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Credit to McLaren for recalling Heskey. Tis was a brave decision which has worked out really well for him and England.

What happened?

Haven't seen us win yet Hopefully it'll come in a few weeks when we play away to City. Been to only two away games though, but we sadly lost both (Manyoo and Fulham away).

If he plays some games for his country and does well, it will be proof that he's fit enough to start games for us. Can't wait till our next team sheet is done and handed in.

He isn't worth 6m though. Remember Sam got Geremi, an excellent player who's also versatile, for free. Smith's a decent player, don't get me wrong, but he's not worth 6m, especially if it seems he's only cover for players who'll only be gone for a month during which we play against teams we normally get beat.

Real have played fantastic football today. Sergio Ramos is a beast. What a footballer he is. Cannavaro who? Ramos is definitely the best defender they have at the club. A good performance by Guti today as well. Always was a quality player but never could produce it on a consistent basis.

Raul 1-0

Gonna be a heavily biased poll especially after Zoggy's start to the season. The results would have looked a lot different if this was asked last May. Edit - Similar to the votes for the Martins vs Berbatov thread last season when Martins was doing well.

Young is in a totally different league to Milner that is beyond debate. Btw Milner put in that sort of performance at SJP last season against a much better Chelsea full-back in Paulo Ferreira. Short memories. And you might want to ask Brummie about how well Milner did at Villa for them. He done well in a shit Villa team in the same way he dome well in a shit Newcastle team last year, mainly because of his 100% attitude which other players don't have. He will never be a top player though and won't be good enough for our first team if we've got serious ambitions about becoming a top team again, personally I'd have sold him in the summer and tried to bring someone like SWP in. Hold on, you said he would never put in the kind of performance Young did EVER, yet I just pointed out to you he already has done, err, against the same top team, Chelsea. I agree he isn't good enough to be playing regular for a top four side but then I don't believe Young would be either or Lennon, and SWP who you advocate us replacing Milner with, hasn't exactly performed for Chelsea, one of the big four, has he. That said, I believe Milner is better than Pennant who currently plays for the team at the top of the table and I wouldn't be as quick as you are to write his whole career off just yet. Love how you use almost anything to justify your dislike of Milner though, even ignoring facts and concrete proof such as Milner's performance against Chelsea last season that pretty much flies in the face of your entire argument that a) he can't perform against such sides and b) that he's never going to be good enough for a top 4 side, despite the player you want us to replace him with having proved he actually isn't. The point regarding Young was not that Milner wouldn't put in a good performance, more that he'll never put in a performance like that using pace and penetration to rip teams apart on the counter attack, that for me is what I want from a winger and it's similar to what N'Zogbia gives us. He is average though, I can't see one aspect of his game that he excels at and if anything he slows our attacks down by being to slow when running or his need to beat the same man 4 or 5 times. As for SWP not being good enough for a top 4 team, he'd walk into both Arsenal and Liverpools team where as Milner wouldn't get into the majority of teams in the top 10 last year. You can't move the goal posts man , you said he would never ever put in that kind of performance. Now you're saying you meant using pace etc. Well he doesn't have any so that's fucking obvious. However beating a man whether it be via pace or skill or both is all the same, which is what Milner did time and time again against Chelsea last season. Dave's right, only a NUFC fan could moan about how a player beats his man BTW Young didn't rip them apart, he fumbled his way past his man once or twice and used his pace to exploit the pace while at other times he was played in by flick ons etc.. He didn't take him on and do him again and again though using skill which is what I put way ahead of pace and something in which Milner has the upper hand on him with. As Parky points out Milner's two footedness is a strength and so is his quick feet, which is something Young doesn't possess at current hence he knocks the ball past a player then gets in behind him. Every time he tried the step over or the skills he fumbled it or got eased off by Balletti however. Don't get me wrong he's a good player with lots still to come but you make out as if he's streets ahead of Milner or then use Young's most obvious strengths to put Down Milner because he doesn't have these strengths, ignoring the strengths he does have over Young and his own plus points. I know you don't rate him which I can live with after all it's your opinion but when you make ridiculous comments like "Milner will never put in a performance like Young did", it seems you also have an agenda or want to somehow for whatever reason point out how much you don't rate Milner whenever possible, just like Smith's name keeps getting dragged into any Dyer discussion by you. Great post man. Milner is currently one of the only players in our team who has an end-product to his game. Two years ago you couldn't say this because his crossing was shit and he was too slow to beat his man but now his crosses have improve immeasurably and he's able to beat his man (again and again and again ).

They're alrite. More expansive than when Capello was here. Robinho just hit the post, surprised to see Guti starting and Drenthe looks good.

Yea him Anderson played for Barca, didn't he?

Ah fuck, signal's just gone out in my house. Anyone know a place with live commentary? Even some sort of written commentary would do.

Ronaldinho 1-0.

Barca vs Bilbao just started. Eto'o has been ruled out for a couple of months after a surgery on his 'shooting' muscle. Probably means Henry starts alongside Messi and Ronaldinho Barca should win this at a canter but after last week's lethargic performance who knows? There's a good late game as well as Real travel to Villarreal who were fantastic when they thumped Valencia away from home 3-0.

2-0 Agbonlahor. Great run from Ashley Young.

Commentator's right, Laursen's been immense.

Chelsea are finding it very hard to break down Villa. Goes to reason that maybe our draw with them was more down to them being very good defensively rather than us being able to create fuck all (though that is true to an extent).

fucking hell, 1-0 Villa.

I didn't consider it an insult and neither should you Jon.

No way Faye, Roz, Beye or Cacapa are getting that much.

I think it's different for goalkeepers. There needs to be continuity so a relationship between the defence and the keeper is established. I'd feel much better if it was Given who's first choice. Harper's kicking is frustrating and dodgy and like someone's mentioned, he won't make the saves Shay will make (like the Anelka goal, which I reckon Given would have saved).

Schmeichel with some more dodgy keeping from a corner. He looks a decent prospect and is a good shot-stopper but by God, he needs to be more confident and sure when he's gonna stay on his line and when he's going to come out and claim the ball. Dunne sent off btw and Blackburn dominating.

All fair enough but surely our main concern should be the good of the team rather than maximising individuals? Barton taking the hit and playing out of position (where I still think he could do a good job) allows us to play a system that suits Owen and Viduka, yet doesn't leave us exposed in CM as an orthodox 4-4-2 with say Milner and N'Zogbia on the wings may do. OML, I'd like to have seen us bring in a winger instead of Smith, but the fact that we haven't says to me we're not going to be playing with two pure wingers all the time, wo we're not really short there as much as we're not in need of much depth there. Yes, I agree about the team (obviously ) but I just think sacrificing the effectiveness of Owen and Barton isn't worth it. A system should be created for our match-winners (Owen and Barton imo). The difference in quality between someone like Barton in the middle and Butt/Geremi is too much, and how effective Barton would be on the wing is unknown therefore not worth the risk. I also think this system reduces how effective Owen is and Martins would be a better fit. If we revert to a 4-5-1 when we're defending, Owen won't be able to hang on the shoulders of the last defender and he no longer has the pace to burst through when we try to launch a counter-attack. Martins would fill this role better but then we're left with Owen on the bench, which is obviously not good as he's our best striker. Edit - ohmelads makes the point I was trying to make in a more articulate and intelligent manner (as usual)

Santa Clause was 3.5m. Never lived up to his potential at Bayern but then again, how could he with the likes of Sonny Anderson, Makaay, Jancker, Klose, Toni etc. etc. ahead of him at different points of his time in Germany?

Good points made but I'd rather we not try to fit players into a system. Rather a system should be designed to maximize our players' respective strengths. I think Barton's one of our best midfielders, which means people should be accommodating for him, not the other way around. Though Gerrard was effective for Liverpool on the right, he's now back in the center again because this way he can exert more influence on the way Liverpool play. Same thinking should be applied in Barton's case. Same applies with Owen. Put our best players in their best positions and then sort out the rest of the team. The way I see it is Zoggy starts on the left, Barton and Geremi start in center midfield and Owen starts as a central striker, not a winger-cum-striker. Edit - This is a reason I think Chelsea weren't at their best last season. Instead of sticking their best players in their best positions, they tried to accommodate players, which resulted in their disjointed play. Mourinho stuck Essien at CB or RB at times, stuck Lampard in a midfield role with defensive duties and they tried to play a 4-4-2 to accommodate Shevchenko instead of staying with the 4-3-3 which had won them two titles.