Monday 21 May 2007

New Wembley Charm

Hi,
Mark here.

Well, what a terrible FA Cup final! After sitting through the tedious drone of BBC, switching to Sky, then quickly switching back again, now watching a bunch of former captains coming out on the pitch to a chorus of boos, in what seemed like a procession of ex- and current- BBC pundits. The game started at 1 mile per hour, on a pitch that made Stamford Bridge look like a bowling green just before a match versus Barca. Too dry, they said. Well, I was hoping John Terry's and/or Frank Lampard's tears would moisten the ground before the end of the match - alas, twas not to be, Drogba won the game superbly with a few minutes to go. Even the neutral (on the off chance they were still watching) didn't get the penalty excitement they deserved, or any of the blissful ruck that 'marred' the end of the Carling Cup final.

So, Chelsea have taken the bare look off their season, but United still have the bragging rights in England. Liverpool will be up for the chance to walk around with 6 fingers perpetually aloft, ready to sing a devilishly funny song to any United supporter in range (in some cases, only one hand is necessary).

So my preparation for Wednesday's match is to not listen at all to what Stevie Gerrard has to say, because it's all bollox. He's not the only one to have a opinion of course but his continual bleating about something has really worn me down. There's a nice sense of freedom now, I encourage everyone to try it....

Myself or JJ will be back soon with a post,

Chin up,
Mark,
http://www.okeydokefootball.com

8 comments:

Unknown said...

What an awful, awful game but then again most FA Cup finals are. Two knackered teams who barely gave a crap should have well and truly blown apart the myth that this trophy still has any significance.

For the 14th year on the trot one of Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool have won it so any notion of 'romance' can get back in its box as well.

As for $tevie Me, well there's plenty of guff from Gattuso, Kaka, Ancelloti, Benitez, Riise, Alonso and Bellamy in today's football news as well.

Press conferences galore to come in the next few says so here's hoping for some real news to come our way soon.

Also, I'm officially a Real Madrid fan for the run in of the Spanish league. Great finish to their game against Recre - check it out here: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x21cxp_recreativo-23-real-madrid-resumen

Mal said...

Most boring final in years. Usually when a match goes to extra time, I'm pleased as it means more football, but that wasn't the case here. Chelsea's goal was the one moment of quality but I was surprised with how shit Utd were. Don't understand how a mucker like Fletcher gets a game at Utd.

Unknown said...

Fletcher, like O'Shea, is a limited player but I think the pair of them have done everything asked of them by Ferguson this year.

I'd imagine that given a Phil Neville-esque transfer to Everton or even Bolton both could excel. Fuck it, they'd probably be a lot better than anyone Newcastle have on their books at the moment as well.

The Hargreaves deal is done at last anyway; will be interesting to see him week-in-week-out. Does this mean 5 across the midfield for United for the next few seasons? If Ferguson goes out to buy a striker as expected they could hardly be too pleased about that.

Anonymous said...

yes I think we'll see the old 4-2-3-1 a lot next season. It should be flexible enough to accomodate rooney as part of the 3, leaving the 1 for whoever comes in. or if they buy nani/ribery - rooney can be the 1. I think they'll still switch between 442 and 451/4231 though, so whatever way you look at it, it is a good signing, as they need bite in centre mid.

(JJ, it is 95 since Everton won, so 12 years then)

re gerrard, i know, every one is doing it, and i'm not reading any of them....

Mal said...

I've never been convinced by Rooney as the 1 in a 4-5-1. I think that he's better when recieving the ball deeper with room to manoeuvre rather than with his back to goal.

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah, forgot about the toffees in 95, rideout rising majestically to deny ye a double. Well since 1989 it's only them and Spurs that have broken the other four's domination and that's even before they were the 'big four'!

On that 4-2-3-1 though, is that not Carrick/Hargreaves; Ronaldo/Giggs/Scholes; Rooney? I suppose the two older fellas - Scholes & Giggs - will be in and out of the side making room.

All in all Hargreaves has the makings of a great signing. He's used to winning leagues; he used to European football and he can tackle before laying it off to Quarterback Carrick.

Anonymous said...

i'd rather 442 but fergie (Quieroz) seems to be obsessed with continental style football. Rooney as the one isn't great, hopefully Saha will be fit and giggs/scholes rotated in order to drop rooney back, but tehy do need a performer in big games, rooney and ronaldo ain't it...

Mal said...

I agree that Hargreaves is a decent signing and will do well for utd. The lack of a midfielder who can tackle effectively and win the ball back has cost them since Keane left, especially in europe. £18m is a bit of a joke though. Probably could have snapped him up for around £5m before the world cup.