Football (Soccer)

[Arcane]

I am glad to say that United shat on Aresenal yesterday. Men vs. boys

[Sombre]

Yeah, me too. Arsenall simply wasn't good enough. I don't like the fact that Ferguson changes things up just for Arsenal, but I'm glad Man U got the result. Two points clear with a game in hand. To think they started the season miserably.

[Arcane]

Sorry, I had to do it

[lowrey]

Arsenal's game was sad to watch, they just couldn't progress further than two thirds of the field..

still, my personal preference has and will always be Arsenal > ManU.

[MetroBulotDodo]

That Franco's team thing is getting a little old though...I mean, I was born after his death...Many left-wing people support real madrid now

Ha ha, I *know* it's old, but I couldn't help myself after what Mourinho did to football -- the spirit of football -- in order to get his win in what was a travestry of a game between Inter Milan and Barça in Milan. One of the ugliest, most pathetic games I've ever seen.

And of course, we Americans have to make fun of other teams just to distract attention away from the embarrassment our own national team is (aside from Donovan and Dempsey.)

All in good fun...or at least until someone messes with my Messi. Haha.

MBD

[ahlefeldt]

God I hate Man U
Think I'm going to watch the Nasri goal against Fulham to cheer myself up.

Sorry, I had to do it

[shah]

Bale's a 'one-trick pony'?
I don't agree at all. If he was that, people would have been able to stop him as he'd be predictable.

he is predictable -- predictably fast. nothing you can do unless coaches/players start using their brains because taking him on 1v1 will inevitably result in him blowing past the fullback. look at what defenses do to CR in la liga, he's inevitably forced wide into a corner and isolated making him pass backward. not always, but a hell of a lot more so than in the brutish EPL where he just blazed down the wing past everyone and fired on goal--like bale. except his footwork, touch, technical ability is 1000x better so he can adapt to la liga. if you look at great players running with the ball, like messi, cr, ronaldo of old, r10 (and even giggs as a compatriot of his) it's glued to their feet. watch the likes of bale, theo, lennon, they push the ball a few yards and catch up. never really in control, comparatively speaking.

[Mikevigar]

Bale has a bit of agility when in close on someone, he's still so young though and we've only really had a year or so of him in good form to see how good he is - so plenty of time for him to develop.

Its really exciting (and at times frustrating) being a Spurs fan at the moment, so much potential/attacking ability.

I can see the following results:

prem - man u
carling cup - l'arse
fa cup - chelsea
champs league qualifiers - man u, chelsea, arsenal, man city
champs league this season - spurs (realistically barca)

Its that terrible time of year though where I can't put on my accumulator bets because so many bloody games get called off!

[shah]

will be interesting to watch spurs back at san siro where they ran wild last time. unfortunately instead of a virus(rafa)-infected inter they face the wily old men of AC. arsenal might as well stay home and avoid any potential injuries. i'm holding a candle light vigil in memoriam of the coming oppression and slaughter of all true Gooner soules that resisteth the blau-grana; surely the likes of Messi, Villa, Xavi, Iniesta, and other ruthless wizards of the Catalan lands will show no mercy. biggest SHOCKER: united and chelsea get near-automatic passes to next round! platinni must be thrilleeeeddddd

i'm rooting for cross-town rivals this weekend, london will show its strength against the impotent united squad ! seriously, they were awful and got a lucky header because nani had so many chances and rooney, well the pk summed up his game. arsenal were just falling over their own feet, as usual. now if chelsea can win perhaps gunners can reclaim top spot !

[Johnny]

Ha ha, I *know* it's old, but I couldn't help myself after what Mourinho did to football -- the spirit of football -- in order to get his win in what was a travestry of a game between Inter Milan and Barça in Milan. One of the ugliest, most pathetic games I've ever seen.

And of course, we Americans have to make fun of other teams just to distract attention away from the embarrassment our own national team is (aside from Donovan and Dempsey.)

All in good fun...or at least until someone messes with my Messi. Haha.

MBD

howard's a great goalie, that's three decent players. more than a lot of countries have.....

[shah]

Perhaps, but by needing to have an extra man to cover behind a full-back who *has to* close him down is a problem in itself. He has very effective in recent games (when people think he has a 'quiet game') by coming in field and dropping off further from a usual winger position, this creates real problems for defences in terms of how far to follow him, and how to cover without becoming over-stretched.
Wingers are meant to be fast - so that's a bit like saying 'the night is predictably dark'.
I think you're underestimating Bale's skills. He has an *incredible* engine, the guy just doesn't seem to get tired, and he certainly isn't as fancy as Ronaldo (Cristiano), but this is no bad thing. Playing with Ronaldo must be an extremely frustrating experience, that in conjunction with his infinitely arrogant personality, he's a creasy rodent of a human.
Bale isn't like this, he's a grounded and seemingly more intelligent as a player, not to mention more of a team player.
It's not great comparing Bale with Ronaldo anyway; Ronaldo is more of a forward than winger.

People are often blinded by 'great players' being the ones who have all the skills and are flashy. Yes, some of them are, Messi being a fine example, but great players can have other qualities. Xavi and Iniesta are great players, and that's no exaggeration. They are the key reason for Barcelona and Spain's success.
Players with Ronaldo's temperament will never be 'great' in my opinion, it will always hinder their improvement and adaptation.

way to regurgitate MOTD analysis
it's true though, and i'm not denying he creates problems for other teams, but i'm saying it's all just racehorse speeds and nothing else. look at him vs chelsea, run down and fire across the face of goal. he did that 10 times. sure he's effective but it isn't worth all the hype--typical british media behavior. the reason i compared him to the ones in that list is not because of the flash but because of the sheer speed they [used] to run at defenders with. xavi, iniesta, cesc, figo, zidane, nasri, pires, etc. all are/were incredible stars in their own right but never had a blistering pace (yes some are faster than others) that destroyed fullbacks, theirs was a more refined game, if you will, using trickery and vision more than bursts of acceleration. the players i listed in the last post might also have these technical skills but one cannot dismiss their incredible speeds. in summary--he's fast with a good shot but that's extent of his offerings. but like you said, he's young and with the right mentoring can develop to become a real threat. but playing a league that caters more to physical ability than technical talent i doubt we'll see all his potential come through.

edit: i knew this thread would pick up again coming to the end of the first half. now it's a mad dash to the end !

edit 2: this is how i feel about bale

[Mikevigar]

Thats an amazing video!

It does give Spurs a huge advantage, if they double up on Bale you've got Van the man or Modric in the centre who can pull a few magical moves out, and Lennon on the right.

I agree with the comments about pacey wingers having one dimensional games, I think Modric is an incredibly talented player because of his ability to twist and turn away from compact midfield areas to make space, its just a more understated skill that doesn't necessarily lead to goals all the time. We definitely keep the ball more with him in the team.

I think playing at the San Siro we'll have to shore up a bit defensively but with Dawson back and King training I'm not so worried. Frustrating we got such a hard draw but to win it you have to beat everyone I guess.

As for the US team, I miss Brian Mcbride, such a shame his Fulham career ended with that injury. Lets hope his fellow Cottagers (not a sexual reference) continue to pile misery on Woy's Weds as that keeps us all entertained

[shah]

That's an epic video. haha, hilarious. At least he tried to hurdle the last one, even if it wasn't in his lane.

Yeah, it was certainly brought to my attention on MOTD, but I've been watching it since in other highlights and he's really learning how to do it well.

I'll let someone else argue about the physical ability/technical talent thing! I don't argue that there's an emphasis on skills in La Liga, but I think you're doing the EPL somewhat of a disservice there!

Watch this space with Bale, under the right guidance he could be phenomenal. I just hope he doesn't jump ship to some like Man City.
I mean, that place is just a holding pen for wankers.
One word: Balotelli

LOL mancity is a festering dump of overcompen$ated egos who, by admission of one of their own, are a bunch of lethargic undertrainers. Spurs will do all they can to keep him from joining that rot. They need a tyrant in charge not a scarf-bearing italian nobody can understand, someone to keep everyone in check. Signing super mario was their death sentence this season; if it wasn't enough that tevez wants to retire at 26 then surely he will drive them over the edge (maybe he'll do a repeat performance and wear a cross-town rivals jersey out to the clubs )

[Mikevigar]

I can't see Man City coaxing anymore young or promising players away, look at the experience some of their signings have had (Johnson, Milner, Adebayor, Lescott). It amazes me that some of these guys can't get in the first XI or even the squad and Jo has come back into the fold ahead of them...

I think 'arry can get a lot out of Bale, I'm just worried that cabbageman Capello will go to Inter because Benitez has ruined them and then 'arry will get persuaded to take the England job - that'll be a sad sad day.

Either of you guys do fantasy football? I need to vent some anger at Joe Cole's continued crapness and Man City's refusal to keep a clean sheet since I put Joe Hart in my team.

[shah]

Benitez really is virus-like. Pool's best season under him was arguably the first, and it all slowly started to fall apart after that. Now he's infected a virtually-unchanged inter side that won 3 trophies last year and now look lost on the pitch as if they have no clue what they're supposed to do. Sure losing jose is one thing but completely collapsing is unacceptable. Also, and on a more superstitious note, I attribute inter's demise in part to some Ibracadabra. Bear with me, if you will: ibrahimovich has won the league title for the past 7 years irrespective of what country he's been in--juve, inter, barca, all winners and consecutively. This ensures that Milan, who have just extended their lead at the top, will be the victors of Serie A

I can't do fantasy football because, as you can see, I'm already too far down the rabit hole with real-life footy! But I can tell you that having joe cole is a bad idea. I wouldn't attribute the lack of clean sheets to hart so much as to the other 10, and once own-goal expert lescott starts getting in his groove you'll have even more problems not conceding!