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Official Football Thread 2006/2007 (Soccer)

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Beasley agrees Gers move
By Peter ORourke - Created on 27 Jun 2007

Rangers have clinched the signing of American international DaMarcus Beasley.

Beasley jetted into Glasgow on Wednesday for talks with Rangers after they agreed an undisclosed fee with PSV Eindhoven for the winger.

The 25-year-old has signed a three-year deal at Ibrox with the move subject to a work permit being granted.

Beasley spent last season on loan at Manchester City, but failed to win a move to the Premier League outfit after failing to impress at Eastlands.

The American is Rangers' fifth signing of the summer following the arrivals of Jean-Claude Darcheville, Alan Gow, Kirk Broadfoot and Graeme Smith.
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serenitydance.gif
 
tell me about it, I was halfway through the first paragraph, then I decided to stop reading. Last post on the page and all.

Saved me at least half an hour.
 
joking aside, there's something to be said for both systems.

the parity part that you are talking about could be seen as negative too - because you don't get rewarded for good forward planning and good work in general.

Finally, what it really comes down to in my opinion is that clubs and leagues in Europe have grown over many decades, while in the US the whole system could be seen as artificial.
 
SK - I agree with some of what you're saying, but parity gets a little stale after a while. Being unable to hold the core of your team together because of salary cap restrictions sucks. I like a system where the intelligent management can hang on to their better players and succeed, but one where money doesn't decide everything and the playing field is level. A comfortable middleground, I guess. The Yankees don't win every year, but it's nearly impossible for any team outside of the top 10 in payroll to make a big run at the World Series. (I'm not a big follower of baseball, but that's been my impression, so I may be offbase with this.) It's still a situation with haves and have-nots. I feel that the NFL may be too far in the other direction, where you really have a lot of trouble with salaries if you're successful.

The things that I do like about the English/European system....

- A single table format ensures that everyone has the same fixtures in the league. I love this. It's so unfair looking at tougher divisions in MLB or the patty-cake scheduling sometimes in the NFL.
- The dual-format of having winning the league (regular season?) being a huge deal, but also having Cup competitions that are valuable. The regular season is very undervalued here in the US, and I hate it. The whole "just show up for the playoffs" mantra sucks.

As far as promotion and relegation go, it's sort of a moot point as I never see it happening over here.
 
:)

tletico Madrid have given their clearest indication that Fernando Torres could leave the club and that Diego Forlan could be his replacement.

With Liverpool said to have made their interest in the highly-rated striker known, the Spanish club are now playing a waiting game.

Atletico official Miguel Angel Gil Marin admitted he was aware of The Reds' desire to sign Torres and said that one of his jobs this summer could be to look for a replacement.

"Nobody is essential," Gil Marin told Punto Radio.

"We are trying to build a team to compete and it is not about any one player and, good though he is, we want a squad that achieves its ambitions.

"Atletico is creating a side that is not all about Torres, but about the team itself.

"I would love Fernando to stay, but it is Fernando himself who will decide his future.

"We have talked to him and told him that he is in our plans. It is normal that he has doubts.

"It is also normal that there are offers that has caused him to stop and think.

"Things in football can change at any time and, although I do not see anything happening yet, I have to continue to work on looking for alternatives in case all this talk becomes a reality."

Despite all the rumours, Gil Marin holds out hope that Torres will reject Liverpool's overtures and commit himself to the club where he came through the youth ranks.

However, the approach to sign Forlan from Villarreal will continue even if Torres stays, according to Gil Martin.

"The deal that we are trying to do for Forlan is to give Fernando a partner in attack, but it may also be to use him as his replacement," Gil Marin said.

"Torres knows that he is wanted at Atletico and, as far as I know, he wants to stay."

After a meeting with his club and agent, it is believed that Forlan has decided to snub potential interest from the Premier League to remain in Spain.

Aston Villa and Sunderland have both been linked with the former Manchester United forward.
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So Liverpool will have to wait till July 10th when Torres comes back from Holiday to see if he pushes the issue.
 
hadareud said:
that's 2 in the morning again, I don't agree with this!
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Having somehow skipped Cornballer's post, I thought this was in response to psycho quoting those pictures and that led to some highly unsavoury thoughts about what "that's 2 in the morning" meant.
 
Mama Smurf said:
Having somehow skipped Cornballer's post, I thought this was in response to psycho quoting those pictures and that led to some highly unsavoury thoughts about what "that's 2 in the morning" meant.
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:lol nice one
 
Mama Smurf said:
Having somehow skipped Cornballer's post, I thought this was in response to psycho quoting those pictures and that led to some highly unsavoury thoughts about what "that's 2 in the morning" meant.
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:lol
 
Since there's nothing to do, Im going to try and find subbuteo. Ive not played it in ages. Ive got the game somewhere, but its buried behind tons of crap in a cupboard someowhere.
 
Mama Smurf said:
Can you be relegated from the US league?
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The champion of USL 2 can be promoted to USL 1 if they meet some byzantine requirements. (It's kind of like what the J-League uses.) There's no formal relegation process in USL, though.

Outdoor Miner said:
But I'd love to see relegation right now, as the LOL Galaxy would be in danger!
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:lol GaLOLaxy with Beckham getting relegated... priceless.

I'm crying on the inside. ;_;

KingGondo said:
MLS could also really benefit from expanding into new markets--and soon. There are many medium-sized cities in the US that would support an MLS team, especially where there isn't already an NBA or MLB franchise. I know for sure that if an MLS franchise came to Oklahoma City, I would be a HUGE supporter. :) Even if the team wasn't great, it would still be worth the price of admission to see Beckham, Angel, or any of the other eventual imports (maybe Zidane or Ronaldo?).
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No more expansion! Move the teams that have a history of struggling and get teams SSS ASAP.

Cornballer said:
The Yankees don't win every year, but it's nearly impossible for any team outside of the top 10 in payroll to make a big run at the World Series. (I'm not a big follower of baseball, but that's been my impression, so I may be offbase with this.) It's still a situation with haves and have-nots.
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Oakland made it to the ALCS last season and their payroll is pathetic. The Tigers (who won the AL) weren't big spenders either. The World Series winner had a sub-$90 million USD payroll too.

What makes MLB a bad example in discussions like this is that it is seriously the most random ****ing sport of all time. Sure if you spend $100 million+ USD a season your chances are better, but we haven't seen a megapayroll team win it all since the Boston Red Sox in 2004. And before them you have to go back to 2000 for the Yanquis de Nueva York.
 
Karakand said:
No more expansion! Move the teams that have a history of struggling and get teams SSS ASAP.
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Agreed. SSS is the way to solidify the league and ensure financial success.
Oakland made it to the ALCS last season and their payroll is pathetic. The Tigers (who won the AL) weren't big spenders either. The World Series winner had a sub-$90 million USD payroll too.

What makes MLB a bad example in discussions like this is that it is seriously the most random ****ing sport of all time. Sure if you spend $100 million+ USD a season your chances are better, but we haven't seen a megapayroll team win it all since the Boston Red Sox in 2004. And before them you have to go back to 2000 for the Yanquis de Nuevo York.
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I stand corrected. Good thing I added that caveat about how I have no idea what I'm talking about. :lol
Outdoor Miner said:
If only the rest of the Mex NT ('cept Guardado, he's alright) played with the same balls that guy has. Jesus.
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I'm really not looking forward to him terrorizing the US for the next 10 years. US Soccer really should have sent some money to Greece to bribe him into playing for them. :D
 
Cornballer said:
I stand corrected. Good thing I added that caveat about how I have no idea what I'm talking about. :lol
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You opinion was probably shaped by that disgusting era when the Yanquis won 4 titles in 5 years (96-00). Things have adjusted since then, thankfully.
 
Karakand said:
You opinion was probably shaped by that disgusting era when the Yanquis won 4 titles in 5 years (96-00). Things have adjusted since then, thankfully.
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Yes, you're probably right.

Oh and since we were joking about "The Mexicutioner" yesterday, some other people have started referring to El Tri as "Tritanic", which I got a chuckle out of.

For anyone that wants it, Univision is streaming Copa America matches from their website. I can't vouch for the quality/reliability of the feed, but people online have been pretty happy about it so far.
 
Darren Bent to Spurs is pretty much sealed apparently. My cat told me (my cat has known to be right, I mean, he got Torres to Liverpool interest spot on).

And now for... Defoe to Arsenal. :D
 
Outdoor Miner said:
Yeah. He's without a team right now.
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I thought that was him. I'm not sure what his current status is - last I heard he was staying in Spain until January, 2008.

Is this accurate?
Wikipedia said:
Following his strong presence at the championship, Vela attracted interest from a number of European clubs, but it was Arsenal who won the race for his signature in November 2005 for a reported fee of £2.5million[1] and he signed a five-year deal. However, due to English Premier League work permit restrictions for non-EU players, he will not be able to make his debut for Arsenal until 2007 and was loaned to Celta de Vigo in February 2006.[2] [3] However, in summer 2006 Celta found themselves unable to keep him, having signed too many players from outside the European Union. Vela was then loaned to UD Salamanca for the 2006-07 season.[4][5] Celta had wanted him to play for the whole 2007/2008 to help the club to return to La Liga after their relegation from top division. However, Arsene Wenger, Arsenal's manager, has applied for a work permit to bring Vela back to the Emirates Stadium in July 2007, even though he was originally due back in January 2008.
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Cornballer said:
The things that I do like about the English/European system....

- A single table format ensures that everyone has the same fixtures in the league. I love this. It's so unfair looking at tougher divisions in MLB or the patty-cake scheduling sometimes in the NFL.
- The dual-format of having winning the league (regular season?) being a huge deal, but also having Cup competitions that are valuable. The regular season is very undervalued here in the US, and I hate it. The whole "just show up for the playoffs" mantra sucks.
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I totally agree on both points, but as to the first, American football is just too grueling to have a 31 game season. As for the second, I'm glad to see MLS and the NHL giving the regular season champ more recognition. If I'm not mistaken, both of those came about as a result of fan demand, so maybe there's hope that the regular season in the other leagues could become something more than just an extended seeding procedure.

Another thing that I like about the English system is that it's geared for multiple competitions, national league, national cup, Champion's League, etc... All of the major American leagues play too many damned games, and the pre-season is mind-boggling boring. Play some interesting friendlies and maybe someone will care. I know I'd try to watch an NHL team take on a Russian Super League one, which may not be saying much, except that it's saying a hell of a lot more than what I'd do for a pre-season game with 2 NHL teams.

Karakand said:
The champion of USL 2 can be promoted to USL 1 if they meet some byzantine requirements. (It's kind of like what the J-League uses.) There's no formal relegation process in USL, though.
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Unless I'm mistaken, none of the byzantine requirements have anything to do with merit on the pitch. I think it's pretty much, "pay the USL some money" and "show them that you can actually field a team at that level."

Outdoor Miner said:
i270716di_sub20_mex_dos_sant.jpg


i140716di_sub20_mex_vela.jpg
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That reminds me of another thing I love about American leagues.

NO F&^%ING ADS ON UNIFORMS!

I know it's a great money source, but damn if it doesn't look low-rent.

There is absolutely no question that I would take...
4pyzmmt.jpg


...over...
5x74zgn.jpg
 
Cornballer said:
I thought that was him. I'm not sure what his current status is - last I heard he was staying in Spain until January, 2008.

Is this accurate?
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It's believed if he has an outstanding World Cup, he'll get his work permit for England. Not sure why his performance matters, but that's what I'm reading. Something about permits in these circumstances only being granted to "special talents". No idea how this stuff works. :lol
 
Outdoor Miner said:
It's believed if he has an outstanding World Cup, he'll get his work permit for England. Not sure why his performance matters, but that's what I'm reading. Something about permits in these circumstances only being granted to "special talents". No idea how this stuff works. :lol
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magic8ball.jpeg



The Guardian's review of the past year in Spain. Some funny stuff in here...

Worst travellers
Atlético Madrid's plane caught fire and their luggage disappeared in the space of two weeks. Maybe it's a good job they missed out on Europe.

Best match report
Asked for 100 words on Recreativo's crashingly dull 1-0 win over Real Sociedad, Marca's José Luis Hurtado wrote: "Maradona, Di Stéfano, Pelé, Cruyff, Van Basten, Gullit, Zidane, Gento, Puskas, Roberto Baggio, Torpedo Muller, Zico, Bergkamp, Eusebio, Futre, Blokhin, Breitner, Cabrini, Conti, Elkjaer, Laudrup, Garrincha, Gascoigne, Krol, Francescoli, Matthaus, Beto Alonso., Gigi Riva, Rossi, Antognoni, Beckenbauer, Bobby Charlton, George Best, Giggs, Kempes, Boniek, Romario, Bonhof, Liam Brady, Careca, Jarzinho, Cantona, Cafu, Luis Suarez, Kubala, Deyna, Didi, Eder, Donadoni, Redondo, Hagi, Giresse, Haan, Uli Hoeness, Rummenigge, Dalglish, Keegan, Kopa, Tigana, Guardiola, Rivera, Rivelino, Mazzola, Schuster, Simonsen, Falcao, Hugo Sánchez, Ronald Koeman, Pereira, Mágico Gonzalez, Mauro Silva, Maldini, Franco Baresi, Panenka, Bebeto, Overath, Tostao, Waddle and Zola would not have liked this match. Nor did I."

Best celebration
Raul González has given up on that ring-kissing nonsense to do the Big-I-Am, even though there are 31 players who scored more than him, while Dani Alves gave the fans a Christmas treat by pulling a Santa Hat from his shorts and dancing a little Christmas ditty to mark a wonderful goal against Depor on Twelfth Night. "It was starting to get a bit itchy down there but luckily, I eventually got the excuse to pull it out from my pants and show everyone," Alves grinned as Sid James cackled away behind him. The No1, though, is the collective madness that followed Madrid's last-minute winner against Espanyol, with Gonzalo Higuaín throwing his shirt into the air, Van Nistelrooy picking it up and unfurling it for the fans and Fabio Cannavaro grabbing the corner flag and waving it about grinning like some sort of simpleton.

And, finally, quotes of the year

"Anyone who says that I refused to play [as Rijkaard did] is a bad person; if a team-mate says I should be thinking about the group [as Ronaldinho did], he's the one that should think about the group. [There is] a war with two sides. It is not my war but I am the one taking all the hits. [If Rosell has anything to say to me] he should have the balls to say so to my face; he never said anything to me when he was my boss. He didn't even say hello to me and now he is attacking me behind my back. I hope they know that I'm back now - even if my goals do hurt them. I can forgive but not forget" - Samuel Eto'o, the "ticking time-bomb" that Florentino Pérez boasted of planting in the Barça dressing room, finally goes off.

"You attack me with a bullet and I respond with a bomb" - Eto'o justifies his rant.

"I cried over my impotence" - Betis keeper Koke Contreras reveals rather too much.

"It's got all the latest gear, I'm telling you" - Barça defender Sylvinho tries to explain why Ronaldinho keeps "going to the gym" rather than training with his teams.

"The refs are not helping us" - Fabio Capello, week 23.

"I never talk about referees" - Fabio Capello, week 24.

"I will pass up my salary for the next three weeks if it helps to pay off Capello. Bye, Fabio, It was horrible while it lasted" AS's Mad Madridista Tomás Roncero, week 21.

"Fabio, thank you from the bottom of my heart!" - AS's Mad Madridista Tomás Roncero, week 38.

"Madrid didn't defend well. Madrid didn't attack well. But they won. It was the same as always" - Former player and TV pundit Manu Sarrabia sums it up.

"We all know what Basque teams are like; it's obvious what the score will be for this one" - David Albelda is convinced that nothing-to-play-for Osasuna will do their Basque brothers from Sociedad a favour and lose. They don't.

"I don't doubt you Albelda, sunshine. Next week you have the chance to show what super professionals you are by beating Levante" - Osasuna coach Cuco Ziganda strikes back. The following week, Valencia lose to Levante.

"Our players are not educated, they get treated like gods wherever they go and never put their hands in their pockets for anything ... Guti is still a promise at 29 ... and David Beckham is half an actor, bound for Hollywood because no one wanted him" - Ramón Calderón makes friends with the squad.

"It was a private conversation" - So says Ramón Calderón of a miked-up conference in front of 150 students he doesn't know.
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SK - True, you need the right number of teams to do a balanced schedule. 16 will be perfect when MLS gets there - 30 game season is about right.
 
Vela just needs to play 70% of the games this year for his country when available (so not injured). And that means senior football. Surely if he was going to have a starring role at a WC, he'd already have played enough Mexico games to qualify.

If not, it might be possible to get a work permit without the 70% if he has a stunning WC. You can appeal verdicts, and I'm sure if they showed evidence of his talent at the highest level that would count.
 
Apparently on a Spanish radio station they're saying that Real Madrid will fire Capello and his staff, it will be made official tomorrow. We'll see.

If this happens... uh oh. Bye bye Wenger?
 
Squirrel Killer said:
I totally agree on both points, but as to the first, American football is just too grueling to have a 31 game season. As for the second, I'm glad to see MLS and the NHL giving the regular season champ more recognition. If I'm not mistaken, both of those came about as a result of fan demand, so maybe there's hope that the regular season in the other leagues could become something more than just an extended seeding procedure.
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This is a large part of the reason I like college [American] football more than the NFL. In order to be guaranteed a shot at playing in the big money bowl games you HAVE to win you conference. Wish more conferences were like the Pac-10 though where you play every single team once, though.

Squirrel Killer said:
Unless I'm mistaken, none of the byzantine requirements have anything to do with merit on the pitch. I think it's pretty much, "pay the USL some money" and "show them that you can actually field a team at that level."
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They have to win USL 2, that's merit on the pitch!
 
Regarding Vela: a reasonably good source said that he's headed back to Arsenal this summer. Not sure what the work permit situation is, but they're planning on him being back for the Barnet friendly on July 8th. That does depend on how deep Mexico makes it in the U20 tournament, though.
 
Karakand said:
They have to win USL 2, that's merit on the pitch!
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Are you sure about that? I mean, at that level it's all pretty small potatoes. If a USL 2 team is willing to pay the USL, but didn't win the league, couldn't they just disband and reform as a USL 1 team?
 
Squirrel Killer said:
Are you sure about that? I mean, at that level it's all pretty small potatoes. If a USL 2 team is willing to pay the USL, but didn't win the league, couldn't they just disband and reform as a USL 1 team?
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I don't think it's that corrupt. The shadow of the NASL's failure still looms pretty big, except for MLS if they keep giving away expansions teams like condoms at a free clinic.
 
Karakand said:
I don't think it's that corrupt. The shadow of the NASL's failure still looms pretty big, except for MLS if they keep giving away expansions teams like condoms at a free clinic.
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I didn't mean that I thought it was in any way corrupt (if I'm even right about it), just that that's what life is like at the lower levels in US soccer. These teams are barely staying afloat, and if you've got one that can make it at a higher level, and wants to do so, moving them up even though they haven't won the league isn't corruption, it's business.
 
Falch said:
Ecuador - Chile in 15 minutes. PSV's Edison Mendez is in the line-up, as is former Liverpool player Mark Gonzalez.
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I thought I was the only one who hallucinated that but according to the Liverpool website and sky sports news he's still a Liverpool player.

WTF!?!
 
He's going to Real Betis, isn't he? His Wiki says so:

On May 24, 2007, Rafael Benitez confirmed that Liverpool had almost reached an agreement with Real Betis over the Chilean winger. [2] On June 12 Mark Gonzalez confirmed he has signed a contract with Real Betis. However, the Chilean footballer also confirmed that there was a clause within the contract that would mean he wouldn't sign for Betis if they were to be relegated.
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Got a great stream again with Gol TV. Chavez really pumped a lot of money in building/ renovation of the stadiums.
 
Apparently, other than Schuster, Madrid is considering Laudrup.

Capello should stay, but what are you gonna do. Hopefully the new coach will do a good job of keeping up with the way Capello was transforming the team.
 
1-1, nice goal by Chile's Suazo. Pretty exciting match so far. Both teams need to win, because their other opponents are Brazil and Mexico.
 
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