Torres was good when fit last year, he scored quite a bit considering the situation. Gerrard's been pretty similar, only his problem has been playing a position where he's been completely reliant upon teammates for him to play well.

I think everybody knows that a fit Torres is one of the top 3 strikers in the world alongside Villa and Drogba, nobody else really comes close. Gerrard is still a class player, just struggling to get into games due to an inept midfield playing behind him. It seems I'm forever banging on about somebody to come in, but once people realize how inept Lucas/Poulsen are, they will realize why Gerrard has struggled so much over the past year. I felt that once Aquilani returned, Gerrard would improve, he did towards the end of the year when Aquilani came in, although Gerrard was forced to play deeper, something I didn't agree with. Now we have another midfielder, Meireles, who will hopefully work better with Gerrard. I just hope Gerrard stays in the hole and Meireles plays deeper.

Casillas is good, probably the best shot stopper in the world, but I feel there are better 'keepers out there. People make Casillas out to be the undisputed greatest in the world, when, I feel, he's a top 'keeper, overrated due to the team he plays for and the age in which his career started.

As for Rooney, again, a good player in a very good team, but give me Torres, Villa, Drogba, Eto'o, Higuain, Aguero (massively overrated), Pato and probably Forlan over the past few years over him. He may well have won loads of trophies piggy backing off CR7, but I don't think he's near as great as he's made out, whilst I don't think he'll ever have a better season than last year.

No one else comes close to Drogba, Torres and Villa, well imo Rooney is easily in the league but we won't agree.

I think Liverpool should play a second striker and let Gerrard play centre midfield and allow him to play box to box, easily his best position. Just needs the right partner, he showed playing for England in that position that he is far more and his runs forward are dangerous and his working back is also vital.

Went to Sevilla/Deportivo last night, blimey it was boring - I've never seen a La Liga game where both sides gave up the ball so easily, and there was no hustle and bustle which means that can be overcome when watching a game in say England or Germany, then again after sweltering all day at 40 degrees plus I wouldn't be too up for playing a game of football with much tempo either.

The most interesting thing I can remember was Palop setting up 2 dangerous Sevilla counter attacks by directing punches to Jesus Navas, rather than catching the ball and slowing things down, something I'd not really looked at before but I remember someone on here pointing it out as a tactic a couple of weeks ago, then being derided for that opinion.

Scholes has been our best player all season.

T'was me! It's a tactic that can be very effective on the continent, less so than over here as the ability punch is often harder here due to the dumb refereeing and the emphasis to clear is often put on the defenders' shoulders. You often see Almunia trying to do it for Arsenal, as Wenger knows it's an effective tactic, but Almunia is far too poor to do it regularly.

Tony Pulis what a legend!

Problem was, as soon as he started scoring a few goals in Argentina he received the hype that any youngster that has a few good games does.

Plus the fact that Argentina had lost some of their more established strikers, he was dubbed the new Maradona to spearhead the next wave of Argie talent with Tevez and Higuain.

He had the potential though; Atletico turned him into the wrong player. Maybe it was Aguero himself, I can't quite explain it, but they turned him into the bulky 'lead' striker, when I felt he could have become the all-round playmaker striker, you know, the second striker with all the creative ability, but stupendous speed/agility/finishing ability. I think he was too good technically to be a lead striker, whilst his lack of height would always make him 'easier' to play against than other '9s'. I think Atletico turned him from a South American to a European, he's still a top player, but the hype that surrounds him now really is stupendous.

If you look across to Italy, it seems Milan are sort of doing the opposite with Pato. He looked to be the next great striker, the top '9' with all the Brazilian flair, but it seems Milan moved him into a right forward/winger style player, his all-round game continues to get better, whilst his pace, strength and finishing is a natural gift he'll never lose (unless he gets Hargreaves-esque knees). I think he could become one of the world's best, but seeing him, Ibra and Robinho fit in the same team will be interesting, especially if Ronaldinho and Pirlo are thrown in there as well.

Unbelievable how this overrarted Wayne Rooney almost single handedly got England into the world cup.

Shame he didn't get picked to play in the WC.

Well, if we use that to judge a player, we should agree that David Healy is also world class and not overrated.

Seen them qualify for loads you're right.

We sure did, we played very well first half although second we were very much off the pace. 3-1 down going into injury time I'll take the point though

It doesn't seem surreal it just seems wrong tbh but I'll respect your opinion as it's usually one of the better ones around here and I do agree on the Reina/Casillas debate - I wouldn't put one above the other but on the same level.

Well you didn't say qualify, you said almost qualify. He almost single-handedly qualified them for the Euro's, setting a qualifying record in the process.

I've never said Rooney isn't a good player, just overrated by the public and media as some type of great player. He'll never be near Messi, no matter how much hype Sky try to put behind it.

www.football365.com/mediawatch/0 ... 49,00.html Classy from Winter, as always.

www.football365.com/mediawatch/0 ... 49,00.html Classy from Winter, as always.

Not often I say this, but I hope United score a hatful tonight.

------------------Ibrahimovic
Robinho-----------------------------------Pato

Has the potential to work. They do have plenty of options in their squad though!

Ibrahimovic could play as a creative sort of target man with Pato and Robinho playing supporting inside forward roles, cutting in and taking the ball into the box.

On paper it could, but Milan's biggest weakness over recent years has been their lack of energy/industry. People point it down to an ageing side, which, in ways, is a correct assessment, but, it's also down the team changing for the worst with its mentality and balance. Gattuso has aged, Seedorf has aged, Ronaldinho has come in and stars like Shevchenko and Kaka have gone without replacement. Look around Europe and you'll see that all top sides defend from the front, often making exception for one player not to; for Barcelona, their 'laziest' player is probably Messi, although he still worked quite hard, but when Ibra came in, they lacked balance due to Ibra's lethargic play. At United, it's often Berbatov who is the laziest, but, in the big games he doesn't usually play, as Fergie understands the need to defend from the front and solidify the balance.

As good as that front line is offensively, neither player is particularly hard working, whilst you may also see Ronaldinho and Pirlo in there - both of whom aren't that industrious either. It's all good on paper, whilst the need for work rate isn't as high in Italy, but in the bigger games in Europe and the bigger games in the league, I think their midfield will be overran by harder working sides.

Aye, 100% correct. Ibrahimovic and Robinho have plenty of work in them unless it involves team work or chasing the ball back.

2-1 I think. Great atmosphere, can't wait.

Can't see Rangers giving Scum a decent game at all.

Ten Changes to the side from the Everton game for United

[url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11304208FIFA probes 'Fake' Togo team[/url

What a lovely story. I love this one. Bahrian hosted a friendly international against Togo and won 3-0. They were concerned about the quality and fitness of the opposition apparently and Togo confirmed they had not sent their team to Bahrain for the game.

Question is, why only 3-0 if it does turn out to be a scam. I guess they've scammed the Bahrainians with an invitation and split the appearance fees they would no doubt have got for being the away side in a friendly international. It's just bizarre no one in Togo picked up on it, African media are usually big on football stories and you'd think they would have noticed this.