2009/2010 Football (Soccer) Thread

[HaemishM]

I'd definitely tap Villa over Man City. They shouldn't be a better team, just based on the money spent, but they are. Man City shouldn't have let Dunne go, as I think he's a better defender than Lescott. With all the strikers on the team, you'd think City would be running up the scores on people, but it isn't happening.

Big Harry has a problem - he gets in a snit about a player, and he won't play that guy no matter how good he is. Pavy is better than Harry thinks - shit, I'd be happy to have him in a Liverpool shirt. But he did the same damn thing with Portsmouth. David Nugent is showing his quality now at Burnley, but Harry refused to play him at all - meanwhile, he continued to put Pappa Booba Diaop in the lineup despite the fact that guy didn't seem to have any real footballing skills. Harry gets results, but he has a blind spot with some players that I can't quite figure out.

[WayAbvPar]

Adios Chelsea. 

[Amarr HM]

That was awesome, though I never thought I'd be cheering a Mourinho team on.

Also like I said.

They are really missing the craft of Sneijder in the final third he was their best player last year.

Edit: grammar

[HaemishM]

Adios Chelsea. 

Yeah, much ROOFLES. Fuck you, Roman.

[Abagadro]

Messi is a fucking wizard.

[WayAbvPar]

Messi is a fucking wizard.

Yeah he is pretty amazing to watch.

[HaemishM]

Messi almost singlehandedly won the game for Barca against Valencia in La Liga this week. Valencia was doing pretty decently in the first half, holding Messi in check and actually making some decent attacks without David Villa in the lineup (he was out with a shoulder problem). Second half comes, they take out Bojan Kircic and replace him with Henry and Messi just owns face. Hat trick, shots of pure beauty.

[Amarr HM]

He's a rare talent, great attitude to the game aswell.

[Hoax]

Messi almost singlehandedly won the game for Barca against Valencia in La Liga this week. Valencia was doing pretty decently in the first half, holding Messi in check and actually making some decent attacks without David Villa in the lineup (he was out with a shoulder problem). Second half comes, they take out Bojan Kircic and replace him with Henry and Messi just owns face. Hat trick, shots of pure beauty.

Henry made 2 of those really fucking easy, that one ball he had to lunge to get off to Messi was fucking fantastic.  Messi is a rare talent though, hes almost impossible to disposes with the ball at his feet.  Its a shame that both him and CR9 play on such dysfunctional national sides that just can't play anywhere near potential.

Looking forward to the champ league draw tomorrow - a no English final would be real treat after the last few years but I'm still pulling for Arsenal in the meantime since they make such a point of playing attractive football.

[Bokonon]

Yeah, it was dodgy in parts, but Fulham just beat Juve 4-1, to move into the quarters on aggregate (5-4).

Holy smokes.

Also, nice chip by Dempsey there.

[WayAbvPar]

What is up with Juventus this year? They have been Liverpoolesque 

[Amarr HM]

Inter aside, the whole Italian league is in decline and has been for a few years. I mean just look how a not completely on form United team dismantled Milan. Inter happen to have the one of the best managers in the world right now, otherwise they would be in the same boat.

[sigil]

That was a freaking amazing bit of skill by Deuce.

[HaemishM]

Liverpool makes it through, though I would hardly call the win against Lille convincing. 3-0 and Lille never really seemed to mount any serious challenges on Liverpool's half. Hazard who absolutely ran the game last week was totally shut off this week. And Liverpool get Benfica next - winning Europa is not going to be easy.

The Albert Riera criticisms of Rafa ring so true to what I see as an outsider. And all the rumors that Benitez will be gone after the season and replaced by McLeish or O'Neill - bring them on. I don't want O'Neill leaving Villa because I like Villa and would hate to see him go from a decent American owner in Randy Lerner to the asshole brigade at Liverpool. McLeish though, I would welcome with open arms. Maybe he'd actually find and play some of the young talent that is supposedly waiting in the wings at Liverpool. Rafa has Glenn Johnson out for months, and rather than play Martin Kelly at right back, he shifts Carragher over there where he clearly is not comfortable. Hell, even when he was forced to put Carragher back in the center by injury, he fucking put Mascherano back there instead of a natural right back like Degen or Kelly. Torres was out for months and he barely used the kid Pacheco who is supposed to have some talent. How does he expect these kids to get any seasoning?

He may be a fine tactician in a game (though I dispute that based on his team selection and choice of subs) but he's crap as a guy who controls all transfer policy and the reserves and academy callups.

[WayAbvPar]

Woot MLS kicks off tonight with FC Seattle Sounders v Philadelphia Union. They missed it by a day- yesterday was one of the nicest early spring days I have ever seen around here (68 and sunny), while today is off and on rain all day and at about 15 degrees cooler. Should still be a fun crowd. ESPN 2 6:30 PDT.

[HaemishM]

Watched most of the game til I fell asleep. That second goal was good work by Montero.

[WayAbvPar]

2 nice goals, and 2 or 3 others that should have been goals. God I hope there isn't season full of bad finishing. If they can put away most of their chances they will have a good year.

[Hoax]

Ahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

[WayAbvPar]

 

[Amarr HM]

Now is Berbatovs time to shine 

[HaemishM]

Since Liverpool is out of the Champions' League this year, I'm really hoping for a non-English final. I'd laugh my ass off if it came down to Lyon v. Bayern, if only to watch Fergie's face as he lost to a Bundesliga side.

Finally started watching the Tivo'ed MLS game from last week, Fire vs. Red Bulls. Man, that new soccer-only arena in New York is FINE. They did a helluva job.

[WayAbvPar]

Now is Berbatovs time to shine 

He at least looks more interested in what is going on the past few weeks, and he was good against Bolton. Not going to be enough against the blue cunts, however. 

[Hoax]

Best game since probably the France v Nederlands Euro 2008 match.  Holy fucking hell.

How anyone can dare to root for any other English side over Arsenal is beyond me.  I'd post more but I don't want to spoiler until everyone has had a chance to watch.

[Abagadro]

Give me a rundown if you would.  I'm in Vegas without much access so don't know much beyonf the final score and that it looks like Barca's entire backline is suspended for the next match.

[WayAbvPar]

That was fucking insane. Almunia was invincible in the first half, then loses his mind and comes after a ball he had no hope of getting near 40 seconds into the second half. Also, the next Arsenal fan I hear bitching about other teams being lucky and playing too physically is getting a shot to the pills. They were hacking the fuck out of Barca and were lucky as fucking hell to not lose that game 6-1.

[Hoax]

Give me a rundown if you would.  I'm in Vegas without much access so don't know much beyonf the final score and that it looks like Barca's entire backline is suspended for the next match.

At the 20-30min mark the shots were 12(6) to 1(0) in favor of Barca and Almunia had made two point blank reflex saves.  Barca was taking it to them for the first half hour at will, it was insane it could have should have been 3-0 it felt like.  Arsenal looked helpless, Barca was pressing up so much that they were having to go for long balls constantly which wasn't working at all and they were just getting zero possession.  The halftime stats for possession were 70% for Barca according to the feed I watched which I have almost never seen.  In the last 15 minutes after somehow not giving up a goal Arsenal sort of found their way into the game, Arshavin and Gallas had to be subbed off due to injury but they were causing some trouble with Nasri and were setting up crosses but they really just didn't have a lot of targets in the middle.  So it goes to halftime where if you had only seen the last 10 minutes it looked like a more normal contest that Barca were still better but that either team might possibly break through.

Immediately in the second half despite all sorts of heroics in the first Almunia gets caught in no mans land and chipped by Ibra and really Barca start taking it to them harder and harder again, it wasn't quite first half bad though since Arsenal's strategy of playing a really high line in defense to shorten the field plus actually developing a plan to use the counterattack was at least resulting in brief bits of possession and half chances.  So Arsenal even down 1-0 was still more in the game then they had been in the first 30 minutes they even had a golden chance where their big white striker who I hate rose up and cleanly headed a cross from about 8 yrds but he didn't aim it away from the keeper.  For me that seemed like a miss that they really badly needed.

Not long after that Ibra split the defenders high line with ease and the ball in was perfect so he got an almost uncontested shot and finished it beautifully 2-0 Barca and now I figured the game and the tie was totally over.  But Arsenal dug deep and then when they subbed in Theo Wolcott the game started to just change quickly.  Barca started playing lazy Barca style and Wolcott was just charging down the right wing at will effectively uncontested.  I really can't do this justice Arsenal literally had looked for most of the game just completely outclassed, on their own pitch, their strategy of keeping a high line had been broken twice the second time with such supreme ease it felt like Barca was going to score 5 more now that they had figured it out.  The game had been looking like Utd. v Roma from last year or Arsenal v Porto this year the skill disparity had seemed so great at times.  Now all of a sudden Barca starts playing really really lazy in midfield and they almost entirely stop pressuring or closing down anyone anywhere on the pitch. 

Suddenly Wolcott gets a pretty good pass in and makes a decent run and the Barca defense just isn't really there and he slots it in 2-1, I would still say against the run of play though not really since Barca had been fading fast out of the game for a good 5 minutes at that point.  Arsenal then completely flipped the tables and came after them as hard as they had been jumping down Arsenal's throats in the first half.  Seriously to watch a game make such a complete 180 and have two lopsided as fuck periods of play especially in a Champion's League round of 8 game between two teams that are this good was just crazy shit.  Arsenal was all over them looking for the equalizer and got it through a pk off a very ticky tack foul in the box on Pujols that did come about from some fucking great build up so it felt a little more justified then such calls usually do.  Cesc steps up and ices the pk but he fucking destroys his knee while doing it.  They have no subs left so the game basically is 10v10 just Pujols was given a straight red for the foul in the box.  Thats when shit got really crazy for awhile.  Barca woke up and tried to start playing again and Arsenal was still out for blood and it really felt like if Cesc could have actually participated they might have found the winner.  As it was it ended 2-2 and was the best game I've seen in terms of having a little of everything in a long long time.

[Abagadro]

Thanks. Bummed I missesd it.

[sigil]

One of the three is Tottenham. I'm pretty sure they'll find a way to fuck it up. I'm just waiting on it to happen. I say this as a Spurs fan,  where the unofficial motto is, "This is why we can't have nice things"

Fuck you Spurs.

Fuck. You.

*looks at the TV, sees 3-0 Citeh before  the what, the sixth minute?*

Motherfuck you Spurs.

[WayAbvPar]

It's a fucking disgrace!

[sigil]

By Darren Bent no less. God Dammit

[HaemishM]

Should have never gotten rid of Bent. 

Watched the Sounders/Red Bull game. If you haven't watched MLS lately, there is some really good, exciting football being played. Having seen both their games, the Red Bulls are a MUCH improved team. They aren't great by any stretch of the imagination, but they are a significant upgrade over last year's version. Both teams played some good passing, attacking football. That Kandji guy is a fast motherfucker. A bit of better finishing and the game could easily have been 3-0 for the Bulls or 3-1 for the Sounders.

Also, fucking Liverpool. Talk about missing wide open chances. And WTF Benitez? Taking Torres out in the 64th minute so that N'Gog can miss 3 wide open shots on goal? FUCK.

[sigil]

RBNY is a nice little outfit. That new stadium of theirs is really freaking sweet as well. Quality appears to have gone up across the board, well except for DC and San Jose

[Bokonon]

RBNY is a nice little outfit. That new stadium of theirs is really freaking sweet as well. Quality appears to have gone up across the board, well except for DC and San Jose

And New England...

[HaemishM]

It was actually kind of a shame that Seattle and New York were playing on that artificial turf, which looked fucking terrible. I don't see the Sounders getting a soccer only stadium of their own for a while - after all, they sold 31,000 SEASON TICKETS. They'd need at least a 35,000 seat arena. I don't see a 2nd year franchise putting together the loans needed to justify that, not when Qwest is still packing them in like it is.

[WayAbvPar]

Areselona has been entertaining so far. Oh, and that Messi guy is kinda good.