2008-09 Football Thread

[Lord Blackadder]

I don't want Barry at all. He's a very good player but, as it stands, it's a straight swap (of sorts) for Alonso. Alonso a brilliant player.

I think he's more offensively minded than Alonso. But he isn't worth 17 million pounds. Our biggest problem in midfield is getting Gerrard to play one position at a time. He's been incredibly productive himself, but maybe his style of play disrupts the team at times. And we need another striker...more offensive power will turn draws into victories.

19th. Unless we win the 19th before they do.

Shows how much I know. United will pass us up for a few years and then we will come back. Every dog has its day, and Fergie will only be around for so long.

I still prefer the white away jersey, but then again the retro effect is lost on me since I wasn't "around" then.

 

[és:]

I think he's more offensively minded than Alonso.

That's through team orders, though. He's more than capable of being offensive, as he was at Sociedad. The problem is that Barry isn't capable of doing what Alonso does from deep because his range of passing isn't as good or varied.

Then again, it depends what Rafa's plan is. If it's 4-3-3 with Barry on the left of the three central midfielders then that'll work much better with Barry than it would with Alonso.

Our biggest problem in midfield is getting Gerrard to play one position at a time. He's been incredibly productive himself, but maybe his style of play disrupts the team at times.

That was the case I made against him a few years ago because he wasn't disciplined in his central role, now he has moved forward and we have two defensive midfielders, he's just magic.

United will pass us up for a few years

Well be havin' none of that, thanking you.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

That was the case I made against him a few years ago because he wasn't disciplined in his central role, now he has moved forward and we have two defensive midfielders, he's just magic.

I still think he has trouble staying put - which is possibly a reason Capello seems relatively uninterested in him for the role of England Captain...still, his offensive potential makes him a key part of the squad. A three-pronged attak of Gerrard, Torres and a second good striker like Keane sounds very exciting.

Well be havin' none of that, thanking you.

Well, Liverpool's league title record irks Fergie, and he hasn't equaled us in Europe - you just know he wants to change that before he retires. But I hope I'm wrong.

The one thing I really want to see this season is Liverpool making a serious run for the title.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Right, my predictions. I'm bolder than most so rather than just predict the top four, I'm going to go for the whole twenty...

1. Manchester United
2. Chelsea
3. Arsenal
4. Liverpool
5. Everton
6. Tottenham Hotspur
7. West Ham United
8. Manchester City
9. Aston Villa
10. Newcastle United
11. Portsmouth
12. Middlesbrough
13. Wigan Athletic
14. West Bromwich Albion
15. Sunderland
16. Bolton Wanderers
17. Hull City
18. Fulham
19. Blackburn Rovers
20. Stoke City

I reckon we'll do it, see.

 

[és:]

Well, Liverpool's league title record irks Fergie, and he hasn't equaled us in Europe - you just know he wants to change that before he retires. But I hope I'm wrong.

You're not wrong, you're entirely right. It's just to bad to start thinking about something like that until it arrives.

 

[scotthayes]

Jaffa, you really think Blackburn are going down


Posted these a while ago, but have made a change or two

Premiership

Winner - Arsenal

Relegated - Stoke, Hull and Fulham


Championship

Winners - Crystal Palace

Runners-up - Birmingham

Playoffs - Watford, Reading, QPR and Ipswich

Relegated - Doncaster, Blackpool and Barnsley


League One

Winners - Leeds


League Two

Not got a clue...

 

[Markleshark]

League One

Winners - Leeds

Boooooooooooo!!!!

WANKERS! WANKERS! WANKERS!

 

[pachyderm]

i predict this is the ugliest 3rd kit... ever!


MLS All Stars beat West Ham. Not a fan of any type of all star game but i do enjoy these.

 

[és:]

i predict this is the ugliest 3rd kit... ever!

Sevilla third kit...

Believe me, there have been many, many worse kits than that.

Arsenal 1993

Hull 92

Chelsea

That's without mentioning goalie kits...

MLS All Stars beat West Ham. Not a fan of any type of all star game but i do enjoy these.

To be fair, a pub team would give those bunch of pre-season fatties a run for their money.

 

[B&Wtoon]

wow és, those arsenal and hull shirts are out of this world!

 

[B&Wtoon]

Boooooooooooo!!!!

WANKERS! WANKERS! WANKERS!

grow up soon please.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

i predict this is the ugliest 3rd kit... ever!

I know, posted it earlier and I hate it...the green is just not working for me at all. For what jerseys cost these days, who would want to drop $70-$100 + on one of these, unless you are into collecting them?

MLS All Stars beat West Ham. Not a fan of any type of all star game but i do enjoy these.

I was watching a bit of it, by half time I was really worried because the all-stars were down 2-1 and I can't countenance our our best 11 being beaten by an unfit mid-table side. I missed the second half but I see we've won. By the little I saw our all-star team, other than being too old, is a squad that could play in the Premier league without disgracing itself. Which is a lot of progress from where the league was just a few years ago.

 

[és:]

By the little I saw our all-star team, other than being too old, is a squad that could play in the Premier league without disgracing itself. Which is a lot of progress from where the league was just a few years ago.

I don't believe that to be true. I'd say that the very best 22 would be in the bottom 5 over the course of a season. If not relegated, very close to it. The speed, strength, tactics and experience would be far too much for even the best players in the league.

I wouldn't judge anything by scraping past a pretty poor team's 2/3/4th choice players in pre-season.

The MLS really is horrific.

 

[Markleshark]

Isn't football just the worst thing in the world?

Can't believe it.

On the plus side, new Away and Third shirts and they are smart as fook. Just had a topsy turvy emotional half hour of downs and ups then...

 

[Lord Blackadder]

The MLS really is horrific.

What a very rude man.

I agree about our best 22 being in the bottom 5, but part of that is because our players are old. It still has a retirement league image and that won't change overnight. But our league is younger than most of the players in it, so I don't expect it to compete with top leagues by any stretch. It is getting better, that's the important part.

But to say the MLS is horrific is maybe too much I think, unless you also consider the Championship, League 1 and League 2 horrific as well.

You Euro-snobs are spoiled for choice anyway.

 

[és:]

But to say the MLS is horrific is maybe too much I think, unless you also consider the Championship, League 1 and League 2 horrific as well.

The Championship (what used to be the 2nd division) is as weak as it's ever been, )although horrific is probably a stretch) League 1 (3rd) and league 2(4th) are pretty horrific. The league in general is probably around League 1, in terms of quality. Although some of the weaker teams probably wouldn't cope in League one, some of the better ones might survive in the Championship.

You Euro-snobs are spoiled for choice anyway.

We are. We don't really see ourselves like the states see us. We're not really Europe in the sense that the people have any association with each other.

We don't think Europe has Serie A, Ligue Un, Premiership, La Liga etc. We just see ourselves as seperate countries. So it's just one of those leagues V MLS (and you won't be taken seriously until you bin those stupid names)

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Believe me, there have been many, many worse kits than that... Hull 92

Hang on, just a few posts earlier you described me as being a 'man of distinguished taste', and then my first choice match shirt is one of the worst ever? Make your mind up!

Jaffa, you really think Blackburn are going down

I genuinely think they'll struggle. Ince may yet be upper-league managerial material but I think he's leapt up the divisions a little too quickly. When one of your main transfer targets is Keith Andrews and you appoint as defensive coach a man – Nigel Winterburn – who has no previous experience of the role and in interviews doesn't really seem to know what he's going to be doing, an alarm bell or two might start to ring.

 

[és:]

Hang on, just a few posts earlier you described me as being a 'man of distinguished taste', and then my first choice match shirt is one of the worst ever? Make your mind up!

It appears that I've made a heinous error in my judgement

 

[Lord Blackadder]

The Championship (what used to be the 2nd division) is as weak as it's ever been, )although horrific is probably a stretch) League 1 (3rd) and league 2(4th) are pretty horrific. The league in general is probably around League 1, in terms of quality. Although some of the weaker teams probably wouldn't cope in League one, some of the better ones might survive in the Championship.

I'll go with that, although I can clearly put up with a poorer standard of play than you. I wouldn't call it horrific, but most teams in the are orders of magnitude away from Arsenal or Spain's Euro squad. I've watched a few MLS matches that I thought would equal a good Championship match in terms of quality. I've also seen a few that were abysmal.

We are. We don't really see ourselves like the states see us. We're not really Europe in the sense that the people have any association with each other.

Sure, but you do have excellent access across borders, both physically and in terms of media access. In the states, since "Europe" is all lumped together, every league has to compete for air time within limited network slots. It's much harder to follow football when you can't even watch all the games, or even most of them.

(and you won't be taken seriously until you bin those stupid names)

I agree about the names...There is some talk about a new team in my hometown of Cleveland, and I want it to be simply Cleveland F.C. Simple, and fits into football tradition without being silly like Real Salt Lake or the Colorado Rapids. But it does reflect the youth of our league.

 

[és:]

I'll go with that, although I can clearly put up with a poorer standard of play than you.

Yeah, but I've been watching football, in a society that revolves around it, for 24 years. After a while, other than the team you support, it becomes really boring if it's a crap level. Watching Dagenham v Wycombe wanderers (not even sure they are in the same league ) isn't my idea of fun.

Sure, but you do have excellent access across borders, both physically and in terms of media access.

We get so little football on terrestrial TV here that it's a joke. The US gets loads more premiership (and I'd assume Serie A and La Liga) than we do. Live football isn't something that's shown very often unless you've got expensive TV packs, and even then only a handful of premiership games get shown live for every team over the season.

I agree about the names...There is some talk about a new team in my hometown of Cleveland, and I want it to be simply Cleveland F.C. Simple, and fits into football tradition without being silly like Real Salt Lake or the Colorado Rapids. But it does reflect the youth of our league.

I mean...

Chicago Fire!

Kansas City Wizards!

Seattle Sounders!

Houston Dynamo!

What is up with that. I officially support Toronto FC from now on. I mean, come on, could you imagine the 'Chester Bazookas' or 'The Brighton Hove And Albion Cowabungas'. They'd be laughed out of town.

FC Dallas, Toronto FC and, at a push, DC United are all passable. The rest, time to grow up.

It would sound almost as silly as us starting a basketball league and calling them boring names like Bristol City Basketball Association, nowhere near as good as the Bristol HyperNinjas (I'm not great at this cool names thingy, as you can see).

 

[swiftaw]

I mean...

Chicago Fire!

Kansas City Wizards!

Seattle Sounders!

Houston Dynamo!

What is up with that. I officially support Toronto FC from now on. I mean, come on, could you imagine the 'Chester Bazookas' or 'The Brighton Hove And Albion Cowabungas'. They'd be laughed out of town.

FC Dallas, Toronto FC and, at a push, DC United are all passable. The rest, time to grow up.

You missed the worst one, New York Red Bulls.

 

[és:]

You missed the worst one, New York Red Bulls.

Do they have wings?

 

[Lord Blackadder]

The papers are now saying Keane is coming to Liverpool and Barry is unlikely. I'm happy with that - can't wait to see Robbie in red...

...but they're also saying that Arbeloa is off to Spain...disappointing, because I thought he was pretty good last season.

We get so little football on terrestrial TV here that it's a joke.

That surprises me - I would think you'd have more stuff available than that. Here in the states you have to get a $50-$70 per month satellite package to get European football. Terrestrial stations occasionally show MLS matches and major football events like the Euro 2008 final or some world cup matches. If you live in an area with Spanish-language TV you can sometimes get a lot more football, though my Spanish is nowhere near good enough to follow the announcer except when he says GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL! of PENAL-PENAL-PENAL-PENAL-PEANALTEEEEEEEEEEEE!

FC Dallas, Toronto FC and, at a push, DC United are all passable. The rest, time to grow up.

It would sound almost as silly as us starting a basketball league and calling them boring names like Bristol City Basketball Association, nowhere near as good as the Bristol HyperNinjas (I'm not great at this cool names thingy, as you can see).

HyperNinjas...hmmm....you Brits just have no knack for the theatrics of American sport. And I'm sure you'll consider that a compliment.

Houston Dynamo's name comes from Eastern Eurpean teams like DK Dinamo Zagreb, so I actually like it because it reflects the multicultural heritage of football in the states. For the same reason I can tolerate Chivas USA, which has a close relationship with the "real" Mexican team "Chivas" Guadalajara.

I think a lot of the Eastern European names are quite cool, like FC Lokomotiv Moscow (I like the spelling), Red Star Belgrade and Partizan. England has some very cool names recalling Victorian blue-collar factory roots or gentlemen's athletic clubs. The British have their traditions, other footballing nations have theirs and the US, true to its population, has adopted them all and come up with some of their own. I personally don't like the names that resemble American sports teams, but it was done deliberately by people selling a product to Americans.

You missed the worst one, New York Red Bulls.

Technically "Red Bull New York", it's a farce, I agree. They should have taken the name of the Cosmos, the team playing for New York back in the NASL days of the 70s and 80s. Any team with Pele and Beckenbauer is legit.

 

[swiftaw]

Do they have wings?

Wingers perhaps

 

[és:]

The papers are now saying Keane is coming to Liverpool and Barry is unlikely. I'm happy with that - can't wait to see Robbie in red...

Yeah, should add more goals and creativity.

HyperNinjas...hmmm....you Brits just have no knack for the theatrics of American sport. And I'm sure you'll consider that a compliment.

Nah, I do get it and it's fine for what it's used for. It's just that football isn't something that, in my opinion, should be messed around with by giving them names like that.

For the same reason I can tolerate Chivas USA, which has a close relationship with the "real" Mexican team "Chivas" Guadalajara.

Yeah, I quite like Chivas USA if it has close Mexican ties. That's a sensible name.

but it was done deliberately by people selling a product to Americans.

Yeah, I guess that's my problem. Then again, I'm not much of a fan of this corporate world we live in.

My prediction is that the USA will start producing world class players in the next 10-15 years. With Mexico, Brazil and Argentina below you and the immigrants from that part of the world becoming 3rd or 4th generation, there is no reason why skill and good ol' fashion USA athletic brilliance can't combine to create top players.

MLS doesn't need Beckham, which is just seen as a stunt by the rest of the world, what it needs is 10 players that are playing in top teams across the world (Liverpool, United, AC Milan, Real, Barca et al) to raise interest. America needs to produce a messi/ronaldo/torres level player or two and that will get things really roaring. Then for the fame they et to be used in the MLS to recruit kids that are playing silly games with bats and rugby balls and get them into the biggest sport in the planet.