The Official Football Thread

[Kyuu]

Originally Posted by solomon

WOW! We drew Argentina!! Wasn't expecting that at ALL, especially considering the first half.

Yay. USA won FIFA again.

[Terrestrial Dream]

Originally Posted by Elo the Blue

It's mental toughness.

I've been an Arsenal fan since before I can remember and can't help but laugh when I think back to how resilient past Gunner squads were and look at the teams Wenger has put together the past 5 or 6 seasons.

Even against teams they should squash, Arsenal seemingly find ways to fold if the opponent starts taking the fight to them.

Untimely injuries and the club's annoying refusal to splash a little money have also been an issues. But the talent hasn't so glaring the team should still trophyless after so long.

It comes down to digging down deep and gutting out wins when you have to. And too often for a long time, Arsenal simply haven't done that.

Seems like it, lack of mental strength and lack of true leader as well. Arsenal has not won a trophy since Henry left and I really don't think it is coincidence. They really don't seem to have a proper leader as well, Gallas pretty much failed as a captain and after that well Fabregas doesn't like a leader as well.

Originally Posted by Kyuu

Yay. USA won FIFA again.

Just making sure joke post right?

Anyway this season overall football seems pretty boring. In England it is all Man United (though I am quite happy about this) after Chelsea just collapsed on their own and Arsenal is choking like they have been in last 6 years. In Spain all Barcelona so far with Real Madrid unlikely to catch up. The Italian league seems pretty interesting after Rafa screwing up Inter, but I just have no interest in Italian football. The Champions League has been pretty good though.

[WanderingKnight]

Didn't even watch the match, was at the stadium watching my local team at the time.

Supposedly we played our best football in years in the first half before promptly turning to shit in the second.

[Saturn Beaver]

Originally Posted by Terrestrial Dream

Anyway this season overall football seems pretty boring. In England it is all Man United (though I am quite happy about this) after Chelsea just collapsed on their own and Arsenal is choking like they have been in last 6 years. In Spain all Barcelona so far with Real Madrid unlikely to catch up. The Italian league seems pretty interesting after Rafa screwing up Inter, but I just have no interest in Italian football. The Champions League has been pretty good though.

Yeah, EPL is all MU, which is too bad because it isn't as if MU is untouchable, plenty of chance for Arsenal to shorten the gap but they just go and lose against opponents they should beat. La Liga, I literally only watch it for El Clasico, the rest are all Barca and Madrid without any competition. Serie A and Bundesliga is pretty competitive though, as well as Champion's League.

[Elo the Blue]

Originally Posted by Terrestrial Dream

Seems like it, lack of mental strength and lack of true leader as well. Arsenal has not won a trophy since Henry left and I really don't think it is coincidence. They really don't seem to have a proper leader as well, Gallas pretty much failed as a captain and after that well Fabregas doesn't like a leader as well.

Agreed. Even beyond Henry, you had tough leaders in Vieira, Toure and Campbell that other players could rally around.

[Azuma Denton]

Quite dissapointing in Arsenal's condition this year.
Wenger always said that his team should be given credit for still competing in 4 competition (back before January), and now should be given credit for 2nd place in EPL.

Sometimes i wanna ask Wenger, are Arsenal title contender or just European Cup's ticket contender?

Many of Arsenal fans i know already fed up with Wenger's comment...
Time for some change maybe?

[Father Hentai]

FC Bayern is also not in a good shape this year but football never gets boring. Especially not if you see such videos as here:

http://www.youtube.com/embed/K-_rf2jVxxY

[Mithfalath]

Bundesliga is the best known league excitement-wise. You really never know who will pop up year-in and year-out.

Speaking of Bundesliga, given the current success of Dortmund, I wonder where Subotic, Hummels, Kehl, Sahin, Kagawa, etc.. will land after the summer transfer window..

Also, since I'm a Tottenham fan, I ABSOLUTELY CANNOT WAIT until April 5. This will be a real test of how we can compete with the big guns with a big gun coach. I hope our strikers do not disappear in these prestigious fixtures.

[Father Hentai]

They'll stay at least a year longer in Dortmund. I think they are contracted for more than a year at the moment.

[Mithfalath]

Hope so.. Cos these days, contracts mean nothing...

[Elo the Blue]

Originally Posted by Azuma Denton

Quite dissapointing in Arsenal's condition this year.
Wenger always said that his team should be given credit for still competing in 4 competition (back before January), and now should be given credit for 2nd place in EPL.

Sometimes i wanna ask Wenger, are Arsenal title contender or just European Cup's ticket contender?

Many of Arsenal fans i know already fed up with Wenger's comment...
Time for some change maybe?

For the longest time, I'd say no but maybe the time has come for him to move on. I would be okay with him returning next season but like fans have been asking for for years, he must become more aggressive in the transfer market.

In a way, his goal of building a strong team from the ground up has succeeded but they've failed to win a trophy too often. Even better players have to be brought in. Also, with injuries being an issue seemingly every year, depth must also be improved.

[Saturn Beaver]

Originally Posted by Mithfalath

Bundesliga is the best known league excitement-wise. You really never know who will pop up year-in and year-out.

Speaking of Bundesliga, given the current success of Dortmund, I wonder where Subotic, Hummels, Kehl, Sahin, Kagawa, etc.. will land after the summer transfer window..

Also, since I'm a Tottenham fan, I ABSOLUTELY CANNOT WAIT until April 5. This will be a real test of how we can compete with the big guns with a big gun coach. I hope our strikers do not disappear in these prestigious fixtures.

I also hope that those young talents stayed at Dortmund, I would love to see them contend with the rest of the European giants next CL season...

Yeah, I'm a Totenham fan too, but personally I'm not too confident...I mean, even with a full squad, Real Madrid is one of the toughest team to face, and now we lost Bale and Gallas due to injuries, a really huge blow to the team. To be honest, to simply escape with a draw is more than enough.

[Mithfalath]

Gallas is a huge blow. Bale has no final announcements yet, right? No?

Also, Benzema and Ronaldo is out of the first leg, so that's a HUGE plus. Marcelo is also out, so Lennon can wreck havoc on the right. I'm not too concerned with Bale out since Kranjcar/Pienaar can fill that slot at 75% of what Bale can do. What concerns me is Bassong partnering Dawson. He (Bassong) hasn't had much playing time this season and the pressure of playing in the Merengues stadium could add the pressure on him (certainly hope not). I remember him scoring on his debut game for Totts against the Reds, so let's just keep that composure up.

Even so, a draw is a favorable result for us on Tuesday.

[KiNA]

>.>

Come back when you actually have to play your 5th and 6th choice CB in defence and and your lazy winger as striker up front alone before commenting about injury crisis.

>.>

Maybe then I'll took a little bit of pity on your crisis. But then again, you are spuds .. so nah, maybe not.

I'll promised to not laugh for your eventual exit to RM.

[Mithfalath]

I promise not to cry when we do fail to beat them.

[Saturn Beaver]

Oh yeah, Bale could probably play Madrid, he's just out against Wigan today. Gallas is indeed a bigger blow though, as his replacement Bassong is a question mark...let's just hope for the best, guys like Sandro and Palacios are also questionable against Milan but they played great then. Really, it's not like they don't have a stock of defenders, but it's like there's a curse hitting the defenders with King, Woodgate, Kaboul, Gallas, and recently even Hutton out with injury...even getting a draw will be a huge struggle.

[kyosak]

We looked terrible at Wigan and it's scaring me about the big match on Tuesday... Finishing 5th in the league is looking more and more of a possibility
Hopefully Bale is able to start at Madrid along with Lennon.

[Saturn Beaver]

Originally Posted by kyosak

We looked terrible at Wigan and it's scaring me about the big match on Tuesday... Finishing 5th in the league is looking more and more of a possibility
Hopefully Bale is able to start at Madrid along with Lennon.

Yeah, that's a shame against Wigan...to be honest, at this point it seems getting into the top 4 (and consequently a place in the Champions' League next season) is almost impossible...can only hope for Manchester City to crash and burn somehow, but after the last 5-0 win against Sunderland it's even more unlikely. Fortunately, Madrid also suffers a major upset in a loss against Gijon yesterday (in their home no less, ending Mourinho's record), so if they can do it, hopefully Totenham can, too...Bale will definitely be needed though.

[Azuma Denton]

Yesh, Arsenal did it again...
They draws again against a future-relegation (on top of that, 10 men) club, Blackburn...


Please Wenger, cure your selfishness...

[Mentar]

Huuu... for me, a lifelong Schalke fan, the 5:2 victory against Inter in Mailand was like christmas and easter on the same day ^_^