2007-2008 All Things Soccer Thread

[DaddyTorgo]

Yeah, so it's not the thread in GD...well...get over it.

I'll kick it off with rumors of Ronaldinho-to-Chelsea intensifying

hxxp://www.goal.com/en-us/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=548463

[AlexB]

Not a rumour - Keegan is back with the Toon Army! More live breakdowns when the pressure increases. Entertaining football before the meltdown. everyone's a winner (apart from Keegan himself obviously, but hey...)

[Critch]

Not a rumor either, but did anybody catch Alexandre Pato's debut for AC Milan at the weekend? Lionel Messi is sooooo last year, Alexandre Pato is this year's South American wonder boy.

A couple of reasons to like him are that he scored in his debut then burst into tears, plus Alexandre Pato is Portuguese for "Alex the Duck".

[Coffee Warlord]

Good luck to Keegs and my dear Magpies.

He'll bring some exciting soccer to St James. Will he improve em? I dunno. But I *love* his game, and the players will play for him.

[Coffee Warlord]

Dola. I repeat.

What kills me, year after year, and I've been a NUFC fan since I really started following soccer many years ago, is that they could, and SHOULD be amongst the top teams in the leauge. It should be the Big 5, not the Big 4.

...and they perpetually invent ways to fuck it up. Oh, the pain.

[MrBug708]

Why is MLS turning down a Twellmen to Europe move?

[finketr]

f'ing Geordies...

i half expected to see them fight amongst themselves as ManUre piled on the goals...

[Mr. Wednesday]

Why is MLS turning down a Twellmen to Europe move?



He's under contract for three more years
He's worth more to NER than the $2.5 MM offered
His mistake was signing the extension instead of playing out the string. If he had already announced an intention to go overseas, MLS would take the best deal they could get, or he might even be going over on a free transfer. Instead, he went for the security of the best non-DP deal he could get, and as a result is at the mercy of MLS and the Revolution as to whether a transfer offer is accepted.

At this point, I think the big problem is that he's worth more to MLS and the Revs than his value on the open market. He's got a lot of value as a proven top scorer in MLS, given that such players don't grow on trees (and are likely to be pretty pricy when they're available).

[Cringer]

Let Twellmen go.

Not that he hurts my Dynamo too much. :D Nah, I have nothing against the guy. I would like Donovan to go away. I laughed when Celtic brought him to Scotland to sit on the bench for 7 years in my FM game.

[DaddyTorgo]

Only the most tunnel-visioned of Chelsea and Real Madrid fans would argue that Gianluigi Buffon isn't head-and-shoulders the best goalkeeper in the world.

Indeed I have little doubt that by the time his career ends, which will most likely be another 10 years or so, he will have established himself as the greatest shot-stopper of all time.



discuss. Because i'm a former GK and a huge Gigi fan

[finkenst]

come on, dt... it's kaspar schmeichel.

[Katon]

discuss. Because i'm a former GK and a huge Gigi fan

No argument from me. I think there's been a season or two where Cech played as well as Buffon, but whenever there's been a noticeable difference it's been in Buffon's favor. The "greatest shot-stopper of all time" thing is a bit more questionable, since that depends a lot on what happens the rest of his career (and as a side note I think it's poorly phrased, since shot-stopping is one specific skill and the best shot-stoppers aren't always the best keepers). He may well have an argument, though.

[Critch]

While I agree that Buffon is probably the best keeper around at the moment, that's mainly due to Kahn being on a downward slide. At their peak, Kahn was the better of the two. In 2002 the Germany team was pretty ordinary but they still made the final on Kahn's back.

[DaddyTorgo]

found this amusing

hxxp://www.goal.com/en-us/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=593088

Bayern Munich striker Luca Toni has taken the unusual step of thanking the thieves that broke into his Italian villa for being “merciful”.

[Critch]

Terrible injury for Eduardo this afternoon, lengthy layoff if he ever comes back at all. Lower leg snapped after a tackle from Taylor of Birmingham.

[Critch]

Wasnt sure where to put this, so here it is:

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Paulo Maldini's 5 year old son shows how to tackle against Clarence Seedorf