English Football Thread 2008-2009 Season

My god, that was beautiful. The penalty probably wasn't a penalty, but either way, Liverpool could easily have put 7 or 8 past Madrid, and only didn't because of the man I consider to be the best goalkeeper in the world.

This performance really was the anti-Liverpool. We launched an absolute bombardment, and Madrid just didn't know what the smurf. In the Premier League though we dominate the game, but we seem to say "well smurf I guess we better shoot or something maybe? I don't know". I just don't know what it is about Europe that makes our players improve by 20-30%.

Wouldn't surprise me if Man United get the same scoreline against us that we did against Madrid on Saturday, but if we get them in the Quarter Finals, I'd be confident of putting them out. Still, on the subject of, hopefully their FA Cup exploits and the fact that they are playing a day later than us (please take them to extra time, Inter) will mean their energy levels are slightly lower than Liverpool's and we can grind out a draw. Yes, I am very ambitious as far as the Premier League is concerned...!

Where do you think you'll end up in the League?

Third. Where else? :monster:

2nd is still up for grabs! I've never felt you'd win the league, though perhaps that's partly my own bias shining through, but I think overall you've been more impressive than Chelsea this season. I didn't see tonight's game unfortunately (joys of open exams), but from what I've heard it was a fantastic performance from your lot and good luck with it.

We could push for second, sure, but we'd just end up drawing at home to Norwich or QPR or whoever the hell it is that currently lives in the bottom half of the table. I'm not entirely sure anymore, because there are no football teams outside of the BIG FOUR worth mentioning.

Except Eng-er-land, of course.

Norwich? They're in danger of dropping to the third tier of the Football League! Southampton as well. And Charlton's relegation looks increasingly inevitable. Pretty crazy to see these teams fall so far so quickly.

As for Arsenal at the moment... :(

We struck fear into the hearts of Europe with our performance tonight. No-one will want to draw us in the next round now!

John Arne Riise scored a penalty in a shootout against you? Blimey. Arsenal really are in trouble!

I should just be glad we have a minimum of English players in our team, else we might never have won that shootout :)

Great week for english football. I don't care if Liverpool are Uniteds sworn enemy, but I loved every second of that win against Real. If I hate one team its them. They are so up they're own arse its not even funny.

We wern't convincing against Inter at all, but I'll put that down to the Jose factor. Hopefully we'll get back on track at Old Trafford this weekend. I'll be there in the crowds cheering them on (got my ticket just today)!

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Originally Posted by Rocket Edge

Great week for english football.

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I never understand this attitude, I have no wish to see Man Utd or Chelsea triumph in Europe, whether it's good for English football or not!

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Originally Posted by charliepanayi

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Originally Posted by Rocket Edge

Great week for english football.

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I never understand this attitude, I have no wish to see Man Utd or Chelsea triumph in Europe, whether it's good for English football or not!

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Likewise, and so on(skipping United), but its still a great week for english football in general.

I support English clubs (although I also laugh if they lose ;)) as far as the semi-finals, because smurf yeah English dominance! But unless they are Liverpool, I want them to lose in the final. Well, I dunno. Arsenal v Barca I was kind of neutral on, as Barca are a bunch of conceited pricks (but not as much as Real)

Dominance by one country gets boring, I don't agree with Platini et al but I do think that it's getting a little depressing if we see three English teams in the semi-finals again (I stress I'd say the same if it was Serie A or La Liga teams in this position). I always saw the European Cup as a competition where you could see games between great teams that you wouldn't usually see. Seeing teams who already play each other in their own league, and seeing this now on a repeated basis, it doesn't feel quite the same. When we lost to Chelsea in 2004 the matchup was new and exciting, now the possibility of Liverpool v Chelsea yet again or similar just raises a rather tepid response from me. Of course this is all UEFA's fault anyway for allowing so many teams from one country into the European Cup (and shutting out the smaller nations) in the eternal quest for more revenue, no matter the consequences, so they can hardly complain about it now. I wish they'd go back to having two teams maximum from the major countries in the European Cup but alas it will never happen.

Frankly if anyone is entitled to be conceited it's Real Madrid with their history, though I have never quite liked them since they got rid of Del Bosque despite him winning them two European Cups! Makes the sacking manager madness in the Premiership look rational.

This is the best! I don't think we've ever done the double over United since I started supporting us, and to dick them 4-1 at Old Trafford is pretty :aimsun:! Of course it is United's fault for abandoning their usual anti-Liverpool strategy of doing smurf all for 88 minutes and then having some lump of a defender like Gary Pallister, Wes Brown or John O'Shea head one home. Why are you trying to take an early lead against us? Don't you know that is madness!

On to my favourite subject. Yes, the media of course are talking about how the title race has been "reignited". My favourite one is that we've "breathed life" into the title bid. Nah. United are still gonna win it with ease. I'd like you all to imagine President Obama's inauguration. "Hurray for me! I am the best!" he says. Suddenly, John McCain runs up behind him, pulls his pants down, and shoves him face first into a convieniently placed pool of gunge. Obama's still going to be president, but he looks like a bit of a tit and everybody wonders if he is all he is cracked up to be. Meanwhile, McCain runs off giggling into the night, although he feels a pang of regret, thinking that maybe if he had done this throughout his campaign instead of cavorting with crazy Alaskan bi'ches, he'd be da prez right now.

Still, to put four past Madrid and United, two of the best clubs in the world, in the same week, is pretty damned incredible and I am proud.

PS: Andrea Dossena what the smurf? :lol:

I wish we could play Blackburn every week.

I'm disappointed by Villa's drop in form, but am glad that we are managing to play good football even without Arteta. I think we have a very outside chance of going for 4th, but more realistically I think we can claim 5th as our own if we carry on as we are. It really makes me wonder how well we'd be doing if we hadn't had a disastrous first ten games or so.

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My favourite one is that we've "breathed life" into the title bid.

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I love that! :lol:

Anyway, we were an absolute disgrace on Saturday. We didn't look half bothered at all and we played terrible. The only thing I can think of is not having enough rest, and to be fair it really showed. I don't want to sound like i'm dogging Liverpool but I think the two results are a tad flattering on their behalf. Real Madrid (by europes standards) are just a medicore side with a great rep. I also think there was no better time to catch United napping at Old Trafford than last weekend. Still, it makes all of Europe :bou::bou::bou::bou:-scared of them now. Messi even said in an interview he would want anyone but Liverpool in the draw!

Just want to say:

I hate the way the English press are making out Vidic now. They are saying he is now 'shaky' & 'not solid'. So he had a bad game. He has been our best player all season, and he is the best defender in the world at the minute. It was obvious to see he was tired on the day, and it didn't help chasing after the best striker in the world. Terry & Ferdinand have had made countless bad games and the media still look upon them as gods.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's Liverpool v Chelsea Part 23 in the European Cup! :(

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Decent draw for us, but Villarreal are no mugs. And even if we win it's likely we'd face Man Utd in the semis.

Oh and reports that Walcott is out for the season (or at least out for a while) - ah well it's been a good season anyway...well, actually it hasn't...

Parts 9 and 10 actually. I agree with your assessment though!

Jesus christ I really hope Liverpool and United do not meet in the final because if we do, English clubs are going to be banned from Europe for a few years.

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Originally Posted by Psychotic

Jesus christ I really hope Liverpool and United do not meet in the final because if we do, Charlie will find it about as unbearable a matchup as Man Utd v Chelsea was last year.

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Fixed :(

Roll on the international break!

Only downside of a United Liverpool matchup in the final would be the heckling I'd get at work if we lost. They're still giving me crap about the Premier League game... but personally anybody but Chelsea would be great if we get that far. I'd prefer Bayern Munich most of all because I've never seen us play each other live, and if not them, Barca, and if not them, Liverpool. Just not Chelsea please. Ugh, hate them.

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Originally Posted by Loony BoB

Just not Chelsea please. Ugh, hate them.

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Chelsea under Guus is an unpredictable scary thing. :(

Happy with the draw, but Porto are no pushovers. I am on the same boat as you all. I hope to god there is not an all english final again.

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Originally Posted by Loony BoB

Only downside of a United Liverpool matchup in the final would be the heckling I'd get at work if we lost. They're still giving me crap about the Premier League game...

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Hey buddy I feel four you. ;)

Honestly, why couldn't Fulham have played like that against Man Utd in the FA Cup? If Liverpool win tomorrow, things could be starting to get interesting at the top. But then Chelsea already blew their chance today.

Newcastle looking in big trouble, I mean when you lose to us you know things are bad. If only we hadn't drawn so many bloody games again this year :(

International break time!

Pretty damn big 'if'. Aston Villa are a very tricky proposition.

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Originally Posted by Psychotic

Pretty damn big 'if'. Aston Villa are a very tricky proposition.

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They are, but you're playing at the right time possibly, they're on a vary bad run at the moment. They have Man Utd next so if you're lucky they'll recover their form, but not until after tomorrow ;)

Well I did not expect that. Still, I don't doubt this high-scoring win is yet another one that will be dismissed as lucky by opposition fans! It's not as if Liverpool are a very decent side or anything! :greenie: Also, doesn't change a thing. Title is still United's. All this is making our goal difference wonderful, though, so maybe I will dare to dream of second place. Maybe.

Considering how poor Torres played, I was very impressed. I thought Riera had one of his best games and everyone was very fluid. Seriously, what happened to old plodding Liverpool? They look like Barcelona, passing the ball all over the place, scoring goals in bunches. This season isn't over yet. Man U still have a lot of tricky games and I wouldn't be shocked if they drew some of them.

Problem though is the International break, will it blunt Liverpool's surge? Will it refocus United? Will everyone come out of it healthy? Is Chelsea still in it?

Looking forward to a fun home stretch for once.


Take care all.

Man Utd have three of their next four games at home, I think that might give them time to regroup and get some wins together.

Arsenal clearly hold the key to the title, we still have to play all the top three!

Arsenal will definitely be a key factor to who wins. How well they play against Liverpool and United could change everything.

Aston Villa go to Old Trafford and play with ten men behind the ball - and get a draw. Stupidly, they go to Liverpool when they're more in-form than ever and play with three defenders, not including Laursen (or indeed Knight, who was on the bench, who I rate well enough). And they try to take the game to Liverpool at Anfield. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Almost as stupid as putting your hands in front of your face when you're manning a post. I still don't know what Scholes was thinking. Probably nothing to do with football, though.

There you go. The greatest footballer of all time says United will win, so win they will!

Liverpool fans (psy), are you happy with Rafa staying at the club?

I think the club has made significant progress since he's been here, so yes. Sometimes I wish he'd keep his mouth shut, and sometimes I wish he'd be a bit more adventurous, but he is still a very very good manager.

If not for the past week or two, would youstill be happy with Rafa staying at the club? I'm not really that sure about this 'significant progress' thing because the average league position with Rafa is the same as it was for a long time before he came in. There is the UEFA argument, though.

Even without the past fortnight's results, nobody can deny that this season, Liverpool had a title challenge, something we had not done for many, many years, and something I have viewed as the target for Liverpool throughout those many, many years. This isn't really the season to be asking me this, I suppose. Next season is the crunch. Will we build on what we established, or will we just fall back into our old ways?

World Cup qualifiers:

Ireland claim a draw away to Italy, Northern Ireland continue their push for qualification with a win, England beat Ukraine thanks to John Terry, Poland beat San Marino 10-0 (ha!) and Bolivia beat Argentina 6-1 (double ha!). Australia 99% of the way to being the first team to formally qualify as well.

Back to the domestic action!

Seen the Argentina result, well gutted. Love the Argies. It's the high altitude (not wholey resdponsible but I'd say 50%). I seen Ecuador V Paraguay. The Paraguay coach had to sit on the bench with an oxygen mask. High altitude football on international level is an obvious unfair advantage to the sides who play on it, namely Bolivia & Ecuador. You only need to look at home & away results to see it. FIFA need to act.


England need to drop Gareth Barry & play Carrick. AND MY IRELAND WERE AWFUL AND STILL FRICKEN DREW AWAY TO THE WORLD CHAMPIONS.


Scotland & the Sectarian Ireland won.....Wales do not merit an entry.

Apart from Ballacks goal, Wales v Germany was a horrible game :(

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Originally Posted by Cuchulainn

Seen the Argentina result, well gutted. Love the Argies. It's the high altitude (not wholey resdponsible but I'd say 50%). I seen Ecuador V Paraguay. The Paraguay coach had to sit on the bench with an oxygen mask. High altitude football on international level is an obvious unfair advantage to the sides who play on it, namely Bolivia & Ecuador. You only need to look at home & away results to see it. FIFA need to act.

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Nepal to host World Cup 2022, odds of home side wins slashed dramatically.

*curses Liverpool to the skies*

Newcastle and Middlesbrough to join West Brom for the drop - looking increasingly likely.

Anything Liverpool can do Man Utd can do better it seems! This might sound woefully premature in six weeks time but that goal today may have been the crucial moment in this title race.

I'm not sure how to feel about it. On the one hand it meant Man Utd winning and their title hopes boosted once more, something that I can't feel 100% happy about. On the other hand it puts a little more daylight between us and Villa (much needed with the games we have to come) and it might have been worth it just for the look on Jamie Redknapp's face after the game.

Now for the European Cup first legs. We're going to be favourites against Villarreal most likely based on recent form, this rarely works out well for us in Europe :(

I still cannot talk properly after that goal. my voice is smurfed screaming so much. It was the most beautiful moment in football this season, especially running to his dad after and jumping up to him. My God...great stuff

So that's two ties in the balance after tonight anyway. Our result was decent but not amazing. I'm cautiously optimistic for the second leg but am worried how we will react if Villarreal go 1-0 up or make it 1-1 etc. Very much in the balance still.

Come on Arsenal (and Porto) next week! :(

any of you guys watch the scottish league?
cant be bothered reading thru to find out :P

got any opinions on whats happening with mcgregor and ferguson?

I've literally never seen a United side play as badly as they did in the first half. Couldn't pass for the life of them, particularly Scholes (!) and Park.

As for the Scots, they got what was coming to them. How old are they, again? 'cause I've seen more maturity from five year olds. Stupid idiots.

United got what they deserved, it was so frustrating to watch. What really annoys me is that 2 months ago, I am certain this result would not happen. Porto are a dangerous team, & I think we have no hope of going through now if we keep playing the way we do.

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Originally Posted by Marky Tee

any of you guys watch the scottish league?
cant be bothered reading thru to find out :P

got any opinions on whats happening with mcgregor and ferguson?

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McGregor and Ferguson were both utterly idiotic and deserve everything that's been thrown at them. You can't put up with that sort of lack of respect and I imagine Scotland will be better off without them.

Haha Bayern is getting completely torn to pieces.
I hate Bayern but it really does make me wonder: "what the hell is wrong with german international football?"

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Originally Posted by Croyles

Haha Bayern is getting completely torn to pieces.
I hate Bayern but it really does make me wonder: "what the hell is wrong with german international football?"

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I presume you mean German club teams - the national side doesn't do that badly in recent years! Hamburg might yet win the UEFA Cup this year, but it just seems like Barcelona are in irresistible form tonight.

yeah i meant club teams. all our teams have sucked internationally for about 10 years.

We're probably looking at a Chelsea v Barcelona semi-final then. Certainly a Barcelona v someone semi anyway.

How will Man Utd and Liverpool bounce back on the weekend and in the second legs? Can Chelsea take heart from this result and get back into the title race? Will Arsenal's season fall apart yet again over the space of four days next week? Stay tuned!

Well, on the plus side,

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Originally Posted by Psychotic

Well, on the plus side,

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I guess the plus side is in minus?

:cool:

I don't know what Bayern were thinking in that match. They played high up the pitch and didn't have anyone protecting their back four. It was throwing the pigs out to slaughter. If I were a Chelsea fan I wouldn't be too worried over Barca like that.

As for Liverpool, 3 goals at Stamford Bridge? Liverpool should partner Torres with the Pope up front as they will need a miracle to go through now.

TBF, Croyles, Bayern were slaughtering Sporting recently. Big time. Record win, all that jazz. Also top of (and unbeaten) in a group including Lyon and Fiorentina. No walkovers - it's just that Barca are freaking insanely good, really, and Bayern have been in bad form recently (a la United).

Yeah and Bayern lost 5-1 to wolfburg on saturay. This is the problem though, every time a german team lose its never bad enough to get the DFL thinking about how to make the bundesliga better.
Im hoping some team will lose like 10-0 once so the german clubs finally realise, "hold on, something IS wrong with german club football internationally", cause there definitely IS something wrong with it.
Yeah Bayern slaughtered sporting but generally speaking german clubs are doing poorer internationally year by year. The second and third teams usually get put into the uefa cup straight from the CL group phase.
Im only saying this cause the german clubs used to actually have a chance at international level lol.

I dont actually care that much, but would just like to see some more competition in the CL other than the english and spanish teams (and sometimes italian)...

Anyway, its sunny outside so im gonna go lay in the park :D

Ahh, the haydays of Brussia Dortmund...

Karlheinz Riedle was a badman.

speak of the devil...

Putting Blackburn in their place after Fat Sam and his players had spent the week sniping at us felt good. :D

Blackburn aren't so hot, even we got six points off them this year! Next game for Man Utd is Portsmouth at home and Liverpool have us at Anfield, so that's a win for both of them there :(

What an odd game from us today, very bad for the first hour or so then we suddenly spark into life and wind up winning 4-1! We can't afford to be so rubbish in the first half on Wednesday though. And with all our injuries I'm worried that we're now operating on very unstable foundations ahead of this crucial week.

If Man Utd win the title, they should mint an extra medal for Macheda at this rate. Chelsea were so close to blowing a 4-0 lead, that would have been funny. And the relegation struggle still has five teams or so in there, I think Hull could yet be one of the ones to fall, one win since December, really dropping fast.

PFA Player of the Year shortlist:

Ferdinand
Gerrard
Van der Sar
Vidic
Giggs
Ronaldo

Good to see footballers thinking outside the box with their choices. Did Alex Ferguson pick this list or something? This is what happens when you leave voting to footballers and have them do it in February (remember Ginola winning the award in Man Utd's Treble season?).

lol, its swarming with United players. I feel they are deserved, however even though in the past I was a critic of Lampard, I think he should be on that list. I was going over the Premiership teams in my head but not many players stand out apart from the top four like they did last season (Ashley Young, Martin Petrov, Robbie Keane, Roque Santa Cruz, and so on), which is slighly disapointing.

Van Der Sar has been good for us this season but I'm not entirely convinced he should be shortlisted here. At the time of the 13 game unbeaten run our defence was rock solid, and he only had the odd save to make. I think Gerrard is a fantastic player and deserves to be in the list but he hasn't played consistantly great enough to warrent the top prize IMO. I'm delighted for Giggs that he has been mentioned. Last year I think he had problems with confidence and it directly impacted his game, but he really has played excellent this year. Ronaldo won't get it this year, but I still think he has done well. Ferdinand has been solid like he always is, and has partnered superbly with Vidic throughout the year. Lastly, Vidic has been the best player for me this season. I know over the past month or so he has looked jaded but I feel he deserves it.

On the topic of Ginola, how he won that year I will never know. Beckham, Yorke, Cole, and Keane were outstanding for United that season, and I remember Bergkamp, Overmars & Viera rivaling them.

I don't think Giggs and VDS should be on that list. I don't even think they've been in United's top 5 players, let alone the Premiership's, but maybe that's just me.

I think Vidic deserves the award, despite Torres's beasting of him not too long ago. One game does not a season make.

2-0 to Liverpool so far - oh blimey...

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Originally Posted by Psychotic

Well, on the plus side,

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I finally have something to complete this with. On the plus side, I just saw Liverpool and Chelsea draw 4-4!

3 quick points before our conclusion: Fabio Aurelio is highly underrated, Didier Drogba is immense, and Chelsea's fans are probably the worst in the Premier League (I died laughing when they couldn't understand why Drogba whacking it wide wasn't a goal and Jon Champion - I think it was him commentating, I dunno - said "The ball has to go in between the two white things, mate.")

And here is our conclusion: Chelsea are a very, very decent side and I would put them as favourites for the Barca game, which is high praise indeed given the quality of Barca.

They won't be favourites if they defend like that though! I hope they're that porous on Saturday, I can dream anyway.

Crazy game, one of the most fun I've seen.

Crikey, It's going to take a fair while for my heart rate to reach normal levels after that game.

For the record, apart from the mighty Swans, Chelsea has always been my premiership team :cool:

Chelsea fans are the best, Psy. =0

The ones at the game tonight at least weren't. Another favourite of mine was when they half-heartedly sung a few lines of "You're not singing anymore" only to fade out to the sounds of a song about Fernando Torres.

Also, I should have known Manus would abandon Lee Trundle eventually...

It was Lee Trundle who abandoned me :cry:

Lee Trundle was your hero. Hero's never die!

Fantastic game, another good exibit of english football. I agree with Psy, the Chelsea fans are too quiet & dull. The Liverpool fans made the game feel as it were in Anfield.

Hooray, we're through.

Oh bugger we have Man Utd in the semis :(

Someone convince me to support their club in that game.

Will flame supporters of other club in a vocal and annoying manner!

:D

What a mirror from the 1st leg. We controlled the game & I'm sure it's down to having Rio & Nemanja paired in defence again. It would have been even more comfortable if Nemanja did not miss that mad sitter. Not complaining, we're through.

Arsenal next.....smurf



PS: RIP 96

40 yarder from Ronaldo, unbelieveable.

Arsenal are my favourites to go through to the final. I know i'm going against my team here but I place them as the favourites as they have all they're big guns back fresh and fit. Uniteds players still look slightly jaded. I hope I'm wrong of course, but thats my gut feeling!

Fresh and fit? We're down to our Plan Z defence!

never got to see the chelsea liverpool game cause of work
heard it was a belter tho

Depends on who will be fit for the semis... if it's Rooney, Tevez and Ronaldo going up against Silly Silvestre, then I'd back us to score goals. If Van Persie/Adebayor/Arshavin are gunning against Neville, I'd back Arsenal to score goals. Fingers crossed whatever happens both sets of forwards are fully fit as it should be quality entertainment that way! :D

Arshavin can't play in the European Cup for us this year :( - if we had him I'd rate our chances more.

Don't mock Silvestre, he may yet pop up to score the winning goal against you! *ignores the pig floating serenely in the sky behind him*

FA Cup this weekend - but Drogba is playing, which usually spells doom for us against Chelsea. Fingers crossed their bizarre recent defensive form continues for one more game.
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My reaction to the result - :(
My reaction to the team selection - :mad2: - what the hell was Wenger thinking, the game against Liverpool on Tuesday isn't even that important with 4th place 80-90% sealed anyway (and I can only assume he left out Arshavin for that game, otherwise why not play them).

Great, now we just have to beat Man Utd over two games and then Chelsea/Barcelona to win something. I won't hold my breath :(

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Originally Posted by charliepanayi

the game against Liverpool on Tuesday isn't even that important

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Not important?! If Arsenal lose, you will have to put up with my gloating! How is that not important?!

Also: Hahaha Sam Allardyce is Alex Ferguson's bitch. I love it.
Also: smurf Itandje. :bou::bou::bou::bou: goalkeeper, :bou::bou::bou::bou: attitude.

Bah, I'm used to losing at Anfield anyway, 2 wins in the last 15 years or so, not exactly our happiest hunting ground. A draw would be a decent result though. To be honest if we don't get 4th now we're beyond rubbish. I just hope we keep it together for the European Cup now, at the very least don't screw up the team selection and tactics this time.

EDIT: Go Everton! Berbatov's penalty was shocking, how much more of a 'I don't give a crap' attitude can you get. Hope Everton can sucker-punch those West London gits in the final now.

I am most pleased by our progress in the FA Cup this season, especially the really tough draws we've had. I don't think we'll beat Chelsea in the final, but I didn't think we'd beat United today and I was absolutely dreading penalties. Absolutely dreading them. That's three of the top five knocked out by us. Surely we can do one more? :D

smurfing berbatov

http://www.avatarist.com/avatars/Spo...sea-Smiley.jpg

Looking good for the FA cup final! As long as Everton don't do amazingly well, which would just be my luck. :laugh:

Typical isn't it, before the game I'd have taken a draw, then we go and do it in the worst possible way! :(

But I did worry beforehand wich the team we had what was going to happen so when the frustration has subsided I think I'll be happy with the point. And a 4-4 next week would mean four away goals! :D

4-4?

Well

Been there

Done that...

Crazy game. Neither team can defend bless but it's us who capitalise. 2 points dropped at Anfield. The Fat Spanish Waitor seems to have decided to completely change his tactics in recent months. Out with the cautious & in with the devil may care. He'll still draw games, instead of 1-1 it will be 4-4.

If only I made Arshavin captain. But 21 fantasy league points, thanks. :D

Not to mention a 6 point safety net now...

Tottenham, Arshavin and Howard Webb, doing their best to destroy the title race this year!

Oh that Spurs result was brilliant. My mum's boyfriend supports them and went out for the evening when the score was 2-0. Can't imagine he was too pleased when he saw the final score.

Maybe I just saw all the wrong replays but I don't understand why there is such outrage about the penalty. If Gomez even managed to touch it, which is debatable from what replays I was shown, then it was a matter of brushing fingertips to the point that no referee could have seen it anyway. I just don't get it! Even some United fans I know are saying we were lucky. I must be blind. :(

You're not alone BoBBo. I was looking at Setanta Ireland and the commentater went on for a good 5 minutes before calming himself down about how lucky United were. I was laughing. He obviously doesn't have a clue when It comes to penalty decisions because it was a stone-wall penalty. Carrick flicked the ball past Gomes, and then he obstructed & fouled him. Nothing too outragious about it. Anyway...

Whats peoples verdict on the Champions League games? I think United will come out of the Arsenal game either 2-1 or 1-1. Arsenal are scary at the moment. :whimper:

Chelsea V Barca has all the makings to be a classic. I can't wait for the game. I think Barca will find it very tough to break an english team down, and I expect Chelsea to come through the tie ultimately.

Personally I hope Arsenal save all their strength for the league game with United rather than the European one, although I know it won't happen. :D I agree with you on the Barca Chelsea game. Although they're not dominating the Premiership anymore, I think Chelsea play a lot better now than they did under Mourinho.

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Originally Posted by Rocket Edge

Whats peoples verdict on the Champions League games? I think United will come out of the Arsenal game either 2-1 or 1-1. Arsenal are scary at the moment. :whimper:

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Our defence is terrifying, I'll give you that =P

Argh no, not Man Utd v Chelsea again! :(

Away goals may smurf Chelsea over big time in the return leg.

Meanwhile, in the league-

May 10 (1.30pm): United v Man City

May 13 (8pm): Wigan v United

May 16 (12.45pm): United v Arsenal

This is our last hope. 3 games in a week, two of them against United's fiercest rivals. If they pick up 9 points from that marathon, they deserve the league. If only we'd won that game against Boro...!

Also I stand by what I said about Giggs earlier. Apparently he's only started 12 league games this season. I suppose he deserved to win it eventually, as he's the only footballer I can remember still being around from when I first got into it and he's still playing consistently well at a Premiership level, but Vidic can feel hard done by.

Liverpool should look at all the games they drew at home (just like us last year), not losing to Middlesbrough! You've only lost twice all season, that hasn't been the problem.

As for Chelsea, everyone is arguing over how they played last night, but I'm not too fussed about that. I just think it's a major gamble when you take a 0-0 draw away in the first leg, a score draw would put Barcelona through now. The media will probably go crazy that Chelsea have seized the advantage but it's still very much a 50/50 tie.

Oh yeah there's another semi-final tonight :(

I'm staring Man Utd v Chelsea in the face again :(

Wow i'm really pleased with our performance tonight, its the best i've seen us play in a long time. It's probably the spur we got from the spurs game *joke cough..*. Tevez is so important to us, and even though I have time for Berbatov, he would be my choice to partner Rooney up front. I'm also happy with the result, although I can't help but feel we should have gotten more out of the game. Even if it were 2-0, the tie would be dead & buried. 1-0 is still very open to anything.

As for the PFA award, my feelings are the same as Paul's.

We've clearly taken our gameplan from the Harlem Globetrotters in Futurama! To paraphrase Ethan 'Bubblegum' Tate:

"It was always our plan to be behind at half-time, thus deepning Man Utd's eventual humiliation!"

See, we just want to lull them into a false sense of security! Away goals? Pah, who needs them!

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Originally Posted by Psychotic

Also I stand by what I said about Giggs earlier. Apparently he's only started 12 league games this season. I suppose he deserved to win it eventually, as he's the only footballer I can remember still being around from when I first got into it and he's still playing consistently well at a Premiership level, but Vidic can feel hard done by.

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Yeah, I agree; Vidic probably deserved it. I think someone on the LJ Premiership community made the point that Darren Anderton has started more games this season than Giggs. And he retired in December.

Well, we've done our bit to get the Barcodes relegated. How about YOU?

Mmm Michael Owen let me lick your tears. :D

Thank you, Liverpool, for doing your bit to get Newcastle relegated. I, for one, support you in those particular endeavours.

Also well done to Preston sneaking into the play-offs too. I was disappointed that Tranmere were unfortunate enough to lose out on a play-off spot yesterday, but good luck to Alan Irvine.

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Originally Posted by Heath

Thank you, Liverpool, for doing your bit to get Newcastle relegated. I, for one, support you in those particular endeavours.

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You've got a funny way of showing it...!

Well, sod you winning the league. I'm more than happy for you to help relegate Newcastle!

Decent result for us today. Dull first half but the second half was good. The fun tomorrow is seeing who is actually in the worst form: Hull or Villa. Hopefully Hull can do us a favour by beating Villa.

Newcastle v Middlesbrough - expect them to draw, thus screwing each other to probable relegation. But if Hull lose tomorrow they and Sunserland are still right in the brown stuff if there is a winner in the Newcastle v Boro game.

Birmingham go up to the Premiership next year, and one of Sheffield United/Preston/Reading/Burnley will join them. No Cardiff in the playoffs, hooray!

Norwich, Southampton and Charlton all relegated to Division Two/League One, pretty grim all round for those teams. Did Southampton really make the FA Cup final only six years ago?

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Originally Posted by Heath

Well, sod you winning the league. I'm more than happy for you to help relegate Newcastle!

Decent result for us today. Dull first half but the second half was good. The fun tomorrow is seeing who is actually in the worst form: Hull or Villa. Hopefully Hull can do us a favour by beating Villa.

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My point was that said decent result was an odd way to help us relegate Newcastle, seeing as Sunderland are also relegation threatened. Couldn't you have taken one for the team? :p

I just thought I'd pop in to say, come on United! :D

I'm worried, very worried :(

If Arsenal win, you just know they're going to play crap players in the league against United (like we played our reserves in the league after making it to the final in '07) and for my faint and distant title dream, that simply cannot happen! So I guess I have to want United to win.

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Originally Posted by Psychotic

If Arsenal win, you just know they're going to play crap players in the league against United (like we played our reserves in the league after making it to the final in '07) and for my faint and distant title dream, that simply cannot happen! So I guess I have to want United to win.

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I don't think we'd do that, especially if the title is still up for grabs. Not that it will matter as I can't see us winning tonight!

EDIT: This really hurts. Oh well roll on August...

EDIT 2: This really really hurts. How ****ing :bou::bou::bou::bou: were we? Next time can we just lose to Roma and be done with it?

I'm happy with the result obviously but in a strange way I feel sorry for Arsenal somehow tonight. They didn't really have much luck. I sympatise with Gibbs, it looks like his mistake really got to him. After the first goal was scored Arsenal just wanted to go home. I thought the goals were good but the third I thought was a spectacular move.

Anyway, roll on the final! :monster:

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Originally Posted by Psychotic

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Originally Posted by Heath

Well, sod you winning the league. I'm more than happy for you to help relegate Newcastle!

Decent result for us today. Dull first half but the second half was good. The fun tomorrow is seeing who is actually in the worst form: Hull or Villa. Hopefully Hull can do us a favour by beating Villa.

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My point was that said decent result was an odd way to help us relegate Newcastle, seeing as Sunderland are also relegation threatened. Couldn't you have taken one for the team? :p

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Oh yes, but I'm fairly confident United will win the League and I've thought as much for a while now. I - however - am not confident of us getting 5th and so we need the points more than Newcastle's rivals don't. You being a close 2nd is less important to me than Newcastle going down, which is less important than us finishing 5th :p

Fletcher. :( One of my favourite players at United. So gutted. Hope something happens to allow him to play in the final - he was on the bench for the whole game last time around.

I would just like to say I am still extremely pissed.

There is a footballing god after all, I've been spared Man Utd v Chelsea again. Now to pin all my hopes on Barcelona and Everton at the end of the month.

What happened on wednesday night was an absolute disgrace (or in the words of Didier Drogba, a smurfing disgrace). That ref was obviously for Barca because there was at least 2 solid penalty claims turned down. Even though I'm happy with the final, I feel sorry for Chelsea.

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Originally Posted by Rocket Edge

What happened on wednesday night was an absolute disgrace (or in the words of Didier Drogba, a smurfing disgrace). That ref was obviously for Barca because there was at least 2 solid penalty claims turned down. Even though I'm happy with the final, I feel sorry for Chelsea.

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Er...and him sending off a Barcelona player for no real reason? That was to put everyone off the scent was it?

The referee had a poor game, but any suggestion that he was 'for' Barcelona is a load of old tripe. As for teams having good penalty appeals turned down, it's called football! We could all point to games where the teams we supported were on the end of bad decisions.

And Drogba was probably so pissed off as deep down he knew he had a great chance to make the game safe, and he missed it.

My God, last night was hilarious, was it not?

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Originally Posted by charliepanayi

Er...and him sending off a Barcelona player for no real reason? That was to put everyone off the scent was it?

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To be fair, I'd rather 4 penalty decisions to a player on the opposite team getting sent off. The sending off was a joke sure, but Chelsea came out of the game being easily the team hardest done by.

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The referee had a poor game, but any suggestion that he was 'for' Barcelona is a load of old tripe. As for teams having good penalty appeals turned down, it's called football! We could all point to games where the teams we supported were on the end of bad decisions.

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Of course but 4 legit claims in a game isn't just down to bad refereeing, its a disgrace. As for the ref being for Barca, well, that's seems like a reasonable explaination to me after what I witnessed the other night.

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And Drogba was probably so pissed off as deep down he knew he had a great chance to make the game safe, and he missed it.

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True enough I guess, also coupled with the fact that he knows next season Chelsea will be Hiddink-less. Not getting any younger either is he.

If he was 'for' Barcelona, why send off a player of theirs at all, no matter how many penalty shouts Chelsea had. And for the record I think they had two legitimate shouts for a penalty. Again these things happen in football. It's a load of old rubbish, if this game had happened the other way round everyone would be hailing Chelsea for a masterclass in hanging in there and grabbing a late goal. The referee was certainly poor, but that's all. And he sure as hell wasn't responsible for the chance Drogba missed (maybe he'd have found a reason to disallow it!) or for Chelsea deciding to play for a 0-0 in the first leg. You don't score an away goal, it's always a gamble. Sure, they can feel hard done by with some of the decisions, I'd feel hard done by, but any accusations of skullduggery are just daft. Plus referees would be more likely to give Drogba decisions I imagine if he wasn't such a git.

Heath - seeing Jamie Redknapp ready to explode after the game just really put the seal on it.

What? No they wouldn't. If Chelsea played like Barcelona the papers would still hound them the next morning regardless. I know if United played like that I'd be very frustrated at the least. I think the sending off doesn't really count (as I said in my previous post). Now that I think of it more, I think the whole game was just a comedy of errors from the ref.

Anyway, I guess we just have differant opinions here.

So the referee was allegedly for Barcelona, but him putting them a man down when they needed a goal 'doesn't count'? There is clearly a difference of opinion here, but my opinion doesn't involve an accusation with no evidence for said opinion whatsoever. As I already said, it is one thing to feel pissed off over poor decisions, another to say more sinister forces were at work. I'll agree about the litany of errors though.

Also Jamie Redknapp pontificating about how referees from outside the big European leagues shouldn't be officiating games like this, perhaps next time we can get a top British referee for a big European tie. Someone like Howard 'I give hilariously awful penalty decisions' Webb or Graham 'I can't remember giving a player two yellow cards' Poll. Not to mention the referee who (harshly) sent off Fletcher was er. . . Italian.

I was going to make a post on Saturday saying "Liverpool? Top of the league in May? Am I dreaming?!" but, well, you know.

Don't worry Liverpool fans, we'll hold Man Utd on Saturday...they'll win by no more than three goals I swear! :)

Good to see us manage to turn a dead rubber into an embarrassment on the weekend, I'm getting echoes of that 6-1 at Old Trafford a few years back for this Saturday. Newcastle might not even go down now, nothing is going right this year :(

Burnley v Sheffield United to see who gets into the Premiership next year. My money is on the latter.

And the Bundesliga this season looks set to go for the award for most absurdly exciting end to a season ever - four teams are separated by two points at the top with two games to go.

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Originally Posted by charliepanayi

So the referee was allegedly for Barcelona, but him putting them a man down when they needed a goal 'doesn't count'? There is clearly a difference of opinion here, but my opinion doesn't involve an accusation with no evidence for said opinion whatsoever.

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Since when do I need evidence to say what I think? We have a differance of opinion, lets just leave it at that.

Fingers crossed for United to lift the trophey this weekend after the win against Wigan. Arsenal ironically did it to us on our home turf if I can recall properly!

We did, in 2002.

EDIT: Leeds get to spend another year in Division Two/League One. What a shame! :)

EDIT 2: We couldn't get the win to take it to the final weekend but the performance was much improved today. If only we'd played a bit more like that in the two cup semi-finals. But then the problem this season in the league hasn't been playing Man Utd/Chelsea/Liverpool (there was last weekend but we're not the only team to lose 4-1 at home to a big rival this year after all), it was about all the points dropped against the rest of the league. Far too many games drawn at home, losing to Hull and Stoke etc. Liverpool will be left kicking themselves for all their draws at home, but it will be interesting to see if they can go one better next year.

The relegation scrap will be going to the final weekend at least. I think Hull will drop and Newcastle will survive. It'd be nice if by some miracle both went down though!

Champions again :)

Bye West Brom. :( They have some of the best fans in the Premiership imho.

I was so looking forward to joining you guys next season too :(

Hat-trick of titles, I'm very happy. :monster:

I thought West Brom really brought something to the premiership this season. Although relegated they can leave with their heads held high.

And we'll probably see them in a couple of seasons anyway.

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Originally Posted by Loony BoB

And we'll probably see them in a couple of seasons anyway.

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Which is more than can be said for Newcastle if they go down maybe :D - well you never know I guess, but seeing as Division Two/League One next season will have five ex-Premiership teams in it relegation can really mess some teams up. I think West Brom will be back anyway.

In other news (sees everyone rapidly fall asleep), I see that England are getting their bid for the 2018/2022 World Cup (FIFA will decide both simultaneously) underway. The following countries are bidding:

2018 or 2022: Australia, England, Indonesia (!), Qatar (!!), Mexico, Russia, China, USA, Greece, Belgium/Holland, Portugal/Spain.

2022 only: Austria/Switzerland, Japan/South Korea (again?!)

I think 2018 will go to a European country (most likely England if they don't mess up their bid, Russia is too much of a logistical nightmare and FIFA dislike joint bids I think), and then 2022 will be in Australia or the USA. Would be nice to see the World Cup here with any luck.

It is now a famous Premier League tradition. The Brummie Yo-Yos. Too good for the Championship, too bad for the Premiership. WBA, Wolves & Birmingham City. Every season sees at least one get promoted or relegated. I think they need an all new division for themselves.

They could just call it the 'Birmingham and surrounding towns' division

Bye bye Newcastle! :) - the 'big club' will be playing Peterborough next year, I'll be found somewhere laughing my head off.

Hull City can consider themselves very lucky though, one win in 22 games or so, staying up with 35 points, they're only staying up because of the combined ineptitude of Newcastle and Middlesbrough. I'd say that Hull are the second worst team to survive a season in the Premiership (second only to Bradford in 2000).

Happy for Hull, and I laugh at Newcastle. I've never seen a club bring so much trouble upon itself and be the victom of it's own downfall.

5th again, I am most pleased as that's the best we'll realistically manage in the League without a serious injection of funds. Fingers crossed for Saturday, naturally. Pleased Newcastle are gone. I'll look forward to visiting St. James' Park with my Plymouth supporting friend next season!

It was 20 years ago today...

YouTube - Anfield 89

A shame I'm just too young to remember it really (aside from my Dad picking me up and throwing me into the air when we scored - and catching me thankfully!) but I still get a stupid big grin when I see that goal.

It's also 10 years ago today since Man Utd won some game in Barcelona, but that's not so important! ;)

Well done to Burnley, Premiership-bound next season. And there's a match on in Rome tomorrow, sounds like it could be good.

Any Tooners gonna be coming down Swansea next season? We can discuss the finer points of correct executive management and Dennis Wise over an alcoholic beverage in Wetherspoons.

Come on United! :jess:

Come on Barcelona and Everton this week! I'm more in hope than expectation here, especially for the latter.

Well, Barca have won. I only hope my own team have a similar match to (what I gather) Barcelona had this evening. I'd give anything for the FA Cup.

Woo-hoo! Go Barcelona!

Gutted, not particularly about the result, but just how we played. We were terrible. I've never seen the likes of Giggs, Park, & Carrick play as bad as I've seen tonight. Berbatov being sent on was an error as he's been out of confidence since January. I think the only players that bothered throughout the whole match was Ronaldo, Tevez (when he came on), and Van Der Sar. I'm just really disapointed with the team. After the first goal went in we were a tactical mess and we couldn't get a hold of the ball. I know what the circumstances were when we conceded early, our game plan being interupted & chasing the game, but It would have been nice to see us not making so many blatent mistakes. The last time we played like that was against Milan away in 07'.

But rants aside I feel the better team won regardless, so congrats to Barca.

Man Utd are excellent and have had an excellent season, but they just ran into a team at the top of their game tonight, and picked a bad night to have a below-par performance themselves.

I think this Barcelona tonight though may get bracketed with Milan in 1994, Real Madrid in 1960 and Ajax in 1972/1973 in terms of great European Cup final team performances.

>>> I loved this final..

If only we had a player who could operate in central midfield and chase a ball, we might have done better. I'm not saying if Fletcher played we would have won, but we would have looked a hell of a lot more respectable than that. We shut up shop after the first goal - someone should have told the players that you're only supposed to do that sort of thing if you score the goal. =| But yeah, outplayed and we didn't deserve to win.

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Originally Posted by Psychotic

Just finish ahead of Arsenal. Just finish ahead of Arsenal. Just finish ahead of Arsenal. Just finish ahead of Arsenal. Just finish ahead of Arsenal. Just finish ahead of Arsenal. Just finish ahead of Arsenal. Just finish ahead of Arsenal. Just finish ahead of Arsenal. Just finish ahead of Arsenal. Just finish ahead of Arsenal. Just finish ahead of Arsenal. Just finish ahead of Arsenal. Just finish ahead of Arsenal. Just finish ahead of Arsenal. Just finish ahead of Arsenal. Just finish ahead of Arsenal.

And win the CL. Of course.

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Well... 17 out of 18 goals aint bad. :aimsun:

Everton seem to fulfil all the goals I set them every season. Considering the only goal I ever have is a hangover from the pre-David Moyes era. "Don't get relegated."

Gareth Barry what have you done?

I laughed quite a bit at that. It's a real shame as I'd genuinely like Barry to have come to us if there was ever a chance of that. Oh Man City, when will you learn?

Congrats to Moyes as well winning LMA Manager of the Year for a record third season. I think perhaps Hodgson deserved better, but I think yet again Moyes has had a great season.

Disappointed by the result on Saturday. Chelsea deserved to win and they were the better team. I just wish we had won because I think we deserve a trophy for how well we've played the last three or four years. We had a much tougher route to the final than Chelsea (who only played one Premiership team en route to the final, compared to Everton beating Liverpool, Man Utd, Boro and Aston Villa). I guess that's the gulf between the two teams in terms of money. I don't think the referee was fantastic and felt that booking on Hibbert was harsh, but I think the final really showed just how weak a link he is in our defence. I think on the day if we'd had Arteta, Yakubu and Jagielka than perhaps we might've won. I'm gutted, of course I am, but not entirely surprised. I just wish it were the case that we could compete with a ridiculously wealthy club like Chelsea because I think some of our players genuinely deserve a taste of success for a change and unfortunately I don't think 5th place and hitting our heads on the glass ceiling is really what some of them deserve, in spite of how good being 'best of the rest' is.

There's always next year, I guess.

Gareth Barry is a sellout, who'd have thought it?

Worst excuse ever for a transfer?

England move another step closer to the World Cup, they'll probably seal it in September. Meanwhile Australia, South Korea, Japan and Holland have become the first lot of teams to qualify.

Boy those Asian slots sure are hard to predict. :p

North Korea may yet grab the fourth Asian place though, that would be fun :D

Didn't North Korea famously knock Italy out of the 1966 World Cup?

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Originally Posted by Psychotic

Didn't North Korea famously knock Italy out of the 1966 World Cup?

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Yes - in the first round after beating them 1-0. They then astonishingly went 3-0 up inside 25 minutes against Portugal in the quarter-finals before Eusebio single-handedly dragged Portugal back into it with four goals and North Korea wound up losing 5-3. It's the only World Cup they've ever reached.

Ireland actually have a decent chance of qualifying for once, Only a point behind Italy with 1 less game played, still have the 2nd Italy game to play & 5 points ahead of Bulgaria:D

Actually they're one point behind Italy with one MORE game played. But yeah they could get second at this rate (I can't see them catching Italy) and enter a playoff with any luck.

And so Real Madrid pay almost half of what Man City were offering for Kaka. City are such top comedy gold sometimes.

Yeah, they are, but Real Madrid are too. I still can't get over their "We will thrash Liverpool and it will be a celebration on the streets", which ended in a 4-0 drubbing for them. Mind you, their latest effort, £59m for Kaka, is pretty funny too!

EDIT: Also hearing £56m and £62m. Make your minds up, media!

Man Utd accept an £80 million offer from Real Madrid for Ronaldo. These amounts of money are getting ridiculous! Still, no player is indispensable and Man Utd will be able to buy plenty of players with that amount of money if the deal goes through. And it would mean no more Ronaldo in the Premiershiop - hooray!

Would love it if we got Ribery, but am more expecting Valencia. If it is indeed the latter then I hope like hell we get another player, too. Also, apparently Nani is to be a cash-plus-player swap to Sporting for Moutinho. Would take that for sure.

Let him off. If he isn't happy to be at United then just go. When I heard what he said after the CL final I knew he was a goner. I'm still really thankful for everything he's done for us. Next season will be interesting, but probably less exciting. I'm a fan of Valencia & Ribery. If we got one (or two) of them then I would be delighted. With Ronaldo going, the void is there for a natural goalscorer in the team. It's the only thing that truely worries me about his departure.

As for Madrid, expect them to not make it past the 5th round in the CL next year again. You can all the talent that god gives but if your defence is that bad, you won't get very far. Sergio Ramos is an absolute joke. £138 million spent on two players, when really they should be bolstering their defence.

Real Madrid are indeed trying the stratey of just buying big players for big amounts of money and hoping it all sticks, but that isn't the best strategy. Players still have to gel as a team and there's no guarantee it'll happen just because you have Ronaldo etc playing for you.

I think the above comment is rather harsh on Ramos though, he is clearly not the one pulling the strings here but he will be the one who gets the blame if the team doesn't go and win everything next year. Plus I feel sorry for Ramos, he suffers a bit from the Shevchenko effect, that even if a player or manager has been successful abroad, if they do badly in the Premiership then in the eyes of the British media they're clearly rubbish.

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Originally Posted by Loony BoB

Would love it if we got Ribery, but am more expecting Valencia. If it is indeed the latter then I hope like hell we get another player, too. Also, apparently Nani is to be a cash-plus-player swap to Sporting for Moutinho. Would take that for sure.

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I'll have you know that Moutinho is mere days away from joining Everton. I should know, I read about it last summer.

hahahahah £80m hahahahahahaaahha

Christ, for the money they spent on Kaka and Ronaldo they could've bought Newcastle United and then Fernando Torres!

Aah, there is a God.

Hey, remember that time when we bought all the world's best attacking players? That worked out really well for us! Let's do it again!

Hopefully the £80m will go on the Glazers' mortgage and not on players else we're all smurfed.

I'm sure Ferguson will spend it on gum, no worries.

Despite his 42 goal hall in 07/08 Ronaldo is one of soccers most overrated players. He always seems to bottle it in the big games & he's a big sissy & all round douche bag. He aint worth 80m but well done to United since they only bought him for 12.5m not a bad profit. The Premiership wont miss him!

I have to disagree. Ronaldo over the past two years has at times single-handedly put us through games. Roma & Porto away instantly spring to mind.

@charliepanayi: I was talking about the defender, Sergio Ramos. Yeah, I'd imagine Juande has little or no say about transfers in & out at this stage.

FAO: BoB

Spain 5 New Zealand 0
Torres hat-trick

:aimsun:

Brazil v Egypt earlier was a great game, 4-3, Egypt desperately unlucky.

Fixtures for next season on Wednesday morning.

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Originally Posted by Psychotic

FAO: BoB

Spain 5 New Zealand 0
Torres hat-trick

:aimsun:

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I watched some of that! I saw the first two Torres goals and the Fabregas goal. I also saw NZ take a shot at goal at one point! I was so proud. ;_;

More upset about the losses in the rugby and cricket that came about on the same weekend, personally. =/ Three NZ teams representing three sports I enjoy, all losing. Gutted!

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Originally Posted by Shattered Dreamer

Despite his 42 goal hall in 07/08 Ronaldo is one of soccers most overrated players. He always seems to bottle it in the big games & he's a big sissy & all round douche bag. He aint worth 80m but well done to United since they only bought him for 12.5m not a bad profit. The Premiership wont miss him!

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As much as I really dislike Ronaldo and - in many respects - how he plays his game, I certainly think he's an extremely talented player and one who could go on to be one of the greats of football.

Also lol @ Benitez trying to get Johnson for £17m. Wasn't it just the other week he was moaning about how he doesn't have a lot of money to spend by comparison to Man Utd? I wish we had £17m to spend, never mind on one player.

...and apparently they're going to sell off Arbeloa for £8m? If they do, it would be beyond belief. To say Johnson is worth £17-18m and Arbeloa is worth merely £8m is silly. Especially when you're, apparently, selling to Real Madrid of all clubs. They should be shelling out bucketloads more than that. And as for Real Madrid going for Sagna: Ha! Sorry, but I just don't rate Sagna as one of the best fullbacks in the world - but maybe that's just me.

It really smurfing is, isn't it. It's the whole "being English" thing I suppose. :|

Are we going to set up a new thread at some point for the new season? Or just re-name this one?

Yeah, we should probably set up a new one now-ish. Don't we usually start them in the close season? It's been a good one, guys, in spite of the lack of random image posting that we had at the end of the last one.