OT: soccer thread

[Det the Threat]

det, i know you hate both bayern and chelsea. who are you rooting for? when bayern is on, they play some of the most attractive soccer. i know everyone thinks barca's style is so much fun to watch, but i disagree, i love teams that play fast and attack down the wings like bayern, similar style to man u and tottenham as well. the first half of that real bayern game was beautiful. both teams just going after each other.

Like I've said, I'll be "rooting" for Bayern.

Almost half of the german National Team plays for them and it certainly would be a nice confidence boost if they'd go into the european championships as CL winners.
There's also the fact that every win gets your country points for that UEFA ranking which decides which league gets how many international spots.
We just clinched the third spot and now are able to send 3 teams directly into the CL, with the 4th place team(currently Gladbach) going into the CL-qualifiers and 5th + 6th place(even the 7th best team this year, as Bayern and Dortmund will play the cup final and both are qualified for CL) playing Europa League.

As for Bayern's style of play:
I disagree with you.
They're only about keeping posession and giving the ball to Ribery or Robben, to let them try and create something one on one. That's pretty easy to defend and the reason why they couldn't win the league for two years in a row.
Dortmund's the team playing the best football and they're deservingly champs for the 2nd year in a row, even with Mario Goetze missing nearly half the season.
If I could choose, I'd rather play Bayern(whom we beat twice this season) then Dortmund(we got a point at home and lost there 2-0), as Dortmund's playing a very agressiv style of play that has them running at an unbelieveable high rate and attacking the opposing goal directly.

Another team is my team, even if I'm biased. We're playing very well organized but when we've got the ball we go directly at the opposing goal. We're also playing a style with many short and direct passes, which got us the name "Borussia Barcelona" by some papers. That's of course a reach, but absolutely the style of our coach Lucien Favre.

As far as Spain goes.
I think watching Atletic Bilbao is something everyone can enjoy. They're playing a very nice attacking style of football and showing great technical abilities.

BTW:
Will you be watching the european championships starting June 8th?

[fatlever]

i agree about bilbao. they looked really good in the europa league when i watched them. they took it to man u's ass in that series which was awesome to see.

will dortmund be able to keep their team (and maybe add to it) this summer ahead of next year's CL? i enjoy seeing new teams climb into the knockout phase. makes it more interesting. and good luck to your team next year as well. i know you are stoked.

i will absolutely be glued to the euros this summer, along with USA world cup qualifying. i'd love to see germany knock spain off their mighty perch.

[Det the Threat]

will dortmund be able to keep their team (and maybe add to it) this summer ahead of next year's CL? i enjoy seeing new teams climb into the knockout phase. makes it more interesting.

Dortmund might lose Shinji Kagawa to either ManU or Chelsea, at least that's the two teams he's been linked with.
Though, they've already bought our best player in Marco Reus(for 17.1 mil euros), who's also going to play for Germany in this years european championships and so far has scored 16 goals and assisted on 10 more during this years Bundesliga season.

Two vids of Reus:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8TxAC5CYfY[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyU1ZWSw248[/youtube]

i will absolutely be glued to the euros this summer, along with USA world cup qualifying. i'd love to see germany knock spain off their mighty perch.

Yeah, I'd like us to knock off Spain as well, but I don't think they'll win it, even if we don't make it to the finals.
I just can't see a team win three tournaments in a row(never happened before) and I think they're getting older and they'll need to find some solutions for Xavi(being injured quite often nowadays) and Villa(still injured and Torres hasn't played well for a couple of years, as you know.

And of course good luck to you guys making it to the next world cup as well.

and good luck to your team next year as well. i know you are stoked.

Thanks man.
It will be a tough season. Not only are opponents going to play us more defensively (they already do so), but we'll have to replace three key players from this years team.
Marco Reus(the guy in the vids and probably the Bundesliga player of the season) will leave for Dortmund, Dante, one of the best central defenders of the league for years, will join Bayern Munich for only 4.7 mil euros(thanks to that crappy opt out clause in his contract) and Roman Neustaedter(solid central midfielder) will join Schalke on a free transfer.

Though, we'll have quite some money in our pockets and we most likely are going to buy Granit Xhaka(19 year old central midfielder of FC Basel, Swiss international and under 17 world cup winner) for next year. There also was some talk about up and coming dutch international Luuk de Jong(Twente Enschede) joining us, but he's too expansive, as english clubs joined the bidding.

[Eoghan]

Soccer appeared on my radar in 94 when my mother and brother went to Europe, conveniently during the World Cup. When they came back they regaled me with stories of whole towns basically crawling to a standstill when their country was playing. I was immediately impressed by the level of fandom. I started following the Dutch Nat. team b/c I loved their great passing and bright orange jerseys. In the 2000s, I basically started watching Liverpool b/c of Kuyt and Ryan Babel whom I loved from the Dutch team. When I found out the town I was living in during college (Wilmington) was originally called New Liverpool, I decided it was pretty much fate.

[fatlever]

hey det, what can you tell me about marko marin? he signed with chelsea today. from what i know, he seems like a really good buy and a great fit considering our lack of wingers and speed.

dave - i have a bright orange wesley sneijder netherlands jersey that i bought after the 2008 euros. i love that guy.

[Det the Threat]

hey det, what can you tell me about marko marin? he signed with chelsea today. from what i know, he seems like a really good buy and a great fit considering our lack of wingers and speed.

I'm not sure what to make about Marin going to England.
He's probably going to crawl on the pitch during the whole 90 minutes and I could have seen him going to Spain or Italy, but not England.

He's a very technical guy that can create some things one on one, but he's got nearly no staminy and is a diving machine.
He's also a guy that made his first steps in German professional football for my club and we sold him for about the same price you will pay, about 3 years ago. Since then he hasn't developed anything and therefore isn't on the radar of Joachim Loew anymore.

All things considered, I think he can help Chelsea create more chances on goal and becoming a bit more creative on offense.

[fatlever]

sounds like he needs to get stronger. maybe not a 90 minute guy, but a sparkplug who can come on the last 20-30.

not a fan of the diving. i hope he cuts that out.

rumors that lukaku is headed on loan to werder as part of the deal.

[LamarMatic7]

had a great time last night watching the fa cup final in a pub. this may still turn out to be a quite successful season for chelsea.

[fatlever]

how about that save by cech to keep it 2-1? that was impressive stuff. we have 2 weeks to get rested up for munich. last two league games are meaningless now. get those trainers working 24/7 on cahill and luiz because i really dont want to see an essien bosingwa center back pairing on the 19th.

[fatlever]

hey det, what do you make of the news today that timmy chandler snubbed the USA for the 2nd summer in a row (in games that would tie him to the US). he claims he is "tired". last year he claimed he wanted to focus on his club. seems like he had a great year for his club and got a new contract, so his club status should be solid. as for being tired, seems like everyone at this time of year is tired. he is only 22.

does he really think he can eventually get on the german national team? how far down the pecking order is he in your opinion? seems like germany is loaded with young talent at left and right back.

or does he just not have interest in national team soccer and really just prefers to focus on club?

or maybe he just doesnt feel like he belongs on the US team considering he has lived his entire life in germany.

all of these would be understandable and acceptable, if he would just come out and state his intentions. last summer after passing on the gold cup, he stated he was not interested in germany and was committed to US. he played in all of the fall friendlies at left back.

he would have been our starter this summer at left back and would have most likely been our starter at right back if we get to brazil in 2014.

oh well, unlike 2 years ago, we finally have some depth at left back and right back with guys like eric lichaj and fabian johnson.

here is an article about the whole thing
http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/usa/ ... mnt-051512

[Det the Threat]

I haven't heard anything about Chandler being of interest for the German national team.

If he'd be, then he would've been invited to the training camp for the european championships and he wasn't.

And that's with those positons being the weakest(outside of Lahm) currently in German football.

At those positions we've got Lahm, who can play either one, and then the problems start.
If we play Lahm at left back(most likely position currently IMO), then we'll have to play Boateng or Hoewedes at right back and both of those are better at center back.

If we play Lahm at right back, then we'll either have to play Schmelzer or Boateng at left back.
Schmelzer's running a lot and defending pretty solidly, but he's got nearly no experience at the highest level of soccer and he's pretty limited offensively.


Though, even with all those problems(we only have Lahm and Schmelzer as real left or right backs in this years squad for the euros) at the right/left back position for us, I still don't see Chandler being an option for us.


BTW: Loew has nominated 27 players for this years european championships and will have to send 4 of them back home before the final cut on May, 29th.
The preperation for the tournament is really tough this time around, with only eleven of them starting the first camp last weekend and all those Bayern players(8 of them have been selected to the NT) not being with the team before the middle to the end of next week(they'll have to play a friendly against the Netherlands after the CL-Final).

Here's the squad Loew has nominated:

Goalkeepers:
Manuel Neuer(Bayern Munich)
Tim Wiese(Werder Bremen)
Robert Zieler(Hannover 96)
Marc-Andre ter Stegen(Borussia Moenchengladbach)

Defenders:
Phillip Lahm(Bayern Munich)
Jerome Boateng(Bayern Munich)
Holger Badstuber(Bayern Munich)
Per Mertesacker(Arsenal London)
Marcel Schmelzer(Borussia Dortmund)
Mats Hummels(Borussia Dortmund)
Benedict Hoewedes(Schalke 04)

Midfielders:
Bastian Schweinsteiger(Bayern Munich)
Sami Khedira(Real Madrid)
Mesut Oezil(Real Madrid)
Thomas Mueller(Bayern Munich)
Lukas Podolski(FC Cologne)
Tony Kroos(Bayern Munich)
Marco Reus(Borussia Moenchengladbach)
Mario Goetze(Borussia Dortmund)
Sven Bender(Borussia Dortmund)
Ilkay Guendogan(Borussia Dortmund)
Lars Bender(Bayer Leverkusen)
Andre Schuerrle(Bayer Leverkusen)
Julian Draxler(Schalke 04)

Attackers:
Miroslav Klose(Lazio)
Mario Gomez(Bayern Munich)
Cacau(VFB Stuttgart)


As you can see, there are only two real right/left backs in this squad with Lahm and Schmelzer. Loew even told reporters that he could see midfielder Lars Bender playing some right back, if needed.

We currently have a problem at those position or at least at the position opposite of Lahm. Though, as you can hardly find really good left backs in world football these days(not even the spaniards have a great one) we're not alone with those problems.

Looking at that squad, we've got some problems on defense, a really good midfield and need a healthy Klose at the lonely striker position.
It's pretty interesting to see that we've got a huge number of offensive midfielders and guys like Marin not even being close to the national team.

The guys I think the most likely to get cut are ter Stegen(though, could be Zieler as well) as he's only 20 years old and should be in line for after this tournament, Sven Bender(not needed and not as flexible as his twin brother), Ilkay Guendogan(we already have a playmaking central midfielder in Kroos) and Julian Draxler, who's only 18 years of age and playing at positions(offensive midfield) where we're two deep at least.

The lineup will most likely be something like this:

-----------------------------------------Neuer----------------------------------------

-Boateng-----------Hummels/Mertesacker----Badstuber---------Lahm-

--------------------------Khedira---------Schweinsteiger----------------------

-Mueller----------------------------Oezil-------------------------Podolski------

-------------------------------------Klose---------------------------------------------


Though, we've got guys like Reus, Goetze or Schuerrle, who're ready to step in, if one of those offensive midfielders isn't 100% or in real form.
Especially Reus, who's played a fantastic season with Gladbach, should be an option and maybe even at striker, as Loew has already said he would try to put him there during training and maybe some friendlies.

[fatlever]

i guess chandler is looking at the thin spots at LB and RB and hoping that within 2 years he can make enough noise at club to get on loew's radar. seems like a serious long-shot. i guess he'd rather go with the serious long-shot of maybe maybe germany, even as a sub than to be sure fire starter for the next decade for US. like i said, he has lived his entire life in germany, so its understandable. i just wish he would come out and say as much.

anyway...

what do you know about alfredo morales who plays for hertha berlin? he is another dual citizenship player that JK has added to the US player pool. he got called in to training camp this week.

[e4Nf6]

Maybe Chandler just doesn't want to give up his summer vacation.

When he signed up with us I'm sure he was thinking about playing in a world cup. Trips to central America to play on 80% dirt pitches are not as appealing.

[fatlever]

you could be on to something e4. maybe he saw some clips of some Guatemala vs US games, with a few too many two footed slide tackles coming our way and a corrupt official running scared in the other direction. or perhaps it was the story about landon donovan getting piss and vomit throw on him at azteca while sending in a corner kick. that compared to 30 days on the beach sounds like a no brainer.

[Fred Williamson]

today is the day

[Det the Threat]

i guess chandler is looking at the thin spots at LB and RB and hoping that within 2 years he can make enough noise at club to get on loew's radar. seems like a serious long-shot. i guess he'd rather go with the serious long-shot of maybe maybe germany, even as a sub than to be sure fire starter for the next decade for US. like i said, he has lived his entire life in germany, so its understandable. i just wish he would come out and say as much.

I don't think Chandler's really on Loew's radar and we've got guys at his talent level and positions as well.

Though, I thought he was injured quite a bit the last couple of months and if I'm I remember correctly, he even missed the last couple of games because of injury again.

So maybe he wants to heal fully and takes time off to do so.

anyway...

what do you know about alfredo morales who plays for hertha berlin? he is another dual citizenship player that JK has added to the US player pool. he got called in to training camp this week.

Not much.
He's played a couple of games for Hertha BSC while Lell was injured and did OK. Or at least as OK as a youngster can do in such a chaotic invironment like Hertha's, who had three different coaches this season.

Speaking of Hertha Berlin.
They had to play the third place team of the 2nd Bundesliga(Duesseldorf) and lost at home while drawing 2-2 at Duesseldorf this Tuesday.
Though, the circumstances in Duesseldorf have been so drastic(Hertha fans using pyrotechnics to force seven minutes of extra time, Duesseldorf fans storming on the pitch before the final whistle was blown and the ref still ending the final 90 seconds after a 20 minute delay because of that) that the DFL is currently ruling if the result stands and Duesseldorf does get promoted into the Bundesliga.

After the game, some of the Hertha players even attacked the ref and chased him to his dressing room to try and punch him even more.

Here's a vid of some of the actions.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx7qNm35S0Y[/youtube]

BTW: There had also been some huge problems after the relegation games between the 2nd and 3rd Division in Germany and I think you'll soon see only seats and personalised tickets in Germany as well.

[LamarMatic7]

Knowing that Brits love to visit the Old Town of Riga, this will be a fun game to watch at a pub.

[LamarMatic7]

Finally... I can't believe this. The odds were against us ever since we were down against Napoli.

[fatlever]

i am still in shock. i'm not sure it has really hit me yet that we won. i wasnt expecting to win. and at no point during that game did i start to feel confident we could win. that 88th minute goal by drogba was amazing.

sucks to be a tottenham fan today. no champions league for you. ha ha.

[Det the Threat]

i am still in shock. i'm not sure it has really hit me yet that we won. i wasnt expecting to win. and at no point during that game did i start to feel confident we could win. that 88th minute goal by drogba was amazing.

Lucky bastards, that's what fits Chelsea's win in this one.

Bayern just didn't do anything with all their posession and chances on goal and as the old rule says, if you don't convert your chances, you're going to regret it.

Anyways, congrats to you.

sucks to be a tottenham fan today. no champions league for you. ha ha.

Yeah.
That's the part I really don't mind, as Gladbach can't face them in next season's champions league qualification.
The teams we'll face are most likely going to be Sporting Braga, Spartak Moscow, Panathinaikos Athens, FC Kopenhagen, Dynamo Kiew, Glasgow Rangers(if they're allowed to play CL-qualification) or Fenerbahce Istanbul.