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The 2013-2014 Football Thread

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League games get a lot more exciting these days. Liverpool's tiny chance at the title will disappear as soon as they drop any points (it's never going to happen anyway, but it remains mathematically possible and thus a 'story' for the media). Arsenal are in the same boat, with the added distraction of the FA Cup. Chelsea can afford to lose a few games and still win the title. City probably can as well, but the first one to drop a few points will be in trouble.

As far as this weekend goes - what is Moyes going to do? Can he afford to put out his strongest possible team against both Liverpool and Olympiakos? Which game is more important?
 
Kariya said:
Like strikers, there is a shortage of decent defenders in the market.



Agree on Alaba. Not quite as convinced by the rest from the european games i've seen. But thats just me.
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Agreed on your first point re shortage. I mean think about it, not too long ago there were only a handful of outstanding offensive mids in the whole world, nowadays this position seems almost inflated and overpopulated..


Regardig your second point: To be fair I follow Bayern only loosely this year, it's just too boring. But you're definitely right that their defense isn't as solid as last year (despite them conceding like7 times in about 20 games in the league). But I wouldn't really address the defence here since it has much to do with the overall strategy > Guardiola. They profit a lot that there are very few teams capable of a proper and constant pressing play (Arsenal did that very poorly imho). So in those rare moments Bayern isn't playing their variation of TikiTaka their denfence looks kinda 'bleak' (exaggerated a bit) I would agree on that. They played much more compact last year, which always works in favor of defending players. Can't say their style this year is less successful thus far though. Far from that actually.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
League games get a lot more exciting these days. Liverpool's tiny chance at the title will disappear as soon as they drop any points (it's never going to happen anyway, but it remains mathematically possible and thus a 'story' for the media). Arsenal are in the same boat, with the added distraction of the FA Cup. Chelsea can afford to lose a few games and still win the title. City probably can as well, but the first one to drop a few points will be in trouble.

As far as this weekend goes - what is Moyes going to do? Can he afford to put out his strongest possible team against both Liverpool and Olympiakos? Which game is more important?
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he he he... who knows?

especially now, no one expects anything from him this season.... not now anyway.

i'd give it a shot go with my best in both and see where the chips fall.
 
I would like to know, how many decent ones there are. some of those that do not say, he shouldn't be sentenced, because he is God and so on, will say he just saved the money from misspending by the state, I imagine.

3,5years seems not much considering the huge amount of money, but then one could say, that for a conservative person 3,5 years will feel very long and stay forever in his mind (not making him to want to try, if he gets away the next time), so it might do its purpose.

Though I find there is something questionable about how they decided. They just said that the self-accusation was not valid, because to many documents were missing and only passed on a year later with the beginning of the trial. They did not say anything about the amount of money that was taken into account. I mean what part of the 27,2Million were seen as basis of the judgement and what part was taken as being time-barred (if that is the right word for something that is to far in the past, so you can't be accused for it). Also the prosecutor said on Tuesday, that she is doing him good and had roughly estimated in his favour and that there would be more, if they had an extensive look.
They today just said "gulity in seven cases".
I wonder, if it was more like a deal. "OK, we take the 27,2Mio and we do not have to do the work and look extensively into your documents, and you will get less years. Both happy".

Though Hoeneß avocate has declared they will go into revision.

PS: the "Kulturzeit"-magazine titled: "Der Runde muss ins Eckige" (which is a play with the German saying, "Das Runde muss ins Eckige". Meaning "the round (ball) must be in the square (box). The other would read "the (person with the) round (shape) must be in the square (room)". :D (Also in German you say "der Runde" about a fat person, in a kind colloquial way.) They closed it with "not in every case extra time makes a good match"
 
Cox Orange said:
3,5years seems not much considering the huge amount of money, but then one could say, that for a conservative person 3,5 years will feel very long and stay forever in his mind (not making him to want to try, if he gets away the next time), so it might do its purpose.
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The bottom line is, they managed to get him a prison sentence in spite of the efforts of all of his powerful friends and his expensive lawyers. That is a victory for justice. He probably should be given harsher treatment, but this is better than him getting away with it altogether.

I read today that the Uli Hoeneß case has cause a rush of 'voluntary disclosures' by other tax-evaders, so from this distance it looks like it is having a positive effect.

Surely he will step down as president if the conviction holds?
 
Surely he will step down as president if the conviction holds?
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When it got public last year, Bayern had the big annual meeting with Bayern members/fans and he cried tears in front of them and said he will let the members/fans decide, if he is worth to be at the head of Bayern still. The masses applauded and praised him.

The question is, if Audi/Volkswagen, Adidas and Hypovereinsbank and other supporters will speak up against him. (When Boris Becker made stupid and clumsy appearances in TV shows, Mercedes cancelled everything with him directly.).
There are rumors that Hoeneß got 20Mio as a gift by Adidas (Dreyfuss) several years ago and it is not clear if there might be a bigger story behind it. He is also friends with the heads of the big names so, I can't say. A lawman just at the moment said on television, that it is possible, that he can quit his job in the supervisory board, but stay president of Bayern still (even in prison).
 
When Spurs sold Gareth Bale and bought a whole load of talented players with the money, I thought they looked pretty savvy. Now I see that it wasn't such a great idea after all.

Louis van Gaal will have his work cut out for him.

Cox Orange said:
A lawman just at the moment said on television, that it is possible, that he can quit his job in the supervisory board, but stay president of Bayern still (even in prison).
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That would be outrageous.
 
Official Story goes somewhat like this: his swiss bank account is a former Bayern Munich account. Dreyfuss gave him a personal 20.000.000 DM credit (not euro) which, of course!, had nothing to do with the Adidas deal made during that time. With that money, and only equipped with a pager and a telephone and his gut feeling, he made around 150.000.000 €. I mean c'mon! This guy clearly is a brilliant mastermind and it is a riddle to me how he always managed to come across like a greedy conservative moron.
 
Spurs are in a wilderness. Spent £109m and only 2 of the players have proven to worth anything. Yes they've been plagued by injuries but so have others...some to a greater degree.

I remember after the Arsenal/Villa game. Pretty much everyone said it'll be Chelsea/City/United/Spurs for top 4 and that Arsenal and Liverpool wouldn't hack it. because the Spurs team was stronger on paper and Liverpool still had work to do.

That said it wouldn't surprised me if they find a way to beat Arsenal on Sunday.

Football is a funny old game.
 
Kariya said:
Spurs are in a wilderness. Spent £109m and only 2 of the players have proven to worth anything. Yes they've been plagued by injuries but so have others...some to a greater degree.
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To be fair to Spurs, the players they bought are mostly very good players with proven records. The problem is that they introduced too many players at once - players who were new to the league and each other. Given time and any decent manager, I am sure they will be considerably better than they are now.

Kariya said:
I remember after the Arsenal/Villa game. Pretty much everyone said it'll be Chelsea/City/United/Spurs for top 4 and that Arsenal and Liverpool wouldn't hack it. because the Spurs team was stronger on paper and Liverpool still had work to do.
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It's been a crazy season. Definitely the most exciting Premier League season in the last 10 years. Possibly the tightest (overall) and most exciting of the Premier League era when you factor in the relegation fight as well. I just hope Chelsea and City stumble a bit and keep it interesting till the end.

twietee said:
This guy clearly is a brilliant mastermind and it is a riddle to me how he always managed to come across like a greedy conservative moron.
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Speaking of morons, anyone who is still supporting him ought to be ashamed of themselves.
 
Thank you for explaining the Adidas-connection etc. Tweetie.

I want to add one thing about the voluntary disclosure I heard this evening (thank you LordBlackadder for the vocabulary :)). An advocate said, that it would have sufficed to just declare it to the tax office and name a ridiciously high amount of money. Like, if you did not pay 1000,-EUR of taxes and delcare you have probably tax frauded 100.000Mio EUR.
Then the court will accept it and they will allow you to pay the taxes in question plus the 6%. The court then takes a detailed look and will tell you you have to pay 1060,-EUR.

So it is even more unbelievable that Hoeneß advocates claimed 3,5Mio in the first place. Keeping that in mind, if I were the lawyer I would get the impression he wanted to hide something.

Also, it was 70.000 pages. Experts wonder, how the court can look through 70.000 pages in three days. The normal procedure would be (they said) that the court would delay the trial and would take its time.

So, when the revision starts (probably in 9-15months) the highest court will have to have a look, why the lower court did get a sentence that fast.

If I were Hoeneß I would fear, the higher court will look more thoroughly into the 70.000 pages and that I get a higher sentence. Maybe he thinks luck never ends.

All lawyers, advocates etc. I heard this evening said, that he can be very lucky with the 3.5 years and that other people got that for very less. 6-8 years seems to be the normal case. Also they said, that if that big money is involved it is usually enterprises etc. that are accused.
 
Cox Orange said:
So, when the revision starts (probably in 9-15months) the highest court will have to have a look, why the lower court did get a sentence that fast.

If I were Hoeneß I would fear, the higher court will look more thoroughly into the 70.000 pages and that I get a higher sentence. Maybe he thinks luck never ends.

All lawyers, advocates etc. I heard this evening said, that he can be very lucky with the 3.5 years and that other people got that for very less. 6-8 years seems to be the normal case. Also they said, that if that big money is involved it is usually enterprises etc. that are accused.
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++++++++++++Just in:+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Uli Hoeness decided to take the fall for the club and step down from the positions he held at Bayern München and accept the verdict.
 
olup said:
++++++++++++Just in:+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Uli Hoeness decided to take the fall for the club and step down from the positions he held at Bayern München and accept the verdict.
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he also issued a written statement where he cite his ideals of "decency, conduct and personal responsibilty" to accept the verdict and tell his laywers not to go for an appeal/revision.
Also:
"Tax Evasion was the mistake of my life. I'm going to take the consequences for this mistake."
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http://www.spiegel.de/sport/fussball/hoeness-verzichtet-auf-revision-a-958622.html

on stepping down from all positions:
"I want to prevent any damage to my club. FC Bayern München is my lifework and it will continue to be (my lifework). I will always be connected,in a different way, to this great club and his people as long as i live.
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Well, it seems Hoeneß is smarter than his advocates...

Also in the news. Adidas(!) head Hainer will take the presidency of the supervisory board of FC Bayern.
 
Cox Orange said:
Well, it seems Hoeneß is smarter than his advocates...

Also in the news. Adidas(!) head Hainer will take the presidency of the supervisory board of FC Bayern.
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it needs to be said that Hainer has been supervisory board member of the Bayern Munich AG for some time now.
Hainer is also member of the supervisory board of both Lufthansa _and_ Allianz .. which both are sponsors

edit: just read Hainer actually was vice- head of supervisory board

the vacant presidency position in the club is going to be more interesting...
 
West Brom dump their boyfriend high-school style.

The latter had announced on twitter that he was going to quit. So West Brom sprang into PR action and fired him first. You know...bragging rights and all.

"Totes didn't breakup with me, i dumped him."

Personally i think the guy has suffered a witch hunt and has been treated poorly. It appears to be another case of the Jewish community being overreactive and trigger-happy once again. The FA even found the gesture not to be of anti-semitic intent. So I'm not really sure what the hullabaloo is all about.

West Brom Administration's track record continues to be a head-scratcher; Di Matteo, Odemwingie, Clarke, and now Anelka.
 
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Tough result for Jaffa's boys. Hull fought hard the whole match but City have so many dangerous players, they just find ways to score goals from nothing. Kompany nearly fouled up the whole match for City but in the end Hull were crushed under the weight of the petro-billions City have spent.

Jelavic and Long were repeatedly hoodwinked by City's offside trap - if they could have just been a tad sharper with that I think they'd have scored a couple.

Boyd should have been booked for that fabulous dive over Hart's leg, no idea why the ref didn't show him a yellow. As usual, when a forward goes down in the box it should either be a penalty or a yellow for diving. Funny thing is, Boyd did get legitimately shoved in the box shortly after, but the ref wasn't interested. It would have been a soft penalty but it could have been all the same.

And so Man City begins to claw back that gap with Chelsea.
 
Haha. Cracking game at Villa Park.

Seems Liverpool really will have a massive say in what happens at the top and bottom of the table this season. Still to play City, Chelsea, Palace, Cardiff and Sunderland.
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
Tough result for Jaffa's boys. Hull fought hard the whole match but City have so many dangerous players, they just find ways to score goals from nothing. Kompany nearly fouled up the whole match for City but in the end Hull were crushed under the weight of the petro-billions City have spent.

Jelavic and Long were repeatedly hoodwinked by City's offside trap - if they could have just been a tad sharper with that I think they'd have scored a couple.

Boyd should have been booked for that fabulous dive over Hart's leg, no idea why the ref didn't show him a yellow. As usual, when a forward goes down in the box it should either be a penalty or a yellow for diving. Funny thing is, Boyd did get legitimately shoved in the box shortly after, but the ref wasn't interested. It would have been a soft penalty but it could have been all the same.
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The big news post-match though is that our Great Benefactor has deemed fit poll us season pass holders on that matter.

The timing is odd and the question will no doubt be loaded. I also predict there'll be a fair bit of threat, bluster and straw men coming from the club in the next week or two.
 
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