The Official Football Thread

[Blaat]

Bayern's domination of the Bundesliga is getting into video game stats territory: a goal difference of 61 with a 20 point lead on second place Dortmund...

[LoveYouSaber]

FA Cup. My mood went from bottom to high in one night. First thought we were going to face Manchester City in semi-finals. Then saw Wigan dumping Manchester City out of the competition. Thank you Wigan for proving me wrong, but please don't do what you did to Manchester City when we meet.

[KiraYamatoFan]

What's even funnier is that it was a former City player, Uwe Rosler, who is manager of Wigan and led his team to create the upset.

Three out of the 4 teams left in the FA Cup are pure underdog material. This could get interesting.

[Mentar]

Originally Posted by Blaat

Bayern's domination of the Bundesliga is getting into video game stats territory: a goal difference of 61 with a 20 point lead on second place Dortmund...

The main problem is that Munich have such a deep roster and experienced players that Pep can simply shake up the system to trash the opponent in the middle of the game. Happened often enough that the opponent could keep Bayern in check for 45-60 minutes, and when exhaustion sets in, Pep would make 2 substitutions, adapt the system to foil the opponent's, and Bayern would quickly score 4-5 goals.

It's pretty scary (and demoralizing)

[germanturkey]

i was hoping united would take points off pool today. oh well. and what a goal by Rosicky!

[LoveYouSaber]

Same here, and what's the deal with THREE penalties at Old Trafford? I thought even a single penalty used to be a rarity for Manchester United.

Is it too far of a stretch to hope that they can take points off City?... Or should I just hope that they don't make the goal difference too worse...

[Irenicus]

The 'Pool fans are hilarious: dreaming the impossible, publicly chastising themselves for dreaming the impossible. No, they're not going to win it. Definitely not, well except if they keep winning and Chelsea slips again, you know, mathematically...

Good luck to them, so long as Arsenal ends up above them! Next season Arse 1st, Pool 2nd. City 3rd. Chelsea meltdown. Spurs wherever they end up. Nobody cares about that other mid table team. My soul for that result, if the Devil cares for a trade.

Don't stop me. Let me dream.

Oh, and here's a fantastic article on Gerrard, why Benitez at Liverpool was the shit, and English football being its own worst enemy.

[KiraYamatoFan]

Plenty of stuff came out since yesterday. First of all, an article in a fanzine that uses internal sources revealed that Ryan Giggs and David Moyes are at odds against one another regarding training methods. Apparently Moyes scrapped finishing-in-the-attacking-end drills to spend time exclusively on defensive drills... you can now understand why our attacking players (except Rooney) all have a go at Moyes. If Giggs is involved, it supposes there's a deep internal rebellion from players to part of the coaching staff against the ginger goblin in charge. The story was picked up by other journalists keeping their eyes on this. If someone manages to be at odds with a cerebral guy like Giggs, it tells then how much of an ***hole that someone is. This story has to be taken with some salt, but I'm sure this ain't gonna be the last skeleton to come out of the closet before Moyes is fired.

Second, Kevin Sheedy (U18 Everton coach, former Ireland representative) had this:

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/26614180

David Moyes: Kevin Sheedy criticises Manchester United boss

Everton academy coach Kevin Sheedy has criticised Manchester United manager David Moyes for his tactics.

Sheedy, who coaches the Everton under-18 side, worked under former Toffees boss Moyes at Goodison Park.

After United's 3-0 defeat by Liverpool on Sunday, Sheedy tweeted: "All of you out there, Moyes was never interested in our youth team or players."

Sheedy also criticised Moyes's tactics, adding: "Punt the ball up to [Marouane] Fellaini - great viewing."

Moyes was Everton manager for 11 years from 2002 until last summer, when he left to replace Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford.

Under Moyes's replacement Roberto Martinez, Everton are three points ahead of United in sixth place.

Sheedy, 54, said: "We now have a manager who wants to win games."
Play media

Former Republic of Ireland midfielder Sheedy - who made over 300 league appearances for Everton - later deleted the tweets at the request of the club.

That tells me enough: no trust in youth and no tactical sense except Hail Mary stuff (a.k.a. hoofball).

I can't wait for the day Moyes will return as the opposition's manager. I'd book my ticket for the game at Old Trafford where Moyes will receive the worst shower of shit in life.

[Mentar]

Just for the record: I consider the term "hoofball" to be absolutely lovely ^_^

Besides, you must be wrong. The referee's to blame. Moyes said so, and he's the one who should know!

[risingstar3110]

Originally Posted by Irenicus

The 'Pool fans are hilarious: dreaming the impossible, publicly chastising themselves for dreaming the impossible. No, they're not going to win it. Definitely not, well except if they keep winning and Chelsea slips again, you know, mathematically...

They were just going tsundere for the tittle:
"Don't misunderstand. I-It's not that i like to win or something... Geezz, I just got too many extra points from getting top 4"



On the same topic, i will say modern Arsenal would be the (unlucky) childhood friend. Always started first in the very beginning (1st on alphabet standing). Will definitely be contender for love interest/league tittle at some points. But tends to lose out right before the end

[King Lycan]

My god Manchester United has fallen I really don't like Moyes I know he did a good job in Everton with a "shoe string budget" but so many players are leaving after the season. I feel really bad for Giggs too since it's most likely his last year and what a horrible year it's been.

[KiraYamatoFan]

Originally Posted by King Lycan

My god Manchester United has fallen I really don't like Moyes I know he did a good job in Everton with a "shoe string budget" but so many players are leaving after the season. I really bad for Giggs too since it's most likely his last year and what a horrible year it's been.

Even though RVP saved Moyes' ass today, I am still not blinded by the result and I hope the United board of directors is not fooled either. After taking a 3-0 lead, the tactics were all about defending that lead instead of punching one or two more goals to crush their morale. It was more Olympiacos being shit in the last 35 minutes than anything else.

To use the Monopoly analogy, Moyes got out of jail today. However, negative tactics won't forgive in the quarterfinals. Just before this match, word was said that Louis van Gaal was already contacted by the United board. IMHO, it will end badly in the quarterfinals if not in the Manchester derby before that.

[AmeNoJaku]

MU was really lucky tonight, having RVP showing why he wants a new contract and facing a team that sold its first striker, had the second injured, the third collapsing from exhaustion and the fourth coming in as a sub... anyway, that's better for English football with a weak MU, and a competitive Everton

[Irenicus]

SIX MORE YEARS!!

Ow. Poor Kira.

I actually hope Moyes destroys City. Title race will be back ON. Again. Especially if our injury-plagued squad somehow draw up the sheer strength of will to defeat Chelsea and celebrate Arsene's glorious milestone.

But Mourinho, that motherfucker, is definitely looking to spoil his hated foe's occasion. If only Ramsey, Ozil, Walcott, and Wilshere are fit...

[KiraYamatoFan]

Originally Posted by AmeNoJaku

anyway, that's better for English football with a weak MU, and a competitive Everton

Just waste that salad on something else...

I will only be satisfied when Moyes gets axed Klinsmann-style and then we get an European manager to give the middle finger to all remaining British managers like Arsenal, Chelsea and City already did long ago. Let's not lie to ourselves here: Brendan Rodgers is the only British manager who's a disciple of continental football while the others aren't and won't be anytime soon.

[Bri]

Originally Posted by KiraYamatoFan

.To use the Monopoly analogy, Moyes got out of jail today. However, negative tactics won't forgive in the quarterfinals. Just before this match, word was said that Louis van Gaal was already contacted by the United board. IMHO, it will end badly in the quarterfinals if not in the Manchester derby before that.

Van Gaal recently stated in the Dutch media that his one remaining ambition after the world cup is to compete for the EPL title, which pretty much limits the choice to Tottenham or United. United seems a more likely choice given the youth setup and Van Gaal's preference to work with young coach-able players.

[KiraYamatoFan]

Originally Posted by Bri

Van Gaal recently stated in the Dutch media that his one remaining ambition after the world cup is to compete for the EPL title, which pretty much limits the choice to Tottenham or United. United seems a more likely choice given the youth setup and Van Gaal's preference to work with young coach-able players.

Exactly. When we started piling up potential candidates, Van Gaal came up as an obvious choice when it comes to stabilize the whole ship and then end up leaving behind a solid system after a few years. It would be exactly as what he did with Bayern after Klinsmann wrecked almost everything.

People can talk long and wide about his character flaws (like a kung fu demonstration in the middle of the 1995 CL final ), but he still embodies a number of things United need out of a manager (tactics, trusting youth, attacking-minded, swagger, etc.) for some time before we find the right younger guy.

As I said, I hope the board were not fooled by today's result and will push forward with the Van Gaal case instead.

[Nerroth]

It's been a rough week for MLS teams in the 2013-14 CONCACAF Champions League.

Of the five MLS clubs (4 from the US, and one from Canada) which entered the group stage, only three made it as far as the knockout round. However, all three ended up drawn against Mexican opposition, and all were faced with playing their second legs down in Mexico.

Last week, the first-leg matches went well enough for them, with the LA Galaxy and Sporting Kansas City both winning 1-0 agaianst Club Tijuana and Cruz Azul respectively. The San Jose Earthquakes drew 1-1 with Deportivo Toluca, and were seen as having the worst odds in making it through the return legs.

Well, it didn't quite work out that way. The Quakes managed to hold on to a 1-1 scoreline (2-2 on aggregate) with Toluca through the end of extra time, but went out 5-4 on penalties.

The Galaxy went out the day before, losing 4-2 to the Xolos at the Estadio Caliente (making it 4-3 on aggregate). In their case, a bad first half set the bar too high, though they made a more spirited go of it in the second.

It was the opposite case for SKC at the Estadio Azul. Down 2-1 at half time (but with an away goal to their credit), los Cementeros turned the second half into a rout, ending up winning 5-1 on the night (and 5-2 on aggregate).


There is an upcoming round of negotiations aimed at deciding a new collective bargaining agreement for MLS, as well as plans to sign new television ccontracts for broadcasting rights in the US. (I'm not sure if the Canadian TV deal is up for renewal or not.)

If the league wants to get serious about trying to close the gap between its top teams and their counterparts in Liga MX, it needs to think very carefully about the tools they set in place for their future CCL-bound teams to bring to the table.


But then, Liga MX is in a pretty odd position in and of itself.

CONMEBOL "invites" certain Mexican teams to go and play in the Copa Libertadores, yet CONCACAF obliges the Mexican federation to send their top-finishing teams to the CCL instead. Despite the lower-finishing teams heading south instead of north for their regional competition, the latter is still viewed as a far more meaningful tournament for Mexican clubs to play in.

The only real drawback for Mexican "invitees" in the Copa Libertadores is that they would be barred from going to the Club World Cup even if they won it, since only a CONMEBOL team may represent that region at the FIFA level. (Unless Mexico followed Australia's lead in jumping from one confederation to another, but I wouldn't hold my breath on seeing that happening.)

It's hard to think of another professional league in the same conflicted situation.

[KiraYamatoFan]

The draw for the next round of the Champions League:

Barcelona VS Atletico De Madrid
Real Madrid VS Borussia Dortmund
Paris Saint-Germain VS Chelsea
Manchester United VS Bayern Munich

Well, well, well... Fate sure has a way of creating similar patterns. Looking at the schedule between now and the second leg in Munich, it could well be the end of David Moyes like the way it ended for Jürgen Klinsmann by April 2009 - losing important domestic games against rivals and then getting battered by the firm favorite coached by Pep Guardiola in the quarterfinals of the Champions League at the same time.

The buck stops here, Moyes.

[Blaat]

EL draw:
AZ Alkmaar v Benfica
Lyon v Juventus
Basel v Valencia
Porto v Sevilla

Pretty boring compared to the CL (not surprisingly) all the bigger teams avoided each other. Overall I think Juventus will lift the trophy and the Iberian clubs having an outside chance.

As for the CL I think the all Spanish quarter-final and the PSG vs Chelsea are the closest ties. I also think the Bayern will have a higher aggregate score than last year semi-final against Barcelona.