Well. That kind of sucked. And I'm not just saying that because my team lost. But the game seemed kind of anti-climactic, with both teams seeing it as nothing more than a consolation prize. And it was roughly one-tenth as exciting as last year's final between Liverpool and West Ham.

I've seen various comments blaming the pitch at Wembley for the dullness of the game, and it may have been a factor, but I think the real problem is that Sir Alex got his tactics wrong. United lined up in a 4-5-1 to match Chelsea's formation -- which means that they essentially played right into the opposition's hands. Trying to out-Chelsea Chelsea is hardly ever a good idea; Liverpool can do it, yes, but United aren't designed that way.

Plus, using Wayne Rooney as the lone striker nullified one of their biggest assets. Rooney's at his best not when he's playing with his back to goal but when he has some room to run at the defence and get up a head of steam. He made a few surging runs where you could see the potential, but generally he didn't have enough support from the rest of the team, and although he worked hard, he inevitably got frustrated.

As for the supposed Player of the Year...Ronaldo wasn't terrible, but he didn't have a great game either. Paulo Ferreira, who was covering him most of the time, did play reasonably well, but Ronaldo still ought to have been able to do more against him. I think this is what Ronaldo needs to add to his game next season: learning how to cope when the defenders are trying to stifle him, and to step up in the really big games. Although he's been absolutely brilliant in some matches, he hasn't been consistent enough when it counts. But I think he's a smart enough player -- and Sir Alex is a smart enough manager -- that he'll figure it out, just like this season he figured out how much more effective he could be if he stayed on his feet.

There weren't that many notable incidents in the game, but the big one, of course, was that play where Giggs forced the ball -- and Petr Cech -- into the net. And I hate to admit it, but I think the referee got it right. First things first, the ball was definitely over the line. But it was only over the line because of the way Giggs slid into Cech. I suppose then maybe it should've been a free kick for Chelsea, but it wasn't an intentional foul. Now, United are claiming they should have had a penalty, for Essien tackling Giggs from behind. But I've watched the replay a few times now, and I'm not sure there was enough contact to give a penalty. I do think it put Giggs off, though, just enough that he scuffed his shot -- if he'd connected cleanly, then it almost certainly would have been a goal.

I'd predicted before the game that it would probably go to penalties, and I was almost right. Drogba finally broke the stalemate for Chelsea five minutes from the end of extra time, playing a neat one-two with Lampard -- quite possibly the first useful thing Lampard had done in 120 minutes of football, if you exclude smashing a free kick into the wall and looking huffy -- and then clipping the ball over Van der Sar (who arguably could have done better in coming out to close him down). If anybody was going to score for Chelsea, you just knew it was going to be Drogba; he lifted them yet again here, just as he's done all year.

So. A disappointing way to end the season for United, but I still think I'd take the Premiership title over the two cups.

This was actually a more nerve-wracking game than the scoreline suggests -- mostly due to the gaping holes where the United defence used to be. With Neville, Vidic, Silvestre and O'Shea all injured, they started the game with a rejigged back line that included Patrice Evra at right-back. (You do see right-footed players at left-back quite often, but they're usually competent with either foot. Evra? Not so much.)

And then they lost Rio Ferdinand to a groin strain in the first half, which meant another reshuffle, with Evra moving to the left and Heinze in the middle (Why didn't he start there, you ask, and then move Wes Brown to right-back? Heinze does play centre-back for Argentina, after all. Well, yes, but it's on the left of a back three. And I don't think he's quite tall enough for a traditional centre-half.) Oh, and then we had Darren Fletcher at right-back. That's the sort of thing that makes me pine for John O'Shea -- although Fletcher did acquit himself reasonably well.

Having said all that, United got off to a good start with an early goal from Rooney, and were continuing to pile on the pressure. But then, to compound their problems at the back, Van der Sar got whacked in the face (part of the treatment involved getting what looked like tampons shoved up his nose) and was still looking a bit groggy when play restarted and Watford scored, with a quasi-bicycle kick from Hameur Bouazza. I have to wonder if Van der Sar might've saved it in other circumstances -- and he didn't have the best game again on Saturday -- but then again, with the way Kuszszszak has played recently, they were probably just as well off leaving Van der Sar in.

United recovered the lead almost immediately, with Rooney setting up Ronaldo. Rooney was United's best player, and he, Ronaldo and Alan Smith were combining well. Smith has surprised me, actually -- I didn't see him as the ideal choice to play as the lone striker, but he's been very good in the past couple matches. Although there were a few chances in this game where I thought he should have taken a shot instead of trying to set Rooney up for the hat-trick.

Watford started the second half much more strongly, keeping United pinned back for quite a while. The makeshift defence were having real trouble dealing with set pieces and clearing their lines, especially against a big, physical team like Watford -- every single one of their players apparently built like a built shithouse. But Rooney scored again for United to give them some breathing room, and there was even a goal for Kieran Richardson, coming on as a sub -- in both cases, Watford guilty of some shocking defending of their own, as they were giving United acres of space.

I guess it was a comfortable win in the end, but now I'm nervous about how United will do in the next few games, until they can get a few more players back from injury. Come back, John O'Pies! All is forgiven!

Steve McClaren has announced the squad for England's Euro 2008 qualifiers against Israel and Andorra.

Goalkeepers: Robinson (Tottenham), Foster (Man Utd, on loan at Watford), Carson (Liverpool, on loan at Charlton).

Defenders: G Neville (Man Utd), Richards (Man City), Ferdinand (Man Utd), Terry (Chelsea, capt), Woodgate (Real Madrid, on loan at Middlesbrough), Carragher (Liverpool), A Cole (Chelsea), P Neville (Everton).

Midfielders: Gerrard (Liverpool), Hargreaves (Bayern Munich), Lampard (Chelsea), Lennon (Tottenham), Parker (Newcastle), Carrick (Man Utd), Dyer (Newcastle), Downing (Middlesbrough).

Forwards: Johnson (Everton), Rooney (Man Utd), Defoe (Tottenham), Bent (Charlton).

Now he just has to wait to see who comes through this weekend's games unscathed.

But my big question is this: What does Gareth Barry have to do to earn himself a spot? Wayne Bridge is out injured and Ashley Cole is suspended against Israel, and still he's not even considered for left-back. Instead it's probably going to be Phil Neville, whose only apparent qualification for the job is his last name. And we all saw how well that worked against Spain.

Congratulations, Lille! You have been officially awarded the prestigious title of Pissy French Bitches 2007 (previous holders: Arsenal). They are now (a) blaming Man United for the over-crowding in the away end and (b) claiming that the game should be replayed because the referee let Giggs's goal stand. Both of which are bullshit.

Let's start with the free-kick. Yes, quite often the referee tells the teams that they have to wait for the whistle to restart play. He didn't do that this time. So when Lille spent too much time faffing around setting up their wall and Giggs took advantage of that, they have only themselves to blame. It's understandable that they feel hard done by, especially since they'd previously had a goal disallowed for a push on Vidic, but reacting as if they were going to take their ball and go home is needlessly petulant. It's the sort of behaviour I'd expect in my rec league (where, instead of referees, you call your own fouls and the teams award each other "spirit points" after the game; yeah, it works about as well as you'd expect), not from professional footballers.

As much attention as is being paid to this -- and when I finally saw the game, I was a little disappointed, because I was expecting a bigger kerfuffle -- the more serious issue is the trouble with the away fans. There are conflicting reports as to what exactly happened, but basically: there were too many fans in the away section of the stands, possibly because of people using fake tickets, possibly because of stadium staff not actually checking tickets and just letting people in. Some of those fans felt that they were in danger of being crushed and tried to climb out, and the security people dealt with this by spraying tear gas at the crowd. Which, as you can imagine, was a big help. The whole thing is just boggling to me. I mean, having to segregate away fans behind wire fences is boggling enough in the first place, considering that I'm used to North American stadiums where you can sit anywhere. I can accept that it's necessary in other places, but if you're going to do it, isn't the point to make it less dangerous for the fans, rather than more so?

Right, so: Massive organizational fuck-ups aside, what about the game? Well, United started brightly enough, with lots of possession, but not enough of it was in the final third of the pitch. Although they lined up in the 4-4-2 I was hoping for (hallelujah!), they were lacking the final ball to the strikers or players really driving forward from midfield. Lille did a good job of harrying them and closing down space in the midfield; I thought Jean Makoun was their best player and it's easy to see why United were interested in him. Gradually, though, it was looking as if the game would peter out into a scoreless draw, until Giggs stepped up to give United a crucial away goal. I hope they'll go all out to win the return leg at Old Trafford, because I thought a lot of their problem on Tuesday was due to their usual caution in European away games, despite the purportedly attacking formation.

I finally got around to watching the England-Spain game, and now I kind of wish I hadn't, because they were terrible. Spain weren't in top form either, but nevertheless they were the better team, largely because they demonstrated the ability to pass the ball more two or three times in a row without giving up possession.

I could talk about all the problems with the team at the moment -- inane tactics, strikers who can't score, the complete absence of left-footed players. But instead of dwelling on that, I'm trying to think about the things that actually went right:

1. Ben Foster looked solid in his international debut (in the "not sucking" sense, rather than just the "ate too many pies" sense that Paul Robinson usually does);

2. Steven Gerrard, also, did not entirely suck;

3. Jonathan Woodgate and Keiron Dyer made it through the game without any of their limbs spontaneously falling off;

4. No Jermaine Jenas;

and finally,

5. The worse Steve McClaren does as manager, the more likely it is that they'll sack him sooner rather than later.

On Friday, Steve McClaren named his squad for England's friendly against Spain at Old Trafford next week:

Goalkeepers: Robinson (Tottenham), Foster (Watford), Kirkland (Wigan)

Defenders: Gary Neville (Man Utd), Phil Neville (Everton), Rio Ferdinand (Man Utd), Woodgate (Middlesbrough), Bridge (Chelsea), Terry (Chelsea), Carragher (Liverpool), Dawson (Tottenham), Richards (Man City)

Midfielders: Lennon (Tottenham), Gerrard (Liverpool), Hargreaves (Bayern Munich), Carrick (Man Utd), Downing (Middlesbrough), Wright-Phillips (Chelsea), Parker (Newcastle), Lampard (Chelsea), Barry (Aston Villa), Barton (Man City), Jenas (Tottenham), Dyer (Newcastle)

Forwards: Rooney (Man Utd), Crouch (Liverpool), Defoe (Tottenham), Johnson (Everton)

Joey Barton gets his first senior call-up, which, if nothing else, will serve to irritate Frank Lampard, so I approve of that. Jonathan Woodgate and Kieron Dyer are being rewarded for managing to stay healthy for two whole months in a row. Which is more than, say, John Terry has managed recently, so there you go.

It's also nice to see Gareth Barry finally earning another cap, after putting in some good performances this season. He gets the "random left-footed player" spot over Kieran Richardson, who's been sent back down to the U21s, along with Scott Carson and Theo Walcott.

With 28 players in all, it's a rather bloated squad, although I suspect that quite a few of them will pull out. And 12 of those players are midfielders, which says to me that McClaren still hasn't figured out what the hell to do with his midfield, so he's going to throw everything he's got at the problem and hope that something sticks.

Spain's squad for the game:

Goalkeepers: Reina (Liverpool), Casillas (Real Madrid)

Defenders: Lopez (Atletico Madrid), Ibanez (Atletico Madrid), Puyol (Barcelona), Capdevila (Deportivo La Coruna), Ramos (Real Madrid), Navarro (Sevilla)

Midfielders: Fabregas (Arsenal), Iniesta (Barcelona), Xavi (Barcelona), Lopez (Celta Vigo), Alonso (Liverpool), Albelda (Valencia), David (Valencia)

Strikers: Torres (Atletico Madrid), Arizmendi (Deportivo La Coruna), Angulo (Valencia), Morientes (Valencia), Villa (Valencia).

Luis Aragones has named a relatively small squad -- only 20 players. What's notable, though, is that five of them are strikers, whereas England only has four. This is partly because Spain usually plays with three up front, but it also highlights the lack of quality strikers in England at the moment. (Healthy, ones, at least.)

As for how the game will go, it's hard to say. For one thing, it's a friendly, so the normal rules don't really apply. And for another, both England and Spain tend to veer from being quite competent to aggressive mediocrity. It's really a question of which team will turn up on the given day. But for the record, the last time they met -- a friendly in Madrid in November 2004 -- Spain won 1-0.

Looks like Jose Mourinho is about to throw a right little hissy fit.

There have been rumours about tension between him and the Chelsea board building up for a little while now. Mourinho wants to bring in new players during the transfer window to plug the gaps in his injury-hit squad, but the men with the chequebooks have been reluctant to back him after they've already spent about a gazillion dollars so players like Shaun Wright-Phillips can warm the bench.

Now Mourinho is threatening to drop £30-million flop Andriy Shevchenko from the squad for the match against Wigan and let him moulder in the reserves unless he gets the transfer funds he wants. Somehow I can't see Roman Abramovich backing down, though. And I don't have a lot of sympathy for the Special One in this situation, either. He's had free rein so far, and he's chosen to keep a relatively small squad, so if the players aren't good enough, it's really his own fault.

I don't know if the latest kerfluffle will actually mean Mourinho leaving -- at least not before the end of the season. But my one concern if he does leave is this: What happens if Chelsea bring in a manager that I actually have to respect? It makes my brain hurt.

Ok, everybody's talking about Becks going to LA. But there are still lots of other transfer rumours floating around -- some stranger than others. A few of my current favourites:

Peter Crouch to Juventus and/or Newcastle
Because apparently one team in black and white stripes is as good as any other?

First of all, I'm not sure why Crouch would want to leave Liverpool right now -- even if he's slipped down the pecking order a bit, playing at Anfield has got to be better than trundling around in Serie B. Or Newcastle, where they seem to make a habit of breaking players, and that plus Crouch's spindly legs is a recipe for disaster. And I don't think Rafa Benitez would want to sell him, either. Because if he's going to persist in rotating players, he definitely needs more than two strikers.

Nevertheless, a worthwhile rumour, if only for the sheer amusement value of imagining a stadium full of Italian fans watching in bemusement as Crouchinho does his robot dance.

Milan Baros to Chelsea
Just how bad does this make Andriy Shevchenko, anyway?

Ok, there are a few points in Baros' favour. He won the Golden Boot at Euro 2004. He has a Champions League medal (but then, so does Djimi Traore). And he managed to score against Man United last week in the FA Cup. But, um, that's about it. Otherwise, he's been thoroughly mediocre this season, scoring a grand total of two goals. Even the much-maligned Sheva has managed more than that.

Javier Mascherano to Liverpool
First of all, Liverpool already have more central midfielders than they know what to do with. Sure, Sissoko and Zenden are out injured right now, but they should be back soon. Add Mascherano on top of that, and where do you play them all -- without marooning Steven Gerrard out on the wing and bringing on another monumental fit of the sulks.

This is without even getting into the issue of his dodgy contract and ownership. Or the fact that he's been utterly crap so far in the Premiership. Yes, please buy him, Rafa. Thankfully, it looks like those pesky FIFA regulations about playing for more than two clubs in one season have scuttled the deal, but the rumours are still out there, just to bug me.

Liverpool and Arsenal face off again tomorrow in their Carling Cup quarter-final match, which was postponed last month because of fog. The winner will go on to face Tottenham in the semis. After Arsenal's 3-1 win over the Reds in the FA Cup, I'm curious to see what strategy the two managers will take in terms of their lineup.

Will Arsene Wenger decide that the Gunners have already won the more important game and rest some of his senior players? Or will he want to compound Liverpool's misery by making it two in a row? Will Rafa Benitez accept that this is their only real chance at silverware this season and field a strong team? Or will it be a repeat of the gamesmanship from the Community Shield, where he deliberately left Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso on the bench?

(Whoever Rafa decides to put out there, let's just hope he reminds them to mark Rosicky this time.)

Then, on Wednesday, Chelsea take on Wycombe in the first of the semi-final matches, giving them another opportunity to beat up on some poor, defenceless* lower-league club like the playground bullies that they are increasingly resembling. But let's be fair: at least it might give Andriy Shevchenko some opposition that he can actually score against.

* The word "defenceless" could maybe be better applied to Chelsea, since with Carvalho, Terry and Boulahrouz all out, Jose Mourinho is thinking about starting Paolo Ferreira and Michael Essien at centre half. But that would imply that I have an iota of sympathy for them, which I don't.

I had originally thought of doing some kind of proper preview of the third round, predicting which teams would win and so on. And then I looked at all the games and thought, crap, there's a lot of teams still left, and I've never even heard of a lot of them (in my own defence, everything below the Premiership sort of doesn't exist in Canada). As a result, I will be falling back on my usual strategy of cheering for whoever are the underdogs and/or have the best nicknames.

So here's the complete list of games for Saturday and Sunday, with the clubs that you ought to be supporting in bold (all completely fair and unbiased; no, really):

1. Tamworth FC v Norwich City FC
Tamworth originally played at a place called the Jolly Sailor Ground. That is awesome.

2. Blackpool FC v Aldershot Town FC
Purely because I grew up in a place called Aldershot. Plus, they've never even made it past the second round before.

3. Barnet FC v Colchester United FC
Barnet are known as the Bees, and they play at Underhill Stadium. Which makes you think they're a bunch of apiary-inclined hobbits or something. Colchester, on the other hand, are called the U's, which is just lame.

4. Sheffield United FC v Swansea City FC
Sean Bean likes them, so you should too. Also: The Greasy Chip Butty Song.

5. Reading FC v Burnley FC
Ok, they're not underdogs, but they are the Official Plucky Little Team of the Premiership this year. They also hold the embarrassing honour of having experienced more FA Cup defeats than any other team. So, they're due.

6. Portsmouth FC v Wigan Athletic FC
Well, they need a chance to win something. Plus, Harry Redknapp bugs me. He looks like his face is melting.

7. Doncaster Rovers FC v Bolton Wanderers FC
Doncaster frankly don't seem all that interesting. But I hate Bolton, so there you go.

8. West Ham United FC v Brighton & Hove Albion FC
Fatboy Slim is apparently a fan. You can decide for yourself if that's a point in their favour or not. Also, they have a centre half called "Guy Butters," which amuses me.

9. Leicester City FC v Fulham FC
Leicester have managed to set a record by making it to the FA Cup final four times and never winning. That's something to be proud of. I have nothing against Fulham, really, but nothing particularly for them, either (other than Moritz Volz, the only German with a sense of humor).

10. Derby County FC v Wrexham FC
Wrexham are apparently known as both the Red Dragons and the Robins, which seems odd to me, but what do I know. Anyway, they have the distinction of knocking Arsenal out of the Cup in 1992, so good for them.

11. Wolverhampton Wanderers FC v Oldham Athletic FC
Paul Scholes is a fan. Good enough for me.

12. Chester City FC v Ipswich Town FC
The Blues versus, um, the Blues. Tough call. Scrappy little underdogs it is, then.

13. Nottingham Forest FC v Charlton Athletic FC
They've won both the FA Cup and the European Cup, and now they're down in League One. Imagine how that feels. Still, not that much worse than being a Charlton fan, I imagine.

14. Preston North End FC v Sunderland AFC FC
The Lilywhites versus the Black Cats. A primal showdown of good versus evil, if you will. But evil is always more fun. Plus, Sunderland apparently list Olga Korbut as one of their supporters. The hell?

15. Watford FC v Stockport County FC
For no other reason than that their nickname is the Hatters. Yeah, I don't know either.

16. Crystal Palace FC v Swindon Town FC
Because they're desperate for glory, having last made it to the semi-finals in 1912. Also, Billie Piper is supposedly a fan. Ok then.

17. Bristol City FC v Coventry City FC
Another team called the Robins. Somebody needs to come up with some new and improved nicknames. Like the Flaming Mutant Robins Of Doom. Or something.

18. Peterborough United FC v Plymouth Argyle FC
I used to play with somebody who was a fan of the Posh (and no, I don't mean Victoria Beckham). Plus, at least they're not named after a kind of sock.

19. Queens Park Rangers FC v Luton Town FC
I have a soft spot for them after that 5-3 loss to Liverpool last year.

20. Southend United FC v Barnsley FC
Yes, even though the Shrimpers. They knocked Man United out of the League Cup this year.

21. West Bromwich Albion FC v Leeds United AFC FC
Because they're not Leeds. Enough said.

22. Hull City FC v Middlesbrough FC
I'm not sure that even people in Middlesbrough cheer for them.

23. Birmingham City FC v Newcastle United FC
I know they're not the underdogs here. And yet somehow I like them. At least when they're not scrounging draws against my team, that is.

24. Torquay United FC v Southampton FC
Because Southampton beat Man United to win the cup in 1976. And they list Craig David as a supporter. Uck.

25. Chelsea FC v Macclesfield Town FC
Unquestionably the biggest mismatch of the round. Chelsea could have their entire back line out injured and still win. But nevertheless: Come on you Silkmen!

26. Liverpool FC v Arsenal FC
Because I really want to see Steven Gerrard spazzing around inthe final again this year. Yes.

27. Manchester United FC v Aston Villa FC
And this would be where my "support the underdog" theory goes out the window.

28. Sheffield Wednesday FC v Manchester City FC
I know that I shouldn't have picked both Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United. And yet. At least they're not City.

29. Everton FC v Blackburn Rovers FC
Another tough one. But it'll be so easy to hate Blackburn in the next round.

30. Cardiff City FC v Tottenham Hotspur FC
Just to bug the Arsenal fans.