Doping in Soccer/Football

[del1962]

The difference in the photo. Pre- Marseille and post are striking

He obviously has been badly effected by his time there, wrong Brewery, wrong Stripes

 

[tbonic]

Smoke-screen.
Cycling needs to continue looking in the mirror and get its own backyard in order instead of looking over the fence at their neighbor's backyard. Clean up your own house first.

 

[gooner]

Smoke-screen.
Cycling needs to continue looking in the mirror and get its own backyard in order instead of looking over the fence at their neighbor's backyard. Clean up your own house first.

What has this got to do with cycling? This is a thread to discuss football independently of cycling.

The attitude and response above is right up the alley of many football fans themselves to the issue. I have heard it all before.

 

[the sceptic]

Did Fergie take all the marginal gains with him when he left united or what? Pretty weird how much worse they are now than last season.

 

[Poursuivant]

Lol. There are a lot of reasons why Man u are struggling, you can't just say, "oh they must have stopped doping now."

 

[Cyivel]

Need Big Sam.

 

[the sceptic]

My marginal gains comment was tongue in cheek, I obviously dont think Fergie was some doping mastermind and that everything fell apart when he left.

I was just commenting on how terrible they look this season compared to last.

 

[Poursuivant]

Must be back on the gear at half time - the footballing equivalent of a rest day

 

[Fearless Greg Lemond]

My marginal gains comment was tongue in cheek, I obviously dont think Fergie was some doping mastermind and that everything fell apart when he left.

I was just commenting on how terrible they look this season compared to last.

I only watched one match of manure [like those mods here know what that means] this season - I dont want to see more than 2 a season - but they were pretty freggin fit at Anfield, the field of God, this season. Even that Chris Horner of football, Ryan G, was sprinting like it was 1991.

No troubles in that department septic.

 

[the sceptic]

Must be back on the gear at half time - the footballing equivalent of a rest day

I know reading comprehension and common sense are difficult concepts to master for sky fans but try a bit harder next time.

 

[Poursuivant]

It was, as you said, "tongue in cheek."

 

[the sceptic]

my bad

10

 

[gooner]

On United, there is a skill to management I hope people know.

I happen to think Moyes is a great manager and he deserves big praise for putting his faith in Januzaj this season. In the appearances off the bench, he has impressed hugely before today. He deserved a start and Moyes's decision to do so was vindicated. He was the difference between the teams.

Top, top talent.

Nothing got to doping.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Belgians should switch to football, these days they have better prospect in football than cycling.

 

[gooner]

Belgians should switch to football, these days they have better prospect in football than cycling.

Even at that, Januzaj has so far turned down opportunities to play for Belgian. His family want him to play for Albania. They can't claim him yet as one of their own.

 

[sniper]

Belgians should switch to football, these days they have better prospect in football than cycling.

Even at that, Januzaj has so far turned down opportunities to play for Belgian. His family want him to play for Albania. They can't claim him yet as one of their own.

indeed, belgium are bulking with talent these days.
astonishing.
us dutchies can only watch and be friggin jealous.

i read on eurosport that if januzaj decided to play for england the naturalisation procedure would still take three years, so seems an unlikely choice to me. But if that happened nonetheless, Belgium should feel robbed. Imo England (Hodgon) shouldn't even be considering this.
We have this very young and very fine Belgian talent at PSV Eindhoven, Bakkali. He just picked Belgium when he had the option between Marocco and Belgium he picked Belgium. I don't recall any debate about whether he could become naturalised as a Dutchman.

 

[gooner]

indeed, belgium are bulking with talent these days.
astonishing.
us dutchies can only watch and be friggin jealous.

i read on eurosport that if januzaj decided to play for england the naturalisation procedure would still take three years, so seems an unlikely choice to me. But if that happened nonetheless, Belgium should feel robbed. Imo England (Hodgon) shouldn't even be considering this.
We have this very young and very fine Belgian talent at PSV Eindhoven, Bakkali. He just picked Belgium when he had the option between Marocco and Belgium he picked Belgium. I don't recall any debate about whether he could become naturalised as a Dutchman.

The FA talk about too many foreigners hindering the national team and Moyes now says they have been approached by them for the lad.

I remember Holland tried to nationalise Salomom Kalou. That got stopped by the government. Different criteria and a more stringent one, maybe?

 

[Fearless Greg Lemond]

I remember Holland tried to nationalise Salomom Kalou. That got stopped by the government. Different criteria and a more stringent one, maybe?

Nah, it got cancelled due to a xenophobe ***** from hell.

Not that I did not agree with the not naturalization but I had different reasons not to agree with Kalou becoming a Dutchie. The same reason why I think it is idiotic that a Chinese born pingpong player represents Holland, or a Kenyan doing the marathon. If you dont have the talent in your country dont import it. Does that count as financial doping? Its a stretch but it comes close to it.

 

[Alphabet]

Man United are struggling because Ferguson's intelligence/skill, reputation, intimidation and complete control over the squad was worth 20 points a season to them. He's done very well with United in the post-Ronaldo era considering they have been an average team with plenty of flaws since then. The basic difference is that teams don't turn up to Old Trafford anymore knowing that they've lost already and aiming for no more than to lose with honour; they know they can win now- Ferguson's departure has been the trigger for the realisation that the team actually hasn't been all that flash for some time now.

Moyes is showing us how any other manager (including all those pretenders like Guardiola and Mourinho and whoever else) would have done with United in the past 4 years.

 

[gooner]

6 tests in a year qualifies Philipp Lahm as about as clean as they come in football. Compare that to Rabobank 2009 where the lowest number of tests for a rider was 5 for Pedro Horrillo, who spent most of the season in hospital, and the highest was 42 for Denis Menchov.

Using Athletic Bilbao as a comparative exercise as they post who on their team has been tested and when on the website, I can say that this makes Lahm three times as well tested as the most tested Athletic Club players.

http://www.athletic-club.net/web/main.asp?a=0&b=1&c=2&d=1000&berria=12796&idi=1

This means key players in the squad like Gorka Iraizoz, Fernando Amorebieta, Iker Muniain and Ander Herrera played the whole season without a test.

12 tests in a season is embarrassing. That alone was equalled today on the Spain team.

Twelve members of the Spain football team were subjected to an anti-doping control first thing this morning. No incidents were reported during the tests. Agents from the Spanish Agency for the Protection of Health in Sport called in 12 Spain players before they boarded their flight to Palma de Mallorca for the match against Belarus.

Cesc Fábregas showed how tired he was by posting a photo before the tests on Instagram. "Anti-doping control at 6 in the morning and I can't go to the toilet. It's unbelievable that they would do this one day before a match. #reallytired," wrote the Spain midfielder.

http://www.marca.com/2013/10/10/en/football/national_teams/1381420575.html

 

[Baltazar]

If anyone still has doubts whether doping helps in football. If Ronaldo was a tad bit slower, at least two of these goals probably wouldn't have happened. (beautiful passes though). If it helps sprinters it definitely helps footballers.

http://imgur.com/a/Dtgyn

 

[gooner]

If anyone still has doubts whether doping helps in football. If Ronaldo was a tad bit slower, at least two of these goals probably wouldn't have happened. (beautiful passes though). If it helps sprinters it definitely helps footballers.

http://imgur.com/a/Dtgyn

Ronaldo's pace isn't one that has just come to fruition in the senior ranks. I first saw him when he was 17 and he tore England to shreds in an U-21 match and it was evident as far back as then.

I finished a book a couple of weeks back called The Nowhere Men by Michael Calvin which is about scouting in English football and there was a story about Damien Comolli coming across Ronaldo back in 2001 when he was Arsenal's scout in France back then. It was an under 16 tournament in France and Portugal were playing Japan. Comolli said he couldn't believe what he was seeing in front of his own eyes and contacted someone he knew in Portugal to get every little bit of info on him. He had all this pace and skill in abundance in his teenage years which made him stand out above everyone else.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Alejandro Valverde destroyed all comers at that kind of age. He was seen as a guaranteed star. He doped. He doped in a sport where there is far less money, and where there is far stricter testing. Cristiano Ronaldo could have all the talent in the world, but none of it will have any bearing on whether or not he's doping.

 

[the sceptic]

Pretty sure you need a huge talent along with doping to make it in football.

Otherwise, why would they spend hundreds of millions on players if they could just pick up a couple of kids off the streets in Brazil and give them to dr Fuentes instead.

Ronaldo is pretty obvious though I think. He is never injured and plays like 50 matches every year along with his crazy speed, strength etc.

 

[Briant_Gumble]

Remember Cristiano's header against Man Utd. In the champions league last year, comparable vertical jump to NBA players.

Most obvious doper, IMO.