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The 2013-2014 Football Thread

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Fizzoid said:
Actually, the best start to your week was probably Dave Jones going. He can continue to blame the players all he wants, but they're the players he bought/brought in and its the team he picks that apparently show no commitment...
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spurs win! move up to 6th !
sons draw! move up to 6th !
 
One could say "It was only Norwich", but that would be truly unfair on both Norwich and Suarez. Those were unstoppable goals, simply breathtaking. It doesn't solve any of the broader issues with the squad, but Liverpool are very fortunate to have a player of his quality. Players like him (and Aguero, Sturridge pre-injury, Rooney and RvP) can turn losses into draws and draws into wins.

Man City and Chelsea win - but not convincingly. The point spread may still be narrow, but Arsenal look very solid. My local Arsenal-supporting friend has gotten paranoid - he's waiting for the bottom to drop out.

Lukaku is a juggernaut. He may not have scored but he tossed Vidic around like a rag doll. No defense is safe from that boy. Man Utd are in 9th but just 5 points out of the CL spots. 5 points is nothing in December, so I think we still have a very long way to go before we know how this will finish. pretty much the only thing I feel sure of is that Chelsea and Man City will be in the top 3.

EDIT: Just saw this stat - the last time Everton won at Old Trafford, Peter Beardsley and Columbus Crew alumnus Robert Warzycha made the scoresheet for Everton. 😱
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
Lukaku is a juggernaut. He may not have scored but he tossed Vidic around like a rag doll. No defense is safe from that boy.
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He's by far, Chelsea's best striker 🙂

Talking of strikers, I presume Steve Bruce is looking for a job after letting Bendtner score in the first few minutes, in his first start for Arsenal in 2 and a half years 😛
 
Fizzoid said:
Talking of strikers, I presume Steve Bruce is looking for a job after letting Bendtner score in the first few minutes, in his first start for Arsenal in 2 and a half years 😛
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There's no shame in the World's Greatest Striker™ scoring against you. 😛

In any case, Bendtner always gets a goal when he plays against us. It's a given, or something.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
One could say "It was only Norwich", but that would be truly unfair on both Norwich and Suarez. Those were unstoppable goals, simply breathtaking. It doesn't solve any of the broader issues with the squad, but Liverpool are very fortunate to have a player of his quality. Players like him (and Aguero, Sturridge pre-injury, Rooney and RvP) can turn losses into draws and draws into wins...
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yes they were.

i could watch those highlights all day long.

i want to like him too. if i could only be sure he won't do something stoopid again... but either way, he is at his p rime and a very, very good footballer.
 
Jaffa Cake said:
In any case, Bendtner always gets a goal when he plays against us. It's a given, or something.
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Liverpool fared no better against Arsenal with a much more expensively-assembled squad. Bendtner is half as good as he thinks he is yet much better than his worst detractors suggest.

pachyderm said:
i want to like him too. if i could only be sure he won't do something stoopid again... but either way, he is at his p rime and a very, very good footballer.
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I see it this way - Suarez's talent is something nobody - including Suarez himself - had any control over. It exists apart from his personality. Were he nicer or nastier than he is, he'd still be just as talented. I can marvel at the talent while still recognizing the very apparent flaws of the man himself. He's been behaving this season (by his standards) so far.

It will be interesting to see him at the world cup. Cheating can be very entertaining as long as your own team isn't the victim. Can you imagine the tabloid furor if Uruguay face England and Suarez has a big fat dive or handball? 😱
 
Lord Blackadder said:
It will be interesting to see him at the world cup. Cheating can be very entertaining as long as your own team isn't the victim. Can you imagine the tabloid furor if Uruguay face England and Suarez has a big fat dive or handball? 😱
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Would be very entertaining indeed. 😛 I can't comment on the racism issue, but if it weren't for his foul game against ghana I wouldn't understand all the fuss about him. At least he offers class (and more than plenty of it!) with his cheating thingy - so I'll give him that. And have plenty of fantasy fun. Terry would never make it to the iToys, that's for sure.

Him diving and handballing to finally get the approval to leave England and join the lot in Madrid though? 😉
Would be fun to watch.
 
Hopefully the boss will let me have time off, though he can be a tit sometimes. EDIT; June 14/15 Saturday/Sunday - the boss can go screw himself. Enjoyed the late kickoffs in '86, adds something. Based on that World Cup, Ferguson may support England for one game.

Really think Suarez is an injured man walking, the last 5 games of the season will be interesting.
 
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^ It's going to be impossible to keep Suarez in England after the WC - he'll be getting bullets in the mail every day. I wonder what Stevie G will say to him if he takes a big flop in Brazil against England.

I saw that USA Today headline. They must have not looked at Group B - definitely harder, though our group is nearly as bad. I would gladly switch places with England. We've beaten Italy recently and we know Costa Rica well.

Portugal will be totally mediocre except for one almost supernaturally good player. And he will probably be good enough to beat USA by himself.

twietee said:
Lovely group!
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That's almost a guaranteed 9 points for Germany. I can't see USA managing so much as a draw against them even under favorable circumstances.

I'm a bit annoyed that France got such an easy group. I'm generally a Francophile except when it comes to football. They seem such a whiny, dysfunctional bunch. Plus, Ribery is as bad a diver as anyone out there.
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
Suarez's talent is something nobody - including Suarez himself - had any control over.
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One man can control it.

alex-bruce-luis-suarez.jpg

As for England, I'm actually quite looking forward to the 2am start. Me and Mrs Cake get up every now and then for Sporting Occasions of Some Interest™ and this has the added bonus that in the morning we can just pretend it was all a bad dream. 😱
 
Lord Blackadder said:
I'm a bit annoyed that France got such an easy group. I'm generally a Francophile except when it comes to football. They seem such a whiny, dysfunctional bunch. Plus, Ribery is as bad a diver as anyone out there.
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Ecuador has enough to "surprise" either France or Switzerland, especially playing on their home continent. As an Ecuador supporter, I can't complain about Group E at all, really.
 
As much as I hate the USMNT's draw, I guess it could be worse... I really don't think it's the group of death everyone online seems to believe. It's going to be a tough group for us nonetheless.
 
Silencio said:
Ecuador has enough to "surprise" either France or Switzerland, especially playing on their home continent. As an Ecuador supporter, I can't complain about Group E at all, really.
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Ecuador are the kind of club I expect European sides to underrate through lack of familiarity. Even clubs as limited on paper as Costa Rica are capable of springing a surprise, as the USA have found out more than once. I agree that Ecuador have reason to feel confident. On the other hand, if France can get their collective heads in order, they should be able to top the group without a great deal of trouble.

WoodNUFC said:
As much as I hate the USMNT's draw, I guess it could be worse... I really don't think it's the group of death everyone online seems to believe. It's going to be a tough group for us nonetheless.
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Well, it's not quite the hardest group. But Germany are seriously formidable opponents, even granting that Klinsmann has a little inside knowledge. But I think we should worry more about Ghana and Portugal. Ghana in particular - despite their recent record against us, they are a team we should be able to beat. Those games, more than the Germany match, will determine our fate.
 
At the start of any competition it is very important to test the team at least once. The main thing other than qualifying, is getting through this stage without getting ones players injured.
 
currently i wouldn't underestimated Switzerland either, over the last 5 years they have improved massively (similar to Belgium)
still it's a group where everybody can succeed


if you really want to look at the hand-outs: Group F ... looks like that group was simply drawn to ensure that Argentina get's through the group phase (Brasil got a stronger group but their opponents are badly matched against them

also Group C: what the hell happened there ?

the Germans aren't exactly thrilled i suppose since all 3 opponents always fight till the last minute... but i'm not sure if it's the group of death... while ghana is perhaps the best african squad i think they are together wit hthe USA not really 'good' matches for the two european powerhouses .. a southamerican contender or a different 'non-technical' european squad would have been better

the Group with Uruguay,England and Italy ? Uruguay is notoriously underrated ... their speciality is their defense so they are often undercooked .. i wouldn't be surprised if either England of Italy won't make it...

also in good news: Belgium has a change to succeed .. in absence of my squad i'm holding my thumbs for them
 
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