[benbsb29]

What time is the Man Utd vs Chelsea match ?

[WhiteKnight]

Originally Posted by Prasidhi

In La liga, will Valencia get relegated ? Koeman's sacking has brought back Canizares, David Albelda and Miguel Angel Angulo into the first team. The dogfight seems to be interesting.

My dearest Valencia!! Ha, what a giant kiling team they used to be both in Europe and Spain. Even now Barca and RM get jitters thinking about them. What a sad state of affairs.

Originally Posted by benbsb29

What time is the Man Utd vs Chelsea match ?

5.30 PM, I guess

[mayurpalav]

Do we have only commentators out here or does someone really play football ?

Lets have a TBHP - Football fans meet at the Sportsbar on Wednesday.

Anybody in the western suburbs interested in playing football ? lemme know.

[wanderlustindia]

Originally Posted by mayurpalav

Do we have only commentators out here or does someone really play football ?

Lets have a TBHP - Football fans meet at the Sportsbar on Wednesday.

Anybody in the western suburbs interested in playing football ? lemme know.

Used to play. Stopped for three years now. Only a commentator now

[MaserQ]

Originally Posted by wanderlustindia

Valencia were vying for top honors in the last few years and were rubbing shoulders with the best in the business.

Remember Leeds United. They played in a Champions League semi-final a few years back and are now languishing in the second division in England.

Clubs like Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea (recent riches), Real Madrid, Barcelona, Milan will remain in the top flight for the foreseeable future. They are backed by a strong management and are cash-rich due to the virtue of selling themselves across the globe.

Another club which is now lost in oblivion is Deportivo La Coruna. They had some fantastic players in the early 2000s. No idea where they are now! Juan Carlos Valeron (did I get his name right?) is nowhere to be seen. He was touted as one of the best midfielders in those days.

This got me thinking. Some clubs disappear out of bad management and sheer negligence. Other clubs come into the top fray under new owners/management. Nottingham Forest is another yesteryear powerhouse that is languishing in the 2nd division.

Other teams are on the ascendancy. In the EPL, Sven Ericksson already has a big wish list of players for next season. This should see Man City challenging the Big Four very soon. Aston Villa and Hotspurs have been teams transformed under Martin O'Neil and Ramos respectively.

Further down in 1st division, Queens Park Rangers can look forward to a bright future with Bernie and Briatore having bought them over.

[mayurpalav]

Treat for Football fanatics on ESPN Starsports.
Countdown to Euro 2008 showing weeknights at 11 pm.
Repeats on Sunday afternoons, I think.
They are showing Euro games right from Euro 2000.

The turning point in my life - Italia 90.

[wanderlustindia]

Same here dude. The turning point Italia-90. Picked up football bigtime since then. Yes, the repeat is on Sunday afternoons, can't recollect the timings.

[Prasidhi]

Originally Posted by WhiteKnight

My dearest Valencia!! Ha, what a giant kiling team they used to be both in Europe and Spain. Even now Barca and RM get jitters thinking about them. What a sad state of affairs.

In the beginning of the season, they were quite good, but once Koeman was in charge, the slip in La liga started, however they just won the Copa Del Rey. Even now they have good players like David Villa, Morientes and Edu.

5.30 PM, I guess

Originally Posted by wanderlustindia

Valencia were vying for top honors in the last few years and were rubbing shoulders with the best in the business. Now they are on the verge of relegation. Are they into a financial turmoil or is it some other reason?

Remember Leeds United. They played in a Champions League semi-final a few years back and are now languishing in the second division in England.

Clubs like Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea (recent riches), Real Madrid, Barcelona, Milan will remain in the top flight for the foreseeable future. They are backed by a strong management and are cash-rich due to the virtue of selling themselves across the globe. The other so-called big club run into financial trouble due to bad management and in the process lose their stars rendering their club not so attractive to play with. Top players want to be in the limelight, playing in the top division at domestic level and also in the Champions League.

Another club which is now lost in oblivion is Deportivo La Coruna. They had some fantastic players in the early 2000s. No idea where they are now! Juan Carlos Valeron (did I get his name right?) is nowhere to be seen. He was touted as one of the best midfielders in those days.

Not major financial turmoil for Valencia, lack of a good coach after Rafa Benitez left for Liverpool. Deportivo was in relegation zone till December, however they have climbed up to 9th last week. Juan Carlos Valeron is still there, he is having major injury nightmares (the one since Feb 2006).


Its interesting to see some players always keep their medical room busy. Louis Saha for example, he plays one game and for another 10 games, he keeps the medical staff engaged.

[normally_crazy]

The EPL has been thrown open again. Manchester United go down to Chelsea. I did not watch the match yesterday, can someone please tell me about the controversial penalty ?

[wanderlustindia]

I have no clue how the linesman ruled a penalty. But to be frank, Utd were outplayed in the first half. Poor team selection by Fergie, keeping in mind the semi-final clash against Barca on Tuesday. But, this was no walkover, it was almost a title decider. No Ronaldo, no Tevez in the starting line-up. Nani was poor in the first half losing the ball quite often.

Utd came out in the second half with real purpose and stretched Chelsea and were suitably rewarded with a goal. But then the penalty happened and now the title race, which looked over two weeks back is thrown open again. If Utd lose it from here, they have themselves to blame for it.

I wonder, how much this would impact their preparations against Barca. Its looking bad for Utd at the moment.

[MaserQ]

It was the linesman's mistake. He indicated to the referee that it was a penalty. The question was, did Carrick intentionally use his arm to fend the ball? No.

This was a game that Chelsea deserved to win. Ferguson's team selection was defensive to say the least and Chelsea looked more hungry and created more chances. Carvalho's mistake gifted United with a goal but that was all they deserved after a lackadaisical performance.

Having said that, it would still require a miracle for Chelsea to win it as United face the likes of Wigan and West Ham, not exactly threatening opposition. Close, exciting finish we have this year.

[rsjaurr]

Originally Posted by wanderlustindia

Valencia were vying for top honors in the last few years ................
Remember Leeds United. They played in a Champions League semi-final a few years back and are now languishing in the second division in England.


Another club which is now lost in oblivion is Deportivo La Coruna. They had some fantastic players in the early 2000s

well,you got me thinking too.

I used to watch almost every footbal match b/w 1998 till 2003-04 and then somehow i lost some interest.

Valencia was very good team with very strong midfield with Mandieta being their best player but they went downhill with his exit.

Deportivo was another team with extremely strong midfiled and they would always win against major team like Barca and R.Madrid but also loose to some minor teams as well.

But Leeds were my fav team with David O'leary(did i spell him correctly?) as manager and LeBowyer,Allen and Marc Viduka upfront.They used to be very aggresive and always had major teams in trouble.

But probably they lost out coz they dint/could not buy major players when they were successful and so had plenty of money.
I heard one of expert blaming manager David for not buying good players when he had money.

[wanderlustindia]

Originally Posted by rsjaurr

well,you got me thinking too.

I used to watch almost every footbal match b/w 1998 till 2003-04 and then somehow i lost some interest.

Valencia was very good team with very strong midfield with Mandieta being their best player but they went downhill with his exit.

Deportivo was another team with extremely strong midfiled and they would always win against major team like Barca and R.Madrid but also loose to some minor teams as well.

But Leeds were my fav team with David O'leary(did i spell him correctly?) as manager and LeBowyer,Allen and Marc Viduka upfront.They used to be very aggresive and always had major teams in trouble.

But probably they lost out coz they dint/could not buy major players when they were successful and so had plenty of money.
I heard one of expert blaming manager David for not buying good players when he had money.

Gaizka Mendieta! Yes, I remember him. Class act in the midfield for Valencia.

Leeds went out of the Premiership due to two reasons. One as you rightly mentioned, David O'Leary did not bolster his side to challenge for top honours year after year! Secondly their debt profile had spiralled beyond control, in short bad financial management. It all went down-hill from thereon and they were relegated to the First Division. Right now they are languishing in the second division.

The Primera Liga matches start pretty late in the night, after 12 midnight. And they show matches featuring Barca or Real Madrid only. Plus ESPN Star Sports stopped showing the Italian Serie A a couple of seasons back. Its all Premiership now. Even Champions League telecast rights are now with Ten Sports.

[benbsb29]

Against Chelsea, the first half was horrendous if one was a Man Utd fan. Utd hardly got to see much of the ball, and their passing was horrible. Chelsea dominated the entire first half, and were suitably rewarded. The mistake between Wes Brown and Van Der Sar could have proved to be even costlier.

I seriously did not understand why Fergie didnt choose to have Ronaldo or Tevez in the starting line up. Giggs passes never seemed to reach Rooney and Rooney appeared as if he was in a daze.

The second half saw a lot more commitment from Utd, and Rooney's goal based on a mistake from Caravalho was deserved.

As for the penalty, it was unfortunate, and i personally didnt feel it was called for. Didnt seem to be a deliberate attempt.

All said and done, i hope Utd dont mess up now, and win both their remaining games.

[Prasidhi]

Originally Posted by rsjaurr

well,you got me thinking too.

But Leeds were my fav team with David O'leary(did i spell him correctly?) as manager and LeBowyer,Allen and Marc Viduka upfront.They used to be very aggresive and always had major teams in trouble.

But probably they lost out coz they dint/could not buy major players when they were successful and so had plenty of money.
I heard one of expert blaming manager David for not buying good players when he had money.

Yes, David O'leary, the manager and the Chairman (I think it was Bates) were the main culprits at that time. The manager infact did not have support from his team at one stage. The team was quite a strong team at that time which played Champions League for years and in one season due to the mis management they were relegated, currently languishing in League one and trying to secure a promotion to Championship.

Its interesting to watch how much difference a manager can make, Alan curbishley left Charlton and they were relegated, Gordon Strachan left Southampton and they were relegated, Sam Allardyce left Bolton and they are now facing relegation.