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Official Football Thread (Soccer)
- Thread starter Ryck
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Im kiddingSocreges said:
But seriously Im really excited about the upcoming season, games every weekend, repeats of games that weren't shown all week man I can't wait.....and hey whats wrong with Man U they were third in the league, is thinking they could win it all that far fetched?Their easy-to-hate nature. You could cause a shitstorm in a hurry with a start like that.Ryck said:Im kidding
Mama Smurf
My penis is still intact.
mrpingu's going to KILL you.
Pfff, your squad's a bit better, but aside from Crouch and Reina, I can't see them breaking into the first team. Well, maybe Zenden, but I don't think he's any better than Riise.
I said in the old thread that I thought Man Utd might just sneak second place from Arsenal this year, but now I'm not so sure. I'm not unsure enough to tip Arsenal ahead yet (Baptista's going to Real btw if that news hasn't been posted), but I've seen a couple of Man Utd's games on this Asia tour and the players look absolutely miserable. Not their play, the expressions. I don't know if it's really hot out there and it's too tiring or what, but damn did they look glum.
You look at Chelsea's team spirit and how positive everything is, then you look at Man U...well, what can you say? The Glazer takeover, some fans abandoning ship, Ferdinand refusing to sign a £100,000 a week contract and being booed by fans each game, Ferdinand and Van Nistelrooy falling out on the pitch, Keane and Ferguson falling out over the Asian tour...these are all terrible signs! So until that mess is sorted out, I don't think they have a hope in hell of catching Chelsea, and assuming Arsenal's team spirit hasn't been broken by Vieira leaving, it'll be hard to keep up with them too.
Pfff, your squad's a bit better, but aside from Crouch and Reina, I can't see them breaking into the first team. Well, maybe Zenden, but I don't think he's any better than Riise.
I said in the old thread that I thought Man Utd might just sneak second place from Arsenal this year, but now I'm not so sure. I'm not unsure enough to tip Arsenal ahead yet (Baptista's going to Real btw if that news hasn't been posted), but I've seen a couple of Man Utd's games on this Asia tour and the players look absolutely miserable. Not their play, the expressions. I don't know if it's really hot out there and it's too tiring or what, but damn did they look glum.
You look at Chelsea's team spirit and how positive everything is, then you look at Man U...well, what can you say? The Glazer takeover, some fans abandoning ship, Ferdinand refusing to sign a £100,000 a week contract and being booed by fans each game, Ferdinand and Van Nistelrooy falling out on the pitch, Keane and Ferguson falling out over the Asian tour...these are all terrible signs! So until that mess is sorted out, I don't think they have a hope in hell of catching Chelsea, and assuming Arsenal's team spirit hasn't been broken by Vieira leaving, it'll be hard to keep up with them too.
Yeah Baptista's staying in Spain no doubt about that ( eek Real getting Robinho and Baptista and they prolly still won't win La Liga or Champions league :lol ) And I agree about the Players looking bad I was watching the higlights and saw Rudd taking cheapshots and generally looking down...I like Rudd and all but maybe it's time for Saha and Smith to take over in the front ( preferably Saha since Smith is moving to Midfield) I mean Rooney alone is a goal scoring machine, and Rudd is still trying to make up for last year and is prolly going to be more bad than good ( tho I do hope he pulls it together soon). Who is mrpingu?Mama Smurf said:
Mama Smurf
My penis is still intact.
I don't see Rooney as a goalscoring machine myself. To me he's a player who can score goals no one else will, creates goals for others, scores plenty...but he's not going to be an Henry or a Van Nistelrooy or, looking to the past, an Andy Cole, an Owen, a Shearer.
Which is fine, great even. If you have both it's perfect, which they do. Assuming Van Nistelrooy regains his form.
Strangely enough, I see Rooney as more of a goalscoring threat for England than domestically. I think it's the room and space he gets internationally compared to the hectic, no time play of the Premiership.
Chelsea's pretty stacked again this year. I think they're definitely the favourites to repeat, especially if they can still get Essien. There were even rumours this week that they were interested in getting Shevchenko from AC Milan. (don't think it will happen, and Chelsea has denied the rumours) If that doesn't buy you a championship, I don't know what will. They also have Crespo back, which gives them another threat up front. And I still think Drogba is shit.
Go Arsenal! I really wish they would pick up another midfielder though...Hleb should hopefully be a nice addition at least.
Man U is staying third.
Go Arsenal! I really wish they would pick up another midfielder though...Hleb should hopefully be a nice addition at least.
Man U is staying third.
CelticFC#1
Free Scotland in 2008
Mama Smurf said:
I'm pissed. You've stolen my GAF baby, Ryck, you bastard.
I'm going to be quite blunt here, regarding The Premiership. Chelsea have already won it, no team in the league can beat them over 38 games and Man Utd, Liverpool and Arsenal fans can argue all they want, but Chelsea are just too good for your respective sides over the season.
Wax Free Vanilla
Member
manchester united played terrible the other day against the japanese j league team. i just can't see them doing anything next season, nistelrooy, saha and rooney are shit, alex really should have gone after michael owen, a player who will get you 20-30 goals a season. and why was kleberson playing for them? i thought aston villa had bought him?
brooklyngooner
Member
Hooker said:
I believe this news.
Guileless
Temp Banned for Remedial Purposes
Chelsea beat D.C United 2-1 last night, the game was on ESPN2 but the announcers were freaking terrible. Called Mourinho "Ho-say" and were generally clueless.
Duff had a really sweet goal. D.C. scored off a corner. Mourninho was in midseason form yelling at the Jarosic (sp?) guy who looked pretty bad all night.
Duff had a really sweet goal. D.C. scored off a corner. Mourninho was in midseason form yelling at the Jarosic (sp?) guy who looked pretty bad all night.
Hooker said:
Plus, those players aren't that great anyway (well, perhaps for the spurs
). They'll never make it into the Dutch team anymore.Anyway, there's a friendly tournament going on in Amsterdam between Ajax, Arsenal, Porto and Boca Juniors. Arsenal beat Ajax 1-0, Porto defeated Boca 2-0.
Btw, I'm rooting for PSV Eindhoven again this year. Sure, they've lost Park, Van Bommel and Vogel, but they've bought some new players (Simons and Vayrynen), and hired Ferreyra. Plus, if all goes we'll, they'll be buying the biggest striker talent in the Dutch competition, Salomon Kalou, from Feyenoord. That would really make my day. Besides, I think that's the only thing PSV is missing in it's squad, a real goalgetter. And he's only 19 years old, lots of room to improve even futher.
I'd say the only real competition PSV is going to have is Ajax.
Guileless said:
Heh, one guy who called the highlights up here said that Duff "Van Bastened" that goal. :lol Man, hard to believe it's been 17 years since that goal was scored. It's about the only goal I remember from him, but I remember me and my schoolmates trying to imitate it for months. Only Maradona's wizardy in '86 beats it for the best goal I've ever seen.
As far as the EPL goes, there's nothing to argue...if Chelsea doesn't win it, they should be embarassed and ashamed of themselves. As an Arsenal fan I haven't expected much until the new grounds are ready anyhow, which is what made the 2004 season such a pleasant surprise. So second would be fine with me, along with another FA Cup. But more then anything, I wanna see some progress made in the Champions League. Alas, I think their best chance to advance in that tournament with the current core has already past them by.
There have been some funny pre-season results...United losing in Asia, Madrid getting their doors blown off over there, and Sunderland lost to the Vancouver fucking Whitecaps. Frankly, I don't think it's a big deal...preseason's all about tuning up, getting back into playing shape and staying healthy, and if you get a result it's gravy.
Hard to believe the Scottish Premier League kicks off this weekend...how long is their off-season, three weeks?
Shinobi, never seen THE bicycle kicks huh?!
http://www.soccerclips.net/request.php?fileid=448&category=2&file=myk64l2qylmo.zip
Now there are 2 Van Basten goals you won't forget anymore
http://www.soccerclips.net/request.php?fileid=448&category=2&file=myk64l2qylmo.zip
Now there are 2 Van Basten goals you won't forget anymore
TheDrowningMan
Member
Shinobi said:
Indeed. You could make a compelling case for Mourinho being a failure deserving of the sack of Chelsea don't at least retain the title this season. They really ought to be winning the CL too, anything less than such a double is dismal considering their resources.
MrPing1000
Member
well done Ryck u created this thread with a terrible post.
Could a mod pls change the title of this thread to "Official Football (Soccer) 2005-2006 Season Thread", Please
Anyway I'll try and be useful.
English & Scottish Fixtures
Spanish La Liga Fixtures
French Ligue 1 Fixtures
German Bundesliga Fixtures
Dutch fixtures for August
Transfer Rumours/ done deals etc
Italian fixtures are still to be announced from the looks of it.
Could a mod pls change the title of this thread to "Official Football (Soccer) 2005-2006 Season Thread", Please
Anyway I'll try and be useful.
English & Scottish Fixtures
Spanish La Liga Fixtures
French Ligue 1 Fixtures
German Bundesliga Fixtures
Dutch fixtures for August
Transfer Rumours/ done deals etc
Italian fixtures are still to be announced from the looks of it.
MrPing1000
Member
Anyway now to get nitty gritty.
Imo Chelsea will win the league again. Having unlimited wealth makes that kinda easy.
Manchester United will come 2nd and Arsenal 3rd. The Red Scousers will come 4th but will be 10+ points behind Arsenal (again).
We(ManU) haven't changed much but really we didn't need to. This season hopefully we'll have more than Rooney and Smith fit for long stretches of the season. Our goal total was terrible last year and it cannot repeat itself. Ruud started preseason will with 5goals in 90mins but he's been very wasteful in Asia. Ronaldo is looking outstanding atm and I can see him finally breaking the double figures in goals. Rooney will bag another 20, his goal today was beautiful reminded me of Eric. What does concern me is the dodgy formations, Rooney has to start playing off Ruud no more of this left wing bollocks.
Arsenal need to get the finger out, they've sold Vierra and yes they have very good young midfielders but I reckon they need some experience in there. Theres also talk of Campbell going but I don't see it myself.
Liverpool are better but they are still miles behind the top 3, I expect dodgy losses followed by great wins again. They won't retain the Champions League.
Imo Chelsea will win the league again. Having unlimited wealth makes that kinda easy.
Manchester United will come 2nd and Arsenal 3rd. The Red Scousers will come 4th but will be 10+ points behind Arsenal (again).
We(ManU) haven't changed much but really we didn't need to. This season hopefully we'll have more than Rooney and Smith fit for long stretches of the season. Our goal total was terrible last year and it cannot repeat itself. Ruud started preseason will with 5goals in 90mins but he's been very wasteful in Asia. Ronaldo is looking outstanding atm and I can see him finally breaking the double figures in goals. Rooney will bag another 20, his goal today was beautiful reminded me of Eric. What does concern me is the dodgy formations, Rooney has to start playing off Ruud no more of this left wing bollocks.
Arsenal need to get the finger out, they've sold Vierra and yes they have very good young midfielders but I reckon they need some experience in there. Theres also talk of Campbell going but I don't see it myself.
Liverpool are better but they are still miles behind the top 3, I expect dodgy losses followed by great wins again. They won't retain the Champions League.
Mama Smurf
My penis is still intact.
Celtic drew 4-4 with Motherwell. 3-1 up at half time, down to 3-4, then an injury time goal saved them.
Just looking through Celtic's fictures last season, they didn't concede 4 goals once. Not against Milan, not against Rangers. And in the first two games of the season, they;ve conceded 9.
Good job the transfer window's still open eh!
I don't understand this formation. Is Ferguson that desperate to be Chelsea? They should play to their strengths, not some other teams, and Man Utd's best players clearly suit a 4-4-2 (see: FA Cup final).
Just looking through Celtic's fictures last season, they didn't concede 4 goals once. Not against Milan, not against Rangers. And in the first two games of the season, they;ve conceded 9.
Good job the transfer window's still open eh!
I don't understand this formation. Is Ferguson that desperate to be Chelsea? They should play to their strengths, not some other teams, and Man Utd's best players clearly suit a 4-4-2 (see: FA Cup final).
Who are they gonna buy? Good defenders are hard to come by these days.
Anyway onto more important things, the EPL.
Interesting season in the EPL, we finally get to see what arsenal can do without Viera and maybe even a glimpse of Man U without Keane.
Chelsea have struggled to find their striker, seems like every club in the world raises their prices 300% when they see Kenyon at their doorstep, Crespo already stank up the premiership once...mind you these days Chelsea will have all kinds of amazing service flying into him so he might be just the man for the job.
It would be a major shock if Chelsea didnt win again this season domestically, the only team that has actually improved squad wise behind them is Liverpool (just by virtue of the fact that Dudec is out of the team). If Rio can get his life sorted out (what the fuck is he waiting for?) then Man U will have a stronger season...thats about it.
I think the top 3 will be the same as last season, Liverpool will start bright, as all clubs do when their season starts early (especially when they became European champions a few months back), but they wont be able to keep up the pace, the longer they go on in the champions league the more their league position will suffer.
Personally im just praying West Ham dont finish too far adrift at the bottom of the table, look out for Marlon Harewood to be the premierships least accurate striker this season. Ive never seen a player miss so many 1 on 1's, he'll make last seasons Kanu look like classic Kanu.
CelticFC#1
Free Scotland in 2008
Strachan must be sacked, and an attempt to bring in a quality manager must be made as soon as possible.
Bring in Le Guen and offer him £30 million, Desmond, you fucking tight-fisted wanker.
Our season is a write-off if this clown remains in charge of our football club.
Bring in Le Guen and offer him £30 million, Desmond, you fucking tight-fisted wanker.
Our season is a write-off if this clown remains in charge of our football club.
Mama Smurf
My penis is still intact.
Ghost said:
Maybe, but competent defenders are all over the place. And if you look hard enough, you can buy good defenders for cheap. Blackburn picked up Ryan Nelsen for free in January and Mokoena for £300,000 (we generally play him in a Makelele role, but he's a centre back too), both the captains of their countries (New Zealand and South Africa respectively).
And if you're not sure how good Blackburn's defence was last year, we conceded the 7th least goals in the Premiership, despite finishing 15th. 33 before we bought them, 10 after (Chelsea conceded 7 in that time, Man Utd 13, Arsenal 11). 1.5 goals conceded per game before, 0.625 after. You don't have to break the budget and buy big names to get good defenders.
No he didn't, he scored 10 goals in 13 Premiership starts, 19 including substitute appearances. That's as many as Drogba and only 2 behind Gudjohnsen (who played twice as many games). I don't even need to point out how much better it is than Kezman was.
EDIT: Just to make that defensive record once we'd bought the two players even more impressive, I'll point out we did indeed play the top 9 teams in those 16 games.
BatiGOOOOOOL
Member
Yeah, sadly it looks like Owen is on his way out. Sure, Baptista can play in the midfield, but he can also play up front whenever is needed. Add Robinho, Raul and the emergence of Soldado and there doesn't seem to be much room. Too bad because I think he could be a very valuable regular partner for Ronaldo, especially with the poor form Raul has shown during the last couple of years.
I have no idea is what the lineup will be. We know Raul won't be benched no matter how much he is sucking. My best guess would be something like there:
I guess that's the most probable formation, with Robinho obviously having a lot of freedom to go forward. Zidane will go back to the middle as Luxa said, to let him create more and hopefully Raul will find some rythm, because I'd be sick if he continues to play like he did last season.
I have no idea is what the lineup will be. We know Raul won't be benched no matter how much he is sucking. My best guess would be something like there:
I guess that's the most probable formation, with Robinho obviously having a lot of freedom to go forward. Zidane will go back to the middle as Luxa said, to let him create more and hopefully Raul will find some rythm, because I'd be sick if he continues to play like he did last season.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/4730405.stm
Man, I would love to see Owen at Highbury/Ashburn Grove...always been a big fan of his, even when he cost us the FA Cup a few years ago. I can't believe he's only 25 (seems he's been around forever)...he's still got another 5 or 6 years left of prime football. I think a Henry/Owen pairing would take away much of the sting from the Veira loss still felt by fans.
Hopefully this is sorted out soon...my parents are in England right now, and I wanted them to grab me a couple soccer jerseys. With any luck, an Arsenal Owen jersey will be one of 'em!
Mama Smurf
My penis is still intact.
I'm not sure Owen fits in the Arsenal team the way they play...but that's a good thing. Arsenal have had such trouble in recent years changing things up when their usual gameplan isn't working (see their games against Bayern Munich), if they're not going to get someone big like Crouch to smack the ball up to, a scrappy little player like Owen who'll score no matter how poorly he might be playing is perfect.
I've been pretty happy with Blackburn's preseason so far (especially when I see so many clubs losing to lower opposition).
Morecambe 2 Blackburn 2
1860 Munich 1 Blackburn 1
Real Mallorca 0 Blackburn 2
Swansea City 1 Blackburn 4
My only slight worry is Bellamy hasn't scored yet (not that he played against Swansea).
I've been pretty happy with Blackburn's preseason so far (especially when I see so many clubs losing to lower opposition).
Morecambe 2 Blackburn 2
1860 Munich 1 Blackburn 1
Real Mallorca 0 Blackburn 2
Swansea City 1 Blackburn 4
My only slight worry is Bellamy hasn't scored yet (not that he played against Swansea).
I hope Woodgate comes back and makes an impact. In his last season with Newcastle I watched him play against United in a 0-0 draw and his performance was amazing - this was when Man United were top of the league and on a winning streak.
As for Celtic, Strachan needs to goto the board and request some money for two defenders in the region of £5 million each, otherwise the season will be a write-off. If McLeish can get Boumsong to come to Rangers then anything is possible.
As for Celtic, Strachan needs to goto the board and request some money for two defenders in the region of £5 million each, otherwise the season will be a write-off. If McLeish can get Boumsong to come to Rangers then anything is possible.
Mama Smurf
My penis is still intact.
Few bits of footballing news around, though it's still very quiet generally.
Real Madrid are willing to let Owen go if he wants to, and I suspect he will. Wenger says he's not interested though and isn't looking for a new striker. Guess he was going to play Baptista in midfield. So Man Utd is the most likely destination it seems, which I'm still not sure about. Ok, let's say they sell Saha and Smith becomes a midfield player. Then they do indeed need another striker...but if Van Nistelrooy regains his form and Rooney doesn't fuck up, where's the room for Owen? It'd be nice to have the two England strikers on the same team domestically though.
Mourinho reckons Gerrard not moving to Chelsea was a mistake for him. I'm inclined to agree, but no doubt he's just pissed off half of Merseyside with his comments.
Oh and Arsenal are trying to sign a keeper (yey!) called...Viera. That's just taking the piss. 22 year old Uruguay international, plays for Nacional Montevideo (which sounds like a side you could buy from easily enough), aside from that I know nothing about him.
Oh and Everton lost 5-0 to Fenerbache. See you in the UEFA cup boys!
Real Madrid are willing to let Owen go if he wants to, and I suspect he will. Wenger says he's not interested though and isn't looking for a new striker. Guess he was going to play Baptista in midfield. So Man Utd is the most likely destination it seems, which I'm still not sure about. Ok, let's say they sell Saha and Smith becomes a midfield player. Then they do indeed need another striker...but if Van Nistelrooy regains his form and Rooney doesn't fuck up, where's the room for Owen? It'd be nice to have the two England strikers on the same team domestically though.
Mourinho reckons Gerrard not moving to Chelsea was a mistake for him. I'm inclined to agree, but no doubt he's just pissed off half of Merseyside with his comments.
Oh and Arsenal are trying to sign a keeper (yey!) called...Viera. That's just taking the piss. 22 year old Uruguay international, plays for Nacional Montevideo (which sounds like a side you could buy from easily enough), aside from that I know nothing about him.
Oh and Everton lost 5-0 to Fenerbache. See you in the UEFA cup boys!
Mama Smurf
My penis is still intact.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/4734305.stm
Hmmm. I'm not saying those teams aren't interested in the player, but that just looks like a really obvious and lame attempt at forcing Chelsea to bid more as soon as possible by pretending other clubs are going to outbid them.
I mean come on, Chelsea have already bid £21m for him. Can you honestly see Man Utd or Arsenal willing to pay more than that for him? Certainly not Arsenal, and I doubt United would be willing to (allowed to?) do it either.
I suppose the possibility is a player exchange thing (plus money). United could probably afford to let players go Lyon would actually want, but I don't think Arsenal could.
This isn't in that link, it's an older article:
:lol Oh my god, £31m (minimum) AND a Chelsea player?! I never considered French clubs fools...until he said that! That's absolutely ridiculous, who does this guy think he is?
Hmmm. I'm not saying those teams aren't interested in the player, but that just looks like a really obvious and lame attempt at forcing Chelsea to bid more as soon as possible by pretending other clubs are going to outbid them.
I mean come on, Chelsea have already bid £21m for him. Can you honestly see Man Utd or Arsenal willing to pay more than that for him? Certainly not Arsenal, and I doubt United would be willing to (allowed to?) do it either.
I suppose the possibility is a player exchange thing (plus money). United could probably afford to let players go Lyon would actually want, but I don't think Arsenal could.
This isn't in that link, it's an older article:
:lol Oh my god, £31m (minimum) AND a Chelsea player?! I never considered French clubs fools...until he said that! That's absolutely ridiculous, who does this guy think he is?
Mama Smurf said:
:lol That's funny as fuck.
And Wenger not being interested in Owen is just bizarre to me. Maybe he's got an anti-English bias after all, heh. Though I suppose a midfielder is more important then a striker at this stage, and Arsenal's budget appears to be pretty tight.
MrPing1000
Member
Lyon President trying to get Chelsea to pay them far too much shocker!
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