Will definitely be hard to do what he did against Wycombe, but one commentator observed that he seemed a bit sharper after that first goal, and I think I saw it. Let’s see how he does against Sheffield on Sunday(?)

Ronaldinho is rumoured to be a target, but I don’t think Real will sell (Lordy look at me fearlessly foraying into the minefield of armchair football punditry). You’re right about the back 4. Who could’ve predicted those injuries eh? Most teams will have some area where they will not have cover if 2 or more players are injured so Jose cannot have it all his way there I think. He even said that Essien and Bouhlarouz were bought for that reason, and I think he’s been right there. Especially with Essien. I guess we’ll have to wait till the summer to see who they’ll buy, and if Mourinho will still be there. I’m nurturing the vain hope that Crespo will come back from Inter or be forced to come back because he has one of the coolest names in football!

P.S: There is something weird going on with the comment form, it clips the last couple of characters in the line. You can type them but not see them. :s

I thought Ronaldinho was a target? And anyway, I think they want people to strengthen up their back four more than they do midfield players. At least Jose seems to want that badly.

And since I can’t resist, this is Wycombe – a league two side. What works on them may not necessarily work elsewhere.

The open chequebook seems to have shut at the moment. No players in during the transfer window, and one guy to a non-premiership team, and I don’t think he’s even played a first team match as a benchwarmer.

Yesterday night was great though. I’m going to be cautious unlike the commentators who think Shevchenko will now go on to replicate his form at Milan, Kiev etc., but you could see some confidence coming back. The clever little dribbles, the percentage shots, the assist to greedy showoff Lampard He made these deft little passes inside the box but it was painfully obvious that none of them were used to playing with him and wasted those chances because of it, could easily have been 6-0 at the end instead of 4 if they had played around him more I think.

I think Ballack was a bit selfish last night with his wonder-goal attempts, Drogba and co seemed like they were trying to help Shevchenko out, but maybe if Shevchenko starts to pick it up then Ballack will feel the pinch? He looks really lack-a-daisical on the pitch and a little bit petulant at times. I’m going to go out on a limb and say Kaka maybe bought up in the summer if Shevchenko gets better, hell, maybe even if he doesn’t!

There’s more than a few United fans who would argue that the club’s
financial position is worse under the Glazer’s – given the debt burden and
much stricter spending limitations. And even when United were chucking money around for fun, it was revenue generated by a combination of good timing, smart management and at least four decades of being a club whose reach exceeded beyond England.

Which leads me to the considerable degree of snobbery involved too -
Chelski are regarded as nouveau riche, whereas the likes of United, Arsenal and Liverpool are old money. Hell let’s face it Forest, Villa, Spurs, Leeds and a few others have a greater history. All achieved without dodge Russki blood
money.

I think some obscure sense of fair play is offended by how much money is being thrown around by said Russki. Manyoo may be owned by a Yank, but he’s holding tight onto the purse strings. That seems to matter, somehow. An emotive point though

Besides, the drama of having Drogba and co tripped up in mid swagger? Priceless. They didn’t see this happening (no one did) and it’s comical to watch them struggle for a change.

A plague on both your houses!

You know, I want to believe that Shevchenko is a better player. Everyone (lots better informed and far more knowledgeable than I am about footie) insist that he’ll come good. I ain’t seeing it. I am however seeing how he fluffs chances that he’s fed (in the box, no less) and I remain unconvinced that he’s anything more than the archetypal Carlos Tevez/Javier Mascherano.

Yeah, Nadal won. Murray ran out of gas in the fifth set.

elric: I may well keep that typo in there because I found it hilarious I’m with you on the preferences. Better the Mancunians than the Russkis

N: Firefox 2.0 works well on all machines. Check which extensions you have installed, one of them is probably leaking memory. The Leakmonitor extension might also help track it down.