Year Round The Football/Soccer Thread v2

[jorped]

So many injured's player at FC Porto vs Maritmo, that we ended winning by 5-0.
Not good cuz of the players injured on that game, 2 of them are not going to play. Maicon and Fernando.
At least we will have Helton and Lucho ... but still, this will make our task harder in Kiev. A victory there will seal our place in the the 1/8th finals

I have been saying this in the win thread specially, but Jackson Martinez is surprising me on a really good way. I think he has a stronger beginning than Falcão did ... if i am not wrong Jakcson has 11 goals in 12 games which is really, but really good!
And 2 of those goals are just .... pure class !

This one:

Spoiler

And this one:

Spoiler

If he keeps like this, Porto might still be able to sell him for a good amount. I had my doubts when we hired him, specially because he is already 26 and we normally hire younger players, but this guy is making once again me feeling "confident" on that position, something i hadn't been feeling since Falcão left which was more than 1 year ago, we had been quite struggling and we were quite dependent on what Hulk or James could do alone, since players like Kléber and Janko were really limited, specially Kléber

Porto has been able to find and develop amazing 9 over the years ... i had the pleasure of seeing players like Jardel, Lisandro, Falcão and now Jackson

 

[goldb]

No mention of this weekend's Premier League results and Juventus' unbeaten run ending at the hands of Inter?

Disappointed with Arsenal's loss with Man Utd, someone please tell me otherwise but from the little I had seen of the game it seemed Arsenal had a lot of the ball but weren't really doing much with it and Man Utd weren't clinical at all, remarked by both managers not being impressed with their team's performances. The scoreline didn't seem to reflect the actual run of the game either.

In other news, seems Pep Guardiola is ready to come back into management and wants to take over at Chelsea rumour has it....

 

[kakashi919]

No mention of this weekend's Premier League results and Juventus' unbeaten run ending at the hands of Inter?

Disappointed with Arsenal's loss with Man Utd, someone please tell me otherwise but from the little I had seen of the game it seemed Arsenal had a lot of the ball but weren't really doing much with it and Man Utd weren't clinical at all, remarked by both managers not being impressed with their team's performances. The scoreline didn't seem to reflect the actual run of the game either.

In other news, seems Pep Guardiola is ready to come back into management and wants to take over at Chelsea rumour has it....

Arsenal were horrible.... free points for Man Utd if you ask me. As for Man Utd's performance, it wasn't great, but when do they ever perform great in modern day football?
Liverpool vs Newcastle game was an exciting one, Suarez' goal was world class. Can hate on the guy as much as they want, but he's a world class striker. Only problem is, Liverpool should have won that game and it's becoming a routine to dominate first half but letting the other team score only to fight back for 1 point. They really need another striker to help Suarez and the midfielders need to get into the box more often.

As for Juventus' streak coming to an end, nothing lasts forever. I'm glad it was to a team that has been on a streak of their own, 7 game winning streak. Juve has the same problem as Liverpool, no clinical strikers. Hopefully they can win in UCL and come out of the group stages.

 

[Doraku]

In other news, seems Pep Guardiola is ready to come back into management and wants to take over at Chelsea rumour has it....

Actually I heard before this news came up, Pep is being considered as Mancini's successor if he fails to win any trophy during this season. You know that two men who brought Pep as Barca's coach were recruited as City's staff recently, don't you? It would be more reasonable if Pep moves closer to City rather than Chelsea.

Arsenal's defenders are very horrible, especially Santos. I think that sums up my opinion on EPL this week.

 

[Hardy]

No mention of this weekend's Premier League results and Juventus' unbeaten run ending at the hands of Inter?

Disappointed with Arsenal's loss with Man Utd, someone please tell me otherwise but from the little I had seen of the game it seemed Arsenal had a lot of the ball but weren't really doing much with it and Man Utd weren't clinical at all, remarked by both managers not being impressed with their team's performances. The scoreline didn't seem to reflect the actual run of the game either.

In other news, seems Pep Guardiola is ready to come back into management and wants to take over at Chelsea rumour has it....

That's their playstyle in the last years. Arsenal tries to be a Barcelona with their ball possesion, but they forget to actually attack.

 

[FrostyMouse]

In other news, seems Pep Guardiola is ready to come back into management and wants to take over at Chelsea rumour has it....

While Roman wants Chelsea to become the new Barca, it's not a realistic goal. Even if we get Falcao, he's not Messi, plus it's really hard to replicate Barca's midfield formation and chemistry.

I don't honestly think that Pep's proven anything. He's a good manager, no doubt, but let's not forget that he was working with the most talented team in the world. I'd like to see what Pep can do with less. Messi's bailed Barca out quite a few times when Barca's played poorly and the accolades go to Pep, but without Messi, Pep wouldn't have anything. Let's say that Chelsea wins that CL SF against Barca as we should've, but that ref cheated us, that's a CL title you take away from Pep and that's less he has on his resume. Let's take a look at how Pep's career as the Barca manager ended. He lost La Liga to Madrid and he couldn't break down Chelsea's defense, ultimately suffering a loss and a draw in that tie against probably the worst Chelsea side since Roman acquired us.

I don't want Pep as our manager. I quite like RDM, and in fact, I really liked Ancelotti. I worry that if you put Pep as the manager of a team where he doesn't have a striker who can magically win points for you on his own, it's not going to work for him. Pep would probably only come to Chelsea anyway if Roman gave him full access to the purse strings, something we know will not.

I would like to see Pep as City's manager, somewhere I think that he could do well because they have Aguero, someone who could potentially end up being as good as Messi.

 

[kakashi919]

While Roman wants Chelsea to become the new Barca, it's not a realistic goal. Even if we get Falcao, he's not Messi, plus it's really hard to replicate Barca's midfield formation and chemistry.

I don't honestly think that Pep's proven anything. He's a good manager, no doubt, but let's not forget that he was working with the most talented team in the world. I'd like to see what Pep can do with less. Messi's bailed Barca out quite a few times when Barca's played poorly and the accolades go to Pep, but without Messi, Pep wouldn't have anything. Let's say that Chelsea wins that CL SF against Barca as we should've, but that ref cheated us, that's a CL title you take away from Pep and that's less he has on his resume. Let's take a look at how Pep's career as the Barca manager ended. He lost La Liga to Madrid and he couldn't break down Chelsea's defense, ultimately suffering a loss and a draw in that tie against probably the worst Chelsea side since Roman acquired us.

I don't want Pep as our manager. I quite like RDM, and in fact, I really liked Ancelotti. I worry that if you put Pep as the manager of a team where he doesn't have a striker who can magically win points for you on his own, it's not going to work for him. Pep would probably only come to Chelsea anyway if Roman gave him full access to the purse strings, something we know will not.

I would like to see Pep as City's manager, somewhere I think that he could do well because they have Aguero, someone who could potentially end up being as good as Messi.

I sort of disagree. Gotta give the man credit for the players he brought in and promoted from the B side, and those players are a huge part the team. Pedro, Busquets,Alves and Keita were huge additions to the team. Working with the most talented team in the world? Not at the time he took over really... they didn't win anything the season before he took over. You gotta admit, he made Barcelona's style even more fluid and dangerous since he took over. He has a very good tactical mindset on the game and a lot of times his choices lead to wins for them. He won every trophy he competed for in 09. But I do agree a little that what he was given to work with, almost any coach can pull of something similar. Only way to tell if he can really transform a team is if he gets a team like Everton, no money, few quality players. Going to Man City will not help him change what you said imo.

 

[FrostyMouse]

I sort of disagree. Gotta give the man credit for the players he brought in and promoted from the B side, and those players are a huge part the team. Pedro, Busquets,Alves and Keita were huge additions to the team. Working with the most talented team in the world? Not at the time he took over really... they didn't win anything the season before he took over. You gotta admit, he made Barcelona's style even more fluid and dangerous since he took over. He has a very good tactical mindset on the game and a lot of times his choices lead to wins for them. He won every trophy he competed for in 09. But I do agree a little that what he was given to work with, almost any coach can pull of something similar. Only way to tell if he can really transform a team is if he gets a team like Everton, no money, few quality players. Going to Man City will not help him change what you said imo.

They all had talent though and even though he promoted them from the B side, he had a built in selection of talent to add to his already talented side. La Masia had done a great job finding and readying young talent, but when you have as much as Pep was given, we haven't seen the extent of his managerial talent. I do think that he's a capable manager, but I don't know if he's better than someone like Ancelotti or Guus Hiddink, for example.

Well, if Pep went to City, we could see if he was better than Mancini fairly quickly, although I don't think much of Mancini as a manager. In fact, we already know that Pep's a better mananger than Mancini. I can see your point, and I agree, that going to a team like Everton would be the true test of Pep's abilities.

The fact is that Messi has won him so many points when Barca's played poorly. That, plus questionable reffing in Europe, helped Pep win a bunch more trophies than he probably deserved. The most hardcore Barca fan will claim that the CL trophies that Pep won were all fair, but virtually everyone else will admit that they were a bit questionable. In the two CL Finals against United, Barca just outplayed them, but it was the route they took to the Final that was the problem.

 

[ibra87]

You guys ready for the glorious Italy vs France? I'm afraid France might man up from their "small son" status as they did against Spain and draw

 

[Imperium]

It's so beautiful. Can we please commence the Ibra-circlejerk?

 

[kakashi919]

Great....now his ego is gonna get a whole lot bigger, if that is even possible

Good goal though

 

[FrostyMouse]

Ibra was just legendary there. It was just unspeakably awesome.

Did any of you see that awful penalty by Neymar where he shanked it like 30 yards over the bar?

 

[goldb]

You guys ready for the glorious Italy vs France? I'm afraid France might man up from their "small son" status as they did against Spain and draw

Didn't follow the match but France won 2-1 in the end.

I left the England match at 1-1 because.....well....England sucked, just no creativity going forward at all and Sweden always got them on the counter and at pace.

---------- Post added November 21, 2012 at 09:18 AM ---------- Previous post was November 15, 2012 at 08:12 AM ----------

Di Matteo has quit Chelsea.

 

[kakashi919]

Didn't follow the match but France won 2-1 in the end.

I left the England match at 1-1 because.....well....England sucked, just no creativity going forward at all and Sweden always got them on the counter and at pace.

---------- Post added November 21, 2012 at 09:18 AM ---------- Previous post was November 15, 2012 at 08:12 AM ----------

Di Matteo has quit Chelsea.

LOL! Sorry, but didn't he sign a 2 year contract at the start of the season?
Did they really think they would beat the Old Lady in Italy? Right after their unbeaten run came to an end? Well, it is Chelsea we're talking about.... they can't keep a manager for more than a few months if things aren't going too well.

Forza Juventus~

 

[goldb]

Seems Rafa Benitez and Pep Guardiola are leading the charge for succession but I hope for Guardiola's sake he doesnt take up the position; I worry he'd end up leaving after a year or so.

 

[kakashi919]

Looks like Rafa will be the man to take charge. Well, they could do worst than Rafa

 

[goldb]

Looks like Rafa will be the man to take charge. Well, they could do worst than Rafa

Yes, he's been confirmed as interim manager until the end of the season; no pressure. Apparently Abramovich is still after Guardiola and ready to offer £15 million-a-year for him.

What will be interesting is how Torres fairs before Benitez; he was essentially worshipped by the manager at Liverpool, so it won't come as a surprise to see him get a good run of games.

 

[FrostyMouse]

I've been shaking my head in disgust and shame the last two days or so.

Roman needs to just have some sense smacked into him at this point. There's still his irrational belief in Torres and how acquiring a manager who is the enemy of the fanbase is a good idea is completely beyond me.

I want Jose back. Well, I'd like Carlo Ancelotti back as well, but...

---------- Post added November 24, 2012 at 12:21 PM ---------- Previous post was November 23, 2012 at 02:27 AM ----------

A lesson on how not to play the position of keeper brought to you by Ali Al Habsi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyVIT4C5s74

 

[Hardy]

The most thankless job in every sport (I've lived that...)

 

[Bugzee]

Looks like Rafa will be the man to take charge. Well, they could do worst than Rafa

I won't be suprised if a shiz load of mediterranean players come in during the January transfer window.


I find it kinda strange to have Rafa as even a temp manager of Chelsea considering all the rivalry he had with them when Jose was around. Doesn't feel right tbh. Oh well. Like he said in the interview its rare to get a chance with such a club with massive resources/support and one that can challenge in more than one competition. Who knows...but I won't be suprised if he wins at least one trophy with them. I think he'll definitely make the team play better. If he gets Torres up and running consistently then they'll be a force to be reckoned with.

They really shouldn't of let Drogba go. <_<