The Soccer thread

[Zachilles]

Well if you already knew this was a topic about all of football and not just United, then what's the problem with me talking about Werder Bremen? Just because it's not part of what you're talking about doesn't mean that I cannot talk about it, no?

Spies, yeah the game yesterday wasn't broadcast unfortunately, but what sucks for me is that I set my DVR to record the game last weekend against Munich, and for some reason it didn't record. I'm not sure why, but I was very disappointed once I read a summary of the match. I checked the scoreline first, and for a second I thought Borowski scored two own goals, and that's when I remembered he joined the dark side. And your boy Pizarro is doing well from what I've seen of him. Much better than he did at Chelsea, that's for sure. I think Pizarro already has 3 goals, and is probably going to score a lot more.

 

[sbc]

How is it absurd? If you're supposedly on-form for 4 consecutive matches, and then you play horribly in the following match, are you still on-form? Your form is based upon your last match.

What if you aren't producing the class within yourself? To say Ronaldo has no class because he performed poorly is absurd. No one is arguing whether or not Ronaldo has class, but we're in our rights to comment on his current form.

In my eyes you are still on form because you have played well 4 games in a row and have had one bad game; that one bad game does not disregard the fact that you have played consistently well. If Rooney had 4 goals in 4 games and then failed to score in his next, would 4 goals in 5 games not be said to be in form?

I acknowledged this by saying "Suprisingly we had flare in the earlier stages of the Liverpool and Chelsea match, until the opposition pounded on us from there on then." I didn't deny that there was, at times, flare existant.

The moments may have been rare, but there was, to some degree, flare.

I think we agree here.


Btw, Didn't Bremen rip Bayern apart the other day? And tbh, the German league is pretty shit, especially with Hamburg getting weakened by losing van der Vaart and Kompany.

 

[Taylor]

Well if you already knew this was a topic about all of football and not just United, then what's the problem with me talking about Werder Bremen? Just because it's not part of what you're talking about doesn't mean that I cannot talk about it, no?

Which was why I never told you to stop. I was curious as to how random you bringing up Werder Bremen was after trying to convince me Rooney was a midfield player. I never, ever said you could not. Do not put words into my mouth.

In my eyes you are still on form because you have played well 4 games in a row and have had one bad game; that one bad game does not disregard the fact that you have played consistently well. If Rooney had 4 goals in 4 games and then failed to score in his next, would 4 goals in 5 games not be said to be in form?

I can compromise here. We can't misunderstand what a good/bad form is, thoug, because failing to score in a match does not mean you played badly and therefore were not on form.

Now let's say Rooney scored 4 goals in 4 matches, but played awfully in the following match, and as a result, did not score. We can't say he is on form and turn a blind-eye to his latest performence, as that's being plain ignorant. We would have to resort to something similar to: "Rooney has recently been on-form as of late, but may have disintegrated slightly considering his poor performence in his latest match".

But when do we draw the line of being off-form? 3 matches, all involving poor performences from the same player? 5 matches? Yeah, we don't necessarily have one, do we? Which was why I settled for their latest game, in which we are fully up-to-date with.

 

[Zachilles]

Btw, Didn't Bremen rip Bayern apart the other day? And tbh, the German league is pretty shit, especially with Hamburg getting weakened by losing van der Vaart and Kompany.

Yeah, Bremen scored 5 goals to go up 5-0, then gave up two to Borowski, a Bremen player last season. But still, a 5-2 away win over Munich is a good result no matter who you are. As for the Bundesliga being shit, I would have to disagree. Among the top leagues, England, Spain, Italy, France, and Germany, I'd say Germany has the most parity. There are several challengers for the title each year, Bremen, Munich, Schalke, Hamburg, and Stuttgart. Not only that, but as we saw last year, the last place team could beat the best team in the league. Granted the quality there is lacking a bit when compared to the two largest leagues, England and Spain, but there is still a lot of quality there. Diego, Ribery, Klose, Bastian, Gomez, and Podolski to name a few. Regardless, I enjoy the Bundesliga and I hope more people watch it, because some of the games are more of a spectale there than any other league.

 

[spies]

Btw, Didn't Bremen rip Bayern apart the other day? And tbh, the German league is pretty shit, especially with Hamburg getting weakened by losing van der Vaart and Kompany.

the level of football is evidently lower than EPL, Serie A and La Liga but most of the games are really exciting. Plus the EPL here is broadcast on Fox Sports and I hate that channel.

I think Hamburg actually work better without Van der Vaart :X

ZZ5, Pizarro is far from being "my boy", he's never performed well for the NT : ( and thus nobody likes him over here. It's good that he's recovering from his terrible stint at Chelsea, though.

 

[EconBiscuit]

None of you know how to enjoy football properly...
Who cares about Utd, Bundesliga or any other European league.

Blue Square Premier is where it's all at!

C'mon the Poppies!

Also, anyone following the mickey mouse cup this year?

 

[Taylor]

If you're referring to the Carling Cup, then no. That, and the FA Cup, particulary in the earlier rounds, are two of the most boring competitions I have ever watched in my life. The majority of whom I talk to at work seem to think this as well. I'd rather discuss where Ronaldo is travelling off to next - which, for those of you who don't know, is a dull conversation - before discussing what happened the day before in the fixtures of the Carlin Cup.

If United make it to the semi-finals of either of the two cups, I will then begin to take interest.

 

[norulz]

Taylor, I'm not sure whether this was answered or not, because I didn't read most of the posts about the dumb discussions that were taking place, but Benfica is in the UEFA Cup and not Champions League, which, I suppose, will make it harder for them to keep Reyes, I hope he stays though, Reyes and Aimar make a hell of an offensive double, and if money's the issue, I think Benfica can settle, since I've seen some incredibly expensive hirings this season.

 

[Taylor]

That's a shame. I could've sworn they were in this year's Champions League, but it's because I would've expected them to be in it.

 

[Havak]

Aalborg Boldspilklub vs Manchester United

vs

Uefa Champions League

Venue: Energi Nord Arena (Capacity: 13,800)
Date: Tuesday 30th September, 2008
Kick Off: 19:45pm GMT

Predicted Line-Up:

GK: Edwin van der Sar #1

RB: Gary Neville #2 (c)
CB: Rio Ferdinand #5
CB: Nemanja Vidić #15
LB: Patrice Evra #3

RW: Cristiano Ronaldo #7
CM: Owen Hargreaves #4
CM: Paul Scholes #18
LW: Park Ji-Sung #13

FW: Dimitar Berbatov #9
FW: Wayne Rooney #10

Subs: Ben Amos #40, Wes Brown #6, John O'Shea #22, Ryan Giggs #11, Anderson #8, Nani #17 & Carlos Tévez #32

Tough to decide between Fletcher and Anderson for the bench. I'd say Fletcher might be the better player still, both have lots of energy etc. I doubt Fergie will leave Fletcher out, but I'll predict Anderson for the bench. Giggs, Nani and Tévez are our best options to try and change the game from the bench if we need a goal, so they should stay.

Normally I'd expect Sir Alex to go 4-5-1 in a European away tie, but with all due respect to Aalborg, we should have enough to beat them comfortably, even away. Though Celtic didn't manage to net one even at home, I'm not too worried. I just think we should pick a strong team, try to win the game in the first 45-60 minutes, and then start to rest players for the away game at Blackburn on the weekend.

 

[Havak]

Rafael Da Silva starts at Right Back, interesting.

 

[sbc]

Rafael Da Silva starts at Right Back, interesting.

I was just about to type that he was likely to play RM with O'Shea in the team but Nani being there fucked up my line up. Looks like he will play RB.

Not a bad game to get him in on, against a defensive and not to physical team since he is pretty crap defensively atm. If I was Brown, being behind Neville and Da Silva would not be nice.

 

[Havak]

Yeh, I'm unsure why Brown was left out.

GK: Van der Sar

RB: Rafael
CB: Ferdinand
CB: Vidic
LB: Evra

RW: Ronaldo
CM: O'Shea
CM: Scholes
LW: Nani

FW: Rooney
FW: Berbatov

Subs: Amos, Brown, Anderson, Giggs, Park, Evans, Tevez

That's the line-up, if I caught it right.

Theory is probably that O'Shea is even more defensive minded than Hargreaves, Anderson and Fletcher, so with Ronaldo and Rafael on the right wing, he'll be expected to drop back to right back and provide more defensive cover if needed.

 

[Taylor]

So that's the confirmed starting line-up?

I have too many things to do tonight, which is why I am not going on Shoddy today. It will be difficult to even watch this match with the crap I have to do.

 

[Havak]

Aalborg Boldspilklub 0-3 Manchester United

Good result in the end, but with 30 attempts on goal and the way the game was, it should've been more than 3 goals. Nice to see Rooney get another goal, and definately nice to see Berbatov get 2! Worrying injuries to Scholes, Rooney and Da Silva, but the latter two don't seem as serious.

A 0-3 win away from home is good anywhere, so I'm not too fussed. We should beat them again at Old Trafford and providing we can beat Celtic at Old Trafford and not lose other games we'll be pretty safe in this group.

 

[Taylor]

The game was pretty much summed up with what Havak has said.

I too am dissapointed that Ronaldo didn't get himself a goal when Berbatov's immaculate pass put Ronaldo one-on-one with the keeper. Similarily, when Tevez had a clear-cut strike and, frustratingly enough, decided that this time he would square the ball to Ronaldo; a time in which he should've kept the ball and shot!

Absolutely delighted to see Berbatov score two goals. His first was sweet and efficient, perhaps memorable at that, but it was all down to a poor, defensive mistake. The second goal showed how much technique Berbatov has and how he can strike a ball with quality behind it. All in all, I hope he can continue segments like this with the confidence he has deserved from this game.

Rooney showed how confident he was with his goal. Tucked neatly in the corner with authority and determination to prove he can score consectuvely.

Nani has got a lot to learn. I rate him, but damn does he need to work on the delivery and end-product. Shoot or over-hitting the cross is usually what Nani ends up doing, which must be improved as time goes on.

Last but not least, impressive Champions League debut for Rafael. He showed he had confidence and wasn't afraid to hold back. I'm looking forward to seeing more of him in the future!

 

[garo]

I too am dissapointed that Ronaldo didn't get himself a goal when Berbatov's immaculate pass put Ronaldo one-on-one with the keeper.

yeah i felt the same way, when berbatov pass the ball to ronaldo´s feet and he dodged the goal keeper i was already screaming goal!!! but then i saw the ball leaving the field, anyway he did a good match after his come back from surgery, he just played a few games and soon he will score manificent goals again.

 

[Havak]

vs

Barclays Premier League

Venue: Ewood Park (Capacity: 31,367)
Date: Saturday, October 4th, 2008
Kick Off: 17:30pm GMT

Inury Worries / Missing Players:

Blackburn: Paul Robinson is doubtful, and David Dunn is definately out for at least 2 months.

Man Utd: Paul Scholes suffered a knee injury against Aalborg and will be out for 10 weeks. Michael Carrick is still set to be out for around 3-4 more weeks with an ankle injury. Fábio Da Silva is still nursing a shoulder injury so is definately out and Rafael Da Silva took a knock in the match against Aalborg and is doubtful, though both were unlikely starters for the match against Blackburn. Wayne Rooney, Darren Fletcher, Gary Neville, and Owen Hargreaves are all thought to be doubtful. Rooney took a knock against Aalborg and Hargreaves has already been out for a short while. Darren Fletcher and Gary Neville didn't travel to Aalborg, so could be unlikely to play. Tomasz Kuszczak and Ben Foster are still likely to be injured.

Form: (Last 5 League games)

Blackburn:
Form: DDLWW
Goals Scored: 5
Goals Conceded: 10

Man Utd:
Form: DWLDW
Goals Scored: 6
Goals Conceded: 4


Predicted Line-Up:

GK: Edwin van der Sar #1

RB: Wes Brown #6
CB: Rio Ferdinand #5 (c)
CB: Nemanja Vidić #15
LB: Patrice Evra #3

RW: Cristiano Ronaldo #7
CM: John O'Shea #22
CM: Anderson #8
LW: Park Ji-Sung #13

FW: Carlos Tévez #32
FW: Dimitar Berbatov #9

Subs: Ben Amos #40, Jonny Evans #23, Darron Gibson #28, Rodrigo Possebon #34, Ryan Giggs #11, Nani #17 & Manucho #26

This is of course, a worst case scenario team, if by some chance every doubtful player is missing. But I still think we've got enough to go and beat Blackburn, it'll be a tough one though but it's one we need to win.

Prediction:

Blackburn Rovers 1-3 Manchester United

Scorers:

Blackburn: Santa Cruz
Man Utd: Ronaldo, Tévez and Berbatov

 

[sbc]

possebon is injured

 

[Havak]

Jesus Christ lol. Hmm, dunno who else would go on the bench then :/

 

[Taylor]

I take it that with this match taking place on a Saturday, we won't be able to watch it on Sky. It looks like we'll be settling for another stream, Havak. ^_^

 

[Havak]

Heh, probably. Though IIRC I think Setanta are showing this one, so I might be lucky!

 

[sbc]

yeah 5.30 PM Sat is usually Setanta...bastards that they are. Supposedly free with BT Vision only for them to screen their adverts for free then cut me off before the match starts.

 

[spies]

Manchester United has Rafael and Fabio? those guys were awesome when I saw them play at U-17 level. They're also twin brothers, I think.

 

[ShoddykingAzza]

You guys are really lucky, im in australia and not many people care for soccer unfortunately.....

We have hardly enough to make a team.
Is everyboddy as football crazy in england as i imagine