When India collapsed against spin in Galle, they were suffocated by the in-and-out fields set by Sri Lanka. The fours were not available because of the boundary riders, and the batsmen played themselves into a shell by blocking for too long. This four-or-nothing tendency is not just India’s problem; many international batsmen struggle against in-and-out fields these days.It also finds resonance in lower levels of cricket, as Rahul Dravid, who coached India A in series against Australia A and South Africa A, found out. India A lost one four-day match to Australia A on a dry Chennai pitch and against the spin of Steve O’Keefe before coming back with a victory over South Africa A in Wayanad.While impressed with the young batsmen’s ball-striking against spin, Dravid said they needed the ability and patience to build innings around singles when that is all that is available.”In terms of shot-making ability against spin, this generation is incredible,” Dravid told ESPNcricinfo. “The shots they play against spin, like stepping out and hitting sixes, and some of the creativity, is terrific. They have got that. One of the areas that could be a concern for Indian cricket is that there is a lack of balance; people are either defending or hitting big shots and it easy to set fields to that as you can set in-out fields.”The ability to rotate the strike and construct a partnership when people have put men on the boundary line, and not hitting cover or point all the time, being able to hit to long-on or long-off and playing risk-free cricket, and building an innings against spin on tracks that are slow and turn a bit – I think that’s a skill that needs to be worked on and developed, because a lot of the young batsmen are either defending or trying to hit big shots, and there is no in-between. That puts pressure on you because in a high-pressure situation, it becomes hard to play a really big shot and if you keep blocking balls, the pressure builds up on you.”Something very similar happened to India in the Galle Test, but they were not alone. Dravid saw the same with his team too.”That happened a few times to us [A team] in the last series, where we got ourselves stuck by not rotating the strike and the pressure came on and we lost two-three wickets quickly. That is a skill that definitely needs developing.”We are not bad players of spin suddenly, but maybe the fact that these boys play a lot of T20 cricket, where the value of the single is not so much, and you can play big shots means that the ability to create the single like VVS Laxman or Mohammad Azharuddin is a skill that needs to be worked on.”Rahul Dravid is confident that the current crop of players can develop the ability to rotate the strike efficiently•Getty Images
The problem didn’t restrict itself to batting against spin, Dravid said. Some bowlers find it difficult to create an impact when the batsmen are not going after them. “The same goes for spin bowlers as well, the ability to block people from taking singles and bowling consistently in one area when people are not going after you is a challenge for some of the cricketers in this generation.”With the amount of T20 cricket, this remains a challenge. “I don’t think they are struggling to play long-form cricket,” Dravid said of the younger players. “There are a lot of long-form players as well. AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli and Steven Smith are tremendous T20 players, and they are playing long-form cricket as well as anyone in any generation or any era. It would be unfair to say that none of them can play long-form cricket. The challenge has changed.”You are a product of your environment, and now the environment has changed, with there being a lot of one-day and T20 cricket. It is high-pressure T20 cricket. You are practising two months of T20 cricket day in and day out, and suddenly three weeks later you have come to play an A series on a super-dry wicket in Chennai, where you have to learn how to rotate the strike and can’t play the same shots. It takes time to adjust. To be fair, as the series went on, the players worked on it and they adjusted and got better at it.”Dravid did not see a lack of love for long-form cricket in the youngsters, but he realised that unlike in his day, succeeding in long-form cricket is not a must today.”Definitely, just as keen [as I was when I was their age],” Dravid said of the youngsters. “When I look at them, they are very keen to play Test cricket and succeed in four-day cricket at the Ranji level. They all want to do well. I think what has changed is that they don’t necessarily need to do it. Today, a living can be made off the sport even if you don’t succeed in long-form cricket.”I think that opportunity never existed to cricketers of my generation. When I was growing up, if you wanted to make a career off the sport and wanted to make the sport you love a profession for a long period of time, you just had to succeed in long-form cricket. Today with T20 cricket, the opportunities have changed.”You can have a pretty decent life without succeeding in Test match cricket. That has changed, but the desire is still there. They definitely want to do it till they possibly can. They also realise that there is another form we can focus on and do well and make a life for themselves. Why should anyone deny them that?”Read and watch the full interview here
It has been confirmed that the Metropolitan police have passed their findings on John Terry’s alleged racist slur against Anton Ferdinand on to the Crown Prosectors Service (CPS), who will determine if the Chelsea man has a case to answer.
In an ongoing and protracted saga, the England international was accused of racially abusing QPR centre half Ferdinand in The Blues’ 1-0 deeat at Loftus Road on October 23rd, with clips of the potentially derogatory comments broadcasted in the world media.
After an FA investigation the police were brought in to collect evidence, and they have now left the decision making process in the hands of the CPS, which is common practice in case like this.
The CPS have acknowledged that they have a decision to make, but have given no inclination on how long this may take.
“We can confirm that we have a file on John Terry and it is under consideration. We can’t give a date or time when this decision will be made,” an official CPS statement reads.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel has called on the squad to unite as they battle to avoid relegation from the English Premier League.Villa are 14th in a congested bottom-half of the table, just one point clear of the relegation zone.
Reports of indiscipline and unrest have dogged the club this season, with players allegedly rebelling against the reign of French manager Gerard Houllier.
But American shot-stopper Friedel insists the players have the talent to secure their survival, if they can overcome their internal divisions.
“We have got a tremendous squad of talented players,” Friedel said.
“We have obviously had ups and downs this season, but we have eight games now to get as many points on the board as possible.”
“We need to all be one. All the stories that have been going about, a lot of them are untrue, it’s people just trying to stir things up because things haven’t been going well on the pitch.”
“But we need to put all that to one side, starting on Saturday (at Everton).”
A veteran of 14 English Premier League campaigns, 39-year-old Friedel has been able to witness first-hand where Villa have gone wrong this season.
“Yes, I have been there every day and I have watched it unfold in front of me,” he said.
“In today’s game players have to take a lot more responsibility than perhaps they do on a daily basis.”
“Once you cross the white line there is no-one there to hold your hand. You have to be out there and you have to win the games.”
“It’s up to us to get enough points to keep us in this division. There is nothing more that needs to be said. Everything that has transpired this season needs to be pushed to one side. There’s no hiding place.”
Wigan Athletic have dismissed reports coming out of Paraguay that Antolin Alcaraz may not join up with his new club as planned following the World Cup.
The Latics snapped up the 27-year-old centre-half on a free transfer from Belgian club Club Brugge before the World Cup began.
Alcaraz was one of the stars of Paraguay's march to the quarter-finals in South Africa and was reported to have told a radio station back in his homeland that he was still open to offers.
"Yes, there is a preliminary agreement we signed, but there is the possibility we can realise other options," he was quoted as saying.
"In fact, at this point I don't know where I am going. At the moment, all the teams that have showed an interest have a chance of signing me."
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
However, Wigan fully expect Alcaraz to report for pre-season training later this month after lodging the player's registration with the Premier League.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
There some games that are heated in football, but do any of them come close to the top 10 list below. Sit back and judge for yourself.
10) Ajax v Feyenoord
The most heated fixture in Dutch football is one spurred on between class differences of two cities a mere 30 miles apart.
Amsterdam’s cosmopolitan image is reflected in Ajax’s fluent brand of football whilst near neighbours Feyenoord carry the look of its port district labour image.
Ajax and Feyenoord have dominated Dutch football alongside PSV Eindhoven, yet ‘Der Klassieker’ is by far the most fiercely contested match in the Eredivisie.
The contrast in image is illustrated by the contrasting homes of each team, with Ajax’s uber-modern Amsterdam Arena in stark contrast to the traditional and hostile atmosphere of Feyenoord’s De Kuip stadium, yet both clubs grounds have been littered with scenes of crowd trouble for years.
In 1997 an Ajax fan was killed after pre-arranged ‘battle of Beverwijk’ – an Amsterdam suburb – which led to a banning order of away fans from the fixture.
Once the ban was lifted, incidents continued to occur and in 2004 Feyenoord’s Jorge Acuna was hospitalised after being attacked by an intruding Ajax fan.
Last season the Dutch authorities agrees to once again impose an ban on visiting support but those measures are unlikely to dilute the hatred of these two sworn foe’s.
9) Roma v Lazio
The Italian capital’s two clubs not only share a city but a stadium meaning meetings between the pair become tribal, with each claiming spiritual ownership of the site.
Again, the tensions were pre-cursed by supposed divides along political and social lines with Lazio apparently the club of the social elite, whilst Roma were the team of the Romany’s.
The Derby della Capitale is notorious for being Italy’s fieriest clash with Lazio’s notorious fascist ultras regularly bearing arms to Roma’s far-right facets.
Like so many city derbies, the proximity of one another’s support lends to widespread conflict outside of the ground and the spacious nature of the Stadio Olimpico does nothing to temper tensions inside.
The first ever recorded fatality in Italian football came about thirty years ago during the Rome derby and scores of incidents since have marked this out to be one of Europe’s most fractious encounters.
During a game in 2005, Roma’s ultras forced a game to be abandoned midway through after rumour spread that police had killed a supporter and the two sets of ultras became involved in a barbarous brawl which resulted in almost 200 police officers being injured.
The Derby della Capitale remains arguably Europe’s most vicious mainstream derby.
8. Manchester United v Liverpool
These two are England’s most successful clubs and the fate of the cities football teams significantly plays its part in an inter-city rivalry which has been brooding since the Victorian industrial age. Manc’s don’t like Scousers. Scouser’s don’t like Manc’s. End of.
Both clubs claim to be the greatest English club and both have had ample opportunity to taunt the other during periods of success and failure.
Liverpool outshone United for large parts of the 70’s and 80’s much to the envy of United and United’s subsequent success during the 90’s and beyond has caused similar resentment on Merseyside.
The clashes between the pair are by far and away the most feverish of the English top flight calendar and even thought the safety and segregation of grounds limits terrace trouble, the hostilities frequently are taken out on the turf.
[divider]
Continued on Page TWO
[divider]
[ad_pod id=’unruly-2′ align=’left’]
7) Cracovia v Wisla Krakow – The Holy War
Polish football is in the midst of a hooliganism crisis with these two at the forefront of things.
It’s unlikely the Krakow derby is dubbed the ‘holy war’ because of Pope John Paul II’s allegiance to Cracovia. Instead, the term gives scope to what has traditionally become one of the most violent affairs on the continent.
The fixtures are regularly marked with bouts of organised and relentless pitch battles between opposing sets of fans, both inside and outside of the grounds and in recent years the Polish football authorities have had little option than to impose a blanket ban on travelling support to reduce trouble.
However, the measures have had a limited effect and unfortunately Krakow has earned the dubious nickname of the ‘city of knives’ because of the proclivity to carry blades, and since 2004 there have been over a dozen fatalities as a direct result of football related disorder.
6) Fenerbahce v Galatasaray
Turkey’s two most successful and well supported clubs are separated by the Bosphorous strait which divides Istanbul, and divide is perhaps the best term to describe these arch enemies.
Like many inter-city rivalries, there are socio-political connotations which add to the intensity of the hatred. Traditionally Fener’s fanbase is derived from the working classes whilst Gala emanate from the Istanbul bourgoise.
Both clubs relentlessly compete for the top honours in Turkey and thus the status as the nation’s number one club, and as such the fixtures make for volatile occasions both on and off the pitch.
Meetings between the duo are routinely the scene of terrace trouble and similarly to the Krakow derby, this violence has led to scores of fatalities throughout its history.
Graeme Souness hardly smoothed over relations between the two following the second leg of the Turkish cup final in 1996, whilst managing Gala. Souness celebrated lifting the cup on Fener soil by planting a massive Gala flag in the centre circle much to the ire of the furious Fener following.
Souness and his Galatasaray squad were forced to seek refuge for several hours in the bowels of Sukru Saracoglu stadium as the riot police fended off furious Fenerbahce fans.
5) Rangers v Celtic
The ‘Old Firm’ game is arguably the world’s oldest football derby with the first meeting between the two Glasgow giants taking place in 1888.
The rivalry is prominent as football’s most religiously charged encounter with the origins of the rivalry dating back hundreds of years between the divergent cultures of protestant and catholic beliefs.
The sectarian differences between the two clubs are ingrained in their history and tradition and largely splits the city of Glasgow into blue or green. Set against the backdrop of Northern Irish politics, the Old Firm games are infused with partisan chanting and hooligan confrontations which stretch further than other football feuds.
The increasing number of players playing from both clubs, with little or no ties to the city and religion, has seen on-field agitations, tapered in recent times. Little of the ill-feeling between the masses has been lost and given the sensitivity of the situation, nor will it do any time soon.
4) Red Star v Partizan Belgrade
Like many communist influenced football leagues, two of the most prominent teams have affiliations to the military and the interior ministry – themselves both opposing political influences.
Borne from the former Yugoslavia and now continuing in Serbia, Partizan were formed in 1945 as the club of the Yugoslav army whilst bitter city adversaries Red Star were set up in conjunction with the interior ministry.
Prior to the collapse of the former Soviet Union both teams had contrasting political and social ideologies which were played out on the football field.
The ongoing scenario whereby a nations two most successful, and heavily followed forces, both emanate from its capital city is in evidence once again, but what elevates the Belgrade derby in significance is a nationalistic element derived from decades of military conflict.
Red Stars ‘Heroes’ and Partizans ‘Gravediggers’ stood side by side during the Serb-Croat war at the start of the 1990’s but parted ways during the infancy of an independent Serbia and tensions have remained ever since.
The fixture has been host to several deaths, most notably in 1999 when a Partizan ultra fired a missile from a hand held rocket launcher into the Red Star end, killing one fan.
[divider]
Continued on Page THREE
[divider]
[ad_pod id=’unruly-2′ align=’left’]
3) Boca Juniors v River Plate
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
The clash between Argentine football’s two superpowers has resonance all over the world and match days are amongst some of the most choreographed and colourful on the world stage.
Again, the combination of the countries two best supported and trophy laden clubs being separated geographically by a couple of miles only fuels the tension between players and supporters.
Both clubs were originally formed from the La Boca docklands area of Buenos Aires but in 1925 River upped sticks to the more affluent district of Nunez and in doing so earned the tag of ‘Los Millionaires’ because of their perceived wealth.
Boca are said to be the club of the people and the perceived differences in culture mean differences between the opposing fan factions. Like many of the rivalries on this list, the occasion has been tinged with tragedy. In 1968, 71 Boca fans were killed and hundreds injured following a stampede caused by a fire at River’s El Monumental stadium.
The incident has further intensified relations between the clubs which ensures a turbulent atmosphere whenever the pair collides.
2) El Salvador v Honduras
The term ‘football war’ may seem like the type of hyperbole you’d read in the tabloids but in 1969 a clash between El Salvador and Honduras led to an actual military conflict between these two countries.
Tensions were already simmering between the two neighbouring Central American territories when the sides were drawn to play a qualifier for the 1970 World Cup.
The first leg in Honduras was marred between fighting between the teams supporters in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa. And following the game an 18-year-old El Salvadorian girl shot herself in the heart and immediately became a martyr for the El Salvador cause.
The countries president and the national football team led the cortege at her funeral before the second leg which saw even greater violence and immediately after a third game play-off played in Mexico City, El Salvador declared war on Honduras leading to a four day borderline battle which resulted in over 3000 deaths.
1) Nacional v Penarol
Uruguay has long since had a foul reputation throughout world football for their acts of petulance and aggression and that image has only been tarnished by Montevideo’s two biggest clubs.
Nacional and Penarol continue the theme of the countries two biggest clubs coming from the capital and throughout history, matches between them have been noted for extreme physical violence in all elements.
Two quite bizarre incidents set this rivalry out from the rest. A match in 1990 was abandoned after 85 minutes when 22 players – 11 from each side – were sent off after a riotous meleé kicked off on the pitch with members of each side wading in with few if any acting as peacemakers.
That incident takes some beating but somehow they managed it in November 2000. Another saloon brawl resulted in nine players and a coach being sentenced to a month in prison for their part in the action and the general consensus is that when these two meet, something similar could happen at any time. Box office.
Sir Alex Ferguson blamed referee Martin Atkinson for Manchester United’s 2-1 loss away to Chelsea on Tuesday.English Premier League leaders United took a 1-0 lead through Wayne Rooney in the 29th minute at Stamford Bridge.But David Luiz equalised for Chelsea on 54th minutes.The defender was lucky to not receive a second yellow card from Atkinson after tripping Rooney midway through the second half.Chelsea then benefited from a contentious penalty decision to win the match through Frank Lampard’s spot-kick with 11 minutes to go.”The penalty kick was so soft,” Ferguson said.”Deary me. But we played very well. It was a great performance by us. We didn’t deserve that.””That’s three years in a row (at Stamford Bridge) referees’ decisions have changed the game.”Ferguson struggled to comprehend how Atkinson failed to spot Luiz’s foul on Rooney. “It was incredible,” he said.”Even before that he’d done Chicharito (Javier Hernandez) off the ball. He’d done him late. Nothing done, the referee’s in front of it.””He does Rooney clear as day, (the referee is) six yards from it, he doesn’t do anything. That changed the game.””These are decisions that change the game. And he’s going to be refereeing every week.””But I’m proud of the players. They’ve endured a lot of decisions against them but they’ve come through it, they’ve done their best. They’ve created good chances.””They didn’t deserve that.”Even Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti admitted that Luiz may have been lucky to escape without punishment. “There was a lot of intensity and it was not easy for the referee to decide every time,” Ancelotti said.”David Luiz could be lucky but there was a lot going on on the pitch so the referee decided he didn’t see this.””We kept going with strength, intensity and power in our performance.””It was really good but if you don’t play well, you cannot beat Man United.””It was a good performance and we are still alive.”
Concerned Newcastle United manager Chris Hughton fears that the shoulder injury Steven Taylor suffered in Saturday's pre-season friendly at Carlisle United could force the defender to spend a spell on the sidelines.
It had been the 24-year-old's first taste of action since he sustained a knee injury against West Brom in January but he had to be substituted after just 36 minutes at Brunton Park.
Hughton told the Chronicle: "The fact he's come off is obviously a big concern for us. I won't find out the extent until later on. He felt his shoulder and we hope it's minimal."
On the 3-0 win for the Magpies, Hughton added:"It was probably as we expected. Carlisle were a week in front of us in their preparations.
"We knew because of the quality they've got it would be a tight affair in that first half.
"What generally happens is that the game opens up over a period of time and it's who's able to capitalise on that.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
"We were, and I think we could have got more, but it was certainly a competitive game in that second half as well."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Following Wigan Athletic’s defeat to Newcastle on Saturday, Roberto Martinez gave additional firepower to the age old argument that referees favour the so called bigger sides. Martinez was quoted as saying, ‘it’s just that we’re Wigan Athletic and it’s very difficult to get it wrong against us.’
The idea has been around for so long that many football fans and managers mention it as if it is fact, but following Martinez’s comments, a question must be asked. Is it merely a myth that small sides do not get the decisions?
As a fan of English football, any suggestion of considered bias towards certain clubs is disappointing, we all want to see fair, unbiased officiating in football. Yet it would be naive to think that incorrect decisions really do even themselves out over the course of the season, as if by magic.
The reality is that certain clubs are going to get more decisions over a season, the campaign after that, that club may get less, but do the bigger clubs get more of these decisions? The evidence does not suggest that they do, indeed no evidence or study has ever proven such a claim.
[ad_pod id=’unruly’ align=’right’]
However, there are other factors that influence the chances of teams getting decisions. Manchester United famously went 10 years without a penalty being scored against them at home, with only 3 penalties awarded in that time. This led to many fans to declare that it was impossible for smaller clubs to get a decision at Old Trafford.
Yet, those claims do not allow for the quality of player at Manchester United, the team throughtout that the time was top draw and logic dictates that top quality players are less likely to concede penalties and more likely to win them than lesser players.
It is true that the more fans in the stadium, the more voices the referee has to block out. Naturally, some referees are going to be better at this than others. It could be argued that teams with bigger stadiums such as Arsenal and Manchester United are more likely to get decisions due to this. However, if the crowd is raucous, such as at Loftus Road on Sunday, surely the amount of people in the stadium is insignificant in comparison to the atmosphere.
This season, both Kenny Dalglish and Andre Villas-Boas have argued that decisions have consistently gone against their sides. As the managers of Liverpool and Chelsea, their claims do not do much to support Roberto Martinez’s words.
Roberto Martinez may feel harshly dealt with and he may feel that Wigan get less decisions because of who they are. In reality, there is no reason that Wigan will not be on the end of beneficial decisions before the season comes to an end. The fact is, the argument that ‘smaller clubs do not get the decisions’ is just a myth.
Remember to join us for tonight’s LIVE Carling Cup Blog by clicking below
[divider]
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Since the days when we were hiding from the sun in caves, man has used numbers to give himself a sense of place in the world.
First, early man learned to count on his fingers then on his toes. But once he got passed 20, he was stuck. Then some cleverer men came up with numbers past 20. Then they came up with numbers past 100.
Numbers were useful in lots of different ways. They could be used to count items of food, people in your tribe, the number of legs you were missing because a bear had eaten one and a whole bunch of other things!
Nowadays, we haven’t got that much use for numbers. Computers do everything for us! But one thing we do like to do is use them when we talk about football! Nobody wins a match by ‘oh gee…a whole bunch of goals!’ They win by 1 or 2 or 3. And with the FA Cup 5th Round over and done with, what better time to celebrate the magic of numbers then by running down some of the figures involved in the magic of the cup!
1,569,797 – That’s how many people have come to watch the FA Cup so far this season, according to the FA.
446 – The number of goals scored in the Cup this season. The top-goalscorers with 6 each are Reading’s Matieu Manset and Leyton Orient’s Scott McGleish. Leyton Orient have managed to score 16 goals, whilst Hereford conceded the most at 10.
1,758 – The number of shots on target. The number of shots off target is slightly less at 1,622.
1,636 – There’s been over 1,500 corners in the Cup this year, but only 75 goals scored from headers.
2,906 – That’s how many fouls there’s been, roughly half of what occurs in a match between Rangers and Celtic. Of those fouls committed, we’ve seen 403 yellow cards, but only 30 reds. Mark Clattenburg can’t have refereed every match surely? Dover Athletic managed to commit the most fouls without getting punished; 22 in total.
4 – The number of penalties awarded to Sheffield Wednesday. They managed to score all 4.
So we’ve seen more fouls than goals, but more headed goals than red cards! And we don’t know who’ll win it. Numbers….they really do tell us nothing. At least that’s what I told my maths teacher when I only got a C on my GCSE’s….
Follow Peter Turner, but don’t ask him to divide anything, on Twitter @petermagpie
Not much to report at Old Trafford this week where most of the column inches has been about Rooney’s outburst last Saturday. On the transfer front it has been relatively quiet with the only thing to report was the suggestion that United had dropped out of the running for Cole, as they are not prepared to meet his wage demands.
This week at FFC we have seen a mixed bag of Man United blogs which has included…Why Piers should keep his opinion to himself; Park Ji Sung shows the PL are missing a trick and what will Fergie make of Evra World Cup actions.
Plus we have taken a look at the best Man United stories on the Web this week.
Does Wayne Rooney make a valid point?
Rooooooney…
What would Fergie and Wenger make of their player’s actions?
Why Piers should keep his views on Wayne Rooney to himself
Park Ji Sung is living proof that the PL is missing a trick
Joe Cole prices himself out of move
‘One to Watch in 2010′ – Federico Macheda
The Top TEN Premier League ‘dirtiest’ players
PL suitors need to cough up as World Cup quartet add millions to…
**
Best of Web
**
A Big Thanks To John Terry… Again – Republik of Mancunia
Captain Evra central to French implosion – United Rant
How long do you have to wait on the “waiting list”? – The Andersred Blog
Will we let history repeat itself at Old Trafford? – The Busby Way
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Rooney is England scapegoat: What next another mock hanging? – A kick in the grass
If the season began tomorrow Part 1 : The defence – The Busby Way
**
Click image below to see a gallery of the SPANISH babes at the World Cup: