i don't think i'm missing much, my local club is Ipswich i guess but i don't care if they do well or not. i don't see why anyone would pay £30 or whatever to see some men running around for 90 mins trying to kick a ball in a net. but each to their own i spose.

i understand what you're saying about the fans allthough not all are like that i know. i have tried watching alone but makes no difference to me, i still hate it. i don't like many sports in general really and i think it stems from my school days. i got expelled for headbutting my P.E teacher who was the biggest twat ever.

all the people who have ever said Ronaldo or Rooney are next to Messi are absolute morons. Messi has been the best player in the world for the past 3 years. Its the English media thats perpetuated the fallacy that they can really stand up to him

And by the way i think Xavi and Essien are right behind Rooney and Ronaldo, in fact Essien might be the second best.

He did score this blinder that everyones forgotten, Makalele never did anything like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KuGLjYBOY4




Nice to see this whole thread being taken up with South West London club matters; my friend who goes to Griffin Park remains pessimistic about Brentfords future prospects. I do hope the Palace stay up though. QPR ive never been able to love.

Don't forget about Iniesta, my second favourite world football player (right after Messi).

yeah, Iniesta is outstanding. When he scored the equaliser against Chelsea last year i almost hit my head on the ceiling.
Messi, Xavi, Iniesta would be well qualified to be in the team of the decade.

Rooney especially is a very different player to Messi. Rooney is one of the best readers of the game I've ever seen. He may not be spectacular in what he does but his awareness of what's going on really is second to none. In that sense I'd put him closer to Totti - with a far better workrate. Ronaldo is closer to Messi but, I agree, not as good a player. The decision between Rooney and Messi though, far from being moronic, is more down to criteria. In a free-flowing footballing situation (as Messi faced against Arsenal) I'd go with the Argentinian over anyone right now. In a tight, physical battle against a more defensively minded side though, I'd probably favour Rooney.

In terms of comparing Messi with Maradona, I think they're about the same in terms of raw talent, but so far Messi has achieved everything with an already brilliant Barcelona side while Maradona pretty much singlehandedly led an otherwise fairly average Napoli side to the Serie A title.

And I completely agree about Essien.

the thing about the English fans is there are thousands upon thousands of football fans who go to football each weekend throughout the country. How many times has it kicked off in the last 5 years? Once? West Ham against Milwall for sure and i can't think of any other time
In the 70's and 80's it was savage but these days its almost unheard of.

And yet in recent years there's been a number of English fans stabbed while at away matches (seemingly just while on route to the stadium as opposed to during a fight)
You dont get people throwing Pigs Heads at players from the Holmesdale End. I dont recall a fucking moped being launched from the kop.
I dont remember English fans organising a battle royale in the woods near the border with a neighbouring country
and so on

That's all true but largely I think because the worst offenders aren't in the prem. If teams like Cardiff or Millwall get into the top flight I think we might see a lot more of it. The media only really takes that big an interest when a premiership team is involved - as with the West Ham v Millwall thing. But yes, on the whole I agree with you in thinking that, on the whole, the problem is far worse in Italy and Spain right now than it is in the UK. The big difference though is that England has a far stronger culture of fans travelling en masse to watch away games whereas from what I understand fans in the rest of Europe tend to stick either to home games or local derbies. Hence there's far more likelihood in England of fights breaking out in a game between say West Ham and Cardiff than there is between say Napoli and AC Milan.

The problem in terms of English supporters traveling to Europe is that they're still seen as kind of hooligan royalty. I know someone from Italy who tells me the 'ultras' for his team, Juventus, idolise the old West Ham, Manchester United and Chelsea 'crews' from back in the 70s and 80s and so go all out when any of those teams' supporters go over there - which in the case of West Ham is, of course very rare indeed. Although something similar happened to them in the US a couple of years ago when they went over there to play Columbus Crew.

Fascinating the odds for the World Cup. Italy looks like a great bet. Good odds on a team that knows how to get the job done. I think it's interesting that Spain is the favorite. I remember watching them win Euro 08. I'll be rooting naturally for the upstarts in red white and blue......Going to be sweet taking England out of it.......

Because I'm bored/trying to avoid doing some actual work, my team of the decade, based on a 4-4-2:

1 - Buffon (GK)
2 - Maldini (LB)
3 - Ferdinand (CB)
4 - Nesta (CB)
5 - Thuram (RB)
6 - Ronaldinho (LW)
7 - Zidane (CMF - Attacking)
8 - Essien (CMF - Defensive)
9 - Christiano Ronaldo (RW)
10 - Totti (STR)
11 - Raul (STR)

Subs:

GK - Chech
DF - Ashley Cole
DF - Zanetti
MF - Kaka
MF - Roy Keane
FW - Drogba
FW - Eto'o

Manager: Mourinho (even though I can't stand him)

I've not included Messi or Rooney because they look more like they'll come into their own during this decade rather than the last one.


Argentina may have the playing talent but Maradona's tactical awareness is zero. They'll be ok when they're able to boss a game from the beginning but against a well organised side they'll be hopeless.

It's still Spain for me.

and they can't get rid of Maradona cause he's a national hero I take it. Maybe the players will take it on themselves to change the style of play. Is there a limit on the number of substitutions a coach can make in a game. A red card or 2 yellows in the same game equal immediate suspension from play? Yes or No?

He is a national hero, but I'm surprised he's still in place as national coach. The players apparently despair at his ineptitude and I suspect the Argentinian fans would rather he went if it meant giving the team a stronger chance of success. They won't replace him during the finals though. Once they're knocked out though, he'll be gone.

Regarding the substitutions and cards thing, teams can make three substitutions per game and yes, any player receiving a red card or two yellows in a single game means them being sent off during that game as well as a suspension from the next one. Also two yellows collected by any player during any stage of the tournament (be it the group or knockout stage) also means disqualification from the next game.

I also played in a football tournament organized by some christian youth movement and there was except for the obvious yellow and red cards also the possibility to obtain a blue card for cursing and swearing. For 2 blue cards there was 1 yellow card.
But I don't want to fool chicka with my dark past.

hahaha. it'd be interesting if they applied that in the premiership. john terry would hardly make it out of the dressing room.

On another note. is this racist?

you? you seemed like the friendliest person ever when I met you, stu. Can't imagine yourself doing something like that.

yeah i know, i've mellowed out alot since school but he drove me to it. he used to push everyone around and bully the kids and nobody did anything about it except me. i think he went properly crazy when i left. :D

back to the video i posted, has anyone watched it? could this be the next England World Cup anthem?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiWEA5fUjUg

yes, it's very good, although I can't understand much except for "Rooney", "Joe Cole" and "we have three lions on the shirt"

christ. that was truly horrible. I don't know why they don't just release some kind of multi-celeb version of 'three lions' and have done with it. Stick some old footballers in the video, along with peter kay and the now obligitary ray winstone. The anthem stays the same, mums and dads buy the cds.

Why am i not rich?

i have to agree with demonrail which is why i think it could go far! even though my friends brother made this which is why i'm posting it in this thread in the first place i think it is awfull! sorry Marcus i'm not doing a very good job promoting this.

yeah im not into sports either but i like a nice game, and the tribal warfare of the world cup is just fucking brilliant.

ha ha good @ headbutting the prick-- and you say you don't like football? that's how you score goals!

i haven't watched the video yet but i will today at some point... things suddenly getting busy here... blaghhh

Yeah i take your point about them being very different players, its just that for the last few months we've had everyone on the TV, newspapers, radio saying "rooney is the best in the world" without much more than a mention of Messi, if that.
Something that people miss out about Messi is he isnt a flair player who stands around, he closes down and works to get his team the ball if he doesnt have it, in the same way Rooney does. The best forward players know it doesnt matter if you win the ball yourself, its about making the opposition play the difficult pass, which they both do brilliantly.


I never saw Maradonna play so i cant chip into that arguement, the only comparison I can make is Zidane and for me Zidane stands above him at the moment, because Zidane reached his peak in his late 20's/early 30s. We cant tell if Messi could be that type of player at 30. Id say Fabregas definitely can, so can Rooney.

For me its between Messi, Fabregas and Rooney to be the best of this generation, that ive seen anyway

I was gonna quibble with your choices, but this is one of those things that is not worth arguing about in the pub, let alone the internet

(Id still have Lampard in there though)

So the match this morning was a heartbreaker, Man U. beat Man City in the extra time period 1-0 with 18 seconds left on the clock. Interesting game as both team missed some beautiful chances especially Rooney who was substituted for. Explain that to me if he's supposed to be one of the best why do they substituted for him? Also Abedoyer for Man City who seemed like one of the better players was also substituted for. Taves was the man for Man City it appeared. Anyways Chelsea's going to have to earn it...

Rooney's carrying an injury so it's debatable whether he should be playing at all. I don't know the story behind Adebeyor's substitution but it's normal for players to be substituted towards the end of a game if they're looking tired or to change tactics. Anyway, Tottenham beating Chelsea has blown the title race wide open.


The blind Rooney-worship is a bit irritating, even though I do think it's ultimately justified. It does get a bit annoying though when the people doing it were only half aware that Messi even existed before the Arsenal game.

I totally agree with your point about Messi being more than just a flair player. I don't think he's as effective tracking back as Rooney but that's a size issue more than anything to do with skill or commitment. Going forward though, Rooney isn't even in the same league as Messi. Again, they're such different players. I think that's why the Maradona comparison keeps coming up (besides the obvious Argentina connection). It makes sense in a way that wouldn't with say Zidane (who I personally rate above Maradona) Messi's style/role is almost uncannily identical with Maradona's. I'd be more fascinated if a player emerged that could be compared with Zidane - at least potentially (Fabregas?).

I agree with your three candidates for best player of their generation but can't agree about Lampard being a player of the decade. I'm already disagreeing with my own list, but not to the extent that I'd include him.

Another thing that I have hard time with is what the hell is offsides and what isn't. Guys are always in front of the ball but sometimes it's offside but most of time it is not?

just being in front of the last defender doesn't necessarily make a player offside. they need to be interfering with play in some way too. There's endless debates about what qualifies as interfering with play, hence lots of dubious referee decisions. There's loads of even weirder rules now, involving things like 'phases of play', which has made the off-side role even more esoteric than it was before. I read an interview with a player recently who said even he wasn't completely sure what qualified as off-side now.

to cut a long story short (and this might even be wrong)
if you are in front of (goal side) the last defender when the ball is played forward, you're offside. But only if your classed as "interfering with play". If the ball is played backwards toward you but there's no defenders your ok (it was not played 'forward'). if the ball is shot from another player and goes straight in but your standing in front of the keeper your offside because your interfering with the keeper (be it his line of vision or obstructing him or just getting in the way and putting him off). If your injured to one side you'll be ok because by you cant interfere with play if your on the floor. If your playing against Man Utd you'll probably be offside. If your in your own half you can't be offside no matter where the other players are.
and stuff

saying that FIFA will probably change it all and bring in new rules to trial a week before the world cup, meaning no one will know what the fucks going on. It'll probably involve the postion of club mascotts and weather the "playing part" of the body is wearing the "offside braclett" which must be passed from player to player 5 times each half

so it is as confusing as I thought. I see my boys from Everton are in the lower half of the league. Is the regular season winner (most points) the champs or do they have playoffs and if they have playoffs how many make it?

in the premiership its the most points wins. Bottom 3 get relegated to the division below (the Championship). Top 4 get to play in the Champions League (european football) next season as well.

In the lower divisons the top 2 get promoted automaticaly and the next 4 enter play off's to determin the 3rd team to win promotion

No, in the premership there aren't any playoffs. The team with the most points at the end of the season win. The top four teams play in the champions league. (hence the current interest in Tottenham and Man City, both of whom are fighting for that 4th spot).

Everton are probably my 'second' team. Moyes has been working wonders with very little money. It's hard to see them break into the top four with such a lack of funds but, for what they've got, they're a great team I think.

GO ON THE SPURS!!!!! best week ever!!! now for united!!!!!!

thats all i have to say!



c.o.y.s.

What's up with Neville and Scoles

Well this morning's game was Man U against Totteham 3-1 Man U playing without Rooney. Nani was the man today. Puke a few times and scored.
Griggs had 2 on penalty kicks. Will Chelsea get it done?

Yeah. There's growing fears about Rooney's fitness so close to the World Cup. I'm gonna watch the highlights of the Spurs Man U match. Chelsea are a long way from getting it done. It's in their hands but I can see them dropping points somewhere along the line in their last three games against Stoke, Liverpool and Wigan. Man U's, against Sunderland and Stoke is a bit easier - although I'm convinced Stoke could be a banana skin for either of them. Either way, the Chelsea Liverpool game is gonna be huge.

Far more importantly, West Ham look to have almost certainly avoided relegation.

mhuaaahaahaaahaaahaaa!

(sorry, i had to say that)

i always favor south american teams-- no matter which one-- we 3rd worlders gotta stick together-- magical realism & what not!

I imagine if you asked English fans, most would say their second national team is brazil. There's a romance about a country that once had a player called Socrates while we have to content ourselves with names likes Crouch.

Although I do get a bit fed up during World Cups, when the commentators waffle on about 'the beautiful game', and 'samba football' whenever Brazil play, a style they haven't played since the early 80s. They'll have one or two flair players but the rest of the team are really solid and quite workmanlike. There's certainly nothing about today's Brazil that comes anywhere even close to this.

dear demonrail666,

mom says "hi"!

I say "yr welcome".

kindest regards,

yr past-future step-son

Good God, It's Gidget!!!!!!