The Official Football Thread

[Blaat]

I believe Germany is the most successful European nation when it comes to American football. England is too busy playing football and silly colonial sports (such as cricket and rugby) to be good at American football. Depending on the nation but over here we call American football 'American football' in our language.

As for the final, I've noticed that some people thought it was a poor match while I thought it was exciting or perhaps rooting for Spain made it more exciting then it actually was.

Also I'm really surprised by the German dirtiness we saw some of it in the quarter-final but more of it yesterday, shame Spain decided go along with it.

[Solafighter]

for germany...
2006: 3rd
2008: 2nd
2010: 1st.

[Kinny Riddle]

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/st...ro2008&cc=4716

Domenech retains job as coach of France

Raymond Domenech was on Thursday retained as France coach despite French football supremo Jean-Pierre Escalettes admitting Les Bleus' Euro 2008 campaign had been 'a resounding failure'.

Domenech was summoned to appear before the French Football Federation's (FFF) Federal Council in Paris on Thursday to explain the team's group stage exit from the tournament in Austria and Switzerland.

And he clearly did a good job in convincing the panel as 18 of the 19 men who voted backed the 56-year-old to lead the team in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers which get under way in September.

On Euro 2008, FFF president Escalettes said: 'It was a resounding failure, not very glorious.

'It was bad on the sporting side and, maybe worse, it portrayed a terrible image of the French national team.'

He revealed Domenech had admitted to making 'a series of errors' while Escalettes spoke of 'too much personal communication at disastrous moments' and 'a lack of transparency' which was like 'rubbing salt into the wound.'

He rationalised his decision to keep Domenech on, however, by insisting: 'Domenech's record is not that bad as coach. It is not catastrophic.

'He qualified us for successive major competitions (the 2006 World Cup and the 2008 European Championships). I did not want emotion and passion to get the better of reason.

'Raymond has asked for the support of the Federation and that the president is more involved.

'There is only one mission; on the pitch and nothing but the pitch. He is going to talk about the French team and not the condition of his soul.'

Immediately in the wake of France's poor showing at Euro 2008 it was widely touted that Domenech's four-year tenure would be brought to an end within days.

A supremely talented squad crashed out following defeats at the hands of Holland and Italy and a goalless draw with Romania, scoring just once in the process.

The controversial coach was already under immense pressure due to his persistence on making squad selections based on astrology, and had only been saved from the axe in 2006 by a sudden change in fortunes during the World Cup which saw them advance all the way to the final, where they were beaten on penalties by Italy.

It could be that the support Domenech has received from members of his squad and influential figures such as Michel Platini saved him this time.

But for every high-brow supporter Domenech had a critic.

Former France striker Christophe Dugarry has been damning in his assessment of the coach's abilities, as have fellow former internationals Eric Cantona, Marcel Desailly and Christian Karembeu.

Domenech's critics had called for him to be replaced by France's World Cup-winning captain from 1998, Didier Deschamps, who is currently out of work following spells at Monaco and Juventus.

But the FFF's decision means he is now free to lead Les Bleus in their World Cup qualifiers against Austria on September 6, Serbia on September 10, and Euro 2008 rivals Romania on October 11.

Escalettes confirmed no new contract had been agreed between the two parties.

'We have not asked him to sign a contract. It is a moral contract.'

He added though: 'Everyone is fully aware the French team must evolve. We will see where things are in mid-October.'

Patrick Vieira and Willy Sagnol were vocal supporters of Domenech and Escalettes admitted that had played a part in the FFF's thinking.

'That carried some weight,' he said.

'If it was just Vieira and Sagnol that would have been worrying but there was also (Franck) Ribery, (Karim) Benzema and (Hatem) Ben Arfa and that proves something.

'Our responsibility is to analyse, to listen, to decide and to assume.

'That is what I have done, that's what the Federation has done. Keeping Domenech in his position is a reasonable decision, carefully thought out and freely discussed.

'It is also a form of gamble, as it is each time you name a manager or coach.

'What happens on the pitch will finally validate or invalidate our decision.'



(Speechless for nearly a minute)...... What?

Even Italy has sacked Donadoni, who is, according to the Italians here, "slightly less inept than Domenech". Just what on earth are those old hacks in the French FA smoking? I feel sad and sorry for the French fans at having to put up with such lunacy. It's as though they want to one-up the English FA's ridiculous decision to appoint Steve McClaren as coach by emulating McClaren's "success" themselves.

The only reason France even got to the WC final in 2006 was because of a resurgent Zidane and nothing else, the remaining aging squad have nothing new to offer.

[Blaat]

Perhaps the stars told Domenech and the French FA that France will win the 2010 world cup.

Its a shame we won't see France at their maximum potential in the next world cup, yet on the other hand: one less team to worry about.

[Shinndou]

No comment. If I were French I would most likely refuse to support my own national team as a form of protest. Domenech (like Donadoni) hasn't really shown to be either a good coach (tactically) nor a good man either. In any case a mistake that France can fix is to call up all the young rising talents and give them a place in the starting line-up. Benzema, Nasri, Ben-Arfa, Clichy, Sagna, Flamini, Mexes and other are without a doubt the future of the French national side and if France wants to compete for a trophy they need to be called and given playing time, in my opinion.

As for Italy's future, Lippi's back and he had his first press conference three days ago, stating that he'll gradually start including our promising young talents during the qualification campaign for WC2010, and that we are expected to see a new offensive approach (rather than Donadoni's defensive) in Italy's game as he creates a new team. He said he still wants to retain some of the veterans from the WC2006 because he thinks their experience is important for the growth of the youngsters. So I guess that during this qualification campaign we'll most likely see a mix of veterans and youngsters.

My sixth sense tells me that the youngsters that are going to join the first team (wether they'll join right away or after a couple of months it'll depend from their performance, of course) will most likely be:
- Montolivo. Fiorentina's playmaker, he's the natural heir of Pirlo, tactically, in my eyes)
- Rossi. Forward, I think you know him already, he started from Man U youth team, loaned to Parma last year and now playing for Villareal)
- Giovinco. He's able to play both as a supporting striker but also as a winger. Juventus' best promise once Del Piero will retire (I expect a lot from this short fellow )
- Palladino. An other supporting striker/winger . He's already played for Italy once, in the friendly game versus Portugal earlier this year, he's owned by Juventus but has been loaned to Genoa for the incoming season to let him have playing time.
- De Silvestri. Right full-back, owned by Lazio, has lots of pace and fighting spirit. Considering that Italy's right backs are aging (both Oddo and Zambrotta are over 30) he's most likely going to be part of Italy's team sooner or later.
- Cigarini. Parma's playmaker, unlike Montolivo he prefers to play deep between defense and midfield (Montolivo is an "offensive playmaker", since he plays between midfield and attack).
- Santacroce. Central defender, owned by Napoli. Some people have been comparing him to Nesta in terms of defensive style (I think it's still too early to tell though), but he surely does have skills almost on par with Chiellini. Napoli destroyed Inter and delivered their very first loss during the latest serie A season thanks to this guy who basically shut down Inter's forwards almost all on his own. He still has room to improve though (sometimes his tackles are clean, sometimes they're too rough and infact he's going to miss the Olympics because he got red-carded in previous games).

There's also other youngsters that could also make it to the first team, but not in the near feature, depending on their performance in the next season: Marchisio (creative midfielder, Juventus), De Ceglie (left-back, Juventus), Criscito (central defender/left back, Juventus), Osvaldo (forward, Fiorentina), Abate (right winger, Milan/Torino), Lanzafame (winger, Palermo/Juventus), Balotelli (forward/winger Inter).

It's all up to Lippi to make good use of these guys (or some of them). All the ones I named (except Balotelli who still needs to be 18 years old before he can finally acquire italian citizenship) are going to play at the Olympic Games, so it's definetely going to be interesting to see how they'll perform and if the'll live up to the expectation. Coach Casiraghi, despite being as young as Donadoni seems to be atleast mentally open (you need to be, when managing youngsters), and he doesn't dislike playing offensively either. We'll see. :X

[Sun Shine]

Woop another season of football is only a month away. Can't wait for Leeds to win League One, should be a walk in the park this year

Anyways is anyone doin the fantasy football again this year?

[KiNA]

There should be, Medic is on my msn list, I'll see if he interested in setting up another.

Well, Arsenal will really feel like a different team now.. I couldnt wait to see Theo and Samir winging action with Adeb and RvP and Fab pulling all the string. All we need now is a holding midfielder that hopefully Diaby/Denilson can fill in in case we missed out on our target.

And please dont go Adeb ;_;

[Sun Shine]

Doesn't look like Adebayor is going to go at the moment, no one seems to be prepared to pay the 30m that you guys want for him. If you can keep hold of him and get in another midfielder and striker you should be up there again this year.

So hope Cesspool pay 20m for Barry, it would show what muppets they are, hes a 5m midfielder, its gonna be ages till they challenge at the top again with stupid targets like him.

Oh my god, jsut seen Chelscum are about to sign Kaka for 80m, what a complete joke the transfer market has become, Bournemouth are in financial troubles over a couple of million and they are splashing out ridiculous money. Football is ruined, there is way too much money in it.

[Shinndou]

I hardly doubt Chelsea would sign Kaka considering that Milan fans would most likely cancel their yearly subscriptions as reaction. It wouldn't do them any good, as Milan is not in need of money either. That's most likely just gossip rumours. If it does happen though, I am going to laugh my ass off at the poor Milan fans.

[Kinny Riddle]

Originally Posted by Sun Shine

Doesn't look like Adebayor is going to go at the moment, no one seems to be prepared to pay the 30m that you guys want for him. If you can keep hold of him and get in another midfielder and striker you should be up there again this year.

So hope Cesspool pay 20m for Barry, it would show what muppets they are, hes a 5m midfielder, its gonna be ages till they challenge at the top again with stupid targets like him.

Oh my god, jsut seen Chelscum are about to sign Kaka for 80m, what a complete joke the transfer market has become, Bournemouth are in financial troubles over a couple of million and they are splashing out ridiculous money. Football is ruined, there is way too much money in it.

Cesspool my arse. (Pun may or may not be intended depending on your loyalty)


The one being a muppet is O'Neill here, I agree Barry's not worth that much. Not to mention Liverpool's too pathetic in the transfer market anyway thanks to their arrogant American owners refusing to sell even when they got no money to provide for the club anyway.

OTOH, Robbie Keane might be an interesting signing, again, this hinges on how much money they got. Tottenham's board is now making soundbites to make it sound like they're doing all they can to keep him and Berbatov from leaving (Keane to Pool and Berbatov to United), less they get slaughtered by their fans. Can't blame them, really.

As the new season begins, I would like to make a gentleman's agreement with the regulars in this thread who are fans of rival teams here.

In football forums or exclusive forums of clubs which you support, you can trashtalk your rivals however you like, but this as this is a forum where everyone has access to, these sort of trashtalk can easily get out of control and a flame war can begin. So I propose that we at the very least keep insulting nicknames of each other to ourselves here as a start.

Playfully dissing each other is okay, but just no insults, as we do treat our teams as an extension of our own selves, at least for a hardcore like me.

So what say you? (I promise the pun above will be my last if you agree to it. )

[Shinndou]

Well, being a Juve fan I have no reason to insult english teams anyway, nor I feel any bitter rivalry towards the other italian teams (I hold a lot of respect towards Milan, Fiorentina, Roma), except for Inter, but I don't rely on insults or any vulgarities in first place. I'll laugh when Inter gets eliminated again though, that's for sure.
Not even Mourinho can save Inter, as long as they have such a spoilt president/owner, they're bound to fail and fail.

[KiNA]

Its just a tradition for the EPL I think. Being raised in a family craze with football didnt help either.

I dont really mind.. unless someone started it first. Then its war

Of course last season, I happened to get a very fanatical Pool supporter (who happen to picked on my beloved Arsenal at every given opportunity) in my house as well, so clashes of words are inevitable

[KiNA]

Fantasy Football League

Code:
314704-69008

Link:
http://fantasy.premierleague.com/

I really hope there's more then 5 peoples this time around

I've told my housemate as well, so he should be joining as well.. thats 2 peoples..

OTOH, Arsenal draw in their 2nd preseason match .. A drab match TBH, but Vela played and Walcott score ..

[Sun Shine]

Its only pre season, its not about the football or the results, its just about getting the match practice and getting the minutes under the belt. Leeds drew with York in our first pre season match and we played awfully and we also drew with them last year but came out into the season with all guns blazing. Is Nasri impressing for you guys?

[KiNA]

He impressed me back during his Marseille spell, and if he could replicate his form here with the Gunners it would be terrific (The same could be said to Reyes back then too ._.) .. He will slot in the left wing perfectly, and it would be a work for Rosicky to claim his spot back once he fully fitted again..

Samir isn't called the next Zidane for nothing

Altho, the main concern for me this season is to see who will be taking Flam's role in the squad, Denilson is the one said for the future, and if it wasn't for the injury last season, he probably ready this time around.. Alas, for now, only Diaby .. but he really need to learn to start chasing the ball in his matches =.=

[Medic]

Hi guys, back after a long-ish time.

Cant wait for the new season

[KiNA]

GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLL!!!

[Terrestrial Dream]

Best goal ever.
Korea vs Ivory Coast from yesterday.

[KiNA]

Anyone planning to watch tonight's match for the Charity Shield between Portmouth and ManU? I'll probably watching, just to see the crippled ManU vs the front pairing of Crouch and Defoe

Good luck to Portmouth, I'll be rooting for you guys!!!

For the fantasy team manager.. all 5 team from last season are in in our mini league, of course everyone are invited to join, the more the merrier..

Code to join
314704-69008

[Sun Shine]

Lol the lil n large strike force didn't do much today, shocking service all match though. Portsmouth were lucky to go to pens though with how useless Fletcher is.

Leeds got their first win of the season yesterday, we haven't lost the first game of the season for something like 17 years now. I thought we weren't going to get anything out the game especially when Scunthorpes keeper droppe the ball over the line but the officials failed to notice.