The College Dropout

Defining moment there.

Shit penalty.

lol that's what I was thinking.

Berbatov to sky it. I've been impressed with Jenas this season but he's going to miss.

PENALTIES! I love it. JJ to miss again. And proceed to cry.

He's a character like. That dude with the long name has been impressive.

Barca could bet Manure or Arsenal but would lose to L'Pool again imo.

Aye. 98 doesn't seem like a decade ago either.

But there was no "Big 4" back then. It was Arsenal/Manure and the rest Like you pointed out.. them winning the FA Cup then would be like Everton or Spurs winning the FA Cup this season...

Not even 1. What a shit player.

Very true.

Aye old jug ears did a good job in keeping them up when he did. Then they sold anyone who was any good in that summer. In the end they only had the great Alan Smith and James Milner left.

I never expected him to score this many goals, proved me wrong like. Aye. I've been calling the lad over-rated for the last few years. Never overly impressed when I saw him.

How come when we played at the San Siro, we had piss and flares thrown at our fans, and Liverpool - of all supporters - get showered with affection? Aye I was surprised. they stayed until the end.. and instead of boo's at the final whistle they applauded.. madness!

Come on Inter Will be a boring draw if 4 english teams are in it!! How on earth do you figure? If L'Pool score they will need to win on aggregate in order to progress because they never scored an away goal.

Who was it that scored against Juventus? It was a defender. O'Brien, Hughes or Griffin. It was that goal that started the comeback.

He signed some very good players for us.

They do have something extra, their physical strengths more often than not. Trust me, what talent is in academies isn't that much different to what is out there in Sunday league kids' football. The gap isn't that big. I suggest you go and watch a few academy games and then a few normal Sunday league kids' football games to see for yourself. What you will notice is that a lot of academy kids are bigger, stronger and quicker but natural ability wise, there isn't much between them. Having been in the middle of numerous games of both types, I can confirm this is bollocks. What age groups PM? Obviously your 16 year old academy kids after a few years of coaching 2 hours a time 3 times a week using state of the art facilities are going to be more polished than the same age group who train once a week and play the game for fun with their local junior side. At the lower age levels, 7 and upwards however, based on games I've seen I can honestly say the talent or ability gap is not that big, or certainly not as big as you'd imagine. The standard of football may be better, but ability? There's as much difference in footballing ability as their is intelligence in young children. Obviously alot can go wrong and right in later years but differences are there. I've watched my 16 year old brother and 14 year old nephew play football for 8 years. My nephew in particular has always stood out and he might not even "make the grade"he plays for the Arsenal youths so I will forever be . I've watched my brother play for Crystal Palace youths and for a number of years it's been obvious who will definitely go on to bigger things... 2 of them have broken into the Palace first team this year. From a young age it's obvious who really has what it takes.

Owen scoring in crucial matches is a myth. In international tournaments his record is shambolic How is it a myth? off the top of my head... vs Argentina 98 (goal + pen) vs Brazil 02 vs Arsenal FA Cup Final (2 goals) vs Man Utd Charity Shield vs Portgual 04 (goal + pen) Euro 00 - one goal WC 02 - two goals Euro 04 - one goal 06 isn't worth mentioning against good defenders he's always been distinctly average at best That Euro 2000 team was a disgrace and got knocked out early. To say he was poor is unfair. He was probably at his peak during the years surrounding 2002. An Owen from 2001-2004 was very good. By the time he moved to Madrid he'd lost a yard but was still pretty quick.

Owen scoring in crucial matches is a myth. In international tournaments his record is shambolic How is it a myth? off the top of my head... vs Argentina 98 (goal + pen) vs Brazil 02 vs Arsenal FA Cup Final (2 goals) vs Man Utd Charity Shield vs Portgual 04 (goal + pen) Charity Shield? Owen's problem isn't that he doesn't score in crucial games, it's that he's finished. It's over. He's not as technically gifted or a natural goal scorer like Lineker or Shearer. I would like Owen to try and hit the top corner for onces. His shots are so weak when he tries to slide it in the corner.. he needs to whack that thing in the top corner.

Totally agree. The old policy meant we could get decent fees when we wanted to sell them as well.

I can't agree HTT. Looked a donkey when he first arrived. his overall game has come on leaps and bounds. He was no great shakes in France either.

Ramage isn't exactly Hercules is he? He's tall but skinny and slow. I don't think what you're saying is true. Look at the West Ham generation. Physically Lampard was a skinny one. No great physical specimen although pretty tall, same with Carrick but they had good footballing attributes. Joe Cole wasn't particularly pacey or strong. Rio Ferdinand is a very natural footballer. He had a ballet scholarship and all, does that mean he has good co-ordination?

I thought Martins was signed by Inter from another Italian club at a young age. I don't think they discovered him in Nigeria.

I was watching my brother play in a school football match 4 or so years ago. There was 1 lad who stood out, he was strong, quick and fairly tall for a 13/4 year old but he wasn't the exception in physicality on the pitch. The defender he was up against was bigger, stronger and could run as fast but this lad was on another planet. He was 2 seconds ahead of the others in every aspect, his first touch, passing and movement was just that level or 2 above the other lads and I don't think he was taught that. I recently discovered that the lad is called Victor Moses and he's recently emerged in the Crystal Palace first team. I don't know how long he had been training with Crystal Palace but all those years back he looked much better than the other lads.