The Official Football/Soccer Thread: 2017-2018 Season
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21st Century Paul:
When I said 7 goals from the Utd to Barça I meant not in one game only but in the two games of the round. I would like to see that match but members have the advantage to get the tickets. Maybe if the second game is here it will be possible for me.
Barcelona would be hosting the first game... providing they can get past Schalke, which isn't a sure thing the way they've been playing.
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Sheff Utd 2 - 2 Sheff Wed 39' 1 Adam Bolder 56' 2 Adam Bolder 62' Richard Wood (og) 1 85' James Beattie 2 one...point...at....a...time...uuuuuuugh! for those keeping count that is 6 draws in a row for the wednesday!
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Afternoon Intheskywithdiamonds, Hope you are looking forward to Sunday! Any predications on the score? Well done for last night's score by the way. I don't even want to talk about Arsenal's performance against Liverpool the other night. Except, that we had it in our grasp for about 3 minutes. And then we got a yellow card. F*******g Arsenal. May the best team win on Sunday.
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Hey I've watched the two last Arsenal vs Liverpool matches. The Premier and the Champions one... I thought Fabregas was better, all I had seen was highlights from matches and comments but well he is only 20 but now he's not even good enough to play in the Spain team. That reminds me of Torres, now in the Premier he seems to be one of the best strikers in the world and here hardly scored goals. The English playing is a lot different and run and drible striker have a lot space, that's very good for Torres, Cristiano Ronaldo, rooney, Henry... but these players without so much space are not so good... I think Cristiano Ronaldo would not be so good for Real Madrid.
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Semifinals Barcelona vs Manchester and Liverpool vs Chelsea The penalty scored by Gerrard was a silly one. The Arsenal defender throws the liverpool striker just when stepping into the area with a lot of people inside... but today everyone's here has been with the Laudrupitos, the little Laudrups, the Getafe guys against Bayern Munchen. If you have not watched the game I can't explain it here cause is too long. Oliver Kahn aka "The Monster" has done it again. When he runned to the other side of the field before the corner I said "Beware with the Monster, look out!" he can't score, but he usually throws aways some defenders... maybe the most hated soccer player in the world. I hope he retired soon... or someday at last.
Laudrup: "this game will go down in history". The Fantasy, Magic Getafe playing a la Laudrup almost does it with 10 men since minute 5. Like the famous quote: "Why in the movies the good ones win but in life evil ones win instead?" Laudrup Forever and Kahn I hope not forever.
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21st Century Paul:
That reminds me of Torres, now in the Premier he seems to be one of the best strikers in the world and here hardly scored goals. The English playing is a lot different and run and drible striker have a lot space, that's very good for Torres, Cristiano Ronaldo, rooney, Henry... but these players without so much space are not so good... I think Cristiano Ronaldo would not be so good for Real Madrid.
BBC text commentary of the Liverpool-Arsenal Champions League game described it at one point as "like a Premier League game: lots of running, no defence, but exciting". Pretty much. Amazing display by Getafe who led 3-1 despite being down to ten men after only six minutes. But horrific goalkeeping by Pato Abbondanzieri gifted Bayern into the semifinals.
I'm not really convinced of Laudrup just yet. After all, he's inherited a team that finished ninth in La Liga last season (their best ever finish) and reached the Copa del Rey final as well (which qualified them into the UEFA Cup for the first time ever). Josu Uribe was the man who guided Getafe from the Segunda into the Primera, while Quique Flores and Bernd Schuster each spent two seasons at the club and made them competative in La Liga. Laudrup currently has Getafe in 12th position and they've again reached the Copa del Rey final. Oli Kahn's contract at Bayern ends after this season and he stated after the World Cup that he would not try to renew it. So I guess he'll be retiring next month.
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21st Century Paul:
Semifinals Barcelona vs Manchester and Liverpool vs Chelsea The penalty scored by Gerrard was a silly one. The Arsenal defender throws the liverpool striker just when stepping into the area with a lot of people inside... :
Tell me about it! Apparently the ref didn't see the dive and it shouldn't have been a penalty. The game was definately excioting = so much so that i was sitting on the edge of my seat. I didn't want to blink in case i missed something. Poor defence by Arsenal in certain parts of the game. I reclon Walcott might be the next Henry. Did you see the way he was moving just before Arsenal scored? Reminds me of Henry and Ljungburg. Talking of Henry, I'm sad that he left Arsenal but on the other hand, I think Arsenal are playing much better footie now because he went. Henry has nice legs though!
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Luis Aragonés' preliminary list of 31 players for EURO 2008. The squad will be cut down to the required 23 in mid-May. GOALKEEPERS Iker Casillas (Real Madrid) Andrés Palop (Sevilla) José Reina (Liverpool - ENG) DEFENDERS Raul Albiol (Valencia) Xabi Alonso (Liverpool - ENG) Álvaro Arbeloa (Liverpool - ENG) Joan Capdevila (Villarreal) Juan Gutiérrez (Real Betis) Ángel López (Villarreal) Antonio López (Atlético) Carlos Marchena (Valencia) Fernando Navarro (Real Mallorca) Mariano Pernía (Atlético) Carles Puyol (FC Barcelona) Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) MIDFIELDERS Rubén De la Red (Getafe) Cesc Fàbregas (Arsenal - ENG) Pablo Hernández (Getafe) Xavi Hernández (FC Barcelona) Pablo Ibáñez (Atlético) Andrés Iniesta (FC Barcelona) Albert Riera (Espanyol) Joaquín Sánchez (Valencia) Marcos Senna (Villarreal) David Silva (Valencia) FORWARDS Luis García (Espanyol) Daniel Güiza (Real Mallorca) Bojan Krkić (FC Barcelona) Raúl Tamudo (Espanyol) Fernando Torres (Liverpool - ENG) David Villa (Valencia) Upcoming matches: 31 May v Peru in Huelva (friendly) 4 June v United States in Santander (friendly) 10 June v Russia at Innsbruck (EURO 200
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hettyw:
21st Century Paul:
Semifinals Barcelona vs Manchester and Liverpool vs Chelsea The penalty scored by Gerrard was a silly one. The Arsenal defender throws the liverpool striker just when stepping into the area with a lot of people inside... :
Tell me about it! Apparently the ref didn't see the dive and it shouldn't have been a penalty. The game was definately excioting = so much so that i was sitting on the edge of my seat. I didn't want to blink in case i missed something. Poor defence by Arsenal in certain parts of the game. I reclon Walcott might be the next Henry. Did you see the way he was moving just before Arsenal scored? Reminds me of Henry and Ljungburg. Talking of Henry, I'm sad that he left Arsenal but on the other hand, I think Arsenal are playing much better footie now because he went. Henry has nice legs though!
Well, if there's a lot of space, the faster wins, as long as he carries the ball with him. Then it's like a 100 metres run, but in football there are 11 guys defending their area... but well, in England someone who just runs and drible can have a lot of success. Or that just runs and shoots. Etoo would score 40 goals there. And none in Italy.
Sometimes is not so easy to tell if a player is good or not. Raul is a horrible striker with lots of space, he's not gonna got run and drible, or shoot, etc. I believe that now when big teams play most of their rivals put their defence back in his area. Like Recreativo against Barça yesterday. So for a big teams, the "smart strikers" are more important than the runners... you know, Raul, Drogba, Van Nistelrooy, Inzaghi, Luca Toni, Bojan!, etc. For instance I guess all the teams in the Euro Cup (except Netherlands, I guess) are gonna play against Spain with the defence back in his area. No use for Torres then. He can't move away from defenders to be alone somewhere in the area. If you see Barça playing you see the strikers not knowing how to lose the mark of the defenders in all the game, they don't know to place themselves, there's not much chances to win then. But well if you put the defence in the midfield.... like Spain did vs France in last World Cup, you got a Henry goal. I still don't know why Aragones put the defence that way against that Henry, now he doesn't do it.
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unclesox:
Luis Aragonés' preliminary list of 31 players for EURO 2008. The squad will be cut down to the required 23 in mid-May.
yes, anyone but Raul.
Next Tuesday Luis Aragones will do a show on TV where people will ask him questions, like politicians sometimes do. And half of them are gonna be about Raul... For God's sake he's gonna win the league all alone... but personal problems are this way.
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21st Century Paul:
For God's sake he's gonna win the league all alone...
That's a stretch, even for a Raul fanboy.
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unclesox:
21st Century Paul:
For God's sake he's gonna win the league all alone...
That's a stretch, even for a Raul fanboy.
I know it's a stretch but if people say Maradona won the 1986 World Cup "all alone" I can say that too. Raul is what the other teams don't have and would want to have. On the other hand, if there are so many personal trouble between Aragones and Raul and they can't solve it, better leaving Raul at home. A good feeling is the best a team can have, a bad vibe ruins any team. See Villareal doing very good without Riquelme, and when Riquelme plays with Argentina they say he's the best player of the national team and in Villareal they dare to keep him away anyway by whatever cause.
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I said long time ago Madrid would win it, now, there are no doubts....
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InTheSkyWithDiamonds:
I said long time ago Madrid would win it, now, there are no doubts....
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I guess I said it before. And even celebrated it.
the 3 big leagues Spain-6 matches to go Valencia not only far from Champions but close to Second Division. Real Madrid could be champion even before playing with Barça at the game number 36. And Barça "should" do the famous corridor to the champions that teams do, at least in Spain. The last time Barça got to do it to Real Madrid, of course, they didn't.
The 2nd goes straigh to the Champions and the 3rd and 4th should the preliminary round in August. 1 Real Madrid 69 2 Barcelona 60 3 Villarreal 59 4 Atlético 54 5 Racing 53 6 Sevilla 51 7 Almería 45 8 Espanyol 45 9 Deportivo 43 10 Athletic 43 11 Mallorca 41 12 Getafe 41 13 Betis 41 14 Osasuna 40 15 Valencia 39 16 Valladolid 39 17 Recreativo 37 18 Zaragoza 34 19 Murcia 29 20 Levante 22 Italy-5 matches to go All is between Inter and Roma and Milan far from Champions. 1 Inter 75 2 Roma 71 3 Juventus 61 4 Fiorentina 56 5 Milan 52 6 Sampdoria 52 7 Udinese 51 8 Genoa 45 9 Nápoles 43 10 Palermo 42 11 Atalanta 41 12 Lazio 40 13 Siena 38 14 Torino 34 15 Catania 32 16 Cagliari 32 17 Parma 31 18 Reggina 30 19 Empoli 30 20 Livorno 29 England-4 matches to go Arsenal seems to lose options and only Chelsea remains close. 1 M. United 80 2 Chelsea 75 3 Arsenal 71 4 Liverpool 66 5 Everton 61 6 Portsmouth 57 7 Aston Villa 55 8 Manchester C. 52 9 Blackburn 51 10 West Ham 44 Puesto Equipo Puntos 11 Tottenham 41 12 Newcastle 39 13 Middlesbrough 36 14 Sunderland 36 15 Wigan Athletic 35 16 Reading 32 17 Birmingham C. 31 18 Bolton 29 19 Fulham 27 20 Derby County 11
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Funny things in Spanish League. The answer of Sevilla's president to the rumours of Barça offer of 25 milions for Alves. "For that money we only will sent them his boots"
Ronie seems to go to Milan, or maybe Inter... And Oleguer to Ajax, that can only be good for Barça but I don't know if it will be good for Ajax. Laudrup seems to be wanted as a coach by every big team in Europe. Spain has fallen in love with Getafe playing, The match with Bayern was the most seen in TV match of the year. And in the stadium the King, The Prince, Calderon, Raul and Casillas were there. This never happened before. People that never watch football enjoyed the game. Calderon says "Real Madrid has won a lot of money so the best players in the world will come to the Bernabeu"... To be honest, I don't have a clue of who will I sign now. De La Red is supposed to do Diarra's job (Diarra). If Raul and Van Nistelrooy continue to be the strikers... well... there's rumours of Van Nistelrooy to Italy and Huntelaar to Real Madrid. And in the midfield De La Red, Robben, Sneijder, Robinho and Guti... maybe some other similar but younger to Guti will be signed. Diego? I don't imagine much players to the team. And in defence, Cannavaro, Ramos, Pepe, Marcelo, Torres... I guess they'll sing one striker, one midfielder and one defender. To kind of substitute Van Nistelrooy, Cannavaro, and Guti now or in the future. Target Strikers: Villa, Huntelaar, Bojan
, Agüero, Luis Fabiano Midfielders: Diego, Ronaldinho?
(it happened with Laudrup and Figo), Cesc, Iniesta?, Ribery, Cristiano Ronaldo???, Diego Capel, Gerrard... Defenders: Lucio?, Lahm, Alves...
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InTheSkyWithDiamonds:
I said long time ago Madrid would win it, now, there are no doubts....
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My argument with you at the time was when you said that Barcelona should only focus on the Champions League. This was back in February. Barcelona narrowed the gap to two points, so you were proven wrong on that count.
Since then Barcelona has only picked up 6 points from their last seven games. Even I can admit that Barcelona in no way deserves to win the league with that form, injuries or no injuries.
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21st Century Paul:
Target Strikers: Villa, Huntelaar, Bojan
, Agüero, Luis Fabiano Midfielders: Diego, Ronaldinho?
(it happened with Laudrup and Figo), Cesc, Iniesta?, Ribery, Cristiano Ronaldo???, Diego Capel, Gerrard... Defenders: Lucio?, Lahm, Alves...
Bojan, Iniesta and Cesc... keep dreaming. You can have Edmilson and Oleguer, though. For free. Laudrup wasn't the same situation as Figo as his contract was up (I think). And Barcelona were eager to get rid of many after losing to Milan in the '94 European Cup final, including Zubizarreta, Eusebio, Txiki, Stoichkov, Romario and Koeman. Dani Alves has reportedly agreed to terms with Barcelona. Alves wants out of Sevilla very much, so we'll see how long Del Nido will hold out. Lahm is likely staying at Bayern last I heard. And Bayern have already said that Lucio is going nowhere. Josep Guardiola, who has done well coaching Barça B in his first managerial job, was asked by Txiki Begiristain for his opinion on what changes the club need to make for next season. Pep listed three things to his dissatisfaction: 1) The professionalism of the team. 2) The conduct of the medical services. 3) The preparation for the team's physical style of play. Great ideas and I think he'd make a great manager for Barcelona, but he still needs more experience. Laudrup has become the favorite with most supporters. I still favor Mourinho.
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Sheff Wed 1 - 1 Plymouth 2' 1 Peter Halmosi 81' Tommy Spurr 1
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Congratualtions to Valencia CF, 3-1 victors over Getafe and winners of the Spanish Cup for the seventh time in the club's history.
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unclesox:
Bojan, Iniesta and Cesc... keep dreaming. You can have Edmilson and Oleguer, though. For free. Laudrup wasn't the same situation as Figo as his contract was up (I think). And Barcelona were eager to get rid of many after losing to Milan in the '94 European Cup final, including Zubizarreta, Eusebio, Txiki, Stoichkov, Romario and Koeman. Dani Alves has reportedly agreed to terms with Barcelona. Alves wants out of Sevilla very much, so we'll see how long Del Nido will hold out. Lahm is likely staying at Bayern last I heard. And Bayern have already said that Lucio is going nowhere. Josep Guardiola, who has done well coaching Barça B in his first managerial job, was asked by Txiki Begiristain for his opinion on what changes the club need to make for next season. Pep listed three things to his dissatisfaction: 1) The professionalism of the team. 2) The conduct of the medical services. 3) The preparation for the team's physical style of play. Great ideas and I think he'd make a great manager for Barcelona, but he still needs more experience. Laudrup has become the favorite with most supporters. I still favor Mourinho.
No Laudrup contract was not up. Real Madrid paid 150 milion (pesetas) and Laudrup was the only star of the team that did not play in the final. Well I think he played the last 10 minutes. Thank you for Oleguer but I wouldn't want him even to play in the team of my chess club... I think Edmilson is not that bad. And I don't know who's gonna sign Real Madrid if all that are impossible. Why impossible Cesc?, well the rest of the list I guess. Guardiola got to be similar to Laudrup after seeing them play. Laudrup is Cruyff favourite. He designed him as his sucessor as a player, and it's seems he's gonna do it as a coach. Cruyff wrote before the Spanish Cup final, that Laudrup has already got a "degree with honours" in Getafe, even if they lose at the final, cause there's no obligation to win with such a poor budget team. Mourinho is the anti-Guardiola-Laudrup-Cruyff. It's Capello-Van Gaal stuff... it will bore everyone, it would be easier to have a Van Gaal 3rd Age. What would Morinho will today's players? something like... Valdes Zambrotta Puyol Milito Abidal Iniesta Toure Edmilson Silvinho Bojan Messi kind of...