TJB

Thank f**k for that.

I wonder if that was a Chelsea player diving, would the commentators be having such a laugh about it.

Sorry to drag this back up, but I didn't get a chance to reply last night. You seemed to get confused mid-post about your argument. You called United the biggest club in the world, while providing nothing to back that up. Though it appears you were trying to but then started talking about Munich for some reason, and then took a shot at Chelsea & Abramovich. I mean, I didn't even mention Chelsea in my previous replies to you. You disappoint me. I had high hopes for you. I hoped you were a higher class of manc troll. Alas, wasn't to be.

No you are a liar. You said the Google search would slap me in the face. The FACT is it didn't. My face remained un-slapped. But being serious, I can't nor won't dispute that United are the most valuable sports team. But is that alone worthy of the title of biggest club in the world? Surely on field success, coupled with the quality of players, counts just as much? I mean United have had a really good team in recent years (and beyond obviously), but are you telling me you wouldn't swap the title of "most valuable sports franchise" for the Barcelona team of the last 4 or 5 years?

The answer to your question is yes.

A good cup tie. Them having that prat Warnock in charge will make beating them all the more sweeter. Feel free to blame me if we lose

Really?? A Google search will slap me in the face? F**king hell, I know they're making major advances in technology all the time but that's amazing. Must go try it out.... You liar!! On a side note, I believe the word you're looking for is "your", not "ya".

I think Barcelona or Real Madrid might have something to say about that last line.

I think we got a few actually. Ivanovic could have seen red if he determined his tackle on Evra was 2 footed in the 1st half. Likewise the Torres challenge on Cleverly could have seen red. (Both would have been harsh in my opinion btw, just providing the other side of the argument is all). He could have also given a penalty against Luiz for handball (again would have been harsh seeing as there wasn't much he could have done, but we've seen them given). Anyway, I think people might be going overboard a bit about his performance. The first red was correct. The 2nd is debatable. Like I said earlier in the thread, I've no problem with Torres being booked for that if it's going to be what refs do in every game. But I suspect it won't be. And that complaint is regarding consistency from refs, not implying corruption. The other major decision (the offside goal) was the assistant's call to make, and he's the one that blew that call.

You can only appeal a straight red, unless it's a case of mistaken identity, which isn't the case here. Besides, he only misses the mid week game, a game he may not have played in anyway.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20128484

Yeah, I wouldn't place blame with Cahill for that goal. When the ball comes in, he's got Van Persie to his right, Young making a near post run in front of him, and Rafael coming in from the edge of the box. There's only so much you can do when you have to cover 3 players on your own.

He was clipped by Ivan. It may not have been deliberate but the ref had no choice. On the Fergie comments, I recall a few years back, Ronaldo dived against Boro to win a penalty. Fergie defended him by saying there was intent on the keeper's part to take him down. Not surprising with Fergie though.

My problem with the Torres sending off is the lack of consistency from refs. If every player who goes down easily or dives gets the same punishment, fair enough, because there wasn't enough contact for Torres to go down. But the majority of the time, that incident would have resulted in a free for Chelsea and a yellow card for Evans. As for the rest of the game, there are plenty of positives for us to take. We should real fight and spirit when down 2-0, and again when down to 9 men. The passing and movement 15 minutes either side of half time was a joy to watch. Disappointed with the way we conceded those first 2 goals. Long balls down our left side seemed to cause Luiz and Cole all sorts of problems. Hopefully the lads can bounce back from this and continue our good start. Because for the last few seasons, it's been around this time of the year that things have gone sh*t side up for us.

They can't appeal as it was a second yellow. Besides, he's only going to miss the game mid-week. Not the end of the world.

Nah, he must be right. I mean, with tactical genius like below, what else could it have been?

Why is the question "Will Rio shake Cole's hand?" Surely, after the tweet that Rio retweeted and called "classic", the question should be "will Ashley shake Rio's hand?" I know, I know, it doesn't suit the media agenda, but it is what I would be thinking. But I also know Ashley will offer his hand on Sunday, because he is the bigger man and isn't trying to garner sympathy from anyone.

True, you only have to look at Italy who lost their 4th spot to Germany. That said however, I would still expect us, United & Arsenal to all make it out of the group stages and may advance further, depending on the draw and so on. But City are all but gone I would think.

No it has not, Arsenal are behind now too. Not that I care or anything.

3-1 and it's looking bad. Ajax all over them.

I did notice on a number of occasions in the second half he was jogging rather than sprinting to get into the box when we had the ball out wide. His general performance was good though and he came close with that late chance.

I don't think so in this case. I think it was a reasonable question to ask. And Robbie handled it well.

Whoa what a game. I'll be wearing a smile for the rest of the day. Sooo, thoughts on the game. Outstanding first half. Everyone was on top of their game. Defence was solid and dealt reasonably comfortable with their attacks. We broke brilliantly and swiftly at times. Mikel had a fantastic first half. Showed for the ball and used it effectively. His performance was summed up by the moment he almost got caught in possession but held off 2 or 3 Spurs players before moving it forward. We could, and should, have been at least 2 goals up at half time. Then the 2nd half. We got caught at the set piece. Not sure what Cech was at, he should have cut out that ball back across before it got to Gallas. We were rattled for 20 minutes from there and Spurs tore into us. You could see the 2nd goal coming. After the onslaught stopped, we started passing and playing again. Mata scored 2 outstanding goals. And it was fitting that he robbed that twat Walker for the 4th, after that little incident where Walker just blasted the ball off Mata when he was off the pitch. The individuals that impressed me most would be Mata (duh), Oscar was brilliant again. His head didn't drop when we went behind and kept playing. Hazard, Ramires and Mikel all had good games overall. Everyone did, bar that 20 minute spell. f**king great start to today.

Like most here, being born in 87 means I haven't had to suffer the lows that the older generation did. The 94 Cup Final is one of my earliest football memories. I don't remember much, if anything, about the game. Just the score, and seeing United lift the cup. From there things went up for Chelsea really. My lows would be the 2nd leg against Barca in 2000, coming so close before being destroyed with 10 men in extra time. Kanu's hat-trick at the Bridge. The cup final loss to Arsenal. The "ghost goal" against Liverpool. And of course Moscow and Ovrebo. An honourable mention goes to the sacking of Carlo.

Who's gonna notice Roberts' "protest" anyway? Not like he's going to be playing or anything.