Soccer Thread 2012-13

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by whomario

And Brazil fired Menezes, aparently it´s that time of the year ...

I am surprised it took this long.

[bulletsponge]

Originally Posted by whomario

And Brazil fired Menezes, aparently it´s that time of the year ...

its the annual "you didnt win a WC this year so your fired"

[MrBug708]

It seems FM always is firing the Brazil manager

[BishopMVP]

21-year-old given manager’s job at FC Baku based on Football Manager experience | Dirty Tackle - Yahoo! Sports

[miami_fan]

Man, it would have been fun to see two minutes of stoppage time to see what Mario would have down to get revenge.

[sovereignstar v2]

This is a dive according to Chris Foy.

[Critch]

Or Chris Foy thought Balotelli hit the ball to Ashley Cole then ran straight into the defender to try and win a desperation freekick in the last minute of the most boring game of the season..

Kolo Toure has hit the press, he realised no classy chick would sleep with a Man City player so he had a two year affair with some "model" while pretending to be a used-car salesman called Francois.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...ending-1455570

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by Katon

Yes, it would have been better if the club had been able to keep this completely quiet until the accusation had been thoroughly investigated. But was that a realistic option? Chelsea aren't exactly the most leak-proof club on the planet, and Mikel's temper tantrum after the match was probably impossible to hide, which means a lot of people would be wondering what pissed him off so badly. Better to have a short statement saying "there's an investigation, we won't comment further til it's done" than to have things come out piecemeal and distorted - especially after the criticism the club had suffered for not publicizing the details of John Terry's internal punishment.

Do you think Man U were behaving despicably in the Suarez/Evra incident by letting that become public knowledge before Suarez had been found guilty?

Not particularly, as the incident itself was clear on the fielf of play. Man U didn't rush a scurrilous claim into the media, and didn't have a year long racism controversey behind them

To clarify, it's the overall attitude I called despicable, rather than one particular action. Standing behind Terry who clealry mouthed the words he was accused of saying and eventually admitted them, but that's the problem with them.

First thought is usually the wrong decision:
Terry lies about the CL semi final red card, retracts it
Terry lies about using the words against Ferdinand, retracts it
Chelsea tell the press/the press hear before the FA about the Clattenberg allegation, Chelsea retract it
Sacking di Matteo & replacing him with Benitez, who has constantly slated the club (Chelsea fans getting The Waiter is definely proof of karma!)
Ashley Cole being Ashley Cole
Poaching of youth players over a number of years
The general cheating and diving of the likes of Drogba over the years
The villification of Steven Hunt

It's a general image of the club being run by and being represented by people who act as if they are beyond the law or beyond reproach, and get miffed when called on their classlessness. It was a bit in evidence under Ken Bates, but really exacerbated by Mourinho.

He instilled the win at all costs attitude, which is great if you are a fan of the club and can look past the selling of your soul, but from a non-Chelsea fan's perspective (I'm a Leicester fan, so have no rivalry angle, only an Erland Johnson axe to grind) it leaves a very sour taste.

Which is particularly galling as supporting England means tolerating at times the Terry, Cole and Lampard triumverate, plus now the completely unearned arrogance of Sturridge. At least Cahill seems to be keeping his class, but it might only be a matter of time...

[Katon]

I still think you're being unfair to the club regarding Clattenburg - they had a player insisting in good faith that one of his teammates had been racially abused, there's no way they should have avoided asking for an inquiry and the FA and the referee's association both acknowledge that. This was not a scurrilous claim. You could argue that they should have refrained from commenting to the press at all until the inquiry was finished, but I'm still not convinced that kind of cover-up was feasible and in any case 'shut up til the judgments are in' is what they did in the Terry case and you object to that too.

Other thoughts, while I'm defending the club:

- Stephen Hunt cracked our starting keeper's skull challenging for a ball he had no hope of winning. How many fan bases *wouldn't* hold a grudge against a player over something like that?

- The source I remember for Terry saying he didn't do anything was a Sun reporter's word-of-mouth; do you have a citation that's even vaguely reliable? By the post-match interviews he was admitting he'd been an idiot and apologizing to the fans.

- Poaching youth prospects, bitching at refs, and employing a few attackers who roll around on the ground are, unfortunately, standard operating procedure at big clubs these days. I don't think Chelsea are any more despicable on this front than Man U or Arsenal (admittedly a low bar), and Drogba's at least an admirable person outside of football.

- I have no idea what Frank Lampard did to be put in the same category as Terry, Cole, or Sturridge's ego.

I can see where Bates and Mourinho might get you used to thinking of Chelsea as arrogant jackasses, and even now that they've left the club doesn't always help itself. Terry's behavior in the Ferdinand saga was shady*, the RDM sacking was dumb, and Ashley Cole is Ashley Cole. But the club aren't villains 24/7, and a lot of the criticism they come in for is just silly.

*Minor quibble: You weren't quite right in saying Terry's retracted his statement. He still maintains that he only said the words in question to deny using them in anger, but accepts that that's not sufficient excuse to avoid the FA punishment. Terry's statement survived a court of law without being solidly disproved, although the judge did find it implausible (as do I, which is why I didn't bring this up as a defense of the club).

[Grover]

Originally Posted by Katon

- I have no idea what Frank Lampard did to be put in the same category as Terry, Cole, or Sturridge's ego.

Mocking American citizens at Heathrow in the days following 9/11?

[bulletsponge]

Originally Posted by Grover

Mocking American citizens at Heathrow in the days following 9/11?

wasnt his partner in crime Terry in that incident?

[sovereignstar v2]

GOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

[Katon]

Originally Posted by Grover

Mocking American citizens at Heathrow in the days following 9/11?

. . . I'd forgotten he was one of the other players involved in that. For some entirely explicable reason, it's always Terry and Jody Morris who spring to mind most quickly. Question withdrawn.

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by Katon

The source I remember for Terry saying he didn't do anything was a Sun reporter's word-of-mouth; do you have a citation that's even vaguely reliable? By the post-match interviews he was admitting he'd been an idiot and apologizing to the fans.

It was reported by Geoff Shreeves, the Sky touchline reporter during the commentary, which I was watching. Reported as such in the papers the following day:
John Terry's foolishness in Barcelona denies him shot at Munich glory | Dominic Fifield | Football | The Guardian
John Terry banned for Champions League final after being sent off in Barcelona | Mail Online

(I hate using the Mail as an 'even vaguely reliable source' but it just qualifies... Just.)

Originally Posted by Katon

- Poaching youth prospects, bitching at refs, and employing a few attackers who roll around on the ground are, unfortunately, standard operating procedure at big clubs these days. I don't think Chelsea are any more despicable on this front than Man U or Arsenal (admittedly a low bar), and Drogba's at least an admirable person outside of football.

- I have no idea what Frank Lampard did to be put in the same category as Terry, Cole, or Sturridge's ego.

I can see where Bates and Mourinho might get you used to thinking of Chelsea as arrogant jackasses, and even now that they've left the club doesn't always help itself. Terry's behavior in the Ferdinand saga was shady*, the RDM sacking was dumb, and Ashley Cole is Ashley Cole. But the club aren't villains 24/7, and a lot of the criticism they come in for is just silly.

*Minor quibble: You weren't quite right in saying Terry's retracted his statement. He still maintains that he only said the words in question to deny using them in anger, but accepts that that's not sufficient excuse to avoid the FA punishment. Terry's statement survived a court of law without being solidly disproved, although the judge did find it implausible (as do I, which is why I didn't bring this up as a defense of the club).

I grant you Drogba outside of football is an amazing character, which actually proably adds to the frustration about his onfield antics to me.

* my mistake: I seemed to remember Terry employed his Bart Simpson defence immediately after the initial claims, before changing the 'I didn't do it' to a 'I did say that, but only sarcastically', but a quick Google fails to find anything to back this up

[Marc Vaughan]

I grant you Drogba outside of football is an amazing character, which actually proably adds to the frustration about his onfield antics to me.

I'm far from a Chelsea fan - but I love Drogba both as a footballer (imho he doesn't dive as much as he could, often using his strength to bully past players rather than going to ground) and for his off-field work .. for those who aren't aware such things as ....

Originally Posted by wikipedia

Drogba is credited with playing a vital role in bringing peace to his country.[10] After Côte d'Ivoire qualified for the 2006 World Cup, Drogba made a desperate plea to the combatants, asking them to lay down their arms, a plea which was answered with a cease fire after five years of civil war. Drogba later helped move an African Cup of Nations qualifier to the rebel stronghold of Bouake; a move that helped confirm the peace process.[11] In September 2011, Drogba joined the Truth, Reconciliation and Dialogue Commission as a representative to help return peace to his home nation.[12] His involvement in the peace process led to Drogba being named as one of the world's 100 most influential people by Time magazine for 2010.[13]

[Katon]

Originally Posted by AlexB

It was reported by Geoff Shreeves, the Sky touchline reporter during the commentary, which I was watching. Reported as such in the papers the following day:
John Terry's foolishness in Barcelona denies him shot at Munich glory | Dominic Fifield | Football | The Guardian
John Terry banned for Champions League final after being sent off in Barcelona | Mail Online

Fair enough. I was actually teaching during the match (being a grad student at a US university clashes horribly with CL matches), so by the time I got to a computer Terry had already gone on to "sorry, I was an idiot".

I know what you mean about Drogba - Craig Bellamy gives me major cognitive dissonance for some of the same reasons. I do think he got better about rolling around after the first year or two, as Marc says, but for a non-Chelsea fan I can see why first expressions would stick.

[BYU 14]

Great 2nd half by West Ham to go up on Chelsea, please hold on for 4 minutes!!

[BYU 14]

And the clincher!!!!

[Marc Vaughan]

If you want to watch a decent match Crystal Palace vs Brighton has just kicked off on beIN ... its a BIG derby for the two teams involved and if Palace win they could go top of the table, for Brighton we'd creep further towards a play-off place ....

PS - Also has Wilfred Zaha playing who got his first England cap recently

[Marc Vaughan]

(and that US soccer fans is how physical the Championship can be - two players shoulder charging each other with no whistles blowing ... 'tis a mans game, if someone knocks you over then you should have either dodged them or held your ground)

[kingfc22]

Arsenal...disappointment continues

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

Arsenal...disappointment continues

Think how I feel - finally get a Brighton match live for the first time in months and 7 minutes into it we're down to ten men, 83 minutes later I'm stoically refusing to sob after a 3-0 loss

(good match though and tbh the better team on the day won, after we were down to 10 men it was always going to be a huge task)

[SirFozzie]

Wow, what a bananas first half in the Man U game, 4-3 Man U at halftime, shoulda been 5-3.

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

man i'm gonna miss beckham/donovan. la was by far my favorite team to watch.

[sovereignstar v2]

Interesting FA Cup match tomorrow. MK Dons host AFC Wimbledon.

For those that don't know the history of the teams -- Relocation of Wimbledon F.C. to Milton Keynes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

Interesting FA Cup match tomorrow. MK Dons host AFC Wimbledon.

For those that don't know the history of the teams -- Relocation of Wimbledon F.C. to Milton Keynes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In case anyone wasn't aware Sports Interactive Ltd have been proud sponsors of AFC Wimbledon since their initial creation (which is kinda neat ).

[Grover]

Suck it, Chelsea. Come on you Irons!

[SirFozzie]

So... the Scottish Premier League is going to get WEIRD soon.

They decided to scrap the 16 team SPL-10 Team "SPL-2nd Division" that had been proposed.. instead they're going to go for 12 teams in SPL, and 12 teams in SPL-2nd Division.

Mid year, the two leagues become three divisions.

The Top 8 SPL teams play for the SPL title.
The Bottom four SPL Teams and the top for SPL-2 teams play for Promotion-Relegation
The bottom 8 SPL-2 teams play as a third division.

This stuff is more and more like the playoff scenarios from BASEketball.

BBC Sport - SPL clubs pursue plan for two divisions of 12 teams

[Grover]

I really hate admitting that I've slowly been warming up to Big Sam.

[MIJB#19]

UEFA Champions' League group phase last round scenarios

Group A
FC Porto win group with win or draw at Paris SG, still reach R16 with loss
Paris SG win group with win over FC Porto, still reach R16 with loss or draw
Dynamo Kyiv qualified for Europa League R32, play for money
Dinamo Zagreb play for money

Group B
Schalke 04 win group with win at Montpellier, still win group with draw or loss + Arsenal loss or draw at Olympiacos, still reach R16 with draw or loss + Arsenal win
Arsenal win group with win at Olympiacos + Schalke 04 loss or draw at Montpellier, still reach R16 with loss or draw or with Schalke 04 win
Olympiacos qualified for Europa League R32
Montpellier play for money

Group C
Malaga won group, play for money
AC Milan qualified for R16, play for money
Zenit play for Europa League R32 ticket at AC Milan
Anderlecht play for Europa League R32 ticket at Malaga
Zenit go into last round with better goal difference (5-9 (-4) vs 2-7 (-5)), the better goal difference will qualify for Europa League R32 or if tied the higher number of goals or if tied the higher seed (Zenit) goes to Europa League R32

Group D
Borussia Dortmund won group, play for money
Real Madrid qualified for R16, play for money
Ajax qualify for Europa League R32 with win, still qualify with loss or draw + Manchester City loss or draw
Manchester City qualify for Europea League R32 with win + Ajax loss or draw

Group E
Shakhtar qualified for R16, win group with win or draw vs Juventus
Juventus win group with win at Shakhtar, still qualify for R16 with draw or with Chelsea loss or draw, otherwise go to Europa League R32
Chelsea qualify for R16 with win + Juventus loss, otherwise go to Europa League R32
Nordsjaelland play for money

Group F
FC Bayern qualified for R16, win group with win vs BATE, still win group with draw + Valencia draw, still win group with Valencia loss
Valencia qualified for R16, win group with win at Lille + Bayern loss or draw, still win group with draw + Bayern loss
BATE qualified for Europa League R32, play for money
Lille play for money

Group G
FC Barcelona won group, play for money
Benfica qualify for R16 with win at Barcelona, still qualify with draw + Celtic draw, still qualify with Celtic loss, otherwise go to Europa League R32
Celtic qualify for R16 with win vs Spartak Moskva + Benfica loss or draw, still qualify with draw + Benfica loss, otherwise go to Europea League R32
Spartak Moskva play for money

Group H
Manchester United won group, play for money
Galatasaray qualify for R16 with win at Braga, still qualify with draw + CFR draw, still qualify with CFR loss, otherwise go to Europea League R32
CFR Cluj qualify for R16 with win at Manchester United + Galatasaray loss or draw, still qualify with draw + Galatasaray loss, otherwise go to Europa League R32
Sporting Braga play for money

[DaddyTorgo]

WE ARE NOT GOING TO THE EUROPA LEAGUE THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!

[Big Fo]

Will Juve go for the win tomorrow or will they and Shakhtar arrange a draw?

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

Will Juve go for the win tomorrow or will they and Shakhtar arrange a draw?

You can't trust fucking Shakhtar - look what they did to Nordsjland (sp). That being said - as long as they don't lose. Obviously I'd rather finish top of the group, but either way is fine by me.

[Critch]

Other than the crying, this makes me like Adam Richman even more:

Man v Food’s Adam Richman cries during first visit to White Hart Lane | Dirty Tackle - Yahoo! Sports

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

Will Juve go for the win tomorrow or will they and Shakhtar arrange a draw?

It's not like they're playing Dinamo Zagreb...

[DaddyTorgo]

Fernando Torres sighting at Stamford Bridge.

They might want to save some of those goals for the Europa League though. Juve are up 1-0 on Shakhtar with 8 minutes left, needing only a draw.

[whomario]

in the first half of todays there were (i think) 5 penalties withing 5 minutes (across all games, but still crazy). 3 of them in the Chelsea-Nordsjaelland game, all for hand balling

for Dortmund i would have loved to get Juve in the next round, would have been a nice blast from the past. Ah well, then we´ll beat them in the final like in ´97 (in the early to mid 90s Dortmund and Juve seemed to meet every year in big matches)

Now i´m hoping for Celtic, due to the close fan groups and the great atmosphere. Only team on my "please not" list is Porto, everybody else among the No2 placed teams doesn´t worry me much (they either aren´t very good or would be great fits for the dortmund style of play)

[whomario]

Just heard that Messi blew his knee out, suspcted torn ACL That it happened in a game he wasn´t needed makes it only worse ... Why even sub him in there ? Hope he recovers fully from it (if it is indeed that severe) ...

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by whomario

Just heard that Messi blew his knee out, suspcted torn ACL That it happened in a game he wasn´t needed makes it only worse ... Why even sub him in there ? Hope he recovers fully from it (if it is indeed that severe) ...

Ack!!!!

[SirFozzie]

Sounds only like a bruised knee, unless there's more information out there.

Lionel Messi hurt; Barcelona, Celtic qualify for CL next round - ESPN FC

[whomario]

sorry for pressing the panic button there, turns out it is indeed just a bruise and he might even play on the weekend. Dodged a bullet there

[TroyF]

So. . . do I feel happy that Arsenal simply dominated the game today from start to finish or do I feel like garbage because:

1) Even with the domination, it took two cheap penalties to win the game
2) One of my favorite players dove to get one of the penalties
3) IN open play, we probably couldn't find the back of the net if the other team pulled the GK.

It's the latter. WBA was robbed today. They didn't deserve a point, but the ref really screwed the game up and I have no tolerance for diving, if I had my way Cazorla would be suspended 3 games for the dive and suspended for the season if he does a second.

The ref had a poor game. Very disappointing from Cazorla. I hope that is the last I see of that from him.

[SirFozzie]

Arsenal's man of the match: The Ref

[Big Fo]

Roma - Fiorentina has been a really good game, Roma leads 4-2 in the last minute. It has been end to end, Roma could have scored six, eight, who knows how many. Totti scored two great goals and assisted on another and Michael Bradley has played very well.

[sovereignstar v2]

I'm developing a mancrush on Michu. 15 goals in his first season in top division football last season (La Liga) and he already has 12 before the EPL halfway mark in this campaign.

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

I'm developing a mancrush on Michu. 15 goals in his first season in top division football last season (La Liga) and he already has 12 before the EPL halfway mark in this campaign.

Finally figured worth riding the Michu train in FF: one game, two goals, doesn't look like he's stopping scoring just yet

[whomario]

insane Manchester Derby too bad then some city fans decide to be asses ...

[sovereignstar v2]

Mancini's insistence to keep on playing Balotelli is going to cost him his job. And that won't upset the ex-Barca brass within City.

[Ryan S]

Originally Posted by whomario

insane Manchester Derby too bad then some city fans decide to be asses ...

I wondered where the coin came from, as they were celebrating in front of the Man Utd fans. If it came from a City fan he has a hell of an arm.

[Big Fo]

My cable box glitched around 89 minutes, I was running all through the house trying every TV to see if I could watch the last few minutes, something was fucked up on all of them. Then the signal comes back right when RVP is lining up the free kick, he takes it, then the signal goes out right as the ball is in midair and I can't tell if Hart will get to it or not. A few seconds later I am seeing the guys all celebrating. Crazy, crazy match.

Glad we overcame what could have been an epic robbery, I was livid when Young's 3-0 was wrongfully disallowed and then City go right up the field and score.