yellow jumper

think they were both intentional myself. davies is probably the worst culprit in the league. he swings his arm as a matter of course. remember him busting sami's nose at reebok a few seasons back.

i'm sure you're right. United suffered plenty of injuries last season and still finished second. they also went out of europe early and were exposed in several of the tricky away games you mention and also the odd occasion when a form side turned up at old trafford intent on more than just roling over. i don't think they're start to the season is a particular surprise given what they achieved in patches last term, but nor does it dispel the idea that they could be susceptible to defeat against better organised outfits than charlton and fulham are right now. think you need at least five games to make any real judgements, and probably ten to really knows who's going where.

i need to see united against an organised defensive unit before i start hyper-ventilating. not to mention see them tested defensively. they've always been good at dispatching the poorer sides. even in their troubled recent seasons.

romario's currently dredging the american leagues for his 1000th goal i believe. the modus operandi was the same for both players. that innate understanding in front of goal, cleverness of movement, instant first touch and total clarity of finish.

any self-respecting frenchman would do it figuratively.

so despite liverpool and real madrid expressing an interest, he'd somehow agreed to sign for some team in uruguay. find it hard to believe personally. a team in brazil, argentina, mexico, sure, but uruguay's a fecking tiny place and it's not like he's some total unknown. wouldn't let riise go right now either. he's a good age, knows the league, loves the club, he's also versatile, hardly ever gets injured and (although not perfect) is generally reliable.

no makele. no cech. leaves chelsea with the terry england always seem to get. on the defending of the corner before riise's goal. it was a mistake by the players rather than a fault in the zonal system. having said that they made the same mistake in conceding a goal against chelsea at stamford bridge last season. ie. too many players going for the same ball. also thought it was a little worrying that gonzalez was marking shevchenko for the headed chance that reina saved. still can't really complain about our record of defending set-pieces. there's always going to be errors now and again. plus chelsea must be the best team in europe at attacking corners.

agger looks a extremely comfortable on the ball. if we had gotten alves i think there's a fair chance we'd have seen a 3-5-2 in many games. seems the only way we're going to get sissoko, alonso, and gerrard all on the pitch in their natural positions without losing a striker.

kromkamp was excellent newcastle away. looked a better attacking player than finnan on the evidence of that game, for me. he's clearly not a right mid option though.

think gerrard-alves would have been devestating. maybe next year.

zagallo was heavily into numerology, perhaps scolari too. or was it parreira?

i like it that he went out a bad boy.

ashton wasn't fit or in form. he hadn't played for two or three weeks before the cup final and the goals had dried up a little before that. he should play for england soon, though. ibrahimovic needs to sort his head out. he has the ability to be one of the best.

two finals and a semi-final in three tournaments. "If all this didn't say such tragic things about the English football psyche, if it didn't reveal double standards of breathtaking proportions, it would be a matter for uncontrollable laughter. But it would be mirth locked in the darkest of self-deception." from james lawton's piece

he dived, and his display of theatrics against spain was the worst of the tournament.

the only dive of any real consequence last night was the one that won the penalty for france. what would have been the reaction had ronaldo won a penalty in a simialr way? figo, ronaldo, deco dive week in week out for their club sides, henry just decided to start doing it in a world cup when he realised he wasn't having any impact on the game. and not long after his post-champions' league final outburst too. hypocrite moi?

why? can't you face the idea of michael owen or joe cole diving to win penalties?

what does piss me off is that rooney was trying to stay on his feet while being continually hacked from behind. the referee had two or three occasions to blow-up and didn't. yet he, and the referees generally, have fallen for the most pathetic displays of diving and falling over. beyond that he got the decision right. rooney retaliated and deserved to be sent off.

you've mockered him for the semi now. he hasn't been great this world cup. good finish last night though.

correct. sammya won't admit it though, he loves thenry even though he's over 5'5.

me too. i think alves is more that type of player from what i've seen of him.

no doubt. his delivery can be superb, i think he needs to learn consistency and also that he doesn't need to beat a man to be at his most effective.

pennant + lennon = world class right winger. as it is pennant has a great cross but tends to dribble down blind alleys too often when he should just swing it in, while lennon can beat his man with ease, but lacks a final ball.

ultimately parreira and peckerman did just as badly, if not worse with better groups of players. sven isn't a genius, but his record shows he's a decent enough coach. england's failure runs deeper than just his deficencies.

i agree with you, but there'll always be issues over selection/formation etc. crouch did well, hargreaves was magnificent, lennon was influential. how many people would have picked them as key england players when the squad was named? who picked them in the first place? and to public ridicule in most cases. erikkson was faithful to these players long before most people regarded them as creditable options. he'll be a turnip in the press tomorrow, though, because he didn't use walcott. the bottom line is that players in england shirts always conspire to lose gloriously. it isn't a coincidence. just as it isn't a coincidence that germany generally fare well, whether they have a good pool of players or a relatively poor one. an experienced coach or a total novice.