Soccer Thread 2015-16

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

Hire Mourinho United. Do it.

But they said Giggs would be the next manager.

Maybe he should go to Salford City with the rest of the Class of 92.

[flere-imsaho]

Well, the Nevilles are managing Valencia, so....

[sovereignstar v2]

Rumor is Ancelotti will be confirmed as Bayern's next manager tomorrow.

[sovereignstar v2]

Pellegrini: "I am sure Pep Guardiola will work here some day. I even hope he will have the opportunity to work at Manchester City too..."

[AlexB]

And it goes on

No-one is quite sure what's going on! Like I said in a post last week I was welling up a little when reading the reports of the Chelsea match, this fella obviously has the same emotions.

Leicester fan cries on BBC radio after Everton win (Audio) | 101 Great Goals

Magic stuff, top for Christmas, if City and Arsenal draw we'll be four clear and guaranteed another week at the top at least. Unbelievable stuff.

[sovereignstar v2]

Press release: Guardiola not extending stay - Ancelotti named new FCB coach - FC Bayern München AG

Pep Guardiola (44) will not extend his contract with FC Bayern München. The German record champions’ new coach from 1 July 2016 will be Carlo Ancelotti. The 56-year-old Italian will receive a three-year contract expiring on 30 June 2019.FC Bayern München chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge commented: “We are grateful to Pep Guardiola for everything he has given our club since 2013. I am convinced that Pep and our team will now work even more intensively towards achieving our major sporting goals – especially as it is now confirmed that Pep is to leave FC Bayern.”“Carlo Ancelotti has enjoyed success everywhere as a coach and has won the Champions League three times,” continued Rummenigge. “Carlo is a calm, balanced expert, who knows how to deal with stars and favours a multifaceted style of play – we were looking for this, and we have found it. We are looking forward to working with him.”Carlo Ancelotti commented: “I am very honoured that I will be coach of the great club FC Bayern from next season.”

[Marc Vaughan]

Really impressed with Liverpools post-match interviews, both Klopp and the keeper owned up to things and seemed positive about moving forward ... nice to see, I think they'll come good

[Solecismic]

Seems that FIFA has suspended Blatter and Platini from all football-related activities for eight years.

No update on what seems like many months ago when they said the 2018 and 2022 World Cup venue awards would be canceled if there was evidence of bribery.

[miami_fan]

Kind of anti-climatic at this point.

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

Seems that FIFA has suspended Blatter and Platini from all football-related activities for eight years.

Well, there'll be an appeal.

No update on what seems like many months ago when they said the 2018 and 2022 World Cup venue awards would be canceled if there was evidence of bribery.

This would require FIFA to have a review process with actual teeth, which seems unlikely.

I very much doubt Russia will lose 2018, but I could still see a path whereby Qatar loses 2022, if only because the major Euro leagues still don't like the timing.

[ISiddiqui]

Seriously way too soon to cancel Russia 2018, also Europe doesn't want a UEFA World Cup to be canceled. They'll be perfectly happy to screw over AFC though.

[The Jackal]

Nice to see Arsenal close that out. And from the postgame, assists this season:

Ozil: 15
Manchester United: 12
Chelsea: 11

[sovereignstar v2]

Probably about as official as it will get before it's actually official.

City Watch ‏@City_Watch 5h5 hours ago
Reliable German sports magazine Kicker 'confirm' Pep Guardiola will coach Manchester City.

[miami_fan]

There is something unsettling about Stoke City playing such open football.

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

There is something unsettling about Stoke City playing such open football.

Heh. I'm still thinking that it's unsettling for Stoke to give up 3 goals in a match.

[miami_fan]

Rafa out, Zidane in for Real Madrid.

[ISiddiqui]

No shock there. Will be interesting to see where Rafa ends up.

[flere-imsaho]

I'll laugh if it's Chelsea again.

Wonder if Zidane will have a longer leash at Madrid due to his history at the club.

[Alf]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Rafa out, Zidane in for Real Madrid.

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

No shock there. Will be interesting to see where Rafa ends up.

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

I'll laugh if it's Chelsea again.

Wonder if Zidane will have a longer leash at Madrid due to his history at the club.

Zidane is a "soft" power guy. He never was a leader or captain for the french National team, Didier Deschamps (current French National Tranier) and Laurent Blanc (current Paris SG trainer) were . I am intrigued to see how he handles his first coaching experience. Actually, for him, it might be easier to manage stars (and adjust to the pile of egos) than really build tactical options. We will see. But it is definitely a move towards "offense" compared to Rafa "Defense" Benitez.

[Katon]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

I'll laugh if it's Chelsea again.

Wonder if Zidane will have a longer leash at Madrid due to his history at the club.

I'd be astonished if it was Chelsea - the club needs to replace Mourinho with somebody the fans can get excited about, and Benitez wasn't popular even before doing a C+ job as caretaker.

[ISiddiqui]

Y'all can have Jurgen Klinsmann

[flere-imsaho]

I still can't believe they got rid of Ancelotti. Well, I mean I can - it's Perez & Real Madrid, after all. But there's a guy who's respected and gets along with the star players, figures out how to shove every attacking player Perez buys into a formation that doesn't completely shit the bed defensively, and plays exciting attacking football with said formation.

Best I can tell Perez wants a manager who will:

1. Win La Liga & the UCL each and every year.
2. Play with 6, preferably 7 attack-minded players each game.
3. Crush Barcelona the 6-10 times they play each other each year.

And he'll keep sacking managers until he gets this mythical person.

[flere-imsaho]

I just had an idea....

Guardiola to Man City and... Pellegrini to Man Utd.

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

I still can't believe they got rid of Ancelotti. Well, I mean I can - it's Perez & Real Madrid, after all. But there's a guy who's respected and gets along with the star players, figures out how to shove every attacking player Perez buys into a formation that doesn't completely shit the bed defensively, and plays exciting attacking football with said formation.

Best I can tell Perez wants a manager who will:

1. Win La Liga & the UCL each and every year.
2. Play with 6, preferably 7 attack-minded players each game.
3. Crush Barcelona the 6-10 times they play each other each year.

And he'll keep sacking managers until he gets this mythical person.

I think he's also capable of selling Cristiano Ronaldo because of not scoring enough goals.

[sovereignstar v2]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

I just had an idea....

Guardiola to Man City and... Pellegrini to Man Utd.

Probably would've worked out better than LVG.

[bhlloy]

It's really upsetting to me that Vincent Tan is the co-owner of LAFC because this could be something I get seriously into. But I just can't give that utter wankstain any of my money on principle.

[Critch]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

It's really upsetting to me that Vincent Tan is the co-owner of LAFC because this could be something I get seriously into. But I just can't give that utter wankstain any of my money on principle.

It's Will Ferrell that puts me off, for much the same reason.

[bulletsponge]

vincent tran? where have i heard that name before?

[whomario]

Yaya Toure upon loosing out to Aubameyang for Africas Footballer of the Year:

Yaya will take care of Yaya and let Africa take care of itself.

He ought to have his own reality show ...

[AlexB]

Pretentious? Moi?

[sovereignstar v2]

He is definitely an odd duck. Always been pretty surprised that he's captain when Kompany is out.

[The Jackal]

Aubemayang is awesome and deserves it.

[whomario]

Anybody checked if there is a relation to Kanye ?

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

Klopp is potentially perfect for United, however the Liverpool fans will adore him also if he brings any semblance of success to the club and his personally meshes well with the English soccer attitude generally imho.

Read this and thought of your comment here, Marc: The Question: Klopp v Van Gaal … has Manchester United’s manager been left behind? | Jonathan Wilson | Football | The Guardian

[AlexB]

So the Stripey Nigels are looking at signing Adebayor. Not sure that will work well for them, can't imagine him and Pardew getting on at all.

[MrBug708]

I'd imagine it would be for the rest of the season. Hard to really pay for a quality striker during this transfer window without overpaying.

[HomerSimpson98]

Any thoughts about the beatdown FIFA gave the Madrid clubs? That seems rough.

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by HomerSimpson98

Any thoughts about the beatdown FIFA gave the Madrid clubs? That seems rough.

Much deserved and long overdue.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by MIJB#19

Much deserved and long overdue.

and yet FIFAs argument is still full of holes and the Execution sucks. From what i could gathered, the real victims of the Barca ban were the youth players involved (who were not allowed to play to, what ? Punish the club ?).
And if the rules were well thought out in the first place, they would certainly not prevent Zidanes sons to play for Madrid. 2 transfered when he was playing for Real and the other 2 when he was employed otherwise by Real. The wording in most articles is a bit unclear (if they were investigated and cleared or among the failings leading to the ban), but seems pretty straightforward in any case that there is no reason why they should not be allowed to move even when underaged.

Also i still am a little confused as to how the transfers were approved in the first place and now are disputed under the same rules they were initially approved ?

[MrBug708]

That was an ass kicking.

[MizzouCowboy]

Happy with the 98th minute equalizer, but John Terry may have been just a little offsides. Either way I'm glad to steal a point.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by MizzouCowboy

Happy with the 98th minute equalizer, but John Terry may have been just a little offsides. Either way I'm glad to steal a point.

I swear Chelsea plays with a horseshoe in their asses sometimes. Can't remember how many of these last moment of stoppage time wins/draws I have seen them pull out over the years.

[sovereignstar v2]

That just might be the difference between getting 10th place or 9th place. Amazing!

[AlexB]

We were awful today, lucky to get a point, but still top until tomorrow

[miami_fan]

Really liked that camera angle from high up above the pitch.

[miami_fan]

Manchester United today remind me so much of Chelsea at the end of last season

[flere-imsaho]

Well, except that Chelsea had already won the league.

[britrock88]

Stoke and Arsenal draw at nil, but a pretty fun match nonetheless.

[flere-imsaho]

LOLOLOL: Manchester United deny meeting with Pep Guardiola in Paris | Football | The Guardian

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

I swear Chelsea plays with a horseshoe in their asses sometimes. Can't remember how many of these last moment of stoppage time wins/draws I have seen them pull out over the years.

This describes pretty much all "great" soccer teams. ManU, Arsenal, City, Real Madrid, Barca. . . They have so much talent and are so far above the teams they face in that area that they wear teams out. When a team is trying to hold on in tne final minutes against these guys, they are exhausted, amped and frightened. They then make a mistake and the talented team pounces.

It is why scoreboard watching is so frustrating when you need one of the big giys to lose.