Football talking points

First topic message reminder :

Rather than hijack the "which team do you support" thread where some of these are being talked about...

Some of the events of the weekend that are getting people talking

1) Mario Balotelli: plenty to say about him in general but specifically the alleged stamp on Scott Parker and his subsequent charge by the FA

2) Lescott's elbow on Kaboul(?) - FA say no charge to answer

3) Conspiracy theories in general about Man City!

4) Wenger's decision to take Chamberlain off and put Arshavin on - and Van Persie's reaction

5) Peter Crouch and the "eye-gouge"

6) Harry Redknapp and the tax-dodging allegations and court case

Discuss!

Ive seen all the Classicos and they havent always been negative against Barca, though they were in the last one. In fact as I said before they are the only team I have seen match Barca and in fact outplay them for any decent part of a game.
They do cheat a fair bit though.

Id love to know, in games where Real are winning by one goal, how many minutes out of the last 20 the ball is in play. Not many would be my guess!!

The issue I have with it is they don't have to do it. I can understand poor sides adopting that approach but it's not as if Real go into games - even against Barca - thinking 'player for player they're better than us so we had best throw in diving and time wasting a plenty'.
I just don't get it and don't want to watch it

Anyone watching the Real Bayern match? Some game this looks like being

Ronaldo becoming the man for the big occasion. Really hard to split him and Messi for me, both fantastic. Wonder how they woul get on in the same side. Maybe Sunderland when they are both pushing 40....

Yeah I'm watching - decent start!

Bit of a harsh pen to be given and I'd have loved to see the show pony miss from the spot but it wasn't to be

I'd like to see Real win it to face Chelsea but I find it hard to support a team with Ronaldo in it

Agreed Digs, very hard to separate them. In past years Ronaldo has always had the big game question mark over him unlike Messi but now it seems to be going the other way a little.

This game could be a classic

Not a Ronaldo or Robben fan Davie?
I can see why Robben gets to people but he is a cracking winger

Certainly not a Ronaldo fan but I've no issue with Robben - great player!

Ah I thought you were referring to the Bayern penalty but you meant the Real one.
Both were a little harsh, the Real one more so.

I wish they would stop playing singing or whatever it is over the tannoy system!!

Yes I think my post was before the Bayern one - Ronaldo is the show pony, not Robben

I don't think he's a show pony, certainly not looking at the past couple of huge games. May not be a pleasant man but he is an utter quality player. I also like Robben, has added consistency to his game over the years.

My god I would end up kicking people like Pepe to pieces!

I suppose it's a sign of getting old when footballers look so young

The fact that Oezil looks like an embryo to me must make me ancient!

At least Robben has never looked young Davie, he must have been born looking 40.

Like that Davie??

This Neuer is a bit decent at penalties!
Bloody Germans!

Poor old La Liga, no finalists, nobody expected that. Chelsea definitely in with a shout IMO, tight game with a Drogba winner I reckon.

Germans wins a penalty shoot-out. Who'd have thought it.

Hope it's a great final

diggers wrote:At least Robben has never looked young Davie, he must have been born looking 40.

Babies start off looking like old men, grow into some kind of youthfulness before becoming young adults and then aged... presumably Arjen Robben just gave those middle stages a miss.

I'm surprised Madrid didn't have more of a go at bayern at the end of the game, because the laws of football state that Germans must always win penalty shoot outs.

I've always rated Robben as a great player too, he was brilliant although a bit inconsistent in his Chelsea days but was Holland's main threat at the 2010 world cup. I can't believe you guys are having a go at his looks when he plays in the same team as Ribery

If you believe Murinho then Madrid were tiring after playing 3 games in 9 days, with the latest high tempo effort against Barcelona at the weekend (Which they won) Munich however had a weekend off and were well prepared and rested. Could be some truth in it I suppose, but at least Murinho was big enough to say they deserved the win on the night.

Nice strike from Sturridge but suspicions of offside? Lampard had to duck out of the way.

Doesn't really matter now as John Twattry has just scored a second.

Game over now, QPR will need to work hard to keep the score down now.

Oh dear, final whistle needed for QPR. Goal difference getting closer to Bolton's now.

May even see a very rare sight today too, a Torres hat trick

Well everyone expected today to be all about the Manchester derby but the FA have thrown a spanner in those works by suggesting that Uncle Woy is about to be appointed the next England manager!

No hints yet whether this is just for the Euros or a long term appointment but I for one am overjoyed that the FA have (for once) done the right thing - though not necessarily for the right reasons.

Seems 'Arry was supposed to be nailed on for the job but IMO that would have been a disaster. The England job is a poison chalice anyway and I have no doubt the press would have gone to town on him (once the novelty had worn off of them crowing that they got him the job anyway)

Uncle Woy will be a much better choice IMO as a man with a good track record in the Premiership (apart from with Liverpool where they never gave him a chance) - and more importantly, experience managing international sides and taking them to tournament

Good luck Woy!

How on earth can you give the job to a man who manages a team that cant even beat Villa at home ?
Im sure he will do a decent enough job if he can keep the players on board, personally Id prefer it if he was a short term contract as at 64 he isnt really one for the future. Amazing that he is free to leave West Brom at the end of the season.
Id have preferred Redknapp, again as a short term option, but clearly the 10 mill they would have to pay Spurs should quite rightly have put paid to that idea.
Anyway.......come on City !!!

Well as Woy has his own thread, what about City/Utd tonight?

As a neutral I don't really care who wins (though as a long time ManU hater perhaps I'm edging a little towards City).

Should be a great game though - let's hope for lots of drama and controversy!

Although it seems certain that Mancini will start with Aguero and Tevez, I wonder if we'll get to see Super Mario - it would seem a nailed on certainty that he'd either score the winner (perhaps with one of his little chipped penalties) or get sent off - or perhaps both!

Seems kind of ironic though that Balotelli is seen as unreliable and overlooked in favour of Tevez! Who would have thought that 3 months ago

Blue Moon!

Will there be some major controvery tonight or will it be a bit of a damp squib? I reckon there will be SOME major talking point.

Good game for the neutrals though apart from being nail-biting for fans of the teams involved

Mostly City so far.
I'm not sure how I feel about this game. I'd rather United win the league than City for sure but for the sake of the remainder of the season's excitement I wouldn't mind seeing City win tonight?!

One thing worth noting from this game, some 35 minutes in, is that Carlos Tevez really is ugly!

Did the commentator really say Rooney hasn't had a yellow card all season? I must've misheard....

Giggs and Scholes too old for the same game against quality and playing Park a bad move by Ferguson. Rooney isolated , think he might get that yellow tonite unless he gets some help up front.
Can't believe Valencia hasn't started, arguably Uniteds best player this season.

Agreed Digs re Valencia. Very surprising

They keep knocking Smalling, maybe an easier nights work for the centre halfs if the Utd midfield gave them any help? Carrick looks static in games like this.

Utd still showing a team ethic though and proving once again the total is bigger than the sum of the parts.

Looking at the starting lineups how many Utd players would get into that City team man-for-man? I'd say probably only Scholes for Barry

Carrick always struggles in games where he doesn't have possession as there's not much else to him. That's why he rightly doesn't play for England.

Smalling has looked pretty awful tonight. And Rooney looks as short of creativity as any forward I've seen all season. Pretty poor effort from him considering the importance of the occasion

Evra for He-She for definite Davie

I'd add Rooney to that Davie personally. Probably Evra rather than Clichy as well.

Don't agree re Rooney MPB, I think he hasheld the ball up and moved it really well but playing on scraps with no support. It's all about midfield
Managers kicking off now , Valencia on, about time.

Fair enough Digs. I think he's been pretty awful having contributed nothing. He hasn't had any service true but at the same time has been pretty anonymous. Nights like this show how far from the likes of Messi and Ronaldo he is

Make no mistake though, a bit of service and he'll tuck one away I've no doubt

Ive seen Ronaldo look worse than this in a Utd shirt to be fair. And I've never seen Messi play in front of such a shite midfield.
But I agree they are both way better than him. But neither City forward has shone either otherwise it would be more than one nil.

I'm not really talking about playing badly. That's ok. I just mean he's barely been involved. Contrast with say Drogba in the Barca games. Had equally as little ball but was a presence. Rooney is simply a good finisher. Not ever as world class as is so often made out in my view. Look at Tevez. No one really talks about him as one of the worlds best but you never have long periods without knowing he's there. Since I first mentioned Rooney I think he's touched it 4 times. Welbeck has at least doubled that

Is it just me or does Nasri look like a lesbian??

Sorry, just don't see that at all. Rooney is on the ball a lot in most games and was tonite in the first half, he has been poor second half though.
Don't think he's just a finisher, he's for a great assists record and he hardly ever plays as an out and out forward.

I don't think I've ever seen anything hugely special in Rooney. He's a good player but not amazing as is often said. I bet his scoring and assists record is no better than say Dwight Yorke's and I don't remember him ever being held up as one of the worlds best as Rooney is.

Pulling United through enough to win tonight may have been impossible. They were poor. But true world class like Cantona, Shearer, Henry would have produced something at some point tonight.

I can't think of a game Rooney won 'on his own' for United. Or England. He's just a good finisher in a side that creates a lot over the course of a season

Just my thoughts though

Fair enough, I do think he gets too much praise sometimes but I also think he's quality. I think he moves the ball and sees the pass as well as anyone, that's what sets him apart from just being a good finisher.
Bit like anyone he plays better with quality players around him. Messi has never played a game in over 4 years when his side didn't have the vast amount of possession, kind of makes life a lot easier really.

He certainly has quality. Just wish he had dominating a game in him. He has all the technique, skill, vision etc

Still at least the end of the season is going to be good

It was all a bit of an anticlimax if the truth be told, after such a big build up.

Not a single shot on target from United? That can't happen very often.

I'm still bemused by that stat that Rooney hasn't picked up a yellow card all season. The way he follows refs around snarling and complaining I'm amazed one hasn't snapped yet.