Apr 02
Manchester United vs Chelsea: Preview
Its crunch time in the Premier League with Chelsea coming to Old Trafford to face a Manchester United side somewhat shell-shocked from a last minute defeat against Bayern Munich, a fact the Blues will be well aware of and will of course look to exploit, not to mention the injury to a certain striker.
A tough match will ensue as the top two in the Premier League go head to head on Saturday afternoon. Manchester United will look to their defensive record at home, conceding only 9 goals in the league, but this will no doubt be tested by Chelsea who coincidentally have the most potent attack, scoring 82 goals in the 32 league games played so far.
The United line up should remain fair consistent with recent weeks, as per usual Edwin van der Sar will take up his place between the sticks. In front of the Dutchman will be Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, with Patrice Evra on the left and either Gary Neville or Rafael on the right. The club captain has been in reasonable form but has played the last nine matches, so it could be time he gets a breather.
John O’Shea could also be in line for a seat on the bench after returning to training but Wes Brown is still out with a metatarsal injury.
Of John O’Shea, Ferguson said, “John O’Shea and Owen Hargreaves have trained very well with the first team.
“They are not far away and I may use one of them as substitute tomorrow and the other on Wednesday.
“John O’Shea in particular has done a lot of work. The boy has come on terrifically well in the last two or three weeks.
“If I include one tomorrow and one on Wednesday it will give them the confidence that they are back.
“That is what they need.”
You did read correctly Owen Hargreaves may well be back on the bench come Saturday. It is likely he won’t get on the pitch but if selected as a substitute his confidence will be boosted no end.
A five-man midfield will again be deployed, Paul Scholes, Darren Fletcher and Ji-Sung Park should line up in the middle, with the South Korean acting as a defensive attacking midfielder assigned the task of keeping Frank Lampard quiet, while offering support to the front players. Michael Carrick should be dropped after a number of ineffectual performances.
They will be flanked by Nani on the left and Antonio Valencia on the right.
Many of you may have read that Wayne Rooney is injured. He has minor ligament damage in his ankle but should be back in a couple of weeks. All this means, Dimitar Berbatov will lead the line against Chelsea, though Sir Alex Ferguson is confident the Bulgarian can cope,
“Berbatov’s form has come great at the right time,” the United boss said.
“It is always hard to leave a player of his ability out of important games, and I am sure he can thrive on the responsibility. He is experienced enough to be able to handle that.”
Expect also, to see some of Federico Macheda, Sir Alex has confirmed he will play a part in the coming weeks,
“He is a terrific talent and can certainly play a big part,” Ferguson said.
“He was sub at Bolton, he will be sub again tomorrow [against Chelsea] and he will be sub on Wednesday [against Bayern].”
Chelsea will be going into the match after having a full week to prepare and rest ahead of what could prove to be a title decider, though they do have injury worries of their own.
Michael Essien, Ashley Cole, Ricardo Carvalho and Jose Bosingwa are all still unavailable, while Branislav Ivanovic is out with a knee problem. Didier Drogba has recovered from a knee complaint and will start against the Champions.
Interestingly though, Chelsea do seem to play with a lot more vigour and freedom when the Ivorian is not in the side. He has not been part of the two seven goal thrashing Chelsea have dished out this season and having Nicolas Anelka up-front on his own frees Frank Lampard to get forward and score, something he does with alarming regularity. Something Carlo Ancelotti commented on:
“Lampard is a very dangerous midfielder,” stated Ancelotti. “It is difficult to block him because he is a very dynamic player and he gets into the box at the right moment.
“He is a midfielder who scores 20 goals every season and he is unique in that respect. I was surprised by him. I knew him but not with the timing into the box and that is his most important quality.”
Ominous for Chelsea is their coach Carlo Ancelotti who has won five of his last six meetings with Sir Alex Ferguson. While United have lost three of the four league games that have followed European away games this season.
The tightest of margins separate these two sides and if Chelsea win they will have their Premier League fate in their own hands once more. United will have to forget the defeat against Bayern quickly and move on as we are entering a critical stage of the season where complacency is not an option.
On a more positive note, for those worried about the loss of Wayne Rooney, United have won their last nine league games without Rooney so lets hope that trend continues tomorrow.
Prediction: 1-1 Draw
Probable Line Up: van der Sar, Evra, Ferdinand, Vidic, Neville; Nani, Scholes, Fletcher, Park, Valencia; Berbatov
***
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- Chelsea v Man Utd: Preview
- Manchester United 2006/2007 Season Review
- Porto it is then…
- Sporting Lisbon vs Man Utd – Preview
Tags: Manchester United News
Opti (541)
Stephen (479)
RedDevilEddy (459)
Craig Mc (345)
Moscow is my heaven (272)
@Grognard: Yeah it was weird because usually me and you are on the same page regarding injuries. And your right you did go on to talk about playing thru pain, which turned into people getting angry at you for comparing N.American sports to footy.
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@Traverse: No, I predicted we would finish 3rd and if not careful 4th was not out of realm of possibility. And i have nothing to apologize for. They still might finish third and for the most part, the team has played exactly the way I expected them other than we have had some great luck this season and the emergence of three great players reaching heights nobody expected. They being Fletcher, Rooney and OwnGoalinho.
Mate the reason we are not fighting for 4th right now is because of Owngoalinho. We have been a plodding boring uncreative team for 3/4 of our games this season but we have also managed points in more of those games than I expected. I predicted we would lose ten games, we have lost 7. I predicted we would get knocked out at the quarter final stage of the CL, that still may happen on Wednesday. I fail to see how many of my predictions have not come true except for the standings. And that is not yet finished.
This for me has been the worst season to watch Manchester United football since back in the late 80′s. I am serious. We may have had teams that did far worse than this but no team looked so anemic, so unimaginative and lacking in creativity and talent as this one does. And lets not forget our manager’s ridiculous tactics and lineup selections. It’s been a joke. I never became a United supporter back in 1976 to be overdosed on 4-5-1 and back pass till your ass bleeds. This team sucks in my opinion and I could care less what others think. This is not my Manchester United.
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@Johnsom33: Thank you. And it’s true, North American athletes don’t lack the courage to play with a little pain. That’s what Tylenol and tape is for. But even so, I think playing Rooney a week after his injury might be risking it a bit early. Still, a sprain is a sprain and no matter what they say, it’s not a 3 to 4 week injury. If it was, it wouldn’t be a sprain. Thanks for backing me up there mate.
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@Grognard: I don’t see Chelsea losing any games in particular but at liverpool and at Tottenham gives us a better-than-nil chance, right? If we can dream of Silva/Gourcouff and Rodwell, sure we can dream that Chelsea become sloppy…
Liverpool are garbage against opponent like Brum but at home against top teams, they are VERY strong. Tottenham also have enough firepower and speed to cause Chelsea’s weakened defense some trouble. All we can do is WIN!
@Traverse: The fact that we played many games with only one fit defender and remain 2 pts behind Chelsea is something to be proud of.
@Grognard: I am a firm believer in the conservation of luck amongst all teams. We have been as lucky/unlucky as any other teams. Let’s hope we have had enough unluck and that chelsea is running out of luck… we might just knick it!!!!
19 > 4!
LUHG!
BELIEVE!
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@Grognard: You talk about Robben as he is Maradona.We are Manchester United and we should not fear of players like Robben.There are only 2 players in the world right now who can make us fear and you know who they are.
Our defenders are more than capable of handling any one.When you have something against player,you see his one bad game.And this is just an insult to Legends like Evra.Dont forget Messi has always shifted to Centre due to The Command of Evra when ever he has played against us..
But you are such who just remembers a bad game due to your personal hatred.Dont you feel guilty when you fault Evra and rates Huntelaar ‘The Bench warmer’ as world class.Oh God,but ya 40 years of experience….
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@Grognard:
Before the MF meltdown against Munich and Chelsea, we had scored 13 goals in 4 games. We’ve been on other clips like that this season as well, and in fact, throughout the SAF era we have been the most prolific goal scoring team in the PL.
So you can throw that point, along with all other elements of conservative play, right into the pizza oven, mate!
I made the point after Sunday’s game, and I’ll make it again now – but in more general terms.
SAF has had no option but to play with the extra MF’er. He had really no choice but to play Scholes and Neville, and as painful a decision as it might have been for him, he had to have Berbatov suited up as our single striker!
Talking of Italian style players, Mr. Languido Berbatovi would be just perfect starring for a team that would only expect to score 1 goal, once in a while!!
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@Grognard: Name some MLS players that consistently play through the pain barrier.
Apples -v- Apples, right??
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@[OPTI]Madschester United: Nothing is impossible but even if we win it, this will go down as my least favorite club in the past twenty years. Just bored watching them play most of the year. Can’t help myself. I personally feel a little betrayed because I became a fan of this club back when they weren’t always winning silverware, the mid 70′s. But even during those rough years they stuck to the motto of attacking and entertaining football. And for the most part they actually entertained and scored goals. Problem was they couldn’t keep from getting scored.
Winning is great but I can win by just investing money in a safe blue chip stock and boringly watch it creep up into something greater over a period of time. Winning is not everything to me. I cannot speak for you or others but for me, I watch football because it is the beautiful game. Well I don’t much care for the sport when it’s not very beautiful. The Barcelona vs Arsenal game was an advertisement for the beautiful game. What we play hardly qualifies anymore. At least not since we lost Ronaldo. Last year we played the same shitty brand of football but at least we had him to lift us off our seats and entertain us. This year, I’m just not feeling it. Oh Rooney may be scoring goals but close headers and tap ins are not that thrilling a s aback heel into the net, a swerving shot from 30 yards out or a free kick that defies gravity and physics. Ronaldo took my breath away and this club has not done anything to bring it back.
I BELIEVE!! But I just don’t know if I care.
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@Owen: Oh please!
Find me a quote where I talk of Robben like he is Maradona? Nowhere in my comments on Robben have I called him a prick, a scoundrel, a criminal and a druggy. 
But seriously, Robben is having a fantastic year for Bayern. Make no mistake of that. This season he is more dangerous than Ribery. He’s aggressive and he likes to cut in and his free kicks have been Ronaldo-like. So I would not sluff him off the way you do. Who knows, after the game on Wednesday, your words could come back to haunt you….BIG TIME.
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@Redrich: Why bring up the era? I said that is how Italian teams play and we copy the Italian style but not fully. And even though we score more than one goal a game, I have noticed many games where we go up one and then get lazy and coast until late in the game when we catch the opponent on a counter because they are tired. Not exactly an advertisement for attacking football mate. I know what we once did and I do not like what we are doing now. If you do, by all means fell free to do so, but I am offering my views on the way they play as I see them. Disagree if you must, but in my heart of hearts and in my mind, I know I am right. And I’m sure you feel the same way about yourself. Nothing comes of disagreeing with a viewpoint because most views are written in stone. I simply do not like the style of football we have been playing for two seasons now, end of.
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@Redrich: Berbatov would star for a team like that if the whole league played like that. But unfortunately he goes up against teams that don’t allow him to get away with his style of play like he would in Italy where the game is slow and plodding.
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@Redrich: MLS doesn’t count because they are footy players. Footy players are all pussies.
The gay community needs sports too. It’s the nature of the beast.
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@Grognard: I’m not gay…
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I cannot tell whether it is that we have no meny to spend (and I tend to believe it really is, because I am not conned by the Fergie “No value in the transfer market LIE”). or whether it is that Fergie judgement IS WRONG in that the Old Guard experience will make the difference for us again, or the players we have paid peanuts for hoping against hope they will come good, but I am worried! I feel Fergie has not done what he has always majestically done before, and that is strengthened every season, even where we didn’t see strengthening necessary. I think our team has been allowed to be run down, and not least because of Fergie’s buys and his dogged determination to persevere with our old war dogs (legends as they are) and his continual opportunity giving to Berbatov when he hasn’t done it for us in the way we have needed from him. This Fergie doggedness has and is still hurting United I believe, because we have been dumbed down. Sorry you all, not meaning to offend anybody, but we are on the verge of freefall because of this, whether we win anything this season or not. We will have hardly done it in usual Man United STYLE! What do you all think, and please be honest!
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@CraigMc: it will be much clearer after the season is over, by our standards we should be celebrating the league title now with taking the regards of other big four form. instead we have to depend on liverpool winning? and we have to win all of our matches which i dont think we can do with our team playing like this. if he doesn’t buy its the glazers i still refuse to believe that fergie is THAT stupid not notice our problems.
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@Grognard: when was the last time you watched a serie a match. if you follow the league then you would appreciate your stereo type of the italian game is just that stero type. i’m an inter fan 1st and a man united 2nd. i can’t believe you criticise the italian game and at the same time call for mourhino to take over at united. following inter religiously i can tell you that mourhino fits your description of italian game managers play. i just hope he pisses off from inter and goes to liverpool. there is no way a team managed by mourhino would play the attacking game that we all want to see at united.
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@EduardoDaVinci4: I know you are not but you play a sport that has been taken over by them. Well not gay per say but lets put it this way, no other sport in the world allows or tolerates the kind of theatrics and truly feminine traits that footy does. Footballers are generally small men in terms of height and weight except for the odd exception but the problem is that a vast majority of them come from cultures that not only condone but support cheating, diving, play acting and general thespian oriented activities. Anything to get an edge and anything to protect oneself from abuse. So forgive me mate if I do not particularly like that aspect of the game as well as the general lack of sportsmanship and respect shown referees. Referees don’t deserve respect but they still must get it instead of being ganged up on by player and especially managers. It’s truly becoming a spectacle for the limp wrist crowd. Sorry to say that and sorry if you took offence. Certainly wasn’t targeting you Eddy. Hell I haven’t even seen you play which is something I look forward to very soon.
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@CraigMc: I couldn’t agree with you more mate. Yes we as a whole have been dumbed down with the brand and lack of quality of our football of late. Well said.
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@tom: First off, I watch Serie as often as possible and I do follow Inter as I am a big Mourinho fan. Secondly, I have followed Serie A very closely since the mid 80′s when many world stars were going to Italy to play the game. Maradona, Rummenigge, Mattheus, Klinsmann, Careca, Gullit, van Basten, Rijkaard etc. I appreciate a lot of the technical qualities of the game played in Italy but the overall impression is the game has been bogged down by politics, a can’t lose mentality has overtaken a must win mentality and the managers always prefer caution over adventure.
Having said that, the league always has a team or two every year that plays a more open brand of football or at least is lethal when it comes to their counterattack. Inter and AC Milan are teams like that Juventus used to be. Today I still enjoy watching Inter because Mourinho has instilled a lot of the English game into that team. They cross the ball and run harder than any other team in Italy. But overall, the game in Italy has been and is presently, slow, cautious and plodding. Fans like you may get blinded simply because you are fans. Remember, even Burnley and Stoke have fans despite the fact their clubs are terrible. There is no answer for bad taste. You like Italian football and see it in a way only the minority of the world sees it, well be my guest. But don’t come on here and tell someone who has watched and studied the game for 40 years that he stereotypes. I don’t know how old you are but the chances are i have watched more hors of Italian football than you lived. So your accusation is far from it, I speak the truth.
And as for Mourinho, he does what he has to do in a league to survive. You may not want him but that’s fine, nobody is asking for your permission. I do want him and if he does get the offer to manage the club, I for one will be elated because the man is a winner and tactically a genius because he knows how to take on teams with the right game plan and through his great motivational techniques. I personally do not think he could get more cowardly and cautious and tinker with lineups as badly as Fergie has over the past two seasons. Frankly, I am fed up with Fergieball.
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Please let’s not sign Akinfeev. He just put Inter through to semis with a Howardesque howler.
Adler/Neuer/Lloris should be only options with Neuer on top my list.
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@EduardoDaVinci4: omg i thought that was you for a second eddy
hahahha
spray tan and hair dye kid and all your problems are over.
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well well well Oshey is ready for bayern but has grown manboobs and now has to wear a sports bra
PIC
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Guys
I wonder if Pool will even try to win against chelscum?
They really have little chance of making top 4 now and by beating the scum they will hand United the trophy that eclipses their own haul.
hope they are too dumb to realize and win anyway, taking out dogbreath in the process wouldnt hurt my feelings ether.
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@gator: I’ll never look like that!
Thankfully! 
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@Grognard: I was just jesting bro, never took any offence from that.
I see your point, it’s something I really hate with the game these days. Screaming at them pussies telling them to grow some fucking balls is my way of stopping that shit, it pisses me off at times. Divers are pricks, no love for the game.
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i hate barca, does anyone else hate them?
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I maintain that it is not so much tactical as a reflection on the players we have. The great United teams were built around box to box central midfielders and fast pacey wingers and robust strikers, allowing us to play a 4-4-2 with some success.
Then we moved towards a counter attacking style to take advantage of the pace of the famous threesome of Tevez, Ronaldo and Rooney with the midfield sitting deep to counteract their lack of pace.
Now we’ve lost Tevez and Ronaldo we are trying to combine the two styles, but it isn’t working because while Rooney has become a lot better in the air, our midfielders aren’t box to box and are still slow, and our counter attack doesn’t really work as so many of our counter attacks in previous seasons were based on Rooney and Ronaldo (and in 2007/8) Tevez combining.
All the while we still have the achilles heel of struggling against possession football sides. And this has been a problem of virtually every single United team. We give the ball away too much and when we are put under pressure we forget how to pass.
Im no tactician so I have no idea what direction to move the team towards.
I think the counter attacking football of 2007/8 would be very difficult if not impossible to replicate. It was built around the skills of Ronaldo.
Our priority should be to buy two central midfielders. One in the box-to-box mould, such as Rodwell. Another in the creative mould, such as Gourcuff. Combine that with the industry of Fletcher (and possibly Hargreaves) and we can comfortably play either a 4-4-2 or a 4-4-1-1 with an attacking midfielder in the hole (NOT PARK).
Im convinced the main reason our football is dire this season is our central midfield, not our tactics. Pairing Fletcher, who is industry personified, with a slow, ponderous midfielder like Scholes and Carrick who both play really deep, is a recipe for boredom.
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Poor arsenal, last year they got shredded by Ronaldo, this year it’s messi.
How worthless is silvestre? This should be his last professional match
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Looking out our squad now I can’t help but see how far we have fallen. The team which won in Rome was a fantastic side, and we really didn’t have much weakness. The team we have now is a shadow of that team. And fergie is guilty of not replacing parts when they left. It’s remarkable to me that we are still in the title race and competing in Europe.
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Johnsom, while it is fun to laugh at Arsenal, just imagine what Barcelona on form could do to us? We’ve been pasted for forty five minutes by Bayern, Chelsea and Milan. If you let Barcelona dominate for forty five minutes they’ll put you out of the fixture. After all Barcelona easily disposed of the same Bayern Munich side that is threatening to dump us out of the competition.
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Gentlemen, we are now witnessing the worlds best player in the most elegant of actions at the Nou Camp. Simply beautiful!
Lionel Messi… take a fucking bow!
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Messi is rightly getting all the plaudits. But Arsenal have been woeful defensively today and do not seem to have made any effort at all to close Messi down and mark him. I still think he doesn’t do enough in the big games. In the final last year it was Xavi and Iniesta rather than Messi who undid us, and he didn’t do anything against Chelsea in the semis.
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@colver: You’re right, he can be bullied out of his game – however, Arsenal don’t have that element in theirs!!
That said, he was was truly great today.
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@colver: If you want to mark Messi in a game,then the marker will get red card in 20 minutes.You can’t stop.It will 5 players around him to mark.
It is just simple.
THIS GUY IS THE BEST IN THE WORLD BY MILES.
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Some persons still think that he doesnot do well in big games.Wow.
Was today a small game.When he destroyed Madrid at Madrid,was it a small game.To score in Cl final is a small game.
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Is there any way to ‘brainwash’ Messi’s head so that he suddenly hate Barca and requesting transfer to Manchester United?
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He’s simply the best player of his generation – that’s all you need to know. Frankly, if you still think Rooney is a better footballer, you’re either a member of the Rooney family or some kind of xenophobic revisionist who will always favour a pasty face.
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GREAT NEWS:
http://www.newsnow.co.uk/A/412279456?-11193
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Is Barca considering swapping Messi with Babytov???
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Hmm.. I wonder when my beloved Manchester United can start playing like Barcelona. Man Utd in 90′s is a joy to watch. Nowadays, Our game have become boring and more boring. We need to bring 2-3 talented and creative midfielder, who can dictate our play
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Fergie’ quote:
“No wholesale buying is needed as we have a very good squad that just needs tweaking here and there,”
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Has Fergie gone mad?
Acc to him,Ribery is not faster than Neville.
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@SAj: barca is the best club in the world atm. they have a proper work ethic which comes through the youth system. a good administrative structure, a huge stadium. what else do u need? no debts. the club is by far the best run in the world. how ever much british would not like to admit it and how ever much manchester united or liverpool are popular around the world. barca just beats all other clubs hands down.
And i am really sad when i wrote this.
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@Owen: @Owen: I think he is referring to ‘Neville of 10 years ago’ :p
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Lionel Messi has played 203 times for Barcelona scoring 119 goals and assisting 48 others. That means he has been involved in 82 percent of Barcelona’s goals in all competitions since 2004 .
This stats is more than to put any doubt about him in graveyard.
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@Owen: Agree with you. Although they spend some huge amount of money for certain players such as Ibrahimovic, but their ability to continuously producing talented players from their own academies such as Bojan and Pedro is really enviable
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Messi should be banned for being too good
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@Owen: When did Ribery become faster than Neville?
And when did Berbatov become the best player in the world?
And when did Messi become taller than Koller?
And when did Mourinho become modest?
And when did the Glazers become Saints for Manchester United?
Oh yeah…
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@Owen: I hope not…
It’s too much of a joy watching him for me to wish him being banned. It’s just… Orgasmictonical!
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@Owen:
Do you read Soccer 365 much, theres me thinking you were a brilliant original thinker
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