The Ultimate Football Thread 2013-2014 Vol. 4 EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A etc

[eiddyfouw]

 
Eiddy always coming thru with the gifs

THIS!
Thanks for holding me down while I'm at work

No prob. I think it's better when the thread has banter, analysis and videos/gifs

Video if the pitch?

God hates Benfica, it's pretty much a fact.

I mean...

This was at the start of halftime...

View media item 627397

 

[Thierry Henry]

so Ibra is having a fantastic season and Ronaldo is kinda up there, but not quite lol. So, who would you guys rather see at the world cup? Ibra or Ronaldo? It sucks that they both can't be there, only one. Damn...

Ibrahimovic...sorry Coupé It :\

This is NOT a red...

Agreed but Chiellini was stupid for putting his arm that high up. Not sure what he thought he was going to accomplish with that. He should've just tried bodying him up & sealing off the lane or just go for the ball. Just horrible defending right there...

terrible defending. Chiellini had been playing like that since the beginning. You would think he would chill since he was already on a yellow, but no. That was an Oscar-like performance for Ronaldo though.
Real Madrid was hacking Pirlo from the very beginning but yet those fouls went uncalled and they didn't receive any yellow cards.

How on earth did that Benfica Olympiakos match continue??!?

Absolutely ridiculous looking at that pitch.

Guys were literally swimming out there.

that pitch was horrendous, looking like one of those shallow kiddie pools :x

 

[Coupé It]

Nothing to be sorry about, a prediction is a prediction.

I'm fed up with the Portuguese team, maybe it'd turn things around if we didn't make the World Cup. We play way too casual in qualifications, it's sad.

I don't think it'd be great for soccer if Portugal didn't make the World Cup tho - Fifa would be pissed, Brazil would be pissed (the millions of people with Portuguese ancestry and connection to Portugal), and Nike would throw a riot not having there squad or poster boy Ronaldo in it.

We'll see if Ibra and his big-footed Swedes will be able to do it, wouldn't surprise me tho. Either way. Nothing surprises me about the Portugal team anymore. They're constantly unpredictable. Almost beating Spain in the Euros to make the finals in penalties, then couple months later tieing with Isreal and letting the Jews score three goals. Team drives me crazy. Not to mention I hate Bento, I wish it was possible for Mourinho to have dual jobs and manage Portugal. He'd never let them get so timid and unfocused.

 

[sfc415]

The problem is that there is literally no threat besides Ronaldo. Almeida can be replaced with anyone from the crowd, Postiga decides to score once every 10 games, and Nani can go @#$% himself. Oliveira hasn't proven anything after being promoted to the senior team. He was our last hope Recently I feel like Bruno Alves has been our best scorer, and he's a defender

I mean, the rest of the squad might not be made of superstars, but they are very underrated. Veloso, Alves, Moutinho, Pepe, etc. are all above average players

 

[jada2001retro]

Gotze...

Bayern is just too damn strong.

They weren't really "tested" today.

 

[Thierry Henry]

LOL @ Benzema

View media item 627585

San Siro last night

View media item 627586
View media item 627587

 

[Coupé It]

The problem is that there is literally no threat besides Ronaldo. Almeida can be replaced with anyone from the crowd, Postiga decides to score once every 10 games, and Nani can go @#$% himself. Oliveira hasn't proven anything after being promoted to the senior team. He was our last hope Recently I feel like Bruno Alves has been our best scorer, and he's a defender

I mean, the rest of the squad might not be made of superstars, but they are very underrated. Veloso, Alves, Moutinho, Pepe, etc. are all above average players

Nani can't be trusted. No doubt in my mind we'd be better off with Varela on the RW, plus he has an eye for goal. Postiga and Almeida should not start before Eder, and Ronaldo needs to try not to overdue it sometimes. I see him play with Real and he's become and much better team player. But when he plays for Portugal it's almost like he doesn't trust the midfield. The midfield is more than decent enough as well but Moutinho and Ronaldo just don't have that chemistry, so then Ronaldo just continues to overdue it because he has no goal scoring threat in front of him.

It's in shambles, if we make the WC I'll be happy but this team is so damn hot and cold it drives me nuts.

Portugal develop great wingers, midfielders, fullbacks but god damn can some team at any academy give us a reliable striker for the future.

 

[imasoleman18]

phew, we have got to shake this moyes garbage if the media would leave him alone (i know they wont but i can dream) we could shake it off and get back to domination, the confidence shinji showed when he got to play in the 10 role was awesome it was an instant change as well, and if he would play there more ofton he would show moyes why he should be there

 

[eiddyfouw]

Gotze...

Bayern is just too damn strong.

They weren't really "tested" today.

The point is they've pretty much been playing like this in every single match this season, and last season.

 

[Sinner]

"I thought he was really good, his effort when we didn't have the ball was fantastic. Everyone tells me about Shinji’s ability and what he’s got, but tonight was the first time I have really seen Shinji. I thought he played really well.  When we put him in the No. 10 role, I thought he was very good off Wayne and off the left, he plays off the left for Japan, but I thought off the ball he was terrific [with] his attitude and his energy. I was pleased for him. That's the best I have seen from Shinji since I took over."

Good job... good effort... now take a seat on the bench. 

 

[sfc415]

Moyes needs the ultimate late pass

 

[eiddyfouw]

"I thought he was really good, his effort when we didn't have the ball was fantastic. Everyone tells me about Shinji’s ability and what he’s got, but tonight was the first time I have really seen Shinji. I thought he played really well.  When we put him in the No. 10 role, I thought he was very good off Wayne and off the left, he plays off the left for Japan, but I thought off the ball he was terrific [with] his attitude and his energy. I was pleased for him. That's the best I have seen from Shinji since I took over."

Good job... good effort... now take a seat on the bench. 

basically.

 

[nychiphophippo]

That touch

 

[jking0821]

Ibra is a monster...i understand it wasn't against the best competition...but those goals....lord
I don't blame Ronny for flopping....thats him....the ref should not have given the card though...just call it a ticky tack foul and thats it.
Aguero to the rescue again...dude is so good will prob be my next jersey purchase love those black city kits too

Spoiler: Oh and he did this last week!

his back heal goal from last week

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/10/zlatan-ibrahimovic-most-beautiful-goal-psg-bastia-gif/
gif's too big can't embed

 

[Sinner]

Ok, who watched Captain Tsubasa when they were a kid? 

 

 

[Kimchi Papi]

LOLLL @ ameriCACA getting eliminated in Estadio Azteca

Some of the players on Las Aguilas looked a little shell shocked too.

I guess Herrera can begin getting ready for the game against the Kiwis. I read Herrera will use the entire technical staff of Las Aguilas for the playoff qualifier. The squad will most likely be made of of his players too.

I'm really not sure how that game is going to turn out. The Kiwis won't roll over.

 

[Kimchi Papi]

You know this really pisses me off... >: The announcers clearly heard the monkey chants enough to mention it several times during the broadcast of the games & cska's folks are saying no one else heard anything?!?!!! What BS...

Fat chance it would happen, but I really wish FIFA would pull the WC from Moscow. They keep having these racist issues & it seems to be getting worse. Doesn't fit with their RESPECT campaign.

http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1...racial-abuse-man-city-star-yaya-toure?cc=5901

CSKA Moscow deny Yaya Toure abuse
October 24, 2013
By Richard Jolly

CSKA Moscow have insisted their supporters did not racially abuse Manchester City’s Yaya Toure on Wednesday, claiming: “Nothing special happened.”

The Premier League club will make an official complaint to UEFA about Toure’s treatment from Russian fans during City’s 2-1 win in the Champions League on Wednesday, but CSKA claimed Toure was alone in hearing anything and believe there is no case for them to answer.

Deputy media manager Michael Sanadze told Sky Sports News: “There is no subject to discuss. Nothing special happened. There was a lot of noise in the stadium. Nobody else, other than Yaya Toure, heard anything. The only trouble that has come about was because Yaya Toure heard something.”

Toure told Romanian referee Ovidiu Hategan about the chants during the game and UEFA has said it is waiting for the official’s report before deciding how to proceed.

UEFA introduced new regulations in May allowing it to close some or all of the stadium of clubs whose fans have been found guilty of racist behaviour after deciding fines were not an adequate deterrent.

Toure said on Wednesday: “I told the referee, ‘I am furious’. It was disappointing and always we are talking about that -- having no racism. It was unbelievable and very, very sad for my part.

“I think if UEFA did something it will be very nice because we want to stop that. Some songs from the crowd were quite stupid, but I think UEFA has to do work for that because every time we say something and they continue, and something has to be done to stop that.

“I'm very, very disappointed about what those fans have done and I think UEFA has to take action because players with the same colour of skin will always be in the same position. For me, as captain, I was wearing an armband which said 'No to racism' and I was totally disappointed.”

 

[eiddyfouw]

Very very good analysis of David Moyes at United...

Bit of a long read...but interesting....

Where has it gone wrong for Manchester United and David Moyes?
After just 11 games there is a growing unease about the direction a team of serial champions is taking under the man hired to fill Sir Alex Ferguson's shoes

To be evaluating the performance of David Moyes just 11 games into the season is almost absurd; it certainly ought to be, and were he to be sacked tomorrow, no one would have the remotest inkling of his ability to manage Manchester United. And yet the start he has made bears discussion, not simply because it has been awful, though awful it has been, but also because it has been so in all the ways that might have been predicted.

In the first instance, Moyes's appointment reflected a dearth of candidates. Besides José Mourinho, too expensive and too much trouble, there were few available whose record demanded consideration; the Stretford End banner, "The Chosen One", might just as well read "Not The Special One". Where Sir Alex Ferguson had to devastate the Old Firm and win a European trophy to prove himself, even though United were struggling, Moyes learned of his accession after doing a largely decent but entirely believable job at Everton, where many supporters had become weary of his conservative tendencies. Of course, he can still thrive at Old Trafford, but did not earn the opportunity to try.

But he was no sooner arrived than ensconced, bringing in his Goodison deputies to replace those already in situ – as regards Jimmy Lumsden and Steve Round, his patronage the only evidence of their suitability. Nonetheless, in regular circumstances, regulation practice; but these were not those.

Though it is impossible for outsiders to rhapsodise the merits of the men who left, René Meulensteen is, by all accounts, a talented coach, and was popular with the players. Similarly, Eric Steele scouted David De Gea, learnt Spanish so that the goalkeeper might feel less homesick, and then presided over a staggering improvement in performance, physique and mentality.

Which is to say that both were integral to the delivery of consistent success, an expertise suddenly deemed dispensable. Rather, Moyes adjudged that of all the coaches in the world, those most likely to take his new club forward were already working for him – quite some coincidence, all the more so when he confirmed Leighton Baines and Marouane Fellaini as principal transfer targets.

Then, during pre-season, Moyes talked of how he had "overtrained" Robin van Persie, on the face of it, an innocuous, if injudicious turn of phrase – unless it was actually the case. Even so, ordinarily, it would be tricky to sympathise with the player, but after losing chunks of his career to injury and rehabilitation, Van Persie has stayed fit for two full seasons, and, it is fair to assume, knows his own body.

Again, this unusual power dynamic is due to unusual conditions: Moyes is a non-champion managing a squad of serial champions, replacing a much-loved predecessor. Therefore, it is he who must prove himself to the players, rather than the other way around – a mission made trickier following a dicky start that they could easily associate with his presence.

Nor is Van Persie the only one unhappy; Shinji Kagawa has reportedly expressed discontent, and the team as a whole is playing without freedom or pleasure. Footballers are often thought mandated to tolerate hardship for the privilege of their profession, but most humans perform at optimal level when comfortable, and clearly, there has been a disruption to the equilibrium of a previously happy squad.

This summer's transfer activities also reflect badly on Moyes. Though the extent of the budgeting strictures are unknown, and though it is not solely his department, the conspiratorial manner in which he addressed the press on the subject accorded him greater ownership than might otherwise have been the case. And it was certainly he who was unwilling to gamble on Ander Herrera, saw no use for the proven brilliance of Mesut Özil, and failed to advise Ed Woodward that Cesc Fábregas would not be extracted from Barcelona on the cheap. Instead, Fellaini arrived, who, though better than he has shown so far, does not flatter his manager's judgment. Bought only once the squad had been assessed, his lack of pace, drive and anticipation was overlooked, and as such, he looks incapable of strengthening a midfield desperate for almost anyone.

But the club considered its principal summer coup to be keeping Wayne Rooney, in one sense legitimately so – unarguably, he guarantees goals and assists – but in another, the intransigence hinted at expedience. Had Rooney left for Chelsea and helped them to the title, the narrative of culpability would be linear and clear. Now, should United fail in their defence, there exist numerous fudges to achieve its dispersal.

Yet the fact remains that Rooney is 28 this week and stagnant at best, the notion that money earned and saved via his sale could not be used to buy a superior, younger player, less likely with every passing injury, tantrum, nightmare and year. In the meantime, after testing team-mates with his attitude, he now captains them in the absence of Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidic.

The principal victim of all this has been Kagawa, seemingly earmarked to take his place at the creative hub of a reshaped side. And though his celebration does not reflect his contribution, let alone relatively, nor did that of Louis Saha, who nevertheless usurped the consistently productive but increasingly joyless Ruud van Nistelrooy, to devastating effect.

"They keep telling me how good he is," said Moyes of Kagawa before United played Liverpool in the League Cup, with revealing pronoun. Then, just as in every game he has started this season, he was first fielded out of position before being substituted, his involvement intermittent, but also including sharp, incisive and perceptive passes – precisely the quality absent most of the rest of the time.

There remains a view that Kagawa's attributes of subtlety and improvisation are not those frequently found in Moyes's players, likewise those of Wilfried Zaha, another step-quickener in a squad hardly suffering a surfeit. But Zaha has yet to be considered worthy of a single second on the pitch, not even against Crystal Palace, the team he inspired to promotion last season.

In his early weeks, Moyes preferred Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia, their abilities more akin to those favoured in his Everton sides. Accordingly, it was not altogether surprising when United failed to create a single decent chance against Chelsea and required a soft penalty and late free-kick to beat Palace's 10 men, before dominating possession at Anfield as Liverpool retreated, yet threatening a goal only once.

Assessed in isolation, none of these events were especially significant, but consecutively, hinted at a more tangible malaise, subsequently manifested in the Manchester derby. The first half in particular was as severe and complete a hiding as United have received domestically in almost a decade, table footballers taking on a Subbuteo team. And yet, at its end, Moyes chose to do nothing, instead watching his team concede twice more within minutes. By way of contrast, at the same stage the previous afternoon, Everton were a goal down to West Ham, so Roberto Martínez made two alterations, spurring his team to victory.

Since then, Moyes has moved closer to finding his best eleven but without much improvement in performance, opposition defences easily repelling the constant crosses that appear too often to be coincidence. Of course, the players still produce occasional excerpts of instinctive brilliance, but given their ability, this is almost unavoidable. More instructive is that only twice this season might it be posited that United played well: against Swansea, in the opening game – even that punctuated by moments rather than replete with cohesion – and against a Bayer Leverkusen team that barely competed, yet, with merely competent goalkeeping, might have sneaked a draw.

As he is determined no one forget, Moyes was dealt a difficult start, an excuse divested of currency following the games against West Brom and Southampton. But his repeated inference that darker forces were afoot affronted players accustomed to coping with plenty more. And though they are absolutely letting him down, publicly, at least, he has done little to rouse them, the given impression one of Fergie without the charisma. Instead, he dismissed their chances in Europe, handily allowing him to dodge any blame for the same, lamented the lack of "world-class players" bestowed upon him, and implied that their most recent success merely reflected the poverty of opposition.

By no measure is the current United squad one of the club's finest, but the fact remains that it secured last season's title before the end of April and contains a goodly number of players still improving. Consequently, Moyes's lack of respect for its credentials served only to suggest his own shortcomings, because ultimately, there are only three differences between this season's United and last: a player signed by David Moyes, men employed by David Moyes and David Moyes.

• Daniel Harris' new book, The Promised Land, on Manchester United's treble season, is available here and out this week

http://www.theguardian.com/football...yes-manchester-united-bad-start?commentpage=1

 

[Kimchi Papi]

Interesting analysis but that writer over does it (overwrites if you will). He definitely loves to hear himself speak.

From what I can see Moyes' biggest problem is stubbornness & a refusal to adapt which to me is the bench mark for failure in any industry. One can't expect to do a job the same way you did it previously. You constantly have to adapt & embrace/except change. Doing things the way he did at Everton wasn't/isn't going to work at Man U.

eiddy - Do you remember me saying I didn't think Man U should sign Fellaini? At the time I didn't think he was good enough & I thought it seemed like a knee jerk reaction to sign someone just for the sake of saying you signed someone of some note in the summer transfer window. I would've signed Baines over Fellaini.

It's still very early in his career with the Red Devils & I hope he proves me wrong but his play was exactly what I expected. It's fine with the Toffees where finishing top 10 is good enough.

Anyway, came across this promo for the Clasico...

 

[abovelegit1]

This is NOT a red...

Indeed. Shame because the match could have gone either way up until CR decided to make a meal of it. Old habits die hard, I suppose. Juve responded well after going down early. That new 4-4-2 diamond presents a dilemma as the formation inherently lacks width - yet crossing has been such a staple for them the past couple years. At the same time, Conte wants to fit in his 4 top class mids. They're in a tough spot now, and will probably need to get something in the return leg.

Madrid still don't look fluent in midfield, so I expect they'll be content conceding central territory in The Classic. I don't think it'll have too much bearing on whether they can get a result as they're perfectly capable of absorbing pressure and creating chances on the counter. FCB's central pairing selection will likely be key. Wouldn't mind seeing Bartra get the start.


@ the racist chants. Disgusting, but it's nothing new. UEFA should come down hard and force them to play games behind closed doors, but I doubt they make a stand. They fined Porto about 20K for vile monkey chants directed at Balotelli not too long ago - less than a slap on the wrist. 2018 WC should be fun. :x

 

[dlo13]

Nobody happier about the focus on Russia now than the Qataris.

 

[Kimchi Papi]

I think Juve's Chiellini got that red because of the yellow he got earlier. Yes, Ronaldo acted but Chiellini's horrible defending & stupidity are inexcusable. He chose to play Ronaldo & not the ball.

Edit - Pirlo looked old yesterday...

 

[nychiphophippo]

I keep seeing Barca fans debate that red over and over

If Chiellini doesn't foul him, Ronnie is getting that ball and unleashing one right on target.

 

[abovelegit1]

Nobody happier about the focus on Russia now than the Qataris.

So true. And it's not like Brazil's hosting has been controversy-free either.

I think Juve's Chiellini got that red because of the yellow he got earlier. Yes, Ronaldo acted but Chiellini's horrible defending & stupidity are inexcusable. He chose to play Ronaldo & not the ball.

Edit - Pirlo looked old yesterday...

It was a straight red - which was a poor decision. Chiellini was indeed having a terrible game before the red. In the grand scheme of things it's not a big deal, I was just annoyed a bad call took the spectacle out of what was a heavyweight matchup. As I think most were. And it would be a shame if Juve failed to advance by a point or two.

 

[Coupé It]

Will Barcelona fans ever forgive Figo? (I wouldn't but I wonder what his reception would be like now, 10 years later)

I still can't believe the dude left Barca for Real in the prime of his career.

Wonder what the equivalent would be today? I was too young to understand that day in 2002 when Figo played his first game back in Camp Nou (where scotch bottles and pig heads were thrown at him)