david in sweden

then we'll be a shining example for the rest of the Prem. (sorry, bit early in the morning - isn't it ?)

whether it's actually Koeman.... .or Les Reed.... this tactic is great. Few clubs can afford to pay this level of fee, and the fact that MU has (allegedly) given van Gaal an open cheque book, now we see if have they the courage to say NO ....to paying .." a few millions more ".

There is a very confusing picture painted about Premier League football. Is Prem. one of the best in the world?....One of them certainly, but is it because of the 62% foreign imports - or despite them. It seems obvious that when Roy H. has to trawl through the remaining 38% (of English players), he has a hard task to find a squad capable of beating some of the World's " better sides ". ' appy ' arry said he'd had players who didn't want to play for their country - if so ...out them. For future reference we need to know those who only want to play the " glamour games " and those who are willing to spill blood for the badge, and don't seek to avoid the " duller fixtures ".

Did he actually say that we would spend ALL the money we got in? I heard " money from transfers would be re-invested ", but if Les is a " wheeler-dealer" then he might get who we want for much less, and even " put a bit by " for the January window.

IF TRUE.....this is fantastic auction strategy. There are only a few clubs who would pay this sort of money, but as MU have (supposedly) given van Gaal an open cheque book to buy who-ever, will they now refuse to pay those extra few millions ? If it's you handling the deals, Les ? - well done ...good tactics.

this match is now become just another unimportant " friendly " game against foreign opposition. It's the right time for Roy H. to give " the others " an outing as there is nothing left to play for as his original line-up in the first two games clearly failed miserably. He will be in even more trouble if they beat Costa Rica, (who seems to have won the group already), and ask ourselves - Why didn't he select them from the start?.. instead of the Liverpool / Manchester gang. It was patently obvious that the Liverpool players look good, BECAUSE they were used to playing alongside Suarez, and clearly couldn't control a game where they had to play AGAINST him. I should hope we see Lambert, Lallana AND Shaw given a good run-out before they have to return, and hear the media's long chronicles on the post-mortem of English football.

visiting sick mother-in-law ?

you've got a point there...(thinks).... my daughter is also a bit old for him, but.....Er.... what was that Twitter address again ? Life is expensive in Sweden...y'know.

despite England having gone out of the tournament, it's a win-win situation for Lallana and Shaw in a nothing match. Having lauded up AL in recent months, Roy Hodgson can scarcely fail to start Lallana now.... having selected him for the squad in the first place, and then subsequently ignored him. Luke Shaw should start - and even a mediochre performance will heighten his claim to the future LB spot - as Baines proved himself to be less than convincing in the first two games. The shame (for Hodgson) will be IF England actually beat Costa Rica (already top of the group), because it will show that his original team selection was flawed from the start. Although Rickie Lambert is a Liverpool player (on paper) he will remain in the hearts of Saints fans for a while longer. A goal for him in WC will surely be his crowning glory given his previous career details.

worse than that .....would you really want a Man.Utd. player as a brother-in-law? You'd be better off watching Pompey every week...at least a few people might have some sympathy for you.

as every day passes, more clubs will become interested (even though he hasn't played in the WC yet) and the price slowly edges upwards ...um....£32 million....anyone ? NOTE to LR / RK...if a club offers one of their " bench rejects " at some inflated valuation... with astronomoical wages - say NO. They won't want to stay more than a year.

absolutely! it'd be crime to think that now we are out of the competition that players should go home and have to tell their families that went to Brazil but didn't get a single minute in a game. The Costa Rica match is now nothing more than a friendly game being played away, and a chance for the "subs." to get a run-out ....now that the " first-teamers " failed so miserably. If we win it will prove that the faith endowed in the Liverpool / Manchester gang was totally misplaced.

well said Florida Marlin, it saved me writing a few extra paragraphs. Roy tried and failed, but Gerrard has looked out-of-sorts for a while now. (May sound harsh, but he indiredtly lost Liverpool the Prem. title in the Anfield game v. Chelsea). Henderson was almost invisible. Stood around in midfield waiting for the ball to come his way, and fearing the inevitable crunching tackle, and Barkley was no better. Last night, we saw the difference between a Liverpool side playing with Suarez, and a Liverpool side playing against him. Sturridge and Sterling look good in the L'pool side when he's there, but they looked like rabbits caught in the headlights, without him in their side especially when Uruguayans tackled hard. I thought the Spanish ref. was a disgrace. Had that been a Prem. game with even an average ref.... Uruguay would have finished with 7 men on the field.

For a moment,, I thought the headline said ....." Dixon on Speed " or ....?

Osvaldo AGAIN ? best not. He was Pochettino's man in the first place, (but no-one said anything for fear of upsetting Mauricio). Now he's gone, let's tell the truth and be off with Osvaldo, too. Koeman can surely find a better replacement, and I for one still support the campaign to bring in John Guidetti. A teenage starlet in Sweden (he's Swedish btw -despite his name) and then a sensation in Man.City's Academy before loaning out to Feyernoord where he was brilliant .......so RK knows him very well.

strange how everyone is so quick to praise our Academy products (like Lallana) and yet when it comes to buying one, they shy away from the high price tag. Good players cost money.....just look at some of the fees that some Prem. clubs have forked out on " foreign rejects " (and even some English ones) well it's seller's market Brendan ......and Adam is top of the list. Final word; you want him?....so either put up .....or shut up !

Agreed . ....but would you drop Boruc just on the strength of signing (another) keeper?. If Artur keeps a clean sheet at Anfield - would you drop him in favour of another - even one who cost £10 million ? surely selection is about choosing the best "in-form " player - not necessarily the one with the dearest price tag. Prior to our first Prem. season we (reputedly) bid £6 million for Butland I doubt that he'd fetch anywhere near that now. NOTE: If we do buy Marshall.... will Cardiff take Gazzaniga as part of the deal? Don't laugh, they might have been impressed by the fact that PG kept a clean sheet when we beat them 3-0 there.

well whoever it is....I'm glad that someone else is addressing this issue. Not to decry Adkins' time with us, but his main fault was relying on KD as our Prem. goalie and take in Gazzaniga (in lieu of Butland - who is little better IMO) ..as a potential no.2. KD (for all his excellent service to the club), isn't the real thing anymore, and NA's blind faith in the totally-untried Gazzaniga was totally misplaced. Someone on here (a while back) said that Cortese had to insisted we signed Boruc, and even then he had to fight to get the No.1 spot. Forget all the water-bottle incident and Fred Astaire impersonation at The Emirates. Boruc is still one of the better goalies in the Prem. and I'd still start with him next season, but we must have A.N. OTHER to choose from -or in the case of injury. After Boruc broke his hand at Chelsea, we won only ONE of the next 7 games, and his replacements (KD/ PG) almost doubled our goals against column. That points loss probably cost us a Euro place. We must have two reliable keepers available.

Edwin van de Sar?.......No... that's too optimistic, I suppose.

Chairmen are essentially good PR men, and it doesn't mean that Krueger must be at SMS 24/7....it's not a full-time job, and with his background he's hardly likely to turn his back on Ice Hockey totally. I'm pretty certain that Cortese didn't severe all his ties with the banking world..... just because he became SFC Chairman. Far from it, it probably " opened new doors " for him. Does anyone really think that Daniel Levy sleeps over in a bunk bed at White Hart Lane, just so that he can be on hand to chat with MP on a daily basis as Les Reed did ? . I'm fairly sure that RK will retain his contacts in Ice Hockey and continue to " coach " other clubs in that sport, it's not as though he's moonlighting by helping out another Prem. League club - is it ?

every manager has his own favourite system, and doesn't like to change. Can't really fault MPs attacking style, but all that ball possession surely should have produced more goals. If Koeman has his own special formation in mind, that will go a long way towards deciding .......who plays where.

as a matter of fact YES - but not always in the away fixtures. I had contact with a L'pool fan who was talking about their poor away performances down here. (They didn't always travel so well.) During the McMenemy / Nicholl period we regularly stuffed them (at The Dell) where they had only 5 wins in 14 seasons, although results were't always so favourable for us at Anfield, and we had only 2 wins in the same period. Since the Millenium we haven't fared so well, but there have been some memorable drawn games between us.

Mmmm........it'll be good to get that game over and done with, and then get on with the rest of the season.

without Lalllana in midfield I'd go for Steven Davis. A very experienced international and captain of Northern Ireland. ...I know that N.I. aren't highly-rated in the FIFA stats. but coming up the hard way is sometimes an advantage - ask Rickie.

.....perhaps a cactus, or something equally *****ly ?