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snowJacuzzi007

Listed below are comments made by snowJacuzzi007 between Thursday, 15th October 2009 and Monday, 14th December 2009.

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Wenger wins in madcap weekend 10:28am on 14 Dec 2009 I think Gerrard is getting a lot of unfair critisism today. OK, sometimes he has gone to ground far too eaily. But he's certainly not the only one, and he's certainly not the one who does it the most! I would say 80%+ of professional footballers dive. It's a horrible thing to do and is so annoying, but can any of your really hold your hands up and chastise your own player for it? What if Rooney or Gerrard did a blatant dive in the World Cup final, won us a penalty, which we scored to win the trophy? Would any of you be moaning then? Doubt it.
Look, Gerrard sometimes dives. I can admit that. But i think it's unfair to say he's got a reputation for it. Drogba and Klinsmann have/had reputations for it, and they are well and truly justified. Until someone introduces majorly harsh punishments for diving, or technology to counter it at the time, then it's still going to happen.

But going back to the game yesterday, i thought we deserved to lose. I hate saying that as i obviously love the 'Pool, but i can be honest about things. If Torres had scored, and if we had won and scored that penalty, then things would have been different and we probably would have won easily. But you don't win anything on "what if's".
I thought we were easily the best team in the first half and Arsenal were poor. But the 2nd half was a completely different story. Arsenal were by far the better team and were more hungry for the win. We were completely useless in the 2nd half. No drive, no determination, no creativity, nothing. Can't take anything away from Arsenal though as they played some great stuff and were by far the more imaginitive and determined team. Well done.

A couple of extra points though.....

I actually thought Lucas had a decent game. Well, certainly in the first half he was very good indeed.

Mascherano had a good first half, but seemed to lose his head after he got booked. Rightly subbed.

Carra had a good game other than the first goal.

Torres looked so frustrated by the lack of service. I wish Rafa would play Aquilani from the start, as the lack of creativity in midfield is killing us. What is his fixation with 2 defensive midfielders? Especially at home?!?!? Last season we were battering teams into submission, but it seems as though Rafa is happy to cross his fingers and hope for a 1-0 win. As soon as we concede a goal and the other team are on top, we're clueless at the moment.

Gerrard had another bad game. I'm sure he hadn't, but it looked as though he had given up on about 70mins. The frustration was clear for all to see. I don't think it's a frustration with the team or the manager, just the situation they find themselves in. But they only have themselves to blame.

And Anfield. Where the hell was all the noise?!?!? It was like they were playing behind closed doors. The only fans i could hear were the Arsenal ones, so all credit to you for getting behind your team. Reds fans should be ashamed of ourselves. I'm surprised the players didn't hear me shouting at the telly!!

Well done on the win Arsenal. You deserved it a hell of a lot more than we did. I hope you win the title instead of Utd or Chelsea.
Quotes of the week 11:41am on 03 Dec 2009 Paul Merson is always good for a laugh on Soccer Saturday.

On saturday just gone, he was giving his update on the game and said "xxxx have just got a freec*ck!".

Cue the rest of the lads in the studio erupting with laughter!
Moyes & Everton face testing times 1:42pm on 30 Nov 2009 I find it frustrating seeing so many people moan about the content of Phil's blogs. It is not always Liverpool. I've had a look at his last 50 blogs, and 10 of them have been about Liverpool, but 12 of them have been about Man Utd! 8 were about Chelsea, and only 4 about Arsenal. That leaves 16 blogs that aren't about any of the top 4 directly. So if you look at the numbers, 80% (EIGHTY!!!) of Phil's blogs have NOT been about Liverpool! Hopefully this will see all the moaners crawl back under their rocks.

With regard to the game yesterday, i actually thought we were quite fortunate to win by 2 goals. We didn't play particularly well at all in patches. There were sections of the game which we controlled and showed glimpses of our quick one-touch passing, but Everton controlled most of the game. I thought that a draw would have been a fair result.

Fellaini should have been sent off though in my opinion. Clear elbow to Lucas's face and it looked as though he kicked him on the way down too.
But on the flip side, I thought Carragher was quite lucky not to give away a penalty. He needs to stop grabbing hold of opposition players in the box!

Everton - you'll be fine this season. I'd even put money on you finishing mid-table quite comfortably. You've got some good players, and your work ethic cannot be called in to question. As soon as Arteta comes back you'll be sorted.
Nicest people in sport - My Top 20 09:06am on 18 Nov 2009 Good blog as usual Dan. Always an entertaining read. I think yours and Jake Humphrey's are the best blogs on the site.

The list of nice guys in sport is quite a tough one to compile! It's like when you name your top 10 women of all time - you complete the list then always think of 2 or 3 more who really should be on there.

I'd like to throw a few names into the hat though....

Graeme Hick - The nicest guy in sport without a shadow of doubt.
Alec Stewart - All-round decent bloke.
Jimmy Bullard - Comedy and kindness - a winning combo.
Clarke Carlisle - Seemed like a thoroughly nice guy when on MOTD2.

Oh, and i've met Mark Cueto and his dad before, and his dad is probably an even nicer guy!

Could you compile a list of the top 10 ex/current sportsmen who you'd like to go on a heavy night out with? I reckon Botham will be in that list somewhere.....haha
Benitez's brinkmanship strikes again 2:11pm on 26 Oct 2009 146. At 11:47am on 26 Oct 2009, MrBlueBurns

We meet again! :-) :-)

As a diehard Liverpool fan, i actually completely agree with you on those transfer statistics you mentioned earlier. The numbers certainly don't lie do they. And i will be the first to admit that Chelsea have spent much more wisely than we have during Benitez's tenure! Rafa has bought SOME quality (Torres, Reina, Alonso, Mascherano, Aurelio, Johnson, and i even think Babel is quality although he doesn't often show it!). But Rafa has also bought some complete dogs. I don't think i need to list them here as we all know who they are!

At the start of the season i tipped Chelsea for the title. And i stick by my prediction. I still think you guys will win it. :-)
Benitez's brinkmanship strikes again 09:02am on 26 Oct 2009 LABSAB9 - stop your moaning. McNulty has written about Liverpool again because it was the top game of the weekend! He's hardly going to write about anyone else is he. And correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't Phil writing about Man Utd in this article too??

txomin - It was £8m plus Nunez actually, not £12m. Quite possibly the worst deal in the history of football.
Diary of a Championship footballer 1:33pm on 22 Oct 2009 Hi Michael.

Great blog as always. I do like your down-to-earth style of writing, and the fact that you just write about what happens! No spin. Nice and refreshing.

But, i do feel it's a bit out of order to complain about 3 games in 7 days. It's hardly taxing is it! When i was at uni, i had lectures until 6pm on a monday, then went straight to training for 3hrs, then home to do some studying. Tuesday lectures again until about 6pm, then i had 2 5-a-side matches, then i went to work in a bar for 5hrs. Wednesday was another day full of lectures, followed by a full 11-a-side game, then studying until about 3am. Thursday was a full day of lectures, followed by a 3hrs training session, and then another hefty shift at the bar until 3am. Friday we actually finished uni at about 4pm, but it was straight to the training ground for a couple of hours, then 2 5-a-side matches. Then at the weekend we had a full 11-a-side game on the saturday AND sunday, sometimes travelling on a coach all over the country. And 2 more shifts in the bar afterwards on a saturday and sunday too.

OK granted, Uni football isn't as rapid as championship football, but the standard is still pretty high and the games are the same length. So most weeks during the season, I'd have 3 11-a-side games, 4 5-s-aside games, 3 official training sessions (and as many personal trips to the gym as my time allowed), 25-30hrs working in the bar to earn some cash for luxuries like food, approx. 45hrs per week at uni, then as much studying as possible on top of all of that. So you see Michael, you can't really moan about having 3 games in a week! It's a bit easy in all honesty! Forgetting the hectic uni schedule detailed above, you take into account doctors, firemen etc. They work horrifically long hours in a week. Sometimes over 100 no doubt. And they hardly ever get to see their families. Or what about the people who work night shift every day of the week? They never get to see their family as their partner is usuall at work during the day whilst they're sleeping, and at home in the evening whilst they're working.

I do love your blogs michael, because they offer a great insight into the life of a professional footballer. And i'm sure 95% of the guys on these forums still dream of signing that elusive pro contract! haha.

Keep up the good work, but maybe have a bit more humility about how lucky and sought after your job/life is.
Froch and fans frustrated 09:27am on 20 Oct 2009 I agree with #9. Nottingham Arena is a shocking venue for anything. I've seen boxing there, i've been to gigs there, i've even been to the odd trade show there. The place is a complete dump. It's impossible to get served in a decent enough time at any of the food/drink outlets, the security "guards" really do push their luck and are heading for a beating one of these days from someone, and it's so difficult to go for a smoke, nevermind go to the toilet! Awful arena. I've lived in the Derby/Notts area for years and years and can't think of anywhere other than football stadiums for big sporting events like boxing. But, have we got anyone who could fill a stadium? Even Forest or County's grounds?!?

With regard to the fight itself, I actually posted on Ben's pre-fight blog and warned people about how wiley Dirrell is and that he shouldn't underestimated. I've seen hundreds of bouts in my time, and was proved right once again. OK Dirrell lost, but if he boxed in 1-9 like he did in 10-12, he would have won it easily. Maybe even with a KO.

I don't understand why Froch is moaning about Dirrell's fighting style. Just because Dirrell was quick around the ring and light on his feet doesn't mean he had a poor style! He's hardly going to just stand infront of Froch and wait to get hit is he. Boxing is all about movement. Moving into a position to hit your opponent, and moving into a position to avoid getting hit. Just look at the great Muhammad Ali for a masterclass in how to move round the ring. And look at Mayweather too. He's perfected the art of quick feet and only punching when you need to, thereby conserving energy.

Froch does need to improve big time, otherwise Kessler will put him down! Quickly and violently.
Froch's rocky road to recognition 12:00pm on 17 Oct 2009 I've been a big fan of boxing for many years now, and i think one of the reasons why Froch isn't really "cared for" by the British public is because he's a mouthy sod! OK, in the build up to a fight you expect some trash talk from both parties. But Froch is constantly whinging and b1tch1ng about something throughout the year, even when he hasn't got a fight coming up for months. If he just kept his mouth shut, trained hard, and did his talking with his abilities then he'd be liked a lot more by his own country. Mayweather has got possibly the biggest mouth in the world, but he always backs it up with impressive victories over big name stars. Plus, he generally keeps his mouth shut when he's not building up to a fight!

Calzaghe has got nothing to prove by coming out of retirement and fighting Froch. Calzaghe has proved to everyone that he was a phenominal talent and rightly retired with an unblemished record. He didn't fight Froch because, let's face it, he would have killed him. Froch wouldn't have stood a chance.

I do think Froch is a good boxer and it's nice to have a British world champion, but he won't win the Super 6. No chance. Kessler is going to walk away with this. Mark my words. Of course i'll be rooting for Froch as he's the home boy, but my money will be going on Kessler.
I actually think Dirrell will cause some problems. I've seen a couple of his fights and he looks good. He's a bit raw and hasn't really fought the quality of Kessler and Froch before, but Dirrell will see this as his launch pad to greatness and he will want this big time. He'll come out fighting and will go for it.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was a Dirrell vs. Kessler final.
Capello's World Cup contenders 10:01am on 15 Oct 2009 Good lord, i sometimes wonder if people actually watch the games before they comment on here. Phil, ignore most of the people on here because they are clueless.

Beckham should NOT go to the World Cup. The man has lost it. He's the last person we want to bring on with 15mins to go. When the opposition defence are tiring, we need to be bringing on pace. Bringing Beckham on would hand the opposition the upper hand because he is quite possibly the slowest footballer i have ever seen.
Also, some people have been saying that he can come inside and shore up the central midfield area. Why would we want him to do this?!? It would leave the right back exposed! And against a world class team we'd get torn to shreds down that flank.
Beckham cannot defend AT ALL. There were times last night when he lost the ball, and couldn't catch up with the player to get it back! And when he did finally catch up with the other player, he gave away freekicks. Whereas pacy players like Johnson etc can easily catch up and make the tackle without giving away a foul. And before you say anything, i do not think Johnson is a brilliant defender. He's just a hell of a lot better than Beckham at going forward AND defending.

How the hell did Beckham get man of the match last night?!? The only thing of note that he did was take the short corner to SWP. Which, let's face it, any sunday league player could have made that pass. SWP still had to create the space and finish.
OK, Beckham can play a pretty good cross field ball. But so can Gerrard, Lampard, Barry, Hargreaves, Carrick, etc etc. Beckham is not the only one who can do it.

Freekicks - Beckham's scoring rate isn't that amazing. Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney etc are all adept at scoring from freekicks. I'm not saying their ratio's are any better than Beckham's, i'm just opening your eyes to the other options we have.

I just wish the majority of this nation would analyse a game and a player on their merits as opposed to through rose-tinted spectacles.

I would love England to win the WC. But we won't. I'm a realist. That's what makes me successful at the bookies! I fully get behind the team, but i call things as i see them and i live in the real world. Crouch is not a quality striker. His scoring record is impressive, but when you consider he never scores against quality opposition it's not so impressive. He wouldn't get a sniff against Spain, Brazil, Germany etc. Other than Rooney, the forward line is where England are struggling.

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