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2010-2011 Football Thread

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I follow Inter much less heartily than Tottenham, but it's interesting that they'll be in the same group. Could be a once-in-a-lifetime meeting. Would prefer that Spurs come out on top, but Inter have the far more realistic chance to go far in CL.


Lord Blackadder said:
In truth, I could hardly care less about the Europa League as a competition - not because I'm bitter and we are losing, but I'd prefer to not have the fixtures to worry about. We need to focus on the league. I don't think the Europa League matches are lucrative enough to help us much.
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It's the soccer equivalent of the NIT. Same type of competition, but pretty much nothing at stake. One team gets to the end and realizes they were just crowned the 70th-best team in Europe.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
I agree. I don't think the extra officials will make a significant impact either way.

Personally, I favor goal-line technology being used to determine whether a ball crosses the line. But I oppose using "instant replay" to call fouls. Goal-line technology won't appreciably delay the game, but instant replays in other cases would.
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Agree. Match flow it important, if not critical, for a good match from both the players' and fans' respective. In the recent match in which Stoke's late header that hit into Crouch's body while he lay in the goal netting area behind the goal line, the referee was in a good position to see whether the ball crossed the goal line or not, but failed to call it. He apparently wasn't complete sure. He looked to the AR who could not see anything through a sea of bodies and a goal post. An AR on the near side may not have been able to get it any better than the center. Solution: goal line technology of some sort.

My bringing up rapid instant replay and relay, deals with grievous fouls behind the center's back or obvious missed offside calls seen by neither of the ARs or 4th. They could be called down via the mic system refs now use during the flow of play and at or before the next stoppage/restart, the culprit dealt with or the goal taken away/awarded. Referees are allowed to correct mistakes before the next restart. Once that happens, nothing can be done-at least int he case of a missed or incorrect goal. Players can be sanctioned for misbehavior after the match is completed, obviously.
 
Henri Gaudier said:
Arsenal lose Gallas & Silvestre so they've bought Laurent Koscielny & Sebastien Squillaci. If they didn't get Squillaci they were to move for Michael Ciani and if not Ciani then Phillipe Mexes. The word is that AW is also after Emmanuel Riviere.

Seeing as everyone is French why not move the club to France? ;)
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You can draw a somehat similar comparison the Inter Milan which is mostly non-Italian players.
 
We got Man U:)

Celtic having a shocker at home, looks like Motherwell and Dundee Utd are out and worst of all Villa have just gone out which means we can't use our new striker.:(
 
I don't think it did - I'm none the wiser!

The best I can make of it is that UEFA originally said it didn't matter who won, but once Rapid won it did matter, which I can only take to mean the team qualifying for the group stages cup-tied him but not if they just played pre-group qualifiers and didn't actually qualify...
 
the thing is this: Jelavic played in the 2nd and third euro league qualification for Rapid round thus he only could play for rangers if the former gets kicked out of _all_ european competitions

don't forget that the 3rd of the champions league groups jump into the euro league after the group phase


Jelavic, the unprofessional prick, gambled .. and lost everything
and IMHO he totally deserves that... you don't simply refuse to play for your club in perhaps the most important game of the season edit: especially at Rapid where loyality is highly honored because after all they have some of the most loyal fans in central europe

he thought that without him rapid has no chance against Villa .. and as it turns out Aston villa prefered to create a new tradition ;)
 
Lord Blackadder said:
I understand where you're coming from, but as long as there is big money in the game, things won't change. If you paid 500m Euros for a club, you're not going to go with the most native team - you'll go with the best team. There is too much money at stake in the Champions League in particular for teams to risk losing a big payoff just to make a team more "native".

The only way it will change is if FIFA forces FAs to do it - which probably constitutes discrimination under EU law.
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The EU is often parroted as a reason by the FA but isn't it true that in Germany it's the case that at least 12 of the squad have to be eligible to play for the German National team?

Whilst over at the BBC I saw this Arsenal have made an inquiry for Lille goalkeeper Mickael Landreau - He's not embarrassed about it at all is he?
 
takao said:
Jelavic, the unprofessional prick, gambled .. and lost everything
and IMHO he totally deserves that... you don't simply refuse to play for your club in perhaps the most important game of the season edit: especially at Rapid where loyality is highly honored because after all they have some of the most loyal fans in central europe
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Well, as player attitudes have been mentioned, I've just read these comments on the BBC website:
Liverpool and Newcastle will find out soon who has won the race to sign Marseille winger Hatem Ben Arfa. The 23-year-old has gone on strike at his French club in an effort to force through a move.
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Now, I know striking in France is part of the culture ;) but is this really a player that Liverpool or Newcastle want, someone who simply goes on strike to get his own way?
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi wants Liverpool to be humane and let fellow Argentine Javier Mascherano leave Anfield for the Nou Camp.
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Ok, so a bid has now been accepted, but perhaps Messi should have spoken to his bosses about being 'humane' as the only thing stopping Mascherano leaving was the poor offer Barca put in for him...
:rolleyes:
 
A fee has been agreed with Barça for Mascherano. £16m plus £6m depending on clauses.

Terms have been agreed just needs to pass medical (today I think).

EDIT: and for those interested Ibrahimovic 'may' be on his way to Milan for about €40m. Should know more tomorrow.
 
40 million ? where exactly does the AC plan to get the money from ? out of a magical hat ?

back on Jelavic: very likely Glasgow won't be to happy with him anyway.. he is a good "worker" but ... christ ... does he miss many goal opportunites
 
Fizzoid said:
Now, I know striking in France is part of the culture ;) but is this really a player that Liverpool or Newcastle want, someone who simply goes on strike to get his own way?
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Liverpool or Newcastle will be fine with it until he does it to them. Then it's a betrayal. We've seen this movie before.
 
takao said:
Jelavic, the unprofessional prick, gambled .. and lost everything
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It's simply unprofessional to refuse to play like that. Just desserts.

Fizzoid said:
Now, I know striking in France is part of the culture ;) but is this really a player that Liverpool or Newcastle want, someone who simply goes on strike to get his own way?
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aloofman said:
Liverpool or Newcastle will be fine with it until he does it to them. Then it's a betrayal. We've seen this movie before.
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Liverpool should know better, having just lost Mascherano in an acrimonious way.

Fizzoid said:
Ok, so a bid has now been accepted, but perhaps Messi should have spoken to his bosses about being 'humane' as the only thing stopping Mascherano leaving was the poor offer Barca put in for him...
:rolleyes:
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Messi may be a great guy and a great footballer, but this is a case where he'd have been better served by keeping quiet.

Everyone has heard the rumors about how Mascherano never settled in England - left his family in Argentina, rarely left his apartment, his only friend was Tevez etc. I can't say I feel TOO bad for him. He was making gobs of money and could have decided to immerse himself in the culture. Instead, he reinforces the stereotype that South Americans simply cannot adjust to the colder parts of Europe and England in particular.

Masch is a good player. But in the end he shows himself to be a bit childish - sure, I don't blame him for wanting to go to Barca, but he's completely turned his back on Liverpool. He could have been more respectful.

In better news, Dirk Kuyt has come out and quashed the rumors about moving to Inter. Looks like we'll be picking up Paul Konchesky from Fulham - a move the pundits chortle over as proof of the dismal state of our defense. Which is a bit unfair to Konchesky.
 
Henri Gaudier said:
The EU is often parroted as a reason by the FA but isn't it true that in Germany it's the case that at least 12 of the squad have to be eligible to play for the German National team?
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I'm unfamiliar with the rules in Germany, but if this is the case it should be remembered that being eligible to play for Germany doesn't necessarily mean you're actually German – if you've resided there for a certain number of years you could qualify to play for them, much like Mikel Arteta now qualifies to play for England having lived here for however many years.

Basically, a number of countries are putting rules in place to try and limit foreigners but they can't actually put rules in place limiting foreigners, if you follow, as such things contravene EU employment laws. So instead we have things like the 'homegrown' rule being introduced here, which has nothing to do with nationality but instead residency, and it may well be that the German rule is a similar skirting of the EU regulations.

Anyway, other matters – Mrs Cake follows all kinds of BBC folk on Twitter, and apparently BBC Sports chap Dan Walker was at a secret press launch of the new England kit the other night. This came as a bit of a surprise as I've heard no rumours whatsoever regarding new polyester rags for the national team. If this is true, what Walker says is that it has no collar and isn't "exactly retro but there is an element of bravery. Shorts are mint but not White or navy I don't think."

It's released on September 3rd, apparently. Hmm.
 
For a second there Jaffa, I thought you'd turned into a Fulham fan overnight! :D Must have taken a bump to the head or something. ;)
 
Jaffa Cake said:
Heh, not I. My Jaffatar™ is sporting the colours of defunct Gretna, in honour of an upcoming wedding. He doesn't own a suit, see. ;)
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Ah, I see! Well, don't let him drink too much at the celebrations, he'll be needed for training on monday. :D

AliFun3 said:
liverpool have reportedly signed raul meireles as replacement for masch.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/aug/27/liverpool-sign-raul-meireles-porto
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I know nothing at all about him, don't remember him from the WC - but if he's considered a good player for Portugal then he can't be all bad. Quite the tattoo collection as well...
 
I don't really know much about him but if he plays in the portuguese national team then he must be pretty good. United where linked with him as well.
 
takao said:
Jelavic, the unprofessional prick, gambled .. and lost everything
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It is rather disconcerting that we have signed a player who did refuse to turn out for his team... if he did it once then he might do it again. However I do understand why he did it. The transfer was on/off over the course of a couple of weeks and I think Rapid Wien were maybe a little at fault then decided to push the issue. If the player knows he's going to sign for another club the next day and doesn't want to lose his chance to play for that club in the Champions League. Tough call.

takao said:
very likely Glasgow won't be to happy with him anyway.. he is a good "worker" but ... christ ... does he miss many goal opportunites
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This is the SPL you are talking about! 25 goals in 70 games is decent enough for us.

I also spoke to a mate who was at the Hibs game and saw Vladimír Weiss debut - Rangers fans very happy with what they saw. Can't remember who in here called him an entertainer but they were spot on!
 
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