(UEFA) Football Thread - Football not Soccer
- Thread starter Jax
- Start date
Well so far your optimism is being rewarded, only one game but 4-0 is a great way to start the season. Was it a good game?
I think Forest getting a point at Reading was a good result (sadly
)Was really impressed by us though, to a point. Derby played some of the best passing football I've seen us play in a very long time, but pretty as it was we had one man up front and I feared Peterboro getting a flukey goal, and then we duly oblige with a penalty! Luckily we pretty much went up the other end and scored. Good game, great play, we just need to kill teams off, then play keep ball!I joked with my Villa mate yesterday that I now see they're shopping in the same stores as Hull...don't think that went down well
I think you'll make top 15 easily. Curious about Billy not addressing the defence (have a friend who's a Forest fan saying exactly the same thing) but Bill is a trifle mad sometimes, hence why when we needed central defensive cover, not to mention someone to understudy Howard) Billy went out and bought several midfielders and two full backs
Anyway, Norwich City, worst opening game of the season for any team ever?
Oh look Carlton Cole and Jermain Defoe are in the ENG squad, that makes me feel all warm n fuzzy insideSo OWEN whose been playing in pre-season, looks fit and scoring is not as good as Carlton Cole ?
Scoring a couple of goals against dross in pre-season doesn't entitle you to a place in the squad. Cole and Defoe were better than Owen last season, and get their place on merit. Owen just doesn't fit in with Capello's game plan. Accept it!
Besides, it's only a friendly.
Cardiff and Bristol City will do well as they have signed Motherwell's best players in the last three years. Cardiff have Paul Quinn - who supposedly was excellent last night - while Bristol City have signed Motherwell's best striker since McFadden in Clarkson - who got his season off to a flyer by scoring on his competative debut.
Our game was very good, yes. McCormack, Chopra and McPhail in particular had great games. We got a bit concerned when Ledley went off at half-time - someone had heard a rumour Phil Brown had come to pick him up in his Hullicopter (no, really).
We played a basically a whole new defence other than Mark Kennedy. Anthony Gerrard is already well-thought of in the stands and he had a good game. The new keeper, Marshall, and new captain/CB Hudson were less impressive though. I have no idea why Hudson has been given the armband already over someone like McPhail. Both need to improve on yesterday's performace. No one seems to know why Gabor Gyepes didn't play, but we can call on him for an improved defensive display when needed so it's not too bad. I didn't see too much of Paul Quinn - in fact before his name was read out I've never even heard of him - but he seemed all right. It's not like we had too much defending to do other than the middle of the second half, and even then Marshall had very little taxing work to do.
In all, a very satisfying start to the season and we are top of the league! And Swansea lost as well, which always ignites the atmosphere even more. The new stadium is very nice indeed and will look great when they get round to putting up some pictures and stuff throughout the interior. It felt very much like home, and I'm looking forward to going back for, hopefuily, the Newcastle game. We have an okay first 6 fixtures so I'm looking to still be top 3-4 by October at least.
I was also impressed with BBC's Football League Show. I didn't watch the League One/Two bits as I was too tired, but I thought they covered the talking points nicely and they'll easily give everyone a good amount of time over the season. The number of draws yesterday probably helped them structure their talking points. No idea why they have to do the show in some kind of cave though... Also, it's on iplayer which is a rarity for football shows, so I'll be watching the Norwich 'game' and the Svenvolution later. As ever, BBC put ITV to shame. Their live game was nicely covered too - Shearer didn't take long to lose the management bug did he?
Speaking of Newcastle... David O'Leary? Really? My 22nd prediction will be cast-iron if they appoint him, regardless of their performance yesterday when both teams were
pretending it was a top-tier fixture.
ETA: Did my eyes deceive me, or was the Community Shield actually a really good game for once?
We played a basically a whole new defence other than Mark Kennedy. Anthony Gerrard is already well-thought of in the stands and he had a good game. The new keeper, Marshall, and new captain/CB Hudson were less impressive though. I have no idea why Hudson has been given the armband already over someone like McPhail. Both need to improve on yesterday's performace. No one seems to know why Gabor Gyepes didn't play, but we can call on him for an improved defensive display when needed so it's not too bad. I didn't see too much of Paul Quinn - in fact before his name was read out I've never even heard of him - but he seemed all right. It's not like we had too much defending to do other than the middle of the second half, and even then Marshall had very little taxing work to do.
In all, a very satisfying start to the season and we are top of the league! And Swansea lost as well, which always ignites the atmosphere even more. The new stadium is very nice indeed and will look great when they get round to putting up some pictures and stuff throughout the interior. It felt very much like home, and I'm looking forward to going back for, hopefuily, the Newcastle game. We have an okay first 6 fixtures so I'm looking to still be top 3-4 by October at least.
I was also impressed with BBC's Football League Show. I didn't watch the League One/Two bits as I was too tired, but I thought they covered the talking points nicely and they'll easily give everyone a good amount of time over the season. The number of draws yesterday probably helped them structure their talking points. No idea why they have to do the show in some kind of cave though... Also, it's on iplayer which is a rarity for football shows, so I'll be watching the Norwich 'game' and the Svenvolution later. As ever, BBC put ITV to shame. Their live game was nicely covered too - Shearer didn't take long to lose the management bug did he?
Speaking of Newcastle... David O'Leary? Really? My 22nd prediction will be cast-iron if they appoint him, regardless of their performance yesterday when both teams were
pretending it was a top-tier fixture.
ETA: Did my eyes deceive me, or was the Community Shield actually a really good game for once?
Carlton Cole could score 100 goals in a season and still not make it at International level. Defoe has proven he is not up to this level of football unless hes playing against the lowest 10 in the world.
Capello has ZERO chance of winning a WC if he takes only 1 strker capable of scoring and even then Rooney being that ONE can easily go off the rails and get sent off or lose his way during a match and end up 40 yards away from the actual goal making it impossible for him to score. Owen can play with Heskey and can play with Rooney too.
Friendlies are made to test so I would like know why constant PL performers like Lennon/Noble/Baines/Kirkland are not given chances. He needs to also experiment more at RB for cover so Richards should get a chance after all as a RB hes not that bad.
I didn't think we'd ever see O'Leary managing again...but I guess if Kinnear isn't well enough yet, what is Ashely to do? I still have supicion that Mike Ashely is pulling the worlds most expensive practical joke...imagine how hilarious it would be if Newcastle got releaged out of the FL entirey?
He's going the right way about it. There's a good reason why O'Leary hasn't managed since crawling Villa to mid-table mediocrity back in 2006. Awful, just awful.
St James' Park is a big stadium. I can't imagine it being in a lower league. St Mary's was deserted on Saturday - SJP would be like a graveyard in that division.
St James' Park is a big stadium. I can't imagine it being in a lower league. St Mary's was deserted on Saturday - SJP would be like a graveyard in that division.
^St Mary's has been empty for the past few seasons. Some fans boycotted matches because of the board. I remember when we first got relegated to the Championship the ticket prices stayed the same as wehn we were in the Premiership. But of course in the Prem a "Gold" match would have been say Man Utd, and a "Bronze" match would have been Crystal Palace. Of course in the Championship a "Gold" match now was Palace. Stupid. There's more goodwill now, and I think attendances will be better this season.
Plus we signed Rickie Lambert today who was League One's top goalscorer last season, which was great news.
Plus we signed Rickie Lambert today who was League One's top goalscorer last season, which was great news.
What would of been your ENG squad for wednesday barring FOSTER who is injured (I would of started him) oh and Wilshire has been called into the U21 squad today...
My Team
GK - Hart
GK - James
GK - Green
RB - Johnson, Richards
CB - Ferdinand (c), Terry, Upson, Lescott
LB - A.Cole, Baines
RM - Lennon, Milner
CM - Barry, Lampard, Carrick, Noble
LM - Young, Walcott
FW - Heskey, Rooney, Owen, Crouch
(only reason no Becks we know what he can do and hes still settling back in America).
My Team
GK - Hart
GK - James
GK - Green
RB - Johnson, Richards
CB - Ferdinand (c), Terry, Upson, Lescott
LB - A.Cole, Baines
RM - Lennon, Milner
CM - Barry, Lampard, Carrick, Noble
LM - Young, Walcott
FW - Heskey, Rooney, Owen, Crouch
(only reason no Becks we know what he can do and hes still settling back in America).
Gerrard has pulled out of the squad.
What. A. Shock.
What. A. Shock.
Tottenham try to get around ban.
Because Bassong started his ban by missing Newcastle's last game, Spurs are claiming that by missing the Newcastle game against West Brom on Saturday he's served his time. Despite the fact that he signed for Spurs last Thursday.
That's terrible behaviour. Cards are a punishment served on the player, not on the club. He should miss the games wherever he plays.
Because Bassong started his ban by missing Newcastle's last game, Spurs are claiming that by missing the Newcastle game against West Brom on Saturday he's served his time. Despite the fact that he signed for Spurs last Thursday.
That's terrible behaviour. Cards are a punishment served on the player, not on the club. He should miss the games wherever he plays.
Even though I'm a Liverpool fan and would rather see him banned, this isn't the first time this has happened. It's slight gamesmanship, because they delayed entering the documents, but there's not a lot that can be done.
Who's this Alberto Aquilani that Liverpool have signed? Don't know much about him, but I doubt he's an adequate replacement for Alonso.
ManU are apparently done with their summer transfers. Thought that Ronaldo dosh wasn't going to pay off the debt and be used for players?
Roman Abramovich, aka Uncle Oil, is flying to Munich to try and pry Ribery away from Munich. What a solid owner this guy is, who really does everything he can to help his team win. You can tell he cares, it's absolutely inspiring to see. Clubs would be better off with excellent owners such as this man.Link.
Meanwhile, no one wants to come and play for Arsenal including former captain Patrick Viera.link Truly, Arsenal is just a minnow in a sea of big fish - Newcastle part deux.
ManU are apparently done with their summer transfers. Thought that Ronaldo dosh wasn't going to pay off the debt and be used for players?
Roman Abramovich, aka Uncle Oil, is flying to Munich to try and pry Ribery away from Munich. What a solid owner this guy is, who really does everything he can to help his team win. You can tell he cares, it's absolutely inspiring to see. Clubs would be better off with excellent owners such as this man.Link.
Meanwhile, no one wants to come and play for Arsenal including former captain Patrick Viera.link Truly, Arsenal is just a minnow in a sea of big fish - Newcastle part deux.
Well, in all fairness it probably hasn't paid off (all) the debt.ManU are apparently done with their summer transfers. Thought that Ronaldo dosh wasn't going to pay off the debt and be used for players?
Drop in the bucket, no doubt.Well, in all fairness it probably hasn't paid off (all) the debt.ManU are apparently done with their summer transfers. Thought that Ronaldo dosh wasn't going to pay off the debt and be used for players?
Technically aren't US taxpayers subsidizing AIG's sponsorship of United? Too funny.
