General Chat

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Manchester United and Liverpool have issued a joint statement condemning the fans who attacked the ambulance taking Alan Smith to hospital at the weekend. Reports in several newspapers on Thursday claimed the ambulance was surrounded by people who threw stones and bottles at it and even tried to rock it from side to side. IDIOTS!

Agree with you Bec

only one word for them. scum I can think of another actually. morons.

Fred - My Daniel is not a football hooligan! (He doesn't even like football!) xx Paul - Agreed. A lot of football makes me angry right now... especially that Portuguese t*** who cannot accept defeat gracefully! xx

sadly though there are idiots in all walks of life, its not just a (VERY small minority) of football fans that are morons. I have to say, that weve been to Old Trafford about 15-20 times this season and last, and we've not seen, or heard of ANY trouble at all, apart from the fighting after the Liverpool match, and thankfully we missed that too. Who were we playing wehn this happened ? Liverpool. So there we go.

re Mourinho though, I do have some sympathies for last night, Del Horno should never have been sent off

By Jonathan Stevenson BBC Sport at Stamford Bridge Does Jose Mourinho believe it is impossible for Chelsea to lose without it being down to a mistake from an official or an act of cheating? A year after criticising referee Anders Frisk's display in the 2-1 Champions League defeat in Barcelona, Mourinho is at it again. This time, the Portuguese finger of fate is pointing squarely in the direction of Barcelona's teenage sensation Lionel Messi. The Argentine was the victim of two rash challenges from Asier del Horno, the second of which prompted a straight red card from referee Terje Hauge. True, it probably should have been a yellow card, but Del Horno was very lucky to escape a caution for an earlier knee-high tackle on Messi. Sure, Messi was cute enough to make the most of Del Horno's recklessness with a few well-timed rolls in front of the officials, but the damage was already done. Not so, says the special one: 'How do you say cheating in Catalan?' Classic Mourinho. But this time, the Portuguese should be embarrassed by his comments. After all, what goes around, more often than not comes around. It is only 17 days since English football widely condemned Blues winger Arjen Robben for theatrically diving to get Liverpool keeper Jose Reina sent off in a key Premiership encounter. There is little doubt that Robben's acting was greater than Messi's, yet Mourinho accused Reds boss Rafael Benitez of sour grapes for bringing up the incident in his post-match analysis. Maybe, in the cold light of day, Mourinho will be able to reflect on a courageous performance from his players instead of deflect attention on to an 18-year-old. It is certainly a display that gives Chelsea plenty of hope for the second leg in Spain. Few teams would still be in the contest after playing for over 50 minutes with 10 men against a wonderfully talented Barca side - let alone have the temerity to take the lead while a man down. Perhaps Mourinho's frustration is because he can see the Champions League slipping away for the second time in a row. Last year, he had the assistant referee to blame for allowing Liverpool's goal to stand when Chelsea claimed it had not crossed the line. This year, he has cast Messi as the villain of the piece and the architect of their downfall should Chelsea fail to overturn their deficit in Spain. But there are so many positive aspects of Chelsea's performance at Stamford Bridge for Mourinho to believe his team can still go through. They created a host of good chances with 10 men - including a gilt-edged one for Didier Drogba with the score at 1-1 - and until the last 20 minutes matched their illustrious opponents in every department. So why does there always have to be an excuse for losing a game like that? It is a shame that the culture in football deems it a necessary rather than an occasional after-match reaction. Are the stakes too high and the rewards too great for managers to be gracious in defeat anymore? After the pre-match pantomine surrounding that awful pitch, it is a pity that, once again, people are talking about events outside the game. They should be disecting another wonderful game of football between two of the best teams in the world.

Bec Definition of the word Fan --------- Devoted admirer particularly of Sport. Forget these **** I would call them football idiots!! Hope Alan Smith recovers well. Doesn't matter what team we support wer'e all fellow human beings. Love Mau XX

Fred - Sorry, thought he was having his pristine reputation tainted. xx Mau - Totally agree! xxxxxx

They aren't fans they are thugs!! As for Jose...... I agree that sometimes he doesn't think before he speaks but he did warn the world that spectacular acting would be in the game!! He can't be accused of not being passionate about the team! We lost, this leg and we may lose the next but we played bl**dy well considering we had 10 men for most of the game!!

Diana - I totally agree! That's what annoyed me so much, how about congratulating the players for their good football rather than focusing on the fact they lost!?

Because he was bl**dy angry that he lost a man through acting!! I'm sure they only interview him cos they know he'll show his true feelings!! :O)

But only 17 days ago Arjen Robben theatrically dived to get Jose Reina sent off in a really important Premiership game.

Diana, in fairness, both players, Messi and Del Horno were both rolling around like they'd been shot... didn't deserve a red though, it was just clumsy so I think a yellow was enough. Paul x

I am not disagreeing with you that he was out of order for going on about it..... just explaining why I think he did!! Both players should have been sent off for better class acting lessons if you ask me!! They were both out of order! xx

*considers mentioning the state of the pitch and Chelsea's groundstaff's odd idea to overwater the pitch*

And I will add if they dished out harsher fines for acting it would STOP!! Send every player that acts off the pitch..... it will soon STOP!!

Bec, you're on a mission aren't you lol As much as I hate (to stick up for) Chelsea.. The commentary team last night said that totally agreed with watering the pitch, as if it was dry it would have been even worse ! There was no standing water, so it wasn't overwatered. It is in a terrible state though, United have had some bad pitches over the last few years, but never quite that bad I think.

lDiana if that was the case you woudn't be able to field a team lol