The Official Football Thread 2005/2006 (8 Viewers)

[bJ_Bhoy 87]

Mourinho nearly made me sick the other night. At least Celtic still have more European Cups than them Btw, Celtic lost last night to Hearts by three goals, which almost guarantees Hearts the last UCL spot.

Leeds also have an Aussie, Joel Griffiths, who hasnt made a huge impression there yet.

Rooney is effectively ruled out of the WC now, even if he gets fit enough to make an appearance, it will severly affect his game, similar to how Becks was plagued in 2002. The one thing I l loved about his injury was that it put some dispair into the blue nosed fans for a while. Yes England will miss him but I have to agree with you Benny- it has solved one of Svens problems. Whether it is for better or worse we will not know until June.

 

[johnny_87]

I wouldn't be surprised if Sven really justifies the 5m pounds a year (is there a rolling eyes smiley?) by replacing Rooney with Defoe or Crouch.

I wouldn't mind seeing a 4-1-4-1 played in the lead-up games to see if it works. The only sticking point is the lack of height up front. If they play a fluid passing game, then it could work.

-------------------Robinson
Neville-------Rio-------Terry-------A Cole
------------------Carrick
Becks----Gerrard----Lampard----J Cole
-------------------Owen

Thoughts?

 

[copious]

Looks decent, bit suss on Joe Cole starting but the left has always been a liability for England over the last few years.

I think Rooney is going to be out, unless they plan on super subbing him eventually. There isnt much depth after Owen as the others (defoe, crouch, bent, vassel?) havnt really impressed. I think they need Marlon Harewood for some strength, or Dean Ashton!

 

[johnny_87]

I think it might be best Rooney stays home and recovers in time for next season. The last thing we need is for him to get injured and miss the start of the season. We need to get a good start to the season to prevent Chelski winning the title after 10 games.

 

[DRAGONZ]

Leeds has been in dire form- last 10 matches:

DDLDLDDDWL

Milwall is gonna get relegated to League One rofl. Serves them right, unruly feckers.

Yeah, so true. After going through a period where they didn't lose a match for two months, they struck this terrible vein of form, winning only match in two months (and that against Crewe, who are relegated to League One).

And how similar is Milwall's situation to Leeds? Just on a far less grand scale.

Leeds made CL semi-final .. three seasons later, they were demoted from the Premier League.

Milwall made FA Cup semi-final .. two seasons later, they are demoted from the CCC.

Ahh, Timmy Cahill was the life and soul of that team

 

[Jimmy_B]

I wouldn't be surprised if Sven really justifies the 5m pounds a year (is there a rolling eyes smiley?) by replacing Rooney with Defoe or Crouch.

I wouldn't mind seeing a 4-1-4-1 played in the lead-up games to see if it works. The only sticking point is the lack of height up front. If they play a fluid passing game, then it could work.

-------------------Robinson
Neville-------Rio-------Terry-------A Cole
------------------Carrick
Becks----Gerrard----Lampard----J Cole
-------------------Owen

Thoughts?

carragher and finnan in for rio and neville, with lennon in for becks that'll sort the swedes out.

 

[AcStyle*]

carragher and finnan in for rio and neville, with lennon in for becks that'll sort the swedes out.

Too bad Finnan is Irish

 

[Jimmy_B]

Too bad Finnan is Irish

oops, well um..... he um talks like a scouser?

 

[LMF^^]

Craig Moore talkz like a Scot.

 

[johnny_87]

You wouldn't play Carragher at the back with Terry, ESPECIALLY if Sven sticks to his Gerrard-Lampard CM pairing. Neither Carragher nor Terry are the quickest, and without a defensive-minded mid who hangs back, they will get eaten alive on the counter.

The reason Liverpool can get away with the Hyypia-Carragher CB pairing at Liverpool (and they're beginning to phase Hyypia out just a bit I feel) is that when Gerrard was on the right, both Alonso and Sissoko sit a little deep, so there is sufficient cover when the opposition counters.

A Terry-Carragher pairing would never work at the highest echelon, so Rio is needed for his pace. Do you ever see Henry break away on goal when against Utd? In fact, Man Utd rarely concede 1-on-1 goals against anyone.

 

[Jimmy_B]

rio is fast, but he's also been very shit this season. england play a very deep line anyway and if you have carrick or king as a screen like in your formation then you wouldn't have too many issues.

 

[johnny_87]

He hasn't been shit this year. He has had a few bad games, but apart from that has been pretty good. Not quite his pre-suspension form, but still one of the best CB in the EPL.

 

[Jimmy_B]

spanish newspapers reckon messi won't be match fit by the time the champions league final comes around. oh well, looks like it'll only be xavi, iniesta, giuly, ronnie and etoo they have to worry about now.

 

[Benny_]

I'd rather King than Carrick for DM to be honest. Alonso's pretty good defensively, but he's more a deep lying playmaker than anything else, and Carrick is just a poor man's Alonso.

 

[LMF^^]

So Barca wrapped up the league, they'll now solely focuz on the UCL final now.

King just signed a new contract at Spurz, quite a deal too.

And found somethin amusin. Enjoy.

 

[A2RAYA]

it's funny because spurs can finish fourth and still not qualify for next season's champions league...and IMO i'd like to see terry and carra together in one of England's friendlies leading up to the world cup. They're not quick but they're smart, consistent defenders and will kill themselves for the team. Ferdinand's been too unpredictable this season..BUT their defence isn't the problem now, it's their attack with Rooney more or less out of the world cup completely

 

[bJ_Bhoy 87]

Steve McLaren has been named as England manager after the world cup. It will be very interesting to see how his reign goes, and whether he'll change things around with Svens team.

 

[Jimmy_B]

And found somethin amusin. Enjoy.

piece of genius by martin jol. kept our boys fresh and ready for the assault on the top 4.

just realised it'll be the last game at the library this weekend. c'mon you spurs, spoil the party!!!

 

[DRAGONZ]

Tonight is Leeds' first match of the Playoffs.

Am getting nervous now!

 

[LMF^^]

Well they drew against Preston at home, very nice result indeed.

Meanwhile I got my Rooney jersey.