New FUTBOL thread since the pinned one is broken...

[Manch.]

Originally posted by warriortim:
CL back this afternoon! I'm thinking a Citeh and Dortmund result!
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I can see City pulling off a 2-1, even a 3-1 win over Barca at the Etihad. Barca looked like crap on Saturday and City is due to climb over the CL hump. For the Premier League's sake, I'd like City to get past Barca.

BVB is trying to salvage their season and need an impressive showing in Italy. I wish that Fox could show a game at noon and then the 2nd game at 3:00 PM as Fox Soccer Plus is not available in our area.

 

[warriortim]

BVB - Ballspiel-Verein Borussia!
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[warriortim]

Bvb defensively just not good enough and it's a Suarez show so far for Barca!
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[LesClaypool]

No answer for Messi and Suarez today.

City were bossed all over the pitch in the first half, then when they mounted a decent attack of their own it was too late.

Messi was everywhere.

Impressive match from Barca on the heels of that shit show vs Malaga.

 

[FSUdawg]

The only real negative for Barca on the day was Messi missing the penalty and the rebound shot at the end. The announcers tried to make it out as that could be a big miss, but if Barca plays like they did today, there is no way City wins on the road.

 

[Rishi]

City need at least 2 at Camp Nou. Don't see it happening.

BVB though has a real shot at going through. They say that 2-1 for the home side is the best score for a neutral as it forces both teams to go for it in the 2nd leg.

 

[warriortim]

Well I was a perfect 2 and 0....missing on both picks! LOL! BVB clearly have not solved the defensive issues they have and also their lack of scoring at times. They are still in it with the away goal and the game at the Westfalenstadion in the return leg! They will need that and everything the Gelbe Maurer can muster to win that match. Can they do it? Yes but I am not sure they will. Citeh are done! No way I see them winning by 2 clear goals at the Camp Nou. Today Arsenal 2:1 over Monaco and Atletico wins 3:2 at Leverkusen. Then we go domestic leagues and wait for the 2nd leg fixtures!

 

[Manch.]

Originally posted by Rishi:
City need at least 2 at Camp Nou. Don't see it happening.

BVB though has a real shot at going through. They say that 2-1 for the home side is the best score for a neutral as it forces both teams to go for it in the 2nd leg.

Defensively, I don't think Barca is all that, but if City is to score two goals, they will have to play wide open and we know what that means against the Catalonians, scoring 2 but giving up 2.

I think City will park the bus in the first half, looking to take advantage of any Barcelona mistakes, and then play full throttle in the 2nd half. I think it would be a mistake to play balls out for 90 minutes against a team that can score against a couple of parked buses.

 

[NoleInBama]

Originally posted by seminoleed:

Originally posted by NoleInBama:
Hammer Time. Need the bubble blowers to take this from the Spuds. Control Kane.

And of course, just as I read your post, Kane knocks in the tying goal at the death. Sheesh.

I saw it too. Broke my heart. Kane is a footballer.

 

[seminoleed]

The bad: This alleged snow storm that's about to hit Atlanta resulted in school being cancelled today; as a result, all 9 of my parent/teacher conferences are gone, and I'll probably play thunder getting most of them rescheduled.

The good: At least Fox picked up the Arsenal/Monaco match today, so I get to watch. COYG!

 

[seminoleed]

And of course, having been gifted with the best draw, and a home opener, The Arsenal have crapped their pants and will suffer perhaps the most ignominious defeat under Wenger's oversight. Well, maybe not as bad as the embarrassment at Old Trafford last year, but still....Monaco?

 

[FSUdawg]

Originally posted by seminoleed:
And of course, having been gifted with the best draw, and a home opener, The Arsenal have crapped their pants and will suffer perhaps the most ignominious defeat under Wenger's oversight. Well, maybe not as bad as the embarrassment at Old Trafford last year, but still....Monaco?

Terrible performance. Just when they give hope and cut it to a goal difference they give up another goal. Arsenal should just send UEFA a letter and tell them they are withdrawing from the competition. No need to return to Monaco and play another game. With the luck of The Arsenal they will go play and come away with more injuries.

I still think Arsenal was better while Ozil was out hurt. Cazorla was playing in behind Giroud and everything was going well. I know both Wilshere & Ramsey are now out, so they need someone back next to Coq, but overall I have not been impressed with the attack since Ozil has come back.

On top of it, they signed Gabrielle during the January Transfer Window and he has played what 8 minutes? If they aren't going to play him and rest the other CBs, what was the point of the signing?

Ed, where do you teach? My wife is a teacher down in Dacula, I'm wondering if we know one another.

 

[seminoleed]

Dawg, this year I'm at the new Northbrook Middle School, down by the ISC. Last ten years I was at Osborne Middle.

 

[Manch.]

Originally posted by seminoleed:
And finally, The Arsenal gets a decent draw in the Champions League. Wenger gets his old club Monaco, sans James and Falcao of course. This should be someone the Gunners can beat for a change.

In the past two years, it has come down to where nothing is predictable, nothing! Arsenal dominated the stat sheet and Berbatov stated it best after the match, "we wanted to win more".

Monaco won Group C, but only score 4 goals in 6 games (that has to be one of the biggest eye opening stats that I've seen in a while, winning their group with only 4 GF, but they only had 1 GA), yet they found the net 3 times tonight.

I love Alex O-C, but tonight one would have thought that Chevrolet was printed across his chest, what a midfield liability he was out there.

What has happened to the EPL in the CL?

Theo, what's the score?

 

[kooterridesagain]

Epl can't compete with barca /real on skill, I expected the sweep by barcelona who didn't even play well. I actually thought Messi was poor but suarez was great. Leg 2 will be ugly for city fans I'm thinking a 4-1 msybe.

Epl will drop to third in country rankings if city and arsenal drop out.

I'll have to watch arsenal later but that score was a mild surprise. Monaco are not a power so I expected a draw at worst.

Atletico I read played horribly too but they can easily overturn a 1-0 at home and I expect they will vs Leverkusen, but winning by 2 will be fascinating.

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[NoleInBama]

Just gutted about my beloved Gunners. They had chances, opportunities. Giroud off target, Alexi a step behind, Ox, came on too late to be in sync, and Mertesacker SLOW.

Arsenal was a Viagra commercial. Couldn't keep it up after Ox's goal and couldn't finish.



This post was edited on 2/26 7:33 AM by NoleInBama

 

[Rishi]

Originally posted by FSUdawg:

Originally posted by seminoleed:
And of course, having been gifted with the best draw, and a home opener, The Arsenal have crapped their pants and will suffer perhaps the most ignominious defeat under Wenger's oversight. Well, maybe not as bad as the embarrassment at Old Trafford last year, but still....Monaco?

Terrible performance. Just when they give hope and cut it to a goal difference they give up another goal. Arsenal should just send UEFA a letter and tell them they are withdrawing from the competition. No need to return to Monaco and play another game. With the luck of The Arsenal they will go play and come away with more injuries.

I still think Arsenal was better while Ozil was out hurt. Cazorla was playing in behind Giroud and everything was going well. I know both Wilshere & Ramsey are now out, so they need someone back next to Coq, but overall I have not been impressed with the attack since Ozil has come back.

On top of it, they signed Gabrielle during the January Transfer Window and he has played what 8 minutes? If they aren't going to play him and rest the other CBs, what was the point of the signing?

Ed, where do you teach? My wife is a teacher down in Dacula, I'm wondering if we know one another.

The Gunners changed their formation back to 4-2-3-1 from the 4-3-3 they had been playing the last 6 weeks or so. I was surprised that Ozil wasn't subbed off rather than Cazorla yesterday.

Monaco were pretty dominant in the game. Arsenal had a lot of the ball, but that's the way Monaco wants to play -> just counter attack, even though they have virtually no pace.

That being said, they made Arsenal play at a very slow pace which isn't to the Gunners' liking.

Arsenal should have employed a high press when not on the ball and forced the game with fast/quick movement/passes to get the pace they wanted.
Getting 3 on the road isn't going to be easy. Can it be done? Sure, but it sure seems like that's extremely unlikely.

I think we'll have a good idea of how serious Arsenal is about the 2nd leg based on the 2 games prior -> the FA Cup tie with United and the West Ham match on the weekend prior. If they go all out in those 2, I'd expect a not 1st team out there (i.e. resting Sanchez, Cazorla 1 of the CDs and maybe even Giroud). If they rotate in the West Ham match (I could see full team vs United and some rotation for West Ham to save full team for Monaco) I'd expect a full team vs Monaco.

Sunday's going to be great.

Arsenal/Everton; Liverpool/City and Capitol One Cup final b/w Chelsea/Spurs.

 

[warriortim]

I am sorry but what about the last 10-12 years of Arsenal football makes every year a shock when these results happen? Wenger has long surpassed the time he should have been gone. Every year the same things happen and every year folks act surprised. He has refused to bring in enough quality at the transfer dates and the team displays the same ineptness at stages of every season. They are a 4th or 5th place side year in and year out and will be until he goes and ownership decides they want to revamp the side. I for one don't see that happening any time soon. I do like Arsenal as an English side over any of the rest but not really a dog in the fight emotionally as it is FC Bayern and that's it for me. On that note I have my 1st priority tickets for my trip in April and if we can get the win v Donetsk 11 March, I will be at the Allianz for the Quarter Final tie as well! Bucket List TOP item will be checked off.

 

[kooterridesagain]

Warrior,
Sweet trip! A CL final is definitely on my list soon but I'm concentrating on a few weeks in France next summer for euros instead
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[warriortim]

euros would be great! 2012, I had a chance to go to Poland/Ukraine as I've got a few friends in Poland but life happened and wasn't able to go.
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[Manch.]

Guys, Real's farm team, Manchester United will probably be getting keeper David de Gea in the near future.

Who are some decent keepers out there that could replace him? Keepers don't get the coverage that the field players get, and there are so many names out there.

Who do you think would be able to perform well at United, and who do you see them realistically getting?

I have been following the Dutch keeper, Casper Cillessen, because his his ties with LVG, but I doubt he goes to Manchester, and I am not sold that he is "elite" enough.

 

[warriortim]

Originally posted by Manch.:
Guys, Real's farm team, Manchester United will probably be getting keeper David de Gea in the near future.

Who are some decent keepers out there that could replace him? Keepers don't get the coverage that the field players get, and there are so many names out there.

Who do you think would be able to perform well at United, and who do you see them realistically getting?

I have been following the Dutch keeper, Casper Cillessen, because his his ties with LVG, but I doubt he goes to Manchester, and I am not sold that he is "elite" enough.

As far as big names I'm not sure of any who'd be headed to manu? I'd imagine the Dutch GK would be logical choice w LvG as coach but I don't rate him as high as some Germans! Bernd Leno at Leverkusen and Timo Horn at Cologne are very good and very young. Lots of upside with both. Most others like Zieler and others are tied up long term! Another excellent GK is Ralf Fahrmann of Schalke. He's injured currently but he's been very good the last 2 plus seasons. That all said, I'd read that De Gea was about to sign an extension?! What changed? Have to say I'm out of the loop on that currently.
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[seminoleed]

And in the Europa Cup, the Peasants have been dispatched by Betsiktas 1-1 on aggregate, 5-4 in the penalty shootout after periods of extra time. The 5th Pool player missed his PK resulting in the Turkish side's win.

 

[LesClaypool]

Spurs, 'Pewl, City and Arsenal all effectively flamed out of Europe at once.

Horrible commentary on the Prem.

 

[kooterridesagain]

Everton somehow can look like a men's team in europa but not epl. I don't get it.

I like Casper.

But I've seen this movie before at Real. Will de gea really move and start? Casillas is awful but he's always pencilled in no matter how poor under Ancelotti. I don't buy de gea moving unless ancelotti leaves. Navas way better sits
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[Rishi]

Originally posted by Manch.:
Guys, Real's farm team, Manchester United will probably be getting keeper David de Gea in the near future.

Who are some decent keepers out there that could replace him? Keepers don't get the coverage that the field players get, and there are so many names out there.

Who do you think would be able to perform well at United, and who do you see them realistically getting?

I have been following the Dutch keeper, Casper Cillessen, because his his ties with LVG, but I doubt he goes to Manchester, and I am not sold that he is "elite" enough.

Petr Cech is available this summer. Chelsea is saying they'll sell him to whatever team he wants to go to (even Arsenal). If United qualifies for UCL, I'm sure Cech would consider them if de Gea is indeed sold.

 

[warriortim]

Originally posted by kooterridesagain:
Everton somehow can look like a men's team in europa but not epl. I don't get it.

I like Casper.

But I've seen this movie before at Real. Will de gea really move and start? Casillas is awful but he's always pencilled in no matter how poor under Ancelotti. I don't buy de gea moving unless ancelotti leaves. Navas way better sits

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Could not agree more with views of Casillas! He has been so overrated throughout his career, he is barely 6 ft and makes gaffes on a weekly basis it seems! Iker must have some dirt on Real/Coaching staff etc to keep him in the XI!?

 

[kooterridesagain]

Yup Casillas IMHO most overrated keeper in history. Spanish fans light candles when he breathes it's insane., regardless, ancelotti thinks he's Jesus so no chance anyone plays over him.
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[Rishi]

Originally posted by kooterridesagain:
Yup Casillas IMHO most overrated keeper in history. Spanish fans light candles when he breathes it's insane., regardless, ancelotti thinks he's Jesus so no chance anyone plays over him.
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Uncle Carlo did keep Lopez as the starter ahead of Iker in La Liga last year (following Jose's lead).

 

[NoleInBama]

Well the Hammers were just plan sad. The Alex Song we Gunners warned you about, showed up today.

 

[NoleInBama]

I think Coutinho is ready for a big club. He's a beast.

This post was edited on 3/1 8:49 AM by NoleInBama

 

[seminoleed]

The Arsenal with a dull but efficient dispatching of Everton 2-nil. Peasants really put a dent in City's title hopes.

 

[NoleLizards]

Trophy #1 of hopefully multiples captured by Chelsea today! Juan Cuadrado's walking through the line receiving his medal has to be thinking it's great to be a Blue!! I'm just waiting for a silverware-lifting still to install as my new wallpaper.

 

[Rishi]

Originally posted by NoleLizards:
Trophy #1 of hopefully multiples captured by Chelsea today! Juan Cuadrado's walking through the line receiving his medal has to be thinking it's great to be a Blue!! I'm just waiting for a silverware-lifting still to install as my new wallpaper.

Saw a Vine of Jose celebrating first. It was pretty funny.

Here is a Link to the Vine I was referring to.

Jose Celebrating COC Win.
This post was edited on 3/1 8:38 PM by Rishi

This post was edited on 3/1 8:39 PM by Rishi

 

[seminoleed]

Fun match today: Villa gets a PK at the death to knock off the Baggies 2-1 and move a little ways out of the relegation zone. Sherwood's 1st win as the Villains manager.

 

[seminoleed]

And The Arsenal with a clinical 2-1 win over struggling QPR--never complain about 3 points on the road, especially a derby.

And, it keeps them in 3rd ahead of United, who won at the Barcodes.

 

[warriortim]

Obviously I do not follow the EPL like many of you here on this board BUT serious question for the group? How in the HELL is manu in the top 4 in the Prem? Is the Prem just that watered down that they are 4th? All I see is how bad Falcao and Di Maria have performed, how awful LvG is etc but yet they pull results from their backsides? What gives?

 

[warriortim]

Also as an aside, for laughs, follow Ole cdowlar on Twitter! He is a hoot on matchdays! Still the embodiment of all manu fans I have encountered!

 

[seminoleed]

Originally posted by warriortim:

Also as an aside, for laughs, follow Ole cdowlar on Twitter! He is a hoot on matchdays! Still the embodiment of all manu fans I have encountered!

Ah, memories. such memories!

 

[LikeaG5]

Originally posted by warriortim:

Obviously I do not follow the EPL like many of you here on this board BUT serious question for the group? How in the HELL is manu in the top 4 in the Prem? Is the Prem just that watered down that they are 4th? All I see is how bad Falcao and Di Maria have performed, how awful LvG is etc but yet they pull results from their backsides? What gives?

De Gea has own many many undeserved points and not having any European football helps. They have a real tough run in. LVG 10 more years.