i don't think i'm missing much, my local club is Ipswich i guess but i don't care if they do well or not. i don't see why anyone would pay £30 or whatever to see some men running around for 90 mins trying to kick a ball in a net. but each to their own i spose.

i understand what you're saying about the fans allthough not all are like that i know. i have tried watching alone but makes no difference to me, i still hate it. i don't like many sports in general really and i think it stems from my school days. i got expelled for headbutting my P.E teacher who was the biggest twat ever.

all the people who have ever said Ronaldo or Rooney are next to Messi are absolute morons. Messi has been the best player in the world for the past 3 years. Its the English media thats perpetuated the fallacy that they can really stand up to him

And by the way i think Xavi and Essien are right behind Rooney and Ronaldo, in fact Essien might be the second best.

He did score this blinder that everyones forgotten, Makalele never did anything like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KuGLjYBOY4




Nice to see this whole thread being taken up with South West London club matters; my friend who goes to Griffin Park remains pessimistic about Brentfords future prospects. I do hope the Palace stay up though. QPR ive never been able to love.

Don't forget about Iniesta, my second favourite world football player (right after Messi).

yeah, Iniesta is outstanding. When he scored the equaliser against Chelsea last year i almost hit my head on the ceiling.
Messi, Xavi, Iniesta would be well qualified to be in the team of the decade.

Rooney especially is a very different player to Messi. Rooney is one of the best readers of the game I've ever seen. He may not be spectacular in what he does but his awareness of what's going on really is second to none. In that sense I'd put him closer to Totti - with a far better workrate. Ronaldo is closer to Messi but, I agree, not as good a player. The decision between Rooney and Messi though, far from being moronic, is more down to criteria. In a free-flowing footballing situation (as Messi faced against Arsenal) I'd go with the Argentinian over anyone right now. In a tight, physical battle against a more defensively minded side though, I'd probably favour Rooney.

In terms of comparing Messi with Maradona, I think they're about the same in terms of raw talent, but so far Messi has achieved everything with an already brilliant Barcelona side while Maradona pretty much singlehandedly led an otherwise fairly average Napoli side to the Serie A title.

And I completely agree about Essien.

the thing about the English fans is there are thousands upon thousands of football fans who go to football each weekend throughout the country. How many times has it kicked off in the last 5 years? Once? West Ham against Milwall for sure and i can't think of any other time
In the 70's and 80's it was savage but these days its almost unheard of.

And yet in recent years there's been a number of English fans stabbed while at away matches (seemingly just while on route to the stadium as opposed to during a fight)
You dont get people throwing Pigs Heads at players from the Holmesdale End. I dont recall a fucking moped being launched from the kop.
I dont remember English fans organising a battle royale in the woods near the border with a neighbouring country
and so on

That's all true but largely I think because the worst offenders aren't in the prem. If teams like Cardiff or Millwall get into the top flight I think we might see a lot more of it. The media only really takes that big an interest when a premiership team is involved - as with the West Ham v Millwall thing. But yes, on the whole I agree with you in thinking that, on the whole, the problem is far worse in Italy and Spain right now than it is in the UK. The big difference though is that England has a far stronger culture of fans travelling en masse to watch away games whereas from what I understand fans in the rest of Europe tend to stick either to home games or local derbies. Hence there's far more likelihood in England of fights breaking out in a game between say West Ham and Cardiff than there is between say Napoli and AC Milan.

The problem in terms of English supporters traveling to Europe is that they're still seen as kind of hooligan royalty. I know someone from Italy who tells me the 'ultras' for his team, Juventus, idolise the old West Ham, Manchester United and Chelsea 'crews' from back in the 70s and 80s and so go all out when any of those teams' supporters go over there - which in the case of West Ham is, of course very rare indeed. Although something similar happened to them in the US a couple of years ago when they went over there to play Columbus Crew.

Fascinating the odds for the World Cup. Italy looks like a great bet. Good odds on a team that knows how to get the job done. I think it's interesting that Spain is the favorite. I remember watching them win Euro 08. I'll be rooting naturally for the upstarts in red white and blue......Going to be sweet taking England out of it.......

Because I'm bored/trying to avoid doing some actual work, my team of the decade, based on a 4-4-2:

1 - Buffon (GK)
2 - Maldini (LB)
3 - Ferdinand (CB)
4 - Nesta (CB)
5 - Thuram (RB)
6 - Ronaldinho (LW)
7 - Zidane (CMF - Attacking)
8 - Essien (CMF - Defensive)
9 - Christiano Ronaldo (RW)
10 - Totti (STR)
11 - Raul (STR)

Subs:

GK - Chech
DF - Ashley Cole
DF - Zanetti
MF - Kaka
MF - Roy Keane
FW - Drogba
FW - Eto'o

Manager: Mourinho (even though I can't stand him)

I've not included Messi or Rooney because they look more like they'll come into their own during this decade rather than the last one.


Argentina may have the playing talent but Maradona's tactical awareness is zero. They'll be ok when they're able to boss a game from the beginning but against a well organised side they'll be hopeless.

It's still Spain for me.

and they can't get rid of Maradona cause he's a national hero I take it. Maybe the players will take it on themselves to change the style of play. Is there a limit on the number of substitutions a coach can make in a game. A red card or 2 yellows in the same game equal immediate suspension from play? Yes or No?

He is a national hero, but I'm surprised he's still in place as national coach. The players apparently despair at his ineptitude and I suspect the Argentinian fans would rather he went if it meant giving the team a stronger chance of success. They won't replace him during the finals though. Once they're knocked out though, he'll be gone.

Regarding the substitutions and cards thing, teams can make three substitutions per game and yes, any player receiving a red card or two yellows in a single game means them being sent off during that game as well as a suspension from the next one. Also two yellows collected by any player during any stage of the tournament (be it the group or knockout stage) also means disqualification from the next game.

I also played in a football tournament organized by some christian youth movement and there was except for the obvious yellow and red cards also the possibility to obtain a blue card for cursing and swearing. For 2 blue cards there was 1 yellow card.
But I don't want to fool chicka with my dark past.

hahaha. it'd be interesting if they applied that in the premiership. john terry would hardly make it out of the dressing room.

On another note. is this racist?

you? you seemed like the friendliest person ever when I met you, stu. Can't imagine yourself doing something like that.

yeah i know, i've mellowed out alot since school but he drove me to it. he used to push everyone around and bully the kids and nobody did anything about it except me. i think he went properly crazy when i left. :D

back to the video i posted, has anyone watched it? could this be the next England World Cup anthem?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiWEA5fUjUg

yes, it's very good, although I can't understand much except for "Rooney", "Joe Cole" and "we have three lions on the shirt"

christ. that was truly horrible. I don't know why they don't just release some kind of multi-celeb version of 'three lions' and have done with it. Stick some old footballers in the video, along with peter kay and the now obligitary ray winstone. The anthem stays the same, mums and dads buy the cds.

Why am i not rich?

i have to agree with demonrail which is why i think it could go far! even though my friends brother made this which is why i'm posting it in this thread in the first place i think it is awfull! sorry Marcus i'm not doing a very good job promoting this.

yeah im not into sports either but i like a nice game, and the tribal warfare of the world cup is just fucking brilliant.

ha ha good @ headbutting the prick-- and you say you don't like football? that's how you score goals!

i haven't watched the video yet but i will today at some point... things suddenly getting busy here... blaghhh