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2014/15 Association Football (Soccer) thread
- Thread starter SuperScizor
- Start date
- Status
he's only doubtful for Everton and then there's an international break for like 2 weeks
fucking awful draw lmao
predicts:
GROUP A
Atlético
Juventus
Olympiacos
Malmö
pretty straight forward here, not too many tough predicts
GROUP B
Real Madrid
Liverpool
Basel
Ludogorets
again basically picks itself lol
GROUP C
Leverkusen
Monaco
Benfica
Zenit
This one is really hard to pick, basically any of the four teams could finish anywhere
GROUP D
Dortmund
Arsenal
Galatasaray
Anderlecht
Dortmund pretty consistently does better than arsenal, but arsenal should be better than gala (much as it pains me to say it)
GROUP E
Bayern
Man. City
Roma
CSKA Moskva
Fucking group of death, roma being in pot 4 was just dumb
GROUP F
Barcelona
PSG
Ajax
APOEL
There are gonna be a ton of great games in this group, basically anything not involving APOEL...
GROUP G
Chelsea
Schalke
Sporting
Maribor
Again really straightforward
GROUP H
Porto
Athletic
BATE
Shakhtar Donetsk
Porto vs Athletic could go either way, bielsa leaving gives the edge to porto imo, also fuck shakhtar
predicts:
GROUP A
Atlético
Juventus
Olympiacos
Malmö
pretty straight forward here, not too many tough predicts
GROUP B
Real Madrid
Liverpool
Basel
Ludogorets
again basically picks itself lol
GROUP C
Leverkusen
Monaco
Benfica
Zenit
This one is really hard to pick, basically any of the four teams could finish anywhere
GROUP D
Dortmund
Arsenal
Galatasaray
Anderlecht
Dortmund pretty consistently does better than arsenal, but arsenal should be better than gala (much as it pains me to say it)
GROUP E
Bayern
Man. City
Roma
CSKA Moskva
Fucking group of death, roma being in pot 4 was just dumb
GROUP F
Barcelona
PSG
Ajax
APOEL
There are gonna be a ton of great games in this group, basically anything not involving APOEL...
GROUP G
Chelsea
Schalke
Sporting
Maribor
Again really straightforward
GROUP H
Porto
Athletic
BATE
Shakhtar Donetsk
Porto vs Athletic could go either way, bielsa leaving gives the edge to porto imo, also fuck shakhtar
I predict things too
Group A
Atletico
Juve
Olympiacos
Malmö
Obvious result is obvious
Group B
Real Madrid
Basel
Liverpool
Ludogorets
I don't know why, but somehow I believe in Basel :D
Group C
Zenit
Benfica
Leverkusen
Monaco
Zenit on top because I support Zenit. Other three are chosen randomly. Realistically, however, there are 4 equal teams here (don't look at how we played last year, we're much better now), and I have no clue how this will end
Group D
Dortmund
Arsenal
Anderlecht
Galatasaray
Gut feeling, although the choices were between 1-2 (Dortmund-Arsenal) and 3-4 (Galatasaray-Anderlecht)
Group E
Bayern
Roma
Manchester City
CSKA
CSKA are ded, lol
Group F
Barcelona
PSG
Ajax
APOEL
I just hope that APOEL do not repeat their climb to quarter-finals, because I don't like APOEL
Group G
Chelsea
Sporting
Schalke
Maribor
Another easy draw for Chelsea. I have no clue who will end second of Sporting and Schalke, though
Group H
Porto
Athletic
Shakhtar Donetsk
BATE
I just put the teams in the order of how good they are on paper, although every one of them could give a surprise performance (both surprisingly good or surprisingly disappointing)
Group A
Atletico
Juve
Olympiacos
Malmö
Obvious result is obvious
Group B
Real Madrid
Basel
Liverpool
Ludogorets
I don't know why, but somehow I believe in Basel :D
Group C
Zenit
Benfica
Leverkusen
Monaco
Zenit on top because I support Zenit. Other three are chosen randomly. Realistically, however, there are 4 equal teams here (don't look at how we played last year, we're much better now), and I have no clue how this will end
Group D
Dortmund
Arsenal
Anderlecht
Galatasaray
Gut feeling, although the choices were between 1-2 (Dortmund-Arsenal) and 3-4 (Galatasaray-Anderlecht)
Group E
Bayern
Roma
Manchester City
CSKA
CSKA are ded, lol
Group F
Barcelona
PSG
Ajax
APOEL
I just hope that APOEL do not repeat their climb to quarter-finals, because I don't like APOEL
Group G
Chelsea
Sporting
Schalke
Maribor
Another easy draw for Chelsea. I have no clue who will end second of Sporting and Schalke, though
Group H
Porto
Athletic
Shakhtar Donetsk
BATE
I just put the teams in the order of how good they are on paper, although every one of them could give a surprise performance (both surprisingly good or surprisingly disappointing)
destinyunknown
Banned deucer.
I basically predicted 90% of the draw before it was chosen... so many restrictions make it really easy to predict and doesn't leave many options. The groups look so similar to last year.
Predictions:
GROUP A
Atlético
Juventus
Olympiacos
Malmö
easy group, easy to predict, if Juventus fail this year I don't know what to say
GROUP B
Real Madrid
Liverpool
Basel
Ludogorets
another easy group really...
GROUP C
Leverkusen
Monaco
Benfica
Zenit
Benfica have lost many players and looks pretty weak this year, not counting on them to do much. Monaco have started the season poorly and have lost their best player, while Leverkusen looks really strong and Zenit usually performs well on the group stage. Shouldn't be easy for any team but to be honest this group doesn't look all that even.
GROUP D
Dortmund
Arsenal
Galatasaray
Anderlecht
Anderlecht is weak, and Galatasaray is worse than last year. Arsenal and Dortmund should advance easily, only question is who will top the group, and while Dortmund looks the favorite, it isn't that clear.
GROUP E
Bayern
Man. City
Roma
CSKA Moskva
I actually see Roma advancing, but instead of who? To say that Bayern will be eliminated at this stage is laughable, and despite City's struggles in the Champions League, they've started the season well and have looked extremely strong since 2014 started. If Benatia hadn't left and Strootman wasn't injured, I would predict Roma to advance instead of City, but as things stand, they look a step behind right now. Still, this should be a tight group and if Strootman and Manolas get in form early enough, they can advance.
GROUP F
Barcelona
PSG
Ajax
APOEL
Easy group for Barcelona and PSG. Ajax isn't really a strong side and I don't even see them getting the 3rd position easily, APOEL has a chance to qualify for Europa League.
GROUP G
Chelsea
Schalke
Sporting
Maribor
Sporting is a decent side but Schalke looks stronger, both can advance though. Chelsea should top the group easily.
GROUP H
Porto
Athletic
BATE
Shakhtar Donetsk
Second most interesting group after E, there are 3 good teams here and they look even. Athletic is in very good form and I think they'll advance, Porto looks strong this year and as long as Jackson Martinez doesn't leave (he finally isn't right?) they should advance as well.
Predictions:
GROUP A
Atlético
Juventus
Olympiacos
Malmö
easy group, easy to predict, if Juventus fail this year I don't know what to say
GROUP B
Real Madrid
Liverpool
Basel
Ludogorets
another easy group really...
GROUP C
Leverkusen
Monaco
Benfica
Zenit
Benfica have lost many players and looks pretty weak this year, not counting on them to do much. Monaco have started the season poorly and have lost their best player, while Leverkusen looks really strong and Zenit usually performs well on the group stage. Shouldn't be easy for any team but to be honest this group doesn't look all that even.
GROUP D
Dortmund
Arsenal
Galatasaray
Anderlecht
Anderlecht is weak, and Galatasaray is worse than last year. Arsenal and Dortmund should advance easily, only question is who will top the group, and while Dortmund looks the favorite, it isn't that clear.
GROUP E
Bayern
Man. City
Roma
CSKA Moskva
I actually see Roma advancing, but instead of who? To say that Bayern will be eliminated at this stage is laughable, and despite City's struggles in the Champions League, they've started the season well and have looked extremely strong since 2014 started. If Benatia hadn't left and Strootman wasn't injured, I would predict Roma to advance instead of City, but as things stand, they look a step behind right now. Still, this should be a tight group and if Strootman and Manolas get in form early enough, they can advance.
GROUP F
Barcelona
PSG
Ajax
APOEL
Easy group for Barcelona and PSG. Ajax isn't really a strong side and I don't even see them getting the 3rd position easily, APOEL has a chance to qualify for Europa League.
GROUP G
Chelsea
Schalke
Sporting
Maribor
Sporting is a decent side but Schalke looks stronger, both can advance though. Chelsea should top the group easily.
GROUP H
Porto
Athletic
BATE
Shakhtar Donetsk
Second most interesting group after E, there are 3 good teams here and they look even. Athletic is in very good form and I think they'll advance, Porto looks strong this year and as long as Jackson Martinez doesn't leave (he finally isn't right?) they should advance as well.
Group C is the best group for me. Any of the teams in that group could go through.
Group E looks good as well but CSKA are going to be like marseille was last season but Roma, City and Bayern should produce fantastic games.
Would of loved it if Malmö joined the PSG Barca group. Zlatan playing all his former Clubs would have been fantastic.
it's such a shame that Conte left Juve as the matCh up against Atletico would have been even greater.
Nice group for Chelsea and I think all the spanish sides should finish on top of their respective groups.
Group E looks good as well but CSKA are going to be like marseille was last season but Roma, City and Bayern should produce fantastic games.
Would of loved it if Malmö joined the PSG Barca group. Zlatan playing all his former Clubs would have been fantastic.
it's such a shame that Conte left Juve as the matCh up against Atletico would have been even greater.
Nice group for Chelsea and I think all the spanish sides should finish on top of their respective groups.
Group C is the most interesting for me, four teams who all could look at the group and think realistically they can get through. My call at this stage would be Bayer Leverkusen and Zenit. The other groups pretty much all have favourites.
Chelsea get an easy group again, they're the new Utd! Looking at the groups now and how it could unfold, I fully expect Chelsea to reach the quarter finals as a minimum because they're unlikely to meet a strong team in the second round and my bet would be the semis if not the final. Honestly Chelsea can do it this time and not in a Stoke-goes-to-Europe style like last time.
It would be nice if Arsenal could top the group for once, we haven't done that in a few seasons now and got bad draws as a result. If Wilshere regains his quality slowly but surely then we will have a formidable midfield with Ramsey now pretty much a £40mil player. I know Wenger won't sign a top quality striker so I'm just hoping he signs a centre back because right now we have just two CBs + Chambers a 19 yr old who played there 3 times and done well...
Chelsea get an easy group again, they're the new Utd! Looking at the groups now and how it could unfold, I fully expect Chelsea to reach the quarter finals as a minimum because they're unlikely to meet a strong team in the second round and my bet would be the semis if not the final. Honestly Chelsea can do it this time and not in a Stoke-goes-to-Europe style like last time.
It would be nice if Arsenal could top the group for once, we haven't done that in a few seasons now and got bad draws as a result. If Wilshere regains his quality slowly but surely then we will have a formidable midfield with Ramsey now pretty much a £40mil player. I know Wenger won't sign a top quality striker so I'm just hoping he signs a centre back because right now we have just two CBs + Chambers a 19 yr old who played there 3 times and done well...
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idk if its just me being salty but this legit looks like the weakest group stage in a long time
Lol honestly to me it looks strong. No AC or Inter who have both gone to shit so thats good and no Utd either. Less big names I guess. But Bilbao, Roma and Liverpool are better and exciting teams to replace them, the Cl looks better this year.
What is going on at Leeds, no matter how much money the owner is ploughing in it can't be good for the club when he's a mad man. He's trying to call all the shots, stepping on toes, offending people, hired a manager with no experience, fired him, and you have to wonder where is he trying to go? It just feels like the Championship has been taken over by clueless owners with more money than sense treating it like a video game.
Alonso to Bayern is a surprise. I can't help but think that Liverpool are suffering a bit in the transfer market because of their fantastic, progressive, young manager. Imagine if Guardiola was at Liverpool instead, this is purely hypothetical but I could imagine Alonso having had a thought about a perfect swansong playing for Liverpool with Gerrard against RM. Would Alexis Sanchez have turned them down? Would Falcao have turned them down? What about Reus? The top players want to play for the big name managers and right now Brendan Rodgers is a bit of a nobody despite showing top talent at the job.
Lastly it's back to England... Hodgeson... <sigh>... ... Basically it's the same old shit. Why the fuck has Chambers been called up? Do you even know where you want to play him? He's literally just there because he moved to a top 4 team, it's a joke, I actually wish Welbeck moves to Hull or somewhere to sit on the bench just to see Hodgeson writhing in his own unreconcilable retarded selection logic. Players who haven't even played a full season, who aren't even first choice at their clubs does my head in. Stones and Townsend have literally done nothing yet, while it's all well and good calling up Colback and Delph but what's wrong with Noble? He's performed at the top level for years now, captain of West Ham, he's still young and reaching his prime in an area where England are desperately short. I'm just gonna stop there cos I could go on and on but my god I need to stop paying attention to England team news cos it's just a house of retardation.
Alonso to Bayern is a surprise. I can't help but think that Liverpool are suffering a bit in the transfer market because of their fantastic, progressive, young manager. Imagine if Guardiola was at Liverpool instead, this is purely hypothetical but I could imagine Alonso having had a thought about a perfect swansong playing for Liverpool with Gerrard against RM. Would Alexis Sanchez have turned them down? Would Falcao have turned them down? What about Reus? The top players want to play for the big name managers and right now Brendan Rodgers is a bit of a nobody despite showing top talent at the job.
Lastly it's back to England... Hodgeson... <sigh>... ... Basically it's the same old shit. Why the fuck has Chambers been called up? Do you even know where you want to play him? He's literally just there because he moved to a top 4 team, it's a joke, I actually wish Welbeck moves to Hull or somewhere to sit on the bench just to see Hodgeson writhing in his own unreconcilable retarded selection logic. Players who haven't even played a full season, who aren't even first choice at their clubs does my head in. Stones and Townsend have literally done nothing yet, while it's all well and good calling up Colback and Delph but what's wrong with Noble? He's performed at the top level for years now, captain of West Ham, he's still young and reaching his prime in an area where England are desperately short. I'm just gonna stop there cos I could go on and on but my god I need to stop paying attention to England team news cos it's just a house of retardation.
Wait hold on did you really just write an entire paragraph on everything hodgson is doing wrong and not mention ENGLAND INTERNATIONAL DANNY ROSE? i have no issue calling up youth, its a game that doesnt matter, but why are people like rose who are established to not be international quality getting callups...
Rose isn't a major concern for me, we have Baines, (hopefully) Gibbs and Shaw. Rose is the same as Walker in my book, not great but not bad, and at least he has a full season under his belt. I'm all for players who have worked hard, improved, and broke into the first team to be a regular, if they're too shit for international then we're just too shit as a country I'm afraid.
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Some very funny Mario Balotelli bets available on BetFair:
Can't put on his bib during the warm up:...................... Evens
Hands in a transfer request:....................................... 7/1
Plays Santa at the Liverpool FC Christmas party:........ 8/1
Celebrates with the "Why always me" this season: ....10/1
Receives fines totaling £250k:.................................. 16/1
Attacks a referee with vanishing spray: .....................25/1
Gets sent off on his L'pool debut:............................. 33/1
Has a firework related accident:............................... 33/1
Punches a teammate in a match:............................ 50/1
Bites a player during a match: .................................66/1
I'm gonna stop spamming this thread now I promise...
Can't put on his bib during the warm up:...................... Evens
Hands in a transfer request:....................................... 7/1
Plays Santa at the Liverpool FC Christmas party:........ 8/1
Celebrates with the "Why always me" this season: ....10/1
Receives fines totaling £250k:.................................. 16/1
Attacks a referee with vanishing spray: .....................25/1
Gets sent off on his L'pool debut:............................. 33/1
Has a firework related accident:............................... 33/1
Punches a teammate in a match:............................ 50/1
Bites a player during a match: .................................66/1
I'm gonna stop spamming this thread now I promise...
Least talented England squad for a long time,that being said NLI, Chambers should have been picked based on talent for the World Cup but I guess Johnson was chosen because of experience. Right now it is time to be handing debuts and Chambers is good enough as we saw last season and he has put in some good shifts already. I can't name a better RB who is English except possibly Clyne but Chambers was keeping him out of Southampton last season. I must disagree on Noble, he isn't good enough either, Jack Colback has played well so far this season so he has earned a call up too. Cannot begin to imagine what the team will look like, but It will doubtless be awful with at least three talented individuals in a position they don't play.
Have you ever seen rose play? He is nowhere near as decent as walker. He's a really mediocre player. Rose will never play in a serious match for england. How does it make sense to play guys who are older and will never be good rather than giving chances to young guys who could be good...
nli in simple terms whats going on is we're going up shit creek and we don't have a fucking boat let alone a paddle
glad hockaday is gone, the guy was not a good enough manager for what we need. still, no matter who we get, we will have a fucking shit squad. not looking forward to the next 5 years as a leeds united fan.
glad hockaday is gone, the guy was not a good enough manager for what we need. still, no matter who we get, we will have a fucking shit squad. not looking forward to the next 5 years as a leeds united fan.
He couldn't really have called anyone else up in that position though, Gibbs and Shaw are both injured, and honestly Walker is not international quality either. We just have shit players now.
And to me the idea of playing for your country should be about picking the best players in the country not picking the players with the most potential. Let them realise their potential at club level. They should earn their spot. Right now players are being picked before they've even played 3 games at the top level. I'd much rather see young players move into U21s if they've got promise. Fair enough if they're first choice at their club, if you're good enough you're old enough absolutely, but kids are being called up before they've even kicked a ball. Richards, Walcott, Welbeck, Ox, Butland, Sterling, Zaha, Jenkinson, Barkley, now Chambers, it's a crapshoot out there with no logic now just hype.
And Leeds, how can a club suffer bad luck, bad management and bad everything continuously for 15/20 years! Fair enough it *could* be worse but still lol...
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