Soccer

The point was that United IS the biggest club in the world, money is only half of it, Chelsea will be losing money every year and lots of it with the way Roman Abromavich is going about it. United make a larger profit each year that goes by and have a fan base so many times larger than Chelseas, Liverpools and Arsenals. That counts for a lot and thats why they will not be on a losing streak.

Anyone would take Giggs over Van persie lol, goes without saying. A battle for a start with Pires and Giggs, that could be interesting....Definitely Keane (if fit) for Vierra, every time we play Arsenal, Keane wins the mid field battles. Ferdinand could play alongside Campbell no problem, Silvestre sometimes....Paul Scholes before any other attacking midfielder - he's the best at what he does. Wobbly Ronalda, again a man of the match against Aston Villa, tore Arsena's right side to shreads at Old Trafford. From my position near the side lines second tier, it was clearly evident and the commentators stated that too. Everyone has realised that Ronaldo is going to be big. When he plays Spurs next year, you'll be shitting ur pants lol.

Oh...and we didnt buy Southgate because we didnt want him at that time, simple as that. i think the manager shouldve brought in someone, but, at the end of the day, he's the most succesful manager in the world, lets not be too critical...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA Rolling over laughing.

Anyone that thinks that Liverpool and Newcastle can finish higher than United, needs their heads seen to. Not a chance in hell that United will finish 5th. We WILL win the premiership, Arsenal wont be as LUCKY this year to scrape so many 1 goal wins and draws when playing poorly....and we will go far in the Champions League

Roll on Season 04/05 till we make yet another come back in style as we do everytime we lose out....

 

Oriphus

I should have taken a more active role in this thread ages ago. Ive missed out big time.

It's great to wind up the Man Utd supporters every now and again, makes me feel better about supporting a Nob end team like spurs. But seriously though you need to spend BIG in the summer, otherwise money bags Chelsea could run away with it. There is one player that would fit in well in your outfit though Raphael Van der Vaart, he's a potential superstar, will be good watching him at the Euro championships.

Watch out for Van Persie next year, that geezers got rocket propultion. Makes Overmars look like a tortoise with piles.

yeah yeah..i shite me pants every season when ANY decent team play Spurs. I almost commited suicide when spurs lost 4-3 at home to man City after we were 3-0 up at half time.

Look like spurs have got Frank Arnesan (who's he??) to take over ole Plonker Pleat as director of football. That's all we need is a bloomin dutchman, but his record at PSV was superb, so who knows. Ive got this sneaky feeling that Rudolph The Rednose Redknapp may become spurs manager!

I must admit though I really have a strong feeling for Liverpool next year, although I hate them scousers like no one else.

Not long now before the Euro Championships start, I got a sneaky for a Holland vs France final.

England have a slim chance. I would like them to play 3 at the back, 5 in midfield & 2 upfront, but it's bound to be a traditional 4-4-2

 

Yeah, you've missed out loads of great opportunites to slag of a Man Utd supporter
Frank Arnesan is the Coach over at PSV Eindhoven, good manager and will be good for Spurs. Somebody needs to take spurs and give them a good kick up the arse. Robbie Keane is a gem you've got to harness.

Van Der Vaart i watch all the time in the Durch league. Amazing player, will be a superstar and really looking forward to watching him in Euro 2004. Ill be in Portugal for 2 weeks so im hoping to try and get a ticket to something lol - it will be hard though :-(

What a match - i really laughed my tits off at that one, though if i was honest, i do like to see Spurs doing alright, nice to see our Irish lad Robbie scoring and getting better, its all good for Ireland.

On the England formation, its hard to know with Sven what he's gonna do this time. I think it is most likely to be a 4-4-2, or if he plays Paul Scholes, which i think he will, he may try to opt for a 4-3-1-2 so to speak, or the diamond formation. Either way, i think that England have got quite a strong squad this year and could be semi-finalists of finalists. Im hoping france do another whopper and flunk it. I think that Portugal are in for a shout as well this year. Some very good players in their side, particularly Ronaldo lol. Of course Figo, Postiga, Andrade, Valente, Rui Jorge, Rui Costa, Pauleta and loads of others no doubt. What u think of Postiga, since he's a spurs chappie lol?

 

Ive been thinking about the england formation for the first France game. I am getting very nervous about that. I think perhaps we should play a 5 man midfied, with just one up front. It's important we don't lose that one, try and get a point then try and turn over The swiss & croatia. I would really be tempted to play, Gerrard, Beckam, Lampard in the middle, Dyer on the right, and god knows on the left, I would personally like Bridge or Cole to move into that area, or even Phil Neville. He did well at Man Utd this year in the middle. Unfortuantely though that means scholes is on the bench. I would also be brave and leave Rooney upfront on his own.

Portugal have a pitiful side, they even picked Helda Postiga for their squad, they must be desperate. I also think France will hit top form, but if they don't beat england in the opening match panic may well set in.

I heard that the Taiwan move into liverpool may be off?, but theres another premier team lined up..watch this space as they say

 

Would you really leave out Paul Scholes. I can see a natural 4 across Midfield, one of the centres being Frank lampard and the other being Gerard, with Paul Scholes playing in front of them, sort of like a 4-4-1-1 that UNited can sometimes play. I cant really see the manager leaving Paul Scholes on the bench thouhg. Most regard him as one of the most naturally gifted players in Europe, he is a great reader of the game and has very good passing and usually one touch control...

 

Time will tell on the line up but Erickson must be a bit worried about Scholes lack of form this year, and he hasnt scored a goal for england for a good while now. Lampard is catching up fast with Scholes & he may use him instead. ( i think only one of those 2 will play)

Looks like Liverpool have entered the chase for Alan Smith, although i must admit if I were Smith (and given the historical rivalry between Liverpool & Leeds) I would choose utd. But i am not sure he would be really be what Utd are looking for. They could do with a younger midfield orchestrater & another centre back. Saha, Van Nistleroy & Solksjaer are fine upfront.

Back on the sad spurs sob story. Looks like Martin Jol , who Man Utd were after earlier this season, is looking like a favourite to take over the coaching position at spurs.

 

Martin Jol is a good man in my opinion...

I think that Paul Scholes has had a lack of form with England, he is playing well and is still producing the magic in and around the ball, but he should score more goals for them.

Im off to watch the playoffs and the Uefa Cup final for a bit - wonder who will win both......

Great fun - remember - Football IS life :-D lol

 

man what a lot of reading to catch up on....brian totaly agree with ur preditcions for next seoson....even tho ur a spurs fan and u's arnt great at preditcions ey.

As for the euro champs as a scot ill be totaly behind england like(lmao)but i think lampard has to be picked in front of Scholes who is suffering in the current man utd team(to much rubbish around him) but ya come on france(sorry meant england)

Oriphus if man u get 1 of those players in yer list ull be doing good the bottom line is chelsea and arsenal have raised the bar and u"s are falling behind a bit,i the part bout biggest in the world dont mean nutting as would the biggest club in the world be so tight as to be outbidded easily for a player like u"s were with robbens(dont think madrid would ever let that happen(who btw are the biggest in the world in terms of achevements and getting the best players)

 

Madrid are only the biggest spenders, nothing more. Spend a fortune, get back something of course...lol

I dont think you can say that Chelsea are a step ahead of United this season. They only just finished above us, granted that Arsenal were a lot better is a team than us this season.

However, i think we are all in for a big shock when United come back with a double next season. I dont know how anybody could rule out Manchester United of a comeback. We are the team that have dominated the Premiership since its start and have the resources to continue dominating it. Aslo, we dont know what will happen with Malcolm Glazer and McManus/Magnier and whether or not we'll see a takeover, though of course, not as wealthy a man as Roman, but remember that 80% of his wealth is in assets, can you see him selling those to continually pump more money into a football club?? Im not so sure....they need to start looking at making a profit or atleast breaking even, however, with a deficit of £100millio last year, and a likely big sum this year, i cant see that happen.

Paul Scholes hampered by United? United made Paul Scholes. United still has the best facilities out of any of the Premiership teams and indeed European ones to make a great player better. You are bound to see some good signings coming to United, a strong start to the season, first up will be beating Arsenal and Chelsea, then we'll see who's laughing.....


Liverpool.....4th place is the best they'll do for sure....

 

Carefree

Thanks for the errrrrrrrrrrm support for England, I will believe that when the cows start barking. It's a shame that scotalnd didnt make it. Their time will come, trust me!. I, personally support ALL british teams in the major tournaments. If England could play with the same passion as the Scots & the Irish we would be potential worldbeaters.

Did anyone watch that Uefa Final last night, what a total waste of time. Bartez, what a plonker! I please that Valencia won the game, considering their 2 Champions league defeats. It's always nice to see a french team get beaten, especially in the final.

See Chelsea are rumoured to be bidding £30m for Gerard?, I bet they get him aswell. I can see a major problem with chelsea next year, their squad will be so huge that a number of them will be loaned out to other premiership teams, defeats the object really doesnt it?
_X_X_X_X_X_[small]On Initial Viewing My Backup Looked Terrible,
But With One Eye Closed It Aint Half Bad!![/small]

 

Cheers Dela, appreciated, and hope to see you post here and there especially when Ireland are playing :-D

Yeah, I tend to like seeing England team doing well. Its for the players i like to see it more than the country. I dont support England, i support Ireland, but English people always give Ireland a lot of support when they play, so i feel its only fair to return the favour...

I watched the Uefa Final last night, and watched the play-off speratically. What a complete plonker Fabien was. How did he managed to go in feet first to a challenge like that and think he wasnt going to get sent off. If u look at the replays though, there was a defender that had gotten behind him, so im not sure he actually shouldve been sent off....It was a very boring first half up until there, then Valencia showed us how to play well against 10 men. A better second half, but still the Play-off Semi looked a lot better.

I feel sorry for the 'pool', they really shouldve beaten City, since they were winning going into injury time....But as usual, there were two quick goals and it ends up as City going through. What i thought was bad about it was that when all the Birmingham fans came on the pitch, the pool lads couldnt get off for about 15mins, and thats not really nice for them. Although all the city fans did eventually clap them when they left the pitch

Looking forward to CL football next week, and the other Play-off's. Monaco to win.....

 

Im going for Monaco aswell in the final. Porto just lost the portuguese final to Benfica, so they may be a bit deflated. AND if Monaco win, does that mean that Mourinho is a non starter for Chelsea?. Perhaps Spurs will try and get him, although ive read reports that they are really after Martin ONeil. Cant see it personally, but stranger things have happened (but not in my lifetime)

The game I am really looking forward to is the Division 1 play-off final next saturday, Palace VS West Ham, id like to see palace win that. Ian Dowie has done a brilliant job getting them up the legue since January.

Looks also that Alan Smith is a defo for UTD, looks like youve got him next season, wonder how many times he will be sent off for you?

You may not be aware Oriphus but theres a great website out herefor all the rumours and team news, give it a try.

http://www.teamtalk.com/

 

nah cant c o'neil going to rotterham either hell more than likey wait for man utd job or even liverpool,id be amased if liverpool selt gerard atlo if he does go to another prem club would think it would be chelsea.

as for the not supporting england in euro champs its just good bit rivalry football banter,bet spurs fans dont shout on arsenal in the cl do they.

as gor fa cup final dont realy cares who wins but man u should walk it but its a deffalued cup now adays innit.

scotlands time will come but not in may lifetime mate were to bad to be true.

 

Hey Brian, thats a pretty good website there. I'll have to visit it a lot more often i think

Yeah, according to them it does look like United will get Smith. £8million though, too much of our cash to spend on a reserve striker when the fans really want someone like Fernando Torres coming to the club. I've been watching all of the Play-offs so far, some really great cup-like matches. Some big twists in stoppage time as well lol.

I wouldnt like to see Steven Gerard at Chelsea, i dont think they will sell him, but if they did, id pray to God that he came to United. What a great player he is going to be and is already. Would be a great replacement for our ageing Roy Keane superstar, but id be happy if Franky Lampard came instead, cuz the chances of getting Gerard from Liverpool are pretty low....

Would like to see Monaco win definitely. Not sure if Claudio will get the sack from Chelsea, he most certainly does not deserve it though. Lampard is linked with Real Madrid and Veron is linked with Inter Milan.

Well fellas, its time to leave the computer and go watch the United v Millwall slaughtering lol. I hope we win after that or it will be one disappointing year. My local gym, which charges membership of £40 a month, is giving anyone who signed up last year membership for free if Milwall win the FA Cup.....thats a great idea i think...

Oh...come on Celtic....

 

HAhahahaha - i predicted a 3-0 win and yet again im right :-D

Excellent performance by Milwall who did really well to keep out United for so long. However, the superstars eased their way to 3-0 victory thanks to the stunning Christiano Ronaldo, who's awesome skill dumstruck half the Milwall team, and the man of the match winner RvN who scored 2 good goals, the second which was not off-side if you look at it closely with the line drawn across the pitch.....

Also, Celtic won 3-1 so an all round great day for me. Roll on next season were hopefully United, with a few extra signings and the ever better Ronaldo dominate. Ronaldo is going to be another Ronaldinho without a doubt. he has soo much raw skill and speed. We'll be taking about the Real Ronaldo as the best one soon, and i dont mean Real Madrids one ;-)

 

well i only wayched the first half hour and turned ovet to watch corrie omnibus as the footy was boring the english final and the scottish 1.

but congrats to the mighty man utd,i think fergie relases now that the fa cup and league cup are man u's best chances of glory now aday's,so thats why he was so happy i guess.

as for celtic what aload of old punt in the air crap i just pray that chelsea dont ever get o'neil as i dont like his big 3 donkeys at the back and hoff it up feils style,i aslo thinkm he would be bad for man utd 2 as thats not there style either.

 

Ah...i thought the United match was really good, thought young Ronaldo showed some great tricks and probably made it equally as exciting as any other FA Cup final, or more so. I wouldnt exactly say Chelsea plpayed exciting football either.....

Celtic are a really good side with very good football skills. Remember back to the Ryan Giggs Testimonial where United had a good match, though poor defending and Celtic always went 2 goals up on us, finished 4-3 in the end. The one were Cantona came back and played - quality. Celtic are as good as a lot of the top teams in Europe...

 

Oriphus

Congrats on the 3-0 win, I felt a little sorry for Milwall, but they did put up a good performance for a Nationwide side. ( i watched the game delayed on video)

I actually watched the Scottish cup final cos I wanted to see Henrik Larssons last game, what a great player he is, and considering they bought him (i think) for less than a Million, that says it all.

Steven Gerard would fit in UTD perfectly, but I honestly doubt if he will leave Liverpool, but that may change if Houllier gets the bullet. I think he would be off to Chelsea, that could be the clincher for the title if he goes there.

Carefree. I disagree with your view of the way Celtic Play. O'Neil get's the best out of his players by playing them at their strengths. Surely the key for every manager out there? I remember an ex Tottenham player called Ramon Vega, who was a disaster at Spurs, yet when he played under O'Neil at celtic he looked a different class. I do agree thought that he wont be at Spurs next year, he could virutally hand pick his next club.

Oriphus, is there a chance that a fantasy football league can be started on this site for next year?. What you reckon on the idea?

 

A fantasy footbal league would be a great fun idea. I like the sound of it, you would probably no more about it than me though

Henrik was bought for £650,000 - a truely amazing find in any respect. The way he finished those goals was amazing, even from the angle he was at. My mate was sitting 3 rows back from the pitch in behind the goals and has great photos of him scoring. Anyone know where the big man is going yet....One thing he should do in my opinion, is to shave off that bum fluff on his chin and lip lol.

I think the way Celtic play football is excellent. When Celtic play other European teams, there is always a lot of excitement. It would be great to see Martin O'Neil take over at Old Trafford after Sir Alex departs, and would be even better to see Steven Gerard come to Old Trafford, but i wont hold my breath waiting for either...lol

Well done to Milwall for a great performance - but i didnt see any chance of them getting a win, let alone a goal if i was to be honest.

Let me know about the Fantasy Football League - would be great fun