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The 2013-2014 Football Thread

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Well we shall find out just how stronger (if at all) they are this Sunday when the play the Gunners. I still think they're noticeably weaker without Bale.
 
Kariya said:
Well we shall find out just how stronger (if at all) they are this Sunday when the play the Gunners. I still think they're noticeably weaker without Bale.
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Losing one of the great players will always have an impact, but I don't think this team is the same one from last year. There's so many new faces and their style is much different already. My biggest worry this weekend is not a lack of Bale, but a lack of time for the team to gel and have their roles defined. Only time and experience will provide this. Until then, the raw talent of these players will have to carry them. So far so good.
 
twietee said:
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edit: if you really want to free Shinji: #freeshinji
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I thought you were joking! But :cool:. Made up but wishful, #sellusGündoğanonthecheap

Lord Blackadder - neither of us is confident then, and the League Cup draw :D.

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Looking good for Spurs if they get the defenders they've moved on to and click - Lamela is exciting and also interested to see how Eriksen fares. Where is Sigurdsson off to? Real Madrid should pull out at the last minute.

Cheers,
OW
 
oscillatewildly said:
I thought you were joking! But :cool:. Made up but wishful, #sellusGündoğanonthecheap

Lord Blackadder - neither of us is confident then, and the League Cup draw :D.

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Looking good for Spurs if they get the defenders they've moved on to and click - Lamela is exciting and also interested to see how Eriksen fares. Where is Sigurdsson off to? Real Madrid should pull out at the last minute.

Cheers,
OW
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I very rarely joke! I'm German, you know! :D

Exciting signings from Spurs so far, no end in sight, will be crucial how fast they can adapt and work as a team, though. Liverpool looks mediocre compared. But Suarez still one of the best - selling would mean ~3 class signings which could improve overall quality significantly. I'd like to see him staying, though. How do you guys see Gerrard btw, I reckon he's still very high quality but showing his age (?); is Allen a long term replacement already? Guess not.

Kagawa linked to Atletico Madrid on loan. Prolly the best for him. Would have loved him in Dortmund, but he seriously would have to fight for a place in the starting XI, so not sure if it would be much different to his current situation (only for the short term of course).
 
Celtic are still in the Champions League. Will the meaninglessness of their league play dull their edge in Europe?

Tilpots said:
Losing one of the great players will always have an impact, but I don't think this team is the same one from last year. There's so many new faces and their style is much different already. My biggest worry this weekend is not a lack of Bale, but a lack of time for the team to gel and have their roles defined. Only time and experience will provide this. Until then, the raw talent of these players will have to carry them. So far so good.
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I agree - talent is not Spurs' problem so much as creating a working team out of all the new faces.
 
Just had to go and draw :rolleyes: last year's finalists. Oh joy...

Chelsea get the best draw followed by United. Both will walk it (especially the former). City again facing a tricky group but should at the very worst get second place. Celtic enter THE group of death.

I'd say Celtic and Arsenal face the uphill battle.

Group A: Manchester United, Shakhtar Donetsk, Bayer Leverkusen, Real Sociedad

Group B: Real Madrid, Juventus, Galatasaray, Copenhagen

Group C: Benfica, Paris St-Germain, Olympiakos, Anderlecht

Group D: Bayern Munich, CSKA Moscow, Manchester City, Viktoria Plzen

Group E: Chelsea, Schalke, Basel, Steaua Bucharest

Group F: Arsenal, Marseille, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli

Group G: Porto, Atletico Madrid, Zenit St Petersburg, Austria Vienna

Group H: Barcelona, AC Milan, Ajax, Celtic
 
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Shakhtar Donetsk - a breeze for Chelsea last season? Manchester United and teams from Spain? Bayer Leverkusen third in Germany?

Celtic should be okay; the other three teams aren't what they used to be.

Cheers,
OW
 
Ugh, Ribery player of the year; I have to live with the decision but will never like him.

And I won't by his shirt either, you hear me Blatter!?!
 
Man City actually got a reasonably favorable draw - but they won't top the group. Finishing second is very doable, however. United got an average group, easier than City's but not the weakest.

I can't see Celtic getting out of their group, no matter how badly the rest of the teams play. But I've been wrong many times before. Arsenal are definitely up against it, though I think they are good enough to pull through with a bit of luck.

Chelsea is a Mourinho team so that's an automatic guarantee that they'll make the group stage one way or another. Their group is relatively weak anyway.
 
well a rather unattractive group for Austria Vienna... underrated teams who don't attract many views but at least some points might be possible

PSG handed a joke of a group (financially they are so far ahead compared to the other teams it's not even funny)

Chelsea group isn't that hard especially if they get the schalke game early on ... S04 is absolute rubbish currently with Keller being on the verge of being sacked

Arsenal: group of death IMHO, points out the silly coefficiant Uefa ranking: Arsenal in Pool 1 and Dortmund in Pool _3_

Manchester: could be rather dangerous group for them, shaktar is always top notch, and Leverkusen is currently playing strong in the league, Real Socidad is very likely the Malaga of this season

Manchester city: obvious bad karma , 2011 they drew bayern and napoli, 2012 PSG and dortmund, and now Bayern again ? CSKA is the strongest russian squad so those games will be hard for everybody


Ribery getting best player was deserved: Bayern won the triple and he has been their best player for years now, every time he is off they lose that special "something"
Messi yet again would have felt rather silly considering Bayern winning everything (including punishing Barca 7:0 in total)
 
Real will be down to 9 after Ronaldo and Bale are sent off for fighting over the first free kick within 30 yards - baseball caps at 10 paces.

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Obviously my comment re Celtic is tongue in cheek, but at the least the home ties will be great occasions; and football is a funny old game. :eek:
 
Jose vs Pep on Friday in the Super Cup. Maybe that will actually confer a little spice on the match. Or maybe it will be a dull 0-0 like the Man Utd game and will need penalties to decide it.

Jaffa Cake said:
Given Arsenal's pursuit of the lesser Higuain brother this summer, it's almost certain that he'll bang in a couple of goals when the Gunners meet Napoli in the Champions League.
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After that nasty fall in the sea, Gonzalo is now the uglier brother as well. Poor Arsenal, they've been linked with so may players that every game they play seems to include one of their transfer targets. Plus Poldi is out for 10 weeks now. Now's the time for a surprise 35 million bid for Roooooonay. ;) I daresay that Man Utd. would be more disposed to sell to Arsenal than Chelsea.
 
European Football in the morning.:eek:

Because of a small fire in the stadium, the last 32 minutes of the match between; AZ and Atromitos will be played this morning at 11.00 CET.

I cannot remember this happening before.:confused:

Now that Christian Eriksen has left Ajax for Tottenham Hotspurs, it seems that Toby Alderweireld is the next on the list of some major clubs including Atletico Madrid.

I do think that Christian Eriksen is going have a difficult time in EPL, he is a player who likes to take is time with the ball.
 
Seems like one of my favorite players, Kevin Prince Boateng, is going to Schalke. Ugh, first that Ribery thingy yesterday and now that...don't like it. Would be even better off with Hertha!
(Should go back to Dortmund if he insists on playing dat overrated CL)



< changed my 'tar already. :|
 
It looks like Kolo Toure may be fit to play on Sunday for Liverpool after all, scans revealed less damage than first thought. I'm still far from confident about the match but I'm happy that Toure is not going to be out for weeks.

Jurgen Klinsmann announced the USA's 23-man squad for next Friday's World Cup qualifier against Casta Rica. No surprises really, Donovan is back in the squad (certainly as a starter) and Clint Dempsey will be earning his 100th cap. With 35 goals for USA, Deuce has put up a respectable (and Dean Windass Hall of Fame-eligible) 1 in 3 strike ratio.
 
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Ramires gets yet another Red Card in a big game. Javi Martinez a better holding player.

EDIT: Pep>Mou. Failure at the edge of success.

EDIT2: Rooney will again predictably/boringly remain at United.
 
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Chelsea played well with ten men, but unlike Jaffa's boys they weren't good enough to win it. Torres scored though.

I've got Lukaku in my fantasy squad...after that missed pen I think he might go into a funk. Off to look for replacements...
 
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