• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Official Football Thread 2006/2007 (Soccer)

Status
Not open for further replies.
Keith Hackett, the head of referees, says the outstanding form of Cristiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba is largely because they have stopped diving. (The Guardian)
Click to expand...

Well no shit everyones been saying that for the past 2/3 years.

You can't deny that their talented but if they spent more time playing football than diving thinking they're in a water sport you'd get more productive season like those two have.

Same with Arjen Robben get his act together and he would be more critically acclaimed.
 
Liverpool fans, from the Lord Mayor of the city to the leader of the supporters' group, have attacked UEFA's declaration that the Anfield club have the worst fans in Europe.

The claims will come in a UEFA report to be handed to the Government in the wake of the shameful scenes in Athens at the Champions League final.

Liverpool fans are accused of stealing tickets from their fellow supporters, charging the gates to get into the ground without tickets and causing trouble outside the stadium which ended with tear gas being used.

Now UEFA, in the wake of Anfield complaints over the way they handled ticket allocation and match security on the night, have hit back with a dossier claiming to show 25 incidents involving Liverpool fans since 2003 in Europe - more than any other club.

But Liverpool's Lord Mayor Paul Clark has hit back in the Liverpool Daily Post.

"UEFA appear to be trying to avoid the blame for the disorganisation of the final," said Clark.

"To make matters worse, instead of looking at their own faults UEFA are blaming the people of Liverpool," added Clark who attended the Athens game.

"Saying this is typical of Liverpool fans is unfair and reflects badly on the image of the city."

"This is typical of UEFA. Rather than look at their own shortcomings, they want to shove the blame somewhere else," said Les Lawson, spokesman for the official LFC supporters' club.

"The fact they are not willing to stand up and take responsibility is worrying for fans, because that means they will never learn from their mistakes."

"UEFA is dragging Liverpool's name through the mud to deflect attention from themselves. Big governing bodies like UEFA always look for scapegoats and never accept any blame," said Council Leader Warren Bradley.

"There should be a full and appropriate investigation. There is very little information about what actually went wrong. It was only a small minority who caused problems but the people at the top of UEFA think they have the divine right to criticise people."

"We condemn the behaviour of some fans, but it was not helped by the way the police acted, they made it worse. UEFA are not justified in making these comments," added Phil Hammond, of the Hillsborough Justice Support Group.

"The shortcomings in the management of the situation in Athens was apparent to anyone who was there. These latest comments from UEFA should not deflect attention from the reality.," said a Liverpool FC spokesperson.

The club produced their own report ahead of the final, warning UEFA of potential problems caused by ticket allocation and what could happen with fans travelling without tickets.
Click to expand...

Very glad our fans are sticking up for themselves.
 
Gunners close in on Sagna
Arsenal are reportedly close to clinching the signature of Auxerre full-back Bakari Sagna in a £6million deal.

Sagna was called into the French squad for the first time for Saturday's win over Ukraine and although he did not feature, he could be given a chance against Gerogia on Wednesday night.

The Ligue 1 outfit are resigned to losing the 24 year-old's services and are aware of the Gunners' interest.

AJA boss Jean Fernandez told The Sun: "The ideal thing would be for him to stay another year but that appears difficult."
http://www.itv-football.co.uk/Story/0,14272,6107_2165564,00.html
Click to expand...

I am really surprised that a right-back might be our first signing, Eboue and Hoyte both just signed new contracts.

I know nothing about Sagna, is he any good? Can he play left back? A back up on the left would make sense.
 
Hmm never heard of him, but it is a player that Arsenal need.

Just in: Wigan have signed Titus Bramble and Liverpool have scheduled a press conference for 3pm. I don't know if it's a response to UEFA, but they've already released a statement about that. It's either to do with UEFA, transfers or... Rafa resigning.
 
exciting stuff. Personally I think it's about the imminent return of the fox in the box to Merseyside, this time playing for Liverpool.
 
Uefa need to be looking more at what they do with tickets, where the final is to be held and policing.

Riot police with Baton's is NOT the way to control British crowds. Riot police haven't been used at English grounds like like 2 decades and theres a reason for it. Riot police simply create tension and using them to seperate fans is not just stupid, it's irresponsible and dangerous. Some countries are stuck in the mentality that it's the only way to do it. I'd say some countries fans simply aren't ready but if treated properly I don't think English fans are naturally violent anymore. THis is not the 1970s anymore

And ffs Uefa give more tickets to the fans, half of those you gave to sponsors were sold on my touts. Want to solve the problem of thousands trying to get in without tickets? Give them tickets tada problem solved.
 
Lakitu said:
Hmm never heard of him, but it is a player that Arsenal need.

Just in: Wigan have signed Titus Bramble and Liverpool have scheduled a press conference for 3pm. I don't know if it's a response to UEFA, but they've already released a statement about that. It's either to do with UEFA, transfers or... Rafa resigning.
Click to expand...

Why would you say that now you've upset me. :'(
 
:lol

edit:
whitekit1.jpg


:(
 
the good news keep coming: Ribery allegedly signed for Bayern, according to German newspapers. Transfer fee: 25 million Euro
 
hadareud said:
the good news keep coming: Ribery allegedly signed for Bayern, according to German newspapers. Transfer fee: 25 million Euro
Click to expand...
Yeah, it looks like it'll be offical on thursday.

great.

we need florent malouda now.
 
let's see what happens.

I am still not sure if it's true, a week ago German newspapers said that Ribery had already signed then, for 10 million Euros - that turned out to be bullshit.

German clubs don't usually get players like that, despite having the money to pay for them. So it wouldn't surprise me if things turned out slightly different then they look now.
 
I'm on the outside looking in, but this seems to be quite a depressing "off-season", to coin an American term, for Arsenal and Liverpool fans so far. Arsenal don't seem interested in buying anyone and have rumours about their best players and even manager leaving, and Liverpool have new money but no one knows how much and they haven't really signed anyone big and Benitez hates the way the club is organised.

Then I look at the big grins on the United fans...
 
:(

It is very frustrating so far. But like I said a few days ago: Arsenal are known to move quietly. Example: last year with Rosicky. No rumours until the deal was announced.

I am hoping that we pull a few out of the hat again.
 
Mama Smurf said:
I'm on the outside looking in, but this seems to be quite a depressing "off-season", to coin an American term, for Arsenal and Liverpool fans so far. Arsenal don't seem interested in buying anyone and have rumours about their best players and even manager leaving, and Liverpool have new money but no one knows how much and they haven't really signed anyone big and Benitez hates the way the club is organised.

Then I look at the big grins on the United fans...
Click to expand...

My reaction to the constant stream of Liverpool rumours is quite simply: A little less conversation, a little more action please.
 
It would be nice if Arsenal let out a little information so the fans weren't having panic attacks over the transfer season but I guess keeping things quiet can work well.
 
more rumours:
Gunners chasing former Inter ace

North London club Arsenal are believed to be looking at the possibility of making a move for Newcastle United striker Obafemi Martins this summer.

El Mundo Deportivo suggests the Gunners have enquired about the Nigerian, who is apparently unhappy with the departure of manager Glen Roeder at the end of last season.

Barca striker: My career at Barcelona is finished

Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Bolton, Valencia and Real Madrid are all ready to table offers for Argentinean ace Javier Saviola after he admitted that he was looking to leave the club this summer.

Saviola, 25, said: "I consider my career at Barcelona is finished. There are several offers on the table."
Click to expand...
 
I went to the US - China game down in San Jose on Saturday. The weather was just about perfect - mid-70's and sunny, so we tailgated early. The parking lot is on a grass field which is great. We kicked the ball around, cooked some hot dogs and had a few too many beers before the match.

The US thrashed China 4-1 and had most of the possession. Spartan Stadium in San Jose is a tough place to play because the pitch is a fair bit smaller than regulation size, so people typically liken it to playing an indoor game. It makes for a very compact midfield with lots of congestion, but the US had the personnel to deal with it.

The US played pretty well, and it was a good warmup for the Gold Cup later this week. China were terrible for the most part, and Dong Fangzhuo (I believe he's a ManU reserve player) didn't look great. I know he's selling jersies and all, but I'm a bit mystified as to what he's doing on their roster. Four US players got their first cap including Kljestan, Nguyen, Davies, and Hill.

A couple of pics (obviously not mine...)

149fs525240.jpg

Benny Feilhaber makes sure his shot hits the net after chipping the Chinese keeper.

149fs525334.jpg

Gooch celebrates his headed goal late in the match.
 
I didnt even realise Deschamps had resigned from Juve, thats pretty cool of him to stick with them through the hard times, then tell them to **** right off once he'd got them back to the top.
 
Cornballer said:
I went to the US - China game down in San Jose on Saturday. The weather was just about perfect - mid-70's and sunny, so we tailgated early. The parking lot is on a grass field which is great. We kicked the ball around, cooked some hot dogs and had a few too many beers before the match.

The US thrashed China 4-1 and had most of the possession. Spartan Stadium in San Jose is a tough place to play because the pitch is a fair bit smaller than regulation size, so people typically liken it to playing an indoor game. It makes for a very compact midfield with lots of congestion, but the US had the personnel to deal with it.

The US played pretty well, and it was a good warmup for the Gold Cup later this week. China were terrible for the most part, and Dong Fangzhuo (I believe he's a ManU reserve player) didn't look great. I know he's selling jersies and all, but I'm a bit mystified as to what he's doing on their roster. Four US players got their first cap including Kljestan, Nguyen, Davies, and Hill.

A couple of pics (obviously not mine...)

149fs525240.jpg

Benny Feilhaber makes sure his shot hits the net after chipping the Chinese keeper.

149fs525334.jpg

Gooch celebrates his headed goal late in the match.
Click to expand...


Nice. How did Lee Nguyen do? He's still a PSV player, although he hasn't played for PSV last year due to a shoulder (?) injury. He's made his debut in PSV under Hiddink, but since then he has kinda fallen off the radar.
 
Lakitu said:
Liverpool have scheduled a press conference for 3pm. I don't know if it's a response to UEFA, but they've already released a statement about that. It's either to do with UEFA, transfers or... Rafa resigning.
Click to expand...

Looks like the presser was to announce that Gerrard and Carragher have signed new four-year deals.
 
Falch said:
Nice. How did Lee Nguyen do? He's still a PSV player, although he hasn't played for PSV last year due to a shoulder (?) injury. He's made his debut in PSV under Hiddink, but since then he has kinda fallen off the radar.
Click to expand...
Nguyen was only on for 10-15 minutes, but he played pretty well. He had an excellent dribbling run down the center of the field - faking out about four players before losing the ball to the last man. He also had a great cross w/ the outside of his right foot that he put right on Bocanegra's head, but Boca missed the free header. I was impressed, and I hope he gets more time in the future.

Nguyen had shoulder surgery a few months ago, which is why he's been out for so long. He's just regaining match fitness now. I think the best thing for him to do at this point would be a year-loan to another Dutch team where he could get some playing time, then see next summer if he can make the grade for PSV. As for this summer, there's a slight chance that he'll make the Copa America roster for the US since we're sending a very young lineup.
 
Is it me or is it really hard to get excited for American soccer? I'm from the US and never watch the MLS. When the national team plays, I'll watch if I know about it but it's never even advertised lol.
 
h0pper said:
Is it me or is it really hard to get excited for American soccer? I'm from the US and never watch the MLS. When the national team plays, I'll watch if I know about it but it's never even advertised lol.
Click to expand...
It's just you? ;) I dunno, I follow it pretty closely, so I'm plenty excited about it. The National team is playing a lot better these days after the debacle that was last summer. We have a lot of young, exciting players (the average age on Saturday was 24.5), and this summer should be a lot of fun with the Gold Cup, Copa America, U-20 WC, and Olympic Qualifying is right around the corner. You should watch a few matches - I think you'd be pleasantly surprised.

As far as MLS goes, this season has been very good so far. There are more stars (EJ with the hat trick again on Saturday, Angel scored another great goal, etc...) and the level of play is way up. It might be a good opportunity to give the league another shot.
 
Ghost said:
I didnt even realise Deschamps had resigned from Juve, thats pretty cool of him to stick with them through the hard times, then tell them to **** right off once he'd got them back to the top.
Click to expand...
I think it was a case of mutual agreement. He probably wanted to stay on but the board wanted to get someone who they knew could do a good job for them next season because they didnt have faith in dechamps. Its basically a forced resignation

Lippi was their main target, but he insisted that he's still not looking to get back into management, so once they knew that lippi wouldnt join ranieri was their next choice. It seems like a good move by Juve, he's a very good manager.
 
I think Brown's pretty good, just had a really stupid first touch against Brazil.

I'm glad Wigan are going down, so many Premiership teams are getting investment that I start to worry about Blackburn.
 
Cornballer said:
Nguyen was only on for 10-15 minutes, but he played pretty well. He had an excellent dribbling run down the center of the field - faking out about four players before losing the ball to the last man. He also had a great cross w/ the outside of his right foot that he put right on Bocanegra's head, but Boca missed the free header. I was impressed, and I hope he gets more time in the future.

Nguyen had shoulder surgery a few months ago, which is why he's been out for so long. He's just regaining match fitness now. I think the best thing for him to do at this point would be a year-loan to another Dutch team where he could get some playing time, then see next summer if he can make the grade for PSV. As for this summer, there's a slight chance that he'll make the Copa America roster for the US since we're sending a very young lineup.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I'm not sure what PSV's plans are with Nguyen. He's got a contract until 2009. They'll either loan him to another dutch team, or let him play with the youth PSV team. Btw, do you just call him Lee, or Nguyen?
 
Falch said:
Interesting. I'm not sure what PSV's plans are with Nguyen. He's got a contract until 2009. They'll either loan him to another dutch team, or let him play with the youth PSV team. Btw, do you just call him Lee, or Nguyen?
Click to expand...
The US fanbase is currently undecided as to if he should be called "Lee" or "Nguyen". I think he should just go Brazilian style and use "Lee" on the back of his jersey. :P

Btw, here's a long article about him and where he may end up.
 
Some rumors floating around about Arsenal going after “The Turkish Le Tissier” Tuncay Sanli. He scored for Turkey on the weekend against Bosnia.

Extremely unreliable dodgy blog #2345 said:
Arsenal Close to signing “The Turkish Le Tissier”
June 4th, 2007

It is understood that Arsenal are close to signing the player nicknamed “The Turkish Le Tissier” Tuncay Sanli.

Speaking after Turkeys 3-2 defeat at the hands of Bosnia Tuncay told Turkish Newspaper hurriyet “Its almost done, Juventus & Arsenal have both offered me a contract but my heart is telling me to go to London”

Tuncay is available on a Bosman free

Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger has admired Tuncay since watching him play in the France-Turkey Confederations Cup match in 2003, Wenger then called Tuncay “an upcoming football star”

Tuncay is an attacking winger who has an outstanding goal scoring record for club and country scoring 85 goals in 198 games.

He has also picked up the nickname of “The Turkish Le Tissier” after scoring score an amazing hat-trick in his clubs 3-0 win over Manchester Utd in the Champions League in 2004.
Click to expand...
 
hadareud said:
just imagine they'd sign Brown too
Click to expand...
There are far worse defenders than brown. Boumsong and brnable or cygan and bramble would be horrible partnerships. Browns good, not good enough to be an england first team regular or even in the squad, but as a back up defender for united he's done well.
 
Brown's only in the England squad because of injuries. He's behind Terry, Ferdinand, Woodgate, Carragher and King at the very least. Even at right back he's behind quite a few.
 
It looks like the hrny rumours are going to become more frequent. there bare repors that suggest ancelotti also wants to buy henry. In football you never know what manager said what. One day the press reprot that a manager or a player said something, only for the person to deny it the day after. However I wouldnt be surprised if Milan wanted him. They said that they will sign a big striker, so maybe Henry is the guy. Then again, Wenger has said henry isnt leaving, so all this transfer talk about henry could be utter bollocks.
 
Cornballer said:
Some rumors floating around about Arsenal going after “The Turkish Le Tissier” Tuncay Sanli. He scored for Turkey on the weekend against Bosnia.
Click to expand...
sounds interesting!

never heard of him, of course
 
Cornballer said:
It's just you? ;) I dunno, I follow it pretty closely, so I'm plenty excited about it. The National team is playing a lot better these days after the debacle that was last summer. We have a lot of young, exciting players (the average age on Saturday was 24.5), and this summer should be a lot of fun with the Gold Cup, Copa America, U-20 WC, and Olympic Qualifying is right around the corner. You should watch a few matches - I think you'd be pleasantly surprised.

As far as MLS goes, this season has been very good so far. There are more stars (EJ with the hat trick again on Saturday, Angel scored another great goal, etc...) and the level of play is way up. It might be a good opportunity to give the league another shot.
Click to expand...

I guess I will give it another shot. I never had anything against the league, I just found it much inferior to the European leagues. Which it obviously is.

cornballer said:
Some rumors floating around about Arsenal going after “The Turkish Le Tissier” Tuncay Sanli. He scored for Turkey on the weekend against Bosnia.
Click to expand...

This sounds good. I think we could use a winger, big time.

psycho_snake said:
Then again, Wenger has said henry isnt leaving, so all this transfer talk about henry could be utter bollocks.
Click to expand...

Thank you! Henry and Wenger have both come out numerous times to squash the rumors but they keep coming back.
 
There were also rumors on Friday that Tuncay's headed to Milan. I think the only substantiated quote I've seen from him says that "he's interested in playing abroad" - everything beyond that is speculation.
 
Cornballer said:
There were also rumors on Friday that Tuncay's headed to Milan. I think the only substantiated quote I've seen from him says that "he's interested in playing abroad" - everything beyond that is speculation.
Click to expand...

I read that as well. If the quote where he said his heart is telling him to head to London is true, well that's good news :D, but I just hope the money is telling him to head to London too. Otherwise, we can be outbid I guess ;x

It would be hard for anyone to turn down an offer to head to AC Milan, being Champions League winners does alot for a club.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Unhinged Bios Official Thread
10
211
SJRB replied
  • Poll
Football (Soccer) game is abandoned because a fan used sexist language towards the ref.
24
735
T8SC replied
THE BEAUTY OF FOOTBALL
2
54
986
Ellis replied
URC 2025-2026 Official Thread
Social 
7
757
StueyDuck replied
Moana | Official Trailer
2
67
983
jason10mm replied
Top Bottom