The Ongoing Serie A, La Liga, All English Football, Champions League Thread - - - - - - - - - - - Part 20

[Van Petrol]

Given how you feel about Wally that really sums it up! Will there be any takers for Bendtner or is his contract nearly up anyway?

Thankfully this is his last year.

 

[wobbly]

Before that game was the 1st time I've read articles saying Chelsea had started looking ominous and were in the groove to get consistency and separate themselves from the pack. The City & Arsenal results seemed to have set a few minds in the media but after this result they are unpredictable once again! Jose should be pissed off and I agree no team is good enough that they will get results in this league when they get complacent (except maybe against Palace t. He should probably drop one or 2 of the worst offenders no matter how big, just to show it's not acceptable.

Oh I think he will. Jose doesn't usually suffer fools gladly, and he made it clear he wasn't impressed at all with any of them (he said 'I made 11 mistakes' obviously referring to all of them).

Annoyingly I always seem to miss MotD when Newcastle get a good result. Were we lucky then and Chelsea just bad or did we do anything good for the 3 points?

I wouldn't say you were lucky (unless you count facing a poor Chelsea team as being 'lucky'). Within the game itself you did earn the points: You created enough chances and took your 2 goals well. We didn't create too many chances and the ones we did were off target, blocked or easily saved. Simply not good enough from us in the end.

Lot of money for a back up! How much was Schurrle or was he not a transfer? I'd never heard of him before this season.

He cost £18 million, so yeah, a wee bit pricey for a back-up player...I'd give him time to adapt to our League though: He was good at leverswhatever and plays well for the German national side.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Lot of money for a back up! How much was Schurrle or was he not a transfer? I'd never heard of him before this season.

As Wobbly said, £18M. I think Jose likes him as he's sturdy, has good pace and works hard tracking back, and he knows that he has goals and assists him, he just needs to fully adapt to the PL.

I'm content with that, I personally feel we should be going with Vidic & Jones at the back as our starters with Evans, Smalling & Rio as their backups. Playing Smalling at RB I feel is hurting his CB potential. Smalling looks & plays like a young Rio, needs to find his voice a little more though. I want to see him barking out orders commanding the likes of Carrick, Fellaini & Cleverley into positions to aid him.

Valencia I feel has RW tied up simply because Nani is extremely unreliable & inconsistent & Ashley Young favors the left.. even though he is useless there & more likely more use on the right.

Sounding like an old record but 2-3 signings in midfield in the summer are a must. We also need to keep Hernandez & Rooney. Ship out Anderson & Young with both Fletcher & Giggs retiring.

I'm torn on who should start with Vidic, Jones has power and is dynamic at covering, but Evans is more astute positionally and brings the ball out the best of our CB's. I agree on Smalling, he never looks all that comfortable at RB, I think the worry is over getting him enough games.

Even though I'm not a big fan of Valencia's style (Prefer him at RB in truth) I can't disagree, right now I guess he's the best of a set of under-performing options.

I'm not sure I can see us getting all of that done, the Rooney situation is up in the air and given how much we struggled to get 1 deal done in the summer I'm not holding my breath for 3. If we could get one really top class midfield addition and one versatile forward I'd be pleased. The sales of Anderson and Young are hopefully inevitable.

Thankfully this is his last year.

So it's win-win. Either a nominal fee to pay the cleaners in January or off for nothing in the summer.

 

[Van Petrol]

So it's win-win. Either a nominal fee to pay the cleaners in January or off for nothing in the summer.

Yes, hopefully he will be flushed once and for all.

 

[the_ultimate_evil]

Sascha Riether charged by the FA after 'stamp' on Adnan Januzaj

yeah glad to hear this, the stamp was dirty plain and simple

cant find any video of it

 

[Iceman]

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs...-french-football-image-problem-185909933.html
Anyone know much about the French 75% tax situation? And apparently PSG got an $800m deal soon after to make a mockery of both that and the Fiar Play rules lol.

 

[kit1982]

I have to ask Ultimate, is there any uproar over a former Northern Ireland captain going to manage the Republic?

 

[the_ultimate_evil]

I have to ask Ultimate, is there any uproar over a former Northern Ireland captain going to manage the Republic?

not that i have heard of yet, but it wouldnt surprise me. on a personal note i think its extremely low and will turn a lot against him, especially when the current managers talks were not finished so it could have all been different

im used to it mate it still pissed me off that people born in northern ireland can play for the republic but not vice versa


as for tonight wow did any one see the paint dry jesus that was poor and old sideshow showed why i never rated him, little to no skill and simply a clogger

 

[chamber-music]

My Irish friend is fine with O'Neill but so not happy about Roy Keane being assistant manager

 

[Iceman]

Oh I think he will. Jose doesn't usually suffer fools gladly, and he made it clear he wasn't impressed at all with any of them (he said 'I made 11 mistakes' obviously referring to all of them).



I wouldn't say you were lucky (unless you count facing a poor Chelsea team as being 'lucky'). Within the game itself you did earn the points: You created enough chances and took your 2 goals well. We didn't create too many chances and the ones we did were off target, blocked or easily saved. Simply not good enough from us in the end.



He cost £18 million, so yeah, a wee bit pricey for a back-up player...I'd give him time to adapt to our League though: He was good at leverswhatever and plays well for the German national side.

Good to hear on Newcastle. Hopefully we can get a bit more consistent. I'm not sure what a realistic target is for this season. Maybe 8th/9th. Well top 10 at least.

And after that performance and Jose's reaction, maybe Willian gets to start a few games!

As Wobbly said, £18M. I think Jose likes him as he's sturdy, has good pace and works hard tracking back, and he knows that he has goals and assists him, he just needs to fully adapt to the PL.

From the above he sounds exactly like Jose's kind of player.

 

[Iceman]

I forgot all about the CL tonight.

Scores:

Real Sociedad 0 - 0 Man Utd
Man City 5 - 2 CSKA Moscow
Juventus 2 - 2 Real Madrid

Nice for City, 12 goals in 2 games. And Ronaldo & Bale on the scoresheet for Madrid.

 

[Grommers]

Some good games from my boys in uhh orange.

I really hate this years jerseys btw. It just doesn't fit a team nick named los blancos.

Anyways.

Juventus the first half dominated madrid, and we were quite lucky there strikers weren't up too par. The amount of balls that were lobbed over our CBs was just stupid insane. Varane really showed his youth this game. I would of much rather'd Ramos and Pepe in the back against a big team like Juventus, mind you, the only CL team in our group I'd be comfortable with him playing against would be kobenhaven. As Galatasaray has the mighty Drogba!


Pepe and Varane's weaknesses were both the reason for the two goals, and as much as people want to blame Varane..Pepe the experienced CB didn't support nearly as well as he should have, for a guy as tall as he is, why are they getting all there lobs through and on there foot. Yes they didn't score from them, but even the fact the chance is created is my issue.


Second half we started cranking it up, and it as really unfortunate for Varane to get picked apart again, but I've often felt his progression into first team happened a little too quick, but give him 3-4 years and he'll be one of the best CB's in the world.

Of course always nice when Bale scores, however, his arsenal of moves, or lack there of, is really going to hurt him, and I really hope he's spending day in and day out training his foot work, because right now, it's his pace that is getting him goals, not his dribbling, or tactical ability.


Oh, and benzema looked terrible as usual, please someone come buy him.


That's my thoughts on the game, is there any Juventus fans even on these boards?

 

[Hunter Rider]

Our game tonight was pretty much a snorer, we had a 15 minute spell where Kagawa came to life and orchestrated 4 good openings, all of which we squandered against a poor Sociedad team. Other than that the game as flat and one paced, for me we threw away 2 points.

 

[kit1982]

not that i have heard of yet, but it wouldnt surprise me. on a personal note i think its extremely low and will turn a lot against him, especially when the current managers talks were not finished so it could have all been different

im used to it mate it still pissed me off that people born in northern ireland can play for the republic but not vice versa

Yeah I was a little confused because after some of the embarrassing results recently surely Northern Ireland, the country he captained at a World Cup is more in need than ROI?

There seems to be little to no loyalty to your country mate and it's a shame because I do enjoy watching you boys at Windsor up against a big team (well up until Kyle Lafferty has his usual brain fart).

Ah well could be worse.... you could have Neil Lennon

 

[Jack O Lantern]

Yeah I was a little confused because after some of the embarrassing results recently surely Northern Ireland, the country he captained at a World Cup is more in need than ROI?

There seems to be little to no loyalty to your country mate and it's a shame because I do enjoy watching you boys at Windsor up against a big team (well up until Kyle Lafferty has his usual brain fart).

Ah well could be worse.... you could have Neil Lennon

There would be more loyalty if there were less loyalists.

You mention Neil Lennon, he had to retire from international football after he received death threats from the LVF. He is still sent bombs in the post and so are other Catholic members of the Northern Ireland squad.

If Darren Gibson or James McClean had chosen to play for Northern Ireland they would have to deal with that nonsense as well.

 

[Iceman]

Our game tonight was pretty much a snorer, we had a 15 minute spell where Kagawa came to life and orchestrated 4 good openings, all of which we squandered against a poor Sociedad team. Other than that the game as flat and one paced, for me we threw away 2 points.

So how is the group now for you?

 

[kit1982]

There would be more loyalty if there were less loyalists.

You mention Neil Lennon, he had to retire from international football after he received death threats from the LVF. He is still sent bombs in the post and so are other Catholic members of the Northern Ireland squad.

If Darren Gibson or James McClean had chosen to play for Northern Ireland they would have to deal with that nonsense as well.

I know about Lennon, just used him as I know Ultimate is.....well not a fan.

I always thought Gibsons choice was due to some ****e when he was 16 and having a trials?
McCleans headstrong as hell in his beliefs as with the whole Poppy debate (which I think he was well within his rights), so in his case he probably did himself a favour!

 

[Grommers]

So how is the group now for you?

I'm still worried for Man UTD. They don't look half of what they looked like last year, and this years team looks a tad bit better than everton did under moyes.


Which lets be honest, isn't where Man UTD need to be.

I know the season is long, and this year was going to be a hard year for them in general, and I expect a lot more selling of players next year, which will lead to buying.

Fellaini though -_-;;, really needs to start playing like a manchester united player if he wants to be a manchester united player.

 

[the_ultimate_evil]

There would be more loyalty if there were less loyalists.

You mention Neil Lennon, he had to retire from international football after he received death threats from the LVF. He is still sent bombs in the post and so are other Catholic members of the Northern Ireland squad.

If Darren Gibson or James McClean had chosen to play for Northern Ireland they would have to deal with that nonsense as well.

Look I'm not excusing the morons who did that, there is no way that should happen, but Lennon spat on the shirt and insulted the fans well before that happened. That's why a lot of people hate him, myself included it has sfa to do with religious choices.

 

[Iceman]

From BBC:

BREAKING ARSENAL TEAM NEWS - Borussia Dortmund v Arsenal (1945 GMT)Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger names the same side that beat Liverpool on Saturday. Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey, Mikel Arteta, Santi Cazorla and Tomas Rosicky are all in midfield.
Arsenal's starting XI: Szczesny; Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Ramsey, Arteta, Rosicky, Ozil, Cazorla, Giroud



BREAKING CHELSEA TEAM NEWS - Chelsea v Schalke (1945 GMT)Samuel Eto'o starts in place of the injured Fernando Torres while Jon Mikel Obi is in for Frank Lampard, David Luiz takes Gary Cahill's position and Cesar Azpilicueta starts in place of Ashley Cole.
Chelsea starting XI: Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Ramires, Mikel; Schurrle, Oscar,Willian; Eto'o

 

[Iceman]

2-0 Chelsea...great combination of Willian & Eto'o.

0-0 in the Arsenal game so far.

 

[Iceman]

Arsenal score. Ramsey again! Can they hold out for another 20+ minutes?

 

[Hunter Rider]

Great win for Arsenal in Dortmund. I thought it was kind of the reverse of the Emirates game with Dortmund creating the better chances but Arsenal defending well and grabbing a goal.

So how is the group now for you?

We are top of the group but there's only 3 points between us, Shaktar and Leverkusen. The next game is away to Leverkusen and will be vital I think.

 

[Kaleb]

find this analogy amusing

@Trevornoah
Arsene Wenger basically bought the most expensive bottle in the club and spent the rest of the night getting free drinks

 

[Iceman]

Great win for Arsenal in Dortmund. I thought it was kind of the reverse of the Emirates game with Dortmund creating the better chances but Arsenal defending well and grabbing a goal.

Yeah, I thought the same. This is going to make a very tough group much more straightforward. Beating Marseille at home should now put them well on their way. Chelsea also bounced back very well from the Newcastle game for a 3-0 victory.

We are top of the group but there's only 3 points between us, Shaktar and Leverkusen. The next game is away to Leverkusen and will be vital I think.

So you need at least a draw there I guess.

I'm still worried for Man UTD. They don't look half of what they looked like last year, and this years team looks a tad bit better than everton did under moyes.


Which lets be honest, isn't where Man UTD need to be.

I know the season is long, and this year was going to be a hard year for them in general, and I expect a lot more selling of players next year, which will lead to buying.

Fellaini though -_-;;, really needs to start playing like a manchester united player if he wants to be a manchester united player.

They're looking worse than they have for many, many years. Januzaj gives hope for the future but they need to make use of Rooney after this season or at least the funds that his exit will bring (unlike the Ronaldo money which went nowhere). It's time to start building the future Utd team from the ground up.