SirBalon

Maybe, but I also think your dislike for Márquez has led you to feel the way you do today mate. I understand these things because I suffer from them too and mostly in football though because it's obvious how I react with Real Madrid. The reason I stopped posting back in the day in the other forum on the F1 thread was due to everyone forgetting what the sport was actually about and going all out for their own driver and not seeing when their own commits exactly the same dodgy things the other does.

True, but dirty tactics are dirty tactics and there's no abacus meter to merit them guys. I really don't see Márquez as being more dirty or having a more dirty reputation than anyone else. But maybe I'm being biased, although I can't recount serious situations other than two which concern both Rossi and Márquez who have had a feud since Rossi had ghosts possess his head and start believing Márquez wanted Lorenzo to win the World Championship.

I love Márquez as many know here but that's just not on and no excuse for what he done. But I will say something which is that the reaction to when Rossi did it to Márquez wasn't the same by many and that's also not on. In my case I don't give a damn and I hope they hit Marc for more than just today's points... But the difference in reactions does kind of create an aura for what subsequently come along in the future.

That sort of stuff is just not on. That's not racing!

I originally thought it was a joke, but checked it out and it’s it for real! Poor girl!

If it wasn’t enough that he’s one of the greatest centre-backs in the history of the game, Carles Puyol was also the ultimate gentleman and a no nonsense guy...

That is hilarious! Iniesta behind the bar serving Rakitić is brilliant... But Umtiti burying his money almost made me vomit with laughter. Who's the one snorkelling! Semedo or Dembélé? Hahahaha

I've seen that sort of thing so many times in this sport over the years. No matter how many times you see it though, you always marvel at how they manage to take control of that beast.

Sorry @Berserker mate... a Napoli fan just sent me this via Whatsapp.

The great Puskas. A professional footballer couldn’t look like him these days and yet, what a footballer!

Johan Cruyff maintained to his final days that only playing the right way to win was worthy of praise. He never negated on that and wouldn't give an ounce of credit to teams winning by shutting out their opponent. In one interview he stated that had Holland won by playing negative football he wouldn't have given it an ounce of thought.

Tastes like chikan though!

Well lesbians don't eat meat!

I love animals, for years I gave money every month to the WWF and am all for the strictest abattoir audits. But this new fad Vegan movement with these youngsters really does get on my tits. What a load of rubbish! Pardon my language, but is this the new "I'm gay" or "I'm a lesbian"?

I've always admitted that I'm a massive Menottista and very anti Bilardo, but without a doubt you have to give credit to Carlos Bilardo's managerial record on all levels even if I rather disliked his brand of football. He was very tactical as was another Argentine in Helenio Herrera (Herrera more so) although in the case of HH he ended up naturalising himself French so we can discount him from any equation in cases such as these where Argentinian football is in question. To cut what I could make into one of my trademark long posts, yes indeed Argentina were coached much better to be a winning formula in 1986 under Carlos Bilardo, but even Bilardo wouldn't have done much with this team. You can have all the talent you want sitting up front waiting for the right ball to come so as to score, but if those behind you aren't good enough to win it back against top sides (because you have to beat the top sides somewhere along the line to win things) and be able to maintain it with aplomb and containing a certain amount of improvisation without being too blatant in what you want to do, then those players up front are worthless! Theyre even more worthless because due to the fact what's behind them ranges from below average to ok and then a couple that are good, then that creates anxiety in the front men and when they are given a good opportunity out of the blue, they tend to fluff it more than they ever would at club level. My gripe in anything concerning Argentina is where fools say that the Class of 86 were mediocre and that Maradona won it on his own. I lived that era live and watched as many games as I could, even friendliness... That team was good, not brilliant, but they were good and with the added factor of Diego Maradona, that became a winning formula due to Bilardo understanding the difficiencies in the team and making them play in such a way that those problems became almost null and void. Tactics aren't just about understanding and studying your opponent as many seem to think it is. Yes its's vital, but a great coach also knows his team, his players and how to make that unit function in such a manner that any issues are brushed over with some makeup so that it all can be as seamless as possible. I rate Sampaoli highly, a lot more highly than they do in his home nation where the general consensus is that he's a very dislikable character. Sampaoli has had that team playing a lot better than what they should be playing. He's had various instances of good football, compact football with the lines playing close to each other so as to not leave spaces which would be where you would make obvious how crap that midfield is and how mediocre the defence also is. He should be commended for this because that's why they managed to qualify. Messi can only do so much.

Barcelona conceded 4 set piece goals last season. How many did Man Utd concede? Another thing... Did you see the goal Argentina scored against Spain? Have a look at that again and have a laugh on me. I’m not even charging you for this. By the way... Spain have conceded 2 corner goals since Lopetegui took over as coach. One was against Argentina and the other one Piqué didn’t play in.

Hunger and determination aren't enough of a recipe for continuance when we consider the past recent years with Wenger.n pragmatism and proper decision making is where the correct decision lies with the board. Arsenal Football Club aren't a toy for Wenger to try and see if he can recapture distant success.

For me this is definitely a worse Argentina side Messi has to the one Maradona had. By quite some margin too...

You know the timing mate! Yeah, about 4 hours resting time necessary for the puds. But also extremely important and where many make mistakes when attempting to get great results is that you can't over mix it. Relax if you see lumps but DON'T over mix because you lose the gluten and they don't rise properly and become fluffy. You end up getting stodgy puddings. The lumps disappear with the resting time.

That's it... Got my Tom Kerridge inspired Yorkshire Pudding mix sorted and resting for today's Sunday Roast. Now to sit down and have my fourth cup of tea of the morning.

Oh my days! It's the end of the world Nudge!!! We should do things we've thought we shouldn't and just go mental without any guild conscience because it's all over.

Funnily enough Vermaelen has actually had some pretty decent performances for Barcelona on the rare occasions he's been called upon and when he hasn't been injured. The problem with him is that he will always be injured and this obviously has something to do with Belgian genetics.

Yeah, Montoya has been a brilliant driver throughout his career in almost every category... His time in F1 wasn't up to the standards he has oferred during the rest of his career and curiously enough seeing as he's popped up into this humorous moment we've both been throwing around I can use to show why I dislike F1 so much these days. Montoya couldn't take the stupidity involved in the sport because he is first and foremost a racing driver and I remember a Brazilian F1 journalist a couple of years back saying that Ayrton Senna in today's F1 would have been a major failure.

Let's throw in Montoya to the mix!