2008/2009 Football (Soccer) Thread

[lamaros]

Utd to sign Owen? I'd laugh to see it and as long as Utd has him on a performance contract it's no huge risk!

[Hoax]

So Estudiantes v Cruzeiro in the Copa Libertadores final barring a crazy miracle 2nd half.  They both blew each other out at home (3-0 and 4-0) in group play and there were a bunch of yellows from the boxscores I looked at (thanks wiki), I didn't see either game but I'm interested in catching the final.

Anyone know why/how/wtf is up with Mexico getting teams in Libertadores?  Because if they get some I wonder if the US could eventually get some berths once/if MLS teams start winning the Concacaf version again.  Which brings me to another thing, wtf is up with there being the Superliga AND the Concacaf Champions League.  Hella confusing.

You should change your mind and watch some US Open Cup play to see if any MLS teams can stagger through alive

Why would I ever do that?  MLS games are still too terrible for me to stand most of the time and the thought of watching USL again...  thanks but no thanks.

***

Owen to United would be retarded, am arguably less talented and more injury prone Saha?

\/\/\/\/\\/\/  LoL your Sounders are the new Bengals. =p

[WayAbvPar]

Fuck.

Hopefully this broad is as loopy as the one in the Montero case. Details are pretty brutal though. Seems totally out of character, at least from what little I can discern from a couple of interviews and watching him play.

[sigil]

So Estudiantes v Cruzeiro in the Copa Libertadores final barring a crazy miracle 2nd half.  They both blew each other out at home (3-0 and 4-0) in group play and there were a bunch of yellows from the boxscores I looked at (thanks wiki), I didn't see either game but I'm interested in catching the final.

Anyone know why/how/wtf is up with Mexico getting teams in Libertadores?  Because if they get some I wonder if the US could eventually get some berths once/if MLS teams start winning the Concacaf version again.  Which brings me to another thing, wtf is up with there being the Superliga AND the Concacaf Champions League.  Hella confusing.

You should change your mind and watch some US Open Cup play to see if any MLS teams can stagger through alive

Why would I ever do that?  MLS games are still too terrible for me to stand most of the time and the thought of watching USL again...  thanks but no thanks.

***

Owen to United would be retarded, am arguably less talented and more injury prone Saha?

Superliga = MLS Moneygrab. SUM markets both.
CONCACAF champions league = Jack Warner's Moneygrab.


Oh yeah, Saw that about Jaqua. Houston group is really tight, and no one seems to have mentioned Jaqua leaving,  when he did, so  perhaps there might be something to it. We shall see.

[Hoax]

CONCACAF champion's league makes sense though, every regional federation has one.  Except Mexico has teams in the South American Edition, which is what got me wondering wth was going on originally.

[sigil]

CONCACAF champion's league makes sense though, every regional federation has one.  Except Mexico has teams in the South American Edition, which is what got me wondering wth was going on originally.

well see the concacaf champions league is new. before it was an eight team cup format. Which the Mexicans always won. So they wanted more challenge , so they finagled their way into Libertadores  There is talk of sending MLS reps, but the travel, jesus wept, just horrendous.

[Amarr HM]

Utd to sign Owen? I'd laugh to see it and as long as Utd has him on a performance contract it's no huge risk!

I might have just won 300 euro if he signs, I put a bet on two years ago he'd be a United player before 2010 can not find the slip though, fuck, fuck, fuck.

[Hoax]

Watched the gold cup game.

Adu -- Looked like shit, looked slow, timid, his positioning was terrible for most of the game especially tracking back and in transition.

Holden -- I don't like this kid, he got a goal but I felt most of his play was pretty worthless.

Rogers -- Star of the match by far, if he keeps it up he would make a decent sub as we finish out WC qualifiers.

Beckerman -- I didn't see enough but he looked halfway decent as a CM and lord knows that was a weak spot at times in the Confed Cup.

I can't really comment on the defenders except to say that the left back (dark hair, shaved head, Pearce?) was not very good for 90% of the game, he did make that very nice cross to setup Davies but his play up to that point was lackluster as fuck.  Hopefully Honduras gives us a good game on Wednesday.

\/\/\/\/\/\/  I really hope Everton aren't that stupid. \/\/\/\/\/\/\/

[Amarr HM]

Apparently Everton are trying to sign up the services of Scholes I can only hope United can get Arteta in return, obviously with a lump sum attached.

[HaemishM]

Everton would be mega-retarded to give up Arteta for Scholes unless they get a sizeable chunk of dosh in addition. While Scholes is a great passer, he's old. Arteta has fantastic service and is much younger. They would be trading their future for probably one, maybe two good years.

[sigil]

If there's ever a time the top four are vulnurable, this is probably the year.

[Amarr HM]

Everton would be mega-retarded to give up Arteta for Scholes unless they get a sizeable chunk of dosh in addition. While Scholes is a great passer, he's old. Arteta has fantastic service and is much younger. They would be trading their future for probably one, maybe two good years.

Well if they lose Scholes and don't find a midfielder who can't consistently control the passage of play things look pretty grim indeed. Only thing is Arteta seems to play a lot on the wings so not sure if he's the solution anyway.

[HaemishM]

If there's ever a time the top four are vulnurable, this is probably the year.

Aresnal maybe (though I seem to say that every year and every year Arsene Wenger proves me wrong). The others, I don't think so. Even with Ronaldo gone, United has depth enough (and money) to win. They may not blow people out, but they have winners. Liverpool haven't gotten any worse and with Glenn Johnson may just have gotten better, though they seriously need a second striker. Chelsea hasn't lost anything and still have money to find good players, though I think they won't play as flashy as before. Aston Villa should have been challenging to get into the top 4, but I think losing Barry will create a bigger hole than they thought. Everton hasn't improved. Manchester City MAY be able to challenge for a top 4 spot, but only if all that money spent gels on the pitch, which it didn't last year. And it's hard to get the top quality players to move to Manchester if the shirt isn't red. I don't think either Fulham or Wigan are good enough to move up any farther and Spurs are Spurs.

[sigil]

No need to be so mean to my team...

Getting back to europe would be a victory in my eye. Maybe another milk cup run.

[Amarr HM]

Arsenal are definitely a hot choice for next year, but they still don't have enough balance between honest PL graft and speedy continental flair to mix their game up enough.

[HaemishM]

Isn't Adebayor almost guaranteed to be going away this summer? And the other striker options they have either suck or are injury-prone? Asreshaving can't score four goals every game except at Anfield.

[Amarr HM]

AFAIK Adebayor has committed to Arsenal they also have Van Persie and Eduardo who can play up front. Eduardo was an amazing talent before his injury if he can regain that he's certainly one to watch. Arsenal have no shortage of attacking flair and in Fabregas one of the best central midfielders in the world, who can only get better. Problem is they never replaced Viera and they haven't had a really good central defence pairing since Keown and Adams retired (they even had O'Leary and Bould coming off the bench back in those days).

[Endie]

Man utd have four top-quality strikers. We have torres, and he has shown he can suffer from frequent injuries. Obviously man utd will miss Ronaldo's frequent game-turning goals and performances but I think they'll edge it.

And, like others, I find it harder to name just who would steal fourth from outside the usual quartet.

[sigil]

Man utd have four top-quality strikers. We have torres, and he has shown he can suffer from frequent injuries. Obviously man utd will miss Ronaldo's frequent game-turning goals and performances but I think they'll edge it.

And, like others, I find it harder to name just who would steal fourth from outside the usual quartet.

Let's see how the transfer market shakes out. I believe we're far from done. I feel the drawing of people to la liga and serie A and citeh hiring mercenaries will disrupt some things, how much remains to be seen.

I think Villa and Everton at a rough glance, but I'm focused on other things at the moment.

[sigil]

Gooch Onyewu has signed with... AC Milan?!?


Wow, go gooch!

[HaemishM]

Yeah, that was a big time signing. He will likely flourish in Serie A because of how defensive most Italian teams seem to play. But I shudder to think of the yellow cards he's going to pick up for all the bitches that will dive in front of him.

[sigil]

Gattuso is with AC, so the refs will be watching him first. He handled FIFA refs with italians and brazillians, I think he'll do well.

[HaemishM]

USA looked good last night... once they subbed Davies and Feilharber. Pause was ok, but not great. Adu was shit the whole goddamn game. I'm not seeing why people keep trying to put him on the team. Davies work holding up the ball on that first goal was fantastic. I'm thinking his team may be getting a few offers for him this summer. I was happy with everyone else on the team, and I thought Beckerman really showed that he deserves some more looks. I thought he was their best player through most of the first half.

Granted, it was all against a Honduras B team, but still. Big stage, decent competition and they took care of business.

[WayAbvPar]

Adu looks like he is running in sand. He needs to drop about 30 pounds and learn to quit fucking about with the ball when he is surrounded by defenders.

[sigil]

Side note/ slightly related.

Houston comes to Seattle missing the following: Ching, Holden, Hainault, Weaver, Barrett, Boswell, and Cameron. Waibel and Robinson are injured.

They puled Julius James from his loan assignment.

We might have 14-15 players total for the game. And one of them is Ade Akinbiyi,who has almost never seen the field since he's come here.

[WayAbvPar]

Well Seattle has countered- Sigi is going to be in California for his son's wedding that day. He has to be worth one or two players, right?

[Hoax]

I watched the USA v Honduras until we scored the 2nd goal then tried to catch some of the Libertadores final first leg.  That final was a mess, so many fouls, choppy ugly for stretches but still an almost higher quality of play then the game I had been watching.  No scoring so now to Brazil, should be awesome.

USMNT thoughts:

Perkins did pretty good back there, glad we're giving him looks not wasting time with the normal 2nd string old guy (Haldenman?).

The defense is awful, we are so fucking thin on defense.  Also I know Cherundolo is working his way back to fitness but if they switch Spector from RB I'm going to flip my shit.  Everyone was pretty much shit, Pearce is sorta ok at times, Perkins and Marshall are worthless.

Beckerman looked solid sort of, I'm not sure if he has it or not, if he can play up to opposition he has the understanding of the game.  Rogers I feel bad for, I think he was forcing things after how well the last game went.  He still plays with speed and aggression and makes good runs but he was trying to do way too much and mostly his crosses were blind prayers.  I still think he deserves a look in WC qualifying going forward.  Adu looks lost, again, I'm sick of Adu at this point, I've wanted him to do well and play but ffs he just looks so bad out there.  Logan Pause needs to go, he seriously is allergic to the ball.

Ching proved me wrong, he is our best striker off the bench*(oops) for now.  I still want Altidore to start all the time.  Quaranta was a mixed bag, he was trying to do too much but I think he has the skills we need he just needs more PT and someone needs to tell him to chill the fuck out.

Amazing how much better we looked with Davies and Benny in the game.

[sigil]

The same Chad Marshall who won every 50/50 ball against Carlos Costly and prevented him from getting a single shot off. The one guy who was a genuine A teamer for honduras...

The same Marshall who stopped a couple of breakaways singlehandedly. Who also had some nice passing out of the back.

Parkhurst I'll give you. but Marshall served himself well last night.

[Hoax]

He stopped breakaways caused by the fact he's always horribly positioned and the entire backline looked like they had never played the game before?  Yeah that guy.  I'm not saying its not possible that he had an ok game, I did have to watch it streaming in not HD.  From what I saw though the entire unit was so fucking awful, especially in the middle that I have a hard time buying it.  I'm sure he'll continue to start so we'll see but there was a ton of dicey silly shit going on in that game at the back.

[HaemishM]

He wasn't any worse positioned than Onyewu is pretty much all the time. We do not have a great defensive backline.

[HaemishM]

So Carlos Tevez signed for Man. City today. And they appear to still be after Adebayor. Meanwhile, Huntlear looks to be on his way to Stuttgart and Bayern Munich keep saying Ribery is not for sale.

[WayAbvPar]

Tevez was just too lazy to pack up his shit and move to another city.

[Hoax]

Estudiantes went to Brazil and handled things.  I didn't get to see all of it but I caught both their goals.  GJ to them.

Meanwhile the Superliga reminded me of how much I hate MLS soccer.  I watched the first 60 minutes of Fire v Revolution match, McBride and Blanco just kind of walk around and poach some goals, lol, good on New England though for picking up those two Gambians, very smart move, if that one could find the fucking frame he might have had a hatrick.

[sigil]

It's superliga...

Most MLS teams don't give a shit about anything that's not the MLS cup.

The only ones I've seen do otherwise was DC back in the Day and the Dynamo. Glad to see that Seattle takes stuff seriously.

I wouldn't be surprised to see nearly full strength sides for their upcoming match in the Open Cup. Although Ching and Holden will still be away...

[sidereal]

sigil, where's your bitching about Montero's goal?  You're letting me down.

Even I don't think it went in.

Dynamo are solid, though.  Even without Ching.

Fucking Onstad.