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

[guru_007]

PSG finally won, an impressive win at Lille. Was a good game for them too. Zibra with two nice finishes, one really early and another midway through the first half. PSG tigthened up their defense real good too, only goal allowed was a nice header off a corner.

Best game I saw all weekend was Roma/Inter. This game was wide open, up and down all game long. Lots of nice play, good chances. Roma doesn't let off the gas at all either. They played positive soccer even after grabbing a 2-1 lead and 3-1 lead. I liked it. Inter wasn't really outplayed either, they produced lots of good chances, but their back four was under constant pressure and didn't quite look cohesive as in the past. Losing Lucio and Maicon are pretty tough players to replace, we'll see how they do.

Juventus really gifted a victory in what could have been a tricky game at Udinese. GK was given a red on what I would consider a questionable play...Juve scored on the ensuing pk, and Udinese needed to sub off a player to put a new gk in and took off their most attacking player - well other than DiNatale of course, but he plays way up top.

Lazio looking great early going, Klose with two goals...and Napoli with a good win too.

Watched a few EPL games, West Ham really looked nice with Carrol out there, shame he got hurt. I honestly thing Carrol is a ncie player, and will thrive outside of Liverpool- but i think I read that Liverpool can pull him back off loan at midyear, which I have to assume they will do considering they really didn't bring in a striker during the transfer window.

 

[Eephus]

Bar argument time. If given 100 PKs against a high school goalie, how many goals would a very athletic 50 year old who has never touched a soccer ball score given a few minutes of warm up?

Are they English?

 

[guru_007]

Reading that Hulk transfer to Zenit St Pete to be completed today.

Interesting that the Russian transfer deadline is a few days later than the rest of Europe

 

[Mjolnirs]

USL Pro Championship this Saturday in Charleston.

Charleston Battery tied #2 seed Rochester in the last minute of regulation then won in penalties to advance to the final.

Wilmington upset #1 seed Orlando City 4-3 to advance to the final.

Saturday night Charleston hosts Wilmington with a chance to win their 4th title in Club History.

 

[LHUCKS]

Note it is live on beIN Sports (English), but will be tape delayed on beIN Sport (Spanish).

Not sure what this is, but I don't think I have it.

 

[Sebowski]

Note it is live on beIN Sports (English), but will be tape delayed on beIN Sport (Spanish).

Not sure what this is, but I don't think I have it.

Search this thread for "Bein"

 

[Spartans Rule]

Note it is live on beIN Sports (English), but will be tape delayed on beIN Sport (Spanish).

Not sure what this is, but I don't think I have it.

It's a new channel owned by Al-Jazeera that's buying the U.S. rights to all the soccer it can get its hands on. They've got the Spanish and Italian Leagues and some USMNT games, and are expected to bid for EPL and MLS rights in the future. Been discussed in here a lot so you could search the thread if you want to know more.

 

[NewlyRetired]

USL Pro Championship this Saturday in Charleston.Charleston Battery tied #2 seed Rochester in the last minute of regulation then won in penalties to advance to the final.Wilmington upset #1 seed Orlando City 4-3 to advance to the final.Saturday night Charleston hosts Wilmington with a chance to win their 4th title in Club History.

Very cool. Are you going to this?

 

[GoFishTN]

Hulk smash Russia.

 

[Spartans Rule]

Where did Zenit get all this money from?

And further, how bad does Arshavin suck that Zenit has this giant vault of cash but they didn't want him back?

 

[NewlyRetired]

It's a new channel owned by Al-Jazeera that's buying the U.S. rights to all the soccer it can get its hands on. They've got the Spanish and Italian Leagues and some USMNT games, and are expected to bid for EPL and MLS rights in the future. Been discussed in here a lot so you could search the thread if you want to know more.

They also have all South American qualifying which I am looking forward too watching for the first time in many years. Bids for the new MLS contract won't start until some time in 2014. However, the EPL bids are right around the corner. I believe the RFP's are coming out from Ricard Scudamore (Premier League Chief Executive) in a couple of weeks. It is expected that it make take a couple rounds of bidding to complete.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Where did Zenit get all this money from?And further, how bad does Arshavin suck that Zenit has this giant vault of cash but they didn't want him back?

They are owned by a gigantic company called Gazprom. They are the single largest company in all of Russia and the largest natural gas extractors in the world according to Wiki. They took over the club in the mid 2000's and have helped fuel a ton of money being pumped into the Russian league. A few years ago in the thread we talked about keeping an eye on Russia as their league was likely to start growing pretty quickly in quality.

 

[NewlyRetired]

John Henry must be having a blast these days between the Red Sox debacle and the tough start Liverpool got off too. Here is a letter he wrote to supporters

I found the bold part below interesting.

Since I am not convinced Financial Fair Play is ever going to work, I can't see the Arsenal's and Liverpools being able to compete with the teams who could care less how much they lose.

Liverpool Football Club's principal owner John W Henry has written the following open letter to supporters:

I am as disappointed as anyone connected with Liverpool Football Club that we were unable to add further to our strike force in this summer transfer window, but that was not through any lack of desire or effort on the part of all of those involved. They pushed hard in the final days of the transfer window on a number of forward targets and it is unfortunate that on this occasion we were unable to conclude acceptable deals to bring those targets in.

But a summer window which brought in three young, but significantly talented starters in Joe Allen, Nuri Sahin and Fabio Borini as well as two exciting young potential stars of the future - Samed Yesil and Oussama Assaidi - could hardly be deemed a failure as we build for the future.

Nor should anyone minimise the importance of keeping our best players during this window. We successfully retained Daniel Agger, Martin Skrtel and Luis Suarez. We greatly appreciate their faith and belief in the club. And we successfully negotiated new, long-term contracts with Luis and with Martin.

No one should doubt our commitment to the club. In Brendan Rodgers we have a talented young manager and we have valued highly his judgement about the make-up of the squad. This is a work in progress. It will take time for Brendan to instill his philosophy into the squad and build exactly what he needs for the long term.

The transfer policy was not about cutting costs. It was - and will be in the future - about getting maximum value for what is spent so that we can build quality and depth. We are avowed proponents of UEFA's Financial Fair Play agenda that was this week reiterated by Mr Platini - something we heartily applaud. We must comply with Financial Fair Play guidelines that ensure spending is tied to income. We have been successful in improving the commercial side of the club and the monies generated going forward will give us greater spending power in the coming years.

We are still in the process of reversing the errors of previous regimes. It will not happen overnight. It has been compounded by our own mistakes in a difficult first two years of ownership. It has been a harsh education, but make no mistake, the club is healthier today than when we took over.

Spending is not merely about buying talent. Our ambitions do not lie in cementing a mid-table place with expensive, short-term quick fixes that will only contribute for a couple of years. Our emphasis will be on developing our own players using the skills of an increasingly impressive coaching team. Much thought and investment already have gone into developing a self-sustaining pool of youngsters imbued in the club's traditions.

That ethos is to win. We will invest to succeed. But we will not mortgage the future with risky spending.

After almost two years at Anfield, we are close to having the system we need in place. The transfer window may not have been perfect but we are not just looking at the next 16 weeks until we can buy again: we are looking at the next 16 years and beyond. These are the first steps in restoring one of the world's great clubs to its proper status.

It will not be easy, it will not be perfect, but there is a clear vision at work.

We will build and grow from within, buy prudently and cleverly and never again waste resources on inflated transfer fees and unrealistic wages. We have no fear of spending and competing with the very best but we will not overpay for players.

We will never place this club in the precarious position that we found it in when we took over at Anfield. This club should never again run up debts that threaten its existence.

Most of all, we want to win. That ambition drives every decision. It is the Liverpool way. We can and will generate the revenues to achieve that aim. There will be short-term setbacks from time to time, but we believe we have the right people in place to bring more glory to Anfield.

Finally, I can say with authority that our ownership is not about profit. Contrary to popular opinion, owners rarely get involved in sports in order to generate cash. They generally get involved with a club in order to compete and work for the benefit of their club. It's often difficult. In our case we work every day in order to generate revenues to improve the club. We have only one driving ambition at Liverpool and that is the quest to win the Premier League playing the kind of football our supporters want to see. That will only occur if we do absolutely the right things to build the club in a way that makes sense for supporters, for us and for those who will follow us. We will deliver what every long-term supporter of Liverpool Football Club aches for.

JOHN W HENRY

 

[NewlyRetired]

Hulk smash Russia.

Another day, and yet another good Belgium player. If these two settle in, it should make for an interesting interesting Champions League group although I doubt Anderlecht will see it that way

 

[Mjolnirs]

USL Pro Championship this Saturday in Charleston.Charleston Battery tied #2 seed Rochester in the last minute of regulation then won in penalties to advance to the final.Wilmington upset #1 seed Orlando City 4-3 to advance to the final.Saturday night Charleston hosts Wilmington with a chance to win their 4th title in Club History.

Very cool. Are you going to this?

Right now the plan is to be there.

 

[The Z Machine]

Venezulea plays Peru this Friday. I'll be at Cafe Citron in DC with a bunch of Venezuelan expats. They are raising money for a get out the vote campaign against Chávez, who is up for relection in October.

So if you want to watch some south american qualifying, meet the Z and his wife, and help defeat a tyrant, come on by. I have an extra vino tinto jersey...

 

[NewlyRetired]

I am looking forward to the Mexico @ Costa Rica match on Friday on Telmundo right after US game.

Due to Costa Rica being tied at home by El Salvador, this game takes on increased meaning for Costa Rica.

Honduras is facing pretty much a must win in Cuba after dropping 5 of their first 6 points (including a loss at home).

 

[NewlyRetired]

Venezulea plays Peru this Friday. I'll be at Cafe Citron in DC with a bunch of Venezuelan expats. They are raising money for a get out the vote campaign against Chávez, who is up for relection in October. So if you want to watch some south american qualifying, meet the Z and his wife, and help defeat a tyrant, come on by. I have an extra vino tinto jersey...

This game overlaps the US game sadly. It will be shown live on beIN Sport ( Spanish ). If I don't catch the score I might try and see this game on tape delay. Still early in the marathon South American qualifying but this would be an important three points for Venezuela as Peru is in dead last with only three points from 5 games.

 

[The Z Machine]

Yeah, it's likely that I'll miss some of the US game, but it's worh it to try and get rid of that jackass.

 

[Steve Tasker]

Sucks that this US game will be on BeIN. Wonder if any bars around here carry it...

 

[NewlyRetired]

If I am looking at the US table correctly, I believe the following results would be needed to make the last game against Guat meaningless. (7 points from three games, however you want to divide them up).

Draw in Jamaica

Win at home against Jamaica

Win at Antigua

That would give the US 11 points and I don't think it leaves any way for both Jamaica and Guat to get to at least 11 since they play each other and will take points off each other.

I was hoping that 6 points against Jamaica would be enough to make the last two games in the group meaningless but I believe there is a string of results that see's three teams tied at 10 and then comes down to GD as first tie breaker.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Sucks that this US game will be on BeIN. Wonder if any bars around here carry it...

It is not just this game Steve. It is every US away game for the whole cycle (outside of the game in Mexico should both teams get to the Hex) that will be on the new channel.Any bar that has Direct TV (most I assume because of Sunday ticket) will have the game. There is an app that may help you find a local bar that has Direct tvhttp://mashable.com/2010/09/26/directv-sports-bar-finder-app-finds-games-fast/

 

[Steve Tasker]

Sucks that this US game will be on BeIN. Wonder if any bars around here carry it...

It is not just this game Steve. It is every US away game for the whole cycle (outside of the game in Mexico should both teams get to the Hex) that will be on the new channel.

I know. It's unfortunate. I didn't get GolTV either.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Sucks that this US game will be on BeIN. Wonder if any bars around here carry it...

It is not just this game Steve. It is every US away game for the whole cycle (outside of the game in Mexico should both teams get to the Hex) that will be on the new channel.

I know. It's unfortunate. I didn't get GolTV either.

I added some information to my previous post that may help you in case you replied before I edited.

 

[Steve Tasker]

Sucks that this US game will be on BeIN. Wonder if any bars around here carry it...

It is not just this game Steve. It is every US away game for the whole cycle (outside of the game in Mexico should both teams get to the Hex) that will be on the new channel.

I know. It's unfortunate. I didn't get GolTV either.

I added some information to my previous post that may help you in case you replied before I edited.

That helps, thanks. There is a new bar in town that opened like 2-3 months ago that has been promoting itself as our first - and only - "soccer bar". I have to imagine they'll have it - how can they claim to be a soccer bar if they don't?

 

[NewlyRetired]

Sucks that this US game will be on BeIN. Wonder if any bars around here carry it...

It is not just this game Steve. It is every US away game for the whole cycle (outside of the game in Mexico should both teams get to the Hex) that will be on the new channel.

I know. It's unfortunate. I didn't get GolTV either.

I added some information to my previous post that may help you in case you replied before I edited.

That helps, thanks. There is a new bar in town that opened like 2-3 months ago that has been promoting itself as our first - and only - "soccer bar". I have to imagine they'll have it - how can they claim to be a soccer bar if they don't?

They may. Almost every bar I know has Direct TV. And the good thing is if they call themselves a soccer bar at least they are going to know what the hell you are talking about if you ask them if they get beIN Sport. Most other bars are not going to have a clue even if they do get the channel.

 

[The Gator]

BeIn popped up on my channel listing this weekend. Finally get to watch some La Liga games on a pretty basic package. #dish #suckitpete

 

[El Floppo]

BeIn popped up on my channel listing this weekend. Finally get to watch some La Liga games on a pretty basic package. #dish #suckitpete

that's AWESOME!!!!!1!!!1!#### you.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Is it BELN, or BEIN ?

 

[NewlyRetired]

Is it BELN, or BEIN ?

beIN Sport is the name of the new channel. http://www.beinsport.tv/

 

[AcerFC]

Cable vision just got NFL network 2 weeks ago. Doubt we get this

 

[NewlyRetired]

Cable vision just got NFL network 2 weeks ago. Doubt we get this

Oof. I don't know how you guys stand cable. I have had satellite since 1996. I do realize though that some people can't get satellite. beIN seems to be going down the line from biggest carriers to smallest so you likely will be waiting a while for this channel.

 

[Steve Tasker]

Cable vision just got NFL network 2 weeks ago. Doubt we get this

Oof. I don't know how you guys stand cable. I have had satellite since 1996. I do realize though that some people can't get satellite. beIN seems to be going down the line from biggest carriers to smallest so you likely will be waiting a while for this channel.

I don't have a choice in my rented apartment. It's Time Warner or nothing. I could pay for the premium sports tiers but I don't watch enough tv to justify the cost.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Cable vision just got NFL network 2 weeks ago. Doubt we get this

Oof. I don't know how you guys stand cable. I have had satellite since 1996. I do realize though that some people can't get satellite. beIN seems to be going down the line from biggest carriers to smallest so you likely will be waiting a while for this channel.

I don't have a choice in my rented apartment. It's Time Warner or nothing. I could pay for the premium sports tiers but I don't watch enough tv to justify the cost.

Well that paradigm would still exist with Direct TV as FSC and beIN are both in a premium sports tier package so even if you had Direct TV you would not get this game I guess.

 

[Steve Tasker]

This is relevant

 

[TLEF316]

used to have direct tv, but the cost was too high. When my contract ran out a year and a half ago, I called my cable company (who i was getting internet from anyway) and they offered me a bundle that saved me $60 a month. I called up DTV to try and get them to lower my cost, but they only offered me $15 a month. I flat out told them they needed to match in order to keep me (and truth be told, I probably would have stayed for an extra 20 bucks or so) but they refused.

Now they email me 10 times a month begging me to come back. Morons.

 

[NewlyRetired]

used to have direct tv, but the cost was too high. When my contract ran out a year and a half ago, I called my cable company (who i was getting internet from anyway) and they offered me a bundle that saved me $60 a month. I called up DTV to try and get them to lower my cost, but they only offered me $15 a month. I flat out told them they needed to match in order to keep me (and truth be told, I probably would have stayed for an extra 20 bucks or so) but they refused.

Wow, that's some bad luck. People have just been killing it lately by calling Direct TV. We have a thread running here and the deals people are getting are generally great. I recently got $50 off my bill for the next year with one simple phone call. They may have changed their policy since you tried to call though.In the end, I am just happy to not have to stream the US qualifier this time around. The feed I had for the Guat game was terrible.

 

[TLEF316]

used to have direct tv, but the cost was too high. When my contract ran out a year and a half ago, I called my cable company (who i was getting internet from anyway) and they offered me a bundle that saved me $60 a month. I called up DTV to try and get them to lower my cost, but they only offered me $15 a month. I flat out told them they needed to match in order to keep me (and truth be told, I probably would have stayed for an extra 20 bucks or so) but they refused.

Wow, that's some bad luck. People have just been killing it lately by calling Direct TV. We have a thread running here and the deals people are getting are generally great. I recently got $50 off my bill for the next year with one simple phone call. They may have changed their policy since you tried to call though.In the end, I am just happy to not have to stream the US qualifier this time around. The feed I had for the Guat game was terrible.

Yeah, I really didn't get it. The only real leverage DTV had over me was that they were the only company that had the March Madness package. Well, before the 2011 tournament, they lost that (since turner/CBS got the rights and now all the games are on regular channels). NFL network wasn't important to me because the only games I really need to see are the Jets, and the local network picks them up if they are on NFL network. (since cablevision didn't have it until a couple of weeks ago).I'm not some expert on how satellite TV works, but I can't imagine the cost to provide service to one customer is all that high. Seems to me that keeping me at pretty much any price would have been the right decision (considering that 18 months later they are giving away the farm to keep people). When you factor in the cost and effort they've spent pounding me with emails/calls/mailings begging me to come back ever since, they just look really stupid.My cablevision 2 year deal is up in March. If DTV offers me a sweet deal, I'll probably go back. But considering that the cost of my internet would go up if I cancelled my bundle, it would have to be a heck of a deal.

 

[NewlyRetired]

used to have direct tv, but the cost was too high. When my contract ran out a year and a half ago, I called my cable company (who i was getting internet from anyway) and they offered me a bundle that saved me $60 a month. I called up DTV to try and get them to lower my cost, but they only offered me $15 a month. I flat out told them they needed to match in order to keep me (and truth be told, I probably would have stayed for an extra 20 bucks or so) but they refused.

Wow, that's some bad luck. People have just been killing it lately by calling Direct TV. We have a thread running here and the deals people are getting are generally great. I recently got $50 off my bill for the next year with one simple phone call. They may have changed their policy since you tried to call though.In the end, I am just happy to not have to stream the US qualifier this time around. The feed I had for the Guat game was terrible.

Yeah, I really didn't get it. The only real leverage DTV had over me was that they were the only company that had the March Madness package. Well, before the 2011 tournament, they lost that (since turner/CBS got the rights and now all the games are on regular channels). NFL network wasn't important to me because the only games I really need to see are the Jets, and the local network picks them up if they are on NFL network. (since cablevision didn't have it until a couple of weeks ago).I'm not some expert on how satellite TV works, but I can't imagine the cost to provide service to one customer is all that high. Seems to me that keeping me at pretty much any price would have been the right decision (considering that 18 months later they are giving away the farm to keep people). When you factor in the cost and effort they've spent pounding me with emails/calls/mailings begging me to come back ever since, they just look really stupid.

I agree entirely. You may just have gotten a bad customer service rep. I have heard this happen to people but they hang up and call back and deal with someone different. Usually they will bend over backwards to keep someone, since as you said, when you bean count it, it makes the most sense for them.

 

[TLEF316]

used to have direct tv, but the cost was too high. When my contract ran out a year and a half ago, I called my cable company (who i was getting internet from anyway) and they offered me a bundle that saved me $60 a month. I called up DTV to try and get them to lower my cost, but they only offered me $15 a month. I flat out told them they needed to match in order to keep me (and truth be told, I probably would have stayed for an extra 20 bucks or so) but they refused.

Wow, that's some bad luck. People have just been killing it lately by calling Direct TV. We have a thread running here and the deals people are getting are generally great. I recently got $50 off my bill for the next year with one simple phone call. They may have changed their policy since you tried to call though.In the end, I am just happy to not have to stream the US qualifier this time around. The feed I had for the Guat game was terrible.

Yeah, I really didn't get it. The only real leverage DTV had over me was that they were the only company that had the March Madness package. Well, before the 2011 tournament, they lost that (since turner/CBS got the rights and now all the games are on regular channels). NFL network wasn't important to me because the only games I really need to see are the Jets, and the local network picks them up if they are on NFL network. (since cablevision didn't have it until a couple of weeks ago).I'm not some expert on how satellite TV works, but I can't imagine the cost to provide service to one customer is all that high. Seems to me that keeping me at pretty much any price would have been the right decision (considering that 18 months later they are giving away the farm to keep people). When you factor in the cost and effort they've spent pounding me with emails/calls/mailings begging me to come back ever since, they just look really stupid.

I agree entirely. You may just have gotten a bad customer service rep. I have heard this happen to people but they hang up and call back and deal with someone different. Usually they will bend over backwards to keep someone, since as you said, when you bean count it, it makes the most sense for them.

Yeah, i called twice. That was the best I could do. Oh well, not complaining. The cable service is much more consistent (I lost satellite during rain/snow storms a few times)but the hardware and menus are much better at DTV.

 

[Good Posting Judge]

I talked to a dude who was wearing RM shorts today at the park, as we pushed our kids. He seemed like a really nice fellow. And mind-jarringly handsome. I'm glad my broad wasn't there.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Random historical factoid.

The 1993-1994 AC Milan team won both Serie A and the Champions League.

The team boasted the following names

Baresi, Tassotti, Costacurta, Maldini, Albertini, Donadoni, Boban, Desailly, Laudrup, Savicevic, Papin, Van Basten and many others. Über world class players at a time Serie A was the best league in the world.

This incredible array of talent managed a whopping 36 goals, for the entire 34 game season. They did not score more than 2 goals in any Serie A game that year. Granted they only let in 15 which is why they won the league. Arguably the best back 4 in football history.

After that season, Serie A changed to 3 points for a win.

I don't know if this is the lowest goals per game ever scored by a champion but I bet it is near the top of the list.

 

[jonessed]

John Henry must be having a blast these days between the Red Sox debacle and the tough start Liverpool got off too. Here is a letter he wrote to supporters

I found the bold part below interesting.

Since I am not convinced Financial Fair Play is ever going to work, I can't see the Arsenal's and Liverpools being able to compete with the teams who could care less how much they lose.

Liverpool Football Club's principal owner John W Henry has written the following open letter to supporters:

I am as disappointed as anyone connected with Liverpool Football Club that we were unable to add further to our strike force in this summer transfer window, but that was not through any lack of desire or effort on the part of all of those involved. They pushed hard in the final days of the transfer window on a number of forward targets and it is unfortunate that on this occasion we were unable to conclude acceptable deals to bring those targets in.

But a summer window which brought in three young, but significantly talented starters in Joe Allen, Nuri Sahin and Fabio Borini as well as two exciting young potential stars of the future - Samed Yesil and Oussama Assaidi - could hardly be deemed a failure as we build for the future.  

Nor should anyone minimise the importance of keeping our best players during this window. We successfully retained Daniel Agger, Martin Skrtel and Luis Suarez. We greatly appreciate their faith and belief in the club. And we successfully negotiated new, long-term contracts with Luis and with Martin.

No one should doubt our commitment to the club. In Brendan Rodgers we have a talented young manager and we have valued highly his judgement about the make-up of the squad. This is a work in progress. It will take time for Brendan to instill his philosophy into the squad and build exactly what he needs for the long term.

The transfer policy was not about cutting costs. It was - and will be in the future - about getting maximum value for what is spent so that we can build quality and depth. We are avowed proponents of UEFA's Financial Fair Play agenda that was this week reiterated by Mr Platini - something we heartily applaud. We must comply with Financial Fair Play guidelines that ensure spending is tied to income. We have been successful in improving the commercial side of the club and the monies generated going forward will give us greater spending power in the coming years.

We are still in the process of reversing the errors of previous regimes. It will not happen overnight. It has been compounded by our own mistakes in a difficult first two years of ownership. It has been a harsh education, but make no mistake, the club is healthier today than when we took over.   

Spending is not merely about buying talent. Our ambitions do not lie in cementing a mid-table place with expensive, short-term quick fixes that will only contribute for a couple of years. Our emphasis will be on developing our own players using the skills of an increasingly impressive coaching team. Much thought and investment already have gone into developing a self-sustaining pool of youngsters imbued in the club's traditions.

That ethos is to win. We will invest to succeed. But we will not mortgage the future with risky spending.

After almost two years at Anfield, we are close to having the system we need in place. The transfer window may not have been perfect but we are not just looking at the next 16 weeks until we can buy again: we are looking at the next 16 years and beyond. These are the first steps in restoring one of the world's great clubs to its proper status.

It will not be easy, it will not be perfect, but there is a clear vision at work. 

We will build and grow from within, buy prudently and cleverly and never again waste resources on inflated transfer fees and unrealistic wages. We have no fear of spending and competing with the very best but we will not overpay for players.

We will never place this club in the precarious position that we found it in when we took over at Anfield. This club should never again run up debts that threaten its existence.

Most of all, we want to win. That ambition drives every decision. It is the Liverpool way. We can and will generate the revenues to achieve that aim. There will be short-term setbacks from time to time, but we believe we have the right people in place to bring more glory to Anfield.

Finally, I can say with authority that our ownership is not about profit. Contrary to popular opinion, owners rarely get involved in sports in order to generate cash. They generally get involved with a club in order to compete and work for the benefit of their club. It's often difficult. In our case we work every day in order to generate revenues to improve the club. We have only one driving ambition at Liverpool and that is the quest to win the Premier League playing the kind of football our supporters want to see. That will only occur if we do absolutely the right things to build the club in a way that makes sense for supporters, for us and for those who will follow us. We will deliver what every long-term supporter of Liverpool Football Club aches for.

JOHN W HENRY

After Ferguson leaves United will be in the same boat. Even being the biggest team in the world can't save you from people willing to throw endless money away. Not in a league with shared TV rights anyway.

 

[NewlyRetired]

I am gearing up for an orgy of soccer on Friday (I really love WCQing). Here is what I think I intend to watch

12:00pm Kazakhstan v Rep.Ireland GOL-TV

2:30pm Montenegro v Poland GOL-TV

5:00pm Ecuador v Bolivia beIN Sport

8:00pm Jamaica v USA beIN Sport

10:00pm Costa Rica v Mexico Telemundo

If I did not hear the score I may check in on the Argie game on delay during the Mexico game

10:00pm Argentina v Paraguay beIN Sport

There are a million UEFA games on ESPN3 but I am unsure which one to watch and don't really like watching on the computer unless forced to.

 

[El Floppo]

Cable vision just got NFL network 2 weeks ago. Doubt we get this

Oof. I don't know how you guys stand cable. I have had satellite since 1996. I do realize though that some people can't get satellite. beIN seems to be going down the line from biggest carriers to smallest so you likely will be waiting a while for this channel.

As far as I know, Time Warner in NYC still doesn't have it. Anybody know otherwise?I'd think they're a "bigger" carrier.

 

[GoFishTN]

Pissing someone off in less than a week has to be some kind of record.

Hugo Lloris already unhappy with André Villas-Boas – Didier Deschamps

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/sep/04/hugo-lloris-villas-boas-deschamps?newsfeed=true

 

[El Floppo]

Random historical factoid.

The 1993-1994 AC Milan team won both Serie A and the Champions League.

The team boasted the following names

Baresi, Tassotti, Costacurta, Maldini, Albertini, Donadoni, Boban, Desailly, Laudrup, Savicevic, Papin, Van Basten and many others. Über world class players at a time Serie A was the best league in the world.

This incredible array of talent managed a whopping 36 goals, for the entire 34 game season. They did not score more than 2 goals in any Serie A game that year. Granted they only let in 15 which is why they won the league. Arguably the best back 4 in football history.

After that season, Serie A changed to 3 points for a win.

I don't know if this is the lowest goals per game ever scored by a champion but I bet it is near the top of the list.

That's crazy.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Pissing someone off in less than a week has to be some kind of record.

Hugo Lloris already unhappy with André Villas-Boas – Didier Deschamps

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/sep/04/hugo-lloris-villas-boas-deschamps?newsfeed=true

The only way Lloris has any right to be upset here is if AVB clearly and unequivocally told Lloris that he would be the #1 immediately as part of the incentive to get him to sign.

 

[El Floppo]

Pissing someone off in less than a week has to be some kind of record.

Hugo Lloris already unhappy with André Villas-Boas – Didier Deschamps

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/sep/04/hugo-lloris-villas-boas-deschamps?newsfeed=true

Wow- boo-hoo, you have to earn your spot?

 

[jonessed]

Pissing someone off in less than a week has to be some kind of record.

Hugo Lloris already unhappy with André Villas-Boas – Didier Deschamps

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/sep/04/hugo-lloris-villas-boas-deschamps?newsfeed=true

I don't think there is much there. Deschamps wants Lloris to start for club because he is France's #1, but Friedel played fantastic last week and AVB says that Lloris has to earn his place. Both positions make perfect sense. This is just your normal club vs. country bickering.