2012-2013 Soccer Thread (Premier League, ECL, etc)

The deal didn't work out b/c Nani wanted absurd weekly pay, but beyond that, am I the only person on earth that thinks Nani is overrated as fuck? Valencia does the exact same shit that Nani does but he's not an enormous asshole about it. He might not earn as many free kicks by going down like he was shot by Oswalt but his crosses and his ball control as just as good. Nani has 2 years left on his contract so if they do sell him in January they should get 20m+, which if you believe f365, may be put towards getting Ronaldo back to MU. As I was reading that story though, it was said that Ronaldo has like a $1b(USD) buyout, but they suggested that the RM owner might let him go for like a 100m euros (maybe pounds). What in the otherworldly fucking nonsense is going on that the fucking buyout is at that realm, shit like that makes me think that people might be right in arguing for FFP.

 

Trabzonspor is building a fucking hydroelectric plant to finance their transfers. Is it even about the sport anymore?

 

SGEDIT: No need.

 

Peru drew with Argentina 1-1 in a World Cup qualifier today, and should've won but missed a penalty plus squandered plenty of chances. Messi was absolutely shut down, and Argentina played poorly. Mascherano was a complete twat and would dive the second a stiff breeze touched him. You know in a soccer game involving Argentines that your diving is absolutely blatant when it clearly stands out.

 

First night of the Champions League Group Stage. I can hardly wait!

 

Arsenal played fantastic for two or three minutes there. Giroud still can't get off the mark, but he does get an assist. I guess I'll take it.

Didn't watch the Real Madrid-City game, but I heard it was a thriller.

 

Or a stomach punch. Shades of Chelsea-Barcelona, though not quite as one sided, and City had a few real attacks. After the free kick goal to break the tie, I really thought City had a chance at 3 points in Madrid, and I would have been content with the away draw after Benzema's sneaker.. but then of COURSE Ronaldo had to be the one to win it... Unreal.

Also, Yaya Toure is an absolute wrecking ball in midfield. Singlehandedly tore apart Real's defense on multiple occasions.

 

He looked alright today. Arsenal should have won that one, if they could just put away a chance in the first half.

 

Dude, seriously? Did you watch the second half? City were all over Arsenal for most of it. I am really pleased with how Arsenal's defense played - they were excellent at Montpellier on Tuesday night and were excellent again today, despite the change (Vermaelen played on Tuesday and Koscielny was in today) - I think most of this defensive resolve must be down to Steve Bould, because the defense looked much poorer under Rice last season with roughly the same group of players. A draw against City was an excellent result. City looked less threatening after Dzeko was replaced by Tevez, though.

 

And Arsenal dominated the first half, and managed to score an equalizer in the second, so yeah, they should have won. Good game though, and I'm quite fine with the draw.

 

Dominated is a bit of a strong word - I'd only say one team dominated if they were 2-0 or 3-0 up at half-time, like Everton were yesterday over Swansea. Manchester City did look more composed after their goal but to say Arsenal dominated is a bit much. Yaya Toure always looked dangerous when he got the ball and kept moving into good positions and will cause other teams problems again this season but his midfield partner Garcia looks a bit off-the-pace at the moment. Arsenal's equaliser was a great goal but Gervinho wasted a number of good chances during the throughout the match, as did Agüero and Dzeko.

The draw was a realistic result for what was shown today.

 

Wow, I have nothing against them, but I found myself laughing at Bayern cause they looked pedestrian as hell. And that field looked like someone's backyard, it redefined "furry".

Meanwhile Chelsea definitely poured it on. After Nordsjaelland hit the post, they snapped to life and just overran them the last 10-15 min. Mata looked class and Torres played well for not scoring.

 

El Clásico tomorrow. Too bad Guardiola's not at Barça anymore. Should be a good game, but wonder if there's going to be violence surrounding it...

Interesting article.

 

I think Hughton and Hughes will be the first two managers sacked this season in the Premier League - QPR and Norwich have, so far, been pretty poor. Norwich got thumped by Chelsea a week after getting routed by Liverpool. QPR have spent too much to persist with Hughes if the results don't start coming.

Also, Arsenal gave West Ham a lesson in finishing today.

 

Unjustified or not, what are the chances that Rodgers gets sacked if this keeps up over the next month? I've seen odds on him getting sacked before Hughes and Hughton and they're pretty damn enticing.

 

Liverpool is going into a full-on tailspin, and they're a big enough club to attract media histrionics. That said, I don't know if anyone thinks it's just Rodgers' fault.

The Clasico was fucking fantastic, by the way. In case you haven't watched it:

Spoiler

A brace for Messi and for Ronaldo. Good day for them both to show up. I thought Real Madrid was unlucky to draw, they generally looked to have more about them in the attack. That's Messi for you.

 

I think Rodgers' only significant failure thus far was a mishandling of the transfer window and shipping out Carroll without a replacement lined up. The youth of the team has looked fantastic and while inconsistent, the team has shown flashes of brilliance adapting to Rodgers' style. The lack of offense is a significant concern and pretty much personnel related. I think they have to at least wait and see what may happen with the midseason transfer window and see if they can plug some holes.

 

Rodgers won't get sacked. He's clearly performing the will of FSG at the moment, by blending young players into the team, which he has done remarkably well, but there has been some shambolic defending which he really needs to take care of - they need to sort that out quicker than signing another forward. He also manages to find the positives in every match, like at the end of the last match he mentioned it was good for Liverpool to get their first clean sheet of the season. I think the Board will back him and he'll likely stay until the end of next season at least. Although, I think the Carroll saga was more a smokescreen engineered by Rodgers at the club's behest to hide the fact that they do not have the necessary funds to acquire another forward - Carroll's loan move will precipitate a transfer elsewhere at season's end, since that will be the only way more transfer funds will become available. I reckon a young forward will come in on loan in January to Liverpool from outside the Premier League for the remainder of the season, due to Rodgers' (and the Board's) emphasis on grooming young players - possibly one of Barcelona's youngsters that's on the fringe of their first team? I also think Rodgers will attempt to sign Theo Walcott for next season, which would be a good move and would finally prove if Theo is correct about wanting to be a striker or not.

 

Well, Arsenal's looked shit recently. Injuries ravaging the squad.

 

Andre Santos is the worst defender Arsenal's ever bought (I'm including Shitanovs, oops I mean Stepanovs in that assessment, and Remi Garde, and Grimandi...). 6 million pounds and the idiot cannot play the offside trap - he was at fault for the 1st goal that Schalke scored on Wednesday night, and he was at fault for Holt's goal last Saturday (television replays confirm this). They need to move him on in January and get someone else in. Bartley could've played there but they sold him instead, or they could've opened the purse a bit more and signed Vertonghen instead of letting him go to Spurs (where he has done pretty well as both a CB and LB).

Clichy, as much of a shithead as he was, was still MILES better than Santos ever could be.