DISQUS

I don't think Liverpool/Barry is a good example, to be perfectly honest. Liverpool is on top of the table, hasn't lost in any competition this year, and has conceded just one goal in the league, all while Gerrard hasn't even been close to 100%, Keane has been ineffective as of yet and is still trying to fit in, and Torres hasn't showed the same form he did for much of last year. I don't see Liverpool has been "unproductive".

What Wenger has done for Arsenal? Nothing in the past decade. What Southgate has done for Boro? Two mid-bottom half finishes.

Guthrie wasn't given much of a chance at Liverpool because he couldn't hack it there. If he could have, he would've played. Benitez has shown no problem playing young players if they're good enough to earn time on the field (N'Gog, Plessis, Lucas, Insua, etc.)

Lonnie, it's unacceptable to both me and Keegan, obviously, and should be to everyone. He's the manager. He knows what's going on inside the locker room better than anyone else. He knows what he needs for his team better than anyone else. He should be the one who has most of the say on what players he wants and wants to get rid of.

N'Zogbia hasn't lived up to the potential he showed a couple years ago. Danny Guthrie couldn't hack it at Liverpool, and he's not even in the same breath as Milner. Taylor is a good young center back, but he too hasn't quite taken that next step in his development yet.

Prospero, I was just using the Ricoh Arena as an example because it was visible yesterday, but this is a problem that exists at nearly every other stadium for cup games.

I like some of Paul's ideas, to be honest -- I don't believe England needs two domestic cups, but if they want to do that, than the Carling Cup needs to be revamped somehow to make it more exciting for the fans. Personally, I enjoy it already, but I know I'm in the minority there.

Given was my second choice, as he didn't have anything to do other than that PK. Granted, it was a great save, but Cech made five solid stops and Wigan have a bit more punch up front than Bolton, especially without Elmander.

Blue Evertonian, that is EXACTLY my point.

Apparently not, but that's the larger question.

Why don't they?

Brian, when Kartik was referring to "we", he meant the US, not Great Britain.

Nothing personal, I just don't think he should be the captain (as I've said many times before), and I think he's losing it as a commanding center back.

Chelsea's actually located in West London, by the way.

Todd, I never said this Newcastle team was "no different", I said they haven't improved that much, which is true.

Go back and look at the numbers when Ronaldo and/or Rooney aren't in the lineup. United is not the same when either or both of those two don't play. Remember when United struggled mightily at the beginning of last season? Who were they missing? Yes, thank you.

Here's my preferred lineup:

James

Johnson
Ferdinand
Richards
Cole

Beckham
Barry
Gerrard
Young

Agbonlahor
Crouch

I'll agree with you to a certain extent, except for your thoughts about Beckham/Bentley and the front line.

Beckham is still England's best option on the right. Bentley is what I like to call a "wannabe Beckham", in that he does the same things Beckham does and has the same skills but isn't as good at any of them.

Also, Michael Owen is not the answer for England up front. The last thing they need is another diminuitive striker; they need a center forward like Crouch or Bent to play alongside a quicker player like Agbonlahor or Rooney.

Did you not read my last comment? My name is Michael. Come on, Adma.

Sure, The Sun is a tabloid, but the Daily Mail certainly isn't. As it is, those "revelations" weren't only brought to light in The Sun anyway, that's the just the paper cited by the Daily Mail. Please don't ignore the facts -- it makes you like ignorant.

No offense to Hull City and the KC Stadium, but it is basically a Championship ground anyway.

Jackie/Alex,

He is England's best goalkeeper right now, and as you pointed out, I said there was nothing he could do about that free kick. Still, he looked shaky at times today -- he came all the way out on that play where England's defense thought offside should've been called and was beaten, he fumbled a save and barely picked it up again in the second half. I'm not saying he should be replaced or anything like that, I'm just saying he didn't exactly light it up out there today.

Fair point about Gerrard, he did whiff and slip a couple times today, but I thought he played pretty well given that he's never even played left wing before.

My name is Michael, actually, thanks.

Where did he confess?

September 2005: "I really regret what I've done to Toni. I'm not going to cheat on her ever again and want to marry her more than anything in the world."

Taken from an article found on the Daily Mail's website written in August 2006:

"Meanwhile, Terry's love life has been no less colourful. He is engaged to beautician Toni Poole, 24, and in their first seven years together is said to have strayed at least eight times, but has always been forgiven.

Last September, he said: "I really regret what I've done to Toni. I'm not going to cheat on her ever again and want to marry her more than anything in the world."

But two months later lurid revelations were made in The Sun about how Terry enjoyed a passionate clinch in his £100,000 Bentley with a busty teenager who had asked for his autograph and then sent her lewd text messages suggesting a threesome with one of her friends."

Should be a good one, Richmond crashed out once again at home, but there was going to be some interest in that here if they would've made the final.

Nick, good for Terry, he stepped up. But you know what, he missed. He wasn't the only one, but he missed with the game on the line.

There is no way you can say that IF Terry would've have played against Croatia, England would've qualified. None of Croatia's goals had anything to do with poor play at center back, so I don't see how Terry's presence would've changed anything. As it is, you're talking about if's and maybe's.

Character assassination? Terry has no character to begin with. Look at how he conducts himself on and off the field. He wasn't even Chelsea's leader last year -- that was Michael Ballack. Sure, Terry can command men and give a good speech or whatever, fine, but that's not all that being captain is about. Do you remember when Capello said he's looking for an ambassador for England "on the pitch and off it"? You can't convince me that the right man for the job is Terry.

Hate to say it, Kartik, but I'm with Django on this one. Terry isn't exactly a model citizen and he's lost it a little bit on the field as well. As Django said, Terry had his chance as captain in Euro 2008 qualifying, and look what he did with it. He's also hurt way too often.

The captain should be Steven Gerrard, England's best two-way player. I can't count how many times he's put Liverpool on his shoulders and carried them by himself to victory. He stays out of trouble off the field, unlike Terry, and also unlike Terry, he's still a top notch player on the field. He's the heart and soul of his club, and you can see it by the way he conducts himself.

The team that looked the best to me was Aston Villa, although I know you're referring to Chelsea.

One goal on a PK, one goal from Deco that was very nice, but should've been kept out by James.

Aside from that, basically everyone for Chelsea played well, but no one was outstanding enough to be on this team in my opinion.

Gaffer and Kartik, you two are missing the boat here as far as the popularity of basketball. It is extremely prevalent in Spain, Germany, France, Greece, Lithuania, and Russia, as well as Italy. Look at the mass influx of foreign players to the NBA, and that tells you a lot about basketball and its growth overseas. Check jersey sales in those countries, and along with the soccer players and their own local basketball heroes, you're going to find Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, both certifiable global superstars.

No, basketball is not as popular in those countries as soccer, but to say it isn't a major international sport is inaccurate.

Good moves by Stoke City, and perhaps if they would've made them before I wrote their preview, I wouldn't have had them 20th. But, I still do, and that's how it's going to be.

Kartik, you're right about how it was an amateur competition then, but Chris' point is valid. The Soviet team was made up of professionals, who had jobs in the Army as a front basically; they played hockey for a living. Beating them was the greatest accomplishment in American sports history, of that there can be no doubt. Because you personally perhaps don't lend much credence to that win, and the gold medal that followed, doesn't mean that it wasn't significant, both for its magnitude on the ice and for what it meant during that time politically.

10 nations that care about hockey in the Olympics? Sweden, US, Canada, Finland, Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Belarus, etc. Remember, not as many teams play in the Olympics or World Championship as play in soccer's World Cup, and hockey needs much more infrastructure and a suitable climate. It's harder to develop hockey players than it is to bring along young soccer players, at least in many countries.

Also, the US didn't have a gift draw. Holland (two-time defending U-21 European Champion) and Nigeria (defending U-17 World Champion) have always been strong at youth level, and no one really expected the US to get out of this group. Again, just because you did doesn't echo the feelings of the vast majority out there. The only game the US was favored in was against Japan, and they took care of business there. The other two teams in the group are better than the US, and it's not particularly close.

No, Cech WAS better, he WAS the best in the world, but ever since the head injuries, he's gone down considerably.

Reina's won the last three Barclays Golden Glove awards, Cech won one.

By no means am I a Liverpool fan, believe me.

Terry and Carvalho are third in that list, just ahead of Toure and Gallas. Ferdinand and Vidic are second, then Carragher and Agger. Out of those eight, Vidic is the best individually, but Carragher and Agger are the best partnership.

Look, we can go around and around on this. I won't agree with you, you won't agree with me, so give it a rest.

Sam, tell me, who's better than Reina? Not Cech anymore -- he's too scared to claim balls in the air. Not Van der Sar -- he's great at stopping PK's, but he can be scored on in open play. Certainly not Almunia. Reina has it all: good shot-stopper, good command in the area, good reflexes, good distribution.

Sam, I don't think you remember just how dominant Carragher and Agger can be because we didn't see Agger last season.