2013-14 Football ("Soccer") Thread

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larss

I'm watching some specialist videos
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Andros Townsend, what a player he is.

He's getting there. I said at the end of last season that Andros returning from QPR would be like a new signing but given the amount of superstar talent that's arrived at White Hart Lane, I'm very pleased he's started all but the first of our league games. AVB has proven himself as a man who will give people a chance, and Townsend has taken his with both hands, just as he has for the national team. Remarkable that he's got a goal in a competitive international to his name when he's yet to score for Spurs in the Prem, although he has in the Cup and in Europe, and in the Prem for QPR last year (and what a goal that was).

The thing about Townsend that people pay attention to is how direct he is. With pace, head down, beat people and get to the byline. With the apparent worldwide shift to a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 (fanny's 4-4-1-1) formation with "forwards" replacing the idea of strikers and wingers, nobody seems to want to get to the line and cross anymore. Crosses seem to come from deeper or from the overlapping fullbacks, therer's probably only Navas who's recently come to the Prem that still wants to skin somebody down his wing and make a cross. The wide "forwards" seem to be all about cutting inside, linking up ball-to-feet or trying to score themselves, much like Welbeck and much like Walcott who Townsend came in for. Townsend is a *winger* and played as such. Most defences seem to have forgotten how to defend against someone who just wants to knock it past them, run on with pace and deliver a cross. Probably part of the reason that Gareth Bale topped Spurs' assists table last season, he likes to do that too.

The other thing about Andros is his confidence. I voiced my concern prior to Friday's game that he might go into his shell and pass the ball more than he naturally wants to. I've seen many a player excel for their club but then play a completely different type of game when drafted into the national side, as though somebody has sat them down and said "this is the big stage ***, you won't get away with that here." Townsend played for England like he does for Tottenham, which is exactly why Roy called him up to begin with. He hasn't had the attention Ross Barkley has, but look at the impact he made. Speaking of confidence, don't you love how well he can shoot with either foot, and is happy to do so?

Ultimately if England want to persevere with 4-4-2 - and why wouldn't they with Sturridge (considering league form) and Rooney up front - then Andros is a fine choice for either wing berth. This does mean Welbeck - who seems to be have divine right to a start under Hodgson - continuing to be asked to play wide, but then there's no problem getting crosses from the left as we saw last night, since when England have the ball Welbeck drifts inside and Baines overlaps for crosses, although you might not get away with leaving that flank exposed against one of the big guns. What about when Theo Walcott comes back? I'd like to think that the choice Roy then makes is Walcott or Welbeck, rather than Walcott or Townsend.

However... if Roy wants to revert to 4-3-3, I think Andros will suffer. Choosing three "forwards" in front of a three-man midfield, Roy has tended to choose Rooney, then two from Welbeck, Walcott and Sturridge, and I don't think that would change. If Townsend were to permanently take anybody's place in that starting line-up... it would be Wilshere, as he has in the last two games. I know there seems to be a collective hard-on concerning Wilshere, but I worry about his temperament, and while he might be the choice for the future, right now he hasn't the drive and influence of Gerrard, the goal threat of Lampard or the leadership of either. In truth I'm more confident with Carrick in a holding role than Wilshere, he never gives the ball away and there's no worry about his aggression.

I think for the bigger games against the top opposition, he'll stick with three in the middle. Lampard, Gerrard and either Wilshere or Carrick. Rooney will lead the line, and then he'll decide who carries the biggest threat to an opposition defence, two from Welbeck, Sturridge, Walcott and Townsend. Club form will play a massive role in determining what he wants to try in the remaining friendlies before the finals, and he's got to get it clear in his mind what his preferred 11 is before the big dance. I'd love to see Townsend go, and I'd love to see him play a role, but impressing in qualifying games, even playing a vital role in qualification, is not always enough to guarantee you'll feature. For every Paul Gascoigne or Michael Owen, there's an Adam Johnson.
 
WEEK 9 TIMES ARE USA I BELIEVE.

Saturday, October 26
Crystal Palace
7:45 AM (ET)
Arsenal

Man United
10:00 AM (ET)
Stoke City

Norwich City
10:00 AM (ET)
Cardiff City

Liverpool
10:00 AM (ET)
West Brom

Aston Villa
10:00 AM (ET)
Everton

Southampton
12:30 PM (ET)
Fulham

Sunday, October 27

Sunderland
9:30 AM (ET)
Newcastle

Chelsea
12:00 PM (ET)
Man CitY

Swansea City
12:00 PM (ET)
West Ham

Tottenham
12:00
Hull City
 
Saturday, October 26
Crystal Palace
0
Final
Arsenal
2

Man United
3
Final
Stoke City
2

Norwich City
0
Final
Cardiff City
0

Liverpool
4
Final
West Brom
1

Aston Villa
0
Final
Everton
2

Southampton
2
Final
Fulham
0

Sunday, October 27
Sunderland
2
Final
Newcastle
1

Chelsea
2
Final
Man City
1

Swansea City
0
Final
West Ham
0

Tottenham
1
Final
Hull City
0
 
Re: 2013-14 Football ("Soccer") Thread

OK, it's gone a bit quiet in here. Personally, I went a bit quiet after my own sweet lot's ritual *********** at home to that shower of cunts that call themselves Wet Spam United. Partisan bile aside, the mighty Spurs are now up to 12 clean sheets in 15 games so I suppose it's a testament to Fat Sam's tactics on the day that they were able to breach the near-impenetrable Lloris' goal three times. Although honestly, we were dire. Lethargic and unimaginative, possibly the worst I've seen them play in 20 years. But hey, who cares? We're back up to 4th, they're still crap.

Here are my thoughts on some of the issues surrounding the English game right now.

Alex Ferguson writes book, players and pundits over-react

This is hysterical.

First of all, the ITV mob - Chiles, Dixon, Wright and Keane - were all over this on their Champions League coverage in the week, slamming Ferguson for criticizing players past and present that helped win him trophies and some (like Wayne Rooney) that are still at the club. First of all, the man is no longer the manager. The players take their orders from someone else now and the opinions of anybody else, connected to the club or not, shouldn't matter a jot to them, whether it's Alex Ferguson from his writing desk, Jamie Redknapp in the Sky Sports studio or some nobody in the pub. "The game is about opinions" it's often said, so why one man putting his views into print - however inflammatory - creates such a kerfuffle is beyond me.

Second of all, the prevailing thought watching Wrighty and Keano dribble on about "I don't see why he has to write a book" that I had was "Because neither of you wrote a fucking book, did you?" The hypocrisy from Keane - who in his book admitted trying to seriously injure another pro and recounted making his national manager look a prick in front of the whole Ireland squad, threatening to completely derail their entire World Cup - is beyond laughable. The longer Keane spends on the sidelines passing comment, the more inclined I am to think "he was a great player, but he's a complete tosser."

Thirdly, I feel compelled to point this out of Ferguson - he owes the club nothing, not it's luminaries, current squad and especially not fans. He's well within his rights to put his truly fascinating story into a book that football fans the length and breadth of Britain will want to read, and there's no point whatsoever in saying, effectively "everything was great the whole time and nobody was a tosser." Because we wouldn't believe it.

Finally, fuck knows who though it would be relevant to ask the BBC reporter to get Jordan Henderson's reaction to what Ferguson wrote about him. Jordan Henderson who Ferguson never managed. Thankfully Henderson was a pro about it and just said "he's got his opinion, he was a great manager, lot of respect blah blah blah" but honestly, what a dumb thing to ask. Ferguson could have been more scathing than what he said about the man's gait/posture, he could have simply pointed out how terribly overrated he is.

Joe Hart : becoming shitter ever week

So, Joe Hart flaps miserably in the Cardiff game, "he's just going through a bad patch." Gives away a penalty that the ref somehow misses in the Ukraine-England game, nobody blinks because we got away with it. Lets in a goal he should have done better with against Everton, by and large forgotten about. Flubs against Bayern - well, nobody played well that night, did they? But yesterday, he was under the microscope again. A hopeful last-minute ball up field comes between Nastasic just outside the box and Hart inside his box, with Fernando Torres giving chase. Nastasic goes to head the ball back to his keeper, who would have been able to make a routine catch, no danger, and City would be heading for the M6 with a point they probably deserved. Unfortunately Hart has come pounding out of his area like a gazelle on steroids, so the header from Nastasic evades him and heads towards touch... but of course, Torres has continued his hopeful run and sticks it in the net for the winning goal. Hart trudges back into his net, seen to shout "Fucking hell!" Replays show he shouts "Keeper's" but Nastasic ignores it ; this is probably Charles' reason for being so angry.

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Now, under usual circumstances if the goalie calls and the defender ignores it, you blame the defender. However, two things to consider - Nastasic has to deal with it. If he leaves it, it's Torres' ball. Secondly, what the hell did Hart think he was going to do? He's had to come out of his area to reach the ball, what was he thinking "I'll head this one clear"??? It's an up-and-under where the opposition striker hasn't controlled it, dear gods man, give your centre-back chance to deal with it before you go running into No Mans' Land. As my extended ****** pointed out, this is the bloke we're relying on to keep guard in the World Cup next year, what a scary thought. Thank God that Woy will probably have a look at Fraser Forster for the Germany friendly, because Hart's bad "patch" has been going on for about a year.

Fernando Torres - DEFINITELY NOT ****.

There hasn't been a guy more wrongly derided in the media over the last year than El Nino. In and out of the team post-Drogba for no apparent reason, 'Nando is the epitome of "confidence player" and nobody seems to have clocked that rotating him with Ba or whoever and basically broadcasting "you are not number one striker at this club" was not the way to get the best out of him, and everybody seemed to wonder like idiots why with his confidence eroded on the bench, he didn't "take his chances" when given them.

Actually, that's a crock of **** anyway. He's been consistently Man of the Match in games in which he hasn't necessarily scored and been their best player in Europe. He was superb at White Hart Lane before being harshly dismissed. Moreover, he's been the man for the big occasion. Champions League semi-final in the Camp Nou, Torres scores. Europa League final, Torres scores. Super Cup against Bayern fucking Munich, the best team in the world, Torres scores. All quality composed finishes. Any of you giggling right now about the Super Cup thinking "glorified friendly" and that it didn't count for anything can fuck off - playing the European Champions in a big set-piece game matters, and you only have to look at the lineups the managers fielded that night and the way the teams played to see how much it mattered. If you laugh at my citing that game in making the case for Torres, you either didn't watch it, or frankly don't understand football or footballers.

And then we come to this week - in a vital Champions League game away to Schalke with Chelsea desperate to avoid dropping more points after their shocking upset by Basel, El Nino pops up with another Man of the Match display, bagging two goals in the process. I remarked to my household "big game, big goals, Fernando Torres. But the papers will still say he's ****." There was some poetry yesterday that again the attention ended up on him ; after missing the kind of chance he should gobble up (fairly representative of his earlier Chelsea career) he picked himself up, dusted himself off and carried on working hard like the Torres of old, making Gael Clichy look like crap en route to setting up Schurrle for the first goal. Not long later he fashioned himself half a yard and smashed one off the bar.

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Come the 90th minute - his first full 90 minutes for Chelsea this season - Torres chased an apparent lost cause, as described above, just like he would have done during his Liverpool days, and in reward for his persistence throughout the whole game as much as the run, netted the winner. His first league goal of 2013 for all his endeavour was greeted with raptuous applause at Stamford Bridge and was thoroughly deserved. He leads the line again, he seems to have recovered that extra half-yard of pace, and he looks like he wants it again. As much as I hated Liverpool when he played for them and as much as I **** Chelsea, I like to see Torres doing well, for the shitty treatment the media have given him.

So yeah, his goal return hasn't quite been £50M worth yet, but he's most definitely not ****.

Man United - slowly turning the corner

The knee-jerk reactions to United's slow start have been laughable. The Sunderland game will be looked back upon as a turning point because they started terribly with not just an early goal conceded but one of the worst goals - defensively speaking - I've seen in a long time. Largely the brilliance of one man(/boy) in Adnan Januzaj rescued that game for them, but it remains that they got the result. The Southampton game was wrongly derided as "back to normal" by the narrow-minded but if you actually watched that match, you'll see Man Utd hit the woodwork twice and should have been over the hill and far away long before Saints' late equalizer. Furthermore people wanted to criticize David Moyes' substitutions as defensive, but he brought Welbeck on for Fellaini proving he wanted more goals. He'd have had the points too if Welbeck had squared to an unmarked Wayne Rooney rather than dawdle on the ball and lose possession on the edge of the box at 1-0. Southampton got lucky, nothing more.

Which brings me to the Stoke game - trailing early, then trailing twice, United hit back with two quickfire goals to turn 0 points into 3 late in the game. Sound familiar? The same weekend Man City were throwing away a game late, United were winning one, showing they have at least retained their guts. Things are gradually starting to go their way, and come Christmas when injuries and fixture congestion cause other teams to start to wilt, we'll see the true measure of David Moyes' men. I said in August they'd win the title, and I still think they've as good as a chance as any over 38 games. Manchester City, title favourites - 16 points. Manchester United, written off and in disarray - 14 points. Closer than you would have expected after the derby, no?

Kasami scores best goal in the world, by anyone, anywhere, ever

Well, just look at it. Massive long ball over his shoulder, chests it down while sprinting, BANG. Unbelievable tekkers, as the **** would say.

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And finally in Italy...

Roma have set a new record winning their first nine games in Serie A, only conceding one goal in the process. Watch out.
 
I was at the Stoke game, suffice to say we were ****. If Nani plays for United again ever it will be too soon. He was a total ********. Still a win is a win.
 
Saturday, November 2

Newcastle
8:45 AM (ET)
Chelsea

Man City
11:00 AM (ET)
Norwich City

Hull City
11:00 AM (ET)
Sunderland

Stoke City
11:00 AM (ET)
Southampton

West Brom
11:00 AM (ET)
Crystal Palace

Fulham
11:00 AM (ET)
Man United

West Ham
11:00 AM (ET)
Aston Villa

Arsenal
1:30 PM (ET)
Liverpool

Sunday, November 3

Everton
8:30 AM (ET)
Tottenham

Cardiff City
11:00 AM (ET)
Swansea City
 
Cardiff City
11:00 AM (ET)
Swansea City


This is fucking retarded by the Premier League. To hold (what amounts to) the "Welsh derby" in the 4PM Sunday spot, giving both sets of supporters chance to ***** all day, is nonsensical. The streets of Cardiff will flow red before and after this match, and I'm not talking about the colour of Cardiff's kit. To be honest, I was worried enough last season in the Swansea-Spurs fixture when the Cardiff lad (Gaz Bale) netted the winner, I assumed he wouldn't get out of the Liberty alive. This match should have been designated Saturday's early kick off, or if ever there was a time to try out a revolutionary 9AM (GMT) kick off time, this was it. People are going to die, I bet.
 
So tomorrow there is Arsenal and Liverpool, at the moment they are both doing well, I wonder if in May if either of them will still be competing for the title
 
This is fucking retarded by the Premier League. To hold (what amounts to) the "Welsh derby" in the 4PM Sunday spot, giving both sets of supporters chance to ***** all day, is nonsensical. The streets of Cardiff will flow red before and after this match, and I'm not talking about the colour of Cardiff's kit. To be honest, I was worried enough last season in the Swansea-Spurs fixture when the Cardiff lad (Gaz Bale) netted the winner, I assumed he wouldn't get out of the Liberty alive. This match should have been designated Saturday's early kick off, or if ever there was a time to try out a revolutionary 9AM (GMT) kick off time, this was it. People are going to die, I bet.


Is this like THE party atmosphere when these teams play ?
 
Everyone loves when a goalkeeper scores, don't they? Begovic for Stoke, today :

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If by "party" you mean "********" then yes.

Meant ********. Damn ******* affects people in different ways.............sounds like these fans take their football seriously, maybe a bit too much ?
 
sounds like these fans take their football seriously, maybe a bit too much ?

Yes. Fights start about football in Britain every week. For lots of fans the ******** and fighting has eclipsed the game itself. What started as about what team you support is now just about the fight. Gangs of rival "supporters" actually organize their fighting in certain streets around the grounds while the game is going on hence aren't all that bothered about the match, just doing damage to each other. That doesn't include the normal fans that will just get ***** and start a fight if their team loses. Cardiff and Swansea is a very volatile rivalry. And the FA think 4PM Sunday is a suitable time for thousands of fans of the two teams to be in the same vicinity, for their first ever top flight meeting. Ridiculous.
 
Yes. Fights start about football in Britain every week. For lots of fans the ******** and fighting has eclipsed the game itself. What started as about what team you support is now just about the fight. Gangs of rival "supporters" actually organize their fighting in certain streets around the grounds while the game is going on hence aren't all that bothered about the match, just doing damage to each other. That doesn't include the normal fans that will just get ***** and start a fight if their team loses. Cardiff and Swansea is a very volatile rivalry. And the FA think 4PM Sunday is a suitable time for thousands of fans of the two teams to be in the same vicinity, for their first ever top flight meeting. Ridiculous.

I don't know but I imagine it's more of a younger crowd that's involved huh ? You're talking '' Reality Television '', get the cameras rolling as the action is about to begin.
 
I don't know but I imagine it's more of a younger crowd that's involved huh ?

Not necessarily. I have book by the guy that is one of the chief leaders of Spurs' "crew" about his exploits, times in prison and lifelong dedication to rubbing out the Chelsea "crew" and he's a middle-aged guy with a couple of ****.

You're talking '' Reality Television '', get the cameras rolling as the action is about to begin.

I'm really not.
 
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