Hi all,
In the week they are supposed to meet in the Champs League, first the spotlight was on Barca's in-fighting. Now, it's shifting to Liverpool, where Dudek, Pennant and Fowler were apparently drunk one night during a training camp in Portugal last week.
Next, we hear that Craig Bellamy and John Arne Riise were involved in a bust-up.
What do you think will happen when they meet tonight in Barcelona?
And let's hear your post-match comments too after the game?
No prizes for guessing what will be the next Question of the Week...
At your service
Ernest Luis
The Postman
The New Paper
P.S. Blogger q-s (a previous Letter-of-the-Week winner), YOU OWE EVERYONE HERE AN APOLOGY. I thought you would have the decency and courtesy to stop questioning our newspaper decisions regarding the series and stop attacking other bloggers here.
Seriously, do you expect your views to be published week in, week out, ahead of others or win prizes all the time, or be invited to a photo shoot? I told you before we had reasons for whom we chose - which were clearly stated in that issue - to the public. There are so many other writers to the Postman series who haven't won, or didn't get chosen, but are they crying out?
By verbally attacking the likes of even a 13 or 14-year-old here, I'm sorry, but you have stooped far too low for a mid-20s guy like you. Do you expect anyone else here to respect your views from now on?
Once again, for the rest of you courteous bloggers here, please keep replying to our topics and avoid replying to such posts. I said it a few months ago, and the same advice applies now (and that goes for vulgarities, and words bordering on vulgarities too).
Everyone's welcome here, but please, let's have a little more respect.
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113 comments:
You screw with my rules, I screw with yours.
Why don't you aplogize to me first?
Interesting to see these 2 european giants who are due to meet soon in the matchup of the last 16 of Champions League embroiled in such negative issues.
However when they clashed on Tuesday night,these issues will be put to aside for 90 minutes and only the result will matter the most to this 2 teams.
Man to man,Barcelona's quality definately outshine those of Liverpool and not forgetting that if Eto does feel good enough to play his part in the game this time round,it will make Liverpool's task of getting something from this game even more difficult.
On the Reds corner,the drunkards trio of Dudek,Fowler and Pennant most likely won't step on the pitch at all bar Pennant so that won't affect much to their gameplan.The one which could hurt them will be the reported bust up between sparring partners,Bellamy and Risse,both fiery and important players to Liverpool.So long they can settle this internal affair,their performance shouldn't be affect much whatmoreover they are professional.
Barcelona have home advantage and with their quality,I got to say they have that extra X-factor to win the 1st leg.I hope the 2 teams will show the fans a beautiful game of football and not those ugly scenes that scarred the game when Barcelona last met their English menace,Chelsea.
Cheers
Hey q-s, peace.
Anyway, now that Liverpool and Barca are even with the in-fighting, its starting to get interesting. Whoever has the skills to settle the conflict(s)in their team will definitely possess the advantage going into this game. Lets hope that we'll get a good match out of this, or all that hype will be wasted.
I didn't know about this. Thanks for telling me. John and Craig had a fight? John is ugly and Craig is average-looking. John is ugly because he cries too much. Craig is average-looking because he's average, smart, footballer. John should just carry on with his life and when he's been GOOD, he will look more handsome.
Craig Bellamy should minimise his jokes which are bad and hurtful.
John should leave Liverpool and join Reading. Reading will be the new sexy schoolboys in town.
Ernest, I don't understand a word you said, man
Sorry, didn't I say this one or twice?
Nothing spectacular will happen. I take a draw. After 5 months out, certainly Eto will play no more than a substitute role in this game. Eto's bust up with his team seems the more serious affair as his career has been plattered with petulance than say, the Liverpool players. Being drunk may affect the Reds' preparations but it will certainly not divide the dressing room, definitely not the way Eto's comments would. On paper, i think both teams are pretty even with Barca having a better attack but Liverpool compensating with a better defence. Moreover, Barca have a tough game against valencia today (mon morning) as compared to Liverpool who were not in action this weekend. This could be Benitez's last chance for silverware this season and his knowledge of both the La Liga and continental football could be crucial. Thus, i expect Liverpool to pack their midfield to at least claim a draw back to their fortress at Anfield.
cheers,
kel
As for Barcelona vs Liverpool, I hope it will be a goalless draw and a penalty shootout all the way to...
q-s, i think ur initials stand for 'quite stupid' because no one understands what the hell you're talking about half the time. or probably 'quit shitting'. which one do u prefer?. :)
I think it will be a Barca win, but it wont be easy for Liverpool I expect.
'quite stupid' and I usually ignore anonymous except...
'quite stupid' and I usually ignore anonymous except...
Your father's comment is it?
Lets's just let it sip away like a form of cavier and mineral water.
Yes I'm marrried. I told you. ihave a girlfriend.
i am a sudent of business.
screwing is a form of touching.
Strangely enough, I find myself amused at this whole incident. And I must say, I wasn't aware of the "problems" at Liverpool until now. In the past week or so, I was wondering why all sorts of internal problems were coming out from Barca and nothing was going on in our camp, and now we're getting something finally...
I wasn't too concerned with the whole Barca/Eto'o incident in the first place, because I know how these things tend to get a little lost in translation, misquoted or exaggerated, especially before a big game. I didn't think it'd affect their performance against Liverpool, and likewise now, I don't think these things should affect Liverpool's performance either.
I'm reading all sorts of stories now, and the popular one is that Bellamy hit Riise with a golf club after the latter refused to sing karaoke. You have to agree that to some extent, that story sounds funny. The people at the club has neither denied nor confirmed anything, and with Rafa's latest statement, everyone is led to believe that something happened, but not sure what. Personally though, I think we'd probably get Bellamy dropped for the game against Barca at worst. Besides that, I don't think anything surprising will occur, unless Riise got injured after being whacked by Bellamy.
With a semi-final berth at stake, I would expect Barca to go for the kill at the whistle. All the bust-up are merely exaggerated and most of theplayers involved won't even make it to the starting eleven.
It would be interesting to see how Barca will react after their loss at Valencia. CLearly, they have lost part of the invincibility of the past 2 seasons. Hopefully the 10 days' 'gate-away' trip will do the Reds good and not cause their season to disintegrate!
On the paper, Barca is a better team but judging by the form that both teams are in, expect Liverpool to progress onto the next round.
Once again, a HCNY to all and may ur 'harvest' multiplies!
This is where the competition gets really interesting and it doesn't get any bigger than Liverpool versus Barcelona.
There are bounds to be disagreements between colleagues and football is no different. With the publicity that football generates globally, the media tend to exaggerate such incidents. It’s normal in football for the media to spice things up by putting a spin on stories. Hence, we shouldn't read too much into them.
While the negative publicity is certainly not welcomed, all that will be put aside when both clubs step on to the field. Individually, Barcelona possesses a wealth of skill and talent while Liverpool boasts of a good defensive unit, coupled with the British bull-dog spirit. Aptly put, it’s a battle between Ronaldinho and Gerrard.
On paper, Barcelona should go through but they are having a wretched run of form while Liverpool has been firing on all cylinders recently.
The key battle should be between Benitez and Rijkaard. Rafa is a master technician and if he gets his tactics right, Barca will find it hard to break Liverpool down.
It’s too close to call but expect Liverpool to frustrate Barcelona and bring the tie back to Anfield with a draw.
SHUT UP BRUCE WAYNE YOU ARTE A DEAD MAN
q-s,shaddup u r a piece of shit.whaliao?u woman is it?inhumane freak
it would be a mouth watering encountrer on thursday when barca entertain liverpool in the nou camp.bellamy has stupidly whacked risse with a golf club and may be out of rafas first team come matchday and may not play for the reds next season after rafa announced that voronin should be coming in next season but that may not really affect the reds on thursday as the have a replacement in crouch and fowler and dudek both do not play in the first team,so that should not be a worry.liverpool might lack some pace up front but they could pump long balls and hope that crouch gets on the end of them,well,for barca,etto has apologized and puyol has ensured that all is fine.frank,their coach might leave next season but he jolly well knows his task now is to beat liverpool in the champions league and so i expect a enticing 1-1 draw between the sides. happy new year
Penda.
I don't need your help. 2nd Choice. EKA USWATUN HASANAH. Love you, gals....................................................................
Eh, bola kau, eh?
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If you can't reply this question, you know I'm a marmksman.
MARKSMAN
Funny Ernest. About the q-s and the Pool bust-up thing.
I think when they meet, it'll be quite a spectacle, but Pool's defence will be exposed. Barca's quick-passing ability will destroy Liverpool, despite their hiccup loss to Valencia. Barca's passing ability is very similar to Arsenal. And if Im not mistaken Dudek was promised all cup matches. (Which is a foolish thing to promise anyone on). If the Arsenal youths can destroy Liverpool at home with their quick passing, what more experienced Barca players at Nou Camp. Liverpool - no chance. Unless of course, they get an early goal and park the bus - as Jose calls it. Hehe. No offense Scousers.
q-s, please stop acting like a child and start spamming. Really, your behaviour is embarrassing.
q-s
Hello q-s.
Please don't spam this blog. You tend to write nonsense and for revealing your private life here (and chester for the matter) is very distracting. We're here to debate and talk about football, not both of your "private" lives. Grow up Children. And q-s, you're married FFS.
cfcfan, (thankfully) Dudek was promised only all the domestic Cup matches.
I personally think 0-0 would be a positive result for Liverpool, since we also drew 0-0 away against both Juventus and Chelsea two years ago. At Anfield, we can beat anybody... Of course, Barca are a quite different entity (to Juve and Chelsea), as they're more similar to Arsenal in terms of style of play than Juve or Chelsea.
What worries me most is if we concede a first goal early, because Liverpool don't seem to do so well when going a goal down these days. The floodgates tend to open once the first goal goes in, so I'm just praying we can keep it at 0-0. Against the big teams this season, I notice we tend to play our best football at 0-0, as the "comeback king mentality" seemed to have been passed on to Arsenal instead.
Well LaLa, I do agree with you. Liverpool do well with their 4-5-1 formation at away games only when the tactic is working. Once they concede a goal, I sometimes do think Rafa lacks a Plan B. It's really hard to revert from a 4-5-1 to an attacking formation when teams concede. That's why it's vital who Rafa puts on the bench.When you are chasing games, you definitely need a plan B.
While attacking Barcelona could be considered tactically suicidal, especially at the Nou Camp, but Barcelona has shown to be susceptible when teams attack them. Hence, I think Rafa should try a more adventurous formation and play with 2 strikers. They need to ensure they keep possession, 4-4-2 when attacking but 4-5-1 when defending.
It's not as if Liverpool don't have good players, they do but Rafa needs to have the mentality of not worrying about the opponent and instead, let them worry about Liverpool.It's not impossible for the Reds to get a result at the Nou Camp, that I am sure of.
When the draw came out in December, many people knew that this match was going to be one to watch.
However, judging by the publicity that both teams have recieved recently, it won't be supprising if both teams would start out slow and cautious, wanting to catch the other team on the counter, most likely leaving it to a draw. The 2nd leg would make for a more exciting match.
While Barcalona has the start quality, there is still a certain air of uncertainty amoung them, which would concern Rijkaard.
That said, the "brawl" between Riise and Bellamy (it was more of an attack on Bellamy's part) and the drunken stupor of Dudek Peannant and Fowler and how it will affect the Liverpool team will have to depend on how Benitez deals with them. Rafa will have his work cut out for him to ensure that the team does not take negatives from this incidents.
In conclusion, while Rijkaard will hold a slight advantage as he will have more time to sort out the internal problems of Eto, Ronaldino and the more senior players, Benitez has the environment and the ability to sort out the differences of his players. Overall, this should be a tight and defensive match. Enjoy.
Yeah Hadi, I think especially this season, Rafa really seems to be lacking a Plan B at times. In the past, and this was maybe more evident in Cup games, he always had a Plan B-Z for any situation.
I don't know if it's down to the players he's brought in this season, but for example, the other day against Newcastle, I couldn't help but notice how weak our bench looked. He could only bring on youngster Guthrie, new boy Arbeloa, and Crouchy (who wasn't going to change our style of play clearly in the dying minutes). I really didn't expect them to have much impact on the game, and indeed they didn't.
Maybe we really miss Luis Garcia. He's the one player we always look to bring on when we needed someone to pull a rabbit out of the hat. And I think in the past, in the CL and FA Cup games, we also often brought on players like Pongolle or Hamann who could indeed turn things around for us. They've since left, but although these players (along with Garcia) could never seem to hold down a permanent starting place, I think we're missing them especially now that we don't seem to have anymore "supersubs".
ladylala: "At Anfield, we can beat anybody..."
not arsenal, though :D
I am quite disturbed by q-s attacks on The New paper and other bloggers. The best way to respond to such bloggers is simply to ignore him.
Two groups of disunited players playing against one another, will more troubles occur?
I do not think that the bust-up will have any bearing on the match itself. Both teams are top clubs, the stake in this competition is way too high for them to mess about with. Being professionals, I expect them to put aside their differences and do the best for the team, like how we saw Ronaldo and Rooney link up to dismantle Fulham in their first match together since the World Cup incident.
Anyway yeah that's the way, ignore q-s. He's just trying to be infamous.
-Raymond Ng ;p
Knowing that this is their last chance for silverware, Liverpool will go all out to frustrate Barca and deny them a victory at their own ground. This will thus give them the upper hand in the tie.
However, will Liverpool really achieve the results that they desire?
The Samuel Eto spat will definitely play a part. Because of his outburst, he probably won’t be given the chance to start. Furthermore, he is not match-fit for this game. Instead, he may be warming the bench, or be sent on as a sub late.
Barca also had a physically and mentally draining defeat to Valencia last weekend. As a result, they may also not be in the right frame of mind to win.
Liverpool’s players, on the other hand, are fresh, having not played any games during the weekend.
Benitez is a master mind-manipulator, compared to Rijkaard. Take him to get his tactics right and outwit the latter.
On paper, Barca has a better team. But a better team on paper does not always translate into a win.
Therefore, expect Liverpool to get a one-goal away advantage at the Nou Camp, and claim the victory at Anfield.
Re-posting because I made some changes to the last one:
Knowing that this is their last chance for silverware, Liverpool will go all out to frustrate Barca and deny them a victory at their own ground. This will thus give them the upper hand in the tie.
However, will Liverpool really achieve the results that they desire?
The Samuel Eto spat will definitely play a part. Because of his outburst, he probably won’t be given the chance to start. Furthermore, he is not match-fit for this game. Instead, he may be warming the bench, or be sent on as a sub late.
Barca also had a physically and mentally draining defeat to Valencia last weekend. As a result, they may also not be in the right frame of mind to win.
Liverpool’s players, on the other hand, are fresh, having not played any games during the weekend.
Benitez is a master mind-manipulator, compared to Rijkaard. Take him to get his tactics right and outwit the latter.
On paper, Barca has a better team. But a better team on paper does not always translate into a win.
Therefore, expect Liverpool to claim a 1-0 victory at the Nou Camp, and finish off Barca at Anfield.
The game between Barcelona with my favourite player Ronaldinho and my favourite team, Liverpool has several similarities.
Both team has good home record and not so good away record with Liverpool with a slight edge over weaker EPL teams. Both team have players that can turn team around like Gerrard and Ronaldinho. Liverpool strikers lack consistency whilst their defenders had solid games. Barcelona has consistent strikers but the defenders are suspect.
As for managers, Rafa Benetiz has an edge over Rijkaard for his understanding of Spanish teams and Champion League record. Barcelona who are last year Champions are struggling with their campaign this year.
I think it will be a close fight with a goal difference at most.
Sorry Liverpool fans but I do not think that Liverpool is strong enough to claim a victory away from Anfield. Their away form this season is such that we can't really expect them to go to Nou Camp in the Champions League to win. The best i think that i can hope for is a score-draw and grab that valuable away goal. Having said that, i believe their attack if they play a 4-5-1 will be blunted and will not be able to score. But their defence should hold firm and maintain a 0-0 scoreline to bring back to Anfield.
I still think that the spats in Liverpool and Barca are overpublicised by the media. Even if there's unhappiness, i trust the professionalism in the players will finish the job ahead of them. Andrew Cole and Sheringham once refused to speak to each other. Yet, they were still part of the Treble team in 99. Thats why i trust that the players will be professional enough to put their disagreements aside.
Cheers,
kel
>>Therefore, expect Liverpool to claim a 1-0 victory at the Nou Camp,
Expect. HahaHAHAHAHAHAHAA. No offense, but that is surely blind faith, not faith in the team.
>>Barcelona has consistent strikers but the defenders are suspect.
I know this has been mentioned quite a few times, but it simply is no longer true with the arrivals of Zambrotta and Thuram, both World Cup finalists. Comparing van Bronckhorst-Puyol-Marquez-Zambrotta to Finnan-Hyppia-Carragher-Riise, I can't say Liverpool's defensive qualities are any better.
>>I think it will be a close fight with a goal difference at most.
Yes, don't they all.
Hello everyone, I've just found this blog and I hope you don't mind if I add my tuppence-worth!
Firstly, QS is clearly barking mad and may need professional help.
Secondly, Liverpool are going to have to work very hard to get anything out of a trip to the Nou Camp. Even with the spat between Ronaldinho and Eto'o and taking into account Valencia's win at the weekend, you wouldn't want to be playing Barca at this stage.
Liverpool have been shocking away from home all season and I think Rafa Benitez will be looking to suffocate the Catalans with a packed midfield. It may not be a pretty spectacle, but if he can come back to Anfield with the score level, he'll be a very happy chappy.
Personally, I can see a 1-0 for Barca here. That is, of course, unless Craig Bellamy brings his golf club!
Wow.Now we've got Iain Macintosh joining in the fun too.Welcome!haha.
A Barca win is the favourite here.A draw is on the card.With a Liverpool win seemingly hard but not impossible.
Both teams have few similar points as pointed by Samuel and to me home advantage still,will makes the difference here.After watching Liverpool's matches against city rival,Everton and then Newcastle,I gotta say they seriously lack a real goalpoacher on their side,a problem not faced by the cup holders,Barce.They got one of the best goalscorer in the world in the mould of Eto and if he still decides to rest at home tonight,they still have the Samba king Ronni,red hot Saviola,efficient Iceman and a menacing Messi on their cards,all could make influence the game.
Seriously they could be too hot to handle for the Reds defence unless Carragher can repeat his superhuman form of yesteryear during the run-in of Champions League Cup winning season form tonight.Hope that Rafa will not stunned the Red fans tonight by tinkering too much and playing the team in some fanciful formations with some surprising players.
If Barcelona don't take anything off the Reds tonight,we could be seeing a new Cup holder this season.
Cheers
I'm surprised that the Liverpool players are having these kind of problems as they haven't had it for quite a time.
Craig is infamous for these kind of incidents. He was involved the time Newcastle lost to Liverpool this season. Pennant is also infamous. Fowler too, at his time at Liverpool long ago. But Dudek and Riise was the surprise package. They don't have many bad records in their books.
Although Liverpool are facing these problems now, I personally feel that they could cope against Rijkaard's side even when the Catalans are playing home. The fans of Barcelona and Liverpool are as intimidating. But I think Gerrard and Crouch will shine in this clash.
My predictions a draw or a narrow win for the Reds. 1-1 or 1-2.
If i was the manager of Liverpool, i would play a 3-4-3 formation. Midfield(diamond)
Reina in goal.
Aurelio as left-back, Hyypia as centre-back and Carra as right-back.
Riise into left-wing and Gerrard on the right. Momo as defensive midfielder, and Alonso as centre. Giving Riise and Gerrard the right to move a little to the centre or play crosses.
Up front, Crouch, Kuyt and Fowler. Crouch has been scoring in European competition and he's tall enough to outstand the Barcelona's defence. Kuyt's job is to outmuscle the defenders. And we should give poor 'God' a chance.
Hey! I'm not talking about the topic for this post.
It concerns Mediacorp, Channel 5. Why don't they show the live telecast of Champions League matches anymore?
They did a few seasons ago, but stopped. Why is it so!!!???
idiotdoc.. you cheeky little... ;)
You're that doc mentioned by sggooner on his blog aren't you? (You're famous!) Well, at Anfield we CAN beat anyone, but we don't necessarily beat everyone all the time! Haha
Haha, Haley Harrison, there's a simple answer for your question really. No money, no sponsors, that's why. My dad is just a small fry at MediaCorp, but well, that's the answer he gave me and it makes sense. For MediaCorp to get rights to air these matches (be it the Asean Cup etc) live, they often have to pay a lot for it.
Seems like walking off the pitch when a decision go against your team is the in-thing for football now.
From the AFC incident to the one in Lille ground this morning,all these professionals are not putting up a show they should be but instead running off like 11 pampered boys after failing to get the toys they want.Be it right or wrong,the team that walks off the pitch will be punished sooner rather than later maybe only in exceptional cases like in Spain and Italy where teams and individual player walked off when they were racially abused,in such situations I definately agree their action of abandoning the game.But walking off because of ref's decisions,thats a no-no.
The ref is the central figure in both incidents,one gave a controversial penalty and the one last night allowed Giggs to take the freekick fast enough before Lille's goalie finished building up his wall.Tough calls to take and a tough job for ref.
Poor decisions are part of the game,thats the nature of it.We have to accept that refs will never be perfect,the only thing they can do is to reduce the mistakes by introducing technology or whatsoever to assist them.Players walking off however will not help in this area.
Cheers
Hm.. regarding the Lille (nearly) walk-out thing, I must say I was pretty surprised when it happened. I never thought it would happen in a competition with such a high profile like the Champions League, so I was feeling both amused and shocked as I saw the events unfold this morning.
The cynical part of me actually wished (sorry Lille) that they did a proper walkout, so that I can see what kind of punishment they'll get. The commentator was already like, "No! They can't do that! They'll get kicked out of the competition!" that's why I was wondering if that's true.
Thailand after all, only got off with a warning from AFF for staging that 15 minutes walkout. Now, Lille NEARLY walked out (only some of them actually left the pitch and for only a few seconds to be fair), but already in Soccernet there's a poll on what kind of punishment they should receive. I certainly do not cordone such unprofessional behaviour, but I think UEFA would mete out harsher punishments to those involved in these incidents compared to AFF.
Off-pitch antics have an inpact on individual players, and on the team as a whole. While Barca's problems have been largely club/personality problems, Liverpool's boys have shown their own personal lack of discipline.
On paper, Barca are the better team, and my judgement is that Pool's problems may easily be big enough to cost them the game.
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I didn't realize Thailand is a trend-setter in world football. Not happy with ref, let's walk off! Do the Thailand!~ (Like the Macarena only less coordination.. :P)
And for all the antics, just get warned...mickey-mouse administration at its best although I fancy UEFA won't be as kind if it did prolonged further than it should..
Personally, I didn't see anything wrong with Gigg's goal. He obviously had permission to take it early and it was a legitimate goal.
Lille have only themselves to blame for their naivety. What happened to putting a man in front of the ball and ensuring the free-kick will be taken only when whistle is blown.? This tactic is not new in world football and kudos to Giggsy for being wily enough to gain an advantage. Lille's lack of experience at this level was shown last night by a more experienced campaigner.
Lille must have been embarrassed and rather than dig a hole for themselves, chose to walk out the pitch? :P
I think spin doctors are behind so called Barca and Pool fracas.They are to undermine opponents mentally or psychologically in battle of mind wars.
Press Reports said Eto won't be in the line up.It is meamt for Rafa to bite the bait.Don't be surprise to find Samuel's name in the starting line-up.
Drunken stupor fights is a smoke screen to entrap Barcelona into complacency.
It is Dutch Courage, which requires person to be drunk to bring out their best bravery to fight their strongest enemy, that enable either drunkards Dudek or Fowler or Pennant or Bellamy, display their bravery in enemy's
Nou Camp Fortress.
But don't be surprise that drunkards get red-carded for using Drunken Fists instead of Soccer Brains.
Liverpool's away form is liken to philantropist giving his millions to charities.I won't be surprise Barcelona is grateful to Liverpool' generosity in missing many scoring opportunitites and defence leaking unnecessary soft goals into the net.
Barcelona win 3-0 and Liverpool Will Never Walk Alone In Another Defeat.
From: Chester Low
Ryan Giggs remember lessons given by Henry and Gunners to Chelsea.
Free-kick taken quickly, with referee's approval, is one of the ways in winning matches.
You need Soccer Brains to win matches.Fortunately for Manchester United, Ryan Giggs does have one to win it for Red Devils.
From: Chester Low
Chelsea's away form is liken to hope coming from fountain of life.Having lost to scores like 1-2 or draw 2-2.
Terry and Petr are back but not as steady with confidence before.Norwich are unlucky not to score one or two against Chelsea.
Porto win 2-0 and Mourinho can start packing his bags under Abramovich's watchful eyes.
From: Chester Low
Iain Macintosh is my favourite TNP writer!! Great to hear him.
sorry folks I did not say Liverpool will win. If Barca defence is good, they seemed to be loosing away quite often. The guys are new and need time to jell together. Then again, when I saw Ronaldinho score a free kick under the wall of players, I knew Liverpool Reina better not goof up like he did at Newcastle. Chances he will! sigh
Welcome Iain to the Postman blog where Singaporean football fans and avid readers of The New Paper gather...to share their football views and not er, aim to seek attention by being the Bellamys of Blogging.
Nice one on the "golf club" prediction...
For those of you newbies here who may not know, Iain is The New Paper's Voice in our Friday editions.
Look out for his next column then, and enjoy his wit.
Cheers,
The Postman
Witty or cheater? Its always debatable. One thing is for sure, it definitely wasn't fair or gracious.
About Henry's quickly-taken free-kick, that was a really disgraceful decision by Graham Poll. He clearly showed his whistle - indicating that Henry should take the free-kick only after the whistle was blown. That was the reason why Carvalho stood back. Apparently that Arsenal fan had other ideas.
I did not watch the Lille-Man Utd match. Did the ref showed his whistle? If he did not, Kudos to Giggs for taking advantage of the situation.
>>sorry folks I did not say Liverpool will win. If Barca defence is good, they seemed to be loosing away quite often.
I think most of us (I was) were referring to Pricilla's write. And you will realise that most teams do have a poor away form. And Barca don't lose often. Be it away or home.
>>Porto win 2-0 and Mourinho can start packing his bags under Abramovich's watchful eyes.
We'll see about the scoreline. I think if people can believe that Liverpool can hold Barca to a draw away, I think Chelsea is good enough to hold Porto to a draw. About Mourinho packing his bags, dream on. Your wait for a continual of the one-horse race for Manchester United will take a while more.
I hope you're right, CFCfan. I don't want to see Mourinho going anywhere this summer. Lord knows, there's a lot of reasons to dislike Chelsea, but Jose isn't one of them. English football would be a much duller spectacle without him!
Chelsea should be fine tonight. In recent weeks they've started to regain that familiar air of invincibility. I think they'll win at a canter.
I think it will be a exciting match because Liverpool was the last time champion of the Champion League.I think it will be a Barcelona win casue Liverpool has not been doing very good.And As for Craig Bellamy and John Riise,there will not be any problem.It just almost like Rooney and Ronaldo incident though there was no fight but i think,there will not be any problem because a sportman must have good sportmanship and so the incident did not happened on the field but outside so they should not bring their conflict onto the field,they should concentrate and play well.
Ooh! Almost forgot. Thank you for the welcome Ernest and thanks for the kind words Samuel.
It looks like you've got a very firey forum here!
Hi Iain,
The mechanics here are simple. Every Friday, we pose the Question of the Week in The New Paper and here online.
Readers have the weekend to post their views by Monday. A spread of views get published on Tuesday, along with the Letter of the Week.
We also then pose, on Tuesday, the Midweek Question of the Week to keep our regulars here busy.
Do I sound like Chelsea's Peter Kenyon or McLaren's Ron Dennis already?
You can click on my sitemeter to see who's clicking on from where in the world.
Sometimes, we get the odd Italian writing here in Italian. (Probably Capello venting his frustrations secretly)
Cheers,
The Postman
After watching the replays on the disallowed free-kick, this is what I think.
The ref made things a lot worse by letting a lot of time pass before accepting the "quick" request and then running away without looking at the ball. If the ref is not even looking at the penalty area or the ball then what is he doing allowing play restart?
Some cunning deception there by the referee.
>> I don't want to see Mourinho going anywhere this summer.
Me too Ian. I think he is one of the best available. And definitely one of the most interesting and charismatic managers out there. I can't remember what articles you wrote, are you that sneaky Liverpool-fan columnist? =)
Capello, last night aside, has a lot of frustrations to vent, I fear!
A Liverpool fan?! How dare you, CFC! :) I'm a Southend United fan, I'm afraid. We're really not doing very well at all right now...
A fiery encounter and perhaps a comedy if any off-the-field problems surfaced.
Barcelona has the home crowd behind them & skills-wise they are a much stronger team.
Liverpool away form has been a disaster & to go to Barcelona hoping for a draw should not be the Reds' gameplan.
Hence, I think both would go for the offensive with one team playing to their own advantage while the other fighting to stay on-course for the second leg.
The media is going to have a field-day for both the matches with Mourinho facing his old club. So would Mr Postman with his questions.. heheheh
This kinda quick free-kicks are common. While I won't dispute Giggs' free-kicks, (I read from TNP) that the referee part in it was contentious.
With 3 out of the 4 matches ending in only a one goal advantage and the fourth match a draw, the 2nd leg of the knockout stages would be even more exciting..
Hey Iain,really enjoyed your columns man! Looking forward to more splendid journalism and having ur views here as well :D
I think the spread in TNP and the explanation by refereeing expert Suresh Nair sums up the free-kick situation aptly. For Lille to claim on TV that in France that's not how it's done, its ridiculous. They were simply outfoxed by a piece of quick thinking and they should move on.
It's always convenient to blame the referee but in this case,Lille simply lack the quality to finish United off, plain and simple.
They had chances to win the game and they didn't take them. So they shouldn't blame anybody other than themselves for letting the game slip away.
In hindsight, tonight's other games are crackers. Inter vs Valencia should be interesting and so is Roma vs Lyon.I do not think Chelsea will be easily gunned down by Porto. Porto will be no push-overs and it's going to be a tough game for the Blues definitely but Chelsea still has too much quality to not gain a result.
Southend fan eh.A new rare collection here since we last heard of a die-hard Stoke City fan here.We know who he is.hehe.Hey Iain,at least your team claimed the upset of the League Cup competition by knocking the Devils!
Well its pretty tight down there in the Championship and with Eastwood around,theres still chance to make the cut and stay up.
On Lille walkoff incident,UEFA should come down hard and prevent another repeat of this in the future.Til I read today TNP,I didn't know the Thais received a warning letter and thats end of story.How the football federations deal with such cases really puzzled me sometimes.Are they discouraging or vice-versa for such acts?Just watched Jack Neo's new movie Just Follow Law.If thats what ASEAN football committee is doing then theres something wrong with law.
When it seemed that all was going wrong for Chelsea in the first 10 minutes, Cech produced a superb point-blank save to pave the way for a fight back. Shevchenko proved his mettle with an European class equalizer.
Sometimes, you just got to admire Mourinho for his tactics. Playing Diarra out of position when he has 2 other full-backs; substituting Robben for the injured Terry instead of stabilizing the midfield; then for taking Robben off at half-time. Diarra was a gem in containing Quesraema effectively; Robben was instrumental in the equalizer. However, I think he took Robben off too early to play a defensive game. Perhaps just in case Robben gets injured or to provide Ballack the space to play in..
On a night when Chelsea played so well as a team, Ballack was simply lacklustre and certainly emphasized that his paycheck being the highest in the team is not just at all. When they need an extra man up in front in the penalty box, Ballack was just hovering around the midfield.
Somehow, Quesraema established himself as Porto’s Ronaldo. Nope, he didn’t roll all over the field. However, giving up play (or throwing up his hands in desperation) whenever he’s stopped even when Diarra or Makelele didn’t actually foul him is just not sportsmanship. Ya, I think it’s the facial expression and the amazing talent that he possessed which could have helped his club much more if he had played more with the team in mind (that reminds me of the other number 7)
The commentator was saying how good the refereeing was for this game. Yes, he made good calls but he seemed to be soft on Porto’s playacting and diving. Perhaps I’m being harsh here but surely that can’t be the highest refereeing standards for a champions league top-16 match..
No offense to Liverpool but somehow the horrendous holler by Barca goalkeeper and the lack of man -marking of Kuyt that proved the difference between the sides doesn't seem to tell the whole story. Tell me if I’m wrong..
I'm always happy to be proven wrong!
I've to confess I thought it might all be over when Barca scored their first. Thought we'd start panicking and self-destructing like against Arsenal once Deco scored. Credit to the boys, this time they didn't.
And strangely (or not)... the Liverpool scorers were Riise and Bellamy. For Riise's goal, Bellamy provided the assist too...
riise* i meant..
A shocking result at Nou Camp, its incredible that Liverpool has puuled it off. Good for you, Liverpool. Although I have to say that Barca was atrociously poor, even in their own backyard! You can boast this result for sure now! Valdes could play so well against Chelsea but not against Liverpool. Howlers.. the goals conceded. It looks an unlikely winner from the round of 16 here.. Barca must play better to beat Liverpool at Anfield.
Chelsea drew after Sheva's great strike and performance. Drogba was off- a little but the ref was booking Chelsea players for nothing while Porto players get away with silly tackles for nothing. 1-1 its game on at the Bridge. Good night!
Ahh vette.
If Barca were poor defensively, then we were better defensively. In other words, we're better! At least today, we were... :)
Barca definitely had the chances to score more, but.. so did we. For instance, Kuyt SHOULD have scored from that header when he was just yards away from goal.
And while I do admire most aspects of Barca's game, I realise they're not so perfect after all. I know that being away in a 100,000 capacity stadium can sometimes mean decisions will go against you, and I can accept that. But what I cannot accept is how some of the Barca players surrounded the ref after Agger was judged to have committed a foul (I think it was on Saviola). The challenge was hardly anything, but the stupid ref incredulously got influenced by the players and showed Agger the yellow card. Are players even allowed to do that? Trying to influence the ref to get an opposition player booked that is.
We Chelsea fans knew Barca weren't as perfect as pictured by journalists.. =) Their diving, play-acting antics and surrounding refs are part of their game too.
FINALLY.. someone feels it!
Apologies Ian.. Sorry I should know better than to associate you with those Liverpool fans =)
Its an irony that Riise and Bellamy are the ones who decide this tie isn't it.Bellamy with his ala Tiger Woods swing celebration move would have sent his dispute with Riise right into the hole 18 in a single shot.
In the first half Barce was controlling and dictating the game while Liverpool was just happy sitting back and absorb the pressure.Credits to the Reds that despite going a goal down,they did not panick and stick to their game plan,timely deliver the sucker punch right before halftime.That really knock Barcelona off their feet,Liverpool have to thanks Valdes for his fumble.
In the 2nd half the game was much open and the Reds were gaining confidence as the game goes on while the cup holders were starting to get disoriented particularly in the defence.Miscommunication in the Barce defence resulted in that winning goal for Liverpool.Things could have been different if Messi had passed to Giuly whos open rather than shooting himself earlier on,just if.
Kudos to Liverpool for a very disciplined display and some clinical finishing which I said they are lacking before the match.Job half done,lets see whether they can finish off it back in Fortress Anfield.
How can Iain be a Liverpool fan when he recently associated Dudek with a dog... Sorry Iain, but I must confessed many Liverpool fans on the forums actually got pretty riled up by that article. I've nothing against you, but I must say, some of your articles are brilliant reads while some others are just... controversial.
I just noticed those who woke up early this morning happen to be the Chelsea and Liverpool fans, except that the odd Man U one in Eric. :P
Great to see Liverpool pulled it off against a great team. This reminds me Liverpool play well against good teams like Chelsea...They play the continental style and are doing well in Champions League.
So my anyalsis of Barca and Liverpool was spot on although I did not expect 2 goals from Liverpool!
I loved Ian Macintosh witty article on Mourinho as I too felt that EPL was more interesting because of him. When I saw Mourinho sliding down the pitch after a Chelsea goal, I say that this is a manager with such fiery passion.
How can I miss a match between the 2 great european teams?What more so that I don't have school today!haha.
Actually I was expecting a Barce win or a dour draw but it was proven otherwise.At least I think the match was worth staying up late for and more importantly the game showed the crisis for both teams reported doesn't seem to exist at all.Eto cheering for his team's goal and clapping in joy when Ron flicked a ball over a Reds defender.While for Liverpool,the team came together and grabbed a win.What crisis?
cfcfan said...
>>I think most of us (I was) were referring to Pricilla's write. And you realise that most teams do have a poor away form. And Barca don't lose often. Be it away or home.
Yes, so Liverpool did the seemingly impossible!!! They have already done the hard part. They stand to have a good chance to win this tie - they only need a draw now at Anfield, which I think they are more than capable of getting.
They were clearly the underdogs, so it was amazing to see that they really did pull it off. Maybe Liverpool might even win the Champions League again? Because I don't see Barca being able to come back in 2 weeks' time at Anfield.
However, it did seem like everything was over for Liverpool when Barca snatched the lead, and tried to capitalise on this advantage by attempting to score more goals. But in the end, Liverpool's perseverance and dogged defending paid off in the end. Though the Barca goalkeeper did make some glaring mistakes, which seemed to swing the tie in Liverpool's direction.
Liverpool has ndeed shown, once again, that they are able to compete with
the big boys of Europe.
And Ian Macintosh, I like your articles too. =)
Yesterday's game was a clear indication that if Rafa sets out his team positively, playing with 2 strikers and rely on his trusted defensive unit as well as keep Gerrard in the middle where he is at his influential best, Liverpool has a good of a chance to win the competition. As I posted previously, it was not impossible for the Reds to get a result and so it proved yesterday.
The tie is still not over yet but Liverpool at home is a daunting prospect for any team. Barcelona will be forced to attack in a fortnight so expect exciting moments ahead! :)
Chelsea fans should be worried about the loss of Terry with the season drawing to a close, it is not a good time to lose your talismanic captain. Of course, Chelsea has the upper hand with yesterday's draw and I do expect them to go through in 2 weeks time.
Iain, I love your articles and I hope to hear more of you in the future.
I'm quite unhappy of Tohari Paijan's post-match, the one in the papers today. About Liverpool beating Barcelona. It's because the way he ended his third answer.
"I thought Liverpool should have won by a bigger margin"
This line. I meant no one really thought that Liverpool would win, and scored two goals.
A scoreline of 1-2 against the defending champions. Isn't that good enough, futhermore, the Catalans are playing home.
No offence.
Without wanting to rob myself of future material for a column, isn't football wonderful?
Five days of rumours and tittle-tattle on Bellamy's attempt to play Riise out of the rough and then they both score against the European Champions.
Barcelona, it has to be said, were awful last night. Like LadyLaLa (and that's a magnificent name, by the way), I thought they were going to follow that first goal with three or four more! Shows how little I know!
Chelsea did what they needed to do and it was a lovely finish from Shevchenko. Losing John Terry though, that's going to sting. I bet Peter Kenyon's feeling very silly about his refusal to buy another defender in January....
Yay! Liverpool won by 1-2.
Although it was quite a narrow win as I predicted, Liverpool certainly have a great advantge of having two away goals in the bag.
The another advantage is the 2nd Leg is played at Anfield. The REDS fortress. But it is still very hard to predict which team is going on to the quarter-finals.
That's because three time African player of the year, Eto'o will be back in action by then. Not only that, the reds fortress is difficult to breach, but Arsenal has brought the REDS down twice at Anfield this season.
It's anybody's game! 6th March, Ooo.. I can't wait!
Liverpool have three ex-Barça players in their squad. Reina, Zenden and the injured Luis GarcÃa are the players that previously wore the Barça shirt prior to ending up at Anfield. Apart from the three ex-Barça players, Liverpool also have seven players with previous experience of the Spanish League: Xabi Alonso (Eibar and R. Sociedad), Mark González (Albacete and Real Sociedad), Sissoko (Valencia), Roque (Lleida), Fabio Aurelio (Valencia) and two signings in the winter transfer market Arbeloa (Real Madrid and Deportivo) and Francisco Durán (Málaga). If you include Rafael Benitez, Liverpool is a team that feels at home in Spain!
I understand why Barcelona has only lost to Liverpool before. They will loose at Anfield unless Reina make another stupid mistake.
I don't want to whine, but its starting to get ridiculous with the no. of times and players getting injured this season. I think even Newcastle was never hit this bad. In one week we gained two players, and within that very week we lost 3 players. There was not a single point in time where all the Chelsea players are available.
Compounded by the small squad and some genius's idea that no players should be coming in January, I have to say if we win any silverware at all this season, or remain in second place, would mark a pretty good season for me considering the circumstances.
Okay rant over.
I did not catch the match but was shocked this morning when i saw the scoreline. Well, i expected Liverpool to sit back and defend and as such result in a 0-0 draw. So kudos to them for starting both Bellamy and Kuyt even though Bellamy played on the left. I guess Benitez once against showed his tactical pedigree in Europe as much as Rijkaard who showed his tactical naviety by going for broke at 1-1. Of course, if the gamble worked he will be acclaimed a genius. But at 1-1, going on the attack would be risky as another goal would count twice against them.
I think Liverpool have a foot in the Champs League. They are almost unbeatable at Anfield (yes,except against may be Arsenal). Together with Benitez's acumen in Europe, we can expect them to dump Barca out of Europe.
In addition, Eto's lack of match fitness even if he appeases Rijkaard will not help the cause.
Cheers,
kel
Thanks Iain (on the compliment about my name, but I shall resist the temptation to bore everyone with details about the inspiration behind it), still... you won't win any points with me until your next complimentary piece about Liverpool! Okok, just kidding about that, honestly, keep the great stuff coming in. I must say even though some Baros fans got pretty mad with you over that recent article, I did find that one (a little) funny... haha
The Barca tie is far from over really. Even though it's definitely a great result for Liverpool, no one is under the delusion that we're already through. Today morning, even though we didn't see Barca playing their best as a team, there were still those glimpses of brilliance from individual players. I've to admit at no point in the game did I ever felt comfortable until the final whistle blew. Barca doesn't just have Ronaldinho or Eto'o. The likes of Xavi, Messi, Deco, Saviola, Zambrotta, etc are all perhaps technically more skilful than any of our players.
But like what I said to my Man U friend after he said we'll sure "kena whacked" by Barca a few weeks ago... the ball is round... If Singapore can win Thailand, Liverpool can win Barca too! Haha.
cfcfan...
It's ok to whine. But... I think no one would feel inclined to pity Chelsea really. Sorry! We all go through spells like that, and too bad, it's now Chelsea's turn I guess. I would have thought it was unimaginable for Chelsea to ever have a "small" squad, but I guess we all now recognise there's definitely a lack in depth in terms of the defence.
Sorry to say though, I'm rooting for the Arse in the Carling Cup final!
Its okay ladylala. I don't expect or need pity, especially from those who are in a worse position than us ;) Hehe.. We'll deal with it, I'm sure, Essien is indispensable in the team, his defensive qualities have improved massively, and I'm quite sure we'll give Arsenal a real fight to win the Carling Cup. With 50 million dollar pounds man in between the sticks and bar Carvalho stays well, I think we will do okay.
hey guys. been a long time. but i've been around and this thread can't be more interesting: what from the 'Bellamys of Blogging' to the cute Ladylala (the name, of course) to Moan-rinho's fanclub.
don't get my wrong. i agree moaning-ho lights up the EPL fr his colourful antics. one wonders how he could pull Wenger in when asked if he has any pressure. smart to use the CL for some mind games ahead of the C.Cup Finals.
and thanks to Ladylala for backing the Gunners...
Oh Iain, love your hilarious columns. but your article on the one with henry & his 'breasts' hit a raw nerve.
sure he has been going down a bit too easily these days but doesn't the FIFA player of the year do that too, along with a whole host of other players? (think winker)
i was in the stade for the CL Finals and we could all see how pissed henry was after the game with all those dives by the barca players. and then he was overlooked for the player of the year award even though he has been to two big finals of the year and after he's been banging ao many amazing goals for fun for so many years.
perhaps henry is still pissed... the issue is how the bodies should eradicate it and not point to one chap who tried to play the game for years.
LadyLaLa, Baros has fans?! Good God, they must have more patience than me! No hard feelings towards Dudek though, he's a lovely guy and he deserves a dignified exit from Anfield.
SGGooner, thanks for the kind words. I thought long and hard about that Henry article. I'm a big fan of his, I don't think there have been many better players in the Prem in the last 20 years. But when you stand in front of the media and say, "I don't dive, I'm not a woman," and then go onto start diving... :)
I agree with you though, the autorities need to address this now because it's getting silly.
I covered this one in an earlier column. Hold on, I'll see if I can find it....
*forages in the vault*
Ah, yes. I stand by every word of this.
"Here's how to remove diving once and for all. Let's hope Sepp Blatter is reading, because I've solved it for him for free. Don't thank me - I'm just here to help!
Every Premiership game is watched by the wonderfully named Dubious Goals Panel. Made up of a variety of former players and managers, the panel watches videos of games to ensure that the right player is always credited for scoring.
How about getting that Dubious Goal Panel to double up as the Dubious Dive Panel? We'll give them as much tea and as many biscuits as it takes. They can watch every game, study the fouls and issue a non-negotiable two-match ban for every dive that they are unanimously agreed on.
It's a plan with pitfalls, I'll admit. For one thing, we're unlikely to see Cristiano Ronaldo in action again for a very long time and that will be a shame.
You can't expect referees to spot every incident, they're only human. This way a clear message goes out to potential divers. Go on then, try and cheat. You might win a penalty, you might get an opponent sent off, you might even win the game. But by the time the next match comes around you'll be sitting in the stands.
Job done.
Join me next week as we discuss and solve the continuing crisis in the Middle East."
Haha, yes, incredibly (or not), Baros does has his fans. And what's more, he has non-female fans who find him sexy...! Ok, to be fair, personally I've always felt Baros was a good player, just not quite good enough for Liverpool that's all. Same goes for Dudek.
Well, regarding that Henry article, I actually found it pretty funny (so I guess how amused we are always depends on which side we're on!). But to a certain extent, practically every footballer is a hypocrite in this aspect so I don't think I'll single Henry out though. Even my own Gerrard, complains about how foreigners dive, and does so himself at times. And I think after the Barca v Liverpool game yesterday, I finally noticed Henry was right too... Barca aren't quite so perfect like what I've been led to think all this while.
But Henry looks lovely with breasts... ;)
lala! :p
whatttt!!
(What's wrong with liking breasts!)
(next comment will be the 100th comment!)
Haha, you all are hilarious.
About the Barcelona and Liverpool match, the odds for Liverpool was high man! $5.40! And Barcelona's odds were only $1.55.
I think the odds will be lower the next time Barcelona and Liverpool meet again.
Haley Harrison..
Aren't you a little too young to be noticing the betting odds?! After all, I don't you know... and even though I'm of legal age!
(My dad won about a hundred bucks on that match.. He never lets me know ahead who he's betting on though, or else I'd always use my "superior" football knowledge to deter him.)
I know I'm too young for that, but that just proves the tipsters wrong!
All four of them were rooting on Barcelona to win, except one saying it would end a goal a piece.
Liverpool may have beaten Barcelona 2-1, with lady luck's help
I'm impressed with Jose Reina's performances.Keep on droping clangers in either front of Larsson or Ronaddo and Roodney from Manchester United.Liverpool can assure themselves from You Will Never Walk Alone With Another Defeat To Manchester United at Anfield on Mar 3.
Liverpool players can continue in their drunken stupor and trash out watering holes, they are currently inside, to achieve Dutch Courage to win remaining EPL matches.
Continue messing up goal scroing opportunities like 0-0 draw with Everton or 1-2 loss to Newcastle.
Jose Reina carry on giving giving incompetent performance like how Newcastle's score first goal against Liverpool.
Liverpool can perform badly, at home like Barcelona, to lose 0-2.
From: Chester low
Never underestimate a capability of a team.
Look how Manchester United got beaten by Southend!
Yeah man. I wonder, will Man U ever walk alone with that shameless defeat to Southend United? Sorry, but I think you are alone.
Face it. For every high, there is a low (no pun intended). Liverpool are in a 'low' right now. The defeat at Blackburn was shameful, as was the loss to Newcastle. Make no mistake, I'm a Kopite and thus I shall remain, but reality is reality.
Ahhh..I remember now the reason for my abdication to Liverpool from Man U in early '94. Simple. The arrogance which the fans walk about the place bragging about Man U's exploits. Bah.
I wonder, did you get to keep the Champions League trophy title you won? I think not, but you can take a view in our museum.
I wonder, have you ever heard of LFC's reputation as the greatest club in Britain? Guess not.
I wonder, has any British club, especially Man U, won at the Nou?
Only Paisley's Liverpool.
I apologise if I appear irreverent to anyone here, and I certainly don't wanna be another q-s, but my blood boils when I hear, or see, in this case, of anyone demeaning LFC, just because we're in a slump at the moment.
If this is what it takes for LFC to win against a club like Barca, hey, why not? Swing away, Bellamy. Maybe at the same time you can improve your swing.
Will bellamy stay on?it really depends on his form from now till the end of the season.I dont think that benitez would offload bellamy somewhere in the off season as he is a world class player.he has got pace,good finishing skills and can dribble.what is lacking is his discipline,if he uses his driver to whack someone or gets into a brawl.I dont think that rafa would sell him because without him liverpool lack the pace upfront and crouch is not the best finisher.rafa has come here to win trophies not offload players who lack discipline so discipline does not really matter,you just got to help the club to get all 3 points.Ernest,if u had pele and he likes to get into brawls but at the same time,he scores and wins for you.would you offload him?
This fora is getting very hot......Now that Splint mentioned it, I do remember how much I hated the arrogance of Man U. These days Man U seemed to have lost its arrogance although I think the arrogance will be back when they win the EPL. Thierry Henry has lost my respect for the insult on the Wigan goalkeeper, Chris Kirkland. And Arsene Wenger seemed to be saying a lot of stupid things like insulting Chelsea recently and Blackburn Rovers on the FA cup 17 Feb 0-0 game. Arsenal seems to be criticise a lot of team when they should concentrate on their own game. They will loose the Carling cup final...
Come on Lala, its in the spirit of the Lunar New year..let the boy gamble if he wants to eh... :P
With regards to Iain's comment on diving, previously this blog has touched on the issue and it's a problem that many feel will not go away any time soon.
While I like the idea of having a panel reviewing cases of simulation,I really do feel there must be a holistic education against cheating by the clubs and associations alike. Banning them maybe the only solution to solve this wretched problem so I do hope it can be implemented sooner or later. However, players will milk every bit of advantage and gamesmanship possible in order to win the game so it's gonna be tough.
What irks me more apart from the divers are players waving imaginary yellow cards to get a fellow professional booked. It's rude and uncalled for and has no place in football. Drives me nuts when players do that!
About the Bellamy question, I would say Rafa and Liverpool would be letting him go at the end of the season.
With the 'new' money, and rumours about Rafa's summer warchest, it will be very easy to find a replacement for Bellamy.
Trezeguet, Villa, Bojinov, Iaquinta, Amauri and Bent are some of the names mentioned.
There has been rumours that Barcelona is bidding for Xabi Alonso for a whopping 25m. It's said that it could be a straight swop for three-time African player of the year, Samuel Eto'o or Spanish teammate Xavi.
One or two of the big names will definitely become a scouser soon.
For Bellamy, enough is enough for his notorious behaviour.
Hmm.. Quite a change from where the hate is directed too. SAF must be kidding himself to think that the whole world wants United to win the premiership.
But keep it fiery and not abusive guys.
I don't know how some of you will take to this news, but Jose has declared that he WILL stay at Chelsea till 2010.
I told you so, Iain. Hehe.
Chester, don't be too disappointed. United has a chance of winning the premiership this season!
How old are you Haley,
At this point of time you should not be talking about odds... Let the gambling and odd tinkering to the uncles..
For you... as a young lad... should put into mind the soccer is not about betting... it is about enjoying a beautiful game...
Ask me...im a lifelong basketball fan... staying in Singapore has assimilated me in watching soccer.. And sometimes i dont enjoy watching basketball anymore...
betting is a sideshow..please don't let the odds drive you in liking football....
my 2 cents...
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