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[Ryck]

Debrecen 0 Man Utd 3 .......so far....

looks like we're in

20' 0 - 1 Heinze
60' 0 - 2 Heinze
65' 0 - 3 Richardson

HEINZE!!!!!!

 

[Solid]

west brom did not have a single shot on goal! hahaha :lol :lol

anyway, chelsea is top of the league. it's all over guys.

 

[RonaldoSan]

Crap!

Ajax 3 - 1 Brøndby (5 - 3)

We freakin' had them. We scored the first goal in the first half and we kept them from getting any serious chances. Ajax had no shots on target in the first half. Then five minutes in second half Babel scores from outside the box. Then we throw more people up in the offense only to see Ajax score two more goals.

Well it was not supposed to happen anyways. Brøndby is a team that sells their best players and Ajax is the one buying them. Big fish eats small fish and that's the cycle of life.

 

[Solid]

Well it was not supposed to happen anyways. Brøndby is a team that sells their best players and Ajax is the one buying them. Big fish eats small fish and that's the cycle of life.

hehe

too bad though. neither a swedish or danish team this year.. boo.

 

[Hooker]

Well... claiming "We freakin' had them" is kind of pushing it, especially considering the lucky goal you scored to draw the first game at 2-2.



Ajax did play awful the first half, but it wasn't like Brøndby ever had a chance. Like Ajax doesn't stand a chance against the bigger teams in Europe (Milan, Chelsea, Barça, Bayern etc.)

 

[Un4]

Well... claiming "We freakin' had them" is kind of pushing it, especially considering the lucky goal you scored to draw the first game at 2-2.



Ajax did play awful the first half, but it wasn't like Brøndby ever had a chance. Like Ajax doesn't stand a chance against the bigger teams in Europe (Milan, Chelsea, Barça, Bayern etc.)

Ajax clearly outclassed Brøndby in the second half after a terrible first half.
Saying that Ajax won't hold up against the bigger teams only 3 weeks into the season is a bit premature imho. Well, at least we can actually see if we can hold up against them in the CL.

That Brøndby keeper was awful btw.

Well it was not supposed to happen anyways. Brøndby is a team that sells their best players and Ajax is the one buying them. Big fish eats small fish and that's the cycle of life.

All of the Ajax tonight goals were made by players who came out of the Ajax youth teams though..

 

[Solid]

btw i see blackburn got another red card.. haha what a fucking turd team. a disgrace i tell ya.

 

[Un4]

btw i see blackburn got another red card.. haha what a fucking turd team. a disgrace i tell ya.

Just saw it.. Davids brings out the best in people! :lol

 

[Mama Smurf]

You know, it's not like we go unpunished. Neill will be suspended for a few games now and we're seriously short on right back cover. People go on about it like we get away with it, but punishments are in place and we suffer from those punishments! Just like you're supposed to if you choose to play like that.

Anyway, a lot to talk about tonight:

Blackburn - Tottenham

Woohoo! So we didn't win, but we played great. Dominated the game, 7 shots on target and 4 off target compared to Spurs' 0 shots on and 1 off. I can't tell you how delighted I am with the way the team's playing this year, and while we didn't score, the goals will come, especially once Bellamy's fit.

Chelsea - West Brom

Good performance. Wright-Phillips stood out, I quite like this idea of Mourinho's to keep the pairing of W-P and Cole separate from Duff and Robben. Giving them a half each or 60 minutes then 30 minutes on rotation should keep them happy. Essien looked lively and involved, but you know...West Brom. The only thing we were definitely going to get out of this game about him is whether he's a complete dud or not, and how likely was that?

Arsenal - Fulham

Another good performance, with the only downside being Fulham getting a few more chances than they'd have liked, but once Campbell is back they'll be so much stronger. Hleb seems to be a great signing and even Reyes impressed me! He actually looked like he fit in the side, something I haven't seen since his first couple of months at the Arsenal. Oh and Cygan scored 2 goals?! :lol

Newcastle - Bolton

Souness is soooo fired. Not that Bolton are a bad side, but 2 points from the first 3 games? No goals? I say he makes it to the end of September.

Man Utd - Debrechen

I don't have much to say about the game, but goddammit, Neville's injured for 5 weeks! If there's one England player other than Rooney I wouldn't want to miss these qualifiers, it's Neville. Not because I think he's that special, but because I don't have a fucking clue who to replace him with. I've never liked Danny Mills, and Glen Johnson always look like he's defending desperately to me, much better going forward. Phil Neville should never play in defence unless there's no other choice, so...I dunno. What I'd probably do is play Carragher at right back, but knowing Sven it's Johnson all the way.

OR, now I think about it, play 3 central defenders! It's not our system so maybe we shouldn't try it, but I reckon if we had Ferdinand, Carragher and Terry in front of Robinson, Ashley Cole and Wright-Philips as wing backs with Lampard, Beckham and Joe Cole/Parker/whoever as the third central midfielder, that might work.

I hear Everton went out to Villarael under harsh ciircumstances, a wrongly disallowed goal or something, but I haven't seen it. Shame for them, but...well, as I've said before, for purely selfish reasons I'm not too bothered. I just don't want to watch Everton Champions League games when I could be watching the other British teams.

 

[Mama Smurf]

As I've said, Champions League draw tomorrow, at 3pm UK time I think, so work it out from that.

Here's how the draw works:

4 pots of 8 teams, drawn to give 8 groups of 4 teams. Team of the same country are kept separate, with the exception of Liverpool, due to the fact that the rules said they shouldn't be in the competition at all. However, they can only meet Chelsea anyway because of the pots.

Pots:

1

Real Madrid CF (ESP)
AC Milan (ITA)
FC Barcelona (ESP)
Liverpool FC (ENG, holders)
Manchester United FC (ENG)
FC Internazionale Milano (ITA)
FC Bayern München (GER)
Arsenal FC (ENG)

2

FC Porto (POR)
Juventus FC (ITA)
PSV Eindhoven (NED)
Olympique Lyonnais (FRA)
Panathinaikos FC (GRE)
Chelsea FC (ENG)
Villarreal CF (ESP)
AFC Ajax (NED)

3

Club Brugge KV (BEL)
RSC Anderlecht (BEL)
Olympiacos CFP (GRE)
FC Schalke 04 (GER)
AC Sparta Praha (CZE)
LOSC Lille Métropole (FRA)
Rangers FC (SCO)
Werder Bremen (GER)

4

SL Benfica (POR)
Rosenborg BK (NOR)
Real Betis Balompié (ESP)
Udinese Calcio (ITA)
Fenerbahçe SK (TUR)
SK Rapid Wien (AUT)
FC Thun (SUI)
FC Artmedia Bratislava (SVK)

Personally I think it's fucking ridiculous that the actual champions of some of the biggest leagues in the world aren't amongst the top seeds in a competition called the Champions League. Inter ahead of Juve? Ridiculous. Arsenal ahead of Chelsea? Hello, Chelsea are the Premiership champions and reached the semi-finals for the last two years, while Arsenal, I believe, have never made it past the quarters. Fucking Panathinaikos were closer to the top pot than Chelsea!

Anyway, obviously the teams to avoid are Chelsea and Juve. I hope Liverpool and Chelsea avoid each other, I see that fixture twice a year at least anyway. The odds say 6-1, and I almost alwasy play the odds, so I won't worry.

 

[Shinobi]

My friedn in England called me today and told me that Chelsea, the english champions, were advertising their tickets for the west brom game on the radio :lol Where have all the Chelsea fans gone? Probably back to Manyoo again where they first came from, those damn glory supporters!

:lol Yeah I read some story that 3000 tickets were still available for this game. I was like WTF? If that keeps up Chelsea might have to sell Shaun-Wright's ass.

Thats whats been said for the last nine years, but he only has one plan and as soon as that doesnt work, his team is screwed. Well, enjoy that FA cup trophy, it might be a while until you see another trophy.

Heh, I wouldn't be so sure...if there's one thing Wenger's squads have had going for them it's being an incredibly strong FA Cup team, as you guys found out last season. :lol Though having said that, Chelsea seems well equipped to sweep up all the English titles this season. Would be something if they accomplished that...even more so if they could perform the quaduple.

Good to see Arsenal filling the net up...haven't seen the highlights, but it seemed it could've gotten away from them after a missed penalty and the opening goal by Fulham. Thankfully Henry and Cygan lol) put the Arsenal locomotion back on track.

 

[RonaldoSan]

Well... claiming "We freakin' had them" is kind of pushing it, especially considering the lucky goal you scored to draw the first game at 2-2.

That goal was lucky but so was Ajax' first goal in the first game. Brøndby clearly had more opportunities in that game but wasn't as effective as Ajax.

Well BIF was in CL with 40 min. remaining. If they had played as well as they did in the first half and our keeper had not played like shit, then with some luck we could have done it.

That first goal in the second game wasn't luck either 10 min. earlier Elmander ran all the way from middle past the defense but didn't finish properly. Ajaxs defense is shit (except for that brazillian guy. he's too focused on offense though). They lost like 75% of all the balls in the air. They were outplayed with that goal. It had nothing to do with luck.

 

[cybamerc]

Brøndby were better than Ajax in the first half (and in the first match as well) but were totally outclassed in the second. I think they did well overall but there's no doubt that Ajax is a much better team. Their players are clearly also more fit eventhough their season has barely begun.

 

[MrPing1000]

Panathinaikos
Anderlecht
Rosenborg

please.

 

[Hooker]

Mama Smurf, you're missing AFC Ajax in the second group

 

[Mama Smurf]

Oops, thanks.

 

[psycho_snake]

:lol Yeah I read some story that 3000 tickets were still available for this game. I was like WTF? If that keeps up Chelsea might have to sell Shaun-Wright's ass.

Dont worry, Abramovic and his Russian mafia can cover the losses.

All the games had predictable scores last night. I watched a bit of each game, but I couldnt watch Manyoo's game because it wasnt showing on any channel in Dubai, however, i did see the highlights and was impressed with what i sew. Heinze proved again just how good he is and got 2 well deserved goals. The nevillers injury is a cause for concern for Manyoo, but we have O'shea and Brown who can fill the void, but they will lack the command that gary has and with players like Rio and Silvestre, you really need someone like the Neviller to keep them on their toes.

Chelsea were never going to have any trouble with West brom at Stamford Bridge, but they only got their game going when West Brom made a defensive mistake. Wright-Phillips has been very impressive so far. Its sacry ust thinking that Chelsea have those four wingers, each of them just as capable as each other.

Arsenal let the first goal in but it didnt get me exited. This was Fulham, playing at Highbury, they wouldnt be able to keep the lead, but it was the most unexpected player who scored Arsenals goal. When i saw Cygan on the scoresheet I had to double chack and make sure that it was not in his own goal.

 

[Falch]

The results of the CL draw:

Poule A:
1. Bayern München (Dui)
2. Juventus (Ita)
3. Club Brugge (Bel)
4. Rapid Wien (Oos)

Poule B:
1. Arsenal FC (Eng)
2. Ajax Amsterdam
3. Sparta Praag (Tsj)
4. FC Thun (Zwi)

Poule C:
1. FC Barcelona (Spa)
2. Panathinaikos (Gri)
3. Werder Bremen (Dui)
4. Udinese Calcio (Ita)

Poule D:
1. Manchester United (Eng)
2. Villareal FC (Spa)
3. Lille (Fra)
4. Benfica (Por)

Poule E:
1. AC Milan (Ita)
2. PSV Eindhoven
3. Schalke'04 (Dui)
4. Fenerbahce (Tur)

Poule F:
1. Real Madrid (Spa)
2. Olympique Lyon (Fra)
3. Olympiakos (Gri)
4. Rosenborg BK (Noo)

Poule G:
1. Liverpool (Eng)
2. Chelsea (Eng)
3. Anderlecht (Bel)
4. Real Betis (Spa)

Poule H:
1. Internazionale (Ita)
2. FC Porto (Por)
3. Rangers FC (Sch)
4. FC Artmedia (Slw)

Ajax has it pretty easy, PSV pretty tough.

Hahaha at Liverpool and Chelsea.

 

[MrPing1000]

Arsenal get the easiest draw for like the 4th year :lol

Forlan coming back to OT should be interesting, we should win the group though with Villareal second.

 

[lochnesssnowman]

Poule H:
1. Internazionale (Ita)
2. FC Porto (Por)
3. Rangers FC (Sch)
4. FC Artmedia (Slw)

I'd have taken this group if you handed me it before the draw. Not bad at all. It's funny that we ended up with Celtics conquerers as well

I'd say the way the group has been drawn is the most likely way it'll finish but I'd say we have a chance of getting out of this. Inter have to play their next few games behind closed doors so that'll make the San Siro a lot less intimidating. Not sure how that#ll work for TV though - would be weird watching it without any fans.

 

[CelticFC#1]

All this Champions League talk is getting me down.

The sad thing is, those dirty Hun bastards will absolutely rip Artmedia, home and away, god it's our fault that they're now at least guaranteed 3rd.

I could also see Liverpool get knocked out, with Chelsea and Betis grabbing the places.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Some tough groups there. Chelsea are probably pretty happy they got Liverpool despite what happened last time, out of the seeded teams that's who I'd have wanted. I've no idea how strong Betis are, they could be the Spanish Everton for all I know.

Barcelona will no doubt top their group, but that could be quite a battle for third spot.

Arsenal are lucky bastards.

I don't really know what this ceremony is as I don't think it's the European footballer of the year awards, but Gerrard won the Most Valuable Player award from Uefa. Cech got best goalkeeper, Terry best defender, Kaka best (other) midfielder, Ronaldinho best forward....is Ronaldhino a forward? Well, whatever.

 

[BatiGOOOOOOL]

Madrid's group is not exactly a walk in the park. Lyon is extremely dangerous anywhere and the other two should provide some difficult challenges when playing in their stadiums.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how Villareal and Udinese will perform. They have a good chance of going through.

 

[lachesis]

I wish Liverpool would pull their magic again on Chelsea on Champ league.. and Betis would do so same, dropping Chelsea. Anyhow, it would be interesting to see how it goes.

 

[Un4]

Poor belgians.. finally with two clubs in the CL, and they draw Juve, Bayern and Chelsea , Liverpool AND Betis. :lol

Ajax and PSV have a good change of progressing to the next round, especially Ajax.

 

[Hooker]

Pretty even groups, Barça and Arsenal got it easy though.




Poule E is tough as nails though... poor PSV

 

[Solid]

chelsea-betis should be fun to see.. i hope terry & co takes joaquin hard! that kid better regret not joining us

 

[Juno]

Man U look to have the hardest group of all the English teams. The Portuguese champions and Villareal who impress me more and more when I see them. Once again Arsenal get an easy group. Liverpool and Chelsea seems quite tough. Betis won't be a push over and will be challenging for second spot.

On an unrelated note I've just seen Milan Baros and Jiri Jarosik shopping round Birmingham's Bullring centre being harrased by kids with camera phones. Jarosik is huge in person.

 

[psycho_snake]

These draws must be fixed! Arsenal always end up with an easy group. Manyoo have an ok group, it shouldnt be a problem as long as the team is fit. Chelsea must be happy bunnies after the draw, they could ahve ended up with Ac milan, Inter Milan, Bayern Munchen, Real Madrid, Barca, but luck goes their way again and they are in the same group as Liverpool.

 

[BatiGOOOOOOL]

Exclusive Recording of Chelsea's Dressing Room

 

[Meatpuppet]

Exclusive Recording of Chelsea's Dressing Room

Damn, I was just about to post that. Irish too?

The Drogba portion is classic. "Rooney, thirty-half million. If you want me to press buy?"

Also, could a mod sticky this thread?

EDIT: Please?

 

[Hooker]

ROFL, that shit is pretty fucking funny

 

[Solid]

even i find that funny :lol :lol

 

[Mama Smurf]

:lol "Shut up Makelele" cracked me up for some reason.

 

[psycho_snake]

:lol :lol :lol I cant stop laughing, that was amazing.

The part where Jose said "that is not a performance of champions, who am I?" and then the players say THE SPECIAL ONE was great and also the part when someone cheers on Drogba when he was mentioned on the song.

 

[Hooker]

UEFA Cup draw - Some nice matchups in here as well

uxerre (Fra)		v	Levski (Bul)	
Hamburg (Ger)		v	Coppenhagen (Den)	
Slavia Prague (Cze)	v	Cork (Ire)	
Metalurg Donetsk (Ukr)	v	PAOK (Gre)	
Dinamo Bucuresti (Rom)	v	Everton (Eng)	
MyPa (Fin)		v	Grasshoppers Zurich (Sui)	
Crvena Zvezda (Serb)	v	Braga (Por)	
Germinal Beerschot (Bel)	v	Marseille (France)	
Bayer Leverkusen (Ger)	v	CSKA Sofia (Bul)	
CSKA Moscow (Rus)	v	Midtjylland (Den)	
Setúbal (Por)		v	Sampdoria (Ita)	
Sevilla (Esp)		v	Mainz (Ger)	
Basel (Sui)		v	Siroki Brijeg	
Feyenoord (Hol)		v	Rapid Bucharesti (Rom)	
Hibernian (Sco)		v	Dnipro (Ukraine)	
Rennes (Fra)		v	Osasuna (Esp)	
Guimarães (Por)		v	Wisla Krakow (Pol)	
Krylya Sovetov (Rus)	v	AZ Alkmaar (Hol)	
Stuttgart (Ger)		v	Domzale (Croatia)	
Vålerenga (Nor)		v	Steaua Bucharesti (Rom)	
GAK (Aus)		v	Strasbourg (Fra)	
Lokomotiv Moskva (Rus)	v	Brann (Nor)	
Palermo (Ita)		v	Anorthosis (Cyp)	
Halmstad (Swe)		v	Sporting (Por)	
Middlesbrough (Eng)	v	Xanthi (Gre)	
M. Petach-Tikva (Isr)	v	Partizan	
Aris (Gre)		v	Roma (Ita)	
Besiktas (Tur)		v	Malmö (Swe)	
Litex (Bul)		v	Genk (Bel)	
Banik (Cze)		v	Heerenveen (Hol)	
Hertha Berlin (Ger)	v	APOEL (Cyp)	
Teplice (Cze)		v	Espanyol (Esp)	
Monaco (Fra)		v	Willem II (Hol)	
Viking (Nor)		v	Austria (Aus)	
Brøndby (Den)		v	Zurich (Sui)	
Lens (Fra)		v	Groclin (Pol)	
Tromsø (Nor)		v	Galatasaray (Tur)	
Bolton Wanderers (Eng)	v	Loko Plovdiv (Bul)

 

[cybamerc]

Nvm.

 

[Hooker]

 

[Falch]

Haha, Willem II got owned big time.

Other Dutch teams should have little problem progressing.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Ever since the Champions League got so big, I find the UEFA Cup so boring. It's good if your team is in it, but other than that I don't even bother watching the matches.

Which is a shame really, it used to be a REALLY tough and exciting competition, with so many of the best teams in Europe in it. I mean, the way the competition used to be run, we'd have Arsenal, Man Utd, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Villareal etc in there. Now that was a competition.

 

[MrPing1000]

Wed 14 September - Villarreal A
Tues 27 September - Benfica H
Tues 18 October - Lille H
Wed 2 November - Lille A
Tues 22 November - Villarreal H
Wed 7 December - Benfica A

hardest game first.

 

[brooklyngooner]

Wed 14 September - Villarreal A
Tues 27 September - Benfica H
Tues 18 October - Lille H
Wed 2 November - Lille A
Tues 22 November - Villarreal H
Wed 7 December - Benfica A

hardest game first.

What kind of reception will Forlan get at OT?

 

[MrPing1000]

well considering our away fans were singing "diego oooooh diegooo ooooh he comes from Uruguay he made the scousers cry" against Everton last week, I reckon a good one.

 

[brooklyngooner]

well considering our away fans were singing "diego oooooh diegooo ooooh he comes from Uruguay he made the scousers cry" against Everton last week, I reckon a good one.

Is the general consensus he wasn't given a fair shake there or that it just didn't work out? I have to admit I thought he was absolutely pants.

 

[MrPing1000]

Is the general consensus he wasn't given a fair shake there or that it just didn't work out? I have to admit I thought he was absolutely pants.

He worked his ass off, took him ages to score but once he did he was good. He is a good player just never got a solid run in the team and thus was sold. He did get like a 6 game run in the team and scored like 4 goals. He is quality just never had the chance to really show it at Manyoo

 

[brooklyngooner]

Ever since the Champions League got so big, I find the UEFA Cup so boring. It's good if your team is in it, but other than that I don't even bother watching the matches.

Which is a shame really, it used to be a REALLY tough and exciting competition, with so many of the best teams in Europe in it. I mean, the way the competition used to be run, we'd have Arsenal, Man Utd, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Villareal etc in there. Now that was a competition.

I agree, and find it absolutely ridiculous to also have a group stage in the UEFA Cup. Huh? Keep it a home-and-away knockout competition. Can't wait to see highlights of Bolton v Plovidiv. If indeed it still goes off after their gangland owner was assasinated. Actually I'd rather see highlights of that.

 

[Mama Smurf]

I wouldn't get rid of the UEFA Cup though, simply because it gives more teams in the domestic leagues things to compete for. So even in its reduced, crappy format, you get a good number less teams with little to play for, knowing neither relegation or Champions League football is gonna happen.

I don't know what they can do to improve the UEFA Cup as I like the Champions League the way it is (though it really needs renaming), but definitely get rid of that horrible groups shit (they might have already, I dunno).

EDIT: Any Spaniards have an opinion on Luque? Newcastle just bought him from Deportivo, but if I've seen him play I don't remember it.

 

[Meatpuppet]

The opinions I've heard on soccer forums so far today are that he doesn't score too often, which doesn't bode that well for Newcastle.

Then again, the sooner they get relegated, and their fucking pie-eyed fans get a reality check, the better.

 

[Ghost]

Souness just signed his resignation papers...

Souness: "Michael Owen is the new Alan Shearer"

^^Story on BBC^^^


Did he learn nothing from Gullit? DON'T BAD MOUTH CAPTAIN ELBOWS (Shearer)

 

[Mama Smurf]

I wouldn't be insulted by that if I was Shearer. It's pretty obvious he's at the end of his playing days, someone else has to come along, though maybe it wasn't the best choice of words from Souness. Especially before the player's even fucking signed.

Maybe they bought Luque for the left wing, which I hear he can play. Not that they'll have that choice if they don't get Owen too.