Leo No.8

At that rate - they could end up in my Sunday League. Playing in the San Siro...

Steadman certainly seems to be the man when it comes to knee injuries. I think even if they do use an alternative method though, this may still be one injury too far for Michael. Ever since that first hammy against Leeds (which seems an eternity ago) he hasn't ever quite been the same player, so every further injury he has I do fear the worst for him...

Did the Barca officials all burst into fits of laughter when he walked out, thumping their fists on the table and wiping the tears away 'right Frank - 2007; more like 2000 and never' whilst switching the TV back on and rewinding the tapes of him scuffing and skying shot after shot in the World Cup...

Ah but you are only scum compared-a to Krusty. (Murmurs of agreement) Yes now you see how you are-a scum.

Myself, I'd be happy to stay at Milan even if they went down. They are one of the best clubs in Europe, and you'd have a laugh taking the p1ss in Serie B for a season!

I'm not really sure in all honesty - I thought South Americans had always came over to Europe for more money. Even back in the 50s you had the likes of Di Stefano playing in Europe, although I wouldn't honestly know if South Americans played over here en masse as they do today; for some reason I thought they did...

He's fantastic, but we just don't need him. Free or not he'd command immense wages. The vastly experienced, larger than life centre-half spot is already occupied...

Suppose so - but it is a strange thing to do sign a 5-year contract whilst the outcome is still looking like them being relegated. I saw it as him being young and willing to give them the one season in Serie B it would take for them to get back up...

English knights of old would be turning in their graves to see that whinging sap down on one knee...

Funny though isn't it the way South American teams can't win the World Cup when its played in Europe, as most of their top players play here already. I can understand the other side of the coin, but with most of the South American players already stars of the European game, I just don't get it...

Neville gave him a weasley little shove, then when Ronaldo turned round pointed at Gerrard and said it was him. Seriously though, the refs actions when he first gets to the scene are not those of a man who is about to take serious action, ie sending off a player. He gets in close and signals a free-kick, without any suggestion he will even go to his pocket to book Rooney. When Rooney shoves Ronaldo, his reaction is instantaneous; he steps away from the crowd, goes to his pocket and calls Rooney to him which suggests strongly to me that the decision was made at that point, whatever he may say in hindsight...

They would have been even more offended, but the newspaper kept slipping from their hands when they tried to read on...

Strange bloke. Great attitude off the pitch, terrible attitude on the pitch. You know what the most frustrating thing about him is to me? It's that what we've all wanted from him is so simple; just to chase after the ball when he hasn't got it. Sometimes his touch could be woeful, but I could live with that as he does score goals and has blistering pace. I mean he's fit enough, so is it that much to ask for him to run around a bit? If I had his level of fitness I'd actually want to chase defenders round and do some running off the ball - I'd enjoy working for my team if my body was in such good shape to do so. I could never understand it, but at the end of the day he either couldn't grasp the concept, or didn't want to do it. Either way, unfortunately it makes him unsuitable for Rafa and for Liverpool Football Club.

I agree - one temperamental forward is probably enough, much though I like Anelka. Also, as has been mentioned, you would have thought we've signed our pace for next season, and that the next in would be more of an all-rounder. Kuyt still seems to make sense to me if we've got the money...

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The ref was only going to give a free-kick until Rooney pushes Ronaldo. I think its pretty easy to draw that conclusion when you watch the replay of the whole incident. I'm sure people will find this surprising, but I actually like Rooney. He just wants to play football and enjoy it - I can relate to him far more than I can to most football stars these days...

Make an arrangment with him to go back in when he has one year left on his contract. Then watch 'he of the nest' have the tables turned on him, that would be sweet...

Since I posted that, Terry has looked a bit shakey - agreed! I'd put Marquez or Osorio in there now, they were both absolutely superb against Argentina. Maxi Rodriguez in for Gerrard as well to be fair...

He's got nothing on Ibrahimovic in the over-rated stakes. At least Adriano has a goalscoring record to back him up, even if he does seem to be awful most of the time. Ibrahimovic is crap and doesn't score goals either, yet people seem to think he's one of the best strikers in the world. Agree on Emerson - he's just a very average defensive midfielder who is extremely fortunate to have played in the teams he has. I'd rather have Didi...

Doubting Thomas strikes again, here to quash our vain hopes and dreams, systematically tearing down rumours across the net as they appear... You miserable git Rushian.

Surely UEFA should put an end to this business of candidates announcing they have signed certain player without their clubs consent. Why are they allowed to carry on like this? They must be contradicting UEFA regulations...

Aye aye - interesting. Are you sure they weren't saying the player he replaced in the Holland side is running in the 3:15 at Chepstow?

I logged on this morning wondering how a thread about Aurelio, a player we've known would be signing soon for quite a while, could have generated 8 pages of replies. I took a few guesses, but must admit that Russian conspiracy theories, Jewish billionaires and Nazi accusations wasn't what I expected...

Watching France vs Spain last night, I came to the conclusion that we possibly have the best passer of the ball in the world in Xabi; I haven't seen anyone do it better than him, with such range and comfort on either foot. It's one of those things - watching him week in week out I thought no-one could really better his distribution, but actually seeing him competing with the best of the best confirms it's not just being biased. I loved hearing the way he'd hit one of those phenomenal cross-field pass, and it'd draw a little swell of appreciation from the crowd as it dropped perfectly to it's intended recipient. Football fans the world over love watching a truly great passer of the ball. Ballack I think is the only one to rival him so far, some of his passing has been phenomenal, both over distance and flicks and touches in the final third. I haven't seen every game though so I might have missed someone, or not thought of them. Any thoughts on players who have passed the ball equally well as Xabi so far?