Ombudsam

Beckham wasn't playing all that well for a bout a year and a half before he left. I think ferguson wanted to play that 4231 formation and beckham didn't fit. he thought he was getting Ronaldinho and kewell i suppose. As well as that he wasn't accountingfor solksjaer's injury as he was filling the RM role well

can you imagine the stick he'd get in the press if he was foreign. it's all "good ol' al" now though

In that treble season he was a one man defence. Didn't he get done for drugs almost as soon as he left the mancs. methinks ferguson's sharper than we'llgive him credit for

If everton were as talented as they worked hard they would be awesome. If they had any quality whatsoever they would have won that easily. TBF Arteta, Cahill and VDM (even though i think he's schit) were missing.

That was funny as f*ck that Posts merged: aye

LOL

They're not arsenal at their peak who produced football in this country which i haven't seen before. The Mancs were also stunning for a while. This chelsea team has played more constructive football than the casual observer gives em credit for. look at some of the thrashings they've administered and even in the charlton game where they only won 2-0 they were very very good in the second half

What do you think an England fan would do if an england player score an important goal for the england team. It's a touch of a no-brainer

one of my blue friends thought that "Die die nicky nicky die" song was a bit harsh and should be replaced by "trip over barmby" so they're not all bad even if i get the feeling he somewhat missed the spirit. He's older now and his thoughts on rooney aren't printable

Footballers eh I thought you'd hate delvechhio due to something to do with roma getting a pen then not getting one. I'm so glad they were on the receiving end of that instead of us. I think i would have literally exploded. I always thought delvechhio was alright as a player

fair enough. i thought you were relating it to your hatred of lampard

Last season Gerrard performed against Everton (home), Juve(home), Leverkusen (away), Arsenal(home) and Milan and i didn't even think he was all that last season

That's probably accurate but even putting my bias aside I don't think Lampard and Gerrard have ever dove-tailed as effectively as scholes and gerrard did on the odd occasion.

No by the time i asked for Lampard's stats since he started scoring i'd stopped comparing him and platt. Hence my initial concession in the first sentence that you were right about the stats. I just wanted to know what Lampard's stats were since he got better because i have a passing interest in England winning It's a sad indictment of either the judges or modern footballers that the second and third best midfielders aren't complete enough to play together. Of course if i had to pick one because they continue to flounder together then i'd pick Gerrard as he's better. Posts merged: that's cos schole had mentally retired for about the last 3 years of his england career. Where did he go?

No. What I think it shows is the level he's performing at now and will probably perform at for a while now he's matured. It's the same way I think finnan will maintain the level he's been at since the start of last season and his first season form wasn't the real finnan

It was done as a request and it's just an accurate representation of his effectiveness

thanks I thought it'd be something like that. I think that's the level he'll probably perform at consistently for england for the next 5 years if allowed to have that role where someone else is doing the holding for him like gerrard. Not that i'm eager to forget all the games he didn't score in. I'm not a great lover of him and i'm not his agent

alright platt's is much better then around 1 in 2 whereas Lampard's is 1 in 4. I'd be interested to see what Lampard's record is like since he started scoring for england

I'm not undermining Platt's record i just think that lampard is a better player. He passes better, covers more ground and can put in the occassional tackle. Aren't their international records similar? As I think we both agree scholes was by far the superior player. He's still only 31 isn't he. I thought he played really well v west ham but apart from that he hasn't been at it. I didn't see the p'mouth game though

It was 11million and he was shyte beyond belief half way through his first season it was only ranieri that kept him at the club. the fans would have had him out. I think he was probably the most consistent midfielder last year in the season but the league but the season before that it was Gerrard imo

He's not as good as scholes at his peak but he's definately better than Platt. Posts merged: Why? Why does their entertainment value determine whether or not they're a great side. Surely it's about repeated success. That's what they haven't had yet and that's why you can't call them a great side. You're on very dodgy ground with your definition Posts merged: he was there before abramovich came along. Is he meant to leave. Are all those who supported chelsea before meant to turn up at Craven cottage every other week instead. I still think over and beyond everything the hatred towards Lampard comes from the fact that he tapped up Gerrard (big deal our captain could have told him where to go) and the fact that for some reason some think he's a better player than gerrard.

Saturday, 10 December 2005 Birmingham 1v1 Fulham Blackburn 2v1 West Ham Bolton 2v1 Aston Villa Charlton 1v1 Sunderland Chelsea 3v0 Wigan Liverpool 1v1 Middlesbrough Newcastle 1v2 Arsenal West Brom 1v2 Man City Sunday, 11 December 2005 Man Utd 3v0 Everton Monday, 12 December 2005 Tottenham 2v0 Portsmouth

re NR: you wouldn't take terry, gallas, robben or SWP?

i think it's the gerrard factor. Essien and makalele are worse for me

that's not praising him. it was describing him and his performance. If you want to see praise then find me a didi hamann thread relating to last night