DISQUS

That was me who made that last comment btw ;)

I'm sorry Gaffer but were you watching a different game to me in terms of the Spanish tactics? They were doing everything but going down the wings! From the offset of this tournament I have counted the amount of times that David Silva and Iniesta have cut inside and it must be about 90% of the time. THAT was the real reason this game was so poor. Italy were always expected to play their typical pragmatic game but the Spanish cannot be excused for their lazy tactics as well. Sure the Italians were the essence of boring today but watching Spain is like being in a dream, everything moves slowely, is fanciful but lacks anything of substance. When the Spanish finally learn that quick balls are devastating the sooner they'll be to the team we all hope them to be. Every single time they have done this it has produced results. They did it in the first game and look what happened. They did it in the final seconds of the Sweden game and look what happened. It was ridiculous to see countless times today, Silva playing on the right wing. He is NOT right footed and so looked stupid everytime he cut inside. I picked Spain at the start of the tournament but I don't have much hope if they play like this again.

Excellent piece! I couldn't agree more with your article. Domenech was completely to blame for France's exit. Anyone who says that is harsh look at the facts...
1) Ommitting Flamini for a 36 year-old Makele, injured Vieira and Toulalan who in all honesty is an ordinary player at best.
2) Ommitting Bacary Sagna. The biggest sin out of all in my opinion. Choosing Sagnol, poor for the last 3 or 4 seasons, and Clerc, desperately ordinary, ahead of him is just incompetant.
3) Ommitting Clichy. Ok this was a hard one as picking 2 out of Evra, Abidal and Clichy is difficult enough, but leaving out the most in-form of the three isn't very smart.
4)Ommiting Mexes. This is not surprising as Mexes is about the most underrated defender in the world. It isn't too sensible, however, to choose Jean Alain Boumsong ahead of him....because we all know how much of a quality player Boumsong is!
5) The tactics, oh the tactics! Now this is where it gets interesting. Although Mr tyduffy has already explained most of this I think its interesting to note how tactically naive Domenech is. I'm sorry but I have waited years to say that but have kept my mouth shut due to the berating I would get. However, has France ever played good free-flowing football under Domenech. He is a bad coached who has relied totally on the quality of players to bail out his bad decision making. How, with some of the best attacking players in the world at your desposal, and aging and vunerable back line, do you decide that the best tactic is to play defensively?

Having said all this I must admit that being English, the French pains have been a joy to watch. Lets hope they last a while longer so they make England look a bit better...yeah, that might be one wish too far!

I disagree that Scolari doesn't play attacking football, just look at his Portugal side!
This appointment is either going to be a huge success or huge failure. I think alot depends on how quickly he learns English and adapts to the rough nature of the Premiership.

Oh how we love the dutch! Will you be going to any other games Gaffer?

Agree with Kartik that Hughes will be sorry. He's likely to have a rough season with Shinawatra grinding his teeth behind him all season. What happens in the next month or so is crucial to how Hughes will fare at Man City, as it is the players that he brings in that will probably decide his fate. Boring flops just aren't an option for an owner who obviously craves success and aesthetics.

I think this may be a blessing in disguise. Italy really need to blood some youngsters, especially at the back. I also think Cannavaro is very overrated and watching Real Madrid, he always looks prone to mistakes. He may be past it.

Fair point Chris. However, the point i was making is that he is not a central midfielder that could shoulder responsibility and dictate a game. When ever I see him play he reminds me a bit of Ronaldinho a couple of seasons ago. Bags of pace, trickery, good on a set play and a good finisher. Yet do you see Ronaldinho in the center? No, because he is much more effective cutting in from the wing, and placing him in the center would be a defensive liability. If Spurs do get dos Santos, expect like blah d blah says, to play a 4-3-3. It would be a frightening prospect to see a frontline of dos Santos on the left, Berbatov in the center and Keane on the right. Then behind them in midfield, Modric, Huddlestone and Jenas. Sounds tasty to me.

Jimbo, I somehow doubt that Spurs would play buy both Dos Santos and Capel let alone play them in the same side. A midfield of Diego Capel, Dos Santos, Modric and Lennon would be slaughtered for a number of reasons, especially in the Premiership. Firstly Dos Santos plays on the wings, not in the center, and secondly, not one of those players are competant in defence. Although very unlikely, that lineup would certainly be typically Spurs and would give fans some more 5-4 results to look forward too.

Poor defender, surprised he stayed on from last season. I have a feeling he will end up in the Championship along with the rest of his American friends from Reading. I think he should move back to MLS, may be able to get his career back on track in his homeland.

I'm sorry Kartik but scratch Bayern's name of that list. If anyone has the ability to play borring its Bayern, they are the masters at pessimistic football.
In regard to the game, I think its pointless to argue who should of won because to be honest, both sides were almost equal. Man Utd took the first half easily, Chelsea the second easily and i'll call extra time a draw. Ultimately its penalties that count and you have to feel for Terry. It must have taken a lot to take that penalty and its hard to see him so cut up about it.
On the lack of sportsmanship, I think you're being to harsh. I personally love the physical side of the English game, yet I too was disgusted by some of the antics by Drogba & Vidic. Cut those out and then it would have a perfectly reasonable rough-and-tumble battle. I think we as fans need to be careful how much we criticize players for their reactions as aren't we just as bad. You just have to look at the way people take pleasure at the pain of the likes of Terry, Ronaldo and (remembering back to the passing of his mother) Lampard, and yourself, is that sportsmanlike? I personally think fans and their stupidity rubs off onto the players.
Finally I would just like to say that the ref had a diabolical game. Although he got the red card decision right (technically), the 4 calls against Joe Cole in a row by him and his assistants was embarrassing. Its a shame that the ref made such a hash of the game as it is supposed to be a competition between Europe's best, don't they deserve a quality referee?

Nasri is certainly a talent but I'm more worried about Arsenal overpaying for Aquilani. If his rumoured move to Arsenal is correct than I think he is worth much less than the 15 million pounds being talked about. Although Aquilani is a good player, i don't think he is exceptional, 8 million should be the max paid for his services. Arsenal could probably get a better player like Yaya Toure (good fit because of his brother) and Jean Il Makoun (supposedly the nex Patrik Vieira).

On closer look at the Spanish squad there are actually quite a lot of surprises. No Joaquin, no Vicente (although I would imagine he's injured cos he always is) and no Valdes. Would have liked to have seen the young Mata from Valencia get in as he has been one of the bright sparks in their dreadful season.

Love the club and its supporters, hate the team and the manager. Its a shame that the FA cup has been reduced to being won by such a boring and hapless team (no offence pompey fans but you can't tell me Portsmouth played inspired football at any time along their cup run!) Hopefully we can see a nice young, exciting, ENGLISH team win it next season......Aston Villa anyone?!

The Clichy one was definitely a surprise, especially seeing as Boumsong managed to smuggle himself in.
About Raul, its simply ridiculous. I've watched alot of spanish football this season and Raul was easily the best striker of the season. I've always thought Aragones was an idiot but this takes the mickey a bit. Its likely that Spain will probably reach the the quaters and get knocked out by the likes of Austria and Aragones will stay on because the spanish FA are either too stupid or scared to sack him.

Complete waste of money again from Chelsea. If they had wanted to break the bank for a right full back then they should have just spent a few more on Dani Alves, the best full back in the world. I'd be happy to bet that Bosingwa has a horrible season and leaves at the end of next season.

I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on the Nani subject, but I appreciate the responce none the less. Hope you continue doing such a good job.

I like it! Its a bit better than the Stade Francais Rugby shirts launching next season....

http://boutique.stade.fr/boutique/fiche_produit...

Great article Kartik, I agree with basically everything you say. Can't praise Keller and McBride highly enough as they, coupled with Danny Murphy and Jimmy Bullard, pulled Fulham out of their rut.
I do think, however, you're being a bit harsh on Johnson as well. There's no doubt he is a limited player but he's the type, with his physicality, that could do a useful job at a lower team. He just needs a chance to hit a bit of form. He reminds me a bit of Marlon King.

Paul Bestall I'm surprised you don't know a fan that likes the playoffs because personally, I don't know a fan that doesn't like them. In my opinion playoffs help raise the standard of the leagues as teams are even more desperate for those 2 (or 3) automatic promotion spots and the competition is a real struggle. Currently my team, Wycombe, is in the League 2 playoffs and I would like nothing better than to be promoted, yet I have a feeling we won't. The reason? We don't have enough heart and steel. That is the real draw for playoffs, as it rewards the teams that want it more. As much as we English love good football, we have always placed heart and psychological strength above all, and I hope we never loose that in our modern game.

damir, i disagree with calling Nani a disgrace when he doesn't warrant it. I specifically remember him being average in that game and far from the worst player on the pitch. Does losing pocession a few times deserve a 'disgrace' tag? No, but when he pulls stunts like he did on saturday he deserves to be called a disgrace, but not for a bad game.

At least it mirrors the grey situation (and weather) at Liverpool these days.

I think Berbatov hasn't been at his best over the last few weeks and that perhaps he may be therefore slightly overrated. I definitely think he is a quality player but I think he would struggle to adapt to the pressure of being at a top club, especially Barcalona. I also don't reckon he'll be going to AC as they are basically skint. The only club i think he would be a good fit at is Real Madrid.
Also don't see Villa or Eto'o moving to Spurs when they can take their pick of the best clubs in Europe. More likely to see them in West London (no, not Fulham ;) ) next season.

The wanderer's back! Yes i think its about time that i put my penny in the hat.
I would first like to say thankyou to the Gaffer and all the bloggers for making EPL Talk a great website for all us footie fanatics. Over all I have been pleased with the articles, yet, in recent months some of the articles have taken a slightly sensationalist tone. I disagree with the others that it is Michael who does this, but instead I think some of the Gaffer's posts have been slightly over the top. I mean this in the best way Gaffer, and you have gotten better over the last few months, but sometimes you criticize some players too harshly and praise others too highly. I refer back to a month or so ago when you commented that a Nani performance was "disgraceful". This was certainly over the top as no player deserves to be called a disgrace if he hasn't done anything controversial or shameful. Also your continuous Ballack bashing a few months ago certainly annoyed me, especially considering he had only come back from a long term injury.
Apart from that I have no complaints at all about EPL Talk and hope everyone continues the good work into next season.

C'mon Wanderers in the League 2 Playoffs!!!

Sorry to hear about the continuing health problems. Get well soon Gaffer, we all need a bit more EPLTalk in our lives.