Soccer thread 07/08

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Jared
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Post by Jared »

Wow..we looked pathetic today. Why Josh Wolff?

And that 4-4-2 with 2 defensive midfielders is boring, unexciting, and doesn't seem to work against better opposition. I hope we show something different against Spain or Argentina.
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Post by macsomjrr »

I also thought Beckham continued to look surprisingly sharp even after spending so much of his time over here in southern california. His crosses were decent to say the least, not including the goal to Terry which was a bit behind him. He took a couple of terrible shots on goal too. I don't think Defoe and Rooney up front is the best possible choice for England either but I'm sure Fabio is just experimenting a bit. Glad to see Terry get the first goal and hopefully put the UEFA final behind him for good. At least he didn't burst into tears this game.

The US looked awful. I wonder how much of a difference Donovan would have made. Perhaps he could've brought a bit more leadership on the pitch as the US players seemed all over the place. Maybe having Donovan would've also put some life into the US offensive pushes.
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Post by Macca00 »

RobVarak wrote:PS Gerrard looked pretty comfortable out there on the wing. It's almost like he doesn't have to play in the center of midfield to succeed :)
Shhhhhh. ;)

Nice to see Barry setting the goal up....hopefully he'll be replacing Xabi.
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Post by fsquid »

donovan would have disappeared like he usually does.
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Post by Naples39 »

fsquid wrote:donovan would have disappeared like he usually does.
I'll take a poor performance by Donovan's standards over what we saw on the field today in a heartbeat.

Like it or not, he is our best winger, our best a-mid, and our best forward. And oh yeah, his first touch doesn't resemble that off a donkey's like most USA players today.
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Post by pk500 »

McBride is coming home:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008 ... d=football

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Post by RobVarak »

pk500 wrote:McBride is coming home:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008 ... d=football

Take care,
PK


Shame that Toronto owns his rights, as he really belongs back in his hometown. :) It'd be something to see Mr. White and McBride linking up in the attack!
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Post by fanatic »

RobVarak wrote:
pk500 wrote:McBride is coming home:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008 ... d=football

Take care,
PK


Shame that Toronto owns his rights, as he really belongs back in his hometown. :) It'd be something to see Mr. White and McBride linking up in the attack!
I don't think he would accept a Toronto move. I can see him making his way back home with some compensation going to TFC. Although I would sure like to see him suit up for our boys.
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Post by Jared »

There's no way he goes to Toronto. It's either Chicago or Columbus. My guess is Columbus, just because they have a DP slot and Chicago doesn't. But man...Blanco and McBride together would be scary.
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Post by pk500 »

RobVarak wrote:It'd be something to see Mr. White and McBride linking up in the attack!
Mr. White ... now that's funny! :) Cuauhtémoc White. Has a nice Chicago ring to it.

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Post by pigpen81 »

Mr. White has been an absolute force in the MLS.....and frankly....he and Beckham(with Donovan) are the two most fun players to watch right now.
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Post by macsomjrr »

That can't have been an easy season at Fulham for all the Americans but at least they escaped relegation at the end (even if it was by a whisker).
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Post by wco81 »

Saw a report on CNN about soccer revenues and profits.

EPL has the most revenues at $3 billion. However, they pay out $2 billion in salaries.

La Liga, Serie A are between $1.5 and $2 billion.

Budesliga is also under $2 billion but is the most profitable because they don't pay the biggest salaries and they have some lucrative licensing arrangements.

Most players in the EPL are no longer English or UK citizens (forget which).
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Post by davet010 »

If they play in City shirts and win, I couldn't give a toss if they are from Manchester, England or Manchester, New Hampshire. I walked into a coffee shop on my way into work, and I don't care where the person who served me is from either (unless they are a Scouser, in which case I'm checking my wrist for my watch).

I see that FIFA's congress has approved Captain Corrupto and his sidekick Poncy the Frog (aka Blatter and Platini) plan for the so called 6+5 rule (each team has to have 6 home based players).

Unfortunately, what these buffoons do not seem to grasp yet, is that this constitutes a ban on the free movement of labour, which is a contravention of European Union law.

Blatter, who's sense of his own importance (as well as slush funded bank balance) is legendary, was characteristically bullish "If there is a law, a law can be amended".

Trouble is, as this pustule on the arse of humanity should remember, the last time UEFA took on the EU about football was over the Bosman contract case, which was also about free movement of labour. £100m of legal fees later, how did that work out for you, Sepp ?

But let us leave the last word to the EU themselves...

John McDonald is a spokesman for the European Commissioner for Sport and he told BBC 5 Live he does not expect Blatter's ambitions to succeed on this front.

"It is a non-starter as far as we are concerned," he said.

"Interestingly the wording that Mr Blatter mentioned this morning at his press conference was that the resolution of Fifa is to explore within the limits of the law the six plus five rule.

"And they can explore as much as they like but unfortunately a six plus five rule is against Community legislation."
"The players come from all over the world, the money from deep underneath the Persian Gulf, but, as another, older City poster campaign put it, this is their city. They may now exist in the global spotlight, but they intend to keep it that way."
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Post by fsquid »

Bundesliga is more fun to watch too, but I digress
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Post by davet010 »

Overall quality isn't quite as high from what I have seen, but the fan culture looks a hell of a lot more fun. With any luck I'll be over in Germany later this year, and can catch a game at the Allianz.

1860, naturally :wink:
"The players come from all over the world, the money from deep underneath the Persian Gulf, but, as another, older City poster campaign put it, this is their city. They may now exist in the global spotlight, but they intend to keep it that way."
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Post by Macca00 »

This is hilarious, John Terry says he's the man for big games....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008 ... tworkfront

"I've shown that I'm a big man........I'm a man for the big games and I've shown that."

Actually, Mr Terry in the biggest game of your career, in the biggest moment of your career, with the European Cup 12 yards away....you fell on your arse (literally) so NO, you are NOT the man for the big games. And, FYI, a friendly against an understrength US is not a big game. What a tool......
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Post by Macca00 »

davet010 wrote: I walked into a coffee shop on my way into work, and I don't care where the person who served me is from either (unless they are a Scouser, in which case I'm checking my wrist for my watch).
While your checking your wrist his mates are stealing your car. :)


One of the reasons behind the 6+5 rule is that it's supposed to stop big teams from getting a monopoly by forcing them to have homegrown players which is nice....except Man U have more English players than any of the top 4 and have paid top dollar/euro/pound for them. English player values are already inflated so if this rule goes into effect you'll see things like Darren Bent going for 17 million pounds....oh...wait..nevermind. Anyway, nothing will really change - the big teams will still be able to buy the 'best' players, except they'll be English (and therefore not really that good anyway).

Arsenal will also cease to exist. :)
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Post by fsquid »

davet010 wrote:Overall quality isn't quite as high from what I have seen, but the fan culture looks a hell of a lot more fun. With any luck I'll be over in Germany later this year, and can catch a game at the Allianz.

1860, naturally :wink:
At least they stayed in the 2nd Bundesliga. I can't believe Hoffenheim is going up to the Bundesliga with their 5,000 seat stadium. A new one is on the way though.
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Post by 10spro »

It's official: Jose will be managing Milan for the next three years. Some of the players he wants are Deco, Lampard and Eto'o. Now, which English team will R. Mancini be going to?
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Post by davet010 »

Mancini may be off to Chelsea.

Looks like City's next manager will be Mark Hughes (Blackburn) - not an overly popular choice initially due to his career with the Red Pest, but done a good job at a smaller club with not much moolah and made some good signings when he had cash.

Nice list for Mourinho - all drastically overrated (Deco, Fat Frank) or classless arseholes who only play when they want to (Eto'o)...so no different from the crap he signed at Chelsea.
"The players come from all over the world, the money from deep underneath the Persian Gulf, but, as another, older City poster campaign put it, this is their city. They may now exist in the global spotlight, but they intend to keep it that way."
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Post by Macca00 »

What are Shinaaaawatraaaa's expectations for the incoming City manager? EPL AND Champions League titles, or just the EPL title?

EDIT:

Silly me, can't win the CL next year - so it's City for the EPL title, FA Cup, UEFA Cup and League Cup or Hughes gets the sack.
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Post by davet010 »

Here's a confident bet from me - City will win as many trophies as Liverpool next season.
"The players come from all over the world, the money from deep underneath the Persian Gulf, but, as another, older City poster campaign put it, this is their city. They may now exist in the global spotlight, but they intend to keep it that way."
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Post by Macca00 »

EDIT: Sorry, I made a snarky remark that wasn't nice (though not as bad as dear JRod's total nuclear meltdown in the EURO 2008 thread, lol).

Dave,
I wasn't alive the last time City won a top flight trophy. And no...that's not because I was born yesterday. :)
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Post by davet010 »

1976 for the League Cup - and I was watching it at the time, at the age of 9.

You could, if you were splitting hairs, count City's winning of the old League One in 2002...because it was the last year before it became 'The Championship', the trophy given to City was the one that the actual League Champions used to get before the start of the Premiership in 1992.

So City's trophy cabinet still holds a major trophy, as there was a new trophy for the Championship :D

And I note you didn't contradict my prediction :wink:
"The players come from all over the world, the money from deep underneath the Persian Gulf, but, as another, older City poster campaign put it, this is their city. They may now exist in the global spotlight, but they intend to keep it that way."
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