mozy

Had the fantastic experience of witness Rapid Bucharest vs PSV in the new Romanian National Stadium. Other than the whole experience, the most impressive performer was indeed a Mr Erik Pieters. Was not really tested defensively, but looked good going forward and was constantly making himself available for the ball. He has some elements of Jose to his game, and I could clearly see why we were so interested in him. The only other player who looked capable of playing at a higher level was Strootman for PSV, Tovoinen reminded me of Kevin Nolan...

Oxlade-Chamberlain? how much has he played for Arsenal this season? No-one could realistically justify taking him at this stage. Same goes for Jack Rodwell, there seems to be some kind of wideheld opinion that because a player is young and hasn't played much, they will obviously be an upgrade on the current side. There is no way Rodwell should be in the squad ahead of any of the current lot based on recent performances.

I would liken his career with us to Bobby Zamora's entire premiership career. Started off rubbish and bit of a joke figure/cult hero, now randomly transformed into a legitimate premier league quality striker. Hopefully Leon can go on even more.

If Simpson is criticized for backing off too much, then Raylor is the exact opposite, often guilty of diving in and over committing. Simpson is the superior defender despite his limitations.

Bizarrely, the better his opponents, the better he seems to play. Maybe some mental block where he has to expect a tough time to actually perform to a decent level.

His cross when Shola was offside was decent.

Feel sick here

Was a really good interview, and just confirmed to me once again how much I like Joey Barton. Would really love him to stay now.

Remember watching a UEFA cup game last season where he had a bit of a mare, and the analyst was saying he looked like he'd never played left back before in his life. I'd imagine that was a one off if he's playing for Holland though.

Sorry but why would Ashley agree to sign the likes of Bridge when he's just done almost everything he can to get rid of older, supposedly high wagers in Nolan and Barton?

Clichy is a terrible left back, as has been said has great pace and little else.

Dislike Berbatov hugely, not the type of player we should be targeting, i.e. 30ish, Top 4 cast off, Lazy, Large wages. The article is a disgracefully poor piece of journalism though.

My Man Utd mate told me this existed the other day, thought he was making it up!

Watched him once this season, seemed very similar to Nolan.

Ferguson likes Valencia by the looks of it and with good reason. By interesting to see what they do with him and Nani next year, who has always flattered to deceive on the left, then was arguably the best player in the league on the right side this season.

Thats really nice I think

Loved his ten minute defensive midfield cameo.

Seb Larsson = Ryan Taylor mkII

No football manager should have that happen. But if one had to get smacked then it should be Neil Lennon

Diving is a form of blatent play acting, cheating, scumbaggery and generally against everything football in principled upon. Fouls are a slightly stronger upgrade on that ancient art of 'tackling' which is one of the things that our grand old game of football was created with.

You're probably right about the Championship, but Lovenkrands scored for fun at that level, there's no guarantee any would be more of a significant goal threat than he is. Craig Mackail-Smith is in that mould but I can't imagine people being delighted with the signing.

Pepes tonight was a borderline booking, completely fucking innocuous man. All this modern refereeing bollocks and player poncing around in the European game is unbearable.

You being serious Pissi? Not sure. Don't even bother making a point about his precious Barcelona.

Disgusting game of football, both teams so negative. It says something when your subconsciously praising Cristiano Ronaldo for not cheating as much as the others.

This season Blackburn away 0-0 one of the most boring games I've ever seen solely thanks to the stunningly negative tactics of the hosts. Worst all time probably Tottenham away in the relegation season, was in with the home fans and we lost 1-0. One of the most fraustrating and demoralising 2 hours of my life. Also went to Barnsley vs Swansea this season, Barnsley is an utter dump.