2013/2014 Soccer/Football Thread

[Ernesto]

His handball against Ghana. I belive this is karma.

Wait, you don't actually believe his handball was deserving of a bigger punishment, right? I mean I can understand rooting for the underdog, but what Suárez did was basically give a second shot to his goalkeeper while missing the semifinals because of that. I believe any player of any country would've done the same in the context he was in, because if it was goal they had to go home right there. It's really not different from any other foul attempting to prevent the opponent from scoring...

I feel like there are way too many people that see handballs as worse than sliding fouls for some reason, even if that's not your case. Mostly because this wasn't the first time someone commented on that play.

 

[Imanalt]

ESPN this morning was reporting here at least that Suarez underwent minor knee surgery and had a good chance to still play every game of the world cup, although that could just them being dumb as usual...

 

[SuperScizor]

Wait, you don't actually believe his handball was deserving of a bigger punishment, right?

Nah to be honest I'd probably do it myself if I had the chance but obviously it was unfair.

 

[ModestGarchomp]

At the moment it looks like Kroos is going to leave Bayern. The Bayern president said that they will not offer more money than they did in January which kroos rejected. They said that they are going to have more talks but I really hope he stays because he is more important to the team than the contract that they offered.

...but then I see articles like these http://www.theguardian.com/football...-interest-toni-kroos-bayern-munich?CMP=twt_gu

If Van gaal uses the 433 then Kroos would be perfect.
______________________________
There are some youth tournaments going on atm well one and one finished a couple days ago.

England won the U17 tournament with the help of Chelsea prospect dominic solanke(who won the golden boot) He also won the the Youth cup with Chelsea scoring 2 late goals for chelsea to beat Fulham. He scored 20 goals for the u18s in 28 appearances.

Then there is an interview with patrick bamford. http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/21/patrick-bamford-derby-county-qpr-chelsea

The interesting part was where he met mourinho and what they are planning for the future/next season.

 

[SuperScizor]

Not sure about having Bamford as our third choice striker(if all our current strikes leave and we sign Costa and Lukaku stays for next season), the guy is still very young and needs as much game time as possible. I'd love it if we loaned him to a team like Crystal Palace, though. Same goes for Thorgan Hazard, but I feel like Everton would be a better destination for him.
ModestGarchomp

 

[shade]

i have the gut feeling that we'll do uruguay suarez or not, dunno why. think its just me getting all england fan in the run up to the wc.

gutted though, want suarez to play in the world cup, the whole point is to see the world's top players slug it out. bet its all bullshit anyway and he'll only be out for like 2 weeks.

 

[No Luck Involved]

Hart;
Johnson, Cahill, Jagielka, Baines;
Wilshere, Gerrard, Lampard;
Sturridge, Rooney, Welbeck.

This is the England XI if you believe in squad numbers. It is very attacking and not the kind of risky move I expected from Hodgeson but it's a pleasant surprise. I probably shouldn't have been surprised so much because he did play that front three when all were fit. 3 strikers up front is bold but it's nice and shows he's willing to let the full backs be very attacking while it also means it will be hard for opposing defences to handle if they swap positions and pull defences around. I'm not mad at managers when they take a big risk but one that could actually succeed so here's hoping! Ox, Sterling, Barkley or Lallana are all exciting options from the bench so I'm happy.

 

[Nosferalto]

bet its all bullshit anyway and he'll only be out for like 2 weeks.

Luis Suarez had injured the meniscus of his knee in training yesterday and has underwent a surgery today. Everything went well, and he is expected to be back in 2 weeks.

Luis Suarez: "I am feeling great, ready to run. Everybody be calm! I'm going to make it to the World Cup. Thank you for all the messages of support."

 

[Eagle4]

Hart;
Johnson, Cahill, Jagielka, Baines;
Wilshere, Gerrard, Lampard;
Sturridge, Rooney, Welbeck.

This is the England XI if you believe in squad numbers. It is very attacking and not the kind of risky move I expected from Hodgeson but it's a pleasant surprise. I probably shouldn't have been surprised so much because he did play that front three when all were fit. 3 strikers up front is bold but it's nice and shows he's willing to let the full backs be very attacking while it also means it will be hard for opposing defences to handle if they swap positions and pull defences around. I'm not mad at managers when they take a big risk but one that could actually succeed so here's hoping! Ox, Sterling, Barkley or Lallana are all exciting options from the bench so I'm happy.

I really hope not

------------Hart-------------
Johnson-Cahill-Jagielka-Baines
-----Gerrard--Henderson-----
--Lallana--Rooney--Sterling--
----------Sturridge----------

Is a much better squad with a great mix of youth and experience, and allows for more attacking play. Lampard and Gerrard do not belong in the same team. It also includes players in form (so no Wilshere or Welbeck) and there's more flow and understanding due to the abundance of Liverpool players (all who are deserving of their place in the XI).

This would be my choice to start against Italy, but Hodgson won't choose it because he's so goddamn conservative.

 

[SuperScizor]

Welcome back Eagle4

 

[Imanalt]

Us announced final 23 man squad today, no landon donovan is a bit of a surprise, signals a more defensive approach from klinsmann which makes sense against germany and portugal, would have liked to see donovan against ghana though

 

[Shiv]

Sagna has apparently signed with City for something close to 150k a week on a 3-year deal. Happy he got a big payday, glad we didn't pay anything like that.

 

[SuperScizor]

Elsewhere, PSG and Bayern are pursuing David Luiz. Sources say that we have accepted an offer worth 50m but that's probably bs. 40M seems much more legit.
If we get over 30m for him, I will regard that as amazing piece of business. Bite their hands off.

Edit: Sky sports are now reporting it. Safe to say he is off. Will miss him because of how good of a person he was.

 

[No Luck Involved]

Barry, Lescott and Pantilimon released by City; Lampard, Cole and Eto released by Chelsea; Evra signs new Utd deal... There are some surprises in there! Although Lamps might still get another deal later in the summer Carlton Cole style when Chelsea come crawling back... It'll be interesting to see who snaps up these old but still decent players!

 

[Eagle4]

A real shame Chelsea aren't giving Lampard a new contract (as of yet), he's a legend and provides great experience in important matches. I still think he has plenty to offer, it's not like he's completely useless due to his age. Even if he's not at the club by the start of next season, I'll wear his name on my Chelsea shirt!

Surprised Pantilimon is released, I rate the guy and he's gonna be great for whatever team he goes to as long as he gets first team football. At a club like City, Barry and Lescott are deadweight and I'm glad that Everton now have the chance to grab Barry on a permanent deal, he was class for them last season. Crystal Palace look a lot weaker now with all the players they've released (Speroni, Gabbidon, Dikgacoi) and if they don't replace Chamakh then I see them going down with little fight next season. Full list of Premier League released players here

The 50m Luiz deal looks to be going ahead which is great news for us, I like Luiz and want him to have more playing time, but he is certainly not worth 50m so Chelsea have got a great deal out of that. And here's a thought - imagine a PSG defence consisting of Dani Alves, Luiz and Silva... scary.

Bold early transfer predictions:

• Costa to snub Chelsea, Chelsea turn to Cavani instead
  
• Arsenal grab Fabregas but miss out on Di Maria and Benzema
• Benatia snubs M.City, stays at Roma
  
• United unable to replace Vidic and Ferdinand with a great enough defence, United become Blackpool and score just as many as they concede
  
• Arsenal to get Remy ahead of Liverpool, Remy flops
• Suarez stays at Liverpool, racially abuses an Asian referee, bites a child mascot's ear and then transfers to Real Madrid in January

 

[phalanx]

Sideshow Bob - the most expensive clown in the world

 

[SuperScizor]

We are ignoring the fact that in just 6 months Mourinho has racked up almost 100m for 3 squad players.
Mata 37m; Luiz 50m; De Bruyne 20m.

 

[HBK]

Mata should'nt have been sold and De Bruyne shouldn't have been bought. Luiz's sale actually makes sense. Also, "Abramovich considering sacking Mourinho and replacing him with Simeone" rumors have been going around lol.

 

[Shiv]

Ridiculous. Luiz for 40 (or even 50) million is mad. Think on it. He's more expensive than Mata or Ozil. Hell, he isn't even the best defender available out there.

PSG are idiots of the first order. Well done Chelsea.

 

[SuperScizor]

Mata should'nt have been sold and De Bruyne shouldn't have been bought. Luiz's sale actually makes sense. Also, "Abramovich considering sacking Mourinho and replacing him with Simeone" rumors have been going around lol.

Mata should been sold. De Bruyne not.

 

[Nosferalto]

You've got to give it to Chelsea. They used to be like PSG and Man city when Abramovic first took over but now it looks like their brand can be sustainable in the long run. Maybe that's what Man city are aiming to do. Spend crazy to win trophies to get yourself lucrative sponsorship deals and increase your fan base and in around 10 years you can start to make a profit when your squad is good enough and you have a ''big club'' revenue.

 

[SuperScizor]

Since we hired Michael Emenalo, we haven't overpaid for players, we have sold for good prices too. Excellent job.

 

[Eagle4]

Got a £20 bet with a friend on QPR beating Derby.

Also, prediction on the Madrid final: Real Madrid 2-0 Atletico Madrid
Benzema to bag a brace

 

[Imanalt]

rip derby

 

[ModestGarchomp]

That was just cruel.

GPR win was as lucky as it gets.