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BOOOOO!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
Well, as long as you close down those cocksuckers over in the "NBA Playoffs" thread at the same time ...
[edit] And even if they're *not* showing up on the sidebar right now, don't worry, they're like herpes, they'll be baaaaaaaack.
I tire of "Chelsea sucks", "no you suck, mate" BS...if anyone has an English language site that isn't like that (and includes discussions of football beyond just England), I'd be keen to hear about it.
The message board for the English magazine When Saturday Comes.
Soccer Futbol Forum.
It's not as if we're posting to ratchet up the post count; I'm pretty sure nearly every post was on topic (soccer was one of the topics). Oh well, in any event, I hope I find RB's shorter threads.
Also: go Millwall!
So, if VDV's trasnfer goes through, what do you think of a 4-1-4-1 for Spurs with Huddlestone as the holding mid, Bale and Lennon on the wings and Modric and VDV in the middle, with VDV playing slightly higher than Modric?
If I knew these kind of things I wouldn't ask! :)
Obi, you make VDV sound kinda useless.
They used a loan striker some in the pre-season. Mostly Keane because DeFoe and Crouch were on WC vacation. I thought Keane looked pretty spry playing up top by himself, actually. I think he gets #### on way too much.
Which is exactly what Real seemed to think.
Will this one be merely be closed to posts and still exist? I'd hate for it to be lost.
I think it is the collection of posters. If you like these folks in baseball, Pavement, etc. threads, you're probably going to like them in soccer threads. At least, that's how it works for me.
With all the repetitive political threads we have on this site, I really dislike the decision to interfere with this thread. At least we're talking about sports.
He's kind of a wallmart version of Lampard without the fitness levels and needs the same kind of service.
For Real VdV played the same position as Kaka and came on as a sub for him allot.
At Tottenham he'd be good as a withdrawn striker in a 4-4-1-1 / 4-2-3-1 but if he's intended to be a central midfielder like Modric or a wide player he'll likely be disappointing.
If he can be useful in either of those formations, I'll take that. Anything to get 5 mids on the field as that's where the team's strength is, I think.
They'll probably be titled something like OT Thread: Soccer Thread for September 4-17 or possibly OT Thread: XX Weeks To West Ham's Relegation but I'm working on the exact nature of that. Hopefully it will be easy enough to find.
I'm a complete noob at positioning, but is Huddlestone really good enough to play that holding mid in a 4-1-4-1? I'm not slamming him, but it would seem that position needs an absolute beast, especially as forward as Spurs often seem.
I hang up and wait for the answer...(unless the thread is killed, in which case I'll be waiting a while)
I am not sure where he fits in for Spurs. In a 4-4-2 he would play on the left hand side of midfield - where does that leave Bale? In a 4-4-1-1 he and Modric are going to get in each other's way. In a 4-2-3-1 there are 3 places for Bale, Modric, VDV and Lennon. Maybe a 4-1-4-1, but that has its own issues. At any rate, it is a great problem for Redknapp to have. At £8m I'd say this was the best signing of the transfer window by any English team.
It'll be interesting to see how Harry works him in with Modric, Kranjcar, Giovani, and Keane all having some degree of overlap with VdV's game. At any rate, this team has desperately needed a true goal-scoring midfielder for ages. Even if VdV is only a quote-unquote midfielder under a fairly loose definition, he'll give Spurs something different. He's more aggressive than the other Tottenham mids about getting his ass into the box, and he's a better finisher than any of them except maybe Kranjcar.
In short, I is a happy bunny.
I'll agree with him being a tremendous striker of the ball and that unfit was maybe not the best choice of words, but whether through lack of stamina, natural athleticism or just temperment he does not cover that much ground. He's not going to be one to track back or contribute much when the other side has the ball.
No, but then I doubt he would be a holding player. If we take what Redknapp intends from a midfield four on the basis of the end of last season where they had some success both Hudd and Modric would sit deep, with one or the other coming more advanced or dropping off as required. If by having them both sitting deep they compress the space between midfield and defense then they'll do fine against most sides.
The modern obsession with a holding midfielder has got a bit silly. Whether you need one or not (A Busquets, van Bommel or Mascherano) depends on the other players in the team and how they are set up to play.
E.g. Barcelona need one because they use attacking fullbacks so need that 'spare' man to cover that space on the field, Spain and Liverpool (under benitez) needed one because they played with three attacking midfielders + 1 midfield playmaker and attacking fullbacks. They needed that extra man.
With a 4 man defense with defensive minded fullbacks having that shield in the middle of the park isn't so critical if the two midfielders sit deeper and let the wingers bomb forward so it often resembles more 4-2-4 than 4-4-2. Barcelona did this last year and will do again this year with Busquets + 1 (probably Keita or Xavi) for some games as Busquets, like van Bommel, is just as good in central midfield and isn't a pure destroyer.
For sure. Don't why no-one else were in for him. Real were in a bind, they had too many players and had to sell some of them. They would have preferred to get rid of M.Diarra but nobody wanted him. Neither VdV, nor the fans really wanted him to go.
Yep, it would allow him to play in his best position where he can be dangerous. The only problem is that Spurs don't really have a striker obviously good at holding the ball up, so it might be a bit clunky until Redknapp figures out exactly what the best combination is.
Nope, best was Fulham getting the Mexican national left back from PSV for like $1.6mil.
Why are there no games this weekend and next? Euro qualifying? Edit: I guess just this weekend.
I have an inkling that Silva will struggle in a Man City managed by Mancini. The way he seems to prefer setting the team out he's going to be a square peg. He needs a proper striker ahead of him to create space and both feed the ball to and recieve the ball from. If they play Tevez and Silva in the same team they will take up the same positions and just end up getting in eachothers way and be ineffective.
My shock predictions now that the siilly season is over is that West Ham turns it around and avoids relegation and that Stoke will challenge for a Europa spot. I don't think they'll pull it off, but I think they can be in the discussion to the end, especially if the refs continue to countenance their tackle the keeper and hope for the best strategy. Also, and it's not really a shock prediction, but I think Stuart Holden will be the top American in the EPL this year. I've seen a game and a half of Bolton and he's looked fantastic.
Except for the good in the air part, sounds like a less skillful version of what Lucas was supposed to be...
Well, it depends whether you think Hodgson actually did anything to convince Gerrard and Torres to stay and/or whether you think the Cole signing played a part. I tend to think he didn't, but who knows? If he did, then he had a very good window, if not, then, yeah, it could've been a lot better. The joke of people saying that they don't think Hodgson has realized he's not managing Fulham anymore would be getting old if it weren't so true. That he wasn't in for vdV or even Ben Arfa for that matter (I don't care how big a dbag he is, our only creative winger is currently playing as a second striker for some reason) is pretty ridiculous; he should have sold Mascherano as soon as it became clear that he was insistent on leaving so he would've had time to spend the money; he should have at least threatened to give Riera a second chance instead of giving our only genuine wide player away for practically nothing; he supposedly offered more money Carlton freaking Cole than Spurs bought vdV for; he gave away arguably our most creative player for nothing without giving him a chance; etc. I'm being a little harder than I should be there, but his focus hardworking journeymen over skillful players is like everything that was frustrating about Rafa, but a whole lot worse.
As for Meireles, I'm optimistic, but we'll see. At this point I see Liverpool's season like this: if Torres starts 30+ league games, I think we'll be in the Top 4 (he's that good), if it's more like 20, then we'll be in a fight for an EL place.
Sandro has much more of a track record and international club pedigree (he's been outstanding for Internacional in every Libertadores game I've seen him play).
He also is much more established in the position Tottenham are asking to play.
None of which ensure that he's going to be a success, of course.
He's looked terrific on the ball. However, he's new to central midfield and his positioning is weak. Haven't seen him make many tackles, either, though maybe Muwamba is expected to do all that.
It was meant as tongue-in-cheek; I just didn't want to bring out the emoticons. I know next to nothing about Sandro. However, Lucas had won the Golden Ball for the Brazilian league; I don't anything about whether the award means something, but there was certainly reason to be excited.
The immediately preceding winners were Robinho, Alex and Kaka.
The immediately succeeding winners were Thiago Neves, Rodrigo Ceni and Adriano (yes, that one).
Placar seems to be back in the muck of the 90s, when the winners were Cesar Sampaio, Amoroso, Giovanni, Djalminha, Edmundo, Edilson and Marcelinho.
Complete list for those interested.
He's a trainwreck, but I think Balotelli has world-class ability. Which will probably only make the trainwreck more fun to watch. Meanwhile...what position at City will Silva end up playing? Last I saw he didn't really have one, and just kinda ran into his teammates alot(a situation that might be the case for quite a few City players this year).
It's sad this thread is ending. I've learned a lot here, and I like you all quite a bit more than anyone on any other soccer forum I've seen. Sorry if I talk about Liverpool too much.
Thanks, RB, for agreeing to post regular threads--I hope they continue to have such good participation.
I do, however, have a problem with "world class", but that's only because I prefer the German use of the term, which reserves it for the very best of the best. kicker, the leading German sports magazine, ranks every single Bundesliga player (and German playing abroad) twice a year, and it isn't unusual for them to conclude that none of them are "weltklasse".
No more than I talk about Spurs. I like reading the discussions about 'pool as I learned a lot from them. Is this the only general soccer forum in the world dominated by Liverpool and Spur fans? It's been a good thread. I guess we'll go out with a blaze of glory today, especially if England screws up against Bulgaria. My prediction: England coasts.
One of these kids is doing his own thing,
One of these kids is not like the others...
Seriously, though, if you're lucky you'll get a visit from a "Spurs legend" who they employ to chat up the punters in the suites. Might even be someone you've heard of.
A bunch of people on the WSC board were instrumental in the foundation of AFC Wimbledon after their team was stolen and moved to Milton Keynes, and the Wombles are a kind of second English team for virtually everyone on the board. There are also quite a few Oxford United supporters. It's a broad church.
BTW, we are still trying to do the bar thing on the 11th, aren't we? Kinsale's?
Yeah, this is scheduled for after the game and I'm dreading it. I really have no desire to meet athletes whether I've heard of them or not and, since it's likely I'll have no idea who the bloke is, it's going to be embarassing. Can't they pay Jonathan Wilson to show up instead?
BTW, we are still trying to do the bar thing on the 11th, aren't we? Kinsale's?
Absolutely! Feel free to bring any books you think I should read!
Do they have insanely boring discussions akin to our discussions about whether you can say every team has an "ace" by definition of it being their best pitcher, or whether there are only a dozen or so true "aces", or whether it's possible to have two "aces" on one team?
The Germans? They probably have a 27 letter word that prefectly describes this kind of debate.
edit: Ireland gets past Armenia, though it sounds like it wasn't easy. Turkey and Russia cruising.
It still hurts to see Movsisyan on the team sheet for Armenia.
Now that's grasping at straws.
Not really, but the Finns should be better than them.
I feel bad about Movsisyan too, but it's all our f*cked up citizenship laws's problem. As of now, he'll gain his US citizenship at 28, or just 14 years after he arrived in the US. I will keep this brief and will not respond to any discussion, but pretty much the only way to gain US citizenship in less than eleventy bajillion years is to marry an American, which is totally ridiculous.
Without Davies, we didn't have the personnel to execute the same 4-4-2 we used in the Confed Cup and through the later stages of qualifying as well. Granted, maybe it's a knock against the formation that it's not as adaptable to different personnel. But yeah, I think it's more an indictment of our players than the formation.
I'm not a fan of 4-4-2, I think it's a bit too predictable. Having said that I'm even less of a fan of Findlay so I think the 4-4-2 COULD have worked with the right guy. Unfortunately the right guy wrecked his car in October and wasn't available.
I thought given that the strength of our team was in the midfield we'd have been better off going 4-5-1 or some variant (4-2-3-1/4-3-2-1). Put Dempsey and Donovan forward and then with some combination of Edu, Bradley and one more (Feilhaber, Torres) fill in the fifth midfielder slot.
Another alternative, particularly against England, would have been a 5-4-1 and try and make up what we lacked in talent in sheer numbers to shore up the back line but that's a bit conservative for my taste. The simple reality is that after Altidore we did not have a World Cup quality forward.
That looked pretty bad.
Call it reactionary but after 3-6-1 I'm a little frightened of oogie-boogie formations. Plus playing five at the back requires you to have five defenders worth a crap, which the US doesn't really have. If the US is changing formations, 4-5-1 might work well, since we have a surplus of decent midfielders and not a lot of good strikers.
But we are going to need him on Tuesday.
France now trailing to Belarus at home with only a few minutes left.
It's also Portugal 2 Cyprus 2 at half time - a shock is on the cards.
4-2-3-1 is essentially what we did in the games where Findley was subbed out -- this was a pattern that was used in the post Confed Cup WCQs as well. Davies would get subbed out for Torres or a midfielder, Dempsey would get pushed to "forward" who would still drop deep. Worked well, too.
England coasts...Shooty told you so!
DeFoe is fine--just saw an interview with him--but no word yet about Dawson. I like Daws but I'm not sweating it with King, Gallas, Corluka and Bassong available. In a worst case scenario are the Spurs allowed to replace Dawson? Jay DeMerit is still out there, I'm just saying. He's not Dawson's quality, but as the 4th or 5th option at CB he should be fine. Really, there aren't any players, with the exception of Bale, I would panic about if they were hurt for a time. Obviously, I hope Dawson's injury isn't serious.
What's the biggest shock today? Cyprus scoring 4 against Portugal, France losing or N. Ireland over Slovenia on the road? I vote for Portugal allowing 4 against Cyprus. What the hell Portugal?
Yeah, if tonight is the end of this particular thread, that's not a bad way to go out.
Good point. Au revoir fellas! And, hey, Henry, Go n-ithe an cat thú is go n-ithe an diabhal an cat
(Sorry, the best my meager google skills could do. It means may the cat eat you and may the cat be eaten by the devil. I guess that would suck.)
I'd say N. Ireland's the biggest surprise for me; I hadn't realized how bad the WC 2010 campaign had been, so to beat a WC qualified team on the road is a pretty big deal...
Kaboul will get the call at CB before Charlie. Charlie no like heading ball. Charlie emergency center-half only.
Latest prognosis on Dawson is that he'll be out 6-8 weeks with strained ligaments in his knee and ankle. That is a major relief. When I saw it live, I thought for sure that was a "See you next July" type injury. If it had been, I don't think the new 25-man squad rules would allow Spurs to replace him with Jay DeMerit or any other free agent (though they could certainly sign DeMerit; he just couldn't play for them until January).
Story A. Story B.
Is anyone else seeing a connection?
Banana skins for the Rooskies: any nation beginning with Slov-.
EDIT: That's within the first 15 minutes; kind of an important piece of information.
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