(UEFA) Football Thread - Football not Soccer

[Hermiod]

More on Ramsey, Arsenal have also had an offer accepted according to BBC Sport.

Being a cynical Gooner, I expect to lose out here unfortunately.

[Hermiod]

FC Porto have been thrown out of next season's Champions League due to the corruption and referee bribery allegations from 2004.

[Hitman]

YAY, Benfica in the Champions League - maybe... not...

[TheArsenal]

The papers are reporting that Ronaldo has broken his silence and expressed a desire to go to Madrid.

Now how long before the claims of "misquoting"?

[Jax]

The problem is Sir Alex will only let him go if he wants and theres nothing Ronaldo can do about that. If I was MAN UTD I would agree a pre deal for next summer of £30-40 million plus Robhino minimum.

[TheArsenal]

Agree. United are not likely to let a goal scorer like that out the door easily. The question is not if he goes. The question is this year? Next? Or at the end of Ferguson's time? And is an unsettled Ronaldo worthwhile? Maybe. I don't like the player, but he showed mental strength to produce when he really didn't want to be in England, the season after The Wink. So I imagine he can shake off not going to his dream club for another year or so.

[Daedalus12]

United fans probably want £100 + Sergio Ramos and Robinho.

[Jax]

Daedalus12 wrote:

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United fans probably want £100 + Sergio Ramos and Robinho.

Ramos is good at going forward but defensive wise he is still lacking and would struggle in the PL. However if he worked hard like Evra he could cut it in England. I don't see Madrid letting him go though.

[Garak]

TheArsenal wrote:

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Agree. United are not likely to let a goal scorer like that out the door easily. The question is not if he goes. The question is this year? Next? Or at the end of Ferguson's time? And is an unsettled Ronaldo worthwhile? Maybe. I don't like the player, but he showed mental strength to produce when he really didn't want to be in England, the season after The Wink. So I imagine he can shake off not going to his dream club for another year or so.

I dunno, I think he might see it as he's put in his time after suffering abuse from fans and having his house vandalized, post Wink. He's put his head down, worked hard and has won ManU some pretty major hardware, I wouldn't be surprised if he feels entitled to a move.

If he wanted to stay in ManU for his career, or put in another year, he would have said it right after he won the CL trophy. Instead he was vague and coy, and now this report comes out. Plus I hear Real is prepared to offer an astounding 300k a week salary - nothing to shake your head at.

[Hitman]

TheArsenal wrote:

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The papers are reporting that Ronaldo has broken his silence and expressed a desire to go to Madrid.

Now how long before the claims of "misquoting"?

Not even misquoting, but complete fabrication. Ronaldo has done one press conferance since he joined the national team after the Champions League.

Scolari said in friday's Euro press conference that Ronaldo won't talk about his fate during the competition. He also went mad at a Spanish reporter that asked if he wasn't being disrespectful with Ferguson about the supposedly recomendation the Portuguese national team coach had given to Ronaldo to go to Real. Scorali said the journalist was the one being a douche as he never said that to Ronaldo.

Meanwhile, in a Portuguese paper, Mourinho stated that if Ronaldo was on the market, Inter should get into the action.

Garak wrote:

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If he wanted to stay in ManU for his career, or put in another year, he would have said it right after he won the CL trophy. Instead he was vague and coy, and now this report comes out. Plus I hear Real is prepared to offer an astounding 300k a week salary - nothing to shake your head at.

Here is the timeline for this whole deal. Back when he played for Sporting, he said that he had a dream of playing for Real Madrid. That was the end of it.

A few days before the Champions League final, he said to a Portuguese TV program that was doing a sort of cribs like episode on several national team players, that he saw his future in Manchester, no matter what the result of the Champions' final.

This is fact. Now I bet this whole soap opera started when his manager saw that on TV and thought, hey wait a minute, he is the best player in the world, so perhaps a pay raise is in order. So he went to Ronaldo and said, next time you speak about the future, be vague, which is exactly what the kid has been doing since.

[Daedalus12]

NX_01 Mark wrote:

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Ramos is good at going forward but defensive wise he is still lacking and would struggle in the PL. However if he worked hard like Evra he could cut it in England. I don't see Madrid letting him go though.

Why do you think he'll struggle? He has the pace and is very strong in the air. He has better technique than a lot of midfield players. As long as he doesn't play the CB he'll be fine defensively. Maybe Ramos of a year ago would be shaky but now he is much more matured in that part of his game. He is a natural successor to Paolo Maldini albeit he plays on the right side and has more scoring nous.

[Jax]

Daedalus12 wrote:

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Why do you think he'll struggle? He has the pace and is very strong in the air. He has better technique than a lot of midfield players. As long as he doesn't play the CB he'll be fine defensively. Maybe Ramos of a year ago would be shaky but now he is much more matured in that part of his game. He is a natural successor to Paolo Maldini albeit he plays on the right side and has more scoring nous.

I just think he's not that great when it comes to actual defending though I do think he's the best defender for Real Madrid & Spain but thats not saying much since both do leak more goals than they should.

[Daedalus12]

NX_01 Mark wrote:

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I just think he's not that great when it comes to actual defending though I do think he's the best defender for Real Madrid & Spain but thats not saying much since both do leak more goals than they should.

Don't be fooled by the number of goals leaked by Real these last 2 years. Casillas is also a top GK along with Buffon and Cech. Real leak goals because they play a risky scheme with very little protection from the midfield. From the half a dozen Real games I've watched this year Ramos is a top quality defender. In two more years he could even become a top quality CB if he can cut down his tendency to make silly tackles. In fact I say CB is the position that he'll become dominant in.

[Daedalus12]

I was pleasantly surprised to hear Andy Gray doing the color commentary during the Germany Poland game. I didn't know ESPN was trying to get the Martin Tyler/Andy Gray combo but in the end only Andy signed up. Finally we are getting better commentators here in the States and I have to applaud ESPN for that. Now just get rid of Julie Foudy. It's a travesty to have her saying absolutely nothing or just downright the wrong things.

[StolenThunder]

^ When I was in the States last I was watching Fox Soccer Channel. They use the international feed for EPL games seemingly, and the commentator was none other than Peter Brackley, probably most known thse days from his Pro Evo commentary. It was really odd!