Football 2010-2011

[The Nal]

So how long does everyone give Gareth Bale before he leaves Spurs? 6 months?

Shame he’ll never play in a world cup.

[ampersand]

So how long does everyone give Gareth Bale before he leaves Spurs? 6 months?

Shame he’ll never play in a world cup.

[eFestivals]

Got to love 'Arry's after match comments about Bale.

"I gave him a few days off, and said he should go abroad. So he did. He went to see his mum in Wales".

[the_hedge]

Was so impressed by Bale last night. Bearing in mind this was after his Hat Trick in the San Siro you can't say they were not aware of him and he still destroyed them.

Maicon must have cried himself to sleep last night

[The Nal]

Hes turning into some player though, his crossing is inch perfect, even when hes at full sprint.

Good to see Bebe score for Utd last night, looks like a good player, raw as anything but talented no doubt. Lovely finish for his goal too.

[eFestivals]

Maicon must have cried himself to sleep last night

Maicon is not all that's been claimed for him, clearly.

[the_hedge]

Maicon is not all that's been claimed for him, clearly.

[eFestivals]

Lucio didn't do much better and he is a world class defender

Bale's clearly a very good player, I'm not questioning that.

But does Bale get the run of the field like he has twice against Inter week in week out? Nope. So some 'standard' Prem defenders are doing much better against him than 'world class' Maicon.

[Cardboard Box City]

Maicon is not all that's been claimed for him, clearly.

[eFestivals]

Always best to judge a player on one game only I say.

Two games.

Two games where Maicon has been made to look like an amateur, in the way that Prem defenders in general aren't being.

[ampersand]

Two games.

Two games where Maicon has been made to look like an amateur, in the way that Prem defenders in general aren't being.

[Cardboard Box City]

Two games.

Two games where Maicon has been made to look like an amateur, in the way that Prem defenders in general aren't being.

[funkymp]

Bale was anonymous against Man U, rafael had him in his back pocket

[Ed209]

Hes turning into some player though, his crossing is inch perfect, even when hes at full sprint.

Good to see Bebe score for Utd last night, looks like a good player, raw as anything but talented no doubt. Lovely finish for his goal too.

[eFestivals]

Bale was anonymous against Man U, rafael had him in his back pocket

In which case I guess that CBC has grooverider down as the next "UEFA Defender of the Year" recipient.

[The Nal]

Bale's clearly a very good player, I'm not questioning that.

But does Bale get the run of the field like he has twice against Inter week in week out? Nope. So some 'standard' Prem defenders are doing much better against him than 'world class' Maicon.

[Cardboard Box City]

Hes an attacking defender, not great at actually defending. Brazilian style!

Bale is quality. But Rafael and Brown didn't let him have a kick at the weekend and didn't show him the line, just pushed him back inside onto the swinger. Hes not so great then.

I don't think the Italians know how to defend against that kind of player. “Great” wide players in Serie A do well. Theres been loads that wouldn’t cut the mustard in the prem. I remember Stefano Eranio being great for Milan for a couple of seasons playing the wide running and crossing game. He wasn’t a patch on some of the prem wingers at the time. Same for Lentini, 13 million or something he went for, purely because he could beat a man and cross.

[eFestivals]

Ooooooo .... just remembered something from the weekend.

Watching the Utd/Spurs game I noticed that they were putting messages up on the hoardings, trying to flog tickets for Saturday's game with Wolves.

I've seen that sort of things happen with other clubs, and I might have seen it happen at Utd for non-Prem games before now, but I can't remember ever having seen Utd doing that for a Prem game. Was that a first in recent years, or has it passed me by previously?

Along with the failure of Utd to sell all of the season tickets they wanted to sell, it appears that the bottom has REALLY dropped out of the market for Utd's tickets. So with Utd's popularity now having been revealed as far lower (for whatever reasons - I'm aware that there's a variety of factors which could be in the mix) than has often been claimed by Utd, I suspect that's going to impact on the value of at least some of the commercial deals they'll be able to strike from now on.

[funkymp]

In which case I guess that CBC has grooverider down as the next "UEFA Defender of the Year" recipient.

[ampersand]

Ooooooo .... just remembered something from the weekend.

Watching the Utd/Spurs game I noticed that they were putting messages up on the hoardings, trying to flog tickets for Saturday's game with Wolves.

I've seen that sort of things happen with other clubs

[sifi]

Hes an attacking defender, not great at actually defending. Brazilian style!

Bale is quality. But Rafael and Brown didn't let him have a kick at the weekend and didn't show him the line, just pushed him back inside onto the swinger. Hes not so great then.

I don't think the Italians know how to defend against that kind of player. “Great” wide players in Serie A do well. Theres been loads that wouldn’t cut the mustard in the prem. I remember Stefano Eranio being great for Milan for a couple of seasons playing the wide running and crossing game. He wasn’t a patch on some of the prem wingers at the time. Same for Lentini, 13 million or something he went for, purely because he could beat a man and cross.

Edited November 3, 2010 by sifimaster

[The Nal]

Ooooooo .... just remembered something from the weekend.

Watching the Utd/Spurs game I noticed that they were putting messages up on the hoardings, trying to flog tickets for Saturday's game with Wolves.

I've seen that sort of things happen with other clubs, and I might have seen it happen at Utd for non-Prem games before now, but I can't remember ever having seen Utd doing that for a Prem game. Was that a first in recent years, or has it passed me by previously?

Along with the failure of Utd to sell all of the season tickets they wanted to sell, it appears that the bottom has REALLY dropped out of the market for Utd's tickets. So with Utd's popularity now having been revealed as far lower (for whatever reasons - I'm aware that there's a variety of factors which could be in the mix) than has often been claimed by Utd, I suspect that's going to impact on the value of at least some of the commercial deals they'll be able to strike from now on.

[eFestivals]

Nah they always do for games they arent sure will sell out.

Blimey. I'm of course aware that the likes of Wolves will be one of the less popular Prem matches, but I'd have thought if they're plugging seats as regularly as you've said I'd have noticed it before now.

[The Nal]

Blimey. I'm of course aware that the likes of Wolves will be one of the less popular Prem matches, but I'd have thought if they're plugging seats as regularly as you've said I'd have noticed it before now.

[eFestivals]

Yeah, first time I was there was in 1992 and they were advertising tickets for the next game (Chelsea I think) and last time was 3 years ago maybe and they were selling tickets to the next game vs Bolton I think.

They dont plug them on tv but at half time theres always an announcement on the mic, and the digital sign at the Stretford End advertises tickets all the way through the match. Its an 80k stadium so not always guaranteed to sell out for at least 80% odd of the games there.

Oh, they were plugging them on TV on Saturday - that's the point I'm making. The hoardings are aimed far more at a TV audience than those in the stadium, cos I doubt there's enough Koreans (or whichever countries it is) in the stadium to justify plugging the non-English versions of Utd's website on them.

But I'm actually very surprised at the last bit you've said - I was under the impression it was just about always sold out. That's certainly the impression that Utd have tried to give to the wider world in recent years, with claims of a huge waiting list for season tickets (now of course shown as myth), and suggestions of needing to expand the stadium further.