Soccer thread 09/10 (contains spoilers)

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Wed Dec 16, 2009 10:22 pm

Donovan had an opportunity to play Champions League football but came home after playing in only 7 games (2 of which he started) from Leverkusen. Leverkusen accepted an offer from both the MLS and Portsmouth but again he came home to the small pond. Just think how good he might have been had he stayed in Germany or at worst, gone to Pompey.

miget33 · Post by **miget33** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 3:07 am

Setanta Sports is finally now offered on Comcast here in the Chicago area.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 5:08 am

It's Argentina's 'Estudiantes' vs Barcelona over the weekend for the World Club finals. On paper, Messi's team should conquer A. Sabella's team 3-0 and other than J.S. Veron not many know about the 'Pincharatas' players. The current Copa Libertadores holders will try to double team Messi and will probably try their 4-4-1-1 formation to have any chances. Controlling Xavi will be key but even though Iniesta is not scheduled to play due to injury, Barca will prevail.

Last time Estudiantes won the "Intercontinental Cup" was back in 1968.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 8:47 am

Bayern draws Fiorentina, me like.

miget33 · Post by **miget33** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 1:19 pm

Ugh, Milan, don't want to hear all that Beckham crap, that's sure to come.

Also England and Mexico seem set to play each other in a Friendly.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 6:38 pm

miget33 wrote:Ugh, Milan, don't want to hear all that Beckham crap, that's sure to come.

It'll be a media circus for sure, the match that I look forward is Inter-Chelsea.

dougb · Post by **dougb** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 3:46 pm

Hughes gets the sack at City and is replaced by Mancini. Man U. are crushed so at least Dave will have something to smile about. Liverpool continue to be wretched

Best wishes,

Doug

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 5:01 pm

Couldn't the clueless filthy rich owners wait until they actually lost a game before sacking Hughes? It'll just be interesting to see who'll be appointed in the summer once Mancini fails to win anything (or qualify for the CL) in the limited time given.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 5:25 pm

Hearbreaking loss for Estudiantes de La Plata as they failed to beat the heavily favored Barcelona in the the World club finals. Not only a fresh legged Pedro ties the game in the 88th minute of the game, but #10 makes sure they add another silver lining to their collection in ET. Messi didn't play well but that's what great players do. Brilliant finish in ET just demoralized Estudiantes who was so close to score a major upset.

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 8:34 pm

10spro wrote:Couldn't the clueless filthy rich owners wait until they actually lost a game before sacking Hughes? It'll just be interesting to see who'll be appointed in the summer once Mancini fails to win anything (or qualify for the CL) in the limited time given.

They obviously made the decision after City were thumped by Spurs midweek.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 5:04 pm

10spro wrote:Couldn't the clueless filthy rich owners wait until they actually lost a game before sacking Hughes? It'll just be interesting to see who'll be appointed in the summer once Mancini fails to win anything (or qualify for the CL) in the limited time given.

Thinking over it, allow me to demolish your arguments...

* City have actually lost twice this season

* On the other hand, they have only won 2 out of the last 10, including home draws with the likes of Fulham, Hull and Burnley, all of whom should be beatable.

* Hughes has spent about £70m on the defence, which has at times this season looked like something out of a Sunday league, and is continually conceding goals from winning positions.

* He did not appear to be able to motivate players

* The backroom staff was, by and large, garbage.

And how do you figure that the owners are 'clueless' ? Unlike many of the foreign owners in the Prem, they....

- actually have funds, not huge debts leveraged onto the club balance sheets (a big Hi to the Glazers and the Two Stooges at Liverpool at this point).

- Had a series of contingency plans in place for once Hughes was sacked

- Has upgraded the infrastructure of the club no end.

In essence, despite having spent lots of money, the club were no further forward this season than last. A lot of the decision to move, I feel, was brought about by the realisation that the 'Big 4' are weaker than at any point than for years...they've already lost 19 games between them as opposed to only 17 last season...so the 3 year plan of getting into the top 4 can be accelerated, but only if you don't drop points to crap like Bolton, Wigan, Burnley and Hull.

Hughes also got plaudits for signing 'English' players...it's just a shame that two of them (Bridge and Lescott) have made very poor starts to the season.

So, onwards and upwards - Mancini will get the time and get the job done.

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 9:23 pm

Mancini will do well.

I like Hughes, but he has to take the blame for City's awful defending this season.

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Tue Dec 22, 2009 2:47 am

Feanor wrote:Mancini will do well.

I like Hughes, but he has to take the blame for City's awful defending this season.

I guess this is one thing I hate about football, it's the manager's fault but not the players. Lescott, Toure, Bridge, and Richards share the blame. Well at least in my current FM game they do a bunch of do-nothings.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Tue Dec 22, 2009 5:52 am

JRod wrote:
Feanor wrote:Mancini will do well.

I like Hughes, but he has to take the blame for City's awful defending this season.
I guess this is one thing I hate about football, it's the manager's fault but not the players. Lescott, Toure, Bridge, and Richards share the blame. Well at least in my current FM game they do a bunch of do-nothings.

Hughes bought 3 of them, and either could not get them to play together properly, or did not have the coaching staff to do it. That IS his fault.

In my latest FM10 (where Mancini is now City boss and I am at Spurs), City are joint top with Man U, Arsenal and Spurs with 15 points from 6 games. And is it just me or has update 2 really smartened the game up...maybe it's just that I hadn't played for a bit but it feels really smooth now.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Tue Dec 22, 2009 1:27 pm

JRod wrote:
Feanor wrote:Mancini will do well.

I like Hughes, but he has to take the blame for City's awful defending this season.
I guess this is one thing I hate about football, it's the manager's fault but not the players. Lescott, Toure, Bridge, and Richards share the blame. Well at least in my current FM game they do a bunch of do-nothings.

Hughes has had mixed returns in the market. Shay Given, Gareth Barry, Carlos Tevez and Craig Bellamy have been unqualified successes. Kolo Toure and Lescott have greatly underachieved and must go down as minuses in the ledger.

Robinho, has been a disappointment and should have been shown the door before the manager. Now Mancini may do better, but does he have any Premier experience?

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Tue Dec 22, 2009 6:07 pm

10spro wrote:
JRod wrote:
Feanor wrote:Mancini will do well.

I like Hughes, but he has to take the blame for City's awful defending this season.
I guess this is one thing I hate about football, it's the manager's fault but not the players. Lescott, Toure, Bridge, and Richards share the blame. Well at least in my current FM game they do a bunch of do-nothings.
Hughes has had mixed returns in the market. Shay Given, Gareth Barry, Carlos Tevez and Craig Bellamy have been unqualified successes. Kolo Toure and Lescott have greatly underachieved and must go down as minuses in the ledger.

Robinho, has been a disappointment and should have been shown the door before the manager. Now Mancini may do better, but does he have any Premier experience?

A brief spell as a player at Leicester, but I'm hoping that his 3 Scudettos will stand him in good stead.

Bit harsh on Robinho, after all he was good last year, and has only just come back from a 3 month injury layoff picked up playing for Brazil.

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Sun Dec 27, 2009 10:21 am

I'm addicted to watching soccer on FSC, my wife even watches with me now!!!

Hull City vs Man U at 100 CST!

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Sun Dec 27, 2009 10:53 am

Hull ? Man U ??

Blimey Mizzou, you really know how to show a lady a good time, don't you

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Sun Dec 27, 2009 12:28 pm

davet010 wrote:Hull ? Man U ??

Blimey Mizzou, you really know how to show a lady a good time, don't you

miget33 · Post by **miget33** » Sun Dec 27, 2009 2:34 pm

MizzouRah wrote:I'm addicted to watching soccer on FSC, my wife even watches with me now!!!

Hull City vs Man U at 100 CST!

You and the wifey were unlucky not to see the great Michael Owen. Though an Obertan appearance wasn't bad.

Oh and Dave, you think City would want Berbatov?

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 10:29 am

No thanks, we got enough people who specialise in the two inch tap in

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 6:23 pm

Eee, it's a good job Man U didn't really want Tevez to stay...I can see why you'd really want Berbaflop and Obertan instead.

Wolves put to the sword tonight, could have been five or six quite easily. And City will only lose Toure out of the current team when the African Cup of Nations starts in Jan.

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 7:42 pm

Any good books for a newbie to understand the different leagues, transfers, etc..?

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 7:57 pm

MizzouRah wrote:Any good books for a newbie to understand the different leagues, transfers, etc..?

If you want explanations about the rules of the various leagues etc, then FM 2010 is a good start. If you want stories about the various leagues, current transfers etc, then try

http://www.soccernet.com/home.html

http://www.football365.com/

If you want books about individual countries etc, then have a scan back on this thread, I think I did a list once.

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 1:05 am

davet010 wrote:
MizzouRah wrote:Any good books for a newbie to understand the different leagues, transfers, etc..?
If you want explanations about the rules of the various leagues etc, then FM 2010 is a good start. If you want stories about the various leagues, current transfers etc, then try

http://www.soccernet.com/home.html

http://www.football365.com/

If you want books about individual countries etc, then have a scan back on this thread, I think I did a list once.

Thanks Dave! You are the DS official footie man!