No News Too Small - The Bizarre Bazaar of Miscellany and More

A.K.A. "The I'm not sure where to post it thread, part something-or-other"

If you don't think it's worth starting a thread over, or are unsure where to put it then whack it in here!

Continued from here.

Just beginning to feel the nerves/the buzz about the match too. Not sure why it's took me so long, but I'm getting there slowly!

Work's alright, it's neither good nor bad, just bang in the middle.

P.S. changed the thread title, I like this better.

Rio has lost more than a few steps, sadly.

He's still way quicker than the average, but he's not close to what he used to be, anymore, imo.

If he used to be a 90/100 he's about an 82 now.

I can, and if it wasn't for his uber positioning, it would've been a disaster.

Can't recall the match at the moment. Will come to me later, I suppose/hope.

Well, a few years ago, Rio could keep pace with the likes of Henry stride for stride. A striker with the pace that Henry used to have would outstrip Rio quite comfortably over a distance now. Imo, of course.

He masks it well by barely having to get into key sprints, but the two times I remember him doing it with quick forwards (Bellamy and some dude this season can't recall who) he was comfortably beaten - even did the Vidic-esque panic flail.

I really can't remember which game it was - he hasn't played that many, but I missed a few match threads and had intention of mentioning it when it happened but completely forgot by the time I logged back in and it was a distant memory in a topsy turvy season, but I know for sure he got burned comfortably and exhibited genuine panic that resorts in tha t wide-eyed panicky flail players tend to do.

In fact, it was the flailing that made me take note.

I don't think any one incident can be used as conclusive proof, but it certainly is the first indent in the mind that makes you take note in future. Especially as it used to be unheard of for any striker to burn Rio. Beat him in a race? Sure, some extremely quick Martins-esque players could, but not burn him and make him flail.

The combination of the back and groin injuries and the natural aging process are going to take their toll on such an athlete every time. Nesta's pace declined off the same kind of sequence, too.

Because Rio's positioning is the best, bar none, I never brought it up as an individual issue/thread because he's still surpreme at his job and has compensated for the loss without any fuss at all, as opposed to Nesta, who looks like half the player he used to be these days.

DS, I think that you might be talking about the Everton game.

Anichebe got the turn on Rio and burned him for pace. Rio almost gave away the penalty, and some neutrals probably think it was a penalty. He tried to pull him back when he got burned for pace.

Here's a link to the game report.

http://www.manutd.com/en/Fixtures-And-Results/Match-Reports/2011/Apr/United-v-Everton-report.aspx?pageNo=4

Here's the quote from the report about it.

"Everton were by far more competitive as a result of their changes, however, and the pace of Anichebe took him away from Ferdinand and into the United area."

Best clip i can find so far DS. It's not good, but it might tweek your memory.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRihK4MwFOU"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRihK4MwFOU[/ame]

At 28 seconds in.

@James. Could well be that game.