Dinho lad

Messi not playing for personal reasons.

I remember the odd fucker moaning about Rafa taking so long pursuing him.

Good for him. I knew the goal scoring instincts was there, it was simply a matter (in goalscoring regards anyway) of whether he'd improve his finishing or simply 'find his level'.

Here's mine.... (first of many, I'm sure! )

Neva gonna happen...

It's quite addictive. Unfortunately, it seems the player to be booked market is currently only available for games involving English teams, and therefore sometimes you get lower odds like the above bet.

Not a big one, but it's looking decent.

Yeah, in a league that, when on both occasions we were a part of, has teams that we constantly laughed at for being shit.

They're at home to Birmingham.

He probably reminisced about Ronnie Radford.

That what always going to be difficult - look at them now.... miles ahead of Madrid and comfortably ahead of At.Madrid. They're still matching the overall standards. As for Argentia, he's still not quite there, imo. Also, Ronaldo dragged Portugal to the Euro's with a hat-rick against Sweden. Just watch Barca and you can see they're not the same, they're miles ahead for a variety of reasons, but it's definitely not because they're as dominant as they were from say 2008-2014. re Ronaldo. I was just saying that Messi has dragged Argentina and Barca, not that Ronaldo hasn't. Is he matching the standards of the years before? You could argue that other variables, such as age might play a part now. But still, I'm sure he's not 'dragging' Barca to 3 points every week. The argument that Inestia and Xavi etc, with the club's philosophy over the past 10 or so years of making him the vocal point of their playing style and success, is still a powerful and observant one. You don't need stats to see that sort of things. (Actually, it's a phenomena that you cant quantify, frankly.) Just watch them if you haven't, he's still as good and effective but Barca as a whole aren't the same team they were. That's the whole point really. I didn't say he's dragging them to 3 points every week I said he's dragged Argentina and that he's nearly always involved in Barca's clutch moments. I know you didn't, but you mentioned that he dragged Argentina to the WC (and the hat-rick game), which really doesn't invalidate the notion that, for many years week in and week out, he had the likes of Iniesta and Xavi around him and that they were a great help to him rising to be what he is. Him scoring a hat-rick against Ecuador is a great achievement considering the context, but it's still sort of a one-off example. It's not the 'normal' (match-to-match) picture of what Messi is. (ie, he doesn't drag teams to three points every week - nobody does), but a more obvious (not-exhaustive) description of Messi's effectiveness is: Iniesta, Xavi, etc. It's clearly prevalent to what Messi is and what he's done over the years. It made him what he is now a lot more than those one-off world class performances where he dragged his teams to victory. (Which I still think it's relatively limited, as it's always been easy to get over excited when he's performing magnificently and thus forgetting about everyone else.)

'da fuck is that all about?

That what always going to be difficult - look at them now.... miles ahead of Madrid and comfortably ahead of At.Madrid. They're still matching the overall standards. As for Argentia, he's still not quite there, imo. Also, Ronaldo dragged Portugal to the Euro's with a hat-rick against Sweden. Just watch Barca and you can see they're not the same, they're miles ahead for a variety of reasons, but it's definitely not because they're as dominant as they were from say 2008-2014. re Ronaldo. I was just saying that Messi has dragged Argentina and Barca, not that Ronaldo hasn't. Is he matching the standards of the years before? You could argue that other variables, such as age might play a part now. But still, I'm sure he's not 'dragging' Barca to 3 points every week. The argument that Inestia and Xavi etc, with the club's philosophy over the past 10 or so years of making him the vocal point of their playing style and success, is still a powerful and observant one. You don't need stats to see that sort of things. (Actually, it's a phenomena that you cant quantify, frankly.)

I don't think anyone said anything to the contrary, did they? It's just that his stats would inevitably dip as he's not surrounded with the 'tailored' team that clearly plays a big part in his game.

That what always going to be difficult - look at them now.... miles ahead of Madrid and comfortably ahead of At.Madrid. They're still matching the overall standards. As for Argentia, he's still not quite there, imo. Also, Ronaldo dragged Portugal to the Euro's with a hat-rick against Sweden.

Messi, probably more than Ronaldo, is reliant on having certain type and quality of players around him to be effective to his potential - or in other words to allow him play his game using a certain type of football. Arguably this is why he hasn't been as effective for Argentina. Ronaldo, as SAF once said, can play in any type of team. Just because his attributes are not as 'sexy' as Messi's, doesn't' mean that they're less important. There is also the notion that he's a spoiled tart and that Messi is this loveable computer kid person, which I'm sure is making some people biased. In my opinion they're both on a par, they're just different players. (One of them has a more 'desired' style of play and the other doesn't)

3000/1 BetBuilder acca this time on the Milan - Arsenal game. One down, five to go.

Ah well, missing by two is better than by one.

FUCKIN COME ON!!

Come on Wullie. Although, you are in a tricky position, somewhat.

Surely not...? Didn't some guy on here win something like £8k during the Word Cup 2014..? The Finnish fella.

Son will ruin my house!!

£1 on Lassoga and Sane to score the third goal.

Fuck off Alli, you shithead.