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2010-2011 Football Thread

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I'm not sure how many franchises MLS is willing to expand to, but the limits of human stamina will be the limiting factor. If you structure the league so that every team plays every other team home and away, you can only expand the league so far before players simply can't complete a full season without breaking down. European football is already arguably crossing that threshold, so I don't really see the league going much beyond 22 teams...

...unless MLS does what the NFL does and only require teams to play other teams in their conference home and away, and then just a selection of the remaining teams. I would not like to see that. I want to see them get rid of the conference system altogether and go to a single table. I would also not be against the institution of an apertura/clausura system that would bring us more in line with the FIFA calendar.

As for promotion/relegation, IMO it's never going to happen in the US, there is just no culture for it here and the moneymen hate it. The only reason it still exists anywhere is tradition - if the business suits at top teams had their way in Europe they'd freeze the league system so the best teams stayed on top forever, with no fear of the drop. You know, that European "super league" idea. Basically turning the Champions League into a permanent Pan-Europe oligarchic league.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
Spurs continue to look weak in the league despite the European heroics.
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King, Dawson and Woodgate are all perma-crocks. Such a shame because all three are quality defenders. Hard to work around those kinds of injury woes, see also United's back line most of last season. Doesn't help that Gomes hasn't been in convincing form this year, either.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
A bit of a crazy match it sounds, but you snatch an away draw.
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You have to remember of course that for insignificant non-entities like us playing true giants of the game like Leeds United is akin to a cup final, and this inspired the superhuman effort required to (no doubt) cheat them out of their richly deserved victory.

It's the only plausable explanation.
 
(To be sung to the tune of The Bangle's famous song)

Bought by an Egyptian.

New owners Assem and Ehab Allam have released a statement, so it's all official and that...

We are delighted to have reached agreement with Russell Bartlett to take a controlling stake in Hull City.

More details of the agreement will be made public in due course. For the time being, it is important to stress to everyone, especially the supporters of Hull City, that we see our role as bringing financial stability to the club to help clear the outstanding debts and to enable it to survive and flourish.

Our strengths are in business expertise and financial management. We will leave the football decisions to those who know best.

The arrangements mean we will take over the club’s debts and we have set aside funds for working capital and to secure new players in the January transfer window.

The financial stability of the club and its long-term success is of paramount importance to us both.

Hmm. We'll see what happens...
 
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Any thoughts on the derby then? The best result would be for them to cancel each other out, Chelsea to lose and Arse to win :D

but thats highly unlikely
 
Silencio said:
King, Dawson and Woodgate are all perma-crocks. Such a shame because all three are quality defenders. Hard to work around those kinds of injury woes, see also United's back line most of last season. Doesn't help that Gomes hasn't been in convincing form this year, either.
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I can't believe King is still playing, but one has to think his days are numbered - he's not getting any younger and has been exposed a few times this season. He's just one Lee Cattermole tackle away from retirement.

As for Gomes, he's got talent but he's as error-prone as Jens Lehman, though not as mad.

Jaffa Cake said:
You have to remember of course that for insignificant non-entities like us playing true giants of the game like Leeds United is akin to a cup final, and this inspired the superhuman effort required to (no doubt) cheat them out of their richly deserved victory.

It's the only plausable explanation.
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:D A point is a point. If Leeds complain, someone ought to tell them which goal they are supposed to be shooting at next time...

Good luck with the new owners...

daneoni said:
Any thoughts on the derby then? The best result would be for them to cancel each other out, Chelsea to lose and Arse to win :D

but thats highly unlikely
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I agree with your preferred scenario. I suspect it will be business as usual though - Man City will lose a tight match with United, sparking more verbal effluent from Ferguson's mouth. Chelsea will grind out an uninspiring victory to maintain their small gap at the top, and Arsenal will play well, control the game - but lose to a simple longball goal.
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
I agree with your preferred scenario. I suspect it will be business as usual though - Man City will lose a tight match with United, sparking more verbal effluent from Ferguson's mouth. Chelsea will grind out an uninspiring victory to maintain their small gap at the top, and Arsenal will play well, control then game - but lose to a simple longball goal.
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Typical boring outcome but likely true
 
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Well, Chelsea ground out their victory as I expected, but what's this? Arsenal won convincingly.

Liverpool performed about as I expected given our squad. I think we are a top 10 side at the moment, but no better than that. If Roy gets the team organized and Torres stays fit and in-form, we just might make it to 5th or 4th, especially if Spurs and Man City continue to flake out in the league...

...which brings me on to the Manchester Derby. What a snore-fest. Mancini's conservative tactics look foolish against a poor United side that was just asking for a hiding. But Man City are still thinking too small...some pundits are already calling this a good result for United, but I think it's a bad result for both teams. Man City are again failing to live up to their billing, and United dropped points against a team they generally expect to beat. City are not challenging for the title, so Man U have more to lose.

Jaffa Cake said:
Allam (Snr) was interviewed on the radio earlier, sounds nice enough but we will see. It sounds as if they'll be leaving the football side of things to Pearson (Adam) which is a positive so far as I'm concerned.
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Financial stability is a good thing...as is non-interference in football matters by the owners. Do they intend to keep Pearson around or is he now managing for his job every week?
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
Financial stability is a good thing...as is non-interference in football matters by the owners. Do they intend to keep Pearson around or is he now managing for his job every week?
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Allam Snr has indicated that there are no immediate plans to change mangers – of course, that can change very quickly in football though.

On that matter, in last weekend's programme notes Pearson (Adam) said of Pearson's (Nigel) position...

The club must now come together, remove all negativity and look truly forward. Nigel is building a new team from the squad we have, the finances dictate that, but we have good honest players with good ability and Nigel with time will mould them into his team...

It takes time, probably up to two years to sort a club out from serious financial difficulty but you obviously have to win matches whilst you are doing it. Derby County was the same. It was wracked with financial problems and a large disfunctional squad. The Board have been very patient and Nigel Clough has built them a good, young, low cost team to challenge as a reward for that patience from the Board and Club. We will do the same here, it is the only way we can recover from the 2008/09 spending spree.

We need the wage bill, squad size, debt and squad age reducing all at the same time. It's not easy and Nigel Pearson has taken the task on with his usual zeal and honesty. We need to stick together and show some strength of character whilst he achieves his task.

So, so far as Pearson (Adam) is concerned it doesn't look like there are any plans to remove Pearson (Nigel) in the immediate future.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
...which brings me on to the Manchester Derby. What a snore-fest. Mancini's conservative tactics look foolish against a poor United side that was just asking for a hiding. But Man City are still thinking too small...some pundits are already calling this a good result for United, but I think it's a bad result for both teams. Man City are again failing to live up to their billing, and United dropped points against a team they generally expect to beat. City are not challenging for the title, so Man U have more to lose.
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Amazingly, a lot of those pundits were saying this was United's best performance of the season, despite coming out with a 0-0 draw. United did pretty well considering all the illnesses and injuries they had to cope with, plus having to sub out both their fullbacks during the course of the match due to injury. Think they missed Valencia today, even moreso than Rooney. Nani's still not fit and he didn't look so hot today.

When your squad has 638 defensive midfielders like City does, of course you're going to play with some seriously negative tactics. As long as their squad is so unbalanced I'm not really seriously worried about them finishing top 4 any time soon.
 
Silencio said:
When your squad has 638 defensive midfielders like City does, of course you're going to play with some seriously negative tactics. As long as their squad is so unbalanced I'm not really seriously worried about them finishing top 4 any time soon.
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I think they could be one summer away from winning the league, if a better manager was brought in and the squad balanced (which could be accomplished largely by simply selling exisiting players rather than buying new ones).

Jaffa Cake said:
So, so far as Pearson (Adam) is concerned it doesn't look like there are any plans to remove Pearson (Nigel) in the immediate future.
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I wonder if they refer to each other by their surnames. :D
 
Wish i hadn't bothered with the derby to be honest. Pointless waste of time. I honestly thought Arsenal would drop points but apparently Fabianski won us the match. Good result though. Chamakh has turned out to be a pretty good signing for us.

At the end of it all it was a good day for Chelsea
 
daneoni said:
At the end of it all it was a good day for Chelsea
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It was, though I'm sure they are disappointed United snatched a point.

The table is very tight. 5 points separate 5th and 17th. Arsenal are looking good, just one point behind United and a slightly better goal difference.

The race for 4th is interesting because neither Man City nor Spurs are making convincing arguments (as yet) to be a top four side. Anyone in the top 10 could finish 4th at the rate things are going. It's also not inconceivable that one of Arsenal, Chelsea or United could drop to fifth. Unlikely, but not impossible given the relative weakness of the league as a whole this season.
 
Best match from Villa so far this year. Good to see our lads putting some effort into it. Warnock and Collins were oafs out there today, but at least Collins redeemed himself. I've love to see Charlie Adam at Villa Park. He just seems to create chaos for the opposing side. Up the Villa!
 
Lord Blackadder said:
It was, though I'm sure they are disappointed United snatched a point.

The table is very tight. 5 points separate 5th and 17th. Arsenal are looking good, just one point behind United and a slightly better goal difference.

The race for 4th is interesting because neither Man City nor Spurs are making convincing arguments (as yet) to be a top four side. Anyone in the top 10 could finish 4th at the rate things are going. It's also not inconceivable that one of Arsenal, Chelsea or United could drop to fifth. Unlikely, but not impossible given the relative weakness of the league as a whole this season.
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City proved today that they're NOT a team but just a group of individuals who have no bite without their talisman. No one could find each other and everyone was looking to tevez to produce some magic. Non of their midfielders can score. Make pointless runs into the final 3rd and run out of ideas.

United are still mostly a weakened side only managing to grind out results and the absence of Rooney physically and in terms of form only goes to further highlight this. Chelsea have taken their foot of the pedal and are now being cautious after losing/drawing recent matches. Arsenal remain classic 50/50 Arsenal and Tottenham remain classic Tottenham

I have this weird feeling Liverpool will sneak in and reclaim 4th spo but its a big ask.

Its a weaker league this year but consequently it's also one to watch out for.
 
Our win wasn't that convincing to be honest, but still very good, Molineux is a tough place to go, and Wolves have been playing well (ask United and City). Was particularly pleased with the fight the players showed last night. Biggest gripe of the night is Fabregas puts in a hard tackle, which was mistimed, but in my opinion not a red card - one footed, unintentional, and hopefully not harmful. He apologised which is good, and went to see the player afterwards to see how he was. I don't really want to debate about Fabregas' tackle, my annoyance is with Match of the Day, and especially Alan Hansen - who tries to argue that Essien's two footed lunge is only a yellow, yet Fabregas' is a straight red... and more frustratingly, miss out the worse tackle of the night by Karl Henry. If they're going to make such a show about Fabregas', then please please show the other side of the story Hansen, does Anfield 89 still sting? So for those who may have "missed" it on Match of the Day :rolleyes: ....

The tackle that never was....

Other than that, nice trip to Wolverhampton!
 
Lee Cattermole and Nigel de Jong are expected to snap players' legs in half. Fabregas is not...so we have a double standard of sorts. Because Wenger is such an outspoken critic about dangerous tackles, the media will examine any percieved physical play by Arsenal under a microsope and cry hypocrisy.

It isn't fair, but then again who ever said the pundits were remotely fair? They stereotype every team. Arsenal are supposed to be tippy-tappy, cute-n-cuddly, pass-it-into the net teenagers who are too sophisticated to hack down an opponent or even make a strong but fair tackle. Building up such a strawman is an effective device for TV pundits who can then make pantomime shocked faces when they show an Arsenal player getting stuck in.
 
There's often debate about intent in challenges, about where the line lies between a physical but fair tackle and a dangerous one, and whether certain players deserve the reputation they have – perhaps relating to a single incident in a long and otherwise trouble-free career

However, I think there's one thing that we can all agree on, and that is that pundits talk bollocks.

All of them.

As you were.
 
All three deserved to go, Henry and Fabregas got lucky.

It's not just pundits spouting BS, all managers have a knack for it. Then there is the Premier League and the hard time they have understanding 'squad'.
 
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oscillatewildly said:
All three deserved to go, Henry and Fabregas got lucky.

It's not just pundits spouting BS, all managers have a knack for it. Then there is the Premier League and the hard time they have understanding 'squad'.
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And all the useless owners. Not to mention the FA and UEFA, who are totally ineffective, and FIFA which is corrupt. Come to think about it, everything associated with football is crap.

And yet somehow I keep watching it. :D
 
Lord Blackadder said:
Lee Cattermole and Nigel de Jong are expected to snap players' legs in half. Fabregas is not...so we have a double standard of sorts. Because Wenger is such an outspoken critic about dangerous tackles, the media will examine any percieved physical play by Arsenal under a microsope and cry hypocrisy.

It isn't fair, but then again who ever said the pundits were remotely fair? They stereotype every team. Arsenal are supposed to be tippy-tappy, cute-n-cuddly, pass-it-into the net teenagers who are too sophisticated to hack down an opponent or even make a strong but fair tackle. Building up such a strawman is an effective device for TV pundits who can then make pantomime shocked faces when they show an Arsenal player getting stuck in.
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Fair point.. I don't know what I expected really, just wanted to rant!

Jaffa Cake said:
There's often debate about intent in challenges, about where the line lies between a physical but fair tackle and a dangerous one, and whether certain players deserve the reputation they have – perhaps relating to a single incident in a long and otherwise trouble-free career

However, I think there's one thing that we can all agree on, and that is that pundits talk bollocks.

All of them.

As you were.
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Again, yes - everyone knows Hansen talks a lot of ****.. so really that was my only point :eek:

oscillatewildly said:
All three deserved to go, Henry and Fabregas got lucky.

It's not just pundits spouting BS, all managers have a knack for it. Then there is the Premier League and the hard time they have understanding 'squad'.
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I would prefer it if all 3 went to be honest - and that kind of tackle eradicated from the game. Wolves fans wanting blood singing "you dirty spanish bastard" at that Fabregas tackle, completely ignoring one of the games worst serial offenders - their captain, Henry. There was even violence outside as a result of their anger at the Fabregas tackle - scummy people. The ridiculous thing is after that Henry challenge, the ref didn't even stop play! He didn't wave advantage either - he simply didn't acknowledge it. When Arsh stayed down, the ref stopped the game briefly (of course to a chorus of abuse) and then asked us to give the ball back to Wolves sportingly. Sportingly my arse(nal).
 
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