Any football (soccer) fans on this board?

[8o8o]

No, Dabizas can not be blamed, but I'm sure people will always remind him of this moment. Nothing you could do there. A genius at work.

The goal against Argentina was the winner (no penalties) - and sure, I almost jumped through the ceiling for joy!! It was a fantastic game (remember the incident Van der Sar was involved in with Ortega?).

You're absolutely right about our luxurious attacking department, yet we did not manage to score a lot of goals this qualifiying campaign. And ever since Jaap Stam retired from international football we have been poor defensively (except for Van der Sar, who has saved us on many occasions with some crucial saves!).

I'm not sure about Dirk Kuyt. He works hard (always) for the team, and needs spaces to run into, he's not the typical close range striker (like Robbie Fowler). From what I see and hear the Liverpool fans like him (especially for never giving up and going for every ball), but he should score more goals if he wants to become a regular. He's been going through some difficult times in his personal life, his father passed away not too long ago, and this week burglars visited his house.

And yeah, Robben can play off the striker(s) as well, but, unlike Van Persie, he hasn't really improved over the last 2 years.

Yes, I agree. You have to make a choice. Same at Chelsea: Lampard AND Ballack didn't really work. Never knew why they signed Ballack in the first place.....

[mikeyj]

I reckon Bergkamp is one in a million. Though he wasn't a consistent enough goal scorer for my liking. Who else would you say (out of the past 10 or so years) is a footballing 'genius'?

Yeh I thought it was the winner (like a few minutes from time or something).. I don't remember the incident with van der Sar and Ortega because I've never seen the match, I've just seen that Bergkamp goal on highlights reels etc.. Some of the best matches I've ever seen though is that 3-3 draw between Liverpool and AC Milan (incredible), Arsenal 5-3 Middlesbrough, Tottenham 4-5 Arsenal, Liverpool 2-1 Arsenal (FA Cup Final 2001), Liverpool 3-3 West Ham (FA Cup Final) but I would say my favourite match I've ever seen is Leeds United 4-3 Liverpool, just for the pure drama!! I know Liverpool lost but I was happy that Viduka did well... That's one of the best individual performances in a match ever!! How about that third goal from Viduka?? Incredible.. do you remember that game?

Yeh Stam is a legend (like Bergkamp) who is so hard to replace... Yeh Man United are also lucky that they have van der Sar (he seems to save them a lot too!!)

That's not good about his personal life. I think he seems like a nice guy and he does try hard.. I respect him for that, but his performances haven't impressed me as yet!! Maby I should give him a bit more time (some people need more time than others)

Well I haven't seen Robben over the last year or so (since he left Chelsea) but he was fantastic when he was at his best at Chelsea

Yeh the puzzled me as well.. I suppose if they've got the money they'll just buy whoever they feel like!!

[8o8o]

Bergkamp was more and more becoming the man of the assist in his final playing years, great vision and first touch. He was an intelligent player on the pitch, and to quote Johnny Cash "had his eyes wide open all the time".

Genius? Pooh, tough question. Personally I really like the players that come up with unexpected things and tricks in the big games, so to do some namedropping:

Ronaldinho, Messi, Kaka, Zidane, Kanu, Zola, Okocha, Weah, Eto'o, Cantona, Giggs, Litmanen, Henry, Hagi, Stoichkov, Romario, Redondo, Ibrahimovic, Larsson, Raul, must've forgotten a few....

Those are some fantastic games you mention!!! I've seen so many over the years (Ajax in 1994/1995 was a joy to watch - the game against Bayern Munich comes to mind), plus I've always enjoyed the 1998/1999 Champions League Final - Man Utd - Bayern Munich. 0-1 after 90 mins, and then two goals by Man Utd. Sheringham and Solskjaer. Brilliant game.

Leeds-Liverpool 4-3, can't remember it, but I must've seen it - need some help there...... 

[mikeyj]

Yeh couldn't agree more what you say about Bergkamp!! He was brilliant at setting other players up!! Superb player to watch.

A lot of fantastic players you've named there!! Couldn't disagree with you at all on any of them. But I would add Stevie G!! He seems to come up with amazing goals or assists in crucial times...there was a ball he played at Old Trafford (Liverpool won 1-0) a few years back to Danny Murphy which was an incredible pass and a few games earlier at Highbury (1-1) he played a superb ball with the outside of his right foot about 40 yards straight to Riise who scored. Superb passer and a scorer of super goals!!

Yeh that CL final with Man U + Bayern was a fantastic game. What a finale!! Similar to the 2-1 FA Cup Final between Liverpool and Arsenal from two years later.

Well it was a fantastic game. Liverpool went 2-0 up but then Viduka scored two goals to make it 2-2 and then Liverpool got another back to lead 3-2. But then in the last ten minutes Viduka got two goals. The third goal was the best of the lot. He was in the box ran past 1 defender, spun on the ball which made another Liverpool defender fall over and then just placed the ball across the keeper into corner of the net (came off the post if I remember correctly).. Man that is hard to explain. It was fantastic though!!

Here's the match report by the way:
http://www.leedsfans.org.uk/leeds/history/86/8612.html

[8o8o]

Thanks! That surely helped! Though I did not remember that Sander Westerveld was the goalkeeper in that game - seems so long ago. But I remember that final Viduka goal now, it's so hard to defend him, he's so strong, and his technical abilities are definitely underrated.

Of course I cannot disagree about Stevie G., it's just that every time he puts on the England shirt he seems to be a completely different player. And there aren't that many players anymore that can make such amazing long range passes (Frank De Boer could). That one with the outside of his foot was indeed superb, I remember it well.

Riise is one of my favourite players, btw.

What do you think of Blackburn's Morten Gamst Pedersen? I'm surprised that he's not been signed by any of the top clubs yet....... He's such an amazing player. Very underrated. Same goes for Bolton's Jussi Jaaskelainen - though there seems to be some movement regarding his future, with some big clubs interested in capturing him. A very consistent goalkeeper.

How about this weekend's Premiership games? My predictions:

Chelsea v West Ham
Blackburn v Newcastle
Portsmouth v Everton
Reading v Boro draw
Sunderland v Derby
Wigan v Man City draw
Villa v Arsenal draw
Liverpool v Bolton
Spurs v Birmingham
Man Utd v Fulham

[mikeyj]

Yeh Viduka is definitely underrated, that's for sure. He might not be the most agile player and I think that's why people under-estimate him. Same with a guy like Peter Crouch. You wouldn't think he would be ANY good at all but he has some skill.

Yeh true but Gerrard has proved that he can play at the top club level (Champions League final) and perform. I have always thought International matches are rarely as good standard as the top club games because the players don't always work together (England is the best example of this)

Yeh Riise has scored some magical goals!! Did you hear about how his wages got posted on the internet? (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/7071296.stm)

I agree about Pedersen. I have always liked his attacking style of playing. I can't understand (as you say) that there is teams like Liverpool who usually struggle to score too many goals on a consistent basis and I think a guy like Pedersen could help Liverpool atleast be a little bit more creative in going forward. Yeh I have ALWAYS (ever since I saw him the first few times) been a big fan of Jaaskelainen.

Well obviously I'm not going to predict last nights results But the last three game I would tip:

Liverpool v Bolton
Spurs v Birmingham
Man Utd v Fulham

I think all of those games are pretty certain to be home victories although maby a draw between Liverpool v Bolton would be a possibility, unless there is to be some upsets tonight?

[8o8o]

It's official: Pim Verbeek is the new Socceroos manager!

The other candidate was Frenchman Philippe Troussier.

 

[mikeyj]

It's official: Pim Verbeek is the new Socceroos manager!

The other candidate was Frenchman Philippe Troussier.

 

Yes I saw that Philippe Troussier guy, he was at one of the club games here in Australia. Who is he?

And is Pim Verbeek any good?

[8o8o]

A short bio of Troussier can be found here at Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_Troussier

And this is what I wrote about Verbeek previously:

Verbeek took over from Advocaat as South Korea boss after the World Cup in 2006. Pretty low-profile (has worked for Fortuna Sittard and Feyenoord for instance). Is usually 'the assistant'. He's a nice guy and all that, but he's not going to win the war for you. Rob Baan (another Dutchman) is in charge, he's the managing director of the Australian FA if I'm not mistaken and I think he's desperate to bring in a 'friend'.

More info here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pim_Verbeek

I guess he's third or fourth choice. It's proving to be hard to get the man you want these days, isn't it? 

Shocking defeat for Liverpool yesterday...... I was kind of surprised when I looked at Liverpool's starting eleven - especially since they played Reading away...... What was Benitez thinking? Reading played very well, by the way. Steve Coppell's an excellent manager.

And did you see Everton's game? Yakubu on fire and an instrumental Tim Cahill!

[mikeyj]

Ok thanks. Do you personally think we should have gone with Troussier?

Sorry I forgot about that. Some of these names are so foreign to me and they are hard to remember (since Australia only has names like Matthew, Adam etc..) Yeah, I couldn't agree more with you there. I'm not so sure though that a foreign manager is the right choice for Australia. I would give John Kosmina a chance (not sure if you know him or not?) He is the Sydney FC manager over here. He just seems like a really determined individual.

I can't believe Liverpool lost, the game was too late for me (4am local time), but I watched the first half an hour or so and then went to bed. And after Stevie G had got Liverpool back on track I thought it was a certain Liverpool victory. I was shocked to read the result. I'm just hoping that Liverpool can beat Marseille.

I was out last night, but I did manage to catch the highlights of Everton's game. A hat-trick from Yakubu if I'm remembering correctly, some nice goals there as well!! What did Tim Cahill do?

[8o8o]

Ok thanks. Do you personally think we should have gone with Troussier?

Sorry I forgot about that. Some of these names are so foreign to me and they are hard to remember (since Australia only has names like Matthew, Adam etc..) Yeah, I couldn't agree more with you there. I'm not so sure though that a foreign manager is the right choice for Australia. I would give John Kosmina a chance (not sure if you know him or not?) He is the Sydney FC manager over here. He just seems like a really determined individual.

I can't believe Liverpool lost, the game was too late for me (4am local time), but I watched the first half an hour or so and then went to bed. And after Stevie G had got Liverpool back on track I thought it was a certain Liverpool victory. I was shocked to read the result. I'm just hoping that Liverpool can beat Marseille.

I was out last night, but I did manage to catch the highlights of Everton's game. A hat-trick from Yakubu if I'm remembering correctly, some nice goals there as well!! What did Tim Cahill do?

Ever since Cahill has returned from injury Everton play SO much better, he was the missing link, and yesterday he played an outstanding game. He's the 'perfect' modern attacking midfielder, similar to Frank Lampard - always going forward, finding space and scoring goals.

I'm confident Liverpool will beat Marseille, they have to, Marseille have been inconsistent so far this season. They were lucky to win at Anfield.

Hey, no problem, I don't blame you for not knowing Pim Verbeek, I'm sure a lot of Australian players must've raised a few eyebrows in the last few days as well......

Don't know what to think of Troussier, I think that I too would've picked an Australian manager (like Kosmina - only know him from his playing days btw), most foreign managers are only interested in filling their pockets and see it as a great thing to be able to add another high profile job to their cv, whereas the national guys usually have more heart for the case and show more determination.

Marco Van Basten's also leaving his post after Euro 2008, and the speculation as to who is going to be his successor has already started.

[mikeyj]

Yeah Cahill really is a fantastic player, he is a fantastic header of the ball as well. He reminds me of a guy like Freddie Ljungberg with his darting runs. Like he seems to come out of nowhere. I agree, he reminds me of Frank Lampard too. He just seems to have good bits of everyone in him. Frank Lampard's goal scoring, Ljungberg's runs and the heading ability of someone like James Scowcroft (who? you might ask ) I'm proud that we have such a brilliant Australian player. He played for Samoa in the youth teams before playing for Australia so he needed clearance from FIFA. Would have been a strange one if he couldn't have played for Australia. Cahill actually grew up right near where I live and he has a brother who plays in one of the lower leagues over here in Australia and from memory he was arrested recently!!

Yeah but I heard Liverpool played really bad at Anfield against Marseille, so maby Liverpool deserved to lose? But I am confident as well that Liverpool will win. But if they have one of their bad days it will be a close game.

Haha, yeah he has a strange name too!! I have always found it weird why some players change their names. Like why did van Nistelrooy change his name? From memory his name is something like Ruttgerus van Nistelrooij. I can understand changing his first name (sort of like a nickname) but why did he change the spelling of his last name?

Oh where do you remember him playing? I know he played once for Arsenal. I never saw him play but I heard he was an okay player (considering Australia didn't have many good players back then - probably only Craig Johnston)... But yes he is a decent manager and he doesn't take any rubbish from the players, which is what I like (I mean after all they are professionals). I couldn't agree more with that last point. I don't see why national boards (ie: English FA etc..) can't see it that way too? Okay so McLaren didn't do too well but that's because he wasn't suited to the England job. He's not agressive or doesn't seem confident enough. That's why I want Big Sam , though I know that will probably never happen.

Yeah I saw that about Van Basten. Interesting, who do you think are the main candidates? And who would you personally like to see take over the job?

[8o8o]

Yes, Cahill is a great header of the ball, especially because he's not really tall. Shows that it's all about the timing and positioning.

He came to my attention at Millwall, he was by far the best player in the team then (Lucas Neill was also there, Steven Reid, Neil Harris, Marc Bircham). I know Scowcroft from his Ipswich days, they had a fantastic season in the Premier League under George Burley's helm (with Marcus Stewart scoring the goals), and he played up front or on the right.

Van Nistelrooij never changed his name, officially that is. It's only because the letter 'ij' is not used outside our country and Belgium, therefor he changed it to 'y', to prevent people not knowing how to pronounce his name (same with Dirk Kuijt - Dirk Kuyt), so it is indeed only a matter of spelling.

Rutgerus Johannes Martinus (Ruud) van Nistelrooij is his full, official birthname, and 'Ruud' is just a shorter version of 'Rutgerus', same as 'Mart' would be of 'Martinus' or 'Theo' of 'Theodorus', haha. 

I remember Kosmina from his games for Australia - like I said Graham Arnold played for Roda JC in those days, same as Gerry Van Egmond (another Aussie with a Dutch name!), so I had some interest in the national team of Australia then. Can't remember him from his Arsenal days, but I knew he was a manager now (from the 'Football Manager' database, haha).

Van Basten's successor, these are the names circulating in the press:

Bert Van Marwijk (now at Feyenoord)
Foppe De Haan (successful with the U23/U21 teams, but he's ruled himself out)
Martin Jol
Co Adriaanse
Louis Van Gaal (AZ, failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup)
Frank Rijkaard (Barcelona - would be his second term as well)

Van Marwijk looks to be in pole position. These are all good managers, personally I think I'd take Jol, he's available and ready for it.

We'll see what happens......

[mikeyj]

Yeah I remember he did really well when Millwall got the FA Cup Final. The match was a bit dissapointing though. Would have been nice to see Milwall put up more of a fight.

Oh ok, thanks for clearing that up for me. In regards to Kuyt, it is interesting because the commentators (English commentators of course) seem to all pronounce his name differently. There is:
*KOW-T
*KITE
*KOY-T
Sorry if that's confusing but I tried to write it the best I could.

I'm glad they don't call van Nistelrooy his full name

Yeah I know Gary van Egmond. He is currently the manager of one of the teams in Australia. Kosmina only made one appearance for Arsenal (in the league at least) so I don't blame you for not remembering him Ah, the good old football manager games!! So much fun
By the way, it's interesting because I have a lot of "Dutch" friends. By that I mean that they are born in Australia but they have Dutch parents and grandparents etc..

Yeah I hope Jol gets the job too. He seems like a nice fellow and he's a great manager as well!!

[8o8o]

No, it's definitely not easy for the English commentators to pronounce Kuyt's name correctly, mostly because 'UY' does not exist in English.

So:
*KOW-T
*KITE
*KOY-T

(well done, btw!)

.....are all wrong, but it doesn't really matter, does it. That's what you get with all these foreign names. We know who they are referring to.

GARY van Egmond, yes, not Gerry as I called him previously. He never really made his mark here in the Netherlands (if I remember well he only stayed one season), unlike Graham Arnold, who did really well for us and NAC Breda. Good to hear he's a manager now. How's his team doing?

Do your "Dutch" friends speak any Dutch?

Oh yeah, before I forget, another Aussie that played for Roda JC is goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac, who's now at AC Milan. 'We' signed him from Leicester City and he did really well. Met him a couple of times and he's a very funny guy, and even taller than I am, haha. Still, Ruud Van Nistelrooy (then PSV) once managed to score a wonderful goal against him (a lob from his own half).

[mikeyj]

Yeah it is certainly a difficult name to pronounce in English (strange as well because you would expect a longer name to be hard to pronounce but you wouldn't think such a short name would be that difficult to pronounce).

It's an easy mistake to make. You should hear the news reporters in Australia. They ALWAYS make mistakes pronouncing/spelling names. For example:

*El-Hadji Diouf they pronounced El-Hadji Duff
*Thierry Henry they pronounced Terry Henry (as in Hen-Ree not On-ree)
*Freddie Ljungberg they pronounced Freddie LA-jungberg

And they are always mis-spelling names. Quite funny really

His team is doing really well. Most people (atleast me ) were predicting that they would finish second last or there abouts (there is only eight teams in the league and no relegation since there isn't enough money in soccer over here because it isn't that popular plus we have a reasonably small population). But at the moment they are in third which is pretty good. They are above Sydney (my team - who are 5th) and Melbourne (last seasons winners where they won the Grand Final 6-0 - but they are currently 7th ). We have a Grand Final system over here so it's a league and then the top 4 play off in a semi final and then go to a Grand final.. It's just the way other sports in Australia do it so soccer has always done it over here as well. To be honest though, I don't really keep up with the Australian league, it's pretty boring.

Only a little bit but only a few words here and there, but basically no. But some of there parents etc.. can

That's cool that you have met Kalac!! I have met Dwight Yorke and Ian Rush, but that's the only soccer players I've met. I have met other famous sportsman but I don't think you would know them (they are cricketers - which I think you'd atleast know of cricket wouldn't you? You're country is in world cups etc..)

I have read about that van Nistelrooy goal (didn't know Kalac was the goalkeeper though) and I tried to download it once but the video never worked, so from then on I just assumed it never happened

By the way, how tall are you?

[8o8o]

Hmm, in the summer Philip Cocu was linked with a move to Sydney FC, I think it was Jason Culina’s dad who tried to persuade him to continue his career Down Under, but unfortunately for you guys he preferred a move to Al-Jazeera (UAE). Probably for the weather. 

Isn’t Michael Bridges playing for Sydney these days? I always liked him when he played for Sunderland and Leeds. Injury prone, but a good striker.

Of course I know cricket, and I know the Dutch team is doing quite well sometimes, but I never watch it. I do watch a lot of other sports: besides football that would be cycling (a lot of excellent Aussies there – Robbie McEwen, Stuart O’Grady, Cadel Evans, Bradley McGee, Baden Cooke etc.), speed skating (typical Dutch thing), darts (now and then), tennis (always enjoyed watching Pat Rafter and the 'Woodies' double), etc. Out of these, football and cycling are closest to my heart, and through the years I’ve met even more famous pro cyclists than football players, haha. It's easier to approach them, plus there are a lot of races here in the South.

You must’ve met Yorke when he played for Sydney? Did Rush play there too?

I searched online for a clip of that van Nistelrooy goal, but couldn’t find it, but I’m sure you’ll see it someday. Oh and I’m 196 centimeter (= 6.43 feet), I think Kalac is 203 centimeter (= 6.66 feet). He’s a real presence, probably twice as tall as Lionel Messi, haha. We had a few really tall guys in our (Roda JC) team then, which was great fun (corners, free kicks). 

[mikeyj]

Yeah I remember that rumour. Branko Culina (Jason's dad of course) was sacked as manager a few months back now. He wasn't a very good manager but he seemed like a nice guy. The weather in Sydney is pretty good too. Nice beaches with usually warm weather.

Yeah Bridges is at Sydney along with Juninho. But Bridges has been disappointing so far. He is only on loan though. I'm glad a lot of the Australian players have returned back to Australia. Ie: John Aloisi, Stan Lazaridis etc..

Yeah I can understand why you don't watch cricket. It can be pretty boring most of the time. Interesting, I'm not really into cycling at all even though there are a lot of good Australian's. Do you remember that Australian guy (can't remember his name now) who won the ice skating race (don't know the exact name of the event) after everybody fell over. That was hilarious!! Yeah I like Tennis occassionally. I loved watching Rafter too and of course I now enjoy watching Federer. I don't like Lleyton Hewitt at all though!! He's just such a whinger. And when he's losing he always somehow magically seems to get injured, not a big fan as you can tell My favourite sports would be football and rugby league. Though I like a lot of other sports too.

No actually I met Yorke when he was still under contract with United although he had fallen out of favour with Ferguson and so he came to Australia for a holiday (in 2002) and then soon after he left United. Rush played for Sydney Olympic (not in the top league anymore) in 1999/00 and he ran a training camp which I went to. There was a fair few kids there and we were all put into groups and did training drills. He walked around and watched each group for a while but he didn't get to see everyone. Luckily for me though just as I was about to have a one on one shot at goal he walked up to our group. I thought to myself (I was only about 11 or 12 at the time) "here's my chance to impress Ian Rush" And so I ran up to the ball and blasted it as hard as I could and it hit the cross bar and went over. Even though I missed I thought to myself "I bet he'll be impressed" but then he came up to me and said "you don't need to smash the ball to score, you need to place it" or something like that. I always remembered what he told me (well I remember the idea that he told me) and the next few seasons I became a pretty good goalscoring midfielder. Before I was only scoring about a goal a season. But the next year I scored 16 goals in 18 games and after that I averaged about 11 or 12 goals a season in approx. 18 games (depending if we made the finals).

Yeah I really hope I get to see it, because he never even scored outside the box for United!! Though I've seen him score some pretty good goals for United (that individual goal against Fulham - in the match where he got the hat-trick) as well as a few good ones for Madrid. I haven't seen many of their games but there was a goal where he chipped the keeper. A really great finish.

That is pretty tall!! I'm only about 178cm. How tall is Lionel Messi?

Haha but tall people aren't always the best headers. Think of Crouch - everyone seems to always say "he's such a good header" but I think he is better with his feet. Am I the only one who notices that?

[8o8o]

Cricket is not very popular over here, only with a small group of (fanatic) people, and it'll never be as popular over here as it is in your country or in the UK.

Yeah, yeah, remember that hilarious incident, it was at the Olympics wasn't it? Short track.

I see what you mean about Hewitt, he's not a very popular guy is he? There was a game once I remember seeing where he was already leading 6-1, 5-0 or something and still celebrating a winning point as if it was a crucial, deciding point by yelling "Come on!". That really pissed off the opponent (I think it was Martin Verkerk), and they had some words when they changed sides.

I like to watch rugby (on the BBC mostly), mainly because of the attitude of the players and the fair play and respect they show for the referee. A lot of footballers can learn something from that! Look at all the tackles! A footballer gets a slight push and rolls on the floor as if he's been shot....  Wussies. 

That's some good advice Ian Rush gave you. And he should know! He scored goals for fun. But I understand your determination to do well and impress him. I've been in the same situation when I was a kid, also had some training sessions by pro players. And there were always scouts watching, and they told us before the game...... As a result we failed to impress, haha, because we were too busy trying to impress, doing tricks, trying to score goals from outside the box etc.

That's a pretty good goalscoring record!

You're right about tall players not always being the best headers. Kanu is another example. Ibrahimovic. It's all about the timing, positioning and jumping skills. Cahill is a good example, as we discussed before. I prefer the ball to be played in my feet as well.

I think Messi is 169cm, but he received some special 'growing treatment', as he was really short (155cm) a couple of years ago. But he doesn't need to be a good header, he has some other nice skills, haha. 

[mikeyj]

Well of course. After all England and Australia have been playing cricket for around 130 years!!

Yeh it was at the olympics. He became reasonably famous in Australia after that. Atleast for the next year or so

No not many people like Hewitt... On comedy shows they always make fun of him. Haha yeh I hate how he says "come on" all the time. I remember another player (can't remember his name) kept doing the "come on" thing when he was versing Hewitt and he ended up winning and after the match Hewitt was saying things like "he was arrogant"... Take a look at yourself Lleyton!!

I couldn't agree more. That's the major problem with football... they go down WAY to easily. That's why I don't like a lot of the Italian, Portuguese players etc.. Like Cristiano Ronaldo who is one of the worst offenders in the premiership... If you are going to dive you might as well make it look realistic like Steven Gerrard who is a pretty good diver because he falls forward with his hands out in front of him and doesn't leap backwards in the air when he dives.... I don't know if you saw it but Louis Saha did a REALLY pathetic dive.... a blind person could've told that he dived that's how blatant it was but somehow the referee gave a penalty!! They've got to stop falling for it. I honestly think if a referee misses a dive anywhere outside the box then after the game a review panel should look at it and give the player a one match ban if they deem he dived. And if you dive in the box and the referee gives a penalty and it is deemed to be a dive then it should be a three match ban. That way players won't be diving for too much longer. I have also had another idea which is taken from rugby.. where if a player is booked then he should have to go off the field for ten or so minutes to cool him down. And that we he is atleast punished a little and it will make for less bookings.

Yeah he is the leading scorer (all competitions) for Liverpool!! That's some achievement considering Liverpool are the most successful English club ever. I think if there is ever scouts etc.. at games then they shouldn't tell you because then there is no pressure. Especially for a little kid because can you imagine you were training and then Pele came and watched you, you would probably play your worst game ever!!!

Yeah well my team was really bad. I was incredibly fit back then as I had to be.. I was the only half decent player all the other players were hopeless!!

Do you remember Ibrahimovic's goal against Italy? Incredible!! And of course I'm sure you remember Kanu's hat trick at Stamford Bridge!! Incredible as well. Yeah I prefer the ball played at my feet too. I don't understand teams who always play long balls down field (eg: Bolton under Allardyce).. It makes it so much harder for the strikers (although it can work in your favour if the defenders are bamboozled and you have a very skilled striker. Though of course Bolton were very successful under Allardyce.. but maby they could have even been better if they had played the ball to feet more often.

Haha yeah Messi is an incredible player. What did you think of all the World Footballer of the year awards that came out recently? I don't like Cristiano Ronaldo but I thought he was unlucky.

[8o8o]

Shocked by the death of Motherwell's captain Phil O'Donnell this weekend. Only 35 years old. Puts things in perspective. Very sad. R.I.P.

Good ideas to get rid of the diving problem in football. Something should be done about it, but it's also an attitude problem. I don't think it'll ever disappear completely from the game, but right now it's getting way out of hand.

Yes, I remember that Ibrahimovic goal very well, incredible. He once scored a fabulous goal for Ajax against NAC Breda (it might even have been his last one for the club, I'm not sure), still his best if you ask me.

Here it is:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZgqsaDnsEq8

Reminds me of some of Bergkamp's best. Genius.

Ah, that Kanu hattrick was awesome! He's still one of my favourite players, and he was untouchable that day. Brilliant goals.

We've reached the end of the year, but fortunately the Premier League is only halfway, time for some predictions for tomorrow's and Wednesday's games:

Arsenal v West Ham
Aston Villa v Spurs (draw)
Fulham v Chelsea
Man Utd v Birmingham
Boro v Everton
Reading v Portsmouth
Blackburn v Sunderland
Bolton v Derby
Liverpool v Wigan
Newcastle v Man City (draw)

The African Cup Of Nations is coming up, a lot of clubs (Arsenal, Portsmouth, Everton for instance) will lose key players for a couple of weeks, who do you think will be most affected by this? Or do you think they'll be able to cope without them?

As for the World Footballer Of The Year Award, I think Kaka deserved to win, but it's always a close call isn't it? The players nominated are all excellent, world-class players. I think Cristiano Ronaldo has improved a lot over the last 12 months, he's become a much better team player. He used to bring out his bag of tricks every minute, but it did not always lead to something. There wasn't always an end result. Showing off his skills.

But now, he's brought it all together, he's scoring goals for fun: penalties, free kicks, headers, tap ins, placed shots, goals from dribbles, the lot. And he's a great provider, bringing in a lot of crosses. Plus he's got so much pace, it's almost impossible to defend him now. You never know what he's going to do next. The main contender for Player Of The Season I think.

Happy New Year to all, let's hope it's going to be a wonderful football year.

[mikeyj]

Yeah it seems all too common these days. Of course we had Marc-Vivien Foe a few years back, plus that Spanish footballer (Puerta or something).. seems like its happening too often these days. I remember other players have collapsed too. Benni McCarthey from memory as well as Khalilou Fadiga (while playing for Bolton)

I agree its way out of hand and of course its such a big problem in the game now that your never going to get rid of it completely. BUT if you bring in harsher punishments then it will atleast stop (after a year or so) atleast 80% of divers I think. I mean can you imagine getting a 3 game ban for diving in the opposition box.

That's phenomenal. I have never seen that one. Thanks so much!! That is definately better than the one verse Italy.

Yeh that reminds me of that Viduka game in many ways, though probably better (because he came off the bench like 15 minutes from time!!)

You tipped 5 out of 10 if I am remembering correctly?

I think Arsenal and Portsmouth especially. I think Arsenal should be extremely worried because now their lead is gone at the moment!!

Yeah I agree. Ronaldo has been phenomenal this season. I'm not a fan of him (as a person) but as a player you can't deny that he is a great player. And as you say he used to be brilliant as an individual but now he is becoming a team player. Which is pretty scary!!

By the way, It's weird that Anelka went to Chelsea!!

Happy New Year to you too. I'm sure it will be a fantastic year, even if England didn't qualify for EURO 2008!!

[8o8o]

Fadiga had some heart problems, yes, and Kanu had to undergo heart surgery when he only just signed for Internazionale (from Ajax).

Oh, harsher punishments would definitely help, I agree.

Yeah, I tipped 5 or 6 correctly, haha, there's always a couple of surprises every week, but it's fun to give it a shot every now and then........ 

Anelka. Why do you think it's weird? I think it's a good choice, since Drogba will be away for a couple of weeks, Shevchenko is injured and Drogba's the perfect replacement if you ask me. He knows what it takes to play in the Premier League, can score goals and has the ability to play up front on his own if necessary. Of course it's a lot of money to pay for a 'short term replacement', but judging from the rumours Drogba's looking for a move away from Chelsea in the summer, so he could be the long-term replacement as well.

What else do you think will happen on the transfer market in the next two weeks or so? A lot of rumours in the papers (or on the websites), as usual the final days of the transfer window will probably be very hectic again, haha.

What do you think, which teams need strengthening? And if so, where? And who would you recommend? (Haha, just realised, these questions should keep you busy for a while......  )

[mikeyj]

Yeah a lot of African players seem to have health problems.. Sad

Yeah better than I probably would have done. I haven't done it for a while though. I've been too busy seeing Brian live!!

Well I just didn't expect it. I think it's an excellent signing. I have always been a fan of Anelka myself. I would like to see him do well.

Yeah I have no idea but I think someone (Barcelona, Real Madrid etc.) might make a bid for Ronaldo. Don't think he'll go though. I think he'll leave in a couple of years though. I have heard rumours (probably false) that Henry might be going back to Arsenal!!

Haha well I'm not going to answer for every team but for my team Liverpool I still think we need another quality striker. We need more depth there. I'm not a fan of Voronin and it seems Crouch isn't in favour too much anymore. Torres is great and I think Babel could be a quality striker but I think Kuyt isn't that great. So I just say have four main strikers (Torres, Babel, Kuyt and someone else? Don't know who though? I would have loved Anelka though!! Maby even Owen could come back!! )

I would say Liverpool needs strengthening in the midfield too.

Aside from them I would also say Newcastle needs a lot of strengthening. They need to splash the cash and buy a few quality (yet affordable) buys. I also think Bolton, Middlesbrough and Tottenham are also in that category. Those are the teams I would expect to be doing better. As for who all these teams should buy? I wouldn't know. It's too hard to tell!!