Soccer Thread 2011-2012

[CraigSca]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

edit: sig check

Quoting Inspiral Carpets. I'll give them that much.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

I kind of like the guy.

I think he's definitely a football fan - but also a clever business man, the 300k UKP he paid out to punters on that bet is recouped 10x over by the publicity he gets for having done so .... and remember if Man Utd had won the league it'd have cost his company absolutely nothing to pay out early, as it is yes he's paid out when he didn't have to - but the fact that he has actually increases the publicity and will encourage punters to bet in his shops.

[Grover]

Holy God who did Stewart Downing blow to get into the England team?

[Easy Mac]

Evidently, Timmy Chandler has declined to play for the US during the summer. He did the same thing last year for the Gold Cup and is doing it again for the qualifiers. These games would cap tie him to the US. This kid is getting quite annoying.

[bulletsponge]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

Evidently, Timmy Chandler has declined to play for the US during the summer. He did the same thing last year for the Gold Cup and is doing it again for the qualifiers. These games would cap tie him to the US. This kid is getting quite annoying.

yep, hes going to pull a Subutic on us, i can feel it

[Ryan S]

Originally Posted by Ryan S

Most City fans tend to be pessimistic as a result of decades of miserable experiences, so plenty of City fans were terrified about losing this game.

A Grantland column about following City.

Manchester City, Manchester United, and the EPL's shocking season - Grantland

[whomario]

so, essentially having to choose between Terry and Ferdinand for the Euro, Hodges chooses Terry. Let´s just say that i don´t really think that´s a good choice ...

[bigdawg2003]

Originally Posted by bulletsponge

yep, hes going to pull a Subutic on us, i can feel it

I can't imagine he'd ever make the German team seeing how loaded it is with young talent. It'd be more likely he's the next Rossi (hopefully without the multiple ACL tears)

[SirFozzie]

King Kenny out as LFC manager. Martinez is the betting favorite to take the job

[Grover]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

King Kenny out as LFC manager. Martinez is the betting favorite to take the job

My buddy on facebook with the following status after it was announced.


"kenny dalglish fired as liverpool owners discover his 50m bid on a flux capacitor for his delorean has failed and they will not be going back to the 1980's"

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by whomario

so, essentially having to choose between Terry and Ferdinand for the Euro, Hodges chooses Terry. Let´s just say that i don´t really think that´s a good choice ...

Although I don't like either of them, I would take Terry over Ferdinand for football reasons: he is better 'in the trenches' and can play every game - rio's been injured a lot over the last couple of years.

The risk is the effect on the rest of the dressing room as I am sure he is the cancer that causes the schisms in the dressing room, and he was quick to undermine Capello in SA.

Hodgson's copping flack for his squad for picking the old guard again, but tbh who else could he pick? Johnson over Downing for sure, maybe Crouch over Carroll, and Johnson/Richards is a toss up for me

He has the Ox, Welbeck, Jones, Carroll and Ruddy in the squad - the rest of the younger players that showed promise under Capello have either dropped off in form (Sturridge) have been injured most of the season (Cleverley, Wilshere) or are now (Walker, Smalling). I don't see he could have realistically brought in more youth.

[whomario]

I agree on the youth sentiment, there really isn´t much out there. You can´t nominate young players for the sake of it and hope for the best, if the players aren´t ready (or not in form/shape) it will not help their development to be thrown in there and if things go bad, be inevitably thrown under the bus by the same media that was screaming for them to be included, then start next season behind in terms of fitness.

I´ve read a couple articles this season where people claim that England needs to play more young players and then the writers point ot the german team as an example, but i really don´t see that applying right now. Believe me, i vividly remember the mid 00s where we had the same problems, even 2006 and partly 2008 the manager wasn´t rushing in tons of young player because they simply weren´t ready.

Sure there are a ton of young players now, but those players are all undisputed starters and most are even key players for their respective clubs, most doing it for top level clubs. Out of the preliminary 27 player roster, there are 17 that are 24 or younger and 15 of those will most likely start the first CL game next season). They aren´t merely in because they are young and have potential.

The 18 year old kid Julian Draxler was the ultimate surprise call up for the preliminary 27 man squad (most people would have pegged him to be perhaps like the 35th candidate) and even he started 26 (played in 32) league games and 8 European games this season for a Schalke team that finished 3rd and went to the Europa League Quarter Final and he´d likely started every game if he weren´t being rested some games to not overwhelm him physichaly (he´s also still attending school).

Oxlade-Chamberlain meanwhile started a total of 6 league games for Arsenal ! And i just read a couple articels with people seriously claiming he should start in the tournaments first game.

(please don´t think i´m trying to gloat, merely trying to make the point that you can´t blame a manager for not having the options available and you need to change more stuff at the base of things)

I´m having some doubts for the Euro btw, mainly due to the chaotic preperation due to Bayern (6 starters likely for the NT) playing the CL final and then that unholy friendly against the Netherlands next Tuesday and Real with Ozil and Khedira (2 more starters ...) playing in fucking Quatar next week to make some more money. (if a Bayern NT player or Ozil/Khedira gets injured in those games, i´m going psychotic. Just giving fair warning beforehand ...)

Also Schweinsteiger (who is basically the glue guy that enables the team to play the way it does) has been injured and is still lacking in fitness and form and Klose (IMO the 2nd most important player) missed basically the last 2 months of the season.

[SirFozzie]

Interesting read on match fixing in soccer, you know bookmakers are overextended when they accept bets on games that don't exist (They accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars bet on the Turkmenistan-Maldives U21 friendly.. a game Turkmenistan "won 3-2", only for folks to find out later it was a ghost game, never played at all.

Soccer - Wilson Raj Perumal is the world's most prolific criminal match-fixer - ESPN The Magazine - ESPN

[whomario]

And the reason you name was exactly what i was implying with Terry. I just don´t see any on the field impact he has that would outway the other things and that doesn´t even cover the other controversies.


Question : Since the Olympic squad will be Great Britain, Giggs has to get nominated, right ? Would be awesome if he got that chance to finally play in an international tournament. Sure it wouldn´t be the same as doing it with Wales, but i´d wager that would be pretty special still.

[Young Drachma]

After that finish the other day in the EPL, it's probably a good thing they didn't end up going through with Game 39 huh?

[sovereignstar v2]

Jones over Richards is laughable.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Jari Rantanen's Shorts

Although I don't like either of them, I would take Terry over Ferdinand for football reasons: he is better 'in the trenches' and can play every game - rio's been injured a lot over the last couple of years.

The risk is the effect on the rest of the dressing room as I am sure he is the cancer that causes the schisms in the dressing room, and he was quick to undermine Capello in SA.

Hodgson's copping flack for his squad for picking the old guard again, but tbh who else could he pick? Johnson over Downing for sure, maybe Crouch over Carroll, and Johnson/Richards is a toss up for me

He has the Ox, Welbeck, Jones, Carroll and Ruddy in the squad - the rest of the younger players that showed promise under Capello have either dropped off in form (Sturridge) have been injured most of the season (Cleverley, Wilshere) or are now (Walker, Smalling). I don't see he could have realistically brought in more youth.

For me, it boils down to this. If Capello had picked this same roster, he would have been ripped for picking the old guard and not bringing through the youth. Hodgson is going to get ripped for picking the old guard and not bringing through the youth. If Harry Redknapp had picked the same squad, he would have been lauded for having a good mix of youth and experience. I don't think there is really any doubt over who should have been picked if England intended to put a competitive team on the pitch. The argument could be made to write off the Euros all together and pick a squad that would grow together with the hope of peaking in 2016 but I don't think that is realistic for any English squad entering a tournament.

[Grover]

And in something that will change daily, Andre Villas-Boas is now the favorite for the Liverpool job.

He definitely deserves another chance, but he needs a year to be able to implement a system. That being said, I don't think Carroll is the proper forward for his system. Not that Carroll would work in Martinez's 3-4-3 either.

[Grover]

and now Wigan owner Dave Whelan has said he's granted Liverpool permission to speak with Martinez.

[miami_fan]

Are Liverpool fans ready for another Spanish manager?

[Grover]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Are Liverpool fans ready for another Spanish manager?

I bet they'd take Rafa back at this point

Martinez deserves a chance with a bigger squad that has financial backing. He's definitely a players' manager, very likable. Extremely creative, which is unusual for a Premier League manager. There's a great article up on Zonal Marking about his 3-4-3 that pretty much helped keep Wigan up this year.

I want to see what he can do with squad of good players.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Grover

I bet they'd take Rafa back at this point

Martinez deserves a chance with a bigger squad that has financial backing. He's definitely a players' manager, very likable. Extremely creative, which is unusual for a Premier League manager. There's a great article up on Zonal Marking about his 3-4-3 that pretty much helped keep Wigan up this year.

I want to see what he can do with squad of good players.

So do I. The question is does Liverpool have that squad. Will the next manager be told to work with the players at the club or will they open the wallet to bring in new players?

[whomario]

3 1/2 hours to go till the big finale


Not a real fan of Bayern, but as i´ve said before i like enough players enough to root for them internationally and theese do-or-die finals are certainly among the most intense sporting events around. Allways a spectacular thing to look forward to.

[sovereignstar v2]

I would love for Chelsea to miss out on the Champions League next season, but I hate Bayern's executive management with a passion. They are a bunch of self-righteous knobs.

Go Chelsea!

[Grover]

WHOOOOOOO!

[whomario]

Funny sight inside the stadium : The Bayern side is allready packed, Chelsea side of the arena is 75% empty still. Is it a) due to the english getting sunburn due to the unusual amount of sunlight, b) due to the english testing the bavarian bear a little to much or c) them going to the Olympic stadium instead ?



edit : speaking of the olympic stadium : There´s over 60000 bayern fans there as well.

[Crapshoot]

Chelsea are a fucking embarrassment. I think they've ventured out of their own half twice.

[Grover]

Ashley Cole is putting in one hell of a shift today. Man of the match, no doubt.

Kalou, Lampard and Bosingwa have been awful and frustrating.

Bertrand has shown some nice flashes in midfield.

[miami_fan]

Chelsea finally get a corner

[Lathum]

This game is why the majority of Americans hate soccer.

[panerd]

Goal!

[whomario]

Soccer 1 - Chelsea 0

Müller !!! Glad for him, he was in a slump and now in the most important game puts in a hell of a performance.

[Grover]

WOW!

[whomario]

Fuck this. I´m getting Camp Nou flashbacks ...

[sovereignstar v2]

Originally Posted by Lathum

This game is why the majority of Americans hate soccer.

Yawn. Don't worry, Two and a Half Men will be on later.

[bulletsponge]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

Yawn. Don't worry, Two and a Half Men will be on later.

two and a half men are the reason i hate network tv

[whomario]

and now OT without Müller who was imo the best player for Bayern and the only one to really get into the heart of the defense and still be available for passes. Gomez on the other hand is hiding like a little chicken, like usual against strong oposition. Unless he scores, he´s useless.

[Grover]

I'm an Atheist, but... oh my God.

[whomario]

No idea why Robben insists on shooting those

[bulletsponge]

damn, i wish Terry was out there to miss a kick

[sovereignstar v2]

Booyah! Suck it Bayern!!

[sovereignstar v2]

Perhaps Drogba should lift the trophy and not John Fucking Terry.

[whomario]

so i guess that´s it for the Euro as well, don´t see how those guys come back from this within 2 weeks or so...

[cthomer5000]

Drogba is so clutch. it's crazy

[whomario]

If you can´t score you deserve to loose, no one to blame but themselves.

Gutsy PKs from the Chelsea guys after Mata.

Originally Posted by cthomer5000

Drogba is so clutch. it's crazy

he also almost lost the game with one of the more stupid fouls in history.

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by whomario

If you can´t score you deserve to loose, no one to blame but themselves.

Gutsy PKs from the Chelsea guys after Mata.



he also almost lost the game with one of the more stupid fouls in history.

last week too. But they wouldnt have been in ET without him, so it's forgiven. Also he did kind of cost them the 2008 CL possibly. Clutch AND stupid!

[sovereignstar v2]

Huge blow to Tottenham. Will be interesting to see if Bale and Modric stick around.

[Grover]

I feel awful for Schweinsteiger.

At least he still has the best name in professional sports.

[whomario]

I hope you guys understand if i´m not likely to say much on the game itself, can´t really say much here without coming across as a sore looser. Which i am not, just the type of game were i´d have to lie through my teeth to compliment Chelsea much. One thing i can say is that i´m at least impressed that a team like them could be convinced to play with such dedication on defense with everybody buying into the team concept.

The game itself was propably the best that Bayern had played this year, they stepped up and took controll of the game and the individual performances were mostly great (notable exception Gomez and also Robben. Sure he had his moments, but he never EVER fucking plays for the team and there were at least a dozen situations today were a pass would have been a mighty good idea), especially the fringe players stepped up like Tymochuk, Contento. Schweinsteiger gutted it out and Lahm was excellent.

But again, the goal of the game is to score and they didn´t.

Feel really bad for Schweinsteiger, really one of the good guys and a hard worked ...

IMO Heynckes lost the game by taking out Müller, there was no need to bring in an extra defender with the way the defense had played up until then. Might not have prevented the 1:1 but with Muller out the whole balance of the offense was gone.

[Grover]

One thing I want to mention that generally gets overlooked unless a glaring error is made: the officiating crew and the ref in particular were fantastic, spot on today.