Azz

While I agree that what fergie and co get away with is disgraceful, I think we can all agree that the quality of refereeing is poor. There are very few top level refs that I think are up to the job, Howard Webb is one but the likes of Wiley and Riley are pathetic. Thing is though, who'd want to be a referee when all you get is insulted by managers and players at all levels of the game. Fergie has an example to set as he is the most high profile manager. I'd like to see the FA fast-track promising ref's into the top levels, giving them proper training and good pay. At the moment you have to work your way up from the bottom and even if you are promoted at every opportunity it still takes a long time before you even reach the football league. Respect needs to come from both sides. Players and managers need to respect the refs decision, while the FA and the ref's need to respect the integrity of the game. But anyway nothing will change, Fergie will serve his ban while the rest of United goes apesh*t at the unfairness of it all. Then he'll return to the touchline and get 25 minutes extra time and 2 penalties in his favour first game back.

Yes of course. I want Chelsea to be in the same league as all the 'big' clubs and historical rivals. But it is funny watching them languish in the 3rd division!

:) Hindsight is a wonderful thing!

Zirhkov has played near to a full season already as the Russian league starts in March and finishes in November. That combined with an injury means he's not going to be fit till half way through the season, besides there no reason to rush him into the side. As for Ancelotti in the United game... -He didn't attempt to change the game at all. However, unless he has the conviction to try something completely different in the middle of a tight game, I don't see what he could have done. Maybe Ballack/Lampard off for a winger and go 4-4-2, but then again why gamble? - Drogba off for Kalou. I thought this was mainly to stop Drogba being sent off as he nearly got a second yellow protesting against Evans's tackle on Carvalho. -When we scored we shut up shop. It worked this time but United still had their chances at the end (Valencia fluffed a clear shot on goal). Alex for Anelka at the end seemed like a worried substitution. Disappointing that we were never a threat on the break. - Tactically Ancelotti didn't seem to prepare for United. He let Fergie make his move and have him the tactical initiative. Predicting how United were going to play and adapting to that could well have been better, I'm sure the players would trust him. - Defensively we were excellent. United had many corners but only got one, very difficult, chance when Evans had a long range header in stoppage time.

Can someone tell me how Drogba is more off putting to VDS than any of the united players? Does red make you see-through?! Also if Drogba stood in an on-side positon and put on a firework display to upset VDS would that be OK? What a stupid regulation 'interfering with play' is. Sure if you dummy the ball into the net from an offside position then that should be a freekick, but things like Drogba's attempted poke at the ball (later than any of Valuev's jabs the other night) are completely irrelevent. And I'm not just saying that because it favours us this time. There is a decent shout for a foul on Wes Brown though but hey, who gives a sh*t!! It's not surprising that as soon as United went behind they lost all discipline, it happens every game and the usual suspects get a desultory booking or get away scott free.

I think we deserved to win the game because we scored 1 goal and you scored null..... Ok we were lucky to win the game, though a defeat would have been unlucky for sure, but you were lucky to beat City and Arsenal. In 6 months time this result will be 1-0 chelsea and nothing else, just as the games that went your way. As for atmosphere. The atmosphere at most top teams is pathetic because of £40 tickets and corporate give-aways. Atmosphere is pretty irrelevant to the people in charge of football because the money comes from TV figures not the people coming through the gate. And it goes without saying that away fans are always louder, man for man, than home fans.

Gone for Ivan. Defended brilliantly and made the most of Giggs being unable to keep up with him all game.

Excellent win today. United got the tactics spot on but still couldn't fashion clear cut chances or keep us out. Ivanovic was excellent although it helped that he was being man marked by a guy who new Plato at school. Most of our play went through Anelka. Normally he doesn't show up in these kind of scrappy dogfights, one of Ancellotti's big achievements is getting Anelka to play for the team Drogba was very poor I thought, an old-school Drogba performance. Lost his cool, understandably, after being booked for getting kicked in the chest. It's very easy to say he milked the injury, but when you get winded you literally can't move for a few minutes and then your fine. For United, Rooney was excellent as was Fletcher (even though he acted like a prize twat all game) As for the goal, so what if Drogba was offside, he wasn't interfering with play as VDS must have been able to see the ball coming (and saying he was interfering then suggests that United's players are see through!).

Bit of a strange analysis of the 2 midfields as Barclay's only selecting Central Players. I'd pick Valencia and Giggs over Kalou and Malouda any day. They can keep Nani Upfont I think Drogba and Anelka are a better partnership than Rooney and Berbatov, although they obviously 2 very different sets of players I know which one I'd rather have. 3-0 to us Drogba Anelka Ashley Cole United get a man sent off at the end and Fergie goes Ape sh*t

God I hate this man. He's the epitome of the over-hyped gladiatorial style that Sky use to make so much money. For example I once heard him describe Stevie me as "A Leader of Men" A Leader of Men???????? Who is he, Alexander the Great? Gray will do what he always does when we play, slate us continually then act unsurprised when we score. Any praise will be proceeded by 'I Have to say it but...' or likewise....

We should do what they did in Lower Manhattan when they ran out of space.....Build up. :D

United have been shaky this season and at times have offered little going forward. I think a lot of teams fear United because of their pedigree and therefore visiting teams to OT can loose before they get on the pitch. United's problem is that they have no-one staying up front. Berbatov and Rooney are both forwards who like to drop deep, which is fine IF you have the wingers who run beyond them into central positions exploiting the space created by Berbatov and Rooney's movement. Ronaldo did this to stunning effect last 2 seasons. However out of United's current wingers; Valencia is a good player but sticks to the touchline rather than adopting a CF position, Nani doesn't have a brain and Giggs is now too slow to burst through the defence time and time again. This all means that United are playing a system without the right players to pull it off (i.e. Ronaldo) Owen would be the 1 player who'd adopt a classical CF position with either Berbatov or Rooney, but I can't see him staying fit for any amount of time nor does he seem to be particularly sharp anymore. Then of course theres Rio, who seems to be going through an extended lack of form. But could you drop Ferdiand for Evans before a big game? Of Course United are United and will always be an excellent team. Fergie seems to have a period of domination followed by a couple of season where he rebuilds the squad and then come backs to dominate. I think this is one of the seasons where United need to build the squad again. VDS - 8 V.solid keeper O'shea - 7 Useful utilty man Brown - 7 Solid. . Neville - 4 Past it Ferdinand - 9.5 when on top of his game, at the moment 6 Vidic - 7 Excellent CB though can struggle against the best CF's, Torress has given him the run around on many occaisions (8 when Ferdinand is playing well) Evans - 7 Very promising, no reason why he can't be up their with the best given time Evra - 9 Just as good as Ashley Cole, who is very good Carrick - 7 Good distribution, but can rarely take control of a game in the way that a Keane would do Anderson - 6 Just don't rate him. What can he do that the rest of United's CM's cant? Scholes - 7 Tends to either be woeful or incredible at this stage of his career. Still can't tackle and gets a way with condemnation because he's Scholes Fletcher -8 Excellent energy, consistant performer, scores goals, tackles, doesn't get sent off. Made the most of his ability. Park - 8 See Fletcher, but on the wing. Berbatov 8 Don't think he's as lazy as people make out. His performance often depends on the rest of the team, awesome if supported. Won't bully defences like Drogba or Torres will Rooney 9 Runs everywhere, lethal finisher, capable of magical skill. Needs to learn when to run around and when to stay put Owen 6, 10 minute cameo's all season. Turning into the English Inzaghi

Can you imagine not having the money to go to a fancy restaurant at all?

My Fergie theory is that, the more noise he makes the more he thinks you are a threat. However he must recognise that on current form United are in trouble come next weekend, so it will be interesting to see whether he goes down the intimidation route or the respectfully patronising one...

The Russian season ends around now so he has had around a full season of football already. Most players who come from Russian leagues take a long time before they can play, Ivanovic didn't play for ages either nor did Alves at Middlesborough. Also apparently under Zico at CSKA fitness went out the window.

These Liverpool 'protest' marches are hilarious. Loosing 4 games in a row following unconvincing transfer market dealings isn't exactly invading Vietnam now is it. Get a grip!

Article in the guardian today... That's why I believe in Ancelotti, he realises that the players are man enough to admit mistakes and then work on them. The problem with our squad is that theres almost too much experience and therefore too many ego's. However top pro's are usually perfectionists and if you realise that all you need to do is point out the mistake then the top pro will correct it himself. This squad won't work well with a dictator, it just needs someone that the players can respect. That and the ability to tell a player when his sh*t stinks... Sure this is only a paper article but it's yet another example of the spirit and desire for perfection that this squad has and in a season where i see no stand out team, in terms of ability, that could well be the difference come May.

OK lets way this up... (Im only looking at the 2nd leg, first leg is pretty irrelevant in terms of deciding whether somethings up in this game For UEFA fixing things to make it harder for us to win. appoint an inexperienced ref at this level. One who has a poor record in other high profile games Platinis clear hatred for premier league Repeat of last years final is clearly bad for the competition whichever way you look at it. 4 maybe 5 clear penalties not given. Unamimous decision amongst pundits that even accounting for human error 2 or 3 penalties would have been given UEFA shuts up shop on criticising/investigating ref Against Abidal sent off for nothing. (can be discounted by having a poor ref in charge. penalties can't be because there too many) Hard if not impossible to prove. I don't think that the ref was taking a bung to fix the match. That is too hard to do without it being obvious. However I believe that UEFA appointed him on purpose and may have even had words to him about not giving penalties or something like that. A few choice words about his career in future high profile competitions could easily have been said.

to be fair 1-1 with a late equalizer knocking us out isn't too far fetched a prediction. Nor is bookings for fiery players such as Drogba and Ballack.

Thing is with Ballack he knows exactly when, what and how to win freekicks. It's clear he does it on purpose but it fits with the ruthless German efficiency vibe. Like when he squared up to Ronaldo in teh game at teh Bridge last season. Just enough aggression to tell Ronaldo to sit down, but not too much so that he got in trouble.

It's not just the diving though. He fains injury more than most other players despite being an absolute unit. He mouths of in the press about leaving His petulance in the CL final could well have cost us the trophy. However Drogba, as unplayable as he is, makes us a bit one-dimensional. He is unable to play with another striker meaning we have Anelka on the bench or out of position and any youngster coming through will rarely get a look in. Unless Hiddink stays I would like to see the club cash in over the summer. Whoever the new manager is he needs to start looking at a new set of players and move on. One of the reasons ManUre have been so successful is that Fergie has been bold enough to sell the players that defined his team when they started to decline and build a new squad (Beckham, Nistelroy, Cole etc.) Plus if Drogba continues his form we should be able to get a hefty fee for a player in his 30's.

I should suspect that anywhere near or on the Ramblas would be a good bet. The Ramblas is the main street and has bars galore, it's fairly touristy as well so I'm sure you could find an suitable venue. Don't know of any specifically though...

Well said Charlie B. Fans being Partisan where these events are concerned just isn't really on. Thats why it gets my goat when theres an attitude from Liverpool fans (and Man United fans last year) to "do it for the 96" etc as if the glory of winning trophies is somehow magnified by past tragedies. (Not that you have done any of these things, quite the opposite...) Same goes for fans that bring out the 'dipper' comments, it's just banter that comes with the territory which is fine normally but is pretty pathetic in these circumstances. As for the police, nothing changes. A quick look at the pack of lies they sprouted after Ian Tomlinson's death the other week shows that they can pretty much say what they want, blame who they want and get away with it.

Backbiter - you are correct that fans were to blame. The point is that Liverpool fans didn't too anything that day that other fans wern't doing week in week out.

I don't buy the blaming Liverpool fans shtick, mainly because football fans were always trying to get into the ground without a ticket (Pool fans obviously haven't learned the lesson though. As for having a pre-match drink (or 10), thats hardly unique to the scousers is it? TBH Hillsborough could have happened to most sets of fans in the country at the time as another poster explained with his accounts of near-misses. The fans were to blame on the day but it was because they did what most fans did at the time not because they were pool fans. Furthermore there are numerous accounts of fans going back into the ground to rescue people (Forest fans as well) I would say that only Liverpool fans would tread the disaster in such a crass way. Man United are rightly slated for bleeding Munich of every single penny but Liverpool fan's emotional manipulation is just as bad in my book. The FA should have held a minutes silence at all football league grounds on the weekend nearest to the disaster, thats all that is needed. To single out a tie between two unconnected clubs and have them applaud carnage is simply bizzare. I assume that next time we play a game on 9/11 we will be asked to form a conga line in remembrance....