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The 2013-2014 Football Thread

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takao said:
he can't quite turn in a small spot which very likely was the case for Bayern not triggering their buy back clause
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He's not good enough for Bayern midfield anytime soon. Even Höljberg (?) surpassed him as a young talent - being two years younger too that is. But Bayern not pulling the clause to sell him directly to Liverpool for more profit has most likely to do with signing Leverkusen's highly acclaimed manager Reschke - so some sort of side deal.
 
takao said:
i think Emre Can can be a good fit for liverpool if can adopt to the english play. He is excellent in a number 8, energetic,box-to-box position in the midfield, but is also competent in other positions and great as a backup for nearly all positions on the left part of the field as well.
For his age(20) he is quite calm

...

edit: Also in the press there were even some rumours about Müller being unhappy about his position in the Bayern squad
which sure delighted van Gaal, making a transfer not so impossible anymore ;)
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Can; probably not in defence if the Manchester United games are anything to go by.

Muller; another player using Manchester United?

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twietee,

Away from football, how is the new Mario Kart?

Cheers,
OW
 
Ribery joins the WC injury list and has been bounced from the French WC squad. Probably won't feature in another WC again since he'll be 35 in the next one.
 
Kariya said:
Ribery joins the WC injury list and has been bounced from the French WC squad. Probably won't feature in another WC again since he'll be 35 in the next one.
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and the pre world cup injury frenzy continues: Germany played a friendly versus Armenia and voilá: Reus had to be carried of the field with a stretcher with a possible ankle injury

luckily it's only 10 days until their first game: i recommend moving all players around in wheelchairs off the pitch from now on
 
takao said:
and the pre world cup injury frenzy continues: Germany played a friendly versus Armenia and voilá: Reus had to be carried of the field with a stretcher with a possible ankle injury



luckily it's only 10 days until their first game: i recommend moving all players around in wheelchairs off the pitch from now on
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Unbelievable how many players are getting injured in only a week.. I think that when they start playing a soccer game with the feeling like 'Oh I have to be careful not getting injured now' raises the chances of actually getting injured. Something psychological maybe?
 
takao said:
and the pre world cup injury frenzy continues: Germany played a friendly versus Armenia and voilá: Reus had to be carried of the field with a stretcher with a possible ankle injury

luckily it's only 10 days until their first game: i recommend moving all players around in wheelchairs off the pitch from now on
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not to worry as the USA is going to win that group anyway, the best you can possibly hope for is 2nd. get well though.

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Kariya said:
Ribery joins the WC injury list and has been bounced from the French WC squad. Probably won't feature in another WC again since he'll be 35 in the next one.
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now maybe he will have time for some cosmetic surgery…?
 
Hehe.

Kariya said:
...and Marco Reus joins the party.
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Mustafi replaces him (which is a defense player for a midfielder).

Unbelievable how many players are getting injured in only a week.. I think that when they start playing a soccer game with the feeling like 'Oh I have to be careful not getting injured now' raises the chances of actually getting injured. Something psychological maybe?
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I wonder, if it is not just the fact, that football has become so demanding, that many will push themselves for the line, to not be sorted out. One would think you could avoid some stuff, by doing enough bending and such, but how much is a body gonna take?
 
twietee - Kart - thanks, good to hear.

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Falcao, Ribery, Reus, and how long will Aguero, Costa, and Suarez last? Succeed or fail, you want to see them at the World Cup. :(

iMacBooked and Cox Orange - injury,

Hand someone a tray and say don't drop it, or start thinking about your driving - gears etc., F1 drivers backing off too much... Guess the body is pretty shot near the end of the season, then pushing it for titles, relegation battles, World Cup selection, and maybe add painkilling injections coming home to roost. Pitches and boots?

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The BBC put on the 1970 World Cup film this morning. Surrounding the referee is nothing new, photographers on the pitch before the final whistle, the Brazil players having their kit ripped off them by the invading fans, but the highlight was the Brazil trainer waiting to come on with his bucket and magic sponge.

Cheers,
OW
 
Kariya said:
So Liverpool have upped their Lallana offer to £25m apparently, but SOTON still holding for £30m. £25m is already too much anyway, has English player tax written all over it.

SOTON are probably trying to put LFC off, and are within their right, but still you wonder if they'll ever get that kind of money for him again. And what good will holding on to an unhappy player do for your dressing room.

Interesting that LFC also signed Lambert. I suppose he gives 'Pool something different up front but the man is 32. Has one season left in him at best surely.
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Full disclosure: Saints fan.

I think the main reason the bid has been rejected is that nearly half of the offer is in the form of add-ons (15m + 10m add-ons), you take the 25% we have to give to Bournemouth and you're looking at just under 12m for a player that has had some of the best attacking midfielder stats in the Premier League this season.

I'm not saying £30m is the 'right price' for Lallana, and LFC could certainly get cheaper elsewhere, but he's now 'Premiership proven' and, coupled with him being homegrown, it comes at a price.

All that said, the way he has conducted himself over the past few weeks, from the end of season badge kissing and patting, to getting his agent leaking to the media that he really wants to leave, I'm not overly fussed if he stays or goes, as long as our owner and chairman are actually committed to replacing him.
 
Why did I stay up to watch that :eek:

Oh well, the electrical storm provided some excitement and Ross Barkley looked very neat and tidy. Personally, I'd go for Henderson and Gerrard, then Lallana - Barkley - Rooney and Sturridge up front.

Only 6 and a bit days to go now until Italy!
 
USA 2-1 Nigeria.

Another good win marred by a late penalty concession to finish up USA's warm-up matches. Our defense is still shakier than I'd like, but was better today. DaMarcus Beasley has reinvented himself as a creditable left back. Jozy Altidore scored a brace in this one. The English media are really down on him but the fact is that he was still quite young when he was thrown into a relegation battle at Hull, and Sunderland are just crap. The service he gets with the USA (or got at AZ in the Netherlands for that matter) is miles better than what he was getting at Sunderland. I'm cautiously optimistic that he'll at least look better at the WC than he did in the Prem last season.

P.S. Columbus played two games this week and drew both, against tough opposition (DC United and Salt Lake). The highlight of the week was Columbus' Steve Clark saving a late panenka penalty at DC to preserve the draw.

cambookpro said:
Why did I stay up to watch that :eek:
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As a USA fan I'm not surprised, since we play Honduras fairly regularly. Honduras are a really tough, physical team with a couple technical players mixed in and they are very hard to break down. They will kick you all over the pitch, and not shy away from a spot of gamesmanship either.
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
As a USA fan I'm not surprised, since we play Honduras fairly regularly. Honduras are a really tough, physical team with a couple technical players mixed in and they are very hard to break down. They will kick you all over the pitch, and not shy away from a spot of gamesmanship either.
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I have to agree with your assessment from what I saw yesterday. They seemed fairly well drilled, in a solid 4-4-2 set up to break the game down and stifle any attack.

They were a bit dirty at times though. Especially when Izaguirre fouled Sturridge then proceeded to volley the ball at him from about 15cm away!

 
cambookpro said:
Why did I stay up to watch that :eek:

Oh well, the electrical storm provided some excitement and Ross Barkley looked very neat and tidy. Personally, I'd go for Henderson and Gerrard, then Lallana - Barkley - Rooney and Sturridge up front.

Only 6 and a bit days to go now until Italy!
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Wouldn't start Sturridge with Rooney; the former beginning on the bench and the latter up top - told not to come back on pain of being substituted and dropped. Welbeck in for the Liverpool player. With Johnson, do you play 5 at the back; him and Baines more attacking? But then the strength/quality of England's midfielders? Also Lallana, Barkley, and Wilshere gave the ball away in dangerous positions. One thing is safe to say, England won't win the World Cup.

Cheers,
OW
 
oscillatewildly said:
Them's fighting words, I'd make a bet if it wasn't going to outlive us.
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Heh.

On paper and recent form this is the most uninspiring England squad since the days of Carlton Palmer. I'm not saying magic can't happen, and that it won't suddenly gel into a 'sum greater than its parts' fashion, but I think Woy's Dweam would be losing with dignity in the quarter finals.
 
The high-profile XI that will miss the WC

world-cup-injured-xi.jpg
 
Yup. Benched...for now.

That defence would be ripped apart. But maybe the keeper would at least help them a little.
 
oscillatewildly said:
Lord Blackadder,

Them's fighting words, I'd make a bet if it wasn't going to outlive us.
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mojolicious said:
Heh.

On paper and recent form this is the most uninspiring England squad since the days of Carlton Palmer. I'm not saying magic can't happen, and that it won't suddenly gel into a 'sum greater than its parts' fashion, but I think Woy's Dweam would be losing with dignity in the quarter finals.
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I think most English fans dream of losing in the quarterfinals. ;)

England have a fairly youthful with some promising attacking players - managed by a rather risk-averse manager who will probably play it safe, thus wasting the chance for either glory or glorious failure.

Rooney has a poor record in tournaments and can pull a team out of shape with his wandering. I'd start Sterling instead and tell the boy to run at defenses every chance he gets. With that being said, I don't think Roy will drop Rooney. Given his age, this WC may be a defining moment for Wayne, at least in an England shirt.
 
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