Football (Soccer)

[admin]

With Man U's slip up, Everton's win against the barcodes and Arsenal's good win against Liverpool, nothing much left to play for for the top 4 teams now.

It was a good game against Liverpool - we dominated the first half and Liverpool dominated the second half. The difference being that we took our chances, whereas Liverpool's chances were less clear cut. Although 4 goals were eventually scored, amazingly there were another 3 goals ruled out. We lacked experience in all areas, some by choice, other by injuries, but we've played some very good and mature football in the last dozen games or so, and much of it is due to the incredible young talents now starting regularly for the club. Our best players recently have been Senderos (20 years old), Cesc (just turned 18), Reyes and van Persie (both 21). Add to that Clichy (19), Flamini (21), Quincy (18), and Bentley (21) who is out on loan at Norwich, our future is sorted (although we still need 2 or 3 more experienced players for the present).

And we did it all without Henry and Ljungberg (still our top 2 scorers at the club). One man team indeed...

[lfcrule1972]

If I was a Gooner I would be smugly smiling to myself now - as you (admin) say, a lot of class young players coming through and even without Henry you get the results.....

LFC suffered their usual post CL hangover (13 away defeats now <faint> ) and looked poor, in a way I am glad Everton are in the CL they have been far more consistent than us and deserve it. That said if the FA get up off their arse and ask UEFA for a CL spot for us next year I won't grumble..... assuming we beat Milan of course

LFC v Everton in the CL anyone ???

[Oriphus]

Disappointment again, but hey....im getting used to it. Chelsea beat us 3-1 at Old Trafford...its annoying. Whats more annoying however, is that Alex Ferguson keeps saying, after every one of our recent defeats, "We played well and im happy with the performance". How can we paly well and put in a good performance if we loose.....tell me that. We are supposed to be one of the top teams in Europe, it certainly doesnt look like it at the minute. Something drastic needs to happen over the summer. The signing of Michael Ballack would help, but i think the coaching staff, including the gaffer, need to be looked at. Its not on that Manchester United cannot get past the straight knock-out stage of the Champions LEague, cannot even contend the Premiership....and, even though i think we will beat Arsenal, winning the FA Cup alone is not enough to rescue this season.

On a better note, i loved RvN's little flick into the net....it was a nice move.

Chris

[admin]

Shame about the result, but Chelsea seemed to just want it more - even if you had won, you would still be third, and beating Chelsea wouldn't save an otherwise bad season, unlike beating us in the FA Cup.

I don't know who will be favourite for the FA Cup, but I think it will depend on the day and form won't be a factor in it. It will come down to which team wants it more, but also the team that plays the more balanced game both offensively and defensively (we were guilty of trying to be too offensive in the ManU game at Highbury, and conceded on the counter). But it's good to have Henry back (hopefully) for the final, as that will give the squad a big psychological boost.

[lfcrule1972]

Alex Ferguson seems to be on a different planet lately. No matter what happens it was a good effort, the best thing was on Tuesday I read that he thought Chelski weren't better than Man Utd Hello reality check, if you live on past glories you will end up like Liverpool, a major shake up is needed at Old Trafford this summer to get you back to where you should be.....

As for the FA Cup, my money is on the Arsenal, I just fancy Wengers boys to do Utd.

[Oriphus]

lol - who knows on the old FA CUp Final. Im hopeful that the boys in Red can do it, but i am realistic. If they dont win, i wont be devistated. Strangely enough for a Man United fan, i starting to get used to defeats in big games. I think by the sounds of it Henry will be fit.

As for Liverpool.....I wonder what will happen if they win the Champions League. Allegedly there was a post on the Champions League forum that stated that any team that won the CL, but did not finish in the designated CL spot in their countries football league, may still go through the qualifying stages. UEFA have since removed this and also deny that it was ever there. However, there are papers that claim they have seen that. So...in short, even though UEFA have basically said there is no way that Liverpool will be there next year, i wouldnt give up yet lol.

Admin, have you ever noticed whats about my Avitar, and below my Username. Lol - it says "Ad'mins Boss". I can't remember when i did that, kinda funny lol. I'll remove it soon though

[admin]

Unbelievable game - the last ever at Highbury wearing the famous red and white shirt. What must Everton be thinking right now?

[lfcrule1972]

I thought the bit about the CL was on the FA site...... saw an article about it on the sports pages of BBC I think, the FA retorted by stating that was just a possibility and not an actual policy !!!

Well done Arsenal - 7-0 !!! ha ha the blues are so dead in Europe next season (I hope), shame Man Utd couldn't have done that a few weeks ago

[lfcrule1972]

Ah here it is

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/4522235.stm

[Oriphus]

Yeah, great win by Arsenal. A fitting result in thee Olde Highbury stadium...Everton must be rightly annoyed by that haha

Yeah, thats the same article i say i think. It's gonna be a strange one, but i guess UEFA will be praying that Liverpool loose it then....

As for Man United, damn glazer buying my club. I just hope it wont be stupid and take all of the money out of it. The first thing he did when buying the Tampa Bay Bucaneers was to put ticket prices up....

Chris

[admin]

Glazer is bad for all football, not just Manchester United. There used to be a time when a football club's main goal (pun intended) was to win trophies - nowdays, it's to make money or to be some billionaire's toy. I would still like to think Arsenal is still the old type of football club, but even if it is, it's only a matter of time before the bottom line becomes more important than the ball crossing the goal line (maybe it already is).

The problem with Glazer and Man U is that football isn't a great business as everyone seems to think anymore. If his business plan doesn't work out, then there would be very little money left for transfers, and some assets may have to be sold, like the stadium naming rights or even a lease back agreement for the stadium. I think with Beckham, you had a super global brand that you can market well, especially in Asia. Without Beckham, it's a little harder, as I'm pretty sure that back then, more people knew about Beckham than about Man U (and many people supported Man U because of Beckham). It's still a massive brand, and with Glazer, it may be easier to get into the US market (this might mean you will have to keep Tim Howard as number 1, or buy a few more American players).

One thing is for sure, Glazer cannot lose too much money in this, as he will use Man U's income to pay for the debt used to buy the club, so while he is spending his own money, it can be very easily reclaimed by selling some of the assets, and if he sells the entire club, then he can make a tidy sum. And if worst comes to worst, he can put Man U in administration and run off back to the states - it won't even affect his other business, since he has none in the UK.

[lfcrule1972]

Originally posted by admin
it's only a matter of time before the bottom line becomes more important than the ball crossing the goal line

Is that important then ?

Shhh Don't tell Chelsea that

I am glad that Glazer wasn't interested in LFC - I agree he is bad news for MUFC. Footie clubs are best left to those who understand them or those with enough money who want something to do with their time (Chelsea).

My parents in law have a villa in Florida and they told me exactly the same as Oriphus, when Glazer bought the Tampa Bay Bucaneers he stung the fans for all the $ he could

I won't pretend I like MUFC cos I don't (obviously) but the Premiership needs clubs like them and they don't need a fat yank meddling with the club. I hope its not as bad as it looks for your boys Oriphus

So survival Sunday is over eh ? LFC won 2-1 at home to Villa with Cisse getting both and starting the debate over whether he or Barros should start the CL final....... heres a strange suggestion for Benitez, why not start with two strikers ??

Arsenal lost to Birmingham which surprised me, but not as much as Heskey getting the winner ! He must be desperate to get in the England squad touring the states in the summer

MUFC did us all a favour and ensured the Scummers (Southampton) were relegated. Where I live you the enjoyment was immense !! My father in law is a die hard Pompey fan and we were willing MUFC to win !

So just the FA Cup, UEFA and CL cup finals to go then eh ? What happens to this topic in the summer ?? Do we discuss possible club signings ??

[admin]

I was hoping Norwich would stay up - they play some decent football sometimes. But as long as Southampton are down, then it's all good.

A disinterested Arsenal side against Brum, would have been happy with a draw. The Brummies were celebrating West Brom's survival more than their goals, perhaps they heard Brummies instead of Brommies. It was a result needed to bring the team back down the earth after the 7-0 win - don't want to be too over confident going into a game with the USA Mancs.

Henry is out of the FA Cup. That's a big blow, but we've played pretty good recently without him.

After that, it's the CL final. I hope Liverpool wins it, but not if it means our automatic qualification place goes to them, as UEFA has hinted at recently. So yes, I think UEFA is now praying Liverpool loses as well.

And after that, no football for many months, but I think there will be lots of transfer activity for this break, so there will be some excitement yet.

[lfcrule1972]

Really ??? I hadn't read that about the automatic CL place....

UEFA and the FA will be hoping LFC don't win so this all goes away otherwise its going to put them both under the spotlight.

Shame about Henry, rumours are that Reyes is doubtful as well - that will be a blow. Although Ljungberg should be back....

Quite looking forward to the match now, Arsenal v Manchester Allstar Buccaneers !!

[Oriphus]

I hope it aint as bad for us as well lfcrule, i really hope United doesnt become a business orientated club, we want the football to come first. At the minute i am still a shareholder in Man Utd, i have 20 shares. That cost around £40 i believe. If every fan had bought £40 worth of shares, instead of maybe a new shirt, we could have bought Man Utd's entire amount of shares many times over. True fans didnt do enough to keep the club free. Im roke with uni loans and a new car, yet i was about to get a loan to buy another £2000 of shares in the club until glazer came in.

don't want to be too over confident going into a game with the USA Mancs

Cheeky cheeky, i wonder who it was sold the naming rights to their new stadium lol....reckon it will be the Nike Trafford or something soon for us

Looking forward to the FA Cup final on Saturday. Its also the North West 200 motorcycle international in Norther Ireland, so ill be at with my newly purchased 5" LCD TFT TV bought specially to watch the match. AS for Liverpool winning, i think UEFA are praying that AC Milan win so they dont have to start sorting out this mess of next years CL places.

Gald Henry is out, one less threat i guess....i hope we slaughter Arsenal lol, another performance like the 2-0 after your 49 game run unbeaten lol, that'd do me

Chris