LEN Teh Footy God's Footballodium

[naut]

More on Andrei Arshavin's protracted transfer from Zenit St Petersburg to Arsenal... the Russian playmaker has passed a medical and agreed terms, the two clubs have even agreed a fee and the only sticking point remains how much Arshavin must pay Zenit to buy out his contract. Apparently he will wear the No.13 at Arsenal.
YES!

Edit: God, BBC is reporting that it has conflicting reports. Looks like the Arshie deal could be off.

Edit:

"Do you think I can get a refund on my Keane number seven Liverpool shirt? Has only been worn 19 times. "As New" condition."
Hehe.

[naut]

Ah, who needs Arshavin when we've got the man, the legend, the wonder: EBOUE!

Edit: Keane did go back to Spurs.

[Scurvy]

BBC live text is always a laugh :laugh4:

We don't need Arshavin at all imo, I wanted a Viera\Flamini replacement far more... will have to wait until the summer ffor either apparently

good transfer for Spurs as long as Keane get's his goalscoring boats back on

:2thumbsup:

[naut]

We don't need Arshavin at all imo, I wanted a Viera\Flamini replacement far more... will have to wait until the summer ffor either apparently
Watching the last 4 games, we don't need defensive players. We dominated those matches but couldn't penetrate. We couldn't even penetrate bloody Cardiff. We need pace and vision to replace Cesc (2 more months), Walcott (1 more month), Rosicky (never).


Just saw Barack Obama getting out of a taxi at White Hart Lane. It seems Spurs are going for a left-winger with no experience.
Cheered me up.

Edit: Ruddy worst time to play Spurs too.

This did kinda cheer me up:

If we can get Quaresma, I will carry the absolutely shocking Malouda myself all the way back to Lyon free of charge.

[InsaneApache]

Originally Posted by 606, BBC
Just saw Barack Obama getting out of a taxi at White Hart Lane. It seems Spurs are going for a left-winger with no experience.

Aw man...:laugh4:

Hell of a business by the Spuds. A nice little earner, £8 million in six months. Arthur Daley must be their financial director! 'Er indoors is well pleased. Terry, Terry!

:beam:

[naut]

Scurvy this sums up more articulately what I mean about Arshavin:


In my eyes Arshavin is as close to the ideal signing for this Arsenal squad. Forget a centre-back (Johan Djourou has solved this issue), forget a defensive-midfielder (Alex Song is good enough here), with Cesc Fabregas out we lack creative midfield players with the experience and attitude to create openings in games where the other team just won’t allow it, something that Arshavin will absolutely provide.

People will point to the fact that he’s only played in the Russian League or that he was marked out of the Euro 2008 semi-final by Spain, but that’s ignoring the outrageous talent that this guy is on his day. At 27 he is at his peak and with Arsenal as his first ‘big club’ he will have huge motivation to prove himself as a top-class player.

The physicality and harsh conditions of the Russian League will mean he will not need time to adapt to England, while the recent winter-break in Russia should mean his body is nice and fresh. In other words, he looks perfectly poised to make an immediate impact on this Arsenal side. And what an impact this guy could make.

I mentioned in the review of the Everton game that I felt this Arsenal midfield lacked leadership, that the obvious talents of Alex Song, Denilson and Abou Diaby were being too-heavily relied upon without having proper leaders to guide them on the pitch. And while Arshavin might not be a leader in the conventional sense, everything I have seen from him for Zenit and the Russian national team suggests he is the type of player who has confidence in abundance and leads by example, similar to someone like Zinedine Zidane. As such, his influence could be invaluable as the season wears on.

In terms of his place in the team, I would expect Arshavin to be used either as a right-winger in a 4-4-2 or as the most advanced attacking-midfielder when the manager opts for 4-5-1. His defensive abilities are not his strength, the real value will be his ability locate passes and shots that others in the squad cannot.

If you can’t already tell, I’m extremely excited about this transfer. I was absolutely delighted at the prospect of Arshavin joining before the start of the season and that delight has not faded. He is a class player who will add exactly what we need to a squad that is struggling to score goals.

[Jolt]

Let's find out what can Quaresma do in England. IMO, nothing new. He'll just suck as usual and be relegated to the bench.

EDIT, best goal ever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFopSa2tom4

[Sarmatian]

Scurvy this sums up more articulately what I mean about Arshavin:

Arshavin is a real classy player, IMHO. Article sums it up pretty good. Russian league is much higher standard than it used to be, so it is something when a player is considered among the best there. Russian teams won UEFA cup twice in the last several years (Zenit and CSKA). They can't compete with the biggest clubs, the types of Barca and Chelsea, but they proved that they can take on all others and win. I'd say Russian league is 6th in Europe at the moment, after English, Spanish, Italian, German and French, ahead of Portuguese, Dutch, Turkish...

I think he would have been better off in Spanish league, but I believe he will make an impact in England, regardless.

[Scurvy]

Scurvy this sums up more articulately what I mean about Arshavin:

It seems we shall find out - transfer has just been confirmed :2thumbsup:

[Afonso I of Portugal]

Let's find out what can Quaresma do in England. IMO, nothing new. He'll just suck as usual and be relegated to the bench.

EDIT, best goal ever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFopSa2tom4

Agreed! Quaresma is a good winger but not that good. He's one of those players with a huge potential but somehow they always miss their place in every team they joined...at Chelsea he will be warming the bench pretty soon...he's no good enough for a major club.

[naut]

World Cups 2018 and 2022. Any bets. My guess would be, based on the continents and nations that have had it recently a European bid and Australia.

[Afonso I of Portugal]

World Cups 2018 and 2022. Any bets. My guess would be, based on the continents and nations that have had it recently a European bid and Australia.

WC Portugal & Spain 2018! :beam:

[LittleGrizzly]

When's the last time we had a South American hosted one ?

An Austrailian one would be good also (damn weather not good for our players though!)

Lots of european voters though... my guess is they'll have one... do we know about possible bids yet ? I heard england wants to host one at some point...

[naut]

Brazil has 2014, plus we have South Africa. So they'll want to pick a Asian nation, but of the bidders Japan and Korea have had it recently and Qatar and Indonesia lack infrastructure.

[LittleGrizzly]

I remembered South Africa (mainly because they beat englands bid) didn't know on the brazilian one, i suppose austrailia is a fairly likely choice, though i would expect china wouldn't mind another big sporting event...

On the europeans... England had euro 96, Portugal had euro 04 (?) france world 98 germany 06, italy 90, I can't think of a spanish world cup ? or any eastern european ones... switzerland had a euro recently...

that leaves me with, Belguim, Netherlands eastern european countries. Not exactly great infrastructure in some of the eastern european countries but neither has south africa...

Outside of europe, india pakistan and bangladesh all more into thier cricket, but what about other middle eastern countries... i now iran have a decent team and i would imagine a decent level of infrastructure...

[naut]

I remembered South Africa (mainly because they beat englands bid) didn't know on the brazilian one, i suppose austrailia is a fairly likely choice, though i would expect china wouldn't mind another big sporting event...

On the europeans... England had euro 96, Portugal had euro 04 (?) france world 98 germany 06, italy 90, I can't think of a spanish world cup ? or any eastern european ones... switzerland had a euro recently...

that leaves me with, Belguim, Netherlands eastern european countries. Not exactly great infrastructure in some of the eastern european countries but neither has south africa...

Outside of europe, india pakistan and bangladesh all more into thier cricket, but what about other middle eastern countries... i now iran have a decent team and i would imagine a decent level of infrastructure...
Bidding is closed. Bidding nations are England, Spain/Portugal, Russia, Holland/Belgium, USA, Mexico, Australia, Japan, Qatar, South Korea and Indonesia. Bolded the likely ones.

Bordeaux beat PSG, 3 - 0. The second goal was cheeky, nice little chip. Be favourites for the Coupe de la Ligue.

[Jolt]

I remembered South Africa (mainly because they beat englands bid) didn't know on the brazilian one, i suppose austrailia is a fairly likely choice, though i would expect china wouldn't mind another big sporting event...

On the europeans... England had euro 96, Portugal had euro 04 (?) france world 98 germany 06, italy 90, I can't think of a spanish world cup ? or any eastern european ones... switzerland had a euro recently...

that leaves me with, Belguim, Netherlands eastern european countries. Not exactly great infrastructure in some of the eastern european countries but neither has south africa...

Outside of europe, india pakistan and bangladesh all more into thier cricket, but what about other middle eastern countries... i now iran have a decent team and i would imagine a decent level of infrastructure...

euro 04 (?) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ACgThM4cwE)

Portugal/Spain would appear an obvious bet.

[Sarmatian]

Bidding is closed. Bidding nations are England, Spain/Portugal, Russia, Holland/Belgium, USA, Mexico, Australia, Japan, Qatar, South Korea and Indonesia. Bolded the likely ones.

Bordeaux beat PSG, 3 - 0. The second goal was cheeky, nice little chip. Be favourites for the Coupe de la Ligue.

Holland/Belgium got Euro 2000.

I guess it will be Europe, there's gonna be two outside since Germany (SA and Brazil). My guess is England, Spain/Portugal or Russia. Then it will go outside of Europe, possibly Australia...

[scotchedpommes]

Euro 2000 was generally regarded as an organisational disaster [even though it was amongst the best, purely in terms of goals.] Korea/Japan 2002 also didn't go down too well, and that was a shadow of the tournament two years before.

I'm reasonably sure there was a recent push from European elements in FIFA to scrap the continental rotation policy. Whether that movement's been successful as of yet, I can't recall, but I'd certainly be in favour of more European tournaments - if only because I feel the 2006 World Cup was clearly a major success both in terms of a spectacle, and as a demonstration of how to organise a tournament and deal with large numbers of fans.

Would like to see a World Cup in Portugal and Spain. Spain had the tournament in '82, though I'd be going more on the positive memory of Euro 2004, as the format of the tournament and the game itself has changed significantly in the last few decades.

[Sarmatian]

IMHO, every third world cup should be in Europe, maybe even every other. Europe gives most teams to the world cup, and the best teams. Except a couple of South American nations, European teams are by far better than the competition. Usually, the best organized tournaments were in Europe. Someone in FIFA is probably very angry about South African organization, they still haven't done what they were supposed to do. Also, FIFA is not very keen on two host nations, Japan/Korea could have done their job better, so I give Spain/Portugal joint bid the least chances of the top three I picked. Russia never hosted a world cup and England did once in 1966.

I'm pretty sure it's gonna be one of those two....

[scotchedpommes]

I'd certainly agree with holding every [other] tournament in Europe, but then I'm disgustingly biased. Add to that the fact that Argentina and Brazil are major hubs of both good league [albeit constantly exporting] and international football, and it will never happen. Couldn't agree that European teams are all better than South American, even extending beyond the big two - as much as I would like that to be the case - but generally they underachieve fantastically in Europe.

South Africa is not only a mess organisationally, but I don't see how they can possibly handle security. The situation with crime is not too pretty down there, to understate it, and I don't quite see how predictable upsurge in violent crime [against visiting fans] could be held off. Having said that, perhaps they're hoping a media/cultural campaign will be enough to dampen it; spirit of football, an' all that mince.

[LittleGrizzly]

every third world cup in europe seems fair to me, though i probably have some bias here...

Europe does have the infrastructure with all the big club grounds and generally being well developed nations, whereas theres not as many football mad nations outside of europe that are also first world countrys. There are good candidates outside of europe but i would imagine there's not many more good candidates outside of europe than there are in europe, of course this should be revisited as the situation changes as everywhere outside of europe improves its infrastructure, footballing ability and general development of the nation...

[InsaneApache]

Adams has bit the bullet at Pompey. I feel a bit sorry for him, he seems to have been handed the crappy end of the stick. Good player, decent coach but mediocre manager.

[naut]

I think he'll learn from the experience. Probably build some managerial experience overseas or in the lower leagues, and he'll do fine if given another chance.

"I’m sincerely hoping we’ve seen the last of Emmanuel (sigh) Eboue."

[Scurvy]

Feel sorry for Adams, especially after only 3 months or so, but they have been abysmal since he took over, he should have just played himself at centre back - clearly would still be better than Campbell and Distin with how they're playing atm

was happy enough with the 0-0 draw against Spurs considering Eboue got himself sent off.... again, hopefully an actual right midfielder might be fit soon so he doesnt have to play

[Afonso I of Portugal]

Scolari fired! ~:eek:
I was expecting that but only in the end of the season...maybe he should return for Portuguese job as with Queiroz we are out of WC 2010 pretty soon...

Any bets for coaching Chelsea? how about a Mourinho return? ~D

[naut]

If it was any other club I'd be shocked, but since it's Chelsea, well I saw it coming. I think if they had given him the time and backing he could have taken Chelsea on a course towards playing a mix of pragmatic and attacking football. But, he was given no time to shed the deadweight that is the sulky Drogba and co, and bring in more vitalised players. :shrug:

[Jolt]

"Mourinho volta que estás perdoado!" Must be what Abramovich and Kenyon are thinking. :P

Anyways, Scolari had a nice run in Chelsea if you look at it this way: Trained one of the best clubs in the world for a mere seven months, and got fired getting 17M € in indemnization. I wish I could do that.

[edyzmedieval]

"Mourinho volta que estás perdoado!" Must be what Abramovich and Kenyon are thinking. :P

Anyways, Scolari had a nice run in Chelsea if you look at it this way: Trained one of the best clubs in the world for a mere seven months, and got fired getting 17M € in indemnization. I wish I could do that.

You can always do that in Football Manager. :beam:

[Jolt]

I can't, since...I am good manager in FM 2007 and I can't be fired. I wish I could show my 2023 game:

07-08 - Started unemployed, hired for Tottenham in December 2007 since Martin Jol managed to put Tottenham in 17th by then. Finished 7th in that season.

08-09 - Next season reinforced the team and won the Premiership.

09-10 - Next season, finished 3rd in CL Group, while doing an awesome Premiership again. Got hired mid-season by Liverpool (Had Pako Ayestaran), used clause just to enter in the end of the season, up to the end of the season exhibitions starting sucking, lost the Premiership with Tottenham in the last fixture to Mancini's Chelsea, then I got transfered to Liverpool, who was about to play Champions Final with Chelsea (Chelsea's last fixture of the Premiership was also with Liverpool, which they won 4-1. Liverpool's morale sucked.) Lost the Champions Final as Liverpool 2-1.

10-11 - Got the highest ever sale with Liverpool (Mourinho's Milan bought my Fernando Torres by 120M €), bought C. Ronaldo (Best player of the game), but failed to accomplish anything. Just win the English Cup. Finished 4th.

11-12 - In the second Liverpool also continued to suck, I got demoralized mid-season due to weak exhibitions and resigned, signing for Sevilla some days after. Made an awesome mid-season with Sevilla's very bad team (Half of my team was youngsters), finished 7th.

12-13 - Second Sevilla season, made sensational hires "Tommaso Vailatti", this guy did probably the best season ever I saw from any player in FM. The guy scored gigantic free kicks, first and foremost, and afterwards came penalties (Never missed one), and afterwards goals from every possible angle. And he is a midfielder. He will always be in my heart. Did a gigantic season, along with Atletico Madrid, who came in second place, I was champion. Awesome season really. On the same day I was champion, Mourinho was fired one match before the end of the season, being on second place, just 5 points below the Calcio champion that season (Lazio). Immediatly volunteered to take his spot. And said to the news that I felt it was time for me to train a better team. Soon enough I was hired was Milan manager.

13-14 - With a sensational 200 M € budget, I set out to build the dream team of the world. Bought myself (Telmo, Left Central Defender, Left Wing-back, Defensive Midfielder, Left Center Midfielder), obviously the best defender in the world (Which is honestly true. :P), Essien, Richards, among others. Did the best championship season ever in any CM/FM game. Lost 1 game, Tied 2, won the rest, 98 goals scored and 5 suffered. I called my stadium the "Inferno of San Siro" since any team who came to play in San Siro against Milan that season rarely left the stadium without a 5 goal deficit. Lost the Champions semi-final to Bayern due to Away Goal rule (Was something like 1-1 in San Siro and 0-0 in their field) and won the Cup of Italy. By the way, Inter was basically a mid-high team already by this time, since every season was disputed between my Milan and Fatah Terim's Lazio.

14-15 - Continued my domination, won everything this season. Italian Championship, Cup and CL with a final which was Marcello Lippi's final game, as he retired after that match. Marcello Lippi's Man Utd had won the last two CL's in a row, and was about to win the third. I won 2-1 and Lippi left a defeated man. :P

15-16 - Basically continued to win as Milan, lost the Italian League on the final round to Lazio. Won the Italian Cup and the CL. First youngsters of my academy started appearing in the first team (God, weren't they awesome.), wresting first team spots from superstar players.

16-17 - Continued the domination. League and CL. I lost the semi-final of the cup to Roma, having won the first leg 1-0, I was punished by the federation for a game, in the game prior to the second leg. My dumbass Ass Manager (Who was one of the best) lost 2-0. This marked the staying of great youths in my first team. If I'm not mistaken it was in this year that I crushed Vancouver in the Club World Cup final. 14-0. Man of the match: My GK. @_@

17-18 - Milan Golden Age progresses. I won everything this season. Half of my team was graduated from my own Academy. My 18 year old GK "Tomas Capecchi" (regen) wins Best GK of Italy, plus Best GK of CL, plus Best GK of Europe (Surprisingly never got called to the Italian National Team). Other terrific players got awards for being the Best of their positions Best Midfielder (Angelo Lombardo, awesome player) and Best Forward (Danny Andrews, who I had bought from Man City with 16 years old and stayed in the academy/was loaned for three years)

18-19 - Final season in Milan, I was fed up with the lack of difficulties was I continued winning everything. Once again, failed to be Trichampion as I lost the Italian League to Terim's Lazio on the last fixture. Won the Cup and CL. Continued through the pre-season since the Chairman asked me to stay while they searched for a new manager. As the pre-season progressed and no manager arrived, I left the club on my own. Rijkaard arrived fairly quickly after that to cover my spot.

19-20 - Six months unemployed, was hoping to return to Tottenham and bring them glory again (After I left they sucked) got one offer from Boavista and another from Braga. Rejected both and finally Newcastle came asking me to join them, which I accepted. First half season under them finished 7th.

20-21 - Ah finally, the difficulties of a tight budget and having to find low profile players to turn them into stars! Bought some old ones from Milan to give consistency to my team, finished 2nd, winning nothing.

21-22 - Another season and I bought some good signings into Newcastle and was ready to kick ass. Won everything. Premiership, England Cup, League Cup and CL. Pretty good for a team which was 4th seed in CL.

22-23 - Another season, tried to get Newcastle champion again before moving out of England again. Finished 2nd, once again lost in the last fixture. Only won the CL. And resigned once again to try something else.

23-24 - R.Madrid tried to hire me twice during my stay at Newcastle, but I refused. Now that I resigned, I wanted to build another Dream Team and Madrid was just the place to do that: 1 Billion € of budget, manager with Insecure place, I was the best manager in teh world already, so I clicked to announce my interest in managing the club. R. Madrid replied that it was flattered by my interest, but the current manager had a contract which the club intended to keep. As with everything in football, the very next day, the R. Madrid manager was fired, and I was asked to replace him. So during the pre-season I built another Dream Team, pre-season results showed good indications as well as the first season matches. And that's where I am now. :P

Phew, and I didn't even speak of my National Teams. :D

[Afonso I of Portugal]

:jawdrop::laugh4:

[Jolt]

Yeah... :P

Talking about Vailatti, I also hired him in like my fifth season at Milan on winter break. His first match was against Liverpool for CL (Entered with 75 min played, 0-0 until 85 min. Then I get a free kick from faar faar away. Vailatti comes to take the free kick. I was like "bleh, it's too far away" but I hoped he'd do something like a precise cross. Bang! From 35m far, the ball does a huge swirl and enters between the post and the GK. I suppose it says everything about his godlike abilities. That was awesome. I might post his goal on youtube as soon as my computer is fixed.

[InsaneApache]

There was a guy who applied for the managers job at Middlesborough citing his prowess at footy manager 2006. He didn't get the job but Steve Gibson showed what a sport he was with his replies.

I'll try and dig it up.

There ya go...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2006/jun/23/middlesbroughm

:laugh4:

[Jolt]

Hahahaha, awesome. I should try that myself. :P

[naut]

Germany's getting interesting.

Edit: Get away from my club Fat and Orange!

[Dutch_guy]

Germany's getting interesting.

Edit: Get away from my club Fat and Orange!

Hey, almost didn't recognize you there. Why did you change your name ?

:balloon2:

[Afonso I of Portugal]

UEFA Cup:

Braga 3 - Standard Liége 0

...and Braga strikes again! :beam:

[Jolt]

Jorge Jesus = José Mourinho IMO.
I can only hope that Atletico Madrid hires Paulo Bento so Jesus can be hired and we can wtfpwn everyone else next season.

[Afonso I of Portugal]

Portuguese League:

Sporting 3 - Benfica 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyQnftBfKq8

We are still alive for the title...let's see next match day when we play at Porto...

[naut]

Champions League

Atlético - Porto
I think Atlético will win, especially at home, 2 - 1.

Lyon - Barcelona
Barca win for me, they're playing very nice football this season. Score, 0 - 2.

Arsenal - Roma
This one, well Arsenal are perplexing to say the least, either a bore nil all draw or Roma will win 1 - 0.

Internazionale - Man. United
Man U will take this one, just, 1 - 2.

Real Madrid - Liverpool
A draw looks on the cards, but if anyone is going to steal this one it'll be Real at home.

Chelsea - Juventus
1 - 1 draw.

Villarreal - Panathinaikos
I can't see El Submarino Amarillo losing this one, even with the current dip in form. 3 - 0.

Sporting - Bayern
I feel goals in this one, maybe a 3 - 3 draw. It's about time Bayern got some goals.

Edit: That Nolan tackle was terrible.

[InsaneApache]

Nice to see Nolan settling in...

http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/2127086/

Dirty get! :whip:

:laugh4:

[naut]

Anichebe got lucky it didn't break. Horror tackle, taking pointers from Barton no doubt.

[Jolt]

Atletico will win? I very much doubt it. I find it more likely that Sporting will win against Bayern. Atletico are sucking badly. Porto don't lose for a myriad of games.

[InsaneApache]

Anichebe got lucky it didn't break. Horror tackle, taking pointers from Barton no doubt.

Aye, no doubt Barton lent him his knuckledusters he made in prison, ala Shawshank Redemption.

Seriously, he never been a great tackler but that was very naughty. Although if it had been Christiano it would have been forgivable and justified. :laugh4:

[LittleGrizzly]

If it had been Cristiano it would have made the back pages for sure, wouldn't have heard the end of it either... didn't actually see the tackle (i saw a pic in the paper) Nolan doesn't strike me as a paticularly nasty player... wouldn't put it down to malice...

[Afonso I of Portugal]

If it had been Cristiano it would have made the FRONT pages for sure! The headlines would be something like: "Nº 1 in the World bitten by Pitbull!!!" :laugh4: :holiday:

[Afonso I of Portugal]

Humm...let's see...

Atlético - Porto
Atlético has better players, like Aguero, Forlan and Simão but Porto is better as a team and mutch more experienced. This could be a very interesting clash. Maybe 1-1 and Porto win 2-0 in the second leg.:yes:

Lyon - Barcelona
Few chances for Lyon i guess as Barça is superior. Maybe 0-2 or 1-3 for a Barça victory.

Arsenal - Roma
I will support Arsenal for sure as i don't like Italian cinical style of play :furious3:. I don't know what to predict, but maybe 2-0 and 1-1 for the second leg.

Internazionale - Man. United
This is a must see clash! I will laugh with that same old Mourinho's craps and stupid mind games, always provoking opponents... i will support Man Utd for sure! I will enjoy to see Ronaldo score into Mourinho's nets... :beam: Maybe 1-1 and 1-0 for Man Utd in the second leg.

Real Madrid - Liverpool
Maybe a very balanced clash...1-0 for Real and 1-0 for Liverpool in the second leg, 2-2 in extra time and Liverpool wins in the penalties 5-4. :beam:

Chelsea - Juventus
Another balanced clash i think. I agree with 1-1 draw and maybe Juventus win 2-1 in the second leg.

Villarreal - Panathinaikos
The Spanish play well but the Greeks have a good counter-attack. Maybe 3-1 for Villareal and 1-1 for the second leg.

Sporting - Bayern
Unfortunately, i think Bayern is too strong for us as they have better players, team, budget, experience, etc. Two seasons ago we lost 0-1 home and draw 0-0 away in the group stage, against them. Let's see who scores first...maybe 1-1 and 2-1 for Bayern in the second leg...:sweatdrop:

[naut]

God I love the timing of the games, means I get to miss class. :2thumbsup:

Edit: Blackburn was unlucky. I feel for my brother, he supports them. :undecided:

Edit: Real will beat Liverpool.

[InsaneApache]

God I love the timing of the games, means I get to miss class. :2thumbsup:

Edit: Blackburn was unlucky. I feel for my brother, he supports them. :undecided:

Edit: Real will beat Liverpool.

Wait! You're bro's a dingle? :sick:

Tell him this; You're goin' down bro! :laugh4:

[naut]

Yeh the rest of my family is tragic. My dad's from Nottingham and my Grandfather's from Derby, so my dad supports every team from the whole ruddy northern East and West Midlands and I mean every team: Derby, Stoke, Notts County, Mansfield, Chesterfield, Nottingham Forest. How he keeps up with all the scores I have no clue, he even places bets on every team, every season. :dizzy2:

Edit: God I feel terrible for Weymouth F.C., the clowns in charge mean they have no players and no money. :no:

[LittleGrizzly]

I love the Champions League music on ITV, so many great nights come flooding back!!

Settling down now to watch the game, I expect United to win tbh, not sure if its my bias or not, but United are the better side as far as im concerned, it'll be a Utd win or a draw with Utd doing well...

[naut]

Almost had four draws.

[InsaneApache]

Almost had four draws.

You could have been the Viv Nicholson of the .Org.....

[naut]

I'd have to get my predictions right for that wouldn't I? :inquisitive: I didn't get a single one right, not even the result. :laugh4:

[Afonso I of Portugal]

Gah! Sporting 0 - Bayern 5

http://www.abola.pt/wqui/wfotosdia/pagina.html

Shame on them!...:furious3::skull::no::sweatdrop:

[naut]

Haha, I predicted goals didn't I. :laugh4:

Werder through :beam: Bordeaux lost. :shame:

Edit: Blades so so so so so unlucky. A crazy own goal that didn't cross the line and a clear penalty denied.

Edit: Muhahahaha, take that Spurs.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Haha, I predicted goals didn't I. :laugh4:

Werder through :beam: Bordeaux lost. :shame:

Edit: Blades so so so so so unlucky. A crazy own goal that didn't cross the line and a clear penalty denied.

Edit: Muhahahaha, take that Spurs.

I was freaking out when Werder were down by two. In figured they were done. I'm really glad Pizarro decided to delived today. Now at least they have a little confidence going into their game against Bayern?

[naut]

Blackburn jump out of the bottom three, with a game in hand.

I'd watch the League Cup Final but unfortunately it's between a bunch of berks. :wink2:

After reading the Arseblog I feel sobered. Sad, but sobered. :bow:

Edit: Foster is amazing.

Edit:

You beauty!

https://img515.imageshack.us/img515/1900/010310361379600.jpg

[InsaneApache]

Old red nose has got another cup. I hate the rags. :furious3:

[Afonso I of Portugal]

:laugh4:~D

[Jolt]

I stopped watching Sporting after the third goal. This game with Porto was enjoyable, however.

[Afonso I of Portugal]

Yep! we can still win the title! :yes:

[naut]

Old red nose has got another cup. I hate the rags. :furious3:
Better than the Sp*ds winning anything. :sick:

Common' the drop, go down Sp*ds!

[InsaneApache]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TF5qPOa-qag

Get in! :laugh4:

[Scurvy]

wow, he did really well there :2thumbsup:

[Afonso I of Portugal]

Shalom! :2thumbsup::laugh4:

[edyzmedieval]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TF5qPOa-qag

Get in! :laugh4:

Ah that was brilliant! :laugh4:

[naut]

Cheeky!

Blatter's on about that silly 5+6 rule. :wall:

[naut]

Hey, almost didn't recognize you there. Why did you change your name ?

:balloon2:
Can't believe I missed your post. Sorry about that. I felt it was time for a change. Plus it's harder to spell. :wink2: ~:cheers:

Anyone watching the Bremen - Hoffenheim game? Any good?

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Can't believe I missed your post. Sorry about that. I felt it was time for a change. Plus it's harder to spell. :wink2: ~:cheers:

Anyone watching the Bremen - Hoffenheim game? Any good?

The Bremen v. Hoffenheim game was okay. Both teams could have scored a number of times. Bremen didn't play as well as they did last week, but they did a good job. Sanogo should have scored 3 times for Hoffenheim, but Pizarro should have put the ball in at least twice.

[naut]

Ah ok then. Seems I didn't miss too much then.

Anyone see Eduardo's goal? :jawdrop:

Edit: Song also had a great game.

[scotchedpommes]

Psychonaut? Not too taxing.

[Eduardo volley (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ2Mzx1BVyU).]

[edyzmedieval]

Not a very impressive volley, to be honest.

Real VS Liverpool
Manchester VS Inter

Your bets gentlemen?

[scotchedpommes]

Hard one to please, edyz. It's rare to see anyone generating that kind of power and direction with their heel, but obviously it was nothing special as he didn't do the requisite cartwheel first. ~;)

As for cashcow ties, Real should be capable of going to Anfield and scoring at least once, but then they should have been able to put them away on their own patch, too. I can see it being the usual dire fare, though hopefully Real will throw themselves into it - because after all, if they go out it's hardly a disaster for them as they're still in a title race. Possibly penalties.

United - Inter is too hard to call. People will come out with predictable mince (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQx2F5WV7_k) about how the Special Case can pull jammy results out of the hat, [and yes his record at their ground.] but then I don't think Inter is capable. They've been to tough grounds this season and been turned over and had their tummies well and truly tickled. [Atalanta, if memory serves.] That said, of course I'd love to see Inter go there and rip the Mancs a new hole, if nothing else to shut the gushing sycophants up.

[InsaneApache]

I see that Benny, the fat Spanish waiter, is moaning in the papers again today. Is it me or is he getting his excuses in early?

[LittleGrizzly]

That volley was beautiful!!

Anyone who disagrees should be shot! ~;)

Liverpool will go through... I expect a 1-0 win to Liverpool or a 1-1 draw, either way liverpool through...

Utd game will be a tough affair, too much is put into the mourinho vs fergie record, the majority of the matches are from when chelsea where flying high and fergie was rebuilding his team, this time its different, fergie has the better side that are in awesome form. 1-0 or 2-0 to fergie... and utd!

Rafa is starting to get on my nerves...

Still think he's a good manager though...

[Afonso I of Portugal]

predictable mince (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQx2F5WV7_k)

Yeah! Mourinho's huge ego celebrating...in that moment he was probably saying to himself - "I'm the best, i'm the best!!!"...:laugh4:

[Quintus.JC]

Regardless of Liverpool's inconsistency in the Premierleague they're still king of Europe. :2thumbsup:

Only if we could keep that sort of performance in the Prem on a consistent basis. :sweatdrop:

Brilliant match, Liverpool was the superior team for most of the game, Madrid had a few moments of magic, but in the end Anfield was clearly too much for them.

[InsaneApache]

Four bloody nil. Can you believe it? No. Neither can I.

Well done the scousers.

Hey larr...de du do dont de do! :beam:


:balloon2:

[Quintus.JC]

Four bloody nil. Can you believe it? No. Neither can I.

:balloon2:

And you know what's the beauty of it? There could of well been a few more, if it weren't for Casillias.

The Red army marches on. :knight:

[Gaius Scribonius Curio]

Well played Liverpool, but I was stunned by just how poor Real were (except Casillas). And was it just me or did Mascherano get booked after being mistaken for Xabi Alonso??? :laugh4:

[LittleGrizzly]

Mascherano kicked the ball away for that yellow card

They got lucky with the penalty but apart from that they were far better than Real Madrid from the off...

Del Peiro's penalty was class...

[naut]

They've been to tough grounds this season and been turned over and had their tummies well and truly tickled. [Atalanta, if memory serves.]
Yep. As well as the 3 - 0 loss in the Coppa Italia against Sampdoria. That said in the 3 -3 draw with Roma they showed they have the resolve to come from behind and keep their chins up. Should make out for a interesting game.


Only if we could keep that sort of performance in the Prem on a consistent basis. :sweatdrop:
I think you're two players short. A bit more depth and the EPL shouldn't be too far out of reach.

Poor old Sporting; Bayern is running riot in the goal department. The Pana - Villareal game though; Pana had some very good chances, that Simao setup really should have led to a goal. I can't see the yellow sub getting any further.

And I'm glad I didn't make predictions for any of last nights games though. I think I'd have been off the mark with every single one.

Tomorrow, I'm looking forward to a hopefully violence free game in Rome. Atlético have probably blown their chance and I'd be happy with a Lyon upset. I think all four games are too tight to definitively call.

[Afonso I of Portugal]

Poor old Sporting; Bayern is running riot in the goal department.

Sporting didn't show quality enough for this stage of CL...piece of cake for Bayern. :shame::sweatdrop:

[Jolt]

Sporting didn't show quality enough for this stage of CL...piece of cake for Bayern. :shame::sweatdrop:

...SHAME.

[Louis VI the Fat]

7-1 is too much. :no:

I didn't see the game. Either Bayern should know that there is no honour in pounding an opponent that has been well and truly beaten already. Or Sporting was unprofessional about the game after getting thrashed in the first leg and hence deserved everything they got. Either way, very peculiar.



Liverpool was looking strong. I can't help but like them in Europe. Until Arsenal finally made the champions league final, for years Arsenal was fantastic in the premiership and rubbish in Europe. Liverpool, it seems, is the reverse of that. No matter their form domestically, in Europe they are great.

Pool relies on tight organisation and quick counters of course. But when performed to perfection like yesterday it is quite spectacular. Some truly great football that was. :2thumbsup:



Looks like the Premiership's dominance over European football is only strengthening. Even the Spanish and Italians can't keep up anymore. I really don't care much in itself whether Madrid, Manchester or Milan is the number one, but I do hope that the English dominance is temporary. Three or four English teams, always the same four, making up the Champions League semi-finals will get tedious really soon. European football needs romance and surprise. A clash of styles. I'd prefer a competition where a Celtic - Ajax final is a realistic possibility.

[scotchedpommes]

7-1 is too much. :no:

I didn't see the game. Either Bayern should know that there is no honour in pounding an opponent that has been well and truly beaten already. Or Sporting was unprofessional about the game after getting thrashed in the first leg and hence deserved everything they got. Either way, very peculiar
The second Bayern goal was a farce at the back, though credit to Sporting, they did then go on to score one of the best own goals I've seen in a while. I think there will be a fair few onlookers around the continent wondering how that kind of tanking was possible. I could even see teams in our domestic league [more defensively capable than the local shower, yes] going there and effectively parking the bus and getting a result. None of those teams would be considered anywhere near the level of ability of Sporting.

Oh and Louis: Lille twice in a week, wha? And because I forget, why was the 2-0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUkXL-8wOUg) Bastos show played out closer to home? [Just to better fool a few thousand PSG fans into thinking their challenge is alive?]

[Quintus.JC]

I think you're two players short. A bit more depth and the EPL shouldn't be too far out of reach.


At the start of the season I always felt we should of bought a class winger and a reliable striker to partner Torres. Simao and Quaresma seemed like realistic targets for wingers, while I wasn't completely happy with the burying of Keane, I was willing to give hime a chance. Now Liverpool in the prem seems to be running out of steam, they simply cannot carry on the form they've shown at the start of the season.

I'm sincerely hoping that Inter Milan do some damage to Man Utd tonight, I think Inter Milan can go through at the expense of Utd. For once I'm supporting a side that Joes Mourinho actually manages.

Edit: oh blow, ManU had just taken the lead, what the heck was Viera doing?



Three or four English teams, always the same four, making up the Champions League semi-finals will get tedious really soon. E

Agreed, any nation domaneting the Champions' League is no fun. But I don't see any other league catching up to the Prem anytime soon, the Italians can barely be classified in the same league as the English and Spanish league, and even the top Spanish clubs seems some distance off the Big four in England.

[LittleGrizzly]

Well we got over that challenge, was fairly confident but theres always the worry...

Im happy to have whoever... but i think i want the scousers, everyones going wild for them after thier thrashing of real madrid.

Arsenal 5 - 5 Roma

sudden death

[Ferret]

I think Barcelona still have a chance of winning this, they managed to get a big victory despite very poor form lately.

[Beefy187]

Liverpool wins 4-0!!! :balloon2:

Good to see most of Premier league team going through :2thumbsup:

[Afonso I of Portugal]

Yesss! Ronaldo score on Mourinho's nets, now i'm happy!!! :beam:

[Beefy187]

Man U is over powered :sweatdrop:

Their beutiful though. The way that they play soccer

[naut]

Horrible game in terms of technical ability, etc. Vucinic what a miss! :laugh4:

[Ronin]

7-1 is too much. :no:

I didn't see the game. Either Bayern should know that there is no honour in pounding an opponent that has been well and truly beaten already. Or Sporting was unprofessional about the game after getting thrashed in the first leg and hence deserved everything they got. Either way, very peculiar.


That´s what happens when you field a team of reserve players against a weaker opponent like Bayern did....those kids see the game as their big opportunity to shine and they will keep pounding the opponent no matter how much goals have been scored already.

As for Sporting...they practically didn´t exist as a team in that game....the only positive note goes to Polga who made a great exhibition....1 goal and 2 direct assists for 2 more goals....too bad he was confused about in which team he was playing on :laugh4::2thumbsup:

[Louis VI the Fat]

Saw the Sporting goals at last. Absolutely mortifying defending. How many goals has Sporting conceded in the League so far this year? 5437?
I would've scored against these clowns. In fact, my granny would've scored against them. A hattrick. And she's in a wheelchair. So would my cousin have, pegleg Pierre. He's blind too. Plays footy by the directions spectators shout to him. And etcetera etcetera. ~;p




Oh and Louis: Lille twice in a week, wha? And because I forget, why was the 2-0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUkXL-8wOUg) Bastos show played out closer to home? [Just to better fool a few thousand PSG fans into thinking their challenge is alive?]1 - to mark the tenth anniversary of the Stade de France. (Soon, it will be ten years ago that heaven was a place on earth for ninety minutes.... :sweatdrop:)
2 - because Lille is awaiting it's new, proper football stadium.

At 79.500 it set a new attendance record for a Ligue match. Mostly neutrals, who seized the opportunity to finally see some decent football in the capital. Paris, as you know, is devoid of any club remotely capable of playing decent football. ~;)

[Afonso I of Portugal]

That´s what happens when you field a team of reserve players against a weaker opponent like Bayern did....those kids see the game as their big opportunity to shine and they will keep pounding the opponent no matter how much goals have been scored already.

As for Sporting...they practically didn´t exist as a team in that game....the only positive note goes to Polga who made a great exhibition....1 goal and 2 direct assists for 2 more goals....too bad he was confused about in which team he was playing on :laugh4::2thumbsup:

Agreed! it's a shame a world champion like Polga perform like that...a real opponents striker!!! :inquisitive: but in fact the entire team collapsed...not just him.

[scotchedpommes]

Finally, rednose [who is on the verge of nuclear self-destruction] and his scum get the full force sideways humping they deserve. And just to make it all the more comical, Andrea Dossena, who has had without doubt one of the worst seasons of his life, puts the icing on that sweet, sweet cake.

Mancs 1-4 Scouse (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7922069.stm)

Get it right up ye.

[naut]

I would have preferred a asteroid hitting the pitch, but can't have everything in life.

Had fun making my way home tonight, my bus was filled with drunken Scousers singing and yelling. :laugh4:

[Quintus.JC]

Woot woot! Come on you reds!!!!

So Liverpool has revived their title ambitions, but its still United’s title to throw away. Liverpool MUST win all their remaining games to have at least a glimmer hope of winning the trophy. Looking at United’s fixture the last three games of the season could be key; games against City, Arsenal and Hull, hoping for some major damage to be done there. Both Liverpool and Chelsea has got some tough games to go before the end, Chelsea isn’t exactly out of it yet, but it’s a long shot for them.

Liverpool is playing with supreme confidence at the moment with that win against Madrid, the victory over ManU could only booster that confidence, if we continue like this, the title could be ours. Likewise ManU will be affected by this hammering and hopefully this will have an adverse effect on their future performances.

[Scurvy]

Liverpool is playing with supreme confidence at the moment with that win against Madrid, the victory over ManU could only booster that confidence, if we continue like this, the title could be ours. Likewise ManU will be affected by this hammering and hopefully this will have an adverse effect on their future performances.

hope so, but i doubt it, I can't see Man U losing it from here, although excellent performance from Liverpool

4 - 0 for us against Blackburn, finally playing well again, and with our best players coming back, we should secure 4th place - although Bentdner needs replacing as our replacement striker - he missed 3 easy chances and should have at least scored 1

:2thumbsup:

[naut]

Man U looked jaded. Playing more games in the League Cup and FA Cup is having it's effect on them. Fatigue is getting to them, but with an international break coming up they'll come back strong.


Chelsea isn’t exactly out of it yet, but it’s a long shot for them.
I don't get this though? You are aware a win today will see them on the same points as you, and thus having exactly the same chances as you. The win today opens it up for all top three teams.

Scurvy, yeah a good performance, Eboue's done nothing wrong to improve his chances of getting that new contract he wants. And Arshavin, wow, worth every penny. Bendtner is still young, he's 20, there's not many players that age who can score week in week out. Also don't forget he's our third highest scorer this season with 11 goals, 1 behind Ade and 4 behind RVP. Yes, his finishing needs to improve, but it's also a symptom of the positions Wenger has played him. He's not good out on the wings, he relies a lot on his head to score, he lacks a little bit of composure with his feet. I'm not willing to write him off yet, we need that strength in the box and air especially since we lack it else where on the park.

[LittleGrizzly]

Personally i still see Chelsea as the bigger threat... they have the superior goal difference of the two... though even after our 4-0 loss i think its still a little worse than ours...

That being said i think the title is still secure... would be a major surprise for United to lose it from here... wouldn eat my hat...

I haven't got a clue what Vidic was thinking for the first goal and i could see evra was going to foul him, in my head i was screaming NO DON'T DO IT!

The main bad effect we could see from this is a potential phycological blow should we face Liverpool in the Champions League..

TBH this makes me want Liverpool in the Champions league even more!

No better revenge could there be than breaking scouser hearts in the CL!

[Beefy187]

Liverpool are incredibly strong in the CL for some reason. I reckon they can go all the way to the top of CL with ease. Man U in the finals could be interesting :beam:

[naut]

Ah-ha! Avast ye Villains! Yey for the Sp*ds, finally they did something useful, although getting relegated would be just as good.

[naut]

https://img25.imageshack.us/img25/290/mwhahahah.jpg

That is all. ~:wacko:

[Afonso I of Portugal]

That's a HUGE bus i must say...:laugh4:

[naut]

That's a HUGE bus i must say...:laugh4:
They need it that big to fit Phil 'Sunbed' Brown's ego/headset. ~:wacko:

[Jolt]

Talking about pictures, here's something I dug out, from Portugal with love.

https://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu150/Joltie/80_2000_01_22.jpg

[naut]

I parked a bus in the goal mouth then saw a leprechaun kiss my mother in the dugout, oh and my assistant manager saw it too.

~:wacko:

Edit: That Liverpool - Chelsea tie looks interesting. If both go 100% all out it could be mouth-watering. And in the UEFA Cup both of the last couple rounds' giant killers Metalist and Braga got knocked out, great effort by them to get so far.

[naut]

I <3 Almunia.

Edit: Steven Taylor deserves a red. Ryan Taylor also deserves a red. Headlock WTF!

Edit: Just saw the Fulham highlights, ruddy hell, well played. :bow:

[Beefy187]

Unlucky Man U.. Man that 4-1 match against Liverpool must've hurt a lot..

[naut]

Unlucky Man U.. Man that 4-1 match against Liverpool must've hurt a lot..
It's wide open now. You would think Man U would have the players to deal with the pressure as well, but I guess it's getting to them, maybe fatigue is too. Chelsea seem to have blown their chances against the Sp*ds though.

[LittleGrizzly]

Still think this one's in the bag, just got done by a Fulham team on a high.... players will calm down a bit... we will win at Aston Villa next game. I am confident of it...

[Quintus.JC]

Feel the power! The Red Army marches on!

Seriously what a performance… this is officially the greatest week Liverpool had since Rafa had taken charge. Individual matches against Milan and West Ham in the finals were brilliant, but these 3 games in a roll – smashing 4 against Madrid and Manu, and hammering Aston Villa 5 – 0. After watching our rivals slip… now Liverpool fans can believe, and that believe is very real. United, even as experienced as they are, will be feeling us lot breathing down the back of their necks, and they won’t be comfortable with it. Liverpool is playing with sky-high confidence, some of the stuff they do right now is utterly sublime. Rivera’s goal was a peach, Gerald’s freekick was absolutely delightful. Anfield expects! Chelsea is out of it now, even Hindink subliminally admitted it, mathematically Chelsea can still win the league, but logically it’s all but impossible now.

Man Utd is feeling the heat, now they’re under real pressure from Liverpool. The prospect of winning the quintuple this season, IMO has had a negative effect on the team as fatigue is clearly showing. Liverpool now out off the FA cup and can fully concentrate on winning the Premierleague, bearing in mind that they’re still in the champion’s league, has less game to play than ManU and more time to rest. However to draw against Chelsea isn’t exactly ideal as the CL is the only trophy that Chelsea can win this season, and I sense they’re go all out for it. If I have to choose only one competition to win this year than it will no doubtly be the Premiership. This is the first season in Rafa’s years that Liverpool had a realistic chance of winning the League. I’ve got my hopes up, and they better not disappoint me.

Anfield expects!

[quadalpha]

I'm not worried because of the international break. And you know what happens during international breaks ... Torres does his hamstring.

[LittleGrizzly]

Man Utd are far too good to lose it from here, the game against Fulham wasn't as bad as it seemed...

The Scholes handball was a natural reaction from Scholes... a bit unfortunate... instead of 1-0 down... were 1-0 down and 1 man down...

The Rooney sending off was undeserved, he looked angry when he threw the ball (which is of course a horrible thing for a footballer to do...~;)) but the ball went straight to Evans to retake the free kick... game was over at this point anyway....

We had some decent chances thier keeper was on form and we had some bad luck.... not to degrade fulhams win or make excuses for united... but this wasn't a battering... this is a game we may have in different circumstances won...

There is no crisis at Utd, we will come back with a win... and a big thanks to Liverpool for sending Villa's morale crashing down... should make our next game a bit easier !

Also this break will help a little... even though most of ou players will play....

So ill say it again... The title is safe in Utd's hands for another year!!

*joyous celebrations*

[naut]

Don't mean to burst anyone's bubble, but can Liverpool ever actually score from open play? The highlights were just penalties, free kicks and a long ball. :wink2: (P.S. Gerrard is ridiculous. Good thing he's English.)

Despite him being a Sp*d I have a lot of respect for Ledley King. That's a damn painful injury he's got, and he still goes at it.

Chelsea losing could make the CL game a goodun', provided Rafa goes with an attacking formation.

Edit: Hmm, I actually fancy Liverpool to sneak the title if they stay second until the last two or so games. Smacks of the 2001-2002 season, it's all up in the air. Actually more exciting that way.

[quadalpha]

And, predictably, Freidel's red card has been rescinded.

[naut]

So has McCartney's.

I heard a rumour that the away kit for Arsenal next season will be green, like the 82/83 season. :wall: What the hell is wrong with yellow. Last season they made us look like Sp*rs, this season Liverpool and next ruddy... uh... someone who wears green.

Although, it's not as bad as some of the supposed shirts that are United's or Chel$ea's home kits, or Liverpool's away kit. And Everton seem to have nicked Bordeaux's third kit for next season's away kit. :laugh4:

[InsaneApache]

If you think greens bad, we had a sort of sickly puce for our away kit a couple of seasons ago. Back in 1874 when we were founded they used to play in canary yellow with huge purple polka-dots on it. :embarassed:

Gives a whole new meaning to 'get your kit off!' :laugh4:

[Beefy187]

Anyone wearing purple in Premier league?

We have like two teams in Japanese league and boy... they look terrible. I don't mind the colour purple but purple uniform looks awful.

EDIT:And pink

[naut]

If you think greens bad, we had a sort of sickly puce for our away kit a couple of seasons ago. Back in 1874 when we were founded they used to play in canary yellow with huge purple polka-dots on it. :embarassed:

Gives a whole new meaning to 'get your kit off!' :laugh4:
A quick google search revealed to me the most ghastly thing I have ever seen.

Anyone wearing purple in Premier league?
Everton's away kit has purple/pink stripes.

https://img230.imageshack.us/img230/2679/evertonlecoqsportif0910v.jpg

In other news England's U19s coach Brian Eastick hailed Arsenal’s English talent. Now that's unusual!

Edit: Supposedly Red-Nose is only going to manage for one more season. Understandable, he's done it all, won everything and built fantastic squads. Loss for the game, but fresh faces will be good for the league.

[LittleGrizzly]

Supposedly Red-Nose is only going to manage for one more season. Understandable, he's done it all, won everything and built fantastic squads. Loss for the game, but fresh faces will be good for the league.

Its an unfortunate fact of life that Ferguson is not going to live forever and may at some point enjoy retirement... as much as i wish the opposite...

Whoever replaces him must be a highly skilled manager and he must be given a decent amount of time to adjust... i would be prepared to go a season without winning anything for a settling in period... though a champions league spot is essential..

[scotchedpommes]

A season? My, you are generous. :grin2: Fresh faces? Nyah. The long-awaited start of the Manc decline, that's what'll be good for the league.

As for his retirement, it's an open secret that Rednose wants the 19 titles so badly he can almost taste it in that chuddy he abuses every week. He'll manage till he's got there, which is to another season after this, assuming another Manc win and a stop to the current dip in form.


More important matters, though - dreading this weekend. Truth be told, it wouldn't be outwith the realms of possibility that I get my first cap the way things are going. We've even just brought out an identical kit to the one worn for that massacre. What, I ask [in despair more than anything] was wrong with the now-legendary garb worn in Paris?
https://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w64/rdecejabolko/neveragain-1.jpg
No, no, no, no, no, no. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/scotland/3275085.stm) ~:(

[Jolt]

EDIT:And pink

I think it's actually pretty (http://tdias.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/seixald1_115.jpg) cool (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_y8y7zi-Srxo/R76TviXUkWI/AAAAAAAAASc/vJXcvN5_1ik/s320/slb).

[Louis VI the Fat]

What I really dislike, are shirts with so many sponsor names they resemble cycling shirts. Like this one, Nancy (http://www.asnl.net/pages/boutique/collection.html)

https://img162.imageshack.us/img162/6883/maillot07blanc.jpg (https://img162.imageshack.us/my.php?image=maillot07blanc.jpg)

[Beefy187]

I think it's actually pretty (http://tdias.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/seixald1_115.jpg) cool (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_y8y7zi-Srxo/R76TviXUkWI/AAAAAAAAASc/vJXcvN5_1ik/s320/slb).

http://www.sports-ws.com/fp/img/item/FJ1/FJ1KY003.jpg

This is the pink team...

I saw the purple teams new uniform. The colour now is much deeper so it looks pretty nice.

Personally I love teams with Red or black. Those are the two awesomest team colours.

[naut]

More important matters, though - dreading this weekend.
Crunch match. Draw would be a good result. I wonder how many Iwelumo will miss this time.

Edit: England look very light weight on the wings without J.Cole or Walcott, I don't rate Downing or Lennon, Beckham's too slow and Wright-Philips has no composure in the final third.

I'm also quite interested in who will start for France, seems Domenech has seen fit to finally drop some of the older players and give the next generation a go.

[Rhyfelwyr]

hahahahahahahahaahah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw31La71pHQ

:laugh4::laugh4::laugh4::laugh4::laugh4:

[naut]

Seems the video has been removed. What was so humourous?

And back onto the subject of kits, what is with England's new kit?! Then again I kinda like the minimalistic look.

[Jolt]

Portugal's practically out of the WC. gg.

[Sarmatian]

Another great game from Serbia, a 3:2 away win (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCZA8n56NHA) against Romania in Constanta and another fantastic game by Krasic, he's really matured into a great player. First Romanian goal is a real masterpiece by Mutu and Marica, hats off...

Romania pretty much lost all chances to qualify, there's only France and Serbia competing for the top spot now.

I still can't believe this is Serbia playing. We'll probably be disqualified when FIFA finds out we've painted white 11 Brazilians to play :laugh4:

[naut]

Portugal's practically out of the WC. gg.
I wouldn't write yourselves out just yet, there's still the matter of 5 games to play!

[Rhyfelwyr]

Seems the video has been removed. What was so humourous?

And back onto the subject of kits, what is with England's new kit?! Then again I kinda like the minimalistic look.

Boruc's mistake in the Poland v Northern Ireland fixture. Here's another link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjWKSVLHNC8

[Afonso I of Portugal]

Boruc's mistake in the Poland v Northern Ireland fixture. Here's another link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjWKSVLHNC8

No video again...

Gah! Sweden have just 1 opportunity in the entire match but we were unable to score again!:juggle2: With Carlos Queiroz as coach we just draw!!! Too many opportunities missed...in 6 matches we beat...Malta! We don't have a world class stiker and we will pay for that...we are almost out of the tournament! :sweatdrop:
Please...Portuguese board, Queiroz must be fired at once!!! :yes: Please....:skull::whip:

[Beefy187]

No video again...

Gah! Sweden have just 1 opportunity in the entire match but we were unable to score again!:juggle2: With Carlos Queiroz as coach we just draw!!! Too many opportunities missed...in 6 matches we beat...Malta! We don't have a world class stiker and we will pay for that...we are almost out of the tournament! :sweatdrop:
Please...Portuguese board, Queiroz must be fired at once!!! :yes: Please....:skull::whip:

You guys do have a amzing range of talented midfielders. But the only Potugease striker I can name is Pauleta and he was the man a while ago IIRC.

Portugal, Netherland and England is the three european team I support so I wish you lads, best luck.

[Afonso I of Portugal]

You guys do have a amzing range of talented midfielders. But the only Potugease striker I can name is Pauleta and he was the man a while ago IIRC.

Portugal, Netherland and England is the three european team I support so I wish you lads, best luck.

Yep! Pauleta already retired...Almeida is not enough good and no goals, no victories...:shame:

[naut]

Boruc's mistake in the Poland v Northern Ireland fixture. Here's another link:
Ah right, I saw some of that game. Yeh. Horrid mistake.


Yep! Pauleta already retired...Almeida is not enough good and no goals, no victories...:shame:
Almeida is more of a support striker. You'd think Deco/Ronaldo and co would be able to score from the midfield though?

Condolences to the families of those killed in the Ivory Coast stadium tragedy.

[LittleGrizzly]

Portugal's main fault to my mind was thier lack of strikers... midfield is great.. just need a good striker up there..

I predict England to win the Ukraine game... qualification is looking good for England!

[naut]

I predict England to win the Ukraine game... qualification is looking good for England!
They're playing well. We seriously need J.Cole back though. Downing is useless. And on the right Lennon and WP can get past players, they just don't have the ability to pick out the killer ball in and around the box. When Cole and Walcott are both fit and in the side we are much more impressive. Gerrard had a blinder, worked well with Rooney. I hope Heskey's injury isn't serious, otherwise we're a bit short up front.

Edit: Heskey and C.Cole are injured which is a big blow. Bent's been called up, he's in pretty good form for the Sp*ds. He's a bit lightweight though, I'd much prefer that Crouch starts.

[quadalpha]

Oh yes, fire Queiroz so we can have him back at Old Trafford.

[edyzmedieval]

Another great game from Serbia, a 3:2 away win (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCZA8n56NHA) against Romania in Constanta and another fantastic game by Krasic, he's really matured into a great player. First Romanian goal is a real masterpiece by Mutu and Marica, hats off...

Romania pretty much lost all chances to qualify, there's only France and Serbia competing for the top spot now.

I still can't believe this is Serbia playing. We'll probably be disqualified when FIFA finds out we've painted white 11 Brazilians to play :laugh4:

That was probably the luckiest 3 goals ever scored I have ever seen in my entire life.

First one was a bounce from the goal post and ended up in the feet of a Serbian attacker who scored with the empty goal, second one was a complete miss by Vidic which ended up in the head of a Romanian defender - own goal, third one was a bicycle form an offside... :inquisitive:

And basically those were the chances of Serbia...

Incredibly lucky.

[InsaneApache]

Shearer takes over the barcodes. Talk about a poisoned chalice.

[LittleGrizzly]

IDK.. to what extent would he be blamed if they went down...?

Its not as if thier form can exactly drop much...

[Sarmatian]

That was probably the luckiest 3 goals ever scored I have ever seen in my entire life.

First one was a bounce from the goal post and ended up in the feet of a Serbian attacker who scored with the empty goal, second one was a complete miss by Vidic which ended up in the head of a Romanian defender - own goal, third one was a bicycle form an offside... :inquisitive:

And basically those were the chances of Serbia...

Incredibly lucky.

:drama2:

As you're still in your teens, trust me when I say you still have a lot more to see. I understand no one likes getting beaten at home and losing practically all chances of qualifying after only 5 matches, but please, a little decorum :laugh4:.

Learn from our mutual neighbours Bulgarians - when they were trounced 6:1 in a friendly couple of months ago, first thing they did was to congratulate :bow:

[Jolt]

The first Romanian goal was awesome.

[naut]

Tonight should see Denmark and Hungary set up very good chances for qualifications. Isn't the last game they play against each other? That'd be one hell of a match.

Both Norn Iron and Eire have pretty good chances. Who does Scotland play next? Iceland?

[Ferret]

Shearer takes over the barcodes. Talk about a poisoned chalice.

I still think that's an april fool's joke...I distinctly remember him saying he definitely didn't want the job on match of the day earlier this year, I really don't think he's the managing type...

[Sarmatian]

The first Romanian goal was awesome.

In my opinion, Mutu is a world class player. He should have achieved even more...

[InsaneApache]

I still think that's an april fool's joke...I distinctly remember him saying he definitely didn't want the job on match of the day earlier this year, I really don't think he's the managing type...

Wrong date though. :no:

[Afonso I of Portugal]

Bolivia 6 - Argentina 1! ~:shock:

Where's Messi? :beam:

[naut]

Norn Iron! Norn Iron!

England played too casually, almost threw the result away in the second half.

[LittleGrizzly]

Bolivia the new world footballing superpower!!

Argentina had most of thier best players playing as well... messi tevez ect... is crazy!

Great to see Northern Ireland doing too well... they were unlucky if thier last qaulification campaign.. came close i think... beat spain 3-2 at home which is pretty impressive...

England weren't paticular impressive... the lanky guy that doesn't get into many peoples England XI produces the results yet again... he does have a hell of a goalscoring record! has to be in the world cup sqaud imo, barring a bad injury

Captian marvel came through in the end... was a captians type of goal... nothing impressive but just there to win it for us at the end...

With Khazakstan and Andorra as our next 2 fixtures... qualification is a walk in the park from here...

[edyzmedieval]

:drama2:

As you're still in your teens, trust me when I say you still have a lot more to see. I understand no one likes getting beaten at home and losing practically all chances of qualifying after only 5 matches, but please, a little decorum :laugh4:.

Learn from our mutual neighbours Bulgarians - when they were trounced 6:1 in a friendly couple of months ago, first thing they did was to congratulate :bow:

Ok, when you get trounced 6-1 there's no point in saying your team is better or is unfair. You get 6 goals, enough said...
But when you're defeated by one goal while your team's posession is 60% for you, when you have one own goal resulted of a deflection and a goal from an offside, you have every right to feel aggrieved...

[Jolt]

To be fair with Argentina, they played at Bolivia. That's like playing on top of the Everest for any of us.

[Andres]

Belgium virtually out of the World Cup :shame:

[naut]

Tough group though Andres Turkey and Bosnia are no push-overs. Not over yet either.

[InsaneApache]

McGregor and Ferguson, V for err...victory? :laugh4:

[Sarmatian]

Ok, when you get trounced 6-1 there's no point in saying your team is better or is unfair. You get 6 goals, enough said...
But when you're defeated by one goal while your team's posession is 60% for you, when you have one own goal resulted of a deflection and a goal from an offside, you have every right to feel aggrieved...

Feeling aggrieved and belittling your opponent's victory are two different things. What's wrong with the first goal? A nice run by Krasic followed by a nice shot. Goalkeeper was already beaten but the ball hit the post and then Jovanovic was there with the follow-up. What's so incredibly lucky about that? It happens all the time in football. :inquisitive:

Third goal could have been offside but I couldn't make it out, although I've seen it several times. Ivanovic indeed was behind at that point, but there was one Serbian and two Romanian players trying to get to the ball and you can't see which one of them did, at least I couldn't make it out from that angle. Offside rule doesn't apply if the ball was deflected by one of the two Romanian players.

Possession isn't everything. If you've watched some of the Serbian games, tactics isn't to keep the ball but to deliver it to the wingers or forwards as soon as possible. That's a sound tactic because we don't have a quality playmaker. I'd argue that part of the reason we've played so bad in the last several years was because various managers tried constantly to play with a playmaker. In my opinion Antic made a mistake when he didn't introduced a central midfielder in the game, like Kacar who wouldn't so much try to organize the attack but keep the ball. Instead he thought it would be better to introduce a defender. Also an option, but Neven Subotic didn't perform quite well, actually his performance was quite bad, but it was his first game. That led to a lot of panicky clearings and allowed Romanian players to get possession again easily. Especially evident from 65-80. Even then it's not like Romania had a loads of clear cut chances. You guys had the initiative in the second half, but only a couple of decent shots. Most of it were long shots.

[Rhyfelwyr]

McGregor and Ferguson, V for err...victory? :laugh4:

Nah, didn't you notice? They were predicting the score! Ferguson signalled for 2, and McGregor 1. Good insight!

Seriously though, I think its all over for Scotland now. :shame:

[Louis VI the Fat]

'Romania' - deserved or not - I shall refain from the discussion - I, for one, was quite pleased at the collapse of Romania these past two games. ~;)

France is back in it! Two tough games against Lithuania, six points! And no, I feel no shame in celebrating wins against Lithuania, because what France needed most was the simple realisation ,and expectation level, that in the end, we are not Brazil or Germany. It couldn't last. Back to being just a good football nation behind the absolute grandmasters.


Seriously though, I think its all over for Scotland now. :shame:The national team? No way! Scotland is doing just fine. Don't be confused by overpowering and all-conquering Dutch. Behind them, your group is wide open, and Norway and Macedonia can be had by Scotland.


For Belgium, I'm afraid, it is all over. Chances are mere theoretical. I thought the Belgians had a good team again, of talented youngsters. Can't believe they threw it all away against Bosnia. The Bosnians are good, but that doesn't explain Belgiums collapse, twice.

:daisy:! When will we see the Red Devils at the highest platform again? ~:mecry:

[LittleGrizzly]

Page 2 ?!

We have wrestling on page 1 and the football thread is relegated to page 2!!

shocking....

Anyway i was after some predictions for tonight...

Man Utd 2 - 0 Porto... Either that or 3-1 but i have a feeling about 2-0....

Villareal 1 - 2 Arsenal... They are on form at the moment, see them nicking this away or a draw...

[LittleGrizzly]

Terrible start... but wait whats just happened...

ROONEY!! ROONEY!! ROONEY!!

You little beauty (snigger) you!!

[InsaneApache]

Oh dear.

[Rhyfelwyr]

I watched some of the Man Utd game tonight, and I notice when they play badly and make stupid mistakes all the crowd does is boo. Any Rangers game I've been to, the crowd go absolutedly nuts yelling and screaming at the players when they muck up. As for my local team, the fans tend to leave. :embarassed:

Is this common throughout England, or is it just because you have to be rich to go to Man Utd games?

[LittleGrizzly]

Fans are spoilt for success, i imagine thats part of the reason for Rangers too, though less so...

Fans are so used to winning everything that not destroying the opposition is a poor performance...

I do think fans should get behind the team more... we are having an amazing year and now we've hit a bad patch and need the fans behind us...

Man Utd were fairly poor today... draw seems a fair results, it will be hard away from home but i still think we can do it... some pressure should be good for the boys...

[Beefy187]

Least your crowd cares about how the team is playing :sweatdrop:
After all they won't go to the matches if they hate the team

Supporters in Japan may be mighty impressive in their organized cheering. But bad side is that they are there to cheer instead of actually watching the match.. They rarely boo when their team is playing incredibly bad. They will continue the exact same pattern of their cheering no matter how good they are playing or how badly they are losing.

For that, I adore the English fans as they genuinely love their team though sometimes bit of support would be nice for those boys on the field instead of boos.

[Jolt]

Fairly poor? Man Utd are lucky they came out of Old Trafford with a draw. I saw like 3/5 chances created by Man Utd the entire game. Whereas Porto reached the dozens. If anything, the result is unfair for Porto, plus that penalty Hulk suffered that the referee somehow failed to see.

[Jolt]

My fair result would be 3-0 or 4-1 for Porto.

[Beefy187]

My fair result would be 3-0 or 4-1 for Porto.

My.. that bad?

I'm off to see the game on youtube

[naut]

Oh dear.
Quoting Southgate are you?

At this stage I think Wenger would prefer United if we get through. Hulk was,incredible outstanding, so were both López and Rodriguez. Porto have every chance of getting through now.

Adebayor is secretly part of Cirque du Soleil. Great link up play between the big man and Cesc.

[Quintus.JC]

Please let Man Utd through so we can vanquish them personally in the Final. Porto's in a better position to go progress than Utd, Aresnal and Villareal is right about 50 - 50.

Keep on playing in Europe will only have an adverse effect on Man Utd in the Premiership, unfortunately they have got a couple of easy games coming up, and even I can't see them dropping points against Sunderland and Portsmouth. It's all down to the last few weeks.

[Ferret]

:laugh4: like you're going to get to the final after that. I still think Barca will win it.

[LittleGrizzly]

Good news about Liverpool against Chelsea.. if we can get through and they go out it will be extra sweet...

[Jolt]

Isn't it ironic that Ferguson was celebrating in the draw for the Quarters, after being put against Porto, which had won its match against Man Utd the last time they met? Seems like he learns... :P

[naut]

My mouth is watering at the prospect of a Chelsea - Barca tie. That'll be incredibly entertaining.

[coalition]

Soccer sucks!!

AFL is the way to go.

[Beefy187]

Soccer sucks!!

AFL is the way to go.

Well this is a soccer thread so make a AFL thread and talk over there:smash:

[Jolt]

AFL? What's that? In any case, that's why everyone knows what football is and noones knows what AFL is (How much more what it stands for), and that's why there's a thread on Football and no (Visible) thread of any other sports.

[Afonso I of Portugal]

Man Utd is still favourite. However, Porto is strong at home and they never lost to british teams either, and together with first leg result 2-2 that means a hard night is expecting for the mancs...

AFL? American Female (Soccer) League? sounds interesting... :beam:

[Quintus.JC]

Soccer sucks!!

AFL is the way to go.

Very few people talks about the Australian Football League in thread, or are you refering to another sport? :whip:

[Jolt]

Australian Football League

That's what I thought of as well, but since he said "soccer sucks". I also thought about "American Football League", but its called NFL, so... I have no idea what that is.

[Ferret]

Anti-Football League? :laugh4:

[coalition]

Some very funny guessing games going on.

To be fair, the media is so hyped up about Soccer in Australia, I suspect they are even trying to express that the current Australian squad could demolish any English Premier League team.

[Jolt]

...HAHAHAHAHA. That was funny. I bet Man Utd could defeat the top two Australian Teams at the same time. 21 vs 11.

Better yet, I bet Porto could defeat every Australian team at the same time!

[InsaneApache]

Hah Man Utd. arn't that good, now if you to say Newcastle......:laugh4:

[Quintus.JC]

Some very funny guessing games going on.

To be fair, the media is so hyped up about Soccer in Australia, I suspect they are even trying to express that the current Australian squad could demolish any English Premier League team.

Based on that source I'd really like to see AFL be admitted into the Champions' League, the regular presence of the English teams in the last 8 is getting rather annoying... honestly. :no:

[naut]

Based on that source I'd really like to see AFL be admitted into the Champions' League, the regular presence of the English teams in the last 8 is getting rather annoying... honestly. :no:
I hope your being sarcastic. If you look at the periods of Spanish and Italian dominance, this current spell doesn't even compare in the slightest.

Bordeaux move top. Here's to hoping Monaco can do the business against Lyon.

[edyzmedieval]

Let's go Sapunaru! Let's go Sapunaru! Let's go Porto!

[InsaneApache]

Bordeaux move top. Here's to hoping Monaco can do the business against Lyon

Louis must be chuffed to bits. :2thumbsup:

[Jolt]

Let's go Sapunaru! Let's go Sapunaru! Let's go Porto!

Portuguese media and random people were surprised at Sapunaru's exhibition as this was the first game he actually played well (Out of quite a few dozens).

In any case, Porto 3-0 E.Amadora. Porto played half of their reserves, already waiting for the game with Manchester. The european champions are about to be eliminated by (Yet again!) a Portuguese team.

[LittleGrizzly]

The Portuguese were lucky last time... this time luck shall not be on thier side and United shall become the first english team to win at porto!

[Louis VI the Fat]

The French ligue is incredibly tight. Six teams have been within 4/6 points between one another for weeks now. The suspense is unbearable. :skull:

Marseille won their game, to take them ahead again. Lyon is still playing as we speak. (Go Monaco millionaires!)
I sooo dread eternal Lyon, corrupt Marseille, rivals Toulouse, or scumcentral PSG winning this. It must be Bordeaux!

Oh, please, oh please! I've been burning candles and incense every day, begging for forgives for the error of my Godless ways. :sweatdrop:

[Jolt]

The Portuguese were lucky last time... this time luck shall not be on thier side and United shall become the first english team to win at porto!

Hahahaha. You call that lucky? Then I can probably say Man Utd was the luckiest team last year. Man Utd was dominated this last game, and will be equally dominated this forthcoming game.

[naut]

The French ligue is incredibly tight. Six teams have been within 4/6 points between one another for weeks now. The suspense is unbearable. :skull:
[...]
Lyon is still playing as we speak. (Go Monaco millionaires!)
Draw's not a bad result considering the next game. :2thumbsup:

[LittleGrizzly]

I meant they were lucky last time when they went through instead of United...

If anything United were lucky to get the 2-2 at home... i think it will be a different story when we meet at porto's ground on wednesday...

[naut]

Looking at the table and the points gap... 20 points... it's that time again... Happy St Totteringhams Day everyone! ~:cheers:

[Afonso I of Portugal]

I meant they were lucky last time when they went through instead of United...

If anything United were lucky to get the 2-2 at home... i think it will be a different story when we meet at porto's ground on wednesday...

Tickets sold out by now...:sweatdrop: ...i was expecting to get one...:wall:

[InsaneApache]

Salford Red Sox to go out in shock cup exit!

You read it here first. :whip:

[Jolt]

I meant they were lucky last time when they went through instead of United...

If anything United were lucky to get the 2-2 at home... i think it will be a different story when we meet at porto's ground on wednesday...

Yeah tickets are all sold out. It's gonna be one hell of an atmosphere. The way I see it, Man Utd are far from being favorite. 2-0 or 2-1 for Porto. Let's hope O'Shea and Evans play again. They are Porto's best strikers.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Gentlemen, shall we get our bets in for the final stages of the Champions League?

For your convenience, last weeks results:
Barcelona 4-0 Bayern Munich

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Liverpool 1-3 Chelsea

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Man Ure 2-2 FC Porto

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Villarreal 1-1 Arsenal My money's on:

BM - Barca 1-1
Chelsea - L'pool 0-0

Porto - Man Utd 2-2
Arsenal - Villarreal 1-1

I'm struggling with the last two games. Let's make it Arsenal to progress after extra time or penalties, Man Utd to lose in ET or Penalties.

[InsaneApache]

Wouldn't it be just awful if Man Yoo, Chelsea, Redbindippers and the Gooners all go out. I'm sure Platini could find a way. :laugh4:

[Louis VI the Fat]

Wouldn't it be just awful if Man Yoo, Chelsea, Redbindippers and the Gooners all go out. I'm sure Platini could find a way. :laugh4:The Champion League is in danger of becoming a playground for the elite. Akin to an FA Cup with only Premier League participants. A closed shop. Perfectly predictable.

Platini shares my concern over competitive competitions. He's not the only one - note how the US sports competitions are organised to encourage a level playing field. This they manage by an equal distribution of tv money, and their rookie systems. The advantage of US sports is that they are mostly national.

The problem with football is that it is international. Even if national leagues are reorganised to create a more level playing field, there is and can be no international egalisation. One can scarcely deny the Spanish or English the fruits of their being more succesful than others. If anything, they spoil footy fans with great football, owing to their international concentration of talent. Manchester United vs Chelsea, last year's final, was a game of remarkably high level. Liverpool has been spoiling football fans for several years now with some extraordinary European campaigns. Barcelona is mouthwatering.

However, deep down, I think everybody football fan knows what I mean when I say that I'd love a Champions League where a Celtic-Ajax final is a realistic possibility. Scottish forwards without front teeth slugging it out with Dutch technical wizardry.
Likewise, what are the odds of a club like Nottingham Forest ever bursting into the international spotlight again? Of Aston Villa breaking into the English top four?

Football will always have an hierarchy. Some clubs and some countries will necessarily be more succesful than others. This is not the problem. The problem is lack of competetiveness in competitions. This is not a matter of envy, but of considerations of spectator attractiveness.

[naut]

My punt...

Bayern Munich 1 - 2 Barcalona
Chelsea 2 - 1 Liverpool

Porto 1 - 1 Man Utd
Arsenal 2 - 1 Villarreal

[coalition]

Based on that source I'd really like to see AFL be admitted into the Champions' League, the regular presence of the English teams in the last 8 is getting rather annoying... honestly. :no:

You can change to AFL if you can. :laugh4:

[naut]

:bow:

To all you Liverpool fans and for the 96. There would be no better day to make a comeback against Chelsea.

[LittleGrizzly]

BM - Barca 2-2
Chelsea - L'pool 1-2

Porto - Man Utd 1-2
Arsenal - Villarreal 2-1

Let's hope O'Shea and Evans play again. They are Porto's best strikers.

Unfortunatly (for porto) we have ferdinand back and vidic (i think?) thats why im expecting a bit better from Utd this game...

That looks about right to me...

[Rhyfelwyr]

:jawdrop:

The Chelsea-Liverpool game has left me speechless... if Essien had failed to clear that shot on the line with his head after Chelsea's last goal...

[Ferret]

hmmmmm I reckon a shock 4-4 draw at Stamford Bridge and a 1-1 draw in Munich. :clown: Great game in England though, Liverpool came close. Happy birthday btw Rythmic :2thumbsup:

[LittleGrizzly]

Liverpool Chelsea game was Awesome!!

Let me make clear that I absolutely hate liverpool... but i almost wanted them to do just because of how amazing it would have been and almost was, thanks for the entertainment liverpool you did yourselves proud...

[Louis VI the Fat]

I take back everything I said about levelling the playing field of the CL. I am now firmly convinced that the format of the CL needs to be completely overhauled and changed to the 'English Open'. Wherein just the premiership teams and a mere handful of select others compete. :sweatdrop:

What a great game yesterday! Unbelievable. What football was made to be! :2thumbsup:

You've all seen it or thoroughly regret not seeing it by now, so no need to go over all the details. Let me just say that somewhere during the second half I vowed that if Liverpool would win it, I'd change Arsenal for Liverpool as my favourite English team. In fact, I might yet. Blimey, has that team entertained me with their European campaigns the last few years.

Props to Chelsea as well of course. But today, on this important day for the club too, all I can do is to hail God's gift to football:

Allez Liverpool!

[InsaneApache]

Blimey a French scouser. The mind boggles. :dizzy2: :laugh4:

[naut]

Stating the obvious, but Liverpool are much better in the CL. Great game.

[LittleGrizzly]

I take back everything I said about levelling the playing field of the CL. I am now firmly convinced that the format of the CL needs to be completely overhauled and changed to the 'English Open'. Wherein just the premiership teams and a mere handful of select others compete.

Lol

I almost found myself rooting for liverpool despite my hate for them...

Tense, nervy, I only saw the second half and it wasn't a pleasent watch towards the end, but we got through and our defence managed to keep a clean sheet, and we were good second half, maybe a bit better than Porto.

Ronaldo's goal was a stunner!

[Jolt]

Totally undeserved. Porto's subs were bad though.

In other news, in UEFA CL Fantasy Football, my team Gravitas F.C. has qualified to the semi-finals.

https://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu150/Joltie/untitled-3.jpg

[Afonso I of Portugal]

In other news, in UEFA CL Fantasy Football, my team Gravitas F.C. has qualified to the semi-finals.

:laugh4:


Awesome Cristiano Ronaldo's goal (the best one in the CL this season for sure!) put Porto out of business!!!
In the first half, Utd was far superior but in the second Porto could had draw and went through as Utd move back to their defense and was unable to score the second goal...

[naut]

So. Chelsea - Barca. Arsenal - Man U. I couldn't pick the Final.

[LittleGrizzly]

So. Chelsea - Barca. Arsenal - Man U. I couldn't pick the Final.

Thats because your an Arsenal fan ~;)

Chelsea United rerun Grizzly reckons, United to win it again... happy days!

[naut]

I don't think it'll be that straight forward. I can see Barca sneaking past Chelsea. And the other game will come down to who is injured and who is fit.

[LittleGrizzly]

No neither do I, I would predict United to go through over Arsenal and Chelsea to go through over Barca, it will be tough, both games. Was just being flippant (if thats the right word) or cocky maybe (doesn't seem quite right either...)

Edit: I (and anyone else living in UK) has a choice of 3 matches to watch tonight on ITV.com

Man City Vs Hamburg
Marseille Vs Shaktar Donetsk
Udinese Vs Werder Bremen

I like supporting the English boys but to be honest i would rather watch a good game...

In your great footballing opinions which is the best game to watch ?

Im leaning towards the marseille game...

[InsaneApache]

No neither do I, I would predict United to go through over Arsenal and Chelsea to go through over Barca, it will be tough, both games. Was just being flippant (if thats the right word) or cocky maybe (doesn't seem quite right either...)

Edit: I (and anyone else living in UK) has a choice of 3 matches to watch tonight on ITV.com

Man City Vs Hamburg
Marseille Vs Shaktar Donetsk
Udinese Vs Werder Bremen

I like supporting the English boys but to be honest i would rather watch a good game...

In your great footballing opinions which is the best game to watch ?

Im leaning towards the marseille game...

:laugh4: Now who'da thowt it! :laugh4:

[edyzmedieval]

I'm so dissapointed Porto didn't go through. ~:(

Barcelona - Man Utd, my dream final. 2-2 after 90 mins, 2-3 for ManUTD, after penalties, winning one by Giggs.

[LittleGrizzly]

Wow!

What a game!

I take back my insulting comments about not wanting to watch Man City because i wanted to see a good game, it was a great match tense and exciting. As a Man Utd fan I don't think im supposed to but I was cheering my head off for city, the match had everything, a penalty and a sending off and the woodwork hit twice... all for city. They were unlucky, both times they hit the woodwork were from lovely Elano free kicks, they had a few other good chances they could/should have finished as well. Though Ollic should have got the decisive second away goal, a few yards out he put it to close to Given...

Been watching some good football last 3 days... ok maybe not so much the utd one but the other two were great...

Edit: The penalty was harsh on Hamburg though...

[naut]

Diego is a beast.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Diego is a beast.

Diego is a beast. He's managed to miss something like three PK's this year though. But hey they've been doing great in the Cups. Now they just need to beat HSV in both the UEFA Cup and the German Cup. Those are gonna be some crazy games. Go Werder!

[Sarmatian]

No neither do I, I would predict United to go through over Arsenal and Chelsea to go through over Barca, it will be tough, both games. Was just being flippant (if thats the right word) or cocky maybe (doesn't seem quite right either...)

Edit: I (and anyone else living in UK) has a choice of 3 matches to watch tonight on ITV.com

Man City Vs Hamburg
Marseille Vs Shaktar Donetsk
Udinese Vs Werder Bremen

I like supporting the English boys but to be honest i would rather watch a good game...


Good thing you decided to watch the City game. If the current trend continues, you'll only be able to see the English boys when national team plays :laugh4:

[naut]

Good thing you decided to watch the City game. If the current trend continues, you'll only be able to see the English boys when national team plays :laugh4:
Hmmm, I think that's an unfair assessment. Each EPL team has on average 51 registered Englishmen. And a lot of those are youngsters, so personally I'm looking forward to seeing some fantastic players in the future. And I'm sure there will be especially from clubs like Everton, West Ham, Villa, etc, they've all got excellent academies.

[naut]

Comon' you Reds! :balloon:

Edit: We aren't going to win this our defence is rubbish. Saw that coming. Fabiansky is on walkabout and Denilson keeps giving the ball away, useless. Cesc is nowhere to be seen and the defence is so makeshift its taped together with gaffer-tape. What the hell was Wenger's line up? Why Denilson instead of Song? Why no Arshavin? Why take of Ade for Bendy? It's almost as if he didn't want to win the game. He can only have himself to blame, (oh and Denil:daisy: and Fabicrapsky).

Prawn sandwich against Man U again. YAWN. Cardiff Portsmouth was so much better.

Let's go Everton, give me something to look forward to. Other than another Man U Prawnsandwich borefest.

Early Early CL Prediction

Man U 3 - 1 Arsenal
Barca 2 - 1 Chelsea

Arsenal 0 - 1 Man U
Chelsea 1 - 1 Barca

Man U 2 - 2 Barca (ET/Pens)

[Ferret]

I'd agree with that, I think Barca can go all the way, providing their top players stay fit to play, other than Hleb and Bojan I think they have a fairly weak bench.

[naut]

I'm jealous of United, their youngsters are actually good. (Aha, my jinx worked :wink2:)

Edit: Yes! Go you ruddy Evertonians!

[LittleGrizzly]

Gah!

A shame, i only caught extra time, apparently we had a good penalty claim turned down, from what I saw i could go either way with it... so no real complaint there...

Our penalty takers simply weren't good enough... Berbatov's penatly was terrible, from the way the penaltys were taken Everton deserved it...

Takes the edge of it that we can still win the CL and the EPL, if i had to drop one of the three it would be the F.A. cup... is still a shame though...

[naut]

A shame, i only caught extra time, apparently we had a good penalty claim turned down, from what I saw i could go either way with it... so no real complaint there...
Yeh, blatant penalty. Welbeck was brought down in the box by Jagelka. Clear scoring opportunity too.

[naut]

Bump.

Two European anouncements:

Bordeaux 1 - 0 Lyon!

PSV 6 - 2 Ajax!

I'd love to see Dzsudzsák and/or Afelley in a Gunner's shirt.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Bordeaux 1 - 0 Lyon! :knight: :knight: :knight:


1 Marseille 32 64
2 Bordeaux 32 62
3 Lyon 32 60

Six more games. Marseille and Lyon still to play one another.

Oh please, oh please...:sweatdrop:

[LittleGrizzly]

Ohh Arsharvin we do... Ohh Arsharvin we do... Ooohhhh Arsharvin we love you!!

ok not really... but still well done.. come on Arsenal... 4-3 to them minutes to play...

Edit... 2 seconds after i made this post... 4-4 is still a good result from Man Utd's point of view...

[naut]

What a match. Both defences had a nightmare.

[AggonyDuck]

Awesome match! It's nice to see Arshavin in form. :2thumbsup:

[edyzmedieval]

PSV 6 - 2 Ajax!


That was the most shameful defeat I have ever seem. :shame:

[Afonso I of Portugal]

~:eek: Unbelievable! Pepe lost his mind...can't remember a brutal agression like that! he double kick that guy and then punched another one!

Now he should be severely punished!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExmTpuPctIY&feature=related

[edyzmedieval]

~:eek: Unbelievable! Pepe lost his mind...can't remember a brutal agression like that! he double kick that guy and then punched another one!

Now he should be severely punished!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExmTpuPctIY&feature=related

WOAH! I would seriously kick the guy's :daisy: if I would have been a teammate of the kicked guy...

[Jolt]

He was completely out of his mind. And I never saw him do anything violent other then the occasional elbow every Porto's Central Defender always learns to use.

[LittleGrizzly]

Was there some winding up from the striker before the clip shows... the kick seems completely unprovoked and the punches are even worse...

This isn't Zidane red mist descending headbutting this is flat out rage...

[Rhyfelwyr]

What do you guys make of the plan to move the Old Firm to England (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7687273.stm)? Finally I can join in all the ramblings of you Premiership followers!

[Afonso I of Portugal]

He was completely out of his mind. And I never saw him do anything violent other then the occasional elbow every Porto's Central Defender always learns to use.
:laugh4:

Yeah! No doubt he was a good student...:skull:

[InsaneApache]

What do you guys make of the plan to move the Old Firm to England (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7687273.stm)? Finally I can join in all the ramblings of you Premiership followers!

No problem with it here, just as long as they understand that they'd have to start in the Ryman League, you know like MK Dons or FC United. Bet they wouldn't be so keen then. Oh and Phil 'I've got a fax' Gartside should know better.

[naut]

I'm fine with a salary cap. Since Arsenal already has one. :laugh4:

But, two divisions of the EPL just sounds silly. There already are buckloads of divisions. It'll just backfire, and turn out worse for all the teams in EPL2 and ultimately the Championship too. And I agree with you IA, if they want to join they should start where everyone else starts.

It won't work. It'll have severe negative effects money wise for the Championship, they'll stop broadcasting it altogether. Plus since there are only 18 spots, it'll mean even less chance of survival upon promotion to EPL1. The broadcasting industry aren't idiots, EPL2 won't get much coverage what-so-ever, and again all the money will be pumped into EPL1.

[Pannonian]

Was there some winding up from the striker before the clip shows... the kick seems completely unprovoked and the punches are even worse...

This isn't Zidane red mist descending headbutting this is flat out rage...
He didn't just kick the guy twice and punch another Getafe player who intervened. After the guy went down, Pepe went over to him and held him down with one hand and pushed his face into the ground with the other. When the other Getafe players pushed him off, he took the opportunity to trample on the downed player (on the ribs, then on the foot) as he was pushed back. After that came the punch. Then, after the punch, as the players were befuddled by the situation and wondering what to do, Pepe then went over to the downed player again, and punched him in the chest, until Casillas shoved him away and kept shoving him until he was safely away from the scene. Then, as he walked off, he walked up to a linesman, clapped his hands, and allegedly called him a "son of a whore". He continued mouthing off until he was bundled away by Madrid staff.

[Afonso I of Portugal]

The most weird and hilarious goal of all time. It was on a Brazil's lower divisions match and the referee was a woman...one of those kids used to catch the ball's put one of those inside the box...and the referee concede goal!!!~:eek: :jawdrop: :skull:

I just couldn't believe this...:laugh4::laugh4::laugh4:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2kDIBM_9R8&feature=related

[Uesugi Kenshin]

That's probably the worst ruling in the history of soccer.