goodrobotusses

Aye, wrote this: http://www.liverpoolway.co.uk/blog/?p=983 Apparently Manuel Pellegrini was an "uninspiring" candidate for the job last summer, but Roy was tip-top. Think Saturday wasn't so much a case of Nakrani stirring the pot as not having the first clue about the game.

What about smaller guys like Ayala, Cannavaro, Cordoba, Montero, etc? Not necessarily skinny, but probably lighter than many opponents and they're physically aggressive 'stopper' types.

One of the TAW contributors.

Really enjoying it. Didn't realise that Rob Gutmann is David Hodgson on here either.

Read the word "groin" far too many times there.

It seems Spurs fans are realising that they've missed the boat too. http://oneinthehole.wordpress.com/2011/08/29/why-harry-redknapp-is-no-longer-the-manager-to-take-spurs-forward/ Comolli 1 – 0 British Media

Terrible headline, positive read. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story/_/id/948471/sam-kelly:-coates-faction-guaranteed-for-liverpool?cc=5739

Yeah, same. It's weird though – I'm sure he used to be decent when I was younger. But somewhere along the line he just became this faux-poetic joke of a writer. Nearly everything he writes is completely embarrassing. He's written some right doe-eyed s**** about Arsenal and Fabregas over the years. BRILLIANT idea for a thread, by the way.

Yeah, I was surprised by how well he seemed to do initially at Sunderland. He was crap at the WC – terrible decision making – and no great shakes elsewhere. Still, seems strange that he's being defenestrated now unless he's had a falling out with Bruce.

Jesus wept.

Oh God, the SSN "analysis" about the CL draw was embarrassing.

Speaking of MOTD pundits, they had Roberto Martinez on last night. Was really refreshing to have him offer a piece of genuine insight when they were discussing Dzeko beyond the others' "we thought he was s*** but apparently he's not" banalysis. Pointed out the difficulty of adapting, coming from playing in a two with Grafite at Wolfsburg to integrating into City's system mid-season. I think if they're going to have more PL-centric pundits to talk tactics alone (and Dixon is good at this) but who struggle with knowledge of the sport outside this country (Shearer's "we don't know a lot about him" when talking about Hatem Ben Arfa last season), then they should try to have someone on who can offer this sort of insight all of the time. It's not intrusive, nerdy statto-ness that will turn viewers off, but it does offer a different, interesting perspective for people watching.

Silkiness of touch isn't Dirk's strength, no (though it's generally fine when he and the team is playing well), but what he has over Carroll is a gift and intelligence for movement. Carroll is more of a static, central presence. It means there are fewer options for the team when passing the ball forward (hence the hoofing). Dirk and Luis dropping off and/or spinning into the channels makes us more fluid by default because the forward movement is better.

The bigger concern long term is more that Kuyt-Suarez looks like a partnership, whereas Carroll-Suarez looks like two forwards. It will hopefully come with Carroll's fitness, but right now – like last season – we look a much better and more threatening team with Dirk and Luis up front. The other issue is that Suarez's best form for Ajax and Uruguay came while playing as the no.9 in the team. Suarez was good as a wide/supporting forward in Amsterdam, but truly came into his own when Huntelaar left. You also have to wonder why Oscar Washington Tabarez has tended to go with Suarez-Forlan centrally with Cavani wider on the right for Uruguay, given that on paper Cavani seems the most unlikely of the three to be a natural fit in a wider role but a shoo-in to play as the no.9.

Thought his movement was one of the bright spots of a fairly pedestrian performance. He links up with Suarez better than most too.

I definitely agree with that, but yesterday he did receive the ball to feet many times and seemed to be tripping over it. The hoofing is incredibly frustrating though.

It would be stupid to write the lad off, but he still doesn't look fit/sharp. His goal yesterday was a thunderbolt but he spent most of the second half loping around like Treebeard on mescaline.

Would definitely have Carroll in against their centre-backs, Kuyt on the right. Dirk always comes up with the goods against Arsenal and I can see him giving Gibbs a torrid time. Arsenal will have to play Walcott, and his one weapon (pace) won't have the same impact against Enrique. Mockers central.

Thought the first half was Carroll's best performance for us, but second half he was feeding on scraps and Brown won his battle with him. The team looked so tired in the second half – understandable for the likes of Suarez and Lucas, not so much the others. Does somewhat explain why the passing was so bad though – tired bodies and tired minds. First half was encouraging though. Onwards and upwards.

I think this quote aptly sums the man up: media first, fans second. "I would rather hope that, if I was ever going to be offered the England job, it would be with the backing of the important people. That would be the media, who represent the fans and, of course, the fans." FYI Roy, the media in no way represents the fans. The media represents the interests of its shareholders and whatever the agenda du jour is. F***ing rotate yourself back to Utopia. That said, I'd love him to manage England, if only to hear his excuses... "But there's a recession on!"

He played on the right for Sunderland quite a lot and I remember their fans at the time of the transfer suggesting it to be his best position. I think he's got that Beckham either/or thing, where he's not what you'd consider a natural wide player in terms dribbling and running at the full-back, but his passing and delivery from wide areas is so good that becomes logical to keep him there. Whether Henderson can do what Beckham couldn't (but wanted to) and develop into a proper, all-round central-midfielder remains to be seen. I think it's good that we've got him in this young though, because I trust our coaching staff to develop his game more than I do Sunderland's.

Nope. This gets talked about every season and it never happens. Why? Because he's a full-back.

Have we sacked Kenny and nicked Roma's coach? Bet the ITKs didn't predict that.

The pursuit of Sneijder does remind me of the Veron deal, in that he's more a player that Mr Ferguson has been a long-term admirer of rather than someone their team needs. He is a fantastic player, and probably wouldn't struggle with the pace of the league in the same way that Veron did, but signing him will narrow their options in term of team shape and player selection. For instance, Sneijder's best season at Inter was playing as a no.10 in a 4-3-1-2, but United have the best set of wingers in the league. Would they sacrifice them for one player? He could play behind a single striker in a 4-2-3-1/4-4-1-1, but that's Rooney's best position. I have my doubts that Sneijder could play in a central two in a 4-4-2 as Modric can, so you're looking at a 4-3-3 which would either mean binning Hernandez/Berbatov or playing Rooney wider, which he seems to hate doing. It would also mean fielding two more from their selection of central midfielders – an area of the squad most would admit is their weakest (Fletcher, Carrick and Sneijder probably being their strongest first choice three – not terrible by any means) – rather than more of their wingers/forwards (where they are strongest).

Chewie will put someone in their place.