2 2 now

Liverpool lose to Northampton Town 4-2 on penalties.

4 2 wasnt it?

Yeah sorry, just edited it.

Citeh










Liverpool

Having experienced the VIP hospitality at the Mestalla myself I hope Fergie took full advantage of it tonight and consequently didn't notice David De Gea's performance!

chelsea

I thought Park was one of the worst players on the pitch it wouldn't suprise me if his pass completion was in single figures tonight, Macheda struggled infront of a poor midfield tonight and was unlucky on a few ocassions and i agree about Smalling he looks so comfortable and cool with the ball at his feet probably the one shining light of tonights game.

Premier League Champions. FA Cup winners.

I would have preferred to win tonight. I'd prefer that we won all 4 trophies on offer. But if we were going to lose a game in the next few weeks/months, I'd have chosen this game to lose.

Liverpool went out to North****inghampton, at home. They are presently sitting 16th in the league. They have a new manager who desperately needs to prove his worth or he could be in for a short reign indeed. Losing to Northampton is

















Citeh have spent, or committed to spend, £1bn. They have won nothing for that investment. They have won nothing in over 30 years. And they go out to West Brom. That's











If you're going out of a cup, coming back from 3-1 down with 10 men to get level, only to lose out in injury time is one of the best ways to go out. Seeing some young players show exceptional skill to introduce them to the first team is a bonus from tonight. The major downside to the night was possible injuries to Kalou and Benayoun, not going out of the cup.

Chelsea lost to Newingcastle. And suffered afew injuries. I think they suffered the most.

Suffering.

I blame the owners.

34 years

Given, Vidal, Boyata, Mee, Cunningham, Vieira, Johnson, Ibrahim, Guidetto, Santa Cruz, Jo.

That was the team last night. Seven of those would not get in the Barnet team.

Fantastic dive by Alex for that penalty last night.

Cant believe the ref gave it, mind.

Thats because he was an Arsenal player though. Would be different if it was a on Chelsea player.

City are still well short of being capable of challenging for 3 cups and a CL spot in one season. Last year, when we weren't in the Europa League, it was worth having a crack at the Carling Cup. This year, with the current injury list, it isnt. Sensible team selection by Mancini for me.

But its probably the most realistic to win.

Rafa's fault init.

It begs the question as to whether winning the Carling Cup and ending the 34 years, whilst finishing 5th or lower, is preferable to winning nowt and finishing 3rd or 4th. Personally I'd prefer the latter, albeit with a decent run in at least one of the other two cups.

Our problem is that we still dont have an established playing style and system in the same way as United, Chelsea and Arsenal. They can bring in reserves and juniors and still look the same, all of their players from juniors upwards are familiar with and comfortable playing in their system. If we make wholesale changes we end up looking like a completely different team. I think Mancini is making progress in imposing a style of play on the club, he's made quite a few changes to the first team this season without upsetting its balance. The trouble is that it still only works with his 15/16 best players.

He's going to get you points on his own this year. Apparently Barça had an offer turned down while Laporta was still president.

That's a shocking team. I will say with confidence that 3 of that back 4 will not be good enough to play for a championship team. Boyata is the exception. He looks like he could become a terrific defender.

I must admit to hate watching Vieira. You can tell he has the intelligence and mindset of a world class player. It's just a shame his body is not up for the challenge.

I can't wait for Kolarov, Boateng and Balotelli to play for us. They will address
our weaknesses. I genuinely feel they will greatly improve the team. Hopefully, we will be more entertaining too.

Was pretty funny listening to skysports last night, they made a point of telling you that this isn't Hodgesons squad and they were all Benitez signings. Sounds just like the last 5 years with them moaning about Benitez being stuck with Houliers signings.

Whats happened to city's world class youth policy?

The entire strategy behind City's academy has had to change in the last 2 years. Before the takeover the emphasis was on producing a conveyor belt of players. Some, such as Richards, SWP, Ireland & Johnson, were more than good enough for City's first team at that time. A larger number weren't but moved on to other clubs, mainly in the championship, for fees of £250-500k or so enabling the academy to fund itself and keep on churning out players. That approach met City's needs prior to the takeover.

Now the emphasis is changing to quality rather than quantity but that change in approach will obviously take time to have a noticeable effect.

Sorry but