tmonkey

Belletti is miles better going forward though, which when you have world class centrebacks and defensive midfielders is probably alot more useful over the course of the season.

Shocking miss, but to be fair: 1) It was his weaker foot. 2) He was going away from goal. 3) He looks a tad rusty, probably lacking in confidence due to being undeservedly benched.

Really? Good. The guy is great. Needs to be unleashed as a proper winger now though. Was a little flaky defensively first half. Great day for him though. I thought he defended capably today. Very impressed by his work ethic in that position. Gets caught out of position alot though, which wasnt exposed today because West Ham had Bowyer down the right, who is no spring chicken when it comes to wingplay.

Rozenhal should get a 5 as he was beaten all day in the air, Milner also a 5 as he looked very out of sorts today and completely off the pace, whilst Butt and Geremi were both at 7's imo.

Enrique looks quite beefy too. Still extremely early, but looks far more promising than any set of fullbacks weve had over the past 6-7 years at least.

Glad we didnt sign him. Carthorse with nothing but work rate to say the least.

Would go for: Given Beye Taylor Cacapa Rozehnal Milner Geremi Faye N'Zogbia Owen Smith for this game. Tall defence, strong central midfield, and a bit of bite and solidity up front, since both Smith and Owen at least know how to control a ball consistently, which might help with such few creative options in midfield.

I just don't know what it is; but i find it hard to have that much respect for someone who goes to those sort of lengths, for no proven gain. Of course, their loyalty and devoted mentality is admirable but that just isn't nature. Homosapiens recquire water. I don't know the half of it from a religious point of view, but in literal terms, that's a human being refusing to drink. Madness. Muslims fast for several reasons - they believe it to be a tradition that previous prophets have followed (Moses, Jesus, etc), combined with the month as a whole being a strong focus on attempting to gain religious piety through self control, prayer, charity, etc, things theyre supposed to be doing throughout the year anyway but which are essentially heavily stressed during what is percieved to be a holy month. Theres also the "dont know what you have until its gone" mentality pitched in, i.e. living without comfort to appreciate it, not lose touch of what the extremely poor may have to go through on a daily basis, which is why a (very, very) small number of muslims will leave their homes for a month and sleep inside the mosque, focusing entirely on their religion. Theres no starvation involved, anyone with a bit of sense will be drinking enough water during the period that theyre not fasting, and for anyone who does have a problem with it, i.e. if its affecting their health or work or theyre just feeling sick, then theyre supposed to break the fast anyway and make up for it later on when theyre able to do so, so its not anything extreme.

Who the hell eats their breakfast, dinner and tea at work in a single day? I scoff a bowl of porridge at home at about 6am each day. I have a salad at about midday at work and have my tea at home in the evening. Nobody at work sees me eat 3 times. Aye. Fasting itself is only difficult depending on the person and their circumstance - otherwise, its just like missing lunch and being able to ignore slight thirst. Humans physically are comfortably capable of going for 12-14 hours without food or water on a daily basis.

What do you mean by academic?

The thing that pisses me off the most about those who dislike football is the wage issue. Stop fucking arguing that footballers get paid too much for "kicking a ball around" - musicians get millions for plucking a few strings on a guitar, actors get even more by rehearsing a few lines with added facial expressions, and even models like Kate Moss for example get rich purely for looking "good", and yet the anti-football lot dont seem to mind enjoying their music, movies, books or art despite these people getting tons more than they deserve.

Have had it for many years now, will probably have it for many years with the present manager, so what difference would it make if it were accompanied by better results and probably some trophies?

Hiddink or Scholari. As a long shot, Lippi is still out of a job.

Why isnt Ameobi in these teams?

The midfield is going to pick itself once Barton and Emre are fit and assuming Allardyce reverts back to the formation/system he prefers. It'll be: Anchorman Barton Emre I think Butt will be phased out slowly because his distribution is just too poor, with Faye and Geremi competing for the anchor slots, and Smith and Geremi filling in or rotating with Emre/Barton at times. Essentially, playing any of Geremi, Butt, Smith or Faye ahead of Barton or Emre in a 3 man midfield will just be a waste of a non anchor midfield spot. Those 4 players may be good players in their own right, but they simply have none of the abilities required to play in central midfield as anything but a defensive midfielder. If its a 4-4-2 then a Barton-Geremi midfield combination looks very promising on paper. We badly need to sign one more central midfielder who if not truly creative, then can distribute the ball with ease, maybe somoene like Motta, since as soon as Barton and Emre go missing, we're left with a squad of midfielders who can tackle but are uncomfortable passing forwards.

Class goal that was, good team move.

Milner down the right, Zog down the left, Enrique at left back, Smith on the bench with Martins up front (or vice versa).

To be fair, I think we're being a tad too harsh on Smith. In a 4-3-3 system, I think hed do fine as a backup/alternative central midfielder who's job is merely to close down aggressively and kick lumps out of the opposition whilst getting away with it - but not alongside midfielders like Butt and Geremi who lack any creativity or attacking ambition whatsoever. A bit like Everton prior to this year so to speak, creativity from the likes of Arteta with the grit of Phil Neville. Only as an option for specific games though. Ameobi on the other hand is just a footballing retard - theres no hope for him. If its possible that some people are smart footballers on the pitch, then its also possible that some people are just plain stupid. Ameobi is one of these.

Harper - 6 - OK performance Taylor - 5 - Solid defensively, very poor ball control on the touchline on numerous occassions, similar to Ramage and Huntington. Cacapa - 6 - Solid performance, plenty of interceptions, no defensive errors at all. Bit of a spectator today though. Rozenhal - 4 - Beaten too easily in the air and made a few glaring errors, eg getting caught in possession needlessly. N'Zogbia - 4 - Caught out of position several times, woeful free kicks and crosses, very poor passing. Smith - 3 - Typically anonymous performance, combined with typical over the top challenges. Absolute liability on top of being a mediocre midfielder. Butt - 3 - Woeful performance on the ball. This is why I hoped he wouldnt be captain this season. Really needs to be dropped Geremi - 5 - Decent, but plays the easy ball at every opportunity. More of a midfield poser than a general. But at least hes consistent when it comes to controlling the ball under pressure and finding a teamate. Milner - 4 - Tried hard, but thats about it. Lost out all day to the fullback, very poor and delayed crossing. Owen - 4 - Anonymous. Ameobi - 2 - Worst player on the pitch by a country mile. Did nothing except for: offsides, rapist first touches, and give away free kicks, particularly when defenders were under pressure and bound to give possession back to us. Shocking performance. Only thing stopping him from getting a 1 was a deliberate hand ball or similar retarded error that would lead to a goal being conceded. Cant believe Big Sam didnt take off Ameobi, Butt or Smith.

It wasnt about scoring or creating or doing anything spectacular. It was about the fact that Ameobi proved once and for all that hes a footballing retard.

Smith should never have been signed. Why play him up front when hes too slow, static, and weak to do anything? Years of poor Premiership performances, being dominated week in week out by bigger, stronger, faster centrebacks, seem to have gone unnoticed - but what does it matter? He works hard and barks alot, and hes moderately competent once on the ball like the majority of Premiership players are, therefore hes great!! Yet another player living off a grossly unjustified reputation.

Diego would be better, wouldnt be making a massive leap down in terms of club size and playing standards, is already playing in a pretty physical league, and is the right age too.

Brolin was a joke for Leeds with his double chin.

Hes a bit too arrogant and full of himself for my liking. Good striker, but stop fannying about trying to be a poser and put it in the back of the net.

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/32887 Old school video that covers every topic in this thread and basically settles all of the arguements on here.