yellow jumper

he's not shown anything in the last third, is the basic issue. if he wants to be real top class he needs to weigh in with goals and assists as well as doing the incredible controlling job he's already shown he's capable of.

think with ball at feet he has under-rated ability. does need to learn to distribute better though.

looking forward to it. give him an hour to break them (and earn the inevitable yellow), and then bring on mascherano.

"Right now I am just a little bit angry because Chelsea tried to spend time - to make up time - and I was just unhappy and I reacted to that." wenger has them all indoctrinated with this sense of injustice that anyone could have the gall to spoil their beautiful football. they're currently obsessed with time-wasting; witness henry's pathetic outburst during the wigan game. they're hypocrites. was happy chelsea beat them. hope they continue to win feck all.

he's not doing particularly well and is certainly nowhere near being one of sochaux's best players. perrin has about five or six strikers to choose from, and at least three of them look better players than le tallec right now. he isn't really getting the run of games he needs. usually coming off the bench for fifteen minutes here and there. he scored both of his goals in one of the few games he's started. sochaux are very much a counter-attacking side, which may not suit him, but he looks as off the pace in the french league as he did in england. perrin seems to regard him as a target man. saw the game yesterday. not impressed by lyon. seem to have a lot of the frailties houllier's liverpool had in later years.

still in barcelona. their inquest continues. ronaldinho taking a lot of flak. they concede that they lost the game in midfield. think rikjard´ll abandon possession football for lightning quick counter-attacking at anfield. it´ll be dangerous. we´re in a wierd position too, a goal for us doesn´t change all that much. a goal for them could tip the balance. numerous replays of the 1-3 in 2000 on the tv here last night.

bergkamp, by some way.

think aurelio-riise is the best our left side has looked this season. only a handful of games, admittedly. riise's looked happier in midfield that's for sure. he's gone backwards this season, after an encouraging couple of years.

nasty, little s***. dives all over the place. not a traditional winger. works hard. neat and tidy, decent with ball at feet, but not the type to skip past a couple of challenges at pace. can play both sides, but form what i've seen he prefers to come in from the left-hand side and join in. more like a garcia (although more precise with passing/ less of a goal threat), hleb, rosicky type than a joaquin, robben or ronaldo.

spain have their own problems, but at least they have an established way of playing that all their players are comfortable with. arragones picked an 11 in their natural positions, and wasn't afraid to leave big talent on the bench. think england have technical and tactical weaknesses throughout their squad, but a decent (and strong) manager would find a way for them to compete on the basis of their own strengths. for all the criticism he took, sven was a decent manager and until he lost the plot in regards to gerrard, lampard, scholes and beckham, england looked a competetive outfit. terry should be nowhere near the england starting XI, never mind captain.

is there really someone called that?

who's rowfa?

2nd only to istvan kozma

when's the dvd out?

thought we lacked a little variety. too many crosses and not much ingenuity just in front of their deep lying defence; a clever dribble or a one-two on the edge of their box. they defended well, though, to be fair.

spoke to someone who watches depor every week, and he echoes all the stuff about him being their best player this season, but also says he's primarily a centre-back.

i'd back crouch in a 1-on-1 situation more than most, he's incredibly composed with ball at feet. he just won't get too many because of a lack of pace. owen missed plenty, he just got loads more opportunities than most and generally converted the really important ones. crouch needs to get more with his head to be considered a really clinical finisher.

jose enrique looks a quality left-back for villareal.

gary docherty?

think he's been quite poor in the transfer market, generally, definitely inflexible tactically and seems unable to settle very long at any club before his confrontational approach causes problems. he is very good at getting results though. and ultimately that's what counts most.

don't see him as being any worse than neill, for example. he did okay there for ged, no carlos alberto, but he can use both feet, solid defensively and is an under-rated crosser of the ball. he's primarily a centre-half though, to that extent i agree. think riise could go on current performances (although saturday was an improvement). but also that he has been an important player for us in the last two seasons. he covers two positions adequately at worst, scores goals (and often important ones) and he loves the shirt. ultimately though i think we will probably have to lose at least one more of the lefties, and perhaps two if a top quality left winger or full back becomes available. hard to assume that gerrard won't play 90% of games, for me, even if rafa is considering it. i think it could become problematic if he isn't starting the vast majority. take your point regarding pennant, although i think there could be a danger of too many cooks. with carragher as cover for finnan, and alves as cover (or alternative to) both gerrard and finnan, you have an easier task keeping everybody happy, and could also supplement the centre-half position, with the new boy or agger as a quality third choice. i like bellamy, but it depends on what we're offered, and who else we've got lined-up for that matter. for a £10 million profit and the option of someone like david villa, it would have to be considered. not privvy to what goes on off the pitch, but given past history, don't think it's beyond the realms of possibility that the whole rotation thing could cause him to blow some time in the future. similarly, with crouch, i don't think he's done too much wrong, but has limitations and at a big profit might be worth cashing in on if it frees up funds and places for better options. i do think he'll keep getting better with age though, so can see both sides. think richards will end-up a centre-half myself, but agree that for the money being quoted it seems unlikely that he'd come in as a second or third choice as has been suggested earlier in the thread (not by you, i know), especially when he could probably walk into chelsea first xi as it stands.

i'd say reina, carragher, finnan, alonso, gerrard, kuyt are the only players who have a regular place nailed down right now. agger, aurelio, sissoko, riise, pennant, and gonzalez could concievably be added to that list before the end of the season. expect bellamy and crouch to continue to be rotated, with one, and perhaps even both, candidates to be sold in the summer. think the addition of a top class centre-back in the summer would give us three (or even four if sami sticks around) very good options, and also allow carragher to offer quality cover at fullback if needed.

alves can't come without pennant going, particularily if we get mascherano. we've got plenty of options down the left even accounting for the sale of warnock, and aurelio/riise looked handy in tandem against chelsea, do think there's still some question marks over both starting positions down that flank though.

ok apart, from duff and SWP, tell me when exactly when have chelsea ever outmuscled us in the transfer market?

apart from him