The 2013-2014 Football Thread

The club have got their work cut out for them, to be sure.

oscillatewildly said:

Everton; Champions League = Lukaku money? Would wages be a problem?

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2 points: (and this is still of course totally dependent on Everton qualifying!)

- They'll be getting a nice pile of cash from being in the competition, so right off the bat they'll have more money to play with. Maybe it will be enough to sign Lukaku.

- When negotiating with players who are considering several similar clubs the CL qualification could be a key deal-sweetener, giving them an advantage over teams like Spurs or even Arsenal.

However, like you point out wages could still be an issue because Everton can't count on being in the CL every season, at least not yet. And they are still 'poor' compared to Europe's biggest squads, so they don't have the money to bring in players of the highest quality (those going for 60-100million Euros these days, which is just insane money).

oscillatewildly said:

Finally, the big World Cup question; will Bebe be in the Portugal squad?

Cheers,
OW

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Hope so since that would boost my hopes that USA will get a result against them.

Daniel Sturridge might be available at the weekend. Though, with the Chelsea match coming up I would not be surprised if he starts on the bench, especially if the match goes well from the beginning.

Kroos's agent has ruled out an exit until 2015.

EDIT:...and so City and Everton drop points much to the delight of Arsenal, 'Pool and Mou. Me thinks that might be the title gone for City.

One more piece of evidence that Tony Pulis and Mourihno could conspire to destroy the concept of attractive attacking football this season. I don't see how Liverpool will beat both of them. And in Chelsea's case, I don;t see them dropping any points at all unless Atleti take them to penalties and wear them down.

Barca are currently losing the Copa del Rey final 1-0 to Real. Could be their last chance of silverware gone...

Had to check to make sure Messi was playing. Ineffectual would be an understatement. Fabregas and Neymar equally as anonymous. To be fair, I dunno why Tata has shifted him out wide.

EDIT: ...and GB11 decides it in impressive fashion. £85m investment already paying dividend. Barca have failed to win a trophy for the first time in...ever?

Lord Blackadder said:

One more piece of evidence that Tony Pulis and Mourihno could conspire to destroy the concept of attractive attacking football this season. I don't see how Liverpool will beat both of them. And in Chelsea's case, I don;t see them dropping any points at all unless Atleti take them to penalties and wear them down.

Barca are currently losing the Copa del Rey final 1-0 to Real. Could be their last chance of silverware gone...

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Liverpool don't have to beat both of them now, one win and one draw would be enough (assuming they beat Norwich and Newcastle).

swiftaw said:

Liverpool don't have to beat both of them now, one win and one draw would be enough (assuming they beat Norwich and Newcastle).

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Good point.

Still, if Liverpool drop 3 points then its virtually game over. They've won 10 on the trot but can they win 14 or avoid losing 4.

Heart says yes, brain says this is football.

All i know is if Mou wins the league, i'll die a little inside.

Great goal by Gareth Bale, Hala Madrid!!, could be the first time since pep took over that Barça fail to win anything, 8 years it's been i think. and if the transfer ban sticks they'll be pretty screwed next season.

I think Liverpool has everything on their side to win it, But they still have Chelsea to play, a good finish for the league title.

Big win for Real.

Kariya said:

Heart says yes, brain says this is football.

All i know is if Mou wins the league, i'll die a little inside.

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Agreed. Hopefully the fact that Pulis has secured safety for Crystal Palace means they are already on the beach when Liverpool show up....

jsolares said:

Great goal by Gareth Bale, Hala Madrid!!, could be the first time since pep took over that Barça fail to win anything, 8 years it's been i think. and if the transfer ban sticks they'll be pretty screwed next season.

I think Liverpool has everything on their side to win it, But they still have Chelsea to play, a good finish for the league title.

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Has Bale been accepted? Tales he hadn't been taken to heart, but looking at his record before last night.

Lord Blackadder:

A nice 9 point deduction for Crystal Palace before the Liverpool game would make it interesting for us neutrals ; the 3 gained against Cardiff City and 6 as punishment.

Cheers,
OW

oscillatewildly said:

Has Bale been accepted? Tales he hadn't been taken to heart, but looking at his record before last night.

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Expectations at Real are stratospheric, and Bale has been merely excellent this season - not good enough for some. There have been big games (such as the last Clasico) where he has been rather peripheral. But really, anyone with a sense of perspective can see that he is delivering the goods.

oscillatewildly said:

Lord Blackadder:

A nice 9 point deduction for Crystal Palace before the Liverpool game would make it interesting for us neutrals ; the 3 gained against Cardiff City and 6 as punishment.

Cheers,
OW

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Serves me right for mentioning Crystal Palace yesterday.

EDIT: Meanwhile, in 'Banter' news, Atlanta, Georgia has been announced as the newest MLS team. In response, one cheeky group of Columbus supporters released the following greeting:



Students of history will remember Ohio-born General William Tecumseh Sherman as one of the fathers of the concept of "total warfare". During the American Civil War, Sherman's Union army captured Atlanta and the city was subsequently burned to the ground.

Hipsters and their beards.

On the Crystal Palace thing; if there is any action it is likely to be after this season with the FA making sure any deduction still leaves Palace safe.

Cheers,
OW

oscillatewildly said:

On the Crystal Palace thing; if there is any action it is likely to be after this season with the FA making sure any deduction still leaves Palace safe.

Cheers,
OW

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A pointless slap on the wrist. Sounds about right...

Chelsea haven't got a clue without Hazard. That said it wasn't even close to being a pen.

Mike Dean...

Somehow Sky continue to employ Jamie Redknapp - as entertaining as it is watching him dig a hole trying to justify penalties like that.

Ouch.

"Fernando Torres produced what has become a trademark display of enthusiastic nothingness."

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Torres is still a World Cup, Euro Championship, Champions League and Europa League winner, mind.

Columbus 1-1 DC United

A dreadful performance by the Crew, reversed in the last mjnute of regular time by an equalizer by left back Jimenez after the Crew went down to ten men.

Chelsea: finally Mourinho is the one done by a dodgy pen. Nicely done, Altidote/Borini.

KNVB Beker Final.


18:00 Rotterdam De Kuip.

PEC Zwolle vs Ajax.

For the first time in their 104 years of football PEC stand to win a Beker. They do start as under dogs but the form book says very little in a one off game. Plus Ajax are not the stolid team they were in the past, Ron Jans has prepared the team, and the fans are supporting them all the way.

This could be a good game of football to watch, Frank de Boer has warned his side not to take this game to lightly.

Almost a copy of the Man City win for Liverpool. The next two games are going to be absolute nail-biters.

Happybunny said:

For the first time in their 104 years of football PEC stand to win a Beker. They do start as under dogs but the form book says very little in a one off game. Plus Ajax are not the stolid team they were in the past, Ron Jans has prepared the team, and the fans are supporting them all the way.

This could be a good game of football to watch, Frank de Boer has warned his side not to take this game to lightly.

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Fingers crossed, as Jaffa says!

Jaffa Cake said:

I'm loving the T shirts the Zwolle fans have had made...

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Blue fingers crossed for them this afternoon.

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That is a fantastic play with words, really just great.

For that alone they deserve to WIN.

Goodbye Moyes; you hoped and tried, but that was all you had and it wasn't good enough because it is never good enough.