Soccer thread 08/09 (will have spoilers!)

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 11:53 am

Made me laugh:

http://www.studs-up.com/2009/06/not-yo-cheese/

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 12:43 pm

Excerpts from Grant Wahl's upcoming book The Beckham Experiment. Wahl is bar none the best soccer writer in the states today IMO. Juicy excerpts and should be an interesting book for American soccer fans.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/w ... ref=sircrc

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 1:01 pm

Karim Benzema off to RM, apparently - £30m.

<taps foot, waiting for that French sack of s*** or the Swiss crook to weigh in with their 'ruining football' stuff>

Man U message boards are currently doing a u-turn worthy of 1984, whereby Benzema has over the last 2 hours gone from 'the final piece of the jigsaw - at least as good as Ronaldo' to 'not all that good, we can do better'.

miget33 · Post by **miget33** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 1:03 pm

davet010 wrote:Karim Benzema off to RM, apparently - £30m.

<taps foot, waiting for that French sack of s*** or the Swiss crook to weigh in with their 'ruining football' stuff>

Man U message boards are currently doing a u-turn worthy of 1984, whereby Benzema has over the last 2 hours gone from 'the final piece of the jigsaw - at least as good as Ronaldo' to 'not all that good, we can do better'.

One of them already said something a few days back, something along the lines of, Madrid spending, great for the game, Premier League money, bad for the game.

Something along those lines.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 2:39 pm

Are these figures that widely hated?

It seems the players didn't mind shaking Platini's hands after the CL final and Brazilian fans were waving signs "We love Seth Blatter" at the Confederation Cup final game.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 2:41 pm

Those were South Africans waving those signs and I can see why they love him.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 2:48 pm

Martin Tyler is in talks with ESPN about commentating on the US's coverage of the World Cup next summer.

Macca00 · Post by **Macca00** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 3:13 pm

The motherfuckers...er...Real Madrid, get Benzema as well. Where do they get the money?

In other news Douglas Brunton and Lavan Chandran deny they have been offered contracts by the Madrid giants...to be waterboys.

dougb · Post by **dougb** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 3:47 pm

Macca00 wrote:The motherfuckers...er...Real Madrid, get Benzema as well. Where do they get the money?

In other news Douglas Brunton and Lavan Chandran deny they have been offered contracts by the Madrid giants...to be waterboys.

Surprised I didn't get a call - last Friday's game I started in net and didn't allow any goals, then was substituted and came back on in the last 10 minutes of the first half in midfield and scored a goal, and ended the game in net sharing a shutout! (yes, it really couldn't have been much more bizarre if Real had called).

The 8-0 pounding we handed to London Croatia will surely bring a smile to Rob's face!

Best wishes,

Doug

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 4:10 pm

wco81 wrote:Are these figures that widely hated?

It seems the players didn't mind shaking Platini's hands after the CL final and Brazilian fans were waving signs "We love Seth Blatter" at the Confederation Cup final game.

Sepp Blatter is a corrupt cock who is loved by the mickey-mouse confederations. He doles out cash and exec positions to them in FIFA, increases their entries into the WC and invents the Confederations Cup.

And then they vote for him.

What's the phrase you lot have ? Pork-barrel ?

As for Platini, he's a jumped up gutless f***. he licks the arse of the old G14, then talks about getting rid of the league stages of the CL. Hmm, and here's me thinking that under his watch it has continued for years. He also hates the English (which the less-enlightened of you may think is fair enough), complaining about foreign ownership. Well, maybe so, but I don't hear him complaining, for example, that most of the Serie A teams play in unsafe stadia and would be bankrupt but for tax legislation forced through by President Berlusconi (who was hardly disinterested, as he owns AC Milan). Said legislation was described by the head of Italy's stock market as 'an utter disgrace'.

Platini also comes out with a lot of crap about the why that clubs and players should behave. But lo, who is this I see in this photograph laughing and joking on the lap of honour after the 1985 Heysel disaster ? Sorry, but I'm not taking lessons in behaviour from someone who thought that behaving like that when they knew that 39 people had died in the stadium was a good idea. Platini was later described by an Italian MP as 'an imbecile for whom one can feel only pity'.

Both Blatter and Platini have secure places in my 'last day on Earth, air travel and a revolver' list

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 10:21 am

Ribery has now come out and publically said he wants to be dealt to Real Madrid.

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 10:47 am

Naples39 wrote:Excerpts from Grant Wahl's upcoming book The Beckham Experiment. Wahl is bar none the best soccer writer in the states today IMO. Juicy excerpts and should be an interesting book for American soccer fans.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/w ... ref=sircrc

That was fascinating stuff.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 12:04 pm

fsquid wrote:Ribery has now come out and publically said he wants to be dealt to Real Madrid.

Hoeness was on the box yesterday talking about someone having to come up with a fabulous offer. RM have already spent about £200m this summer (Ladyboy, Kaka, Benzema and that rubbish Spanish defender), and yet still have no proper ballwinner in midfield. I'd be surprised if they went for yet another Galactico at this point in time, but everything is possible.

Can you imagine the dressing room temper tantrums with that lot on board...be like a 12yr old's birthday party.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 1:11 pm

Why did they go for Benzema instead of Villa?

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 1:32 pm

wco81 wrote:Why did they go for Benzema instead of Villa?

Because they weren't willing to shell out the £40-45m that Valencia wanted for him.

Which leaves a bit of a knotty problem for Barca...

1. They want to sell Eto'o, but don't want it to look that way to the fans.

2. Eto'o will want a payoff as he hasn't asked for a transfer (some contractual clause, I suspect). He's happy to go to City for the wages they are offering (which isn't 250k/week, that's Barca bullshit to try and placate the fans), but would like a nice fat bonus from Barca.

3. Barca don't want to shell out money to Eto'o, as they want to buy Villa and Mascherano, and do not have limitless funds.

4. The longer this plays out, the more the chance that City go for someone else, and the more Valencia will hold out for £45m as Barca really do want to cash in on Eto'o now but need a replacement.

Repeat 1-4, possibly for most of the summer.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 1:57 pm

Villa made the big splash in the international stage in what, 2004 Euro?

Or maybe 2002 WC?

Strange that none of the big clubs seriously tried to get him before now.

Spanish clubs overestimate their assets I guess. Heard that the basketball club which Rubio plays for wants a $8 million buyout.

He was only making $100k and his rookie NBA salary won't be that high either. And there are rules prohibiting NBA teams from paying too much of a buyout.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 2:40 pm

wco81 wrote:Villa made the big splash in the international stage in what, 2004 Euro?

Or maybe 2002 WC?
.

Valencia are a big club, probably one of the best supported in Spain.

They've won trophies both domestically and in Europe in the past ten years. Problem for them is that they have been run by imbeciles for years, the stadium needs an awful lot of renovation and they have debts of approximately €700m. A lot of this was meant to be cleared by developing housing etc in land near the stadium, but the Spanish construction market has collapsed, and they never managed to acquire all of the land anyway.

So every year people think that there will be a fire sale at Valencia. It's just more likely this year as the pie-in-the sky property deal collapsed, the banks are getting twitchy and Valencia didn't qualify for the CL next season, so their income will be down.

miget33 · Post by **miget33** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:19 am

Michael Owen to Manchester United pending the all important medical. (hoping for a failure here)

Who needs Ronaldo, Tevez, and Benzema, when the always injured Owen is available, and even better on free transfer.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 3:40 am

Don't worry, because it's United it's already being spun over here by the Scum-loving media as 'a masterstroke by Sir Alex, will link up well with Berbatov and Rooney, back in the England squad by Xmas, 30 goals in 62 appearances for Newcastle' etc etc.

In reality....

it was 30 goals in 62 STARTS, also had a hell of a lot of other sub appearances. Someone has calculated that he cost Newcastle £41m over his time there.

He has chronic hip and back injuries.

His pace has gone.

Rooney won't be happy, as he hates playing on the wing and wants to move centrally...which he won't be doing if the preferred link up is Berba-toss and Owen. Still, he'd only have to wait until October, when Owen picks up his long-term injury.

Owen has already been rejected by almost every teamgoing, he's even had to produce a brochure pimping himself. You do have to wonder whether Fergie really is getting his hands on the Ronaldo money, or whether this is the sort of player that they can now attract.

PS - Sky Sports were interviewing fans outside OT about their thoughts on this....as usual, 2 Irish, 1 Aussie, 1 unidentifiable (and possibly not human).

Macca00 · Post by **Macca00** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 9:56 pm

It is difficult to put into words the feelings I have seeing that picture of Owen in a United jersey with that smile on his face.

Looking at it from a strictly footballing point of view I think it's a good move for both parties;
- I still reckon Owen is half decent, he's an Englishman which helps with the 5+6 rule in the Champions League - I wouldn't have minded if came back to Liverpool as a back-up
- For him it's a hell of an opportunity - prior to today he was getting offers from Blackburn, Hull and Stoke.

As for what I feel about Owen as a person...what a f***in traitorous c***. This is a lad who was at Liverpool since the age of 13. Even Tevez who's from Argentina, was at United for only two years, ruled out going to Liverpool due to the rivalry. I forgave him for f***in us by leaving for Real on the cheap, I was annoyed by him picking Newcastle for the $ and the starting place, but this really un-does whatever legacy the little bastard had as a Liverpool player. "One nil down...two one up...Michael Owen won the cup...." was a long time ago. He'll forever be in the shadow of Fowler and Rush.

Whatever, he can take to United the experience of all those trophies he won once he left Liverpool (zero) and I'd love to see his face when Fergie refuses to let him play for his beloved 'Ingerlund' when he's a bit injured.

Finally, it will make me smile when those muppets at Old Toilet chant 'Stand up if you hate scousers' while Rooney and Owen play upfront for them.....

Macca
(acting like a girl)

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 11:00 pm

Feanor wrote:
Naples39 wrote:Excerpts from Grant Wahl's upcoming book The Beckham Experiment. Wahl is bar none the best soccer writer in the states today IMO. Juicy excerpts and should be an interesting book for American soccer fans.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/w ... ref=sircrc
That was fascinating stuff.

Yeah, that was really good. The material about Beckham's agent basically taking over the front office from Lalas was wild.

Take care,
PK

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 12:57 am

Macca00 wrote:

It is difficult to put into words the feelings I have seeing that picture of Owen in a United jersey with that smile on his face.

Looking at it from a strictly footballing point of view I think it's a good move for both parties;
- I still reckon Owen is half decent, he's an Englishman which helps with the 5+6 rule in the Champions League - I wouldn't have minded if came back to Liverpool as a back-up
- For him it's a hell of an opportunity - prior to today he was getting offers from Blackburn, Hull and Stoke.

As for what I feel about Owen as a person...what a f***in traitorous c***. This is a lad who was at Liverpool since the age of 13. Even Tevez who's from Argentina, was at United for only two years, ruled out going to Liverpool due to the rivalry. I forgave him for f***in us by leaving for Real on the cheap, I was annoyed by him picking Newcastle for the $ and the starting place, but this really un-does whatever legacy the little bastard had as a Liverpool player. "One nil down...two one up...Michael Owen won the cup...." was a long time ago. He'll forever be in the shadow of Fowler and Rush.

Whatever, he can take to United the experience of all those trophies he won once he left Liverpool (zero) and I'd love to see his face when Fergie refuses to let him play for his beloved 'Ingerlund' when he's a bit injured.

Finally, it will make me smile when those muppets at Old Toilet chant 'Stand up if you hate scousers' while Rooney and Owen play upfront for them.....

Macca
(acting like a girl)

Look I know it's a part of the game, but a year in the Championship at Newcastle or at Man U. Kenny Daglish would go to Old Trafford. No one is that loyal to a team. No one is that batshit crazy.

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 1:03 am

davet010 wrote:PS - Sky Sports were interviewing fans outside OT about their thoughts on this....as usual, 2 Irish, 1 Aussie, 1 unidentifiable (and possibly not human).

Later in the report Sky Sports went to the City of Manchester Stadium to get comments from the fans, but it seems that Sky couldn't find anyone to come even though they were offering ridiculous sums of cash for 1 or 2 sentences. Though they did find one guy but he kept talking crazy about how it would be great to see Anelka, Droga and Owen together at Stamford Bridge. I don't think he knew where he was.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 1:48 am

He was a United fan, who was lost. Well, he had come all the way from Plymouth.

No one from City would comment anyway, we're all still laughing too hard at Fergie. His transfer policy was supposed to be for top class players, not has-beens. Still, I suppose if you can't get what you want, you'll take what you can get.

They'd better hope that their medical department did a better job on his pre-signing medical than they did on Saha, Hargreaves et al.

miget33 · Post by **miget33** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 2:57 am

davet010 wrote:He was a United fan, who was lost. Well, he had come all the way from Plymouth.

No one from City would comment anyway, we're all still laughing too hard at Fergie. His transfer policy was supposed to be for top class players, not has-beens. Still, I suppose if you can't get what you want, you'll take what you can get.

They'd better hope that their medical department did a better job on his pre-signing medical than they did on Saha, Hargreaves et al.

Now why did you have to say that Dave, i was finally starting to drink to Kool Aid and believe it might work.

Now you reminded of these top flight players with shaky medical history and now I have doubts.

I need to find me some more of that Fergie Kool Aid again.