Discussion The Football/Soccer Thread

[Mendes]

United - Roma was amazing! Even tough United sent some of their most precious stars to rest, they putted a hell of a show. I think they could have easily got a higher lead if Rooney or Ronaldo played from the start. What matters is that United is on the semi-final and they had their players fit for Arsenal's reception. I honestly doubt Arsenal can win in Old Trafford against This Man Utd.

Cheers for Gary Neville! After 13 months he's back. Ferguson played him at center midfielder so that he wouldnt need to run so much :P As silvestre's back as well, United can now reinforce their defense (specially in the right, where Brown usually screws up)

 

[Imperium]

What scares me is not if we lose, but if we offer no resistance. It would be a testament to Wenger if they could win. Seeing as Ferguson decided to rest R&R, it would be tough but not impossible. Btw i did not watch the match, but how was pique? Was he a good replacement for vidic? Im guessing he might play, and maybe that is where we will find some openings.

 

[Mendes]

He hadn't that much trouble, but when he responded well when he had the chance. Silvestre played at left side back and helped alot in that location since he's not an offensive side back. I believe Silvestre will play alongside Ferdinand if Vidic doesnt recover. If Arsenal is to find openings, that'd be trough the left with Brown there. I dont think he can keep up with a speedy technician like van Persie

 

[bebekhappy]

Sigh....still can't beat ManU in OT even tho they rested R&R...i gotta admit, even with Totti's there i believe Roma still can't win it,ManU played amazingly well both defense and offense.
I'm not gonna comment on DDR missed spot kick, but Vucinic clearly needs more support on attacking or maybe need more courage cos he seems a bit lack of it , as much as i really hate Doni i think i have to thank him in this game.
Anyway...what a game for ManU, i congrats them and Neville for his comeback .They gonna face Barca in semi right? if it is then i rally look forward to it, it's gonna be one hell of battle there

 

[Mendes]

Totti would be a great difference-maker in that game. With Totti on his back, Vulcinic plays much better. Still, Man U were impressive even without Evra, Vidic, Scholes, R&R...

I hope Messi recovers from his injury in time for the semi-final. It'd be amazing to see what I consider the world's best players right now clash in a huge battle

 

[Sasuke_Kai_92]

Also I dont think Ronaldinho will be playing for Barcelona because he is injured in the season.

Also I heard that Ronaldinho might be going to Manchester City? Can anyone clarify this if it is true or not?

 

[Mendes]

Usually that's only rumors. I honestly doubt Ronaldinho would play for a team who doesnt compete in the champions league nor compete to win their internal league title, such as Man City. Still, I already heard he could go to Newcastle, Milan, Inter, Chelsea... I only believe when I see it. I think Ronaldinho's clause is about 135M€. If you're not familiarized with €, just think of Zidane's transfer to Real Madrid as about 75M€. If Barça doesnt lighten this clause, only a super-rich club could keep up

 

[Imperium]

Apparently, ronaldinho's agent was at the game between City and Chelsea. And since City now have a "billionaire", they could very much buy him. But im still critical of him. This "injury" he has, i believe is his own imagination. After a poor run of form, he suddenly said he had a "injury" on his thigh or something. The doctors said there was absolutely nothing wrong with him. But he still says there is. Honestly...

If totti played, roma would have defintly had a chance. The de rossi penalty, would have gone in if totti was there. Totti is not only the captain of Roma, he is their talisman, their idol. When he is there they play much better. Its like liverpool without Gerrard. If that penalty went in, the tide of the game would have switched. Afterall the penalty was early in the game, and they would have had the rest of the game to get another, and they would just sit back, and maybe ride their luck to a penalty shootout. And with totti their, i would imagine that scenario would have occured.

But i agree with mendes, cant wait for Barcelona v United. It's going to be amazing. Im sure its going to be a much more exciting match then the other semi-final. I have no qualms in the way chelsea and liverpool play. But i rather prefer exciting beautiful football, than a technical game. Afterall i am a arsenal fan. >_>

 

[Sasuke_Kai_92]

So City has a billionaire then. Then they could afford Ronaldinho, after all the players only care for the money. If City say they would give him a higher pay then Barca, then obviously Ronaldinho would say yes. Anyway, i am happy that he is not the best player in the world .

I think that he doesnt want to embaras himself, maybe? I mean, he does all these skills and stuff like that and say he if gets tackled very easily, people would laugh at him , especially if he is playing away.

Me too. I am definitely going to that match when Man U play home. It should be amazing, its going to be much better then chelsea vs Liverpool. Also it would be good if the Final is 2 english teams..something which has never happened before..

By the way, PLEASE watch this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COcczatkNP4&feature=related

Now, this kid is the best skills dude ever. He is amaing, just watch this and you would be astonished. its only 4 mins

 

[Mendes]

City may be rich now, but I just dont believe he'd trade Barça for a club at the middle of the league table in England. Superstar-players like Ronaldinho have to work their hardest in this age (he's 28 right now) so that he can think of a less competitive and well paid challenge. Take Beckham, Roberto Carlos, Davids, Rui Costa, Stam (etc etc) for example. They played at the highest level till 32-34 and then they got the 'deserved' break in a well paid break, starting to think of the retirement.

I can only imagine Ronaldinho at a club like Milan or Inter, where he can be motivated to play again at least near the level that used to play. When he turns about 32 he'll probably go to a club like City, or even try other less competitive leagues.

Still, I dont know at what point will City's billionaire chairman invest. If he does like Chelsea and buy a huge team, maybe then Ronaldinho will join their revolution.

By the way, PLEASE watch this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COcczatkNP4&feature=related

Now, this kid is the best skills dude ever. He is amaing, just watch this and you would be astonished. its only 4 mins

Jesus... some guys got blessed when they were born. I think his legs move at the speed of light.

What club do you cheer for Sasuke_Kai_92?

 

[Lohnt]

My ideal team for Ronaldinho to transfer to would be Bayern Munich, that would make that team ready to take the Ch. League next year, and lately they've been one of my favorite clubs to watch. I wouldn't really want him to go to a team like Chelsey and MU already has someone in his position that is irreplaceable. Milan would be a waste as well, because they have filled their ranks with Brazilian nationals and are barely qualifying next season the way they're losing. Real Madrid has Robinho who is about on the same level anyway..
But I doubt he would go to Germany, I guess if a team like Inter or Arsenal could afford him, that would work out well also, since those are teams that are recently rising back up to the top of Europe.


I feel bad for Getafe though, they deserved to advance more than Bayern it's a shame, they're such a good team that is in such a crappy position at the time.

 

[Mendes]

Well, I was watching that miraculous game with Getafe loosing with away goals with Bayern. For those who havent seen it, Bayern tied 1-1 at the last minute, and in extra time, after Getafe scored twice, Bayern ends up scoring twice as well, one of the goals was scored in the last seconds, with Kahn already in the opponent box.

This weekend there were lots of excellent matches on schedule, lead by Man United - Arsenal. I was kinda hurt by what the sports channel did. In Portugal we have Sport Tv to transmit international games, and they never miss the premier league's candidates. I had already invited lots of people to watch the game by my house, but for some reason they didnt transmit the game live. Only a highlight later in the day :/
Still, a great match, United 2 - 1 Arsenal. Evra is playing amazingly, specially after that rest on the CL's match. I think Man U was more fresh and the result was fair in the end. Gallas was kinda stupid... tried to copy Adebayor's move with the hand... didnt work out the same way :P Props to Hargreaves for that master free kick

If in England its down to Chelsea and Man United for the win, in Italy its down to Inter and Roma. Its been a sprint between them and lately no one's breaking. Inter did well against fiorentina. Mario Balotelli is already a great player. He's been in Inter's 1st 11 in great level. Only 17 years old...

In Spain, finally Real Madrid wins a game. As usual, Barça tied (9th draw!) and this time Vilarreal lost, which means Madrid leads by 9 pts. Seems like the end of this league, but there's still a Real Madrid - Barcelona, so we never know.
In Germany, its over. Bayern has a 10 point lead and they just stepped on Dortmund with 5-0

In Portugal (I had to say this xD), my beloved rivals, Benfica, had a 3-0 lost in their own stadium with the second last of the league, Academica. Benfica is now in 4th spot as they were passed by Sporting (3rd) and an amazing Vitoria de Guimarães (2nd). Only 3 teams can go to the CL and I'm confident Benfica will stay out this year, as they still need to go to Porto's stadium for the league :P

 

[Imperium]

^ Mendes, ill save you the trouble of agonizing about the match. Arsenal dominated the first half, in the same way they did milan. But once they got a goal, around 2 minutes later (well not that short...but you get me -_-) united, who underperformed in every sense of the word. Got a penalty and then a freekick. After than we still fought but in the end couldnt get anything. The truth was that we were the better side, but United were better mentally. When the went down they did not stay silent. But put everything into it. We seemed to be lacking in the ruthlessness to not only take a lead, but to keep it. But one things have definitely come to light. One, william gallas, as much as he is a world-class defender is defintely not a captain. The armband will be going to someone else next season, im sure. Seriously, i understand if once or twice he made mistakes but yesterday was too much. But ill like to add, toure and eboue managed to keep ronaldo quiet for the whole match. He was only a danger from set pieces.

My ideal team for Ronaldinho to transfer to would be Bayern Munich, that would make that team ready to take the Ch. League next year, and lately they've been one of my favorite clubs to watch. I wouldn't really want him to go to a team like Chelsey and MU already has someone in his position that is irreplaceable. Milan would be a waste as well, because they have filled their ranks with Brazilian nationals and are barely qualifying next season the way they're losing. Real Madrid has Robinho who is about on the same level anyway..
But I doubt he would go to Germany, I guess if a team like Inter or Arsenal could afford him, that would work out well also, since those are teams that are recently rising back up to the top of Europe.

The way Arsenal go about in the transfer market, you would'nt think their one of the richest clubs in the world. But Wenger is tight with the purse strings, he doesnt like uselessy buying players unless they can make a huge impact. So i dont think he will buy ronaldiniho. But you were right about Inter, they are after him too (http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11854_3421124,00.html). It should be intresting to see who gets him. And milan are also intrested in schevchenko. That guy...I dont understand why he doesnt play. Im sure he is not injured, his situation really confuses me.


Btw, summer is coming and the transfer market seems to be buzzing with speculation. The ones i heard are, Arsenal intend to get Ben arfa of lyon and Menez of monaco. Incuding Veloso of Sporting Cp and a couple of relativly unknown players here and there. This seems to be the usual Wenger, their all under 21. Maybe he has a thing for kids...

And to end things, United are going to win the title. Just two more matches to win, and its as good as theirs. I dont think chelsea have much of a chance, if you look at it seriously.

Edit: Also it seems Carlos Vela will be playing in the premier league next season. I cant wait to see what all the fuss is about. They call him a prodigy in mexico.

 

[Mendes]

I've never seen Vela in action, except for FM 2008 :P He's a prodigy there at least and, coincidence or not, he went to Arsenal

Veloso is a good defensive midfielder, but as long as Arsenal keeps Fabregas and Flamini, he wont have much of a chance on the starting 11. He's got lots of potential though and he would be a good option to replace Gilberto. I heard Joao Moutinho was on Arsenal's shortlist as well. I can tell he's an amazing player. Sporting CP's best player atm. He's still under 21 and Arsenal would do well to start investing on Sporting's youngsters. Man U did it and it has been paying off

 

[Imperium]

Flamini has undoubtedly had a great season, but he still hasnt signed a new deal, and to be honest i dont think he will. The way he left marseille was not really sportsman like. And you do get a uneasy feeling with those type of players, and all this indecision on wether to sign, im sure he will leave for juventus in the summer. Fabreagas however signed a new 8-year contract. So i dont see him going in the near future. Maybe Wenger thinks flamini will go thats why he is after Veloso. Even if flamini doesnt leave its still good to have quality players on the bench. We might have the same injury problem next season, you never know. Yes, i think Cp's academy is finally producing another "golden generation". Maybe wenger was a bit hesistant in signing names before, last time he thought he would try his luck with portuguese players...it didnt go well. (boa morte...)

Anyway another quick check at United rumours (http://www.footballtransferleague.co.uk/football_club.aspx?football_club=Manchester+Utd) they seem to be after veloso and ben arfa too. Do you wanna bet which the portoguese and the french is going to?

Btw, van basten recently came to arsenal. To have talks with wenger about future loan/transfer deals between the clubs. I for one am hoping huntelaar come here. Some real quality upfront. But hopefully the players that do come to the league, do not due the usual 1 or 2 year "im adjusting to the speed and strength of the english game" rubbish. Afterall torres is in his debut year, and look at him.

---

And i found something intresting in my usual wanderings of the world wide web. Uniteds next season away kit?. I think so.

 

[Mendes]

United has too much players for the center midfield. I dont think Fergunson will sign players on positions other than right side back and maybe a center back or a pure striker.

They have Brown on the right, switching with O'shea... they must be competing to see who can do that position worse (O'Shea's got the lead) and Neville isnt exceptional, and he's getting too old for that physically tiring position.
To avoid having to play Brown or O'shea on the defense, when Ferdinand or Vidic are injured, they must sign a center back (although Pique could do it). And on the front, Tevez and Rooney are mobile strikers and Saha has too many injuries that conditions his form. A pure striker like Berbatov would be a good signing.

Sporting has golden generations every year... its just that when they dont go to the Champions League, lots of their players arent that much exposed to the bigger clubs.
To tell the truth, I was surprised by Nani on MU. On Sporting, he seemed like an ordinary players who usually lost himself in feints. That's what I like about the english football. They turn ordinary players with potential into amazing players.

This year, Sporting has to offer Pereirinha (Right side back/midfielder), Veloso (Defensive Midfielder), Moutinho (Offensive Midfielder), Yannick Djaló (Forward). Vukcevic is also a very good and multipurpose offensive player but he's not from Cp's school.

Now, Sporting may have all the youngsters, but Porto has the best player of the league in every position, except for left side back. That's why I'm pretty sure we will be forced to sell at least 4 or 5 very important players. On the summer transfer season, check out for Bosingwa, Bruno Alves, Lucho Gonzalez, Quaresma, Lisandro Lopez and Paulo Assunção

 

[Lohnt]

My only concerned during the transfer market is that Katsouranis goes to Chelsey next season, because those morons at Benfica didn't want to give him on loan during December (even though there was the big fight with Luizao).
And hopefully AEK gets some defenders because we need to sell Papastathopoulos while he's still young for the good of the national team.

I'm also wondering if Ronaldo Guiaro who played for the Brazil under 21 team will stay with Aris fc or if a bigger club will take him, and if Larissa fc hold on to Metin and Zurawski because those two are both national monsters that are playing for a semi-decent club in one of the worst leagues in Europe (mine ^^). Zurawski has dropped hat-tricks on England with Poland and Metin is like a fish out of water since all of Larisa's squad aside from those two is worth about 1 million euros (despite their european achievements)

Mostly next season i'll be disappointed if Atletico don't make a good run and if Arsenal doesn't get their team together. I always thought Gallas was the best defender I've seen in recent years, but he makes suuuuuuuuuuuch stupid mistakes sometimes...

Why is Porto selling Bruno, is his contract up?

 

[Mendes]

Bruno Alves had a sensational season and he was called for the portuguese squad recently. He was in such a great shape that in the day before the last Euro qualifiers match, Scolari announced that our starting 11 was Bruno Alves plus 10! If he is to be a 1st option for the defense in the Euro Cup, then he'll surely go to a giant club. It wont be easy for him to be in the 1st choices because we have Carvalho and Pepe recovered from injuries and other great options for that position.

I've been noticing that Portugal is replacing Italy as the nation of the center backs. Some years ago, Italy had thousands of center backs, like Nesta, Maldini, Cannavaro, Materazzi, Barzagli and sooo on. Now we have Carvalho, Pepe, Andrade, Bruno Alves, Fernando Meira and some very good youngsters like Manuel da Costa (Fiorentina) and Rolando (you'll see him in porto next season :P).

All of our center backs play outside Portugal very soon, since its a position that many clubs need reinforced. Barça never found a nice player to side with Puyol, United needs someone that can compete with Vidic for the spot, Real may want to prepare a replacement for Cannavaro, Milan will loose Maldini, Juve needs a good center back uninjured and Inter may go for him as well if Mourinho eventually goes in charge.

I'm sad that so many important players will leave Porto, but proud to have portuguese players shine in the toughest leagues. Alves just needs to learn to control his aggressiveness (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=8aQra5UXRjw) ... still, gotta love the hight of his jump. I've never seen him loose an aerial play

 

[Sasuke_Kai_92]

Jesus... some guys got blessed when they were born. I think his legs move at the speed of light.

What club do you cheer for Sasuke_Kai_92?

I cheer for Machester United, all the way . I have been cheering for them when I was 7 years old, also I had the black kit when I was 3 years old lol. What about you?

By the way, what are your opinions on Arsene Wenger at the moment? I mean, the guy has lost it now. 2 seasons without winning anything, he's mentalitiy is just gone. Do you think he has managed the team well enough? :\ When Arsenal lost 4 nil against Man Utd in the FA cup, I think that was when it went down the hill for Arsenal.

 

[Mendes]

I'm with FC Porto all the way!

Wenger may be dry on titles in the recent years, but I think its already amazing what Arsenal does with such small investment on new players. You'd expect them to do gown without their symbol in the last half dozen years, and still they keep playing like nothing happened. At the start of this season, when I compared Arsenal's squad with Liverpool's, I'd say Liverpool had a so much better team that Arsenal was doomed. Still, Wenger's reinforces revealed themselves as great players and, right now, Arsenal has some football monsters like Fabregas, Adebayor, Flamini, Sagna, among others.

The football Arsenal is playing right now is similar to that kind of football that they had when they conquered the premier league in the days of Pires, Vieira, Henry, Cole and Campbell. I think its just that now, the opposition is stronger. I guess a squad with most players sub 21 is only going to get better.

What I like in the premiership, is the stability given to the coaches. In Portugal, some clubs change managers like they were changing shirts... it never goes well. A 4-0 loose against a rival club would origin a firing for sure. Still, I think Wenger's a great coach, and I fear not much people can replace him and keep doing what he does with such small resources. I never got why Arsenal seems to have no money for new players when clubs like City, Newcastle and Portsmouth. Is there no millionaire interested in Arsenal?