tmonkey

Krul > Schmeical.

What the fuck is that from Vidic? May as well have had a baseball bat in hand.

Demba Ba touches the ball = ManU get possession.

Don't think he should play out wide until we sort the fullback positions out. We'd get absolutely mudered if Ben Arfa drifted into a central position and the opposition managed to double up on either Raylor or Simpson.

Best and Ba, when you look at them in isolation, are a pretty poor pairing imo, mainly because their linkup play between each is either diabolical or non-existent and their linkup play with the midfield is mediocre at best. When they try to pass to each other (very rare) they'll either be offside, unable to play the right pass, or unable to control the ball adequately. At best they'll hold the ball up, possibly win a free kick, there's the odd Best run that suprises everyone in the stadium, but for the most part they're more like two independently operating workhorses who's main job is to hassle/batter defenders and hope a chance comes their way in the box - in other words they lack any kind of significant quality on the ball. Neither have anything like the necessary ability to drop deep and contribute to the midfield, when Ba does this (as he usually does when in a partnership with Best) he's constantly losing possession or looking like a fish out of water imo. On some days the midfield is good enough to compensate for that kind of strike force and so it doesn't matter how poorly they're linking up with midfield or between themselves, on other days where the opposition nullifies the midfield it's clearly a problem and we've needed Ben Arfa to come in and provide a better link between midfield and attack, or look to other options on the bench (e.g. Shola). Ideally we should be looking at getting a new striker in Jan who can play on the shoulders of the centrebacks and make use of good passing from the likes of Cabaye and Ben Arfa. Ba yesterday wasted two excellent chances that, had he taken them, would have changed the game entirely - the one where he was put through on goal and half a yard ahead of two defenders, yet checked back because he didn't have the confidence (or pace) to carry it on, showed his limitations imo. Someone in the mould of Anelka/Defoe is what we need to be looking for.

£20m in the bank earning interest every year :fwap: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Football/Pix/pictures/2009/5/1/1241199794759/Mike-Ashley-001.jpg

Clearly useless with his right boot. Taking too many needless risks with his passing. Looks a tad evil with those eyebrows and that smirky grin, like he's just murdered an entire family before arriving at the stadium without leaving a single bit of evidence behind. Needs to shoot a bit sooner as we know he has the ability to strike a ball well. Should also be more open to playing on the wing, though we don't know if there is any basis behind the notion of him being reluctant.

What the f*** was Raylor doing anyway with his back to the play? What was he thinking? "Oh s***, I'm not manside, not to worry I'll just jog to where I need to be whilst the game carries on, not like the ball will be coming my way just ye....oh s***, I have the ball, what the f*** do I do with it, I wish I was in position before I got i....oh you f***ing w***** Richards". He should be fined for the way he stuck his arm out in the penalty box too. FFS.

5-0 trouncing.

Sweden look like a team without any kind of pace at all.

This is why Shola should be playing for England. He'd bury that.

Beckenbaur unlucky there.

Dull game so far.

Zamora ffs.

Great performance for a Coloccini. Poor performance for a supposed world class centreback.

5-0 with someone getting sent off for Everton.

http://www.myfootballfacts.com/LEGENDS_017.JPG

An honest opinion about a now exceptionally popular (and imo overrated) player.

I still don't see what's so great about Coloccini. He's defending moderately well on a consistent basis, he's as fit as a fiddle which is great, he's classy on the ball for a Premiership centreback - is it the entire package that is having our fans rave about him? Or that in combination with the hair/cult status? If we're talking about pure defending, Coloccini is found wanting in a number of areas imo. His aerial clearances are s*** half the time. He rarely throws his body in an attempt to block a shot. He's pathetic at last ditch tackles. He runs out of position an awful lot to chase down a player who is posing zero threat. He's usually rooted to the ground like a tree when something unexpected happens in the box (e.g. deflection, change of direction, etc), showing very little agility. He has little to no recovery pace at all. He's a class centreback to have, I'm not denying that, but that's for a team at our level, i.e. a mid table team performing above expectations. I don't think for a second that he's top level club/interinational material because he's nowhere near the complete defender.

Maybe psychologically he's not ready to start, and this is Pardew's way of making him so desperate to play that by the time he's on the pitch that broken leg will be a distant, childhood memory?

Just wondering if you completely forgot Keane or are you saying Ince/Butt were a different type of player? I'd class Keane in a seperate category as he was an excellent footballer on top of being a great DM so doesn't really fit into the point being made. Also the "past half decade" comment was referring to Fergie's post-Keane midfield.

Fergie has had his share of midfield destroyers in the past (Ince and of course a certain Mr Butt), but in the recent half decade he's gone for players who can spread the play first and foremost, with tackling ability/engine being a secondary consideration. So if Fergie did want any of our midfielders, it'd probably be Cabaye. Can imagine the likes of Chelsea ("Makelele role") and Milan (Desailly "heir") being interesting in Tiote though.

May as well play Smith behind Ba if we want someone to win go in for 50-50's and play it safe.

Krul will be better than Schmeical. Mark my words.

180? Try 10 hours.