épieur

Only attacking player worth watching that game. Came up with some great stuff.

I don't think Carragher is the type of defender that ages well. Like Henchoz, he is the last-ditch tackle type of guy. Hyypia hardly ever needed to resort to sliding tackles. Not judging either style of defending as superior to the other (I think they complement each other well), but you need to be more mobile if you are the former. Henchoz lost it once his physique went whereas Hyypia wasn't too bothered by it, if someone else covered the pacy defenders. That said, I'd still have him in the centre alongside Agger for the rest of the season and I still think he can have an important role to play. But we need that role to be 3rd choice, stepping in whenever needed. For that of course, we need to sign someone better first. I can see him being phased him out at roughly the same pace Hyypia was, which would be no bad way to go into the twilight years of his career, despite not being quite the centreback Hyypia was.

Part of me can't help bring up Hodgson because he was, in hindsight, hilariously bad. Another part of me desperately wants him to know what a joke he was for us. In his own mind, he probably did really well and said sensible stuff. I just want someone to ram it down his throat. Can we send Rafa over to his house with a list of fachts?

Don't know how factual it is, but I recall someone posting something about Commoli being aghast that there were no scouting reports on any of the players Hodgson signed, except Meireles. It shouldn't have been too difficult to discover that Poulsen was s***shot.

well, that was a s*** name change.

Do me a favour, love. Torres will never be European Championship top scorer.

I wanted to e-slap him when I saw that.

I take it you are of the 'why spend money on below par players when we have below par youngsters coming through the ranks' persuasion.

or you can go with "Neo-Queen Serenity"

Pete O'Bere

what about "Sailor Moon"

I suggest 'pedobear'

nesta, gallas (really?), Nistelroy - come on over.

"Luis is not a naturally confident person, so it's difficult. But if you ask him if he has played as well as he could have and he says yes, I'll have to beg to differ. For what it's worth, he wasn't really my signing."

Especially considering the fact that he knew perfectly well how to strike the ball with precision.

I'd snap these up if they were up for it.

Utter toss from a massive bellend. He utters the word 'sacrosanct' around 3:10, but don't miss the gibberish he spouts about 3 at the back before that and the 'point of reference' up front.

He did. I don't remember it being a good thing though.

IIRC Hodgson referred to four at the back as a 'sacrocanct' lineup in modern football one should never deviate from. The man hasn't had an ingenious thought in 35 years.

I for one would like it if he left. I enjoy the wailing and gnashing of teeth on the internet.

Not great, but we'll be fine if it happens. We didn't need to spend 20m when we bought Reina. I am sure there must be a quality keeper out there we can get. and before anyone aks 'why haven't they been snapped up then', Wenger has needed a proper keeper since before we bought Reina and hasn't bought one and Barca, Inter, Chelsea, ManU and Juve haven't really needed one.

If the opportunity arises for him, I think he'll go in the summer. Don't think he'll join the mancs. Ferguson might be lowlife enough to try it, but he might also be oldfashioned enough to rule it out on account of us not dealing with each other. I still think 20m is a decent fee. He's a keeper. Regardless of how important he is to us, they fetch like half price to midfielders and strikers. And since we're not going to sign Casillas, Cesar or Buffon, 20m would allow us to buy just about any other keeper out there. So it's a decent fee. Reckon there is just as good a chance of him staying though.

Heh. Ok: Lucas is actually getting plaudits in the media these days for his performances. Mikel is not. Also, Lucas is now twice MoM (or thereabouts) against Chelsea this season. Mikel was not. In what significant ways are they different?

Pointing out his constant selection does make for salient food for thought, but it's a terrible argument that he should therefore be better than Lucas. Mikel is a bit of the same as Lucas was a year ago. Doesn't stand out in any way, yet doesn't look out of his depth either at the highest level. I don't know what Chelsea fans think of him, but I imagine he is frustrating. Not quite a wasted talent, certainly not making use of his talent they would have should have so far.

Is Darren Fletcher? Agree with that. I think Lucas is a better player than Song and though he'd would probably 'fit in better' with Arsenal's style of play I think they need a player like Song more than they need a Lucas. I think he'd get in the manc midfield too but that might also be slightly due to the fact that they are not firing on all cylinders this season. Fletcher and Carrick aren't what they used to be. I think he is about current Fletcher level. Fletcher is a bit better if he finds his best form, but Lucas is still improving. Mikel, Barry - he's clearly better than both.