Nate

Given the rumours earlier on that Park would be man-marking Messi, I wouldn't be suprised to see him at right back leaving Ferguson with his first choice front six.

Man Utd: Van der Sar, Evra, Hargreaves, Ferdinand, Brown, Ronaldo, Rooney, Park, Carrick, Scholes, Tevez. Barcelona: Valdes, Milito, Marquez, Xavi, Iniesta, Eto'o, Zambrotta, Messi, Deco, Abidal, Toure.

The thought of John Terry, Frank Lampard and the plastic flag waving boo boys in a European Cup final... Come on, Liverpool.

2-0 up, Owen on a hat-trick and it doesn't even feel like we've got going yet.

You do know they also need Man Utd to lose to Blackburn, West Ham or Wigan?

In reality they would be queuing up for a manager who is on course for his third European Cup final appearance in four years. If Benitez does stay and Liverpool invest heavily again, which they clearly need to do in order to compete under any manager, i think they'll go very close to the title.

I think Eduardo's injury effectively put Arsenal out of the title race. Not because it was a massive psychological blow to the players, which everybody seems to keep saying, but because he was just starting to settle down and score for fun. So when Adebayor's form did drop, which was to be expected, they were left relying on Bendtner who evidently isn't good enough at this level yet. Probably agree with Ash re: their strikeforce. If van Persie - who i think has the potential to be as good as anybody, Adebayor and Eduardo are all fit for most of the season they will get more than enough goals. It's definitely the midfield that needs work.

Incredible debut season.

I thought C.Ronaldo's was a nothing goal, to be honest. An instinctive flick I would have expected 9 out of 10 Premier League players to attempt in that position. Incomparable to Zola's.

C.Ronaldo's flick goal of the month...? I doubt the same goal from a different player would have even been nominated.

We've played shite sides so far, this was our first real test and IMO we passed it. It was by no means a dip in performance, we were just playing a better side. In some respects there are more positives from this game than there were against Reading. The team, the formation may have passed the test but i didn't think the individuals were as sharp in possession.

Pleasing that the inevitable dip in performance didn't lead to defeat. Overall i thought Owen was a little too deep, Enrique wasteful in possession and Beye nonexistent going forward. Those three need to perform for this formation to work.

Enrique needs to be given more options on the ball, he's thrown away a lot of possession. We also need to get Owen and Beye more involved in build up play.

So Keegan is going to walk because he won't be signing the players, we'll need to spend £80M to get 'anywhere near' the top six, the recent change in form has been due to Viduka's return alone and everybody wanted to leave before the Birmingham game. Right-o.

indeed. That goal was slightly better than decent. Bet you there's 2 or 3 better goals scored every month in the Premiership, at least. Yeah it's a great goal but because it was the final and because it was Zidane, it's made to be better than it was. I mean look at this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/sports_talk/1990830.stm Greatest ever goal in Europe? Was it bollocks. What are these 2 or 3 goals every month? I can't recall one Premier League goal in the last couple of seasons i would rank above Zidane's. A technically perfect volley from the edge of the area, on his weaker foot, with the ball coming from that height and no poor defending or goalkeeping involved. I'm not sure why the fact it was in the biggest club game in the sport should be dismissed either.

Chelsea. I really would hate to see them win the European Cup.

That run was probably the best piece of individual play i've seen from an Englishman since Owen's goal Vs. Argentina. It simply deserved to win the game.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c260/classinyc/Henry.jpg

Butt, Barton and Geremi were just excellent. No reason to change that front six for the rest of the season, injuries permitting. Cannot wait for the games versus Reading and Sunderland now.

Nice finish to an entertaining half. Beye and Enrique need to get to the byline more or start cutting inside and linking up with the midfield, we've lost a lot of possession from them pumping aimless long balls into the box from just inside Tottenham's half. No doubt we can win this if our passing and movement is a little sharper, i'd switch Viduka into the deep role and have Owen up top.

I wasn't expecting much after Capello dropped all the pace from the squad.

James Johnson Ferdinand Woodgate Lescott Bentley Gerrard Hargreaves J.Cole Lampard Rooney

I agree that it's great from a sentimental standpoint, but let's not forget that one Matty Pattison was a full South Africa international, and South Africa is a far more competetive international squad than Congo is. I personally don't understand what all the Lua Lua raving is about. He's got potential yes, but he's done absolutely nothing of note for the few hours he's been on the pitch for the first team. In the mean time, Milner has single handedly saved us from relegation and he's still a shit player with no future just because he's not running the 100m in 10 seconds. When was that?

mackems.gif Benitez using attacking tactics as usual I see. Ah, the tactical genius that is Rafael benitez. You have to laugh tbh. Eh? They were three nil down with ten minutes to go and Torres was on a yellow card.