Fierce_LiNk

Well played, Cube. I thought we did ok to come back from 3-0 down. I'm proud that we brought it back to 3-2 and I really fancied us getting something from it. Considering we were behind by such a margin at first, I'm happy that we kept going. I totally marked the wrong player. He was on the bench, d'oh! So, do we get DeeVee from this Tea Cup, then?

Whaaaat? That OCS gig sounds great. Would kill to see that. Some bands or people I'm dying to see at the moment: Mogwai Kurt Vile Radiohead Oasis (please reform) Also in the mood to see the Manics, again. Really craving them, at the moment.

From one teacher to another, well done, Flameeeee. You should change your name, as you certainly don't need the laaame part in it.

I'm expecting you to destroy me next season, now. Going to get tanked by Cubic County tomorrow. I can feel it. He needs a win, my squad are knackered after a long first season. I'll be lucky if its kept within a two goal margin.

Seriously, I think you're stretching a bit there if you think Wilshere is better than Modric. Wilshere and Ramsey are both young and it's very clear that both will become World Class players in the future. But right now, Modric is better than both, imo. Like I said, I'd love him at United. If he were English, he'd be first choice without a doubt. Or rather, he should be.

I thought you were bull-shitting, so decided to play fairly aggressively, just in case. Sorry if I hurt your mans. Your team still seems pretty strong, though. I don't have that kind of experience in my squad yet. In a few season, when you are eventually relegated (lolz), I hope I can destroy you. One day. Well done on winning the league. Definitely the best team, although the Comerade seem really good as well. Yes, people will need to start recognising Dragooooo! You have paid the utmost respect by posting five o's at the end of Dragooooo. We recognise you now as friend. I'm very sorry I helped a little bit to stop you getting promoted. I wanna wiiiiin.

But his Dad is on a whole other level to your Dad. He can pass, he can shoot and he has three goals in Europe already. Your Dad doesn't even have any assists! He wouldn't even be first choice with Mrs Mum of Jay.

Hehe, I've been reading this whilst at work. It's made me chuckle. I'd personally have Bale over Walcott, but he's coming into his own now. I think Bale has a bit more to his game, which is why I'd take him.

Hernandez reminds me of a cross between Inzaghi, who would play very high up the pitch, trying to get behind and straddling the line between being on and offside, and Solksjaer. He's made of goals. He doesn't need to do all this dropping deep and hold up play that other strikers do, he's a very simple "tap-in" kinda player. Exactly what we need, somebody who can finish. We'll only really see the best of Rooney and Hernandez if there's somebody creative feeding them the balls from midfield. Or whipping in those crosses. Despite having some great wingers/wide players, our crossing is suspect at times.

Depends on three things: 1. Who is playing behind him. 2. Who he's playing with up front. 3. Who he's playing against. In that order. Usually, if he's playing deep, it's because he's not seeing enough of the ball, which means the midfield behind him are not doing their job. If the other striker is playing high up the pitch, sometimes Rooney will drop to try and feed them through. Again, that's if the midfield behind him are not doing the job. If the opponents are stopping him from getting the ball up top, he'll drop back to try and win it. Also, he'll track back 40 or 50 yards to win back a ball, which is positive, but also wastes his energy, as he should be up front receiving a ball after somebody else has tracked back to win it. So, it really depends. He does have a tendency to play deep, but it's for a reason. If he's getting the ball, and enough of it, he won't drop deep.

Only Michael Carrick had a good game tonight. Maybe Patrice Evra and Darren Fletcher, too. Rest of the team were woeful at times. It's very bad to concede a goal straight after scoring. We're making a mess of this group. It's not easy, because Benfica are a good team and Basel are decent as well, but we should be putting in better performances.

Gary Neville is a brilliant pundit. It's good to have somebody who is fresh out of the game, having won major honours and knowing what he's talking about. Not Andy Fucking Townsend.

Midfielders are often forgotten players. Unless you're a goal-scoring machine or a hugely influential Roy Keane type of player, you can often be overlooked. Chelsea were willing to pay an obscene amount of money for Modric for a reason. Also, strikers are like gold-dust. It's very, very difficult to find a great striker with a European pedigree unless you're willing to spend big. I don't really know how much Spurs are willing to spend. For the striker they need or are looking for, its a great deal of money...A Samuel Eto'o-esque player would be brilliant for Spurs. But, again, money. Aaaahahah. I laughed hard at this.

The players make a team, not individuals. So, I can understand why Arsenal fans would want to keep their midfield, because consistency is important. But, at the same time, to base a midfielder as "un-important" because he doesn't score or assist that many goals isn't exactly fair. Modric keeps that midfield ticking. Also, he would have a lot more assists if Spurs' strikers put away his chances last year. That's why going off assists alone isn't entirely right, since it only counts assists to goals, not assists to chances! Also, let's be honest, you'd be an absolute fucking lunatic to not want somebody like Gareth Bale in your team. The guy is a monster. The only downside is that defenders are becoming more aware of him now, which means they'll try to give him less space, but he's still a very effective player. I also rate Modric and would have him at United in a heart-beat. Spurs have a great first 11 at the moment, but they're still a striker short, in my opinion. Maybe another defender, as well. The midfield plays together week in, week out, and they're very consistent. You need to have a consistent midfield if you want to win things, and Harry knows that. Also, they're a very entertaining team to watch, even when they lose it's still usually a good team effort.

Wow, that was a great match. Ok, so maybe I bull-shitted completely yesterday about changing my tactics. It was always my desire to use those players and that formation. I knew his midfield would destroy mine, so had to find a way around that. I got a few things right. I guessed his formation and chose the right defensive option to match his attack. Pretty gutted it only came down to 1 goal. Also, I made a huge fuck up last night when planning my subs. I was expecting to get battered, so I said I'd bring on a defender for a midfielder to try and tighten it up if I was losing. Well, I'd just gone 3-2 down, and my midfielder was taken off for a defender...who got himself sent off within 10 mins. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu. Well played, Jay. Thank you for not destroying me. I'm happy. I haven't disgraced myself this season. One more game to go, then on to the next season.

Changed my formation, tactics and outlook on the game.

I've set my team and tactics...but may fiddle around with it tomorrow before kick off. Really not sure about which players to include and what formation to go with. I think I've settled on one, but still not sure. Serious business. To be honest, a defeat or a win wouldn't really change anything. I'm guaranteed 5th spot. So, I may just go for compleeeete DV...hmm. I would get destroyed, but it may be better in the longrun.

I changed my tactics and formation a dozen or so times. Really wasn't sure what to go with, considering your league position and form at the time. I actually was expecting a heavy loss, so was surprised with the outcome. Hmm, promotion for you could go either way. I reckon it'll come down to the last game to see who gets it. I'm chuffed that I've managed to get something off you. I did get pretty luck away from home, and in the home game, to some extent! So, two games left, I'm going for the DV now. I did that last time around. I pretty much changed my entire team so that my young forward could be included. It seemed to work. I'm expecting to get absolutely destroyed tomorrow...biggest defeat I've had was 3-0 at home to the Comerade Co-Op (think it was 3-0 away, too). Harsh results.

Funny enough, I've checked my statement today, as well. No charge from Tesco. It must come out towards the end of the month or something... They're not having it back. I love that Gold Wiimote too much. *waits for Christmas*

The games sell the console, the majority of the time. However, if the system has a unique feature, that will further help the sales. If you get the system out there, somehow, and make it appealing, then the third parties will follow along. You can't get those third parties unless there's something about the system that will attract them to it. There's been a loooooot of third party games for the Wii. A lot of fodder which we'll never touch, and that has largely been down to the remote. How many Wii Sports clones or party games have we seen? It wasn't as apparent on the GameCube. Nintendo will and have always supported their systems with games. But, look at the difference between the GC and Wii Sales. I do believe that if they had stuck with the GameCube philosophy of great hardware, they would've just got trounched again this generation. There also would have ultimately been some reason that third parties would favour the other two instead of Nintendo. Last time around it was the lack of disc space, this time it would've been the online functionality or that gamers just choose to buy Nintendo's own brand rather than third party stuff.

Shit defending costs everyone points. No matter which team you are. I thought Liverpool's passing game was a lot better than Chelsea's in the first half. They did look better in the second, but Liverpool rode their luck and the winner knocked the wind out of Chelsea. Also, I'm thankful everyday that United managed to dodge a bullet in the shape of Jon Obi Mikel.

The problem with the GameCube philosophy is that it just boils down to a technological arms race, over which system is the most powerful. As somebody who doesn't own a PS3 or 360, I find it quite difficult to distinguish between the two. Imagine if there were 3 identical systems on the mass market. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense. So, unless one of the three does something significantly different to the others, there's very little to differentiate between each one. Of course, it boils down to the games, and Nintendo has an advantage there as they will have stockpile of first party franchises. They can also afford to throw the "crowd pleaser" every once in a while, such as Galaxy 2 or DKC: Returns.

I thought it was a good win yesterday against Swansea. They fought really well though and could have nicked a point. 1-0 seems like a fair scoreline, and I'm happy about the clean sheet. It's also great to see Ferdinand and Vidic playing alongside each other again, hopefully that will be the start of a good run. I also watched the Chelsea-Liverpool game today. Chelsea's defending was awffuuuuul. Like Spirited Away, I laughed at that Gary Neville comment (so very true, and I actually think Gary is a good pundit/commentator). David Luiz was so indisciplined, stepping forward and trying to play offside by himself, getting caught out of position, leaving people unmarked. Also, if nothing fires up Torres or gets him motivated, like coming on as a sub against your former team and then needing to score, then nothing will. The guy is jinxed.