***Official Soccer Discussion Thread*** (3 Viewers)

[El Floppo]

yeah, i knew i was forgetting someone.

or reading the post. I had no idea Bale was Welsh. ... thanks for the headsup.

 

[prefontaine]

yeah, i knew i was forgetting someone.

or reading the post. I had no idea Bale was Welsh. ... thanks for the headsup.

it's more fun if you type (and say) Welch

 

[El Floppo]

yeah, i knew i was forgetting someone.

or reading the post. I had no idea Bale was Welsh. ... thanks for the headsup.

it's more fun if you type (and say) Welch

Like Scotch.

 

[prefontaine]

This chick doing the presentation is pretty hot but she keeps saying way-fa instead of ewe-way-fa. Normally the spanish french? accent is hot but this is just distracting.

 

[prefontaine]

In an absolute shocker, Julio Cesar wins wayfa GK of the Year

 

[Steve Tasker]

Arsenal draw Shakhtar. Will be fun to see Eduardo's homecoming...he should get a pretty good reception if he's healthy.

AC Milan draw Real Madrid in what looks to be the early group of death...

 

[Steve Tasker]

Interesting draw for United....they pull Valencia and then Rangers. That'll be a fun group to watch. I'm sure Man U will be able to get out just fine, but it'll be good TV.

 

[guru_007]

seeds so far:

Group A - Inter - Bremen - Tottenham

Group B - Lyon -Benfica - Schalke

Group C - Man United - Valencia - Rangers

Group D - Barcelona - Panthiniakos - Copenhagen

Group E - Bayern - Roma - Basel

Group F - Chelsea - Marseilles - Spartak Moscow

Group G - AC Mlian - Real Madrid - Ajax

Group H - Arsenal - Shakhtar - Braga

Group A and E could be very interesting...

 

[scoobygang]

Milan didn't get any favors.

 

[prefontaine]

Group G = group of death (with addition of Auxerre)

 

[The Z Machine]

Couple notes on the CL draw:

- Spurs have a tough group, but that was sort of a given. They'll be in a dogfight with Werder Bremen for the second slot in Group A.

- Lyon with probably the easiest group in CL this year.

- ManU with the cake draw. Valencia lost nearly all their good player in the offseason and are not likely to make it back to CL this year.

- Barça is liking the draw except for one thing... gate receipts will be lower than normal for CL. LOL

- Bayern and Roma look like good bets

' Chelski can rest some players vs. some of their CL group competition and focus on putting away their EPL opponents in the midseason.

- Real Madrid with the tough draw of AC Milan and Ajax. I'd love to see Ajax put the stomp on them and squish their chances at silverware.

- Arsenal is probably not that happy with the draw. Having to travel to Turkey and getting a decent team in Sporting Braga wasn't so good.

 

[The Z Machine]

UEFA Supercopa is coming up.

My Atleti vs. Rafa's Inter. Rafa just said that his father was an Atlético fan... LOL.

 

[scoobygang]

- Arsenal is probably not that happy with the draw. Having to travel to Turkey . . .

I count Portugal, Ukraine, and Serbia.

 

[prefontaine]

Group A:

Inter Milan

Werder Bremen

Tottenham

Twente

I actually think this is quite a tough group and I'm not sure Inter should be a massive favorite in it. I tend to think they'll be back down this season and Bremen and Spurs can both beat them. Twente is no pushover but I don't rate their chances of advancing.

Group B:

Lyon

Benfica

Schalke04

Happoel Tel Aviv

Much easier group imo but the top 3 seem evenly matched. I know nothing of Happoel though.

Group C:

Manchester United

Valencia

Rangers

Bursaspur

Meh. Watching these things it's easy to see that they could be rigged and every time I see United's draw for anything it seems a joke. Can Rangers advance out of group?

Group D:

Barca

Panathinaikos

Kobenhavn

Rubin Kazan

I have no idea who will finish 2nd here. I think I'd like to see Rubin Kazan.

Group E:

Bayern

Roma

Basel

Cluj

Bayern and Roma. Next.

Group F:

Chelsea

Marseille

Spartak Moskva

Zilina

Chelsea and Marseille.

Group G:

AC Milan

Real Madrid

AFC Ajax

Auxerre

And here we have it. 20 CL trophies reside in this group. And Auxerre.

Group H:

Arsenal

Shaktar Donetsk

Braga

Partizan Belgrade

Hmmmm....don't really know much about the Shaktar or Partizan. Gotta figure the Gunners are a clear favorite though.

 

[guru_007]

ooooof, Liverpool down already

 

[Spartans Rule]

Group A is definitely a tough one. I think Inter will be fine but Tottenham and Werder should have a close race for the second spot. Twente was probably one of the stronger teams in the fourth pot as well.

Group B looks relatively weak. Lyon was clearly the weakest team in the first pot and Benfica and Schalke have to like their chances.

Man U definitely got a gift in Group C. Rangers have a decent draw to advance but I think Valencia will take them.

Barca also got a good draw in Group D although it will be fun to see them match up with their old friends Rubin. I actually like Rubin to advance here as the other two are nothing special.

Group E and F both look pretty boring with a clear top two likely to move on. Drogba will get to play his former club.

G is absolutely brutal. Real was obviously the best team in the second pot, Ajax was among the better in the third and Auxerre was probably the best in the fourth pot.

Arsenal shouldn't have much trouble in Group H. They get to play Braga who are known as the "Arsenalistas" in Portugal because their unis are virtually identical to the Gunners.

 

[Desert_Power]

Pretty much couldn't have asked for a better Barca/worse Madrid draw.

 

[Christo]

Gareth Bale is Welsh GB.

I'm confused. So that means he's not english? (for the record, I play with a bunch of irish who are very, very particular about what country all those brits are from. There's nothing better than to ask questions like why Robbie Keane has never gotten a run with the English National team haha -- and yes, I'm very aware that Irish are not Brits but go ahead and pretend they are....good times)

He's British, not English

 

[Spartans Rule]

Pretty much couldn't have asked for a better Barca/worse Madrid draw.

You gotta love that Real Madrid is virtually assured of a terrible draw until they stop choking in the round of 16 every year.

 

[El Floppo]

UEFA Supercopa is coming up.My Atleti vs. Rafa's Inter. Rafa just said that his father was an Atlético fan... LOL.

My name isn't Rafa.

 

[The Z Machine]

- Arsenal is probably not that happy with the draw. Having to travel to Turkey . . .

I count Portugal, Ukraine, and Serbia.

Oops. I read Shaktar as Besiktas. Whoops. Good catch. Donetsk is an easier venue than Istanbul.

 

[Christo]

Rubin Kazan

Every time I read this I think, who does he play for?

 

[prefontaine]

Gareth Bale is Welsh GB.

I'm confused. So that means he's not english? (for the record, I play with a bunch of irish who are very, very particular about what country all those brits are from. There's nothing better than to ask questions like why Robbie Keane has never gotten a run with the English National team haha -- and yes, I'm very aware that Irish are not Brits but go ahead and pretend they are....good times)

He's British, not English

I thought explaining it would help

 

[Moe.]

Gareth Bale is Welsh GB.

I'm confused. So that means he's not english? (for the record, I play with a bunch of irish who are very, very particular about what country all those brits are from. There's nothing better than to ask questions like why Robbie Keane has never gotten a run with the English National team haha -- and yes, I'm very aware that Irish are not Brits but go ahead and pretend they are....good times)

for the purposes of soccer, no.The different areas that make up Great Britain are independent as far as soccer goes.EnglandWalesN. IrelandSo they all play under their own separate flags in world cup qualifying. (Hence the reason that someone like Ryan Giggs never played on team England).

He's not English for any purpose, soccer or otherwise.

 

[Christo]

Gareth Bale is Welsh GB.

I'm confused. So that means he's not english? (for the record, I play with a bunch of irish who are very, very particular about what country all those brits are from. There's nothing better than to ask questions like why Robbie Keane has never gotten a run with the English National team haha -- and yes, I'm very aware that Irish are not Brits but go ahead and pretend they are....good times)

He's British, not English

I thought explaining it would help

What do the Irish have to do with the Welsh?

 

[prefontaine]

What do the Irish have to do with the Welsh?

welchObviously you don't spend a lot of time with Brits or Irish. I was making a joke gb. They don't take kindly to people confusing them and it drives them crazy that nobody on this side of the pond gives a #### whether they are Welsh or English.

 

[Moe.]

cue snide comment from Christo about living in England...

 

[Christo]

cue snide comment from Christo about living in England...

11 years

 

[scoobygang]

Time to sub in Crouchy, because we've got a lot things travelling over people's heads in this thread.

 

[Pope Benedict XVI Fan]

- Arsenal is probably not that happy with the draw. Having to travel to Turkey . . .

I count Portugal, Ukraine, and Serbia.

Oops. I read Shaktar as Besiktas. Whoops. Good catch. Donetsk is an easier venue than Istanbul.

Shakhtar are a much better team though. Still a pretty great draw for Arsenal however.Only two groups look remotely interesting to me - Group A with Inter, Werder and Tottenham and the group with Milan, Real and Ajax. Everything else looks run of the mill.

 

[guru_007]

Shakhtar are a much better team though. Still a pretty great draw for Arsenal however.Only two groups look remotely interesting to me - Group A with Inter, Werder and Tottenham and the group with Milan, Real and Ajax. Everything else looks run of the mill.

Don't sleep on Group B. Lyon is not really a monster, and Israel is still a tough road game for anyone. Don't necessarily think whoever advances out of Group B is going to win it all, but those should be some competitive games.

 

[guru_007]

Del Piero is so sweet, scored a real nifty goal.

 

[Tremendous Upside]

Aston Villa/Vienna game is CRAZY

tied at 1-1, Heskey forces a PK, which Petrov takes and the keeper saves, with Heskey scuffing the rebound over the crossbar

Two minutes later The ball ricochets off of Heskey's chest to put Villa 13 mins away from the next round

Then Davies has a really unnecessary and awkward clearance straight away, resulting in a Vienna corner

Which results in a Vienna goal, with Guzan getting his hand on the shot, but it agonizingly slowly bounced into the goal as he flailed for it on the ground

2-2 nor, 3-3 aggregate, but Vienna is ahead on away goals

 

[Tremendous Upside]

Vienna with ANOTHER goal at the 82nd minute

Now they're winning 3-2 straight away

What a poor 10 minutes from Villa

 

[Steve Tasker]

IIRC, Arsenal were drawn with a Portuguese team (Porto) and a Ukrainian team (Dinamo Kiev) a few years back along with Fenerbahce. They got out of the group, but I remember them struggling with Porto. Maybe it'll be easier this time around.

 

[The Kansas Comet]

Pretty much couldn't have asked for a better Barca/worse Madrid draw.

Exactly - I enjoyed seeing that.

 

[Spartans Rule]

Vienna with ANOTHER goal at the 82nd minuteNow they're winning 3-2 straight awayWhat a poor 10 minutes from Villa

Pretty awful time to be a Villa fan all-around.O'Neill resigns, Milner sold, 6-0 to Newcastle and now out of the Europa League to a team from Austria.

 

[The Z Machine]

IIRC, Arsenal were drawn with a Portuguese team (Porto) and a Ukrainian team (Dinamo Kiev) a few years back along with Fenerbahce. They got out of the group, but I remember them struggling with Porto. Maybe it'll be easier this time around.

Porto is a quality side. They had owned my Atleti two years straight (Rd. of 16 in 2008 and Groups in 2009) in CL. They aren't super elite upper tier, but they are a damn good team.They're not in CL this year? Wow. I don't pay attention to Portuguese football, but to not make CL... that's a hit to Porto IMO.Just looked it up... they had to get through qualifiers in Europa league. They finished 3rd in Portugal's Liga last year, 3 points back of Braga. Benfica (aka "we don't need Freddie Adu") won it to get the auto-bid into CL Group stage.

 

[Spartans Rule]

IIRC, Arsenal were drawn with a Portuguese team (Porto) and a Ukrainian team (Dinamo Kiev) a few years back along with Fenerbahce. They got out of the group, but I remember them struggling with Porto. Maybe it'll be easier this time around.

Porto is a quality side. They had owned my Atleti two years straight (Rd. of 16 in 2008 and Groups in 2009) in CL. They aren't super elite upper tier, but they are a damn good team.

Porto even won the CL with Mourinho a few years ago. Braga is making its first CL appearance ever, so they're definitely not the same level.

 

[Steve Tasker]

IIRC, Arsenal were drawn with a Portuguese team (Porto) and a Ukrainian team (Dinamo Kiev) a few years back along with Fenerbahce. They got out of the group, but I remember them struggling with Porto. Maybe it'll be easier this time around.

Porto is a quality side. They had owned my Atleti two years straight (Rd. of 16 in 2008 and Groups in 2009) in CL. They aren't super elite upper tier, but they are a damn good team.

Porto even won the CL with Mourinho a few years ago. Braga is making its first CL appearance ever, so they're definitely not the same level.

Yes, but the team that gave Arsenal trouble were a few years removed from that CL winning team. Always tough to play Spanish/Portuguese teams - they play a style that very few EPL teams play.

 

[PIK95]

Gareth Bale = Awesome.

http://www.coachkoch.com/2010/08/week-2-goal-of-week.html

It only took a year but it's nice to have some company on the bandwagon. I love the kids game!

 

[PIK95]

Actually, El Floppo, can't really agree with that. He hasn't been playing all that much for Spurs, only 18 league appearance last year, mostly due to injury. Further, he wasn't really given the freedom earlier last year to get into the attack, as he was having all sorts of issues on defense.However, of late, yes, he has really grown into his own. He's really not much a defender, but has been given tons of freedom to join into the midfield and the attack.

I agree with Floppo, he looked great last year.

 

[PIK95]

What do the Irish have to do with the Welsh?

welchObviously you don't spend a lot of time with Brits or Irish. I was making a joke gb. They don't take kindly to people confusing them and it drives them crazy that nobody on this side of the pond gives a #### whether they are Welsh or English.

I'm half Irish and I can't even keep it straight. I just know we dpon't like those Orangeguys so much.

 

[GoFishTN]

Excited that Spurs made the group stage, but a little bummed about the draw. I guess you've always got a shot at home though.

 

[guru_007]

Mascherano move to Barcelona official

Looks like Man City and Juventus got paired up in Europa League play.

Serie A and La Liga play start up this weekend

Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup. I'll probably watch this one a bit. I've read that both teams will be fielding strong lineups and going for the win (Inter allegedly will start the same starting 11 that won the CL finals). Forlan is in great form now for Madrid and Milito was just named UEFA striker and player of the year...and I'm sure he'll be chomping at the bit after a disappointing WC showing.

Should be good stuff. EPL looks to have a bunch of snoozers this weekend - will be interesting to see if Liverpool can get a win - kind of interested a bit in the Newcastle/Wolves game, that may be a very good one.

 

[Mjolnirs]

Europa League Draw today:

Group A - FC Salzburg, Juventus, KKS Lech Poznań, Manchester City FC

Group B - Aris Thessaloniki FC, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Club Atletico de Madrid, Rosenborg BK

Group C - KAA Gent, LOSC Lille Métropole, PFC Levski Sofia, Sporting Clube de Portugal

Group D - Club Brugge KV, NK Dinamo Zagreb, PAOK FC, Villarreal CF

Group E - AZ Alkmaar, FC BATE Borisov, FC Dynamo Kyiv, FC Sheriff

Group F - US Città di Palermo, AC Sparta Praha, FC Lausanne-Sport, PFC CSKA Mosckva

Group G - HNK Hajduk Split, AEK Athens FC, FC Zenit St. Petersburg, RSC Anderlecth

Group H - BSC Young Boys, Getafe CF, Odense BK, VfB Stuttgart

Group I - Debreceni VSC, FC Metalist Kharkiv, PSV Eindhoven, UC Sampdoria

Group J - Borussia Dortmund, FK Karpaty Lviv, Paris Saint-Germain FC, Sevilla FC

Group K - FC Steaua Bucureşti, FC Utrecht, Liverpool FC, SSC Napoli

Group L - Beşiktaş JK, FC Porto, PFC CSKA Sofia, SK Rapid Wien

 

[Steve Tasker]

Europa League Draw today:Group A - FC Salzburg, Juventus, KKS Lech Poznań, Manchester City FCGroup B - Aris Thessaloniki FC, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Club Atletico de Madrid, Rosenborg BKGroup C - KAA Gent, LOSC Lille Métropole, PFC Levski Sofia, Sporting Clube de PortugalGroup D - Club Brugge KV, NK Dinamo Zagreb, PAOK FC, Villarreal CFGroup E - AZ Alkmaar, FC BATE Borisov, FC Dynamo Kyiv, FC SheriffGroup F - US Città di Palermo, AC Sparta Praha, FC Lausanne-Sport, PFC CSKA MosckvaGroup G - HNK Hajduk Split, AEK Athens FC, FC Zenit St. Petersburg, RSC AnderlecthGroup H - BSC Young Boys, Getafe CF, Odense BK, VfB StuttgartGroup I - Debreceni VSC, FC Metalist Kharkiv, PSV Eindhoven, UC SampdoriaGroup J - Borussia Dortmund, FK Karpaty Lviv, Paris Saint-Germain FC, Sevilla FCGroup K - FC Steaua Bucureşti, FC Utrecht, Liverpool FC, SSC NapoliGroup L - Beşiktaş JK, FC Porto, PFC CSKA Sofia, SK Rapid Wien

Lots of big names in there this year....seemingly a ton of Champions League regulars...Juventus (ok, well it's been a few years), Villarreal (for obvious reasons), Dinamo Kiev, CSKA, Stuttgart, PSV, Liverpool, Besiktas, Porto.Admittedly, I don't know a ton about many of these teams (anyone here who says they do is lying ), but Groups A and L look like they'll be good to watch. Juventus/Man City and Porto/Besiktas will be fun to see, I think.

 

[The Kansas Comet]

Here's the Mascherano link: Barcelona and Liverpool agree to fee

 

[Desert_Power]

Here's the Mascherano link: Barcelona and Liverpool agree to fee

Can't believe we got him for less than we got for Yaya. An upgrade combined with a good financial move. I won't be surprised to see him on the pitch at times with both Sergi and Xavi. Good luck getting the ball from those guys.

 

[Spartans Rule]

The Robinho saga is getting interesting. He vetoed a possible move to Fenerbahce or Besiktas, says he'd rather play in Spain or Italy. Now Barcelona and Milan are interested.And because I'm sure everyone is thinking "Who wouldn't want to play in Turkey?" here's this little news gem:

Report: Fenerbahce fans attack buses carrying PAOK supporters with stonesBy The Associated Press (CP) – 21 hours agoISTANBUL — Turkish media say buses carrying fans of the Greek Club PAOK Thessaloniki have been attacked with stones ahead of a Europa League playoff match against Fenerbahce.The violence occurred Thursday in Istanbul.Private NTV says PAOK and Fenerbahce fans later threw bottles at each other outside of the stadium. Riot police intervened to prevent a possible brawl between the supporters from rivals Turkey and Greece.No injuries were reported.