(UEFA) Football Thread - Football not Soccer

[Hermiod]

Jax wrote:

---

Didn't know that maybe he should buy hin to partner Fabregas in midfield if they fail to land Barry or Alonso in summer. Noble is a very good player

I don't know if Arsené will ever put his money where his mouth is on one of these English central midfielders he likes, but Noble would be welcome at the Emirates.

Angel4576 wrote:

---

Anyone see Bellamy's interview after the Wales Vs Finland game?

Bellamy was obviosuly disappointed in the immediate aftermath, but he specifically stated that Finland "Weren't a good team" and that Johannsen "Isn't a good enough player to score". Seems a little sour grapes-ish to me. Finland were easily worthy winners.

Brilliant goal from Ballack for their first of four against Lichtenstein.

Well, apparently, Tomalak did.

Bellamy is a clueless moron, plain and simple. Johannson scored plenty of Premier League goals while he was with Charlton, so scoring against Wales is a step down for him.

[Starkers]

Shearer taking charge of Newcastle...feels like an April Fool but the story does seem to be everywhere...

[Tomalak]

I will laugh all summer long if Big Al takes them down.

Joe Kinnear, Alan Shearer and Ian Dowie. A managerial dream team.

[dragunzng]

Freaking international breaks. They leave for two weeks and half of our players come back in bandages.

Hopefully Van Persie and Bendtner will be able to shake it off for the Man City game. Diaby... well he'll just get broken again anyway.

[Jax]

Southampton are set to go into adminstration, which will surley send them down along with Charlton giving FOREST a huge boost and now we can focus on the last place instead of worrying about Southampton...Despite this Ihate the 10 point rule, its leaves clubs worse off so they fall even further down into debt.

ENG tonight and am going for 2-1 win.

[HappyDayRiot]

Tomalak wrote:

---

I will laugh all summer long if Big Al takes them down.

Joe Kinnear, Alan Shearer and Ian Dowie. A managerial dream team.

IF!? It's a question of when. The only saving grace for them is that Iain Dowie can't dip into the transfer market this time!

I'm not convinced I'd like to see Newcastle go down... but they're making it far too tempting to wish for this. Absolute joke.

[Jax]

Well ENG was a game of two halves with a decent enough 1st half peformance but my god did we lose the plot in the 2nd half. Too many sloppy passes, uneeded fouls (yes you Barry) and no tempo or pace what to speak off after Lennon went off.

My Ratings

James (6) - Has done nothing to convince anyone he should be number 1 and despite not needing too do much he still found time to make his one mistake by misjudging a shot and only just getting away with it.

Johnson (6.5) - Tried to make forwards runs but with little impact and ruined a decent 1st half display with a shaky last 45 minutes with included needless fouls and a stupid yellow card.

Terry (7.5) - Didn't have much to do but along with Ferdinand, should of done better to organise the defence for Ukraine's goal. However set up a goal and scored other one to lead by example.

Ferdinand (7) - Same really as Terry minus any goal support of course but his back is becoming a major worry, England cannot afford anymore cropped players

A.Cole (6.5) - Pretty much same as Johnson and after a decent display in 1st half, erratic passing and lapses in concentration didn't help him push his cause with the fans. Best defender going forward but had little impact mainly due to no one trying to link up with him forcing him to punt the ball forward

Lennon (7) - Didn't get much of the ball but when he did, he looked a real threat and apart from one bad ball his crossing was much much better. However needs to be more vocal and demand the ball more.

Barry (5.5) - Unimpressive and gave away too many needless fouls by holding players but failed to learn from his mistakes and got booked. His passing wasn't there and failed to help England pick up a faster tempo in the middle

Lampard (6) - Clearly doesn't like being on a tight leash for home games and while he produced a tidy display didn't look like the player he is for Chelsea.

Gerrard (6) - Started well but as the match wore on he looked tired and dissapered from the match. When it comes to playing the top 15 teams in the world he cannot get away with being on the left flank and Capello needs to put him in the middle.

Rooney (8) - Our best player by a mile though dipped in the last 20 minutes but still was involved in most of the play and unlucky maybe not too sneak a goal in the 1st half. Struggled to play with Crouch however and still lacks that yard of pace he had before the 2006 World Cup.

Crouch (6.5) - Tried hard and did well with the goal but his lack of strength makes his height almost useless. Clearly not the man to partner Rooney up front but is still worth the squad place.

SUBS...

Beckham (6) - Never got into the game and with Crouch starting, I felt he should of began the game. Didn't get many chances to put those crosses in but still was involved in the goal with a trademark pass.

SWP & JAG - N/A

[Starkers]

Tomalak wrote:

---

I will laugh all summer long if Big Al takes them down.

Joe Kinnear, Alan Shearer and Ian Dowie. A managerial dream team.

You have to give Shearer his due for picking probably the best moment to take the job on. Keeps em up he's even more of a hero than before, they go down...well he only had 8 games and they were in the shit anyway.

Be interesting to see if he gets the job full time if he keeps them up...

[TheArsenal]

Let’s see … Newcastle are on 29 points, two points from Blackburn, and have this run in:

April 4: home against Chelsea
April 11: at Stoke.
April 19: at Spurs.
April 27: home against Portsmouth.
May 2: at Liverpool.
May 9: home against Boro.
May 16: home against Fulham.
May 24: at Villa.

Tough. Chelsea and Pool, with three teams in that 8 fighting for survival, and Villa (however unlikely) potentially still in it for 4th. Blackburn's run in strikes me as a touch easier. My money’s on Michael Owen being the Championship's best paid footballer.

[Tomalak]

I really hope Newcastle do stay up. Okay, seeing them relegated will be amusing for a few months, but they will provide lasting entertainment if their soap opera is allowed to continue in the top flight.

Assuming West Brom and Boro are down, I'd rather see Blackburn join them. Fat Sam's at the wheel, and he's managed to make Mark Hughes' collection of despicable cheats even worse with the mere addition of El Hadji Diouf. Failing that, Stoke can fuck off. As much as Tony Pulis' baseball caps amuse me, they add nothing.

[HappyDayRiot]

^ I've been saying that about Stoke all season but dammit they're just too good at home. West Brom are good as gone already so the other team I'd like to see go would be either Blackburn, for the same reasons you put, and Boro - but only if someone takes their place as 'the little team who beat a top 4 side once a season and make them look stupid'.

[Hermiod]

Personally, I just base who I want to see go down on how they behaved against us in our games against them.

Stoke - Time wasting dirty thugs who can only score goals by taking throw ins as if they were corners. I really would like to know why they are allowed to take so long to take a throw in.

Blackburn - El Hadji Diouf's "tackle" on Manuel Almunia and Morten Gamst Pedersen's hideous penalty area dive = bye bye for me.

Bolton - Does anyone other than Kevin Davies even score for them anymore ?

West Brom - Played good attacking football against us in both games and gave us a run for our money. Barely any bookings either. This may be unrealistic, but I hope they stay up or, at least, they don't sack Tony Mobray if they go down.

Middlesbrough - I know Gareth Southgate used to be a center half but seriously, come out of your box occasionally Boro!

Newcastle - Sentimentality will get you nowhere in this game and eventually, defensive thuggery catches up with you. Bye.

Portsmouth - You can see that they're trying to play football properly. Hopefully they'll stay up.

Sunderland - I'm not sure how much longer the team of Championship players Roy Keane has strung together and Ricky Spragia has inherited can hold out.

And finally, my favourites - Hull. Fuck off back to the Championship you dirty, time wasting, cheating, moaning, lying miserable bunch of fuckers.

[TheArsenal]

Hermiod wrote:

---

And finally, my favourites - Hull. Fuck off back to the Championship you dirty, time wasting, cheating, moaning, lying miserable bunch of fuckers.

It's funny how in the fall - despite the loss to them - I was praising Hull for coming up and not being afraid to actually play some football. But that was then, this is now. I've had about enough of that Orange Bastard Phil Brown. Current Exhibit A in how not to act when under pressure. I want them to stick around to beat up on one more season, see the Orange Bastard get sacked, then send them down.

[TheArsenal]

And in other news: Sven-Goran Eriksson's Mexican holiday has come to an end after leading Mexico to another loss.

[Iasius]

I just love this goal (Wolfsburg vs Bayern): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUvzatmuEyw



I can't stop replaying this one.


Edit: The video has been removed. It was the goal by grafite that made it 5-1 in the 77nd minute.