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[Roders5]

ac milan - liverpool: 2 - 0

liverpool is probably going to play all defensive and bring the entertainment value down to zero.

Chelsea is that way --------->
All our finals are great!

 

[bud]

WHY WON'T RAFA EVER TAKE RISKS

roders - chelsea destroyed sheva

 

[Lakitu]

WHY WON'T RAFA EVER TAKE RISKS

roders - chelsea destroyed sheva

We played defensive against AC Milan in the last final and look what happened. We went 3-0 down. Milan would be able to break us down easily, I don't think Rafa wants a repeat of that.

 

[hadareud]

true true. still gave Liverpool a sound thrashing overall though, 3 : 0, 3 : 1, 6 : 3, 1 : 4

 

[speedpop]

ac milan - liverpool: 2 - 0

liverpool is probably going to play all defensive and bring the entertainment value down to zero.

Please don't jinx us.

In other news for Aussie fans.. Sydney FC drew with Urawa Reds in the AFC Champions League. We go home I guess Still a draw at Urawa's home is good enough in my books.

 

[bud]

if liverpool does play full on the offence liverpool, it's never in a normal manner. like, take the last game against chelsea. the first 30mins were ****ing great but if you really looked at it liverpool never got the chech's goal while playing football, it was more like airball. in that regard liverpool can't play like arsenal for instance.

rafa needs to grow some balls instead of playing in a 4-5-1 type of system where kuyt basically comes up form the midfield.

lakitu, liverpool can't play football a lot of people hate chelsea but if you look at their game against manchester in the fa cup final you'd see that they actually passed the ball around before slowly coming closer to chech's goal.

 

[hadareud]

To change the subject for a minute...how did Ben Foster AND Scott Carson get above Robert Green in the England pecking order? Foster actually cost Watford a few points at the end of the Season and Carson did the same for Charlton, meanwhile Green has been pretty much flawless and kept has kept...6 (?) clean sheets in the last 10 games.

good question, while both Carson and Foster have good potential, neither of them was consistent enough over the last few months to deserve a call up imo.

lakitu, liverpool can't play football a lot of people hate chelsea but if you look at their game against manchester in the fa cup final you'd see that they actually passed the ball around before slowly coming closer to chech's goal.

I don't agree with this at all, apart from the goal being a nice play of course.

 

[Mama Smurf]

I prefer Foster to Green, but then again my England 3 would be:

Foster
Green
James

So they'd both be there. I saw West Ham linked to Anti Niemi recently, who's a great keeper but I don't get it.

 

[bud]

good question, while both Carson and Foster have good potential, neither of them was consistent enough over the last few months to deserve a call up imo.



I don't agree with this at all, apart from the goal being a nice play of course.

i'm not talking about the goal. i just didn't see that many long balls in the game.

 

[Lakitu]

if liverpool does play full on the offence liverpool, it's never in a normal manner. like, take the last game against chelsea. the first 30mins were ****ing great but if you really looked at it liverpool never got the chech's goal while playing football, it was more like airball. in that regard liverpool can't play like arsenal for instance.

rafa needs to grow some balls instead of playing in a 4-5-1 type of system where kuyt basically comes up form the midfield.

lakitu, liverpool can't play football a lot of people hate chelsea but if you look at their game against manchester in the fa cup final you'd see that they actually passed the ball around before slowly coming closer to chech's goal.

We've played good attacking football throughout the season.

Look at:

PSV (Away), Barcelona (Home : first half), Man Utd (Home), Arsenal (Home), Chelsea (Home : Premier League) and plenty of other places too.

We may not be Arsenal or Manchester United, but we still know how to attack and pass the ball.

 

[Mama Smurf]

I've seen some fantastic Liverpool games this season, and some awful ones. Let's hope it's the former today. That doesn't necessarily mean all out attack, I think both games against Barca were great and was that was due to Liverpool playing on the counter the whole time.

 

[Lakitu]

I've seen some fantastic Liverpool games this season, and some awful ones. Let's hope it's the former today. That doesn't necessarily mean all out attack, I think both games against Barca were great and was that was due to Liverpool playing on the counter the whole time.

I agree with this.

We have played some very good football this year but some very bad ones too, Man City, Aston Villa, Man Utd (a), Arsenal (a) and a couple of later lethargic games of the season where we didn't have anything to play for.

 

[Lakitu]

When he came into Milan's press conference yesterday, Kaka passed by the European Cup and ran his fingers along its surface.

Uh oh! :lol

 

[Mama Smurf]

I've read the article about Wembley and a possible CL final, the rumour report makes it sound worst than it is.

What it actually says is that the Wembley developers didn't let UEFA have a large say in the way the stadium was built. They listened to UEFA's suggestions, but in the end developed the stadium in the way they felt was best.

It's not that Wembley isn't good enough to host a CL final, it's just that it'll take a lot more time for UEFA to prepare it. They had a BIG say in Valencia's new stadium and that could apparently be ready to host a final in 5 days in an emergency, Wembley would just take longer (no different to Athens tonight).

They even say:

"I am sure we will play a final there because of tradition. We did not expect them to follow our guidelines, but we hoped. It is sad.”

But of course, that isn't nearly as interesting as making it sound like the new Wembley isn't good enough.

 

[Outdoor Miner]

AC Milan 2 - Liverpool 1

Should be a classic.

 

[hadareud]

If Liverpool don't win, I will smoke one

 

[psycho_snake]

Finding excuses to smoke are we?

 

[Wes]

Apparently the last flight from Liverpool to Athens has developed a technical fault and the flight wont be taking off.

Oh snap.

 

[hadareud]

not really, I doubt I will smoke any time soon. At least I haven't yet.

 

[psycho_snake]

We played defensive against AC Milan in the last final and look what happened. We went 3-0 down. Milan would be able to break us down easily, I don't think Rafa wants a repeat of that.

It'll be a different game this time round. In 2005 the liverpool team was quite weak. Now its a lot more different. rafa's had time to build the team, so now he's got a team thats incredibly strong in midfield and he has options on the bench to change the game.

 

[ElyrionX]

I'll be watching tonight to see Liverpool lose and end up empty-handed for the season.

Muahahahahaha.

 

[psycho_snake]

I doubt anyone cares about this apart from mama, but it looks like andy todd is going to be sold.

 

[Wes]

Gareth Bale is due to have a medical at Tottenham in the next 24 hours

Nice buy for Spurs.

 

[psycho_snake]

I'll be watching tonight to see Liverpool lose and end up empty-handed for the season.

Muahahahahaha.

Id be happy to see that, but the way I really wanted this season to end was with a Man Utd vs Liverpool final and Gary neville scoring a last minute winner.

 

[hadareud]

 

[Cornballer]

I'm thinking 2-0 to Milan. Or 0-0.

You'll all be happy to hear that I'm watching on tape delay, though. That bodes well...

 

[Cornballer]

Will he or won't he?

Saints reject Bale reports

Southampton have denied reports suggesting Tottenham have agreed a deal for prodigious left-back Gareth Bale.

Spurs are long-term admirers of the 17-year-old Welshman, who is highly sought after by much of the Premiership.

Manchester United, in particular, have been mooted as a possible destination for Bale, but Spurs were claimed to have made the first, decisive move.

Bale is still short of 50 appearances for Saints but has consistently caught the eye, not least with his prowess from a dead ball, and at 16 years and 315 days became the youngest player to represent Wales against Trinidad & Tobago last May.

Reports this week suggested Saints have become resigned to Bale's exit after missing out on promotion to the Premiership via the play-offs.

Chill out, Spuds!

 

[DCharlie]

good question, while both Carson and Foster have good potential, neither of them was consistent enough over the last few months to deserve a call up imo.

strangely enough, we got a load of Charlton games, and what with Carson being from my small home town i watched with some interest.

I think a lot of the problems came from the defensive line protecting him, but i thought on the whole he was excellent between the sticks this year for a struggling Charlton side.

Liverpool 2-1 tonight

 

[Mama Smurf]

I doubt anyone cares about this apart from mama, but it looks like andy todd is going to be sold.

Seems fair, he's a good enough defender to deserve a starting place elsewhere, maybe at one of the promoted clubs but certainly high Championship. At Blackburn he's at best 4th choice, probably 5th.

Newcastle have had a bid put in to buy the club for £133m. It's from Mike Ashley (fortune almost £2bn), and he's already bought a 41.6% stake.

It's not like Newcastle ever suffered from a lack of funds anyway, but now with Fat Sam and this potential massive investment, they really could make an assault on the top 4.

 

[Lakitu]

I'm bricking it guys........... hadareud give me one of your cigarettes please.

 

[Yasser]

rafa needs to grow some balls instead of playing in a 4-5-1 type of system where kuyt basically comes up form the midfield.

yeah, i think it'd be better to go with 2 up front and be more attacking rather than sit back and defend or dominate the midfield; nesta + maldini = hell for a lone striker and imo milan midfield (gattuso, pirlo, kaka and seedorf drops back) > liverpool midfield

 

[Cornballer]

Saw these stats this morning over on the Guardian....

"Given the perception that modern football is getting less and less entertaining," begins Ian Samuels, "I wondered what the average rate of goals-per-knockout-game has been in each season of the Champions League, our flagship tournament, and whether that figure has declined in recent years."

The statistics (listed below) confirm the widespread perception that modern football peaked around Euro 2000, before the Millennium Bug known as 4-5-1 really started to take effect. In 1999-2000, with Hector Cuper's intrepid Valencia side trouncing allcomers and the likes of Manchester United, Barcelona and, to a lesser extent, the champions Real Madrid ignoring the case for a defence, there were 44 goals in 13 goals at the almost utopian average of 3.38.

These days, however, football is on a dystopian trip. In quantifiable terms, the business end of last season's Champions League was the worst since 1996, even though the two finalists were the perceived purists of Arsenal and Barcelona. And, despite Manchester United's 7-1 mauling of Roma and a couple of other minor classics, this season hasn't been much better.

The table below lists the season, the average goals per game, and the number of knockout games (in 1992-93 for example, the teams went straight from two groups into the final, so there was only one knockout game)

1992-93: 1.00 (1)
1993-94: 3.33 (3)
1994-95: 1.92 (13)
1995-96: 1.87 (13)
1996-97: 2.46 (13)
1997-98: 2.15 (13)
1998-99: 2.77 (13)
1999-00: 3.38 (13)
2000-01: 2.31 (13)
2001-02: 2.85 (13)
2002-03: 3.00 (13)
2003-04: 2.45 (29)
2004-05: 2.90 (29)
2005-06: 1.97 (29)
2006-07: 2.29 (28)

 

[Wes]

It's not like Newcastle ever suffered from a lack of funds anyway, but now with Fat Sam and this potential massive investment, they really could make an assault on the top 4.

Don't Newcastle have a huge debt?

 

[hadareud]

I'm bricking it guys........... hadareud give me one of your cigarettes please.

I don't have any

strangely enough, we got a load of Charlton games, and what with Carson being from my small home town i watched with some interest.

I think a lot of the problems came from the defensive line protecting him, but i thought on the whole he was excellent between the sticks this year for a struggling Charlton side.

Liverpool 2-1 tonight

he was very good I thought, but I remember some mistakes too. No worse than Robinson though.

Don't Newcastle have a huge debt?

I don't think they do

 

[Mama Smurf]

United attacked Milan, allowing to play the football they wanted, and look how that turned out. I think Benitez should play just like he did against Barcelona, hassling the crap out of Milan players when they have the ball, then counter attacking when it's won back.

Of course, if he plays Zenden ahead of Kewell and Bellamy doesn't play, there's not as much pace to counter attack.

 

[Cornballer]

Pretty sweet promo image up on Soccernet right now:

 

[Cornballer]

It's not like Newcastle ever suffered from a lack of funds anyway, but now with Fat Sam and this potential massive investment, they really could make an assault on the top 4.

It'll be interesting to see what Fat Sam will do with some money. I don't think he's ever managed for a team that's given him a fair amount of cash to play with.

 

[Yasser]

United attacked Milan, allowing to play the football they wanted, and look how that turned out.

iirc in the 1st half only rooney was upfront and united went down 2-1. in the 2nd half they had smith, giggs and ronaldo pushing up and they came back 3-2. that said, united's defence wasn't having the best day either

 

[Mama Smurf]

Actually, United didn't use a single sub that game, stuck with the starting line up of Rooney as the only main striker.

And United's attack is much better than Liverpool's so they managed to get the 3 goals they needed in that game. If Liverpool attack and give Milan the chances to score a couple, I'm not sure they could score enough themselves. Despite what happened 2 years ago.

 

[hadareud]

talking about Liverpools attack I just wanted to say that Kuyt may have a big night tonight.

He's impressed me a lot since he came to England. When I saw him play at the world cup against Argentina I really wasn't convinced that he would be good enough for a top club in this league, but he's proven me wrong.

Great buy, I wish Arsenal would have bought him.

 

[Mama Smurf]

He needs to score more, but he certainly works hard.

 

[Yasser]

Actually, United didn't use a single sub that game, stuck with the starting line up of Rooney as the only main striker.

And United's attack is much better than Liverpool's so they managed to get the 3 goals they needed in that game. If Liverpool attack and give Milan the chances to score a couple, I'm not sure they could score enough themselves. Despite what happened 2 years ago.

i thought they changed the formation a bit? my memory am fail >< guess we'll have to wait little over 3 hours to see what happens ^^

 

[Hooker]

**** yeah!!


Bring on No.4

Quoted again for succes ^^.

 

[hadareud]

he definitely needs to improve his finishing, but I'd think that it comes with a bit of experience. Next year should better already.

When he signed for Liverpool I said to my girlfriend "I bet you he won't score more than 5 goals in the league"

 

[Cornballer]

talking about Liverpools attack I just wanted to say that Kuyt may have a big night tonight.

He's impressed me a lot since he came to England. When I saw him play at the world cup against Argentina I really wasn't convinced that he would be good enough for a top club in this league, but he's proven me wrong.

Great buy, I wish Arsenal would have bought him.

We actually already have a striker that runs a lot and works hard but doesn't score as much as he should.

Spoiler

I still <3 you Ade - just put a few more in the back of the net please....

 

[Hooker]

Like I said in the previous thread when you asked me about Kuyt. He adapts to the level of play around him, for better or worse. Every passing year you'll enjoy more and more of him.



And his work-ethic is admirable!!

 

[hadareud]

We actually already have a striker that runs a lot and works hard but doesn't score as much as he should.

Spoiler

I still <3 you Ade - just put a few more in the back of the net please....

that's true. But he's not nearly as frightening to look at as Kuyt.

Well, I'm not sure actually.

And his work-ethic is admirable!!

definitely. I knew he was a hard working player before, but I was quite surprised by his technical abilities.

 

[psycho_snake]

He needs to score more, but he certainly works hard.

As my liverpool friend once said to me, he hasnt been the goal machine ruud has, but he's ran twice the distance ruud has during all his time in england.

I didnt really care when he said that. Id rather have a striker that can score regulalry than one that runs around a lot.

 

[Cornballer]

See ya, Jose. I hope this is the one time the Spanish press ain't lying and they get this deal hammered out.

Reyes could join Atletico
By Lucas Brown - Created on 23 May 2007

Arsene Wenger has held direct talks with Atletico Madrid about offloading Jose Antonio Reyes, according to media reports.

EFE claims the Arsenal boss has been to the Spanish capital to negotiate a permanent switch for the Spain international, only weeks after Atletico declared they were not interested in his services.

Reyes joined Real Madrid on a loan deal at the beginning of the season, with Julio Baptista moving the other way.

However, neither player's loan spell proved successful, with Arsenal agreeing that Baptista will return to Spain and Real Madrid stating they are not interested in signing Reyes on a permanent deal.

Reyes has also made it clear he would not welcome a return to English football in the summer, as he struggled with the climate and family problems while in London.

As a result, Arsenal now want to get a deal arranged as quickly as possible so Wenger can begin searching for a replacement.

And it is believed Atletico Madrid could now be ready to bring in the former Sevilla star, which could pave the way for Martin Petrov to leave the club.

Tottenham are said to be interested in the Bulgarian, who has spent the majority of the current campaign on the sidelines with a knee ligament injury.

 

[Lakitu]

Well it is his first season. He's scored the same amount Drogba did in his first season, and look at him now.