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Official Football Thread 2007/2008 (Soccer)

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Steve Goff said:
USA Roster Unveiled Tuesday

The USSF will announce tomorrow the national team roster for the Aug. 22 friendly at Sweden. Considering the location and quality of opponent (not to mention the fact that there are three mid-week MLS games and travel demands for domestic players), expect a heavily Euro-based squad.

It is an official FIFA fixture date for friendly matches, which means clubs are obligated to release requested players 48 hours in advance. So there are no call-up issues.
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The Swedish roster:
Goalies: Rami Shaaban, Fredrikstad
Johan Wiland, Elfsborg.

Defense:
Matias Concha, Bochum,
Erik Edman, Rennes,
Petter Hansson, Rennes,
Dennis Majstorovic, Basel,
Olof Mellberg, Aston Villa,
Mikael Nilsson, Panathinaikos.

Midfielder/Strikers:
Niclas Alexandersson, IFK Göteborg, Marcus Allbäck, FC Köpenhamn,
Daniel Andersson, Malmö FF, Kennedy Bakircioglü, Ajax,
Dusan Djuric, Halmstad,
Johan Elmander, Toulouse,
Samuel Holmén, Elfsborg,
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Inter,
Kim Källström, Lyon,
Tobias Linderoth, Galatasaray,
Fredrik Ljungberg, West Ham,
Rade Prica, Ålborg,
Markus Rosenberg, Werder Bremen,
Christian Wilhelmsson, Bolton
 
Eeikod said:
dibujoxl2.jpg

"I dont think so" (wtf Oleguer)
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Eto'o, Henry, Messi, Ronaldino and who?
 
For freekicks just outside the box: Giggs should take all of them from the right. Tevez or Carrick from the left. Any from long range, more than say 30 yards, should be crossed in or passed imo. Ronaldo's free kicks are pretty bad, probably only 10% actually end up on target.
 
psycho_snake said:
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.



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.
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Despite United not scoring, I don't think any of the first games of the season was as one-sided as the United match. We played well, but like Fergie said, it just wasn't our day. And Carrick played great. That pass he made to Rooney was amazing.
Also, why do keepers always seem to have their best games against us?
 
Hey guys, I need your advice. I'm heading back to school later this week and I have to get my cable set up down there, so I'm wondering: Should I order Fox Soccer Channel or just get a subscription to Arsenal TV?

I'm an Arsenal supporter (as most of you know), so seeing every Arsenal match is most important to me. Sometimes FSC does not broadcast every game. I do enjoy watching the other teams, but obviously not as much as Arsenal. It may seem like a clear cut choice here that I should go for ATVO, but has anyone used it, or anything like it? Should I just stick with FSC? That's what I had last year and it wasn't bad, but watching a match cast on Soccernet is nothing like watching the game.
 
I can't speak for ATVO as I've never used it.

FSC will probably have an average of two Arsenal matches per month. They also claim they're going to show some of the rest of the EPL matches on "Fox Broadband", but that isn't set up yet. It'll be $5 per game, and it's probably something you could just get on SopCast anyway. Not sure what they're going for. I believe a lot of cable plans (including DTV and DishNetwork) have Setanta, which would give you another chunk of games per month.
 
Cornballer said:
I can't speak for ATVO as I've never used it.

FSC will probably have an average of two Arsenal matches per month. They also claim they're going to show some of the rest of the EPL matches on "Fox Broadband", but that isn't set up yet. It'll be $5 per game, and it's probably something you could just get on SopCast anyway. Not sure what they're going for. I believe a lot of cable plans (including DTV and DishNetwork) have Setanta, which would give you another chunk of games per month.
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Well I have a Mac so I don't think SopCast or any of those work with OS X. Not 100% sure though. I'm beginning to lean towards ATVO, but I'm still unsure.
 
h0pper said:
Well I have a Mac so I don't think SopCast or any of those work with OS X. Not 100% sure though. I'm beginning to lean towards ATVO, but I'm still unsure.
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I'm in the same boat w/ SopCast since I'm on a Mac at home. I don't think anyone has a solution for that unless you get BootCamp up and running. :(

Another option would be to download a torrent of the game after it's finished and watch on that.
 
Arsenal TV does not have the rights to broadcast live Premiership/Champions League/FA Cup/Carling cup, so for live games it's completely useless apart form friendlies, which won't really help you until next summer.

It's great for interviews and specials, they also show the Sky Sports game summaries etc. Loads of interesting content for a gooner. I'm getting it for free with BT broadband, I'm not sure it's worth 45 quid a year, but I'd probably pay for it if I wouldn't get it for free.

edit: they do have live audio commentary though
 
hadareud said:
Arsenal TV does not have the rights to broadcast live Premiership/Champions League/FA Cup/Carling cup, so for live games it's completely useless apart form friendlies, which won't really help you until next summer.

It's great for interviews and specials, they also show the Sky Sports game summaries etc. Loads of interesting content for a gooner. I'm getting it for free with BT broadband, I'm not sure it's worth 45 quid a year, but I'd probably pay for it if I wouldn't get it for free.

edit: they do have live audio commentary though
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hmm, I dunno about it then. I'd rather get something where I can watch the games live. I'm torn D:
 
Cornballer said:
166fs936847.jpg


Fabregas was about as shocked as we were that Hleb scored...

Welcome back, Lakitu.
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eh i dont know, hleb always impressed me with his dribbling skill. he could be our secret weapon this year.

as for pederson...i'd love it if we could get schweinsteiger instead. that kid is freaking fire.
 
nitewulf said:
schweinsteiger
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He's good. But I'm afraid without a name change I can't approve this transfer.

It's even worse if you understand German. He also looks like Effenberg (cunt), so he'd have to do something about his face as well.
 
BatiGOOOOOOL said:
I can get behind the shitty baseball statement, but I draw the line with the insults towards the NBA. :D

drenthe_sneijder130807.jpg

10th European title in the horizon!
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Drenthe is a without a doubt a worthless buy.. Sneijder isn't worth 27 million € either. I can't believe Real spent this kind of money on one okay and one shit player. Drenthe only played a good -21 European Cup, against people of his own age. He's never proven ANYthing on a decent level. It's a shame a club like Real Madrid can fall for hypes like these.
 
People who criticise Ronaldo's free kicks are just spoilt, they expect Beckham 98 like scoring ratio.

Its so irritating when people criticise out of context, just what margin are people comparing to? Since Beckham left Ronaldo has been our most successful free kick taker and thas why he is taking them. He may not score with a highr atio, but he creates danger more often than most and we do actually score goals from more of his free kicks than we did anyone else since Beckham left. and probably during Beckhams later years as well where his free kicks werent as good.

Simply put football is all about what weapons you bring to the table and Ronaldo's free kicks are a dangerous weapon. Tevez will probably take over the short range ones though or hey'll mix it up abit more. They definitely showed a willingless in preseason to mix things up more when its short range.

When its out wide or further out I'd prefer ronaldo to whip it in or fizz it towards the goal.
 
Hell no!

Schweini won't leave Bayern, that'd be the same as if Henry would be leaving Arsenal...

Uhm, wait a second while I'll look for a better example.
 
Osorio said:
Agreed. You an artist or something?
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I used to do some graphics work but not anymore. I like OS X better though. There's no way I could go back to Windows. I'll find a way I guess.
 
Osorio said:
I can't find a compilation but here's his first goal ever and his second goal against Toronto.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOY-e7xHM8k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFu5VdS9QLY

Glad to say I saw both in person.:D
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Bite me.

I forgot to mention that I picked up the new Arsenal away jersey yesterday. It's easily my favourite sports jersey ever, and I haven't even worn it yet. I might buy a couple more...one in a frame, and another spare one to wear a few years down the line after I wear the first one out.
 
soepkip said:
Drenthe is a without a doubt a worthless buy.. Sneijder isn't worth 27 million € either. I can't believe Real spent this kind of money on one okay and one shit player. Drenthe only played a good -21 European Cup, against people of his own age. He's never proven ANYthing on a decent level. It's a shame a club like Real Madrid can fall for hypes like these.
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There are many young players that move to big clubs based on potential alone. Why should it be different with Drenthe? He obviously has the tools and skills to be a very good player, now it's a matter of waiting and seeing how he will develop.

As for Sneijder, yes, he is overpriced, but you can say Madrid can pay that without taking much of a hit. The truth is the team needed a good playmaker that could organize the team well enough, so it doesn't has to depend on Guti's inconsistency. He is no Kaka, but he is un upgrade and should fit in nicely with the rest of the team.

In the end, no one expects them to be the next Zidane or Roberto Carlos. They're just supposed to be two more pieces in this young talented team they're trying to build to contend for many years to come.

Also, out of curiosity, what team do you support?
 
h0pper said:
I'm just gonna move to England; problem solved.
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Me too. Close to metal festivals and awesome shows(I could follow Symphony X or other bands on tour for days! days! by train!!!) and lots of football. I also believe I owe some UK gaffers a pint or two.
 
We need a Benfica fan in here. I want to know the chances of Freddy making the squad for Benfica's Champions League qualifying match.
 
I believe the Benfica coach said that he wasn't quite ready yet, but he might get a little bit of time because they're having injury problems at the moment and are short on players.
 
QVT said:
Me too. Close to metal festivals and awesome shows(I could follow Symphony X or other bands on tour for days! days! by train!!!) and lots of football. I also believe I owe some UK gaffers a pint or two.
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When my UK citizenship goes through and I do absolutely nothing with it I'll be sure to rub it in for you and h0pper. :D
 
Just got home and saw this:

http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_1998855.html

U.S. to Host No. 1 Ranked Brazil in "Clash of Champions" on Sept. 9 at Soldier Field in Chicago

I NEED to go to this... I only live near Detroit, it's not too far, and since it's on a Euro qualifier date we should be able to get just about anyone we want to back home for this.

At the same time I don't have a car that will make it and I know I can't afford a night's hotel AND the tickets, etc. Gotta pull something out of nothing though, because a chance like this won't happen again.

And here I was thinking I'd have to wait til next year to see the boys for the first time...

[EDIT: Yes, we were supposed to face Mexico at Azteca that day, but something made it fell through. The link doesn't explain it but mentions it.]
 
rumours

TRANSFER RUMOURS

West Ham have offered Barcelona's Eidur Gudjohnsen an £80,000-a-week deal but want an answer from the striker, who wants £100,000, on Tuesday. (Mirror)

Tottenham are set to make an offer for West Brom's Curtis Davies. (Guardian)

Portsmouth are stepping up their bid to sign £4m-rated Real Mallorca winger Jonas Gutierrez. (Guardian)

Derby are pursuing their interest in Finland midfielder Mika Vayrynen. (Telegraph)

Manchester City boss Sven-Goran Eriksson wants to sign a keeper before Wednesday. Jussi Jaaskelainen and Marco Amelia are the targets. (Times)

West Ham are to make an official inquiry about Palermo midfielder Mark Bresciano after his move to Manchester City collapsed. (Guardian)

Everton have bid £6m for Benfica's 50% share in Manuel Fernandes. A private investor owns the other 50%. (Sun)

Everton have not given up hope of signing Middlesbrough striker Yakubu. (Independent)

Daniel Alves will not play in Sevilla's Champions League qualifier on Wednesday as he seeks a move to Chelsea. (Sun)

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is prepared to pay up to £8m for Blackburn's Morten Gamst Pedersen. (Mirror)

Middlesbrough hope to tie up a £6.8m deal for Spurs striker Mido on Tuesday. (Mirror)

Tottenham have been alerted that Real Madrid midfielder Guti will be available for £5m if Arjen Robben joins the Spanish giants. (Mirror)

West Brom have confirmed their interest in Manchester City striker Ishmael Miller. (Mirror)

Sheffield United are set to win the race for Plymouth's £600,000 midfielder David Norris. (Mirror)

Leicester are to offer former Chelsea and Middlesbrough striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink a deal worth £1m. (Mirror)

Derby are considering a move for prolific Watford striker Marlon King. (Mirror)

Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce is considering a £4m swoop for Everton skipper Phil Neville. (Express)

Sunderland are ready to sell goalkeeper Martin Fulop. (Independent)

Everton are set to bid £3m for Sheffield Wednesday winger Chris Brunt. (Star)

Nottingham Forest are poised to sign Southampton striker David McGoldrick on loan. (Star)

Derby are set to hold on to Giles Barnes after slapping a £6m price tag on the midfielder. (Star)

OTHER GOSSIP

Liverpool striker Peter Crouch has had a showdown with manager Rafael Benitez after being omitted from the squad for the Premier League opener against Aston Villa. (The Sun)

West Ham striker Dean Ashton has told England boss Steve McClaren, who has been rocked by Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney's two-month lay-off, that he can be his country's new number one striker. (Daily Mirror)

Everton manager David Moyes says that Goodison Park striker Andy Johnson could be the answer to England's problems up front. (The Sun)

Rooney should be fit for England's Euro 2008 qualifer against Russia in Moscow on 17 October. (Various)

England and Chelsea defender John Terry is back in training. (Guardian)

The League Managers Association says Carlisle's sacking of boss Neil McDonald after one game of the season is "deplorable". (Times)

AND FINALLY

Gilberto has revealed he only found he had missed out on the Arsenal captaincy via the club website. "I was surprised," he said. "But I'm not upset." (Various)

Story from BBC SPORT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport1/hi/football/gossip_and_transfers/6945354.stm

Published: 2007/08/14 06:55:24 GMT

© BBC MMVII
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Tottenham have been alerted that Real Madrid midfielder Guti will be available for £5m
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VaderNoooo.gif

What the hell? Although Guti is inconsistent, he is such an important squad player - what was missed in all the Beckham hoopla last season is that it was mainly Guti that turned Madrid's season around with a string of inspired performances, especially coming on as a sub against Sevilla where he turned the game around.

On the flip side, for Spurs that would be a steal.
 
Liverpool striker Peter Crouch has had a showdown with manager Rafael Benitez after being omitted from the squad for the Premier League opener against Aston Villa. (The Sun)
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For some reason I imagine it went down something like this:

4tzq5o3.jpg


Unrelated: Holy crap Jussi Jääskeläinen has a lot of umlauts in his name.
 
Knowing Benitez' squad rotation policy, Crouch will most likely end up starting the next game, then being assigned to drive the team bus for the week after.
 
gollumsluvslave said:
What the hell? Although Guti is inconsistent, he is such an important squad player - what was missed in all the Beckham hoopla last season is that it was mainly Guti that turned Madrid's season around with a string of inspired performances, especially coming on as a sub against Sevilla where he turned the game around.
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This is Real Madrid. They're the experts in self sabotage, then somehow scraping through it.
 
Gilberto is upset about not being made skipper and the way it happened:

Gilberto said:
“Of course I was surprised because I was captain all last season when Henry didn’t play and I thought I would be this time.

“Arsene is the manager and it is his decision and I have to accept that. Life goes on and I will get on with my job like I always have.

“But I was surprised he didn’t speak to me about his decision. He had the time to do it because I was at the training ground before it was made public.

“He didn’t say anything to me and I just found out about it that evening when I saw it on the Arsenal website.

“I wasn’t upset about not being captain, but I was about the way I learnt about it.”
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I find it strange and disappointing that Wenger didn't tell him straight to his face, very odd. The only explanation I have is that Wenger wants to sell Gilberto next summer and didn't have the balls yet to tell him
 
Ghost said:
Knowing Benitez' squad rotation policy, Crouch will most likely end up starting the next game, then being assigned to drive the team bus for the week after.
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I see squad rotation with Crouch being the odd one out, we pierce defences more when he's not in the team.

Everton have bid £6m for Benfica's 50% share in Manuel Fernandes. A private investor owns the other 50%. (Sun)
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Oh shi-- I hope they burn for that. :D
 
Mido is having a medical at Middlesbrough. I'd have thought he'd join Birmingham, but there you go.

They have a decent strikerforce now if Yakubu is staying. Aliadiere: thankfully you are used to the bench, or else this news might have been disappointing.
 
gollumsluvslave said:
VaderNoooo.gif

What the hell? Although Guti is inconsistent, he is such an important squad player - what was missed in all the Beckham hoopla last season is that it was mainly Guti that turned Madrid's season around with a string of inspired performances, especially coming on as a sub against Sevilla where he turned the game around.

On the flip side, for Spurs that would be a steal.
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They need a decent midfielder. Against sunderland their midfield was shameful. They did fuck all. Lennon was sorely missed because their wingers hardly provided any decent crosses, but you would still expect zokora and jenas to do something and they didnt.

Spurs have a problem because their midfield isnt strong enough. lennon and zokora are good, but they dont have a left winger and jenas isnt that good of a player. Gale might be used as a left winger when he's fit, so they could use him to solve that problem. As for jenas , its not that he is crap, but he's not good either. He's such an average player. Jol did the wrong thing by spending 16 million on bent. If tottenham needed a striker, then ent would have been a good option, but its not worth spending 16 million pounds for a striker when you've already got a very solid up front and when there are other parts of the team that need strengthening. The money spent on bent should have bee used to get a good midfielder. Guti could solve the problem. He's a decent play and I think he can play in the centre and on the wing. 5 million pounds is a pretty good deal.
 
hadareud said:
Mido is having a medical at Middlesbrough. I'd have thought he'd join Birmingham, but there you go.

They have a decent strikerforce now if Yakubu is staying. Aliadiere: thankfully you are used to the bench, or else this news might have been disappointing.
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Its a pretty good signing. Middlesbrough need a striker. Viduka was a big loss and aliadiere would have been an appaling replacement. He might work hard, but a blindfolded viduka could play better than aliadiere. Mido isnt as good as viduka, but he's a decent player and he's better than aliadiere.

Everton have bid £6m for Benfica's 50% share in Manuel Fernandes. A private investor owns the other 50%. (Sun)
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Everton are fucking stupid if they do that. You would think clubs would learn that this will only bring trouble after what happened with tevez.
 
they need somebody creative in midfield, in my opinion that's what spurs are really lacking. Not that Carrick was the most creative player ever, but Spurs were definitely a different force when he was still there.
I have the feeling that Spurs only have decent attacks when Berbatov drops back into midfield and provides passes. Lennon is overrated imo, he's quick and that's pretty much it. Maybe overrated isn't the right word, but he still has a lot to learn, that's for sure.

I think a good way to look at it is to look if any of the Spurs midfielders would be a regular at any of the top 4 - and I really don't think so.

Guti would definitely help, but I don't think he's exactly the player to sort out their midfield problems.
 
Rooney should be fit for England's Euro 2008 qualifer against Russia in Moscow on 17 October. (Various)
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If thats the case that will mean that he'll miss 8 of Uniteds EPL fixtures. Its difficult to tell how we're going to do without him. tevez has shown he's an excellent striker, but is he going to be able to put in the performances we saw from him near the end of last season after having no pre season training?

Rooney better not be rushed back for englands sake. England have got an injury crisis at the worst time, but rooney shouldn't be rushed back. Its Mclarens fault that we're in a position where we have to win our remaining qualifier games to get to the euro. We shouldn't be in that position in the first place. We've got plenty of strikers that can play up front anyway. owen has said he's fit, ashton is back and there's also darren bent, johnson, defoe or crouch. Apart from owen, none of them are as good as rooney, but all of them can score goals, they've shown that for their clubs and crouch has got a great goalscoring record for england, so rooney shouldn't be rushed back; there's no need to.
 
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