Football Thread

[Sureshot]

And the mighty Carlisle...

We took 6,000 fans to VP today. Good turnout for a 3rd tier team.

 

[ZexyZahid]

Whoever is interested: today is the Cup Final of Ajax against PSV.


Some interesting news.

Doubts over Van Nistelrooy future

Ruud van Nistelrooy's Manchester United future is in doubt after he drove away from Old Trafford three hours before the final match against Charlton.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/4982418.stm

 

[gold639]

Apparently Chelsea are after Carlos Tevez, the Argentinian wonderkid. Thing I'm worried about though is that he might not fit in the EPL. I'd rather we buy an established striker who's played well in Europe. Van Nistelrooy wouldn't be too bad.

 

[hondeyho]

So the final Premiership games have been played:

Chelsea lost... again, (Not so lucky next year maybe, and another Chelsea player dives to get someone sent off)
Liverpool won thanks to Fowler, Crouch and Cisse, (All the more cheerful to sign a new contract for Fowler, and it took some time but our strikers are hitting form)
A second-choice strikers Man U won 4-0, (And Ruud's walking out on the club)
Arsenal win their last game at Highbury and clinch 4th Place, (Henry scoring a hat-trick, good send-off)
Tottenham miss out, (That I couldn't care about)

And a big hand to Sunderland, Birmingham and West Brom, who are now Premiership rejects

 

[BigCrickNan]

Good win for Liverpool again, 11 in a row. Great to see Chelsea lose .

 

[hondeyho]

Indeed it is, but what the hell was Lenny Pidgeley doing in goal for them today! I will be watching tonight to see if Gallas dived, or whether Carr deserved to be sent off.

 

[WG.]

Apparently Chelsea are after Carlos Tevez, the Argentinian wonderkid. Thing I'm worried about though is that he might not fit in the EPL. I'd rather we buy an established striker who's played well in Europe. Van Nistelrooy wouldn't be too bad.

I heard they were after Tevez, he is a class player. Mourinho wants him to partner Crespo. Reportedly they offered 20 million for him.

Now that it looks like RVN is leaving Old Trafford, I reckon United should go for Tevez. I remember hearing that he walked into a press conference with Corinthians, wearing a Man United shirt. He must like the club, so it would be worth a shout, altho, Saha is proving to be a class player.

 

[puddleduck]

Indeed it is, but what the hell was Lenny Pidgeley doing in goal for them today!

There was an injury in the prematch warmup so Pidegely as sub had to come in and play.

 

[themuel1]

I heard they were after Tevez, he is a class player. Mourinho wants him to partner Crespo. Reportedly they offered 20 million for him.

Now that it looks like RVN is leaving Old Trafford, I reckon United should go for Tevez. I remember hearing that he walked into a press conference with Corinthians, wearing a Man United shirt. He must like the club, so it would be worth a shout, altho, Saha is proving to be a class player.

Why does everyone think Tevez is so good? He's playing in a league well below the Prem or La Liga. Also, his manager has said they won't sell him, though he has a clause in his contract of somthing like ?70 million. No one can replace Ruud in terms of goalscoring, he is/was a cut above. Maybe Henry....... (like that would happen....).

I suppose if he chose Manchester United instead of Chelsea I may start to like Tevez!

 

[Adarsh]

So what does everyone think of the WC squad for England? I personally think Erikkson's gone nuts. Only 4 strikers for the World Cup??? What? No Defoe or Bent -Strange. Theo Walcott- he must be kidding, right?

 

[Briggsey]

Sven has announced his England sqaud for the WC, few interesting picks

Provisional squad:
Robinson (Tottenham), James (Manchester City), Green (Norwich); G Neville (Manchester United), Ferdinand (Manchester United), Terry (Chelsea), Cole (Arsenal), Campbell (Arsenal), Carragher (Liverpool), Bridge (Chelsea), Beckham (Real Madrid), Carrick (Tottenham), Lampard (Chelsea), Gerrard (Liverpool), Hargreaves (Bayern Munich), Jenas (Tottenham), Downing (Middlesbrough), J Cole (Chelsea), Lennon (Tottenham), Rooney (Manchester United), Owen (Newcastle), Crouch (Liverpool), Walcott (Arsenal).

Standby:
Carson (Liverpool), Young (Charlton), Reo-Coker (West Ham), Defoe (Tottenham), Johnson (Crystal Palace).

Dont understand the logic in not taking King, he's said he doesnt want to take an injured center half, but yet he still takes Rooney who is injured. Why he sticks with Hargreaves is beside me, id rather of seen another striker. Glad to see two of our most exciting prospects in the squad in Lennon and Walcott, id like to see Lennon get a chance on the left in the upcoming friendly games, he could really frighten a lot of teams at the WC with his pace, same can be said of Walcott too, so two very good picks IMO.

 

[puddleduck]

So what does everyone think of the WC squad for England? I personally think Erikkson's gone nuts. Only 4 strikers for the World Cup??? What? No Defoe or Bent -Strange. Theo Walcott- he must be kidding, right?

Couldn't agree more.

If Owen was to pick up a knock and Rooney not recover, we'd have Walcott and Crouch up front.

In that squad there are 5 players with under 10 caps. 5 players who are coming back from or at this moment in time injured. There are quite clearly not enough strikers considering two of them are injured at the moment. Don't understand how Walcott can be picked considering he has barely even seen Premiership football, let alone played on the international stage.

All in all it looks like a friendly squad not a squad picked to go to the World Cup. Since when was the World Cup the time to experiment?

The only positive I can see is that Phil Neville was left out.

 

[Briggsey]

Couldn't agree more.

If Owen was to pick up a knock and Rooney not recover, we'd have Walcott and Crouch up front.

In that squad there are 5 players with under 10 caps. 5 players who are coming back from or at this moment in time injured. There are quite clearly not enough strikers considering two of them are injured at the moment. Don't understand how Walcott can be picked considering he has barely even seen Premiership football, let alone played on the international stage.

All in all it looks like a friendly squad not a squad picked to go to the World Cup. Since when was the World Cup the time to experiment?

The only positive I can see is that Phil Neville was left out.

The only point I agree with their is that there arent enough strikers, your forgetting there are 3 games before the WC (including the England B game) which is good time to try out the new players and bring the injured one's back in to the frame. The squad is more than good enough to bring the cup home, we have 3 of the best midfielders in the world in that squad and without doubt one of the strongest defences that will be on show at the WC, Hoddle took a risk on Owen at the 98 WC and look what it did, Sven is taking a risk on 2 of our biggest prospects and I fully support him. Rooney is only there in the hope that we get to the final, which is the biggest chance Sven has taken in that squad, id rather of seen a fully fit striker capable of making an impact, and someone who would play well with Crouch.

Defoe at Tottenham has not done well when playing alongside Mido who has similar characteristics to Crouch (target-man, wins plenty of headers) and Bent has usually been alone upfront for Charlton and didnt do much against Uruguay when playing alongside someone. Im not saying he cant play alongside someone because he did it quite frequently at Ipswich, he would probably do well with Crouch, but im not sure. Owen and Crouch will do well, especially if Beckham gets it right on the wing with his crosses, target men do well at the WC's look at Klose in the last World Cup, 2nd top scorer with the majority of his goals all from headers.

The squad is good enough, and instead of berating Sven, you should be excited that he has gone with some of the picks he has (except Hargreaves )

 

[puddleduck]

The squad is good enough, and instead of berating Sven, you should be excited that he has gone with some of the picks he has (except Hargreaves )

And you shouldn't be telling me what I should or shouldn't think :

Why should I be excited that he has picked a player who's only experience is half a season of championship football? Owen had played premiership football at least.

Why should I be excited that he is using 3 friendly games before the World Cup and the World Cup itself to blood future players?

Why should I be excited that (since you decided to use history) having picked 5-7 players who are all returning from injury he is running the risk of having an entire team of "beckhams from the last world cup".

I happen to agree with Crouch being picked and always have done, my qualms are that he has picked both Hargreaves and Jenas when in reality another striker should have been picked considering Owen is recovering from injury and injury prone at best, that Crouch could have an ineffective game (will be out of his depth against the likes of the Italian centre backs) and that Walcott is very much an unknown quantity.

So again I would like it if you wouldn't tell me what I should be thinking as in my eyes you SHOULD be thinking the above. Obviously I will get behind them when they are out there, but should I not be making my complaints known before the games are played so if it comes off I can eat humble pie, instead of waiting until after it's happened and using the old hindsight is 20-20?

 

[Adarsh]

I can't believe a guy who hasn't played any top class football at all, Walcott, is being picked? That's a school boy error.