The Soccer Thread [Archive] - Page 3

loner

11-16-2005, 11:20 AM

Well, Abreu does not have the best international track record, and yeah, players from higher profile leagues will always be considered first. More importantly though, players like Richard Morales, Diego Forlan, Alvaro Recoba, Marcelo Zalayeta and even Dario Silva had done the job for Uruguay before, most notably against Australia in the last time they met. He didn't want to take a risk with lesser known players like Vicente Rodriguez and throw him in the most important game for his nation in 4 years immediately. But yeah, if Rodriguez is doing well he should've gotten a look long before this playoff. Fossati can't add him in now since he didn't want to try any risk, and went with the tried and tested. Whether that's a good decision, you decide.

Abreu just got a bad rep as a player who's disappointed before. It takes a while for national coaches to get over that and start give you another chance. Again, whether that's good or not I cannot say, but that's how it works in the national teams.

A major downfall to Fossati was his bickering with Chevanton. He could've changed the face of the game with a flash of brilliance. Instead Uruguay had to rely on the highly inconsistent and erratic Recoba to deliver, and he predictably didn't.

soundchazer

11-16-2005, 11:37 AM

Trinidad and Tobago won at Bahrain 1-0 and are another one of those going to the World Cup. This will be their first appearance, but they have a very seasoned coach, so I expect them to at least make things difficult for other teams.

Slowly but surely, CONCACAF is getting competitive.

loner

11-16-2005, 12:00 PM

Good on Trinidad & Tobago for beating Bahrain, who was only there because a referee made an idiotic mistake that even I wouldn't make. And a guy from Wrexham scoring the winner...who would've thunk it.

Still, coached by a respected coach or not, they'll still have to work hard just not to get thrashed 4-0 in every game. Bahrain is not even a top level side in Asia, and got through thanks to luck and ultra-defensive mindset. I can't imagine them offering any real challenge to even a half-decent European side like Croatia or Ukraine. CONCACAF is improving, but it's still the second weakest region in the world, only bettering Oceania, which has turned into abberation now.

Marco Streller just scored for Switzerland to make it 3-2. So the Swiss makes it too. Turkey's fall from grace is complete. This is pretty sad for all the Turks living in Germany though. If they had a team there, they would've pretty much enjoyed home advantage every game.

Finnf00

11-16-2005, 12:00 PM

Slowly but surely, CONCACAF is getting competitive.Oh sure, against the likes of Bahrain. I still think there are better teams from Europe NOT making the cut.

soundchazer

11-16-2005, 12:06 PM

Good on Trinidad & Tobago for beating Bahrain, who was only there because a referee made an idiotic mistake that even I wouldn't make. And a guy from Wrexham scoring the winner...who would've thunk it.

Still, coached by a respected coach or not, they'll still have to work hard just not to get thrashed 4-0 in every game. Bahrain is not even a top level side in Asia, and got through thanks to luck and ultra-defensive mindset. I can't imagine them offering any real challenge to even a half-decent European side like Croatia or Ukraine. CONCACAF is improving, but it's still the second weakest region in the world, only bettering Oceania, which has turned into abberation now.

I would like to dispute that. All the Concacaf teams made thru the first round in the last World Cup and ditto for Copa America. I think we are behind UEFA and Conmebol, but better than Asia and in terms of results, getting closer to Africa.

loner

11-16-2005, 12:10 PM

No, Costa Rica didn't. They were third in their group. Mexico and USA did, of course, but they were always heads and shoulders above the rest in their region, and are legitimate contenders in this World Cup. But them and Costa Rica are usually the only CONCACAF sides to stir anything up in the World Cup , with the rest just get pummelled by superior sides from other continents.

Final score: Turkey 4, Suisse 2. Tuncay made things interesting with a late goal to complete a hat trick, but not enough I'm afraid.

soundchazer

11-16-2005, 12:13 PM

No, Costa Rica didn't. They were third in their group. Mexico and USA did, of course, but they were always heads and shoulders above the rest in their region, and are legitimate contenders in this World Cup. But them and Costa Rica are usually the only CONCACAF sides to stir anything up in the World Cup , with the rest just get pummelled by superior sides from other continents.

If that is your logic, then every continent goes through that. Asian sides get pummeled all the time. African teams leave on the first round too.

loner

11-16-2005, 12:26 PM

CONCACAF has 3 decent sides, and the rest simply can't compete. Asia and Africa are not that stronger than CONCACAF, I agree, but they've always produced more sides that can perform better on the world stage. But I concede that's not a good way to look at this. Instead, let's look at the disparity between the top sides and the rest. Asia and Africa are generally more equal in strength, with more teams that can compete with the best in the region. But CONCACAF's qualifiers are very predictable when Mexico and USA are involved. I don't believe they lost to any of the other sides before they are already mathematically qualified (maybe against Costa Rica, but I can't remember). In Oceania right now, we have an Australian team that has the potential to do well in the WC, and have beaten a very good team in South America. But the region is not strong because it has one or two strong teams. Oceania may have a decent side right now, but the rest are just jokes. Likewise, CONCACAF may have a few top teams, but the rest are very far behind.

But whatever. We'll see how Trinidad & Tobago do in this World Cup. This year's WC's qualifiers have produced many debutants, which well make things very interesting.

soundchazer

11-16-2005, 01:01 PM

Uhhh? A good top team? Uruguay? When was the last time they did something worth of notice? 1995 Copa America? With a bunch of teams using under 23 teams?

Finnf00

11-16-2005, 01:06 PM

In Oceania right now, we have an Australian team that has the potential to do well in the WC, and have beaten a very good team in South America. But the region is not strong because it has one or two strong teams. Oceania may have a decent side right now, but the rest are just jokes. Likewise, CONCACAF may have a few top teams, but the rest are very far behind.I remember reading how Australia will be moved to the Asian qualifiers, simply because it easily dominates the Oceanian qulaifying group and thus always gets to the final round of the qualifying. When the Aussies will have to face Iran, Korea, Japan and China, things become more difficult for em.

And SC, Uruguay has to be cosidered a major player simply for their material. It's like saying England doesn't belong among the big teams, simply beacuse they haven't had success in god knows how long.

soundchazer

11-16-2005, 01:10 PM

Well... I also heard about the possibility of either:

A) Move Mexico to the Conmebol
B) Make a unified organization for the Americas.

The first option is kind of dumb. How will you make the area better if lower teams do not compete with more experienced ones?

The second one would be interesting, but a bitch to manage. And even worse, very unsound logistics-wise. Trips from Mexico to Argentina are as lengthy as those from Mexico to Europe

Maca: Uruguay stopped being a player in 1970.

Finnf00

11-16-2005, 01:27 PM

Maca: Uruguay stopped being a player in 1970.As England stopped being a player in '66? Or how Spain has never even really been a player?

soundchazer

11-16-2005, 01:52 PM

As England stopped being a player in '66? Or how Spain has never even really been a player?

No no no... as in "they are a joke and can't beat anyone with a decent team" type.

Please note that they last won the cup in 1950, and I said 1970. I don't know where your England example fits, since they reached quarters and semi finals several times since then.

Finnf00

11-16-2005, 02:20 PM

Please note that they last won the cup in 1950, and I said 1970. I don't know where your England example fits, since they reached quarters and semi finals several times since then.My point was to show that you can't compare national sides just by their success in the World Cup finals. Like take a team like The Czech Republic (Czechoslovakia). They haven't had success in the finals since, well, ever. Yet they're concidered to be one hell of a team in every qualifier. Now I admit that Uruguay haven't played as well as they could given their material, but you have to recognize their international status none the less.

Sorrow-kun

11-16-2005, 02:36 PM

I remember reading how Australia will be moved to the Asian qualifiers, simply because it easily dominates the Oceanian qulaifying group and thus always gets to the final round of the qualifying. When the Aussies will have to face Iran, Korea, Japan and China, things become more difficult for em.It's a significantly easier road than having to face a South American team that's been playing several competitive matches against the best teams from that continent and, as such, has had much more match practice and a better build up.

Finnf00

11-16-2005, 02:49 PM

It's a significantly easier road than having to face a South American team that's been playing several competitive matches against the best teams from that continent and, as such, has had much more match practice and a better build up.It'll have to play well in all of it's qualifying matches now. The opponents are from a different planet, if you compare to the likes of Samoa and Cook Islands (I actually don't know which teams have a national side in Oceania).

soundchazer

11-16-2005, 02:51 PM

* soundchazer shrugs

Uruguay is the type of team that you know will give you a hard time, but you will end up defeating anyway. They seldomly do anything in either the Libertadores or Copa America or World Cup. In Europeans terms, they would probably be the equivalent to Northern Ireland more than the Czech Rep. or Romania.

loner

11-16-2005, 02:53 PM

Uruguay can't beat anybody decent? The entire South American continent is full of decent teams, and to get to 5th you gotta beat some of them. And they did beat Australia to get to 2002, and a team with Mark Viduka, Harry Kewell and Mark Schwarzer is a pretty decent team, as they showed this time around. They are in no way a joke, since they have had top players playing in top leagues consistently. And they didn't completely get ****ed in the last world cup. They lost a close game to Denmark, and drawn France and Senegal. Not too horrible. And winning the Copa America is more than anything teams like Panama, Trinidad and Tobago or even Costa Rica has achieved up to now.

Edit: lol no, they are definitely not Northern Ireland. Venezuela is lightyears ahead of Northern Ireland now, and they finished behind Uruguay. They would be the equivalent of say Denmark or Turkey. Don't underestimate South American teams. How can a team with last year's golden boot winner be compared with a team that's filled with players from the second tier of a league?

But can the 5th ranked team in CONCACAF, which I suppose is Guatemala judging purely from the standings of the qualifiers, compete with any team from South America, or one of the better teams in Asia or Africa, say Saudi Arabia and Senegal?

soundchazer

11-16-2005, 03:15 PM

loner

11-16-2005, 03:23 PM

soundchazer

11-16-2005, 03:36 PM

And Mexico is one of the best sides in the world. And that's just one team. Look at Brazil or Argentina's record against them.

You can't really judge how good a team is just by looking at their record vs. Mexico :p

You are right... we have tied or won against Brazil the last 9 official matches and I don't think we have a better team than them. ;)

Finnf00

11-16-2005, 03:37 PM

They seldomly do anything in either the Libertadores or Copa America or World Cup. Since they won the Copa America in 95, they've been second (99), fourth (01) and third (04). I think that's quite an impressive track record from recent years.

But whatever, I'm not going to continue arguing over Uruguay. If you don't fancy them, fine. I still think they're better than some of the teams who've already reached the 2006 World Cup finals.

Datsun

11-17-2005, 12:26 AM

I think a draw for Uruguay and Australia over 2 legs was pretty indicative of the comparable strengths of both nations, though I think comparing Uruguay with Northern Irelands going a bit far, but I think I see where you're coming from in bagging them SC. They were fairly toothless against Australia, though full credit does have to go them for suffocating Uruguay in midfield.

Although Pablo Garcia and Diogo (who actually got better as the game got on) are part of Real Madrid it's clear to see they're sort of like advanced squad members to paper over the cracks of such horrendous players like Pavon and Bravo. Zayaleta showed a glimpse of his class, but the most impressive player for them was Lugana, whom I must admit I don't know much about. Everyone else in the team was practically useless, especially at retaining any meaningful possession, though they still managed to squeeze out a stubborn draw. Recoba has to be one of the most infuriatingly inconsistent players around.

They were simply outclassed by everyone in the Aussie side, of whom the worst player looked like Emerton who didn't quite seem in tune with his team mates. Everyone else though looked rather good in fact.

But as I alluded to before, I think on paper, Australia and Uruguay are pretty much as strong as each other - above average, but nothing spectacular.

loner

11-17-2005, 02:24 AM

I think his name is Lugano. He plays in Brazil for Santos I believe. And yeah Emerton has always been a lurker. I know that all too well as a Blackburn fan >_>

So here's the final list of teams qualified for WC 06
Europe: Germany(host), England, France, Italy, Holland, Portugal, Serbia & Montenegro, Ukraine (D), Sweden, Croatia, Poland, Spain, Czech Republic (D) and Switzerland
South America: Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador and Paraguay
Africa: Tunisia, Togo (D), Ghana (D), Angola (D) and Ivory Coast (D)
Asia: Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Iran
CONCACAF: USA, Mexico, Costa Rica and Trinidad & Tobago (D)
Oceania: Australia

Debutants marked with D. There are 7 of them, with 4 coming from Africa. There will be lots of unknown qualities who will spring a surprise or two. So far, I'm looking forward to Ivory Coast and Australia ringing a surprise or two. I also have high hopes for Iran, which has assembled one of the classiest and most flamboyant Asian side I've ever seen.

darylcrowe

11-17-2005, 04:39 AM

No no no... as in "they are a joke and can't beat anyone with a decent team" type.

Please note that they last won the cup in 1950, and I said 1970. I don't know where your England example fits, since they reached quarters and semi finals several times since then.
Yeah like my country (northern ireland) beating them, that was a brillaint day.

Finnf00

11-17-2005, 05:52 AM

So far, I'm looking forward to Ivory Coast and Australia ringing a surprise or two. Anyone who's familiar with the French league knows what kind of talent Ivory Coast can boast. Drogba is but the tip of the iceberg of quality players in that side.

loner

11-17-2005, 02:46 PM

I don't even consider Drogba to be Ivory Coast's best striker right now. The player I'm really excited about is Bakary Kone, who plays for Nice in the Ligue 1. He was the top scorer in the second division in France last season, and is doing a fine job scoring for Nice. He's a really exciting player IMO, and should have the chance to break out in the WC. The star of the team, without a doubt, though, is Bonaventure Kalou, who's a playmaker extraordinaire and score ample amount of goals too. Too bad his brother Salomon wants to play for Holland rather than Ivory Coast. S. Kalou + Drogba, with Kone and Aruna as their backup will be a pretty decent strike force.

Finnf00

11-17-2005, 03:06 PM

Checked out that guy in their midfield, Zokora? He's a real rhino. Using an old expression: "once he gets his diesel up and running, he'll run 'til sunrise if he has to". Very skilled too.

loner

11-17-2005, 03:21 PM

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=349380&cc=5901

Well, they are the sorest losers I've ever seen. They somehow managed to cheat out of a result that went against them thanks to a decision that was going AGAINST them, and now they want to do this kind of shit again? Just accept that you lost and move on. I've never liked Bahrain, but now they've become one of my most detested national team ever.

Maca: You mean the guy who plays for St.Etienne? Yeah, he's one of the most underrated players in the French Ligue 1 right now. And there's another player I forgot about: Arouna Kone, who plays for PSV. He's fast and tricky as hell, and scored loads of goals for Roda JC. His finishing is not perfect, but he scores some very pretty goals.

Benny_

11-18-2005, 11:59 PM

Nice to see this thread so alive and well. I remember back in the days when the thread would die after one day of loner and I not posting.

Very happy about the result for Australia. Hopefully I'll get to see one of their group games next year in Germany.

darylcrowe

11-19-2005, 02:10 AM

loner

11-19-2005, 03:19 AM

It's the end of an era. No more Keano at Man Utd.

Yeah, he was stupid to say that shit. Yeah, they have a reason to dump. That doesn't mean they should dump him, not when he's best successor used to be a striker not so long ago.

Kamikaze[NOR]

11-19-2005, 09:24 AM

Keane was important for Utd, but the guy's a jerk all over, for instance he ruined Haaland's career and gave him problems for life.
When u critisice ur own club and players while ur injured, he shows that his morale is below crap and i fully support united for dumping him.
Btw, when was he a striker?

loner

11-19-2005, 12:10 PM

He was not a striker. His SUCCESSOR in his position, Alan Smith used to be, and actually still is as striker. Please read more carefully.

Yes, he is not the nicest chap in the world, but he makes Man Utd a winner. For all his hijinks, he drives his team to keep on winning. It also helps that he is one of the best in his position, wins the ball in the midfield for his team and give them countless chances to win. Just look at this: his latest outburst brought condemnation from the top levels of the club, but in the next game United somehow found the will to beat Chelski, who looked undefeatable just a week ago in the league. Moreover, the player who scored, Darren Fletcher, was one of those that he criticized. His influence on the team is almost on par with Sir Alex.

Anyways, bottomline is this: you don't sack your captain halfway through the season and expect good things. They beat Charlton today, and good on them, but once the going gets tough again, Man Utd won't have anybody to inspire them and lead them out of the slump.

Kamikaze[NOR]

11-19-2005, 01:36 PM

Sry for my mistake.

First of all, even though Fletcher scored the goal against Chelscum, he played awful, also all of the players he critisiced was relatively young and thats not good, young players who haven't been in the game doesn't need that kind of criticism.
A man who criticizes his team and teammates that way shouldn't be captain at all, i think a guy like Ferdinand or maybe van der Sar should be their captain now, van der Sar has got experience that none of his teammates can compare with, and Ferdinand is a natural leader on the field, just watch when he plays, just like King on Spurs.

Benny_

11-26-2005, 02:33 AM

Rest in peace, Georgie Best. I'm far too young to have ever seen you play, but yours is a legend that transcends club rivalry. A tragic hero to the entire footballing world.

Datsun

11-26-2005, 03:38 PM

The main thing about George Best is that he's held in the same esteem as the likes of Pele, Maradonna, Cruyff and Di Stefano... but it seems like he never quite fulfilled his potential... which quite frankly is frightening (apparantly). I say apparantly, because I've only seen fleeting images of only some of these guys - these guys will go down in folklore, which is a shame really, because as you may have alluded to Benny it would have been fantastic to see these legends at a live football match.

R.I.P George Best

loner

11-26-2005, 03:55 PM

George Best is like Garrincha: someone who is great, who has the potential to be greater, but was bogged down by their personal problems that they became the same. In a way he's even worse than Garrincha: the latter enjoyed football that while his personal life was a mess, at least he derived great joy from his football; the former however seems to let his personal miseries to carry over to the pitch, in that he never enjoyed his game as much as we enjoyed watching him. It's a shame. He could've so much more. He was made to be like Pele, Maradona, Cruyff, Di Stefano and Puskas, but never made it as his popularity murdered his talent.

If only we can see him reach his true potential. There's no bounds to where that may take him. But for now, we have footages of his dazzling skills against Benfica to savour.

RIP Best. You are truly one of the Best.

soundchazer

12-06-2005, 09:13 AM

Well... the seeds for the final draw for next year's World Cup have been announced:

Brazil, England, Spain, Mexico, France, Argentina, Italy and Germany.

loner

12-06-2005, 12:29 PM

Yes SC, so you probably will end up with a pretty easy group, unless you end up with Holland or Portugal, Paraguay and Serbia and Montenegro. That'll provide some fun games though.

So yeah, draws' are on Friday. These are the other pots:

The second pot will contain Australia, the five African finalists: Ghana, Ivory Coast, Tunisia, Angola and Togo, plus the two lower ranked South American teams Ecuador and Paraguay.

The third pot will comprise eight European teams: Croatia, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and Ukraine.

The fourth pot will comprise four Asian teams: Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and the three remaining from CONCACAF Costa Rica, Trinidad & Tobago and the United States.

A special pot will contain only Serbia & Montenegro, the lowest ranked European team, who will be placed in a group including either Brazil, Argentina or Mexico.

punkusa20_2001

12-06-2005, 12:38 PM

does anyone know why becham left mu years ago? I could never find a reason, so if someone coudl update me i would apprec

soundchazer

12-06-2005, 12:50 PM

Yes SC, so you probably will end up with a pretty easy group, unless you end up with Holland or Portugal, Paraguay and Serbia and Montenegro. That'll provide some fun games though.

Paraguay I'm not scared of. We have been pretty successful against them lately. The European teams are the ones that worry me. Mexico tends to suck whenever we face good European teams.

Worst case scenario would be getting Holland or Portugal AND Serbia and Montenegro

I'm just excited at the fact that for the first time ever, we are one of the 8 seeds

loner

12-06-2005, 01:39 PM

does anyone know why becham left mu years ago? I could never find a reason, so if someone coudl update me i would apprec

That's a LONG time ago. He left because Sir Alex kicked a shoe at him, and was benched towards the end of the season, and of course because he thinks Real Madrid is a bigger and better club and he will win more cups there. And Manchester United sold him to get rid of the huge media baggage that he carries around, which is crushing the entire team.

So far, it's been a pretty bad move for him. Real have won jack shit since he came, and is getting worse and worse. Sacking Luxemburgo IMO is a pretty idiotic thing to do. Yeah he's not doing well, but name me someone who is available right now that can do better than him. At least he has the respect of the Brazilian gang, and can get them to play. I seriously doubt the youth team coach that they installed as temporary manager right now will get the likes of Ronaldo, Robinho and Roberto Carlos to listen to him. They should've fired Luxemburgo at the end of the season, then find someone like Capello.

Benny_

12-07-2005, 02:40 AM

It was a pretty lousy move for United as well.

Liverpool top the toughest group in the Champions League and up to 3rd in the league. W00t!

loner

12-09-2005, 12:42 PM

World Cup final draw!

So...
Group A: Germany, Costa Rica, Poland, Ecuador
Group B: England, Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago, Sweden
Group C: Argentina, Ivory Coast, Serb & Mon., Holland
Group D: Mexico, Iran, Angola, Portugal
Group E: Italy, Ghana, USA, Czech Rep.
Group F: Brazil, Croatia, Australia, Japan
Group G: France, Switzerland, South Korea, Togo
Group H: Spain, Ukraine, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia

Datsun

12-09-2005, 12:54 PM

Damn, I was gonna post the draw, but I guess I'll let you do the honours Loner.

Man, Germany has the biggest armchair ride since, well, World Cup 2002.

In some ways the groups of death, C and E have a look of sameness about them. The 2 strongest african nations coupled with the 2 unseeded european teams no-one wanted to face, and then probably next 2 strongest teams from the 4th pots. Great stuff.

I'm actually looking forward to our neighbours (Aussies) playing Brasil.

edit: Actually, Spain seems to have a relatively easy draw as well, coz now it looks like Ukraine has a decent chance of getting through.

darylcrowe

12-09-2005, 01:26 PM

My predictions for moving past Group stages (1st,2nd)

A: Germany, Poland
B: England, Sweden
C: Holland, Argentina
D: Portugal, Mexico
E: Italy, Czech Republic
F: Brazil, Australia (hey i like an underdog)
G: France, South Korea
H: Spain, Ukraine

loner

12-09-2005, 01:39 PM

Ahem, post draw analysis:

Group A: Yeah, like Datsun said, Germany should coast this, and they have no excuse not to. Poland is one of those mediocre European sides that always take care of the crappy Euro teams, but fall to mightier foes. Costa Rica is a decent CONCACAF team but too inexperienced against the best teams in the world. Ecuador can't win in any altitude below 2000m.

Group B: A pretty tough group for England IMO. Sweden are their perennial nemesis who they can never beat, and Paraguay has a knack of reach the round of 16. Both are tough sides to beat, but I think England should make it past Paraguay at least. T&T are just here to party.

Group C: The Group of Death. Argentina and Holland's last world cup meeting resulted in Bergkamp's wonder goal, perhaps his last great moment as a Dutch international. I think this Dutch team is even better than the one in 98. Marco van Basten have found a way to cure the Dutch's Achilles' heel: that they are a bunch of overpaid superstars with too much ego and no teamwork. It's a simple approach really: ditch the big names and pick guys no one knows but can play as a great team who beats everybody. Nobody knows what to expect from them, and they always find a way to win. Meanwhile, the Serbs are one of the best defensive teams in Europe, and teams like them usually frustrate Argentina to no end. Ivory Coast is the best team in Africa at the moment, with loads of talented young stars playing in Europe's top leagues, and is also a force to be reckoned with. I think Holland will probably win this group, and Argentina will pull through, but it's anyone's guess who will make it out really.

Group D: A pretty tough group in disguise. As SC have repeatedly shown us, Mexico are a pretty damn good team, and they played well in the Confederations Cup. However, Portugal is the most impressive Euro team in the qualifiers IMO, and Scolari have made this side an amazing attacking force that plays exciting football. They need to ditch their underperformer tag in WCs, but I think they can do it given the amount of talent they have, and of course their coach who won the last WC. Iran meanwhile is the best Asian side to emerge in a long time, and yes I think this team is even better than the Korean team in the last WC. Ali Karimi is an amazing player who is getting it done at Bayern, and Mahdavidkia's pace and skills can match the best wingers in the world. I believe they have the potential to cause an upset. Angola did beat Nigeria to get through, but unfortunately for them they won't go far IMO.

Group E: Another tough group. Italy has been playing better since Lippi took over, but scoring is a problem for them despite all the attacking talent they have. Scoring, however, is NOT a problem for the Czechs, one of the dark horses in this tournament. They look wobbly in the qualifiers, but that's because they were w/o Nedved. Once Pavel came back, they won their playoff with Norway with minimum fuss, never giving the Scandinavians any chance. US will have their work cut out to take on these two teams, but they have the players to do it. IMO they should just include Freddy Adu as an X-factor and energizer. Ghana is not to be taken lightly, with Michael Essien driving them on. They might cause a shock or two, when all the attentions are diverted towards the other 3.

Group F: Brazil gets a reasonably easy group, and will make the round of 16. Croatia is a decent team, but not the force they used to be, and have not done much since 98, when Suker, Boban and Prosinecki were in full force. Australia is coached by Hiddink, and are desperate to do something in the WC since they spent so much effort in getting here, so they are a team to watch. But Japan are the real competitor for Brazil, and it'll be fun for Brazilian legend Zico to lead the Japanese against his native country. I think Brazil and Japan will go through here.

Group G: Easy group for France, if they can take this opportunity. But the last group they were in in the WC was supposed to be easy too, and they somehow ended up dead last. It would be really embarrasing if they can't beat Switzerland and Togo though. South Korea will again make the round of 16 with France, and might even take top spot if France flops again.

Group H: Weakest group of all. Even the perennial underachiever Spain will find it hard not to get out of this group. Tunisia and Saudi Arabia's recent track records in WCs are horrendous, although Tunisia might have become better with a Brazilian striker (...). Ukraine, I mean Shevchenko F.C., will be tougher to beat, because of, well, Shevchenko. But if Spain beat Shevchenko in the first game, the rest of the games should be easy.

So in short, predictions:
A: Germany, Poland
B: Sweden, England
C: Holland, Argentina
D: Portugal, Mexico (on goal difference)
E: Czech Rep., Italy
F: Brazil, Japan
G: France, South Korea
H: Spain, Ukraine

soundchazer

12-09-2005, 01:40 PM

My predictions:

A: Germany, Poland: Easy... Costa Rica is not in their best WC form. Their team is one of the most vulnerables in recent qualifiers. Ecuador doesn't seem to have the players to make it happen this time around. Their best player has already retired (Aguinaga)

B: England, Paraguay: Close group. Sweden would have been my choice but England brings probably their best team since 1990. Paraguay will be an eyesore for both European teams. They proved it by being an eyesore to Brazil and Argentina in the Conmebol qualifiers. Trinidad & Tobago will keep the games close, due to coaching, but do not have the players to make it to the next level.

C: Holland, Argentina: Tough group. Holland has their best team since the 1988 UEFA cup (where Van Basten and Gullit shined as players). argentina has enough quality to make it out alive, but probably not on first place. Messi will be an X Factor for them. The Serbs are a big question mark. We know they can defend well, but will they be able to score enough goals? Cote D'Ivoire has indeed a lot of quality, but as far as I remember, most of their players play in a subpar French league. It didn't stop Senegal 3 years ago though, although a repeat performance seems unlikely.

D: Mexico, Portugal: I know people will call me a homer, but of all the European teams Mexico could have gone against, this is one that I think is better suited for us. Mexico's biggest problem with European teams is physical presence and rythm of play. Portugal, like Italy and France, depend more on ball control. and Mexico seems to fare well in those type of matches (tied with Italy twice in the last 3 World Cups). Also, Mexico has already won matches in Copa America against Scolari, so they know how to get it done. Having said that, Portugal is probably in the best shape they have been since the Euro 2000, so they will be a great oponent. Iran has good players, but they seem to be lousy at winning outside of their country, losing even to teams like Jordan. Same problem with Angola... always dependent of their home matches.

E: Italy, Czech Republic: If there is any group where I think anything could happen, it would be this one. Seems to be the most evenly matched. No picnic for anyone. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the group where goal difference will determine who goes to the best of 16. The way Italy plays their first rounds, I wouldn't be surprised if they are eliminated.

F: Brazil, Croatia:This was a close one. Japan proved in the Condeferations Cup that it could play with the big boys, but had problems scoring, and I don't see them fixing this soon. I think Australia could be more of a spoiler here, but I think they have enough playmakers to make it happen.

G: France, South Korea: This one is the easiest to figure out. Togo is the weakest of the African teams and Switzerland is... well... Switzerland. I would be surpised if France and SK do not make it. It would have to be a total meltdown.

H: Ukraine, Tunisia (With Aragones as the coach, Spain will go nowhere). Ok... so I may be stretching it a little. Tunisia has proven before they are not devoid of possibilities to scare someone. Saudi Arabia has yet to repeat what they did in 1994. They have been embarrasing in International competitions ever since. If Spain goes on, it would be DESPITE Aragones. They certainly do not have one of their best teams ever. Blame it on the foreign studded Liga Española.

loner

12-09-2005, 01:46 PM

Finnf00

12-09-2005, 02:00 PM

Brazil face Croatia in their opening match. Now if the Brazilians come with the slightest bit of arrogance into this gme, they might find themselves in a whole lot of trouble with the Balkans. Which means Croatia might actually be quite a strong contender to move on from this group.

In group C I don't see the Argentinians as automatic qualifiers. Both the Serbs and the Ivorians have some really physical players in their lineups and might cause some serious concerns for the two favorites. I see this group as being the most even of all.

In group G Switzerland is a team to be reckoned with. They played some excellent football in the qualifyers, and will surely challenge France for the top spot.

Who do I fancy to win this World Cup? Well, the Czechs definately got what it takes, so they'd be my nr. 1 pick. Of course the Brazilians and the English will prolly be among the top teams as well. And the hosts Germany of course. As far as the black horse of this tourney? I'd probably say the Ukraine. I also fancy the Serbs, who with a few good results, might even go through to the semi's and god know what happens then. A very strong defence can help a physical side like Serbia & Montenegro pull a "Greece" on the bigger sides. Who knows.

soundchazer

12-09-2005, 02:18 PM

Spain is coached by Luis Aragones, not Javier Clemente. And c'mon Tunisia has never done anything in World Cups, and lucked out in the African Cup on their home turf. Ukraine is a one-man team. Spain haven't lost under Aragones, and I can't see these three have any chance. Of course, unless they choke on historic proportion. I, uh, won't totally rule that out.

More credit to Sweden please. I think they can actually take England out.

Sorry... I was thinking of the OTHER Spanish coach that sucks.

As for Sweden, They went against Malta, Hungary and Croatia. If Croatia is mediocre, and they lost twice against them, what does that say of Sweden?

loner

12-09-2005, 02:30 PM

soundchazer

12-09-2005, 02:33 PM

You can't look at qualifiers solely to see the strength of teams. Brazil lost to Ecuador, so does that make Ecuador a better side? Sweden is tight, very disciplined team that South American teams always have trouble with. They also always have the upper hand against England. With players like Ibrahimovic and Ljungberg, it would be stupid to rule them out, especially considering that Paraguay weren't all that great in the qualifiers either.

Yeah, but Brazil didn't lose twice. Swede does have good players, and they do have a good chance of making it to the second round, but I think aside from Ibrahimovic and Ljungberg, Paraguay has better players man per man and the always solid and staunch defense.

C0MPL3X

12-10-2005, 12:21 AM

They were mass celebrating in Korea here. Claiming we practically made it to 16 (which I hope we do). And there are a lot of people betting that we can make it to top 4 again.

Yer...I don't know the chance of that but...hey its nice to see people with so high hope.

haha...Korea's coach was literally laughing when he saw our name as the last participant in that group...

loner

02-26-2006, 02:16 PM

SO...so....footy is gettin exciting again, with the Champions League really kicking into gear. Arsenal shocked me with that performance against Real Madrid. Considering their shitty away record, I thought they'd get creamed in Bernabeu. But Real's new coach's grace period has suddenly ended in that game, and Henry's goal was breathless. Luckily, the Arse got back to their regular away day misery, and Gamst Pedersen, who must be named the Goliath slayer of the Premiership, gave Rovers yet ANOTHER big upset. Oh wait, this isn't an upset. We are above Arsenal in the standings :P

As for the other CL matches, it was an emotional day for a Werder fan. I had no idea we had it in us to beat Juventus. While I'm supporting the latter team to cream the Milans in the Serie A, I certainly hope Werder, with a fully fit Klose now, can sneak a tie in Turin a la Liverpool. Who knows? Liverpool did it, why can't we?

Chelsea vs. Barcelona showed what a ****ing bitch that Mourinho is. Del Horno hacked Messi down with a clumsy challenge, and the ref had the right to give a red card. So STFU. And I tip my hat to Doctor SC. Messi is a genius. I never would've guessed he would develop this fast. But nowadays, young players jump from youth teams to national teams in just a few months. Messi has turn into a national team long shot to a definite starter and arguably the star turn of the team. Tournaments like the World Cup are the playing ground of young talents like him, Rooney and Robinho. Expect to see them excel.

Yurika Star

05-08-2006, 11:21 PM

The Premiership 2005/2006.

Team of the year: Tottenham or Blackburn Rovers in my opinion. Both teams qaulified for Europe and were fighting for the Champions league spot. It all went wrong for Spurs due to an odd food poisoning case and Blackburns lack of qaulity upfront, and depth, finaly got to them in the last month. For me it goes to Rovers, they were fighting relegation last year, alot of people expected them to have a bad year instead they qaulified for UEFA Cup comfortably. They beat Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United twice and had an amazing game against Spurs in which they played far better.

I expected them to qaulify, but that may just have been a fans hopes. As for Spurs, I knew they were going to have atleast a UEFA place. Manchester United and Liverpool were both qaulity but that was expected. Arsenal were lacking up until the end of the season. Charlton, Bolton, Westham and Wigan all played superbly this year, but the final push alluded them all as the sqauds got worn down.

Biggest dissapointment: Chelsea or Middlesborough. Chelsea for the lack of flair they had this season and Borough for there over-all performance this season, they were a team I expected to challenge. I'm not counting there UEFA run in my desision ;p

Player of the year: Roo-nal-do. That's Rooney >_> Just behind are Bellamy, Joe Cole and Carragher.

Manager of the year: Mark Hughes.

Shocking event of the year: Keane's abrupt departure.

Story of the year:

loner

05-09-2006, 01:49 AM

Well, you can't really fault Chelsea for their lack of flair, since Mourinho and flair obviously don't mix well. It wasn't really much of a disappointment to me, as I expected this.

Heh, a little Rovers bias there, but I don't think anyone can argue that what Mark Hughes has done this season has been anything but excellent. His track record of signings is impeccable so far. This summer we signed Bellamy, Kuqi, Khizanishvili and Bentley, with Sinama joining in winter. Bellamy was one of the best players in the EPL this season, Khizanishvili is versatile and proved to be a solid defensive help, and Kuqi worked his butt off all season. Bentley and Sinama were less impressive, but both have dazzled at certain points and helped the team out. Compared to Souey's signings such as De Pedro, Amoruso and Stead, these players actually earned their wages in Blackburn.

West Ham deserve a mention too for their consistent effort throughout the season. Charlton and Man City faded badly in the last few weeks while Wigan's season also kinda petered out, but West Ham have always done their best every game. Alan Pardew deserves a lot of credit of attracting players like Benayoun to the club and developing Nigel Reo-Coker to a potential English national team player. It'll be awkward for him to see his old club Reading come up next year though.

Biggest disappointment for me was Birmingham. Their decline was rather tragic. When saved themselves from relegation when everyone thought they were going down and shown a lot of spirit, but all that spirit disappeared when people believe they can start to become a force in the Premiership. They story is similar to Southampton's in a way. They play their best game when everyone thinks they suck.

I would've said Middlesbrough if not for their UEFA Cup run. That doesn't make up for their dismal record in the league, but at least they are doing something right. I wouldn't mind if my club is in the lower strata of the standings if it can win a continental silverware, something which is almost non-existent in their cabinet until that League Cup win.

Player of the Year: Hmmm, I'd say it's the metatursal boy. He's been the driving force of Man Utd all season, and has been consistently impressive. Bellamy deserves a mention, as does Jamie Carragher. I think it's about time Carragher wins something for the work he puts in every game.

Manager of the Year: Mark Hughes or Alan Pardew. Martin Jol deserve credit for adopting a team-first mentality and managing to make the eternally-underachieving Spurs team actually achieving something. But I can't say he is doing a better job than Hughes and Pardew when he can name Edgar Davids in the lineup and put Defoe on the bench.

Shocking event of the year: Curbishley stepping down. I suppose you can see it coming with his application for the England top job, but he's been with Charlton forever that I can't imagine that team with another coach. I fear for Charlton next year, since I doubt they can find another coach that knows this team so well and can make them play exactly how they should play like Curbs can.

Story of the year: Wigan's season has more plot twists than your average Gonzo anime. It's a sad ending though with Bullard and Chimbonda, two stalwarts who carried the team, all leaving or going to leave. Sunderland's season would make a decent tragedy.

Finnf00

05-09-2006, 07:58 AM

The Premiership 2005/2006.

Team of the year: Tottenham or Blackburn Rovers in my opinion. Let's give it up for Reading too, right? Premiership qualifying. Heh, Mei and PSJ can die happily now.

UZ_white

05-09-2006, 06:24 PM

Sandess flows through me! My poor Glasgow Celtic suffered at the hands of the damned Man U. Reds!!

Garg... Ima go cry now.

Benny_

05-23-2006, 08:10 AM

Well, you can't really fault Chelsea for their lack of flair, since Mourinho and flair obviously don't mix well. It wasn't really much of a disappointment to me, as I expected this.

Mourinho mixes extremely well with flair, it's just too bad he hogs all the flair for the post match interviews and leaves nothing for what's on the field. They might do something different if they bring in a genuinely world class forward like Sheva though..unlikely though

Heh, a little Rovers bias there, but I don't think anyone can argue that what Mark Hughes has done this season has been anything but excellent. His track record of signings is impeccable so far. This summer we signed Bellamy, Kuqi, Khizanishvili and Bentley, with Sinama joining in winter. Bellamy was one of the best players in the EPL this season, Khizanishvili is versatile and proved to be a solid defensive help, and Kuqi worked his butt off all season. Bentley and Sinama were less impressive, but both have dazzled at certain points and helped the team out. Compared to Souey's signings such as De Pedro, Amoruso and Stead, these players actually earned their wages in Blackburn.

Yep, Hughes has way, way surpassed my wildest expectations for Blackburn, I seriously thought you guys would've been battling relegation again. Kudos to him for sure.

West Ham deserve a mention too for their consistent effort throughout the season. Charlton and Man City faded badly in the last few weeks while Wigan's season also kinda petered out, but West Ham have always done their best every game. Alan Pardew deserves a lot of credit of attracting players like Benayoun to the club and developing Nigel Reo-Coker to a potential English national team player. It'll be awkward for him to see his old club Reading come up next year though.

Great to see not 1 but 2 promoted teams stay up for once. Then again, considering Sunderland's record in the top flight, and West Brom's, it's probably not too surprising. Fantastic efforts by Wigan and West Ham though.

Biggest disappointment for me was Birmingham. Their decline was rather tragic. When saved themselves from relegation when everyone thought they were going down and shown a lot of spirit, but all that spirit disappeared when people believe they can start to become a force in the Premiership. They story is similar to Southampton's in a way. They play their best game when everyone thinks they suck.

I would've said Middlesbrough if not for their UEFA Cup run. That doesn't make up for their dismal record in the league, but at least they are doing something right. I wouldn't mind if my club is in the lower strata of the standings if it can win a continental silverware, something which is almost non-existent in their cabinet until that League Cup win.

I'd say Boro in spite of their UEFA cup run. They have a squad that should on paper, challenging Spurs for 5th, but somehow they managed to completely choke. Incredible decision by the FA not to make more of an effort to pick up Hiddink, Scolari or even O'Neill, now they're stuck with another pathetically useless English manager to handle England's talented generation until (you'd think) at least Euro 2008.

Player of the Year: Lampard was unplayable in the early part of the season, but fell away badly half way through. In all competitions, it'd be between Henry, Gerrard and Terry. In the Premiership alone it's probably Rooney, yeah. Would've been interesting to see how Sir G&T would have treated Van Nistelrooy had Rooney been missing for more matches in the season. I'm guessing that even if Van Nistelrooy had played though, they would've dropped away badly without Rooney.

Manager of the Year: Mark Hughes or Martin Jol. I still remain amazed at how much money Spurs have though. Their pockets seem to be as deep as Arsenal's or Liverpool's, if not deeper. He certainly does spend it wisely though. Mido is one of the best loan deals a Premiership outfit has made in recent years while Davids, Lennon and Lee have all been exceptional signings as well. I'm sure Berbatov will be a hit too... the battle for the 4th spot will be very interesting next year indeed. Arsenal may still edge it (I'm hoping Liverpool will take another step up to second at least next year), but Spurs are closing in fast.

Shocking event of the year: Fowler returns to Liverpool, and returns to amazing form! With Rooney injured he wouldn't have been out of place amongst the English strikers in Germany.

Story of the year: Newcastle breaks club record to buy Owen with a buy out clause of £12m if they don't make it to Europe. They duly fail to make anything but the Intertoto Cup, thanks to Roeder's revival

Team of the year:

--------------Reina
Finnan----Terry----Gallas----Carra
-------------------------------------
Gerrard--------Makelele-------Fabregas
-------Rooney-----------Henry-------
----------------RvN-----------------

Subs: Lehmann, Lampard, Sissoko, Gamst-Pederson, Bellamy, A.Ferdinand

Gallas to play in the centre with Terry because a Carra-Terry partnership would be too slow, and Carra was an exceptional LB when he played there in the past.. better than all the other Premier League LBs this season anyhow. The first XI selects itself really. Reina with the most cleansheets and second least goals conceded. A toss up between Finnan and Neville for RB, but Liverpoool bias gets Finnan there. If there's anything the PL has had an abundance of, it's great CMs, I've decided to go with Gerrard, Makelele and Fabgregas.. a tad controversial to leave Lampard on the bench, but with that sort of striking triumverate upfront, his goals wouldn't really be needed, and Fabregas is a better all round player... the forwards are fairly self explanatory.

loner

05-23-2006, 03:15 PM

My team of the season would'nt be too different from yours. I'd put Neville instead of Finnan, and replace Gamst Pedersen with Reo-Coker or Steven Reid since Morten faded towards the end of the season. I'd find a place for Michael Dawson, Michael Carrick and Aaron Lennon somewhere. Between Van Nistelrooy and Bellamy is a toss-up. The former sat most of the latter half of the season on the bench, while the latter missed most of the first half of the season due to injury. But when they have been playing, they've been excellent.

Yeah it's hard. A lot of talented midfielders coming through this year. And more will come with Ballack already joining Chelsea's midfield (WHY? WHY ANOTHER CENTER MIDFIELDER???????) and Czech's brittle-as-glass maestro Rosicky going to Ashburton Grove.

And I'll give my evaluation on Boro I guess. I sorta expected this coming. They made one good signing in Yakubu. The rest of the team is not nearly as talented as Spurs'. Hasselbaink, Parlour, Viduka, Mendieta, Ehiogu, Southgate, Boateng and Doriva, who make up the spine of their team, are all above 30, and they showed their age last season despite a good performance. Pogatetz and Rochemback are notoriously inconsistent, and McClaren probably made up his decision to sign them after seeing a good performance or two from them. Xavier is even worse. They did so well last season because their youngsters unexpectedly came through and did a fantastic job. One defining feature of many young players is that they are inconsistent and once thrusted into the spotlight they'll eventually flop for a while. That happened with Downing, Morrison and McMahon. If you add all those factors together, you get Boro's season.

A young player will become a good player if he can stand up after falling down and start to perform again. Boro's hope lies in Downing, Morrison and McMahon to do that next season.

soundchazer

07-01-2006, 04:26 AM

Just confirmed:

Osorio and Pavel Pardo will be playing for VfB Stuttgart next season. Pavel was signed for 3 years, and Osorio was signed for 4 years.

Efrain Juarez, one of the kids who won the U-17 championship, signed to start playing with the Segunda A team for Barcelona while he gets his residency papers in order. His contract is for 3 years.

Giovanni Dos Santos was promoted to Barcelona B from the youth team, which won the most recent championship and Copa del Rey for their category and had him as the top scorer of the league.

loner

07-14-2006, 09:16 PM

The Italian court have reached a decision today: former Serie A champions Juventus will be relegated to Serie B with a 30 point deduction at the start of the new season. They are stripped of their last two scudettos and the rights to participate in Champion's League next year. Fiorentina and Lazio are both also relegated, Fiorentina starting with a 12 point deduction and Lazio with a 7 point deduction. Both clubs also lost their rights to go to Europe. AC Milan is spared relegation but will start Serie A with a 15 point deficit and also lost their Europe rights.

This is a landmark decision in football history. Here are some of the big implications of this decision:

Mass exodus of the world's top players : Here is a list of world class players playing for these clubs: Gigi Buffon, Lilian Thuram, Fabio Cannavaro, Patrick Vieira, Emerson, Gianluca Zambrotta, Mauro Camoranesi, Pavel Nedved, Alex Del Piero, David Trezeguet, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sebastien Frey, Luca Toni, Tomas Ujfalusi, Adrian Mutu, Martin Jorgensen, Angelo Peruzzi, Massimo Oddo and Tommaso Rocchi. All of these players would be a fit in any team with serious championship aspiration in Europe's big leagues. The older ones may stay with their respective clubs, but players like Ibrahimovic and Trezeguet have already signalled their intentions to leave, and it's hard to see most of these big names playing in Serie B where there's no money to be earned. Clubs also can't afford to keep these luxury players, and will have to sell with huge deductions.

Weakened Serie A : Italian football may not be that worth watching any more without those three. Milan may start with a 15 pt. deficit, but they easily make that up thrashing scrubs like Treviso. Juve's players may come cheaper, but small clubs still can't get anywhere near them unless some inexplicable fortune strikes them. Therefore, Inter, Milan and Roma will likely get a big share while overseas powerhouses like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United all getting what they want as well. This will create even more imbalance in Serie A than there was before the scandal, with the rich getting even stronger and richer and the poor getting relatively weaker.

Global imbalance? : That situation in the Serie A may be reflected in other big leagues as well, since as mentioned before, other big clubs will get a slice of the Juve/Viola/Lazio pie as well. With that kind of input small clubs can't possibly compete with them.

This decision had to be made for the sake of fair playl, but how it will effect football in the future does not look very promising.

Yurika Star

07-15-2006, 12:09 AM

NOOOOOOOOOOOO, my beautiful Viola :(

Who'd of thought the joy I had at the end of last season when they got in the Champions League would now be turned into heart ache! Blah.

We may still keep some of our players, but I don't know. With only 15 points deducted I can see us getting into Serie A next season if we keep a class striker (read; Toni or Mutu) for the goals, but if it all goes badly we still have some of the talent we hijacked from clubs over the last few seasons (read; Pazzini etc.). But generaly, blah. Inter really have their sites set on Luca >.< It would be worth watching Serie B just to see how many goals Toni could score.

I'm supirsed Mutu came to the Viola the day before the ruling, it may signal his intentions of trying to get to his top-form again under our guidance.

As for Lazio I don't know. Juve are going to be in hard waters if they lose there first team to Europes elite (which is expected), with 30 points deducted and only fringe players/youth it could be hard. But then again ALOT of players would still be honoured to play for the Old lady, even in Serie B.

Well, what ever happens, Serie B will be interesting next season ^^ As for Serie A.... yea.

loner

07-15-2006, 04:33 AM

animanic_critic

07-15-2006, 07:36 AM

Yeah, Fiorentina just can't keep themselves out of trouble, can't they? Then again, I thought they were really lucky to get back to Serie A that fast in the first place, with that suspicious "promotion because of recognition" to Serie B, then that season where 6 teams were promoted and Viola were 6th. But they had to screw that up and find themselves back to nowhere land again. They will probably cakewalk Serie B though, since a lot of their players are still young and only just started playing first team football (Pazzini, Montolivo, Pasqual), or veterans that were casted away by bigger clubs (Brocchi, Pancaro, Favalli), so most of them are willing to stay for one season to get back. But they better make it back in one season.

I hope Lazio can get back, but our players compared to Juve's and Viola's are not that highly valued, and our reputation is not as high as those two now. More importantly, we are piss poor compared to Juve and Viola. Which means every club in Serie A can asset strip us. Most of our players were hijacked from relegated clubs or Serie B clubs anyways, so now others could easily do the same with us. We don't have any "loyal players" like Del Piero so they will leave if they can get more money. Which means of the three, Lazio faces the best chance of well, fading into anonymity.

Luca Toni scored 30 goals in Serie B the last time he played there. Which believe it or not was only 2 years ago.
I feel sorry that the mega powerhouses had to be reduced to such a state, but I honestly couldn't care less (since I'm an Internazionale fan). Finally, like a blessing in disguise, Inter has a bigger chance at Scudetto success since 1989. Internazionale now has more firepower upfront with Ibrahimovic and Luca Toni coming on board to assist Adriano.

AC Milan was spared, but they are definitely an European threat, and with their exclusion from the tournament, the other teams must be gleefully smiling. It's like a Christmas shopping spree of football! Sigh, it sucks to be Juventus right now... They are demoted (meaning NO Champions League), stripped of two championships, and deducted 30 points, which means they have to make up for 10 wins in the event the other teams lose. Not only that, they even have to do it without their star players...

And in Read Madrid's eyes, it couldn't happen at a better time! They are currently having a management shuffling and hiring Fabio Capello is an ingenious idea, since he's the former Juventus manager. Surely Juventus starts would wanna go to Real Madrid if he's at the helm, right? We could see a brand new Real Madrid. Barcelona must do something in order to keep up with their recent resurgence.

"Strong teams getting stronger; weak teams getting weaker" is actually a pattern that has been around for a long time. When a team gets stronger, they buy good players, rendering themselves more formidable. The weak team usually (not always) loses their star players to bigger teams, thus becoming more depleted. It's a vicious yet inevitable cycle...

soundchazer

07-15-2006, 08:02 AM

I just wonder how many of these players will have the choice to leave those teams. Many of them are under contract, and if I recall Juventus, for example, is part of the stock exchange in Italy, so most likely the people in charge will want to keep as many of them to make a quick reapearance on Serie A as possible.

animanic_critic

07-15-2006, 08:48 AM

It's natural that the teams would do anything to keep their star players even in the Serie B. But they can only do so much, because they are denied of European glory and they probably have to have their paychecks cut. Conditionally, the teams cannot force the players to stay because the players eventually whether they want to leave the clubs. The clubs, however, definitely can't keep players under the Bosman ruling.

In the players' eyes, no matter how faithful they are to the Bianconeri or Rossoneri (Juventus/AC Milan), this bread-and-butter issue still shows that they better worry about themselves rather than the teams.

The relegated teams would start off handicapped, and with less viewership in Serie B, their revenue would definitely take a plunge. Stars inevitably wouldn't want to waste their precious time in a team like that, even if they're big teams.

loner

07-15-2006, 08:49 AM

The problem is there is much, much less money to be had in Serie B. And Juve's stocks have dropped so much that is worth less than shit. Most importantly, it doesn't matter if players are under contract nowadays, if they want to leave, they will leave. And Juve has no reason to not let their players leave. They've worked hard, done their job on the field and won games for the clubs. It's not their fault that the club got relegated because the guys upstairs are cheats(at least so far there's been no report that any of them are involved in the scandal). They want to play at the top level of football, which means top European leagues and Champions League, not Rimini and Spezia. They'll just hand in transfer requests, and the club will either sell and keep a bunch of very unhappy millionares who won't play.

The people in charge are at fault here, not the players. Unless they want to stay, most of them will be snapped up. And it doesn't really matter if you keep them when they don't want to stay, because they just won't play and take your money, while you get poorer and poorer with no Champion's League earnings to support their 120,000 pounds contracts. It doesn't make sense for either club not to sell. Especially for Juve, who'll need to earn 10 more pts than last season's Serie B champion Atalanta in order to get to 6th place, the lowest position that gives them any chance of promotion, because of that 30 point deduction. Fiorentina and Lazio may still plead to their stars to just stay for one season of ignominy before getting back to the big time again. Juventus can't make the same kind of promise.

Edit: Yeah, pretty much what animanic_critic said >_> Was writing this post when he posted <_<

loner

08-31-2006, 10:18 AM

Transfer deadline today, and a lot, A LOT of absolutely crazy deals have been thrashed.

And of course we start with the West Ham double coup of Tevez and Mascherano.

No. That is not right. Those are players who are signed by a) G14 clubs; b) Over-ambitious clubs backed by sugardaddies, i.e. Portsmouth, Dinamo Moscow, Red Bull Salzburg, Corinthians itself; c) Past-its feeding off on past reputation, but still due to large fanbase have a large bank, i.e. Atletico Madrid. West Ham does not fit in any of those categories. It was a club that was relegated as recently as 2003, had to sell all its top stars (Michael Carrick, Jermain Defoe, Joe Cole, David James and Freddie Kanoute, all going on to bigger and better things) to prevent going to bankruptcy, and was promoted only 2 seasons ago. They had a very good year last year for a promoted club, getting 9th place and a FA Cup final appearance and played some pretty decent football. But where did they find that money? A 2nd year club in the Premiership can start afford to losen up their pockets a little, but these two players must have come at at least 15 million euros each. And how did they manage to attract perhaps the two best players outside of Europe right now to come to West Ham. West Ham is perhaps the most famous "feeder club" in England. It is nicknamed Academy of Football, known for producing young English internationals and then shipping them off to the big guns. Examples include the aforementioned players, as well as Frank Lampard of Chelsea and Rio Ferdinand of Man Utd. Their signings earlier this off-season include Carlton Cole, renowned Chelski reject who has been on loan to half the club in the Premiership; Ty Mears, a young English defender from the renowned club Preston North End (typical WHU signing); Robert Green, a former England no. 3 GK who struggled in the Championship, one tier below the Premiership; George McCartney, a typical journeyman defender; John Paintsil, unproven Ghana defender from Israel; and Lee Bowyer, whose most famous moment in his career was a fight with his own teammate. Now compare them to Tevez and Mascherano, two of Argentina's best and most in-form players. WHAT????

And so the conspiracy theories fly....
1. MSI's involvement. MSI, and its Iranian sugardaddy, is currently owner of Corinthians, Tevez and Mascherano's former club. It's been reported that the Iranian sugardaddy is looking to buy West Ham. There have been rather contradictory reports on this, with some saying that he will wrap up a 90m deal soon, and some say that he has failed and moved on. If this buy-out does happen, it will explain this situation rather neatly. Corinthians has been a sinking ship, with disgruntled players that hate each other and a league position that endangers them to the disgraceful drop. Meanwhile, the Premiership is the current media darling, with even a small club like West Ham getting global coverage. MSI may want to do what Portsmouth's Russian sugardaddy is doing: buy a small English club and build it into a behemoth like Chelski. Tevez and Mascherano's transfer was just a re-allocation of prized resources, giving West Ham an immediate boost. This gives us the intersting scenario of two Americans, two Russians and an Iranian duking it out in England. It's like an obscene version of the Cold War...
2. ...except maybe all this is was staged by just that one Russian. Roman Abramovich is publicized as having some sort of "partnership" with MSI and Corinthians. No one is ever clear what this kind of "partnership" is, but Chelski have a lot of these with many other clubs, such as PSV and CSKA Moscow. And Tevez and Mascherano may just be the latest of a series of bizarre loan/co-ownership/whatever deals that Chelski is famed for. Alexei Smertin, former Russian captain, was signed by Chelski and then immediately loaned to Charlton. Similarly, Jiri Jarosik was signed for half a year then immediately loaned away. Both players have since moved on, so they represent failed projects. Meanwhile, in PSV, the Brazilian defender Alex is allegedly still a "property of Chelsea", and will move there as soon as he gets a Dutch passport/good enough to play for Chelsea. Up in Russia Croatian striker Ivica Olic claimed that he is "Chelsea's" and will one day play for them. These are current projects. If this is true, then West Ham may have just become yet another Chelsea feeder club. Those two will play for a year or two, get acclimatised to English football then move to Chelsea. Cue evil music and imagery of Mourinho's giant tentacles reaching every part of the world.

Anyways, I bemoan the death of West Ham as the Academy of Football and English youth football. Many of England's current stars are from West Ham, and many future stars tipped to become mainstays in the national team are also currently playing for West Ham. Once West Ham turns into a buying club, they may eventually turn into a Chelsea, a club that haven't produced any of its first team regulars since the 1980s.

animanic_critic

08-31-2006, 07:30 PM

Oh, the soccer thread's been revived~!

Personally, I think the deal swoop for Tevez and Mascherano is a joke. Seriously, Mascherano is one of the most wanted man in club world and Tevez is currently one of the South America's brightest new star to grace the footballing world. I don't know what spurred the two into joining a club that's relatively mediocre in comparison to the big boys such as Manchester United and Arsenal. I certainy hope their paychecks weren't the issue here because the money West Ham could've possibly offered can never beat the success and glory that bigger clubs can possibly grant them. Mascherano is more suited for Arsenal since Cygan has left for Villareal and the team really needs his services to strengthen their otherwise young and inexperienced defense line. Manchester United really deserve to have Tevez because their midfield is giving them problems ever since Roy Keane has left. As for the overpriced (at least in my mind) Michael Carrick, well I wouldn't count so much on him, can only do so much. Tevez can really give the Red Devils some flair that they've been seeking for a long time.

West Ham, as loner put it, is an offloading club; a club that knows how to churn up new footballing stars but always fail to keep them. The club has scoffed at the tag of being a feeder club, but I think that they're just in denial. Even now, I can already see & predict how Anton Ferdinand will be offloaded to a more illustrious club and follow his older brother Rio's footsteps. Tevez and Mascherano won't be an exception and I bet they won't last very long in the club. The likely scenario to happen is that West Ham will eventually be just another dud or a stepping stone for honing their skills and they'll jump off to the bigger clubs, in the EPL or anywhere else for that matter.

As far as the idea of "sugar daddies" of football club is concerned, this seems to be a trend as of late. I said before how strong clubs become stronger and weak teams become weaker, and trend is set to contradict the phrase. Ever since Roman Abramovich came into the EPL limelight at Stamford Bridge, other bog boys have came into the league to get the share of the success. Since then, Manchester United, Portsmouth and the latest Aston Villa have their own "bankers" to go head-to-head with each other. This is particularly beneficial to the smaller, less successful clubs because let's face it - money is power and churning wonderful footballers on a shoestring budget is seldom these days; just look at where money has gotten Chelsea and Real Madrid. The glory days of Manchester United's massive success with buying Cantona from Leeds and Arsenal's upbringing on Nicholas Anelka just doesn't dominate the press as much nowadays - sad but true in many senses.

Yurika Star

09-02-2006, 12:50 AM

What the ****...

More later, i must teach.

P.s. This is one of the craziest transfer days I can remember... evar!

loner

09-02-2006, 02:02 AM

Yurika Star

09-02-2006, 04:36 AM

And Arsenal seem to be increasing their Brazilian condingent even more. Apparently they've signed Denilson (no, not the old, haggard, most expencive player in the world for like 2 seconds, Denilson) the young starlet from Sao Paulo. Nothing official has been announced yet, but signs are pointing to yes. He's a DM.

And whilst I talk about younng future stars, what was with Rossi being loaned to Newcastle. This puts Man U's striking options down to 4 first team options. Saha and Rooney are showing there qaulity again, Sloskjaer is old but MAY have the bite still and Smith is fighting for fitness.

I'd of thought Rossi could get some proper games in along side Saha and Rooney to really help him fulfill his United potnetial. But instead he's at NUFC, still Premiership, same league, same physichality, arguably lower qaulity players and coaching staff. Why? Seems like a resource in attack, which MU need, kinda wasted for 6 months. I think he could of get the experienced he needed at MU instead of NU. Just me though, I aint a Sir (yet).

animanic_critic

09-02-2006, 08:02 AM

Now the other major transfers....

Ashley Cole for William Gallas: This was not unexpected at all. In fact, every football fan has been slapped in the face with this news millions of times. IMO even though Ashley Cole is a top quality left back, giving away a player of Gallas' versatility and physical prowess and 7m euro for him is just stupid. There is the part of course of Gallas not wanting to play for Chelski again (who can blame him?), but he is as good a player as Ashley Cole. A one-for-one trade would be good, but Arsenal somehow managed to rip Chelski off even more. Chelsea now has two England international full backs, and I really wonder just what is wrong with Wayne Bridge. He is a very competent player and is fit right now. He had a few big injuries, but before those he has proven himself to be one of the most durable players in the Premiership. I feel really bad for him. Arsenal's defence just got exponentially better.

The Ashley Cole transfer saga was perhaps the worst kept secret in the transfer market (the last one was the questioning of Mourinho taking over as Chelsea's manager before the 04/05 season kicked off). I believe the main reason why Mourinho gave Gallas away was because he was starting to become a loose cannon, and we all know how intolerant Mourinho is with those type of people. Mourinho is the "Special One" (I have no idea who gave him that tag) and he wants no dissidents in his team, or else they'll be booted out. Gallas is an exceptional player, but bear in mind -- he's already 28 unlike Ashley who's only 24. Gallas can only play for like another few seasons before he passes his prime condition. I doubt Chelsea, though lost a worthy player, will be sulking over losing him since they did get a younger replacement in return. Oh, about the 7m euros -- just a spare change in Mourinho's eyes compared to Shevchenko's 30.8m pound price tag. Plus, I think Wayne Bridge is a sad case because he'll be the regular bench warmer and unless any full-back gets injured, he won't be playing anytime soon. I'm banking that he'll be wanting out during the January transfer window.

Reyes for Baptista loan swap: Wenger shouldn't be allowed use too much money on a player. First Wiltord and now Reyes. He's better off sticking to get young talents on the cheap and develop them. Baptista is another good, versatile player though, and adds the muscles in attack that Arsenal sorely lacks. Dunno what Real is going to do with Reyes. They've got a gazillion strikers and Capello doesn't play wingers. Arsenal gets the better deal out of this again.
Wenger really overpaid Sevilla for Reyes a few seasons ago. I remembered how he used to regularly score for Arsenal, and now he rarely gets to do so. Baptista is really someone Henry can get help from in the Gunners' attack, since Henry's been the only regular goalscorer in the team. Plus, Arsenal always have a serious issue in set pieces, and a burly player like Baptista couldn't have come at a better time. Wenger has done really well this time for capturing Baptista. As for Real, *sigh* I dunno what they're thinking with harvesting all the players and using only a fraction of their true potential.

And whilst I talk about younng future stars, what was with Rossi being loaned to Newcastle. This puts Man U's striking options down to 4 first team options. Saha and Rooney are showing there qaulity again, Sloskjaer is old but MAY have the bite still and Smith is fighting for fitness.
Ferguson is really taking a big risk with this one. I believe that Ferguson is trying to sort out and find his first team, especially on the front side because ever since van Nistelrooy left the Red Devils, the team will not have any regular goalscorer. I'm guessing he's trying to hone the partnership of Saha and Rooney, who by the way are very impressive so far. Solskjaer will always remain as their super sub, and Smith will take some time to regain his fitness. I just hope Rossi doesn't get too attached to the Magpies and chooses to stay at St. James' Park permanently. I'm crossing my fingers on this one.

On another note, as an Internazionale fan, I thought the club made a blunder letting Obafemi Martins go to Newcastle, because he was one of Inter's brightest stars. Martins had always been there to help the club during troubled times, and it seems that Inter doesn't realize that. Plus, they made another big mistake letting Adriano go in place of Ronaldo (yep, that Brazilian blimp). This is definitely not the Ronaldo that thrilled the world with his lightning-fast tricks back before he had that serious knee injury. Inter's going to suffer for this; mark my words :|

loner

09-02-2006, 09:13 AM

Mourinho is the "Special One" (I have no idea who gave him that tag) and he wants no dissidents in his team, or else they'll be booted out.

Himself.

Anyways, yes Ashley Cole is younger. But defenders are more durable than say strikers. Paolo Maldini is still a top class defender at the age of 38. Gallas will play for a long time as well, and his versatility gives him the edge over Ashley Cole for me. Renegade or not, he worths more in my eyes than Ashley Cole.

The Adriano-for-Ronaldo deal didn't go through. If that did, I would laugh. Laugh really really hard. And they basically had to sell Martins since he handed in a transfer request. They don't have a place for him anyways after signing Swedish serial-sulker Zlatan "Happy Feet" Ibrahimovic.

animanic_critic

09-02-2006, 09:16 AM

Himself.
The Adriano-for-Ronaldo deal didn't go through. If that did, I would laugh. Laugh really really hard. And they basically had to sell Martins since he handed in a transfer request. They don't have a place for him anyways after signing Swedish serial-sulker Zlatan "Happy Feet" Ibrahimovic.
Well, that's a relief -- guess the local sources back in my place isn't so up-to-date =P. I'm still peeved at the departure of Martins though >:O

Yurika Star

09-02-2006, 07:47 PM

Martins was whining and with theother strikers Inter bought in he was dispensable. Crespo and Ibrahimovic are top class strikers who are proven to be consistant (and we know their age's).

loner

09-02-2006, 09:59 PM

animanic_critic

09-03-2006, 07:20 AM

Well, not Ibrahimovic. He was excellent in his first season at Juve, but could only score 5 in the second season. He was magnificent in Euro 04, but almost invisible in the two World Cups he played in.
Well, you're right. I can still recall how Zlatan was praised for being very adept at scoring goals with either is left or right leg. He was very much revered back at Ajax and Juventus (only the first season), but lately he's doesn't impress me that much. I don't see how he can really help Inter add more firepower... perhaps he's useful when either Adriano or Crespo gets injured. I won't have so much high hopes on him.

loner

09-03-2006, 08:39 AM

No. Zlatan starts. Zlatan don't sit on bench. Or Zlatan will go into Godzilla mode and burn the team down.

loner

12-23-2006, 09:02 AM

I wish there's some positive I can take out of being ass-raped by Arsenal. But it doesn't change the fact that you just got ass-raped by Arsenal. ****ing Arsenal.

laborpilot86

12-23-2006, 10:22 PM

don't worry loner, my homies at citeh got beat by Bolton at home

The goalscorer........Nico Anelka:sweat:

Kuzu Ryu Sen

12-23-2006, 11:13 PM

Friggin' Robben. Would have loved Jose to have Wigan shove one up his arse.

Raiden

12-24-2006, 01:58 AM

God dam it Chelsea won, the gaps closing but at least we beat Aston Villa 0-3

laborpilot86

12-24-2006, 08:57 AM

I love united fans, they think the EPL is thier birthright:greedy:

Comeon Citeh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

loner

12-26-2006, 11:07 AM

Well, I like 'pool, but we really needed that one. Blackburn were shit for most of the game admittedly, and Ooijer and Todd's clearances make me cringe. But thanks to Friedel, who somehow bailed us out again with many super saves, and Tugay, who set up the goal brilliantly, we somehow dug out a win. Had a feeling Bellers was going to haunt us with a goal or two. Glad that didn't happen.

Raiden

12-29-2006, 05:45 AM

I love united fans, they think the EPL is thier birthright:greedy:

What you talking about the league is our birthright an with us beating Wigan 1-3 its looking good.

laborpilot86

12-29-2006, 01:30 PM

I'm talking about the ManU sides that beat the snot out of everybody during the 1990s.

If you win the title this year, you have one person to thank...

Stephen Hunt of Reading for his fracturing of Petr Cech's noggin in October. Chelsea have not been the same without Cech or Terry, both whom are out until at least March. Don't make the same mistake as Arsenal in 02-03, who had a similar advantage over you as you have over Chelsea this year. Arsenal blew the title to ManU by seven points that year after failing to beat ManU in both league fixtures.ManU failed to bet Chelsea at home (and should have lost, according to my dad who watched the game on TV) and you still have to play Chelsea at the Bridge, Liverpool at Anfield and my homies from Citeh.

Raiden

12-30-2006, 12:42 AM

.ManU failed to bet Chelsea at home and should have lost, according to my dad who watched the game on TV

No offence but you dads talking out of his arse, neither team deserved to win, we were excelent in the first half but then played crap in the second, chelsea were crap in the first half but played quite well in the second. United domination in the 90 was just like liverpools domination in the 80's clubs go through good periods, ours just isn't over yet.

laborpilot86

12-30-2006, 10:27 PM

I don't know about the whole 'our period of domination isn't over yet' arguement, Raiden-san, because thier is a trend in ManU's results that I've seen the last few years: a seeming inability to bet the bottom-feeders on a regular basis.
Man City vs. Manunited...........City have had the way of the home fixtures, including a 3-0 thrashing last year. This was not the case during the '90s, when United made City thier slave.

In 03-04 and 04-05, you dropped points to clubs that were relegated(Wolves, Norwich). That used to NEVER happen to ManU.

I'll say it again.....Man United will win the title because of forces beyond Chelsea's control, not because ManU are better then Chelsea in the ideal situation(full strength squad vs. full strength squad)

Raiden

12-31-2006, 12:09 AM

City raises there game to United were as United raise there game against bigger clubs like Liverpool. Its a sham but the darbys not what it used to be, most city fans will be happy with beating United as there success for the season, Uniteds wants to winning the league, which club is the loser?

loner

12-31-2006, 07:48 AM

If City has a budget anywhere near United's, they would be thinking about winning the title too. As it is, a derby victory is the best they could expect these days.

Knowing how to beat the big boys doesn't win you anything unless you know how to beat the lesser lights in a league, because there is only 3 other big teams in the Premiership right now. Winning a game, no matter how "important" your opponent is, gives you three points. So the key to winning the league is to win enough points, not just knowing how to beat Arsenal, Liverpool or Chelshit.

That said, United has improved a lot in that area. It's impossible not to drop some points against sides you would expect to get three points from, but United are not as suspect to dropping them this season than last season. As for the "full strength" argument, that is, forgive me and no offense, utter bullshit. Every team will have injuries during a season. Losing both Cech and Cudicini is admittedly unfortunate, but losing Terry shouldn't translate into "we can't defend," not with the amount of cash Chelski spent buying that reserve striker. The fact that Boulahrouz turned out to be a dolt is not an excuse for Chelski's current second place.

laborpilot86

12-31-2006, 08:47 PM

This is true, loner-san, but do not underestimate the importance of John Terry to Chelsea. He is the best defender in the prem.

animanic_critic

12-31-2006, 10:07 PM

I'm kinda amazed after hearing that Mourinho not only slammed his team (like he would anyway), but also himself. Is he somewhat humbled this season around? Somehow I'm skeptical about that. Plus, if one thinks the reason for Chelsea's dismal performance is due to Terry's and Cech's absence, then all the more reason why Chelsea needs to buck up.

I really don't think those two are the reasons for Chelsea's illustrious winning streaks before they got injured (unless you're Maradona of the 1986 Argentinian national team). Manchester United is doing so well this season because they've learnt from their past mistakes and enforced both their defence and midfield, which I have been wishing for all this time.

I really hope Ferguson is continuing what he did best - gelling seemingly mediocre players into a solid team. Technically, on paper Chelsea is still the better team, with all their multi-millionaire star players and all. Mourinho nows thinks buying more this Januray transfer window will help alleviate the problems, which I think is bollocks!

loner

01-01-2007, 01:06 AM

This is true, loner-san, but do not underestimate the importance of John Terry to Chelsea. He is the best defender in the prem.

Just because he's the best defender in the Premiership doesn't mean your team should go from the best defence in the league to shipping 2 goals per game. One man teams don't deserve to win the title. Especially not for a team with Chelshit's coffers. They went into the summer knowing that Gallas wants out, and that leaves them with only 2 able central defenders. They signed Boulahrouz, who was a total flop, and the fact that Boulahrouz flopped is those ****ers' own fault. If they end up losing the title because of Terry's injury to Man Utd, then Man Utd is a very deserved champion because they went into the season better prepared.

Blackburn had long-term injuries to a key defender too. Ryan Nelsen has not played a game this season, and those who've watched us play for the past 2 seasons know how important he is to us. The fact that we are now in relegation battle instead of going after Europe again is still our own fault, because we had a summer to search for his backup, and only end up with penalty-bait Andre Ooijer.

Every team has to deal with injuries. For a team that flaunt their wealth so much, Chelsea can't use this as an excuse

laborpilot86

01-01-2007, 12:20 PM

This is true, Although, except for the thrashing by Arsenal, Blackburn have played better lately.

ManU drew with Newcastle and my boys at Citeh won.

Reading 6-0 West Ham United:eek5:

Raiden

01-02-2007, 11:35 AM

But Reading did draw with Chelsea.

I can't beleive Chelsea drew again, All the better for us thought, but theres been some high scoring draws this week, every one seems to be raising there game.

loner

01-02-2007, 12:06 PM

...or the defenders had a bit too much Christmas Turkey. I think it's a combination of both. There are several players that definitely raised their games (Crissy Ronaldo, Cesc Fabregas, Drogba, Lampard, Gerrard, etc.), and several defenders that look completely dazed (Ooijer, the entire West Ham backline, whoever Chelsea put into central defense with Carvalho).

Who the **** is David Edgar and where did he come from?

laborpilot86

01-02-2007, 02:51 PM

David Edgar is another one of the academy spawn at Newcastle who have had to play because of the MASH unit situation in the Newcastle dressing room

loner

01-02-2007, 03:38 PM

Rhetorical question >_> I also know that he's Canadian, born in Kitchener, Ontario, and is only 19 years old.

D.A.

01-16-2007, 02:43 AM

I heard Jose Mourinho kicked Roman Abramovich in the face and got fired? I wish they kill each other.

loner

01-19-2007, 02:42 PM

Maybe Beckham is in decline and doesn't deserve to start. But the way Real Madrid has been treating him is disgraceful and despicable. Many players sign pre-contracts on Bosman ruling, and I've never heard of another club ostracizing a player just for that reason. Calderon is an idiot who knows nothing about man-management, while Capello is a PR disaster. If you aren't playing the player, how can you blame the player for rejecting your contract and signing with another team? Isn't that only natural?

Meanwhile, lambasting hardworking players like Guti while fatass Ronaldo does nothing but collect his paycheck every week is total BS.

animanic_critic

01-19-2007, 07:42 PM

Beckham's move to LA is a joke... a really lame joke. Priced at more than 100 million pounds, it clearly shows that both Becks and the LA manager are only in it for the marketing. Becks has lost that sparkle in his play and decides to cash in on his meteosexual marketibility, which I'm not surprised myself. Will it be a successful one, since there are just so many attempted duds done by football superstars before? Seriously, he'll join the bandwagon too.

Back to the English Premier League, I'm really looking forward to this Sunday's double showdown between Liverpool VS Chelsea & Man U VS Arsenal. I am praying that Chelsea will draw with Liverpool and Man U steals the show from the Gunners... even though they'll predictably tie.

Erigion

01-19-2007, 09:29 PM

Beckham's move to LA is a joke... a really lame joke. Priced at more than 100 million pounds, it clearly shows that both Becks and the LA manager are only in it for the marketing. Becks has lost that sparkle in his play and decides to cash in on his meteosexual marketibility, which I'm not surprised myself. Will it be a successful one, since there are just so many attempted duds done by football superstars before? Seriously, he'll join the bandwagon too.Wait? You wouldn't take the money? Seriously? Why shouldn't he take the money if someone offers it to him? It's not like the team has been treating him well during this process or he's spent his entire career with them.

animanic_critic

01-19-2007, 09:39 PM

I know... any sane man would snap up that opportunity. Who wouldn't? But I'm speaking from a football/Manchester United fan's point of view a.k.a. me. Soccer is business nevertheless, but as a once-fervent fan of his, I'm very disappointed at how Becks has dropped in his footballing form and uses marketability to keep himself on the top.

From the manager's side, I'd say he totally overpriced. From Becks' side, it's a blessing no one can refuse. From my side, it's an inevitable scenario waiting to happen from the very beginning.

loner

01-20-2007, 12:30 AM

Beckham > MLS right now, pure and simple. Beckham as an enterprise is much, much greater than anything MLS has even dared to be. Beckham is definitely not overpriced for LA Galaxy, because LA Galaxy doesn't have to pay all of his salaries. The contract is between MLS and Beckham, not the individual club and Becks. Other sponsors are in it too, and they pay for part of his wages. Meanwhile, he brings a star name that nobody since Pele and Beckenbauer could come close with, marketing profits that MLS has never even dreamt of, and tons of media attention which a struggling league that nobody cares about really needs. For Becks, face it, everybody in the world knows he's in decline. He could come and muck it with guys named Paul Gallagher and James McEveley at Blackburn if he still wants "footballing credibility," but to be honest, I'm not sure right now David Beckham is a better player than David Bentley. If even Blackburn don't need him, you think any of the big clubs will need him? How is he ever going to reclaim any footballing credibility if he is just going to end up in the same predicament in the Premiership? Big money retirement deals like this is part of football. You can scoff at it but it serves a purpose: to garner attention for fledgling leagues and give fans outside of Europe and Latin America something to be excited about.

So to lambast this deal as a joke just on pure football sense is irrelevant. David Beckham brings something more important than winning the league. Winning the league is inconsequential when nobody cares about your league (especially when your league is the MLS, where if you suck the worst you could do is um, get the best young prospect from the draft, rather than being sent to football purgatory). What's bigger to an average football fan: "LA Galaxy, champion of the MLS" or "LA Galaxy, the team Becks plays for?"

soundchazer

02-01-2007, 10:27 AM

Well... the first test for Hugo Sanchez as coach for the Mexican team will take place next week against the U.S.

How different things look less than a year after the World Cup. Of the 23 players called for the match, 5 of them are successfully playing in Europe, while another 4 have European experience of their own. Obviously, there are a few that will most likely not make it to 2010, like Blanco, Borgetti and Bernal
but Hugo needs as many experienced players as he can, since the Gold Cup and the Copa America will overlap. It is also a very busy schedule, if we also include the Panamerican Games and the U20 World Cup. This is the reason why players like Vela and Giovanni Dos Santos are not in this list. They will most likely play the U20 and maybe the Panamericans, but surely, the future looks brighter than it has before. This could be a very special team.

A player to watch out for is Nery Castillo. That guy is fast and even as a midfielder has an incredible knack for scoring. In fact, Greece was tempting him to play for that country since he has been with Olympiakos for 7 years by offering him a million euros, but he decided to play for Mexico instead.

Since not a lot of people know the guy, here is a little link to some of his playmaking abilities with that greek team:

http://lafinta.blogspot.com/2006/10/perlas-nery-castillo-olimpiacos.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VHeyhYvFf8

And here is the actual list:

Goalkeepers
1.-Oswaldo Sánchez Santos
2.-Guillermo Ochoa América
3.-Sergio Bernal Pumas

Defenders
4.-Israel Castro Pumas
5.-Ricardo Osorio Stuttgart
6.-Carlos Salcido PSV Eindhoven
7.-Rafael Márquez Barcelona
8.-Francisco Rodríguez Chivas
9.-Ramón Morales Chivas
10.-Jaime Lozano Tigres
11.-Joaquín Beltrán Necaxa

Midfielders
12.-Gerardo Torrado Cruz Azul
13.-Pavel Pardo Stuttgart
14.-Alberto Medina Chivas
15.-Gonzalo Pineda Chivas
16.-Andrés Guardado Atlas
17.-Gerardo Galindo Necaxa
18.-Nery Castillo Olimpiakos

Forwards/Strikers
19.-Jared Borgetti Cruz Azul
20.-Francisco Fonseca Tigres
21.-Omar Bravo Chivas
22.-Adolfo Bautista Chivas
23.-Cuauhtémoc Blanco América

loner

02-01-2007, 02:54 PM

Hmm so Nery Castillo FINALLY decided to play for Mexico after 7 years. I don't doubt he has the talent, and even though he's been around forever, he's still only in his early 20s, so the room to improve is vast. However, though apparently he has improved a lot this season, he always struck me as an extremely unstable and inconsistent player. He also should get out of Olympiakos, as I think they've done all they could for him now, and annual drubbings in the Champions League won't help him much.

I still think more Mexican players should go abroad to Europe. I know the Mexican clubs pay their players really well, but unless the top players are willing to take some risks and try to fight for a place in Europe instead of settling in the comforts of their rich league, progress for the national team will be slow. Vela and dos Santos are steps in the right direction I think. It's a paradoxical situation: Brazil and Argentina have financially unstable leagues that are forced to send their best players abroad, but because of that their young players are able to hone their skills there and make their national teams stronger; Mexico has a very healthy league, but because of that their young players don't want to leave and the national team suffers as a result.

soundchazer

02-01-2007, 03:12 PM

Actually, you would be surprised about the amount of players that want to get out, but because Mexican players do not have the same prestige as Argentinians and Brazilians, the teams in Europe usually make incredibly low offers for them that end up making absolutely no sense to either their teams or the player since they would get paid a laughable low wage.

People like Bravo and Guardado were really close to going to Europe... and in fact they wanted to leave, but in order to do that it has to be a win-win situation and it seems a lot of European teams want to take advantage, knowing the inexperience of Mexican teams in dealing with promoters and European team officials. The only way to get rid of that problem is for people like Salcido, Osorio and Pavel to make a good name for Mexicans over there, and for Mexican teams to have good international tournaments.

As far as Nery Castillo, I know he is not stupid... he knows that because Mexico loves to have many international matches, he will be in a very good position to be noticed by another team. I know he is not too thrilled to be in Greece anymore, so he sees the Mexican team as a way to get noticed.

For the record, there have been rumours about him moving to Chelsea.

loner

02-02-2007, 01:55 PM

Salcido has been making a big name for himself at PSV, and there's been talks about him moving to a bigger club in the summer. Pardo and Osorio are having mixed seasons I think, but mostly because their club is highly unstable. I'm surprised Fonseca took the backward route and went back to Tigres though. I'd expect him to stick around longer than 6 months. Franco is REALLY struggling in Villareal, as they are dropping him in favor of some Chilean kid they just signed. I'd think Guardado would be a great addition to many teams because he has the speed and skills to succeed, and I'm sure he would have many high profile offers if LaVolpe played him more during WC.

SC, everybody is rumored to be moving to Chelsea. You might have been rumored to move to Chelsea at one point. (With all their injuries they might really need a doctor >_>)

soundchazer

02-02-2007, 05:58 PM

One thing Guardado didn't have a chance to prove during the WC is that he has a wicked long shot...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFtWNMZXp34

For the record, that is ony one match... but he does about 6 of them per season.

As far as Franco goes, you won't see him in the national team anymore... Hugo is not too keen on playing with naturalized player. That was a big part of his campaign against La Volpe before the WC.

The Problem with Pardo and Osorio is that they play on a very young team, and while that youth has kept them on the upper part of the table with a team that usually is fighting for its life, it won't be enough to keep them contending for a spot in the CHampions League.

As far as Kikin goes, unless he had been loaned to another team, which Benfica was not willing to do, he would have been rotting in the bench because the coach didn't think enough of him. It is a shame since he was starting to come around and actually scored a couple of times near his departure. The problem is he has now regressed because of the lack of activity. He has yet to score for Tigres, although he was close twice last week (a couple of shots hit the bar last week).