Soccer Thread 2011-2012

[sovereignstar v2]

[SirFozzie]

That's more like it, Sov

[SirFozzie]

another random thought: After that, I think the price of the next set of media rights (from 2013-2016) just jumped about 10%

[Critch]

Happy for the long suffering City fans, people even older than me (and I'm pretty old) who had never seen their team win the league. The kind that remember the bad days before City got the money.

edit - Also happy that Liverpool is blue once more, as it should be

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Just a random thought. Ian Darke has been with ESPn for less then two full years. In that time, he's called:

A) Landon Donovan's stoppage time goal against Algeria that sent the US to the knockout rounds of the World Cup
B) Abby Wambach's 119th minute tying goal against Brazil and the resulting penalty Shootout.
C) Manchester City scoring twice in stoppage time to win the EPL title.

This obviously means that Ian Darke is the new Gus Johnson.

It's just as obvious he's got the script and knows where to be for maximum drama.

Great call!

[Young Drachma]

What a finish. Wow.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Just a random thought. Ian Darke has been with ESPn for less then two full years. In that time, he's called:

A) Landon Donovan's stoppage time goal against Algeria that sent the US to the knockout rounds of the World Cup
B) Abby Wambach's 119th minute tying goal against Brazil and the resulting penalty Shootout.
C) Manchester City scoring twice in stoppage time to win the EPL title.

This obviously means that Ian Darke is the new Gus Johnson.

It's just as obvious he's got the script and knows where to be for maximum drama.

I would love for him to be able to call every single sporting event I watch.

[Easy Mac]

Tried to explain what happened to te wife. I equates it to watching the Braves blow it last year against the Cards.

[Easy Mac]

In non-EPL news, Adu just got sent off for diving, when it looked like there was at least some contact

[Easy Mac]

City had 44 shots

[sovereignstar v2]

[Grover]

And to nobody's surprise, Joey Barton is still a major douchebag.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Grover

And to nobody's surprise, Joey Barton is still a major douchebag.

To bring the season full circle, anyone think Gervinho and Arsene Wenger had a good laugh over Barton's red card?

[sovereignstar v2]

Someone finally posted a picture of Phil Jones' reaction at The Stadium of Light.

[sovereignstar v2]

Best gif ever? Perhaps.

[sovereignstar v2]

From around the world. The Arabic one is fricking crazy!

Sky Sports:


Fox Spain/South America


Sky Sports Saturday' Crew


ESPN USA:


Russia:


Poland:


Arabic:


Norwegian:


French:

[sterlingice]

It just goes to show that soccer can be exciting to people in any language when something amazing happens

SI

[whomario]

another candidate for goal of the year, an absolutely amazing shot from before midfield :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG4q8b9MLZI (can´t embed)

Not just a slow speed lob, but a full on blast from 60 metres out. can´t even comprehend how one would even try that

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

"Everybody expected City to win, but they did it against 10 men for half an hour and with five extra minutes to help them" - SAF

Fucking retire already

[bhlloy]

Just saw the arsenal goals from Sunday. The FA seriously needs to investigate Fulop's bank account. I don't know if I've ever seen a goalie try to lose a game that hard before

[sovereignstar v2]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs2

"Everybody expected City to win, but they did it against 10 men for half an hour and with five extra minutes to help them" - SAF

Fucking retire already

[sovereignstar v2]

Class.

[sovereignstar v2]

It's gonna be a fucking goldmine all summer long.

[larrymcg421]

Hitler would never root for a team as despicable as Manchester United.

[sovereignstar v2]

Rooney twatting during the African Cup of Nations.

[Big Fo]

The Tevez poster and sovereignstar's recent posts kind of sum up Manchester City as a club and a fanbase. They've won their first title in nearly half a century and it's still all about Manchester United. Blue bitters is such an apt term for them.

I'm already seeing it suggested that they'll dominate the league for a decade and it reminds me of what was said about Chelsea a few years ago when Mourinho was the manager and they were splashing the cash all over the place. They'd just won their second straight title and added two then world class players in Shevchenko and Ballack and were expected to stroll their way to three in a row and beyond. But we all know how that worked out.

89 points without the best centerback in the world, our only ball winner in midfield, and a slew of various other injuries. We'll be back.

[Grover]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

89 points without the best centerback in the world, our only ball winner in midfield, and a slew of various other injuries. We'll be back.

Gotta sign a creative force in the midfield. Carrick/Scholes/Cleverley/Giggs just can't get it done.

I've got a bad feeling Hazard picks City over United.

[I. J. Reilly]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Just saw the arsenal goals from Sunday. The FA seriously needs to investigate Fulop's bank account. I don't know if I've ever seen a goalie try to lose a game that hard before

I'm really glad you said that, as a Spurs fan it sure looked suspicious but I thought maybe I was just seeing things. I’m only a little mad about it at this point, but if Chelsea pull the final out of their ass I’m going to be really pissed.

[AlexB]

Bear in mind he used to be at Spurs for 3 or so years though. He was on loan at Leicester and looked good 99% of the time, but always looked capable of a howler.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by Grover

Gotta sign a creative force in the midfield. Carrick/Scholes/Cleverley/Giggs just can't get it done.

I've got a bad feeling Hazard picks City over United.

Shinji Kagawa from Dortmund is all but on the way, so that´ll very likely be adressed.
He has long been linked to the PL in general and ManU specifically, Alex Ferguson was there in person to watch him one last time at the Cup Final (less than 24 hours before the PL season finale !) and yesterday he let the club know that he won´t extend his contract and reportedly his manager is in Manchester allready to negotiate some basics.

Since his contract only goes to 2013, Dortmund allready said they´ll listen to offers. If it went to 2014 or 2015 there´s no way he´d be daaaamn expensive, the way it is i´m guessing it´ll be sth around 15 or 20 million.
Considering what ManU paid for Young (whos 4 years older and imo not even close to Kagawa) that would be a bargain for ManU but still a sum that Dortmund could live with.

[I. J. Reilly]

Originally Posted by Jari Rantanen's Shorts

Bear in mind he used to be at Spurs for 3 or so years though. He was on loan at Leicester and looked good 99% of the time, but always looked capable of a howler.

I know; he hasn't played for virtualy the entire year and then in thrown on at the last minute when Foster hurts himself in warm ups. I've just never seen a keeper come out for a cross and punch the ball back towards his own net. If Bayern take care of business all is forgiven.

[bhlloy]

Yeah, theres an occasional howler and then there's the first and third goals on Sunday with a dodgy very saveable second thrown in for good measure.

I've played goalie for 20 years, I've been watching for longer than that and I've never seen a goalie try to score on himself in such a blatant manner as the third goal.

And FTR not necessarily accusing Arsenal of anything here. There are a lot of people who make money off soccer results and league positions in games where one team doesnt have anything to play for

[cschex]

As an Arsenal fan, that was my first thought, especially after the 3rd goal. I have never seen any goalie at any level do something like that, even when watching kids play.

[Grover]

Originally Posted by whomario

Shinji Kagawa from Dortmund is all but on the way, so that´ll very likely be adressed.
He has long been linked to the PL in general and ManU specifically, Alex Ferguson was there in person to watch him one last time at the Cup Final (less than 24 hours before the PL season finale !) and yesterday he let the club know that he won´t extend his contract and reportedly his manager is in Manchester allready to negotiate some basics.

Since his contract only goes to 2013, Dortmund allready said they´ll listen to offers. If it went to 2014 or 2015 there´s no way he´d be daaaamn expensive, the way it is i´m guessing it´ll be sth around 15 or 20 million.
Considering what ManU paid for Young (whos 4 years older and imo not even close to Kagawa) that would be a bargain for ManU but still a sum that Dortmund could live with.

I read that this morning. I saw that Hummels and Lewandowski were also linked to United by Dortmund has pretty much said no chance in hell.

As far as comparing Young and Kagawa's price tag, my assumption is that Young costs more not because he is better, but because he is English. The over-inflation of prices on any English player is ridiculous. I suspect the 15-20 mil for Kagawa would go a lot further in Germany than it would in England in terms of bringing in quality replacements.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by Grover

I read that this morning. I saw that Hummels and Lewandowski were also linked to United by Dortmund has pretty much said no chance in hell.

As far as comparing Young and Kagawa's price tag, my assumption is that Young costs more not because he is better, but because he is English. The over-inflation of prices on any English player is ridiculous. I suspect the 15-20 mil for Kagawa would go a lot further in Germany than it would in England in terms of bringing in quality replacements.

Hummels and Gotze are only linked in the "well, let´s see who the best players/brightest talents are and report that ManU will go after them, too" (although i´m pretty sure if Dortmund ever said "Give us 25 mio for either" then literally every single club that could afford it would come calling. They are what you call hot commodities i guess )

Yeah, you are right, young german players also cost a little more as they are simply more apeasing to the fan base (it´s prestigious to have a NT candidate nowadays). But prices in England are much higher, period, just developed that way with all the money going around (sometimes just imaginary money, but hey ).

Dortmund paid 350K for Kagawa btw (i don´t think they paid more than 5 mio for any player on the roster with many coming for much less or even free. Obviously they broke that trend by getting Reus for 17 mio Euros)

They also caught a break as Barrios nets them 10 mio Euros despite basically not playing all season (he´s going to freaking China ...), so they aren´t desperate. If they get lowballed i could actually see Kagawa simply playing out his contract, the way he´s conducted himself i don´t see him playing half-assed in that time either.

[whomario]

dramatic scenes in the relegation game for the last Bundesliga spot between Hertha Berlin and Düsseldorf. After a 2:1 in Berlin it´s 2:2 in Düsseldorf and aftet Berlin went down 1:2 the Berlin fans thrw dozens of fireworks onto the field, resulting in the game nearly broken off, then resulted in 7 minutes of extra time and after 5 minutes of extra time the Dusseldorf fans stormed the pitch, risking their teams promotion with that.
All players got basically evacuated and fled to the locker rooms, now 20 minutes later the pitch is cleared and Dusseldorf players are back. No sign of the Berlin players yet and i understand them. Just imagine if they miraculously score a goal (which would keep them in the Bundesliga), no telling if they´d get off unharmed if fans of Dusseldorf rush to get them or sth ...

Fucking Idiots on both sides

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by Grover

Gotta sign a creative force in the midfield. Carrick/Scholes/Cleverley/Giggs just can't get it done.

I've got a bad feeling Hazard picks City over United.

I read somewhere that Hazard was quoted saying something like he'll be moving to Manchester and wearing blue.

Kagawa kicked ass in the cup final, that was fun to watch. whomario, can he play in a midfield two or he is more of a guy that's much better behind a striker?

[Critch]

Single Wolves fan takes on a Wigan pitch invasion on his own, and runs most of them off.

[whomario]

@ Big Fo : What do you mean by "midfield 2" ? More in the centre with another player ?
Bascially he played in the No10 role almost every game for Dortmund, so i really couldn´t say how he looks in other positions. I suppose he lacks physichal ability for a deeper role but could do equally well as a winger, but that´s really just guesswork.

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by whomario

@ Big Fo : What do you mean by "midfield 2" ? More in the centre with another player ?
Bascially he played in the No10 role almost every game for Dortmund, so i really couldn´t say how he looks in other positions. I suppose he lacks physichal ability for a deeper role but could do equally well as a winger, but that´s really just guesswork.

Yeah, like as the more attacking of the two central midfielders in a 4-4-2.

If he signs and the intention is to use him as more of a No10, I guess Rooney would be pushed further up and Welbeck/Chicharito would be on the bench more often.

[sovereignstar v2]

Further evidence that SAF has lost the plot.

Now United boss Ferguson has called on the Premier League to ensure that final day matches finish at the same time in future.

"It's something I think the Premier League should look at because no team should be finishing after the other team," said Ferguson.

Starting all the last day matches at the same time isn't enough? I guess all matches must've ended at the same time previously because I've never heard him complain about it before. It's anyone's guess as to what he thinks would even make that a possibility going forward.

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson says Premier League should have ensured Manchester City's game finished at same time as theirs - Mirror Online

[sovereignstar v2]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

The Tevez poster and sovereignstar's recent posts kind of sum up Manchester City as a club and a fanbase. They've won their first title in nearly half a century and it's still all about Manchester United. Blue bitters is such an apt term for them.

[AlexB]

Publications generally to completely ignore over here until verified by another source not on this list include:
The Mirror
The Mail
The Star
TeamTalk
Football 365 (which just duplicates stories from the elsewhere)

I'd take that with a large pinch of salt for now

[sovereignstar v2]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

I read somewhere that Hazard was quoted saying something like he'll be moving to Manchester and wearing blue.

That was a bullshit article, but it does look like he's nailed on to sign for City though. Tottenham can't match his wages and why play for the second-best team in Manchester. Mercenary he'll be labeled. Just like Clichy and Nasri who only came to City for the money. They could have easily stayed and Arsenal winning all that silverware.

[sovereignstar v2]

Originally Posted by Jari Rantanen's Shorts

Publications generally to completely ignore over here until verified by another source not on this list include:
The Mirror
The Mail
The Star
TeamTalk
Football 365 (which just duplicates stories from the elsewhere)

I'd take that with a large pinch of salt for now

I read tons of soccer news and transfer stories and I can agree that there is a lot of made-up stuff out there. I don't know if anyone would have the balls to misquote or put words into his mouth though. And I'd expect to see a denial put out there if that ended up being the case.

[sovereignstar v2]

edit: sig check

[sovereignstar v2]

Game. Set. Match. Good luck next season Big Fo.

[sovereignstar v2]

Crap, I'm not done. I thought I had posted this earlier. Anyone see this gem?

[sovereignstar v2]

I kind of like the guy.

[sovereignstar v2]

omgomgomgomgomg