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2011-12 Football/Soccer Thread

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I don't think removing Wayne Rooney from Manchester United makes them 'mid-table quality' lol that is an outrageous thing to say - this is a team game. He's definitely our best offensive player, but the back-up we have is of great quality as well. It was unfortunate for Hernandez to get injured again, but I would have rather seen Welbeck come on, or another midfield player.

Barcelona are clearly the best side, then I think we're looking at Man Utd and perhaps Real Madrid in the next bracket, with Chelsea and Man City as good or just behind them. Bayern Munich and AC Milan have started very well also, but I don't see the overall quality of those leagues matching up elsewhere. Even in La Liga, if Barca and Real are at it, they should win every game easily until they face each other and they more or less do (except Real can't seem to keep 11 players on the pitch for more than four games in a row). Until Real Madrid can do something more noteworthy I don't see how they can be classed as better than Man Utd - it's all because of the 'star names' in their team that they get billed as one of the best teams in the world on paper. Smashing everyone in La Liga and choking in the Champions League is not a massive achievement, especially when you're near enough as not winning anything (one trophy last season, which was equivalent to Man City winning the FA Cup and doing an open top bus parade).

Until Real Madrid can match the consistency of Barcelona and Manchester United, I think they're closer in quality with teams like Chelsea. European football is, however, shaking up a bit again. I feared that it'd be completely about Barca, Real, Man Utd, Chelsea, with Man City knocking at the door for a while. But we've seen other teams playing well so there could be some surprises throughout the season. Although Barca, Man Utd, Bayern Munich and Milan winning their respective leagues is nothing out of the ordinary.

Moving swiftly away from the best teams out there, I'll go onto Newcastle (lol Lee). I've been really impressed with them, they're so solid at the moment. Their midfield is where it's at and Demba Ba is an underrated striker. If he stays fit Newcastle will win more games than not. However, their strike force is where it gets a little thin for me. They're on the up (somehow, despite having Fat Ashley running things).

My question for Newcastle fans is: Sign Berbatov in January or get him on a free in the Summer?

I can really see him going there - he's got the class for this current Newcastle crop. It'll be like the 1994 Newcastle side again. They will be pushing with the likes of Everton and Stoke to finish 7th, knocking on the door of Spurs/Liverpool/Arsenal.

Tiote Cabaye
Obertan Berbatov Ben Arfa
Ba​

:)
 
You consider Real Madrid losing to Barca in the semi-final last season 'choking in the CL'? So if Man U got drawn with Barca in the semi-final...

For me, Barcelona and Real Madrid are leagues ahead. Yes Real Madrid only have a better squad 'on paper' than Utd and Utd can beat anyone on the day (but you can say this about any team). Put it this way, if you were a Barca fan and you looked at the teamsheet of Real Madrid: with Kaka, Khedira, Ozil, Ronaldo, Alonso; and then Utd: Rooney, Nani, Young (who is this?), Valencia, Carrick... Cleverly (who?)... which team would you see as more of a threat?
 
Last year they performed better in the Champions League, but I'm talking about consistency over a number of years. Such as reaching the Semi-Finals once in the last seven years, despite having 'on paper' one of the best teams in the world. The only thing Real Madrid have consistently done is get knocked out in the last 16 of the Champions League and consistently finish 2nd in La Liga. No contest, no glory.

Barcelona would probably only see Real Madrid as more of a threat because of the rivalry, but in regards to actually playing the teams, they know Man Utd can defend better than Real Madrid and have an equal if not better attack and counter attack.

Sure, Real Madrid won two La Liga titles in the last 5-6 years - but Chelsea have done the same in the Premier League. But in that time Chelsea have reached one final, two semi-finals, a quarter final and a last 16. Real Madrid has one semi-final and four last 16's (and let's not forget that Chelsea should have knocked out Barcelona in one of those semi-finals). It's no contest, they have great players but until they can consistently match other teams in terms of success there is no argument.
 
United wouldn't win anything either if they were in La Liga and got Barca semi finals. I think United are the better team of the two, they don't have a better attack though.
 
I know, but I think there are plenty of teams that if you put them in La Liga in place of Real Madrid, they would finish a comfortable second. My view may not be shared by most, but I don't see finishing second in La Liga as an 'achievement' so to speak, more of an expectation. Real Madrid can probably drop 10-15 points more than they usually do and still finish a comfortable second in La Liga, it's just that 'easy' for the most part. Similar to the Scottish League.
 
I think RM are slightly better than United due to having a better midfield and attack.However,they cannot defend as well as the reds which is why I said they're 'slightly' better than United.
 
RhyssaFireheart said:
Chelsea really sucks right now, We need Drogba back.
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Drogba is back, he scored last game :). Good timing too since Torres is suspended!

I disagree with what's being said about the duopoly in La Liga being like the SPL, in the SPL all the other teams are much worse whereas in La Liga if Real had a run of bad games (with more than just one or two games) then teams like Valencia would punish them for it, you just don't hear so much about it because the big two have a much higher profile than them. I admit I don't really follow La Liga that much because the domination of the Big 2 does annoy me, but I don't think it's as far apart as people think.
 
Wilshire out for eternity, arsenal should hire me as a physio, i cant be worse than who they have now and im definitely cheaper
 
That's terrible for Arsenal, I was thinking he'd be a big player for them this season.
 
apparently berbatov is a boyhood newcastle fan too! my geordie boyfriend is rather enamoured of the idea that berbatov will join newcastle, he thought it'd be this summer but obviously fergie decided to keep him.
 
No Luck Involved said:
Wilshere has just had surgery on his ankle and will now be out for 4 - 5 months HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA oh deary me... how did I see that coming I'm so good.
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What he said

Real can certainly surpass United in a few years at this rate, just not now. The squad is still somewhat not fully gelled yet thanks to the Galacticos ll project and the constant firing of managers, but if they stick with Mourinho and let him keep building the squad they should click eventually. Look at how young many of their core players are. Most are just entering their prime.

That's their main problem imo: they have a real short leash with managers. Some of them were probably deserved, but others, like Pellegrini, went pretty damn early despite not doing terrible at all. None of them could really build their own squad. Now that they've got rid of Valdano however, I think Mourinho should be around for a couple years.

Oh and Norwich up to 9th. Interesting how the goals start coming when Grant Holt is benched eh?
 
No Luck Involved said:
Any of the mancs know if Rooney is fully crocked or just pretending? Thinking about selling him this week if he won't make the Norwich game.
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He's apparently going to be out for a week, so Norwich is a possibility. I'd wait until Fergie's press conference on Friday (if he does one) and we should find out then. He may just be left out though as Hernandez will be back at least, so Man Utd can probably afford to play Berbatov or Welbeck instead of Rooney for that game.
 
Havak said:
He's apparently going to be out for a week, so Norwich is a possibility. I'd wait until Fergie's press conference on Friday (if he does one) and we should find out then. He may just be left out though as Hernandez will be back at least, so Man Utd can probably afford to play Berbatov or Welbeck instead of Rooney for that game.
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Good point. It's never a good idea to transfer at the start of a week. I'll wait till Friday!
 
we're overperforming at the moment and we know that - don't listen to the hype because you'll only end up disappointed.

as for berbatov - i rate him highly, really I do but there has been a few instances in the past where we've signed accomplished big name strikers who were arguably past their prime and they just ended up as unsettled, overpaid flops. I'm thinking of Kluivert and Owen here and I could really see Berbatov ending up just like them so i'm not getting my hopes up. i'd prefer to listen to the Defoe rumours!
 
I wouldnt be surprised if Newcastle finished somewhere around 7th though. They've replaced Nolan and Barton pretty damn well. Cabaye is absolute class. I almost wish we got him instead of Arteta/Benayoun, although I won't complain since Arteta is doing pretty damn well.

Defoe's started well though, if both the Spuds and him have a good year, then he might be out of reach for Newcastle. Still, Ba is great and even Leon Best is scoring.
 
Newcastle were relegation candidates weren't they before the start of the season? As long as Ba keeps scoring like he did for West Ham and Cabaye and Tiote keep performing like absolute beasts and Ben Arfa shows the promise that brought him to Newcastle, I'll have to agree that top half of the table looks realistic and achievable!

Apart from Blackburn, I can't see any definite relegation shoe-ins this season. Bolton have too much class and will surely bounce back. Same with West Brom. Fulham will be fine. Swansea are showing real promise. QPR and Norwich likewise. And Sunderland have a good squad too, Wigan will always battle hard and Wolves look as unpredictable as ever. It will come as a shock to me no matter who goes down!

inb4arsenalcomments
 
My first foray into this forum. May as well pick up on the relegation debate. I think Blackburn are going to be whipping boys, I have a feeling they'll be on the phone for a new manager sometime soon, as that's just how the Prem is nowadays. Unfortunately, I can't agree that Swansea are in the clear. I have a feeling their morale isn't going to hold up after a few whippings.

FYI, I'm a Spurs fan. Pretty excited by the capture of Adebayor, and seeing some decent play recently from the team as a whole. Finally got rid of the bean pole up front as well, which is good news. I can't stick Peter Crouch.
 
Won 4-0 at the Reebok last season,let's see what happens this time.No Sturridge(injury) and Torres(suspension).This means our attack will look like this:
Mata Drogba Anelka
Kalou and Lukaku might make substitute appearances.Lampard might play upfront too.
 
O no, chelsea will lose. That front lineup cannot deal with might of...Bolton.

Really though, some Chelsea fans (stress the some) will be freaking out because they lost two of their front-rowers. Yet they still have that lineup. Wow, really there front line is really really deep.
 
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