Neil

Spectortacular.

1-0 Arsenal. Alcaraz sentences Wigan to a half-time deficit.

Beast on FIFA 09.

That was a pleasure to watch. Easily the best club side to watch in my lifetime. Sublime.

Aye good point. That Enrique lad.. yeah he's alright.. fuck me, he didn't completely wilt under the pressure of playing CHELSEA, he's MINT! You do realise he's played better this seas... I don't care, he did OK against CHELSEA!

The only thing is: do Real have the players to go there and just park the bus?

I agree that a post-weekend review system would be much more effective. The red card idea is more a theory than being practical. But it'd sure stamp it out.

can't bear to look at that hideous forum It makes you appreciate what good work our Lord and Saviour does keeping this forum to such a high standard. Jay Jay Sea?

I'm slightly aroused just reading what he has to say.

Why not? Like Drogba cares if he gets a yellow in that situation - the chance to gain a huge advantage in the game is a far greater 'reward' than the yellow card is a punishment.

Barca -1 Real -1

Hire an independent panel to look through the incidents of the weekend that the referee misses and hand out bans where they feel necessary. Seriously punish players and they'll more than think twice before doing it again.

That's the concern, Apisith. Will the game live up to naturally high expectations? You can just see Mourinho making sure Messi is double marked immediately, hell, even have a few swipes at him to try and unsettle him. As I think VI said recently though, sure, do that to Messi but what about Xavi, Iniesta, Villa? If Barca can keep their patience which a) I think they'll need tonight and b) I think they will, then they will win. I can't see Real, under JM, looking to go to Camp Nou for anything other than, realistically, a 1-0 win. Yes they have superb quality too but I'd be shocked if they set up to just attack Barca. If however they do, we are in for one hell of a game. I slightly disagree with your last bit however. No it won't completely decide a season but if Real win, that's, what, 4 points ahead? And with how utterly dominant they (and Barca) are in the league, that's actually a bit of a gap, even at this early stage.

I can see where you're coming from, JH, because naturally they did leave gaps but sometimes you have to be realistic - they were confident leaving 2 or 3 back would do the job. If you decided to chuck a few forward, I think it would have been far more likely with Chelsea's far greater quality and the fact they were on top generally, that it would have backfired.

Can't wait for the game tonight. But I just don't think Droylsden will have the quality to unlock Leyton Orient.

Oh right. Christ on a bike.

Who on earth thought Portsmouth would win it in 2008, or even get to the final last year? Yes, it's very unlikely but you just don't know. You've already shown in one-off games against Chelsea and Arsenal you can beat them on their own patch. A bit of luck with the draws and all of a sudden you're in the quarters.

What? Jesus wept if he's out for next weekend's game? I know he's your captain but the world will continue... I think?

This tickled me.

Class game, that.

I know Chelsea weren't at their best but IMO they were dominant for most of the game. I thought while it was an excellent point for you, there would have been few complaints if Chelsea had won. We had some great chances too though (Shola, Routledge, Ranger), plus I thought the goal we conceded was incredibly sloppy given the time and the way we conceded possession for it. Fair enough. I got the impression your team couldn't wait for the final whistle - you did get some openings, no doubt, but they set up camp in your half for the 2nd period really. I would have thought the overriding emotion at full time was one of relief.

Kyrrygyrygiakos?

I know Chelsea weren't at their best but IMO they were dominant for most of the game. I thought while it was an excellent point for you, there would have been few complaints if Chelsea had won.

Fucking delighted VdV had to come off and Bale was denied twice, including one off the line. A big 2 fingers up to the ridiculous amount of people who have them.