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2012/2013 Soccer/Football thread

I didnt see the second half but id imagine benfica have to be annoyed at how slippery the pitch was early on.... A better surface and they would have scored at least one early
 
So Wigan and their loss to Arsenal have saved Newcastle and several others...

Here's my question for you all: Would this have been a problem if Demba Ba hadn't transferred to Chelsea early on?

As soon as word got around he was leaving, I knew Newcastle were in all sorts of strife. If he had stayed, I think they would have survived far more comfortably then they did in the end.
 
No of course not, Ba is a better striker than Cisse and was on fire until he transferred to Chelsea. Newcastle were winning games when not playing well cos of Ba's goals in the first half of the season, and they have struggled to score of late, it all adds up.

Also the England squad was announced. It actually looks good and doesn't make me angry. No Barry thank god, I'll take Carrick's sideways passing over Barry's doing-nothing-at-all-and-too-slow-to-even-make-any-sort-of-tackle anyday.

No Ferdinand or Terry which gives Jagielka, Cahill and Jones opportunity finally. And no double Gerrard/Lampard either (it's cos of Gerrard's operation but still, we only need one!).

Since the England circus is rolling around again what are ppl's best England XIs for the foreseeable (I guess up to and inc. World Cup). I'd like to see these players play:

Hart
Walker, Jones, Jagielka, Baines
Gerrard
Rooney, Wilshere
Walcott, Sturridge, Ox-Chambo​

I guess you can sub in your favourite players for defence but the crux is Rooney and Wilshere as box-to-box creative midfielders (they both also like to get stuck in so there's plenty of fight and tackling ability there) and Gerrard as the deep-lying playmaker (you could have Lampard here but I just think Stevie has shown the better passing and tackling quality throughout the years).​

You could chuck Carroll up front when the going gets tough and take Walcott off and play Sturridge on the wing which I think would work too. But yeah I really rate Sturridge and Ox and I think if they keep working hard they could be really top players. I think the best Walcott can hope for is to be a bit of poacher like Defoe but he's better than anyone else we've got on the right. For me that 433 looks pretty solid ^^) anyone agree?​
 
Not just that he was scoring proficiently, but his goals were pretty spectacular as well. Hatem Ben Arfa and Cisse seemed to be the only two who looked capable of filling Demba's void, but obviously they were nearly relegated so it clearly didn't work out well.

My prediction: Newcastle to be relegated next season unless they bring out some cash this transfer season.
 
Probably. Newcastle can't score a goal to save their life. Absolutely nothing going on up front.

Excellent.


Still predict a 3-1 win over Arsenal.
 
Newcastle don't need an amazing striker, they just need competence. If cisse returns to form or they purchase someone from Ligue 1 cheaply, they will not be relegated and should easily finish mid-table. Their starting midfield is only significantly outclassed by Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea, City, and United. Their defence is experienced if nothing else. They'll be fine next year.
 
cannot see newcastle finishing any higher than in and around the relegation dogfight again. lets face it, nos was right about that first season being a one-off. take away ben arfa, cisse and a couple of others then you're left with players like mike williamson and james perch, players i don't think have the quality to be on a team that has top half aspirations.

i know saying this as a leeds fan is kinda weird cause we're shit but still
 
going from ben arfa to mike williamson is a bit of a leap. he is after all our 4th center back and was only playing this week because we had one CB and our three left backs injured

i can say we definitely won't be near relegation with pardew in charge - because if we are anywhere near there in november he will be gone. and unless the manager brought in is somehow worse than him, we won't be near relegation without pardew in charge.

i think newcastle struggles from a lack of identity. pardew stubbornly believes he plays good football on the deck, but he does not. we also lack a real leader. coloccini leads from example but hes not one to rally the troops after a bad run of form

ALSO screw the undroppables (tiote and jonas)

in answer to the question about ba: yea we would be in a much better position with him, especially since he would do a better job as the target man that pardew is trying to get cisse to be

honestly if pardew stays, andy carroll will probably be a good signing unfortunately. cisse would be able to feed off his knockdowns and we might actually break the record of not scoring from a corner since october 2011
 
Who else is anticipating tomorrows Copa Del Rey final?

I think Madrid have this one.


I think Real is going to win easily, last time Atlético won against Real was in 1999, that being said, I'm a Barça supporter but Atlético is just that shit lol.
 
is it? you seen our midfield? Newcastle is outclassed by Carrick currently.

do you know how to read?

"Newcastle don't need an amazing striker, they just need competence. If cisse returns to form or they purchase someone from Ligue 1 cheaply, they will not be relegated and should easily finish mid-table. Their starting midfield is only significantly outclassed by Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea, City, and United. Their defence is experienced if nothing else. They'll be fine next year."

What part of United do you not understand?
 
In what universe is Tiote + Cabaye not better than any midfield pairing United can field........heck, it's even better than Chelsea and City's midfield imo.
 
In what universe is Tiote + Cabaye not better than any midfield pairing United can field........heck, it's even better than Chelsea and City's midfield imo.

u wot m8

all tiote does is run around like a brainless chicken and has been found out this season. very easy to play against him. Jones showed how good he can be in defensive midfield with two excellent performances against Real Madrid. Do you really think Tiote would have had the same influence in these matches? He'd have been sent off after 20 minutes.

Carrick is much better than Cabaye. The only thing Cabaye is better at long rage shots. Carrick completely controls the tempo of the game and has been the best player in the team that outclassed everyone to win the league. I'll take Carrick + Jones over Tiote + Cabaye any day.

The biggest problem for me is that, as Heist said, pardew says that they play passing football, when statistics show that they play more long balls than anyone in the league bar Stoke.

another thing is that they really struggled after selling demba ba. papiss cisse strikes me as a scorer of great goals rather than a great goalscorer.
 
Wow, this is gonna be a huge upset and a sad ending to Mourinho's reign. Altetico are lucky to be ahead though.
 
Phil Jones might be the most overated player in the premier league. Good win for Athletico shame Falcao has been forced to Monaco for at least a year.
 
Falcao seems to be on his way to Monaco and Chelsea have now rekindled their interest in Cavani. A deal for Schurrle was supposed to be finalised by now but it has been put on hold as De bruyne, who was to be sent on loan to Leverkusen as a part of the deal, prefers a move to Dortmund who are interested in signing him permanently as a replacement for Gotze. Chelsea are ready to lose De bruyne if Dortmund agrees to give them a first option on Lewandowski......
 
where're all the falcao monaco rumours coming from? It seems pretty unrealistic to me and I've seen nothing on it on the only football website I visit (bbc)

are there any reliable sources backing it up
 
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