The Football/Soccer Thread

[danvitale]

Let's get this thread up and running for discussion of the English Premiership, Spanish La Liga, Italian Seria A, and Major League Soccer.

For starters - off to a good start with Wayne Rooney's goal against Manchester City at the weekend.. The lad's got talent...



Tottenham went to AC Milan last night and did this:



But Milan's Reno Gattuso didnt like losing and went mental





Arsenal vs Barcelona tonight. I love Football!!

[danvitale]

Arsenal beat Barcelona for the first time in their history. 2-1 at Emirates Stadium coming back from a Villa goal with excellent efforts from Van Persie and Arshavin in the last 13 minutes. Sublime.

[SweetassWaffles]

I check in on the Premiership and La Liga usually a couple of times a week, but it's so tough to keep track of everything when you live in the States. Everything seems so strange in the Premiership with Liverpool kind of sucking and Man City ruling it (and Tevez is just such an ugly looking dude). I used to be big into Newcastle when they had Michael Owen (that seems like a long time ago) but you know it's all going to boil down to Man U and Chelsea. It's the same thing with La Liga...it's all Real Madrid and Barca (both of my teams, Las Palmas and Tenerife, are in Segunda this year, so that sucks). Sometimes you get some surprising shit like when Valencia was all good, but it's pretty lopsided.

Anyway, I guess my point/question is: are there any good podcasts or sites (besides the official Premiership site) that are pretty good for staying up with everything?

[danvitale]

The Football Weekly podcast (by The Guardian - a newspaper over here) is EXCELLENT. Especially with regards to Spanish coverage. Twice weekly, and very funny too. You should love it.

[danvitale]

ANOTHER highlight reel overhead kick. YAWN!

[futhamucka]

but you know it's all going to boil down to Man U and Chelsea.

You know Chelsea aren't even in the top four at the moment, right? Arsenal are the only team who can realistically take it away from United this season.

The Football Weekly podcast (by The Guardian - a newspaper over here) is EXCELLENT. Especially with regards to Spanish coverage. Twice weekly, and very funny too. You should love it.

Agreed, it's a must listen for all 4th stringers.

[SweetassWaffles]

Yeah, I guess my point is that most years you really only have 2 - 4 teams that are in contention. The parity in the Premiership and La Liga is not quite as significant as in leagues like the NFL or the NBA. You always have your powerhouses, but there are usually about a dozen teams that are in the running. Plus, there are no playoffs in the Premier League, which makes the end of the season pretty lackluster (for me anyway). Don't get me wrong; I love soccer, but it's not the same when you don't live in Europe and you aren't close to the excitement.

[futhamucka]

My point was that this season the Premier league has been more open than in many years in the past. Sure, Man U are on top, but they have not been playing well and their aging stars are looking... old.

Parity is good and all, but I can tell you that, as a Cleveland Browns fan, there is not as much parity in the NFL as people assume The lack of parity just makes the shocking results even more amazing. Look at Arsenal: They beat Barcelona one day, and then a couple of day's later get held to a draw by Leyton Orient (a team from two divisions below them, think triple-A). The Orient fans acted like they'd just won the super bowl!

[danvitale]

One old team beat another last night - Chelsea did in Man U at Stamford Bridge - Monsieur Zuniga will be having kittens!

It is quite an interesting season. You have three principle title favourites, Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal all looking good one week and then faltering the next - it's just Man U that is doing a less consistent job of looking mediocre.

Alex Fergurson has brought in a great player in Javier Fernandez, but has on his books some under performers. Nani has stepped up to an extent but Rooney has struggled with consistency, following the form he displayed during the World Cup. You don't lose that talent (as can be shown by his winning goal vs Man City shown above). They are relying on the old guard of Van Der Sar, Scholes and Giggs to provide inspiration and discipline, as the likes of Anderson, Carrick and co are just not stepping up. They are also in a state of limbo with financial restrictions placed upon them by their owners, and there are constant rumours of a buyout by the Dubai Royal Family of £1.5bn - IMO that is the only way out from their current Glazier nightmare..

Chelsea are old. They seem devoid of the kind of energy that is required to be the stand out team. They gambled on Torres for £50m and he will eventually start firing goals in, but a great striker is only as good as the quality of players around him - and right now Drogba is far off from being the hitman we have seen over the past seasons, Anelka will score but isnt consistent, and Daniel Sturridge has gone out on loan. Roman Abramovic has shown that he will only spend when absolutely necessary, and will only spend now if he is absolutely required to do so. David Luiz is a good buy, but I think the team needs a major injection of youth amongst the experience, because the veteren players such as Cech, Terry and Lampard are not the dependable starters they once were.

Arsenal are very hit and miss - but they are goverened by Arsene Wenger's stubbornness and determination to make their current team work as they are. In my opinion he is far too prudent to make the big step from Sometime League winners to European Powerhouses. Wenger has made some inspired signings in the past (Jack Wilshire) but has signed some stinkers too - Squillaci, Chamakh, Bendtner. As long as Wenger is not going all out to sign the best players in Europe, his team wont be regarded in that same category.

The fight for the forth Champions League spot is intriguing. Man City seem to be getting their act together but show glimpses of absolute rubbish - Mancini seems to be doing his best to massage the egos of some immense personalities at the club. He and Ancelotti must be regarded highly in the betting for the sack when the season ends if they dont meet expectations. Tottenham are even more patchy with their form, at their best they are brilliant, at the worst they lose to clubs fighting relegation. The majority of their strikers are badly misfiring, with Jermaine Defoe alone not having scored in the Premiership since last April. I think Redknapp will be having a major clearout at the end of the season. Liverpool's fightback is another entertaining sub-plot. Non-Reds fans scoffed at Kenny Dalgleish being the right man to replace Rory Hodgson but so far he has shown that he hasnt lost that midas touch to get the best out of their players. The moves they made in the Transfer window have yet to be fully realised, but Luis Suarez has immediately made an impact, and Andy Carroll should flourish as long as Gerrard and Kuyt can provide the required service.

Bolton, Sunderland and Newcastle could be said to be punching above their weight, but with the likes of Stoke, Everton, Aston Villa and Fulham right behind them, the fight for the last Euro League places will be another highlight going deep into the second half of the season. The relegation battle is heating up, with Blackpull in a slump after showing promise in the first half of the season, Birimingham and West Brom scrapping, and Wolves, West Ham and Wigan at the bottom fighting to survive.

There are plenty of sub-plots going on in the league and there's a lot to talk about - If you want to know more, check out the Football Weekly podcast by the Guardian.co.uk. It's a must for Football fans and highly recommended by me.

[TopShelf]

Big game today, Arsenal v Barca. After last game, I've got a feeling Arsenal has woken the beast inside of Messi. With Barca at home, it's not going to be pretty.

[danvitale]

Looks like Arsenal got schooled by Barca - I was away and didnt see the game.. But I still am convinced that unless Arsenal get more comfortable at spending the kinds of cash that their European rivals do, they wont be able to compete at the highest level.

Spurs on the other hand are on cloud 9 after eliminating AC Milan last night at White Hart Lane - It's an all win situation with them now - Arsenal are gone from the CL so even if they are eliminated in the next round they will have the bragging rights until next season.

[futhamucka]

I watched the Barca/Arsenal highlights. They didn't make fools of themselves, but they were never going to win it. Of course losing your starting keeper in the first half, and having van Persie sent of in comical fashion doesn't help, but I don't think the result would have been too different even at full strength. If only it was Bentner who got sent off, I think van Persie would have buried the chance at the end.

Good place for soccer highlights: fbtz.com/forum they post everything not long after the games are done.

[radioheadhead]

To anybody who loves the beautiful game:

Last night I witnessed what I only thought was possible in Football Manager.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OWnd4ndAnE

[danvitale]

SAUCY.

[TopShelf]

I can't decide what game to watch today Chelsea v Man U or Barca pummel on Shatkahgasksghk. Why can't they stagger them.

[radioheadhead]

that is incredible.

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