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Official Football Thread 2006/2007 (Soccer)

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well we didn't play very well today, Richardson is a goat tbh and Saha was totally off. Still a wins a win. 12 outta 12 points so far Arsenal next :D I wish we were playing at the emirates tbh.
 
:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

I just saw Reina's wonderful display.

:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

I haven't laughed so hard in a really long time.

:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol
 
Just got back from the game, what a disappointment. We weren't good enough today, it's as easy as that. It definitely wasn't for the lack of chances or trying though. Or for the lack of a plan B might I add. Middlesbrough didn't do anything, as expected. Lehmann wasn't tested a single time all game. Nothing, no shot not even a deflected cross. Apart from the goal of course, where he was chanceless.

You could see that all the players were tired from the internationals.
I know it's the same for all the top clubs, but Arsenal have the lowest age average of any top team - so it is not quite the same after all. Other players make up for this with experience, ours can't.

-Henry is still not his usual self, you could see his class come through every now and then but it wasn't enough. Also gave the ball away far too often.


-Fabregas had a shitty game today, gave the ball away more often than Hleb. No more needs to be said.

-Gilberto was no better than Fabregas really.

-Hleb. I do like Hleb. But don't put me in the same room with him and a kitchen knife. It's so frustrating to watch him at times - you can see that he is a quality player, but he is so incredibly unconcentrated. Please get him a mental coach. He also completely lacks any kind of self confidence. Shoot for ****s sake. He was very unlucky first half when he did shoot for once though, but that was an incredible save by Schwarzer.

-Van Persie was tired, he tried but it just didn't quite happen for him today. He got frustrated second half so it was the right decision to take him off. I could see him getting a second yellow for doing something stupid.

-Ljungberg was decent, but not quite there yet either.

Now for the positives:
-Gallas had a very good debut I think. He is quick, has great control and puts great crosses in. He also played well together with Ljungberg and later on Rosicky. The goal came from his side but I don't think it was his mistake per se. The entire defence was napping.

-Rosicky is a great player, he played great once he came on. Of course there was not much time left. He is incredibly quick and has great technique. He also has a great shot, he was blocked twice though.

-Baptista had a few good scenes too.


I don't know, I feel that there's not alot missing. Once we start scoring I feel that this team will click and go on a run. We have a better side than last season, if (it's a big if though) Arsenal can win in Manchester I think they are going on a run. I am very positive about this team, much more positive than I was last season.

edit: I did have a good day in the fantasy league. Mama, you have nothing on me :D
 
psycho_snake said:
Everton are beating Liverpool 2-0 at half time with goals from cahill and johnson. Both goals were down to very poor defending from the Liverpool defenders, they were a complete mess.

Gallas and Baptista wont make a difference next week shinobi, we'll still beat you like we always do at old trafford. Since we are playing so well we might be able to beat you 6-1 like we did a couple of seasons ago :p

Man Utd vs Arsenal games are not what they used to be. We had such an amazing rivalry, a lot of it thanks to keane and vieira. Since both of them have left the games have never realyy felt the same. It'll still be an amazing game even though there will be no viera vs keane, no neville brothers trying to amputate reyes and no arsenal players pushing around van nistelrooy.
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That 6-1 match never happened...just so you know.

Now the 1-0 match that won us the title at Old Trafford...that defintely occurred. Of course that was the last time we scored a goal at that ****ing place. :lol

I thought the Old Trafford clash last year was one of the best matches of the year. Even though we lost 2-0 (again), it was played in a positive spirit, little in the way of drama, and superb attacking play from both teams, particularly from the Gunners early on until they ran out of gas a bit. I wouldn't be surprised if next Sunday's clash produces a similiar game.

As far as Liverpool goes, don't they have a bunch of injuries on the team (not even counting Risse towards the end of the game)? I imagine that's compromised them a bit in the early going. But I do understand the "more depth then quality" line. As far as the third goal was concerned, Reina didn't have a choice. If he keeps hold of the ball, he pulls it back with him into the net and it's a goal. If he tried to just tip it up, I think he was so far back underneath the roof of the net that it could've hit the crossbar and either bounced back in, or right on or in front of the line giving Johnson a tap in anyway. So he was ****ed no matter what. That doesn't mean he didn't look like an idiot though. :lol

Gunners continue to settle just above the relegation zone. :lol From Champions League finalists to fourth from the bottom...my how the times have changed. What's funnier is that the Spurs have three losses to our one, and they've still got more points. :lol I agree with hadareud though, I really like the shape of this team...once they get used to their home ground (which Wenger himself said would probably take around ten games to completely get comfortable with it), and the passes, movement and final touch becomes more crisp, they'll get it going. The way this EPL season has gone so far, I wouldn't be surprised if the Gunners got their first three points of the season at a ground where they haven't won in over four years. :lol
 
ElyrionX said:
I don't get it.

In midfield, we've got Giggs, Park, Ronaldo and even Fletcher. In defense, we've got Evra, Heinze, Silvestre, Brown and maybe even O'Shea.

Richardson. Useless in defence, ineffective in attack. Average pace, weak on the ball, shoots worse than a monkey, concedes penalties and tackles like a pussy.

So why the hell is he even still on our squad and let alone getting first-team football. WTF. Offload him to some Division 1 team already.
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Because SAF loves home-ground player, even if their ability are not up to standard (e.g. Fletcher) :lol Richardson did play a few good games last 2 seasons, but just A FEW...

I am glad to see Evra finally plays like what he did in Monoca. His speed and accurate tackling can provide us another choice for left back. And with Vidic's recovery in a few matches, it means we might never see Silvestre play again :)

And Lennon is having a knee surgery. Could that apply Beckham will be back to England team again?

Soccernet said:
Spurs rocked by knee injury to Lennon

LONDON, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Tottenham Hotspur's teenage winger Aaron Lennon has a knee injury that could require surgery, according to Spurs manager Martin Jol.

Lennon, who played in both England's recent Euro 2008 qualifiers against Andorra and Macedonia, missed Spurs' 1-0 defeat at Manchester United on Saturday after getting injured in training on Friday.

'Maybe he needs an operation but maybe we'll give him another week's rest because it's only a small tear in his cartilage, so hopefully it will be okay,' Jol told the club's website.

'It's a disappointment but we played without him in pre-season and others did well, so I'm confident we can play with the other players and get the results as well.'

The 19-year-old's absence could also be a blow for England, whose Euro 2008 Group E campaign resumes on Oct. 7 against Macedonia.

Though so far used as a substitute, Lennon has added bite to England's right flank, having impressed at the World Cup after making his debut in a friendly win over Jamaica in June.
Click to expand...

P.S. My first post on GAF. Hello everyone.
 
Osorio said:
I'm guessing Tevez and Mascherano are going to be subbed in the second half. Oh and Villa is up after 4 minutes.
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Yeah baby! Villa are rocking the Premiership! WAHOOOOOO! :D
 
Another game another Zamora fluke, HOW DOES HE KEEP DOING IT!


3-0 would have been harsh, dont forget marlons chance when Sorensen basically gave him the ball in the box.
 
Ghost said:
Another game another Zamora fluke, HOW DOES HE KEEP DOING IT!


3-0 would have been harsh, dont forget marlons chance when Sorensen basically gave him the ball in the box.
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True and what a goal line clearance!
 
The fantasy football is ****ed up. Points haven't been updated for the Middlesbrough - Portsmouth game 2 weeks ago, a Monday night tie. I know from looking through the teams at the time that some of you have been seriously affected by it...some good, some bad. At least one of you had David James and he made quite a lot of saves and had a clean sheet that night, Campbell is in various teams and someone even had a number of Middlesbrough players (so they're probably happy points weren't updated).

According to someone on the message board at the time, yahoo were just leaving it until the two week domestic break was up as that way they'd get more hits for their advertising as people kept checking to see if they'd been updated. So I haven't said anything about it.

Now though, it's still not updated. Saturday's fixtures are done and it still isn't. And people on the message board are now saying that, given past experience of yahoo's fantasy football, they're unlikely to be. That's just bullshit, it'd take 20 minutes max for someone to update a single game and they've had two weeks of nothing else to do it in.

So **** the ff. I'll keep doing it half-heartedly, I'll even get serious again if they eventually do go back and fix things, but I'm not playing it next year unless we choose somewhere else to do it. I reckon some teams must be over 30 points down in our league, and who knows if this game will be the only one not done this year.
 
I've got Campbell on my team and was wondering when it was going to get his 3rd game in. If his 10 points would've gone in this week, I'd be in 3rd instead of 6th. Bah that sucks.
 
Lots of talks about PL, but nothing about the best league, Serie A:)

So we kicked Lazios ass today, Superpippo is better than ever and Olivera made us almost forget the traitor Sheva. Where are the italian-fans? I am talking about the people in the worldcup-thread who talked about "gli azzuri" every 5 seconds.
 
Yazan said:
Lots of talks about PL, but nothing about the best league, Serie A:)

So we kicked Lazios ass today, Superpippo is better than ever and Olivera made us almost forget the traitor Sheva. Where are the italian-fans? I am talking about the people in the worldcup-thread who talked about "gli azzuri" every 5 seconds.
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They were showing the Cagliari-Catania and Torino-Parma matches over here and I gotta say that Cagliari had to be the unluckiest team in the world today. There's no way they should've come out of it with 0 points. But yeah, good to see Serie A finally running even though there's a team that looks to be relegated already (Fiorentina).
 
hadareud said:
nah, he's too old. He's lost it. Every Manyoo fan can be glad they got rid of him
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I don't think he's too old although he's 30. He should have 2-3 good, or at least decent, years to go.

Most of us know the main reason for selling him is the conflict with SAF. But he is a striker that needs a lot of direct passes and crosses into the box. Without Beckham, and Giggs often moving to center midfield, he cannot perform his best in last 2 seasons. Yes, he still scored a lot but failed in adapting into quick and direct play style.

With hugh support from Beckham, Cicinho, or even Carlos, he can return to his natural play style again. Still glad to see that he can show his ability again.

The major disappointment is not losing him. It is how the team did not even try to find a suitable replacement.
 
i was joking of course.

Anyway, the latest Cole gossip:

Arsenal board let me down - Cole

Cole felt betrayed by Arsenal
Ashley Cole joined Chelsea because he was angry that the Arsenal board made no serious attempt to keep him.

The England defender asked for £60,000 a week in December 2005 but the Gunners board decided on a maximum of £55,000.

"I don't believe the board gave a damn about keeping me, it preferred to haggle over a difference of £5,000," said Cole in his new book My Defence.

The book is being serialised in the Times and Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said on Friday: "We wish him well."

Wenger added: "He is a good guy but he was in a situation where his feelings towards the club changed. Is it his fault? Is it our fault? Is it his agent's fault?


The truth is that the Gunners had done nothing all season to hold on to me

Ashley Cole

"That today is not really important. At the end of the day the most important thing is that he is happy and the club is happy."

Cole says in his book that Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein had initially agreed to the wage demand with his agent, Jonathan Barnett.

The defender, who signed for Chelsea on 31 August after weeks of wrangling, was told of the board's refusal to sanction the deal when driving his car and "nearly swerved off the road".

"I was trembling with anger. I suppose it all started to fall apart for me from then on," he added.

At a later meeting at Dein's house, Cole told him: "I feel betrayed and let down by a club I've given my heart and soul to."

Cole said his relationship with the club further soured when fitness coach Tony Colbert suggested the defender was faking an injury.

He had told Colbert he was feeling OK as he walked into the changing rooms at Arsenal's training ground but shortly afterwards a sharp twinge recurred in his thigh.

When Colbert heard Cole now complaining of an injury, he said: "What do you expect me to do, Ash, when you tell me you're OK and then come in here like you've just been shot?

"Be honest with me, are you just making out that it's worse than it actually is because you've got an eye on the World Cup?"

Cole also felt that although Arsenal made a serious attempt to keep skipper Thierry Henry, who eventually signed a new deal despite interest from Barcelona, they did not show him the same interest.

"The club made Thierry feel wanted and special, wooing him, wining and dining him, speaking in public about how much they wanted him to stay, going on a deliberate charm offensive," stated Cole.

"But me? I didn't have one dinner, one meeting or one phone call from anyone.

"That's not sour grapes, it's just a sad truth. The truth is that the Gunners had done nothing all season to hold on to me."
Click to expand...

:lol

Good luck with the book though!
 
I know it is :P

Just to take this opportunity to express my thankfulness to Ruud in past few years although some of his response recently are... not so good.

For Cole's talk, he might just want a contract equivalent to Henry. Dinner nor hugs? Doesn't matter.
 
Hey, did you hear the one about Blackburn being the only English side in Europe this week not to be picked up by a TV channel?

What do you mean it's not a joke?

****

I always expected it, we were never likely to get picked against Newcastle, West Ham and Spurs, not unless we'd drawn Hearts or something. Kind of sucks not only for me to watch, but also in terms of the TV money everyone else will get and we won't. Oh well, we'll just have to keep winning as others get knocked out until they have no choice but to show Blackburn games! Hah!

The CL groups are too good, I'm not sure which games to watch. Tomorrow it's either PSV - Liverpool or Chelsea - Bremen, both games being the one I'd pick in normal CL fixtures. I think I'll probably go with Chelsea, I've seen quite a lot of Liverpool games already this season and as Bremen are some kind of crazy attacking team it should be entertaining.

Then on Wednesday we have Man Utd - Celtic and Hamburg - Arsenal. The former immediately appeals more, England vs Scotland, a decent chance of a Celtic embarrassment, and United's football is generally very attractive at the moment. But then, the other game is more likely to be more competitive, simply because I don't think Hamburg will be pushovers. Plus I want to see if Wenger plays the 4-5-1 that did so well last year in Europe, a system that on the face of it is more defensive but I found far more attractive and exciting than the way they play in the Premiership. I still haven't decided on this one.

Damn you choice. Damn you to hell!
 
enishi said:
The major disappointment is not losing him. It is how the team did not even try to find a suitable replacement.
Click to expand...
We didnt need a ****ing replacement. The reason why Ruud left was because he couldnt face being put on the bench and the reason why he was put on the bench was because the team was playing so much better without him. Ruud might have been able to score 30 goals a season, but we had to change the way we play to let him play and we became a worse team because of it. Chelsea will tell you that you dont need a player who can score that many goals to win a title. Saha wont be able to score as many as ruud, but he's got much better movement and it helps us play better as a team. A fit saha could get 20 goals per season.

Even if we did try to replace ruud, who could we have bought? Trezeguet would have been an option, but he is exactly like ruud and Fergie didnt want to play the style of football we played when ruud was with us. Torres would have been an ok buy, but he seems too selfish and he would have cost a ****load. Tevez is south american and it would take him too long to adjust to english football and he would have also cost a lot of money. There were no other strikers available.

Anyway, I do agree with you about Evra. He has been looking very good. he's quick, he helps in attack and he's been defending very well. When he first started playing I was shaking my head because he was very poor, but he's beginning to look like he's worth the money. I hope Heinze wont just walk into the team when he is fit because Evra has been playing very well, I like his style of play. And yes I hop everyone gets fit quick so peanut head wont have to play again. Silvestre is a big liability.
 
psycho_snake summed up Ruud very well there. Good player but not what we need for the team. We've looked much better without him, return to the faster counterattacking football. Ronaldo's been very good so far this season, as well as Giggs. Evra's been a star so far this season. Heinze will have a tough time getting back in, but I think he's a better crosser of the ball but Evra is a lot more adventurous. Well there u go.
 
psycho_snake said:
Even if we did try to replace ruud, who could we have bought? Trezeguet would have been an option, but he is exactly like ruud and Fergie didnt want to play the style of football we played when ruud was with us. Torres would have been an ok buy, but he seems too selfish and he would have cost a ****load. Tevez is south american and it would take him too long to adjust to english football and he would have also cost a lot of money. There were no other strikers available.
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Yea, I agree that after SAF trying to build the team around Ronney and C.Ronaldo, Ruud is not suitable for us anymore. And I don't want someone with ****load of money... Trezeguet (why did we sell Ruud if we want him...), Torres (He was ok if he costed less than Carrick :lol ) nor Tevez (sorry to WHU fans, but I don't think he is suitable for PL). After sending Rossi out of loan, we are lack of squad depth provided that Smith needs some time to adjust himself back to PL. 3 strikers for CL and PL look a bit uncomfortable for me.
 
Excellent job, Cole :lol Blame your new boss as if you have done nothing wrong. Who else can do that better? :)

BBC Sports said:
Mourinho comments left Cole upset

Mourinho's tapping-up testimony left Cole agitated
Chelsea's Ashley Cole was unhappy with new boss Jose Mourinho's evidence at the tapping-up inquiry over the then Arsenal star's meeting with the Blues.
In The Times he claims in extracts from his book My Defence, that Mourinho's accounts to the Premier League inquiry were "rubbish" and "not good for me".

"Jose Mourinho talked about me and my agent being unhappy," said Cole.

"I grew agitated when he said I wasn't happy with Arsene Wenger's relationship with some of Arsenal's French players."

Last year, Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon, Mourinho and Cole met at a London hotel and were later found guilty of breaching Premier League rules regarding clubs making illegal approaches for players.

And Cole has been scathing about Kenyon's testimony over events that day.

He said: "Peter Kenyon said agent Pini Zahavi made the approach on our behalf.

"I told the inquiry that everything that had been said about the hotel meeting was rubbish.

"I ran them through how a brief meeting with Pini Zahavi was interrupted by a knock on the door and in walked the Chelsea manager and chief executive.

"There was general chit-chat and then we left."
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:lol With all the arrows Cashley Mole is slinging across the free world, it's interesting to see that the only person he's spared has been Arsene Wenger (to Cash's credit, he's very complimentary of him). In fact an editorial I read last night pointed out that he's never had a former player talk shit about him upon or shortly after their exit. It's a bit of a contrast to that Scottish dude that manages some red team...Sir something I think.

What's amusing to me is how Cash says Jose and Peter basically said bullshit about him just to save their guilty asses, yet he's got no problem playing for them now. :lol He really is a piece of work.

BTW, some soccer movie hits DVD today called Goal, which follows a kid that gets an opportunity to get into the first team for Newcastle United. Anyone know if it's worth a look, or is it a brand new flick?
 
Shinobi said:
BTW, some soccer movie hits DVD today called Goal, which follows a kid that gets an opportunity to get into the first team for Newcastle United. Anyone know if it's worth a look, or is it a brand new flick?
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it's about a year old or so, I never got around to watch it but from the previews it seemed alright. I think I'm gonna rent the DVD at some point soon.
 
Henry is out of the Hamburg game tomorrow - Walcott could start.

I'd love to see Walcott for a full game, I was quite disappointed that he was rested on Saturday when I was in the Stadium.
 
Man Utd - Celtic it is then!

Man, I hope we beat Salzburg, but we've sucked away from home this season and played well without getting much at home. And Salzburg is a lot further away than Sheffield :(
 
Mama Smurf said:
Man Utd - Celtic it is then!

Man, I hope we beat Salzburg, but we've sucked away from home this season and played well without getting much at home. And Salzburg is a lot further away than Sheffield :(
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it won't be too easy I think. Also, they are playing on a synthetic pitch - which I guess is not too easy to adjust to if you're not used to it. I don't really like Salzburg, so I shall remain impartial. Then again, Austria could really use some points for the UEFA 5 year thingy. I dunno. Anyway, that's the stadium:
rb110.jpg
 
let's also make this the home of Champions League fans, so there is no need for a seperate thread:

header.jpg


http://www.uefa.com/Competitions/UCL/index.html

Tuesday, 12 September 2006
Barcelona v Levski Sofia, 19:45
Bayern Munich v Spartak Moscow, 19:45
Chelsea v Werder Bremen, 19:45
Galatasaray v Bordeaux, 19:45
Olympiacos v Valencia, 19:45
PSV v Liverpool, 19:45
Roma v Shakhtar Donetsk, 19:45
Sporting v Inter Milan, 19:45

Wednesday, 13 September 2006
AC Milan v AEK Athens, 19:45
Anderlecht v Lille, 19:45
Dynamo Kiev v Steaua Bucuresti, 19:45
FC Copenhagen v Benfica, 19:45
FC Porto v CSKA Moscow, 19:45
Hamburg v Arsenal, 19:45
Lyon v Real Madrid, 19:45
Man Utd v Celtic, 19:45

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/default.stm
 
Im watching Liverpool vs Psv and they said Essien just scored the opening goal for Chelsea.

This has been an odd game so far
 
Outdoor Miner said:
Barca dominating so far.
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Yeah, Chelsea too. This is much better than they were aginst Blackburn.

Shevchenko hasn't really cliked yet at Chelsea had a couple of good chances and his touch has been heavy. Cole hasn't clicked either (Arsenal fans: woohoo!), but he hasn't had much time to get used to it there yet.
 
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