are you ready for a new FOOTBALL THREAD?!

[jimmmm]

just a quick note, LFCTV are free to view all day today, with shows dedicated to the Hillsborough disaster, very much a day of mixed emotions for me, as I got married on that very day, so every anniversary for my wife & myself are always tinged with sadness, R.I.P all the victims.

 

[MadForIt]

hillsborough was a tragic incident
So sad

 

[MadForIt]

WOO HOOO

Arsenal won 3 nil

Got Utd in the semis

Bring it on

Arsenal to win it!

 

[speedracer]

Hmm, maybe penalty shootouts aren't so bad after all -- we have another contender for Worst Penalty Evar (Berbatov) from this afternoon's game.

 

[MadForIt]

Shame arsenal lost

man u were rubbish

the mighty WOLVES are up!

 

[Slipstream]

I reckon Chelsea makes it to the final again today. Not sure if they can prevent MU from winning the whole lot again though.

 

[speedracer]

JFC. Sick strike by Essien.

 

[speedracer]

Equally sick shot by Andres Iniesta.

Also, this referee and Daniel Alves need to be clubbed with a lead pipe after the game.

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Aardvark747]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Barca v Man U should be a great final.

 

[MadForIt]

Match fixing tonight
should have been 5 penalties to chelsea

robbery of the season

 

[speedracer]

The foul on Malouda being called outside the box was correct -- Alves fouled him twice outside the box. Presumably advantage was called. Malouda muscled his way into the box, then feigned being hit in the face.

Drogba deserved a penalty when Abidal pulled his shirt. All the other times he went down in the box were legitimate no-calls imo.

I don't know quite what to say about the two handballs -- official rules of the game say it has to be deliberate for it to be a foul (either deliberately touching it or deliberately letting it hit you when you have sufficient reaction time), and neither one was, but I'm pretty sure that most referees realize that defenders really aren't supposed to have their arms extended when playing D inside the box.

The red card to Abidal for allegedly tripping Anelka was horrible as well.

All in all the ref was atrocious, and Chelsea took the worst of it, but I don't think it was quite as one-sided as many are making it out to be.

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

Barca v Man U should be a great final.

*sniff* you are right and I knew this would be the final, I just wanted a rematch. I will be cheering for Barca.

Who was the ref?

I was not able to watch the match, I followed it on yahoo! sports.

 

[speedracer]

One other thing that should be mentioned -- Guus Hiddink coached circles around Pep Guardiola over the entire series.

 

[Slipstream]

The foul on Malouda being called outside the box was correct -- Alves fouled him twice outside the box. Presumably advantage was called. Malouda muscled his way into the box, then feigned being hit in the face.

Drogba deserved a penalty when Abidal pulled his shirt. All the other times he went down in the box were legitimate no-calls imo.

I don't know quite what to say about the two handballs -- official rules of the game say it has to be deliberate for it to be a foul (either deliberately touching it or deliberately letting it hit you when you have sufficient reaction time), and neither one was, but I'm pretty sure that most referees realize that defenders really aren't supposed to have their arms extended when playing D inside the box.

The red card to Abidal for allegedly tripping Anelka was horrible as well.

All in all the ref was atrocious, and Chelsea took the worst of it, but I don't think it was quite as one-sided as many are making it out to be.

I think this is a pretty good analysis. At the very least, Chelsea should have had one penalty out of the amount incidents the ref had. The obvious hand ball, which was plain as day, seems the strangest one. To me it seemed the ref didn't want to call anything but realised he had screwed up so he felt pressured to make up for it with a red card. He clearly was having a bad day at the job.

 

[Aardvark747]

Champions!!

 

[MadForIt]

"i tell you this now, i'd love it if newcastle went down, love it"

I hope Fergie puts O Shea or Evra in goal v Hull
Foster up front with Kuzchak

 

[Zoomerang96]

just as long as neville plays right back, i don't care who else play against hull.

 

[BrownEyedBoy]

I really hope United take this one home. I just cannot stand the arrogant momentum that has surrounded Farça up to this point. I just hope Manchester can serve them a nice helping of humble pie tomorrow.

 

[LJT]

Farca? Oh you mean the best team in Europe? The team that humbled Man Utd? And so much for Messi not being able to head the ball.

 

[MadForIt]

Man u were awful

Barce cleaned their own arses with the United team

It was a joke

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[BrownEyedBoy]

Man u were awful

Barce cleaned their own arses with the United team

It was a joke

Fergie totally botched that starting line up. Anderson and Park in the starting XI? Park being in there while Tevez and Berbatov warmed the bench was just something beyond my comprehension. Sir Alex, should've taken notes from Guus Hiddink on how to play this Farça team. God, that was awful.

 

[coolian2]

wanted: one welder to re-attach roof to double decker bus. apply at old trafford.

 

[blueeyedgirl]

What, no FA Cup commentary? Here's one: Fuckin' Chelsea....

 

[Slipstream]

I slept in and missed most of the match yesterday. It was quite early out here on the Pacific

Lampard doing an ode to his dad by doing the spinny thing around the corner flag was cool. I'm in footy withdrawal now but at least I have the two England WC qualifiers coming up next week.

 

[MadForIt]

Ancelotti at Chelsea

Garry Barry off to Man City!

 

[speedracer]

Garry Barry off to Man City!

Don't young players typically want to move to *stronger* teams as they get better?

 

[1stepcloser]

Barry's a scumbag. He was a good player before O'Neill arrived but nothing special. since then he's become a superb centre midfielder and an England regular. he owes a lot to O'Neill. but what did he do? last summer he decided to go to the press moaning about how he "had to leave villa" and was desperate for champions league football. now a year down the line he decides he doesn't even want UEFA Cup football but £100,000 a week will do very nicely.

i'm gutted he's gone because it's a massive gap to fill but annoyed because he's gone to a team no better, if not worse than the one he was at. hope we thump them next season

 

[blueeyedgirl]

Socceroos have qualified for next year's World Cup