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

[luisfigo]

finally home and got a chance to simmer down, sit down and watch the highlights of the portugal game.  this is my team that i follow religiously and can identify the players just by their mannerisms and the way they play but i can honestly say that i dont remember how ronaldos goal was set up.  all i recall was that it was cross, he headed it in and then i went crazy.  i didnt even know who provided the cross until i saw the highlights.  Tuesday can't come soon enough but i dont know how much more my heart can take.

did anybody else see how on fifa's website, they're downplaying ronaldos accomplishments and hyping up ribery's and messi's?  there's reports that ronaldo wont attend the ceremony in january.  but i would sure love to see him go up on stage to accept the ballon d'or and and just give blatter a salute.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...een-played-down-on-fifas-website-8939956.html

 

[tego calderon el abayarde]

Fifa has a grudge against Ronaldo. Once a player shows too much personality, they try to screw him over.

How come the US - Scotland friendly wasn't mentioned in the thread?

 

[mastamind89]

Fifa has a grudge against Ronaldo. Once a player shows too much personality, they try to screw him over.

How come the US - Scotland friendly wasn't mentioned in the thread?

I DVR'ed the game but erased. People told me it was extremely boring and even the pundits on ESPN FC said so as well. It ended in a draw, a team we beat 5-1 about a year ago or so. Even the highlights were boring

Wilshere as part of a deep double pivot
Posted by Alistair Tweedale, WhoScored.com

Jack Wilshere has been carrying the hopes and dreams of English football for all too long given that he is still only 21 years of age.

Andros Townsend's recent emergence as a potential star of next summer's World Cup in Brazil will have relieved some of the pressure from Wilshere, but the Arsenal midfielder will likely still be the main man for Roy Hodgson in Rio.

Everything is in place for him to become the hub of the England team. He has the ability to walk into just about any team in the Premier League, the skill and tricks to excite a crowd, the temperament to match that of England stars such as Wayne Rooney and a young David Beckham and the off-field discrepancies to boot.

- Wenger: Wilshere best in deeper role
- McNicholas: Arsenal are still slow starters

However, a lack of starts in recent weeks have resulted from poor form coinciding with his Arsenal teammates' flourishing, so frustration has permeated his game. Frustration and a feisty temperament such as Wilshere's is not a good mix, however, and he runs the risk of taking it out the wrong way.

Twenty minutes after replacing an ineffective Mathieu Flamini at Old Trafford at the weekend, Wilshere let Patrice Evra get the wrong side of him and wrapped his arm around the Frenchman to halt his progress down the left flank. A fourth yellow card of the season ensued for Wilshere, meaning that only Flamini (five) has picked up more cards than him of all players in the Premier League.

Wilshere has been carded every 158 minutes this season; over 60 minutes more frequently than any other player to have made at least 10 appearances. Flamini's fouls are often the result of rash challenges, though, while Wilshere's are born of his growing displeasure with himself and lack of a consistent run in the first team.

Having been told from age 18 that he was in the first-team plans at the Emirates and would go on to achieve great things, consistent injury problems scuppered his progress. Now, finally over the persistent ankle injuries that ruled him out of Euro 2012 and much of last season -- at least to the extent that he has been available for Arsenal for the most part of this campaign -- it must be difficult for him to accept that he isn't currently good enough to be playing regularly for the club he loves.

But that is exactly the case this term. His boss Arsene Wenger said this week, via the club's Twitter account, of Wilshere: "His best position is as a deep-lying midfielder, where he can be a distributor. He has a good burst and vision," and he's certainly not wrong.


Wilshere is most effective picking the ball up deep and driving forwards with it. No other English player in recent memory has been so efficient in moving the ball upfield at such pace and ease from defensive positions, and he is at his most comfortable doing just that.

According to WhoScored.com's statistically calculated rating system, 11 of his 12 best Premier League performances have come when playing in defensive midfield, rather than a number 10 role or out wide. Furthermore, Wilshere has dribbled past an opponent four times or more in 13 of his 58 Premier League starts, with 11 of those 13 appearances coming when playing as part of a deep double pivot in the Arsenal midfield.

He has averaged 2.47 successful dribbles per game playing in defensive midfield, compared to 1.55 when fielded elsewhere. That might make sense, with more time on the ball to turn and run at players and less pressure on the ball when playing deep, but few other English players in recent memory have played with such a style in such areas.

Wilshere has, in terms of his ball-carrying abilities, been compared to Paul Gascoigne, but he of course played much higher up the pitch. In a country where central midfield has been made up of tough-tackling David Batty and Paul Ince, followed by the more technically gifted but attack-minded and goal-scoring likes of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, Wilshere was something new and exciting, with a decidedly "un-British" style of play.

What further sets Wilshere apart is his ability to then pick a pass once he has worked an advanced position for himself. Since the start of last season, Wilshere has put a teammate through on goal an average of 0.37 times per game; by some distance the best of all English players in the Premier League, while only the likes of Philippe Coutinho, Santi Cazorla, David Silva and Jordi Gomez can better him.

It is surely only a matter of time before Wilshere wins his place back in the Arsenal team, but given the quality on offer at the Emirates, that might come after he returns to the England first team.

When that happens, he will have to displace one of Lampard or Gerrard in central midfield, providing Daniel Sturridge maintains his form sufficiently to retain his spot up front and Wayne Rooney is thus deployed in behind him. Accommodating both Lampard and Gerrard has proved problematic for many an England manager over the duration of their careers, and with both in the twilight of their careers and Wilshere only going to improve, his inclusion at the expense of one of them is certainly the answer.

Wilshere has previously been deployed in a No. 10 role for his country, but Hodgson would do well to heed the words of Wenger and use the player who could well be the future of English football where he is at his best.

 

[Coupé It]

Haha yea I read that, FIFA describes the Ballon D'Or candidates Messi and Ribery in long paragraphs, even going as far as pushing the voters to vote for Ribery on the ballot sheet. Then Ronaldo's discription basically was "Another year of goals for Ronaldo, and he just signed a new contract". I'll post it tomorrow.

Portuguese and Spanish news are saying Ronaldo will not show up to the FIFA Ballon D'Or ceremony, even if he wins.

If it was up to the team captains and coaches, I'd say no doubt Ronaldo would win, but since so many of the press from specific countries hate him, I think that's where he'll lose the vote. Even Pique said this week "If Messi wins, I'm going to laugh". Not that I think he'll win, but bookies say Frank Ribery (which would be a complete joke), bookies usually have the inside info. So na, Ronaldo ain't winning. It's going to be an uproar tho when he doesn't win. Spanish, English, and Portuguese journalists are going to go ham on FIFA.

 

[chiva1908]

Yo Chiva, do you follow/watch Primera Division? If so is River Plate defender Eder Balanta any good? There were rumors that Barca was interested in him as a CB early on, but that rumor cooled down. Is he really considered the best defender in the league?

They're high on him because he's only 20 years old. The potential is great but I would not pay the minimum 15 million Euros that they're asking for him. He probably only has about 20 games in first division. I know he was just called up to the Colombian NT, let's hope he doesn't end up like Nelson Rivas (another Colombian defender that played for a River with "huge potential")

 

[chiva1908]

I used to watch Argentinian soccer as much as the Mexican league before, but for some reason a lot of satellite/cable providers got rid of TyCSports. That channel was awesome.

 

[miketysonthekiller]

Saw the highlights of Portugal and Sweden today. Good match. Lots of corner/crosses for Portugal. Sweden had some chances, but not many compared to Portugal. Their next match up is gonna be interesting. Sweden against the ropes and at home? Great combo for offensive play. Portugal too, retain the lead with some scores.


La France! What a disappointment! After all that smack they were talking, they got cooked up by Ukraine. Je me sens un peu mal pour la France parce qu'ils un bon équipe avec très bon joueurs. Peut-être qu'ils auront une meilleure chance la prochaine ronde.

Ribery is the popular vote for some odd reason...

 

[eiddyfouw]

Ronaldo...

Abate...

Sanchez...

 

[eiddyfouw]

Sanchez...

Hummels...

 

[abovelegit1]

I used to watch Argentinian soccer as much as the Mexican league before, but for some reason a lot of satellite/cable providers got rid of TyCSports. That channel was awesome.

Used to watch a bit myself, and even went to a Superclásico years back, but the quality of play has degenerated in recent times. Many teams just play not to lose, which makes for far too many grind out matches. Though I have caught Newell's a couple times in recent years, and they were quite good. And the Superclásico is always worth a watch. Re. Balanta - he was fantastic in the derby last month. Granted it's the only match I've seen of his, but he looked quality. Passarella really rates him, and with his potential/age the fee is understandable - esp. in today's market.

Alexis has been in good form for a while now. And he always plays exceptionally for Chile as he's essentially a free attacker. He basically carried them to qualification in 2010, and was great this time around too. At Barca his role is necessarily more tactical.

Such a stark contrast in tactics/styles between England and Chile. Chile has Bielsa's fingerprints all over them with them, while England is stuck in the 70s.

 

[abovelegit1]

did anybody else see how on fifa's website, they're downplaying ronaldos accomplishments and hyping up ribery's and messi's?  there's reports that ronaldo wont attend the ceremony in january.  but i would sure love to see him go up on stage to accept the ballon d'or and and just give blatter a salute.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...een-played-down-on-fifas-website-8939956.html

http://www.fifa.com/ballondor/playeroftheyear/index.html

Doesn't look like there's anything to that. Silva seemingly had the longest caption, is he FIFA's favorite, then? People need to stop looking for conspiracies - it's a published vote. And Flo Perez is on the FIFA football committee that oversees the award.


My thoughts re. the Golden Ball award:

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

No one needs to downplay any player's performance this year in order to big-up their own favorite candidate. IMO, there are five players who would be deserving of the Golden Ball - CR, Ribery, Messi, Lahm, and Ibra.

It's crazy how everyone in this thread is downplaying Ribery - as if he shouldn't have a chance at all. Anyone who regularly watched Bayern would tell you he's been far and away their most consistent and effective attacking player. Production? LOL. This ain't baseball. He scores goals, his creativity/playmaking is outstanding, and he always defends his flank. He assisted the winning goal in the CL. What will hurt him is France failing to qualify, but he's been their best player, and they were unlucky to be in the same group as Spain.

Lahm should get consideration. He's the world's best FB by far, and now Pep has him playing central midfield like he's been there all his life. I don't think people understand how insane it is to just be able to do that at this level. He played CM yesterday for Germany. Personally, I'd like to see him win it. Unfortunately, being a defender will hurt his candidacy.

CR has been incredible all year, and would be a worthy winner. Obviously, scoring the most goals makes you a favorite, but it's the manner in which he scores them. That goal-scoring instinct is second to none. His penchant for scoring headers is actually somewhat underrated. I think the only ones I've seen on his level in that are Batigol and Shearer. Kluivert was pretty lethal, too. What hurts his candidacy is the lack of team success.

The way Messi's being dismissed by a lot of people is laughable. As if it would be a crime for the best player in the world to win a 'best player' award. His combination of goal scoring and creative play is unique. He had one of the most dominant league seasons you're ever likely to see last season having scored against every team in the league....consecutively. And he was the best player in all of WC qualifying, playing as a '10'. His candidacy is being negatively affected by missing games through injury.

Might be the best year of Ibra's career. It's weird that he's only recently been getting international acclaim - he's been world class since his Inter days. It's a shame Portugal v. Sweden was billed as CR v. Ibra. Rather unfair to Ibra as he's got absolutely nothing to work with. Relatively, Portugal has just about everything except for a CF. All Sweden has is a CF. No real reason he shouldn't be strongly considered except maybe that he plays in France.

All IMO, of course.

 

[dlo13]

Confirmed torn ACL/MCL for Khedira. Out six months, so there's a chance he gets back just before the WC.

 

[eiddyfouw]

ROBBEN!!!!

 

[eiddyfouw]

BREAKING: @13Szczesny13 has signed a new long-term contract with @Arsenal

 

[eiddyfouw]

Japan is turning on the style...

2-2

 

[eiddyfouw]

I hope Moyes' is watching this player Kagawa, he could use him in his squad.

Oh wait....

 

[Coupé It]

Wow, Khedira is out. Real must be pissed.

Guess it's time for illara or maybe Ancelotti will start playing Isco again. Big blow for Real tho.

 

[eiddyfouw]

Honda...

 

[tego calderon el abayarde]

Damn Khedira's injury ******g sucks.

 

[dlo13]

Good night, Ethiopia.

 

[Kimchi Papi]

Individual stats of the 3 top Ballon d'Or candidates. Make your own assumptions. Games appeared include club & country. During one of these shows where they were talking about who should win, one of the pundits said trophies are for teams & awards are for individuals. Made some sense to me.

Messi - Appeared in 65 games, 75 goals & 18 assists
Ronaldo - Appeared in 68 games, 62 goals & 14 assists
Ribery - Appeared in 53 games, 16 goals & 23 assists

Why do people feel the need to try & denigrate or disparage when making a counter point. Why not just make the counter point without emphasizing personal feelings? I guess it makes people feel superior or perhaps continue to cultivate their online alpha male persona...

If I disagree with you, I disagree with you but I don't think you're stupid for thinking what you do.

 

[eiddyfouw]

Good night, Ethiopia.

2-0.

So much diving. So much trash football.

But The Super Eagles are flying high...

 

[tomdiginson]

Individual stats of the 3 top Ballon d'Or candidates. Make your own assumptions. Games appeared include club & country. During one of these shows where they were talking about who should win, one of the pundits said trophies are for teams & awards are for individuals. Made some sense to me.

Messi - Appeared in 65 games, 75 goals & 18 assists
Ronaldo - Appeared in 68 games, 62 goals & 14 assists
Ribery - Appeared in 53 games, 16 goals & 23 assists

Why do people feel the need to try & denigrate or disparage when making a counter point. Why not just make the counter point without emphasizing personal feelings? I guess it makes people feel superior or perhaps continue to cultivate their online alpha male persona...

If I disagree with you, I disagree with you but I don't think you're stupid for thinking what you do.

QFT +1

 

[nychiphophippo]

Alonso out earlier this season and Khediras out now.

Seems like they started the season with too many DMs, but like they made the right move splurging on Illara and getting Casemiro as insurance.

 

[dlo13]

Just over 10 minutes left, Senegal need one more goal to knock out CIV...

Edit: Kalouinho lol) just killed that noise.