The 2011-2012 Football Thread

[Lord Blackadder]

USA 1-1 Mexico

Who pops up to score USA's equalizer with his first touch of the ball? Why, it's only Columbus midfielder Robbie Rogers!

Good match in many ways as we got to see Klinsmann experiment with new players as well as old players in new positions. Some experiments worked better than others but his choice of subs (the MLS-based trio of Juan Agudelo, Brek Shea and Robbie Rogers) looked good as all three combined on USA's goal, with Shea doing most of the hard work and serving up a tap-in for Rogers.

Both teams looked a bit toothless in the first half, with Mexico bossing possession but not really finishing their buildup with dangerous attacks. Their goal was a bit of a fluke too, poked in after a speculative cross. USA looked much more dangerous in the second half. We were also denied on two flagrant penalty shouts, with Donovan tripped in the box and Rogers hacked down on a breakaway by the last defender.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Saturday's Premier League match between Spurs and Everton is off, due to the riots. The line from the Premier League is that it's confident the nine other top flight fixtures will go ahead as planned.

 

[Fuzzy14]

His strike rate for Rangers (according to Wikipedia) is better than 1 in 2....sounds pretty darn good, but then you sold him for half what you paid.

Correct, he is routinely voted the biggest flop Rangers bought but his statistics tell a different story. I think part of it is he should have scored more due to the opposition he was up against, he is also seen as a bit of a figurehead for the excesses of when the Old Firm tried to match Premier League wages with the hope that a lengthy run in Europe would cover the costs.... that didn't work. In the end Celtic refused to pay and Rangers nearly went bankrupt before they wised up. Indeed just today the newspapers are running stories saying the tax man has arrived at Ibrox to remove fixtures and fittings, meanwhile Rangers are saying it was a planned meeting, it's getting resolved and it's none of our business.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Saturday's Premier League match between Spurs and Everton is off, due to the riots. The line from the Premier League is that it's confident the nine other top flight fixtures will go ahead as planned.

Well, on the bright side, that means Timmy Howard will have extra rest after going 90 minutes yesterday against Mexico...

Correct, he is routinely voted the biggest flop Rangers bought but his statistics tell a different story.

I guess when you look at his transfer fee compared with the SPL as a whole, it was huge money. The failure of the SPL to find the success in Europe that they gambled on has had a pretty negative affect on finances.

Bringing a top-level player into a second-tier league usually means paying more than they are strictly worth. So they usually end up being accused of being poor value for money, even if they perform reasonably well.

 

[swiftaw]

Freddy Adu has come back to MLS, joining Philadelphia from Benfica.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Freddy Adu has come back to MLS, joining Philadelphia from Benfica.

A good move for him as he will finally get stable employment and minutes - but will it prejudice European clubs against bringing him over again?

 

[swiftaw]

Interesting breakdown of the nationalities in the EPL:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...gue-which-countries-are-the-players-from.html

 

[aloofman]

A good move for him as he will finally get stable employment and minutes - but will it prejudice European clubs against bringing him over again?

I think he should worry more about playing well enough for European clubs to consider it first.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

^Agreed. What Adu needs more than anything is playing time in competitive club matches. That is the only ticket back to the national team and European club football.

Interesting breakdown of the nationalities in the EPL:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...gue-which-countries-are-the-players-from.html

They are still counting Boaz Myhill and Brede Hangeland as American. I'd take Hangeland in an instant actually, he's a great center back.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

They are still counting Boaz Myhill and Brede Hangeland as American.

One of my favourite Match of The Day moments from our Premier League run was – after a great performance from Bo – the post-match interviewer breathlessly asking him if he was hoping to catch the eye of Fabio Capello and earn an Engand call-up. Our custodian smiled and said he was quite content representing Wales, as he had done for a number of years.

A little bit of research doesn't go amiss.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Indeed. Bale for England!

With Timmy Howard between the sticks for the USA, I'm content to let Myhill represent Wales, though Wayne Hennessy seems to be a lock for the starting position there.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Of course, Bo may have been born in California but he never followed a Californian club as a boy – unlike Robbie Keane, of course. I mention this because Sky Sports are currently reporting that the lifelong LA Galaxy fan is on the verge of signing for his heroes.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

He looked good in his first spell at Spurs, and that wasn't all that long ago. He should be a good player in MLS. Galaxy are pretty stacked with big-name players these days and are currently running away with the league.

Having him come back to the club he supported as a boy must be a special treat for the Irishman.

EDIT: The "deal" rumored to be worth £5.5 million, but I'm not sure how that breaks down. I can't believe that the transfer fee was anywhere near what Spurs paid Liverpool for him.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Bump - I just thought it worth mentioning that the start of the 2011-2012 European football season has been inauspicious on and off the pitch. To sum up:

• Serie A - Yet another biggish match fixing scandal
• La Liga - On strike
• Ligue 1 - Galactiques fall flat in first match
• Bundesliga - Controversial new Bayern keeper has howler
• Premier League - threatened by riots, 1 match cancelled

The status of the St. Pauli sausage train is unknown at this time.

Let's hope for some good matches tomorrow to up the mood!

 

[Silencio]

Bump - I just thought it worth mentioning that the start of the 2011-2012 European football season has been inauspicious on and off the pitch. To sum up:

• Serie A - Yet another biggish match fixing scandal
• La Liga - On strike
• Ligue 1 - Galactiques fall flat in first match
• Bundesliga - Controversial new Bayern keeper has howler
• Premier League - threatened by riots, 1 match cancelled

The status of the St. Pauli sausage train is unknown at this time.

Let's hope for some good matches tomorrow to up the mood!

Yes, please. Wish I had time to watch some of them this weekend, but looks like I'll be pretty busy the entire time.

Anyone got predictions?

Premier League: Man United
La Liga: Barcelona
Serie A: Milan
Bundesliga: Bayern Munich
Ligue 1: Marseille

FA Cup winner: Liverpool
UCL winner: Man United, but only because someone else does the dirty work of knocking out Barcelona.

 

[swiftaw]

Yes, please. Wish I had time to watch some of them this weekend, but looks like I'll be pretty busy the entire time.

Anyone got predictions?

Premier League: Man United
La Liga: Barcelona
Serie A: Milan
Bundesliga: Bayern Munich
Ligue 1: Marseille

FA Cup winner: Liverpool
UCL winner: Man United, but only because someone else does the dirty work of knocking out Barcelona.

I'll play

Premier League: Man U (although I hope not)
La Liga: Barca
Serie A: Inter
Bundesliga: Bayern
Ligue 1: PSG
FA Cup: Arsenal
Champions League: Barca

Relegated from Premier League: Swansea, Blackburn, Norwich

 

[swiftaw]

Good day for Jaffa, Hull grab a late winner away to Ipswich and his 'favorite' premier league club get mauled at home by Bolton.

As for myself, I thought Wigan should have won today, they were the better team against Norwich. On the plus side, Victor Moses looked great, although that'll probably mean he'll be sold.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Good day for Jaffa, Hull grab a late winner away to Ipswich and his 'favorite' premier league club get mauled at home by Bolton.

It gets better – Leeds lost, and in the process had two key players sent off. We play them on Tuesday night, so messrs. Gradel and Howson won't be featuring against us.

As for QPR and Colin, I wish nothing but comedy misfortune on them.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Premier League: Man U (although I hope not too)
La Liga: Barca
Serie A: Milan
Bundesliga: Bayer Leverkusen
Ligue 1: Marseilles (always hard to predict Ligue Unh)
FA Cup: Liverpool (no European distractions for the 'Pool this season)
Champions League: Barca

Liverpool drop two points against Sunderland, the missed penalty made all the difference. Still, we didn't play badly. Both teams bought a lot of players this summer, I don't think either was fully settled in.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

As anyone who has ever sampled the English sporting media will know, the Premier League is The Greatest League In The World™. We know this is true, because Mark Lawrenson and Paul Merson tell us so.

Unless something spectacular happens in the Newcastle-Arsenal match currently being played, we'll end the opening day of the new Premier League season with Bolton Wanderers enjoying top spot thanks to a very comfortable goal difference. Therefore, as the Premier League is The Greatest League In The World™ this means that Bolton Wanderers are currently The Greatest Team In The World™.

Big Sam's work here is done. His dream has come to fruition.



Muh-hahahahaha!

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Unless something spectacular happens in the Newcastle-Arsenal match...

Well, there is the Gervinho red card incident...

I watched the match. Gervinho went down a bit too easily in the area, and Barton pulled him up to tell him what he thought about it. At that point Gervinho and Barton got into a pushing match and became surrounded by players. Gervinho slapped Barton upside the head and Barton went down as if he'd been shot in the face. Gervinho is sent off and Barton cautioned.

I think Gervinho has to go because he strikes Barton = violent conduct. I guess the question is how to characterize Barton's actions. Is hauling Gervinho up off the ground unsportsmanlike or violent conduct?

Disappointing for Arsenal, but 0-0 is probably a fair result. Barton is a prick - but an entertaining one. One mitigating circumstance is that Barton had his leg stamped on pretty badly by someone (Song?). Still no excuse to get in Gervinho's face like that.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Barton went down like a sack of spuds and deserved his yellow card – and given that he was infuriated with Gervinho for diving his reaction was hypocritical to say the least. However, that being said if you slap someone on the face you can have little complaint if you see red for it, and the Ivorian deserved his sending off.

Post-match, Wenger said that Barton's punishment should have been equal to Gervinho's, and that if referees were able to punish retrospectively in such instances Barton would receive a red card. Be careful what you wish for, Arsene – Song should have been sent off for trampling Barton's calf earlier in the match. And – as he wasn't punished at the time – he still could be.

Incidentally, what's going on with Joey Barton's hair? He seems to be channelling Morrissey. Big mouth strikes again...

 

[Lord Blackadder]

I agree - I think the ref made the right call. Barton ends up looking like a hypocrite and a diver, but Gervinho lost his head and struck out. Barton played a bigger role in the fight, but Gervinho crossed the line into violent conduct.

Song definitely should have seen red for the stamp.

The Barton hair is not as good as lat year's Battle of Britain look with the 'tache.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

The Barton hair is not as good as lat year's Battle of Britain look with the 'tache.

He's certainly no charming man.

The daft thing is, I think Gervinho had a very solid case for a penalty – I wouldn't have had any complaints had one been given.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

The daft thing is, I think Gervinho had a very solid case for a penalty – I wouldn't have had any complaints had one been given.

The first time I saw it I thought "dive". But in the replay it appear he was tripped, though he still embellishes it. Could definitely have been a penalty.

Arsenal definitely got the short end of the stick in that incident, though Gervinho only has himself to blame for slapping Barton (though Barton could use a good slap, make no mistake).