Soccer Thread 2011-2012

[rowech]

Thoughts on new new USA uniforms?

[Grover]

Originally Posted by rowech

Thoughts on new new USA uniforms?

Ugly.

[whomario]

Dortmund have got it, beating Gladbach 2:0 at home to keep the advantage at 7 with 2 games left. Beating the 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed teams within 10 days to wrap up the title, can´t do more to deserve this All that with Götze sidelined for all this time (finally gave his comeback today, coming on for 20 minutes)

Hope they finally make some noise in the CL next season.

[cartman]

In Serie A, there are 5 teams separated by 6 points fighting for the last Champions League spot.

[sovereignstar v2]

[DaddyTorgo]

3pts clear atop the Serie A after the decisive win over Roma today. Keep strong a few more weeks guys...

[MIJB#19]

John Terry is a moron, that's all.

[Big Fo]

Shocking stuff from John Terry. Sanchez isn't even black.

[whomario]

I know Barca has it´s flaws and it´s all about winning yada, yada, but deep down i don´t want teams playing as destructive and defensive as chelsea here and last week to win.

Great goal by Ramires though.

[Grover]

Originally Posted by whomario

I know Barca has it´s flaws and it´s all about winning yada, yada, but deep down i don´t want teams playing as destructive and defensive as chelsea here and last week to win.

Great goal by Ramires though.

Chelsea would have absolutely no chance if they tried to match Barca tactic for tactic.

Have to do what you have t o do.

[Grover]

Nando!

[whomario]

i´ve got to admit it was inspired defending in the 2nd half and Barca was just way too uncreative and inflexible here. It´s unbelievable that they don´t have a single true striker for theese situations (especially with Villa out).

What a moment that must be for Torres.

[MIJB#19]

I hope the Irish, Croatian and Italian national team coaches took notes.

[Icy]

Originally Posted by whomario

i´ve got to admit it was inspired defending in the 2nd half and Barca was just way too uncreative and inflexible here. It´s unbelievable that they don´t have a single true striker for theese situations (especially with Villa out).

What a moment that must be for Torres.

Agree, Barcelona is dying by their own success. Great posesión is nice... when you can score.

It was shown both in this game and 3 days before vs R.Madrid that if Messi is uninspired, nobody else can score. Big fault by Guardiola to not to sign any other striker for the whole season, but there are rumors about being because Messi doesn't want anybody else to compete with him... see Etoo and Ibrahimovich samples, both left the team in similar circunstancies.

[Ryan S]

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqcqz0

Never mind the highlights, go straight to 2.30 to hear Gary Neville having an orgasm when Chelsea score their second goal

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by Icy

Agree, Barcelona is dying by their own success. Great posesión is nice... when you can score.

It was shown both in this game and 3 days before vs R.Madrid that if Messi is uninspired, nobody else can score. Big fault by Guardiola to not to sign any other striker for the whole season, but there are rumors about being because Messi doesn't want anybody else to compete with him... see Etoo and Ibrahimovich samples, both left the team in similar circunstancies.

Who needs a striker when they field a 4-5-Messi tactic?

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by whomario

I know Barca has it´s flaws and it´s all about winning yada, yada, but deep down i don´t want teams playing as destructive and defensive as chelsea here and last week to win.

Great goal by Ramires though.

Defending is a valid tactic imho - as someone who's generally played in a defensive role irl I actually really appreciate a team who defend well.

I thought Chelsea's tactics were spot on, they knew they couldn't afford Barcelona the space at the back (especially when they went down to 10 men) and they fought incredibly hard to ensure they stayed in the match.

Drogba for me was amazing - I know he gave away a penalty, but I was REALLY impressed with how good he was defensively and the way he switched from that role to supporting attacks throughout the game showed an amazing work-rate ..... I've always thought he was an awesome player, but that match knocked my respect for him up another notch entirely.

PS - I was really pleased for Torres that he scored that chance, when he came on he messed up defensively a couple of times and I was really concerned that they'd end up losing through a Torres mistake - was a really big decision by the manager to bring him on considering his problems with form since signing and I expect that goal and them winning has done him a world of good.

[miami_fan]

Well now, that is interesting.

[miami_fan]

Not too bad for the first 26 minutes

[DaddyTorgo]

Club launches fund to care for disabled sister of dead Italian soccer player - CNN.com

Just saw this...very classy move

[whomario]

If Bayern goes through, 3 starters will miss with yellow card bans and their bench is by far not as deep as Chelsea...
I hate this rule in the latter stages.

this game is like heavyweight boxing in the 12th round.

[Grover]

Wow.

[B & B]

sergio ramos = roberto baggio

[whomario]

You can´t deny the greatness of this story, a team reaching the final in their own stadium has to be so amazing. Esepecially since quite a few players are in the club for ages, althoungh unfortunately Alaba and Badstuber will miss the final. Those 2 along with Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Müller are at Bayern since they are 10,11 year old and were all born and raised more or less in and around munich.

Both Bayern and Chelsea will miss key players defensively, Bayern actually doesn´t have any CB available to step in and the first non-CB backup for the spot is Gustavo who is also out, likely Tymochuk will get the nod there.
For Alaba likely Rafinha will come in and Lahm switches flanks.

Alaba with an amazing performance, knowing he´ll miss the final so early and then having a great game and then taking and hitting the penalty, kudos for that

Real was utterly disapointing again after taking the lead. You have no one but yourself to blame when you have the means to attack and deliberately choose not to. Bayern clearly was the more active team. Sure they didn´t risk it all, but Real risked nothing.

[Katon]

Originally Posted by whomario

Both Bayern and Chelsea will miss key players defensively, Bayern actually doesn´t have any CB available to step in and the first non-CB backup for the spot is Gustavo who is also out, likely Tymochuk will get the nod there.
For Alaba likely Rafinha will come in and Lahm switches flanks.

Alaba with an amazing performance, knowing he´ll miss the final so early and then having a great game and then taking and hitting the penalty, kudos for that

He and Ramires both really reacted well to their yellows - pity the game will be missing so many classy players (though even speaking as a Chelsea fan Terry's only got himself to blame).

It'll be interesting to see which defence winds up worse off. I can live with Cahill and Luiz as a CB partnership, especially compared to what you're saying about Bayern's situation, but Bosingwa's been . . . erratic . . . at RB, to put it politely.

[whomario]

Yeah, Bosingwa matched up with Ribery and Lahm (as said, he´ll likely switch flanks) would make me nervous as a Chelsea Fan.

Terry missing it doesn´t bother me and wouldn´t bother me even as a Chelseas fan. But for guys missing on yellow cards, that´s just sth i don´t like. At least delete all the group stage cards and then make it 3 yellows in the KO stage or sth like that ...

[sovereignstar v2]

[Big Fo]

That was quality. I wonder if that dude can do a good Wenger too.

[Icy]

Disappointing day as R.Madrid fan but we are getting used to Mourinho ultra-conservative tactical style so it was expected.

Madrid could have won the game in Munich if Mourinho didn't ask the players to play defensively after the 1-1. Yesterday it was more of the same after the 2-0, just give the ball to Bayern and kick every ball up just in case Ronaldo can get it to score on a counter instead of trying to keep the ball and control the game flow.

Then in the prorrogue both teams were so scared of each other, they should have just sit over the grass and let the 30 minutes pass to go to the penalties lottery.

Come on Mourinho, you were in your home field, try to win the game for once in your life instead of hiding back and refusing to keep the ball for more than 5 seconds.

It's a fact that most of R.Madrid fans support Mourinho, but when you talk with each one of them, they all agree that the support he gets is because we all hate the Barcelona domination in the past years and wanted to win them, but not because we like Mourinho attitude or tactical style.

[whomario]

Mourinho scored some major points with me the way he conducted himself btw, first embracing Heynckes and other Bayern staff before the penalty shootout, then afterwards he went to the Bayern locker room to congratulate the players individually on reaching the final.

[bulletsponge]

Originally Posted by whomario

Mourinho scored some major points with me the way he conducted himself btw, first embracing Heynckes and other Bayern staff before the penalty shootout, then afterwards he went to the Bayern locker room to congratulate the players individually on reaching the final.

its called building goodwill cause you know your going to be fired at seasons end and need to be on good terms with other teams to get another job. so play nice

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by B & B

sergio ramos = roberto baggio

Not even in his wildest dreams will Ramos ever be considered as great as Baggio.


Although, Baggio might want to trade places, Ramos afterall is a world champion.

[Grover]

Originally Posted by bulletsponge

its called building goodwill cause you know your going to be fired at seasons end and need to be on good terms with other teams to get another job. so play nice

I highly doubt he'll be fired for winning La Liga. It'd be much more likely that he'd quit before being sacked.

I also think his next job is in England. (Hi Man United!)

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Grover

I highly doubt he'll be fired for winning La Liga. It'd be much more likely that he'd quit before being sacked.

I also think his next job is in England. (Hi Man United!)

I would agree with but that club has fired a manager in the past for ONLY winning La Liga

[Alf]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

I would agree with but that club has fired a manager in the past for ONLY winning La Liga

Yep, but the next question is : If they fire him for only winning LA LIGA, who do they hire to replace him ? Got anyone better ?

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Alf

Yep, but the next question is : If they fire him for only winning LA LIGA, who do they hire to replace him ? Got anyone better ?

Again, I agree with you. But again, with THAT club, it may not matter. After Cappello, Bernd Schuster also won La Liga and the Supercopa and he got fired before Christmas of the next year. I am not saying I would fire him, but Real Madrid has a bit of history in this area.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

I would agree with but that club has fired a manager in the past for ONLY winning La Liga

If you want to know quite how high pressure it is in Spain read this book:

Bobby Robson: High Noon - A Year at Barcelona

[Grover]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

If you want to know quite how high pressure it is in Spain read this book:

Bobby Robson: High Noon - A Year at Barcelona

That's one of my favorite football books, along with Inverting the Pyramid.

[Easy Mac]

Originally Posted by Alf

Yep, but the next question is : If they fire him for only winning LA LIGA, who do they hire to replace him ? Got anyone better ?

Guardiola seems to have some time on his hands...

[Grover]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

Guardiola seems to have some time on his hands...

Imagine the uproar if he went to Real Madrid.

[Critch]

I'm betting on City to beat Man Utd on Monday, declare themselves champions, then lose at Newcastle United to hand it back to Man Utd.

[MylesKnight]

Originally Posted by Grover

That's one of my favorite football books, along with Inverting the Pyramid.

I will have to find those.

My favorite is The Ball is Round by David Goldblatt. 900 pages of greatness.

I'd love to find more books on the history of the sport.

[ColtCrazy]

Originally Posted by whomario

You can´t deny the greatness of this story, a team reaching the final in their own stadium has to be so amazing. Esepecially since quite a few players are in the club for ages, althoungh unfortunately Alaba and Badstuber will miss the final. Those 2 along with Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Müller are at Bayern since they are 10,11 year old and were all born and raised more or less in and around munich.

Both Bayern and Chelsea will miss key players defensively, Bayern actually doesn´t have any CB available to step in and the first non-CB backup for the spot is Gustavo who is also out, likely Tymochuk will get the nod there.
For Alaba likely Rafinha will come in and Lahm switches flanks.

Alaba with an amazing performance, knowing he´ll miss the final so early and then having a great game and then taking and hitting the penalty, kudos for that

Real was utterly disapointing again after taking the lead. You have no one but yourself to blame when you have the means to attack and deliberately choose not to. Bayern clearly was the more active team. Sure they didn´t risk it all, but Real risked nothing.

This. Bayern was one of the first teams I started following outside of England. Very excited to see this game. Should be a classic.

[MylesKnight]

Btw... WIGAN!!!!!

4-Nil over a team that had won six straight and is fighting for a Champions League spot.

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by Grover

Imagine the uproar if he went to Real Madrid.

Guardiola isn't Portugese enough to make the Barça to Real switch.

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by MylesKnight

Btw... WIGAN!!!!!

4-Nil over a team that had won six straight and is fighting for a Champions League spot.

Typical Newcastle, really. Regardless though, Pardew really deserves manager of the year. Nobody saw them doing THIS well.

[bhlloy]

Originally Posted by Critch

I'm betting on City to beat Man Utd on Monday, declare themselves champions, then lose at Newcastle United to hand it back to Man Utd.

This is the most absolutely inevitable thing in history. Write it down

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by cartman

In Serie A, there are 5 teams separated by 6 points fighting for the last Champions League spot.

That's a bit of an understatement:
3. Napoli 55 pts
4. Udinese 55 pts
5. Internazionale 55 pts
6. Lazio 55 pts
7.+ way behind

[Grover]

Lukas Podolski set to sign for Arsenal in the summer for £10.9M.

I know he kind of blows at club level, but maybe he'll get more support at Arsenal.

[whomario]

And Marko Marin signing for Chelsea, that caught everybody off guard as he really stalled in his development and wasn´t nearly as "hot" a commodity as 2 years ago. The talent is still there, but if the premier league is really for him i don´t know (not exactly robust and while the stereotype "english" soccer obviously isn´t true anymore, the style of play still is more physichal than most leagues)
At his best he´s everything you want out of an attacking midfielder, so i hope he pans out. Not that "we" have any lack of options there, but another great midfielder for the NT would be near.

Originally Posted by Grover

Lukas Podolski set to sign for Arsenal in the summer for £10.9M.

I know he kind of blows at club level, but maybe he'll get more support at Arsenal.

actually he was decent last season (especially the 2nd half) and very good this season, unfortunately at a club that produced every sort of chaos imaginable and on a roster that flat out blows.

This season he had 18 goals and 10 assists in 28 games depsite playing banged up for some games. The whole team managed just 38 goals, meaning he was directly responsible for 28 out of 38 goals.

I have no idea how he´ll adjust though. Playing style ? No problem, i could see him fit very well. Off the pitch ? No idea. I guess he´s more assured of himself now, but still doesn´t strike me as a guy that deals well with different surroundings than used to.
But maybe being away from that pressure pit will do him some good. Not thast Arsenal isn´t pressure as well, but at Cologne it was that basically everybody expected him to single handedly save the day all the time (due to him being a local guy, having his breakout there and then coming back from Bayern).




Overall this is a weird development. 5 sure national team players (Klose, Özil, Khedira, Mertesacker, Podolski) and a former and potential one (Marin) that are playing outside Germany. On one hand i am happy to see that german soccer/players get recognized and are highly valued, on the other hand i am sad not to see them week in and week out in the Bundesliga.