The Beautiful Game thread, season 2013/14

[Macca00]

http://youtu.be/DPOLGojinbs

[RobVarak]

http://youtu.be/DPOLGojinbs

Sadly, this marks the pinnacle of Liverpool's season.

[Jimmydeicide]

Yeah Danny mate. Get lost Suarez give us the money.... I dont mean that ,i love to hate one of the best players in the world.

Oh i dont need your Mums Tikka Masala recipe any more thanks any way... nailed it. bevvied making a base gravy as i type . Damn it takes a few beers to do this s***

[10spro]

Created a DSP FC league for Fantasy Footie 13-14 season. This is the code to join the club 2677327-549731. Bring on your stars at: http://fantasy.premierleague.com/

[10spro]

It's finally official. G. Bale signed a 6 year term with RM for 100m Euros. That means Ozil's days are numbered.

[pk500]

Ozil to Arsenal. Solid pickup for Wenger.

Pretty damn funny to see United scramble to do something -- ANYTHING -- on deadline day. Granted, Herrera and Fellaini are nice signings, but United under Ferguson got most of the players it wanted on its timetable.

[Macca00]

I didn't get a chance to chime in on transfer deadline day.

Ozil is a hell of a signing by Arsenal! What were Madrid thinking? Isco is fab but still...Also, did none of the other moneybags teams know Ozil was available? PSG, Monaco, Chelsea, United (not moneybags but big) would all have been improved with Ozil. City have Silva but I think Ozil would be an upgrade in that role. Unbelievable stuff...I'm jealous but Liverpool do have Coutinho who has much better hair and is just sooo cute with those dimples......

United were a shambles. Who knew United would miss David Gill as much as Fergie? Fellani will continue to elbow people but now that he plays for United perhaps more people will notice that he's a good player but also a dirty c@nt. Moyes gave Nani a 5 year deal which is brilliant. The whole Herrara thing is comedy gold, especially since it turns out that United LIED and the 3 lawyers they stated were 'imposters' were actually working on behalf of United. This is the kind of thing I'd expect from Hicks&Gillette's Liverpool, not United.

Bale finally went to Madrid. Crazy money but they're buying his image rights as much as his footballing talent and as Mickey Mouse has shown, people like big ears. Footballing ability-wise, if Bale is worth 80+ million, then what is Messi worth? Also, won't it be odd at practice to see Ronaldo and a guy who spends his time trying to be him? I wonder if Gareth will watch what Cristiano wears and then try to wear the same thing? This is a reality TV show waiting to happen.

Tottenham bought a new team prior to the deadline. May take some time for them to bed in but some quality signings there.

Everton....did well. Somehow managed United to pay 4 million OVER Fellani's release clause, KEPT Baines and then brought in Lukaku and Barry. Lukaku will get goals for them. Unfortunately.

I thought Liverpool did well bolstering the defense but we needed another striker, especially since we sent Borini out on loan. If Sturridge gets injured and Luis gets hungry again we're screwed.

Willian will be playing for his boyhood team; Liverpool...er...I mean Tottenham...no..I mean Chelsea. Yes, Chelsea. Etoo is a great pick up for them too.

Crystal Palace bought a boatload of players...all of whom are s***.

Newcastle....well there isn't a manager in world football who doesn't respect Joe Kinnear so if he didn't bring anyone in then it's only because he felt the squad didn't need any help. They kept Johan Kabob.

There's more but I'll stop my verbal diarrhea now.

Anyone else want to share their highlights?

[RobVarak]

Nice summary of the games on this afternoon. Stolen from EPL Talk. Soccer needs a Red Zone channel. Includes at least one tilt between Good and Evil.

Friday, Sept. 6
Czech Republic vs. Armenia, Noon, ESPN Deportes, WatchESPN & ESPN3
Macedonia vs. Wales 2pm, ESPN3
Turkey vs. Andorra, 2 p.m., ESPN3
Romania vs. Hungary, 2pm, ESPN3
Malta vs. Denmark, 2pm, ESPN3
Latvia vs. Lithuania, 2:10 p.m., ESPN3
Bosnia-Herzegovina vs. Slovakia, 2:15pm, ESPN3
Georgia vs. France, 2:15pm, ESPN3
Finland vs. Spain, 2:30pm, ESPN Deportes / WatchESPN / ESPN3
Estonia vs. Netherlands, 2:30pm, ESPN3
Slovenia vs. Albania, 2:30pm, ESPN3
Switzerland vs. Iceland, 2:30pm, ESPN3
Serbia vs. Croatia, 2:45pm, ESPN3
Liechtenstein vs. Greece, 2:45pm, ESPN3
Germany vs. Austria. 2:45pm, ESPN3
Northern Ireland vs. Portugal, 2:45pm, ESPN3
Poland vs. Montenegro, 2:45pm, ESPN3
England vs Moldova, 3pm, FOX Sports 1, FOX Soccer 2Go and FOX Deportes
Scotland vs. Belgium 3pm, ESPN3
Colombia vs. Ecuador, 4:20pm, beIN SPORT

[RobVarak]

ESPN apparently agrees with my Red Zone comment. There's a whip-around show on ESPN3

http://espn.go.com/watchespn/player/_/id/1081170/

[RobVarak]

I don't care what it takes: placenta baths, electroshock, sacrificing virgins...we have to get Bradley back on the pitch for Tuesday!

Oh, and it's 3 hours after the game ended and forwards are still running past Michael Orozco like he's standing still.

[fsquid]

ugly, ugly match

[Zeppo]

Why do we ever worry?

Dos a cero, same as it ever was.

We are going to Brazil!!!!

[Jimmydeicide]

Heck of a performance in the 2nd half.

[Murph]

Fantastic game, especially considering who was NOT in the lineup for USA last night.

Will Mexico even qualify? They're really struggling.

[RobVarak]

Fantastic game, especially considering who was NOT in the lineup for USA last night.

Will Mexico even qualify? They're really struggling.

I still can't see them getting pipped by Panama, and they're sure to beat New Zealand in a playoff.

[Macca00]

Finally caught the highlights online today - well done!

Like Rob said, pretty sure Mexico will still qualify even through an Oceania playoff.

[Jimmydeicide]

I think the Mexico team just wants to see where Lord of the Rings was filmed .

[10spro]

CL action, Messi made it look easy against Ajax. Bad start for Mourinho's new team as they deserved to lose against Basel.

[Macca00]

4 games without a win, three losses in a row, a home loss to Basel....

....Rafa out!

[Macca00]

In other news, apparently in Mark Halsey's biography (he's an EPL ref) he states that he regularly exchanges text messages with Alex Ferguson, got free United tickets for his family and that Jose Mourinho payed for his family to stay at 5 Star Hotel. Jose also writes the foreword to his biography.

[Macca grabs rifle and heads to the top of a tower] SEE I TOLD YOU! IT'S A CONSPIRACY! WHO'S PARANOID NOW!!! f***in REFS!!! Wait....XXXIV, what are you doing here?


EDIT:

But seriously, United never lost a match in the 10 years that Halsey refereed their matches, something like 23 games.

I'm going to go watch the NBA...no...wait..

[10spro]

They don't score often but M. Pochettino's team got the W as they upset Liverpool. Very solid at the back end, they don't panic and Boruc had a couple of nice saves. Talk about saves, Mignolet must be the top GK in the league at the moment, what reflexes this dude has when he avoided a potential 2-0 score.

This Premiership is wide open.

Suarez is eligible to play again this week, they need him.

[Jimmydeicide]

What they need is the manager to not put 4 centre halfs on the pitch, when Toure is your attacking right back your in trouble. Rogers basicly took away the right side of the pitch for So'ton.
Im putting that one on the manager im afraid, he was out coached by Pontefrat cakes .
How many chances is Aspas gonna get in the first team? Isnt that what training is for?
Just dont see how you could leave Wisdom and Enrique out , especially if your usual tactic is playing from the back.

10's mignolet is playing well but gimme Reina with the ball at his feet any day, oofa, hes scary and will cost them a goal before long.

Now ive gotta listen to the Evertonians all week , thanks Brenda.

[10spro]

10's mignolet is playing well but gimme Reina with the ball at his feet any day, oofa, hes scary and will cost them a goal before long.

Yeah, I am pretty sure Macca was sweating profusely a couple of times when he decided to do his little dribble. He's fine there in the skill department, but it's where he decides to pass the ball to, that will get him in big trouble.

[Macca00]

I was trying to find an animated gif of a bubble bursting but I couldn't find one. Oh well.

Shambles all round. The only ones that redeemed themselves were Henderson and Kolo. Worst game I've seen Gerrard play in many, many years - he was awful. If Brendan had any balls he would have taken him off and stuck Hendo in the middle rather than sticking him at right back (where he still managed to run more than Lucas and Gerrard combined).

That said, the ref had a shocker too. If he had 20/20 vision (and a brain) he would have called that penalty in the first half - game would have been completely different. Still, if Liverpool even want to pretend to finish close to 4th this season they'll have to do much, much better than that crap.



The ONLY bright spot - my daughter now knows all the words to the 'Fields of Anfield Road'

[RobVarak]

The ONLY bright spot - my daughter now knows all the words to the 'Fields of Anfield Road'

Too funny! I was tickled because my two youngest came downstairs chanting along with the slow "Liverpool" chant at kickoff.

Dreadful performance from top to bottom. If that's how lost they're going to be without Coutinho to pull the strings for two months, then their already slim chance at a CL place (which I would've put at about 20-25% at best) is probably totally non-existent.

Part of me wonders if Rodgers' all-CB extravaganza lineup was done with half an eye on Wednesday's game at United. Maybe he wanted his think FB corps to be at fully charged? If so, that's reason enough to think that the general malaise was due to looking past the Saints today.

Not a good reason, but might make some sense.