The Real Football Thread

[Christian]

Muitas felicidades! Well deserved I think

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Villa 1 - 2 Arsenal, 75 minutes in.

We have a game on our hands here.

Also Vlaar's tackle on Monreal in the box was one of the best I've seen.

edit: Villa couldn't really apply enough pressure. Score stands.

 

[gooner]

Villa 1 - 2 Arsenal, 75 minutes in.

We have a game on our hands here.

Also Vlaar's tackle on Monreal in the box was one of the best I've seen.

edit: Villa couldn't really apply enough pressure. Score stands.

Villa upped the tempo in the second half but I thought Arsenal had an arrogance about them where they thought the game was over at half-time. Nevertheless happy with the result but no way should it have been as nerve wrecking as that in the last 15 mins. On Ozil, even though he played a big part in starting off the move for Wilshere's goal, I would still like to see more. We can talk a lot about Arsenal's brilliant midfield but the main reason why we are in the title race is the form of Mertesacker and Koscielny which means we can grind out more results which wasn't the case before when the free flowing football wasn't coming off. The best defensive partnership in the league for me.

 

[The Hitch]

Benfica bested Porto in today's Clássico 2-0. Great atmosphere before and during the game.

Check this awesome interactive panoramic shot that was taken before the start, during the tribute to Eusebio. Go full-screen for a better visual result.

First time I see a pitch where the sidelines are further apart from the goals

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Liverpool 2 - 2 Villa

Another really exciting game. Villa completely overran the opposition at the start, but Liverpool got lucky with a goal very late in the first half which set them up nicely for the rest of the game.

Sadly the match was marred with another diver goal imo. Suarez the culprit this time.

Never could tell the outcome until the final whistle.

 

[gooner]

Liverpool 2 - 2 Villa

Another really exciting game. Villa completely overran the opposition at the start, but Liverpool got lucky with a goal very late in the first half which set them up nicely for the rest of the game.

Sadly the match was marred with another diver goal imo. Suarez the culprit this time.

Never could tell the outcome until the final whistle.

Delph and Vlaar were excellent for Villa.

A blatant dive by Suarez, knew what he was doing and conned the ref.

Retrospective bans have to come in for divers. There's no other way of dealing with it. Have an independent panel of ex-pros who would have the best understanding on judging this to go through these incidents every week and deal with them accordingly. The FA in England should lead the way with this introduction of punishment.

 

[ebandit]

in reply.......why I Hate Man U

http://swol.co/manchester-united-fan-gives-100-reasons-to-hate-chelsea/32433
stadium of dreams? stooopid name.... dream on!
it's not even in manchester
their mascot.......top teams don't have mascots
fergie
wayne 'potato head' rooney
rio ferdinand thinking he is the worlds best
vidic always getting away with fouling opponents
eternally young giggs
degea....coming good
man u are always favoured by refs with more penalties/less sending offs
fergie may be gone but moyes whinges just the same
furthering better treatment by refs
loss of form is recorded by loss in stock market value
having highest revinue secures best players
millions of fans........worldwide......all supporting the winning side
hardly any fans in manchester
george best retiring early to quaff vintage champage surrounded by beautiful women
george bests c1970 boots with portrait moulded into the red sole
did i mention 'potato head' rooney
so many clebrity fans
top players wanting to play for the winning side
welbeck outdiving everyone
we get to sing 'we hate man u..we hate man u..we are the man u haters'
i recall a god awful pop song 'come on you reds'
their fans crap songs
they always get most coverage in the press
too much man u merchandise......mind i would wipe my ar5e on their paper'
their arrogant fans
rooneys charva lass and her tacky stuff in shops
made beckham famous furthering career of his posh lass
how am i supposed to spell januzaj
ashley young another champion diver
they have won the fa cup 11 times league 13 times
everyone loves bobby charlton..........but me
and that rooney reminds me of a bulldog

Mark L

 

[karaev]

Spurs played very good against Swansea. Adebayor and Eriksen were excellent upfront, while Chiriches,Rose and Walker really impressed me with their performance in defence. Tottenham will be top4 at the end of this season!

 

[del1962]

Apparently West Ham fans singing "We hate fat Sam more than you" at game against the toon, how long as Allardyce got left in his job?

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Apparently West Ham fans singing "We hate fat Sam more than you" at game against the toon, how long as Allardyce got left in his job?

Not long, the porn kings are probably already lining up another manager as we posts.

 

[ebandit]

backing

Not long, the porn kings are probably already lining up another manager as we posts.

so the chairman has professed 100% support for their manager......

...............already?

Mark L

 

[Dazed and Confused]

so the chairman has professed 100% support for their manager......

...............already?

Mark L

Even begged the fans to back big Sam.

Perhaps they are just waiting to get Moyes on a low budget deal.

 

[del1962]

Not long, the porn kings are probably already lining up another manager as we posts.

They stuck with Avram Grant all the way to relegation though.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

They stuck with Avram Grant all the way to relegation though.

Learned very little, I guess.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

I think Arsenal will finish third in the EPL.

 

[gooner]

I think Arsenal will finish third in the EPL.

Agree.

The lack of big name striker not bought in the summer will come back to haunt them. The team is playing great football once again and to be fair they are doing well to stay just ahead at this point. Nevertheless, Arsenal are on the right track once again and it's great to see names like Draxler linked. It shows they are in the right end of the market for a change. Plus, Jonker(Van Gaal assistant when he was at Bayern) is coming into replace Brady in youth development at the club and it was a much needed change.

Man City are flying along scoring goals for fun and Chelsea in the last month look ever more the image of the one Mourinho had in his previous spell.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

The scum just got knocked out after managing 1 penalty out of 5.

I have very nearly laughed my **** off.

What a well deserved and enjoyable come-down. It's not even form. They're just genuinely poor, and tomorrow they will spend mega money on a player who is merely ordinary for the level they aspire to.

 

[Cyivel]

That was a glorious 10 minutes of football.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

That was a glorious 10 minutes of football.

Agree. Love drama and this was top notch.

Hard to see City not killing Sunderland in the final, but you never know.

 

[BigMac]

Rafael's constant brainfarts were the reason to United's unsuccess.

 

[gooner]

United fans were spoilt for years under Ferguson and it's no bad thing to see them suffering as they are now. A Europa League campaign next season would be nice as well.

Mata is having his medical tomorrow and that takes Moyes's spending to 65m pounds. People can say they are a poor team all they like but this team walked the league last year and there's been investment on to it. I was listening to Kevin Miralles a few months back and he was contrasting the difference between Moyes and Martinez saying it was running and physical work compared to the more Spanish style training methods of Martinez with more emphasis on ball work. Miralles's comments tie in a lot with what Rooney said similarly about Moyes. You see a defender like Jagielka being like a ball playing centre back where Martinez gives more freedom to the players to express themselves. Jagielka was always a good defender under Moyes but this is an aspect of his game I didn't see under Moyes's stewardship. Chances are Barkley wouldn't have fluourished like he has under Moyes if he was still there as Fellaini would have had the off the stiker role and Moyes would have had a more direct styles. Moyes is at United now and maybe his style and management needs to evolve more.

There is some good things to Moyes where I was reading Michael Calvin's recent book on scouting in football "The Nowhere Men" and it says Moyes wants anything up to 50 reports on a player done by around 12 different scouts before doing a signing. He had a room at Everton with around 1000 players known on a board and all characterised in ones of priority and realism of signing. There was a even section of players that could be signed outside the top 6 clubs in the Premier League. Everything is done thoroughly on the scouting side by Moyes and I was hugely impressed reading this section. Even a section for emergency goalkeeping signings where ironically Vito Mannone when he was at Arsenal was on it along with two other keepers I'm after forgetting their names. I think United fans will have to be patient to see the fruition of his work and they might as well get into their heads now, he will be there for the next 3-4 years at least before anything happens. That will be the case even if it's Europa League football for next season.

Just on Martinez, currently I'm reading Chris Anderson's book "The Numbers Game: Why Everything You Know About Football is Wrong" and it seems Martinez goes into even more detail in his management. At Wigan he had a touchscreen TV installed in his home where he could watch back on a game that Wigan would have played recently from many angles of the ground that he wished to. He has been known to watch games back up to 10 games until he was satisfied with the way he analysed and dissected the game. I said it up thread last year, mark my word a future top 4 manager in the Premiership. He's right at the top of my list of managers I want to replace Wenger with when he eventually decides to call it a day. Interestingly Wenger was at the Levante v Barca game tonight.

 

[ebandit]

trust

that's right............... ebandit the man NOT to trust

meeting my dirty mackem neighbour.............i'm singing 'we're going to

wembl...e...y .......and now you're gonna believe us...........'

but my dislike for sunderland is far outweighed by my hatred of man U ( see

earlier post above )

I was overjoyed at the man u fail!

Mark L

ps earlier this year my stooopid macken neighbour bet me £50 that SAFC would finish higher in the premier league than the toon...ha ha!

 

[Dazed and Confused]

that's right............... ebandit the man NOT to trust

meeting my dirty mackem neighbour.............i'm singing 'we're going to

wembl...e...y .......and now you're gonna believe us...........'

but my dislike for sunderland is far outweighed by my hatred of man U ( see

earlier post above )

I was overjoyed at the man u fail!

Mark L

ps earlier this year my stooopid macken neighbour bet me £50 that SAFC would finish higher in the premier league than the toon...ha ha!

Can't say Manchester offers much. Between financial instruments and greasy oil dwellers, almost all other clubs look favorable.

May Sunderland prevail.

 

[Parrulo]

Question here for everyone but mostly for the brits:

How do you guys feel about the lack of young English players on English teams?

Doesn't it bother you the lack of investment put into your young players and how that affects the national team?

I ask this because in Portugal the hot topic right now is the investment, or the lack of it to be more accurate, in young portuguese players. Particularly with Benfica who has a huge amount of talent on their younger squads and pretty much refuses to give them a chance to shine on the first squad over average serbians and south americans.

Roony Lopes was in Benfica and wasn't even on the top 5 more talented players on the team in his age category, but he now plays for Man City while the biggest talent Portugal produced since Cristiano Ronaldo is yet to be given a single minute on the first team this season. I am talking about Bernardo Silva:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q3qEEdjRhk

I don't think i have ever seen such intensity, maturity and class on an 19 year old portuguese player, even on Cristiano Ronaldo. Hardly ever loses a ball, never misses a pass, pressures so much and carries the game so fast from the back that sometimes it looks like he is playing number 10 and box to box at the same time just brilliant.

Anyway i am ranting a bit. . . . what do you guys think about that?

 

[Swifty's Cakes]

Question here for everyone but mostly for the brits:

How do you guys feel about the lack of young English players on English teams?

Doesn't it bother you the lack of investment put into your young players and how that affects the national team?

I ask this because in Portugal the hot topic right now is the investment, or the lack of it to be more accurate, in young portuguese players. Particularly with Benfica who has a huge amount of talent on their younger squads and pretty much refuses to give them a chance to shine on the first squad over average serbians and south americans.

Roony Lopes was in Benfica and wasn't even on the top 5 more talented players on the team in his age category, but he now plays for Man City while the biggest talent Portugal produced since Cristiano Ronaldo is yet to be given a single minute on the first team this season. I am talking about Bernardo Silva:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q3qEEdjRhk

I don't think i have ever seen such intensity, maturity and class on an 19 year old portuguese player, even on Cristiano Ronaldo. Hardly ever loses a ball, never misses a pass, pressures so much and carries the game so fast from the back that sometimes it looks like he is playing number 10 and box to box at the same time just brilliant.

Anyway i am ranting a bit. . . . what do you guys think about that?

I have no interest in the national team. Libpool would be top of the league if Sturridge hadn't missed 10 games because of an England injury.