The 2014-2015 Football Thread

oscillatewildly said:

Falcao - I'm not saying anything, Centaurr is around.

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Forgot the name but there was a quite vocal Columbian / loyal Falcao supporter during the WC here on MR - what happened to him? Think he was used to the CAPS LOCK thing - so I doubt it's the same user.

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Gündogan and Hummels (as usual) linked with United in German (toilet)papers - anything I should worry about OW? Although Hummels would involve major stacks of money..

twietee said:

German (toilet)papers

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I like.

twietee said:

Image

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haha...thats a good one

Cox Orange said:

Algarve Cup women

Germany 2 goals in first 2 minutes against Sweden!

(Crazy to see how the ball is rolling without problems from one German player to the other, even when tackled.)

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Seems that both German teams (men and women) have a special relationship.

Sweden won 4:2 ! (Remember when the men lost in the last 15min. against Sweden, after being 4:0 ahead?)

seeing as Stevie G has joined the galaxy Im with them until he leaves! (was a revs fan)

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oscillatewildly said:

Lord Blackadder,

You wouldn't have liked the English First Division or European football in the '70s and '80s, horrible time.

Centaurr; fingers crossed if Falcao plays.

Premier League teams in Europe; weak defences and outsmarted.

Cheers,
OW

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yes 5 european cup wins in a row how horrible

Columbus Crew SC just announced a stadium naming rights deal with MAPFRE Insurance...Columbus Crew Stadium will henceforth be known as....MAPFRE Stadium (that's mah-fray).

It's a stupid name and I hate it.

Ironduke said:

seeing as Stevie G has joined the galaxy Im with them until he leaves! (was a revs fan)

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I can't stand the Galaxty, but I obviously want to see Gerrard do well. So I hope they are beaten in the MLS Cup final 4-3 by Columbus, with Gerrard scoring a consolation hat trick.

Top be fair, Seattle and NYCFC are now my most hated clubs, so I've thawed a bit on LA in recent years.

Lord Blackadder said:

I can't stand the Galaxty, but I obviously want to see Gerrard do well. So I hope they are beaten in the MLS Cup final 4-3 by Columbus, with Gerrard scoring a consolation hat trick.

Top be fair, Seattle and NYCFC are now my most hated clubs, so I've thawed a bit on LA in recent years.

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I have never loved the Galaxy but i cant go against stevie, Seattle are a bunch of hipsters, i love seeing them fail.

why do u hate New York they have not even played a game, sure they are a bunch of man city puppet fakes but thats no reason to hate

Ironduke said:

sure they are a bunch of man city puppet fakes and that's a perfect reason to hate

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Fixed that for you.

Lord Blackadder said:

Fixed that for you.

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do you think there will be trouble between city and red bull this season?

Any Bayern Munich fans here?

Ironduke said:

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yes 5 european cup wins in a row how horrible

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It was a nod to me liking Manchester United and Lord Blackadder having a thing for Liverpool.

twietee - Gündogan and Hummels - Both have been mentioned before LVG. Probably many clubs looking at the former, the press have tagged the latter as a demand by the manager, but you know the standard of reporting. The word slow is often brought up re Hummels. Is it correct? Would he get on in the Premier League?

Cheers,
OW

TexasChemE said:

Any Bayern Munich fans here?

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Yes, I follow them, not as long as my Man U team, but try to stay on top of their results.

Hummels is indeed a bit sluggish (that's why he + Boateng are superb partners within the national team). But since his anticipation / positioning is great he can manage... it's mainly his passing skills that make him stand-out (top3 imo) - looks like he has the personality to organize/lead a good defense too. Think he could do very at Utd. well but his price tag is enormous.

Gündogan, not the same yet but he gels in better and better every game. Sahin being back is incredibly important - yet mostly unnoticed. Great player.

mojolicious said:

I give Mourinho three seasons at most before he:
a) falls out with management/ownership
b) decides the FA/PL are persecuting him
c) throws his toys out of the pram when the (ridiculously indulgent) UK media 'turn on him'
d) some combination of the above

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Do you say this just because of his personality? genuinely curious

twietee said:

Hummels is indeed a bit sluggish (that's why he + Boateng are superb partners within the national team). But since his anticipation / positioning is great he can manage... it's mainly his passing skills that make him stand-out (top3 imo) - looks like he has the personality to organize/lead a good defense too. Think he could do very at Utd. well but his price tag is enormous.

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Hummels looks sluggish because he isn't very agile and not very quick off the line. But his top speed is actually excellent for a central defender. (as seen in the world cup statistics)
Boateng is a former right back where acceleration is always a key point so gets to top speed very fast.

Smaller dribbling players often look very, very fast but their key strenght is their explosiveness and not their actually speed. They get to their speed faster and thus often make their opponents eat their dust.

takao said:

Hummels looks sluggish because he isn't very agile and not very quick off the line. But his top speed is actually excellent for a central defender.

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Not saying otherwise (although I remember Mertesacker being 1st in the top speed chart of a game during the WC too - IIRC! - so that may be at least questioned). Thing is, when playing against explosive players like Messi, Suarez et al top speed isn't key. Look at the final when he had to take heavy risks every time Kun got the ball and went 1v1 vs Hummels. I've always been next to a stroke! But if he'd be 5% faster / more explosive I guess he'd left Dortmund two years ago and would play for Barca or the likes.

I like him very much, not to be misunderstood. Crazy to think that even at the start of the WC he wasn't a sure starter for Löw!

Ironduke said:

do you think there will be trouble between city and red bull this season?

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Do you mean a rivalry in New York? What does an entirely plastic rivalry look like anyway?

Lord Blackadder said:

What does an entirely plastic rivalry look like anyway?

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???

Centaurr said:

i hope you're kidding, right?

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no.

not that u don't have class, i'm sure u do, but take this opportunity to show some more.

twietee said:

???

Image

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Lego beats Playmobil every time, IMO.

Lord Blackadder said:

Do you mean a rivalry in New York? What does an entirely plastic rivalry look like anyway?

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exactly there are fans who like to copy, or who believe a little bit trouble at the start might create a legend for years to come, all it takes is one richard cranium for a subway kick off.

Ironduke said:

exactly there are fans who like to copy, or who believe a little bit trouble at the start might create a legend for years to come, all it takes is one richard cranium for a subway kick off.

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MLS gets a lot of criticism for clumsy aping of European football culture (see Real Salt Lake or Sporting Kansas City), but violence and bigotry is one feature of Euro-football culture that has not really gained a lot of traction here.

I think the NY "rivalry" is much more likely to be a corporately astroturfed bore-fest, since neither club has much in the way of a grassroots connection to the US or New York. Both are simply outposts of sporting imperialism rather than grassroots clubs with strong local identities.

breaking news: Camilo Zuniga is back from injury, will be on the pitch with Napoli soon, they stand at 3rd place in the Series A table

Silencio said:

Lego beats Playmobil every time, IMO.

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Agreed. Although I have fond memories of my playmo stuff too. Close one.

Thanks twietee and takao. As you say, it is how the defenders complement each other and it seems a Hummels type is part of what LVG is after.

Per M sometimes reminds me of when I chose an old Fiat 500 playing some version of Gran Turismo at a friends; the other cars are off, but the replay camera stays on the starting straight for an age as the Fiat makes its way down.

Cheers,
OW