The Soccer thread

[Havak]

Liverpool fuck it up again, losing 2-0 to Middlesbrough.

I really think the Title is Manchester United's now, I hate to Jynx things (lol) but this time I think it's safe to say it. Provided we beat Newcastle (or in turn, beat Liverpool at Old Trafford) it's as good as ours. I'd like to see us beat both Liverpool and Arsenal at Old Trafford though, just to nail it in.

Anyway, does anyone know the requirements for a player to get a winner's medal in the Carling Cup? Does -player- have to have played at least one (or more?) game(s) in the whole tournament? Does -player- have to play, or be on the subs bench in the final?

Provided we can actually beat Tottenham in the final, I'd hate to see players who haven't made an appearance (van der Sar, Berbatov) not get a medal if they're not selected for Sunday's final.

 

[shade]

Why can we beat Real Madrid and yet lose to Middlesborough? It just doesn't add up.

 

[Taylor]

I reckon we'll format this starting line-up:

Foster

Fabio
Evans
Rio/Vidic
O'Shea (Rafael picked up an injury)

Ronaldo
Gibson
Anderson/Carrick
Nani

Welbeck
Tevez/Rooney

Sir Alex commented on how he intends to reward the youngsters for reaching the Carling Cup final, which is why I suspect Nani, Gibson, Evans and Welbeck will likely feature in the starting line-up. Fabio, who has not yet featured in this tournament so far, may play on his brother's side, allowing Evra to find himself on the team sheet.

There's so many possibilities. I'm predicting a 3-1 victory.

 

[Havak]

Fergie said that Gibson earned his place in the final with his last performance, so as long as he's up to it and plays central midfield (not right wing) I'm fine with that.

I think we should play van der Sar in net though, just so he can get a medal if you need to have played at least once.

Van der Sar

Eckersley
Ferdinand
Vidic
Fabio

Welbeck
Gibson
Scholes
Nani

Rooney
Tévez

Subs: Foster; O'Shea, Evans; Fletcher, Carrick, Giggs; Ronaldo, Berbatov.

I'm assuming Neville, Brown and Rafael will definitely be missing, so I'd give Eckersley a shot. Ferdinand and Vidic should form that strong centreback pairing since O'Shea and Evans are carrying injuries. Fabio should get another game at left back, he looked so good in his first game for us. I'd like to see Evra be able to join in the celebrations (if we win) so maybe he should get on the bench over someone else.

Ronaldo seems to play every game these days, so perhaps rest him but bring him on if needed. Welbeck can play on the wing so start him there, the front four (Welbeck, Tevez, Rooney, Nani) will be interchangable a lot so we can stick Welbeck up top if we need more height. Berbatov has played a lot, but he should come on at some point if needed. Scholes has had a rest, so he should start in the midfield.

 

[Carnage]

I can't believe Arsenal failed to score again -_- Is it the 4th premiership game in a row now? We really just need a tried and tested goal scorer not another hyped up player who's had a 1 ok tournament and regulary scored in a league nowhere near the standard of the premiership. I mean I hope Arshavin manages to perform up to his hype, but I've got a feeling that Arshavin will be another disappointment. An experienced striker could get the rhythm going again and kickstart Van Persie, who is a fantastic striker when he's confident and scoring.

Anyway, does anyone know the requirements for a player to get a winner's medal in the Carling Cup? Does -player- have to have played at least one (or more?) game(s) in the whole tournament? Does -player- have to play, or be on the subs bench in the final?

It's definetly to do with how many games they've played in the tournament and I don't think it matters how many minutes they've played in each game. I think it's 3 games in the champions league so maybe it's the same. Also it doesn't matter if the player still plays for the club. I remember reading an interview with Robbie Keane where he says that if Liverpool win the champions league then he'll give is medal to his brother.

Also I read in the newspaper today that Man City are going to try and sign Terry in the summer by offering Robinho and money for him, they've also apparently got their eyes on David Villa, Yaya and Kola Toure, and Roque Santa Cruz. Any thoughts on this?

 

[Xeorr]

My god, the man-u tottenham game is friggin killing me. I can't believe they (united) havent been able to capitalize on any of thier abundance of chances. I hope they do not screw up on their PSO. Theyve only god one shot to win this.

Nani played like a piece of shit again. Yes, nani fans i said it. He made the wrong passes and gave many a ball away when he could have looked and seen a better pass to make...

EDIT: WOOT WE WON!!! YES!!! AMAZING PENALTIES BY UNITED!

 

[sbc]

champiooness ole ole ole.

 

[spies]

I enjoyed this week's UEFA cup matches

 

[Havak]

Another trophy in the bag :)

 

[Taylor]

The "quituple" is still a possibility!

It was great to see Anderson score the winning penalty.

With regards to Barcelona, haven't they had a rough 8 days? 2 losses and a draw.

Athletico against Barca was La Liga's best match of the season so far. None stop action from start to finish. The match was very open, as each back-line were high up the pitch -- plus, they were both considerably poor. Notable goals from Messi, Henry and Forlan, with Aguero demonlishing Barcelona with two fantastic goals. One of the world's hottest strikers.

 

[Havak]

I think Manchester United might be favourites to win the Champions League again if we can get passed Inter, Barcelona seem to have lost it a bit.

 

[Taylor]

Yes, definately. As their pundits would say: "Cracks are beginning to show".

 

[sbc]

1201: MANCHESTER UNITED v LIVERPOOL LINE-UPS
Man Utd: Van der Sar, O'Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Ronaldo, Carrick, Anderson, Park, Rooney, Tevez.
Subs: Foster, Berbatov, Giggs, Nani, Scholes, Evans, Fletcher.
Liverpool: Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Skrtel, Aurelio, Mascherano, Lucas, Kuyt, Gerrard, Riera, Torres.
Subs: Cavalieri, Dossena, Hyypia, Babel, Insua, Ngog, El Zhar.
Referee: Alan Wiley (Staffordshire)

It will be sweet if we batter them :D

 

[Havak]

Yeah, I had a feeling Berbatov would be rested today. I'm fine with it since the workrate will be beneficial against Liverpool. The only other thing was whether it would be Fletcher or Anderson, but Anderson's had Gerrard in his pocket a few times so I'm guessing that's the thinking behind it. Love our bench today, incredibly strong.

Really hope we put an end to them.

 

[sbc]

The difference between the two benches represents the points difference.

For instance

Berbatov vs Ngog
Giggs vs Babel
Nani vs El Zhar

Sneaky feeling Anderson will score as well.

 

[ClockworkOrange]

So Lpool go into the break 2-1 up. Even if that's the final result I still don't think it'll alter the standings come end of season.

 

[Havak]

Terrible performance from United, so disappointed.

 

[Taxie]

Great performance from Liverpool. I am so happy. I have got to mention Vidic's role for Liverpool's success. This match increases the chances of Chelsea and Liverpool. I loved the goal of Aurelio and Dossena where Van Der Sar didn't even move. 4 - 1 away! That is really great. It was quite obvious because Liverpool is a much stronger side than United and they also beat ManU 2-1 at Anfield.

 

[ClockworkOrange]

Great performance from Liverpool. I am so happy. I have got to mention Vidic's role for Liverpool's success. This match increases the chances of Chelsea and Liverpool. I loved the goal of Aurelio and Dossena where Van Der Sar didn't even move. 4 - 1 away! That is really great. It was quite obvious because Liverpool is a much stronger side than United and they also beat ManU 2-1 at Anfield.

erm... no. Man Utd has the strongest squad in the league, can't dispute this. How many of the liverpool squad would get into Man Utd XI? Torres, Gerrard is probably it, maybe carragher.

 

[Olie]

thank God I could not stand to see Man U win again.
Also lol at real losing 4-0 to Liverpool

 

[reyscarface]

Loool, Man U losing 4-1 to Liverpool is very funny. Damn, Man U sucked that game!

 

[Taxie]

erm... no. Man Utd has the strongest squad in the league, can't dispute this. How many of the liverpool squad would get into Man Utd XI? Torres, Gerrard is probably it, maybe carragher.

I would rather ask how many ManU players will get into Liverpool or Chelsea XI? Ronaldo, Giggs, maybe Berbatov? That's all. Only these three are really great players of ManU. Others are over-rated. Ronaldo doesn't play well in crucial matches while Gerrard and Lampard play well anytime, any place, anywhere.

 

[shade]

Heh, I don't think there's any point arguing on who has the better squad. Even I, a Liverpool fan, can accept they have better strength and depth then us (this is shown further by sbc's post comparing benches). Man.U, however, were pretty bad on the day and that allowed Liverpool to run rampant. Fernando Torres made Vidic look awful and Vidic has been great this season for Man.U.

Anyway, I still don't think there's a title race yet, there only will be if Man.U fuck up their game in hand. If that happens, it's all to play for. At least if anything, it's a morale booster for us.

 

[Carnage]

Also Arsenal are now tied for 4th with Aston Villa *punches air triumphantly* Arshavin's goal where he went past 2 defenders and hit the roof of the net was amazing.

Arsenal have Liverpool, Chelsea, Man U and various other mid/lower table teams that should be easy, however knowing Arsenal we'll beat the big 3 and then draw all the other games.

Aston Villa are the same but without Chelsea.

 

[Havak]

Yeah, after the initial devastation of that 1-4 defeat, I'm over it now. I honestly can't believe anyone if they say 'Liverpool are much stronger than Manchester United' because that simply isn't true. Fair enough, they were better in both fixtures against Manchester United, on the day. But overall, throughout the season, if they were stronger, they'd be first in the Premier League.

Torres is class. He put doubt in Ferdinand and Vidic's minds for perhaps the first time this season. I actually think Vidic coped relatively well for the most part against Torres, only really 'losing out' to him twice, and making three good tackles against Torres. He also managed to stop Gerrard the first time he got through, but due to Patrice Evra's absence (he also had a bad game), he was forced to bring Gerrard down and take the red. I won't argue the red at all because it clearly was one, but that could be costly as we have two rather tough fixtures now without Vidic (Fulham away, Aston Villa home).

Taxie, I think almost any of Manchester United's defenders, Giggs, Scholes, Park, Ronaldo, Rooney, Tévez, and Berbatov would all get into the Liverpool team rather easily. Reina is probably a better goalkeeper than van der Sar, but that's debatable, Alonso and Carrick are pretty evenly matched IMO (Carrick's form is currently poor though). Scholes is still probably the best overall midfielder in Premier League history, or at least close to it. I think the rest speaks for itself since Liverpool's only real attacking threats Gerrard and Torres, all four of our main attackers are pretty much as good as Gerrard and Torres overall. Park is as good as Kuyt.

Anyway, big game away to Fulham now. We need to bounce back and I think we will. As long as we don't perform like we did against Liverpool I can't see us losing.

Van der Sar
O'Shea - Ferdinand - Evans - Evra
Ronaldo - Fletcher - Giggs - Park
Rooney - Berbatov
--
Subs: Foster; Eckersley, Fábio; Carrick, Scholes, Nani; Tévez.​

I'm expecting a great performance from Berbatov for some reason. He'll either score a brace and make a goal, or get a late, important winner. Either way I think we'll be the better team on the day.