***Official Soccer Discussion Thread*** (6 Viewers)

[Eephus]

I'm not feeling very optimistic about Arsenal's chance at qualifying today, even with them up 1-0 on aggregate. Really have a abd feeling about this one. They were totally outlayed last time out. 1 away goal would be huge. Hope they go for it and hold on. I can see them getting the goal early then conceding three with the last in injury time.

That might be a good thing big picture-wise. They are not strong. Early exit from the Champions would allow them to focus on the EPL.

And it's not like they would use the money gained by playing in the group stages to improve the squad anyway.

:arsenemcduck:

In your heart, you know he's right

 

[guru_007]

predicting:

Benefica, Plizen, Arsenal move on - not sure about the last game, more familiar with BATE, but they allowed a road goal, may be in trouble.

Even though Arsenal aren't that good, I think they get the job done here. They've had constant distractions around them the first few weeks, but now with Cesc and Nasri gone, that's settled, and Gervinho and RVP are playing, that should be enough. Plizen was a shocker in the opening leg, imo. They should hold on here, and Benefica should take care of business at home.

 

[Eephus]

I have a link to an AVI of "United", a movie released earlier this year in the UK about the Busby Babes. It's a drama based on actual events rather than a documentary. I haven't watched it yet but it appears to be DVD rip quality. PM me for more info.

IMDB page

 

[guru_007]

Also was good to see Rochdale take down QPR the other day I'm a pretty big Daler fan.

 

[Spartans Rule]

Scary moment there for Arsenal.

 

[Eephus]

Also was good to see Rochdale take down QPR the other day I'm a pretty big Daler fan.

Always good to see lower division clubs beat Premiership teams, except when it's MK

 

[guru_007]

how does arsenal not score there

 

[jonessed]

Di Natale off with hamstring injury. That largely kills off Udinese.

 

[NewlyRetired]

What a fun game this has been. Love seeing two teams attack so freely. No way this stays scoreless if this continues.

 

[guru_007]

dinatale out, my over is sunk, ugh.

 

[NewlyRetired]

dinatale out, my over is sunk, ugh.

Am I watching a tape delay?

 

[guru_007]

okay, that's weird, thought I saw him asked to get subbed out

 

[guru_007]

uh oh gunners

 

[jonessed]

okay, that's weird, thought I saw him asked to get subbed out

He did, and then he didn't... and then apparently he scored.

 

[Spartans Rule]

He definitely signalled to go out. Must have thought he was hurt worse than he was. He's clearly fine and by far the best player on the pitch right now.

 

[NewlyRetired]

okay, that's weird, thought I saw him asked to get subbed out

Does your over bet include goals scored in extra time?

 

[Good Posting Judge]

Beautiful header there.

 

[guru_007]

He definitely signalled to go out. Must have thought he was hurt worse than he was. He's clearly fine and by far the best player on the pitch right now.

an Italian soccer player embellishing an injury? wtf, never heard of this before.

 

[NewlyRetired]

I mentioned this last week but has there ever been a player who improved this much after 30 years old as DiNatale has?

 

[guru_007]

gunners gonna need a road goal...no way they advance if this goes extra time

 

[Spartans Rule]

He definitely signalled to go out. Must have thought he was hurt worse than he was. He's clearly fine and by far the best player on the pitch right now.

an Italian soccer player embellishing an injury? wtf, never heard of this before.

Good point.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Someone should start a team that favors short lefty players and have Silva, Messi, Rossi and DiNatale on the squad

 

[Eephus]

Someone should start a team that favors short lefty players and have Silva, Messi, Rossi and DiNatale on the squad

Dennis Kuchinich

 

[Good Posting Judge]

Someone should start a team that favors short lefty players and have Silva, Messi, Rossi and DiNatale on the squad

Dennis Kuchinich

That group will need an enforcer.

 

[The Gator]

Liverpool dominating Exeter City

 

[NewlyRetired]

The keeper from Udinese was the keeper that Landon almost beheaded in last summers World Cup against Slovenia.

 

[Native]

Well done RVP!

 

[Native]

"That goal is the best news Arsene Wenger has had in some time"

 

[Spartans Rule]

Well, that's a relief.

Udinese needs two goals now. Seems very unlikely.

 

[Good Posting Judge]

Wow. So OT/PK's not possible, Udinese need two goals to win. Wenger must be incredibly happy about all that UCL revenue!

 

[guru_007]

what a save

 

[guru_007]

that save probably cost me a good chunk of change ffs. oh well.

 

[Native]

Where are all the Udinese fans? THe stadiums looks/sounds empty.

 

[jonessed]

Man, that was an incredibly difficult save. Not only did he have to guess right and get to the bar, but that was well above the two to five foot zone that's usually within a keeper's range.

 

[Eephus]

Well, that's a relief.Udinese needs two goals now. Seems very unlikely.

Remember that we're talking about Arsenal

 

[guru_007]

Liverpool really laying it on poor Exeter today. Played their first team ffs.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Where are all the Udinese fans? THe stadiums looks/sounds empty.

Attendance in Italy has dropped in recent years in part due too the match fixing controversy. Udinese averaged 16,230 last season. The stadium hold over 40k so I would estimate there are about 25k in the stadium tonight.

 

[Spartans Rule]

Trabzonspor to replace Fenerbahce in the Champions League.

What a bunch of crap. They cheated too.

 

[guru_007]

there we go

 

[Christo]

Oh, look. The Italians are playing dirty.

 

[Good Posting Judge]

Saw this from the Guardian MBM: http://www.mcfc.co.uk/News/Club-news/2011/August/Samir-Nasri-scores-first-City-goal

"The image of Nasri scoring 'his first goal for City' seem to show him doing it at home against Manchester United," says Robin Hazlehurst. "The fixture list elsewhere on the site shows that Eastlands is next expecting to welcome MUFC on 28 April 2012 in the league, and as the FA Cup doesn't start for Big Clubs until next year, either Citeh are very confident of an early Carling Cup draw against United or they don't actually expect their new player to score for them for a long time yet."

 

[Spartans Rule]

Pots for tomorrow's Champions League group stage draw:

Pot 1: Manchester United, Barcelona, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Porto, Inter Milan

Pot 2: Milan, Lyon, Shakhtar Donetsk, Valencia, Benfica, Villareal, CSKA Moscow, Marseille

Pot 3: Zenit St. Petersburg, Ajax Amsterdam, Bayer Leverkusen, Olympiakos, Manchester City, Lille, Basel, BATE

Pot 4: Borussia Dortmund, Napoli, Dinamo Zagreb, APOEL, Trabzonspor, KRC Genk, Viktoria Pizen, Otelul Galati

Obviously the most interesting situation is where Man City goes out of pot 3. That's likely to be the toughest group almost by default.

Dortmund in pot 4 after crushing the Bundesliga last year will also be a very tough draw for someone.

 

[jonessed]

Pots for tomorrow's Champions League group stage drawot 1: Manchester United, Barcelona, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Porto, Inter MilanPot 2: Milan, Lyon, Shakhtar Donetsk, Valencia, Benfica, Villareal, CSKA Moscow, MarseillePot 3: Zenit St. Petersburg, Ajax Amsterdam, Bayer Leverkusen, Olympiakos, Manchester City, Lille, Basel, BATEPot 4: Borussia Dortmund, Napoli, Dinamo Zagreb, APOEL, Trabzonspor, KRC Genk, Viktoria Pizen, Otelul GalatiObviously the most interesting situation is where Man City goes out of pot 3. That's likely to be the toughest group almost by default.Dortmund in pot 4 after crushing the Bundesliga last year will also be a very tough draw for someone.

Lord help anyone that gets Manchester City as their bracket's third seed.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Pots for tomorrow's Champions League group stage drawot 1: Manchester United, Barcelona, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Porto, Inter MilanPot 2: Milan, Lyon, Shakhtar Donetsk, Valencia, Benfica, Villareal, CSKA Moscow, MarseillePot 3: Zenit St. Petersburg, Ajax Amsterdam, Bayer Leverkusen, Olympiakos, Manchester City, Lille, Basel, BATEPot 4: Borussia Dortmund, Napoli, Dinamo Zagreb, APOEL, Trabzonspor, KRC Genk, Viktoria Pizen, Otelul GalatiObviously the most interesting situation is where Man City goes out of pot 3. That's likely to be the toughest group almost by default.Dortmund in pot 4 after crushing the Bundesliga last year will also be a very tough draw for someone.

Lord help anyone that gets Manchester City as their bracket's third seed.

Are their "rules" like in World Cup pots where clubs from the same country can't end up in same group or could United and Man City end up together?

 

[NewlyRetired]

Would love to do a fantasy for Champions League this year. Might have to look around to see what's available.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Pots for tomorrow's Champions League group stage drawot 1: Manchester United, Barcelona, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Porto, Inter MilanPot 2: Milan, Lyon, Shakhtar Donetsk, Valencia, Benfica, Villareal, CSKA Moscow, MarseillePot 3: Zenit St. Petersburg, Ajax Amsterdam, Bayer Leverkusen, Olympiakos, Manchester City, Lille, Basel, BATEPot 4: Borussia Dortmund, Napoli, Dinamo Zagreb, APOEL, Trabzonspor, KRC Genk, Viktoria Pizen, Otelul GalatiObviously the most interesting situation is where Man City goes out of pot 3. That's likely to be the toughest group almost by default.Dortmund in pot 4 after crushing the Bundesliga last year will also be a very tough draw for someone.

Could have some real groups of death here. Why did Bayern and Arsenal get pot 1 after having to qualify? Is it based on previous years?

 

[Good Posting Judge]

Pots for tomorrow's Champions League group stage drawot 1: Manchester United, Barcelona, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Porto, Inter MilanPot 2: Milan, Lyon, Shakhtar Donetsk, Valencia, Benfica, Villareal, CSKA Moscow, MarseillePot 3: Zenit St. Petersburg, Ajax Amsterdam, Bayer Leverkusen, Olympiakos, Manchester City, Lille, Basel, BATEPot 4: Borussia Dortmund, Napoli, Dinamo Zagreb, APOEL, Trabzonspor, KRC Genk, Viktoria Pizen, Otelul GalatiObviously the most interesting situation is where Man City goes out of pot 3. That's likely to be the toughest group almost by default.Dortmund in pot 4 after crushing the Bundesliga last year will also be a very tough draw for someone.

Lord help anyone that gets Manchester City as their bracket's third seed.

Are their "rules" like in World Cup pots where clubs from the same country can't end up in same group or could United and Man City end up together?

Yes. Can't have two teams from the same country in the same group.

 

[Spartans Rule]

Pots for tomorrow's Champions League group stage drawot 1: Manchester United, Barcelona, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Porto, Inter MilanPot 2: Milan, Lyon, Shakhtar Donetsk, Valencia, Benfica, Villareal, CSKA Moscow, MarseillePot 3: Zenit St. Petersburg, Ajax Amsterdam, Bayer Leverkusen, Olympiakos, Manchester City, Lille, Basel, BATEPot 4: Borussia Dortmund, Napoli, Dinamo Zagreb, APOEL, Trabzonspor, KRC Genk, Viktoria Pizen, Otelul GalatiObviously the most interesting situation is where Man City goes out of pot 3. That's likely to be the toughest group almost by default.Dortmund in pot 4 after crushing the Bundesliga last year will also be a very tough draw for someone.

Could have some real groups of death here. Why did Bayern and Arsenal get pot 1 after having to qualify? Is it based on previous years?

Yeah, the rankings come from UEFA coefficients which are based on previous Champions League and Europa League performance. That's why teams like City and Dortmund are so low, because they haven't been in Europe much lately.And teams from the same country can't get drawn together.The ultimate group of death would be Barca, Milan, Man City and Dortmund.

 

[Eephus]

Speaking of unfathomable seedings, the latest FIFA rankings are up.

Holland passes Spain for the top spot.

England up to #4

Brazil down two to #6 behind Uruguay

Mexico holds at #20

US up two to #28 passing Switzerland and Serbia

San Marino, Montserrat, American Samoa and Andorra tied for last (203rd)

Biggest riser is Seychelles up 24 to 175

Biggest faller is the Central African Republic down 15 to 104

 

[NewlyRetired]

Speaking of unfathomable seedings, the latest FIFA rankings are up.

Holland passes Spain for the top spot.

England up to #4

Brazil down two to #6 behind Uruguay

Mexico holds at #20

US up two to #28 passing Switzerland and Serbia

San Marino, Montserrat, American Samoa and Andorra tied for last (203rd)

Biggest riser is Seychelles up 24 to 175

Biggest faller is the Central African Republic down 15 to 104

Where in gods name is Seychelles? I had to look that up as I had honestly never heard of them. I am surprised at Mexico holding steady. Usually the winner of the Gold Cup bumps up a few slots because the regional championship is weighted more.