***Official Soccer Discussion Thread*** (2 Viewers)

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Hell YES!

 

[Brady Marino]

ESPN FC ‏@ESPNFC 12s

Group B: Real Madrid, Basel, Liverpool, Ludogorets.

 

[AAABatteries]

Ok, every time I think I understand the rules for team placement it either changes or I just don't understand. Why did Monaco only have 3 pots it could go in to when PSG was the only French side in a group already?

 

[AAABatteries]

The Zlatan is not happy with APOEL

 

[CletiusMaximus]

So why is B good? Weak pot B opponent means 2nd place should be easy?

That's the idea.

Gotta win your group.

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

Totally bummed about missing out on The Group of Zlatan. That would have been epic.

 

[CletiusMaximus]

ESPN FC ‏@ESPNFC 12s

Group B: Real Madrid, Basel, Liverpool, Ludogorets.

No penalty shootouts in the group stage, so Ludogorets is beatable.

 

[Bonzai]

Love this guy: "What the #### does this say?"

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Every group is Group of Zlatan with Zlatan. [/Zlatan]

 

[Steve Tasker]

Nice draw for Liverpool.

Arsenal with as good a draw as you can really hope for. Hoping to see my man Sacha on field for Anderlecht against them.

 

[The Gator]

Group E

 

[CletiusMaximus]

Pot 4 - clubs you've never seen before from Cities you've never heard of.

Maribar?

 

[AAABatteries]

So why is B good? Weak pot B opponent means 2nd place should be easy?

That's the idea.

Gotta win your group.

I think Gator has it right. Just advancing is a good next step for Pool. I would agree with you if they were going all out to win it but they EU cups in the trophy closet, they want the EPL.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Roma and CSKA are no pushovers -- tough group.

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

City getting boned in these draws is becoming one of my favorite annual subplots.

 

[Sebowski]

Holy crap. This isn't a thread anymore. It's a freaking chat room.

 

[AAABatteries]

Pot 4 - clubs you've never seen before from Cities you've never heard of.

Maribar?

In years gone by I've prided myself in being able to tell my co-workers who most of the Pot 4 teams are - I'd never heard of Maribar either.

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

Pot 4 - clubs you've never seen before from Cities you've never heard of.

Maribar?

I'm pretty sure I've assumed they were a lower team in the Portuguese league every time I played them in a friendly in FM. I'm like "Slovenia. Huh."

 

[AAABatteries]

Great draw - looking forward to it. Oh, by the way, go #### yourself Moyes.

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

Second place Group B, draw Group C or H winner in the knockouts = . Just how Brendan drew it up in his sealed envelopes.

 

[shader]

When are schedules announced?

 

[The Gator]

Second place Group B, draw Group C or H winner in the knockouts = . Just how Brendan drew it up in his sealed envelopes.

Really??

WE'RE GOING TO WIN THE WHOLE THING, SUCK IT SEBOWSKI

 

[NewlyRetired]

Also,

League Country Season Teams Games Attendance AverageBundesliga Germany 11–12 18 306 13,811,075 45,179Premier League England 12–13 20 380 13,643,273 35,903La Liga Spain 12–13 20 380 11,504,567 29,430Liga MX Mexico 11–12 18 334 8,495,000 25,434Serie A Italy 11–12 20 380 8,914,420 23,459Eredivisie Netherlands 11–12 18 306 5,978,689 19,538Ligue 1 France 12–13 20 380 7,299,737 19,261MLS USA/Canada 2012 19 323 6,074,729 18,807Chinese Super China 2012 16 240 4,497,578 18,740Primera Argentina 11–12 20 380 6,902,798 18,165Championship England 12–13 24 552 9,791,690 17,331Bundesliga 2 Germany 12–13 18 306 5,283,396 17,240J. League 1 Japan 2013 18 306 5,271,047 17,226Brasileiro Brazil 2012 20 380 4,941,520 13,004

A really interesting list. Where is Portugal?

Portugal first division averaged 10,203 last season according to Wiki.

 

[Sammy3469]

Second place Group B, draw Group C or H winner in the knockouts = . Just how Brendan drew it up in his sealed envelopes.

Brendan just became a huge City fan. If they can top their group that only leaves Barcelona or PSG as a potential heavy in the round of 16 since they can't draw Real Madrid or any of the other English clubs.

Besides for being an outright favorite to win the group, that's about as good a draw as they could have hoped for.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Holy crap. This isn't a thread anymore. It's a freaking chat room.

A/S/L ?

 

[The Gator]

OptaJoe ‏@OptaJoe 4m

3 - Liverpool have won all three of their European Cup/Champions League games against Real Madrid (six goals scored, none conceded).

 

[The Z Machine]

Second place Group B, draw Group C or H winner in the knockouts = . Just how Brendan drew it up in his sealed envelopes.

Brendan just became a huge City fan. If they can top their group that only leaves Barcelona or PSG as a potential heavy in the round of 16 since they can't draw Real Madrid or any of the other English clubs.

Besides for being an outright favorite to win the group, that's about as good a draw as they could have hoped for.

What about Bayern or Atlético?

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

Liverpool have trained for this moment. Moreno was clearly studying Maicon tape to learn how to defend Bale.

 

[AAABatteries]

From ESPNFC (which truly does suck now) - United's transfers. Ignoring the money in/out I think it looks pretty good save not having solid replacements for Rio and Vidic. Both are on the decline (especially Rio) but that's a lot of veteran CB experience you are losing without quality replacements. I almost wish now that Moyes didn't run Vidic off. I could live with a CB pairing of Vidic/Rojo.

Manchester United

In: Ander Herrera (Athletic Bilbao) Undisclosed; Luke Shaw (Southampton) Undisclosed; Vanja Milinkovic (FK Vojvodina) Undisclosed; Marcos Rojo (Sporting Lisbon) £20 million; Angel Di Maria (Real Madrid) £59.7 million

Out: Federico Macheda (Cardiff City) Free; Jack Barmby (Leicester City) Free; Rio Ferdinand Released; Ryan Giggs Retired; Nemanja Vidic (Inter Milan) Free; Alexander Buttner (Dynamo Moscow) Undisclosed; Patrice Evra (Juventus) £1.2 million; Bebe (Benfica) Undisclosed; Angelo Henriquez (Dinamo Zagreb) Loan; Nani (Sporting Lisbon) Loan; Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace) Loan

If they can manage to get Cleverly and Young off the books and get either Blind, Vidal or both then I think it has to be seen as a successful window. I'm not concerned about the money (yet).

 

[El Floppo]

Macheda just never panned out. The times I saw him play, I didn't get why such a huge club would be bringing him in there... not one of Sir Al's best picks.

But his worst- absolute worst- was Bebe. I can't believe he remained on the books there until this year. I figured he was jettisoned after his first summer- which had to have been years ago.

Seems like it was a tough year to try to get a CB- bunch of high-paying teams already in the CL were after them too. But as a MU fan- money aside- you can't feel too bad about that group of players that are coming in.

 

[The Gator]

http://twitter.com/sportingintel/status/505046919723638785/photo/1

 

[The Z Machine]

http://twitter.com/sportingintel/status/505046919723638785/photo/1

So? CL hasn't been about the actual champions of domestic leagues for a long time. Rather, it's a Super League that cuts across domestic leagues. This way we get to see the best teams in the world face each other. It's Confederation Cup vs. World Cup.

 

[AAABatteries]

Reports confirming Alonso to Bayern.

 

[The Gator]

http://twitter.com/sportingintel/status/505046919723638785/photo/1

So? CL hasn't been about the actual champions of domestic leagues for a long time. Rather, it's a Super League that cuts across domestic leagues. This way we get to see the best teams in the world face each other. It's Confederation Cup vs. World Cup.

Thought it was cool there's actually a group with all champs, Nancy

 

[The Gator]

Reports confirming Alonso to Bayern.

####Would have loved to see him back at Anfield

 

[El Floppo]

http://twitter.com/sportingintel/status/505046919723638785/photo/1

So? CL hasn't been about the actual champions of domestic leagues for a long time. Rather, it's a Super League that cuts across domestic leagues. This way we get to see the best teams in the world face each other. It's Confederation Cup vs. World Cup.

So buttons.

It's interesting.

eat: nm... Gator's already on this.

 

[The Gator]

CL fixtures-

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BwJORG5CIAA87lt.jpg:large

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BwJORISCQAAXCoi.jpg:large

Love the way Liverpool's shape up at first look

 

[B-Deep]

I am still ignorant about footie and have failed at watching epl games so far, just hard to find the time

BUT

I am playing PSG in my PS Vita FIFA2014 league and every time zlatan scores i here the voice from this youtube clip in my head thanks to you folks in this thread

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9m7m8_2t4Y

often times i'll say to myself

"i am devilishly attractive"

so i may not be a soccer addict yet, but that's something

 

[shader]

Looks like Pool starts at home against the easiest team. Gotta think it's good to get an early win.

 

[The Gator]

Looks like Pool starts at home against the easiest team. Gotta think it's good to get an early win.

Best way to start to get back into it-

16/9 Ludogorets H - 3pts

1/10 Basel A - 1pt

22/10 Real Madrid H - 1pt

4/11 Real MAdrid A - 0pts

26/11 Ludogorets A - 3pts

9/12 Basel H - 3pts

11 points, second in group

 

[The Gator]

For Good Betting Judge

@PCarrESPN: Notable moves in @LVSuperBook's UCL title odds post-draw:

Chelsea: 8/1 to 6/1

Roma: 40/1 to 80/1

Monaco: 50/1 to 80/1

Porto: 80/1 to 60/1

 

[Spartans Rule]

Arsenal with as good a draw as you can really hope for.

I dunno about that. Dortmund and Galatasaray were both among the stronger teams in their pots, especially considering Arsenal couldn't draw Pool or City. Avoiding Monaco or Roma was good but there was a 75% chance of that happening anyway.

 

[The Gator]

Things Harry Kane's head is bigger than-

Old Trafford

George Washington's Mt Rushmore head

Geoff George with a helmet on

 

[Sinn Fein]

Spurs B make it through to THE Europa tournament.

Big Head Kane with a solid performance.

 

[QuizGuy66]

:( Hull City

-QG

 

[The Gator]

Ohhh, new nickname... Big Heady Kane

 

[Good Posting Judge]

Pretty good draw for Barca, esp. going to Paris in their last game, hopefully they've got the group wrapped by then.

Oddly, they got the same exact group in the UEFA Youth League draw. http://www.uefa.com/uefayouthleague/news/newsid=2137039.html

 

[Sinn Fein]

:( Hull City

-QG

oof...I had been watch Spurs game, and had forgotten Hull were playing today too.

Sad because I thought one of the benefits for Dawson was that he would still get Europa play...Hull probably not deep enough to have put in a good run though.

 

[Eephus]

:( Hull City

-QG

oof...I had been watch Spurs game, and had forgotten Hull were playing today too.

Sad because I thought one of the benefits for Dawson was that he would still get Europa play...Hull probably not deep enough to have put in a good run though.

Their league prospects may have been helped by crashing out now. Bigger and better teams than Hull have been killed by the Thursday Europa League calendar.

 

[Eephus]

Esteban Cambiasso to Leicester City. His baldness always made him seem older than he was but that's sort of regulated itself at age 34.

He's a good get for the Foxes if he has anything left.