RedHarvest

All too true and predictable

I also have enjoyed hating Bellamy in the past but theres no denying his effectiveness, pace and goalscoring ability. c*** or not - I'd have him. In his defence the whole Newcastle episode can be written off cos they're such a comically inept and stupid club - and a bit of mouthiness is not a problem given the right manager, ie:his compatriot Hughes...and obviously Rafa.

Love Sami. Hope he's here at least another 2 seasons to ease in the new generation. Sami and Carra - Who is a better central defensive pairing in the league over the last 7 or so seasons?- no one is. ...in europe - few (if any)

"#1 - hopeless defending, Hyypia didn't even head it that well #2 - hopeless defending, Crouch didn't even head it that well" Dont mean to be churlish but... The difference between thier two headers shows up how poor Crouchie is in that department - Sami put direction into his header, Crouchs was weak and straight at Taylor..it jammied in somehow. I really wish he'd work on and improve that aspect of his game cos he does all the hard work getting into the positions. Im still delighted for the big lad though, his confidence will be sky high for the run in.

Reina 8 MOM Finnan 7 Sami 6 Agger 6 Riise 6 Gerrard 7 Kewell 8 Kromkamp 6 Xabi 7 (pity he went off before they went down to 10) Morientes 6 Crouch 7 Not a great performance apart from a brief spell before HT- it's a thin line between what we saw today and the Birmingham game. Still - 3 points towards knocking the Mancs off thier f***ing 2nd place perch.

for the barcodes yesterday was class - superb technique. If that was Rooney...etc...etc... He's played consistently well for them and Villa, popping up with goals, linking play, great free kick, can play on the right or in the middle - a smart player. I think he would've been a good signing for us last summer.

Well im on a loser here cos you cant defend the indefensible - strikers who dont score. I'd still bet that with the manager and fans behind him he'll finish the season with more goals than Crouch.

good points... i just dont like this singling out of Morientes cos he's on a dry run...Owen gave less when he had his barren spells. IMO Morientes is a better player and goalscorer than Crouch (who was good very today) and he'll come good.

Morientes wasn't bad today...it's a classic case of a loss of confidence in front of goal. He still gives more in the rest of his game to make up for it IMO.

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We'll beat them 2-1 with Nando getting both of our goals.

Classic case of a lack of confidence from Nando. I thought he had a good game last night.His workrate for the team is good, he just needs a goal - it will come.

There's been a worrying amount of free headers conceded over the last few games - Toure last night, De Zeauw twice on Saturday (one of them gilt edged definitely wouldve been scored if it was a striker). I was bricking it when Arsenal got that corner in the 93rd min. We look shaky and we've got away with it so far. As for corners - I think Xabi should take them.

I thought Kromkamp did well when he came on but he will have a tough time dislodging Finnan from RB...I wonder if he might be doing enough to convince Rafa to start him at RM?

Theres also the draining effect of the WCC Japan trip. I dont wholly subscribe to this idea but it's a little too easy to dismiss it entirely as Giles and Houghton smugly did.

Any irish reds see the Premiership last night? Giles, whose opinions I normally respect, took pains to ridicule this idea of tiredness citing his era of non squad rotation and a "just get on with it" attitude. This was echoed by the irritating Houghton. I've thought we've looked a pale and drained team the last few games - particularly Gerrard (by his standards). I've put our recent lull down to our punishing and unjust CL qualifying campaign. I think the game is faster and more demanding these days and the Premiership is one of the mored physically demanding leagues in Europe. Then again..maybe I'm looking too hard for excuses for gutlessness.

Id go for Yakubu. He's a handy ball player, with smart pace as opposed to the Cisse type...and he consistanly scores goals in average/s**** teams.

Sami God Carra

Right on the money there. We shouldnt be paying them so much attention. Yer fiver's in the post

If he's not he should be. He's trying too hard to justify the Viera comparisons IMO...he should be taking ball retention masterclasses from Didi, playing the boring square pass etc... I'm a fan of his but he just needs experience and to play within his limitations.

Re: points 3+4...I agree, and all this stems from not having a proper RW. I wonder would Rafa have played Kromkamp there at some stage today.

No way was he not arsed - we've played twice as many games as most of our opposition this season. Tiredness is being mistaken for lack of effort/application.

Well put. We've improved but are not yet good enough and wont be til Rafa gets two genuine wingers, two goalscoring forwards and a world class left back.

My guess is Crouch with Luis behind him, Stevie on the right, Harry K on the left. Gonna have a punt on Luis to be Chelseas nemesis again with 1st goal.

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