Football (Soccer)

Originally posted by Df02
Gallas has been terrible

He was against Spurs- it's when he has to cover for mugs.

Originally posted by Phat J
its all squad players playing for man u right now. the only starters are the back 4 and wayne rooney. i would care if i was an arsenal supporter, maybe if it was a close match i wouldnt care as much, but they're getting played off the pitch by our second team.

Second team is an exaggeration. Man U's second team is the others barring Rooney, because when he doesn't play they lose. Let's not sit here pretending they've got two teams.

The defence was first choice, and Rooney and Anderson definitely are. Carrick arguably, because there is no other definite starter before him. Scholes plays less now, Hargreaves has become a bench warmer.

I made it 4 first teamers for Arsenal (Gallas, Toure, Hleb, Fabregas), and 7, arguably 8 for Man Utd (VdS, back four, Anderson, Rooney, possibly Carrick by default). Considering Nani is better than Giggs anyway, the only weaker players were Fletcher (shameful that he scored two) and Park.

I think Wenger has prioritised other games over this one, like against Spurs. Like that match, though, the result was shit.

Originally posted by Bicnarok
Well you can make all the excuses you want. Man united showed how you have to play against Arsenal to stop their short passing game, relentless pressure, fast aggressive attacking when they have possession, and fast attacking when you have the ball.

AC Milan will have seen this, and I recon It´ll be more than 4:0 come next week.

Yeah, same as Spurs did (coincidentally against a similar weakened team) and then everyone started battering Arsenal, didn't they.

AC Milan aren't that much better than Man Utd anyway, so they'll only beat Arsenal 5-0.

Imagine what Inter will do to Liverpool now, seeing how Barnsley pioneered the method. 12-1?

yeah you could argue carrick, but i could argue eboue. hes been playing on the right most of the season, does that make him first choice? im talking first choice in big games, scholes would get picked over anderson and giggs would get picked over nani and hargeaves would get picked over carrick, which i think is wrong because carrick is the better player but anyways. back to 5 v 4.

i wouldnt be surprised if inter won the champions league this year. out of any team in europe right now id pick them over anyone else.

There's no point arguing about weakened teams, Arsenal couldn't have fielded a full strength side even if they wanted to... so the point is moot.

Originally posted by Alpha Centauri
*And also making sure Arsenal have a weakened team.

-AC

Weakened team? I don´t really think so, they have some excellent players in the second choice drawer imo. Wenger has a good eye, especially for the future. Lehmann, Fabregas, Hleb, Adabayor all played against man united. So it wasn´t that weak.

But Man United were on fire, Rooney played like a man possessed. Any team weakened or not would have had problems against them.

What did you think of Nani´s showboating "tricks", over the top, respect less, or just part of the game?

Originally posted by Phat J
yeah you could argue carrick, but i could argue eboue. hes been playing on the right most of the season, does that make him first choice? im talking first choice in big games, scholes would get picked over anderson and giggs would get picked over nani and hargeaves would get picked over carrick, which i think is wrong because carrick is the better player but anyways. back to 5 v 4.

i wouldnt be surprised if inter won the champions league this year. out of any team in europe right now id pick them over anyone else.

Nah. Eboue only plays in a 4-5-1, which is only if RvP is injured, or a 4-4-2 if Hleb or Rosicky are injured, which is often.

Originally posted by Bicnarok

What did you think of Nani´s showboating "tricks", over the top, respect less, or just part of the game?

It was disrespectful. I didn't find it that offensive, as long as Man Utd fans aren't moaning about Flamini's tackle on him, or Gallas' little kick in the leg. If you diss your opponents, they are going to treat you the same.

Even Fergie spoke against it, though.

Originally posted by Bicnarok
Weakened team? I don´t really think so, they have some excellent players in the second choice drawer imo. Wenger has a good eye, especially for the future. Lehmann, Fabregas, Hleb, Adabayor all played against man united. So it wasn´t that weak.

What does that have to do with anything? It was a weaker team, for one reason or another. Four first teamers against 8 Man U first teamers.

Originally posted by Bicnarok
But Man United were on fire, Rooney played like a man possessed. Any team weakened or not would have had problems against them.

Not necessarily, but that's to be expected. Man United would get respect from people if they got whooped and finished 5th in the league, while Arsenal winning it "against the odds" will probably be downplayed.

What's with this "Man Possessed" bs? Motson and Lawrenson were saying it all game.

Originally posted by Bicnarok
What did you think of Nani´s showboating "tricks", over the top, respect less, or just part of the game?

Disrespectful, but he got whooped, so it doesn't matter.

Originally posted by Df02
There's no point arguing about weakened teams, Arsenal couldn't have fielded a full strength side even if they wanted to... so the point is moot.

So how is there no point saying they were weakened? They were. They didn't have a choice, it's not even as if it's Carling Cup where Arsene is making a conscious choice.

Let us not forget that Van Persie has been out for a long time and Arsenal still haven't been shy of the ability to win matches comfortably.

-AC

Originally posted by Victor Von Doom

The defence was first choice, and Rooney and Anderson definitely are. Carrick arguably, because there is no other definite starter before him. Scholes plays less now, Hargreaves has become a bench warmer.

the only weaker players were Fletcher (shameful that he scored two) and Park.

I usually dont argue with you as you have my opinions most the time, but firstly i dont think Anderson is a first team Man Utd player. Carrick always seems to get a game over him, infact I think the battle for midfield this season has always been between Scholes/Carrick/Hargreaves.

Now, with me being Scottish, I have always thought of Fletcher as a good midfielder. Definatly not the standards for Man Utd, but when called upon he usually does the simple job of an average midfielder.

However, during the Arsenal game I thought he had a blinder, was much more noticable than Carrick was, I forgot him and Park were playing for a while.

anyways, the champions league will be tight with liverpool and arsenal. I prefict both teams to scrape 1-1 draws.

Originally posted by Phat J

i wouldnt be surprised if inter won the champions league this year. out of any team in europe right now id pick them over anyone else.

I would agree with you that Inter are probably one of the most in-form teams domestically.

But I did watch them in the Champions league at the start of the season and they really did struggle against the likes of CSKA and Fenarbache. Not taking much against those teams, but if you want to beat teams such as Liverpool, Madrid etc, then you gotta dominate.

I have no idea who will win it this year, a usual I will be supporting Lyon. But if i were to chose, I would go for...Barca,

Originally posted by Discos
I usually dont argue with you as you have my opinions most the time, but firstly i dont think Anderson is a first team Man Utd player. Carrick always seems to get a game over him, infact I think the battle for midfield this season has always been between Scholes/Carrick/Hargreaves.

He's first team quality. He's actually better than anybody that's above him, might as well be first team.

-AC

Originally posted by Alpha Centauri
So how is there no point saying they were weakened? They were. They didn't have a choice, it's not even as if it's Carling Cup where Arsene is making a conscious choice.

Let us not forget that Van Persie has been out for a long time and Arsenal still haven't been shy of the ability to win matches comfortably.

-AC

There's no point arguing about which teams were weakened.
Arsenal couldn't have fielded a stronger team even if they wanted to, so imo it cant be used as an excuse for poor performance, like it can against Spurs. The fact is that was your strongest available team, or near as makes no difference.

Originally posted by Discos

However, during the Arsenal game I thought he had a blinder, was much more noticable than Carrick was,

That doesn't mean he was better... Carrick was on top form, but due to the role he plays, he never stands out and grabs your attention. He's doing exactly the same thing he did for Tottenham, pulling the strings.
Go back and watch the game again, pretty much everything Man Utd did came through Carrick.

Carrick played well imo. Park and Anderson looked good but weren´t effective.

But more effective than Arsenal-🙂

Whats happened to Walcott, injured?

You can keep having digs, Bic.

Barnsley were more effective than Liverpool. Havant and Waterloo were, for a long time. Not sure you're in a place to criticise.

Originally posted by Df02
There's no point arguing about which teams were weakened.
Arsenal couldn't have fielded a stronger team even if they wanted to, so imo it cant be used as an excuse for poor performance, like it can against Spurs. The fact is that was your strongest available team, or near as makes no difference.

You're making no sense. The injuries weakened the ability to field a good team, so they were obviously weaker than they could have been.

-AC

Originally posted by Alpha Centauri
You're making no sense. The injuries weakened the ability to field a good team, so they were obviously weaker than they could have been.

-AC

So who could have been in that team at that time, to make them stronger?
Arsenal had 10 injuries, that was their strongest team...

Originally posted by Alpha Centauri
You can keep having digs, Bic.

-AC

I'm not actually having digs. (well o.k a little one maybe🙂)

Its just the way I see it. You can´t moan about fielding a weaker team whenever your team loose. Arsenal have depth in their cadre with excellent second team players & top youth work, Wenger is truly an amazing manager, but they shouldn´t have lost that hight to Man United imo. maybe point 2 applies here as well.

Liverpool lost to a team in a lower division, and its a shambles your right🙂 Caused by three things imo.

1:-A chaotic manager they won´t let go because he luckily won the CL once.

2:- little respect for the FA Cup tournament, eyes are only on the CL & next years qualification for it.

3:- a really mixed up chaotic team.

Originally posted by Discos
I usually dont argue with you as you have my opinions most the time, but firstly i dont think Anderson is a first team Man Utd player. Carrick always seems to get a game over him, infact I think the battle for midfield this season has always been between Scholes/Carrick/Hargreaves.

All things being even, it's between Scholes, Anderson and Hargreaves. Carrick, though, tends to compete with Hargreaves, and sometimes plays ahead of him- you can't waste £18 million and not get something back at least. Anderson plays ahead of Carrick. Anderson is definitely more of a first teamer than Carrick. In fact, of the four, he's probably the most likely to start at the moment.

The first choice pairing next season will be Anderson and Hargreaves.

i actually dont really like hargreaves, at least from the performances hes put in this season. he has been injured most of the time and just coming back so hes been a little rusty, but id still pick carrick over him in a big game. he created half a dozen clear cut chances yesterday that would have been goals if rooney could actually find the net.

I have to raise my hand and say I never liked Hargreaves, but my friend was determined to stick up him in the world cup 06 (even though we were scottih). All the english hated him where I was (on holiday at the time), yet he became englands player of the tournament.

I was just comparing carrick being more of a first team due to actual first team appearences this year. I think its Carrick.

Next year Carrick and Anderson? good call.

and on the liverpool thing, they are in dire need of a sorting out. Their fans expect too much (like the england national team), so I dont see why Rafa aint went yet...I give him 2 more loses and thats that.

hes got that spanish thing goin for him though, some of their best players went there just because of benitez.

With my experience with football, team spirit is a very important factor, and if you keep rotating, fiddling every time something doesn´t go that good then your running around in circles. Best have a core squad of players and concentrate on them, of course injury comes into it, but its mainly 2 or 3 players at the most unless your really unlucky.

If the team can function as 1 hand instead of loose fingers you get better results.