Neil

Do you need an account for this?

Who's he replacing?

Whilst a time-limit to stop throws taking absolutely ages sounds a constructive idea, the general concept of long throws is perfectly valid IMO. So what if its 'anti-football'? Are they breaking rules? No. Yes, it can be infuriating to play against, and I often will take the mick saying they're trying to play basketball or whatever, but in the end they're utilising a resource they have, and they're doing f***ing well. Where do we stop? Plenty of other teams use long throws. Stoke just happen to have someone who is class at it. Good for them, bad for the rest.

Re: Southgate's tactics, they do strike me as a bit of a mish-mash. He just seems to stick attacking players out there and hope they do some good stuff. Where do Tuncay and Aliadiere play, and where should they be playing? Gibson seems to be the opposite of the chairman that is often pictured in the news: impatient and reckless. Gibson seems to be too patient, which could be Southgate, and Boro's, undoing.

guyb - what do you make of a manager who won 4 titles with 2 different clubs and 3 manager of the year awards? In all seriousness, I see where you're coming from about being in a potentially good position to bounce back, on and off the pitch. What I don't get is, what happened; you started the season relatively well. Not amazingly, but after 10-12 games you were in higher-mid table, I think? Has there been something in particular that's caused the downfall?

Neither can Real Madrid

Young guns.... or bust. There's only one way to find out! Long day.

As would Ash-.... ....Ash4. Yeah.

But La Liga defences aren't good therefore all those goals don't count.

Sbragia was apparently asked whether the Ladies team, in the Ladies Cup Final, should be given a chance

Will be in L7 for this. Will lend as much vocal support as I can.

Wtf has happened to Pienaar? He's gone from an average player to a real gem. Get in.

fyp His general play at home has been impressive. As well as scoring a few, his hold up play and generally linking with midfielders has been quite good. Away from home he looks lost.

The better side and not playing well. Hmm.

Jo in playing-shit-away-from-home shocker.

I wonder which influential player we'll lose to injury this week. Baines has been in damn good form. Too good actually, he's due one.

Bit harsh on Shearer; he wasn't even on the pitch.

Might just be an outsider's perspective but I think he's been iffy in rather a lot of games this year. Not saying he's the cause of problems but I don't see much to warrant the praise he's been getting, albeit he has produced some solid performances this season.

Draw imo.

Don't criticise Bassong!!!!!

And I will. That's delusional paranoia.

For all their fantasy football though, the performance against Chelsea wasn't that different to the 2 against Man Utd last year; and I'd say in broad terms that comparison is valid. If Chelsea are defensively on their game, Barca will find it difficult to carve out clear-cut chances. Again - I hope that isn't the case. Man Utd actually had a few chances (with the penalty being one) whilst Barca's best chance was an Eto'o shot that wasn't close. This year, they had a lot of chances and I think on another day, it's 2-0 or 3-0 pretty easily. You had Eto'o's 1v1, the Bojan miss, the possibly penalty. This wasn't Chelsea totally shutting Barca out. This was Barca missing a few chances coupled with lots of last-ditch tackles. Nothing like the semi last year where Man Utd's defense truly shut down Barca. I admit I'm making some of these judgements with a bias because I truly, truly want to see Barca win. They're just incredibly fun to watch and I'd hate it if their style of play proved to be unsuccessful at the highest level. That's the main reason why I am and will be supporting Barca against any other team in football. I think their trio up front is also much better than they were last year. Messi's put himself up on a level that hasn't been seen since maybe Zidane 6 or 7 years ago, Eto'o's much sharper and he looks like he's enjoying himself and for once, Henry's fit which means he's awesome. Last year you had Eto'o still undecided on his future, Messi suffering niggling injuries and Henry adapting to a new league and recovering from injuries as well. This year they've got a perfect storm up front and that's probably why all three of them have been so prolific in the league. I think if they play Man Utd in the final, Man Utd will be on the defensive because they won't be able to get the ball off Barca and aren't capable of passing the ball around Barca, but their defense is good so they'll have a shot. It's probably 60/40 imo in favour of Barca if they and Man Utd end up playing in the final. On the other hand, I think if Arsenal get in we'll see a much better football game. I think Arsenal can pass it around pretty good as well so they'll create chances and maybe score, but Barca will win that match easily. Absolutely, re: the bit in bold. It'd be a great shame if Chelsea's attritional style (yes they have quality players, but they know fine well to beat Barca they'll have to wear them down with physical power and defensive solidity) overcame Barca's fantasy style. That's not to say Chelsea wouldn't necessarily deserve to go through. All I want to see is at least Barcelona play the sort of football they do 90% of the time, and see if they can turn that into a good result. Re: the final, the idea of a Barca-Arsenal final sounds particularly mouth-watering, but I'm not so sure - is there a chance the 2 styles could actually cancel each other out, and both teams just pass it short too much instead of being a bit more direct? I think though overall there's a better chance of a Barca-Arsenal final being exciting than a Barca-Utd one, albeit the latter would still likely be a game full of quality, albeit perhaps not as much aesthetically pleasing football as the former.

For all their fantasy football though, the performance against Chelsea wasn't that different to the 2 against Man Utd last year; and I'd say in broad terms that comparison is valid. If Chelsea are defensively on their game, Barca will find it difficult to carve out clear-cut chances. Again - I hope that isn't the case. Being good defensively against Barca is more or less getting all of your players back defending. Chelsea need to attack (unless theyre aiming for Pens), and in doing so will play into Barcas hands. This stuff about having the job done at the Neu Camp is f***ing laughable, as many of us have said. They need to attack yes, but it's not like they're having to go all-out. They only need to win by 1, something that I believe they can do without leaving heaps of space for Barca to attack. The likes of Essien, Mikel and Lampard are all athletic and will make up a lot of ground both offensively and defensively. I just have this nagging feeling Chelsea will just perform a very slightly more attacking version of what they did at the Nou Camp. And aye absolutely - the presumption that Chelsea will shut out Barca just because they have done it once. 2-1.

And the contenders are: 1) 2) 3) 4) and 5) :harry:

For all their fantasy football though, the performance against Chelsea wasn't that different to the 2 against Man Utd last year; and I'd say in broad terms that comparison is valid. If Chelsea are defensively on their game, Barca will find it difficult to carve out clear-cut chances. Again - I hope that isn't the case.