I’m glad it’s not just me. Talking about Hulk, the porto player:
“That’s a stupid name for a footballer”
Wtf - it’s his name, what’s he supposed to do? Change it? And it’s a foreign name anyway so maybe not so unusual in a non-english language. And why is it a stupid name for a footballer? Are footballers only supposed to have particular names?
Maybe i’m over-analysing.
It’s not his name, it’s actually Givanildo Vieira de Souza. Like most Brazilian footballers he has a footballing nickname - so he could change it if he wanted to 
As others have pointed out, it’s not his name, it’s his nickname, and it does refer to that Hulk. This is not in any way to defend Alan Green in general, but in this instance he’s right - it’s a pretty daft thing to have on your shirt.
If I were the lad’s coach I’d be more concerned with getting him to look up more than once per half, though.
Your links are backwards. 
Porto yesterday were less than ept. Most of the time, when you are in a 1 - 0 game, the tension is incredible. But yesterday, I never really felt that Porto were going to equalize, which was surprising given that it was a home game for them, and Manchester U. weren’t exactly crashing the goal, so a goal from Porto might have been enough to seal the deal.
Well, sad for City. Giving up that first goal was crucial, as they had to know. But a gutty attempt at the end down a man to find the equalizer, though, as happens so often so late in a game, too many desperate attempts that do nothing but waste time and yield possession.
Shouldn’t your star player be willing to take on a defender one-on-one in the box late in the game? :dubious:
I guess you don’t visit football365 much 
Despite winning 2-1 we go out on the aggregate score of 3-4 and were desperately unlucky.
Elano hits bar from one free kick and upright from another, 2nd clear penalty not awarded.
If City had played with as much passion and fire in their bellies in games they’ve lost then would have won them.
Elano and Robinho played brilliantly, Elano especially so.
Dunne was his usual clumsy twattish self,Richards needs to buck his ideas up the lazy twat
If Hughes leaves Elano out after that performance he wants rogering with a rusty crowbar
The 1st clear penalty was a joke. Where is Trochowski supposed to put his arm? If he was an amputee the ball would have hit him in the shoulder as he was turning away from the shot.
I also hope you don’t mean that horrible dive from Robinho when you say there should have been a 2nd penalty.
One more thing, the 2:1 was preceded by a clear offside situation that caused Janssen to defend badly.
All in all I don’t think HSV were that lucky. They clearly dominated City in the first game and almost lost due to two irregular goals. City was clearly the better team yesterday, but not as dominant as HSV in the first leg.
Who pissed in your cornflakes then?
Were was Trochowski supposed to put his arm?
Away from the ball and use his head to clear, he is a footballer y’know.
No I don’t mean that dive by Robinho, I mean the City player who was quite clearly dragged to the ground in the area after one of the Hamburg players tried to steal his shirt.
Maybe I should have added a bunch of smileys. Nobody pissed in my cornflakes, but I still think the first penalty was not a hand ball according to the rules (Interpretation of LAW 12 from the offical FIFA rulebook; bolding mine):
But you are right, the second foul was arguable, so maybe things evened-out in the end. The second City goal was still preceded by a clear offside position though.
I simply disagree with your statement that HSV was lucky to go on to the next round. I think over the two games they were bettter than City, even though City was clearly the better team yesterday.
I’m still pissed that ManUre advanced against Porto though, and I think Cristiano Ronaldo is a whiny, arrogant, whore monger. Messi and Kaka are ten times the footballer that pretty boy is.
A question for you, chowder - has any City player (or, indeed, any player) been more clumsy and/or directly contributed to losing more games than Richard Dunne? Having him in the team must be incredibly frustrating. There comes a point when no matter how good the rest of his game is, his frequent mistakes more than offset that. To me, it seems like that point came long ago. It is like watching an older, slower, Titus Bramble. What gives?
Neither Messi, nor Kaka, put a screaming 35 metre shot into the net to get their side through to the semifinals, did they?
Yeah, he’s a whiner. Get over it. So were two or three of the Hamburg side I saw playing yesterday, which is somewhat amazing (the Bundesliga not exactly known for the whining tactics). If you are gonna get pissy about Ronaldo, get pissy about his silly step overs to no purpose. Point out to him that they should be for a reason, such as when the Hamburg player schooled the defender for City yesterday in the corner (thankfully for City fans, Ireland not so easily schooled :D).
Messi didn’t need to. Heck, even Ballack gets lucky with a shot like that every once in a while, so I wasn’t too impressed.
Just to show it’s not my German bias showing.
The silly step-overs are really annoying (that means you too, Robinho), yet even I have to admit that he does have some talent. In other words, he would make 99% of the world look like complete fools when trying to defend him. He’s also cut down on the diving and whinging and he’s become much more of a team player.
I would still prefer a Kaka or Messi, because I think they won’t ever let their god-given talent go to their heads. If Ronaldo ever ends up with a coach that can’t control him, he will end up like his namesakes in Brazil. Then again, they’re all filthy rich, so what do I know…
When did I say that?
Dead Cat :
Dunne, on his day, is a good defender but unfortunately his good days are getting to be few are far between.
Yes he is a clumsy bugger and yes he’s been sent off more times than enough.
Time to say thanks Dickie boy, now piss off
You’re right. You said:
I apologize, I should pay more attention when reading. I assumed when you said that City were unlucky, that meant Hamburg had been lucky, but that does not automatically follow.
Hey, now! He was just making a nice, spirited shoulder charge yesterday, all in good fun! I mean, it’s football, y’know?? Stupid bloke went to ground really easily and next thing you know, the referee is yanking cards out of his pockets and all. Just because he likes to play with spirit and conviction, and have a good time on the field! Stupid prissy boys, can’t take a good, fair challenge anymore without whinging is all. <muttering as he walks off the field>
If you have 5 minutes to spare you could do worse than read Simon Barnes on Ronaldo in today’s Times.
The piece pretty much sums up my feelings about the player.
Link.
Oh, was that what it was this time? Normally it’s a late slide that takes someone knee-high in the penalty area :).
You could do worse, but you’d have to try - Simon Barnes is possibly the most pretentious newspaper writer in the world, never mind in the field of sports journalism. He seems to be going for the record number of appearances in Private Eye’s “Pseuds Corner”.
