May 10
Derby Day Preview
There’s the temptation of opening today’s post with a mention of Tevez’s recent comments — and I have very strong opinions on it — but for the sake of a much more pressing event today, I will bring it up another day.
The richest team in the world ® arrive at Old Trafford on the back of, I think, four wins. But we all know their form (and our form) matters little when it comes to derby day. They did the double against us last time, although it could be argued the first one was a fluke and the second was under the long shadow of the Munich anniversary. The Citizens would, no doubt, use it as a way to brag about doing the double over us last season — and sometimes we should let these things slide. What we mustn’t let happen today though, is to drop points against them; nothing will taste sweeter for them than a few points grabbed at our expense and to give their dear friends at Merseyside more hope of clawing their way back into the title race.
In terms of form, we haven’t played better football than we are currently, this season — not even during the clean sheet record breaking days — and so on paper we should really walk over them.
It all boils down ultimately to the team selection. The manager will try to play his best side today, and will, perhaps, rest a few of the stars in midweek against Wigan, owing to Arsenal’s visit next week.
So the team selection — and for the first time, this is the actual team for the day — is: Van der Sar, Rafael Da Silva, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Ronaldo, Fletcher, Giggs, Park, Berbatov, Tevez.
Subs: Kuszczak, Neville, Rooney, Carrick, Nani, Scholes, O’Shea.
Looks a decent side to me. Carrick gets a breather and so does Rooney. Although the selection of Park for a home game indicates ensuring we keep tabs on a certain tricky attacker.
I think I’ll leave the rest to you. Prediction: 2-1 to United.
Come on you reds!!!
Related items from Red Rants:
- Derby County v Man Utd: Preview
- Man Utd v Everton: Preview
- Man Utd v Man City: Preview
- Derby Day. Raging Ferg. Welbeck.
- Manchester United 2006/2007 Season Review
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (541)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Stephen (454)
Craig Mc (344)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
@johnsom33: that the team doesnt use berbatov, thats what im saying.
@johnsom33: i like greedy strikers that can score goals, from 10, 15, 20, 35 and 30+ yards out, carlos tevez struggles to score goals from a metre from goal!
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@Dan: im gonna leave the Tevez debate with this. next year he will be plying his trade at another club, and he will be missed.
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@johnsom33: Rooney is our top striker???, errrrr – Ronaldo? Johnsom Ronnie is our top striker mate, winger or not
.
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@johnsom33: Not by me he wont. Id rather £32mil on benzema or gomez then tevez.
I have a certain need for strikers, goals, and thats something tevez doesnt have.
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@Craig Mc: ron is our top player, but would be nothing with out rooney! rooney is the engine and the motivation behind our team, IMHO, he is the real leader of our club.
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@Fred The Red: Awwww Fred, you surely know that Lil man Nani is in the Leper colony, and we will not see him at all this season
. Fergie says Nani will play and be a presence for us next season? Yeah right, he will be a presence, but NOT on the pitch. If I was Nani, after this season and the treatment by Fergie, I would not be showing my presence anywhere but abroad, if I was Nani that is.
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@johnsom33: To be fair, I thought Tevez’s pre-season was good and he should have started more games early on. My issues stem from the fact that for many people Berbatov was the designated culprit everytime things went wrong in the season.
But still for me a good striker – or rather my idea of a good striker – should be able to alternate greed and selfless passing… I guess I was spoiled in the late 90s to early 00s as Cole, Yorke, Sheringham and Solskjaer more or less all knew how to do it…
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@Dan: Gomez? You mean the Mario Gomez? the same one who caused grognard to admit that he happened to be wrong about a player?
Puh-leazzzeee!!!
And 32 million!!
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@NicoQB: yep mario gomez, and no, hes not worth £32million pounds, but i would rather spend £32million on HIM rather then tevez!
grognard rated him until the euros, fact is, he wasnt the only young prodigy striker to have a poor tournemet(im looking at you benzema), and he has been better this season then last in the bundesliga!
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Andres Iniesta got injured for barça – http://www.oleole.com/blogs/fcbnews/posts/barca-3-villarreal-3
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@Dan: Now Benzema, for all of his spanish obsessions, is miles better than Gomez. Don’t let the fact that he didn’t perform in the euros fool you. Domenech is the french Steve Mcclaren (or Eriksson depending on whats your fancy).
Right now, Benzema is having a bit of a dry patch, and the result is that the whole team of Lyon are losing in the title race, that’s his importance to Lyon.
And here’s a nice thread of opinions dealing with the maters of the day – interesting that most commenters are now doubtful about us needing to sign Tevez…
http://therepublikofmancunia.com/tevez-will-be-in-england-next-season-but-not-playing-for-united/
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@NicoQB: i didnt say gomez was better then benzema…
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The simple matter is thus, Tevez will cost us £22 million on top of what we have paid. For £22million this summer, Fergie could pick up Benzema, dependant on Lyon missing out on the Champions League.
PSG are 1 point behind them with 4 to play (and an easy run in), and Lyon (who are in the last champs league place) still have to go away to Marseille (who are top) and Tolouse who could also overtake them with a win.
We all know bad Fergie wants Benzema. Plus he’s younger and more physical. Moody as fuck tho…
That being said, who the hell knows whats going to happen this summer. Other than City signing ZERO world class players, and instead paying £40million for Robben
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@Traverse: you know, i would get a massive erection if we could get iniesta! lol, never gonna happen, in my eyes, hes the second best player in the in world, but it would take some massive, massive persuading to get him at an affordable price.
Im in dream land lol.
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@Dan: if you like greedy strikers like that, how about two footed ones who live to score goals, one named keirrison
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@Mr.Muhozi: thats football manager talking lol, im sure hes a good player, but until he moves to europe, id pay £5mil for him at most, and thats pushing it slightly.
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@Traverse: I dunno about getting benzema for that £20million pound mark even if they they did miss out on champions league football. Closer to £30 million+ im guessing, plus we have to consider city in this, im sure benzema wouldnt wanna join them but they could if they wanted to bump up the price by putting in a bid of say £40 odd million. If that were to happen we would have no chance of getting him unfortunately. Great player but i cant see us getting him to be honest.
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@Dan: Tevez? Greedy? sorry but you are really clutching at straws with that.
Interesting that I noticed Tevez scored (and don’t tell me that was because of Berbatov) and hit the post twice, whereas Berba, well, did he even have a shot? I saw him get into positions to shoot, expect him to shoot but then he turns away from goal or loses possession. He linked up well but on todays showing, Tevez>>>>>Berbatov.
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@Traverse: I agree about him being moody, though I’m sot sure its as bad as the press are making it to be.
See a more ambitious player would have already made claims about wanting to leave, while he has often talked about how he’s still young, hasa lot to learn, and will still be playing with Lyon next season.
His comments about spain stem from the fact that as a teen he must have grown up watching Zidane at his peak with Real, similar to Ronaldo watching Figo…
I still think he will not be as moody as Ronaldo, and even Tevez…
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@Liam: Read all my other comments above, mate.
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@Dan: Did tevez steal your girlfriend or something? You seem real bitter about the lad.
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Its as simple as this, when talking about Tevez you have to ask just two questions, 1, is he worth the money that it is being rumoured that we have to pay to make the deal permanent,
2, would a player of his standing in world football be happy to play the part he has been given this season.
The answer to both questions in my opinion is an emphatic no. Yes he has many good qualities and by and large he has conducted himself in the proper way, but the bottom line for me is that he is not the type of striker that we need, especially at the price.
We have had great success in the past three seasons without the services of an out and out no9 so its hard to criticise our forwards, but I am convinved that our team could be improved by signing a top class striker and in my opinion the Tevez money would be better spent on someone like Benzema.
Its nothing personal against Tevez, Hes been a good servant and a decent player, but 20 plus million, no way, his agent is saying that he has been offered 40 million for him from a foriegn club, 40 million would probably get you any striker in world football, if we have to pay any thing near that for a striker in the summer it certainly wont be for Tevez.
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@Dan, not fit enough shave carlitos eyebrow: Please don’t tell me you honestly believe that iniesta is the second best player in the world. The Barca hype machine is officially out of control.
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Andres Iniesta has torn a thigh muscle against Villareal tonight, not that like taking pleasure from another players misfortune but he could miss the final in Rome.
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@Liam: OMG, so who got the assist today then?
You are just an annoying, stubborn person that cant except change! berbatov can do no right in your eyes, and tevez can do no wrong, i mean hello, you say the goal had nothing to do with berbatov, you didnt even watch the fucking first half!! it was berbatov that got the assist but no, lets not give credit where it due, lets just belittle him because we prefer a less efficient player!
Thats the last straw tbh, i cant have a serious debate with you if you cant even state fact instead of opinion. He got the bloody assist, HE was the won that took the ball out of the air and HE was the one that found tevez, but no, he had nothing to do with the goal. Im finish with you on this subject, you piss me off to much if im totally honest
@Johnsom33:did berbatov steal liams? im not bitter at all, but im not afraid to state the obvious, berbatov has been far more efficient then tevez, tevez has no control and a laughable goalscoring record, he spends most of his time in midfield then he does upfront, you tell me how hes worth £32mil? he fecking tackles with his head! he is a headless chicken, not a striker, and is not worth £32mil.
@Johnsom33: you havent seen him play often have you? i dont join the hype, when messi was supposedly the best player in the worl, i got slated for me saying he was having an OK season, messi is over-rated, but if i were to believe the hype, hes as good as maradona.
I actually think iniesta is a good player, is that not possible?
Im going to bed before my head explodes, really, really annoyed right now.
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@Fred The Red: scary, i was actually thinking about that few minutes ago, about barca players getting injuries, im not gonna lie and say im sad, but im not happy either.
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@Dan, not fit enough shave carlitos eyebrow: Where did I say Berbatov had NOTHING to do with the goal? Yeah hang on, let’s give Berbatov full credit for a goal scored from outside the box by Carlos Tevez
I wont even get started on the amount of irony in your first paragraph. Fact is, Tevez scored and was unlucky not to get 2 more, Berbatov didn’t even shoot. Opinions aren’t the same as facts Dan. Just because I didn’t watch the 1st half live doesn’t mean I haven’t seen it since then 
And yeah I don’t want to accept change if it means less convincing wins and more 1-0s. There, now let’s see if you can calmly counter those points without blowing a fuse.
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@Dan, not fit enough shave carlitos eyebrow: Feel the same way myself.
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Ronaldo God love him was being a spoilt little selfish prick today. Considering the fact that Fergie has to worry about a game at Wigan in three day from today and a week after Ronaldo ran his socks of against Arsenal, resting him late in the game was not out of line at all. To Hell with individual achievements. If Ronny is so concerned about the scoring title he should have tried harder in the first half to make those stray headers count and those first half of the season free kicks not hit the wall a million times. He left things a little late and that is not Fergie’s fault despite the fact that he played every game regardless of whether he was worth it.
I love Ronaldo the player but I do not like nor will I ever like a part of his personality that forgets where he came from. Now he is a Slumdog Millionaire and all of a sudden it’s thumb your nose at your teammates and the Boss and think of nothing but personal glory over team glory and respecting your team and manager as well as the supporters. What happened to that little skinny shoeless punk who used to kick a can around in the streets of Medeira?
I fully expected Fergie to say he didn’t mind Ronaldo’s reaction. That’s typical Fergie in an interview but I also have to concern myself with the double standard and unwillingness to teach this lad a lesson. You see, as much as I like Ronaldo, he does not rate as high in my love meter as Beckham, van Nistelrooy or Keane had. I absolutely loved all three of those players and they were sent packing for a lot less than what Ronaldo gets away with. Why Fergie? I have promised to not complain or challenge you management on the field again unless everything goes pear shaped but this is off the field stuff. This has to do with handing out punishment for lack of discipline and lack of respect for one’s teammates. This is about managing players the old school Ferguson way.
How can this arrogant, conceited and highly emotional player continue to get away with murder while a player like Carlos Tevez gets treated like shit for working his ass off and saying nothing or doing nothing to upset the fans or his teammates? And I cannot blame him for what he said this week or for his display today after he scored. Even though I don’t think he is good enough to warrant the amount of money he is asking, the player has heart and loyalty and understands the need to respect those above him and those below him. Bottom line is Carlito is a gentleman while Ronaldo is a spoilt punk. And sports is just not fair because in a competitive economically motivated sport, loyalty and acting with respect and dignity seems to count for shite. Having talent with no concern for the fans or your teammates seems to mean nothing as long as a player performs. Bottom line, Carlos Tevez has been mistreated and disrespected by Fergie and the team hierarchy. Shamefully so I might add.
I have nothing against Ronaldo’s ability or effort on the field, but his attitude to fans, teammates and coaches is despicable and I for one am insulted and disappointed in Ferguson inability and unwillingness to hand out punishment. It’s almost as if he knows Ronaldo and Rooney are his team and without them he and the team are shite and hopeless. He almost seems scared to death to offend or upset either one of them. I know in my heart that is probably not the case, but how else am I supposed to feel when I see something like what happened today go unpunished. And how am I supposed to feel if I am Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nemanja Vidic, Carlos Tevez etc, when I see a player get off unpunished for that?
In Fergie we trust and we all love the old Gaffer to death but at what point do we all stand up to Fergie as loyal supporters of the club and say that we all feel insulted in the way you have treated Carlos Tevez, while allowing your talented punks with attitude to rule the asylum? It’s not fair and it’s awfully disrespectful to the paying fan who has to wonder why life and sports have to continually dish out so much unfairness and injustice in this complex and difficult world. I for one am so disenchanted by that one minute of selfish childishness and by the fact nothing was done about it. Meanwhile Carlos Tevez continues to be treated like a squatter who is sleeping in Fergie’s front yard.
And to think how mad everybody was towards Didier Drogba and Michael Ballack for showing anger, passion and emotion because they cared about their team and teammates and for what was happening to their collective effort. They get scapegoated as malcontents and scum but nothing they did was disrespectful to the teammates they play with and for and who they have to share the highs and lows the sport fairly or unfairly dishes out. Nothing they did came out of selfishness. Just so sad.
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@Roge9: You could be right mate but then again I personally give up trying to figure him out. Nothing he does ever seems to make sense and I honestly think there are two people vying for control of his pea sized brain. The part that respects and appreciates what Fergie and United have done for him and the other one with the horns that dreams of delusions of grandeur and life in Spain and being World Player of the Year every year until he retires while playing every minute of every game.
The boy is struggling to find his humility and what really is important in life. Frankly, he reminds me of my ex who went to Hollywood to be an actress. He like her has been seduced by the negative things in the game and in the process the lad is slowly losing his soul and those things that made him a likable and interesting respectful lad when he showed up. All he needs to do is look at what happened to the other Ronaldo and Ronaldinho and especially Maradona to see what road he is heading down. Don’t believe me? Just wait two more years.
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The injury to Andres Iniesta is proof positive that SAF was right to take Ronaldo off today, why take the chance, sometimes footballers, like boxers, have to be saved from themselves.
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@NicoQB: Nah, The Pistols started it all. Often imitated but never duplicated. They were awful musicians but their attitude and their music and theatrical presence for me at least still resonates. I was very much into the New Wave and punk scene of the late 70′s and early to mid 80′s and although I was trendy. rebellious and Bohemian in nature, I just loved the music that came from England and the entire scene. I never had a wild haircut or took the drugs but I sure got drunk a lot and hated the establishment. For me the Pistols and the Clash were fantastic and I also liked Rotten’s second band Public Image Limited.
One of my all time favorite songs is by PIL and it’s called “Rise”.
In fact I saw the Pisotls again 4 years ago on their big reunion tour. Fun stuff watching old men trying to recapture their wild and misguided youth. I also appreciated the fact that they played some of the great PIL songs to boot.
As for the Buzzcocks, truly, not a fan. Not bad, but not in the same league according to my ears and taste. For me the heir to the Pistols and the Clash was a band form the late 80′s and early 90′s who still for me have the greatest album I have ever listened to. I am talking about the Goth Rock group “The Sisters of Mercy”. There album “Floodland” is my favorite album of all time and that includes all of the great Beatles albums which I adore. If you haven’t heard it I suggest you give it a try. It’s epic Punk Rock Opera and it’s produced by the king of Rock Opera Jim Steinman (who produced Meatloaf’s Bat out of Hell albums). It’s just so awesome in my opinion.
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@RedDevilEddy: How do you do all that mate? That is awesome. I am a good player of the game but how do you program the game to create scenarios and reproduce moments like that? Seriously. It’s very impressive but I honestly can’t see how one does that in the game considering their really isn’t an advanced scenario or player tool like that built into the game. Please explain.
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@johnsom33: Regardless of what his body language means mate, it’s disrespectful to his teammates and incredibly selfish and arrogant. It’s wrong and he should be given a good tongue lashing. And if the manager isn’t going to do it, then that is the role of a captain. Too bad we don’t have one. I really miss Roy Keane at times like that. He would have shined his boot up real nice, turned it sideway and rammed it up Ronaldo’s candy ass (Apologies to the Rock for stealing his schtick). Keano would never have let him get away with that.
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@NicoQB: Yes the Gomez who scored four goals over the weekend and is now top scorer in the Bundesliga with 23 goals and with 33 in 51 games this year. Sorry but I just got back on to his bandwagon of late. He is once again laying well and his bugabooo with the National team will eventually end because it’s not like the lad lacks the talent. Look at Podolski, he does fuck all with Bayern but he scores lights out for Germany. Some players are like that. Gomez is a good scorer but I feel he lacks the pace United need. He would suit a Chelsea or even Liverpool much more.
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@Dan: Gomez has been awesome since the second half has begun in Germany. He has really regained his form and above all, his confidence. But Dan, he’s no Huntelaar.
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@NicoQB: Benzema might be a better all round player than Gomez but he is not a better goal scorer or as natural a goal scorer. Benzema is more like a poor man’s Rooney where Gomez is more like a van Nistelrooy. Completely different players that contribute in different ways.
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@Fred The Red: Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched mate. We still have three games to play before the final and we could still suffer a few major injuries.
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Just a few comments regarding the game. Very sloppy up front and in the midfield but a good performance by EVDS and the back four. Vidic was my player of the match. He was in his “Thou Shalt Not Pass” mode all game.
The only other thing I’d like to say is I thought Berbatov was wonderful today. His first touch and ball control and ability to hold up the ball was great. I just wish we could get him to go into the box more for the occasional goal. He was sublime today.
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@Grognard: Dude, its just skills…
I have got Xbox Live, so I upload my goals to eafootballworld.com and then download them to my computer. I use windows movie maker to fix the pieces and make 8+ clips a whole “movie”. Then i upload it to Youtube!
I am very good at most parts in the game. What I find most difficult when it comes to re-creating goals like that (free-kicks), is to get the free-kick in the exact position of the real life goal. I only have one controller, so I just have to try to win a free-kick by moving my controlled player at the correct time. When I first win the free-kicks its about scoring, and hitting it as perfectly and real as possible. Since I already am confident that I will score, I hit the celebration button the moment I hit the ball, so I celebrate earlly like they do in reality. I get an image of various players, and Ronaldo celebrating. But to make it longer I keep playing the game so I score more goals, and get more celebrations. Like the triple fist pump and the pump up crowd! Then its jsut ahout mixing it and finding the right moment of commentary.
Hope I explained it well! Oh, and if you have any requests of a goal you want me to score in FIFA 09, like Rooney vs Newcastle, Scholes vs Barca or Beckham vs Greece, then just tell me and I will dedicate the goal to you on Youtube.
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@Grognard: Skysports are reporting that Ronaldo left the ground just 15 minutes after the final whistle, if this is true and it transpires that he has spat his dummy out for something so trivial then SAF must show him who the boss is, if it ultimatley leads to his departure then so be it, his return to form would mean that we could get 70 plus million for him.
SAF needs to be careful that a few rotten apples do not spoil the whole barrel. Not that Tevez is a rotten apple, but him washing his dirty linen in public combined with Ronaldos petulance could be symptoms of something more sinister at the club.
I hope its just a storm in a tea cup, but if its not and Ronaldo thinks he can hold the club to ransome then I would not think twice about selling him in the summer coz this has all the hallmarks of someone trying to engineer a move, hope Im wrong.
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Just wonder what you guys make of Carlitos celebration today? Holding his hand up towards his ear like “You hear that boss” or “Did you say anything”. Usually players make celebrations like that when they play away from home, telling the crowd “You are silent fucks!” Made me a little surprised actually…
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@Matt: He’s scored a few goals in France, but what has he done really? A lot less than Ribery when he left France, and he cost about £20 million. Certainly not £40mil. Zidane was £4mil, and he was 29 and the best in the world! It’s all talk by Lyon. They’d have a £20million hole in their Champions Leagueless pockets. The only team I see biding against us is Citeh and hey aren’t even going to be in the Europa League!
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Zidane was £46mil… no idea where the 6 went..
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@Traverse:
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@RedDevilEddy: I dare you make a goal like Scholes against Aston Villa at Villa park 2006-2007
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Skysports has just shown the mornings papers, theyre having a field day with Ronaldo and Tevez, just what we need at this point in the season.
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@RedDevilEddy: Carlito was asking why he hadn’t heard whether he’s leaving or staying. It was designed as a public display to embarrass SAF and as such will fall on deafer ears, now.
Pretty dumb, if you ask me, to confront SAF in that manner. Just ask RVN, Heinze, Beckham and Staam!!
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@Grognard: I know that the Pistols started Punk and all the esthetism that goes with it but at the end of the day (footballing cliché) I just don’t enjoy myself that much listening to them – the reason why I love the Buzzcocks so much is that their music is great fun!
Also apart from their one album I don’t think they have much else to offer. Nonetheless I’ll agree with you with the Clash, London Calling is a towering ahievement, and I think I’ll also like Combat Rock.
I’ve heard of the Sisters of Mercy and I intend to listen to them seriously one day.
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@Fred The Red: As unbelievable as this might sound, I have a sneaking feeling that Ronaldo was pissed off that Berbatov was not subbed out instead of him.
There’s a lot of chatter about Berbatov being isolated on the team, and I get a distinct feeling that those two are not the best of buddies. This is pure speculation, and I have nothing to substantiate this, but it would answer a lot of questions surrounding these two, this season!!?
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