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America: Yawn.
Europe: Peasants!
I feel kinda bad for Denmark. Their team is solid but that group seems impossible for them.
Surely by that point Kuyt's better off going back to Feyenoord.
America: Yawn.
Europe: Peasants!
Kind of a strange joke for this thread, no? I think the Euros are being universally anticipated in these parts.
Kuyt to Fenerbahce is strange but if they want to pay his wages, good for them. I loved Kuyt's quote that he wanted to play for a team with big ambitions in Europe. Heh. Anyway, I like Kuyt--he got the dirty work done but that role probably fit better on the Dutch national team than for Liverpool.
Even with Cahill out Rio Ferdinand isn't an option, I guess. I wonder if Terry had been the one to break his jaw if Ferdinand would have been an option?
He said he wanted to but he'd have to take an 80% pay cut to do it. Refreshingly honest, really.
Rankings that I really disagree with, me marking over or underrated.
#12 - Ribery (overrated)
#14 - Sneijder (overrated)
#18 - Muller (overrated)
#28 - Mario Gomez (underrated)
#38 - Sergio Ramos (underrated)
The last two seem particularly egregious to me. They're two of the best players on top-5 teams in the world. Muller had a great world cup but was a part time player for Bayern Munich this year. The top 2 are above a ton of players they have no right being above.
#13: I'd love to see Gomez on a team that created a lot fewer chances for him than Bayern (he scored as many goals in six years at Stuttgart that he has in three years at Bayern, though, so that's neither here nor there). I am generally never impressed by him, but then again, I don't really like the Bundesliga, so it's entirely possible that I haven't seen enough of him (or that he struggles against tougher opposition or something).
Sneijder has been pretty bad the last year and a half, sadly. He's part of Inter's problems at this point.
I don't believe this. In fact, in soccer, I don't think this is possible. You cannot consistently score goals at the highest levels of competition unless you're a great goal scorer. He had a poor final, but he was money in the Champion's League. And I think he is one of Bayern's best players, rather than a player living off of others.
I'm sure of it. Also 25% of the England squad is now made up of Liverpool players. It also means a Lescott / Terry partership and they have been shakey everytime they've played together.
He had a poor semifinal versus Real Madrid as well, where he was very, very wasteful.
I suppose you're right, but I've seen 10-11 games in which he has played and he has never played well, not once. Some of those games, like against Austria in the 2008 Euros, he was comically bad.
Hopefully soon! They want a lot of money, though, if the rumors are to believed. Spurs have been chasing him for a couple of years now.
Watching Dos Santos play for Mexico makes me want Redknapp to get the axe sometimes. Can he really not find a use for him?
Fenerbahce was in the quarterfinals of the Champions League not that long ago. 08, I think.
When, realistically, is Liverpool even going to be back in that competition?
What's up with Junior Hoilett? He seems like a player who is definitely good enough to play for Canada yet Canada didn't call him up.
Wonder if Big Soccer crashed due to the teeth-knashing load being exceeded.
He's their Timothy Chandler. Holding out for England.
I knew that list was a joke when I saw Xabi Alonso was at #34. He should be top fifteen at worst.
Apoel could use him, too, I guess. It's pretty clear he's going to Fenerbahce for the cash and I have no problem with that. He's on big wages so his options were limited if he wants to play and still get paid and Turkey looks like a pretty great place to spend a couple of years. I actually don't think Liverpool are so far away from being a good team again and if Liverpool had Kuyt in their plans he wouldn't have been so keen on leaving. Like Spurs did with Crouch last year, I have a feeling Liverpool told him if you don't leave prepared to get familiar with the bench.
I knew that list was a joke when I saw Xabi Alonso was at #34. He should be top fifteen at worst.
They should probably just rename it the 40 most famous players at the Euros 2012.
And hey, can't have too many LFC players on the team.
All that said, I still believe that Hodgson has decided that he can't have both Ferdinand and Terry in the squad.
Hodgson and/or the FA appear to be seriously caught up over appearances and "respect". Their failure to reach out to Carrick, Micah Richards and Ferdinand is only weakening the team.
I'm surprised they didn't call up Smalling. Specially since he can cover at RB if needed also.
Wasn't he ruled out due to injury?
edit: google tells me that he is injured. As, of course, is Michael Dawson who would have slotted in nicely in Cahill's place.
Not having Carrick is kind of a killer. Parker is good, but Carrick is better, I think.
Evans isn't English. He is from Northern Ireland.
EDIT:
I knew he had been injured, wasn't sure if he still was.
Damn it. That NI flag looks too much like England's at whoscored.com. They need to throw a big green stripe on their or something. Caulker it is then!
Maybe this is what you were getting at but what strikes me as weird is that it's Ferdinand, not Terry, who is being punished by being left off the team. I think there are some valid reasons (I wouldn't trust Rio for three games in eight days, I wouldn't trust him for three games in thirty days), but it's certainly odd.
That's how it looks to me, which is why I think it's weird. There seems to be no situation the FA can't #### up. It's kind of hilarious. It's like they're run by a committee of 10 Bud Selig's after each of the cloned Bud Selig's has downed a bottle of scotch. Isaiah Thomas couldn't do a worse job!
Jenkins, who is determined to hire a manager committed to the purist brand of football played under Rodgers.
I think Hodgson is determined to get rid of Generation Me that has infested the England team like a virus pretty much since Beckham became Spice Boy. Carrick and Richards didn't want to go unless they were guaranteed starters - so see ya. Ferdinand's reason for not getting picked is more opaque, but perhaps Hodgson genuinely believes he can't hold up, and we have no idea how he is in the dressing room. I truly loathe John Terry, but Ferdinand gets a pass from certain elements of the footballing world for his claim to care a lil' bit about the outside world. He's got his share of skeletons in the closet. It's possible John Terry is more of a team player.
It's also worth remembering that England aren't doing anything no matter what, and that Hodgson may be looking to 2014 with some of his selections. That doesn't explain Richards, who is 24, but Carrick (30) and Ferdinand (33) are very unlikely to be in the 2014 squad.
Not only that, but he looked really bad when isolated against a quick striker.
He's an asset in a cohesive, well-drilled team with a strong defensive orientation. Don't see England that way.
Pull the other one.
I see the logic for Richards and Carrick, but not for Ferdinand, really. Or Gerrard, whose tactical sense Arrigo Sacchi recently compared to an eight year old.
I do think he also has some sort of understanding with the FA that this tournament doesn't matter.
I also think that has been communicated to the usual suspects, who have been much more reticent about the inherent greatness of the England team that is usual. The orgiastic explosion of nationalism occasioned by the Jubilee and Olympics appear to be offering them some cover in that respect.
All that said, I still don't understand how you pick Terry over Ferdinand if your focus is on setting a new tone for the team, unless you somehow believe that Anton stitched Terry up, but I've not see any evidence to support that view.
Oh, there is no level of expectation here. None. A couple of my friends and I (I'm no fan of England, the others are sons of Scots, so they're not England fans either) are actually wondering if it's gone too far, because it honestly feels like most people expect England to go out in the first round. England aren't that bad, and more importantly, their opponents aren't that good. France will probably be too good for them, but Sweden and Ukraine are very, very pedestrian teams, and a win and a draw could get them out of the group.
The Jubilee and Olympics are definitely taking some of the attention away, but I do think it would still be pretty crazy here if people thought England would do well.
He's done it on five separate occasions this year. The fitness rumblings are just the usual Ferguson half-truths, spim and bluster.
And loated by everybody else if you bbelieve the tittle tattle
I always find his lists, and the comments interesting. I watch a fair amount of soccer (I feel), and even so I don't feel I've seen enough of the teams to choose an all-EPL or all-Serie A team, much less Bundesliga, La Liga, Ligue 1, etc. It actually seems an impossible task even for someone like Cox...so many teams, and you'd really need to grade games in the film room, it's so unlike picking all-star teams for baseball.
Martin is supposedly a Spurs target in the event they lose Modric. I have to say, I'd love Marvin the Martian to be a Spur.
I'm starting to get pretty hooked on Euro soccer, so I now know about 1200% more than I did last summer at this time, but still a long way to go.
I always find his lists, and the comments interesting. I watch a fair amount of soccer (I feel), and even so I don't feel I've seen enough of the teams to choose an all-EPL or all-Serie A team, much less Bundesliga, La Liga, Ligue 1, etc. It actually seems an impossible task even for someone like Cox...so many teams, and you'd really need to grade games in the film room, it's so unlike picking all-star teams for baseball.
Yeah, following soccer is almost impossible. I'm guessing Cox probably watches as much as anyone possibly can, though. I assume you'd focus on the top 5 or so teams in the top 4 leagues with the assumption that's probably where the best talent gravitates. I'm just happy when my EPL team of the season--which is the league I see the most of--sort of coincides with the "experts" picks.
I've been struggling with how expensive these friendlies are, too, as there are going to be some high profile games in New York. It could be worth it but I imagine some of Real's high profile players won't be there because they'll be getting time off after the Euros. Be careful Sean, if you have any propensity for obsession soccer is a killer--dozens of leagues plus international events to follow and the club season is 9 months long--it never stops! The only thing keeping me from a Howard Hughes-like existence is I only have 1 tv in my New York apartment and I have a girlfriend who will kill me if I try to start following Brazilian or Mexican soccer, or even MLS. She's a Euro-snob so she'll put up with EPL and Serie A, but anything else and I will be a very lonely guy.
I'm not sure how others feel about friendlies but for me its a treat to be able to go to them. Its part of the reason I like soccer. I'd always wondered what it would feel like to be say a Japanese baseball fan, i.e. how would I feel about going to a mlb game in Japan or what would I feel like regarding someone like Ichiro leaving for mlb. Soccer is cool that way. For me, I like friendlies and am going to the LFC v Spurs friendly. As for the Ichiro part of it I"ve discovered I really want people like Donovan to play for teams like Everton rather than stay at home as it gives a better idea of what our best players are capable of (good or bad).
Sorry if post incoherent on mobile.
Shooty my wife was mocking me after the champions league final because I was making jokes about her getting a break for a month or two. I had forgotten the Euros. She laughed and asked however was I going to survive until then.
Edit: me fail english unpossible.
I was able to parlay the gf's obsession with Downton Abbey into some extra soccer viewing this last year as a trade off. Wow, do I dislike that Downton Abbey nonsense.
My understanding with these guys- at least with Richards, but I thought Carrick, too- was that they didn't want to be on the stand-by list, not that they insisted on being guaranteed starters. While I still think they probably made the wrong decision, I understand it. They're both arguably among the best 11 (definitely now, with all of the injuries).
Generally, I would advise against going. But if it's your only opportunity to see somebody like Ronaldo live, while he's still in his prime, you may find it worth it.
Not a fan of that team btw. So without going into a critique of every single selection, for which I don't have the time right now: If you end up with what is essentially the top 22 players, and have none from either team in the CL final, 2 each from the consensus best two teams in the world... and 5 from Juventus...
Granted, of the top 4 leagues, Serie A is the one I watch by far the least of. So I am sure the bear will show up in a bit and tell me how wrong I am.
What is with this company Traffic? It's the same company that buys rights to CA qualifiers involving the USA and puts them on closed circuit PPV. They seem an extremely shady operation.
San Diego, St. Pete and New York. Heh.
TE, Jr. is no mini-Messi (not by a long shot), but he's got a good left foot and when his U8 coach tells him to hug the touchline and play wide, he does as he's told... He'd be thrilled to know he has more tactical sense than Gerrard.
They have very good relations with the caudillos that control the game in the region, which provides them with certain synergies when it comes to obtaining rights to competitions and players.
FPH, I don't disagree at all. Juve had a good year, but Cox (who, like me, supports Fiorentina) has seriously over-valued guys who dominated a league that continues to decline in quality. Though to be fair, you only get to 5 Juventini if you include the subs, which would get you to a total of four from Barca/Madrid.
I also heartily concur with FPH's summary of pre-season friendlies.
Is this code for "they know who to kick back cash under the table to"?
Move over Fulham...
Agreed. I went to AC Milan-Club America when they came to town and it was a waste of money. Thankfully the luxury box I was in was catered, which I was told isn't always the case. (They should never, ever play soccer again in the Georgia Dome, there is no room out of bounds.)
Although it was hilarious. So many people had no idea who Club America was (I did) so it was interesting seeing people's reactions. Some people on the train thought it was an all star team. There was a group of teenage girls in our suite who thought it was a team of Americans and came decked out in red white and blue. We felt sorry for them, although we tried to get them to cheer for Oguchi Oneywu when he came on in the 2nd half.
These guys should do a "players you should see" list, esp. when they're not on the usual contending teams.
The description is about right. I watched a few on tv, but don't bother anymore unless something unusual is happening (like the Celtic-Sporting game in Fenway). The May friendlies are even worse, judging from the ones I've caught on tv. The DCU-AC Milan game from a couple years ago was like...an NBA vs. Athletes in Action charity game, with the Athletes in Action squad actually playing hard. Shambolic soccer from Milan, but Ronaldinho and Seedorf put on a decent show.
Do any of you work in smaller businesses and have marketing people hounding the company to "get into social networking?" I thought, hey if bars/restaurants are big into this, I'll ask about the game on some facebook pages. No responses so far. Of course it's soccer, but you'd hope someone at least answer "?". It's at least reassuring to know these other businesses have similar experiences to mine...the marketing person drags the company kicking and screaming to create a facebook page and then get employees' friends to "like" it, then no one actually monitors the damn thing.
No, thank god.
I think you will find that I did in fact say 2 each.
Didn't know about that one. I'm going to have to go into my storage unit to find my 2001 Claudia Reyna Rangers kit to dust off for that one.
Great season for friendlies, especially if you live in the Philly area. I've already got tickets for Chelsea/MLS here and vs. PSG in NY, probably going to the Liverpool/Spurs match in Baltimore in July and I'm considering Union vs Villa. My girlfriend though the season was over as well, but oh how wrong she was.
In fairness, Messi is short enough to play for Spain.
It pains me to say this, but I wouldn't put any other Barca players in the top 22 (though there is a lot of noise about Alba coming to Barca). On the other hand, I'd say that both Xabi Alonso and De Maria have a case.
As Shooty notes, the exercise is extremely difficult because of the sheer number of teams and players involved. It is sort of like picking a Class A all star team. It's a bit easier to focus on teams in a particular competition (like the Champions League), but even then it is difficult to isolate a player's performances in such competition from the rest of his season.
Regarding the Euros, are we going to boycott realtime score posting, or do I need to avoid this place like the plague during the day (in which case, what would you all have me do while I'm at work? Hmm?).
EDIT: and by "boycott" I meant "ban."
Not for your convenience, no. There is only one canonical time to discuss the games, and that is as it happens, we can't very well wait until the stragglers in Queensland or New South Wales have got home to their DVRs to discuss the games.
Also, this whole soccer thread thing kicked off for real two years ago with World Cup game chattering. Anything less than epic chattering would be a disappointment.
We never have before. I would avoid this thread if you don't want spoilers as it's fun to talk about the games in real time.
I just want to share the joyous news that Comcast in DC has finally seen fit to provide us with Fox Soccer in HD. About damn time.
Now if we can just figure out what the hell Al Jazeera is up to...I don't want to have to watch Torino's return to Serie A on another crappy illegal stream. Am I the only one who thinks La Liga and Serie A may have erred taking the big short money with Al Jazeera? Say what you want about Fox, but no one can distribute a product like they can. Serie A and La Liga may have been better off partnering up with Fox or NBC and trying to get games on the home network the way Fox has started to do with EPL with a fair amount of success. It's almost like they're content to concede the American audience to England.
edit: Coke to Chef.
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