Apr.2 at 8:09 am

oliver says:
Arsenal 1-4 Liverpool - just awful

Apr.2 at 8:56 am

gazza says:
…and rather predictable I might add

Apr.2 at 1:01 pm

Ryan Jones says:
Sorry about that one, Oliver. You know I was geniunely rooting for you this week.

Apr.2 at 3:03 pm

oliver says:
yeah i know- for a change- my dislike of Liverpool has only grown over the past few weeks-
what did you think of the Robinson goalkeeper goal!! crazy stuff

Apr.3 at 9:00 am

Ryan Jones says:
Outstanding. I feel for Ben Foster, but what’re you gonna do?

Apr.3 at 10:06 am

mike says:
Nice article,(I assume you’re a Gunners fan Oliver?) but there is a lot of anti Liverpool sentiment here. Can’t we all just get along? Finally, I know what they say about hindsight, but that “single useful centre forward over 5’8″ comment kinda came back to haunt you.

Apr.3 at 10:29 am

Oliver says:
ill admit the last few weeks have maybe shaped my feelings toward Liverpool (blue and red) a tinsy winsy bit-(ok a lot) But then we had your number all season so it was bound to happen and i suppose i should get over it!
And yeah Peter Crouch made me look really intelligent this week making King Kolo look like a complete fool on saturday
Maybe Crouch is a Slamonline fan and wanted to stick it to me (very unlikely)
However i stand by what i said about decent forwards over 5′8 and will do until Crouch starts scoring against decent teams at the international level-Saying that i would absolutely start him for England instead of Rooney- who for me has done little of note this season, or last for that matter- As far as im concerned Rooney is a lot more hype than actual results and long gone are the days when he could terrorise defences with his pace and skill- he still shows touches of genius, but they are just that- touches, flashes nothing of much substance-
Crouch and Bent (he needs a move to Arsenal this summer-!) would be my starting England forwards- and although they may not be the prettiest forwards Crouch would do his job as a lumbering target man while Bent would put the ball in the back of the net- what a forward is supposed to do- Theres enough class in the middle of the park and outwide for England where the attackers would be able to just concentrate on scoring instead of creating and coming deep- which seems to be Rooney’s new job for some reason (i blame Sir Alex for sticking him in midfield mid way through last year) Ok- sort of gone off on one there but ever mind-
As for Liverpool, im a begruding fan- i dont partilcuarly like watching them play football- but thats not the point they win games- especially big games and especially in Europe- Gerrard is genuine class, as is the entire Liverpool midfield, which may be the best in Europe- Alonso, Mascherano and Sissoko are all superb footballers- and i was cheering when they stuck it to barcelona (see a few columns back) i apologise for the blatant bias- but never mind- just be content that you taught us a footballing lesson last week (that had me laughed out of my local by a group of Scouse) and you have 40 million to spend this summer while the gunners got less than half that- I’m cautiously optimistic for Arsenal next year- but then again i said that this year- i suppose we will see- good luck in Europe ‘Pool-i’d rather you than the Manc’s or the Russian juggernaught (ahem i mean Chelsea)
Now that’s what i call a post- who would you start for Englan then Mike?- and what would you do in Mclarens situation?

Apr.3 at 10:52 am

mike says:
Take a breath mate! Interesting thoughts. I’m not a big Darren Bent fan, I think he’s another in a line of forwards (Phillips, Ricketts, Vassell), who have a good couple of years but aren’t able to step upto international level. I take the £40 million with a pinch of salt. I think Rafa/the yanks are to shrewd to shoot off about how much money we have to spend. And for all the stories in the press I have seen roughly zero quotes from anybody at LFC. As for England… McClaren should do the decent thing and walk away, like Keegan did. I think we all knew we were headed for trouble with him… there is no grand scheme with him, rightly or wrongly the top managers in Britain (Fergie, Arsene, Rafa, Mourinho_) all have a philosophy and stick it. They may differ vastly but they have the courage of their convictions. McClaren A) doesnt have a plan and B) wouldnt stick to it if the tabloids didnt like it. and finally, Beckham should be in the squad (maybe not team, but squad) Against Croatia I would play Gerrard off Crouch. Lampard back in the centre (tho never at the expense of Gerrard) and pray that Joe Cole gets fit. Slamonline - the unexpected home of non-iditoic internet footbal debate - wh’d have thought!

Apr.3 at 11:41 am

Oliver says:
I agree with you that Bent is unproven- hence my cry for him to move to a big club- which i dont doubt he will this summer- then we will see if he is made of tougher stuff than the likes of Kevin Phillips, Vasell etc…
Cant really argue on the Mclaren front either- he has never managed a decent club side so i cant see how on earth he can be considered ready for the biggest job in world football- he was assistant at manchester United but that is all- he was an assistant.
My favourite England manager was El Tel- assistant- co- advisor whatever he is (i dont think anyone really knows) to Mclaren now- he did a great job at Euro 96′
Beckham should be in the squad, perhaps even the starting team unless young lennon bucks up his ideas-
Cant say i can agree with you on Gerrard as an attacking midfielder/support striker- they tried it in the world cup and it wasn’t a success- hes a brilliant midfielder- but not a forward. That for me is England’s big problem- dont have any actual forwards that you would say ‘that’s my man’ and stick with him-
If any of them have a bad game (except Rooney who it seems is untouchable) they get dropped- If Shearer had been fit for the world cup i may well have taken him if i was sven- in fact i may well have got down and begged the big man- i may even have enquired about lineker’s health….i jest- but you get the point…..when a team plays Nugent (the goal thief) and tries to say young theo is the answer at a worldcup…you know there is big problems

Apr.3 at 12:07 pm

mike says:
I think we’ll see Bent at Spurs/Newcastle/Villa next year. Second tier - and he’ll probably be good for 10-15 goals season. I think thats his limit. El Tel is a myth. The holland game apart we were p*ss poor. I think its very easy to look back at 1996 too favourably, Gazza’s goal v Scotland, Pearce’s penalty, New Labour, Cool Britania, Skinner and Baddiel. All of their age but not for the ages. I would of called up Lineker and Shearer just to keep them off my TV screen. And Ian Wright. Remember we have no Rooney against Croatia, in this instance I would play 4 across the middle then give Gerrard the freedom to go out and win the game. I dont think there’s one player in the world I’d rather have in a one-off must win game, which the croatia game is (almost). Im a little surprised Ryan hasn’t appeared making the case for Andy Johnson…

Apr.3 at 12:44 pm

oliver says:
im sure he will- Johnson is second rate as well though- i liked 96- name a time England played better? not sure that you can unless we start going back to medieval times- And El Tel has experience at good clubs something no other English manager has that springs to mind-
If we are agreeing Mclaren should go- who should replace him?
i genuinely cant think of a decent candidate (apart from tel) i think would take the job…..
someone with a bit of passion woudn’t hurt, not a wet fish like sven or mclaren

Apr.4 at 4:02 am

mike says:
As I said, we didnt play that well in 96. The only ‘great’ performance was against Holland. We were a little lucky to get past spain. Its great to see the footage now but we shouldnt let nostalgia cloud our better judgement. Venables has won 1 La Liga title and an FA Cup (i think) - as i said before I think he’s a myth - he’s one of footballs ‘characters’ but I don’t rate him as a manager. As for a replacement for McCLaren - I thought at the time Scolari was the best candidate for the job and the FA f’d that up. Right now I would be looking at Scolari again, or, if Mourinho gets the boot, go all out to get him. Appeal to his ego - sell him the idea of being the saviour of England - give him a contract till after the next World Cup and then he can go manage Real. Now tell me that isn’t a great idea! And finally, great result against PSV last night, I’m not gonna tempt fate but we should be through. Who do you think will make the semi’s from the other three games?

Apr.4 at 6:47 pm

oliver says:
b4 last night and tonights games i had Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester and bayern in the semi’s -now? i still stand by them all…
so we shall see i suppose- gonna be tough- Shame all the flair teams went out though- Barca, arsenal, lyon, madrid- makes the comp a bit less excting-
Cant see Mourinho leavin Chelsea- but if he did i agree 100%
Theres not much out there manager wise at the moment- scholari didn’t want it in the summer so i doubt he would want it now- my guess will be Sam Allardyce- although he has no experiece either- but at least hes a passionate English man-

Apr.5 at 5:02 pm

Ryan Jones says:
I LOVE that this conversation is happening here, but I have bad news: Mike, we have a strict no-Koppites policy here. I’m sorry. You have to leave now.

Apr.5 at 7:04 pm

oliver says:
no ‘Andy Johnson is the truth/greatest/best England forward Ryan? how dissapointing

Apr.6 at 2:44 am

mike says:
Ok Ryan, that seems fair enough. I’ll let the door hit me on the way out. It does seem a random conversation to have on a basketball site, however semi-intelligent football debate is nearly impossible online so gotta take what you can get! If Big Sam gets the job i’m leaving the country, the last thing I want to see is Kevin Davies in an England shirt.
Not even the last ’sports related’ thing. Its the last thing I want to see, ever.

Apr.6 at 9:40 am

oliver says:
this may be a bball site but this is a football page- so i think we r entitled to it- Your right about intelligent football fans- theres not a whole lot- some times for amusement i have a look at the SUN newspapers fan opinion site- and you can count the fans with an ounce ok knowledge on one hand-
Oh and btw- if mclaren goes i think you may be leavin the country fairly soon- i cant see another viable candidate anyhwere (not that sam is mind)
Mind you that documentary showing big sam being a little ‘loose’ with money may not help his cause-

Apr.6 at 10:29 am

Ryan Jones says:
Andy Johnson is a good but not great striker whose workrate and scrappiness serve him very well in the Prem but whose rep as a diver has cost my boys about 10 legit penalty claims this year. But he’s no England No. 9. I have his skills in perspective, I think.
And I’m just playing, Mike. I don’t like your squad, but I’m glad to have you.

Apr.7 at 8:23 am

mike says:
Ryan, I think you have the measure of Andy Johnson there. There are intelligent football fans - though they are usually drowned out by the morons. For obvious reasons the Sun has very low cirulation here in liverpool if it stocked at all - I like the Star’s Text Maniacs - full of idiots sugesting that thhey make a bid for ronaldinho or kaka. these guys support anybody from Madrid to Man City. Im surprised they have opposable thumbs to type the messages.

Apr.9 at 12:01 pm

Ryan Jones says:
You’ll notice some similarly ineloquent hoop fans around these parts, Mike, but we try to keep it clever when we can.
And, breaking news, I guess I can live with a 1-1 draw at Bolton…

Apr.10 at 3:16 am

mike says:
The Reebok isnt an easy place to go. With the exception of the top two every team in the league would be happy with a draw. It’s unlikely you guys will get 4th so 5th or 6th is really irrelevant as long as you get on of those spots for a UEFA Cup berth. From a Red point of view good to see aresnal bottling it yet again. Just gotta close out PSV and its gonna be an exciting end to the season.

Apr.10 at 4:24 pm

Ryan Jones says:
Yeah, it was fun watching James Vaughan bleed out at Bolton yesterday. And your boy Douf is a f*cking prick, but you knew that.
Also, speaking of the Champions League and teams that wear red: 6-1!

Apr.11 at 4:12 am

mike says:
The two Champs Lge games last night were great viewing. 7-1 is ridiculous - one of those freak results that happen once a season - but united were good value for it.
As for Chelsea - they deserved to go through after the 2nd half performance - even tho Canizares saved Valencia with a few jedi-esque saves. And as for Diouf - he’s just a lovable rogue!

Apr.11 at 10:56 am

Ryan Jones says:
Lovable rogue, f*cking prick — it’s probably only the language difference that keeps us from agreeing…

Apr.11 at 11:12 am

mike says:
Much of Diouf’s behaviour is simply inexcusable. However this shouldn’t be confused with his onfield ‘heel’ character. I think he enjoys getting boo-ed more than the crowd enjoy booing him. I am aware that I’m the only person alive who will sick up for Diouf, but there are players out there who are far worse for the game and set a poorer example for youngsters than him, but for whatever reason they aren’t vilified to the level Diouf is.

Apr.11 at 12:52 pm

Ryan Jones says:
The spitting seems to bother a lot of people, but I’m more concerned with the Stevie G-esque spikes-up challenges on my captain. But I feel you.

Apr.11 at 1:56 pm

oliver says:
just got home for a wedding and managed to sneak off and watch that game 7-1!!!!! wtf!
it wasn’t even like man-u pinned roma in there half- they couldn’t stop scoring- i think JAke is away this week but nxt week ill link that game- oh yeah and on this one i agree with Ryan- diouf is a prick- and that Canizares save was UNBELIEVABLE- one of the best i have ever seen

Apr.12 at 3:43 am

mike says:
You’ve hit the nail on the head with “Gerrard-esque” if an English player does something like that its “enthusiastic” but if its a foreigner its assault. Similar with diving (Gerrard, Joe Cole, Rooney have all been guilty of this) and for spitting pure venom nobody matches Rooney’s tirades. Being a bit thick - step forward Rio Ferdinand. Because most of England’s media is full of nationalistic sh*t our ‘Lions’ misbehaviour is ignored. Sadly much of the population take what is written in the tabloids as gospel. On less of a rant, and to keep things going till next week’s column, how do you guys see the Champs Lge Semi-Finals going?

Apr.12 at 6:27 am

Oliver says:
Agreed mike- Rooney’s behaviour is a disgrace- yet he gets away with telling referees to Fu*k off here and Fu*k off there- gerrard is a shockin diver, as is Cole, as is Owen when he is fit (So barely ever) the one payer who i genuinely think plays hard, fair and with a degree of respect is beckham….look where that got him with the British media-
Champs league semi’s are tough to call-
Ill go with Chelsea over liverpool- simply because i think they are due a important win over them and Jose wont want to lose like they did a few years back- however i wont be suprised if the ‘pool grab it as they are a great team in Europe. As for ManYoo against Milan- i’m not at all sure- Kaka and ronaldo on the same pitch is going to be so special though- two best players on the planet this year- will be worth watchin- I would say Manchester at a push- but i haven’t seen Milan play more than once or twice this year- and both times they were dismal- whatever the scores they should both be decent games-

Apr.12 at 7:27 am

mike says:
Beckahm has made mistakes however, he has always taken responsibilty for them and learnt from them. Like you say he’s a far better role model than Rooney for example. I wouldnt be surprised to see any of the 4 teams in the final. I think Chelsea are due a win over us, however, it is hard to bet against liverpool in a Cup tie. Whatever you say about Benitez, his tactics for one-off situations (i know its two legs) he is usually spot on. It is often players error that costs us (see wasted chance in games we dominated barca and utd in yet still lost). Ronaldo is playing so well at the moment it almost feels like it could be the birth of the great player of my lifetime (im 23). I hate writing that. However we’ve seen plenty of players in all sports waste massive potential. As a football fan, i hope it he doesn’t. In Milan, Man Utd face something that Roma didnt have - a centre midfield that can control the tempo of a game - Pirlo and Gattuso (a player i rate very highly) - and were the basis of a WC winning team - however the pace utd have will cause the ageing milan defence all sorts of problems. My heart says its no. 6 for liverpool. My head - honestly doesn’t have a clue!

Apr.12 at 10:29 am

Ryan Jones says:
Guys, you can confirm this for me: Rio Ferdinand is arguably the dumbest functional human being alive today. Am I right?

Apr.12 at 10:40 am

mike says:
Im pretty certain that Rio is so dumb that pavlovian responses are beyond him.

Apr.12 at 11:59 am

Ryan Jones says:
Thank you. I stumbled across a YouTube clip of his “Punk’d!” rip-off show, and he made Ashton Kutcher look like f*cking Einstein.

Apr.12 at 12:09 pm

mike says:
That show was one of humanity’s lowest moments. A little bit of me died when it was broadcast. Am sure you saw Rio shouting ‘you’ve been mercked’ after his hilarious antics. This is a charming reference to gangland killing ‘merc’ = ‘mercenary’ as you’ve been killed by a mercenary. As such Rio was the perfect candidate to tour Manchester with Tony Blair to spread the message that gangs and their close affliliates, drugs and weapons weren’t cool. Further to this Rio and Nemanja Vidic have used a hugely sensitive ‘Bazooka’ celebration this year. A Serbian guy (you’d think someone from that region may be a little more tasteful) and a guy whose countrymen are invloved in various conflicts across the globe. I despair at this country sometimes…

Apr.12 at 1:34 pm

oliver says:
trully an awful human being -plus he looks like a velociraptor- merc’d may be the worse, most cringeworthy thing i ever saw- anyone who makes that complete tit kutcher look good deserves to be shot

Apr.13 at 8:43 am

Ryan Jones says:
As the great philosopher Fred Durst once said, we are in agreeance. On another note, Oliver, do me a favor and beat Bolton this weekend, would you?

Apr.13 at 9:47 am

mike says:
Ryan, be careful what you wish for. You think Everton are ready for Europe? I’d hate to see a repeat of the big Champions Lge adventure of 2005. For obvious reason i’ll be rooting for Bolton over aresenal this weekend. Lets just hope its Diouf who scores the winner! On a serious note the way Bolton play is tailor made to cause Arsenal problems - and at the moment arsenal don’t look like they’ve got many goals in them at the moment.

Apr.13 at 10:17 am

Oliver says:
at the mont we stink and despite my position as a brash Arsenal fan- i am doubting my team for perhaps the first time in history- Baptista is genuinely useless- i presume 2 years ago when he scored 20 odd goals in a season for Sevilla he was good? because in all honesty he isn’t any more his touch is atrocious, his awareness is dire and his finsishing (apart from against the ‘Pool) is a shambles
and this is the guy leading from the front? Adebayor is awesome- he works his nuts off but he isn’t a leading forward for a quality team yet, playing off Thierry or Van Persie he is great but Baptista cant provide the service, the support or anything else for that matter-
I dont think Everton are ready for the Champs lge- but i think they are ready to do well in the Uefa Cup…
Where Arsenal will be joinin them unless we buck up our ideas and start scoring and defending- Please Arsene - spend this summer, spend, spend, spend!!

Apr.13 at 10:32 am

Ryan Jones says:
Fair point, Mike, but I’m hopeful Moyes will be more prepared the second time around. We certainly seem to have more Euro-capable talent now, guys like Arteta (fully acclimated now) and Fernandes who should be able to hang on the continent. But yeah, that fear of a repeat is in the back of my mind…
And yes, Oliver, I’ll be more than content with the UEFA Cup at this point. Baby steps…

Apr.13 at 10:32 am

Ryan Jones says:
Also, Jake: We miss you, amigo.

Apr.13 at 11:00 am

mike says:
I was refering to the Uefa Cup for Everton this year. Think Arsenal will hang on to 4th. I’m certain Fernandes won’t be at Goodison next year - Benfica are going to want £10 million plus for him and i don’t think Moyes has that type of money for 1 player. Seconded re. Jake, was hoping to pick his brain over the players linked with Liverpool this summer - mostly Dani Alves who i ‘ve not seen a great deal of but has been hyped up a lot.

Apr.13 at 12:19 pm

Ryan Jones says:
No worries, Mike: We’re gonna sell Beattie to Portsmouth for 12 mil, keep Fernandes and have change left over to take Henry off Oliver’s hands. (I hear he’s sick of the big city and doesn’t like that new ground, anyway). I got it all worked out…

Apr.13 at 2:08 pm

oliver says:
ah dude i have watched alves play a bunch this yr on the chinese tv station i got (www.sopcast.com)
and Dani Alves is awesome- he’ll improve Liverpool on his own- he’s really really good-
Beattie aint worth 12k let alone 12 million
this’ll give u an idea about alves
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVXT3OWjamw

Apr.14 at 10:09 am

Nadav Mor says:
England 0 Israel 0
not 1-1

Apr.14 at 10:29 am

oliver says:
ha- good point- thats a typo- the point i was tryin to make was that they cant attack hence cant score- not good to put that they scored! obviously just not paying any attention when i wrote that part-good spot nadav-u gonna write anything on germany any time soon?

Apr.15 at 8:22 pm

Waters1981 says:
Hey oliver (and all slam footy fanatics), instead of sopcast try www.rojadirecta.com….that sight is a goldmine of games. Got Boca Juniors - Riverplate downloading now.

Apr.16 at 6:30 am

Oliver says:
much appreciated Waters will give it a look as soon as i have some freetime- anythin that lets me watch the footy for free suits me down to the ground!

Apr.16 at 7:19 am

Waters1981 says:
I found out about it and it has been a godsend, in one day I have picked up about 6 games. I might try to upload to pando.com if that site is worthwhile.

Apr.16 at 10:31 am

Ryan Jones says:
Oliver: Thank you.

Apr.16 at 11:00 am

Oliver says:
Ryan-i presume the thanks are for the Bolton win- as i haven’t sent you flowers to your house or anything of that manner- and on behalf of Arsenal i accept your thanks and also the thanks of anyone who enjoys watchin good football prevail over long ball, boring football-
Arsenal will be in the champs league and with the extra revenue may be able to keep up with the Mancs, Scouse and Russians…i mean Chelsea-

Apr.16 at 1:58 pm

Ryan Jones says:
Indeed, O. The world is a better place when yours is the best team in London, and I mean that sincerely. As for boring (and horribly played) football, my boys obliged (with much help from Charlton) with an 80-minute lesson in how not to finish yesterday before somehow figuring it out. I hope you saw Jimmy Mac’s winner. Great ending to an otherwise horrendous game.

Apr.16 at 4:48 pm

Ryan Jones says:
Also, something both O and Mike will appreciate, from the Rumor Mill in the snarky-as-ever Fiver (guardian.co.uk): “Arsenal Wenger has been impressed by the arrogant disdain Sevilla full-back Daniel Alves shows towards his defensive duties.”

Apr.16 at 5:14 pm

oliver says:
ha ha- thats effin brilliant- ‘arrogant disdain’ is everything i look for in my wing backs- as for the Everton game- i avoided it and have not yet seen the games- yesterday was all about the rugby for me as my team the Ospreys (seriosuly could u get a worse team name) played Leicester in the EDF cup- ill be checkin more football as soon as i kno Jake is back in town- ill tryin and find the winner tho- just because its recommended

Apr.16 at 5:16 pm

oliver says:
and by ‘tryin and’ i clearly meant- ‘try to find’ urrgh im tired-

Apr.16 at 9:00 pm

Jake Appleman says:
Back from vacay. Glad you guys have kept up the discourse on this page. Btw, I witnessed said “arrogant disdain” 9 days ago, literally ten feet away, and i can assure you that it was both arrogant and disdainful (is that a word?).

Apr.17 at 4:00 am

mike says:
Thanks for the Links guys. I’ll check those out when I can get onto a Youtube friendly PC/Mac. I caught the EDF final sunday, that was a hell of a game, shame Ospreys couldn’t quite close the gap. McFadden’s winner was a great finish - and, as such, I assume he’ll disappear for the remainder of the season. As for Liverpool v City - didnt catch the game as I was at the National but it seems as if the team isnt really focused on the league. Finally, I like what I hear about Dani Alves! I think him and Etoo would be excellent additions, if just to gett a couple of world class headcases on board. I am aware this is as likely to happen as Ryan’s Thierry theory - still, we can dream!

Apr.17 at 6:07 am

Oliver says:
Jake - good to have u back- whens the nxt one running- when u want something for? there is plenty to write about- already wrote something about how Ronaldo excites me in ways a man shouldn’t - so let me kno and ill throw something together and send it over

Apr.17 at 6:10 am

Oliver says:
oh and disdainful is a word- and a good one!

Apr.17 at 12:26 pm

Ryan Jones says:
About time, Jake.
Mike, McFadden was “disappeared” pretty much the whole season — that was his first game back in months. Still, point taken.
And Oliver, I used to hate on Cristiano relentlessly a couple years ago, just thought he was all flash and minimal substance, but that kid has gotten SO much better. He is frightening. I’m not a “fan” (aversion to red kits, obviously) but I’m pretty that guy has either set up or scored 80 percent of their goals this season. And he’s purty, too.

Apr.17 at 3:21 pm

oliver says:
trust me i wrote the book on ronaldo hate- and sort of still do- but as you’ll read soon he’s totally changed my mind- hes the best player on earth- without a doubt and deserves every award handed out this year. jake hope your gonna fill us in on your trip

Apr.17 at 3:22 pm

oliver says:
PS Arsenal r kickin ass right now against man city- 1-0 and dominating…

Apr.17 at 4:57 pm

oliver says:
as soon as i wrote that we conceded 1-1 im gonna shut up

Apr.17 at 4:57 pm

oliver says:
all is well with the world
Arsenal up to third-
Arsenal 3-1 man city
sadly
man utd 2-0 sheff utd

Apr.17 at 5:09 pm

Ryan Jones says:
Come on, O, you almost have to be rooting for ManU the rest of the way, don’t you? Or do you actually want to see Chelski win again?

Apr.17 at 7:01 pm

oliver says:
dude- ill never root for man u- all my buddies r man u fans and ill have to listen to that bullshit all summer if they win- trust me i dont need that-i only know one chelsea fan- so thats at least better- there both as bad as eachother- ill begrudgingly admit it may be better for football if man u win- but dont tell anybody

Apr.17 at 8:12 pm

Jake Appleman says:
everyone needs to root for man u. the lesser of two evils. o, you mean like, vacay notes? you think i’d really do something like that?

Apr.18 at 6:00 am

mike says:
Ryan, hadnt noticed McFadden had been absent thru injury - probably not a good thing! Have to side with Oliver here. I could never bring myself to support Man Utd, it just can’t happen. Even if it was Man Utd v Mars for the future survival of the human race - i’d be rooting for Mars.

Apr.18 at 7:00 am

Oliver says:
amen Mike- one thing the americans cant understand is the bond that exists between fans of every other club apart from Manchester United- we all hate them- Chelsea have sort of taken the focus off Manchester for the casual fan- but ill always remember my anti United roots and ill always be proud of them.
The only thing i can sort of compare it too from when i lived in the US was how everyone hated the Yankees ‘cos they were richer than everyone else- thats ManYoo- but no where near the level of hate- also did anyone see that dude get nailed with a pizza at a red sox game…awesome!

Apr.18 at 11:22 am

Ryan Jones says:
I KNOW you couldn’t do it, Mike, and I understand why O couldn’t too. Admittedly, having not grown up over there being smothered by Utd’s 90s dominance, I’m less bothered by them (yes, even after Rooney) than I am by Chelsea’s soulless climb to prominence. But I feel you both.

Apr.18 at 12:25 pm

Oliver says:
i knew u would Ryan-

Apr.19 at 4:43 pm

oliver says:
New column on the way- and when i say the new Ronaldo videos are going to blow people away im not kidding

Apr.20 at 6:02 pm

Waters1981 says:
sadly, I keep telling everyone i would take deco over c. ronaldo, now I might take deco over ow. ronaldo

Apr.20 at 8:53 pm

oliver says:
i’d take Ronaldo with one leg over Deco right now- Ps i hope everyone saw Messi’s goal- awesome