itt liverpool not winning things; sandbox i love football

mizzell with the choice question imo

We haven't had a creative midfielder in years. Play 4-4-2 and get it to the wingers with Rooney dropping back when needed. Hasn't been confirmed but such is the internet chatter and i'm choosing to believe it

that's what you will play here, 4-4-1-1

Maybe, but in every game where Rooney has been named in midfield he's been ridiculously deep. Hernandez cannot function without a strike partner

that reminds me of a general q i was going to ask, do managers have to specify a formation when they name the teamsheet

TV get it wrong a lot of the time so i'm guessing not. Could be the manager messing with them though

espn have it as 442

so i see

mcleish is the worst

Utd Villa is like the most predictable 3-0 game of the season and has been for the past 20 years. And yet being ill and sat in bed with my laptop, I might still... aw fuck it i'll get up and find a dvd.

oh chichipaws :(

Ryan from Lincoln on text, via 81111: "As a Blackburn Rovers fan, and as much as I understand the protests against Steve Kean, our next four games is a bigger deal at the moment. We need nine points minimum from the next four starting with today's win. Need everyone behind the boys for a few weeks! Feeling good at last."

the unfailing optimism of football fans

nice from phlol jones

When, if ever, did you stop thinking Arsenal 2011/12 were a one man team?

Utd Villa is like the most predictable 3-0 game of the season and has been for the past 20 years

man u - villa has finished with a heartbreaking 3-2 comeback at least twice in the last few iirc?

this made me laugh.

1753: GOALFLASH Aston Villa 0-1 Man Utd (Phil Jones)

Andrew on text, via 81111: "Phil Jones is a classy central defender who can also play very well at right back if needed. If Sir Alex continues to play him in central midfield then he's risking what happened to Alan Smith. Let the kid develop alongside Vidic at the back. It'll be best for him as well as England in the long run."

FUCKIN ELL

Good goal by Jones, the latest in a long line of United defenders who look stronger going forwards than defending.

Re: heartbreaking 3-2 comebacks - the FA Cup game in 2002 springs to mind, can't think of any others off the top of my head.

Re: 'do managers have to name their formations?' - of course not! How on earth could that be enforced?

Must be about 7 or 8 minutes injury time in this half already.

I was at that FA Cup game. There were definitely no other 3-2s, ever.

I wish I'd been there. I was in Italy, following the game by text message (from a Villa-supporting mate and United-supporting Dad).

mick mccarthy has to name formations or risk a fine, ferguson obv not tho

I'd rather have been in Italy xp - the first half was terrible, it was freezing, and I had to get up at five to be back in time for work next day. Being a Utd fan looked most fun though.

Hate to say it, but Hernandez goes off and Utd play better than they have in an age. Although it could just be playing Villa

it is, villa are rank and i hope mcleish gets the sack before full-time

Villa looking every inch a Big Eck team. Bent must be bored out of his mind up there.

they are terrible, what is mcleish good for if he can't even instill a bit of spirit in them, he appears to actively demoralize his own teams

Big Eck's Sexy Football

Martin O'Neill perfect for Sunderland - Alan Hansen

bet this is an imaginative and well-reasoned argument about why Alan Hansen's friend will be really good at a job

o'neill will do well in getting a squad of squad players playing i'd say

Is this villa performance worse than against Spurs last week? Because that was shameful.

eh it's hard to say, i mean utd don't really attack in waves like we do, for a start.

This is at villa tho

There are certain managers who, when they are not in a job, have the track record that ensures they will be linked with big vacancies and Martin falls right into that category because of his previous work.

......

Martin, even though he has been out of the game, will have kept his finger on the pulse and will know what is required. He is a charismatic guy who will go straight in and lift the fans. Gloom and doom will be instantly replaced by optimism.

.....

I think Sunderland chairman Short and all the supporters on Wearside can be delighted about Martin O'Neill's arrival. During the course of a season many high-profile jobs can come up and you could bank on him being linked with every one, such is his standing in the game.

Alan Hansen was talking to BBC Sport's chief football writer Phil McNulty

"500 words will this do? Thx, Alan"

Reads like Nult was going "do you think Martin will have been x?" and Hansen was lazily agreeing.

did the black pele dive too?

O'Neill would be perfect for pretty much any job except maybe the handful of elite clubs with swashbuckling traditions. Hansen's probably just c&p'ed that article from last time.

Chris Waddle sure hates past participles

snob

Ooh, you didn't ought to of went there IK

shouldent of gave me the opportunity then

heskey heskey heskey

commentator listing utd's dog ownership

Are managers obliged to detail dog ownership when announcing the starting XI?

mccarthy has to prove bkc registration but ferguson just needs to show a name tag obvs

Despite having done fuck all for 83 minutes, Villa are annoyingly still just one stroke of luck away from a draw.

pfft utd no stroke of luck away from a win on the same grounds tbph

Welbeck and Rooney should first choice. They'll have to be by necessity now but i've been saying it all along. Ashley Young needs a kick up the arse

That was a one-sided as a game can be where the dominant team rarely looks like scoring

As a measure of how shit Villa were, Carrick was spotted on the edge of their box a couple of times