Lets Talk Football

It's got lots of comedy potential

None of us have ever seen the kid play, and the idea of having him playing alongside gangly-giant Crouch as our front line is just weird. But who knows. Chances are Owen will be fit, and he'll play with Crouch. But to be honest, there are still some big doubts over big man, tidy feet or no. It's gonna be... intriguing

The only other oddities were the inclusion of Hargreaves (Bayern Munich) and Jenas (Spurs) as midfield backup - both are really similar: they're very mobile and can play in lots of positions, but they're both prone to going missing as well.

I'm happy Lennon (Spurs) got the call tho. His game is coming on leaps and bounds. He's a left-back's nightmare. (And i'd kinda like to see him terrorise a Swedish defence - we've never really ruffled your feathers in the past)

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Did you hear about the bizarre farce on the final day of the Premier league btw? Most of the Spurs team got food poisoning, played poorly in their game (which couldn't be postponed), and lost - meaning we get UEFA football rather than CL. Bugger.

It seems we're appealing for a replay, but i doubt we'll get it. Bit of a painful way to lose the 4th spot we've held for 7 months or so tho. (And losing it to Arsenal too. Grr )

Ah well, can't argue with the drama

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Virtual Reality chatter on a movie site? Got endless amounts of it here. Reviews over here

Theo-nly way is up?

At least no one can criticise Sven for being one-dimensional in his selections anymore and I'd say he's preparing to play 4-5-1 with Carrick/Hargreaves (who'd probably not have gone if King were fit) sitting behind Beckham, Gerrard, Lampard & Cole and Owen on his own up front. If Rooney was going to make it (and I doubt he will) it would be an ideal formation for him, rather than Owen, as a striker.

The rumour doing the rounds today about Spurs' asking for a replay is apparently nothing to do with them actually thinking the FA would agree - remember West Ham have the cup final coming up too so they're not going to want it. If the club are planning to sue the hotel then they'll have to prove that they've explored all avenues before asking for £10 million compo.

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"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan

Erm, should we dress him in walcotton wool? (argh, you started this )

Ay, that'd make sense. Goals from midfield and all that. Not ideal for Owen tho, like you say.

Heh, that'd be sneaky . At least we'd get some spending cash, even if we've lost out on some 'star appeal'. (Not that we were ever destined to beat West Ham or anything. Bet they loved the fact that Defoe scored and we lost anyway tho )

He's an odd one Defoe incidently. It seems like he can only score the difficult goals - but when he does it they're class. I'm sort of glad in some ways he's not in the squad, coz his movement still isn't good enough. He can make goals out of nothing, but he can't make 'em happen, if you know what i mean.

He lost his place in the team at the wrong time too. Walcott is an interesting choice and should definately get a run out in the friendlies - if only that people (outside of Southampton and diehard Gooner reserve team followers) can say they've seen the kid play. He's faster than Henry apparently but, if that's the reason he's in the squad, why didn't Sven pick Dwain Chambers?

I hear he's free right now.

EDIT - The new England boss is now on ITV right now looking like he's late for a wedding...

Shame for Boro tonight, but they've had their fare share of luck in the UEFA cup this season.
Could see the sucker punch coming when Boro tried their four strikers approach, wonder if McClaren will try this approach with England.
England squad is a strange one, Walcott could surprise everyone, but Sven's playing a risky game with Owen and Rooney, should have taken another option, Bent or Defoe.
Shame for Spurs, I really wanted them to have a crack at the CL, let's hope Jol's team are not one season wonders.
So here's hoping for a West Ham FA cup win and Barca to win the CL before the mighty Brazil squash England on their way to picking up another World Cup!!!!

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Hey Pepe, would you say I have a plethora of presents?


Toga, toga, toga......


Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbour?

Right, I finally took the time to check the England squad.
I'm a football fan minus the 'anatic so on technicality I fairly suck.

David James is frankly for me too risky now as a goalkeeper. I think major tournaments are really getting to him and I wouldn't put it past him to fumble as many balls as he catches now. No matter how good his form is outside international games I feel his skill during those international matches should take precedent. He is not reliable!

Robinson I like. Steady, reliable and with a bit of flair. I would trust Robinson. As long as the defence does it's job of course too.

I know next to nothing of Robert Green.

Gary Neville, well most definately superior to his inept brother Phil. I trust him to a point, he is not above being infallable but I would have added him to the squad if I was in charge. Probably one of our best options.

Ashley Cole is a hit and miss for me, combines excellence with stupidity. If he sticks to the former rather then the latter then thats good.

Wayne Bridge, good lefter.

John Terry is good but when he's bad he's awful! Personally I wouldn't have picked him. He is the Emil Heskey of defence.

I don't know whether its me but Rio Ferdinand appears a little off form of late. In fact he has been awful quiet.

Sol Campbell. I love this guy! His passion for that elusive goal is admirable and to be paired with an in form Neville they would make quite a pair.

Jamie Carragher. Good footballer.

Now David Beckham is the heart of the team. As long as he avoids going into one of his funks he should raise the spirits of the other players. Its not just about the skill, even though he has that too.

Don't have a clue about Aaron Lennon.

Joe Cole, has plenty of good qualities. He's a fighter.

Stewert Downing. Knowledge zip.

Frank Lampard, over-rated in my opinion despite his record. At least on the international scene.

Steven Gerrard. I miss the old Gerrard, the feisty lets kick ass Gerrard. Hope to see that one during the games.

I really don't know with Carrick.

Jermaine Jenas? I find it hjard to be impressed by him.

Owen Hargreaves. Nooooo...
I don't like him.

Should I bother commenting on Wayne Rooney? Not that it matters now but I really think people should not look to Rooney as a cure for the England squad ills. He is not a miracle worker. A good footballer yes, a realiable and umissable member of the squad, no.

Owen has been a godsend to England. He may not be much of a passing player but when he is fed then that ball bar some distaster is heading towards the goal. If it were not for that damn injury.

Peter Crouch is just O.K. But that opinion is more then likely due to the poor performance record he had at my club Villa.

Theo Walcott, untested but I have a strangely good feeling about him.

Overall our defence is reasonably solid with a few bad apples, our midfield certainly has more then enough of a mix to give us a chance and as for the strikers? Oh S**t.

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Definitely. When it really comes down to it we all know it's about the hair.

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The novelist does not long to see the lion eat grass. He realizes that one and the same God created the wolf and the lamb, then smiled, "seeing that his work was good".

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They had temporarily escaped the factories, the warehouses, the slaughterhouses, the car washes - they'd be back in captivity the next day but now they were out - they were wild with freedom. They weren't thinking about the slavery of poverty. Or the slavery of welfare and food stamps. The rest of us would be all right until the poor learned how to make atom bombs in their basements.

Oh yes. That hair is the distant cousin of the secret fourth member of the music group Busted.

They don't play music.

(Actually, i reckon that's where Becks'll go after football. Into the 'not making music' industry )

Too late his wife already beat him to that.

What a bloody great cup final eh? Two excellent goals by Gerrard, i hope he's okay for the World Cup now!

Also who's been watching the play-offs?

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A great cup final, just gutted for West Ham though.
Would also have liked to have seen Gretna win the Scottish cup, so 0 for 2 so far, I'm relying on Barca and Ronaldinho to at least make one of my predictions come true.

So what did you think of the Champions League final? My two friends that I watched it with thought it was a bit unfair and seemed to think that it was all Lehmann's fault. I beg to differ... Ok, if it had to be absolute justice here then 1-1 perhaps would have been the most fair result. But a tie is impossible as we all know and I can definitely live with Barcelona as European champions. I think Arsenal was lucky that the referee didn't give Lehmann the red card AND allow the play to continue, thus giving Barca the 1-0 lead as well.

Ah well, at least the news that Henry's decided to stay will sooth many a Gooner brow. With the kids in the team having more experience, who's to say they won't go one better in the next few seasons?

Just make someone else captain and buy a reserve striker who's fit to lick his boots - that way they can be motivated in a different way than having to watch a few Gallic shrugs and withering stares and the manager will have the confidence to replace his best player when his legs have gone.

Wonderful player, just not a captain. Non?

Hey Bobby, what's the French for 'The grass isn't always greener'?

Veneto la religion universal de la magioransa de l'homo sapiens no xe altra che el balon
Sicilian 'a riligioni universali dill'homo sapiens non è autra ca 'u calciu
Neapolitan 'a religione e cuase tutte l' homo sapiens nun è ate ca 'o calcio
Japanese ホモサピエンスの大多数にとって世界的宗教とは、サッカーである
Korean 대다수 호모사피언스의 보편적인 종교는 바로 축구에 지나지 않는다
Aragonese a relixión unibersal, ta ra mayoría d'os umáns, no ye atra cosa que ro fúrbol
English the universal religion, for the majority of homo sapiens, is none other than football

- George Steiner

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We're a generation of men raised by women. I'm wondering if another woman is really the answer we need.

I'm really glad for Arsenal and I've always liked players who stay in their team despite offers from other bigger clubs. If you're happy about your life and the club is better than good, then why move?

I think you're right about Arsenal needing another striker though to take some pressure off Henry. They are more or less playing a 4-5-1 system (or 4-4-1-1 perhaps), which works just fine obviously, but maybe the good old 4-4-2 with two sizzling strikers could do even more damage.

I say, buy Ibrahimovic from Juventus.

I'm happy, for the sake of the premiership, that H is staying on. (Tho man did he throw a gallic strop t'other night ). Dunno about a move from 4-4-1-1. They seem to have played a lot of their more stunning football in that kind of set up.

Which is why the red was so annoying last night [altho pretty justified]. I wanted to see at least 90mins of beautfiul flowing football, and then for Arsenal to lose

(so long as Barca won it on merit )

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Oh, and on a comedy side-note... the opening sequence to &search=tottenham spurs fan-vid has got to be one of the funniest things i've seen in ages. (After that it gets quite moving tho, for a fan . *sniff*)

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EDIT:
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And... just to put some fear into ya Pidz, if you watch the whole 9 mins, you're mainly watching a bunch of England reserves/subs in action - plus the first choice keeper. And they looking gooood . [If you take out the contributions of Keane and big Mido up front, plus Davids, the rest of the highlights are almost all the Spurs England-boys. Carrick and Jenas in the middle, Lennon on the wing, and Defoe up front]. And Defoe's only in as emergency back-up

[The central defenders are both England hopefuls too tho, i should point out - they just ain't going this time . The national squad's doing alright in that position ]

(We'll probably concede loads now i've said that...)

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PS... Arsenal better bloody not buy Ibrahimovic

Yay, Dawson's been brought into the England reserves (as cover for the right back position - which is weird, coz he's never played there, as far as i know. I believe they call this 'the way of the Eriksson' ). 6 Spurs players are going out now all told tho. Yiiii . We're dominating the subs and reserves benches

Good for Watford!

Hmm its a Hotspur invasion!
Where the heck are the Villa Players in the England squad? Villa isn't all bad.

You've got some class players for sure. Barry can consider himself unlucky not to be pushing for a position for a start. Maybe you're being punished for getting Mellberg back to full fitness for Sweden?