OT: soccer thread

Post #861 » by **fatlever** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 4:52 pm

so happy that chelsea cannot land man city in their group.

worst case for chelsea would be

ac milan, zenit (who wants to travel to russia in december during the middle of the week only to come back and face a PL team on saturday) and dortmund.

Post #862 » by **fatlever** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 3:36 am

klinsmann announced roster for upcoming friendlies today

GOALKEEPERS-Tim Howard, Bill Hamid

DEFENDERS-Carlos Bocanegra, Edgar Castillo, Timothy Chandler, Steve Cherundolo, Clarence Goodson, Zach Loyd, Michael Orozco Fiscal, Heath Pearce, Tim Ream

MIDFIELD-Kyle Beckerman, Clint Dempsey, Maurice Edu, Fabian Johnson, SachaKljestan, Jeff Larentowicz, Robbie Rogers, Brek Shea, Jose Torres

FORWARDS-Juan Agudelo, Jozy Altidore, Teal Bunbury, Landon Donovan

no bradley, jones, adu or lichaj - klinsmann said it was due to lack of recent playing time with clubs and unresolved transfer status.

Det the Threat · Post #863 » by **Det the Threat** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 4:54 am

fatlever wrote:no bradley, jones, adu or lichaj - klinsmann said it was due to lack of recent playing time with clubs and unresolved transfer status.

Very understandable.

Bradley's not even working out with the first team of Gladbach.
He's on the pitch the same time as the team, but him and two others(which were told that they don't have a shot anymore) are working out seperatly with a strength and condition coach.

Though, I expect him to be gone at the transfer deadline and most likely to Italy, were Roma, Napoli, Bologna and Chievo Verona have been linked with him.

Jones also seems to be the odd man out at Schalke, even though he surprisingly got the start at the first game of the season.

BTW: Germany will have two participants in the UEFA Euro League.
Schalke beat Helsinki 6-1(after losing 2-0 there) and Hannover surprised everyone by qualifying against Sevilla.
Also, Bayern must be jumping for joy( :lol:

) after being paired with Villareal, Man City and Napoli into group A of the CL and your Chelsea guys will host Leverkusen on the first day of the CL campaign.

Post #864 » by **fatlever** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 5:28 pm

strange group for chelsea

we just stole valencia's best player, juan mata. we also just stole genk's keeper. and leverkusen will be a reunion against ballack.

i predict man city will win the group of death. not sure about the rest. bayern is so inconsistent.

SWedd523 · Post #865 » by **SWedd523** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 9:35 pm

Can our German friends shed some light on the new guy who just declared USA allegiance, Fabian Johnson?

Det the Threat · Post #866 » by **Det the Threat** » Sat Aug 27, 2011 8:09 am

SWEDD523 wrote:Can our German friends shed some light on the new guy who just declared USA allegiance, Fabian Johnson?

A fast guy who runs a lot and can play both right and left back and some left or right midfield.

He's started his career with 1860 Munich and played very well in the 2nd Bundesliga. Then transferred to Wolfsburg, where he didn't play all that much and now just transferred to Hoffenheim before the season started.
Seems like the Hoffenheim coach really likes him and gives him a chance to play(currently at RM), which he has used to assist on three goals during the first three matches.

Post #867 » by **fatlever** » Sun Aug 28, 2011 8:44 pm

LOL @ arsenal. that was ridiculous. wenger has to go, right?

e4Nf6 · Post #868 » by **e4Nf6** » Tue Aug 30, 2011 4:44 pm

If Wenger's job is in the slightest danger then Arsenal management are crazy.

Det the Threat · Post #869 » by **Det the Threat** » Tue Aug 30, 2011 5:42 pm

Michael Bradley will continue his career in Italy.

http://www.chievoverona.it/it/news/mich ... -strisce-0

He will leave Borussia Moenchengladbach and join Italian Serie A side AS Chievo Verona.
He'll sign a two year contract with an option for a third season.

There've been some rumors that Gladbach will receive about 2 million euros.

Post #870 » by **fatlever** » Tue Aug 30, 2011 6:45 pm

e4Nf6 wrote:If Wenger's job is in the slightest danger then Arsenal management are crazy.

e4 where have you been?

e4Nf6 · Post #871 » by **e4Nf6** » Wed Aug 31, 2011 4:00 pm

fatlever wrote:
e4 where have you been?

I had to take some time off from the NBA. Trading Crash, a bad season, and now the lockout made it no fun. I'm optimistic about Bismack and Kemba though. I'll probably post more when the lockout is over.

I've also decided that I'm going to try and avoid this:

Post #872 » by **fatlever** » Wed Aug 31, 2011 5:25 pm

@e4 - fair enough. at least come keep me swedd and det the treat company on the soccer thread while you are avoiding the NBA.

speaking of soccer, today should nuts.

SWedd523 · Post #873 » by **SWedd523** » Sat Sep 3, 2011 2:22 am

Don't miss the friendly tonight at 11. I want to see if we continue with the attacking mentality the young guys bring and if we show improvement over the first game's slow start

Post #874 » by **fatlever** » Sat Sep 3, 2011 2:30 am

you know it swedd. i cant wait.

finally, we get another look at chandler. and torres is starting again tonight along with shea.

should be fun to watch tonight.

SWedd523 · Post #875 » by **SWedd523** » Sat Sep 3, 2011 3:29 am

beautiful give and go between shea and altidore leads to a hugely missed opportunity for Donovan.

Shea is QUICKLY becoming my second favorite player. He's working everybody on that left side and has been playing the ball fantastically.

With all the athletes we have, you'd have expected this push it up offensive style a long, long time ago. It sure does look good!

Post #876 » by **fatlever** » Sat Sep 3, 2011 3:34 am

hard not to love watching shea, right? such a breath of fresh air over on the left. i love all this team speed we have in this lineup. imagine dempsey in place of donovan, with donovan out wide in place of rogers. now thats a lineup that can really do some damage. torres looks much better so far than he did vs mexico. granted he has a lot more time on the ball tonight.

Post #877 » by **fatlever** » Sat Sep 3, 2011 3:52 am

torres has been brilliant so far. love it.

Det the Threat · Post #878 » by **Det the Threat** » Sat Sep 3, 2011 6:13 am

Germany just qualified for the european championships in Ukraine and Poland next summer.

We beat Austria 6-2(they shot twice on goal and scored, beause we weren't concentrating enough on defense) and won all eight of our qualifying matches so far.

Though, as of right now we'll only be in pot two of the draf for the tournament, because Spain and the Netherlands are seeded higher and the two hosts(Ukraine and Poland) will be in pot one as well.

Therefore we could meet Spain as early as the group stages.

e4Nf6 · Post #879 » by **e4Nf6** » Sat Sep 3, 2011 1:43 pm

I guess all those USA-Costa Rica posts were from the first half...

SWedd523 · Post #880 » by **SWedd523** » Sat Sep 3, 2011 2:22 pm

What a total letdown. Hold possession for 70 minutes and still lose.

Backs
They were working Castillo all night long and that led to the majority of their chances. The times he got forward, he held possession too long and turned the ball over too much. Fiscal was unimpressive as well. It seemed like Carlos was covering for him the entire night and the lone goal came on a weak mark by Fiscal.

I did like what I saw from Chandler. He moved forward and attacked very well, and had the speed and energy to cover the right wing with tenacity. The Costa Rican attack was only viable on the other side of the field.

Mids
Yet another game I was unimpressed with Edu. He just disappears into the flow of the game too much for my taste.

Torres had the best game by a player for either team last night. He made some fantastic tackles, some beautiful passes, and kept himself positively involved the entire night. He was a thorn in Costa Rica's side all night and it showed as he drew foul after foul

Forwards
I saw a few nice plays from Rogers, but not enough for me to call him a starter. He seemed a bit nervous on the ball and passed off too much instead of taking the dribble when marked by one player. I assume he'll be the odd man out with Dempsey and Donovan return to the field together.

Shea looked great on the ball. Constantly beating one or two players and getting the ball in good spots on the left side. Unfortunately, he couldn't finish with crisp crosses for better opportunities. I'd really like to see him work on that aspect of the game