Soccer Thread 2011-2012

[samifan24]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

Super Bobby Zamora scored a cracker in the Fulham comeback

Some great matches and scorelines in recent weeks - its almost like being back in the 80's again

I've liked Bobby Zamora ever since he was featured in the background of one of the old FM games while he was with Brighton.

[sovereignstar v2]

City unveil academy plans | Manchester City News, Fixtures, Results, Transfers | Sky Sports

Manchester City have unveiled plans for a new multi-million pound youth training complex, which would be adjacent to their Etihad Stadium.

Branded the Etihad Campus, the new footballing academy would be a state-of-the art facility which City feel would be the envy of the world.

The 80-acre site, which would be linked to the Etihad Stadium via a new bridge, would be the home for City's academy and would make them a Grade 1 facility under the Football Association's new Elite Player Performance Plan - currently no club in England would meet those standards.

The plans have now been submitted and, subject to planning permission, would see on-site accommodation for 72 players, class-room facilities for 200, 16 pitches, offices and a state-of-the-art centre which would house changing rooms and rehab facility.

The site would also include a brand new mini-stadium, a 7,000 all-seater arena solely for the youth team.

Brian Marwood, the club's chief football operations officer, said: "This could be the most important investment the club has ever made under its new ownership.

"This is part of a 10-year strategy for long-term sustainable success.

"Phase one culminated in the club winning the FA Cup and qualifying for the Champions League last season. This signals the beginning of the next phase.

"We know that youth development has to be at the heart of this club. Investment in the transfer market has helped us reach a certain level, to stay there will take investment in player development, welfare and top-class facilities.

"While new signings were making the headlines there were changes behind the scenes even in the early days."

The development has been planned for three years during which City sent officials to Arsenal,Barcelona and Ajax, as well as bodies from outside of football including the New York Giants, LA Lakers, New York Knicks and the Australian Institute of Sport to look at their operations.

Nick Smith, the project consultant who made most of the visits to other facilities, said: "We believe ours will become the world's best training facility."

Marwood said an overall cost of the development had yet to be clarified. City have already bought most of the land, much of which is polluted by past industries, and are in the process of cleaning it.

The club have also promised to provide 5.5 acres for community use, including a sixth form college, and contribute towards a new public swimming pool.

Patrick Vieira, the French former Arsenal, AC Milan and Inter Milan midfielder who is now City's football development executive, described the plans as "unbelievable".

He said: "For any player to have this facility would be really, really exciting."

[sovereignstar v2]

Thanks, Hargo.

[sovereignstar v2]

Oh shit. I found video.

[SirFozzie]

Fenerbache was originally scheduled to play two home games behind closed doors after a pitch invasion in a July friendly.. but they decided to modify that:

Instead, all adult males were banned from the stadium, meaning only women and children 12 and under could attend. The fans were still plenty loud and crazy....

[MIJB#19]

Best penalty ever.

[Butter]

Yes in the first crowd cutaway shot, there are clearly 2 adult men on the left center of the shot.

[Easy Mac]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

Yes in the first crowd cutaway shot, there are clearly 2 adult men on the left center of the shot.

Chaz Bono?

[MIJB#19]

FC Barcelona, 5 games in, 22 goals
Man Utd, 6 games in, 22 goals
Real Madrid, 5 games in, 16 goals
FC Bayern, 7 games in, 21 goals

Clearly missing are Chelsea and Arsenal, but still, is this a sign of "The rich get richer?" As are missing the Italian clubs (mostly just Internazionale), but I'm going to put that down to how Italian soccer culture is, where a 1-0 victory is considered more important than a 4-3 victory.

Also note that I had to ignore Manchester City, since they haven't actually achieved anything that would make them benefit from the theory that the CL power houses keep increasing the gab with the rest of their respective leagues.

Anyway, as much as the aforementioned foursome are traditional powerhouses, this steamrolling on a regular base can't be good for those leagues, right?

[Big Fo]

I think it is a little bit early to come to any conclusions about this. Just last season Man Utd won the league with the lowest points total for a champion in years. And while Barca and Real Madrid have scored a lot of goals both have failed to win twice already.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by MIJB#19

FC Bayern, 7 games in, 21 goals

and that doesn´t even begin to describe their early dominance in league play (and they also thoroughly dominated Villareal on the road)
They had an absolutely horrible first game (and even there they had like a 15 to 3 advantage in chances) which they lost 0:1 on a huge blunder between Neuer and Boateng, since then they scored 21-0 goals and their new GK Manuel Neuer didn´t have more than 3 saves even once.
They have conceded just 40 shots (not on goal, but period) in 7 games, yesterday they showed a clip of all the instances where he had to get involved (save for getting a backpass) and it was laughable how short and uneventfull that was for a 7 game stretch.

They went out and got the best GK in the league (and one of the best worldwide) and he doesn´t even have to do anything !

a little highlight from the weekend, Jurado for Schalke with an amazing videogame-pass to Raul :

[DaddyTorgo]

Juve in first place in Serie A!!!

[AlexB]

A story you don't see every day

BBC Sport - Luton Town's Alex Lawless breaks hand in wall punch

[whomario]

Originally Posted by Jari Rantanen's Shorts

A story you don't see every day

BBC Sport - Luton Town's Alex Lawless breaks hand in wall punch

is he related to this lovely Lady ?



cause that would explain a lot

[Big Fo]

So how about Manchester City legend Carlos Tevez? I hear that he refused to leave the subs' bench as it was closer to his children than the pitch was.

[bhlloy]

If City have any balls he's playing at places like tranmere and Stockport in te reserves for the rest of his contract. That would be poetic and it's not like they need the money.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by MIJB#19

FC Barcelona, 5 games in, 22 goals
Man Utd, 6 games in, 22 goals
Real Madrid, 5 games in, 16 goals
FC Bayern, 7 games in, 21 goals

Clearly missing are Chelsea and Arsenal, but still, is this a sign of "The rich get richer?" As are missing the Italian clubs (mostly just Internazionale), but I'm going to put that down to how Italian soccer culture is, where a 1-0 victory is considered more important than a 4-3 victory.

Also note that I had to ignore Manchester City, since they haven't actually achieved anything that would make them benefit from the theory that the CL power houses keep increasing the gab with the rest of their respective leagues.

Anyway, as much as the aforementioned foursome are traditional powerhouses, this steamrolling on a regular base can't be good for those leagues, right?

I mentioned that's one of the reasons I can't get into those leagues. It seems like either be a fan of one of those teams or don't bother since your club doesn't matter. And being a fan of ManU has to be boring if you're just clobbering vastly inferior squads.

[Big Fo]

Top European soccer clubs probably lose more often than top 1-A college football teams. And definitely so if you count a draw as half (or 2/3 with points) a loss. And similarly to college football, the fact that there is no playoff system means the top teams feel pressure to win almost every week. And as a fan of a club that regularly contends for the title, this pressure combined with the low scoring aspect of the sport also mean there is a lot of tension in each game until the three points are in the bag. Its not like 5-0s happen every week.

[sovereignstar v2]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

If City have any balls he's playing at places like tranmere and Stockport in te reserves for the rest of his contract. That would be poetic and it's not like they need the money.

BBC News - Limavady United's loan offer to Manchester City's Carlos Tevez

lol

[Big Fo]

Limavady has a population of 12,135. I wonder if the town has more good restaurants than Manchester's two.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I mentioned that's one of the reasons I can't get into those leagues. It seems like either be a fan of one of those teams or don't bother since your club doesn't matter. And being a fan of ManU has to be boring if you're just clobbering vastly inferior squads.

Unfortunately leagues are getting a little top heavy - but its worth remembering that hot spells like these rarely last long, this is the first season in a while where the big teams (most of them) have started out of the gate well - traditionally Man Utd have in recent years been slow starters and most teams will at some stage of the season go through a mini-crisis dropping point ....

At the start of last season Chelsea looked invincible for the first few matches, but it didn't last - as the saying goes the league is a marathon not a sprint.

[RainMaker]

They've only had like 3 champions in the last 18 years. ManU and Chelseas have finished in the top 3 8 straight years.I just don't see it as a hot spell, more like a long term trend.

I know sports are different there, but I don't know how into a league I could get if only 2-3 teams matter. I do like the Champions League though. You get some better quality matchups.

[Big Fo]

Najar's goal was pretty nice. Sure, it was unusual to see a guy dribble for 70 yards with only one man challenging him but he did beat that man and rifled that shot in.

US squad for the friendlies against Honduras (October 8) and Ecuador (October 11):

GOALKEEPERS (3): Bill Hamid (D.C.United), Tim Howard (Everton), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)

DEFENDERS (7): Carlos Bocanegra (Rangers), Timmy Chandler (Nürnberg), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Oguchi Onyewu (Sporting Lisbon), Michael Orozco Fiscal (San Luis), Tim Ream (New York Red Bulls), Jonathan Spector (Birmingham City)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Michael Bradley (Chievo Verona), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Jeff Larentowicz (Colorado Rapids), Brek Shea (FC Dallas), Danny Williams (Hoffenheim)

FORWARDS (5): Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls), Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar), DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla), Teal Bunbury (Sporting Kansas City), Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy)

Williams is another German kid with an American dad that I've never heard of. GolTV needs to show more Hoffenheim games for USMNT fans imo. whomario, what can you tell us about this guy?

[whomario]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

whomario, what can you tell us about this guy?

not much really, he only played 16 league games in his career so far (and he is 22 years "old" ) and most as a sub. This year he has 1 start and 2 subs in 7 games. All of which i had to look up
Might have seen him play but couldn´t recall my impression really. Hasn´t featured in any german youth national teams.

Definitely shows that Klinsmann is digging deep, he was watching practices at Hoffenheim for a few days a couple weeks ago (they also have a US U20 national in the reserve team and i think a couple young kids in their youth lineup that came over from the US a while back)

[SirFozzie]

Wow, even a Pool fan like me thinks that red to Rodwell is dodgy.

[Radii]

holy crap tim howard!~!

[SirFozzie]

(sung to the theme from Beetle Bailey)

He's got.. Tourette's
He guards the US Nets
He's Timmy Howard... TIMMY HOWARD...

[sovereignstar v2]

Penalty shout? Suarez involved I bet?

[SirFozzie]

The 1st half penalty was pretty righteous, Suarez was able to shield off the opponent in the box, and the guy ended up going through him.

[DaddyTorgo]

Stoked that Inter lost (again) 3-0 to Napoli is delightful. Big match for Juve coming up in ~7 hours against Milan. Likely without Pirlo, which could make it dodgy. I'd be happy with a draw.

[sovereignstar v2]

De Gea steals doughnut, gets off | EPL | Fox Sports

[sovereignstar v2]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

The 1st half penalty was pretty righteous, Suarez was able to shield off the opponent in the box, and the guy ended up going through him.

Yeah, I was following some play-by-play at work and didn't get to see it until later.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Stoked that Inter lost (again) 3-0 to Napoli is delightful. Big match for Juve coming up in ~7 hours against Milan. Likely without Pirlo, which could make it dodgy. I'd be happy with a draw.

WOO!!!!

Or a 2-0 win. This team just looks night and day different & better than last year's team. Much more confident and assured on the ball and with a real zeal for attack. Much better touches in tight spaces. Joy to watch!

[MrBug708]

Soccer By Ives: Report: Gonzalez open to Mexico call-up

Omar Gonazalez open to Mexico switch. This would be the first mistake under Klingsman IMO.

[bulletsponge]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Soccer By Ives: Report: Gonzalez open to Mexico call-up

Omar Gonazalez open to Mexico switch. This would be the first mistake under Klingsman IMO.

i hope this is just Omar just firing a shot across the bow. i think hes our best young centerback and im stunned he keeps getting looked over

[MrBug708]

Pretty goal

[bulletsponge]

Deuce scores. were playing pretty well right now

[MrBug708]

That was total Brek Shea fail

[MrBug708]

That was a total fail on the refs part

[RainMaker]

I know I'm not knowledgeable in the sport, but is Brek Shea really good? Watching their games and he always seems to be creating havoc and making plays.

[Blade6119]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I know I'm not knowledgeable in the sport, but is Brek Shea really good? Watching their games and he always seems to be creating havoc and making plays.

He has talent, but consistency is an issue right now. There is a reason Man Utd was scouting he back when he was 17

[sovereignstar v2]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I know I'm not knowledgeable in the sport, but is Brek Shea really good? Watching their games and he always seems to be creating havoc and making plays.

Been said that Manchester City and Liverpool had scouts watching him yesterday.

[SirFozzie]

Looks like Ireland are in the Euro 12 playoffs (up a goal and a man against Armenia, who needs to beat Ireland to make the playoffs), and looks like Scotland are out (Scotland need to beat Spain to clinch, Scotland already down a goal)

[Ryan S]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

looks like Scotland are out (Scotland need to beat Spain to clinch, Scotland already down a goal)

Scotland are almost certainly out of it, but I would not be surprised if we find our way into a qualifying position, only to be knocked out by a goal 5 minutes into injury time. That is the way we usually do it.

[MIJB#19]

Alright, we kept Portugal from automatic qualification!

[whomario]

And freaking Estonia is in the playoffs after beating slovenia and Nothern Ireland twice to end the campaign, easily the most surprising team. Heck, they lost to the Faroe Islands (and won the other game only due to 2 goals in extra time).

Germany beats Belgium 3:1 at home to finnish a perfect 10-0-0 in qualifying. Belgium started out strong, but then 2 brilliant goals within 3 minutes and that was it. Oezil with an absolute strike off the underside of the bar and then a brilliant counter attack started by Oezil and finished by Schuerrle.

[MIJB#19]

Euro2012 qualification status

Qualified as hosts: Poland, Ukraine
Qualified as group winners: Germany, Russia, Italy, Netherlands, Greece, England, Denmark, Spain, France
Qualified as best runners-up: Sweden
Seeded in playoffs: Croatia, Portugal, Czech Republic, Ireland*
Unseeded in playoffs: Turkey*, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Estonia

* I think Ireland has caught Turkey in the seeding ranking, but I'm not 100% sure, so it could be that Turkey will be seeded afterall.

[MIJB#19]

Yeah, Estonia is definately the biggest (and only?) surprise. They overcame arguably the toughest group to finish second. Too bad they'll likely draw Portugal in the playoffs...

[Easy Mac]

How many shit passes does Kyle Beckerman have to make before Klinsmann stops playing him.