This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
Pep does play around with his lineups alot, he likes to see what he has and what he can get away with. One game he did something similar near the end, but we were up by three. He certainly has guts for a first year coach on this stage. I like it, despite only getting a draw this weekend.
Arsenal flat out crushing Cardiff. Eduardo looked good in his return. It's been a shooting gallery all game. And Cardiff is not a crap team, they may very well be promoted to the Premiership next year.
Classy fans too, throwing cell phones and shoes at the goalie
Eduardo and Vela made an awesome pair in that game. One of the reasons that I wasn't as sold on the Arshavin deal is that it pretty much relegates Vela to the bench for the remainder of the season. I only hope that it does the same to Eboue. In a few weeks, Arsenal will be filthy with options up front and on the wings. Now, if we could just get Fabregas healthy and find him a suitable partner in the middle(please give Wilshere a shot)....Arsenal flat out crushing Cardiff. Eduardo looked good in his return. It's been a shooting gallery all game. And Cardiff is not a crap team, they may very well be promoted to the Premiership next year.Classy fans too, throwing cell phones and shoes at the goalie
I'd didn't catch the game either. Read about it. I think you are wrong on the starters. Messi, Henry, and Bojan all came in as subs in the second half. Maybe the mistake was not starting them. I like that Pep plays around with the lineup. They can afford it. It should get them exactly what the want in the big games. They just need to stay healthy and focused on the sweep.I am getting excited about the Champion's. I watched Inter-AC. Can't wait to see Inter-Man U. Real Madrid-Liverpool should be great too. Hopefully Barca and Arsenal cruise.
You are correct. Watched this game, and Messi, Henry and Bojan were 2nd half subs. Betis should have scored 4 goals. Oliveira missed a wide open net in like the 3rd minute and had a breakaway later that he shot directly into the keeper's foot.
Good for LA. From what I've gathered in the press it does seem as if Milan just expected the MLS to cow and send Beckham over for whatever offer they deamed, with an attitude that Americans won't know the true (European) value of a player.
As a first game you should probably play with a powerhouse team like ManU, Real, Inter, etc. Just to get a look at things and not get too frustrated. The lower league teams are drastically different when you take charge and have little money to play with.Play with the filters and views to refine a search. I believe you can get creative with the filters. You build filters that only show 7-satr shooting coaches as an example. Same can be done with player search. You can use Ronaldos stats to filter and look for Ronaldo-like players.
I'd also say that all top teams are not built equal if you really want to explore a transfer policy. The easiest team to start with if you really want money to be no object, is Chelsea. You have something like a 100 million pound transfer budget. New versions of the game might give even more money to Man City. I can remember starting with Man U and being surprised at having a fairly modest transfer budget. Not much more than I got from Newcastle.One way to possibly make your transfer policy easier to manage is to deploy your scouts. A big team will have a lot of them, and you should be able to cover your own league, other big European leagues, and South America pretty easily. The scouts will flag players for you (in England, if you have a big club, a scout will start flagging Micah Richards). Joaquin is a right side midfielder who seems to get flagged quite a bit. When I've played the game, he almost always jumps to the Premiere League, either for me or someone else.Perhaps the most fun team to play with if you don't want to do too much tinkering is Barcelona. Give Messi high creative freedom and the command to run at defenders and watch the fun begin.
I think there is a little of that coupled with Milan knowing the Becks has an out clause in his contract after the current MLS season finishes. They were hoping the combination of the two would be enough to get Becks for $5MHopefully its significantly closer to the $15-20M that LA wants.
Thanks for the info. I had started with Liverpool and was surprised that I was only give 8 mil for transfers. I've already seen Man City make two 40+ purchases. I plan on just tinkering around with all the different menus and seeing what happens from there. I can easily see this game sucking up a lot of my time.
Well don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with the guy. He's clearly a very good coach and the players seem to like playing for him, which is always important. I'm just wondering if the US will ever take that true "next step" with a guy like Bradley at the helm.I guess this just feels to me like 2005. Calm before the storm....we'll beat T&T, we'll beat Honduras, Costa Rica, etc., and we'll always give Mexico a game. But the team looks merely average in most of these games...I can't really remember the last time I thought the US played a really good game....probably that 0-0 draw in New York against Argentina last year.Now, I know some of that is the players, and there's nothing you can do about that. And I know some of it is the teams you're up against....we were vastly overrated in 2006. But we were soundly beaten by the Czech Republic and Ghana....I know most of you probably watched those games....that Czech Republic game, we got absolutely demolished.I guess I'm just worried that we'll see more of the same with Bradley at the helm in 2010....1-4 points and bowing out in the group stage. I don't care if we don't win the damn thing, that's not going to happen..I just want to see progress, unlike the giant step back in 06.
Champions League
I'm on the fence with Bradley. It seems like he may be more concerned over winning now and keeping his job then building a future. He has come around recently on the younger players, but I would love to see them get more playing time so they are ready for 2010. I would also love to see more attackers on the field, but that may just be a fault of mine. I'd start Altidore and Donovan up front with Adu, Sacha, and Bradley in the mix as well. I'm not great with tactical stuff though. While I'm at it I guess my 4th in the "mid" would be Beasley/Dempsey. Maybe I'll fire up Fifa later and see how I normally play with them and get the spots right.Well don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with the guy. He's clearly a very good coach and the players seem to like playing for him, which is always important. I'm just wondering if the US will ever take that true "next step" with a guy like Bradley at the helm.I guess this just feels to me like 2005. Calm before the storm....we'll beat T&T, we'll beat Honduras, Costa Rica, etc., and we'll always give Mexico a game. But the team looks merely average in most of these games...I can't really remember the last time I thought the US played a really good game....probably that 0-0 draw in New York against Argentina last year.Now, I know some of that is the players, and there's nothing you can do about that. And I know some of it is the teams you're up against....we were vastly overrated in 2006. But we were soundly beaten by the Czech Republic and Ghana....I know most of you probably watched those games....that Czech Republic game, we got absolutely demolished.I guess I'm just worried that we'll see more of the same with Bradley at the helm in 2010....1-4 points and bowing out in the group stage. I don't care if we don't win the damn thing, that's not going to happen..I just want to see progress, unlike the giant step back in 06.
I didn't get to watch the game today. 12 yellow cards and Barcelona was down a man for most of the game. What the hell was going on?The idiot reffing the Barca-Espanyol match is severely out of his depth. The guy has lost control of the match and tried to reassert it with a ridiculous red card.
The guy in the middle had no idea what he was doing. Espanyol flopped and #####ed after every tackle and acted as if they had been violated. The red card on Keita was freaking ridiculous. The only reason the official gave was due to the fact that De La Peña got to him first to complain after the tackle. The replays showed it was not red card offense at all. I can't believe the referee was a professional - it looked like he was doing his first match above high school level. I was so mad I couldn't even watch the second half.I didn't get to watch the game today. 12 yellow cards and Barcelona was down a man for most of the game. What the hell was going on?The idiot reffing the Barca-Espanyol match is severely out of his depth. The guy has lost control of the match and tried to reassert it with a ridiculous red card.
And hopefully Everton can get within two points of Arsenal with a win tomorrow v. Newcastle.Steve Tasker for Prez said:Rooney is officially back....great little touch on that goal.Oh and Arsenal's season is over...
What the hell happened here? I can't believe they're going to miss the Champiiiiiiiiiiiiiooonnnnnnnnnnsssssssss.If they finish fourth don't they get a "play-in series"? Hopefully they will be healthy enough to make a good run this year. They should be able to take care of Roma (shouldn't they?).Steve Tasker for Prez said:Rooney is officially back....great little touch on that goal.Oh and Arsenal's season is over...Champions League
Messi has a point to prove
By Kevin Palmer
(Archive)
February 21, 2009
Cristiano Ronaldo's elevation to the top step of world football appears to annoy Lionel Messi, who may justifiably feel an impostor has stolen his crown.
GettyImages
Messi: Targeting Champions League glory
While the little Argentine never stands out as a player who has allowed his extravagant talent to inflate his ego to the sort of level Manchester United's No.7 reached many years ago, Messi still struggles to lavish praise on his rival for the title of best player on the planet.
News that Messi left Ronaldo out of his personal top line-up for 2008 gave weight to the belief that the duo are less than generous in their praise of each other and as the Champions League circus kicks back into gear this week, their battle for the plaudits can resume in earnest.
Even though a head to head clash between Ronaldo and Messi will have to wait as United and Barca have been spared a last 16 meeting of Europe's premier competition, it seems the man leading the scoring charts in this season's Champions League believes victory in this competition could be the key to him earning the recognition he may well merit.
''I have always said Ronaldo is a brilliant player,'' states Messi. ''His instincts are out of this world. He can do anything with a ball, create or score magnificent goals. Until you see him on the pitch you don't realise how physically powerful he is as well.
''Obviously, I hope to succeed him as Europe's top player next season but as usual it will depend on Barca winning things. He won the Champions League and the English title as well last season, so he deserved to be recognised as the best in the world for 2008.''
Personal accolades clearly mean a lot to Ronaldo, who embarked on a very public campaign to claim the FIFA World Player of the Year award in the second half of 2008. Canvassing for votes like a politician desperate to be loved, few were left in any doubt that he craved the adulation.
Messi is less blatant in his desperation to be hailed as the best in his own right and this may be because he suspects his moment will come. Genius is only bestowed on the fortunate few and in the modern era - and despite Ronaldo's rise - this brilliant playmaker remains many people's favourite to emerge as the chosen one.
After Champions League glory passed him by in 2006 as he missed Barcelona's triumph over Arsenal in Paris due to injury, he is desperate to claim the most prestigious prize in club football.
''When you have been so close to a match as big as the Champions League Final, you think all the time what it would mean to get back there,'' he states. ''I was a matter of days away from being fit for the Arsenal game in 2006, but it came too soon for me. Obviously, it was great to see my team-mates lift the trophy and I had played some part in the success earlier in the season, but this is not really like winning the Champions League.
''Ever since, I have wanted to get to a Final in this competition and we have a real chance this season. Barcelona have shown we are a strong side again this season and I only see the English teams stopping us getting to Rome. My guess is the Champions League semi-finals will be between three English teams and Barcelona.''
Messi's is not alone in believing that only the Premier League superpowers can block Barca's path to a Champions League Final appearance in Rome. After last season's all-English finale to the competition between Manchester United and Chelsea in Moscow, there is little to suggest the rest have caught up in the months since.
A resurgent Barca are alone in taking giant steps forward in the last 12 months and Messi believes they are ready to jump back into the most historic of winner's circles again. Coach Pep Guardiola has swiftly revived the club that faded so dramatically under Frank Rijkaard and this season, with the La Liga title all but wrapped up, European glory can be targeted.
''The Champions League is a big goal for us and English clubs will need to be at their best to stop Barca,'' continues Messi. ''We're playing with so much confidence at the moment. We're scoring, we're winning and it all seems so effortless, but trophies are not handed out in February. We have to keep it going. Another Champions League title is our goal and one off-day can put the dream in jeopardy.
''We're much fitter than last season and the new ideas of coach Guardiola have worked well. We like to press high up the pitch and force opponents into a mistake. This season we're never satisfied and we always want more goals. We're having fun winning and that makes things so much easier. We're playing spectacularly, but we are not careless. Still, trophies are not given out in February and we have to push on.''
With Messi and Barcelona apparently joined at the hip, the notion that he may one day strut his stuff in the Premier League seems fanciful, but he is clearly a fan of the English game. ''My name will always be linked with other clubs, other countries,'' he continues. ''Some Spanish papers had me going to Real Madrid, but it is total fantasy.
''I will stay at Barcelona for as long as they want me. English football is great and I love watching players like Steven Gerrard on TV, but I'm sentimentally attached to Barca and don't see any team persuading me to leave. This club made me the player I am today and I owe them so much. My dream is to win the Champions League with this team.''
Champions League glory could only be capped by a World Cup triumph in South Africa 2010 and Messi insists public criticism in his direction from Argentina national team coach Diego Maradona will not tarnish their relationship.
''I've always had a good relationship with him and whatever was said does not matter now,'' he says after Maradona apparently claimed Messi was a selfish player who ignored his team-mates. ''I know he rates me highly. I'm more than happy to line up in an Argentine side coached by Diego.
''He's a sacred figure in our country and the world. I think the atmosphere has changed in our camp. Every Argentine player is motivated like never before to play for Diego. After losing to Germany on penalties in the quarter-finals of the last World Cup, we know we have to set the record straight in South Africa in 2010 and I think we have the squad to do it.''
Cristiano Ronaldo may believe he has won his battle with Leo Messi for now, but this war is far from over. There may only be room for one of the modern greats to join the football Gods and Barcelona's little magician is well placed to claim the prize.
You giving the Xbox another try?
Never say never.
yep, and Arsenal is the only game I have no money on....so I will not be watching
I have class during the game. It sucks.I'm taping the ESPN2 feed of the Man U - Inter game, but I won't be able to see any of the rest...yep, and Arsenal is the only game I have no money on....so I will not be watching
Oops. Lopez with his second. Even if Atletico sneaks out a third goal, they've given Porto two away goals. Not an ideal situation.
:( 
