The Official Football Thread

[Bri]

Originally Posted by kayote

^^^ that is my biggest worry right now. that if we don't win the CL we won't be able to recruit.

A year without CL shouldn't have to be a problem to recruit new players. Chelsea can compete with anyone on wages except maybe City. Arsenal and Man U try to avoid expensive transfers.

A year without European football can be an advantage for a title challenge next year. A lot more time to rest up between matches.

[Blaat]

^ This, teams that have an European match are 40% more likely to lose in the next league match. Some bitter Dutch dude calculated it after the loss of Barca against Real.

[Kokukirin]

Originally Posted by Blaat

^ This, teams that have an European match are 40% more likely to lose in the next league match. Some bitter Dutch dude calculated it after the loss of Barca against Real.

RM also had a CL match midweek.

But it's no rocket science that a tired team is more likely to lose.

[Arturia Polaris]

If there's any Serie A fans here:

Paulo Dybala ( Instituto de cordoba, Argentine second division. Rated Wonderkid ) Has signed for Palermo.

I'm happy.

Niker

[Shinndou]

Palermo and Udinese are probably the two serie A teams with good observers who have their eyes on young unknown talents... honestly I don't mind if they bring young talents into our league, but I dislike their way of using them to cash in once they've been spotted by bigger clubs... Udinese in particular is a damn solid team which could do well in CL if they didn't get rid of their talents every season...

On an other note, this Sunday we might have the chance to secure the title if we (Juventus) win against Cagliari and if Inter does us a favor by holding Milan with a draw or by defeating them in their city derby. Even though we conceded a draw last game because of Buffon's silly mistake we're still unbeaten, which is something I honestly would have never even thought we would be capable of at the beginning of this season. Conte has totally transformed this team.

[Kokukirin]

Juventus' unbeaten record is truly outstanding. At long last we can say that they have picked themselves up after the football scandal.

Conte has a big task ahead of him. Juventus is a very solid team defensively, but they are still missing some pieces to be considered a top team in Europe. Pirlo is another year older. He cannot be expected to play at such high level week in week out, especially with the additional CL games. Juventus also needs a top class striker like Milan's Ibra and Napoli's Cavani. No team can be succesful in CL without one.

Speaking of rebuilding, Inter is surely the team most desperately need to rebuild. If I were the manager I would seek to offload half the team. Stankovic, Lucio, and Cordoba are well past their prime. Milito and Maicon are better sold now while they still worth something in the transfer market. But then this is Inter. I fully expect them to take every possible wrong turn until they exhaust the wrong options.

[Arturia Polaris]

I understand that Inter is looking for Lavezzi and Kolarov.

Niker

[Bri]

Originally Posted by Shinndou

On an other note, this Sunday we might have the chance to secure the title if we (Juventus) win against Cagliari and if Inter does us a favor by holding Milan with a draw or by defeating them in their city derby. Even though we conceded a draw last game because of Buffon's silly mistake we're still unbeaten, which is something I honestly would have never even thought we would be capable of at the beginning of this season. Conte has totally transformed this team.

Great to see Juve back where they belong and with some attractive football to boot. What is up with Alessandro Del Piero btw? Juve fans I've met are furious with Angelli for some reason, I didn't quite get the drift of it.

Originally Posted by Blaat

^ This, teams that have an European match are 40% more likely to lose in the next league match. Some bitter Dutch dude calculated it after the loss of Barca against Real.

Yeah, Raymond Verheijen. He's some expert on training set ups and player endurance. He made a statistical analysis of all European matches played last several years, not sure if it had anything to do with Barca and Real.

[Shinndou]

Originally Posted by Kokukirin

Juventus' unbeaten record is truly outstanding. At long last we can say that they have picked themselves up after the football scandal.

Conte has a big task ahead of him. Juventus is a very solid team defensively, but they are still missing some pieces to be considered a top team in Europe. Pirlo is another year older. He cannot be expected to play at such high level week in week out, especially with the additional CL games. Juventus also needs a top class striker like Milan's Ibra and Napoli's Cavani. No team can be succesful in CL without one.

Agreed. Right now we're playing really well, our passing game has gotten really solid but we do need someone who can replace Pirlo when he's not fit. He's the only playmaker we have and even though both Marchisio and Vidal are technically gifted they're both box-to-box type of midfielders rather than deep lying playmakers like Pirlo is. Actually we do have a youth academy homegrown player who fits that role, Marrone, whom Conte has wanted in the first squad for this whole season rather than loaning him to an other team, but he's rarely played mostly because Pirlo so far never needed to rest. If they're not going to loan him during this summer transfer market than it's clear Conte has plans for the youngster to become Pirlo's heir...

As for the forwards, it's true we do lack a top-class striker. Right now we have good strikers who really do work hard upfront and link up extremely well with the midfield but none of them has the typical killer instinct like good ol' Trezeguet had for us in the past. I hope we do manage to sign someone of that caliber this summer, though we do not have the spending power of clubs like Man City or Real Madrid we should have enough money atleast to secure a fine striker for the CL.

Speaking of rebuilding, Inter is surely the team most desperately need to rebuild. If I were the manager I would seek to offload half the team. Stankovic, Lucio, and Cordoba are well past their prime. Milito and Maicon are better sold now while they still worth something in the transfer market. But then this is Inter. I fully expect them to take every possible wrong turn until they exhaust the wrong options.

Unless they get rid of old players and inject new blood, they're bound to get even worse whoever their next coach will be. It's clear that after Mourinho left most of the players pretty much lost interest in competing/winning, they need to bring new players who are hungry for victories and trophies.

Originally Posted by Bri

Great to see Juve back where they belong and with some attractive football to boot. What is up with Alessandro Del Piero btw? Juve fans I've met are furious with Angelli for some reason, I didn't quite get the drift of it.

It's a complicated story. Basically I'd say that it's both sides fault (Del Piero's and Agnelli's). What happened was that last year Del Piero's contract was supposed to expire, but then he went and made a statement in his official website saying that he would sign a blank contract to play for Juventus one more year. Agnelli and the sporting directors were put in the embarassing situation of being "forced" to accept because obviously they couldn't deny him one more year after he publicly declared such thing, so they had him sign a one year extension. A few months later in November at a conference Agnelli then said that this season would be Del Piero's last. The press and overall public reaction was that Agnelli's comment was harsh since the season had just begun and he was practically already "dismissing" Del Piero, but imho his comment was the result of being slightly bitter at the way Del Piero cunningly forced them to give a contract extension.

So at the end of the day, the fault lies on both sides. On one hand Del Piero shouldn't have been so pushy towards the club, since they're trying to renovate the team squad and they were already preparing a celebration for Del Piero's departure from the club. On the other hand Andrea Agnelli shouldn't have made that comment at the beginning of this season but instead he should have waited the end. The way it is right now most of the fans think that Agnelli's being ungrateful towards Del Piero while there's a different reason behind, he simply picked the worst moment to make that announcement.

As a Juventus fan I adore Del Piero and I am truly grateful to him for what he did for this club, for sticking with us through the glorious and the painful times, but it's also true that it's come the time to move on to a next step in the club's history and I think he's already given it all. I don't know if he'll retire from football, I think he still wants to play for another year or two but likely not in Italy (some rumors say he'll play in the MLS, others say he'll play in the japanese league)

[risingstar3110]

Originally Posted by kayote

though it does sicken me to think that we will HAVE to win the CL to get in next season. such a stupid rule. the whole point of the Champions League is that the Champions of thair respective Leagues should be in the compatation. i understand that the team that won it should be in the mix but if you are not able to do well in your own league and are not able to qualifie than you don't really deserve a place. just because you win should not give you automatic qualification.

Well the whole point of that rule is: to allow last year champion the chance to defend their tittle. And then the runner-up to meet up and get their revenge. You know dramatic stuffs, audiences loves dramatic stuffs.

[Blaat]

Originally Posted by Bri

Yeah, Raymond Verheijen. He's some expert on training set ups and player endurance. He made a statistical analysis of all European matches played last several years, not sure if it had anything to do with Barca and Real.

As I said he did the calculations because of Barça losing to Real.

[Aqua Knight]

Nice.
I don't want to sound stupid, but it really looks like FIFA/Platini are doing everything to make Messi the best player and give him the golden ball award 3rd time in a row.

[Saturn Beaver]

Congratulations to Chelsea for winning the FA Cup. What's most surprising for me was to see how well Carroll played scored a goal and another controversial ghost one (for my part, I think the camera shows that not all the ball has passed the line, so it's no goal. Good call by the assistant referee). In fact, his entrance is when Liverpool starts to play so much better.

In my opinion, even with the goal not being counted Liverpool deserves to at least go to Extra time compared to how bad Chelsea's defense is in the last thirty minutes. Still, credits where it's due, Chelsea is the one in control of the game in the first half, and they are better for 2/3 of the game - it's only fair for them to get 2/3 of the goals as well. Still, better shape up against Bayern, even with injuries they won't be so easy to beat.

Another interesting thing is that Arsenal only tied against Norwich (in fact, they might lose were it not for RVP saving the day as usual). This way, it's very possible for Newcastle and Tottenham to leapfrog Arsenal if they win the last two games. Hell, even fourth isn't safe for Arsenal with Chelsea on the edge of winning the Champions' League. If Arsenal do miss out on CL, I won't fault RVP if he wants to leave, he deserves better imo.

[Elo the Blue]

Originally Posted by Saturn Beaver

Another interesting thing is that Arsenal only tied against Norwich (in fact, they might lose were it not for RVP saving the day as usual). This way, it's very possible for Newcastle and Tottenham to leapfrog Arsenal if they win the last two games. Hell, even fourth isn't safe for Arsenal with Chelsea on the edge of winning the Champions' League. If Arsenal do miss out on CL, I won't fault RVP if he wants to leave, he deserves better imo.

I was going crazy watching the game. Sad as it is today, I wouldn't be surprised if both teams finished ahead of Arsenal considering their remaining fixtures. Newcastle could definitely salvage a point later today and the other three games are more than winnable.

Agreed on RVP.

[Arturia Polaris]

In any case, I think it's time for Carrol to move onto greater things... You know, one of the top 4 teams of the premiership, you know, something like Newcastle...

Niker

EDIT: I just found an EPIC video preparing us for the CL final... Here goes. UCL Final Promo

[risingstar3110]

Originally Posted by Niker117

In any case, I think it's time for Carrol to move onto greater things... You know, one of the top 4 teams of the premiership, you know, something like Newcastle...

Niker

EDIT: I just found an EPIC video preparing us for the CL final... Here goes. UCL Final Promo

After they successfully sold him for 2 times his market price, and made up a story about him forcing the move, get him ending up being abused by the fans of his childhood club through the 90 minutes of his return?
He actually played much better after that game through, and most likely because Newcastle burned his bridge for a return. 18 months late, but better than never


On Chelsea, i really wish that they get into top 4, but somehow don't want them to win the CL. But if they do, Meireles will really hit the jackpot. He already won a Carling Cup medal with Liverpool this season (play one of early game before his transfer), a FA Cup medal with Chelsea just last night. May as well get one more

[Haak]

Chelsea really need to improve their mentality. It's like whenever the other side gets a goal and thus closer to an equaliser, they just completely lose it altogether and let the other team dominate. But they did at least play better for most of the game. For Liverpool it was just too little too late. As for that controversial goal, I don't think it fully went through either but it's extremely difficult to say. Unbelievable save by Cech though.

[Saturn Beaver]

^Yeah, their defense was completely in shambles after the goal. I mean, they still play well (at least for the first 60 minutes or so) but it's more like they win because Liverpool sucks more. Not sure that's going to fly against Bayern, Neuer won't spill you the ball and give you a lucky first goal.

Kinda surprising that Carroll is the best player for Liverpool though, the team played much better after he was in. In fact, his teammates kinda brings him down - he won the aerial battles, but the midfielders shots are all wayward. Maybe if he's introduced earlier, even after half time, as that 10 minutes makes all the difference with Drogba's goal.

[ars89]

Anyone follow the j-league?

[Elo the Blue]

Originally Posted by Saturn Beaver

^Yeah, their defense was completely in shambles after the goal. I mean, they still play well (at least for the first 60 minutes or so) but it's more like they win because Liverpool sucks more. Not sure that's going to fly against Bayern, Neuer won't spill you the ball and give you a lucky first goal.

Kinda surprising that Carroll is the best player for Liverpool though, the team played much better after he was in. In fact, his teammates kinda brings him down - he won the aerial battles, but the midfielders shots are all wayward. Maybe if he's introduced earlier, even after half time, as that 10 minutes makes all the difference with Drogba's goal.

He should have come on sooner, but Suarez and Gerrard are still better players than Carroll. Liverpool's lack of quality midfieldesr, especially with Lucas out, forces Gerrard to play deeper, where he can't influence the game as much. As for Suarez, Dalglish made the mistake of playing him as a CF; he's at his best either behind a striker or on the wings.

Good results for Arsenal today with Newcastle losing and Tottenham drawing. All they need to do now is handle their business against West Brom in a week and hope Munich do the same in the final.