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I know that that’s not the kind of soccer you usually talk about, but Hamburg’s on 24 points now.
You mean Hamburglar?
Why is there no early game in any of the big leagues today? I was almost forced to watch SPL!
I had the same impression watching on the tube. Glad to see some backup from an eyewitness account. At the Spurs Chelsea game I was at the Chelsea fans didn't stop singing that annoying "Champions of Europe, we know who we are" song so I'm glad Spurs fans were able to give it back some. I look forward to facing Chelsea in the finals of the Europa League!
That's what I thought but I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Seems like Arsenal were worth their goal, though but, as Bale and Suarez will tell you, you don't want a reputation for diving in the PL anymore. Refs seem to be looking to punish those guys in future games.
I just saw the replay. Wow that was bad.
Once again, I am utterly unsurprised to learn that you're referring to Mike Jones. Gawd above, but he is an awful official.
That is very funny.
You mean Hamburglar?
That is not. Also,
scoreboardtable.That point is a mountain to climb for the mighty non-Van Der Vaart stealing Freiburg, but I think they can manage it.
I'm still trying to understand exactly what referee Stark thought he saw. It's easy to understand him missing the deflection, and I even understand him calling a penalty for the brush against the hand, but I don't see how he can add the red card without thinking Schmelzer threw his hands down in reaction to the shot. That just doesn't seem possible to see in that circumstance (proximity of shot, etc.).
The non-existent brush against the hand? The ball hit both knees but no hand.
The problem is I don't think they are a team that can. I've said this before, they are just no built to play 3 games in 7 days. They don't have the depth, and they play with such a high tempo, that by the third game, they really struggle. They need things to go their wa to pull those games out, and if things go against them, it's over.
They struggled at the beginning of last year too, and then didn't lose a game after they had been dropped from the CL. but I guess I will have to settle for 2010-2013 being a repeat of 1994-1997.
They struggled at the beginning of last year too, and then didn't lose a game after they had been dropped from the CL. but I guess I will have to settle for 2010-2013 being a repeat of 1994-1997.
I'm curious, FPH. Would you prefer Dortmund to win Champions League at the expense of the third consecutive Bundesliga title or is beating Bayern still far more important?
Knock on wood, but Torino are up on AC Milan.
And finally:
Everton: Howard, Coleman, Baines, Jagielka, Distin, Osman, Pienaar, Gibson, Fellaini, Mirallas, Jelavic
Tottenham: Lloris, Walker, Gallas, Caulker, Vertonghen, Lennon, Sandro, Dembele, Dempsey, Adebayor, Defoe
Very attacking lineups, there. I would be very happy with a point from this game for Spurs.
Man U goes to show that if you have the two best strikers in the world, it makes up for a lot of holes.
I'm waiting for a City fan to claim that Rio did that to himself WWE-style.
Sam Allardyce's dreams are coming true against Liverpool.
The liga is gone anyway. Not much use crying over spilt milk. And 97 still ranks as the greatest foorballing night of my life, so I would be fine if thats the way it played out. Especially after Bayern's choke job at home in the summer. That would do nicely to rub their noses in it.
If you haven't seen them, you should go watch the highlights of the 97 final btw. Hell of a game. Del Piero knocked one in with his heel. And I can still picture Lars Ricken coming in, and strocking oone in the top corner from35 yards with his first touch of the ball. I went completely nuts at that point...
What have you thought of Santana's play over the last few games? I'll admit I have difficulty judging the quality of central defenders, but I have not been impressed.
Kehl, Bender, & Subotic all missed Saturday's game and while I like Moritz Leitner he's not yet at the level of Bender or Kehl.
As I said, they lack depth. Subotic and Hummels are their clear first choice CB pairing. The problem with replacing Subotic is compounded by the fat that Hummels plays an extremely unconventional CB. He plays very high up the pitch and gets involved in play a lot. It works because him and Subotic have great communication and Subotic understands what Hummels is going to do and can cover for him. It's tough position to step in and fill well though when you don't have the history and chemistry, and when you don't... well see Italy - Germany at the Euro's.
Straight up for Gallas?
If you would like some counter-examples to your proposition (which I'd agree with), Ghana made the World Cup semis in 2010 without having a single player on the 2009 list and Greece won the Euros in 2004 with a similarly unappreciated team.
Unappreciated is a euphemism, right?
I would put Howard and Donovan on there too. Going forward Bradley and... Johnson?
Among the hundred best players in the WORLD? Really?
That's nine at each position (ideally).
For Bradley it's if, not will. As Sean said, if the US is going to seriously compete globally then we need a few faces on there. And down the road he is the #1 candidate. For Howard and Donovan, if you're putting Dempsey on it I don't see a whole lot of separation between the three. Howard has been as important to Everton as Dempsey was to Fulham, and Donovan has been as important to the US as Dempsey has, with Howard even more so.
How long until an American is a multi-year starter for Bayern, Real, Barca, City, United, Juve, or Milan? It seems to me that the USMNT will be substantial underdogs to go deep in the World Cup until they get 2 to 4 players playing in the CL semis each year.
I would expand that list of teams a little to include say, Dortmund, Chelsea, PSG and Inter. It could be years before we see one, but then again Oguchi Onyewu was on Milan a few years ago, although he probably wouldn't have been more than a rotation player, Altidore was on Villareal when they were good although he wasn't in the picture and Tim Howard was on United a while back, so it's not uncharted territory. And two USMNT players are currently regular starters on the 5th ranked teams in Germany (who finished third last year) and Italy.
Well that and a good coach.
Look at Ghana 2010. The only player in the squad who had appeared anything like regularly for a Champions League team was Sulley Muntari, who was a squad player at Inter (and only started one game in the WC finals). Or Uruguay, which has a much more illustrious football history. Suarez was at Ajax (which was only in the Europa League that year), Cavani was at Palermo, and Forlan was at Atletico Madrid.
Any non-European team other than Brazil or Argentina is going to struggle mightily to get 2 to 4 players in the Champions League semis.
By the same token, England will have satisfied that criterion virtually every year in the 22 seasons since they last made the World Cup quarters.
None of that should be read to mean that I think that the US is close to that level, of course. For one thing, we would have to establish ourselves as being reliably better than Mexico before we could aim higher.
He did travel from the Veneto, and said that the stewards tried to give him a ticket in the main stand, but that he insisted on standing in the "away section".
He also said that the Samp fans offered to buy him drinks.
They did not. They would have, of course, had Suarez not handled what would have been the game-winning goal...
Genoa isn't THAT far from Udine. It's not even in the boot. How many Udinese supporters show up at Palermo?
Or if Gyan had buried the awarded penalty kick.
Suarez is a dirtbag but I feel he gets to much grief for that one. It's the soccer equivalent of not letting an NBA player get a shot off in the dying seconds and making him make his free throws. It's not like he cheated and got away with it. He got caught, the PK was given and Suarez was sent off.
260, unless they fly with the team, I would think that a club like Udinese wouldn't take anyone to games at Palermo or Catania. Even when "big" clubs play on the islands, their support is very heavily local.
(Do Italian fans shout "Get in!" when their team scores? I have no idea.)
The problem is that these teams typically tend to be flash in the pan types, or have several players who were on the brink of breaking out. Yes, the USMNT as currently constructed could go on such a run. But as a betting man, I would not bet on it.
Unfortunately there's no video of the Udinese fan or unfortunately Italians do not shout "Entrare!" when their team scores?
Translation of a portion of his interview today.
Good to see Villa scoring goals for once. Let's hope that helps them in more important games.
Surely another year with no trophy.
England made the quarter finals in both 2002 and 2006.
Among other disasters in that game, presenting: Gervinho.
An aside, Rosicky and Diaby look really good when they're healthy. Too bad they so rarely are.
Not to be a dick, but how did this team win the Championship? They are just over matched right now.
Yeah or a defender pulling down a wide open receiver in the end zone. It's against the rules and was appropriately punished. If Ghana did eff it up it would have been no big deal.
In the meantime, Flamengo are putting forth a claim for Zico having scored 89 in 79, and Santos are making noises about Pele in the 50s and 60s.
All this needs is Romario claiming goals scored in Subbuteo and Foosball.
Agree with 261 and 281 on Suarez against Uruguay.
I've also been playing Football Manager a lot since then as well, and it's really helped me learn about the game. Whoever recommended that deserves kudos. I recently got lucky and won the 2013-14 Champions League with Everton (started in 2011-12) and it's been a blast.
It's amazing how the timing is perfect for these games, starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Perfect thing to watch while making breakfast, etc.
Ditto. And Champions League games in the afternoon are perfect. I too am addicted to Football Manager.
Anyone play Hat Trick? I did it years ago and it was fun, I got away from it and was thinking of doing it again. We could have a BTF Cup if enough people played.
Now I do.
I had on Corinthians vs Al Ahly (Egypt; CAF champion) in the background and neither team looked particularly compelling. Though maybe my head was turned anytime something good happened.
I watched the Monterrey-Ulsan Hyundai (AFC champ) for Monterrey; they went against the usual Mexican form in this thing and smoked Ulsan despite Humberto Suazo being out with an injury. Ulsan looked like the jet-lagged team.
Out of curiosity for Asian soccer I watched Ulsan Hyundai vs Sanfrecce Hiroshima (last Japan champ; represents the host nation). These teams are mostly comprised of Koreans and Japanese respectively so you'd think this would be a good matchup size-wise. Though Ulsan started a 6'5" Korean striker. Somehow he did not dominate in the air in this game--even Crouch makes an aerial nuisance of himself.
I'd say the teams' ball-handing and buildup play is smoother and more skilled than in MLS, which makes me a bit depressed about MLS. I wonder if MLS teams would do better at that if MLS refs didn't allow you to kick a guy in the shin or body check.
I watch some Mexican league games so I'll keep going and watch Chelsea vs. Monterrey Thursday. I don't suppose it will be close; Chelsea should be able to defend Monterrey's quickness while having an advantage in the air.
How did South American teams used to win this thing? Did the UEFA teams really not care or was it really that recently (2005-2006) that South American teams could hold onto a lot of talent?
Hey, I'm an Everton fan, too. They were in the first live soccer game I've ever seen--a friendly vs. the Rapids. So when I started watching games on tv, I kept following them, and they really grew on me. I wonder how much of that is Moyes, though. They seem fairly pragmatic. They're accused of being too direct--everyone's gotta go Pep Barca, I guess--but it seems they do some of that, but also possess when they can. Depends on the game situation and who they're playing. It's also hard to ignore a 6'4" guy with a 'fro for a target.
Give it another 20 years of being an Everton fan, and you'll be willing to kill every last one of us.
Moyes is a reactive coach, in that he generally tweaks his team selection to combat what he anticipates the opposition will try to do - especially the better sides. That said, I think the pundits and the football press often condescend to Everton by pigeonholing them as plucky tryers. There are plenty of excellent technical players in that squad, and they are as capable of superb build-up play as just about any team in the league.
Moyes tends to have his thumb gently on the scales in favor of discipline and keeping a good shape, but when they do go forward (which is often) Everton are just as likely to pursue an "attractive" route to goal (e.g. the Baines/Pienaar combo down the left, Osman's subtlety in the middle, Mirallas or Coleman zipping down the right wing) as they are to target Fellaini with a long ball. In my view, what makes them so consistently effective is that they can mix up their attacking approach and not over-rely on any one option.
What, yearly American barnstorming of European teams with half a lineup of reserve players isn't enough for you?
I can easily see Qatar or the UAE outbidding everyone for the rights for the next decade or so.
The problem with doing in New York this time of year is the weather. Obviously it's playable, but if you're trying to make an event of it, having it in the chill of NYC is probably not the image they're going for.
First they have to outbit Morocco, apparently. How did *that* happen?
It's not much warmer in Tokyo than New York this time of year. I don't know if the powers that be in New York care enough to make a bid which is probably the biggest handicap.
And they really don't care around this time of year, when NYC is overrun with tourists anyway. If FIFA bumped it back to the late-January/early February period, you might find business people more welcoming. Of course, that presents both club scheduling issues, and puts you right in to the teeth of the weather in NYC.
The majority of the matches, including the Final and the 3d place match, are being played at the larger Nissan (aka International) Stadium in Yokohama (which was also the principal Japanese stadium for the 2002 World Cup), and which is open to the elements.
Toyota's sponsorship and the switch from a two-legged home and away final to a single match in Japan (on which the sponsorship was conditioned) really saved this competition from oblivion when it was still contested by the winners of the European Cup and the Copa Libertadores. Notwithstanding FIFA's recent flirtation with the Gulf, there still seems to be more genuine support for this tournament in Japan than anywhere else.
I dunno, the fans say Meh. Of the four games in Toyota (capacity 45,000), attendance ranged from 17K to 31K (and the hosts were in the 17K game). Chelsea/Monterrey only filled half of the 72,000-seat International Stadium. I'll be surprised if they draw 50K for the final.
Then again, they're not likely to do better in Casablanca or wherever. How about LA, as opposed to New York? You'd get the MLS champs in as hosts, the Mexican side would draw well, the weather would be predictable...
I had briefly thought of Miami, but LA has more attractive stadium options.
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