Author Topic: Official FOOTBALL Thread (Read 260001 times)

Tuffty · « **Reply #480 on:** April 04, 2007, 09:18:56 PM »

Roma 2 - 1 Manchester Utd

Looking at it, you'd think it was a bad result. But, with 10 men for 60 mins, a crucial away goal and the 2nd leg to be played at Old Trafford, I'll happily take that. All it needs is a goal from us to get through. Should be no problem. What a lovely goal from Rooney too. And I haven't been so frustrated with a ref for a long time. It was like playing against 12 men, and I was wondering if his arm only ever went in the one direction. I mean he just didn't let any flow to the game at all. Roma player goes down, instant free kick. Not arguing that Scholes should have been sent off though, he should have. Scholes is just no good with tackles at all. No need to make a 2nd tackle like that when he was already on a yellow.

Oh and I was so surprised there was a riot in the crowds. Yep, realllly surprised. Diddn't see that one coming. I saw footage of it, and the police were just hopeless. Roma fans taunted Utd fans and began fighting them, causing one guy to be bleeding quite severly from his forehead. Police stepped in but were joining in with it rather than supress it. Utd scores and the fans celebrate in their section and what do Roma fans do? Hurl projectiles at them. And what did the police do? Nothing. Classy.

ew0923 · « **Reply #481 on:** April 05, 2007, 05:25:38 AM »

In the end I was quite happy with the result, as fergie had said, we played 10 versus 12. That ref was simply hopeless, scholes was sent off with two bookable offences (his lack of timing on his tackles are coming back), but not one card was shown to the tackles on Ronaldo and the free kicks given to Rooney for 'pushing' when the ball is in the air was really puzzling. And Heinze got a stupid yellow for not placing the ball in the right spot (and he wasn't even the one taking it!) while nothing happened to Vicinic for kicking the ball away. Apparently this was the dude that bought all the diving and play-acting by the Mourinho Porto side that we lost to.

The positive is that we produced a very good goal and 2-1 is a lot better than 1 - 0 and given our atricious record in Italy, this was okay. Hope we step it up though. And I'm very worried about Mancini or Taddei running at O'Shea, he just doesn't have the agility to cover them. Because of our injury list, can we do something weird like trying Park Ji-Sung at right back? In the world cup, England played Hargreaves out of position at right back, yet he was their best player (in the early games).

ferrar1 · « **Reply #482 on:** April 05, 2007, 06:22:47 AM »

I'd rather have Park playing a free role and shadowing Mancini all the way.

I didn't expect Man Utd to go in and grab a win though considering that they are a little bit light in attack right now. But the away goal looks good and i expect them to swallow AS Roma back in Old Trafford.

Tuffty · « **Reply #483 on:** April 05, 2007, 12:09:24 PM »

The problem is, Park has a knee injury, otherwise I would have expected him to be playing last night.

freakz · « **Reply #484 on:** April 05, 2007, 03:19:02 PM »

my favo club: only inter milan

my favourite soccer player: always adriano with powerfull kick ^^

ew0923 · « **Reply #485 on:** April 05, 2007, 09:41:32 PM »

Quote from: ferrar1 on April 05, 2007, 06:22:47 AM

I'd rather have Park playing a free role and shadowing Mancini all the way.

That's basically what I meant, when he's not injured, he's one of our very few players who has the pace to combat such an unorthodox system. In our squad only a few can be considered as 'pacy', you got Ronaldo, Rooney, Park and Rio (he's pretty quick for a defender) and the first two is our most potent attacking weapon, so you really don't want them to do defensive work. I like that man-marking idea, but United haven't played man-to-man for a long time, in England, every team seems to play zonal defence. BUt nevertheless, if we stay with the same formation, o'shea will get caught out for sure.

Tuffty · « **Reply #486 on:** April 05, 2007, 10:51:46 PM »

lol wtf? Not to be outdone by their Roman counterparts, there was also crowd trouble tonight in the Tottenham v Sevilla game. Tottenham fans hitting riot police, seats thrown and apparently one policeman sent to hospital. Crazy. With regards to the Utd game, I think all sides were at fault. There's always a handful of holligans that ruin it for everyone by acting like an arrogant prick and go creating riots whether their team wins or loses, in every country. Roma fans certainly started it as they scored first, but the Utd fans there weren't content in letting it go and started to fight back. And whenever Rooney scored, you can't say the Utd fans celebrated calmly. They did the same thing as Roma did earlier. The police were also to blame. When they entered during the first riot, they went for the Utd fans and started joining in with the fighting, not trying to supress them. I saw footage of an officer clubbing a guy with a baton, even when he was down. And when Roma started throwing the projectiles, they did nothing.

I think Italy especially, has a terrible rioting problem. Roma in particular. One referee got struck with a projectile and had to call the match off. Even worse, was when a police officer was killed. English supporters aren't also the most curteous fans. We've seen it before, they go into foreign countries and expect the same culture, same pace of football and see it as an excuse to act like drunken neanderthals, and it's those few that let the rest of us down. Whenever these two meet, well it's always going to go down pretty badly.

Tuffty · « **Reply #487 on:** April 07, 2007, 07:00:59 PM »

Portsmouth 2 - 1 Manchester Utd

Forgive me for ranting, but I've had a bad day today, and this result did not help. But there was a number of people that I can't help but be angry at:

Keiran Richardson - Always thought he was our worst player. Sloppy and, in today's case, loses the ball way too easily. "Oh I'll chest the ball down, all the time in the world". Wrong, dickhead. Get him out. Not Utd material. No wonder he was taken off in the 2nd half.

Edwin Van Der Sar - Why? Why do you make the same mistake twice in the same game? When the ball's just hit you, hit it away to the back or to the side, not 6 inches in front of you. Roma capatilised on it, and so did Portsmouth.

The ref - Someone skipped some lessons in referee school. Even so, it doesn't take a genius to know that a player deliberately and clearly taken down in the penalty box results in a penalty.

Louis Saha - Just recovered from injury, so what happens in Roma? Goes and injures himself again. I've had enough. I do like Saha, but there's no point keeping him if he spends more time on the sidelines than on the pitch. I say we sell him and get Klaas Jan Huntelaar, who we allegedly have an interest in. 33 goals in one season ain't too bad compared to someone who needs 33 stitches every game.

Rio Ferdinand - Don't. Just. Don't.

So the gap is 3 points (4 counting superior goal difference). Make no mistake about it, we have to win our remaining matches. If Chelsea win the Premiership, I do not want to look back on this season, and see that an own goal decided the title to Chelsea.

ew0923 · « **Reply #488 on:** April 08, 2007, 07:10:26 AM »

What is the deal with Richardson? How can someone so untalented and undetermined still be in our side? He was slow, unskilled and despite the only person not to have played mid-week in the starting lineup, refuse to help at the back and ultimatedly directly responsible for the opening goal? That guy doesn't even deserve to be playing in the premiership, why on earth is he still in our first team squad?

The ref was atrocious, they were times as though I was watching a rugby league match, Ronaldo got absolutely molested out there, yet we hardly got any free-kicks. Saha's out injured again? Crap.

I'm not too sure about Huntelaar, I saw a few Ajax games this year, and he really didn't stand out, he's not overly quick or skilful, just decent in the air with decent work rate, he's like a slightly worse version of Kuyt. I guess the good thing is that he should be a lot cheaper than our other targets like Torres (I'm slightly alergic to Spanish Strikers after seeing how Luque turned out for Newcastle).

Tuffty · « **Reply #489 on:** April 08, 2007, 12:05:48 PM »

I wouldn't mind Huntelaar. His scoring rate ain't bad for Ajax, last season he scored 24 goals in 25 appearances and currently in this season, 30 goals in 40. Already broken Ruud's record I heard. One to keep an eye out for, at least.

Ain't it funny how karma works? Just yesterday, watching the Chelsea v Spurs game, I mentioned to my dad, 'Wasn't it all for the better that we didn't sign Defoe?'. And wouldn't you know it, the Sunday papers go and bite me in the ass

ferrar1 · « **Reply #490 on:** April 10, 2007, 05:05:35 AM »

^ Defoe ain't a bad choice for late substitution as he can take advantage of tired legs. But i'd rather start with Keane + Berbatov anytime.

Now let's see 2 defeats in a row by Roma and Porty. Devils are you ready to fight !! Yeeeeeeahh Tonight we'll have the Romans for dinner

Tuffty · « **Reply #491 on:** April 10, 2007, 12:09:50 PM »

Even Jose wants us to win today! (although for entirely different reasons)

Well I can safely say Sunderland are going to get automatic promotion. No stopping them now at the minute. But what a season for them. Starts off 2nd from last under Mick McCarthy, then they hire a rookie manager in Roy Keane, and now they're top of the table. I see a potential Utd manager in the making!

ferrar1 · « **Reply #492 on:** April 10, 2007, 12:25:19 PM »

^ Let's see whether Keane can keep sunderland in the premiership next season

i wanna watch champs league but i'm so tired.. damn..

Tuffty · « **Reply #493 on:** April 10, 2007, 09:00:08 PM »

Manchester Utd 7 - 1 Roma

Holy shit. I would have counted my blessings with just 1 goal. 7?! We absolutely thrashed Roma. What a message to send out to other clubs too. And what amazing goals each one of them was. Best of the night had to be Alan Smith's. 5 first touch passes and a lovely finish from Smith to close it off. Carrick goals were absolute gems as well. But this was a night where every player shone. Headlines tomorrow will be on Rooney, Ronaldo, Giggs, but it was Fletcher, O'Shea, Heinze, they all played fantastic. Best performance I've seen yet, and this season, there have been many. I'm so pleased to see Smith score again. So pleased to see Ronaldo score 2 goals in the Champions League when he looked like he wouldn't score at all. That will shut up those pundits as well. 'Oh United don't have strength in depth to win'. Wrong. This was the best way to respond after losing on Sat. Still though, how could we have lost against Pompy after seeing that?! I presume they would have won 12-0

And Chelsea scored at the last minute (surprising) to qualify for the semi's. And with Liverpool going tomorrow against PSV with 3 away goals, it's safe to say that it will be 3 English clubs in the semi's and not a Spanish team at all. Proof that La Liga isn't as high and mighty as many would claim. Especially after today's result, you think Ronaldo will want to go anywhere else?

Sev · « **Reply #494 on:** April 10, 2007, 09:06:44 PM »

Oh my. That might seriously have been the most entertaining match I've seen in many years. Carrick's second goal was just amazing. I'm totally stunned.. Can't close my mouth.

boykun · « **Reply #495 on:** April 10, 2007, 10:38:02 PM »

Holy crap 7-1, haha. I always miss all the good matches. Now to wait for highlights.

Three English clubs in the semi's, awesome. Premiership is the best.

ew0923 · « **Reply #496 on:** April 10, 2007, 10:59:19 PM »

Yep, the second Carrick is amazing! But to be fair the best goal of the night actually came from De Rossi, with back to goal, he hit a first time volley that was unstoppable...and he hit it with his weaker foot as well. Ronaldo was excellent as always and Giggs was able to turn around the atrocious form he showed in Rome to set up some beautiful plays (and goals), but Fletcher and Smith were really impressive with their work rate in the first half, they really disrupted the flow of Roma by constantly pressuring the player with the ball.

For once I'm gald that Chelsea won (though I wanted that to goto extra time), so we're pretty on level terms with them (in terms of matches left to play). Just hope that nothing's wrong with Rio and taking him off was just a pre-caution thing, the last thing we need is to lose another defender. But brilliant match!

And hopefully we'll get to see Roy Keane in the premiership next year. But If he have hang onto Evans, he would be extremely useful to us right now.

ferrar1 · « **Reply #497 on:** April 11, 2007, 01:31:18 AM »

Quote from: ferrar1 on April 10, 2007, 12:25:19 PM

i wanna watch champs league but i'm so tired.. damn..

Arghhh should have stayed up and watched !!!

Quote from: ferrar1

Devils are you ready to fight !! Yeeeeeeahh Tonight we'll have the Romans for dinner

Looks like we had the Romans for supper and dessert too

BakHamNoi · « **Reply #498 on:** April 11, 2007, 07:58:37 AM »

I can only say "OUCH" for AS. ROMA

MAN U 7.1 ROMA

Carrick (11e, 60e), Smith (17e), Rooney (19e), C.Ronaldo (44e, 49e), Evra (81e) pour Manchester for Man.U
De Rossi (69e) for Roma

GG Man U

Tuffty · « **Reply #499 on:** April 11, 2007, 12:41:58 PM »

Well, Rome wasn't built in a day, but it certainly came crashing onto it's knees in 90 minutes!

Quite frankly, I don't know how a neutral fan can support Chelsea over Utd. You won't see Chelsea playing a game with a scoreline like that. Sorry, but you won't. We're playing brilliant attacking football, and our vastly superior goal difference over Chelsea would prove that. Chelsea just go out to games to win it, 1 goal normally, 2 if they're up for it. Nothing wrong with that, winning games is the most important, but it is boring to watch. Whenever Utd play, they make quality football that looks so simple, and so very sexy.

Totti says last night was the biggest humilation of his life. That statement was made all the more sweeter when he said 'people will know my name' before the match.