2011-12 Football/Soccer Thread

[haunter]

I love how Rey is such a profound connoisseur of italian football. I was shocked as well when I didn't see Miccoli in the list but with Cassano, Di Natale and Giovinco I think we're covered in his role (and characteristics). I really hope that Balo finally manages to show us all his potential.

Italy rarely fails in important occasions, I'm pretty sure we'll advance to the quarter finals at least.

Oh and I love Di Natale as well, he's a great player and a magnificent person. He's also from Naples, which is an added bonus :)

 

[Metal Bagon]

Italy rarely fails in important occasions, I'm pretty sure we'll advance to the quarter finals at least.

They failed when they play my All Whites in the 2010 WC, and only drew because of a flop.

On a pro italy note I just saw there entire squad and it looks Quarter final material.

Also, why do Napoli keep loaning out Cigarini if h's good enough to be in the italian squad?

 

[haunter]

I said "rarely" lol.

And, unfortunately, Cigarini never really found a role in Napoli and probably lacked the personality to play in an important team.

 

[Void]

The bad news being Ronaldo tends to disappear in games against big sides, as proven by his UCL and La Liga stunts.

Oh, yes, judging by the fact that Ronaldo scored in both legs against Barcelona in the Copa del Rey, scored the winner in the league game at the Camp Nou, and got 2 goals and an assist over the 2 legs against Bayern Munich, he indeed tends to disappear in games against big sides. Your logic is sound!

They failed when they play my All Whites in the 2010 WC, and only drew because of a flop.

On a pro italy note I just saw there entire squad and it looks Quarter final material.

Also, why do Napoli keep loaning out Cigarini if h's good enough to be in the italian squad?

To be fair, Italy would have advanced had their late equaliser against Slovakia not been incorrectly ruled offside.

 

[No Luck Involved]

No more sissy predictions, I'm backing Ireland to win the Euros.

McClean, Long, Coleman, Walters, they have exciting youth coming through; then there's Doyle, Keane, McGeady, Duff easily leading the attack; beastly attacking midfielders Andrews and Hunt; and defensive rocks Whelan and Gibson.

And then there's the defence which conceded something like 2 goals in qualifying. Dunne, O'Shea, Ward, St Ledger, Kelly; and the human wall that is Given in goals along with a very good Westwood for backup. They can't be beaten, Ireland will be 0-0ing their way to the final!

 

[keelhauled]

2nd in Fantasy league, I can live with that ^_^

also gremany for the euros

 

[latinoheat]

Group A
Poland
Greece
Russia
Czech Republic

First place: Poland
Second place: Czech

Group B
Netherlands
Denmark
Germany
Portugal

First place: Germany
Second place: Netherlands

Ronaldo is nowhere near as good for the national team as club, Germany are obvious, Netherlands will go far but there defence isn't that good and Sneijder is coming off a poor season by his standards.Would like to see Huntelaar and Van Persie both starting, don't think that will be the case.

Group C
Spain
Italy
Ireland
Croatia

Spain are without Puyol who holds their defence together, no David Villa, Pique and Pedro has been poor this season, Soldado if he even makes it has had a drop in form, they will have to rely on him,Fernando Torres if he gets called back or Llorente to actually put the ball in the net. Always gonna have a chance with their midfield but they shouldn't be favourites.

I think Italy will do well Pirlo has been excellent with Juventus probably the best midfielder in Serie A,Buffon finally stopped being constantly injured and their defence is really solid as well. Di Natale is probably more accurate in front of goal then anyone in the tournament outside of Huntelaar.

First place: Spain
Second place: Italy

Group D
Ukraine
England
France
Sweden

Sweden rely too much on Ibra,England without Rooney will still scrape through. I think France will get their act together this time.Cabaye,Giroud,Benzema,Ribery all have had great seasons, MVila will want to impress after being signed by Arsenal. I don't think they have good enough strikers to make it all the way though Giroud is doing well but only in the french league, most of Benzemas play revolves around Ozil and Ronaldo. The draw really does not favour this group with Spain and most likely Italy waiting.

First place: France
Second place: England


Quarterfinals

Poland vs Netherlands

Germany vs Czech

Spain vs England

France vs Italy

Semis

Netherlands vs Spain

Germany vs Italy

Finals

Holland vs Germany

Really can't look past Germany taking the whole thing, even better then the team that came 3rd in the World Cup, great young midfielders with Ozil Gotze and Kroos, one of the best strikers in the world in Mario Gomez, great defence including the best full back in the world, also proven international experience in Schweinsteiger and Klose. Neuer is one of the two best keepers in the tournament.

 

[reyscarface]

Oh, yes, judging by the fact that Ronaldo scored in both legs against Barcelona in the Copa del Rey, scored the winner in the league game at the Camp Nou, and got 2 goals and an assist over the 2 legs against Bayern Munich, he indeed tends to disappear in games against big sides. Your logic is sound!

Hes terribly inconsistent is what I mean, most of his goals versus those teams are penalties. He may score one goal, but after that, he usually disappears and does almost nothing for the team.

Also hence the word "tends". That means it usually happens, not always. Of course theres times he actually plays like his price tag versus top teams.

Also Haunter, I cried a little yesterday when Udinese and Lazio won, I still cant get over that loss vs Bologna. We had that CL spot man...

 

[Phadunk]

I ended up in 3rd in the Fantasy League.

First in another league, then top 5 everywhere else.

Mmmmmmmm. Feels good man.

 

[haunter]

Yeah Rey, we threw next year CL out of the window and the worst part is that Lavezzi is probably leaving for either PSG or Inter :/ The good new is that we might replace him with Giovinco or Jovetic.

 

[reyscarface]

ID RATHER HAVE LAVEZZI :'(

Hopefully he stays and Napoli decide to reinforce their defense rather than the offense, we really need it.

 

[reyscarface]

Double post cuz yeah

So many legends retiring this season :(

Van Nistelrooy announced his retirement, man, he will be missed.

 

[HBK]

PSG already snatched Pastore from us we're not gonna let them take Lavezzi! And too bad we won't be able to own Napoli next year

 

[reyscarface]

Lavezzi is too much class for scum like Chelsea.

 

[HBK]

Sorry but I don't speak loserese

 

[Metal Bagon]

Now that Rey has stated the facts lets move onto The 20 seasons fantasy team.

Basically there were two teams, the public team, and the expert team. Both teams didn't really have a lot of variation. The only difference was that the experts voted Rio Ferdinand over Vidic and Roy Keane over Steven Gerrard.

Personally, I think the public team made the better choice out of those four guys but some may think differently.

Also, about half the players are Man U guys, I expected the majority to come from Man U, but not that much.

 

[HBK]

Definitely Gerrard over Keane and Vidic over Ferdinand.Fucking no-brainers.

 

[Lee]

always believed that keane is only second to scholes in the best premiership midfielder ever stakes so no complaints on that one, though I would probably opt for Vidic over Rio.

also for the ease of everybody else:

Fantasy Team - Public

Goalkeeper - Peter Schmeichel
Left-back - Ashley Cole
Centre-back - Tony Adams
Centre-back - Nemanja Vidic
Right-back - Gary Neville
Left midfield - Ryan Giggs
Centre midfield - Paul Scholes
Centre midfield - Steven Gerrard
Right midfield - Cristiano Ronaldo
Forward - Thierry Henry
Forward - Alan Shearer

Fantasy Team - Experts

Goalkeeper - Peter Schmeichel
Left-back - Ashley Cole
Centre-back - Tony Adams
Centre-back - Rio Ferdinand
Right-back - Gary Neville
Left midfield - Ryan Giggs
Centre midfield - Paul Scholes
Centre midfield - Roy Keane
Right midfield - Cristiano Ronaldo
Forward - Thierry Henry
Forward - Alan Shearer

 

[latinoheat]

I would have had John Terry over either of them, neither have been close to as good as he was 2004-2006. Alan Shearer only barely making it in doesn't really make sense.

 

[Havak]

Yeah, Alan Shearer is only the all-time leading Premier League goal scorer.

Ferdinand has had more top quality seasons than Vidic, over a much longer period of time. I think that's why Ferdinand gets in, I can't understand how some people still underrate him so much. I think it's purely because of the recent history of injuries. But this is a TWENTY seasons team, not a last five years team. Ferdinand has been a fucking wall.

Roy Keane is also vastly underrated by the majority of non-United fans and non-pundits / football 'experts' (I use that term loosely). He was immense and I think him getting in the side in the experts opinion over players like Gerrard and Lampard speaks for itself.

You literally can make arguments for nearly every position when the Premier League has seen so many world class talents over 20 years, but I think both teams are pretty much spot on if you ask me. I'm not just saying that because it's full of Man Utd players, I just think in regards to longevity and ability, along with winning things at the highest of all levels, those players fit the criteria as well as, and probably better than, anyone else.

Edit: Rumours that Kenny Dalglish has either quit or been sacked. Best thing for the club, really, but I can't see who they will bring in either.

 

[HBK]

Mcliesh sacked from what I hear.I never understood why they signed in the first place considering what happened last year(bar the league cup).They were horrible this season and need some new management and new players if they don't want to be fighting for relegation next season.

And @latinoheat Terry's still better than Ferdinand.Unless anyone failed to notice,Ivanovic is approaching Vidic's level.Madrid are expected to bid 15 mil for him.

 

[akuchi]

so has phalanx not posted since final day of season? this is actually probably funnier than if he'd been spouting off :3

yeah mcleish has been sacked! i can stop hating villa now.. god knows where he'll go next. hopefully back to scotland.

 

[HBK]

Good news.Cahill and Luiz trained today.In other news,Malouda got included in the French Euro squad for some inexplicable reason.I mean he hardly played and when he did he was shit.All he did was score a few goals in games that we already had won.

 

[latinoheat]

Shearer should have had like 60% more of a case then even henry.

 

[shade]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/...nand-roy-hodgson-england-euro-2012?CMP=twt_gu

hodgson not taking ferdinand or richards, pretty amazed glen johnson still gets the nod above micah richards!