Official Football Thread

I think Chelsea will have too much for the rest this season.I don't know how the World Championship will affect Man U.The strange thing about this season so far is that if anyone in the top 4 has a slip up, no one is capitalising on it.I don,t think Villa will keep above Arsenal,they're even more inconsistent than Man U, LIverpool,Chelsea & Arsenal.

Next Weekends game against Arsenal is crucial.
 
I'd like Liverpool to win the title this year, like Albie says the Man U-Chelsea duopoly is incredibly boring. But I agree with your assessment on Benitez, Kopfanatic, I've never been a fan of his. Not playing Keane at all last weekend is completely beyond me.
He did something similar last year - spends 30 odd million on Torres, but rests him for a home league game against Birmingham, which they draw. 3/4 days later, Torres is playing 90 minutes in the Carling Cup.  :huh:

I see quite a bit of Villa, and they're a very good side on their day, but I'll agree with you that they're inconsistent. So far this season they've lost away at Stoke and Newcastle, lost at home to Middlesboro, and drew at home to Fulham and Portsmouth - all games they should have won. If they had they'd be 6 points clear at the top! Obviously you can't win all the games you should on paper, but my point is that they should definitely have more points than they do at the moment. I still believe they'll finish above Arsenal though. Another striker in January would definitely help.
 
All I am hoping for is for Chelsea's poor(ish) home form to continue into the third round of the FA Cup. :D
 
I was hoping that Martin O'Neil would find his way to Anfield as manager but it wasn't to be.At the risk of being verbally lynched by fellow Liverpool supporters, I reckon our slide started by appointing Kenny Dalgleish as manager.An absolute legend as a player, but I think he was a lucky lad having Bob Paisley/Joe Fagin and Roy Evans as backroom staff to fall back on.I would have won loads as manager if i had inherited that team & with those guys as support.The cracks started to show when he was more isolated and the decisions rested solely with him.If I remember correctly he lost it by buying the likes of Jimmy Carter and david Speedie(I'll stand corrected if I'm wrong about these players, but I'm sure it was Dalgleish).He knew he was going to be found out, and left after the 4-3defeat against Everton.We've been trying to catch up ever since .He did buy some great players, and conducted himself brilliantly after the Hillsborough disaster, but to retire on 'medical grounds' seems suspect.
 
Rooney cleared by UEFA

Wayne Rooney is not going to be punished after the incident in the match against Aalborg. I guess the Danes will not be happy with it, but I also think the decision was quite obvious. From the replays of the incident, it can surely not be ruled out that Rooney stamped the opponent on purpose. However, it can by no means be proven either. And if you cannot prove guilt you should not hand out punishment either. When a player stamps another player on purpose he should of course be punished for it, but the evidence must be a lot more decisive. Like when Eric Cantona was sent off and given a suspension for stamping on a Swindon Town player in the 1993/94 season. That one was obvious. The Rooney one might be accidental, we'll probably never know because Rooney himself will of course say it was, and the Aalborg players (and certain people of Scouse origin  :p) will say it wasn't.

However, Rooney was lucky not to receive a card for another accident where he came in with a high boot towards an AaB player earlier in the match. Would at least have been a yellow if the ref had seen it ...

As for the title race, I think it is going to be a three horse race all the way to the finish line this season. Liverpool seem to produce good performances more often this season - and the fact that they have beaten United at home and Chelsea away is enough to make it a closer contest than last year. The fact that they keep drawing at home to supposedly weak opposition, is compensated by their improvement against the title rivals.

I think the FIFA Club World Cup is going to be a real disadvantage for Man United this winter. Last year, December was one of United's best months spare the crappy performance at Upton Park - at the beginning of December it was just as close as this season has been so far, but December saw Liverpool dropping a lot of points and Arsenal starting to lose form, making it a two horse race from then on. With United having to travel to Japan this week there is a real risk of losing the league form and perhaps needing a couple of games to find it again - so let us all pray for good results for Arsenal and Everton this weekend  :D

And Kopfanatic - I partly agree with you on this Dalglish thing. He had Paisley's work to build on, he took over a team that was very solid. He had a lot to thank Paisley for (Just like Paisley had a lot to thank Bill Shankly for).
 
Dagleish took over from Fagin, didn't he? Whatever it was, it was Paisley that built the team into the best in Europe. Yes, Shankley was very successful, but it was the Paisley era that saw them totally dominate here and in Europe.
As for Rooney, I can understand why UEFA have not punished him, but I hope to God he doesn't think he got away with it - if it was as deliberate as some have suggested. He is a fiery character and just needs to calm it down a bit.

And did we notice that Rooney's purple patch this season coincided with a few England internationals. Perhaps Capello knows how to manage him, dare I say it, better than Fergie.
 
I would agree that Paisley was the main man.Shankly laid the foundations, but Paisley was the catalyst for the next decade of domination for Liverpool
 
Wingman

What do you think of Ronaldo's kick at Dawson in the game against Spurs at the weekend - surely no doubt of intent there? Perhaps he got away with it because he went to shake the victim's hand within a second of striking him.
 
Again, the governing body responsible will not take action, in this instance, the are relying on the opinion of the match ref (source).

I can't comment on the Ronaldo incident (I never saw the game), but one feels that hot-headed players need to be reined in a bit and not be seen to be getting away with it. I don't mean to say that these players need overly stern punishment, but these players must be made to realise the consequence of their actions.



NB: This is by no means an anti Man U statement as I do have a lot of respect for them and for Fergie.
 
national acrobat said:
Wingman

What do you think of Ronaldo's kick at Dawson in the game against Spurs at the weekend - surely no doubt of intent there? Perhaps he got away with it because he went to shake the victim's hand within a second of striking him.
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I think it was stupid of Ronaldo, and I guess you're right about the reason for him getting away with it. On the other hand - I think it wasn't a big thing, it wasn't a forceful kick and for sure it was more stupid than outright malicious. It reminded me a little of the Beckham/Simeone incident in 1998, except Dawson didn't throw himself down like Simeone did.

As for how to handle hot-headed players in general, it is as simple as this: If the refs keep an eye at them in the beginning of a match, and warns them early, then they have really done their part. Aside from that, they can't do anything more than punishing actual actions with free kicks and yellow or red cards. And then they should not be keener on punishing players with a history. To stick to United players, I think a ref shouldn't treat Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez differently for the same actions, just because Rooney has shown a worse temper than Tevez in the past.
 
UEFA-cup draw - 3rd round:

First section:
Paris St Germain v Wolfsburg
FC Copenhagen v Manchester City
NEC Nijmegen v Hamburg
Sampdoria v Metalist Kharkiv
Braga v Standard Liege
Aston Villa v CSKA Moscow
Lech Poznan v Udinese
Olympiakos v St Etienne

Second section:
Fiorentina v Ajax
Aalborg v Deportivo La Coruna
Werder Bremen v AC Milan
Bordeaux v FC Galatasaray
Dynamo Kiev v Valencia
Zenit St Petersburg v VfB Stuttgart
Marseille v FC Twente
Shakhtar Donetsk v Tottenham




CL draw:

CHELSEA v Juventus
The very first name in the draw and a meeting with former Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri for Scolari's men. They've escaped Mourinho for the moment, but have a date with 'The Tinkerman'.

Real Madrid v LIVERPOOL
The way the draw worked out, Madrid could only have drawn an English club, but they escaped United and will play five-time European champions, Liverpool.
A return to his home town for Rafa Benitez and a chance for former Spurs manager Juande Ramos to answer his English critics.

ARSENAL v Roma
Chelsea struggling against Roma, who will be aiming to make the final in their home stadium, but the Gunners will be pleased to have avoided Barcelona in the first knock-out stage.

Inter Milan v MANCHESTER UNITED
Fergie vs Jose. Will the red wine be flowing after this feisty encounter? Mourinho said he wanted Man Utd and his wish was granted, but will his table-topping Serie A side be good enough to topple the reigning European Champions?

And here' the rest....

Lyon v Barcelona

Villarreal v Panathinaikos

Sporting Lisbon v Bayern Munich

Atletico Madrid v Porto
 
Three matches between English and Italian teams ... no warm feelings there, I guess. Last year, the atmosphere around the match between Roma and United was calmer than the two previous meetings in the Stadio Olimpico. Let's hope it goes on like that, but Inter fans are not known for diplomacy. And Englishmen on the road are, unfortunately, easy to fire up. Let us pray.

(For some reason, matches between AC Milan and Liverpool seem to be an exception. These two fan groups have, for some reason, a more friendly relationship than is common between English and Italian fans. Did that start with the match between Real Madrid and Milan in 1989, where the Milan fans paid tribute to the victims of the Hillsborough disaster by starting to sing "You'll Never Walk Alone" after the minute of silence? Anyway, any fan of football should remember them for that. They showed greatness there.)
 
So, a man that has managed a team to win the World Cup has to bring a load of superstars that have won almost everything themselves, to little old Southend for a replay as they could not beat the Shrimpers at the Bridge first time round.

It has come down to the old adage - it's balls in the back of the net that count. Chelsea can create a zillion chances, but if they only score the one goal - and Southend score from one of their few chances, the game finishes 1-1. I would love it if Southend finished the job off Wednesday week. :D
 
I heard the goal go in on the radio as I was driving back from my own game yesterday and whooped and cheered! (It'd only have been louder if QPR had scored a late winner) :D And if Southend do get through to the next round (fingers crossed), you'll have a winnable home tie against Ipswich.
 
national acrobat said:
And if Southend do get through to the next round (fingers crossed), you'll have a winnable home tie against Ipswich.
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I agree - that it is winnable. But it's also the type of game Southend could lose 3-0.

Apparently, Drogba was completely silent in the game as if he just simply could not be bothered. It's like he thought that playing teams like Southend is beneath him - well Mr Drogba, to win trophies, you sometimes have to play teams like Southend. But first, you have to beat them. :D
 
Great result, congratulations  :) You'll get them in the replay.

Another remarkable one: Manchester City - Nottingham Forest 0-3  :D Wonder how long good ol' Sparky will keep his job at COMS.
 
I think Hughes is a good manager and should be given time, but I'm not sure he will. He'll be lucky to make it to the end of the season, and there's no denying that they're hugely underachieving.
 
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