Lets Talk Football

Can you imagine if he became a manager and then took Roy Keane as his assistant? If they played badly, do you think they'd have the balls to go back in the dressing room?

It'd be kind of a Nasty Cop/Arsey Cop combo.

Getting on to Keano, he seems to suffer from the Hoddle Syndrome as a manager. Apparently Hoddle, well into his 40s, would still play 5-a-side and participate in dead ball training, never quite able to come to terms with the actual players not being as skilful as he was. He could never 'come down' to their level in order to raise it.

Keane was never a skilful player, he'll admit that himself, but I don't think anyone (barring maybe The Neviller against Liverpool) had his desire, certainly not in the Premier League era.

You'd think that desire and attitude would count for a heck of a lot but he's never seemed to make his teams play with it apart from when he was actually on the pitch, leading by example.

Ferguson did a revealing interview a while back on how he's had to modify his style for the new breed of hyper-rich footballer. The legendary hair-dryer doesn't work as well as it used to.

You can imagine it still carries weight with the old school guys like Scholes and maybe even Ferdinand but someone like Nani? He'd probably go on strike.

__________________
"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

Not a bad game last night, eh? Didn't see the Spurs match but did hear something about UEFA planning to probe Gattuso's butt.

Sounds painful.

That Wilshire kid ran the show - It looked like he was always 3 or 4 yds ahead of the game in his head. He's half my age.

Also, massive props to Wenger for seemingly solving his goalkeeping problems in typically obdurate stylee - Picking former All Saints singer Shaznay Lewis!

A more workmanlike affair from Spurs, but still, out battled their battling midfielders, which is one of the many things 'Old Spurs' (TM, move to Isle of Mann pending) wouldn't have done.

They kinda threw their toys outta the pram (which I sorta understand given that Gomez swatted their best attempts). Some pretty despicable childishness/violence as well tho.

Actually liked Sherwood's assessment that Flamini not getting sent off did us a favour - they still attacked, and let us hit em on the break. (And little Len did very well indeed to flummox Nesta and find Giant Mantis Man, or whatever we're calling him this week )

(Pienar's actually looking a neat purchase, given injuries. He's pretty tidy and hardworking, and looks forward well. Not sure where he fits when everyone's fit tho :S)

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

If Pienar wanted regular football he should have stayed at Everton or joined a team outside the top 5 or 6. He's an excellent little player but at the level of club he's now at he's not gonna get a game every week. See also: Kranjcar, Niko.

Also, how hard is Joe 'some of my best friends are Italian' Jordan? I know he had a bit of a reputation as a player but to calmly remove your specs just before the sh*tstorm shows a cool head hitherto only associated with Clint Eastwood in the 70s.

EDIT - Now that I think about it, he could just have been conforming to his national stereotype. I mean, my glasses cost a couple of hundred. I've owned cheaper cars.

Yeah it is pretty brave by the young Saffa. As a utility player I imagine he's more flexible than Niko, but I'd love to have both of them there willing to be major-league back up. (Not that either of em want that - even if we keep providing multiple competitions etc).

In the interim tho, I'm chuffed by our midfield (Sandro is looking like he might be the diamond in the rough we were hoping too).

And Joe 'Jaws' Jordan is indeed as calm and collected a psycho as you'd care to meet

Anyone catch Arsenal-Barcelona yesterday? Messi wasn't on his usual level, missing a couple of chances he'd normally knock in. The way Barcelona played yesterday, Arsenal has a 50-50 chance of pushing on. I was impressed by my boys yesterday. They showed heart, endurance, precision counters and a level of skill that at times wasn't far off what Barcelona regularly shows. Of course, I am massively biased, but they embarassed Barça with that second goal; that was a thing of beauty. And Jack Wilshere: brilliant game.

Bring on the return!

I didn't see any of the football midweek, though I did see the extended highlights on Sky Sports. An excellent result for both Spurs and Arsenal, though I still can't see Barcelona doing anything but winning in the Nou Camp. I also don't see Pep making such a glaring mistake with the subs again, as he did last night. Still, Arsenal deserse a huge amount of praise for their play and, more importantly, the result. An excellent result for Shakhtar Donetsk, too. I don't know why, but I do like to see Roma get a spanking.

Check out the reaction on the Italian version of Soccer Saturday to the Milan/Spurs result.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2...ilan-tottenham

I lol'd because I read "Crouch She Male"

I know. It cracked me up too. Apparently it means "Cr-Ouch That Hurt".

Good old James Richardson - "After a set-to with Jordan leaving his image in tatters, is Gattuso the new Peter Andre?"

Much classier than 'Gattuso butt probe'.

Wilshere is certainly coming to the fore this year. Over 90% pass success rate against a team like barcelona is no mean feat

__________________
Comment is free but facts are sacred

Great result for Birmingham yesterday. I don't agree that it proves that Arsenal can't win the big one or that they don't have the mentality of winners. Arsenal have shown on various occassions over the last few years (as recently as Newcastle in the 4-4) that they're mentally fragile. They're more likely to beat themselves as they are have someone else beat them. However, yesterdays defeat was a bad mistake made just a couple of yards from goal, only 5 minutes before the end of the game. Not only that, it fell to an opposition player who was completely unmarked in the 6 yard box. The talk should be that, as well as they played, they were lucky to not be down to 10 men after one of the worst offside's calls I've seen in forever. So pleased that Birmingham ended up winning. I think this'll mean a lot more to the Birmingham fans than the Arsenal fans.

What the Hell happened to Liverpool yesterday? They barely had a clear chance at goal and this is against West Ham!

Lastly, while I can understand why some close to United/Fergie aren't going to condemn what Rooney did, why aren't others? He doesn't talk to the Beeb anyway, so surely they (if no one else) have carte blanche to say that, with Chelsea and Liverpool in the next week he doesn't want Rooney banned for those games given how important they are to United's title hopes. Win them and they're really looking strong with, effectively, just the game at the Emirates to give Arsenal hope and United have had Arsenal's number for the past few seasons home and away.

What with so many journalists banned from Carrington, you'd think one of them would go for it.

Braindead, more like.

For all their attacking flair this collection of players must be the stupidest in the division - they never seem to learn. The main culprit yesterday, I think, was Song.

He looked like he was shaping into a top class defensive Midfielder last season but this term he's obviously decided that's not sexy enough and wants to be a Gerrard or Lampard, bombing forward with every opportunity giving no notice to the huge holes he's leaving. Fair enough if others are around to cover him but he's the only player in the squad capable of playing a traditional holding role. He was woeful yesterday.

Sadly for l'Arse, for every Wilshere there's a nonentity like Rosicky who's injuries seem to have robbed him of the spark he once had. Wenger has to take the blame for not at least sticking him out wide because Nasri was totally neutered out there and was constantly looking to drift inside. Then there's Arshavin. For all the fanny merchants in that midfield he must be the most frustrating for a manager - He's either on fire and unplayable or dreadful with a first touch that couldn't trap a dead rat.

van Persie showed why the club persist with someone as injury prone but also why they should think about moving him on, or at the very least bring someone in who's approaching his level to take the strain in the 50% of the season when he's injured - Phenomenal strike which knackered his knee. This could only be Arsenal.

Cracking game though, one of the best cup finals I've seen in recent years and well done to Brum. As a former resident of Birmingham I know the pain their supporters have felt, so close to a proud old club like Villa with a trophy cabinet and stuff.

but

Lucky there aren't any Liverpool fans on this thread, Christine.

Anyone else think that officialdom decided to get Rooney another way? Looked like they just decided that he wasn't playing last night, therefore, you couldn't foul him. Hell, the way that Chelsea were allowed to tackle last night, I think they extended that theory to the whole team.

Not looking forward to the weekend now without (possibly) Rio and Vidic. I can only hope that Liverpool play like they did last weekend which, seeing as it's at Anfield against United, is highly unlikely.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/...article/37191/



There's more pics (and the story) if you click the link, but you have to wonder about the quality of the game.

I can see this being a barnstorming end to the season even if the likes of Chelsea don't muscle their way in and make it a 3 horse race.

Arsenal seem to have done what they've done in each of the past few seasons - An unexpected defeat which knocks the stuffing out of them mentally (yet to be seen this time round - was that 5-0 romp against Orient enough?) followed by a succession of injuries.

Man Utd have some tricky matches which a vintage team would have had no trouble against. This isn't a vintage Utd team.

Maybe it's a bit sad that the season could be decided by who is less weak/frail but it sure makes things exciting.

Oof, tense but turgid. Not our finest hour in football terms, but a bita history for the Spuds

(Norty Harry saying we'd go all at em tho - we were pretty much 1 upfront at home, and spent most of our time dinging balls at that lanky noggin. Little bit shameful, but sod it, it worked . Defence were immense, even if Milan were a bit paltry in final third.)

Gol, Spurs and football fans in general, take a look at this tribute to Gareth Bale's performances against Inter.

http://www.runofplay.com/s/17571/

It's absolutely fabulous.

Looking forward to this evening's game. Big game for both teams, I think. I'm worried about the lack of width we're going to suffer, though. Playing Arsenal through the middle isn't usually a good idea at the best of times, but with United's midfield, it's almost suicidal. Thank God Vidic will be back.

We know that United play 4-5-1 in the big games and it's worked particularly well against Arsenal over the last few years, but with Rooney not looking like he's ever going to be 'Rooney' again, we've no one who can play the 1. No Nani or Valencia (and it doesn't look like Park is ready) we've no width, as I said or pace.

Still, at least Arsenal look to have their usual assortment of injuries.

It'll be interesting to see if Wenger picks a strong side or not. Wasn't it the last time the two teams played in the cup the he sent the kids out and they got roundly spanked?

That said, given the amount of injuries l'Arse have, he's probably got no option but to go with whoever is available.

Surely he must realise that his squad are extremely brittle? One suspects the bargains he's picked up over the years are underpriced because they're injury prone - That certainly seems the case with Rosicky.

If Football Manager (and I have no reason to doubt it ) is anything to go by, that guy should have become one of the best players in the world but I'm sure I remember reading somewhere that his old club were so fed up with the amount of injuries he was picking up that they sent him for tests. It turned out that the guy has some sort of birth defect which is only going to get worse the longer he plays and they offloaded him once that became clear.

I'm sure I didn't dream that.

Turning to Man Utd's resident crock, it seems pretty likely that they'll let Hargreaves go in the summer. A completely different but equally talented midifielder struck down before his prime.

The club certainly need some new blood through the middle. Scholes and Giggs are viably starting to creak now, Carrick must possess incriminating photographs of Fergie (the only reason I can think of as to why he's got a new contract), Fletcher is an honest toiler and not much more and Gibson really shouldn't be at a club that size.

If he keeps his head and body fresh, Anderson might start to perform consistently but I think they need at least two seasoned campaigners in the summer.