• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Football Thread 2011/12 |OT8| Made it to the Championship play-offs

Status
Not open for further replies.

Yurt

il capo silenzioso
_fcf22d3fafd57a0c87e799c17c962d55.gif


I just heard something about Xavi (maybe) not playing against Milan on the radio. Any truth to it?

8fwnl.jpg
 

Arnie

Member
Woke up and watched the latest episodes of Mad Men and GoT, fucking top start to the day. If Blackburn can get anything against United then it'll hit it's peak. My step dad's bugging me trying to get me to go to the match tonight, he's a Blackburn season ticket holder and he's adamant that Blackburn will get something from the game. I said he should save the money and I'll watch it on Sky Go, can't be fucked watching, in all likelihood, United bend Steve Kean over.
 

dc89

Member
After he stamped on Parker's head and got away with it. Balotelli is a nutcase and with the right manager that can be a good thing, with a poor man-manager like Mancini, it's a disaster waiting to happen. Was it Mourinho who said he was unmanageable?

Yup. Mourinho also said something like “He trains at 25 per cent, if it was 50 per cent he could be one of the world’s best players,”
 

Yurt

il capo silenzioso
What the hell is The Weeknd! Links please! :p

edit: Ah.. Sounds like the Canadian version of Coldplay to me!
 
Yup. Mourinho also said something like “He trains at 25 per cent, if it was 50 per cent he could be one of the world’s best players,”

One might argue that what he said a year later supersedes that:

"I am sorry that the fans were like that with Balotelli. I always want my fans to be with my players right to the end. But, in the end, I can understand them because they saw the same thing as me. They saw a team which was dead, exhausted after all their efforts. Nearly all of you for the last two years have been saying that what he does is normal and then there is just this idiot of a coach who says it is not normal. The coach takes all the flak - I can't motivate him, I can't educate him, this or that, next year it's best if Mourinho goes and not Balotelli. And then, in the second most important match in the world at club football level, all of my team leave the field dead and one player could have done a little bit more to help the team who was in danger. The fans wanted more, his team-mates wanted more and he did not give it."
 
Anyone here travelled to Ewood Park as an away fan? Wanna know if its fine taking a car down (parking by the ground) or if I should pay for a coach

Parking is shite mate I'd get a coach or train

Arnie - good call not going, I expect united will walk it and protests will start again, not heard anything for a while then Kean out has started again since other teams won at weekend. Where does he sit by the way?
 

Meier

Member
Fox Soccer Channel is going to make me wake up super early again next Sunday. Man U vs QPR (do your thing, QPR!) at 8:30 followed by City vs Arsenal. Huge morning.
 

altaz

Neo Member
Are you a Liverpool or Everton fan? There's a really slim chance that mine will be going, although it's getting offered to my dad/brother/friends first. Will pm you no later than Wednesday night to let you know

Other than that, there's a forum on RAWK that trades tickets, but again, I think it's a slim chance of grabbing on at face value

I thought it might be worth a post, i'm a Liverpool fan i'v never been to a game (i know, i know). Anyway, let me know, no worries if you can't.
 

TeegsD

Member
Fox Soccer Channel is going to make me wake up super early again next Sunday. Man U vs QPR (do your thing, QPR!) at 8:30 followed by City vs Arsenal. Huge morning.

Well at least I'll be home so won't have to deal with a hangover that morning
so sad
 

Carbonox

Member
Fox Soccer Channel is going to make me wake up super early again next Sunday. Man U vs QPR (do your thing, QPR!) at 8:30 followed by City vs Arsenal. Huge morning.

Oh shit it's City v Arsenal at the weekend?

I want City to win that, with Newcastle beating Swansea. 2 points off the top 4 then! :p Heck, 2 points off the top 3 if Spurs lose as well.

OH MY *faints* DIZZY HEIGHTS ALL UP IN THIS JOINT
 

Arnie

Member
Parking is shite mate I'd get a coach or train

Arnie - good call not going, I expect united will walk it and protests will start again, not heard anything for a while then Kean out has started again since other teams won at weekend. Where does he sit by the way?

He sits in that shitty wooden stand opposite the main one.

As for parking Elseanio, when I went for that infamous Hodgson era match we parked on Dalglish way and walked down for about 10 minutes. Wasn't too bad to be honest. We managed to leg it after the final whistle and get out before the traffic too.
 

elseanio

Member
Cheers. Posters on RAWK seem to use a school carpark (up a hill...) that sounds easy in easy out for away fans

Either way, 39 quid is a bit steep! Wanna get on the 'away game' ladder though, as this has went to general sale
 

Kyoufu

Member
Oh shit it's City v Arsenal at the weekend?

I want City to win that, with Newcastle beating Swansea. 2 points off the top 4 then! :p Heck, 2 points off the top 3 if Spurs lose as well.

OH MY *faints* DIZZY HEIGHTS ALL UP IN THIS JOINT

We won't get top 4 with the remaining fixtures Spurs and Arsenal have (even Pardew agrees)

BUT we damn sure need to get 5th. I don't think 6th is enough for Europa.

If the FA grant Cardiff a spot in Europa I'll flip a table.
 

Hixx

Member
We won't get top 4 with the remaining fixtures Spurs and Arsenal have (even Pardew agrees)

BUT we damn sure need to get 5th. I don't think 6th is enough for Europa.

If the FA grant Cardiff a spot in Europa I'll flip a table.

...why would they?

If Liverpool beat Everton in the FA Cup semi-final then 6th will get the Europa League spot as Liverpool already have a spot in it. If Everton win, they will get it either as winners or losing finalists..
 

Carbonox

Member
...why would they?

If Liverpool beat Everton in the FA Cup semi-final then 6th will get the Europa League spot as Liverpool already have a spot in it. If Everton win, they will get it either as winners or losing finalists..

Which is why Liverpool need to beat Everton. I fear for Liverpool as yesterday's events could well mess with them (along with the rest of their shitty form this year) against an Everton team LOL'ing all the way to top 7, buoyed by the fact that their closest rivals are in shit street and that they actually have a chance to go to the final.

Hopefully Liverpool uses this match as an excuse to get a kick up the arse. They're capable of winning the FA Cup now so they better fucking reach that final. Newcastle's European dream rests on it. :lol :lol :lol
 

dc89

Member
Here's the bold facts that should send shivers down any Liverpool fan's spine...

New Year, new problems
Last week we showed you what the Premier League table would look like if the season started on January 1st . Well, following the weekend's defeat at Newcastle, it's now even worse than that. With eight points from a possible 36, Liverpool would sit 19th in the table. To paraphrase the motto of the city's John Lennon airport: above us only sky, below us only Wolves...

The Fenway Sports Group have stated that qualification for the Champions League isn't a priority this season. Which is lucky because Liverpool currently lie closer to the relegation zone (16 points) than they do to fourth place (18 points)

Shooting blanks
Liverpool are also 19th in the total goals scored table. Their 36 strikes from 31 league games equates to a goals-per-game ratio of 1.16 - even worse than the Souness team of 1991-92, widely derided as one of the worse in the club's history.

The Kop's top scorer this season is Luis Suarez with a paltry seven goals. The last time they went through a full season without a player reaching double figures was 2004-05, when Milan Baros came closest with nine.

Another striker, Dirk Kuyt has been a shadow of the player he was last season. The Dutchman scored 13 goals in 2010-11 compared to only two this time round while his shooting accuracy had dropped from 62% to 46.7%. This gives him a conversion rate of only 6.7% compared to 26% last year.

All mouth and no tackle
The loss of Lucas and lengthy absences of Steven Gerrard appear to have cost Liverpool their bite in midfield. They have won only 450 tackles this season compared to 631 last term, and have come out better in 1,566 duels as opposed to 2,163 last season.

Conversely, Liverpool's statistics when it comes to passing are actually better than last season. They have completed 80.8% of passes compared to 77.1% last season and been more successful with their crosses too - suggesting the problems lie with their forwards. Or, in other words, Andy Carroll.

They've lost that winning feeling
How's this for a warning from history: Kenny Dalglish has seen his side lose six of the last seven league games (to Manchester United, Arsenal, Sunderland, QPR, Wigan and Newcastle). The last time that happened was in the 1953-54 season...when they were relegated.

Fortress Anfield is now just a distant memory. Liverpool have only won a third of their games at Anfield (five from 15) and will have to win another two just to equal the relegation team of 1953-54.

To add insult to injury, Liverpool could finish behind Everton for only the second time in Premier League history. Their arch rivals are one place and a point above them in the table - and Liverpool haven't got winning the Champions League to fall back on this time.

Smells like no team spirit
Despite spending most of the season developing a siege mentality that, at times, bordered on the mental, Kenny Dalglish's side appear to be cracking under the pressure. Not only did Andy Carroll lose it bigtime with his manager at St James' Park on Sunday , but even archetypal team player Steven Gerrard appeared to lose his rag. As the clip below shows.

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/new...s-are-going-backwards-FACT-article885935.html
A tad hyperbolic.
 
cassano got the all clear from the federation of sporting doctors! now he only needs clearance from some other institute and he is back!

he may make it for the end of the season and things are looking good for his prospects at the euros. :)
 

LegoArmo

Member
I don't mind quitters, I get the win anyway. I hate the guys who watch every replay the maximum amount of times, use all their pauses for the full time limit, and watch all the highlights at half time and full time, trying to get me to quit. It can add a good 10 minutes to the match.
 

Arnie

Member
That article isn't hyperbole and more just the truth. The only solace I can garner from such blatantly awful statistics is that we're sure to do something about it in the summer.

Quite honestly a top goalscorer is at the top of our priorities, if we can start scoring our defence won't be so terrified to concede. And with a bit of confidence running through our team, and with Carragher benched, our defence is pretty good. A goalscoring midfielder is also important, but I think if we start playing Shelvey more we'll create and score more goals from the middle of the park.

In Fifa I just got relegated from D1, and I've made a horrendous start to D2. The television I play on at home has a slight degree of input lag, so I've decided to not continue my season until I return to Uni. I hate the fact that you can go 1 nil up in the first five minutes but he opponent can quit and you don't get a win. Infuriating.
 

Carbonox

Member
Liverpool are only 16 points away from the relegation zone? Wait what? :lol

Then again, those bottom lot have been getting some results lately. Still, that's a mad stat.

But yes, they seriously need a striker or two in the summer. Their goal scoring capabilities (providing and scoring) are currently fucking horrendous.

Unless they sell the likes of Downing, they're really gonna have to work with guys like him. He's capable of good things so it baffles me why he's so shit for Liverpool.
 
Liverpool are only 16 points away from the relegation zone? Wait what? :lol

Then again, those bottom lot have been getting some results lately. Still, that's a mad stat.

But yes, they seriously need a striker or two in the summer. Their goal scoring capabilities (providing and scoring) are currently fucking horrendous.

Unless they sell the likes of Downing, they're really gonna have to work with guys like him. He's capable of good things so it baffles me why he's so shit for Liverpool.

The only team that needs to be worried that normally isn't is Villa. :(
 

Salazar

Member
Futbol-GAF is one of the few threads Heathrow's internet is letting me read. Censorship out of control.

Nervous about the match. Could completely deflate me just before I board.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom