*Official* English Football Season 2007-08

[Tom Halsey]

To quote Red Clive, "Full speed ahead, Barcelona".

 

[roseboy64]

United were poor after the penalty in the first half, and Ferdinand doesn't look too great.

EDIT: And as I type that, he comes back out for the second period.

Penalty was a tough call - IMO he got a bit of the ball if you study it closely enough, though on first viewing looked a fair penalty. Really poor penalty from De Rossi though.

EDIT: And VDS has been his typically poor self of late.

EDIT: Get in. That should be it. And Get Rio off, which looks like happening now.

VDS was not poor and hasn't been of late. Has had a couple moments but has generally done well. Yeah Roma took control in the latter half of the first half. Second half was a bit even. Thought Ferdinand would be taken off myself too. Hopefully that's good news.

 

[aussie]

Right April 29th Barcelona are in town, would love it if Old Trafford could put out General-sale tag on some of the tickets for that game since its going to be hell to get tickets for that game even from this far out.

 

[Tom Halsey]

VDS was poor, he was responsible for the penalty (whether it was or wasn't) due to the spilling of a shot that was straight at him, and very nearly a goal with his poor handling.

Another poor player I thought was Pique who looked extremely poor dealing with crosses, and should have been punished at least once (forget who the Roma player coming in behind him was, who missed it completely).

Worth noting that IMO Hargreaves had his best game for us tonight, and Giggs gave his best performance in a while IMO.

 

[roseboy64]

VDS wasn't responsible at all for the penalty. Unless my memory is serving me badly the ball got into that position from open play. He only had one poor moment and that was the instance in which Ferdinand cleared it after he couldn't get a hold on the ball, which was in the second half. Granted, he wasn't outstanding but he didn't need to be and did what was needed when called upon. Would rather him not having to be outstanding.

Pique was not poor. Wasn't great either but did well generally. Only can remember one time a Roma player beating him to a cross from the corner and VDS made the save. Only player you could call poor was Anderson and that'd be if you were very harsh. Also, Neville but no one would be in their right mind to do that unless you were looking for some to be highly critical of.

Agreed about Hargreaves and Giggs though.

 

[Tom Halsey]

The penalty came from the resulting pressure that VDS put us under by spilling a fairly harmless long range shot. He didn't do what was needed when called upon at the very least twice, and possibly more if I've forgotten them, and you look for your goalkeeper to be reliable.

The incident in question WRT Pique did not involve a Roma player beating him to a cross, it involved Pique completely missing an uncontested header out of the blue and the player behind him failing to capitalize. Was, at a guess, 10-15 minutes into the second half.

 

[GIMH]

CL becoming like the Prem, same teams in the final stages constantly!!

 

[Tom Halsey]

Indeed, second year in a row that we've had three sides in the last four, big three (and their little brother) are certainly the best in the world.

 

[roseboy64]

The penalty came from the resulting pressure that VDS put us under by spilling a fairly harmless long range shot. He didn't do what was needed when called upon at the very least twice, and possibly more if I've forgotten them, and you look for your goalkeeper to be reliable.

The incident in question WRT Pique did not involve a Roma player beating him to a cross, it involved Pique completely missing an uncontested header out of the blue and the player behind him failing to capitalize. Was, at a guess, 10-15 minutes into the second half.

Re: Pique, that's pretty much what I said. He should have been there to head the ball was a bit late. How is that not the Roma player, Juan, beating him to the ball?

VS was reliable. If he wasn't reliable we'd have in let a few today no doubt. Only one occassion did he not do well and that was the shot from outside the box that he spilled. Everything else he did from coming outside of his box for a clearance to a routine save was done well. I suggest you watch the match again. Objectively this time.

 

[Tom Halsey]

Re: Pique, that's pretty much what I said. He should have been there to head the ball was a bit late. How is that not the Roma player, Juan, beating him to the ball?

VS was reliable. If he wasn't reliable we'd have in let a few today no doubt. Only one occassion did he not do well and that was the shot from outside the box that he spilled. Everything else he did from coming outside of his box for a clearance to a routine save was done well. I suggest you watch the match again. Objectively this time.

It isn't, because the Roma player was behind him. Unless you're being very confusing, we're talking about entirely seperate incidents. Also note that in the incident I am talking about, VDS made no save, because, as I have said, the Roma player missed the ball entirely.

WRT VDS, someone who has stuffed something up even once has by definition not been entirely reliable. I repeat, it was no thanks to VDS that we did not concede today, more thanks to defenders who picked up the rebounds first (or being fouled, as Rio was on one such occasion), and a poor penalty. By the time all the highlights go up tomorrow, I'll be able to link you to the incidents I'm talking about, as you've clearly forgotten them.

EDIT: Yep, just watched the highlights again. The Pique incident I'm referring to also involved Juan, however after Pique ducked in the six yard box, Juan missed the header completely. There are of course other examples of his general poor display in the air tonight, such as the cross from the left that Pique dealt poorly with, the ball fell to Taddei, and it took a rare good piece of defending from Tweety to block the shot. It's not like it's the first time either, it was his poor aerial display that contributed to our away defeat to Bolton. VDS moments are the penalty, an innocuous long ranger on 48 minutes that he was lucky to get away with spilling, and a shot from a narrow angle early on that he should have held, and was again quite lucky with. Probably more, the highlights in question were only 10 minutes.

 

[roseboy64]

You're right about the Juan incident but don't remember any others with him. Will give you the VDS long ranger but am still sure he had nothing to do with the penalty. Can't remember that shot from a narrow angle. Tuned in a few minutes into the match so that probably happened in the five or so minutes I missed.

 

[aussie]

What do we have here?

I'm not trying to undervalue it, I said the Pietersen issue is a grey one, there's the fact that he is South African, and the fact that he very obviously cares a hell of a lot about England.

Ok but i sense that you were based on this statement you made towards the current situation with the national side:

While I rate Capello highly as a manager, his appointment as England manager completely devalues the International competition. He's Italian ffs, the poit of a team representing England is that all the people who contribute to the success (or lack thereof) of that side should be English. Should England, by some miracle, win the World Cup in 2010, and Capello is the manager, you shall not find me parading it as a triumph for English football.

United > England all day long for me.

Regarding Fletcher... you said it yourself. He nurtured the side, it didn't nurture itself.

So? At least they became a top-class unit. Same thing with Capello if he makes England win the WC just as how Fletcher's work enabled Englad to win the Ashes it can only be better for the national side after 42 years without winning anything on the international stage.

 

[GIMH]

LOL same time every year this seems to become the Man U () thread

 

[Agent TBY]

Not much you can do about it, they far outnumber the rest in terms of population. I think Exeter City is the next best supported club on CW with two.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Not much you can do about it, they far outnumber the rest in terms of population. I think Exeter City is the next best supported club on CW with two.

There are two Toffees itbt. You and Jumbo.

And we haven't even got a regular poster from Manchester

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Isn't cpr from Manchester?

And both me and Pincheh support Citeh.

 

[Tom Halsey]

You're right about the Juan incident but don't remember any others with him. Will give you the VDS long ranger but am still sure he had nothing to do with the penalty. Can't remember that shot from a narrow angle. Tuned in a few minutes into the match so that probably happened in the five or so minutes I missed.

Watch the incident from about 20 to 30 seconds before the penalty.

 

[biased indian]

CL final will be between Barcelona and chelsea

 

[Tom Halsey]

So? At least they became a top-class unit. Same thing with Capello if he makes England win the WC just as how Fletcher's work enabled Englad to win the Ashes it can only be better for the national side after 42 years without winning anything on the international stage.

I don't deny it's better for the national side, as I have said I rate him highly as a manager.

 

[Tom Halsey]

LOL same time every year this seems to become the Man U () thread

In all fairness, I think the level of discussion following the United game is fairly similar to that of the Liverpool v Arsenal game tbh, though you do have a point in general.