The Beautiful Game (everything soccer)

[Lilbaz]

Doubt he'd even consider it. Avb turned them down this summer already.

[Lilbaz]

So the first weekend of the new season is over.

Arsenal lost, spurs, man utd, city and chelsea, liverpool all won.

In spain both madrid and barcelona both won, barca winning 7-0.

[MasterAblar]

Sooo, as Libaz said the season has started in most major championships, except for Italy, lazy bums that they are, although Juventus did smack Lazio around for a bit during the Supercopa final which they won 4 to 0.

 

In Germany, Bayern have rather predictably won their first two matches, as have Dortmund.

 

In Spain, Madrid and Barcelona both won though Madrid were rather more polite about it.

 

In England most, and I do say MOST, major teams won, with City making Newcastle look downright.... nevermind that was classic Newcastle. 

 

In France PSG have laughably failed to win their first two matches, and instead the league is led by Lyon, Marseille, and Monaco. I'd like to point that Nantes are in front of Paris, which I find awesome.

 

In Portugal Sporting, Porto, and Braga all won, though not Benfica.

 

And in the Netherlands, the league is led by PSV who are off to a great start.

 

Tomorrow are some Champions League playoffs, including a tasty AC Milan vs PSV, as well as Lyon vs Real Sociedad.

 

On a personal level I have a practice every day until the beginning of September, and I expect I'll no longer be able to feel my legs in a few days time.

 

Lastly I would like to say that Anthony Taylor referee of the Arsenal vs Aston Villa match is a giant [CENSORED]!  

[Lilbaz]

Looks like arsenal put in a £10m bid for newcastle midfielder cabaye. Newcastle chairman mike ashley turned down the bid and allegedly asked "what part of him were you expecting to buy?"

Falcao has dismissed rumours that he wants to leave monaco (who he only joined in july) due to possibly having to pay 75% tax on his £12.5m a year wages (monaco is a principality that has no tax, which the rest of the french teams think is unfair, so want clubs registered in france).

[MasterAblar]

Yeah, 10 million might have been sufficient for a player like Cabaye 5 years ago. These days he's probably worth like 30. I'm more interested in Arsenal's 29,3m bid for Michu. Wenger's also interested in Micah Richards.

 

The Falcao rumor is trash as far as I'm concerned. Besides even if Monaco did end up having to register in France, the club would probably end up paying Falcao more to make up for the tax. 

[WWWwombat]

I like soccer.  Used to play when I was a kid but I wasn't very technically skilled.  I played wide mid for a while but then played mostly wide back on the JV team in high school because I didn't have the athleticism for midfield on that level.  Also, I was always pretty good at marking, positioning, and containing.  I quit after junior year though.  I would've had to play Varsity senior year, but I wasn't really good enough for it.  I would've made the team but I wouldn't have played much at all.  And wide backs at the Varsity level need some speed, which I don't have.

 

As an American with French blood, I always pull for USA and France in international play.  I would pull for Finland too but that's kind of a lost cause =\  I hate diving and like it when teams that don't dive win.  Except for Germany cuz of that French blood I mentioned :P

 

My favorite player ever is Zidane.  My favorite active players are Dempsey and Ribery.

 

I think USA could be very good if we could increase soccer's popularity.  Our best athletes usually end up playing basketball or American football right now.

 

As for club teams, I like the Premier League because I like the English style of play.  I don't have a favorite team right now.  I liked Arsenal back when they had Henry, but a lot of my friends have always liked Tottenham and they had Dempsey last I checked (although out on loan to MLS iirc).  Also, the Red Sox owners bought Liverpool a while back so I'm thoroughly confused now.

 

I went to a Liverpool vs. Roma friendly at Fenway Park a couple years back.  Unfortunately, I had a ground level seat so I couldn't see the ball over the little fence they have =\

[MasterAblar]

As an American with French blood, I always pull for USA and France in international play.  I would pull for Finland too but that's kind of a lost cause =\  I hate diving and like it when teams that don't dive win.  Except for Germany cuz of that French blood I mentioned :P

 

Hey now Finland managed to tie Spain in Spain in World Cup qualifiers. Had France not pulled that off right before them, they would have been the first team to to not lose in Spain in qualifiers in years.

 

The US seems to be playing well right now. Something like 13 match winning streak. While a lot of that is against moderate to low level teams, that's still quite positive. France, I'm actually optimistic about inspite of their defeats in South America in friendlies. I judge teams on official matches more than anything else, and in their last qualifier they barely lost against Spain. They played well and I should know since I was at the Stade de France for the game. Pogba and Matuidi in the midfield are going to be a nightmare for most teams I think.

 

My favorite player ever is Zidane.  My favorite active players are Dempsey and Ribery.

 

Those are some damn good choices. Dempsey has always been impressive, and Ribery is almost unplayable at the moment. He might win the best european player award in front of Messi and Ronaldo. It would be deserved considering how important a player he is for Bayern, and how dominant Bayern were last year. As for Zidane, there are no words.

 

I think USA could be very good if we could increase soccer's popularity.  Our best athletes usually end up playing basketball or American football right now.

 

That's possible, but to be honest I don't think it's a question of athleticism. If anything athleticism is something I constantly see the American team praised for. And when you look at the best players and teams around the world they're not monstrously huge or fast as a rule. More than anything they're skilled. Messi, Ribery, Iniesta, Neymar, Aguero, Ozil, ect... None of them are beasts, although none of them are pushovers. Sure you have your C.Ronaldo, and Bale, and Ibrahimovic, but all of them are also extremely skilled with their feet. There's no certainty that Lebron, or Durant, or Westbrook, or D.Rose, would have been any good at the sport. Of course having a greater pool to pull players from is obviously going to help simply because you're more probable to come across a talented player, but I don't think it'll be through athleticism that the US team improves. If there's anything they're among the best in it's that.

 

As for club teams, I like the Premier League because I like the English style of play.  I don't have a favorite team right now.  I liked Arsenal back when they had Henry, but a lot of my friends have always liked Tottenham and they had Dempsey last I checked (although out on loan to MLS iirc).  Also, the Red Sox owners bought Liverpool a while back so I'm thoroughly confused now.

 

Arsenal are a tough team to support. I should know. 

 

I believe Dempsey has actually been sold to Seattle, not just on loan. Which is weird. Even if he wasn't a regular starter for Tottenham last year, I thought he played well. Perhaps Soldado being signed convinced him to look elsewhere. Still, there are probably some good European teams that would have taken him. It's good for MLS though I suppose.

[WWWwombat]

I think Lebron would be good at any sport he played.  But you're definitely right that we need better technique.  We've never had any sort of consistent possession in the midfield.  True number 10's don't exactly grow on trees though, and any soccer player has to be a good athlete.  Also, a lot of athletes are proficient in multiple sports early on.  The problem is, unless you grow up playing soccer, and commit to it, you're not going to be able to play at an elite level.  Right now, with the low prestige of soccer in the US, there's just not enough incentive for a 2 or 3 sport athlete to commit to soccer when he could have more money and fame playing another sport.  Off the top of my head, I'm pretty sure both Nomar Garciaparra and Kobe Bryant were very good at soccer btw.

[WWWwombat]

Also, the first thing that drew me to Ribéry was the fact that he was this tiny guy making heroic individual runs down the sidelines.

[MasterAblar]

Griezmann just scores an absolutely sublime goal for sociedad against Lyon.

 

This is a great match.

[Lilbaz]

Yes dempsey was sold. Never a favorite of the fans partly because he was a replacement for van der vart who all the spurs fans loved.

Got some important goals for us last season including the winner against man utd.

The main reason he was sold is that he's getting on a bit (30) and with the money we got chadli (23) who was in the last year of his contract. Levy is a moneyball man and will always take the deal.

Wish him all the best, especially as he did attract some american fans to spurs who hopefully continue to support us.

[WWWwombat]

Kinda hard for any American to fill Van der Vaart's shoes.

[ineedfourberfs]

Hard for anyone who isn't great to fill those shoes.

 

So we lost our major semi final today, which means we have to beat the 3rd place team to get back into the Grand Final after finishing first in the season. I hate how I insist that the season is all that counts right up until A) my team wins a grand final or B) I am playing to win one. Anyone.

 

Liverpool about to play Villa. YNWA. Worried about Benkteke - he's in my fantasy league so mixed feelings.

 

Southampton fought back well against Sunderland earlier. Good game.

[MasterAblar]

So, Arsenal have bounced back well. Hopefully that loss against Villa was just a partly referee induced screw up. 

[Lilbaz]

So, Arsenal have bounced back well. Hopefully that loss against Villa was just a partly referee induced screw up. 

 

As Wenger said, you've only had one loss since March.  

[Lilbaz]

Man City lost 3-2 to Cardiff today. Which was a great result for them, one of the most expensive teams in the world playing against a team who have only just been promoted.

 

Spurs beat Swansea 1-0.

[Lilbaz]

Man utd v chelsea ended 0-0.

[Barid Bel Medar]

Liverpool are 3 from 3 for the first time in forever. 1-0 Stoke, 1-0 Villa and 4-2 Norwich. Sturridge is on fire with 4 goals. 

 

Seems like our transfers are paying off, the first good transfer window we have had in years. All we need now is to get rid of Suarez in the next transfer window and we will be able to use that money to replace Gerrard eventually and have ourselves a good midfielder. 

[Haxorsist]

The 4-2 was against Notts County, and Liverpool had to go to extra time to get the win.

[Nyanna al'Meara]

Hey again!!

To my utmost shame, I've been so busy with work and stuff and my own football (ironically) that I have nooo cluuuue what's up in the footy world (except Bundesliga, which is ahrd to miss tales of here... XD)

 

Played my first real proper game last Sunday, we won 4:2, aaand our season starts on the 25th, we have a home game :)

 

Aaand....PINOE IS GOING BACK TO OLYMPIQUE LYONNAIS FOR THE UPCOMING SEASON!!!!! What this means? I might even get to see them (her) play live!! :anticipation:

[MasterAblar]

So with Champions League qualifying over, we know the 32 teams who will be in the group stage. They are:

 

England: Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal

Spain: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Real Sociedad

Germany: Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Shalke 04, Bayer Leverkusen

Italy: AC Milan, Juventus, Napoli

France: PSG, Marseille

Portugal: Porto, Benfica

Russia: Zenit St Petersburg, CSKA Moscow

Scotland: Celtic

Ukraine: Shakhtar Donetsk

Netherlands: Ajax

Switzerland: Basel

Greece: Olympiacos

Turkey: Galatasaray

Denmark: Copenhagen

Belgium: Anderlecht

Romania: Steaua Bucuresti

Czech Republic: Viktoria Pzlen

Austria: Austria Wien

 

The draw for the group stage will take place... today, I believe.

 

 

In other news, I came across this awesome and hilarious video of a half football-half rugby game between professional French teams Marseille and Toulon, with the first half being football, and the second rugby, and the teams getting really mixed in the second half. Eric Cantona himself reffed the first half and then played during the second. This is the video (be warned it is of course in French): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJRmDN4KoH4. The match starts at 3:00.

 

 

Hey again!!

To my utmost shame, I've been so busy with work and stuff and my own football (ironically) that I have nooo cluuuue what's up in the footy world (except Bundesliga, which is ahrd to miss tales of here... XD)

 

Played my first real proper game last Sunday, we won 4:2, aaand our season starts on the 25th, we have a home game :)

 

Aaand....PINOE IS GOING BACK TO OLYMPIQUE LYONNAIS FOR THE UPCOMING SEASON!!!!! What this means? I might even get to see them (her)   play live!! :anticipation:

 

Yeah I saw that about Rapinoe. Hope you get to see her play. However, only Wolfsburg and Postdam are in the champions league this year for Germany, since Bayern only finished 4th last year.

 

Had my first preseason game as well today. We lost 3-1, but we played against a pretty good team, and the legs were heavy after all the running we've been doing, so I'm not particularly disappointed.

[ineedfourberfs]

Liverpool are 3 from 3 for the first time in forever. 1-0 Stoke, 1-0 Villa and 4-2 Norwich. Sturridge is on fire with 4 goals. 

 

Seems like our transfers are paying off, the first good transfer window we have had in years. All we need now is to get rid of Suarez in the next transfer window and we will be able to use that money to replace Gerrard eventually and have ourselves a good midfielder. 

 

Good times! I think Suarez amazingly has one more chance. But I really would have liked to see him cashed in for another world beater. Problem is, I don't how many world beaters are going to want to come to Liverpool in this age of Non-Champions League competition. We have to get back to the table and quite frankly he will help. If he is playing for selfish reasons to get himself into the champions league then I don't care - as long as he can help the team this year and pull his head in...

 

We'll see. Sturridge is collecting me some points in the Fantasy League so I'm happy there

 

The 4-2 was against Notts County, and Liverpool had to go to extra time to get the win.

 

 

 

Quiet you.

 

 

So with Champions League qualifying over, we know the 32 teams who will be in the group stage. They are:

 

England: Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal

Spain: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Real Sociedad

Germany: Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Shalke 04, Bayer Leverkusen

Italy: AC Milan, Juventus, Napoli

France: PSG, Marseille

Portugal: Porto, Benfica

Russia: Zenit St Petersburg, CSKA Moscow

Scotland: Celtic

Ukraine: Shakhtar Donetsk

Netherlands: Ajax

Switzerland: Basel

Greece: Olympiacos

Turkey: Galatasaray

Denmark: Copenhagen

Belgium: Anderlecht

Romania: Steaua Bucuresti

Czech Republic: Viktoria Pzlen

Austria: Austria Wien

 

The draw for the group stage will take place... today, I believe.

 

Had my first preseason game as well today. We lost 3-1, but we played against a pretty good team, and the legs were heavy after all the running we've been doing, so I'm not particularly disappointed.

 

 

 

 

http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/newsid=1983204.html

 

Champions League draw with all the teams in their pots. Drawn tomorrow in Morocco. Keep working those legs, I'd like to say it gets easier but all the pain does is change. 

[Barid Bel Medar]

That's why I think we will keep Suarez until we cement a place in the top 4 to get back into the champions league, then when that's done, we will be more alluring to the other world-beaters. 

[MasterAblar]

So we now know the Champions League groups. They are:

 

Group A:

 

Manchester United

Chakhtior Donetsk

Bayer Leverkusen

Real Sociedad

 

Group B:

 

Real Madrid

Juventus

Galatasaray

Copenhague

 

Group C:

 

Benfica

PSG

Olympiacos

Anderlecht

 

Group D:

 

Bayern Munich 

CSKA Moscow

Manchester City

Viktoria Pzlen

 

Group E:

 

Chelsea

Schalke 04

Bale

Steaua Bucharest 

 

Group F:

 

Arsenal

Marseille

Borrusia Dortmund

Naples 

 

Group G:

 

Porto

Atletico Madrid

Zenit St Petersburg

Austria Vienne

 

Group H:

 

Barcelona

AC Milan

Ajax Amsterdam

Celtic Glasgow

 

 

Groups F and H, seem like the most interesting to me.

 

Group A isn't all that easy for United. There are no bad teams. I think United will pass but it's hard to say who the second will be.

Group B should be relatively straightforward for Real Madrid and Juventus. Got to watch out for Galatasaray though.

Group C is even more straightforward. PSG and Benfica will almost certainly pass. Can't see Anderlecht or Olympiacos posing much of a threat.

Group D should see Bayern and City logically, but I think CSKA Moscow has a fair chance at second if City fail to show up for Champions League again.

Group E should probably be Chelsea and Schalke, but don't count out Bale.

Group F promises to be very entertaining. The teams are very even with Dortmund and Arsenal probably slightly above Marseille and Naples. I think the former should get 1st and 2nd but don't be suprised if either of the latter two manage to finish ahead.

Group G is the ugly duckling. Nothing much to be said. Porto and Atletico I suppose, but playing in St Petersburg is never easy.

Group H sees Barcelona playing Milan yet again, but addind Ajax and Celtic makes it hard to call. Barcelona should pass, but it'll be a close call for Milan.

 

At this point I think the favorites are: Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, and Manchester United.

Weakest teams: Austria Vienne and Viktoria Pzlen.

 

 

Frank Ribéry was named best player of the season by UEFA. Fully deserved I think, though I may be biased. He was the most consistent, the most important, and often the best player for Bayern Munich last year so he really earned it, even though Bayern's success will remain due first and foremost to their all around excellence on the field.

[Lilbaz]

Is the draw for the europa league tomorrow?

 

Spurs won 3-0 tonight against Tbilisi, they go through 8-0 on aggregate. Also signed lamela with erikssen and chiriches likely to join by the weekend.