OT: soccer thread

BeesWax · Post #1081 » by **BeesWax** » Thu Jan 3, 2013 12:27 pm

I finally committed this year and picked my team. I grew up watching whenever I could but never really picked a team to follow. Mostly watched Man U since they were on more than most back in the day. I went Spurs this year and have been following them much more closely now than ever.

Built an entire spurs squad on FIFA 13 FUT. Been some good soccer on lately.

Post #1082 » by **fatlever** » Thu Jan 3, 2013 4:36 pm

Probst wrote:bump ...

I can't see Man Utd losing the title this year. City have been quite average this season

Surely by now Rafa would have realised that Mata is clearly Chelsea's most important player. To rest both him and Hazard at the same time was asking for trouble, he should also play Ba in place of Torres now that he is expected to come in, he is lethal in front of goal.

Glad to see Liverpool scoring goals and getting results, they are still quite inconsistent though. Suarez has been excellent this season

losing to QPR at home is just utterly ridiculous. its sad to think that a team with as much talent as chelsea cant score if mata isnt on the pitch, but thats the reality of it. every time this season when mata has been out, chelsea has looked awful in attack. resting both mata and hazard was just silly. but regardless, torres, moses, oscar, marin, lampard and luiz is more than enough attacking talent to win at home vs QPR. just when i was starting to feel less disgusted by the fat spanish waiter as manager, this happens. title race is man uniteds. its in the bag.

demba ba can come soon enough, although chelsea will probably let him rot on the bench or try to play him as a winger and continue to trot out torres for 90 minutes every single game just to watch torres continue his awfulness.

Post #1083 » by **fatlever** » Thu Jan 3, 2013 4:40 pm

jdm3 wrote:I finally committed this year and picked my team. I grew up watching whenever I could but never really picked a team to follow. Mostly watched Man U since they were on more than most back in the day. I went Spurs this year and have been following them much more closely now than ever.

Built an entire spurs squad on FIFA 13 FUT. Been some good soccer on lately.

spurs are fun to watch, even if they have AVB tainting their sidelines. bale is such a beast and of course they have dempsey now.

here's hoping spurs finish 4th and keep arsenal out of champions league next year. of course, based on yesterday, i should probably be worried about chelsea finishing outside of top 4. very likely.

Eoghan · Post #1084 » by **Eoghan** » Thu Jan 3, 2013 9:28 pm

Probst wrote:Surely by now Rafa would have realised that Mata is clearly Chelsea's most important player. To rest both him and Hazard at the same time was asking for trouble, he should also play Ba in place of Torres now that he is expected to come in, he is lethal in front of goal.

That's Rafa for you. Constant tinkering with WTF? line ups. Torres is basically his adopted son, he ain't goin' anywhere.

Fred Williamson · Post #1085 » by **Fred Williamson** » Wed Feb 13, 2013 6:00 pm

anyone seen PSG - Valencia yesterday? good lord, Lucas is the next big thing

and can't wait for tonight. Hopefully Madrid steamrolls all over these fools

Post #1086 » by **fatlever** » Wed Feb 13, 2013 6:27 pm

Fred Williamson wrote:anyone seen PSG - Valencia yesterday? good lord, Lucas is the next big thing

and can't wait for tonight. Hopefully Madrid steamrolls all over these fools

i am partial to oscar as being the next great brazilian midfielder, but i am biased.

the game to watch today is shaktar vs dortmund. that could be a track meet.

Post #1087 » by **fatlever** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 4:45 pm

hey doc, any chance you are going to the chelsea game today in prague?

ccbballin · Post #1088 » by **ccbballin** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 10:00 pm

Gareth Bale - Amazing!!!

doc.end · Post #1089 » by **doc.end** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 11:28 pm

fatlever wrote:hey doc, any chance you are going to the chelsea game today in prague?

Watched it live on tv (czech public canal). Well kind of watched, not a greatest game to attract my full attention. There were long queues for tickets because of Chelsea (few weeks ago) though.

However the czech other team in the competition won 0:3 in Napoli (and one goal questionably called off on top of that), good job. Plzen is usually more pleasant to watch than Sparta, never relying on defense too much.

Post #1090 » by **fatlever** » Fri Feb 15, 2013 4:29 pm

doc.end wrote:
fatlever wrote:hey doc, any chance you are going to the chelsea game today in prague?

Watched it live on tv (czech public canal). Well kind of watched, not a greatest game to attract my full attention. There were long queues for tickets because of Chelsea (few weeks ago) though.

However the czech other team in the competition won 0:3 in Napoli (and one goal questionably called off on top of that), good job. Plzen is usually more pleasant to watch than Sparta, never relying on defense too much.

yeah, pretty boring game for the most part - typical FSW style lately. sparta had many decent chances in the 1st half but they were awful with their finishing. hats off to plzen. man, they destroyed napoli.

and yes, bale is a stud. for my money, best player in PL this season.

Post #1091 » by **fatlever** » Tue Jul 30, 2013 1:59 am

the news about stuart holden tearing his ACL yesterday is one of the most depressing sports stories i can recall.

for those that dont know the story, stuart holden is a USA midfielder who, when healthy, is one of the best midfielders in USA. he is exactly the type of player the USA has been missing in recent years (a deep lying playmaker and tenacious defender who is also excellent on set pieces and has a great engine). just as he was coming into his prime for bolton (a team in england), he went into a 50/50 challenge against manchester united where the other player's cleats caught his left knee and tore his ACL. he missed the entire next year rehabbing the injury. then last fall he injured that same knee again and missed another year. and of course that was after getting his leg broken by nigel dejong in a friendly. this summer he was healthy for the first time in 2 years and was supposed to spend the summer playing with USA in the gold cup to help get ready for next season and to earn his berth on the world cup squad. he played most of the games in the gold cup and looked great. he would have been a sure thing for the world cup next summer. however, yesterday he tore the ACL in his other knee and will now miss his 3rd season in a row and will probably miss the world cup next summer.

and what makes it worse is that he is one of the most genuinely likeable athletes i've ever followed (on par with guys like bismack biyombo).

KingExecutive · Post #1092 » by **KingExecutive** » Tue Jul 30, 2013 2:25 am

fatlever wrote:the news about stuart holden tearing his ACL yesterday is one of the most depressing sports stories i can recall.

for those that dont know the story, stuart holden is a USA midfielder who, when healthy, is one of the best midfielders in USA. he is exactly the type of player the USA has been missing in recent years (a deep lying playmaker and tenacious defender who is also excellent on set pieces and has a great engine). just as he was coming into his prime for bolton (a team in england), he went into a 50/50 challenge against manchester united where the other player's cleats caught his left knee and tore his ACL. he missed the entire next year rehabbing the injury. then last fall he injured that same knee again and missed another year. and of course that was after getting his leg broken by nigel dejong in a friendly. this summer he was healthy for the first time in 2 years and was supposed to spend the summer playing with USA in the gold cup to help get ready for next season and to earn his berth on the world cup squad. he played most of the games in the gold cup and looked great. he would have been a sure thing for the world cup next summer. however, yesterday he tore the ACL in his other knee and will now miss his 3rd season in a row and will probably miss the world cup next summer.

and what makes it worse is that he is one of the most genuinely likeable athletes i've ever followed (on par with guys like bismack biyombo).

Holden and Onyewu played at Clemson too. An unbelievable tragedy for such a likable guy. Holden would've been the perfect guy for the country to root for when the going gets tough during the World Cup (much like we did for Donovan in the previous World Cup).

Logander · Post #1093 » by **Logander** » Wed Jul 31, 2013 1:15 pm

Holden is a class act. I hated seeing him get hurt and I hope he still has more left in him next year to make the squad. We really do need him.

doc.end · Post #1094 » by **doc.end** » Sat Aug 31, 2013 5:38 pm

Bump. Have you been watching the battle between Chelsea and Bayern, fat?

LamarMatic7 · Post #1095 » by **LamarMatic7** » Sat Aug 31, 2013 5:56 pm

I missed out on the supposedly awesome Chelsea Bayern game, yet saw the underwhelming Man Utd and Chelsea game on Monday. The signing of Eto'o is great news. They seriously lacked any kind of offensive threats against Manchester.

Post #1096 » by **fatlever** » Sat Aug 31, 2013 7:42 pm

yeah, i posted about it in the chelsea thread on the soccer board.

viewtopic.php?f=266&t=1182151&start=420

soccer blackout from 3PM to 11PM yesterday. do you realize how hard it is to go into a soccer blackout for 8 hours in this day when we are connected to the web 24/7? didnt finish the game until about 1:30am. thankfully i was smart enough to extend the DVR 45 mins past the regular time. thats a veteran move folks. and do you know how hard it is to go to sleep at 1:30am after watching a game like that? if you guessed - damn near impossible - you are correct. i think it was about 3:30am before i finally fell asleep.

the good - i am quickly becoming a schurrle fan. he fits well next to hazard/mata/oscar because he has so much pace, stays wide, kills it on the counter and defends his ass off. speaking of defending, the entire attacking band was fantastic in defense. hazard has really improved in that area. he as oscar ran their brains out yesterday. love seeing those brazilians bury their penalties. and lampard finally went right on his penatly.

the great - cech was simply amazing. standing ovation sir

the not-so-great - once again the rampard pivot is piss poor.

somebody go give lukaku a hug. my god that was a terrible penalty.

is it just me or did the bayern team from last year look much more lethal? - See more at: viewtopic.php?f=266&t=1182151&start=420#sthash.RgEMsDxg.dpuf

Snidely FC · Post #1097 » by **Snidely FC** » Mon Sep 2, 2013 9:52 pm

Mesut Ozil to Arsenal. Confirmed. http://www.arsenal.com

Snidely FC · Post #1098 » by **Snidely FC** » Sat Sep 7, 2013 3:57 am

Worst possible game by U.S. Bradley hurt, Altidore stupid 90th minute 2nd yellow, plus the loss. Ugh.

Post #1099 » by **fatlever** » Sat Sep 7, 2013 5:27 am

Snidely FC wrote:Worst possible game by U.S. Bradley hurt, Altidore stupid 90th minute 2nd yellow, plus the loss. Ugh.

yeah, that game was a disaster. everything that could go wrong did. and nobody stepped up. our lineup on tuesday is going to be a mess.

doc.end · Post #1100 » by **doc.end** » Sat Sep 7, 2013 12:09 pm

We lost to Armenia, hopefully we are one step closer to sacking the coach. Although I am not sure they are capable of choosing the right replacement.