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[Mama Smurf]

Well, I didn't like to say...again...

As impressive as it is that Reo-Coker can use his strength and skill to go past or around people in midfield 3/4s of the time, he puts us in trouble when he loses it and could have just played a simple pass. Let's just keep the ball a bit until there's a good opportunity.

 

[hadareud]

It sounds like someone has never heard of paddy kenny.

ok ok. I take it back, but he's no longer in the Premiership anyway

 

[Mama Smurf]

It's a shame only one of these two can get to the Olympics, as Serbia somehow qualified already, the quality of the whole thing would be better with England and Italy.

 

[hadareud]

there should be more teams at the olympics, definitely more than just 4 Europeans anyway.

Maybe then people would actually give a fuck about olympic football - I don't think I've ever watched a single game of football at the olympics.

 

[Falch]

Rossi for Paladino.

 

[Mama Smurf]

That's good. I wanted to see Rossi and wanted Paladino off even more.

 

[jamesinclair]

Lets say that we make the new thread on 1st August, do you think there is any chance we can reach 20,000 posts? I actually think it could come very close if there are some good transfers this summer.

Why cant this thread simply follow the calander year?

 

[Mama Smurf]

Noble's working really hard, and done well, but he looks tired. I'd send on Huddlestone.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Come on Pearce, send on some subs. Milner looks really tired too, nothing's coming down the right.

 

[Mama Smurf]

I'm getting pissed off. Pearce is a useless manager who can't see his team needs changing, and the guys on the pitch aren't keeping the ball for even 3 minutes because they keep just booting it up to the strikers who are all alone.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Someone else post ffs.

I'm actually angry, wtf is Pearce doing? I wish I was there so I cud smash his gimp face into his dugout.

 

[Cornballer]

Someone else post ffs.

FINE! Since my interweb access just magically turned back on.

So would you prefer:
1) England go out in flames and Pearce never gets another job.
2) England win the tournament thus guaranteeing Pearce the U21 job for another 4 years.

 

[Falch]

haha 2-2. This should be a good last 20 minutes. Whoever loses is f*cked.

 

[psycho_snake]

It looked like itly would equalise. ever since we scored the second goal we've not been playing as well

 

[Mama Smurf]

I'm just a bit annoyed at people only talking when there's a goal, that's the way my sister follows football.

I'm actually glad Italy scored, I hope they win, because Pearce has made me SO angry.

 

[Karakand]

Do you go to any games?

I'd been to a couple when I lived in South Orange County. Now that I live on the Westside of Los Angeles it hasn't even crossed my mind even though it's a hop, skip and a jump to the Toolbox on the 405. Ironic, don't you think? :lol

 

[Mama Smurf]

Reo-Coker's very lazy when he's on the ball, and also at picking up players in midfield. Not lazy in the amount he runs, but half his running is catching players he's lost.

 

[hadareud]

my router just crashed.

Will post again when there's a goal.

 

[Cornballer]

Will post again when there's a goal.

Would that make you Mama's sister......errr...."Auntie Smurf"?

 

[Mama Smurf]

I'm not sure you guys have ever seen me genuinally angry at something in football before, but this has done it. Pearce's incompetence astounds me, how is Milner still on the pitch? Why are we so deep? Why have we played long ball after long ball when all out danger has come down the wings? Why has he taken off Lita and Nugent for Whittingham and Vaughn?

I can't believe this twat wanted to, and thought he should be, the actual England manager.

 

[hadareud]

definitely a big disappointment. This game was all but in the bag.

 

[Falch]

Young's suspended for the next match.

 

[Cornballer]

I'd been to a couple when I lived in South Orange County. Now that I live on the Westside of Los Angeles it hasn't even crossed my mind even though it's a hop, skip and a jump to the Toolbox on the 405. Ironic, don't you think? :lol

Weird. I think if I lived in LA I'd go to a few games. I guess the major drawbacks are the expensive parking and beer, as well as the fact that LA is awful this season.

How did Hoyte play today?

 

[hadareud]

How did Hoyte play today?

He played very well in the first half.

I missed most of the second half because of my bloody router, so I have no idea.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Undeserved, frankly.

We'll probably go through as Italy have to beat the Czech Republic and hope England don't beat Serbia, but I hope Pearce never gets a top job in football again.

 

[psycho_snake]

That was crap by england. The game should have been settled when it was 2-0 to england, but we allowed italy to get a goal, get back into the game and gradually dominate. Credit to them, they've done very well, but england have been so careless to throw away a 2 goal lead. The first goal was th defence's fault, but everything after that can be blamed on pearce. he did everything wrong. His tactical decisions were poor and at half time he must have come up with some half arsed plan to make sure we win the game.

 

[psycho_snake]

Undeserved, frankly.

Are you talking about england?

 

[Mama Smurf]

Nothing wrong with how Hoyte played today. I wasn't like "wow, look at that right back!", but unless they're up against someone like Ronaldo and do well, it's hard for full backs to stand out.

I think Walcott, Davies, Ferdinand, Bentley and Agbonlahor would have swung that game in our favour, but that would just be in spite of Pearce's tactics. We didn't actually need them to win it, they just probably would have managed to prevent one goal and perhaps score another through their sheer quality no matter how Pearce told us to play.

Are you talking about england?

Yep.

 

[Karakand]

Weird. I think if I lived in LA I'd go to a few games. I guess the major drawbacks are the expensive parking and beer, as well as the fact that LA is awful this season.

UCLA also has a bad habit of sucking up my time with silly things like reading and writing papers.

 

[Cornballer]

UCLA also has a bad habit of sucking up my time with silly things like reading and writing papers.

Touché. Maybe you should try and explain the "Beckham Effect" to some of your professors - see if they'll give you some time off.

 

[psycho_snake]

Yeah we didnt deserve it. We were playing so well for the first 30 minutes, but once we scored the second goal, the team began to relax. At 2-0 the game looked like it was over, yet in the last 10 minutes it was italy that looked more likely to score the winner.

The most impressive england players were young and noble. Both of them put in very good performances.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Bent has turned down West Ham. They and Charlton agreed a price, he met them and said no.

I'm quite surprised, I thought he'd join. Rumoured great wages, Ashton as strike partner, a good team with the new players who eventually clicked last year and more good players on the way no doubt with Egg's money.

If he's holding out for Liverpool I understand, but if he's holding out for Spurs...I dunno. Maybe he'll get past Keane, but I'm not convinced, he formed a really good partnership with Berbatov.

Would be great for Spurs though.

 

[Ghost]

He found out we're keeping Tevez and he doesnt want to sit on the bench all season...so he's going to spurs.




*pray*



Seriously though this summer is turning into a disaster, losing Yossi seems inevitable, plus Tevez removes virtually all creativity from our squad, we cant even manage to sign players from relegated clubs who have no other offers on the table!

 

[Mama Smurf]

That was probably a great game for the neutral though. I reckon there must have been over 50 shots, as at one point the stats came up as 28 shots from Italy (christ...) and 14 from England, and I'm confident there were another 8 at least after that.

Can Barry go back to left back for Villa, or is that a bit of a waste? I'm just trying to work out how else he, Young, Agbonlahor and a new striker to partner Carew can all fit in.

 

[psycho_snake]

For livgerpool it would be ideal to get a top class striker. Bent is good, but not really world class, however i think he could turn out to be a very good buy. He's proven that he can score 20 goals a season. he didnt do it this season, but he's had injury problems and charlton were doing badly as a team, so if he's playing alongside better players, then he could turn out to be a great striker and score 20+ goals a season.

 

[Mama Smurf]

I don't think Liverpool can afford to pay the sort of money West Ham offered. I can't believe I'm saying that, remember last month when you were in the CL finals and the future looked brighter than ever, Liverpool fans?

 

[psycho_snake]

I thought that the yossi rumours were rubbish. Didnt he just sign a new contract?

I dont get why Liverpool want benayoun. He's a good player, but liverpool have plenty of good players. They really need someone who adds something special.

 

[hadareud]

if he wants to go to spurs there is finally a reason why I never really liked him

 

[Mama Smurf]

I thought that the yossi rumours were rubbish. Didnt he just sign a new contract?

He agreed a contract and then the pen wouldn't work and his plane was taking off for his holiday so he had to rush away.

That's how I imagine it anyway, I don't understand how else someone can agree a contract, but then be allowed to go on holiday before signing it. Doesn't sound like an agreement to me.

 

[psycho_snake]

According to reports in spain, Milan are preparing a 70 million pound bid for ronaldinho, but you can never really take these rumours seriously. Every other day there is a story about ronaldinho or eto'o leaving and a say later the player denies the rumour. However, Berlusconi has said that Milan will buy a big name striker, so you never know, maybe ronaldinho or eto'o will leave to go to milan.

 

[Mama Smurf]

I'm not sure how Ronaldinho fits in at Milan, won't they have to change their formatrion to accomodate him?

 

[psycho_snake]

He agreed a contract and then the pen wouldn't work and his plane was taking off for his holiday so he had to rush away.

That's how I imagine it anyway, I don't understand how else someone can agree a contract, but then be allowed to go on holiday before signing it. Doesn't sound like an agreement to me.

They probably trusted Benayoun to stick to his word and sign the contract after his holiday, but that doesnt make much sense. If a contract has been agreed, then surely it would have been in West Hams best interest to get him to sign it as soon as possible. Now they've put tghemselves in a position where they could lose him.

 

[hadareud]

70 million.

that's almost as much money as I once almost won in the euromillions

 

[psycho_snake]

I'm not sure how Ronaldinho fits in at Milan, won't they have to change their formatrion to accomodate him?

They usually play a 4-4-2 with ambrosini, pirlo, gattuso and seedorf in the middle and kaka supporting a striker or they use a 4-3-1-2 where gattuso, prilo and seedorf play in midfield, kaka behind the strikers and two players upfront, but this worked better when Milan had sheva. If they got ronaldinho they could play a 4-3-2-1 that would look a little like this.

---------------------------------Dida---------------------------------------

Oddo------------Nesta------------Maldini--------Jankulovski

---------------Pirlo----------Gattuso---------Seedorf-------------

----------------Ronaldinho----------------Kaka-----------------

------------------------------Ronaldo-------------------------------

 

[Mama Smurf]

Yeah I think they'd have to switch like that, otherwise Kaka and Ronaldinho just clash.

 

[Karakand]

Sorry if I missed a post about this. Thread moves fast!

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.../1009/1009242_barton_signs_for_newcastle.html

NEWCASTLE have completed the signing of Manchester City midfielder Joey Barton for a fee of £5.8million.

The 24-year-old asked for permission to speak to Newcastle last week after both the Magpies and West Ham submitted bids of £5.5million or more.

Newcastle followed up their initial bid with an improved £5.8million offer today, which has been accepted by the Blues.

City had originally agreed to a £5.5m fee, but Barton was holding out for a £300,000 'loyalty bonus' which Newcastle effectively paid by upping their bid to £5.8m

 

[h0pper]

They usually play a 4-4-2 with ambrosini, pirlo, gattuso and seedorf in the middle and kaka supporting a striker or they use a 4-3-1-2 where gattuso, prilo and seedorf play in midfield, kaka behind the strikers and two players upfront, but this worked better when Milan had sheva. If they got ronaldinho they could play a 4-3-2-1 that would look a little like this.

---------------------------------Dida---------------------------------------

Oddo------------Nesta------------Maldini--------Jankulovski

---------------Pirlo----------Gattuso---------Seedorf-------------

----------------Ronaldinho----------------Kaka-----------------

------------------------------Ronaldo-------------------------------

Wow, those front 3 look pretty intimidating. Does AC have the money to make a legitimate bid for Ronaldinho?

 

[Falch]

Sorry if I missed a post about this. Thread moves fast!

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.../1009/1009242_barton_signs_for_newcastle.html

Yeah I think it's been posted, but that's ok. Nice of Newcastle to pay Barton his loyalty bonus.

Dunno how good he is though, I've only seen him play a couple of times.

In other news:

Beasley puts move to Rangers on back burner for the time being

MARK WILSON June 15 2007


DaMarcus Beasley is keen to concentrate on helping America win the Gold Cup before finalising his expected move to Rangers.

The PSV Eindhoven winger has been in fine form for his national side and scored twice against El Salvador earlier this week. The US next face Panama in the quarter-finals this weekend.

"My focus is on this tournament and nothing else right now," said Beasley, who had a spell on loan at Manchester City last season. "I don't want to comment on my future right now. I think this tournament is really important for me and the USA.
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"I wanted to put on a good show and, for us, it's our most important competition of the year. If we win, it gets us into the Confederations Cup, so a lot is riding on this."

Rangers are close to concluding a deal worth around £700,000 with PSV and would be able to include Beasley in their pre-season programme.

The 25-year-old has been excused from the Copa America, which runs from June 26 to July 15, along with several other European-based players.

"Talks are ongoing at this point and obviously Rangers would be a great opportunity for DaMarcus if everything comes together," said Lyle Yorks, Beasley's agent.

"The Gold Cup ends on the 24th and DaMarcus is playing very well at the moment. He needs to complete that tournament but he won't play in the Copa America that follows in Venezuela. That means he will be able to play a full part in pre-season training at PSV, Rangers or another club."

This is like a never ending story :/

 

[Falch]

Wow, the entire team look pretty intimidating. Does AC have the money to make a legitimate bid for Ronaldinho?

Fixed.

 

[Cornballer]

Do you have a link for that, Falch? I'm surprised he won't be at the Copa and all indications were that he was going to go.

I've also heard rumors that Walter Smith is here in the US right now, so Beasley and his agent might try to meet up with him during the Gold Cup.