A day late but god bless Fellaini and god bless Everton.

TBH United were just dreadful. Nani looked lost, Rooney was non-existent and why was anyone surprised Van Persie didn't start? Fergie never starts a new player from the start especially one that hasn't even had a training session.

Disagree, I think Man U looked pretty good in midfield, they dominated posession, and even though Kagawa couldnt impact the game you could see him trying to make it work with Rooney and Wellbeck. Nani had one of his disappearing acts, he does that about 50% of the time anyway, Rooney looked kinda fat and out of shape from what i could see, but Fellaini put in a match-winning performance between 2 teams who were evenly matched.

I dont read too much into the game for the season ahead, especially considering Van Persie hadnt had a chance to train with his new team mates yet. The only concern for them might be Kagawa, Rooney and Van Persie stepping on each others' toes.

Yeah, you're right about the respect US players have here. I'm a big fan of Freidel, too and even though Jonathan Spector was a bit shit for West Ham, he always seemed like an utterly decent bloke. They seem to be good in post match interviews, too. A sign of some genuine intelligence there compared with most of their teammates.

Which begs an important question: who is the thickest footballer in the prem right now? Not in the genius/mad way of someone like Balotelli or Joey Barton, just really boringly dim. Rooney has to be a candidate and I've often wondered about Tevez. By all accounts Jermaine Pennant is almost spectacularly thick.

Thickest Prem manager? No real evidence to base it on but I'm going for Tony Pulis.

youve hit the nail on the extremely bumpy head, its Carlos The Tosser all the way




7 odd years here now and he still barely speaks a word of English, i cant think of any player who's been here that long and who hasnt even bothered to try learning the language. Apart from this waste of space




Re: Americans. Theyve all come across extremely well apart from the time Marcus Hahnemann wore a Tool hat on Match of The Day. I might be misremembering that, but he certainly has the circa 2000 triangular numetal beard look.

Isn't Brad Freidel also really into Metal?

I don't think there's anything that dim about Cappelo. He seems sharp as a razor to me. He just decided not to learn English but I'm sure he could if he wanted to. Not sure if the same is true of Tevez, though. Anyway, I'm thinking more of those players like Joe Cole who are obviously nice enough but hardly MENSA material, shall we say. I love how he runs with his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. Bale does it too although I don't think he's quite as devoid of grey matter as lil Joey. Mark Noble for West Ham is another one. Thick as a plank by all accounts, but an absolute sweetheart.

I honestly don't think Joey Barton is that thick. He's out spoken and does idiotic things sure, but I think there's a bit of brains in there. You can't go wrong with...tbh there's so many out there you'd be hard pressed to pick out one.

It'd be harder to say who actually shows intelligence (away from knowing how to handle themselves on a pitch).

Does anyone read the secret footballer in the guardian on Saturdays? Whoever that is is clearly a screwed on guy.

Yeah, I agree about Barton but that was why I didn't include him. In terms of intelligent footballers (in the non-footballing sense) I think Freidel's pretty together and for whatever reason Kompany always strikes me as having something between his ears. Lampard's apparently got a 'genius' level IQ but a lot there depends on how intelligent you think having a high IQ makes someone.

I've read snippets of the Secret Footballer but it never left an impression. I should read more.

From what ive read its either Danny Murphy or David James, which wouldnt surprise as they both come across as being smarter than the average.

Depends what you mean by "intelligent" though, Clark Carlisle is the president of the players union and has been on Countdown (clear sign of genius, i know) but when he went on Question Time he didnt seem able to conduct much of an arguement.

And to be fair to Joe Cole, when his career was floundering at Liverpool he did what no other high profile England player has done in years and went to a foreign league. Displays a level of curiosity and open mindedness if not neccessarily intelligence.

I forgot about David James. Definitely intelligent but more in the mad/genius way, I think. Maybe it's just a goalkeeper thing. Robert Green's another one who's meant to be pretty bright, but also a bit 'odd'.

A slightly different era but Jason Mcateer was meant to be almost spectacularly thick.

Anyone see the Real v Barca game last night? Brilliant. Barca won 3-2 but the score flatters Real. Iniesta and Xavi were both just different class.

All the talk of Mourinho wanting to leave Real, I wonder if he's now so obsessed with trying to dominate Barca one to one (as opposed to by league position) that he'll stay until he finally manages it (or gets sacked). It's like they're becoming his Moby Dick. Epic stuff, really.

oh mang whattt? i was working aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall day yesterday.

i gotta find this

Yeah, I only found out about it by mistake and missed the first 10 mins. But seriously, it was the kind Barca performance that you'll wan't to show to any of their doubters.

I saw it. Man, in recent months i saw almost every Barcelona match that was being played (i even watch every La Liga match, i'm that hooked)

First half was quite boring and vigilant from both sides, though after Ronaldo scored, the game opened up and the second half turned out to be a great contest. Barca equalized 2 minutes after that leading goal, and then scored another 2 (their third being the particularly spectacular one, with a brilliant pass by Iniesta and Xavi's finish).

But then came the moment of Valdes who ruined the promising 2 goal advantage for Barcelona. He foolishly tried to run past Di Maria with a ball, but Di Maria took the ball and scored. What a dumbass, that Valdes.

The weakest of Barcelona squad, was Alexis Sanchez, though. Very weak in one-on-one situations, making inaccurate passes and DIVING LIKE A MUTHAFUCKA. I could have sworn some time ago that Busquets was the king of diving in this team, but Alexis is just becoming a very talented student of his master art.

I saw the video of him, incognito obviously, on The Guardian's website and if thats really the man then it definitely isnt David James. My suspicions were piqued the other week when his column mentioned something about sniffing a ball to remind him of how he felt as a kid, and i cross referenced it with this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t-I94l4hTk

Im convinced theyve been intentionally dropping red herrings like this for a while, still good fun to speculate though

Interesting. I think it is a red herring because I heard another player tell the exact same story in an interview recently. It definitely wasn't James but I'm tearing my hair out trying to remember who it was. They were talking about falling out of love with the game and it only coming back one day when they sniffed the football and it reminded them of their first football as a kid and they started doing it at the beginning of every game. Christ, who was it???

Totally agree about the first half, and Sanchez. I also agree about Busquets but I'm too big a fan of his to say anything critical about him. And yeah, what was Valdes thinking?!?

But once Barca clicked I just thought they were fantastic. [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fdvfc_RRCA]Iniesta's run and pass to Xavi for the third goal[/quote] was something I could watch over and over again. Speaking of Xavi, I heard a rumour that the powers that be at Barca want him to take over as manager when he retires from playing. I'd so love for that to happen.

was something I could watch over and over again. Speaking of Xavi, I heard a rumour that the powers that be at Barca want him to take over as manager when he retires from playing. I'd so love for that to happen.[/quote]

That would make him a true legend, for sure.
This is exactly what i love about Barcelona - that they rely on the players/managers/staff with a strong bond to the club (or Catalunya, for that matter) in the first place. They also prefer players who grew up at La Masia - see the purchase of Cesc and Jordi Alba, and the rise of wingers like Tello and Cuenca.

Sure;y history has shown that just cos someone is a great player is definitely doesn't mean he's gong to be a great manager?

You're right, but given the uncertainty that comes with any new managerial appointment, Xavi strikes me as being as safe a bet as any potential replacement and would, if nothing else maintain a sense of club identity. Apart from that, considering they'd never appoint Mourinho in a million years, that Fergie's close to retirement and AVB is still very much a work in progress, there really aren't that many viable alternatives. Although didn't Sam Allardyce once say he'd be better suited to manage a club like Barcalona?

Still feel the same?