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Official Football Thread 2007/2008 (Soccer)

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Can anyone tell me where I can watch Premiership Highlights / Goals online from last weekend? Couldn't watch none of the highlight tv programmes.
 
Mama Smurf said:
To be honest, I think England will miss him more than United. They have Tevez and are perfectly capable of playing one up front, and Saha and Solskjaer should be back in that time too. The Germany match doesn't matter, it would have been nice to have two fully fit teams but that's never, ever gonna happen with England it seems (and I know Germany will be missing Ballack at the least), but it's the qualifiers that are worrying.
Very true. The points are there for them, but there's not a large margin for error at the moment. They need to start getting some wins in qualifying.
 
Maverick said:
Anything new on the Robben situation?

Not as such, but I did read Madrid are chasing Quaresma. Might not be true, but I can't see them buying both, not with Drenthe and Sneijder's arrivals too.

Ghost said:
Ashton + Owen = Goals!

Those are two players you can rely on making the matches.
 
Drenthe would be a fantastic buy, he was immense against Liverpool in the friendly. Ran our defense ragged. We couldn't cope with his pace. Same with Agbonlahor against Villa. Quite worrying.
 
Hey, I paid for my tickets to england israel, i'll be damned if there isnt at least one West Ham player in the squad.
 
Maverick said:
Damnit, I was telling everyone I know that watches football here in the states (read: 3) that Hleb was going to have a breakout season, I wanted to pick him for my fantasy team, and of course, I somehow forget to pick him up since there were so many players to consider.

What does Hleb do? Score in the first game.

I am starting to believe that this could be a real three to four horse race for the title. With Man. U drawing against Reading and losing Rooney for two-months, combined with Chelsea losing Terry and looking considerably shakey at the back, I think Liverpool and Arsenal could get a jump on them early on in the season.

Anything new on the Robben situation?

In other news, after watching the Man City/West Ham game on Saturday, I think West Ham could easily go down this season. They just looked so slow. No creativity.

I don't think Chelsea's defense is very shaky at all. They did concede 2 goals against Birmingham, but I consider that a fluke. They've still got the likes of Carvalho, Tal Ben Haim, and Alex.

Seems like Real wants to use Drenthe as a leftback, which is a blunder of epic proportions. He can't defend for shit.
 
Lakitu said:
Drenthe would be a fantastic buy, he was immense against Liverpool in the friendly. Ran our defense ragged. We couldn't cope with his pace. Same with Agbonlahor against Villa. Quite worrying.

Young too. As in Ashley, not as they're young. Though they are.

You say "would be" which is a bit confusing, do you know they've already signed him?
 
Mama Smurf said:
Young too. As in Ashley, not as they're young. Though they are.

You say "would be" which is a bit confusing, do you know they've already signed him?

What? They've signed him? I am out of the loop. Did Henry leave Arsenal yet?
 
Where've you been? Henry retired years ago, his son's playing for Arsenal now.

Liverpool fans might want to know Lyon lost to Toulouse on Saturday, don't know if that emasn anything. I've already said I think Lyon will be weaker this year, losing players and changing manager.

And Man Utd fans might be interested to hear Lyon are being linked with a move for Heinze after Cris getting injured.
 
Mama Smurf said:
Where've you been? Henry retired years ago, his son's playing for Arsenal now.

Liverpool fans might want to know Lyon lost to Toulouse on Saturday, don't know if that emasn anything. I've already said I think Lyon will be weaker this year, losing players and changing manager.

And Man Utd fans might be interested to hear Lyon are being linked with a move for Heinze after Cris getting injured.
Interesting to hear about Lyon losing to Toulouse again. There was an article in a North Jersey newspaper by where I live about Toulouse's upset over Lyon last year when they won 2-0 and how they are ready to do the same. Is it that Lyon is weaker or is Toulouse just really good against Lyon?
 
Falch said:
I don't think Chelsea's defense is very shaky at all. They did concede 2 goals against Birmingham, but I consider that a fluke. They've still got the likes of Carvalho, Tal Ben Haim, and Alex.

Right, those are good players, but they have not played with eachother long enough yet to develop proper chemistry, which is why I am worried, as a Chelsea fan, that we will slip a bit in the early part of the season.

Once Terry is back and the defenders have had proper time to play together, however, we will be just as dangerous as United.
 
The points per game standings in MLS. I can't see the Galaxy getting back into this - they're just so far behind at this point, and they're rapidly eating through their games in hand. It's going to take a miracle (and probably a fit Beckham.)

Overall
Code:
Rank 	  	        GP 	Pts 	PPG 	  	  	  	  	 
1 	NE Revolution 	19 	33 	1.74 	  	  	  	  	 
1 	FC Dallas 	19 	33 	1.74 	  	  	  	  	 
3 	Houston Dynamo 	20 	34 	1.70 	  	  	  	  	 
4 	D.C. United 	18 	30 	1.67 	  	  	  	  	 
5 	Chivas USA 	17 	27 	1.59 	  	  	  	  	 
6 	KC Wizards 	19 	29 	1.53 	  	  	  	  	 
7 	NY Red Bulls 	18 	27 	1.50 	  	  	  	  	 
8 	Columbus Crew 	19 	26 	1.37 	  	  	  	  	 
9 	Chicago Fire 	18 	20 	1.11 	  	  	  	  	 
10 	Toronto FC 	19 	20 	1.05 	  	  	  	  	 
11 	LA Galaxy 	14 	14 	1.00 	  	  	  	  	 
12 	CO Rapids 	19 	18 	0.95 	  	  	  	  	 
13 	Real Salt Lake 	17 	12 	0.71
 
Falch said:
I don't think Chelsea's defense is very shaky at all. They did concede 2 goals against Birmingham, but I consider that a fluke. They've still got the likes of Carvalho, Tal Ben Haim, and Alex.
Those guys can do a decent job. They're good replacements to terry, However Chelsea need to do something about Glen Johnson. He wasnt good before and he doesnt look any better now. He looked clumsy against birmingham and the second goal chelsea conceded was partly his fault. Kapo got past him far too easily. Chelsea need a good right back and alves would have solved their problem, but sevilla are being very stubborn about it. They wont let him move even though he wants to and they've rejected bids 2 bids over 20 million pounds.
 
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c79d97288xsneijderclinica4p.jpg
 
That list needs to be slightly updated but it's true for the most part. I can't see the Galaxy turning it around. They should've taken the extra amount of time between matches earlier in the season to maximize points as they're going into a time where they'll play 2-3 matches a week. Pavon hasn't shown his stuff, and Donovan hasn't shown much prowess either. The only Galaxy player that has stood out for me is Xavier and he just prevents goals not scores them. Once Beckham comes on it's up to Gordon I feel to knock em in. I wish them all the best, but it's hard to be optimistic about a team like that. Plus I want them to lose on Saturday.
 
Osorio said:
That list needs to be slightly updated but it's true for the most part.
I think they may have missed the Sunday results, but I can't be sure.


From Ives Galarcep's blog....
Altidore's stock keeps rising

So it's a day after watching Jozy Altidore record his first two-goal game as a pro and couldn't help but think about the recent trend of young American players making the move to Europe and the realization that Altidore will leave MLS far sooner than I ever expected.

As recently as five months ago I would scoff at people who suggested that Altidore was going to leave MLS early. Not because I didn't think he was good enough, but because he had stated repeatedly that he was in no rush to leave and because I didn't see the Red Bulls parting with a true jewel of a prospect who could be be perfect to feature when the Red Bulls' new stadium opened.

Now that Red Bull Park is almost two years away, and Altidore's stock is rising faster than any other player in MLS, it is growing increasingly unlikely that he will ever play a minute in Red Bull Park.

Will European teams really line up to make big bids for Altidore? You can bet on it. He's only 17 (will turn 18 in November), has shown good finishing ability and is a beast from a physical standpoint. He's about 6 feet tall and growing and also boasts a personality that will make him easy for any team to market.

Could Altidore be that young American forward who goes overseas and makes the type of impact that will lead European teams to stop looking at the USA as a place to find goalkeepers, defenders and defensive midfielders? It is very possible.

I know what some Red Bulls fans are thinking. "Just great, we finally have a young superstar field player to root for and watch grow and he's ready to leave after his first full season." Yes, it will be disappointing but it really is better for MLS when more players, particularly young players, go abroad and find success. This will increase the league's reputation and will lead to more players considering MLS as a legitimate stepping stone to Europe. That goes for Americans as well as foreign prospects.
 
QVT said:
Wasn't it supposed to be Adu? I'm never sold on any american guys being the next big thing.
Adu was definitely overhyped from the beginning. I still think he could be a very useful player for the national side and perhaps a bit more than that, but he was never going to be the next Pele as some suggested.

People are very high on Altidore right now, and it's deserved to a large extent. He could still end up being a bit of a bust, but that gets more and more unlikely as he continues to develop and play better.

I think the good news for US fans these days is that there are more and more young players to get excited about. It used to be that our hopes rested on one or two guys per cycle, but now there's a bigger crop every year. It makes it an exciting time to be a fan.
 
I was reading the mailbox on F365 and oen of the letters caught my attention. I'll post the link to the mailbox for anyone who's interested in reading it and I'll also post what that person wrote.

http://www.football365.com/mailbox/story/0,17033,8744_2659227,00.html

And here is the letter that caught my attention. I dont like it at all.

As a United fan the realisation of the new season did not take long to dawn. All the pre-season talk of United being favourites had me a little on edge I have to admit I don't believe a word of it. Almost as soon as the game kicked off at Stamford bridge on Sunday there was a different Chelsea on show. Mourinho spent much of his first two years at Chelsea generating this "us against the world mentality" - a policy that disapperaed last season due to him being pre occupied bickering with the board and in particular Abramovich.

Chelsea look awesome! They're cutting, calculating and effective on attack, and despite their rather meagre spending in the market (by their standards at least) they have bought for the here and now unlike United buying for the future. The passion and the us against the world attitude seems to be re-ignited and this I feel will be telling over the course of the campaign.

It is fair to say that nobody has seen the "new" United team yet because in no game have all four new players featured yet. It is however safe to say if Carrick plays as poorly as he did against Reading, the closest he'll get to a United jersey is offering to personally wash Hargreaves' shirt on a weekly basis. United looked ordinary yesterday. Our "superstar" Ronaldo proving he should never be allowed address a dead ball, relying on luck and swerve caused not by design, but as a result of hitting the ball as hard as he can, a policy I doubt is a favourite of Ronaldinho/Kaka/Messi.

Chelsea have the best squad in the Premier League! Player for player, pound for pound they beat United and every other club with the exception of the front two (they have one at least).

If Drogba stays injury free and Pizzaro can score half as many goals as he did last season (a feat I believe to be well with in his abilities) I might talk a year off work and go on a retreat to Alaska. Don't be surprised if Chelsea run away with the show this year because United look too ordinary and clueless and losing Rooney is like losing our one creative talisman, a loss that I believe could decide United's fate as early as December.

The difference is Mourinho has added players to his squad that will allow a more diverse style of football in formations,attacking or defensive styles. Chelsea will be diverse this season. Ferguson has just bought newer models of existing players,to add to our attacking football formula a formula Chelsea play better. Gutted!

There's just so much wrong with that letter I dont know where to begin. Its fans like that which really annoy me. Ok, we lost our first game, but there are still 37 more games to go, which means that there is still 111 points up for grabs! How can anyone say that we cant win the title because we drew our first game? Its a shame that we drew in a game that we were expected to win quite easily, but thats football. All united fans must be annoyed, but we shouldnt start thinking that its over for us.

He says that carrick played badly yesterday. What exactly did he do wrong? he was one of our best players yesterday. He made some great passes in that game. I remember three pases that he made that could have easily turned into goals and he had one very good shot. He was the one that created a lot of our chances. I was delighted with carrick yesterday. We didnt win, but he still played so well.

Some of ronaldo's free kicks were poor, but he did take some pretty good ones too. I think he should have left that one at the end to giggs, but what can you do about it now. There isnt anything wrong with the way ronaldo takes free kicks. From a long distance, he's the perfect person to take them. Roberto carlos and pirlo take them the same way and just look how recognised they are for their excellent free kicks. Ronaldo's free kicks shouldnt take anything away from his performance either. he too played well.

He's making chelsea sound like undefeatable team. Now they did play well against birmingham, but didnt he notice that birmingham managed to score twice against chelsea at home? Sure they might have won, but there's some cause for concern if your defence is going to be that weak against a promoted team at home. And whats all this talk that chelsea are going to run away with the title? After just one game, he thinks that we dont have a chance and he doesnt even bother mentioning Liverpool and Arsenal as title contenders. both of them are going to be a threat to chelsea and its going to be a closer title race than ever. I'd be very very surprised if any of the biog four will easily win the title. This season is going to be more difficult for everyone.

Losing rooney is a loss, but losing our one creative talisman? You've got to be kidding. What about tevez, giggs, scholes, carrick, nani, anderson and ronaldo? All of those players can assist goals and they can score them too. Whats all the talk about looking clueless? Yes its a shame we didnt win yesterday, but we completely dominated the game. We had all the posession and we created 22 chances compared to the 2 reading created. That doesnt sound like a clueless team to me.

Thats the end of my rant. I just get so annoyed when fans have such little faith. Its one game, grow up. There's still a long way to go.
 
QVT said:
Wasn't it supposed to be Adu? I'm never sold on any american guys being the next big thing.
Adu was hyped without playing on the field. Altidore got his hype from his play on the field.
 
Cornballer said:
I think they may have missed the Sunday results, but I can't be sure.
Yep the Red Bulls are at 19 GP with 30 points, NE has 36 pts now, so on and so forth.

Oh and about Altidore:

"Just great, we finally have a young superstar field player to root for and watch grow and he's ready to leave after his first full season."
.
 
Cornballer said:
Adu was definitely overhyped from the beginning. I still think he could be a very useful player for the national side and perhaps a bit more than that, but he was never going to be the next Pele as some suggested.

People are very high on Altidore right now, and it's deserved to a large extent. He could still end up being a bit of a bust, but that gets more and more unlikely as he continues to develop and play better.

I think the good news for US fans these days is that there are more and more young players to get excited about. It used to be that our hopes rested on one or two guys per cycle, but now there's a bigger crop every year. It makes it an exciting time to be a fan.

Ah, well to be honest I never pay much attention to MLS anyways. Altidore sounds like a guy to watch, I hope he does continue to develop as young guys play the best while trying to prove themselves.
 
The quality of play in MLS has increased significantly over recent years and this year in particular. Not to say that matches are always watchable (I've had to turn off a few stinkers this year), but in general I find it worth my while to check out a match per week and see what's going on in the league. Or at the very least check out the weekly goal compilations and do a bit of reading on who's playing well. I'm without a team this season, but with San Jose back in the league next year, I'll be back on board. I'll try and dig up an Altidore compilation for you.
 
Ishmael Miller loaned to West Brom for a month...

Sven's saying he's still gonna grab 3 more transfers before the window closes. yes plz.

Cornballer said:
The only Spurz fans we have around here just participate in drive-by postings where they'll come by for a snappy remark or two, then disappear off the radar for a few months.
Sounds like nitewulf and U.S. Soccer. :lol

Wes said:
We're so cool we don't need to be stickied.
This.
 
Nope, his ex, he broke up with her after she turned into a big of a racist on 'celebrity' big brother. Shes damn fine, and dumb as shit to boot, the perfect package!
 
LiveWire said:
Any reason why this thread isn't stickied? If shitty baseball and basketball can get stickied why not soccer?

The mods don't care about this thread so much they want us to manually sticky the thread by posting everyday, if the legends are true you can insult a mod in this thread and not get banned.

Geez the media have been acting like the apocaypse is here with Rooney's injury shows how much England lacks in depth.
 
Osorio said:

Because every game I've tried to watch (with the exception of Chivas who have an amazing offence) has bored me to tears. It just isn't the same style of game that I love.

I mean, I would rather watch it than terrible other sports, but I'm not going to wake up at 5 am on a saturday to see it.
 
QVT said:
Because every game I've tried to watch (with the exception of Chivas who have an amazing offence) has bored me to tears. It just isn't the same style of game that I love.

I mean, I would rather watch it than terrible other sports, but I'm not going to wake up at 5 am on a saturday to see it.
Go to a game then. Don't you live in Cali? I understand it's not the EPL but why should it if it's not being supported by this country's biggest soccer fans? Answer me this question. If every soccer fan went to their respective MLS team's stadium don't you think the MLS would be one of the biggest leagues in the world? At its current financial state they can only afford a salary cap of 2.4 million, but eventually it'll rise and better players will come thus bringing the quality up. Trust me you might be bored watching it on TV but the playstyle is much nicer live. Being in a supporters group helps tremendously as well. If you liked watching Chivas then head to the Home Depot Center for their next game and check it out! It's your country's domestic soccer league, at least give it a shot.
 
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