouldn't he take SWP's place? I bet he's a bit ticked off.

[Frankie]

Not really seeing as SWP is a right winger and Ronbinho is more of Second Striker or Centre Forward.

He's not a natural winger thats for sure.

[poorquality]

They've got him...it's a done deal..Robinho to City

[Frankie]

....and Berba has deffo gone to Utd.