another footie thread....

[lily1]

on the topic of footie, george best is now on life support...

[vansmack]

Originally posted by vansmack:
  United will have their hands full with Riqueleme though, I thought he was the best player on the pitch.
 
 

Nevermind.
 
 Updated: Nov. 20, 2005
 Playmaker Riquelme 'out of Old Trafford clash'
 
 MADRID, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Villarreal's Argentine playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme will miss the Champions League Group D clash against Manchester United on Tuesday, after collecting a thigh strain in training.
 
 Riquelme joins strikers Diego Forlan and Antonio Guayre, and central defender Quique Alvarez, on the list of injured players not included for the trip to Old Trafford.
 
 Villarreal top Group D with six points from four games and can qualify for the last 16 if they win. United are third with five points.

[Frank Gallagher]

Okay;....where do I start? Juve have made a £7m, 18 month contract offer to Keane. What makes this even more interesting for the footie fans is that Viera is already there!        
 
 United need to do some serious shopping in the january sales, but thanks to the yanks burying them in debt, they simply don't have the money to get the players they need......a quality replacement for Keane, understudies for Scholes and Neville, and a season long replacement for Heinze, who's their biggest lost this season if you ask me. O'Shea us useless, Ferdinand has his head up his £100k per week arse, Wes Brown has more injuries than the emergency room at Salford General on a Saturday night, and Silvestre has the concentrtion level of a two year old.
 
 Sadly, I think United have two more seasons of mediocracy in front of them....as for the forwards, they need to put Smith just behind Rooney and RVN and play the exciting attacking football that made United famous, then get a holding midfielder instead of trying to make Smith something he isn't....it's just a waste of a great talent. Scholes can control the midfield with his experience, even if he isn't the player he used to be, so there's still time to get a natural holding player at a young age and show him the ropes before Scholsey moves on.
 
 ....and Barca, congrats on a great win over Madrid, that really showed who's the best team in Spain, and Europe in my opinion, but say what you will about Beckham, United have never been the same since they dumped him. He is sorely missed by RVN. Ronaldo can do all the fancy footwork, and probably has a career with Riverdance after his footballing days are over, but it means nothing if you do all that clever stuff then cross it to the opposite corner flag or perform a dive that would make Greg Luganus proud as soon as you get close to the box.
 
 BTW Update on the biggest match in Europe this weekend.....CORK CITY, PRIDE OF IRELAND!!!! Cork 2 -0 Derry Both set of fans were singing together, "Oh, there ain't no dubs in Europe" which I found very funny.

[brennser]

Originally posted by lily1:
  on the topic of footie, george best is now on life support...

nice article on bestie
 
 http://football.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,9753,1646611,00.html

[Barcelona]

Mankie, let's see how it goes today with Villarreal. The spaniards have some important players injured, but still are dangerous. This might be the most important game of the season for United.
 
 As for Beckham and United, not sure what to say, I am not sure it can be argued that Beckham leaving for Madrid was the reason for Manchester's fall, but you know more than I do about England's football. I am still unimpressed with his football in Spain.

[Frank Gallagher]

I think United will squeak into the knock out stage....or maybe that's me being over-optimistic about my beloved team. With Keane gone, I just feel the players will want to prove that they can be a great team without him, that and the fact there is now a lot of pressure off the team could actually be a positive now Keane is out of the picture. Having said that, there's only two football players in my lifetime that I would call 'hero's' (hero's in the sporting sense only of course) and that's George Best and Roy Keane, so I don't want you to think I'm stabbing him in the back, it's just that he has such high standards for himself, that it's difficult, if not impossible for any other player to meet those standards.
 
 As for Beckham, I may be way off here because I don't get to watch much Spanish football....maybe Real are playing Becks out of his natural position, his talents are as a goal-maker, not a goal-scorer, he basically spoon-fed RVN and made him look twice the player he is. That is were United desperately miss him. Have you noticed how he plays much better for England than he seems to do for Madrid? Maybe it's just the Spanish game he doesn't fit in with??? Had Ronhaldino gone to United instead of Barca I don't think he would've been as good playing the English game...In England they just don't get the space he seems to have to do his magic.
 
 *footnote for the doodles* Add Rod Langway to my list of sporting hero's too, but we were just discussing footie here!  

[Barcelona]

It's going to be tough against Benfica in the last game. I really hope Villarreal makes it first in the group, small team in Spain's second division a few years ago.
 
 By the way, I read today that Capello might like to coach Manchester United? That would be a good move. Interesting to see Capello vs. Mourinho.

[Frank Gallagher]

Well......for the first 15 minutes or so I was thinking this is going to be a 3-0/4-0 walloping, then it faded into something to put you to sleep. I hope the Glazers saw what they have reduced United to.
 
 On the bright side, O'Shea completed two passes in the same game, so that's progress.

[Frank Gallagher]

...and the Glazer rot begins to set in.....
 
 
 Vodafone ends Man Utd shirt deal  
 
 Vodafone signed a four-year deal with Man Utd in late 2003
 
 Mobile phone giant Vodafone, which has sponsored Manchester United since 2000, is ending a four-year shirt deal with the Premier League club.
 
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4463534.stm
 
 Okay, smart arses, which doodle company will have their names on the shirts next season?  :roll:  
 
 I'll start,
 
 "STARBUCKS"
 Because the team need a shot of espresso in the worst way!

[vansmack]

Originally posted by Roadbike Mankie:
   I hope the Glazers saw what they have reduced United to.
 

Every player on the pitch yesterday was there long before the Glazers took over the team.  This is what Fergie wanted with his moves of the last 2-3 years, very similar to what he did in bringing up Giggs, Becks, the Neville boys and Nicky Butt in the mid 90's.  And you know that.
 
 The Glazers also had nothing to do with Keane leaving.  As heard on MUTV, they were upset that they weren't notified/consulted before the team and Keane split ways.
 
 This young team simply isn't prepared for the rigors of Champions League play.  There was no leadership in the midfield, and there won't be until January at the earliest.

[vansmack]

Originally posted by Roadbike Mankie:
 
 Okay, smart arses, which doodle company will have their names on the shirts next season?   :roll:  
 

Probably Nike, but I really hope it's Google.

[Barcelona]

Originally posted by Roadbike Mankie:
 
 "STARBUCKS"
 Because the team need a shot of THE WORST espresso in the worst way!

<img src="http://media.hamncheez.com/pictures/womens_soccer.jpg" alt=" - " />

[brennser]

...and the Glazer rot begins to set in.....

Mankie - while I'm not that throlled about the Glazers owning Man U I'm with Smackie on this one - I don't think their on field decline has anything to do with 6 months of Glazer family ownership - this steady decline has been going on for 3 years now....I also think Keanes departure was long overdue - he's a spent force physically - I also think its time for a change in manager - Martin O'Neill would be my choice  (assuming he's interested in coaching what with his wifes illness and all that)

[Frank Gallagher]

Originally posted by Ellis D. Fleischbach:
   <img src="http://media.hamncheez.com/pictures/womens_soccer.jpg" alt=" - " />

I think I've just found my new team....except we'll have to get rid of the scouse slapper in the back row.
 
 Smackie, It starts from the top and trickles down. The morale has been down the tubes since that twat took over. Not saying he's 100% to blame, but he's a large part of the problem.