Redfan2000 -What's your take on the midfield for England? You lauded Jenas in the weekend blog, so how about explaining your thinking regards the competition with, Barry, Gerrard, Lampard, Carrick, Hargreaves et al, all vying for a CM slot? Could Jenas run the right wing??
What do you think of Downing as an attacking winger and his defensive qualities going the other way?
Re the Inter debate, do you think they are truly a great side or just very consistent, unlike those around them and elsewhere? Never mind Rafa's position, do you think Grant will start next season as Manager at Chelsea? Who do you think RA would/could replace him with??
Bobby – I think you can see a significant improvement in Jenas since Ramos took over. He is more composed, chooses his moments to go forward and is much more disciplined. He has a very good turn of pace – something that Ramos likes – and I am betting that Capello does as well.
There is a feeling that Capello will opt for a 4-2-3-1 formation and so in the long run Jenas probably has two bites at the cherry. If he continues to improve under Ramos then Capello may be willing to slot him into one of two defensive midfield positions.
The conventional wisdom has Hargreaves as having a lock on one of the positions but I am not so sure. Hargreaves is an aggressive defender playing in front of the United back four and offers virtually nothing in terms of building an attack or controlling the tempo o####ame.
That is where Barry has a big edge and I think Jenas will eventually be slotted into the second position beside him. In front of them maybe Bentley-Gerrard-Cole. Downing is a natural left footer but overall Joe Cole is a far better player and a better option.
Bentley is a more natural wide player than Jenas and I think Jenas’ more valuable in the middle of the park. For Inter to be regarded as a great side they are going to have to win the Champions League rather than just winning their domestic championship a few times in a row.
Re: Avram Grant, I’m still surprised he was hired to begin with. As for a replacement who knows. It is more a product of who is available at the time rather than who is the best candidate. Naming replacements is a hypothetical exercise means nothing.
CIAO - I'm curious, do you have any comparative data on injury statistics of the leagues (i.e. Serie A, PL, Bundesliga and La Liga). To me, it seems obvious that such career ending injuries seem to occur more in the PL vs. the other top leagues.
Henry14 - What should Eduardo have done yesterday? Should he have not gone for the ball because he thinks (as many others may do) there's a real danger my leg will be broken here. The ridiculous assertion that Eduardo was too fast and therefore that means that’s ok is beyond belief.
To avoid serious injury yesterday someone had to decide differently. Taylor could have decided to not go flying in or Eduardo could have pulled out going for the ball. You have a choice. Which one do you want to influence to make a different decision? For me it is clear. A greater ban in the event of causing a serious injury would make the tackler and the club thinks twice and we would not have had the injury we had.
What’s your take on the way tackling and aggressiveness on less technically play is taken in England?
Gregz - What did U make of the Eduardo injury. (I missed the show).
Bobby – I will try to deal with all the Eduardo/Taylor questions in one response so there may not be a direct match to each specific question. First off on a historical basis the game is far cleaner than it was in the 60s, 70s and early 80s.
That comment is made in the context of all leagues, not just in England. You name me a decent soccer playing nation from that era and I guarantee that we can find thugs from each and every one of them. The same goes for today. Just because one style is more physical than another does not make it more or less illegal.
I would suggest that the real dirty players are the ones that you don’t see rather than the ones you do.
Anyone trying to make this a nationality argument is disingenuous at best.
I am not aware of comparative stats on career ending injuries in the PL vs. Other leagues but I doubt that it would statistically significant if it was. It may seem that way because we hear more about the PL than others.
I don’t have anything to back up this assertion but I would be willing to bet that the vast majority of career ending injuries are not caused by fouls but from normal play and physical contact.
So is someone going to suggest that anyone causing an injury with a fair tackle should be suspended as well – according to some comments that would apparently stop bad injuries.
The most intelligent comments about the incident have come from Eduardo – the victim.
I wonder how many of you saw the incident and immediately thought it was brutal tackle?
Taylor flying into the tackle – pure hyperbole. Taylor was slow, he was late and he caught Eduardo. A fraction of a second either way and Eduardo rolls off the tackle or Taylor brings him down, a free kick is given and Eduardo plays on as players do countless times each game.
With a game played at the pace of the modern game it is impossible not to have some mistimed tackles and unfortunately bad injuries are going to happen now and again. Bad injuries have happened for years and they will happen for years to come and you are not going to find that they are restricted to one league, one nationality or even bad tackles.
As for a player going into a game worrying about a broken leg - he should not playing the game.
Gregz -Do U see Wenger parting ways with Van Persie because of his constant injury problems. What do you make of Carlos Vela? Better as a winger or striker?
Bobby – I guess your definition of constant injury problems are a bit different than mine. He’s been at Arsenal four seasons and the first year he was almost exclusively on the bench.
He injured himself scoring against Manchester United last season and then he’s been injured this season – is that constant?
Maybe someone can explain to me the upside of releasing a player who has yet to hit his prime and has the potential to be one Europe’s best goal scorers? My latest view of Vela was at the Under-20s last summer and he was not very impressive. On last summer’s showing he is nowhere close to being ready to step up.
Frenchking2012 - What do you think of Walcott? Could he do a Ljungberg after Pires (Arsenal best player in the 2001-2002 season) was injured by Dabizas. I remember Freddie scoring 6 or 7 goals in 8 or 9 games and he was the one whose run and later shot gifted Wiltord with an open goal at Old Trafford.
Walcott score 2 great goals Saturday and for once was dribbling rather well. I think he needs to step up because the Bendtner - Ade duo doesn’t work, and we won’t have RVP back for the Milan game (maybe as a late sub if we are down 1-0 in the 75th minute).
Bobby – Not a hope. Ljungberg was an experienced club and international in 2001/02, Walcott is still a young boy. The expectations of how quickly Walcott will mature are way over the top.
Flashman - When it comes to assessing ar5ena1 games, you dig in like you were Cronkite covering a moonshot. Very thorough. So why no coverage of William Gallas snapping a head valve and kicking the advertising boards and stomping off and throwing hisself down at midfield and having a right old sulk? The UK media have ripped him soundly and clamoured for the club to get rid of him. Why no coverage?
That said, you could have drawn attention to Spurs' Pascal Chimbonda chewing up clock time with his selfishly slow walk-off after being subbed at Wembley.
Bobby – If you can persuade our producers to give us a three hour show then I am hopeful that we could fit everything in. As it is I get told to wrap it up when I am going over and so I have to do what I am told. Sometimes bits get in and sometimes they don’t.
As for the media clamouring for Arsenal to get rid of Gallas - clamouring? Really?
Alberta_Man_United_Fan - What is it with the officiating in the Prem lately? Missed offside calls, ref's missing incidents were one player puts his hands on the face of an opponent who responds, only to get turfed?
I am amazed at the appearance of bias from some game officials in the calls that are and are not made! Kicking at a players heal when I played resulted in a card, not a lecture! (Arsenal-ManU).Then this past weekend Man City had a player sent off for doing that same thing.
As a youth coach and official I tell all the kids, if it is in the rule book it will be enforced! The best way to stay out of the book is to play a clean game. Professional referees do none of us minor coaches any favors by selectively enforcing the rule book.
Immediately after the Arsenal-Man United game I witnessed three such kicking incidences in the games that I officiated in. When did the standards drop for officials?
Bobby – I can’t disagree with you on the incidents that you bring up. However, I would not limit the comments to the Premiership.
Zuco2 - What do you think about Reading football club? Last season, they had a perfect year finishing in the top 10 and narrowly missing a UEFA cup spot. This season, they are winless in 11 games. They are in the relegation zone and they have one of the worst goal difference records in the Prem. What is wrong with them??????? Have any idea???
Bobby – At the risk of stating the obvious they can’t score goals and have let in far too many – a recipe for relegation trouble normally. Second seasons in a higher division are traditionally difficult.
It is interesting that last season a number of fans pointed out that Wigan had made too many changes to the team that had done very well during its first season in the Premiership and hence their problems.
Steve Coppell made few changes and that has not worked out either. Lita, Doyle, Long and Kitson have to start scoring goals and scoring early in games as well. The two goals in the last seven games have both been last minute consolation goals and they have yet score a goal in the first fifteen minutes of a Premiership game this season.
On the bright side they do not have a particularly difficult run in over the final eleven matches and frankly if they can’t get enough points from a softish schedule then they deserve to go down.
Just to follow up on your response to CIAO/h14/gregz
Do you think the intent of the player matters or should dangerous play be punished? As I recall, you were pretty sure Kuyt should have walked for a flying high tackle that just missed Phil Neville's leg earlier in the year. At that time, you said intent didn't matter, dangerous play in and of itself deserved a suspension.
Second, do you think the media in England treat these incidents with a double standard?
Bobby, are you familiar with Bill James' Pythagorean Theorem for predicting Baseball wins and losses based on runs scored/runs against? How well that correlates with soccer I'm not sure. My observations are anecdotal and I tend to just look at anomalies e.g., last year Bolton's goal difference was similar to a team in the bottom half. EPL 2006/2007. Did Bolton overachieve? A predictor for this season?
Looking at this season to date EPL 2007. Are Newcastle spiraling downwards? They're in a similar position to Reading a few weeks ago ... I don't thing the Toon will go down but it wouldn't surprise me if they finished 17th.
Bobby, thanks for the reply.
Re: Taylor/Eduardo. Don't recall anyone saying thugs exist only in the EPL (I did skip several posts though). Those of us merely resent the overly physical play and refs' tolerance that have been EPL's heritage. Perhaps it is fine with you and that is okay. However, I am not convinced it was a fair tackle. How can it be fair when the studs are out-facing and the boot went that high? I've seen defenders in that situation either use left foot in a sort of "swiping" move or the right foot "poking" in order to nick away the ball. What Taylor did was "stamping". Also no way Eduardo could have avoided contact since he merely had the time to roll the ball past Taylor.
And I agree with you implying the purpose of the tackle is to file down Eduardo and give up a foul, which may not even be a foul in EPL but would certainly get him cautioned or red carded in other leagues (this assertion only based on my experience watching other leagues and certainly debatable). Taylor hoped instinctively to "stamp" away the ball and use his body mass to cut down the dribbler but he was just late. Had he changed the way to tackle, Eduardo'd still go down but very likely with nothing broken.
Since you consider it a fair play, you probably never minded the media coverage filled with hypocrisy and biases, which has been very harsh for some of us here to accept, and I understand.
Last edited by foxcube on February 26th at 8:10 PM.
1 inch the other way and sure everyone keeps on playing but 1 inch the other also and Eduardo could be a amputee.
There has to be a better way but we will never see it. Were talking about leagues that are slow to adopt video replay after the fact to get rid of blatant dives and needless face grabbing. How could we ever expect them to realize handing out harsh bans for studs up tackles is a good idea. Like the NHL it will honestly take someone dying.
Bad tackles exist and even if theres no intent and its just plain reckless there should be action.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rArp Z-wvtTU
Theirry should of gotten a pretty stiff ban for that one in a pro-active league. Instead a yellow!
Heres a good one going the other way against Arsenal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu7u MFQPQX4
the poster is even proud to mention "Richard Prokas shows fancy-dan French international how lads from Cumbria tackle"
Anderson was too fast on this one! seems to have recovered though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Trnt z7VnZ98
Last edited by JayAlves on February 26th at 8:17 PM.
Y'know, it just occurred to me that there are 13 rounds of Liga left. 13 LONG ROUNDS LEFT for suffering Atleti supporters. Next up? Farselona at home! Yipp-dee-doo...
Bring on the pre-season and summertime...All I wanna do is play bochas (aka bocce ball).
Last edited by atleti on February 26th at 9:26 PM.
I gather from your tone that you are ... um, skeptical might be a polite way to put it ... of Atlético's chances of holding off Sevilla for the last CL spot? Would a UEFA cup position be a disappointing result from the season as a whole, or are you also worried about Espanyol and Racing jumping ahead?
I guess my point is: as of today, how do you see La Liga finishing?
"Most LFC fans would flog Kuyt a long time before they flogged Crouchy including me and Rafa I suspect. Kuyt runs a lot and tries hard but what he actually produces for all that effort makes his inclusion in any starting line up questionable, in my humble opinion."
How short-term can our memories become?!
The key question is whether Kuyt's performance this year is typical, or an aberration. In 1+ seasons with LFC, Kuyt has had 15 goals in 56 PL appearances, for a .27 goals/ PL game strike rate (23 in 82 matches overall). This after 4 straight 20+ goal seasons in the Eredivisie.
Crouch, in 2+ seasons with LFC, has had 19 goals in 76 PL matches, for a .25 goals/ PL game strike rate (overall, 39 goals in 121 matches).
Not a lot to choose from on the face of it- what Kuyt "actually produces for all that effort" has been just about the same as Crouch, INCLUDING the statistics from the current poor year for Kuyt.
If, as past results suggest, this poor year is an aberration and Kuyt reverts back to more normal form, then what he WILL produce for LFC will exceed that from Crouchy most of the time. So as between the two, over the longer term it is Kuyt who more deserves a place in the starting line up than Crouch.
Of course, the point could be made that NEITHER deserves a place, but that wasn't the question you raised.
craigy--plenty o'big games left to be counting GD IMvhO, but I doubt scousers are panicked. I think it's going to be a fascinating run in & ya shouldn't be discounting AV or Pompey either. AV probly has too thin a squad, but I love Harry as much or more than Moyes. The lad knows how to motivate. Look at Campbell & Kanu under him. (c:
ABG--not sure if yer genuinely interested in the debate, as quite a few of yer posts have been a bit uncharitable, but I'll bite 1 more time.
- Comparing RB/Agger to AW/Kolo/Ade is like blaming Nadal for not winning more Wimbledons; AW is the acknowledged King of Unearthing. Plus there's the whole "8 less years to build a int'l scouting dept." thing. It's like blaming AW for not winning as many games @ Emirates as at Highbury. It takes time. (c:
- ~Agreed re: Flo-Po, but TBH, he never looked like a 90 minute player, and RB replaced him with Fowler, then Voronin, and made a profit doing it. Does it look better in that light? And mebbe there was an attitude issue we don't know. I liked what I saw. *shrug*
- Cisse: IMvhO, you really had to watch a bit of him to see why RB moved him. I too liked his character in coming back *twice*, and his pace. But his intelligence and technique are absolute PANTS. RB moved him to wing to take scoring pressure off him, 'add' more scoring threat, give him simpler tasks, and spread the field w/his pace. Cisse responded by shooting when he shoulda crossed and crossing when he shoulda cut in. Like, every time. Put it this way, Luis and Kuyt are 50% less maddening. Baros looks cultured in comparison. Again, YMMV
Kuyt's been awful this year, but he has reasons for it. And, despite media & pundit ravings to the contrary, Benitez is not stupid. There's still plenty of time left for Kuyt to score meaningful goals. All these stats are incomplete and therefore premature, if not immaterial. There's more reasons for not scoring than mere profligacy or competence. I mean, if we add up all the so-called sitters he's missed this year, we're probly talking aboot 3 goals. Hardly a monumental difference....
Having said that, I find it more than passing curious that RB stuck with Crouch thru that terrible drought, then with Kuyt this year. At least he's consistent. However, RB has a little more choice this year, and he's kinda refused to really giving Crouch any kind of a run. So he liked him, but now he doesn't it? He rates Kuyt THAT much more??? I don't see why either should be excluded for the other when playing with Torres skill-wise or tactically (ie: LFC isn't demonstrably better with one vs. the other), so the one who looks in best form should be the choice IMO. If Benitez just did that in the EPL games, I think the media pressure/speculation surrounding him woulda been eliminated, barring poor results, of course. (c:
ABG--One last note: RB basically spent the Heinze $ on Skrtel, a less cultured but younger player. Be interesting to see how that turns out, eh? Plus RB may still poach GH from Real yet. And mebbe for less $. (c;
GENNARO GATUSSO
The cultured and mild tackling stalwart of AC Milan and Serie A. I'm sure his nickname is the Pampered Poodle or some other such canine nom de plume.
BECKHAM
99 AND SOD OFF BACK TO LA!
GORN
:) We play Villa AND Pompey (SAT) pretty soon, although both are home.
No one above West Ham should be discounted (sorry flash SPurs would need a miracle to get fourth, juts too many teams between them and that spot need to fail badly - which isn't going to happen)
Having the points is always better than having a game in hand
Actually I look up and think, bloody hard but not impossible, it's only five points now and at the most eight.
Everton fans will do what they always do and focus on their own team. Beat Pompey, then Beat Fiorentina - anything else is just secondary or tertiary.
We just can't resist a little dig every now and again.
Defoe has added much needed goals to pompey, even so their current from isn't great (two close games won at the death which they could have lost)
Villa (schmeichel scoring against us will always spring to mind when I think of the claret and blue) struggle with consistency.
Citeh - need to bounce back, have the weapons without (now) the cutting edge.
Blackburn - obviously they will kick the shiite of of any and all opponents (as they always to to Arsenal) never mind their sometimes potent attack and solidity (plus they have a fine stopper)
West Ham - Curbishly can shut up the critics with regard to his limitations if he pushes and the hammers respond.
Spurs - Ramolutions in full swing confidence h
Albertagooner – Of course dangerous play should be punished. What I said after the Liverpool derby was that if “Kuyt had made contact it would have been a certain red card” – October 20, 2007. The issue as I remember it was whether or not Kuyt was attempting to block a clearance or attempting an ill-advised “tackle”.
I felt that that has was trying to block Neville’s clearance but if he had made any contact with Neville he would have certainly got a red card. As for the media – I don’t think you can treat the media as a single body. Doubtless some parts do treat incidents like this with a double standard while others see it for what it is. Just like fans really.
CONT...
high, who knows what the limit (maybe 6th) is for a team with a good goal scoring record and maybe a rejuvenated stopper.
GD is vital - every edge is required to finish above your opponents, every team has one or two games where a slip up can and probably will happen. Of course winning out is desired (though unlikely).
Would you want your team to miss out on it's desired goal by having a poorer gd than it's rival?
Spurs winning the Leagie CUp changes things up a bit though.
The worst case is we finish 4th and rs win the CL. Fifa rules then require the FA to make a choice as to which four teams are entered into the CL. Last time it happened the rule covering the situation wasn't in place.
SERIE A
Juve drew and couldn't seem to find a way to blame the referee.
Atalanta V Sampdoria - Doni v Cassano - my favourite italian madman
Catania V Milan - not as easy at is sounds
Fiorentna V Livorno - how will la viola do without their romanian god of goals
Genoa V Napoli - will the azzurri win be just a blip or will Genoa continue their decent run of form (derby aside)
Inter V Roma - first v second - BIG GAME NIFF SAID!
Lazio V Reggina - lost abysmally and in trouble V won with hard work and attitude (and without any help from the ref) and in trouble
Palermo V Empoli - pink v blue - who knows? Amauri seems to thinks he's in shop window though
Parma V Udinese the unsexy but good team in a battle for fourth spot and a cheese that's good on pasta
Siena V Cagliari - classical relegation six pointer.
KUNG FU
Has Gabriel Henize made any kind of reckless kung fu style move since his move to Real Madrid or is it just Sissoko that learnt some funky oriental moves from Kuyt?
INTENT IS IMPORTANT (at least to the FA and the referees)
Petrov amd Aliadiere - minimal contact, no harm done but red's and three match bans(four now - and I can see exactly why).
Carsley (Not English or British and bloomin proud of it) gets the games only yellow for a tackle with intent and then some (although it is intent to win the ball or break up the play)
Carsley V Hunt in the win at Reading - one moment Hunt needs to be held back as he has blood on his mind - two minutes later it's a handshake and a smile from two footballing professionals.
Even The Ugly Sister shook hands with Kung Fu Kuyt after the last Derby.
Craigy:
Ok. I’ll play along. Gattuso’s nickname is “Ringhio” which I would define as “one who snarls or growls”. It is often used to describe bad tempered dogs. I think that nickname describes Gattuso very well. You will never see Gattuso go into a high tackle studs first, well timed or otherwise. Also, I find it hard to believe that Taylor went in studs first by accident.
I will say that I see Bobby’s view of the Eduardo/Taylor incident. Taylor made that tackle studs first; even if his studs missed Eduardo completely, it would have warranted a yellow card. The fact that is was mistimed caused Eduardo’s leg to get broken, which, I agree, is why we are all talking about it. It was a dangerous tackle to begin with, even if it were perfectly timed. That’s why studs first tackles are not allowed, regardless of contact. I could be wrong, but my perception is that hard tackles seem to be overlooked more in the EPL than in other leagues. No statistics, just years of watching football from a biased perspective. (I think I should include that disclaimer with all my comments!)
Sorry, I'll try to tone it down a little because I'm genuinely interested in the opinions of most people who gather here.
Completely agree on your point that Rafa needs more time to build and I've indicated he deserves it. Don't forget, though, that Wenger managed to "unearth" a couple of gems early on at Highbury -- Anelka and Vieira. One stayed -- the other was flogged for a huge profit.
We completely agree on Flo-Po.
As for Cisse, his technique and intelligence seemed to be fine while on duty with France as well as at Auxerre, which leads me to wonder what happened at Anfield. As I noted, for all his faults and being played out of position, his goal-scoring record compares very favourably to Crouch, Kuyt, Morientes and Bellamy, all of whom were brought in by Rafa (and some of them subsequently flogged). Perhaps it was a scapegoating thing, perhaps it was a cultural thing or the need to sweep out the Houllier era, but Cisse didn't get a fair shake at Anfield, from either the manager or the supporters. And it's ironic because he has the qualities that would make him a far better partner for Torres than anything that Rafa currently has.
Rafa has moved the club forward but he has also authored his own misfortune in terms of some of his transfers, both in who he's brought in and who he has sold.
Last edited by albertagooner on February 27th at 10:17 AM.
For one, I am weirded out by being grouped together with H14. Should I be offended? No offense to h14 ;)
Second, I for one did not intend to make the arguement nationalistic. I am simply curious if there is some sort of statistics available as to which league does not reign in on players that can cause career ending injuries. In the last 5-6 years, that I know of, Cisse twice, Totti once and now Eduardo has had his leg broken during a game. I haven't heard of any other similiar incidents. Based on these injuries to me the PL and Serie A stand out.
I have played the game mostly as a defender. I am considered a skilled defender. In my 25+ years of playing I have only received 3-4 yellow cards and one red card. The red card I received for arguing a call the ref made. The yellows were never dangerous tackles either. I'm just trying to point out that I always made the choice of not injuring other players and I expect the same curtasy in return. I do agree with your statement that most career ending injuries occur during random play and I add the condition of the pitch. I for one had two knee injuries due to the pitch. I also once took a free kick, the ball hit another player head while standing in the wall and he lost all memory of playing that game. Better for him I guess as they lost. Regardless, the point I'm making ties into my answer to your inquiry regarding Tostao's suggestions of rule changes. I believe the club manager, club owner, the
FA, UEFA and Fifa need to step up. They can extend the
penalty of reckless play incidents such as the number of games missed to 4 to 8 games. In particular I think an FA could also add either a monitary fee or point deduction to the club. Which would get the owner and manager more interested to control their players.
For the record, one more time, the player I am most critical of is the so called Matirx. A player of the team I support. I wish he is transfered soon. Barzagli for Inter!!!
CIAO - I was not implying that you were putting forward a nationalistic position. I tried to explain off the top that I was trying to address the specific questions as well as a bunch more general statements that had been made in relation to the Taylor/Eduardo incident. That was were I was coming from in terms of the only happens in England sentiment.
Your story of the player hit in the head and having no recollection of the game reminds me of a story involving John Lambie a former manager in Scotland. The story goes that while in charge of Partick Thistle his centre forward took a massive wallop from the opposition keeper and was knocked senseless. The trainers ran on to the park to take a look at him and shortly after one of them returned to the dug out to tell Lambie that the player was in no position to continue as he had no idea who he was. Lambie's loosely translated response was "No problem, go tell him he's Pele and tell him to get on with it."
Last edited by BobbyMcMahon on February 27th at 7:55 AM.
Call me crazy but I always liked Baros and never understood why Pool let him go.
I felt he had a very ballanced game. Popped up and poached goals, could play with his back to goal, could link up with other players seemed geniuely to work hard every game. Didn't really excel in any certain aspect like other players but a very well rounded player.
Actually excited hes made his way back to the EPL so I can see more of him again and thought it was a great move by Portsmouth to bring him in. I guess the Pool fans can dissect why he was sent away which probably had to do with his goal record but then again I give most Pool strikers the benefit of the doubt because without service your stats are going to be #### poor anyways.
edit: great article Alberta I forgot about the Joey Barton on Dickson Etuhu tackle and I watched that game and was pulling my hair out how they didn't catch that one.
Last edited by JayAlves on February 27th at 7:59 AM.
Craigy,
My day started off bad...real bad, but your comments have made me laugh out loud and in fact I'm still smiling! Kung Fu Kyut---I love it. Hienze was always a flying kick away from black belt status. I stayed out of the debate on the Eduardo injury...it got to dirty for me but I kept thinking of Gattuso as well (and also asked myself where all this righteous indignation was, from all the so called non xenophobic crowd, when Puerta died? No outrage at the sloppy medical treatment etc...Break a leg in the EPL=outrage and racial/ethnic incriminations. Die on the pitch in Spain (with at least 2 physicians present, ambulances and a lot of guys wearing firefighting pants)=unavoidable tragedy. Oops...I did it. I'm going to hear about it now! (Before you guys come after me, this was meant for Craigy only.)
Moyes needs to be locked up in a good contract soon. He will be on a lot of club's short list. I still think their trip to altitude in Salt Lake was the magic elixir. One more skilled guy up top and they seriously compete for the league title. Carsley, Greavsen et all bald headed defenders/def. midfielders should carry a yellow card the minute they take the pitch.
Last edited by neophyte on February 27th at 8:10 AM.
Bobby,
Kenny Deuchar from Gretna has reportedly signed with MLS franchise, Real Salt Lake from SPL club Gretna. Do you know anything about this guy and is RSL getting a solid striker/forward?
I see Liga ending miserably for Atleti, unfortunately (read: no Champions League spot). I guess a UEFA spot would be OK, but the original goal for this season was definitely a top four finish.
I have very little, if any, faith in the team at the moment. I figure, it's better to keep my expectations rockbottom.
Thanks for the response. As a working journalist for 15 years, I quite agree the media isn't a monolithic institution although there's a pack mentality that sometimes sees conventional wisdom form (and burst, in the case of England's pre-tournament hype).
That said, many, many pundits have their views coloured by nationality, which was highlighted by the reaction to the Eduardo incident. That isn't just confined to England, but it was interesting to see the disparity in coverage with the Eduardo incident versus the others.
That's one reason, by the way, why I appreciate your punditry -- you are fair-minded enough to look at incidents without skewing it through the lens of nationalism. That tells me you care about the game first and passports/clubs second, which is how I've tried to treat the sport (especially now that I'm coaching).
Your admirable fair-mindedness and willingness to call it straight up probably why your blog has attracted such a wide range of different football fanatics who bring a wide range of perspectives, from Serie A loving Italians to an Argentinian Atletico supporter, Jamaican gooners to American scousers and on and on. Long may it continue.
Regarding the Crouch vs Kuyt debate, there is only one real solution:
START THEM BOTH!
(hahahaha)
Actually they're both ok - nothing special, but I think worthy enough to wear the shirt. Good people, hard working - if you want better, buy better, but they're giving you everything they can when they're on the pitch. I would never doubt their effort, but you get what you pay for.
Crouch is English. FLIP HIM! treat him like a stock and sell high. I'm not sure how you can get his value higher besides him being English. Maybe bribe Capello to play him vs Andorra in a friendly.
edit: maybe you could get him on Spurs shortlist of accepted transfer targets. 16m for Bent? Who knows how much for Crouch maybe 20 maybe 10? Might have to drug Ramos though.
Last edited by JayAlves on February 27th at 9:22 AM.
atleti,
Hopefully they won't pull the broadcast last minute. Or maybe in your case, you may want that. :)
Bobby,
You've a lot of upset Gunner fans with your comments. I was hoping the Gunner fans would take off their red glasses and look it from an unbiased point of view. Keep up the good work!
Hey, do you think England paid taylor to finish off Eduardo? croatia is in the same WC group. :)
Have Liverpool won any trophee after moving CISSE? He scored 18 goals for them in a season. somebody said liverpool is now full of weak players who don't know how to tacle.
Last edited by Thierry_Henry on February 27th at 10:15 AM.
neophyte - If they have signed Deuchar they have a potential goal scorer and a doctor. I would not say that his career hit the skids but it has hit a few speed bumps in the last 18 months after a falling out with Gretna. From the contacts I have in Scotland I've been told that he has a great eye for a goal - a bit like Jason Kreis perhaps. I would not be surprised if he got into double figures for RSL this season.
I am asking this question based on your knack for making astute observations.
I am of the opinion that Christiano Ronaldo is Highly overrated. He has scored no goals to speak of and has had no breathtaking performances against the big four in the prem or against quality teams in Champions leauge. He is also found wanting on the international level if u ask me. How on earth did he get the captains armband over Deco. Is there something that Christano Ronaldo can teach the vastly experienced deco who has won the champions leauge 2 times with as many teams what is wrong with scolari for making such a decision. Christiano Ronaldo keeps getting mentioned in the same breath as Ronaldo(the Brazilian), Zinedene Zidane, Luis Figo etc. All these are players who played on teams that won trophies off the backs of their performances in the big games when everything was on the line and they did not mysteriously disappear on the pitch in the moments they were needed most. But I guess if all the teams he played against had the soda pop back four of Newcastle Utd he would be scoring and performing in every game. For Christiano Ronald's sake lets hope Newcastle does not get relegated this season.
Bobby tell me what u think about my statements and please tell me if I am wrong with my observations.
Ronaldo is a very, very good player and he continues to get better. As for Scolari's choice of captain - who am I to question a man that took a team that was in disarray to a World Championship. Don't you think that Scolari maybe sees something in Ronaldo and would he appoint someone captain that the other players did not respect? How old were Ronaldo, Zidane and Figo when they won big trophies and how old is Ronaldo. If you can honestly say that you would sign Deco over Ronaldo at this point in time you are in a very tiny minority.
Last edited by BobbyMcMahon on February 27th at 10:32 AM.
yes Bobby but He is being called the best in the world do u think he deserves that title. should'nt the captain be ssomeone who is experienced and has been in situations before I think deco fills that mould better. So why not make him ManU captain then
OK Bobby u might be right about him being young so I concede for now. But once he hits 25 he's fair game.
He is very good though and exciting to watch. I just wish he showed up in the big games against the big teams though thats when u truly become WORLD CLASS
By the way Zidane won his first scudetto and won the world cup at around 24
Last edited by aldoray on February 27th at 11:12 AM.
Some people may call him the best in the world and Pele once said that Nicky Butt was one of the world's best players. It's all the matter of individual opinion and at the end of the day it doesn't meam anything. Managers appoint captains for different very different reasons and in many cases it is dependant on the player and circumstances. Club captain and country captain do not necessarily match up. The last time I checked someone called Ferguson was the United manager not Scolari. You might want to double check on Zidane's age - you've knocked a couple of years off. If you are including the scudetto then it only seems fair to include the Premiership as well does it not?
Bobby,
Thanks for the reply and your opinions are always highly valued in my book. I re-read your comments and in no place did you say it was fair tackle. My apologies. I guess that was my interpretation from these lines of yours
"Taylor flying into the tackle – pure hyperbole. Taylor was slow, he was late and he caught Eduardo. A fraction of a second either way and Eduardo rolls off the tackle or Taylor brings him down, a free kick is given and Eduardo plays on as players do countless times each game."
Seemed to me here you were implying that Taylor's tackle was of the usual kind and the only problem was it came late. Not watching your show didn't help me either.
VVV's thoughts are almost mine too except he words them much better so I don't want to repeat them. Honestly, I think that tackle warrants a red card with or without contact in order to protect players and the beauty of the game. Also I fully agree with AG's comments on the media and punditry in the aftermath of the tragedy.
Please, fox soccer channel, could you please stop the topic on Eduardo's injury? It's sad and horrible . I think some of us have had enough of the continuous replays and talk of this horrible injury.
EVERTON has applied for a position in the INTERTOTO CUP next year??!!
Well now, Blue Side, that there is one serious statement of intent to crack the EPL top four and to become a serious Champions League entrant ...
The Guardian: "The club claim that the decision is a safety net following Tottenham's success in the Carling Cup, and does not indicate a lack of belief that David Moyes's team will continue their strong run of form in the league"
Bobby with great expectation I watched monday's show. Now I am not going to take back what I said about the English media nor the typical mediocre English player's reliance on physicality to make up for lack of talent.
However I will say that your perspective did soothe me a bit. Also it was the first time I saw the footage of Taylor afterwards. That "smirk" he had on his face betrayed nothing malicious and something more to the effect of "I f'ed up, it was an accident". I suppose Mcleish has a job to do and had to defend his player.
And good spot on the Clichy call not being a penalty. Something no one else seems to want to talk about. The day Man Utd loses an English trophy due to a bad call is when I will believe that there is no bias.
BLUESTUFF
Intertoto - makes sense. Rather than reading what the Grunnie makes up I got in from the proverbial horses mouth. The hacks at the Grunnie don't mention Villa City and Blackburn at all do they?
Everton CEO Keith Wyness told evertonfc.com: "Clearly European qualification through our lea
