WelshSpikeMikey

I thought he was generally excellent throughout. Made a vital save when we were 1-0 down (unless it was a block by the defender, I wasn't too sure), also saved from Deco (I think) at 0-0 when he was wrongly flagged offside. Came absolutely flying out of his goal in the second half superbly - any other keeper and there's an excellent chance of a Barca goal there. Also saved well from Saviola in a one-on-one, despite not being able to hold it. He f***ed up at the end, sure. Completely missed the ball and was bailed out by Carra. I'm not too sure about the second one though - the one that hit the post. There was so much bend on it that I don't think any keeper would've got near that - not that it looked like Pepe wanted to anyway. But as I said, overall, I thought he was excellent.

League: Man United FA Cup: Arsenal League Cup: Chelsea CL: Inter

But surely if we beat Barca then our price will go down hugely. So there's a decent chance of profit to be made. I think 22/1 for the team that won it two years ago with a weaker squad (but the same manager) is a little bit insane, to be honest.

Arsenal, Chelsea and United all comfortably enough. Preston with the only real 'upset'. Boro, Derby and Watford to get through (maybe just by the odd goal though). Spurs to get past Fulham, possibly after 2 ties.

It's popular to slate Reina in the media - whether it be MOTD/the BBC or Andy Gray/Sky. Just as it's unpopular to pick up on mistakes from Cech (for example), or like it's popular to praise Arsenal as much as humanly possible for their style of football.

Reina Pennant Agger

If Aidy Boothroyd seriously believes that he's going to get any more than £8 million for Ashley Young (!!) when you think that Alonso cost around £12m, Crouch £7m, Pennant £7m and so on... then he really is deluded. Nice piece from Rafa, also. "I always say that after a Sunday there is a Monday." Another quality quote.

Because we conceded 6 at home to a weakened Arsenal side (granted our side was weakened as well). First time we've conceded 6 at home for about 70 years. Rafa got the lineup completely wrong and got the subs wrong too. Anyone who thinks he should go is a complete and utter nutter, but he got it very, very wrong against Arsenal.

Bellamy Finnan Reina

Good servant but not a "legend" as so many simply love to claim. He'll be remembered for Istanbul but even a lot of that was Dudek being a victim of circumstance and luck. He'll be remembered but a lot of the time because he was an absolute joke between the sticks. 7 goals scored over the past 3 days, one of them he could do nothing about (the last one). He should've saved more than the massive total of zero, though. He had six bites at a pretty decent cherry and still failed. The sooner he's gone the better.

Bellamy, as well.

Yeah I know what you mean. It's not like we've ever beaten United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Juve, Milan, Leverkusen, PSV and so on under Rafa.

Alonso Bellamy (very close between the top two) Gerrard

Reina Crouch Carra Says it all, really.

Reina Xabi Kuyt

Seems about right, to be honest.

Very promising but needs to work on his shooting, crossing and decision-making. He could become very, very good but at the moment it's "just" pace and skill.

Haha, love it. I'm sure Roeder also wanted Martins, and always wanted pace, despite frequently going to watch Kuyt play.

Superb.

Then again, Arsenal's time (recently I assume you're talking about) was never really long enough to give them that many good decisions. Although, they did get a few. Not on the level of Utd/Chelsea, but Bergkamp stamping or elbowing, Pires/Cole diving, Henry generally being a bit of a t***, Vieira, Lehmann more recently...

I don't really understand his point about the disadvantage of having a rest after the World Cup either. If you want more matches, then arrange more pre-season friendlies. Simple.

It's so he can accomodate his CMs and go back to the formation that he knows best. It'll probably be something like: Cech, Cole, Gallas/Carvalho, Terry, Ferreira, Makelele, Essien, Ballack, Lampard, Drogba, Shevchenko With Essien making way for Cole/Robben (most likely the latter) every now and then, and Lampard playing in Essien's position.

Germany, without a shadow of a doubt.

He'd be rubbish for them anyway. He's like Lampard (except even less talented) - an attacking midfielder, pretty useless in centre midfield. He'd fit in quite well though, being an annoying talentless t***.

That's what I thought.