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The Team Of The Decade
With all this talk about Players of the Decade and the debate about Arsenal's invincibles perhaps we should move on and discuss the team of the decade. Here's who I think should be nominated:
Plastic Ronaldo's United 2007-2008
Arsenal's Invincible's 2003-2004 (and 2005)
Mourinho's Chelsea 2004-2005 (and 2006)
Mourinho's Porto 2003-2004 (and 2002-2003)
Ronaldinho's Barclona 2004-2005
Guardiola's Barcelona 2008-2009
Brazil World Cup 2002 (made it look so easy)
France Euro's 2000
Czech Euro's 2004 (like Holland '74 - best losers)
Sao Paolo 2005-2006 (throwing a curve ball into the mix!)
My vote is last seasons Barcelona as most of us rightly creamed over them (except Chelsea fans) and it is still fresh in the memory.
Big John Bailey, Expert
Best Of British To The Irish
So Tristan, Kilkenny, who to cheer for - Ireland or France? As an Englishman living in Ireland, married to an Irish woman and with a lot of Irish mates, I've supported the Irish teams over the past 10 years or so. Willing penalty takers to score against the Spanish, hoping Mick's men go on to the next stage of various tournaments, even sharing in the dismay of the Staunton era, but frankly I've had enough.
I could go on about the fact that they play unattractive, dour, negative football, but I don't really mind that. What does my head in is the way that the Irish support any nationality playing AGAINST England in anything from tiddlywinks to World Cup competitions. I can understand why they would have a gripe on account of history but ffs, could you not build a bridge and get over it? I used to accept it as harmless banter, but the vast amount of these people have family or themselves have lived in England and still can't bring themselves to cheer for them. I know England's footballers are an unlikeable bunch but seriously, I've seen little kids in ManU "Rooney" jerseys shouting "England scum" in the past. I wore my three lions shirt at the Astroturf in Tallaght (yeah a bit stupid I know) and got boo'd with every touch! Plus if the Irish win, it means I have to listen to Christy Moore singing about Joxter having the day of his life, after watching the men in green beat the English in 1988 - every day on the radio until after the world cup.
So in answer to your question about inviting Ireland to the party I say your name's not down, you're not coming in. I hope Conor Byrne, Kevin (Lumineach), Byrner (Baile atha Claith) and the rest of them are crying into their Guinness come the end of the two legs. The only viable alternative is for an England v Ireland QF in 2010 where we tear you a new one! Vive la France!
Ed (the names have been changed to protect the innocent), Dublin - home of the plastics
A Mail That Can Be Summed Up As 'We're Going To Get Ruined'
So, Fabio Capello is "hopeful" that John Terry will be fit to face Brazil on Saturday. So, he won't be fit to play then? Not all of it anyway.
So, we can now add John to a list of absentee's that now includes Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Ashley Cole, Glen Johnson, Aaron Lennon, David Beckham, Theo Walcott, Joe Cole, Stuart Downing and Emile Heskey. 11 players, 7 of which would almost certainly be starters if they were all fit, not to mention that Joe Cole and Aaron Lennon would be certain starters were it not for the class possessed by Gerrard and Walcott.
Meanwhile Brazil seem to have no problem naming a squad which contains all of their star players including Julio Cesar, Maicon, Dani Alves, Lucio, Melo, Robinho, Elano, Luis Fabiano and Kaka. And they've still omitted Ronaldinho, Adriano and Alexandre Pato not to mention that fat Ronaldo?
Felipe Melo and Gilberto Silva are highly unlikely to be quaking in their boots at the prospect of facing any combination from Huddlestone, Jenas, Carrick and Barry and the possibility of the "inform" Jolean Lescott taking on Luis Fabiano and Kaka could be the biggest mis-match in recent history.
So, tell me, what is the point in this friendly again? Because to me it's lost all sense of meaning because England are fielding a second string XI (which is putting it politely, mind) whilst Brazil are rolling out the big guns. If we DON'T get steam-rollered tomorrow night I'll quite frankly be amazed. Why can't we just see how our best players would fare for once? Meh.
Harry - Manchester.
Fascinated By United Fans
Man Utd fans are a fascinating creature. Everytime you think "no, they won't be able to come up with something more ridiculous", they find the capacity to surprise, and even amaze.
"Sir Alex was clearly wrong to use a post-match interview to query Alan Wiley's fitness and has been justly been bollocked and fined for it. The post-match interview is not the forum to make such allegations. But that begs the question, where is?" asks Richard, United Fan, London.
Well, Dickie my boy, I presume somewhere that Fergie has Keith Hackett's phone number. Or his address. Or even his email address. I presume, similarly, that he has the contact details for the senior bods at the FA. What's that Dickie, you're not done yet?
"Wiley was huffing and puffing in the Sunderland game"
Haven't the prozone stats proven that only 5 players ran more yards than Wiley over those 90 minutes? Is Fergie concerned about the fitness of his players? Is there a single decision in that match where Fergie, or even you Dickie my good man, where you think that Wiley made the wrong decision because he was too unfit to be correctly positioned?
Sir Alex is the most experienced manager in Europe. He is also, staggeringly, a knight of the realm. If he is genuinely concerned about the standard of refereeing and the fitness of referees, he should've taken the matter up privately with Hackett and the FA. If then nothing was done, fine, go public but do it in a dignified way and don't single out individuals.
The fact is, the interviewer (it surely can't have been Well Done Geoff
Shreeves) asked a question about the poor performance of the Utd players and, to deflect criticism, Fergie made headlines out of a guy who had done his job perfectly well.
The lack of class would be surprising, if only it wasn't so well rehearsed.
Javed LFC (no comments about Rafa, lest the Mailbox Compiler mock me for turning this into a Rafa-lovefest)
Celtic And Rangers: Rubbish
Using a very lazy method for this, but look at how the Celtic and Rangers teams lined up for their latest games in the SPL.
Celtic (vs Falkirk, (A), 3-3): Zaluska, Hinkel, Caldwell, Fox, Loovens (McManus 46), N'Guemo, Robson (Zhi 67), McCourt (McDonald 67), McGeady, Samaras, Fortune
Rangers (vs St. Mirren, (H), 2-1) : McGregor, Weir, Papac, Whittaker (Beasley 46), Wilson, McCulloch, Davis, Boyd, Novo (Miller 86), Naismith, Fleck
Now, looking at those teams (and the results) the question comes, if the Old Firm did join the Premier League, who the f*** would they beat? Both teams are filled with aging pros, nobodys and failed Premiership players with the exception of a few on each side. In my view both those teams are worse than Hull, worse than Birmingham, worse than Wolves and definitely worse than the likes of Portsmouth, West Ham and other Premiership strugglers.
A lot is said about the atmosphere at Ibrox and Parkhead but over 38 games in a season this would surely drop considerably. It's not as if the visit of Wolves resembles a big european tie against Milan or something. Frankly, Celtic's away record in Europe is enough of a reason for them never to want to go south anyway. I'd fancy both sides to struggle badly if they came down, at least until they had the time to attract a few better players with their new Premier League status.
Eamonn (hoping and praying that the Irish turn over the French) Power, Saudi
Send 'Em Norf
A daft idea, but no dafter than Celtic and Rangers joining the Premier League - and it's Friday so worth a crack...
Why not pack off a handful of Premier League teams to the SPL instead?
The four most northerly Premier League teams are Sunderland, Blackburn, Burnley and Hull;
Sunderland - Have been in great form, particularly at home, this season - they would bring plenty to the party. Frankly, could probably win the whole thing at a stretch.
Blackburn - You want prestige? Try the only club outside of the 'Big Three' to have won the Premier League since it's inception. (Sorry Liverpool - no silverware, no 'Big Four')
Burnley - Surely everyone's second team... - unless you're from the aforementioned Blackburn of course. And, on that, the SPL gets another hotly contested derby to add to their fabled Old Firm rivalry
Hull - We (in England) get shot of Phil Brown.
Also, every remaining Premier League team's league fixtures are reduced by eight games, significantly easing fixture congestion - jobs a good 'un!
Right, now to draft a proposal for England 2018 - pass me a napkin, this lark's a piece of p!ss...
Luke (Saints to get promoted -- playoffs obv. -- and win the JPT? Could it be? Wemberley - here we come, twice...) Nuckley, Southampton
Anger
As I read this morning's mailbox, my anger levels slowly grew per mail. So I thought I'd right a few wrongs (express my opinion anyway!)
1. 'Richard, United fan, London' - says it all really but I'll move on from that obvious point! To complain that Wiley is huffing and puffing after running approximately 12km in 90 minutes, well yes, but so is everyone else on the field. Its called down exercise, youre generally left with feeling a sense of utter bollocksedness! Don't get me wrong, I can see that Mr Wiley likes his pastry, but Fergie was making up complete and utter bullpoo!
More on your letter - surely managers should be able to make their point about referees. Fair enough, in that case, let the referee come out and describe what he sees in the game. That Nani gets baffled by his own shoelaces, Foster couldnt catch a cold, and Vidic has the turning circle of a large ship. Lets see how Fergie feels if he/his players get abused!! Referees 'generally' give what they think is the right decision, they are human beings, they make mistakes!!
2. Alan, London - another United fan - lets look at the theme here! The standard of refereeing is getting worse. Well, lets just think, maybe its because all they receive for there troubles is a torrent of abuse, and a bunch of stupid chavs running at them, swearing in there face, and millions of people treating them worse than a combination of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Fritzl!! So, less referees equals less quality, work it out man!
Dont get me wrong, as a season ticket holder at Wigan, I see some shambolic decisions week after week. But I also didn't understand that if we didn't have referees, we wouldnt have football, so stop f**king moaning!!
3. Makelele - I seem to be the only person whos thinks that actually, well hes a bit overrated! Seeing as every man and his dog says hes underrated and he has a position named after him, well I don't think he was that good.
4. As the least patriotic Englishman alive, I will be cheering on Honduras next summer - thanks to Mr Figuoroa and Palacios. I could think of nothing worse than Mr Lionheart Terry liifting that trophy next July!
Gareth (international weekends are crap) Manchester
A Mail Entitled 'Nick Miller's Ineptitude
I refer to the following throw away comment from our good and learned friend Nick Miller in his article "Guide to the World Cup Playoffs"
"if he (Trap) gets them through, it's arguably a bigger achievement than Capello's transformation of the England team.
Population of Ireland : 4.4m approx.
Population of England: 51.2m approx
National Sport (and highest participation rate) of England : Association Football
National Sport (and highest participation rate)of Ireland : Gaelic Games (Football & Hurling)
Previous England Coach: Shteve McLaren (not a bad coach but too pally with the players)
Previous Ireland Coach: Steve Staunton (no comment required here)
Action Required: Aloof take absolutely no sh*% coach that is not afraid to drop marquee names.
Action Required: Where do I start?
Arguably? Arguably? Leave out that word and insert "most *"£*)%G definitely".
I could go on but I'll never get the time back...
Speedy B, Dublin
Collina: Not So Great
So, Richard, United fan, London (well it wouldn't be Manchester would it?).
"Everyone agrees Collina knew his onions."
Ask Everton supporters what they think of the baldy, boggled eyed git after his performance in the Villarreal/Everton game a few years back.
You might get a different answer.
Rob (bugger brackets) Kelly, Adelaide
Fush And Chups
I'd just like to wish the Kiwis the best of luck for tomorrow morning. You got to love a nation of only 4 million that acheive what they do in sport. Sure, if they got there they'll just be canon - fodder in the group stages but it would be good to see them there.
I'm going out on the lash tonight so I won't be getting up at 7am to watch the glamour-tie that is NZ v Bahrain but apparently it'll be a record for the amount of people watching a footy match live in NZ (about 35 - 36k) and on TV (about 7).
Ironic that it's on the same weekend the All Blacks are playing in the San Siro.
Andrew, Woodford Green
Choices
Tristan, Kilkenny asks who we'd rather have around for a party like the world cup - the Irish or the French?
Why not go for the best of both worlds - the French football team and the Irish fans? It's a football tournament as well as a party, and let's face it, the French are better footballers. If the Irish fans need a team to support, the answer's right in front of them - why support England B (or C, more like) when you could have the real thing? They've been shouting for English players for years anyway, so it won't be too big an adjustment.
Come to think of it, England would probably rather have the Irish supporting them than their own fans anyway. So everyone's a winner - we get to watch great footballers like Henry and Ribery in the biggest tootball tournament on earth, the Irish supporters get to go to the tournament and have fun, and England get some fans who can take a few beers without wanting to smash anyone's head in. Why has no-one thought of this before?
GP, London
Good Plan
Many correspondents have discussed the problem of bringing both Celtic and Rangers into the Premiership. Perhaps the clubs could better the odds of this happening by considering a merger, and putting forward a united bid. Might be easier to get one club in, and I can't see much in the way of obstacles.
Iain, Sunderland
Riding
Interesting to see the headline, "Spurs didn't know of bike" on your website this afternoon.
Having gone out with both Jermain Defoe and Jamie O'Hara already, surely SOMEONE at Tottenham must have known about the existence of Danielle Lloyd?
Michael Cox
We're Sure She'd Be An Excellent House Guest
Tom Schaller『Japanese style brackets』Colchester, claimed he'd value England hosting the World Cup more than he would actually winning the thing.
That strikes me as akin to saying you'd pass up the chance to hop into bed with Beyonce, because you'd rather she just stayed in your spare room for a few weeks.
Alan, Belfast
