BG

I disagree - I think he's pretty bad. However in terms of being liked I don't the pony tail helps all that much, nor did some of the things I seem to remember his wife saying.

White tie, white shirt, white dress, white flowers. Happy body language. Obviously a coded signal.

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I agree. I seem to remember Rafa saying something a few years ago about it being easier to coach defence than attack because it's easier to get people to kick away from the goal than towards it. (Also agree on John's approach - odd).

Perhaps you could repeat a bit more that you don't rate him? No-one has repeated themselves on here as much since Kaiser was banging on about Quasimodo every 5 minutes.

Spanish press reporting this...Really it's pretty laughable that a couple of £200 bets have done this. AS.com

Sorry if this already in here but in tomorrow's papers Rafa has really laid into Barry: saying we went back for him this summer but he was just about "money, money, money" and that missing out on him was no bad thing as "the passion of the player is the most important thing..."

That's Dirk's idea of a little light training to stay in shape over Summer.

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I think that's Quinn: I've read him say some things in a similar vein on the record.

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If only it would

See Warnock, Stephen Wright etc. Spearing in his cameos so far has looked ok but he's absolutely nowhere near Lucas' level at the moment and personally I'd be pretty worried if he was starting away at somewhere like Everton or Villa let alone Utd or Chelsea.

Them losing the world player of the year is MUCH better news for us than them signing someone who probably won't start all that much.

For Real Madrid most likely...

Is the lad as good as Silva and Mata?

I'd like to see him in a foot race vs Sami.

In lira.

I find it hilarious: no.88 was something like a 2-0 win at Charlton, by 68 or so we were up to a 2-1 win at Reading... Normally when there's some sort of list the debate is all around what should have been included. I guess that won't be happening.

Don't worry: the offal will get round to it once they've finished counting down Rafa's best 100 games.

I think this is bascially right. Mundo Deportivo is basically Barca's mouthpiece and the origin of this story. They clearly want him but they are negotiating for Villa too which will be a big fee and Toure has signed a contract. In my view there is no chance they will go to the kind of fee which might interest us - even assuming Rafa's stance on this was essentially just a hands off message.

You've a lot of catching up to do.

Some bits from Spanish papers: Marca: says Silva is the next Real Madrid target. AS: says we are thinking about D'Agostino as a replacement for Alonso. (Also says Ribery wants to go to Madrid or stay at Bayern - will not move elsewhere.) Mundo Deportivo: says a E20m (!) offer for Masch is imminent.

I glanced at it for a second and Nani and Anderson both looked too little and Torres too much. The point is though that he squad Rafa inherited in 2004 was nowhere near as good as United's - he's had to spend to narrow the gap.

A few bits from Spanish press: AS.com: saying Juve are now competing with Real for Xabi and could offer E25m plus Poulsen. They also say Barcelona will "send a fax...with an irrrefusible offer...that could be more than E30m" for Mascherano. Sport.es: similar on Alonso though they don't mention a figure and say Juve may include Trezeguet or Poulsen. Marca: nothing much on us. They do say Benzema is about to sign for Real Madrid.