We had one of these on the old boards, to keep us Europeans happy, so why not bring it back? (Cue "because soccer is gay" jokes) But, English Premier League, La Liga, Champions League et al. discussion can go right here. Last night's Champions League group matches had some interesting results, Barca losing for one thing, but Liverpool-Lyon stood out for me (mainly because I watched it), but it just further emphasized how piss poor Liverpool are without Gerrard and Torres, Lyon were far the better side and I thought Liverpool were lucky to beat Lloris, who is one of the best young keepers around. As for tonight Chelsea - Atletico Madrid is a match I am very much looking forward to. Both are excellent teams smarting from weekend defeats, it should be a lively match with plenty of action but I'm going to pull for Atletico to edge it 2-1.
Glad to see this thread made it's way over here. Yesterday was one of the most surprising days in the Champions League that I can remember. Barca losing to Rubin Kazan, Rangers losing to Unirea Urziceni, Liverpool losing, Arsenal drawing AZ Alkmaar and Inter drawing Dynamo Kiev. Liverpool is totally fucked. 4 straight losses is the most they've had in 22 years, and with hosting Man Utd this weekend, it doesn't look like things are getting any easier. A fifth straight loss may (rightly) cost Rafa his job. It will be interesting to see how Man Utd copes with Berbatov as the lone striker today against CSKA. Seeing Rio and Vidic both in the lineup is a good thing, and Van Der Sar couldn't have come back soon enough. Regardless of whether he's in top form yet, his B-game is still miles better than Ben Foster floundering around between the posts. And we're getting a nice preview of the man who will hopefully succeed him in Akinfeev. United won't have an easy time in beating him, and between the absence of Rooney, Fletcher, Giggs and Evra and the distance they had to travel for this match, I'm pretty sure I'd be happy with a draw. Hopefully the second half sees some goals though
I am very much hoping that this man makes his way to the Premier League, along with Lloris, who I mentioned in my last post, and Asenjo, who I thought was outstanding last night. To me, 4-0 flattered Chelsea, who were nowhere near their best, but were immensely helped out by an Atletico team who didn't seem to have a clue what to do at either end of the pitch. Forlan and Aguero were wasteful, and the defence were so piss poor it was shocking. I haven't seen Atletico since last season, but the differences were night and day. Back then they looked like a good young team full of attacking promise, and I expected them to take the game to Chelsea with all the potent attacking options they possess. However, the manager seemed to be scared of losing to Chelsea (seeing as he's fighting for his job), and by going to Stamford Bridge with such a negative formation he almost ended up guaranteeing defeat. From the highlights it certainly looked a much better game, I think I need to start checking out all the fixtures when deciding what to watch rather than just opting for whatever happens to be the TV channel's choice
I wrote that before the end, ended up being a great game between ac and real. Just glad those douches from madrid lost.
Marca, among others, confirm Quique Sanchez Flores replacing Resino at Atletico Madrid, thank fuck. Resino has been orchestrating a trainwreck since the end of last season.
I, for one, am not surprised Atletico Madrid fucked up again. They're the worst "Cinderella" team in Spain. Arsenal need to start putting together some wins - the draw against West Ham was shit - they blew a 2-0 lead and let West Ham back into the game. However, Diamanti was outstanding for West Ham, again. I do not think Diamanti will stay at West Ham long. I did laugh at Man United for getting beaten by Liverpool, though. That was hilarious.
Northern Ireland man and Man United fan here. I have to say (as ridiculous as it sounds after they gave United a solid drubbing last week) Liverpool have been a fucking shambles recently. I know they have injury problems but I'm hedging my bets that if they don't make the top 3 by Xmas, Benitez will be sent packing. Anyone catch highlights of the Sunderland-West Ham game yesterday? Hardly the most exciting fixture on paper but it was a brilliant match to watch.
Another loss and Benitez will be staring down the barrel of a gun, he's lost too many games this season & a loss to Lyon will pretty much spell the end of their Champions League campaign.
Im not trying to have a go at you or anything but why do all the Irish support United and Liverpool? Why are the Irish Premier or whatever its called attendances so low and why are the teams so shit? They dont even get past the first qualifiying rounds in europe. Football is very popular in Ireland but every Irishman I know supports one of those 2 teams. Is there no pride in your own teams or anything like that? I know that some support their local team and then an English one but most dont. Yes I do realize that there are more sports games in Ireland (Hurling, GAA or whatever) and the level of football is shit but just have a look at Scandinavia, Eastern Europe or lower league English football. People still go watch their local teams. The average Irish attendance is as low as conference in England. I know you are in Northern Ireland but don´t some of your teams play in the Irish league? Now about Benitez. They cant fire him. Cant afford it. Also Torres will probably have an op as he has hernia and I dont think he will put up with it long as the World Cup is approaching.
I think you're confusing the two separate countries and their leagues, but it's an interesting question, especially since the average attendances in Northern Ireland are even worse (all but two clubs average in the hundreds). I have an idea as to the answer but that's mostly speculation so I'll hold off til someone who knows more has something to say. On another note, great round of games in the Champions League today. Man United did pretty badly to fall behind 3-1 to CSKA but managed to pull back both goals in the last ten minutes to salvage a draw. Valencia was fortunate as hell to score the equalizer on a deflected shot that was looking to miss by at least five yards after a terrible performance. It's never good when Gary Neville is a bigger attacking threat up the right flank because you keep running into trouble and turning the ball over. And Nani just needs to leave already. January can't come soon enough. All in all though, it was a great comeback and enough to make it into the knockout rounds, so I'm happy. Milan got robbed today. Pato had a brilliant goal disallowed. If anything, it could've been a make-up call for Milan's questionable penalty but personally, make-up calls are bullshit. They're both tied on top of the group right now, but Marseille is only a point behind and gets to play each of them again. The possibility of one of them not making it out of Group C is an exciting one.
I think I can answer this without having to delve into an argument on whether a person from Northern Ireland views themselves as British or Irish, because almost all Irish nationalists, while GAA and hurling fans and the like, love the English Premier League and love football (or indeed, soccer, as they might say). The simple reason why everyone from Northern Ireland supports English teams is, as you mentioned, because local football here is shit. Unbearably bad. With a population of 1.7 million or thereabouts, you are never going to get the talent you can get in a 50 million+ nation like England. Any footballing genius from Northern Ireland ends up playing for a top English club (i.e. George Best). The reason United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal are the teams that everyone supports is purely because people identify with the most successful teams, given that they have no regional affiliation. We essentially pick who to support, but it is an unconscious sort of thing when we are young. I know I didn't consciously think "Wow, United are brilliant" but I watched Cantona playing for them and saw they were skillful and the team to beat. People have similar reasons for the other top teams. Sure, you will get the anomalies who support Spurs or even lower division teams but often I think they are just trying to make a point, before that eventually grows into a real fondness for the team. Support for your favourite team builds over time: consider, I have absolutely no logical reason (i.e. parental influence, regional affiliation) to support Man United, but because I first identified with them I'm now a die-hard fan. Hell, I actually shed a tear when they lost the Worthington Cup final to Liverpool a few years back. The Worthington Cup. W/r/t your point about the attendance levels and standard of local Irish league football, I can distinguish here between the Northern Irish League and the one in the Republic. The latter is negligible, football may be popular down there but only on an informal basis. I couldn't name five Southern Irish teams. Gaelic and hurling are far more prominent down there than they are up here. The Northern Irish league (henceforth just the Irish league) is another one in which you choose a "favourite" team when you are young, but for most people it is just community influence or an obligation to support the team that for some bizarre reason is identified with religion (i.e. Linfield - Protestant; Glentoran - Catholic; seriously, it's foolish). I myself believed I was a Linfield "fan" for the first twelve years or so of my life, before I realised that it was shit and I didn't care if they won or lost. Indeed, this was a couple of years after I discovered that the sectarian bullshit that many of the people I knew were spouting was fucked up in every way, and that none of them were remotely religious. I know a few people my age who scoff at the whole premise I have just laid out above (that Irish league is shit, English football far superior etc) because they feel some antiquated parochial devotion. I.e. you're basically selling out your local game by supporting teams like United, there is no atmosphere at grounds like Old Trafford and anyone who is a fan of them is a gloryhunter. This argument is bullshit: I care about the quality of the football I watch. Nothing in the Irish league could hope to generate the level of excitement of a United-Arsenal or Liverpool-United tie, not even Linfield-Glentoran (the "big" derby game of Irish local football). The level of quality of NI top-tier football is roughly equivalent to the shitter teams in the English League Two. I'd imagine it is much easier for people in England who support lower league teams to be so loyal because they have that mentality of "we could actually get United/Arsenal/Liverpool/Chelsea in the F.A. Cup, and I'd love to beat them", whereas we in Northern Ireland don't have that. As for Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, I'd imagine it's because they don't live in anything like the culture we do, which venerates football stars and clubs, making them instantly familiar. I will say this, however: international fixtures infuse me with a staggering amount of what I referred to above as an "antiquated parochial devotion". I know that it is somewhat contradictory to lament the state of local Northern Irish football, and attack it, and then on the other hand vehemently support the national side but that's just the way it is. I will admit - reluctantly - to having rejoiced in chants about "our wee country". Beating England and Spain were two of the greatest nights of my life and just reminded me of why I love football so much. EDIT: Note I have completely left out a digression on the Scottish league (also bollocks) and the widespread support of Rangers and Celtic. I've done this purely because I can't be bothered going into an exploration of the historical and sociopolitical reasons that drive this level of support. I can't believe how many people actually support these two teams because of religious or political reasons: they are both fucking shit. The Scottish league is shit. I cannot state enough how much it annoys me when people ask why I didn't watch the Rangers or Celtic matches.
If anybody's interested, France and Ireland are going into extra time right now with the last World Cup spot on the line. This stream's been working well for me: http://www.watchprem.com/channel1.php Some other huge upsets today. Slovenia qualifies for the WC over Russia and Greece knocked off Ukraine to qualify as well.
Wow... This was just disgusting. Ireland cheated out of the world cup tickets that they deserved. I thought that Henry was a legend but now I think he is a cheating cunt and he knew exactly what he was doing. He pretty much held the fucking ball in his hand before passing it on. He then went for a lap of honour after the match. Also the fucking free kick was offside aswell. Trust those shits to get to the world cup by cheating Fucking gutted and im not even Irish. Why cant replays be used like in american football when there is so much at stake? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPjvKlxX ... r_embedded
This facebook group has fucking exploded. http://www.facebook.com/pages/We-Irish- ... 576?ref=nf I'm not so sure about the racist picture though.
I'm an Ireland fan, and this is by far the worst I've ever felt at the hands of sport. First of all, fuck Thierry Henry; but really the ref - who had an otherwise great game - and his linesmen are to blame. That was the best game of football I've ever seen the Republic of Ireland play, and to be denied a place at the World Cup by the most questionable goal in recent memory is gutting and scandalous. Unfortunately, nothing can be done, so here I am watching Sky Sports News and drinking heavily.
What a fucking travesty. Poor Ireland and their fans. This is a fucking injustice. He fucking admitted it was a hand ball post game. I hate England, I'm Scottish, and Ireland was my last hope. Here's open Argentina can finally make something happen!
And you have no chance of a replaying the match or anything. I hate that feeling. Why can´t replays be used for that sort of situations? How much time would it take to have a quick look at it by the 4th official or maybe an additional ref? The fucking goal was shown on the screens like it is at every major stadium. For some of the Irish players like Shay Given this might have been their last chance of playing at the World Cup cup again or even the only chance some of the players had in their lives.
The ref, who missed the off sides and handball, is more to blame than Henry. Why do so many people blame Henry? Blame the ref. Anyways, there are many professorial players who would cheat to get an added advantage over the competition if they thought they could get away with it, and especially if they knew they could get away with it. Sucks, but true. That is what happened here. I thought Ireland missed some opportunities to extend the lead, and stopped attacking as the game went on, just my view point. So who knows, maybe they would have lost anyways on PKs or something. Though I was hoping Ireland would win. As far as instant replay, you still have that human element. People still moan about incorrect calls made even with IR. You can never totally rid a sport of the human element, and thus, an error and sometimes even a huge error. Plus IR has the potential to ruin the flow of the game. You see how long some of those reviews take in other sports? Football is awesome because it is one long flow from start to finish with one small break after 45 minutes. Edit: There is an ever so slight chance the game could be replayed, but 99.9% doubtful. I say this because a world cup qualifying match has been replayed in the past based on a terrible error. Just look on the fifa website, it happened with Uzbekistan and Bahrain.
So you think what Henry did was perfectly fine and justifyable!? Great... He is to blame he did it on purpose first touching the ball and then pushing it infront of himself. He is a cheating cunt for that. Not all footballers are like that. How about Fowler?