Shak

Great overhead kick tbh. Taylor unlucky there, after such a great clearance. Regretting taking Lita off now I'm sure.

Carson PWNED!!

Check the PM I sent you yesterday about writing in capitals, please. I fear being told off by Dave, he's so ruthless.

Yeh, looks quality in general I must say.

Can't say I've seen enough of Babel to know what his regular position, but looking at this Under-21 game I'll be shocked if he doesn't end up as a center forward target man type. Looks as though in a couple of years he'll be a pretty big fella and he looks quite good at showing for the ball with his back to goal and bringing others into play. Imagine he's been used as a winger type because he's still young so he's may not be ready to lead the line, yet. As he's pretty pacey he can contribute on the wing, but ultimatey I reckon he'll have to end up as central player where I reckon he could be a very good player.

Depends how much. Can't see Ajax giving him away. True, anyone have any idea what sort of price is being mooted for him? If Sam has some decent money to spend though I'd expect we'll see us looking at a center forward. It's possible he'll be expected to wheel and deal this summer while Ashley reviews things, in which case Shola will suffice while we aqcuire defenders and maybe another midfielder. But Shola, while decent IMO, is never going to be top class and capable of regularly starting in a team aiming to be in the Top 4, while Viduka is only gonna be around a couple of years. So we're going to be on the lookout for a top center forward, and if there's money to be spent I'd like to see some spent there, and Babel would be a nice candidate. Nice goal that, fair play to ye. Reckon Krul is better than this chancer in goals for The Dutch.

Unlucky with that offside, pretty cautious stuff from both sides so far. Be very happy if we're after Babel, still only 20 years old and already looks to be a very strong, tall player. In a couple of years he'll fill out and be a real physical presence. Couple that with the fact that he's quite pacey and seems to have a good touch and he's a tremendous prospect. Still not there yet, has some flaws of course but at his age he's well worth the punt.

Be good competition for Viduka, who we definitely can't expect to play every game next year. Give the lad a season or two to adjust to the Premiership and improve as a player without having the burden of being the main man as we know we can turn to Viduka. Then in a couple fo years when Viduka is done Babel will hopefully be ready to be our leading man up front. Admittedly not seen much more than a few games with him, the little bit I have seen though he looks a player with potential. Never heard of the other two but we do need a left-back and preferrably one who can really get forward as well as being solid defensively, so I may watch the game later and see if he looks like a good 'un.

The "Mad Bright Away Jerseys FTW' theory seems to be looking good, bit of tastefully spread black over the rest with the jersey being predominantly that blue colour and it should be nice.

Fuckin madness that, happy he's OK. Had a gun pulled on me and some friends once, some drunk old French guy in a public park in Montpellier. Having a few beers, he kept trying to scab bottles off us, gave him one but eventually told him to get lost. Walked away ten steps, pulled out his gun and looked at it, then looked back at us. Few of us saw it and said to get moving, shitting a brick as we walked very fastly away. Luckily he didn't fire though, I'd imagine the sound of bullets all around you as you hide in a car is terryfying.

Be very nice if the two shades of white were the same, I'd have it.

Nowt wrong with Shola as competition tbh. If you expect more than that, then you're asking for too much. Suppose, I'm happy enough with Shola as back-up tbh. Maybe bring in Torres and sell Viduka back to The Smogs for £5m.

Furthermore, if we do sell Owen I'll be hoping we get someone in to compete with Viduka for the spot as center-forward. Much depends on the money situation, I suppose. If Sam isn't gonna have big funds to work with I suppose we can get by with Shola as Viduka's back-up (I like to believe that as I typed that a beeper went off in Northen Monkey's pocket, causing him to leap up instantly and dart to his computer which is already displaying this post) while we spend our funds on new full-backs, a CB and the aforementioned Diarra type player. However, if Sam has significant funds to go out and get a really top class player, a center-forward would be high on my list then. No point unless it's gonna be a significant upgrade on The Duke though. Torres would be absolutely unbelievably ideal.

...And because when you do make a post, you'll get some job knockey picking one line out of it and taking about three hours of your life because you simply cannot face being proven wrong after such effort in the first place Drives me mad that like. You write a great long post and one line gets picked out. Anyhow, top post that initial one, Rich. It's the best way to wind someone up, like On a different score, I've seen you mention the 4-3-3 formation and I've now seen Shak allude to it, while when I was away I read papers claiming we'd play 4-4-2, 3-5-2 (which really excited me and made Papa Lazaru weep, I'm sure), 4-5-1 as well. Then there was Allardyce saying he wants "two players for every position" in regards to the forwards, which made me think that we'd be playing two up top. Has this debate been done elsewhere while I've been away? Because if it has I'd happily take it to the appropriate thread as it's something I fancy discussing. It's undoutable to me that a midfield three of Butt, Emre and Barton would be exciting (whereas Diarra, Emre and Barton would be jizz-worthy), but where do Martins, Owen, Viduka and Milner fit in to that? Four players, who if they stay should by rights be starters. Then there's a massive earner like Dyer to take into account who will seemingly be out in the cold. It's interesting to note the proposed formation when we're talking defensive midfielders though, because there's a huge difference between playing the Makelele role and playing the Roy Keane role - although there are, of course, players capable of doing both. Is it all just speculation at the minute 4-3-3 wise? I just can't fathom how he'll work it with Owen and Martins here. Much depends on whether Owen stays, I reckon. If he stays then your typical 4-3-3 formation isn't going to work, as Owen won't be a target man and is wasted out wide. If he stays we'll likely see some sort of 4-4-2, with Owen playing off Viduka. Don't know where that'll leave the midfield, and it's why I personally am hoping Owen leaves. For, while he's our best player individually, I'd prefer us to build a more balanced team. Of our other players, I think Martins would be very useful as a wide-man in a 4-3-3, so no problem there. Milner could play either side of the attack, or even as the most offensive minded of our 3 CM's, so he'd be great to have. N'Zogbia, if he stays, could play down the left or through the middle (though I'd prefer to see him out wide). Dyer and Duff are both suited to it too. Only Owen doesn't really have much future in that system and, as I believe it's only a matter of time before he leaves anyway, we should get rid now. I even wrote a big article on the main page about it and all.

Indeed, we've also slept together. I'd not be mortified if we had Butt in there at the start of the season, because he's quite solid and we know we can depend on getting a solid performance out of him more often than not. But he's never really been top class, and his best days are behind him at that, so I would hope we're looking at bringing in someone better. It would complete our midfield and I'd be very surprised at Allardyce going into the season with 3 relatively short fellas in CM, so hopefully it will transpire. Barton's not afraid to get stuck in by any mean either, can't imagine we'd get bullied in the middle of the park nearly as much anymore with those 3. Barton and Emre, like two annoying little fuckers going around putting themselves about and winding people up, with a big fuck-off powerhouse alongside them to back them up when they punch above their weight, lovely.

Good post Rich, fully agree. A big, powerhouse like Diarra in center midfield is something I fully expect we'll be after this summer. I'd say it's a cert we'll be playing 3 in center midfield come the start of the season, and a Diarra - Emre - Barton combination is something I think could give us the balance we've been lacking for years. Emre has been very inconsistent in his time here, don't think anyone can argue that. His real problem is that he doesn't really fit into a regular 4-4-2 formation, or 2 man CM midfield combination of any kind. As a holding player, he's too prone to switching off at times, which you can't have from your DM. While he's willing to get himself about and is a fiery little fella by all accounts, he doesn't really win the ball a lot or protect the defense outstandingly. So he's not cut out for the holding roll. In his first season here, he played primarily alongside Parker, with Parker in the holding roll. While he is very technically sound on the ball, he didn't get into advanced positions on a regular enough basis to cause worry for the opposition defenses. You need one of your midfielders to get beyond the strikers on a regular enough basis and score goals from the middle of the park, and Emre doesn't and I don't think he ever will. So while he doesn't seem to fit in there, he's a great fit for a 3-man midfield. With an imposing DM to protect the back 4, and Barton a box-to-box to player who will get into dangerous positions and hopefully contribute goals from the middle, Emre will be the link man, or deep lying playmaker. His job will be to be the main distributor of play from the middle, constantly available to recieve the ball and find a team-mate, which is crucial in retaining possesion. Pirlo does it for Milan, Xavi for Barcelona, and Carrick will be likely be able to step into that role for Man U now that thye have a more natural ball-winner in Hargreaves. Think Emre has the qualities to do it, even though some will say (and rightfully) that he has been very wasteful with possesion at times for us. With a more suitable role in the team, combined with a center forward like Viduka who he can play the ball into feet to, full-backs who he's comfortable exchanging possesion with knowing they're not likely to panic at any moment and hoof the ball aimlessly forward, a solid holding midfielder behind him, and runners from deep like Barton, Milner, possibly N'Zogbia or whoever else we end up with in midfield with, I think we'll see Emre flourish next year.

We've all known the club has needed a serious shake-up for years now, it's almost unbelievable how well things seem to be going right now at almost every level. Convinced there's gonna be a horrible twist at some point in all this, if only because I'm cynical.

Would have been far more interesting having Owen, Given, Emre, Taylor and Martins doing an actual strip tease, starting off in tuxedos and every day we get 10 seconds of them doing the final scene from The Full Monty. Then after the final day when they're all standing there butt-naked they just cut to a picture of the new jersey. FAR more mainstream attention.

On that list, Lennon yes, Bale & Huddlestone maybe, the rest, meh. To be fair, Dixon is reported to be very, very good.

Reckon he'll be more of a Gerrard type player. High energy, getting forward and scoring goals type player. Don't see him as an anchor in the CM or anything, like Keane was. Agree with Vic about the loyalty bonus. If that 300k has gone into his bank account and his bank account alone then he has been a right w****** about the whole thing tbh. Keane wasn't always an anchorman in midfield, he just ended his career there as he didn't have the pace to get up and down anymore. In his early days at the club he was an all action box to box man which is what I think Barton will be for us. His early days maybe, but his best years were spent as the glue that held the midfield together and allowed Scholes to get forward and do damage up front. Reckon Barton's game will be more comparable to Scholes', only with better tackling when called upon I would hope.

Reckon he'll be more of a Gerrard type player. High energy, getting forward and scoring goals type player. Don't see him as an anchor in the CM or anything, like Keane was. Agree with Vic about the loyalty bonus. If that 300k has gone into his bank account and his bank account alone then he has been a right wanker about the whole thing tbh.

How do you figure? It's not like they both go around constantly trying to kill and maim people and need 24 hour supervision like. Anyway, wouldn't be at all unhappy with Diouf to be honest. Bit of a twat from all accounts but the type of player you love when he's on your team rather than against you.

Think he'd work very well in the Lampard position in a 4-5-1/4-3-3. Got a good shot on him, can beat a man in tight space and has pretty good vision. Think that's where he'll end up personally, he'll be a cracking player there as pace will not be a weakness.

I wouldn't say Gilardino "has it all" by any means, he's a useful target man though.

He's hardly slow though is he? Not saying he's the paciest player around, far from it... but he's not slow. Hopefully Sam etc will help get a bit more pace out of him. He's pretty slow by a winger's standards tbh. I think tmonkey said it best earlier on, Milner will probably end up better on the left side as it allows him to cut infield more while he can still cross reasonably with his left peg. That's the best way of combating his lack of pace, as he has more options when the defender knows it's dangerous to show him inside.