LosAngelesChelseaFan - I can see why seeding wouldn't work. For logistics reasons alone the draw has to be made before the replays are resolved. I can remember when second replays occurred just days before the next round.
Bobby – And as someone else pointed out there is a form of seeding that goes on given that the Championship and Premiership teams don’t enter the competition until the 3rd round. It should also be remembered that the Manchester United – Liverpool final of 1996 and the Arsenal – United final in 2005 were awful matches to watch.
Bigdavedisaster - Do you think we will begin to see lower level teams like a Leeds being bought by foreign investors? It seems almost a better investment to buy a team for 25 mil as opposed to 100 mil and use the 75 you saved to bring the club up.
Bobby – I don’t think “foreign” investors are sophisticated enough to understand that the bargains may lie with teams like Leeds and Sunderland. When I say foreign I am referring to buyers who have not been involved in the game previously or don’t come from a football culture.
But you notice that with Mandaric’s move to Leicester (new stadium, decent base of support) and to an extent Bates’ purchase of Leeds that some people are searching for bargains. The problem with Leeds is that they have nearly really escaped the financial mess that Risdale and his living the dream era got them into to.
When you consider that the bottom club next season in the Premiership is going to pocket close to $60M there is a definite incentive to do what you are suggesting.
Henry14-Q1. l have had my reservation on Walcott, because l feel that for all his pace and glorified talent l feel that he is very poor technically. when l look at the type of player he will compete with next season like Carlos Vela and Bendtner who have decent pace but are right up there technically l do not see him making the grade. How do you rate him regarding that he is called the biggest thing since Wayne Rooney?
Q2 Do you think Bellamy and Pennant really have a future at Liverpool given that they have both been linked with booze this week?
Q3.What is your opinion on negative support for football in the UK like the glorification of having 10 men behind the ball. l have seen that a draw is glorified. l was just looking at how pundits glorify such performances do you feel it is these kinds of performances that cause the gulf between big and small clubs increase. Do you think negative tactics are good for the game?
Q4. How do you rate managers and what do you think are the components required to be the best coach in the world? Who do you rate as the best?
Bobby – A1 - Consider the following - Walcott is 17; Arsene Wenger thought highly enough of him to pay Southampton a lot of money; Wenger is giving him a decent amount of time; Wenger has a “fairly good” nose for talent. Based on that I don’t see how you could write him off. I have seen very little of Carlos Vela so I not sure I can comment intelligently except to point out that his playing in the Spanish Second Division not the Premiership.
Bendtner is two years older and also playing at a level below the Premiership. When Walcott played in the Championship he had a strike rate of something like 5 goals in 12 games and Harry Rednapp was playing him through the middle. So with all that said I think when you compare Walcott to Vela and Bendtner you are not comparing like to like so it is an unfair comparison.
I’m not sure who has said he is the next biggest thing to Wayne Rooney – labels like that are hung on lots of players – but I don’t see how that impacts how good Walcott is or will be. When you use that label you are pre-judging a player based on whether or not he is as good as Wayne Rooney as opposed posing the question to is he a good player which is different matter.
Walcott’s style reminds me of Marc Overmars so it will be interesting if Wenger continues to play him wide or moves him to a more central position.
A2 – If every player in England who was linked with booze and misbehavior was dumped there would be even fewer English players in the Premiership than there is now. At the end of the day players can get away with a significant level of repeated bad behavior as long as they are doing the job on the park.
Only occasionally do you see managers move players because of discipline problems – far more players are moved because of poor performances. People remember that Ferguson and Wenger moved McGrath and Merson but they sometimes forget that they held on to Robson and Adams.
A3 – I don’t think draws are glorified (in the UK) but when a team with less skill and talent finds a way to get a point or three of a better team I think they deserve credit for it – no matter how it achieved. The alternative is to go and attack with abandon and get stuffed – that is not going to keep the team’s fans very happy. The job of a coach is to provide his team with the best possible chance to win the game. You have a much better chance of winning the game if the game is scoreless or you are only down by a goal than if you 3-0 down after 20 minutes because you started four up front at Old Trafford. The manager’s obligation to his team and its fans – he is not obliged to send out a sacrificial lamb that provides highlight reel goals for the opposition.
A4 – Rating a manager – 1. Player development 2. Winning trophies 3. Success in the transfer market 4. The team being greater than the sum of the pieces 5. Tactically astute and flexible. 6. Lucky.
For the last few years I have considered Capello to be one of the best if not the best but Real Madrid looks to have proved to be too much for even him.
Luiz Felipe Scolari would certainly be close to the top. Lippi and Ferguson are there as well.
Blueblades - Having witnessed Ronaldo score two goals and provide an assist for Milan in their thrilling 4-3 victory over Siena at the weekend I couldn’t help but wonder why Real Madrid were so eager to sell him, especially considering their lack o####oal threat in recent games.
Do you think that Ronaldo's sale could result in Real finishing 3rd or 4th rather than 1st or even 2nd since the rest of the challenging teams all seem to have consistent goal scorers?
Also which sale of a player in recent years do you think proved most detrimental to the success of the selling side's post sale success?
Bobby – I think it might be one of those situations that Ronaldo will make a big difference to Milan but if he had stayed at Real Madrid he wouldn’t have.
As for a player that moved on – good question. I might go for Fernando Hierro when he left Real Madrid. He may have been nearing the end of his career but he represented something that was very different than the Galacaticos syndrome that was fully embraced post-Fernando.
The US team was more balanced than against the Czech Republic – particularly when they had 11 men on the park. Dempsey looked comfortable on the right and Donovan and Convey settled quickly.
It was a typical Italian start. Absorb pressure, bend but do not break and then take the first chance on offer. I thought the American defense was too high on the free kick and gave Gilardino far too much room to move into.
The momentum switched for a third time with the Zaccardo own goal. A poor piece of work from the Italian defender. Then seconds later De Rossi got a straight red card for something that you would be arrested for if you did it in public. Absolutely deserved.
My thoughts as we approached half time was that Mastroeni was going to be a key player in the 2nd half to make sure that the Italians didn’t catch the US on the break.
The red card he got was the worst decision of the day by far. Yellow yes – red, no way. A slide tackle no lunge, not over the ball – a very poor decision.
The third red card of the day saw Pope sent off. It should have been a yellow card, which meant he was going to go anyway. It certainly did not warrant a straight red.
Arena did a good job of shuffling his players and Conrad plugged a big hole at centre back. At the time, I thought it a bit odd going with a back four when you only had another four outfield players but it worked out.
Beasley’s disallowed goal I would have to say the referee got right. It looked from the TV angle as if McBride was blocking Buffon’s view.
The US players ran themselves into the ground and they achieved a glorious result.
Man of the Match – It could have been one on five or six players but I am going for Carlos Bocanegra. He won tackles; he got up and down the wing and had a thoroughly good game.
Added thought - I have tried to avoid mentioning the announcers but…….there was 20 minutes left with tension rising by the second and we heard about Lippi’s son and the Italian scandal. If you cannot convey something about the game at that stage in a game can you please just be quite? It was such an absolutely pointless piece of information.
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