The AET Soccer/Football Thread

ladygooddiva

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is prepared to retain the unconventional midfield partnership of Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney for Wednesday's Barclays Premiership trip to Blackburn.







With Paul Scholes, John O'Shea and Ryan Giggs all injured, Alan Smith not fully fit either and Darren Fletcher needing a rest, Ferguson opted to pair the England duo together for United's FA Cup tie with Wolves.

Even though neither man has any real experience in the role, the tactic worked well as United romped to a fourth-round win at Molineux.

And, with Smith suspended for the midweek Ewood Park encounter, Ferguson may yet spurn the option of recalling Fletcher and stick with the Rooney-Ferdinand axis.

"It is possible I could play them in there on Wednesday because they both did very well," said Ferguson.

"I was forced into the move really because my best selection options were all at the back.

"Darren Fletcher has played a lot of games and needed a break, while Alan Smith has been missing training with an ankle problem and I felt it was a big ask to throw him into a full-blooded FA Cup tie."

'Ledley King played there against Argentina and it did not really work out for the lad'

Long-term, it is highly unlikely Ferguson will keep Rooney or Ferdinand in midfield even though his efforts to bring in reinforcements during this month's transfer window appear doomed to failure.

Wolves boss Glenn Hoddle is dismissive of Rooney's midfield prowess, insisting the youngster is at his most destructive when he plays just behind a main striker.

However, former United man Paul Ince is convinced Ferdinand could have a future in midfield and pointed England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson towards the £29.1million man as his World Cup enforcer.

"I have always said Rio is a fantastic player and he could do that holding role for England," said Ince.

"I know there is a question mark over who is going to play centre-half but Rio is good enough to play in that position and Sven should be looking at that because the lad is awesome.

"Ledley King played there against Argentina and it did not really work out for the lad. He can play that role but there are not many about and Rio is the only one who has the discipline to sit in there and set things up."

Eriksson was at the game and while Ferdinand did catch the eye, the Swede could not have failed to be impressed by Kieran Richardson, who netted twice, either side of a Louis Saha effort.

It appears Joe Cole has already been ear-marked for the troublesome left-sided berth but Richardson's ability to play in defence could see him squeeze into Eriksson's 23-man squad for this summer's finals in Germany.

ladygooddiva

Anton Ferdinand is going head-to-head with his brother in the goalscoring stakes on SKY TV's 'Soccer AM', for arguably the biggest trophy in football. The defender is loving his football at the moment, and says 'the more pressure the better!'

Anton is thriving under the pressure of increased expectations and he says West Ham are developing into a real force to be reckoned with.

Ferdinand: 'The expectations are higher, but that is understandable because we have done well. The players are rising to it and it is making us play better.

'Teams cannot afford to take us lightly and we are showing people we are a force to be reckoned with. We have to keep raising our game. Our aim is to win as many games as we can and finish as high as possible. And the FA Cup is massive.

'The club is showing great ambition. We have a young squad and young players like Deano will be attracted by us because we have shown great ambition.

'The people who have signed new contracts recently - like Alan Pardew, Nigel Reo-Coker and Bobby Zamora - have shown me the club wants to go on to bigger and better things.

'I didn't have any qualms signing when they offered me a new contract because if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be where I am now.

'I have definitely improved this season, but my aim is to keep defending well and be a defender first. Scoring and things like that are great, but my personal aim is to come out of Rio's shadow.'

As for the brother head-to-head, it is all tongue-in-cheek and Anton says he would love to line up against Rio in an FA Cup final, but playing alongside him for England would be the ultimate.

Ferdinand: 'That is my mum and dad's dream.'

ladygooddiva

last for today

(sorry foothy mates)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/graphics/2005/11/03/sfglil03.jpg

tucker carlson

real madrid looking very good................gonna kick arsenals ass all over the field anyone agree

AxlUlrich

tucker carlson wrote:

real madrid looking very good................gonna kick arsenals ass all over the field anyone agree

yeh Robinho has been on top form as well..but their last game they were lucky..the ball did cross the line.
but yeh go trash ARSE-anal!

tucker carlson

beckham is really establishing himself as the leader of that team............playing some real nice football

ladygooddiva

tucker carlson wrote:

beckham is really establishing himself as the leader of that team............playing some real nice football

i can´t stand madrid anymore ..only some players lol but trash arsenal

ladygooddiva

hey can´t belive what i read this morning barbarez and beinlich leaves @it seems HSV this can´t be true so need new players again!!!

elmer

now I know that it was probably talked a few days ago but .....Fowler, fuck this surprised me totally.........hes always been a natural finisher(one of only a handful) but as an athlete he lost it a time ago and that is the problem for him.............how will this go? think that he will grab goals but as for making a big splash- I dont think so............then again, in a way you've got Cisse who is almost a polar opposite. He has pace and can run with plenty all match yet his finishing lets him down more times than not...........but anyway I much anticipate the r4eturn of fowler and who can really doubt Benitez anyway.

ladygooddiva

sorry guys (don´t hate me for this ) ok??;);):)

Three men, a Scouser, a Manc and a Rasta all in the maternity ward waiting for their partners to give birth. The midwife comes out and tells them congratulations, they're all fathers of beautiful healthy boys, however unfortunately they've run out of the name tags, and the babies have been mixed up, so if they could each go in and identify their sons from any family resemblance etc. The Manc wants to go first, so in he goes and comes out with a black baby The Rasta looks a bit confused, "excuse me", he said, "but don't you think he's likely to be mine ?" "Probably", said the Manc, "but one of them in there's a scouser, and I'm takin' no chances !!!!!"

AxlUlrich

crap! Murphy joined Sperms
very hard to wear me Murphy 13 kit now :(

danielheyes

AxlUlrich wrote:

crap! Murphy joined Sperms
very hard to wear me Murphy 13 kit now :(

what????? how could he,he was loved at charlton..................even by me!!!

superdan should come home and we can get the new and improved spiceboys going again!!

may even tempt jamie out of retirement!!!

AxlUlrich

danielheyes wrote:

what????? how could he,he was loved at charlton..................even by me!!!

superdan should come home and we can get the new and improved spiceboys going again!!

may even tempt jamie out of retirement!!!

yeh argh...Charlton are an alright team...but Sperms?! God i hate them even more now since Jol opened his big fat mouth aboot how he is better than Rafa
but well since he did they been on a crappy run of form haha

Redders well..good decision to retire..play 1..injured for 20 :(

danielheyes

AxlUlrich wrote:

yeh argh...Charlton are an alright team...but Sperms?! God i hate them even more now since Jol opened his big fat mouth aboot how he is better than Rafa
but well since he did they been on a crappy run of form haha

Redders well..good decision to retire..play 1..injured for 20 :(

HA HA!! i know,still have a soft spot for harry jr.!!!

jol is just a sleazy dutch fatboy and wants to stop shouting his mouth off,his team are falling apart and he is the only one who cant see it!!

elmer

who cares about murphy? he wont be returning to liverpool at any rate, he aint up to the top echelons..............thats not to say that he's not a handy player but am surprised that spurs have taken him on......fuck d tots

AxlUlrich

looks like "God" will only start on the bench tonight...Agger though is making his first team debut instead of Carra..interesting
COME ON YOU REDS!

ladygooddiva

come on red devils with this team it´s all great:


19 E. van der Sar
2 G. Neville
6 W. Brown
0 N. Vidic
3 P. Evra
7 C. Ronaldo
24 D. Fletcher
5 R. Ferdinand
23 K. Richardson
8 W. Rooney
9 L. Saha
Substitutes
13 J. Park
28 G. Pique
27 M. Silvestre
10 R. van Nistelrooy
1 T. Howard

and by the way happy birthday Giuseppe Rossi

ladygooddiva

and anyways :West ham
34 S. Hislop
0 C. Clarke
5 A. Ferdinand
4 D. Gabbidon
3 P. Konchesky
15 Y. Benayoun
17 H. Mullins
20 N. Reo-Coker
11 M. Etherington
10 M. Harewood
25 B. Zamora
Substitutes
13 S. Bywater
26 S. Newton
8 T. Sheringham
0 C. Fletcher
D. Ashton

but i guess no big chance for them to win vs arsenal but nobody knows lol

ladygooddiva

the kids club is leading 0:1 for west ham -cool!!!reo -coker....

ladygooddiva

West ham did it again !!!
Arsenal 0
west ham :2 (Zamora)