BBTF.org/m/off-topic : OT: The Soccer Thread: February 2013

Wednesday, May 01, 2013

OT: NBA Monthly Thread - May 2013

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posted 3 weeks ago by Athletic Supporter gangnam style to basketball, nba, off-topic | 947 comment(s)

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1201. frannyzoo posted on February 22, 2013 at 07:55 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

And the lurker makes the flip...just because. btw, good call on Zaragoza as rooting material (they've been slipping, and I should know, as I have a season-long bet) and RSO is really, really having a memorable season. Phil Ball has to be happy.

1202. Shooty is in the Trust Tree

posted on February 23, 2013 at 09:08 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Brek Shea time!

1203. Jose Can Still Seabiscuit posted on February 23, 2013 at 09:10 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Brek Shea making his debut as a 24th minute sub.

So far Stoke have looked utterly disinterested in trying to score a goal. I appreciate their defensive style but this has been ridiculous.

1204. Shooty is in the Trust Tree

posted on February 23, 2013 at 09:34 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Shea isn't going to get much time at Stoke if his defense doesn't improve.

1205. The John Wetland Memorial Death (CoB) posted on February 23, 2013 at 09:43 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Berbatov with a ridiculously good strike for the goal.

Nzonzi should have been sent off with a straight red.

1206. The John Wetland Memorial Death (CoB) posted on February 23, 2013 at 10:01 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Shea wins the penalty ... Walters with a dreadful penalty miss ...

1207. Mattbert posted on February 23, 2013 at 10:48 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

To the best of my knowledge Zaragoza doesn't have any particularly dodgy supporters or traditions. It also has a nice historical core.

They also have Spurs Legend Helder Postiga!

1208. Biff, highly-regarded young guy posted on February 23, 2013 at 11:02 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

And Aston Villa are in neon yellow uniforms for some reason.

1209. I am going to be Frank posted on February 23, 2013 at 11:28 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Rafael with a great goal. SAF has no fear of QPR. Starting Young, Giggs, Chicharito, Nani and RvP.

Oh and for all the Spurs fans out there... Townsend is playing for QPR.

1210. Spivey posted on February 23, 2013 at 11:37 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

The idea that that attacking lineup is a "no fear" lineup is absurd. Man U is not the best team in the world. But they do have the best group of goal scorers in the world, and I don't think it's close.

1211. Arnett Mead (Arjun) posted on February 23, 2013 at 11:46 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

But they do have the best group of goal scorers in the world, and I don't think it's close.

I'm not 100% sure about that: I would put Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Fabregas, David Villa, Alexis Sanchez, etc. or Gomez, Muller, Robben, Ribery, Mandzukic, Kroos, etc. up against Rooney, Van Persie, Kagawa, Hernandez, Nani, etc. fairly reasonably. You could probably also make an argument for Real Madrid, just based off of Ronaldo, Higuain, Benzema, Ozil, and Di Maria, as well.

EDIT: I may have misread; you might have just meant the Prem, in which case you're most likely correct. Sorry for misreading you if I did.

1212. FancyPantsHandle glistening with foreign substance posted on February 23, 2013 at 12:01 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

And Aston Villa are in neon yellow uniforms for some reason.

Vying for my affection, no doubt.

1213. I am going to be Frank posted on February 23, 2013 at 12:02 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

I guess "no fear" is the wrong term. Just surprised that that Fergie put in such an aggressive lineup. QPR is terrible but they have players who can exploit United's lack of height and crappy defending on crosses and set pieces.

PSG also has good set of attacking talent.

1214. FancyPantsHandle glistening with foreign substance posted on February 23, 2013 at 01:16 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Not a good day for the north of Germany.

1215. Mattbert posted on February 23, 2013 at 01:19 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Aw, man. Hamburg missed a chance to pull ahead of WouldyoulikeFreiswiththatburg by suffering a humiliating 5-1 defeat at Hannover. And that despite absolutely dominating possession and shots. Hannover only managed six shots on target and scored on four of them (plus a pen). Boo-urns.

1216. RB in NYC (Now Semi-Retired from BBTF) posted on February 23, 2013 at 01:58 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

So QPR has 11 games left. Reasonably speaking, they're going to need somewhere in the area of 34 points to stay up. That means they need to basically double their current point total (from 27 games) in their next 11, or averaging more than a point and a half per fixture the rest of the way. I just don't see how they can do that, I think they're pretty doomed.

Reading, Villa and Wigan are all still dancing with danger, but none are as doomed as QPR. And I'm still unconvinced that West Ham can stay up, though they do host Wigan and Reading.

1217. Shooty is in the Trust Tree

posted on February 23, 2013 at 02:19 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Shamburglar!

1218. Matt Clement of Alexandria posted on February 23, 2013 at 02:33 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

And I'm still unconvinced that West Ham can stay up, though they do host Wigan and Reading.

I mean, anything could happen, but West Ham have played perfectly average football all year. Are they really going to be outplayed by more than two wins by Wigan and Villa? West Ham have been so steady and boring, playing their style of football no matter what, I dunno, of all the clubs in that mid-table scrum, they'd be one of the last I'd think could end up in the relegation battle.

The relegation battle looks like a four-team race for one spot, and it's probably a two-team race between Villa and Wigan, with QPR already ###### and Reading just lacking the quality to play in the league.

Bad loss for Everton today - they were overall outplayed by Norwich, it was a deserved result for the Canaries. I think Everton are counting on Fellaini to do too much - he's both their primary target and creator in the final third and the heart of their midfield defense in the center of the pitch. He's good, but that's just too much responsibility for one man.

1219. Shooty is in the Trust Tree

posted on February 23, 2013 at 02:49 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Yeah, West Ham isn't going down. Sam Allardyce is out of contract in the summer, though, and I don't think he'll be back. Now that they're back up I imagine West Ham will be more ambitious next year. Harry Redknapp coming home would be my guess.

1220. Crispix Attacks 2: Swag Airlines posted on February 23, 2013 at 02:53 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Sam Allardyce is out of contract in the summer, though, and I don't think he'll be back.

Just in time to take over from Mourinho!

1221. Shooty is in the Trust Tree

posted on February 23, 2013 at 03:06 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Stoke fans seem to be split on Shea's performance and Pulis' post game comments about him were not promising. Pulis has a habit of buying players and then immediately writing them off so I'm a bit nervous for Shea. Also, what the hell is Cameron doing playing so far forward? Pulis is one strange alchemist.

1222. RB in NYC (Now Semi-Retired from BBTF) posted on February 23, 2013 at 03:12 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Sam Allardyce is out of contract in the summer, though, and I don't think he'll be back. Now that they're back up I imagine West Ham will be more ambitious next year. Harry Redknapp coming home would be my guess.

Obviously anything can happen in the wacky world of managers, but I'd be very surprised if Big Sam left the Hammers. All the public comments sound to me like once/if West Ham is guaranteed to be safe they'll re-up him. I know there's some segment of the fan base that would have wanted Di Canio, but I think he's basically killed any shot of that with...well, with whatever the hell is going on at Swindon Town.

1223. Swedish Chef posted on February 23, 2013 at 03:22 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

It's a match made in heaven, Sam's not going to get a better job and West Ham isn't going to get a better manager.

1224. Matt Clement of Alexandria posted on February 23, 2013 at 03:24 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Also, what the hell is Cameron doing playing so far forward?

I only saw the first 20 minutes of the game, but Cameron looked completely lost playing behind the striker. Which is not surprising, because he's a moderately skilled defender who gets by on power and workrate. I think the case that Pulis is actually significantly underperforming given the club's funding is reasonably convincing.

1225. FancyPantsHandle glistening with foreign substance posted on February 23, 2013 at 03:36 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

It's a match made in heaven, Sam's not going to get a better job and West Ham isn't going to get a better manager.

I'm sure Sven is available.

1226. Shooty is in the Trust Tree

posted on February 23, 2013 at 03:37 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

It's a match made in heaven, Sam's not going to get a better job and West Ham isn't going to get a better manager.

I think West Ham are a bit of a sleeping giant, myself. Well, not a giant like THE MIGHTY HOTSPUR, but they can be as good as Everton are now. It's a well supported club and the Davids have a lot of money. David Gold has a higher net worth than John Henry by himself. With Allardyce they'll stay up but they'll never do much more than that. I think if they really wanted to keep Big Sam around they'd have offered him a contract with a relegation release. All their talk about let's wait and see reminds me of the Redknapp extension talk last year.

1227. Arnett Mead (Arjun) posted on February 23, 2013 at 03:58 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Well, not a giant like THE MIGHTY HOTSPUR

Now you're making me think of Henry IV, Part 1.

1228. frannyzoo posted on February 23, 2013 at 04:40 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Here's the bench that never saw the pitch today in a 6-1 Bayern victory over Werder Bremen (copy/pasted from Whoscored)

27. Alaba 9.Mandzukic 25.Müller 22.Starke 39.Kroos

Yeah, I'm starting to thinking Pep made a pretty smart decision.

1229. CWS Keith plans to boo your show at the Apollo posted on February 23, 2013 at 04:46 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Cameron playing that far forward isn't completely egregious - I think he spent the majority of his Dynamo career playing as a midfielder, before moving to defense sometime in the last two years.

On a similar note re: former MLSers (*), Kei Kamara came on as a sub and did quite well -- put one header a foot wide, had a mostly-harmless-but-still-neat half-volley bicycle kick and scored the equalizer.

I also had to laugh at the commentator continually referring to Kamara's previous time spent at "the MLS". Somewhere Gab Marcotti is shaking his head...

(*) I think he's on loan, actually.

1230. Matt Clement of Alexandria posted on February 23, 2013 at 05:13 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

On a similar note re: former MLSers (*), Kei Kamara came on as a sub and did quite well -- put one header a foot wide, had a mostly-harmless-but-still-neat half-volley bicycle kick and scored the equalizer.

Yeah, I thought Kamara looked solid. He got into dangerous positions, showed a reasonable touch, and played two very good headers.

1231. DA Baracus is gritty and hits with RISP posted on February 23, 2013 at 05:33 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

Also, what the hell is Cameron doing playing so far forward?

They rotated him and two other midfielders (I can't remember who) up high last week as well. The kitchen sink is next.

1232. Biff, highly-regarded young guy posted on February 24, 2013 at 09:53 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Is this the Gus Johnson I've heard so much about doing the City-Chelsea game on Fox Soccer? If so, he needs to tone it down at least 5 notches right now.

1233. Matt Clement of Alexandria posted on February 24, 2013 at 09:56 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

So far, the best manager in the Premier League seems to have done well with his team selection. The midfield three of Garcia-Rodwell-Toure have dominated the first twenty minutes, and once City have possession, Silva and Toure have way too much time to play their game.

1234. Matt Clement of Alexandria posted on February 24, 2013 at 09:58 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Is this the Gus Johnson I've heard so much about doing the City-Chelsea game on Fox Soccer? If so, he needs to tone it down at least 5 notches right now.

Yes. And yes.

"Ba! in the area! Ba!! Collects! BA!!!!! Loses possession..."

The problem for Johnson is that he doesn't seem to be able to distinguish real chances, half chances, and not much of anything, quickly enough. The one big chance in this game, when Aguero was one on one with Cech from the left wing, would have been a good point for an announcer like Johnson to go big, but he didn't pick up on it quickly enough. He's gone bigger on three or four other half chances already.

1235. Shooty is in the Trust Tree

posted on February 24, 2013 at 10:12 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

I know Chelsea - Man City is a big game, but I really recommend you find the English language stream of Cagliari and Torino. It's being played behind closed doors and it's kind of surreal. You can hear the coaches and players yelling at each other and the sound of the ball as it gets thunked around. Link 2 on thefirstrow.eu should get you there.

1236. Matt Clement of Alexandria posted on February 24, 2013 at 10:14 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Wonder-strike by Cisse!

And am I crazy, or has Jack Rodwell been having a brilliant game for City? He's doing a defensive job, and he's regularly making dangerous, direct, intelligent runs from midfield.

1237. Matt Clement of Alexandria posted on February 24, 2013 at 10:22 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

I really recommend you find the English language stream of Cagliari and Torino.

Weird, wild stuff. Just checked it out here on half time.

1238. Arnett Mead (Arjun) posted on February 24, 2013 at 10:26 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

MCoA: It helps that Mata is having an awful game (one of the worst I've seen him play). His touch is off, his passing is wayward (WhoScored has him at 75% for today. He averages 85% apparently, not sure if this supports my point); part of it is that Rodwell/Javi Garcia are putting excellent pressure on him, but I also think he might just be really tired. He's been slow getting up when he's down and his free kicks haven't had the lift or curl that they usually do. My guess is that it's exhaustion - Chelsea have been riding him hard and he played the whole game on Thursday, to boot.

1239. Shooty is in the Trust Tree

posted on February 24, 2013 at 10:31 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Aw, 5-0 banned my link.

1240. Matt Clement of Alexandria posted on February 24, 2013 at 10:44 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

What happened to the cold-blooded assassin Aguero from last year?

1241. Jose Can Still Seabiscuit posted on February 24, 2013 at 10:51 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

The announcer with Johnson made a great point about Lampard and Hrt being England teammates and how that probably helped Hart on the penalty save.

1242. JuanGone..except1game posted on February 24, 2013 at 11:07 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

It helps that Mata is having an awful game (one of the worst I've seen him play). His touch is off, his passing is wayward

Chelsea fans have seen this coming for weeks. Rafa has been burning him out in FA/Europa League matches like you said and he obviously has no energy in this match. Rafa is losing this game with his poor decision not to rest Mata and his ill-fated decision to start Ramires over Moses when we obviously need width.

1243. Jose Can Still Seabiscuit posted on February 24, 2013 at 11:10 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Take off Lapmpard, bring on Torres, Rafa looking to really endear himself to the Chelsea faithful.

1244. JuanGone..except1game posted on February 24, 2013 at 11:12 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Can't believe that Rafa just took out Mikel and left Ramires out there. Our midfield right now is a recipe for disaster.

1245. JuanGone..except1game posted on February 24, 2013 at 11:15 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

So predictable. To make matter worse, just noticed that he moved to a 3-2-3-2 out there. That man wants to be managing in the Czech league next season.

1246. Arnett Mead (Arjun) posted on February 24, 2013 at 11:17 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

To make matter worse, just noticed that he moved to a 3-2-3-2 out there.

It's still a four-back; Ramires is just playing at right back (David Luiz in the midfield). (EDIT: not that it matters by now, of course)

1247. Shooty is in the Trust Tree

posted on February 24, 2013 at 11:19 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Arsenal only 2 back of Chelsea now in the table. The NLD might not be an elimination game for Tottenham and Arsenal after all.

It's garbage time, so it's NASRI TIME!

1248. Shooty is in the Trust Tree

posted on February 24, 2013 at 11:22 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

Torino up on Cagliari now with Cerci scoring another goal. If the result holds, Torino will be top half and creeping up on Udinese. They are having a much better time of it this year than I imagined they would. All I wanted was salvezza!

1249. JuanGone..except1game posted on February 24, 2013 at 11:22 AM # hit 0 | hit 0

It's still a four-back; Ramires is just playing at right back (David Luiz in the midfield).

I think your right though Ramires is roving a bit, BECAUSE HE ISN'T A RIGHT BACK!. Ideally I wouldn't want another in-season change, but I'd take John Terry Player-Manager right now.

1250. frannyzoo posted on February 24, 2013 at 12:00 PM # hit 0 | hit 0

I was watching Juve/Siena..what happened in that Cagliari/Torino game? I see three penalties, two red cards and two goals in extra time (one, of course, a penalty). Most interesting is the Abou Diop red card...one minute after he entered the game. Must have been fun and/or horribly painful to watch.

Correction: The Diop red is in the very same minute he appears. I'm going to youtube for clips on that one.

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Wednesday, May 01, 2013

OT: NBA Monthly Thread - May 2013

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