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2010-2011 Football Thread
- Thread starter Lord Blackadder
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I see that the Guardian noted that young USA and Bolton midfielder Stuart Holden is their highest rated Premier League player (according to their fan-applied rating scale thingy). It's worth noting that he came straight to the Prem from MLS, so that's a good sign.
I was skeptical of Holden, at first, especially since I was a fan of Columbus midfielder (and rival for a USA spot) Robbie Rogers. But after watching both play, Holden seems to play smarter and is less likely to waste an opportunity, though Rogers is faster. It's good to see him establish himself so quickly at Bolton - faster even than Clint Dempsey took to settle in at Fulham.
Fizzoid said:
I think he'll get his wish, but not in the way he imagines. And as for nicknames, I still think Jose 'The Translator' Mourinho's is pretty good. Though it's hard to beat Colin W- ahem, Niel Warnock's, isn't it?
I've always been happy here, I don't know how all this speculation started...
Meanwhile, a fantastic defensive display in the Copa del Rey this evening from Athletic Bilbao, to end Barcelona's ten match winning streak. A six man midfield stifled Messi and Co – so that's how you do it. Imperious.
EDIT: Sky Sports News is currently reckoning that Rafa Benitez has been sacked by Inter.
Meanwhile, a fantastic defensive display in the Copa del Rey this evening from Athletic Bilbao, to end Barcelona's ten match winning streak. A six man midfield stifled Messi and Co – so that's how you do it. Imperious.
EDIT: Sky Sports News is currently reckoning that Rafa Benitez has been sacked by Inter.
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Moratti says he's staying "for now", but it's obvious that Benitez's tenure at the club is going to be pretty short.
'One Size' Fitz Hall also scores highly in the nickname stakes.
Meanwhile, onto a very important matter – footballers' choice of head wear. I was quite staggered to see Mario Balotelli tip up at Eastlands last night wearing this bizarre woollen creation...
Remarkable. Truly remarkable.
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Wonderful.
It's almost like Mario Balotelli was created, Frankenstein-style, by the media as the perfect tabloid material: highly promising talent, no self-control, talkative, execrable personality, totally unpredictable, somewhat violent...and with an ego equal to Zlatan, Bendtner and Maradona combined.
EDIT: looks like Sky was on the money Jaffa, as pretty much everyone is now reporting that Benitez is gone. The timing makes it obvious that Moratti made the decision earlier, but waited till after the World Club Cup.
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Or, to put it in simpler terms, he's a gobby litte twunt.
His choice of headwear reminded me of someone, and it's been bothering me all day – but it's just hit me...
He's clearly been taking style tips from Wallace and Gromit's flipper-footed foe Feathers McGraw.
Brilliant!
EDIT: LA Galaxy are not going to send Landon Donovan out on an off-season loan this year. I'd like to see him play in the Prem again, but he's been playing almost non-stop since the spring of 2008 - regular season with the Galaxy, loaned to Bayern Munich in November '08, back with the Galaxy to start the '09 season, off to Everton in January 2010, then back with the Galaxy in 2010 plus the World Cup, not to mention international friendlies and qualifiers. Yikes.
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His choice of headwear reminded me of someone, and it's been bothering me all day but it's just hit me...
He's clearly been taking style tips from Wallace and Gromit's flipper-footed foe Feathers McGraw.
And there was me thinking he'd found one of Peter Schmeichel's old gloves behind the radiator
I'm going to make few friends among fellow Liverpool supporters by saying this, but I think people need to stop eulogizing Benitez and move on. I thought he was a pretty good manager, he won a Champions League, that is great, but he's left and that is that. I don't want him to come back.
EDIT: Schteve McLaren's job is in danger, Volkswagen are sharpening the axe as Wolfsburg slump to a 3-1 defeat against Energie Cottbus.
EDIT: Schteve McLaren's job is in danger, Volkswagen are sharpening the axe as Wolfsburg slump to a 3-1 defeat against Energie Cottbus.
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One gets the impression that the top clubs (in terms of fanbase, payroll, media attention) are under pressure to hire a superstar manager, even if that's not the best choice. I think that it feels like the safe choice to them as well. If the Special One can't bring the hardware to Real Madrid, his bosses will be able to say, "What more could we have done? We brought in the world's most successful manager besides Ferguson!" But if they bring in someone competent but less-known, then the fans are in a position to blame the front office instead.
The two big flaws in this plan: 1) there aren't many superstar managers to come by, and they tend to be demanding; and 2) they don't always win for you the way they have in the past. Tough position to be in.
If it makes you feel better though, John Henry & Co. have been smart about such things in the past. He hired Terry Francona to run the Red Sox (and have always stuck with him) at a time when the fans wanted a bigger name like Piniella, Showalter, or Jim Leyland.
There is definitely an environment these days where fans and club ownership want to hire "impact managers", which is apparently defined as "managers that can turn around slumping clubs in an incredibly short space of time without spending any money."
Henry has earned a solid reputation for the way he's rebuilt the Red Sox, so he has my full support, with the expectation that we'll have to wait at least till the start of next season before we can hope for even the slightest improvements on the pitch, and probably a couple seasons before the team can be fully re-tooled. The stadium question will also take time to resolve.
With the club in need of stability, I think it would be foolish to sack Hodgson at least until the end of the season. He's a good manager, there's no guarantee we'll get a better one in the short-term. Liverpool fans need to resign themselves to the fact that we are not going to get a Mourinho-level manager in anyways.
i think his chances of making it through the winter are around 5-10%: Wolfsburg invested more than 40 mio in new players during the summer break while keeping the best players of last year and now they are 13. in the table and now already out in the cup against a lower tier team
but it could be worse: Stuttgart is already on their 3. coach already
I hear Phil Brown is being lined up to replace him...
I saw a battered hat flying towards a large ring...
takao said:
I suspect Wolfsburg will spend the winter break interviewing new managers.
EDIT: it continues to fascinate me that the English have almost zero interest in managing outside their own country. There are a few in MLS, but apart from McLaren's short Budesliga adventure, England's European coaching presence is nonexistent.
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Not Moyes. And not Ancelotti, because I have a feeling Chelsea are going to go on a run...
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