Soccer Thread

[skybrick]

Put this up because I am getting into euro soccer a lot more, and I know some of you english people know your stuff. Dont have a favorite team right now but I am starting to like Braca.

I have watched the past two world cups (almost every game) so I am familiar with it. But what the hell is up now with Man U? and if anyone caught that Liverpool Chelsea game, that was the worst officiated game I have seen.

[Toad]

That penalty call in the Pool/Chelski game was absolutely fuckin ridiculous...glad Styles got sacked to the Championship for it.

Come on you Gunners, need 3 pts. against Man. City this weekend!

[smokey]

I almost kicked the tv when he gave the penalty. That was just crazy. We had the beating of them aswell. If you are going to support a team you probably can't go wrong with Barca. They have alot of stars. Although they had a disappointing draw in there opening game. Man utd have had a pretty poor start to the season. They are missing there tww big players at the moment aswell through injury and suspension. I aint gonna shed a tear for them though. Long may it continue.

[RoadmasteR]

Yeah but you know I'll take the free penalty, especially when your side was playing like shit like the Blues were! Goddamn it if Torres isn't earning his paycheck this season so far. Pizzaro's starting to have a dangerous presence and I'm happy to see the old Wright-Phillips back in good form again.

The beginning of Prem season always excites me; I always enjoy seeing some of the promoted clubs back in top flight Lord knows the CFC has had their dark times in division two.

People have their own reasons why they choose to support a certain club, to give you some advice Skybrick; just watch as many matches as you can not just in the Premier League but Serie A, La Liga, or the Bundesliga.

Some people find they like this club’s style of play, or these guys’ rich history and colors and so on. Something will catch your eye, a club will find you!

[skybrick]

Ive tried to watch some euro soccer games, but I haven't had the right timing to catch the games. The only games that are on is the Galaxy games and they just down right suck along with American soccer so I am not even going to bother with the MLS.

Since La Liga is starting right now i'll be trying to watch a lot of that along with the Permier. I like Barca so far even though they are like the Yankees just spending all sorts of money. Seriously how can they afford Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Henry, Messi and Deco.

[Gilly]

Liverpool are gonna murder Derby on the weekend, I predict a 4-0 win with Torres to bag a brace and Kuyt and Babel to score aswell. I've been impressed with Torres since he signed for the mighty red, his pace is freakish and his strength isn't bad either. I'm ruleing him out of being a top goal scorer on his first season because adjusting to Premiership life is tough, but he will be a 20+ goal a season man, especially with that much quality in the team as Liverpools.

Man Utd's start has been dodgy, but I think Tevez will just run Sunderland ragged and score a goal or two. It's only a matter of time before they steam role the Premiership. Nani, Anderson, Tevez, Rooney, Giggs and Ronaldo will cater for the fastest counter attack in the world, Anderson is so, so fast it's scary.

[Toad]

Utd.'s team is too alike to run over the Premiership.

Rooney and Tevez are exactly the same players, as are Nani and Ronaldo...they all can't play together.

It's no surprise they haven't been scoring regularly to start the season and haven't done well...not enough variety.

[RoadmasteR]

I see Manure having the problem of finding roles for these players, your right theres a lot of attacking power there but they all can't be running into each other trying to score.

Liverpool made some big time upgrades but so far they've managed to make it work, Alex needs to find a way to make his new purchases mesh well.

It's still very early and teams will adjust. To answer Skybrick's question; it's the owners man. They got very deep pockets, there's not a salary cap in Europe like there is here in America. But when competitions like the FA and Carling cup come around sometimes all that big time money spending doesn't matter. You got David's killing Goliath's on some occasions.

[smokey]

Liverpool are gonna murder Derby on the weekend, I predict a 4-0 win with Torres to bag a brace and Kuyt and Babel to score aswell. I've been impressed with Torres since he signed for the mighty red, his pace is freakish and his strength isn't bad either. I'm ruleing him out of being a top goal scorer on his first season because adjusting to Premiership life is tough, but he will be a 20+ goal a season man, especially with that much quality in the team as Liverpools.

Same here. I have been really impressed with Torres. With a bit more luck he could have had a few more goals this season. I think Rafa has done really well in the transfer market this season. I don't think there is a player that has not impressed me. I guess it is early days though.

[Gilly]

I still hate Benayoun, never rated him, he may of had a great game against Tolouse, but he doesn't do it enough. It's Lucas Levia and Sebastain Leto who we should be looking at, both great talents.

Man Utd really need Saha playing regularly and scoring like he did last season before he got injured, they need him up top with Rooney or Tevez to really make a real impact in the league, but once he's back to full match fitness, game over for everyone else I reckon.

----------------Saha------------
--------Tevez-----------Rooney-
-Ronaldo-------------Nani/Giggs--

If that's not an attacking option that is going to scare the living shit out of the defence, I don't know what is. Having Tevez and Rooney playing like that will let them do their own thing on the pitch with it causing a lot of damage in my opinion.

[RoadmasteR]

If they can all stay healthy yes, it will be a force to be reckoned with. They'll just have to get passed the Mighty Blues and Liverpool who have some serious weapons at their disposal as well. Dunno, seems like it's going to come down to these three in the end.

[Gilly]

6-0 to the 'Pool. Torres is looking awesome at the moment, Babel is looking pretty sharp too, great finish by the 20 year old. I just hope we can keep it going.

[smokey]

We are looking good at the moment. I do hope we can keep it up. Our workrate is fantastic. Torres is looking awesome. Javier mascherano is quality. I hope we have sorted a long term contact for him.

[RoadmasteR]

What a goddamn waste of a performance Chelsea put up this weekend. They had a great chance to get back on top of the league and Villa shoves two past Cech.

I understand that form comes and goes but fuck me that was an awful match.

[Gilly]

Hope it stays that way. :D It's about time Liverpool look the real deal.

[RoadmasteR]

Yes it has been quite some time since those folks have at the top of the table.

[Gilly]

England finally put in a decent performance today. Owen's goal was awesome, and Heskey was excellent today, sure he fluffed the odd chance, but finishing was never his strong point.
Holding up the ball, creating chances and pressurising defenders is his forte. Owen can't stop scoring when he's up top with good ole Emile. I think that's 12 in 13 now Owen has scored when he's played alongside Heskey.

[Gilly]

Liverpool were fucking rubbish against Porto. Booooooo.
At least we got a draw, not the worst result in the world.

[smokey]

Shocking performance. At least we got a point. You just knew Pennant was gonna get sent off. I know he is a bit of a diver but i wish we had of got Quaresma. This guys got some serious skill. Birmingham on Saturday. Hopefully we can put a show on. Get a few goals.

[Gilly]

I'm hoping for another 7-0 against Birmingham.

[smokey]

That would be nice. Maybe Riise could pop up with another rocket. If fit.

[Gilly]

That would be the icing on the cake. And Riise has declared himself fit. Says so on the Liverpool website. :D

[smokey]

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has stunned the world of football by leaving Stamford Bridge by mutual consent.
The decision comes after the club held a crisis meeting to discuss the indifferent start to the new season.

I know they have not had the best start to the season but could not see this coming.

[Gilly]

Good riddance. He will go to Sevilla I reckon. And the Sevilla bost will go....somewhere else.

[skybrick]

Been watching some of the UEFA games on TV. One being Marseille beating Liverpool, how much does this UEFA tourny mean to the players comparing to their league games. No offense Pool sucked that game.

[Gilly]

Winning the Champions League is possibly the biggest achievement for a team. Liverpool were fucking awful against Marseille, we were gash against Porto too. But we have Besiktas next, I think Liverpool will tear them apart. I just hope 'Nando is fit because he's out for the Merseyside derby.

We really need to find out belief from when we won the tournement in 2005, because confidence is looking low at the moment. We need to get it back asap.

[smokey]

We were crap against Porto but even worse against Marseille. That has to go down as one of the worst performances i have seen from Liverpool. At home aswell. We seem to have lost that sparkle we had at the start of the season. I hope they get it back for the Derby.

[Gilly]

There's rumours surrounding Riise and a move to Villa. I wouldn't be opposed to him leaving considering I rate Aurelio and Arbeloa more than Riise. Sure he can attack and has a killer left foot, but he can't defend for shizzle. I do like Riise because he's pulled us out of so many holes (goal against Barca anyone?) but I think it's time to find a left back who can defend competantly on a more consistant basis.
Rafa apparently is going to raid Real Madrid for Heinze again, but considering he's argually at a better club and is too old for me, I really hope it doesn't happen. There's better, younger players out there.

[smokey]

Agreed. If Riise left i would not be to upset. He has been a very good player for us but he is has not really been cutting the mustard for us of late. Aurelio for me is the best left back at the club. If only he was not so injury prone. The guy has a cracking left foot. Another change i would like to see to the team is to play Babel and Torres upfront. I think that would be a quality partnership.

[Gilly]

*bump*

I've decided, Tom Hicks (owner of the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers and George Gillet (owner of the Montreal Canadiens) have no clue how to run a football club. They need to sell Liverpool football club before they send it right down the shitter and turn it into Newcastle Utd. They've made the team a laughing stock. They've promised money for transfers and to fund the new stadium, yet reveal they can barely afford it.

The sooner these two sell the club the better, they don't even like our manager, and that's the only reason in my opinion that they want rid of him. He's clearly the best man to lead Liverpool to glory and trying to sack a manager or constructively sack a manager just because they don't like the guy isn't profesionalism. Whether they like him or not they should just be professional and let the guy do his job.

Rant over. Interesting to see Smokey's views on these two.