I want to say something about Steven Gerrard and Ryan Babel

[red g]

I think the comparasions are a little out of wack, that little wissel was a little bit special from day one, but he show boated too much, dived too much and did not have the physical strength for the English game, but he was just about world class from the get go as much as it pains me to say ..and to think we were trying to sign him also ..

nah, it was obvious he had talent, BUT many thought he was to lightweight, to much of a showpony.....well put it this way i thought tony le t could come a better player after watchin him the first season

[Subby]

I can see a young Henry in Babel. It took Henry a while to settle into life over here and how we play the game and Rafa's doing the right thing in breaking the lad in slowly. It's painfully obvious though that he's not a winger and when he plays he should play up front with Nando.

[Jack D Rips]

How anyone can say the Babel was ****e last nite is beyond me. He had an excellent match and I know it was Luton but thats not Babel's fault.

Pennant was also excellent without of course being a goal threat

[Rich]

I can confirm that Ronaldo was all tricks and very little end product in the first 12/18months at Old Trafford; arguably Babel is few tricks and more end product at the moment. Fact is Ronaldo has turned into one of the very best players in the world, let us hope that Babel can follow suit.

Pennant might have been decent enough last night, but it just goes to show what happens when you have someone playing on the wing that can actually score - makes a huge difference.

[red g]

I can confirm that Ronaldo was all tricks and very little end product in the first 12/18months at Old Trafford; arguably Babel is few tricks and more end product at the moment. Fact is Ronaldo has turned into one of the very best players in the world, let us hope that Babel can follow suit.

Pennant might have been decent enough last night, but it just goes to show what happens when you have someone playing on the wing that can actually score - makes a huge difference.

I think we could cope with Pennant on the wing if we had 2 strikers who had goals in them as well as a LW goalscoring winger as well. Unfortunately we only have 33% of that.

[Rich]

I think we could cope with Pennant on the wing if we had 2 strikers who had goals in them as well as a LW goalscoring winger as well. Unfortunately we only have 33% of that.

That's fair enough and I don't want to bash Pennant as he has improved and does some very good things (you can hear a but coming up... )

BUT

Can any top team accommodate an attacking player that'll not score more than twice in a season? I'll be amazed if he gets two goals.

[Shaggy]

All this praise for Pennant…I thought he was okay at best. Everything about his game was just quite good, except for his crossing (one good cross apart) which was rubbish. I hate the way he crosses the ball. No aim, no zip…just floated or looped into vague areas.

[red g]

That's fair enough and I don't want to bash Pennant as he has improved and does some very good things (you can hear a but coming up... )

BUT

Can any top team accommodate an attacking player that'll not score more than twice in a season? I'll be amazed if he gets two goals.

yep i agree, as i said i think we could cope....but i just dont think he has enough to his game, thinking of the top 4 teams he is the weakest winger by a considerable distance imo.

[Dhav]

All this praise for Pennant…I thought he was okay at best. Everything about his game was just quite good, except for his crossing (one good cross apart) which was rubbish. I hate the way he crosses the ball. No aim, no zip…just floated or looped into vague areas.

Yes, yes, yes I hate his annoying, floated far-post corners! Unless they are pin-point in their accuracy they are piss easy to defend against. Plus quite hard to get any power on. The one time he actually whipped in a cross with a bit of pace, even none of our lads got on the end of it, it was the most threatening cross he did all game. More of those please, and less of this floated to the far post with only one striker in the box nonsense

[cled the red]

All this praise for Pennant…I thought he was okay at best. Everything about his game was just quite good, except for his crossing (one good cross apart) which was rubbish. I hate the way he crosses the ball. No aim, no zip…just floated or looped into vague areas.

JC showed him how to cross a mean ball in the 1st half!!!

[Tee]

Babel is a superstar in the making. He really can do it all, but he is his own worst enemy. A bit like Stan the Man IMO, he had it all but his head was not right. If Ryan Babel really works hard and gets his attitude right he will become pretty unstoppable.

[flyboy]

Did you watch the game ?

yes...your pt? its ridiculous to use luton as a yardstick.

[Shaggy]

Yes, yes, yes I hate his annoying, floated far-post corners! Unless they are pin-point in their accuracy they are piss easy to defend against. Plus quite hard to get any power on. The one time he actually whipped in a cross with a bit of pace, even none of our lads got on the end of it, it was the most threatening cross he did all game. More of those please, and less of this floated to the far post with only one striker in the box nonsense

Yup. Crouch’s header for instance. That was one of the most bizarre, pointlessly looped crosses I’ve ever seen. The direction on Crouch’s header could’ve been better but it was impossible for him to generate any power whatsoever.

[Nicey]

yes...your pt? its ridiculous to use luton as a yardstick.

Nobody is using Lutton as a yard stick, they are simply saying it was a good performance last night. Give Lutton some credit they continued to impress sticking very tight to us most of the first 45. But that was an excellent performance.

I dont think anybody was saying wow look at that. But we have to earn our wins each time we cross the white line and they lads did that last night. A great night of football, a fantastic hat trick for our captain, Carra;s 500 game, Pennant looked great as did Babbs ... forgive us a little joy and sunshine considering a crap and ridicule we have all had to injure of late ... A good night of our Football club thats all

[Skillz]

I hope this hasn’t already been said, although it’s not exactly syooper-insightful.

There are a few parallels between Babel in this, his first season, and Cristiano Ronaldo’s first campaign. I wouldn’t know about the number of starts, goals etc – I’m talking in terms of form and performance.

I remember vividly coming into work and listening to Mancs argue about him…

“He’s got so much potential!”

“He’s ****! He’s too erratic! His end product is too often lacking!”

Much in the same way Babel splits opinions now. What is he? 19? 20 at the most. A mate of mine thinks he’s “****” – “I don’t care how young he is, he’s ****!”

What kind of attitude is that?

Babel is going to be a huge star. His sometimes makes the wrong decisions and can be erratic in the extreme – those precise words could’ve been used to describe Ronaldo at one point.

United have the triumvirate of Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez. Our answer to that is (or rather, will be) Torres, Gerrard and Babel – and for my money our trio will be better.

One big difference is the level of diving