Spike

No team ever fills up half of Wembley. Neutrals & Fat Cats with Italian suits and Swiss hand made watches tend to take a large chunk of the seatings.

I will forver argue that Sneijder or Milito were deserving of the Ballon D'or in 2010.

You know what's even more anno...fuck it, I'm too tired to continue....

Ronaldo and Vieri not Inter legends!?

It's different in Italy. You can create a list of nearly a hundred players that have either played for Juve, Inter or AC. off the top of my head: Bonucci Ronaldo Pirlo (he played for all three) Vieri (so has this guy) Meazza Mutu Cassano Pazzini Lucio Seedorf Muntari

How do female players get so many caps fo their national teams? Is there more of an emphasis on international football on the female side of things? Kristine Lilly has 352...mind blowing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yup5P8jXeqM&feature=player_embedded

PIcked due to reputation or merit? FIFA keeps the façade alive. Piqué is literally one of the worst CBs to be ever selected for the team of the year.

BEN YA

If I was De Gea I would have banged that Spanish bird. David Mitchell...I'm not sure what to think about that.

Yet, I'm the the one with the golden letters and crown. I'm like Napoleon if he wasn't a Frog.

What is this 'best answer' stuff I'm seeing in this thread?!

Terry in my mind was succesful under Mou for three reasons. 1. He is a world class CB reggardless. 2. Carvalho is a world class CB. 3. Carvalho + Terry is a perfect combination of contrasting defensive styles. Mata is so much better than Ozil it's ridiculous. Ozil can not finish to save his life and is inconistent as anything. Mikel is more simlar to Khedira than Ramires. Mikel would play in Khedira's position at Madrid. We have absolutely no one that plays like Alonso, that is why so many people want to sing Benat. De Bruyne could be like Alonso... It's insane how many Madrid players have regressed this season. Ozil and Di Maria have been so terrible. This is how I see Chelsea under Benetiz Target Man (Ba) Attacking Midfielder (Hazard) - Attacking Midfielder (Mata) - Winger (Moses) Box To Box (Luiz) - Anchorman (Mikel) Fullback (Cole) - Centreback (Cahill) - Centreback (Ivanovic) - Fullback (Azpilcueta) Goalkeeper (Cech) Going foward the team is strong albeit a tad unbalanced. The midfield is very weak. There is no clever long passer. I actually think a partnership of Alonso (Benat) and Mikel would be brilliant. The defence is very strong. I actually think Cahill and Ivanovic is a solid pairing not great, but I trust them more than the partnership of Pepe and Ramos (booth loose cannons like Luiz...). And Cech is one of the best in his position. Easily top one.

Yes, Fiorentino Pires it is.

Fuck, now I'm going to have to buy this seasons kit with Lamps 8 on the back.

It's less Mourinho and entirely Fiorentino Perez. I hate that name, Perez. Reminds of things I hate. Bitch.

Besides Luiz and Ivanovic I don't think our defenders are that aggressive. Azpilicueta, Cole, Cahill, Terry, Bertrand seem to be calmer and rely more on patient anticipation. Mikel isn't aggressive at all, he isn't meant to be. He is meant to be the calm headed destroyer like Makélélé but Mou like those sorts also. This is how I see Madrid. Deep Lying Foward (Benzema) Outside Foward (Ronaldo) - Attacking Midfielder (Ozil) - Winger (Dí María) Playmaker (Alonso) - Anchorman (Khedira) Wingback (Marcelo) - Centreback (Pepe) - Centreback (Ramos) - Fullback (Arbeloa) Goalkeeper (Casillas) Benzema has great technical skills and he drops deep a lot to help dictate play and hold onto possession. Ronaldo cuts in, shoots and then fixes his hair. We all know how he plays. Dí María once a upon a time was a magnificent winger. Worked rather hard and put in a lot of assists.He is meant to say out wide stretch defences but he doesn't. He just shoots a lot because he is a moron. A complete idiot. Ozil, is meant to be all about the through balls and technical side of the game. He is slow, can't defend, has less stamina than me. He has been terrible lately. Alonso is a beast. Fucking best player in this team. Khedira unlike a lot of them has improved a lot. He has incredible stamina and work rate. Really gets stuck in on defence, but he occasionaly bombs foward. Marcelo is fast, technical and likes to kick people in the shins. A very dirty player, but effective. Pepe and Ramos like to kick people to. Even more so than Marcelo. This combination does not work because they both get red faced and rush off the defensive line to kick players. Red cards waiting to happen. Arbeloa...eh..what can I say? He is a solid defender and will work hard. Benzeam, Ronaldo, Dí María and Marcelo are also really pacey. Another thing that Mou loves.

Real Madrid have produced some interesting players in the last decade or so. Roberto Soldado Álvaro Arbeloa Juan Mata Álvaro Negredo Dani Parejo José Callejon Francisco Pavon Esteban Granero Javi García Borja Valero That's a solid team.

To an extent yes. Khedira Alonso Arbeloa Essien Marcelo Ramos Pepe Carvalho Are all very physical players. A lot of Merengues complain about José's stlye of football. Stating that it's too negative and it's detrimental to the image of the club.

I posted this in the Mourinho thread: I've been thinling about it lately...Would Mourinho returning be a good thing? He loves the physical and dominating tactics with players like Khedira, Makélelé, Essien, Mikel being important. Whereas CFC are seemingly trying to move away from that ethos and implementing a more technical and fleet footed style. Wouldn't it be counter productive to bring in a manager whose entire philosophy is at ends with the players that are being signed?

Don't forget that José has bee shifting Coentrao around the park a lot. He hasn't really been played in a consistent position since he joined. Leftback, Righback, Central Midfielder, Left Winger. I imagine it's hard to remain consistent when his role has been changed so often. He missed one training session. He missed it due to injury. They still expected him to show up, even though he is injured. José didn't think too highly of this. When it's all said and done you can't make too many valid excuses for not showing up to work. He has also missed a handfull of games due to a four suspension handed out for insulting a match offical. I have no idea why Real Madrid bought him. They never needed him when they already have Marcelo. I'd say that there on about the same level of abiltiy but José seems to prefer Marcelo to Coentrao. Any Benfica supporter will tell you that he was really important to their team when he was there, much like Cole has been for Chelsea. Real Madrid is turning into a bit of a toxic wasteland for players and staff. I'd only take Coentrao if Cole does end up leaving, which I think he will. Hell, he almost joined when AVB was in charge but was tempted by the "glorious" Real Madrid. And I think he mentioned something about having a hard time learning new languages like English, or some nonsense like that.

He isn't necessarily needed due to Marcelo. He struggled to get starts last (and this) season. He has been in poor form for a while. He has been absent from training and has been punished for it. I'd say between 18 & 24 million would snatch him.

Exactly. It doesn't matter how many games he plays at Watford, 40 or 150, it doesn't matter his Chelsea debut is still his Chelsea debut. What he did atWatford will matter little when he is picked at Chelsea for the fist time.

I'd say three days, but I do live in upside down land. Off topic but Swansea v Arsenal is having an amazing last 10 minutes.

This rumour is picking crazy steam. It wouldn't surprise me if an announcement is made within a few days.