Soccer thread 08/09 (will have spoilers!)

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Fri May 29, 2009 3:24 am

Hope you make a lot of chances next year, because he doesn't look like a top striker to me.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Fri May 29, 2009 8:30 am

davet010 wrote:Hope you make a lot of chances next year, because he doesn't look like a top striker to me.

doubtful that you've seen a top striker at the COMS

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Fri May 29, 2009 10:41 am

Saw Thierry Henry take us apart one year

Seriously though, if Gomez came to COMS I still wouldn't have seen one. When I've seen him at international level, the only reason I can think that he's playing is that he is related to the coach.

And €30m is about £25m now - I could do a lot better than that with the money...I'd start with Higuian from RM for a start.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Fri May 29, 2009 11:23 am

don't really care what he does at the international level. We tried that with Podolski and we saw how that turned out.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Fri May 29, 2009 2:58 pm

Simo,

Happy 4 year anniversary of that day in Cardiff.

Macca00 · Post by **Macca00** » Sat May 30, 2009 11:58 am

The 3 time manager of the year's team were utterly useless in that cup final. Nice goal by fat Frank.

In other news, nice to see Chelsea exporting those identical made-in-china plastic flags to Wembley....

dougb · Post by **dougb** » Sat May 30, 2009 12:27 pm

Macca00 wrote:The 3 time manager of the year's team were utterly useless in that cup final. Nice goal by fat Frank.

In other news, nice to see Chelsea exporting those identical made-in-china plastic flags to Wembley....

Yeah too bad couldn't watch the game on tv - thanks TSN, Sportsnet, and the Score - well done!

Now have to pony up and extra amount to get the f*cking soccer channel - well f*ck that. Instead you've got a choice of poker and err.. some other nonsense we doshed out on the cable tv folks. And then they carefully work to make sure that the on-line streaming is strictly limited.

At least we still get league and championship matches though unlike in England were they've bot to pony up for the extra channel.

Best wishes,

Doug

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Sat May 30, 2009 12:33 pm

Macca00 wrote:The 3 time manager of the year's team were utterly useless in that cup final. Nice goal by fat Frank.

In other news, nice to see Chelsea exporting those identical made-in-china plastic flags to Wembley....

Typical Moyes side, organised and disciplined, but lacking in any pace and adventure. When Lampard scored, the announcer on Setanta mentioned that Everton hadn't had a shot since the goal in the first minute. If it wasn't for a few Cahill last minute set-piece goals, they wouldn't be anywhere near European places.

Gollum Moyes is often mentioned as the next MU manager after the Drunken Scot finally retires....but the spoiled MU hordes won't appreciate that sort of plain food after the richer fare of Fergie's era.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Sat May 30, 2009 1:12 pm

TImmy should have had that.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Sat May 30, 2009 1:28 pm

I think you're right - stronger hands would have at least pushed it away from goal. Still, they got about what they deserved.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 12:13 pm

Brazil Squad for the Confed Cup

Julio César - Internazionale
Gomes - Tottenham
Victor - Grêmio
Maicon - Internazionale
Daniel Alves - Barcelona
Alex - Chelsea
Juan - Roma
Lúcio - Bayern de Munich
Luisão - Benfica
Kleber - Internacional
André Santos - Corinthians
Anderson - Manchester United
Gilberto Silva - Panathinaikos
Josué - Wolfsburg
Ramires - Cruzeiro
Elano - Manchester City
Felipe Melo - Fiorentina
Júlio Baptista - Roma
Kaká - Milan
Alexandre Pato - Milan
Luís Fabiano - Sevilla
Nilmar - Internacional
Robinho - Manchester City

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 12:13 pm

Spain squad for the Confed Cup

Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Jose Reina (Liverpool), Diego Lopez (Villarreal); Raul Albiol (Valencia), Alvaro Arbeloa (Liverpool ), Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), Carlos Marchena (Valencia), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Carles Puyol (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Xabi Alonso, (Liverpool), Sergi Busquets (Barcelona), Santi Cazorla (Villarreal), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Xavi (Barcelona), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), David Silva (Valencia), Juan Manuel Mata (Valencia), Albert Riera (Liverpool); Daniel Guiza (Fenerbache), Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao), Fernando Torres (Liverpool), David Villa (Valencia).

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 3:27 pm

Is Robert Carlos retired?

Seems like he's been with Brazil forever.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 3:44 pm

Spot the contradiction

1. Michel Platini on domestic leagues - all 1st divisions should be 18 teams max to reduce burnout on players.

2. The Confederations Cup, utterly pointless.

Oddly enough, the players in case 2 include a significant number in case 1.

YCNMIU

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 3:51 pm

pointless, yes. But the 2005 edition was an entertaining tournament sans the final. I'll be watching

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 6:07 pm

May the best B team win, although from what I see, Spain is loaded.

Post by **Jared** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 6:42 pm

davet010 wrote:Spot the contradiction

1. Michel Platini on domestic leagues - all 1st divisions should be 18 teams max to reduce burnout on players.

2. The Confederations Cup, utterly pointless.

Mildly disagree with 2. It serves as a good logistical warm-up for the WC host nation. And it gives teams from weaker confeds extra experience in int'l tourneys. (Also disagree with Platini on 1. I don't think those four extra games are killing teams.)

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 8:27 pm

10spro wrote:May the best B team win, although from what I see, Spain is loaded.

maybe I haven't kept up with it well, but that looks like a good Brazil squad too

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 1:39 am

Real may be set to spend 300 million Euro on signings.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1243893 ... %3Darticle

Presumably not in one year.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 3:09 am

Jared wrote:
davet010 wrote:Spot the contradiction

1. Michel Platini on domestic leagues - all 1st divisions should be 18 teams max to reduce burnout on players.

2. The Confederations Cup, utterly pointless.
Mildly disagree with 2. It serves as a good logistical warm-up for the WC host nation. And it gives teams from weaker confeds extra experience in int'l tourneys. (Also disagree with Platini on 1. I don't think those four extra games are killing teams.)

I couldn't give a crap about logistical warmups for 2010, as the real thing is three times the size (it also leaves S Africa with a load of large stadia which will rarely if ever be used,a la Portugal after 2004, but that's for another day). I do care about players taking part in pointless tournaments and then corrupt buffoons like Platini and Blatter moaning about domestic tournaments being too long.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 7:37 am

2 words: Carling Cup

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 9:35 am

Most of the major teams opt to use that as a run out for reserves and youth players until the later stages.

Plus it comes with the prize of Europa League qualification, assuming that can be considered a prize.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 9:51 am

davet010 wrote:Most of the major teams opt to use that as a run out for reserves and youth players until the later stages.

Plus it comes with the prize of Europa League qualification, assuming that can be considered a prize.

which makes it pointless. There is a reserves league, an U19 league, and an U19 Cup where one can do that.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 10:02 am

1. Teams outside the Premiership also play in it, and a lot of them have abandoned their reserve teams for cost reasons. Squad and youth players from Prem teams will therefore have the chance to play against seasoned professionals from these other teams.

2. U19 leagues and cups are obviously limited to those players, which usually negates the overwork argument as for the most part they are not currently part of the first team setups at their own clubs, and also not playing international matches.

3. Which bit of 'EUROPA LEAGUE PLACE' isn't clear ?

It also acts as a significant source of revenue for non-Prem teams when they get a home draw against a bigger club.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 10:21 am

You've told me that many Brits would rather their teams not play in the Europa Cup and it is a waste of time. So pointless.

Revenue for smaller clubs? Have you seen the gates and those matches? The fans are not dumb, they know the big clubs won't send their top players to Luton.