The Real Football Thread

[Pricey_sky]

As usual when approaching a major tournament the England players suddenly completely forget how to play football again.

Obviously they are only warm-up games and players don't want to be getting injured, however the 3 freindlies England have played have been dreadful. Hopefully they've just been 'soft-pedalling' and will be at it against Russia next Saturday but I'm not hopeful. We should get out of the group, however the first really good side we meet will spell the end. Possibly the Italians in the QF.

Like others I think France have a great chance of winning, Spain are fading and Germany are missing a couple through injuries whilst also struggling to get out of a group containing Scotland and Republic of Ireland.

 

[Brullnux]

Personally I'd drop Rooney if I were England. He is a good player but doesn't fit in with the east of the XI, which is a problem. Too often yesterday England morphed into a 4-3-3, and England can't play with a 4-3-3.

 

[The Hitch]

I see the attendance figures for the Copa America are atrocious. There's a 65 000 seater stadium that has twice filled 13 000. The home nation had 10 000 empty seats for its last game. Only the Cali stadiums are being filled.

Guess USA may not be up for fully embracing soccer just yet, afterall

 

[BigMac]

Swedish footballer defends himself after being sent off for farting

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/10321952/swedish-footballer-defends-himself-after-being-sent-off-for-farting

Explaining the situation in the aftermath of the gassy ordeal, left-back Ljungkvist told local newspaper Lanstidningen Sodertalje: "I had a bad stomach, so I simply let go.

 

[jsem94]

Read that... wtf.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Copa final could be great.

 

[Amsterhammer]

Really looking forward to it. Here's a page with a legitimate live stream, also a link to a youtube stream.

http://www.totalsportek.com/football/copa-america-live-stream/

 

[jsem94]

Chile with a man sent off, Messi yellow card for a dive in the box.

Both ref mistakes really, Messi just fell and that should never have been a 2nd yellow card. Chile now playing a 4-3-2...

And NOW LOL AS IM WRITING, ROJO SENT OFF. BOTH TEAMS PLAYING WITH 10 MEN.

 

[jsem94]

This ref is on cocaine or something.

 

[Amsterhammer]

What an enormously disappointing final, misery all over.

 

[gooner]

Agree, poor game. The sending offs in the first half didn't help. both had to play with 10 for a long period.

Messi's mixed record at pens continues.

 

[jsem94]

Messi retires from international football.... I hope he changes his mind though.

 

[BigMac]

Re:

Messi retires from international football.... I hope he changes his mind though.

Decided it in the locker room after the match. A bit disrespectful.

Now there's something Ronaldo would never do, even though his National Team is crappier and the chances of him winning an international competition are way slimmer than Messi's.

 

[jsem94]

For me this taints Messi's legacy. Not many Argentinians will consider him greater than Maradona. Maradona never won a CL with Barcelona or Napoli, but he did crush the Serie A when it was at its peak and Napoli had never won a Scudetto and he did absolutely demolish the 1986 WC.

Despite breaking Batistuta's goalscoring record he hasn't won a title with Argentina, despite playing four finals. One can't just blame Higuain for this misfortune. That penalty was also pretty dreadful. (Though it's not the first time big players miss cruical pens)

 

[BigMac]

Nolito 4 years to City. Great player, just the Guardiola type.

 

[sniper]

Zlatan to United, otoh, is puzzling.
Sure, props for what he did at PSG, but the chances of him repeating that at a club like Manchester in the Premier League strike me as nihil.
My guess is at Manchester he'll just be superfluous weight that you don't want sitting on the bench.

 

[BigMac]

Benfica home kit presentation. Gives me the chills. Full screen, max volume.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSbvkyqGoX0

 

[jsem94]

Mkhitaryan throws away another year of CL football. I guess the wages and Mou were too hard to resist. World class player that will elevate United to another level.

PL is going to be ridiculously strong next year.

 

[gooner]

Barcelona trying to paint Messi as victim in the tax fraud case and asking for sympathy.

 

[SeriousSam]

I, for one, look forward to the Battle of the Manchester Managers next season

 

[jsem94]

Inter have signed Banega, Ansaldi and Caner Erkin. Also looking into Berardi, Candreva and Joao Mario heavily. Club wanted to sell Santon to Sunderland but the player didn't agree to the terms. Juan Jesus is on his way to Roma now it seems. Icardi seems to be flying around the rumor mill too, linked to Atleti, Tottenham among others. Best thing for us is Perisic definitely staying. Unless someone comes in with a monster bid of like £65m+ he's not going anywhere.

In other news... Juventus have of course signed Dani Alves on a free and Miralem Pjanic for a £30m fee. BBC at the back (unless Bonucci goes to City, in which case they have Rugani who can come in), Dani Alves and Evra/Sandro as wingbacks, Khedira, Pjanic and Marchisio (assuming Pogba leaves) in midfield, Mandzukic up top and Dybala in a No 9½ role. That's one hell of a team. If they manage keep Pogba, fantastic for them and for the league. If they sell Pogba they'll have so much money they can reject deals for other key players and give them new lucrative contracts.

Milan are apparently seeming to be willing to sell Bacca to West Ham among other suitors. New coach Montella has a lot to do. New Chinese ownership coming into both Milan clubs. They're seemingly wanting Musacchio from Villareal and also Marko Pjaca. They're also heavily linked to Kovacic.... <.<


Can't wait for next season with the strong lineups in the PL though. 6-7 teams battling for the top 4, maybe 4-5 teams for the title already. Most exciting league by FAR.

 

[Brullnux]

Candreva might go to Milan too. It's Inter vs Milan for him. Bonucci almost certainly will go to City, and I'm very happy for Rugani if that happens. Giak goes to Napoli as well.

 

[jsem94]

Higuain doesn't want to stay at Napoli either it seems. Won't sign a new deal. But it won't be easy leaving Naples. There's many clubs after him but he'll be expensive. Arsenal would have to break their transfer record fee to get him but he would be worth it.

Koulibaly seems to be heading to London too, Chelsea keen on him. Of course Conte knows a good defender when he sees one. Koulibaly was the best defender of the season for me in the Serie A. He was a rock. Strong, fierce, excellent on the ball. Will be a huge loss for Napoli even though they've already signed his replacement in Tonelli. 90% sure Hamsik stays, but you never know. He was excellent this season too with Sarri using him the right way.

I love and hate the silly season and transfer rumors all over the place. It's exciting and gets you fired up for next season, but it's also ridiculous and over the top so often. Like the world record transfer fee for Pogba that might happen. When CR7 and Bale went to RMA, they were finished products. So you can justify the fee. But Pogba is still inconsistent, but he has the potential to eclipse Matthäus as the greatest box-to-box midfielder of all time. He's not there yet, so are we now just paying for potential in this inflated market? The PL money has caused clubs to run amok. Crystal Palace making £30m+ bids? Watford REJECTING a £38m bid for Ighalo.... like WTF? And Pellè going to China and becoming the 5th highest paid player in the world.

Good riddance...

 

[Billie]

Most intresting team this upcoming season surely will be Sevilla. Ditching Emery's elbow patches for Sampaoli will make them so much more attractive. And now he brings Ganso to Europe. Cant wait to watch them

 

[jsem94]

Kante off to Conte which to Lineker seems quite ****y.