KevieG

not looking through this thread for the link, apologies if its already up. beautiful stuff Footypresser Embed_UIP

Chelsea win. Its a no brainer, they are nowhere near as solid as before and will drop further points before they come to Anfield. We need to set some distance between ourselves and United. Pity Ronaldo didn't shatter his two legs in that car crash.

Decent player, but I'm talking about someone world class. No shame in that though and the best we have had on the left in quite a few years.

Ribery and someone of that quality for the left would see the team go to another level entirely. Teams like Hull and Stoke wouldn't be able to cope, as they can just about do at the moment. Easier said than done though and I don't think its entirely in Rafa's nature to allow it.

I thought this thread was about being overated? Given is an outstanding keeper and probably underated. His positioning and shot stopping are outstanding, plus he is very good on crosses. If we are talking overated, then I propose Ryan Giggs, very good player but never as good as was made out. Cantona was also seriously overated.

That is a very fair point, but and its a big BUT, he can't control the ball. First time I saw Cisse this was what struck me, and the same thing happened with Babel. I'm not sure that something that you can ever learn. The only role he is ever likely to succeed in is up front and with his workrate and stamina issues, I don't think Rafa will ever trust him with that. His time here is coming to an end.

come on now Dave, I even put in a smiley.

Pretty obvious its Rafa's fault, he dropped Keane(confidence player, scores in streaks etc) against Newcastle when he would have bagged a goal or two, who would have been buzzing again against Preston and hit that ball first time to the back of the net. Rafas rotation is the reason Alonso has stitches, anyone saying otherwise doesn't understand football. What we need to do is find out who instilled this philosophy into Rafa :whatever:

I'd like to know where this myth about Babel having this great talent came from. From the moment i saw this lad it was clear he had a shit touch, and he still does, he also fumbles when he dribbles and is as likely to run into the defender and lose the ball as he is go past him. He has great physical attributes like strength and pace and a hard shot(so had Cisse), but he doesn't have the mentality OR ability to make use of them. He can take 4 or 5 touches to get a ball under control at times. If we can get a fee in the summer anywhere near what we paid for him he should be shipped out

Goto 7:50. Dunphy loses the plot over Liddle. Classic TV

On paper anyway, we've got our tougher games at home, which should suit us. The order of the games is crucial, in May there is the distinct possibility that none of the teams we face will have anything to play for, while at the same time United play Arsenal and City. Win at Old Trafford and I think we will win it

Anyone saying Fabregas wouldn't get a game with us knows nothing about football. Seriously. He is probably the best central midfielder in the game. Clichy would also be an automatic, and if being objective I'd probably also have Sagna/Gallas in at right back. In our preferred system Walcott and Van Persie would probably take up the wides positions. The team below would piss the league, piss it. ----------Reina Gallas, Carra, Skyrtle, Clichy -------Chief, Fabregas Walcott, Gerrard, Van Persie ----------Torres

:whistle:

Delighted. Not a surprise though, he always walks when the going gets tough

He doesn't constantly go winding them up. Thats the English press who love the feeding frenzy they can stir up with this. They are still at it and using a simpleton like Mongo Butcher as a tool in their game 20 years on. If it was the germans they'd be on about the war. I'm surprised so many here are buying into the Maradona anti-christ bit. The man was the greatest of all time

hasn't he slagged off johnny foreigners for diving in his book?

Imagine if Gerrard went down in the box in Istanbul, lets just say, very easily, and got us back in the game. And so on.... England had no chance in that world cup. Belgium would have torn em a new arsehole if they'd miraculously gotten past Argentina and Germany would have put 4 or 5 past em in the final. Any team playing the likes of Peter Reid, Butcher and Steve Hodge should count themselves lucky to be in the last 8. These are the facts. Its time for Mongo Butcher to build a bridge and get over it

Maradona doesn't go on and on about this, it only seems like that cos every time he sets foot in England its brought up, usually by the tabloids and ,more often than not by Butcher. This is the 3rd time he's done it.

Fuck this lads, nearly every player cheats, including Liverpool ones. You'd swear Maradona was the only one. Just look a you tube for a compilation of Gerrard best ones. And for those saying at least he doesn't brag about it, it certainly doesn't stop him doing it. He will dive again and is happy to do it. And for those saying Shilton should have taken Maradona out, I can only assume they fully condone the goal.

"Cheating" is considered a virtue where he comes from. Its called viveza, meaning liviness or beign a bit of a trickster. Its seen as a positive character trait in many ways and he probably gets a lot of satisfaction out of putting one over on the English in such a way. Anyway, Butcher was the mongo of his day. Zero sympathy for him.

Nice article here on it. Maradona is my all time favourite player. Nothing I have ever seen comes even close. As the teams lined up for the national anthems before the 1979 friendly between Scotland and Argentina, the eyes of the Hampden fans were on familiar faces from the TV coverage of the South Americans’ World Cup-winning squad of the previous year. Few of the supporters recognised or even knew the name of the small, chunky teenager who nearly three decades on will manage Argentina for the first time against Scotland on Wednesday. By the end of the game the 61,918 spectators had been dazzled by the sunshine of that June afternoon and almost blinded by the brilliance of 18-year-old Diego Armando Maradona, who scored the first of his 34 international goals on the famous old Glasgow ground. It was one of the high-lights of a career that dripped with honours - he shared Fifa’s Player of the Century award with Pele - and was also equally shrouded in controversy, Maradona earning a 15-month suspension after failing a doping test for cocaine abuse in 1991 and then being sent home from the 1994 World Cup for taking the banned drug ephedrine. Maradona will be back at Hampden on Wednesday, this time making his debut as the surprise coach of his national side, and the successors of the Tartan Army are likely to give him as great an ovation as he received 29 years ago. Sadly, because of a TV strike, no film exists of the 1979 game but in the personal memory bank of the participants it could have been tapped into their computers yesterday. Paul Hegarty was one of the perspiring Scottish players who tried to pin down the little Argentinian that sun-splashed afternoon. The one-time Dundee United central defender, the only home Scot in the side beaten the previous week by England at Wembley, recalls: “He was small but so powerful. You just couldn’t get him off the ball, in fact it was hard to get any of them to part with the ball. I remember at one stage they held on to it for almost a minute, and that’s a long time in football. “We had hardly heard of him before the game but we certainly knew who he was by the final whistle. “They had a good number of players from the World Cup-winning side but he was the one who really stood out, although he was only 18. It was an incredible performance because Hampden on an international day can be an intimidating ground for young players, but he had sheer quality. Really their whole team were streets ahead of us.” Maradona’s virtuoso display came a year too late. One of the criticisms of the 1978 World Cup, when Argentina lifted the trophy on their home turf, was a perceived lack of individual stars in the tournament, yet the teenager, first capped by his country at only 16, was denied the chance to play in his own backyard. He was in the squad of 40 provisionally named for the competition but failed to make the final choice of 22. However, he more than made up for it, appearing in four successive World Cups between 1982 and 1994. Hampden was the fourth game of the Argentinians’ European tour. Leopoldo Luque scored in each half to put the South Americans 2-0 up and then, on 70 minutes, Maradona struck. Scotland substitute Frank Gray gave the ball away to Jose Daniel Valencia, whose pass cut through the dark blue defence and the teenager, like a football matador, toyed with George Wood, the last man he had to beat, before coolly slotting the ball home. There was to be a double consolation for Arthur Graham. The Leeds United winger scored Scotland’s goal in their 3-1 defeat six minutes from time and also collected Maradona’s jersey at the final whistle. The shirt was sold at an auction of sports memorabilia in London five years ago for £9,000. One man who wasn’t surprised that Maradona shone was Jock Stein. The Scotland manager went on a spying trip to Dublin the week before the Hampden encounter to watch Argentina in their 0-0 draw with the Republic of Ireland. The wily Stein, always cautious in his praise of young players, couldn’t contain his excitement after watching Maradona come off the bench as a substitute, saying: “When he came on against the Irish the whole game changed, everything clicked into place, everything became exciting. “He is superb attacking defences and has amazing skill. There are lots of talented youngsters you look at and say to yourself, they will be great players in the future. It’s different with Maradona, he is already a great player. It’s only natural that people will compare him to Pele, but that’s unfair. Pele played in three World Cups to reach his peak; give this lad another five years. He’s only 5ft 5in but is 12ft tall on talent. That size factor, plus his strength, skill and speed, makes him a nightmare for big defenders.” Stein, always attempting to boost attendances, told the Scottish fans: “This may be your only chance to see him in real life. You shouldn’t miss a treat.” The performance and result against Stein’s side even brought a smile to Argentina’s stern-faced manager, Cesar Luis Menotti. Puffing as always on his cigarette, he thanked the Scottish supporters for the ovation they gave his team, saying: “These fans were magnificent. It was the best reception we have received outside our own country.” As the debate raged as to whether Maradona was as good as Pele, Scotland striker Denis Law had the last word. The goal king of Manchester United, by then retired as a Scotland international, said simply: “He is not the new Pele, he is the first Maradona.” George Burley, who played against Maradona in 1979, will be the first to test him as a coach. Burley said: “It sticks in my memory as one of the best experiences of my career. I can still picture Maradona running quicker with the ball at his feet than he did without it. His ability to wriggle past people was fantastic.” The Scotland manager had a joke at the expense of his assistant, former England international Terry Butcher, who played against Maradona when he scored the Hand of God goal in the World Cup quarter-final in 1986 as the South Americans won 2-1, thanks to a Diego double. “When Terry gets to the bench on Wednesday, it’s the nearest he will have got to Maradona,” said Burley. Speed is the abiding memory of Alan Hansen, too. The defender, making his second appearance for Scotland, said: “Maradona was so quick over five or six yards and had a left foot that, even at 18, already deserved to be described as the wand of a genius.”

Hearing that he is staying now. Matter of time I'd say.

word on the street says that he is gone. supposedly walked

Alonso, who has been absolutely superb this season, and Mascherano, are fine. Our problems still lie on the flanks. If they were 20% better, we'd be very hard to stop.

A very poor mans Finnan.