Another bumper week for blog participation - thanks again to everyone who participates by reading or posting.

Mr. Red Devil - Now that Man Utd have won the EPL (with 2 matches to go) and will play in the FA Cup Final, do you see Carrick's transfer fee as being justified?

His play throughout the season was consistently very good and he was a valuable part of the 1st team, so I believe he was well worth the 14m-18m pounds. I know you were wary of that amount at the time of the transfer, so I just wanted to get your current views.

Bobby – He had some good games but he rarely looked like a £18 million footballer. Spurs paid £10.9 million Berbatov, different positions but who go better value? I noted that SAF was complaining that Chelsea had inflated the market by paying £27 million Michael Essien. From what I’ve seen Chelsea got a better deal paying what they did for Essien than United did for Carrick.  And now we have Owen “£20 million” to look forward to.

Bmax14 - I went to my first USL game yesterday and I was actually kind of impressed with the atmosphere and reasonable quality of play. In your opinion, where would USL 1st division compare in quality to England's leagues? Would it be League 2? And MLS, my impression is that a good MLS team would be comparable to a mid-table Championship team. What would you say? I'm trying to get more into US football this year to accommodate my summer fix since there is no WC or Euro to watch. I know I can't expect the EPL but I don't think MLS (or even USL) is the absolute worst football in the world either.

Bobby – I gave up comparing leagues and came to the conclusion that it was a pointless exercise. We know that some MLS players can make it the Premiership while others would struggle to hold a starting spot in League 2 or even the conference. I think what that tells us is that the MLS has some very good players but it is lacking in depth. Because Europe has more leagues and teams playing at the professional level, players are more liable to find their natural level with teams that match their skills and abilities.  This is how I look at it numerically with 10 being fantastic and 1 being poor it might line up something like this over a starting eleven. MLS – 3 nines, 2 sevens, 3 fives, 2 threes and 1 one. Championship – 1 nine, 1 seven, 3 sixes, 2 fives, 3 fours and 1 two. MLS has a wider range of skills on the team while the Championship would be much more tightly grouped.

RINGO - This week’s trivia. Which team used to play home games at Annfield?
And which team plays home games at St.James Park?

Bobby – Trick question you ####. Stirling Albion and Exeter City. Did you ever post the answers to last week’s questions?

Neophyte - Why is Mark Hughes always associated with being the heir apparent to the ManU. throne? With Keane showing promise why is everyone so hot on Hughes? If SAF were to retire today I can think of a couple of others I would rather see as Gaffer than Hughes. I like Steve Coppell if I had to choose right now. How about you?

Bobby – It is standard practice to link former players with managerial and coaching jobs at their old clubs. History has proven that there is a better chance that someone will be hired who has a connection with a club than otherwise. So it makes some sense. What Mark Hughes has over the other names that pop up is European and International experience as a manager.

Rwonfootball - What is the point of the EPL suing YouTube? YouTube gives the league free publicity, so they really shouldn't be complaining.

Bobby – Simple, why would you allow someone to give away for free, something that someone else would pay for. The EPL doesn’t need free publicity nor does it want it. It wants money.

Henry14 - Q1 What is the problem with Tyneside club, do you think it’s the board, or the club in my opinion is not as big as it claims to be?
Q2 If $60m we put for Berbatov do you see Tottenham selling him
Q3 What do you think of Lori Cana, I am of the information that he is definitely be one of Wenger's signings. Again Bobby, Amy Lawrence on a talk show said that Wenger has been given $100m pounds as part of 80m pound transfer budget they agreed on with the creditors up to 2009 and she sees certain that Eto’o is on the cards. Personally l feel Eto’o and Henry are mutually exclusive in the same team, even if Wenger has this amount of money do you see him coming to Arsenal

Bobby – 1. In business terms Newcastle United is an underperforming asset and has been for decades. When you see that sort of situation there is only one person to blame – the Chairman and in-turn the directors. 2. If Spurs sell Berbatov the fans will be livid and rightfully so. With the new TV deal kicking and as long as the player is happy there would not appear to be any reason why Spurs would have to sell. 3. To be perfectly honest I don’t think I have ever watched him play – I certainly wasn’t aware of him. Apparently he is a defensive midfield player and so I can’t see why Arsenal would go after him. 4. I just can’t understand why Barcelona would choose to sell Eto’o. So until someone comes up with a good reason I am expecting him to stay at the Nou Camp. 

BigWave - I know this is a minor thing but now that Man United has won the Premiership title can the new guy on the Fox Soccer Report stop referring to the Reds as "Man U?" All football fans know that is not a proper term.

Bobby – We have that in common. Referring to Man. Utd.  as Man U has driven me crazy for years. In fact if my wife wants to bug me she will ask “is that Man U on television?” However, the reference has become so commonly used that I have accepted that nothing is going to change.

Henry14 - How you rate Torres among forwards, do you think he is the Darren Bent group of players. Is Hunterlaar for real, is he not like Kezman?

Bobby – He is far better player than Darren Bent. The problem with comparing Hunterlaar with Kezman is that for every Kezman there is a Van Nistelrooy and Roy Makaay. Who knows how differently it might have turned out for Kezman if he had joined a team that gave him a regular spot in the starting eleven. 

Rob's Rabble - I wonder did you see Jorge Valdano's comments on the Liverpool Chelsea Champions League game. If not, check out The Guardian's website. Basically he compared it to watching #### on a stick. As an Arsenal fan, I have to agree somewhat that Benitez and Mourinho are strangling a lot of the skill level out of the game. The sad thing is that you could say that Arsenal actually made it to the CL final last year playing the same way. Hard to see what the solution is, but I have to say I would rather watch ties like Milan Man U over the Liverpool Chelsea ones every time.

Bobby – It was a terrible game of football but it had me on the edge of my seat. 

Foxcube - Q1, given his failure to defend the title, how likely do you think now is JM to be asked to quit in the summer, if Abramovich would risk losing a couple of key players? What's your reckoning on what the owner wants the club to be like? Playing beautifully? Or a team to win at all cost, the more trophies the merrier?
Q2, Can you name the three transfer targets Sir Alex alluded to? Or to rephrase it, if you were ManU manager, who'd be your top three recruits?
Q3, Could you also name the three most needed positions/candidates for Liverpool and Arsenal?
Q4, Is Tottenham faring better than you expected at the beginning of the season? If they can keep Berbatov, will they be among the top 4 challengers next season, including, imo, Arsenal, Everton, and Aston Villa?

Bobby – 1. I think Mourinho will be gone before the new season starts. As for what Abramovich wants – my guess is wonderful flowing football. 2. There are a number of targets that have been mentioned already – Hargreaves, Berbatov, Bales, Nani (Sporting Lisbon). I think he will be on the look out for a couple of midfielders – it would be a dangerous game to bank on Giggs and Scholes producing a repeat of this season’s form next year. United also need a striker. 3. Liverpool – a reliable and mobile 20 a season goal scorer, a first class left sided midfielder and cover at centre back although Benitez might have a couple of youngsters who can step up. Arsenal – another option on the right side of midfield, a dominating centre – both Toure and Gallas lack the couple of inches that Sol Campbell gave Arsenal – and a new goalkeeper. Lehmann’s antics wore thin a long time ago. 4. Tottenham exceeded my expectations as far as entertainment value was concerned but I think they will finish close to where I picked back in August. The FSR and the blog will be pulling out the predictions in the next week or so. Even with Berbatov I can’t see any team cracking the top four.

LosAngelesChelseaFan - Bobby, are league teams still contractually obligated to enter it (the Carling Cup)?

Bobby – I believe so.

RINGO - Having seen the way Chelsea’s season has ground to a halt, I do not think it is possible to win all four trophies.....Which makes the achievements of the "Lisbon Lions" all the more remarkable!
And with the 40th anniversary of their great triumph approaching.....good topic for a blog?!

Bobby – They say records are made to be broken but Celtic’s haul in ’67 will take some beating. A couple of days ago I was thinking of the spring of 1967. Scotland beat World Champions England at Wembley, Celtic became the first northern European side to win the European Cup, Rangers were beaten by Bayern Munich in the final of the Cup Winners Cup in extra time and Kilmarnock reached the semi final of the Fairs Cities Cup before going out to Leeds United. We will never see the likes again!

Venti_vidi_vici - Now that the fourth season of the Abramovich era at Chelsea is coming to a close, is it safe to say that one still cannot buy happiness or success?

If Mourinho’s last two seasons at Porto are to be defined as successful because of the trophies he collected, how successful, would you say, were his first (and maybe only) three seasons at Chelsea?

It looks like Gary Neville, Michael Carrick and Steven Gerrard are all getting married on June 16 next month, and John Terry’s big day is the day before. That must have something to do with fixture congestion, right!? Did you receive an invitation to any of them?

In your personal opinion, why did Tim Howard not feature in the match versus his former employer, Man Utd, last week?

Congratulations are in order for Man Utd for accomplishing what, a year ago, appeared to be mission impossible and dethroning Chelsea. At the beginning of the season did anyone predict the EPL trophy going back to Old Trafford?

Bobby – The reality is that is next to impossible to have success in football without money. The thing that Abramovich brought to Chelsea was an almost unlimited supply of money – something we have never seen before. I don’t believe that two Premiership titles and assorted other hardware can be looked upon as failure. June 16 – I think there is a Gold Cup game that day.
Tim Howard – I have no idea but was there not an arrangement made with one of Scott Parker’s moves? As for predicting Manchester United as the premiership champions at the start of the season – out of over 70 predictions that were received on the blog I believe only four selected United as the winners. I will have the full details next week.

Djnima – I wanted to hear your thoughts on your fellow Fox Football Pundit Nick "get the beers in" Webster.

I do admit that his prediction does look set to come true, but who knows who else Fergie can bring to the team in January. I hope for the leagues sake that it does go down to the wire. I think Chelsea need to reinforce the back four and bringing Cech back will help. I do think Utd were unlucky to come away with a result. They don't seem to "go for the jugular" as Fergie puts it. Thoughts?

Bobby - I think I would like to comment on it from my perspective rather than providing my thoughts Nick’s article. First of all, I picked Chelsea to win the Premiership this season and I still think come May they will be the champions. However, the shine has been removed from Chelsea this season-this is not the team we have seen the last two years.  A pattern has evolved whereby Chelsea get behind in a game or are having trouble breaking down the opposition -- Newcastle as an example – then Essien moves to wingback, they throw on another forward or two and they finish up getting a result.

Chelsea is allowing the opposition to score first to a far greater extent than we have seen before. They have also all lost to Middlesbrough and Spurs after taking the lead. If they don't get themselves sorted out they will drop more points.  By now teams should know what to expect in terms of the Essien move and you should see teams adjust their tactics accordingly.  Clearly Mourinho has been unable to sort out the predicament of Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard essentially occupying the same position. It is a bit like the Lampard/Gerrard problem that England suffers with.
Chelsea has relied on a few players to bale them out this season- Drogba perhaps being the most prominent.

Henry14 - Gone are the days that you would look at the league fixture as an arsenal fan and predict a win on Saturday l noticed something that l never thought would happen. A new all time low was recorded in the gunners’ team. Surely the young team has made the standards of the arsenal team fall. l could not believe that drawing with Portsmouth is now seen as symbol of character, something that was unheard of a few seasons ago. Arsenal built their reputation on thrashing all the teams they have drawn with at home. Half the season have gone one has come to a conclusion that surely some of the players are highly overrated. l watched the Portsmouth game twice and suddenly saw that they is no longer any pride in pulling the Arsenal jersey. RVP, Clichy, Eboue, Hleb, Toure, Djouru have all been a disgrace this season. l could not believe that we can not have a two match winning streak. These players has been living in the glory of Pires, Bergkamp, Henry, Vieira, Ashley Cole, Sol, Lauren to such an extent that they are happy to have the ego that comes with it but not the performance. These players have not stepped up and to show how their ego affects them after a performance like that some of them go to the media and claims their can still win the league which is disrespectful to the fans. They are young but so are 11 of the 20 teams in the Premiership and if they are not careful they are staring at UEFA cup football in the face and an empty stadium. The reality that Wenger hides from is that he should sign two or three good experienced players in midfield and attack.

Do you think there is any better country at producing strikers like Italy, if you look at their goal scoring chart over the seasons it is amazing. And what do you think about Sheffield United.

Bobby - Henry14, I am beginning to get bit concerned that you are going to do yourself a mischief jumping on and off the Arsenal wagon. You're upset about drawing with Portsmouth, but go back to the “Invincible Year” and did Arsenal not draw with the newly promoted Portsmouth that season? Young players do not become better players by not playing them. In your words signing “two of three good experienced players in midfield attack” assumes that these players are automatically better than what Arsenal presently has.

As for Italian strikers, I can think of a few countries that are better at producing goal scorers.  Brazil and Argentina come quickly to mind.  You will have to explain to me what is amazing about the Italian goal scoring charts over the seasons.

Neil Warnock has Sheffield United working very hard and it has paid off with some vital goals in the last few weeks.  However, I cannot see them doing anything else but battling relegation all season although I fancy their chances of eventually surviving.

Jeffers77 - What do you think are the chances that Tottenham will win a trophy this year? They’ve been in great form lately, looks like they are coming together very well as a team. They’ll have to win some big games obviously to have a chance at winning something, but I think they could pull it off this year.

Bobby - Martin Jol has been talking up the UEFA Cup so that may be his number one target.  But if you look at the last 32 of the UEFA Cup I think you can see is going be extremely difficult tournament to win.

Dwight4007 - Arsene Wenger has been having some emotional control issues lately. Given his fantastic success over the past 10 years, is he displacing some frustration over the play of his young team onto opposing managers and match officials?

Bobby - Probably.

Bigdavedisaster - With Keane's injury do you think he is done at White Hart Lane? I hope not because I believe that Spurs increased level of play cannot be credited to the matching of Berbatov and Defoe but rather to the play of Huddlestone who just gets better with every match.

Bobby - Perhaps with his injury it might make it more likely that Keane will not leave come the January transfer window.  It certainly looks like Huddlestone is the heir apparent to Michael Carrick. He seems to be improving rapidly and certainly looks the part.

Realmadridccfan – 1. What do you think of the FIFA rankings that FIFA re-jigged after the World Cup? They make no sense at all! How does the United States end up 30th at this ranking, Canada 82nd, Trinidad & Tobago 91st, Guinea 23rd and Cuba 46th? This new formula that FIFA has come up with is pretty dumb.

2. Out of all the EPL managers right now, which club get's their money's worth in terms of getting the most out of their players and the financial resources (or lack their of) that the club has?

3. Who do you think is the most under-rated and over-rated goalkeeper in Spain's La Liga right now?

Bobby–1. I pay no attention to the FIFA rankings – absolute worthless ####.
2. It is going to vary from week to week, and I think you can only make that call come the end of season. However, Bolton has to be ranked highly on a value for money to points basis.
3. There are more avid watchers of La Liga than me who are better qualified to comment on the goalkeepers.  However, I would throw in the name of Roberto Abbondanzieri (Getafe) as someone who perhaps doesn’t get enough credit; on the other side I think Carlos Kameni (Espanyol) is often more style than substance.

LosAngelesChelseaFan - I agree 100% with your Summary on Chelsea on FSWR tonight (Chelsea not as good as last year’s 4-3-3 team, Boularouz being a disaster, risky tactics, Drogba getting more space, etc.).

I really don’t get the claim by the media that Chelsea has a deep squad to get them through while others may not last. They’ve been running on fumes and 30 yard strikes recently. We had this discussion earlier but they have no right winger, they only play well when they take Geremi off the pitch, there’s no CB coverage and we all know the Ballack/Sheva issues. Terry’s injury may not be trivial and explains his pretty passive displays of the last month or so. Kalou, Mikel are high risk.

It was interesting that JM today said that he wouldn’t have played the midfield diamond if Terry had been fit. I guess they can’t just dump Sheva, and I guess Ballack will be in the picture till they have someone better or they switch formations.

Do you have any thoughts about who Chelsea could get in the transfer window?
Maybe there’s a swap on the way. Have you heard any rumors?
Who do you think Man U should/could get?

Bobby - The last thing Chelsea need is to sign more players.  They have not successfully integrated the ones they signed in the summer saw adding more to the mix is not going to make the situation any better. I think many Manchester United fans are hoping that Fergie will sign another striker even with Larsson arriving on loan.  It looks like the move for Owen Hargreaves is definitely off so it might free up some substantial money for Fernando Torres. But there again Atletico Madrid may want to keep him until the summer and make a big push for a Champions League spot.

Venti_vidi_vici asks about the foul on John Terry versus Blackburn that led to a penalty kick.

Bobby – I did not see the penalty as a dive at all. If Ooijer is going to wrap his arms around Terry then the only way Terry is going to remain on his feet is if he stands still. As soon as he moves, he is bound to fall, which he did. For anyone to claim that it was not a penalty then they will have to explain how wrapping arms around someone is not a foul.

 Eponymous - Any chance you can make any extended comments on the Tottenham-Everton match and whether it bodes well for Everton (and/or ill for Tottenham) for the rest of the season?

Bobby – I thought that after Kilbane went off Everton were terrific. Howard had very little to do until Everton tired in the last 10 minutes or so. The central defensive pairing looked very good and quick and the full backs hardly put a foot wrong. Carsley was immense in front of the back four and Arteta and Osman dictated the game for large periods of time. Tottenham just could not handle the pace and mobility of Johnson (his goal was as good as any I have seen this season so far) and he looked as if he was enjoying himself. As for Spurs – they need Ledley King back sooner rather than later and in midfield, they need to sort out who the playmaker is. No one seemed to want to take that responsibility. It looks as if Spurs are adding to their squad before the transfer window. Mido signed on Tuesday and there are reports that Chimbonda will arrive from Wigan and Steed Malbranque from Fulham. Wayne Routledge is supposed to moving on to Fulham while Lee Young-pyo will  join Roma. And Eponymous we expect nothing less than a detailed account of your first Merseyside derby on September 9.

Hoodedclaw – Please see below my recent email to FIFA regarding the Oscar nominees that have found their way into the beautiful game.
I was going to wait until the middle of the season to see if there has been any improvement in the officiating, but after the weekend’s ludicrous penalty decisions at Charlton and the sending off of Kevin Kilbane, as a result of the quite spectacular theatrics of Young-Pyo Lee, I feel it worth mentioning now.
I am also happy to report that Chelsea’s Drogba had a perfect opportunity to hit the dirt on Sunday, but the ‘new’ Drogba decided on this occasion to persevere and score a gem o####oal.
I am a Chelsea fan (since 1966) and have been recently embarrassed by his (Drogba) and Robbens antics. Hopefully together we can put enough pressure on FIFA to do something about this?
Dear Sir/Madam
I have no doubt that you have received many emails on this subject, some perhaps offering a solution. Here is mine. I understand that most games now have a TV monitor, which is or can be watched by the 4th Official. Your reluctance to use this facility for instant replays is, I believe, based on the fact that these replays will slow the game down. I disagree with this. In the time, it would take for the 4th Official to replay the contended incident, even in slow motion, more often than not, the players will still be arguing with the Referee! In any situation, whether it is a penalty, foul, violent conduct or even players vying for an Oscar, the incident can be viewed and a decision made and transmitted to the referee.

Bobby – But isn’t this predicated on the belief that a replay will make it clear what the right decision should be? The problem is that a video replay usually only goes to support the viewer / fans original opinion so you will be no further forward. I watched the Everton – Tottenham game and did not see any theatrics from Lee nor have I seen anything to indicate that the referee felt he made a wrong decision. So are you saying that if there had been a video replay capability and the referee had still sent Kilbane off that you would have accepted it - not because you thought it was right but because a video replay was used?

 Laguna22 - Bobby, when a player goes down and writhes on the floor in agony, only to go off and return again next whistle, the game is brought into disrepute. Why can't FIFA institute a "minimum out" period -- if you are in such agony that you must leave the pitch for the magic spray from the physio, you cannot return to the pitch for three minutes minimum? This would put the diver's club at almost a hockey-esque power play disadvantage; obviously if the player was legitimately hurt, his substitute could come on immediately.

Bobby – You view seems to be based on the premise that anyone who goes down in agony and recovers within a short period of time (say a minute for arguments sake) is a diver. I do not agree with that. Anyone who has had a set of studs rip across almost bare bone or has been on the receiving end of knees cracking together in a tackle knows that the pain is intense for a short time and then disappears very quickly. From what I have seen in the Premiership so far, the directive to the players that referees are responsible for stopping the game and not the players, has worked very well. Under your proposal, a player could get his teeth knocked out but he if the trainer was called on then he would be required to stay off for three minutes – that hardly seems fair.

 GeorgeWeah - I'm having a hard time finding the US national team. Are you guys stashing them up in the hinterlands of Canada?
Seriously, the absolute drop in news that has taken place re: US squad is frustrating. I understand they won't be playing anytime soon but it would be nice to know what is going on with the coaching search and the timetable. Then again, that would mean we need someone in the media to step up and ask that question.
Couple questions: not going to ask you who the US Federation should hire, rather, I want to ask you what kind of coach (and style) they should be looking at? Also, is there a player or 2 players that you think deserves a look for a call-up that got overlooked by Bruce Arena (not someone like Twellman, rather, more under the radar).
Thanks a lot, Bobby!

Bobby – Jamie Trecker is working a story so keep checking his blog for an update before the end of the week. Players will come and go as part of the natural cycle but I do not think Arena made a mistake in his choice of players to take to Germany.

djnima - Do you believe that Hargreaves is worth all of this fuss from SAF? Where would he fit in the midfield? With Carrick and Scholes? Surely all 3 cannot be on the field at the same time. Thoughts?
Also, where do you think Tevez is going? It doesn't sound like he's going to Man U which will probably mean he's going to Chelsea and being loaned out. Thoughts?

Bobby – Hargreaves is not worth the money that is being suggested in the media. Anything over $10M and someone would be overpaying in my opinion. However, I do not think you can question it on the basis that United already Scoles and Carrick particularly given that they are quite different players. Scoles plays much further forward and although Carrick plays deep, he is very much a playmaker while Hargreaves is a defensive midfield player with very little attacking flair. As for Tevez – I really do not know but I doubt Chelsea.

 Los Angeles Chelsea Fan - Bobby thanks for continuing with this. I'm going to re-ask a question I asked last week since it seems to be getting coverage in the media.
If Chelsea's "Wingless Wonders" (as even Chelsea's own website is now referring to themselves), bought a wide right sided player this week who might that be? Bobby or anyone have an idea?
Thanks
FYI. This morning Boularouz admitted on TV that it's 4 years since he played at right back and it was not in the same attacking mould as Wayne Bridge.

Bobby – Mauro Camoranesi. I do not think anyone who saw Boularouz at the WC would be surprised that he is not an attacking full back – with the ball anyway.

 The Gaffer - Bobby, the question I have for you is whether you would ever be interested in becoming a full-time football analyst.
Bobby – I think it would be difficult to make a decent living as a full time soccer analyst in North America no matter how much the game is growing. At the moment, I probably have the best of both worlds. I operate my own business – I work with organizations that are hosting major sporting events – and that provides me with flexibility in terms of watching games and keeping up to date. When I travel on business, I can generally make it midweek so not to miss the FSWR. 

 Reggae Boy 23 - What on earth was up with Arsenal this weekend? I know it's early in the season and I'm not about to panic yet BUT watching that game was like a slow and painful torture. I mean seriously is there some law that you can't take a shot unless you're standing directly in front of and empty net? Believe me I love to watch the beautiful one touch, give and go, crisp passing football and short of Barcelona and an in form Real Madrid no club team on earth plays a more beautiful brand of football than Arsenal, BUT there comes a time when you have to take a crack Right?!
Personally I blame Henry. As the captain of such a young squad, I feel that he needed to set the tempo for the game and although he found himself in space on a number of occasions and timed his runs well. His demeanor around the penalty area was very laxed and uninspiring. His touch let him down on a number of occasions and he generally seemed to lack that sharpness we've grown accustomed too. All in all, though our general play throughout the game was positive and we were extremely unlucky not to score, denied by the post twice and a few brilliant saves by the keeper, but there was a serious lack of composure in front of goal and a certain lack of toughness in the midfield I feel.
And finally your thoughts on Justin Hoyte (*SIGH*). I really don't even want to get into what I thought of his performance (there may be children reading this) but let’s just say not his best performance (possibly the understatement of the millennium). Defensively I think we'll need a bit more strengthening up to compete with the better squads, but for the most part I thought they were ok except for the aforementioned player who's name I shall not speaketh again Let me know what you think.

Bobby – It went beyond Henry – there were a number of guilty parties who either passed the ball off to someone in a poorer position or took too long to get the shot away. I did not think Justin Hoyte’s performance was dreadful by any means. When you create a dozen or more chances and do not score, I do not think the left back is the logical player to criticize. He is still a young player and I think it is premature to write him off.  

Coreydan - Didn't get to see the FSW Report last night; how do you rate Zambrotta's debut with Barcelona?

Bobby – Sorry I cannot help you as I did not see the game.

 Redfan4ever - Bobby, last week's speaker's corner you were calling Crouchy a dud and then he up and scored again this weekend! Any further observations?
Also, Dirk Kuyt started and his first 40 minutes were fiery. Rafael Bentitez has real striker options for the first time in 3 years. Do you see this change likely to improve Liverpool's fortunes?
What price Portsmouth's chance of European footy next year?

Bobby – Ah yes. I think I have to put my hand up and admit that describing Crouch as a dud was overkill. However, using Crouch’s scoring statistics for England is a perfect example of how statistics can lie. My contention is that he is a role player and nothing more. His height obviously bothers defenders but I don’t think he is particularly good in the air. He scores a goal about every four Premiership games and last season he only completed 7 out of the 32 Premiership games he played in. Even though it was only 40 minutes, Kuyt looked to be a much better long-term option. I suspect that Liverpool fans will quickly take to Kuyt at Crouch’s expense if he can maintain his debut performance. As for Portsmouth and European football – I would still consider that a very long shot.

Kopper - In today's Guardian Kevin McCarra makes the argument the small nations such as Andorra and San Marino devalue international soccer. It is suggested later in the article that there should be a qualifying round similar to the champions’ league to remove some of the weaker nations. What is your opinion of this? It could certainly go some way to relieving fixture congestion.

Bobby – Kevin McCarra makes some very good points in the article. There are also some good comments from readers. In terms of fixture congestion caused by padding the groups with “smaller” countries, the simple solution is to move to a qualifying system in which only the winner goes through. I believe Africa and UEFA are of similar size and African World Cup qualifying is reserved for the winner only. On average, it would make a massive difference in the number of games that would be needed in order to qualify from UEFA. However, that radical a solution is unlikely. I can see were McCarra’s idea could actually add something to the competition given that the smaller countries would have something to strive for – even if it was only the right to be mauled in World Cup qualifying proper.

 Henry 14 - Bobby l wanted to know what you feel about the Senna issue that Man Utd will sign players who are English alone due to sponsors because l have to say it makes little sense to me as they have made a bid for Trezeguet who is a French man, he wanted Vieira .l feel he was put off by the age factor and that he was not willing to risk a big fee for someone who needed to adjust to the Prem and in Owen and Vieira he would had gambled with higher fees because they understand the Premiership .what do you think about this?

Bobby – Well you have me on that one because it is certainly news to me that United has an English only policy. It probably comes a bit of a surprise to the legion of non-English players that United currently have on their books as well. As an aside, my understanding was Senna’s fee was not big. As for Owen, United were never serious bidders and Vieira was more speculation than any real interest.

On the back of Michael Carrick's $35M transfer to Manchester United, The Guardian has produced a value-for-money rating on Britain's top all-time deals. I have abbreviated the article below and deleted their ratings out of 10. You might find it interesting to see how your ratings line up against the article. I have included an updated $ value of the transfer rather than pounds.

"1. Andriy Shevchenko - Milan to Chelsea, $56M (2006)

2. Rio Ferdinand - Leeds United to Manchester United, $55M (2002).

3. Juan Sebastian Veron - Lazio to Manchester United, $52M (2003)

4. Wayne Rooney - Everton to Manchester United, $50M (2004)

5. David Beckham - Manchester United to Real Madrid, $47M (2003)

6. Michael Essien - Lyon to Chelsea $46M (2005)

7. Didier Drogba - Marseille to Chelsea, $45M (2004)

8. Nicolas Anelka - Arsenal to Real Madrid, $44M (2000)

9. Marc Overmars - Arsenal to Barcelona, £41M (2000)

10. Shaun Wright-Phillips - Manchester City to Chelsea $39M (2005)

11. Ricardo Carvalho - Porto to Chelsea, $37M (2003)

12. Ruud van Nistelrooy - PSV to Manchester United, $36M (2001)

13. Michael Carrick - Tottenham to Manchester United, $35M (2006)

The Guardian

Summary

Buying club - Manchester United 5, Chelsea 5, Real Madrid 2, Barcelona 1.

Selling club - Arsenal 2, Porto, Milan, Leeds, Lazio, Lyon, Marseilles, PSV, Everton, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United (all 1 each).

Spurs fans must be disappointed at losing Carrick but it would have been insane to turn down that sort of money for a player who cost them around $5M a couple of seasons ago.

I don't think you will find too many United fans who believe Carrick will provide $35M of value but the prevailing view seems to be that they are thankful that Fergie has at least made a move in the transfer market.

As for future moves there are rumbles that despite Fernando Torres' "commitment' to Atletico Madrid there is a chance he could still move before the transfer deadline. He has two years left on his contract and no contract extension in sight. If Atletico don't sign him to an extension then his transfer value will plummet by next summer.