The battle for 4th and the bottom is going to be much more interesting than the top.

Adebayor has to be one of the most over-rated strikers in the history of the Premiership.


I have no clue why Wenger sticks by him so much, he consistently misses great chances given to him by Arsenal's more creative players, his work ethic/commitment is questionable and he looks lost in the system.. always looks like he's playing as a lone striker.

If Arsenal took more of their chances, they'd be up there challenging with the rest of us. I know Wenger and Arsenal like to stick to budgets, esp at the moment, but they need Arshavin... it'd be worth it, because they'll lose out a ton of money if they don't qualify for the Champions League. Never mind the possibility of losing more players in the summer if they don't qualify.

I officially hate Shola Ameobi and Rafa Benitez

I officially hate Shola Ameobi and Rafa Benitez

Tried that link for the Liverpool vs Chelsea game, shame its was a bit on the slow side.

Liverpool got a tremendous break. They needed something good to go their way and the ref handed them 3 points against Chelsea.

James it just is not that unlikely that Pool could regain the momentum especially if Torres catches fire.

Lots of time left.

It took a few looks, but I've come to the conclusion that Riley was correct. His studs were perpendicular to the ground. He clipped the top of the ball, then his studs made contact with Alonso's foot/ankle.

I can't argue with the red. I wouldn't argue if it was just a yellow either. It was very close.

There's no way that should have been a red card, to be fair. I don't see it as a yellow either, maybe not even a foul at all imo.

Bosingwa, on the other hand, should have been sent off for this - Is the linesman blind??

I think it was an "orange" card. Yellow or red was acceptable.

Thats a very dangerous position for Lampard to be in. Studs up, knee locked.

As for the Bowsingwa incident. The AR was looking straight down at the ball. Not surprised he missed it.

Lampard got the ball. It's the very definition of "not a foul". If anything Alonso follows through dangerously.

And Bosingwa lost his brain, maybe he didn't want to play the next few games and thought the best way was to do a blatant kick I can't believe neither ref or ass ref saw anything.

Ah. The myth that won't die. Please find in the laws of the game where it says that getting the ball first means there can be no foul?

Apparently the AR did see the Bosingwa incident which means the FA can't take any action.

Please find the law that says getting the ball first and possibly taking the player is a foul. Surely this would bring up far too many "gret areas" during a game.

I would always interpret the rule that it is not a foul if the tackling player wins the ball first, otherwise there would be no flow in a football match

I'll add this. At full speed, it looks like a clear send off to me. On the slow motion replays, there is some doubt. But Riley only gets to see it in full speed.

What a let-down by Man City. Where was the last minute £500m signing of Messi?? Pah! Rubbish... I don't understand their logic though, they were prepared to pay £100m+ for Kaka, but havn't seemed to make any other bids at all for anything like that, for anyone else. There are quite a few of those 'superstar' world players on his level. I guess they're waiting until the summer, but I was expecting another huge signing to follow Robinho.


Also surprised that Liverpool would let Keane go at this stage. Not sure how selling a good striker will help them win the league, but I'm quite happy about it personally. If they get an injury or two, this will leave them without one option, so that's fine. Quite cheap too, comparitively... Spurs signed Defoe for about £6m MORE than they sold him, but got Keane for £8m LESS... how does this work?? Bad business by Liverpool, imo.

The Arshavin signing by Arsenal (assuming it's gone through ok), is very good.





Exactly. How can he see that and not tell the ref it's a red card? He should be banned from officiating any Premier League games ever again... you just can't see something so blatent and not get it right.

As for Lampard, he'll probably get off in the appeal, so I have a feeling the FA will also disagree with your assumption that it was a red card. I hope he does get off actually (even as a Utd fan), because it just wasn't a red.

The funny thing about the Lampard card was Gerrard almost did the same tackle in the same area two minutes before and then screamed at the ref when the foul was given.

Alonso and Lampard have history, Lampard broke his Alonso's ankle in a tackle where he got booked in 2005 and Lampard says Alonso "has that look in his eye when ever we meet, there is always jostling and shoving and some kind of incident"

Gerrard and Lampard should have both been given yellows.

Keane was obviously a pawn in the Liverpool politics, apparently Benitez was told he would have enough for Barry when he bought Keane, then they told him nope. Keane scored that cracker against Arsenal, then two goals against Bolton and was then dropped for Newcastle away without Torres playing. At which time Benitez started kicking up the fuss about his contract.

As James said, as a Man United fan I would be delighted, Liverpool have to have Torres wrapped up in cotton wool. Unless they plan on winning the league with Kuyt and N'gog upfront.

Messi, Kaka, C. Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic, Torres, Ribery (honourable mention for Aguero, but that might be too soon). I can't think of any other "superstars" at the peak of their career. I think Man City saw Kaka as the only realistic superstar target.

At the time of the bid Milan were not in the Serie A title picture, they are now as it happens. All the others were battling for their respective leagues and would not leave at this point for a re-building project.

Milan are not in the CL, obviously playing in that has massive allure for players so all the guys playing in it wouldn't leave their clubs while they had a shot of winning.

Milan are probably the least finacially stable (I have no evidence for this, just an assumption that they aren't as well off as Man U, Barca, Liverpool etc) and need money for transfers. As it stands they have 2 players under 29 in their starting line-up and very few young players in their squad at all, the money would have allowed them to re-build.

Anyway, that's my reasoning for why Man City only attempted one major coup in January, the summer will be a different story...

Also, does anyone feel sorry for Joe Hart? Obviously Given is a great keeper, but Hart hasn't done anything wrong. Buffon or Casillas could be behind that defence and it wouldn't make a difference.

Wow, something I just learnt... any foreign player who has played in England for 5 years, could play for England (as long as they havn't played for their own country in that time).

Carlo Cudicini, for example, could play for England.

Good point, I guess the CL makes it much more difficult for them to sign anyone in January. I just had a feeling they'd pull something crazy off before the window closed, after the whole Kaka saga and how much they showed they were ready to spend, right now.

Why would anyone want to join City? The only reason they got Robinho was that he wanted out of Real and no one else could afford him, even Chelsea aren't chucking money about now Roman has lost interest. As much as City might like to think they can just chuck the cash about and attract anyone lets face facts here, they aren't even in the UEFA cup they are in a relegation battle and can barely fill their council flat of a stadium. As mercenary as players are these days the top 0.00001% mostly have some class and want to be playing on the biggest stage. It's your Scott Parker's on £60k a week or whatever moronic amount West Ham's Icelandic owners are paying him (no wonder their banks all tanked if they run them the way they've run a football club) that will be all City can attract (see Bellamy). Medicore players on inflated wages that have no desire to try and better themselves.

I think you're half-right, QED. It may take City's new owners longer than they expected to get the kind of team they desire. They do have one 'magnet' there already, in Robinho... i.e - the more star players that go there, the more will follow, as they'll see genuine possibilities of success.

Regarding the money, we just can't say what motivates players... we'd have to know them individually to really know what drives them. I'd agree that there will be many of the top players who are motivated more by playing for a traditionally big club, with history and prestige etc.


However... we are talking almost unimaginable weekly wages here. Not just £100k, or even double that, but £0.5M a week, which is what they offered Kaka. I'd love it if player after player just rejected City, and who knows maybe they will... but we'll have to wait until the summer to see what transpires.

I'm wondering if all these overturned red cards will cost England the world cup. FIFA specifically says a send off can not be downgraded or overturned unless it was mistaken identity and the sent off player must be suspended for at least one match. FIFA have gotten on the FA before about this. Every time they overturn a red card, they are giving FIFA the middle finger.

F the EPL....the game of the weekend is happening right now in the Coca Cola Championship.....Sheff Utd vs. Sheff Wed. United losing 2-1 with half an hour left. It's been 94 years since Wednesday have done the season double against us, and I'll be pissed if that ends today.

How do you describe Ryan Giggs?


Footballing God? Genius? Legend? What a guy... on a pedastal with Eric as United's all time best player.

Is everyone AWOL tonight? I thought when I signed on this would be abuzz with Scolari's sacking. Ah well.

Who's next then? Mancini? Hiddink? Rijkaard? Grant again? Mourinho again?

According to the BBC fans want Zola or Di Matteo in charge. Obviously they haven't been paying attention to the fortunes of the current ex-players thrust into Premiership managerial jobs at the moment...

Oh, Rafa Benitez. Starts Ngog and Babel up front and somehow gets away with it helped by a flurry of late goals and some Torres magic.

I just dont get it.

Looks like it could be Guus Hiddink, at least on a short term role while he carries on as manager of Russia. If he does really well, I assume they'll sort something more permanent out in the summer.

I think he'd be experienced enough to steady the ship, and would be a good choice for Chelsea... But I'm surprised Rijkaard doesn't seem to figure in their managerial plans. They haven't approached him, apparently, but if I was a Chelsea fan he'd be my first choice... proven success, and respect, at a huge club, has won the CL (one of RA's priorities), exciting playing style and he's ready and available, making the whole deal/arrangement a lot more attractive than with someone who is already the manager of a national team.


Chelsea have some very big, stubborn egos to handle in their dressing room... Drogba, Ballack, Anelka, Mikel to name a few.. It's an almost impossible job to be honest, dealing with all of those, which I think was Scolari's main problem. I don't suspect the next manager, whoever he is, will last longer than 18 months.

Apparently Rijkaard wants to start a job in the summer rather than part way through a season. I don't see a problem with that. Hiddink would be a great choice, has a proven track record wherever he has worked. Only concern would be managing both Russia and Chelsea if he were to take the job up permanently, he has always said he will be Russia's manager going into the WC in SA.

Oh and lol at Mikel having an ego. I mean, I'm sure he does but when you list him along with the other 3 you think, well at least they've earned theirs - what's Mikel ever done!?

Have you forgotton about the whole transfer saga with him, Man Utd and Chelsea? When you surround yourself with the kind of people he does... serious ego problems. His demeanor on the pitch doesn't strike you as extremely selfish and egocentric? Hardly a team player, and not the kind of player I'd like representing my team at all.

Give him a few years, you'll see. Very Anelka-esque.

Real Madrid?

Not my point. My point is he doesn't deserve an ego! He hasn't won enough, done enough or been around long enough to deserve one!

Tbh, I can't recall his time at Madrid, it was before I was following European football. I'll look it up. Who ever gets a fair crack of the whip there though?

Didn't Hiddink do well at Betis?

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N...090210-1353.htm

Obviously biased, but not without merit. And it's good to see that not everyone hates Rafa.

So, you're saying he may struggle at a big club where you don't get given much time?


Ok... the problem with Chelsea at the moment seems to stem from RA. Which is fair enough, it's his club, he can do what he wants and he's invested a lot of money (a lot of it unwisely, in older players... not enough on a long term youth policy imo).


Look at the managers who have been succesful in the Premiership. Ferguson, Wenger, Mourinho... apart from being good at their job, their success has come from their ability to be in complete control of everything at the club for a sustained period of time. In fact, when RA started getting too involved and decided he wanted to buy Shevchenko and Ballack, that signalled the decline of Mourinho, who became a little disillusioned with his role. The success at Aston Villa this season has been largely attributed to Martin O'Neil having complete control. Benitez has also spoken about that at Liverpool... he knows it's important that the owners don't get overly involved in the day-to-day running of the club.

RA now clearly likes to have a very strong hold over the management (moreso than he did when he took over, strangely) and Hiddink is another manager who, imo, will be in his pocket. They're friends etc, and will Hiddink have the ability to say 'No, I want to do it this way Roman'?... I doubt it. Point is, it doesn't matter how good the manager is, they could have Lippi, Ferguson, Capello, anyone... if they are not free to do their job, they'll find it hard to manage and gain respect/authority at a club like Chelsea, already full of 'stars' and apparently not much money to build their own team.

I don't know what he's talking about asking why United don't get accused of relying on Ronaldo and Rooney... we get that all the time, even though we win without them.

I think Liverpool need to stop being so paranoid about everything... And surely the reason people like to try to wind up Benitez is because it's so damn funny when he cracks up! It's hilarious.

Even if United do get accused of it, I see the "Gerrard FC" comments non-stop. I would argue that Liverpool get those accusations far more often.

And FTR, I do think United have a much better supporting cast than Liverpool at this point. I just like to see Liverpool get a little credit for their performance thus far, instead of the constant digs about them being a poorly managed, lucky, one (or two) man team.




I'll also use this time to make a little confession- Rooney is one of my favorite players in the world.

Holy shit, awesome skill by Robinho, against Brazil... great goal!


Good match this.

Is it watchable online?

Just read my quote, I meant against Italy, obv... lol.

I'm watching on Sky Sports, but just checked this link which seems to be working http://www.iraqgoals.com/en/ch1.html


Whistle has just gone for half time, so try it in 15 minutes. Really good, open game so far and Brazil look super good.

TY Sir!

i've just seen showboat on soccer am this morning and robinho looked incredible in this game. obv i didnt see any of the actual game but he featured about 6 times in the one match. seemed like the robinho show pretty much!

Manchester United League form:


Nov 15th - Stoke (h) 5-0

Nov 22nd - Villa (a) 0-0

Nov 30th - Man City (a) 1-0

Dec 6th - S'Land (h) 1-0

Dec 13th - Spurs (a) 0-0

Dec 26th - Stoke (a) 1-0

Dec 29th - M'brough (h) 1-0

Jan 11th - Chelsea (h) 3-0

Jan 14th - Wigan (h) 1-0

Jan 17th - Bolton (a) 1-0

Jan 27th - WBA (a) 5-0

Jan 31st - Everton (h) 1-0

Feb 8th - West Ham (a) 1-0

Feb 18th - Fulham (h) 3-0



Untouchable.

Maybe when they allow a league goal (if they ever do), it will be such a shock that it will cause them to go into a slump.

can you post the game before the stoke game please?! ty ty

My memory doesn't go back that far, sorry!

Liverpool have taken till February for their annual mid season collapse. Surely Man U can't throw it away now? Then again that was said in '98 when they were 12 points (or there abouts) clear and lost the title.

Sigh finally Newcastle put in a performance that I'm not ashamed of and we give away such a cheap cheap goal.

I read it on the BBC website, sounded comical.

http://www.101greatgoals.com/

I think I've mentioned this site before, you probably don't need it LJ as you have MOTD etc, but it has basically every european football matches highlights. Just click on the highlighted ones.

It might be useful for our yank friends

"Oh Vela, Vela, our Mexican superstar, he's better than Cantona, Oh Vela, Vela"

It'll never catch on. The kid's very good though.