Soccer thread 08/09 (will have spoilers!)

Macca00 · Post by **Macca00** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 8:09 pm

LOL I just realized Juande Ramos is the manager of Real Madrid. bwaahahaaaa

Rob,
Dossena has been awful, I only hope he's our Patrice Evra - absolute sh!t first season and then great....but I doubt it. Insua looked good against Blackburn and I have more faith in him than the Italian.

On the other side of the field, even though I think Arbeloa is solid defensively, I can only imagine how many more points we'd have if we had a better attacking RB --> that West Ham game was a perfect example, he had so much of the ball but can't do sh!t with it.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 9:35 pm

Dave,

How do you rate Corluka? My impression is that he seemed quite solid last season but has been getting raked over the coals this year. I only see 3-4 City matches per year though, so I'm in no place to judge.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 4:42 am

I hope you're not judging him at City - they transferred him to Spurs in August, so he can be nearer to his bumchum Modric.

He's alright, fairly level headed but not pacy enough to deal with fast or tricky wingers. I think Spurs tried him at CB a few times as well, which might be better for him speed wise, but I'm not sure how that went.

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 9:42 am

Macca00 wrote:On the other side of the field, even though I think Arbeloa is solid defensively, I can only imagine how many more points we'd have if we had a better attacking RB --> that West Ham game was a perfect example, he had so much of the ball but can't do sh!t with it.

Arbeloa seems to get a yellow card every other game, but I haven't seen that many Liverpool games so I don't know if it's from mis-timed tackles or from being overly rough.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 10:03 am

Feanor wrote:
Macca00 wrote:On the other side of the field, even though I think Arbeloa is solid defensively, I can only imagine how many more points we'd have if we had a better attacking RB --> that West Ham game was a perfect example, he had so much of the ball but can't do sh!t with it.
Arbeloa seems to get a yellow card every other game, but I haven't seen that many Liverpool games so I don't know if it's from mis-timed tackles or from being overly rough.

You say that like it's a bad thing

Dave, I knew he was transferred but I figured that you see more of him than I do, particularly given that he was a City player last year. My original post was even more addle-brained than usual.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 2:11 pm

Well I see Inter in 2nd place in their pool, so knowing Bayern's history, they will of course be drawn against them and get blown out of the water.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 4:18 pm

Is Ribery still fit ? Don't want him on crutches when he comes to join the Arab Revolution in January

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 4:57 pm

yes, but not for sale. Donovan will be the only signing of the winter

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 6:08 pm

Macca00 wrote:LOL I just realized Juande Ramos is the manager of Real Madrid. bwaahahaaaa

Rob,
Dossena has been awful, I only hope he's our Patrice Evra - absolute sh!t first season and then great....but I doubt it. Insua looked good against Blackburn and I have more faith in him than the Italian.

On the other side of the field, even though I think Arbeloa is solid defensively, I can only imagine how many more points we'd have if we had a better attacking RB --> that West Ham game was a perfect example, he had so much of the ball but can't do sh!t with it.

Lavan,

I just realized that too, after the CL games. I thought what the hell? I my football focus has been squarely on the EPL.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 4:43 am

fsquid wrote:yes, but not for sale. Donovan will be the only signing of the winter

I'll suggest to the Arabs that they buy Bayern then and move whatever players they like (let's say, Ribery, Lahm and Toni, maybe Podolski if he gets his act together), then set up a new club for Bundesliga 3. No one in Munich will care - you know they all follow 1860

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 8:59 am

davet010 wrote:
fsquid wrote:yes, but not for sale. Donovan will be the only signing of the winter
I'll suggest to the Arabs that they buy Bayern then and move whatever players they like (let's say, Ribery, Lahm and Toni, maybe Podolski if he gets his act together), then set up a new club for Bundesliga 3. No one in Munich will care - you know they all follow 1860

would be smart since unlike most of the EPL teams, Bayern turns a profit.

fanatic · Post by **fanatic** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 1:38 am

De Rosario to TFC!!!!!!

What, nobody else cares? Ok, that's expected I guess. But, I just had to share my excitement for the greatest off the field move in our team's young history. The best Canadian player alive and a 2 time MLS Cup MVP....great stuff.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 10:55 am

Great draw for the Bavarian giants

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 11:02 am

Draw for the first knockout stage of the CL is out:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story ... pe&cc=5901

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 12:08 pm

How do they do the draws, someone at the UEFA office draws names out of a hat?

Tough draws for Man U and especially Arsenal but it could have been worse.

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 12:27 pm

In the last 16, group winners play runners-up other than teams from their own pool or nation, while from the quarter-finals on the draw is free.

fanatic · Post by **fanatic** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 12:29 pm

Now all I have to do is figure out how to watch 8 games in a span of 48 hours.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 3:11 pm

Feanor wrote:In the last 16, group winners play runners-up other than teams from their own pool or nation, while from the quarter-finals on the draw is free.

I knew about the other pool but other nation?

Still, there should have been more several possibilities for each club, right?

So how did they make the pairings when these rules still yielded several potential opponents?

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 3:17 pm

Out of a hat.

Macca00 · Post by **Macca00** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 4:05 pm

wco81 wrote: Tough draws for Man U and especially Arsenal but it could have been worse.

Actually, I think Arsenal got off pretty easy, mid-table (10th) Roma shouldn't be much of a problem.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 4:14 pm

But who can predict Arsenals' Jekyll and Hyde performances?

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 1:29 am

Actually, some were saying that the way Arsenal have beaten the best EPL clubs so far, but lose to the clubs they should have beaten, maybe they would be better off drawing the giants.

What happened to those Italian clubs penalized by the match-fixing scandal a couple of years ago? Juventus went down but came back up this season and they won their group?

And the other one was Inter or AC?

Didn't both clubs lose a lot of their players? They were able to get good players back to contend for their league and the CL?

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 3:39 am

Juventus went down for one season, but Serie B is a fairly weak league, so back they came....this will be their second season back in Serie A. They didn't lose that many players because they could still pay big wages, so finished 3rd in their first season back in the top flight.

AC Milan were only penalised 15 points, from memory (which was relatively light). Inter were the 'winners' of the affair, awarded one title and romping away with another.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 7:50 pm

Dude, city is s***.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 2:44 pm

"Same as it ever was....same as it ever was"

I'm looking forward to the Championship already