The Beautiful Game thread, season 2013/14

[RobVarak]

What? I summed it up in one word, Rob wrote a lawyers disclaimer.

Jeezus, I hope I wrote it better than that!

[davet010]

Time for a SMITHS playlist, I think.

Disk One - Celebration

This Charming Man (MP, naturellement)
These Things Take Time (Off to a slow start - what with our leaky defence and poor away form)
Barbarism Begins at Home (Team after team is put to the sword at the Etihad)
Hand In Glove (Some top man-management as Joe Hart is pulled out after a few errors, coming back much improved)
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out (Hanging on in there, slipstreaming)
Well I Wonder (Many times during the season, why Martin demichelis was acquired. Best defender in the team in the last month - he must have been some player in his prime)
Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want (And I did)
A Rush and A Push (...and the Land is Ours. As United finish 7th.)

Disk Two - F**k You, Brenda

What Difference Does It Make ? (BR moans about imaginary decisions, refereeing bias etc....second place, deal with it)
Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now (For Steven Gerrard.)
Shoplifters of the World Unite (Sorry, couldn't resist it)
Panic (on the streets of London. Well, the fields maybe) - part of a three part segue with This Night Has Opened My Eyes and You Just Haven't Earned it Yet, Baby
Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before (Moaning about City spending money, from a team who've had to be bailed out by the RBS and managed to spend £30m on Andy Carroll. Andy f**king Carroll.)
Frankly Mr Shankly (well, they tried to use the memory of the dead more times that I remember, surprised they missed Shanks. Even if the song is really about Geoff Travis at Rough Trade records.)
Unloveable (A fitting tag for that shark-faced empty vessel, who seemingly can't get through the day unless he's yapping to some empty-headed red top journo.)
And finally, Bigmouth Strikes Again. Because for all his bluster, he's nothing to show for it.

And I had one left over, which didn't fit onto either side, so I shall put it on at the end.

For Chelsea - Willian, It Was Really Nothing. Sorry, couldn't resist it.

And let's hope the deluded fools got their money's worth out of these.



Must be the worst title defence ever...won in April, lost in May.

[10spro]

Hilarious.

Looks like the wavy curls of D. Luiz will replace those of Puyols after the WC. Speaking of which, I like the picks of R.Hodgson for England, dropping Carrick and Cleverley.

[Jimmydeicide]

What? I summed it up in one word, Rob wrote a lawyers disclaimer.

Jeezus, I hope I wrote it better than that!

You did Rob , it was well said.

[10spro]

Alexis's bomb was not enough as Godin's header was equally impressive. Martino won't be back for Barca, a well coached Atletico Madrid was well deserving of the title in Spain.

[Zeppo]

Alexis's bomb was not enough as Godin's header was equally impressive. Martino won't be back for Barca, a well coached Atletico Madrid was well deserving of the title in Spain.

What's the status of Diego Costa for next weeks's Champions League Final? I saw he left in the first half today with what looked like a hamstring injury. How bad is it?

[Macca00]

Time for a SMITHS playlist, I think.

Disk One - Celebration

This Charming Man (MP, naturellement)
These Things Take Time (Off to a slow start - what with our leaky defence and poor away form)
Barbarism Begins at Home (Team after team is put to the sword at the Etihad)
Hand In Glove (Some top man-management as Joe Hart is pulled out after a few errors, coming back much improved)
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out (Hanging on in there, slipstreaming)
Well I Wonder (Many times during the season, why Martin demichelis was acquired. Best defender in the team in the last month - he must have been some player in his prime)
Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want (And I did)
A Rush and A Push (...and the Land is Ours. As United finish 7th.)

Disk Two - F**k You, Brenda

What Difference Does It Make ? (BR moans about imaginary decisions, refereeing bias etc....second place, deal with it)
Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now (For Steven Gerrard.)
Shoplifters of the World Unite (Sorry, couldn't resist it)
Panic (on the streets of London. Well, the fields maybe) - part of a three part segue with This Night Has Opened My Eyes and You Just Haven't Earned it Yet, Baby
Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before (Moaning about City spending money, from a team who've had to be bailed out by the RBS and managed to spend £30m on Andy Carroll. Andy f**king Carroll.)
Frankly Mr Shankly (well, they tried to use the memory of the dead more times that I remember, surprised they missed Shanks. Even if the song is really about Geoff Travis at Rough Trade records.)
Unloveable (A fitting tag for that shark-faced empty vessel, who seemingly can't get through the day unless he's yapping to some empty-headed red top journo.)
And finally, Bigmouth Strikes Again. Because for all his bluster, he's nothing to show for it.

And I had one left over, which didn't fit onto either side, so I shall put it on at the end.

For Chelsea - Willian, It Was Really Nothing. Sorry, couldn't resist it.

And let's hope the deluded fools got their money's worth out of these.



Must be the worst title defence ever...won in April, lost in May.

Some points;

i. LOL That's some good stuff.

ii. Where have you been? I checked your post history to see if I wasn't imagining things and I wasn't - your last post was over a year ago - in January 2013. In case you forgot, it was this;

Nice to see the Scousers get a chance to hold another of their favourite events.

Can everyone rise and have a minute's silence for Brendan Rogers' job.

Still, it'll give them more chance of finishing fourth.

Solid prediction.

Where were you when City lost to Wigan (you know, who then got relegated) in the FA Cup Final last year? Seemed to go missing then. Ditto for finishing 11 points behind United despite spending...oh, sorry, we can't talk about money here.

iii. I would also much rather have a manager who was positive and talks up his team's chances than someone like Mourinho who sat at the top of the league and straight-faced said they had no chance. I don't think he directly insulted City, I suspect it was his positive outlook that offended you. I've had more fun this league season than any season in years, so have most other LFC fans. That's why we had the pre-match greetings for the team bus. That's why we sang about winning the league -we were having fun. Meanwhile, when you're 2-0 up and have the title sewn up you're busy singing about our captain and taking the time to make signs about him - again, when you're about to win the league.

Must be great for the City players;

"Hey Samir, are they singing about me?"
"No Edin, they're singing about Steven Gerrard."
"But we're 10 minutes away from winning the league, shouldn't they be thinking of US?"
"Don't worry Edin, at least we'll both be at the World Cup in July."



Anyway, congrats on winning the league - without a doubt the best team (Zabaleta is surely the most underrated player in the league - I love that guy), the best squad and a classy manager. Will see you next year if you win the league, longer if you don't.

Lavan

[10spro]

Alexis's bomb was not enough as Godin's header was equally impressive. Martino won't be back for Barca, a well coached Atletico Madrid was well deserving of the title in Spain.

What's the status of Diego Costa for next weeks's Champions League Final? I saw he left in the first half today with what looked like a hamstring injury. How bad is it?

Yeah, he was quite emotional about it. It's a reoccurring injury and I would be shocked if he could play the finals. This could have been his last game for AM. But the bad news doesn't end there for Atletico. Turan left off with some discomfort too.

[RobVarak]

The fans at the Nou Camp justifiably get a lot of grief for various missteps, but they acquitted themselves wonderfully during the game yesterday. Singing and cheering for Athleti with gusto after seeing their own team humbled was a classy and sportsmanlike display that put a nice bow on a wonderful football match.

[wco81]

The fans at the Nou Camp justifiably get a lot of grief for various missteps, but they acquitted themselves wonderfully during the game yesterday. Singing and cheering for Athleti with gusto after seeing their own team humbled was a classy and sportsmanlike display that put a nice bow on a wonderful football match.

It wasn't about Real not winning if they can't win it?

The dark side of the beautiful game:

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/20 ... nt-workers

Slave-like labor in Qatar leading to hundreds or perhaps thousands of deaths of migrant workers, who aren't allowed to leave.

Blatter expresses regret about Qatar getting WC 2022 but throws Platini under the bus for voting for Qatar while he (Blatter) voted for the US, blames France and Germany for pushing for Qatar for business reasons. Sarkozy, who was president of France at the time of the vote, denies his govt. pushed for Qatar.

Meanwhile, street crime is up in Brazil in the months leading up to the WC.


Oh and 9 or 10 clubs have FFP sanctions against them, beginning with Man City and PSG. Hefty fine but 60 million Euros is about what they get in TV money for Champions League is it not?

Meanwhile, the other clubs are Turkish and Russian which never win in the CL yet they were spending too much? Were they spending at the same levels as City or just relative to their domestic competition?

[Macca00]

Dear Yaya,

We here at Liverpool enjoy celebrating birthdays and we already have your brother here ready to celebrate yours.

Sincerely,
Fenway Sports Group

[RobVarak]

Dear Yaya,

We here at Liverpool enjoy celebrating birthdays and we already have your brother here ready to celebrate yours.

Sincerely,
Fenway Sports Group

I still refuse to believe this story is remotely true. I hope it is, but I refuse to believe it.

[Jimmydeicide]

Hes coming off as a whiner now first the lack of respect because hes black i should be player of the year crap and now City didnt say happy birthday.
Get over yourself i dont think anyone in England doesnt rate Yaya up there amongst the best in the world so i dont know what he wants really.
Player of the year i guess.

[10spro]

It's not like he's 13 for Pete's sake. Thirty one and counting but he does have another 3 years with the club. Get over it and move on...

[Macca00]

Dear Yaya,

We here at Liverpool enjoy celebrating birthdays and we already have your brother here ready to celebrate yours.

Sincerely,
Fenway Sports Group

I still refuse to believe this story is remotely true. I hope it is, but I refuse to believe it.

I don't think it's true either (I think his agent has been on the ale) but I surely hope it is because it's funny as f&ck! lol

[Inuyasha]

why no landon donovan on the US squad? that is pure bs in terms of a marketing perspective. let him at least ride the bench. most casual usa soccer viewers just tune in for donovan.

Donovan must be feeling 'mellow yellow'.

[fsquid]

I'm not surprised that Donovan wasn't picked. He just wasn't in form. In the end, this roster is much better than the one in 2010. I doubt we will see that in the results, but I like it. I guess the only surprise I have is Yeldin over Parkhurst. Parkhurst has CL experience.

[10spro]

Well the quest for 'La Décima' for Real finally paid off as they beat a very well structured and coached Atletico in ET. I really thought that Casillas misstep would have been the difference until the 90 min miracle well headed Ramos ball changed the result of the game. The best two players for Real made the difference in the end as Di Maria made a great run finished by Bale while Marcelo and Ronaldo sealed the deal.

That close for Atletico, yet that far as the better quality players made the difference in the end. They got nothing to be ashamed of, they play a hard, physical (was there any player without a yellow card) football and had a great year.

They missed a healthy Turan and Costa while Real's midfield missed the services of Alonso. Real in the end was the better team.

[Jimmydeicide]

Agree 10's well said mate. Athletico just didnt have any legs left.

[rhymes450]

Gutted for Atletico, who were the better team over the 90 minutes but there you go...great header by Ramos...Anyway they won the best league in Europe on merit from teams with a much bigger budget. Forza Atleti

[wco81]

The Seth Blatter of the US:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/kenbensinger/th ... t-and-bilk

Blazer did help promote US Soccer but got paid handsomely for it while evading tax laws.

[10spro]

No more Alexis playing on the right side for Barca. No problem. They are bringing Suarez' bites to play along Messi and Neymar.

What a treat for them.

[RobVarak]

A spectacular day in Chicago today for the LFC-Olympiakos match. There was a full-blown DSP summit with me, Macca and XXXIV all getting together for pregame drinks and attending the match together. The atmosphere at The Scout for one of the three official Chicago LFC Supporters Group parties was insane.

Bizarrely, or maybe not given the short but aggressive drinking that was going on, I got no shots of the three of us. I think Alex and Lavan got a few though. It was a real treat getting together.

Some shots from the game though...

[Jimmydeicide]

Very cool lads , i didnt know 34 was going he kept that quiet
Shame you had to have an Olympiacos fan in the middle of you though.

[XXXIV]

Very cool lads , i didnt know 34 was going he kept that quiet
Shame you had to have an Olympiacos fan in the middle of you though.

Im sure Macca is a Liverpool fan.

I took about 100 pics( many of them redundant) and a few with the three of us. Would have posted some last night but I had one too many shots of JD before I started drinking yesterday. Maybe tonight when I get home. Soon at any rate.

Thanks Rob for the invite.