Mekong

Didn't see the Arsenal game last night decided to watch the Barcelona v Ajax match instead yet another Lionel Messi show. As for Chelsea what can I say (once I stop laughing) they got what they deserved, the fans hounded Rafa out, the same Rafa who's Napoli sit at the top of Serie A and had a win against last seasons losing finalists. Imagine if Rafa had lost away to Everton then home to Basel in back to back games the fans would have been baying for his blood but Mourinho can do no wrong in their blinkered opinion. Steve, you mention Mourinho's system, what is it? he inherited a squad full of gifted midfield players, Mata, Oscar, Hazard etc then goes and buys three more, Willian, Schurrie and van Ginkel. Chelsea's best forward last season was playing for West Brom on loan, Lakuka and this season he loans him out to Everton and brings in a 32 year old Eto on a free transfer. The Not so Special one any more.

Munchie, What are your feelings towards independence, no need to answer if you don't wish to my grandfather taught me never talk about politics, religion or football in a bar, but it would be interesting to hear your take on the matter.

Decent performance from Moyes boys last night, there best performance under Moyes and I will go as far to say their best performance for a couple of years now, apart from a couple of defensive lapses and missing a couple of sitters. Fellani looks as if he was born to wear the shirt, he is what United have been missing for a few season now a bit of defensive steel in the midfield, not pretty to watch at times but effective a good old fashioned spoiler, which in turn allows Rooney to concentrate on the attacking side of his game rather than having to track back and help out in midfield, United seemed more balanced. First goal should never have stood, Valencia was all over the BL keeper in an offside position, if that is not interfering with play I don't know what is, the second was Valencia of old taking on defenders beating them and whipping in a decent cross, at first I thought he has screwed up playing the ball behind RvP but RvP pulled out a top drawer finish that took the BL keeper by surprise, it took me by surprise. But for me the fourth goal was typical United of old, defending deep then a classic counter attack three passes and in the back of the net, RvP won the ball on the edge of his own area plays it wide to Young, good pass to Rooney who then plays a perfectly weighted pass in front of Valencia one touch then rifles in from outside the box, that was worth this months True Vision fees alone, but the wife was pissed of cos my shouting woke her up haha. United still have Adnan Januzaj to unleash, the reason he was not on the bench last night is because he was not named in the European squad of 25 but in October he will be eligible as a "Pool B" player for Europe since he will have been at the club for 30 months and then classed as "Home Grown", in the Premier League the rule is only 24 months and the number 7 shirt is still vacant. Not getting too carried away but an impressive performance non the less, the big one is on Sunday at the Emptyhead Stadium against our noisy neighbours, Fellani v Yaya Tourre should be some match up and if both players are still on the pitch at full time I will be surprised. Good Luck to Arsenal tonight, yes I do get behind then when playing in Europe and I hope that Chelsea screw up big time, detest that club.

What is a "Goal Scoring Opportunity" as in when a player gets a Red Card? United v Palace Debatable penalty and defender shown a Red. Sunderland v Arsenal Altidore put the ball in the net, he farking scored, yet the Arsenal player only gets shown a yellow, was that not a clear goalscoring opportunity? Like he scored a goal. I am not saying Sagna should have seen red, Atkinson should have allowed play to go on and I don't think that the Palace defender deserved to be shown red, after all it was only Ashley Young on a one on one with the keeper he would have ballooned over the bar anyway.

I am probably the only person who knows of this band, Part II and Part III are better find for yourselves Groundhogs Split Part I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdGYjch2oOw

Anyone remember the original version? It was Page with the Yardbirds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjKg2_IT1QU

Steve Marriott, Ronny Lane, Kenny Jones music I grew up with http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkgAwQadSHI

Sunderland v Arsenal game was a good match to watch as a neutral, Ozil showed his class 2 assists but Atkinson blew it big time at 1-2 when Sunderland scored a legitimate equaliser and he called it back for a free kick, what a tosser. As for United, dire, Young is an embarrassment and a disgrace and hopefully thats the last time he starts this season They laboured for 45 minutes against 10 men of a promoted team and only managed a second goal from a set piece. The only highlight for me was Moyse giving Adan Januzaj his first Premier League appearance he did more in his 20 minutes on the field than Young and Valencia have managed in the previous 3.75 games. I was lucky to see him play in the Reserve team on many occasions earlier this year when I was in the UK for a few months and he was head and shoulders above the rest, quite ironic he got his Premier League debut 50 years to the day that George Best made his debut against West Brom or the fact he was played on the left as substitute exactly the same as an unknown Christiano Ronaldo did in 2003 against Bolton as an 18 year old. I do rate him that highly, that boy was born to play football.

Well according to latest FIFA rankings http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/rankingtable/index.html USA are 13th and England are 17th so arguably USA are better than England at the moment. If you look at how the co-officients are calculated, whilst by no means 100% perfect, I think this is a fair reflection. If America was serious about Football and made it a college sport along side American Football, Basketball, Baseball and Ice Hockey, and awarded scholarships based on Football I could see them being top six and potential World Cup Semi Finalists in 9-13 years time but that would require a change in the American mindset about how Football is perceived, is it still classed as "A Game for Girls" over there? Back to Premier League viewing in Thailand, if you have a Smartphone or a Tablet with you and get an AIS SIM card you can download AIS BPL app for free then 199 Baht / Month to watch all games and repeats, it also applies on PAYG packages, it only applies to AIS.

Steve It's all changed this season games are not shown on TRUE Vision anymore but a new satellite broadcaster Cable Thai Holdings (CTH) which I doubt is installed in any hotels and only a handful of bars have it yet. CTH online schedule only lists live broadcasts times even though games are repeated throughout the following week. Have a good trip.

Zaad, I don't blame Moyes at all he identified his targets but it was screwed up by 3 Planks (Edward Woodward) the new chief executive, Whilst Woodward may be good at tying up sponsorship deals with Aeroflot and Taiwanese tyre manufactures but he has to realise that off field financial results are directly proportional to on field performances. The importance of David Gill stepping down this summer is often overlooked. Even though I have no proof to back it up, but my gut feeling is that Fellaini is a Fergie signing, he did go in for him is 2008 but was not prepared to match the 15 Million Everton paid for him at the time, sort of "David I want you to take over from me but you HAVE to bring Fellaini with you", that wouldn't surprise me one little bit. Even a blind man could see that defensive midfield has been United's achilles heel and was a gap that need filling for a few years now and in my opinion Fellaini was the best option available. I must confess that I have not seen play that much, only in games against United (obviously) where he always gave us a torrid time and in games against teams I consider to be our rivals, City, Arsenal and Chelsea as well as the Merseyside derby. I wouldn't say that he bossed every game but he came out on top more often than not and whilst not on par with say Keane, Vierra, Yaya Tourre just yet he has the potential to reach that level and he is still only 25. Another advantage is that his signing takes a load off Carrick and frees him up from his defensive duties. Missing out on other targets for creative midfield players could be a blessing in disguise as it will offer more game time for Kagawa and hopefully Adnan Januzaj will get a few games, I wouldn't want a repeat of the Podgba situation and lose Januzaj for the same reasons, oh and he is Belgium as well the same as Fellaini. He is not been named in the squad but he does not have to be as an 18 year old who has been at United for over 2 years he is classed as a home grown player and is eligible for any domestic game. For this to work Rooney needs to be more disciplined, he does have a tendency to drop into midfield to come looking for the ball and basically get in the way some times, don't get me wrong I rate Rooney and I think his work rate is admirable but we need to retain our shape more and if after say 75 minutes United are chasing the game then he can drop back. There are rumours that United may bid again for Herrera in the January transfer window, Bilbao are not it Europe this Season so he would not be cup tied for champions league but for me it's a catch 22 situation. If United are there or there about in the League and through to the knockout stages of Champions League then why would we need him, whereas if United are off the pace in the League and didn't qualify for the knockout stages why would he want to join United. It's going to be an eventful Season thats for sure and all we can do now is wait and see.

Limbo, Do you think this may be a new chant at the Emirates "Cazorla to the left of me, Ozil to the right, here I am stuck in the middle Giroud" Sorry Couldn't resist it

Good question Zaad, Now I have had time to reflect on the situation and my knee has stopped jerking so to speak I am asking myself do we need an Ozil when we have Kagawa? His performances at Dortmund were on par with Ozil. OK he was a little below par last season but was never giver a fixed role. Could Fellaini be the new Robson or Keane the midfield enforcer we have been missing for years, what Vierra was for Arsenal and what Yaya is for City, only time will tell, I can only hope. If I was picking the team, I would go 4-3-1-2, rely on the wing backs for the width Fellaini as holding midfield freeing up carrick and whoever to be more attacking minded, Kagawa in the hole then any one of 5 for the upfront pairing , (OK RvP + 1). He also needs new blood on the Bench, Zaha, Lingard Adnan etc so we could switch to a 4-4-2 or a 4-5-1 if required, but I am not picking the team am I. I am still prepared to give Moyes until New Year before I pass opinion on him, I am still a "Glass Half Full" mentality but if he ever stats Giggs, Wellbeck and Young together again the glass would not be half empty it would be lying in 1,000 broken pieces and I may be having to look at replacing my iPad screen again. Overall United do have a strong squad, the question is can Moyes utilise them correctly

Blame Scoobydoo for this one. He set me off on his TT Race thread in "Sports & Leisure" forum which in turn I replied to with one of my fave VDO's of the Mountain Circuit which has this music as the background music this is the VDO but for full effect see my second posting on Scooby Snacks thread, brings a whole new meaning to the song. I have been trying to find out this tune for 2 years now, it's now my new ringtone http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDJpf2mQ0w4

Very disappointed to be honest given the players United have been linked to over the transfer window they end up with Fellaini at the last minute, which to me is a panic buy. I blame Ed Woodward for this and not Moyes.

Munchie, now you know the reason why my wife limits me to 50 Baht bets haha.

Well United were utter shite today, as soon as I saw the starting line up including Giggs and Young in midfield my expectations dropped. As I have said time and time again United need new blood in midfield. Enjoyed the North London Derby, very good game, if it hat not been for Hugo Lloris in the spurs goal it could have easily been 3-0 to Arsenal he was man of the match.

Great Broadcaster What a lot of people forget about Frostie is how he started out at Cambridge Footlights the university comedy club which also gave us Monty Python. He started out on TV in satire and had a very dry sense of humour and the British Sarcasm that I find amusing it was only later in his career when he got into serious broadcasting. Of all the interviews he ever did there are two that stand out in my mind, Margret Thatcher, Falklands War and the sinking of the Belgrano, she was squirming in her seat which was nice to see. The other being his "Nixon Interviews" he came the closest of anyone to get Nixon to implicate himself and his involvement in Watergate.

For me Liverpool v United always will be the game of the Season always bigger than the Manchester Derby. The history between to two cities goes back way before football and they are less than 35 Miles apart. Maybe you need to be from either Salford or Liverpool to fully understand the feeling, well up for this game.

I cannot see Liverpool scoring against United, Chelsea didn't manage it yet put 2 past Bayern on Friday. As previously stated I do believe that the choices available to Moyes for the back 4 is the envy of most European clubs. Liverpool had a difficult time against Notts County Midweek in the Mickey Mouse Cup and the game went to extra time, their best defender Tourre is now out injured and they picked up another couple of knocks, I can see it being a 1-0 to United. I stand by my prediction that Spurs will be top of the Table come Monday Morning

Citeh yet again failed to impress today against Hull who were holding their own for the first 65 minutes. Ben Arfa's goal against Fulham was quiet special but outdone by O'Keefes strike for Palace. Hopefully tomorrow's football will be a bit better, I bet SKY are already calling it Super Sunday, United visit Anfield, always a special game to me followed by the North London Derby, I would not be surprised to see Spurs top of the League tomorrow evening.

Obviously she had not taste, most would have gone for the Lamborghini, you need to pick your ladies with better taste. Welcome Back.

Haha the size of your dog I would not call that housework

Only a Second chance? Fark I have been lucky only on number five now, or is that six? Not really sure if my Girlfriend and I in Korea back in 88 were technically married, but I do have a Daughter there.