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Football Thread 2011/2012 | OT11 | Roll on the Euros and transfer muppetry

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P

PaulLFC

Member
Kyoufu said:
Guardiola confirmed.
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3AQmK.gif
 
S

Stubo

Member
Kyoufu said:
Umm... how is playing for Manure for the fame any different than the money? Either way he gets paid.

You guys really ride the Kagawa bandwagon like no other...
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Nice...

Well if Sir Alex Ferguson talks to you personally and you like the way he talks to you, he makes you feel welcome, valued (Hazard backup lol, etc), and generally outlines a vision for your future at a club, perhaps it's easier to have a preference and feel comfortable with one particular path for your future. Since no other clubs have been strongly linked with him then it's not like he's had much of a choice to make anyway.

I guess it's just highlighting that he's not milking it like some others have been shown to do so.

If an exciting player was on the verge of signing for your club you'd be on the bandwagon too ;)
 
A

Awesome Animals

Member
TheLucifer said:
Monti, speaking about what happened yesterday with the betting scandal: "we should stop football for 2-3 years". Yeah, sure, football is Italy's no. 1 problem. Let's stop Serie A, B, C, D, who cares about those thousands of workers that earn €1000 per month, their bank account is just like Ibra's one.

Well, if Italy had elections/referendums every year, Milan would be one of the first club in the world: Berlusconi always used his squad as a marketing tool for his political needs. Luckily/too bad he might have decided to never be elected as prime minister anymore.
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That's why I love Berlusconi from an outside point of view. Fascinating person and politician.
 
P

PaulLFC

Member
Steven Proudman ‏@Proudy31589
@SiClancy so you dont think Rodgers will get the job over Martinez?

Simon Clancy ‏@SiClancy
@Proudy31589 The opposite.

Aaaaaand back to Rodgers!
 
W

WJD

Member
Kyoufu said:
Umm... how is playing for Manure for the fame any different than the money? Either way he gets paid.

You guys really ride the Kagawa bandwagon like no other...
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Once again cementing yourself as one of the worst posters in this thread.
 
W

Wilbur

Banned
Kyoufu said:
Umm... how is playing for Manure for the fame any different than the money? Either way he gets paid.

You guys really ride the Kagawa bandwagon like no other...
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I don't think you understand.

Would you rather eat a delicious steak or a piece of shit? Either way you eat.
 
A

Az

Member
Booked my tickets to Chicago to watch the Mexico - Bosnia game. Super excited, cost me shitload since I booked last minute but I don't care !!

6 months no vacation, no sick days, I deserve this...
 
Portugeezer

Portugeezer

Member
Mourinho:
"Cristiano has to be the Ballon d'Or winner, not because he was the top scorer, which he already was last season, but because his goals won the league," the Portuguese said of his compatriot in an interview with SIC.

"Messi scored 50 goals that have not been worth anything, just as Cristiano scored 42 last season that were not worth anything."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaAOH5KL9RU

Does the special one (or is he the "only" one now?) have a point?

I think Ronaldo will have a great chance this season (especially if Portugal do well in the Euros).

Last year it was 47% Messi 21% Ronaldo. Give or take a few it will be 40% 30% or 30% 40% either way.

.
 
Z

Zabojnik

Member
Wilbury said:
Asamoah and Vidal are similar players though really aren't they?
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You could say that, although not exactly the same. They're both polyvalent midfielders. With the exception of Pirlo, we actually have a pretty interchangeable midfield, so I see no problems with Asamoah and Vidal being on the pitch at the same time. It's just a matter of assigning different 'tasks' to each one of them. It's how it's been this whole season, really, with Vidal doing most of the dirty work, so that Marchisio was able to migrate closer to the penalty area. With great effect, I might add. Then again, in some matches (or parts of them) it was Vidal's turn to shine and up to Marchisio to hold his position. The same thing will be expected of Asamoah, I think, which is why I see him becoming the 4th titolare in a 3-men midfield.
 
A

Awesome Animals

Member
Yurt said:
8yv8L.gif
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patapuf said:
I only find it Fascinating that he was elected numerous times. The Persona Berlusconi however represents everything that is/was wrong with Italys politicians.
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That's what makes him fascinating. I'm not saying he is a good person, is/was good for Italy, or anything like that. But his climb to power, the way he leveraged the public media to make the media conglomerate he owned more valuable and more profitable. The way he held power for so long despite the consistent accusations of corruption which he dodged every time.

I'm sorry ItalyGAF :(
 
Y

Yurt

il capo silenzioso
Can we please stop awarding the Golden Ball to the highest goalscorer?

Zabojnik said:
You could say that, although not exactly the same. They're both polyvalent midfielders. With the exception of Pirlo, we actually have a pretty interchangeable midfield, so I see no problems with Asamoah and Vidal being on the pitch at the same time. It's just a matter of assigning different 'tasks' to each one of them. It's how it's been this whole season, really, with Vidal doing most of the dirty work, so that Marchisio was able to migrate closer to the penalty area. With great effect, I might add. Then again, in some matches (or parts of them) it was Vidal's turn to shine and up to Marchisio to hold his position. The same thing will be expected of Asamoah, I think, which is why I see him becoming the 4th titolare in a 3-men midfield.
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Pretty much. He's a GREAT box-to-box midfielder. I seriously hope he ends up here!

Awesome Animals said:
The way he held power for so long despite the consistent accusations of corruption which he dodged every time.
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*cough* He owns the media.
 
W

Wilbur

Banned
Awesome Animals said:
That's what makes him fascinating. I'm not saying he is a good person, is/was good for Italy, or anything like that. But his climb to power, the way he leveraged the public media to make the media conglomerate he owned more valuable and more profitable. The way he held power for so long despite the consistent accusations of corruption which he dodged every time.

I'm sorry ItalyGAF :(
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You should watch Il Divo, it's about an Italian PM before Berlusconi, Giulio Andreotti. It's incredible.

And thanks for that Zabojnik! I really rate Asamoah, just thought that having a three man midfield with four 'starters' in a lot of teams would be hard to maintain.
 
Z

Zabojnik

Member
Wilbury said:
And thanks for that Zabojnik! I really rate Asamoah, just thought that having a three man midfield with four 'starters' in a lot of teams would be hard to maintain.
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Well, with three competitions next year I really don't see this being a problem. Quite the opposite in fact. We all saw what happened this year from january to mid-march, when Marchisio and Vidal were basically dead. Endless string of draws ft(almost)l. Now sign that fucking WC striker and we're set.

I can't wait to see how we measure up in Europe next season. I have a pretty good feeling, but you never know.
 
D

D4Danger

Unconfirmed Member
Phil Jagielka

"I'm sure if we win a game we'll be favourites and if we lose we'll be a waste of space. It's easier without expectation and hopefully we'll fly under the radar. We haven't won anything for a number of years and maybe that's because we don't deserve to."
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It's nice to see a bit of humility from an England player.
 
W

Wilbur

Banned
Zabojnik said:
Well, with three competitions next year I really don't see this being a problem. Quite the opposite in fact. We all saw what happened this year from january to mid-march, when Marchisio and Vidal were basically dead. Endless string of draws ft(almost)l. Now sign that fucking WC striker and we're set.

I can't wait to see how we measure up in Europe next season. I have a pretty good feeling, but you never know.
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I'd assume Pirlo would be the main casualty when playing over a few competitions.
 
G

GQman2121

Banned
Carbonox_Ratchet said:
So Manchester United do want Eden Hazard:

http://www1.skysports.com/football/n...s-Hazard-chase
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GQman2121 said:
Noooooooo...hands off!

The running story of the next month is where he is going to choose to play next season. If you've watched any of Lille's games over the last two years, it's blatantly obvious that their success is tied to Hazard being so influential to their formation and attack. He's wise well beyond his young age.
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GQman2121 said:
I hope a few of you got to see Hazard just now. He's worth that £30+ asking price.......
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GQman2121 said:
Pretty disappointed that we're not in for Hazard. At this point the price is only going to go up. We've already pulled off a great deal for Marin (the rumor is as low as £7m now), so I think Hazard is worth the splurge. He can play anywhere and be effective on the ball. He's that good. That rabona cross last weekend to beat PSG was something else.
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GQman2121 said:
We're swooping in to sign Hazard, Robinho style, by midnight on the 1st. Cue the NWO music......
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GQman2121 said:
He needs to take his talents to SW7. I need to see a Hazard/Mata/Ramires attack. Need!
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I hope everyone has at least one transfer wish come true.
 
C

caramac

Member
PaulLFC said:
Si Clancy says "Liverpool's next manager will speak Spanish."

So that would seem to lean towards Martinez. Does Rodgers know Spanish?
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Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers aims to convert long-ball believers
“This is the crusade,” says Brendan Rodgers. He is out to convert you — yes, you — to the enlightened path, preaching the gospel of tiki-taka in the South Wales valleys.
Swansea City manager Brendan Rodgers is intent on converting long-ball believers

Duncan White

By Duncan White

10:00PM GMT 13 Jan 2012

His pulpit is a training ground by a health club with one AstroTurf pitch, his church the Liberty Stadium, his flock Swansea City Football Club. Rodgers is the evangelist for the beautiful game. Or, more correctly, the beautiful British game. And his congregation is growing.

On Sunday, Arsenal come to Swansea. Arsène Wenger’s side have long held a monopoly on doing things stylishly in the Premier League. Yet this technical game was thought the preserve of an imported elite.

The lack of British players in the Arsenal side for the past decade was evidence, it was claimed, that these foreign ways were beyond the ken of our honest boys.

Now smaller teams have played good football in the Premier League in the past, but none have done it like Swansea. Despite a modest wage bill, Rodgers has built a side who have impudently dominated possession against their supposed superiors.

“This is our philosophy,” Rodgers said. “I like to control games. I like to be responsible for our own destiny. If you are better than your opponent with the ball you have a 79 per cent chance of winning the game.


"For me it is quite logical. It doesn’t matter how big or small you are, if you don’t have the ball you can’t score.”

Rodgers says he comes “from a different bottle” to the majority of British coaches. Growing up in a village in Antrim, he grew to share his father’s enthusiasm for the great Brazilian and Dutch teams of the Seventies.

When he played for the Northern Ireland youth sides he barely got a touch of the ball — it was always being punted back to the opposition over his head. He had trials with various clubs, including Manchester United shortly after Sir Alex Ferguson took over, but ended up at Reading.

At 20 he quit the game, realising he was not good enough to play at the top level. He did, though, think he could coach there.

“I wanted to make a difference. I went to Spain. I was a big lover of Spanish football and spoke the language. I spent a lot of time at Barcelona, talking and working with coaches, finding out about the model and the philosophy of the club. I’d been to Sevilla, Valencia and Betis.

I also spent time in Holland. It was a sacrifice because I had a young family at the time but I had a real thirst for knowledge. I wanted to be the best I possibly could.”

After coaching in the Reading academy he got his big break in 2004 when Jose Mourinho took him on in his backroom staff at Chelsea.

“I always say that working with Jose was like going to Harvard University,” he said.

While Mourinho’s integrated approach to management was a great influence, Rodgers has his distinctive methods. Pep Guardiola is another who has inspired him and his Swansea team are modelled, in their tactical system, on Barcelona. He even sketches out the tactical system on my notepad.

“My template for everything is organisation. With the ball you have to know the movement patterns, the rotation, the fluidity and positioning of the team. Then there’s our defensive organisation.

"So if it is not going well we have a default mechanism which makes us hard to beat and we can pass our way into the game again. Rest with the ball. Then we’ll build again.

“When we have the football everybody’s a player. The difference with us is that when we have the ball we play with 11 men, other teams play with 10 and a goalkeeper.”

Rodgers was cut up to lose his sweeper-keeper, Dorus de Vries, to Wolves in the summer and he realised he was going to need a very specific replacement. He found Michel Vorm.

“British people had said to me he was too small, which was good for me because it probably meant he was good with his feet. When we got the chance to see him I realised he was perfect. He was 27, humble, and makes saves that a 6ft 5in keeper won’t make because he’s so fast. But, importantly, he can build a game from behind. He understands the lines of pass.”

Rodgers’s claims are supported by the statistics.

Swansea’s passing percentages are behind only Arsenal and Manchester City. They do play a greater percentage of passes in their own half than any other side in the Premier League but it is all about being patient. To those raised on the orthodoxy of direct football this is baffling stuff.

“People will jump on us whenever we make a mistake. We had it against Manchester United. Angel Rangel had the ball at his feet and the commentary after the game is that he’s got to kick it into row Z.

"He had time on the ball, why would he smash it up the pitch? He just made a mistake. We need to give our players confidence in their ability. To play this way you can have no fear. The players respect that if there are any goals conceded through playing football I take the blame.

“Here’s another example. We were 2-0 up away at Wolves with six minutes to go but we failed to manage the pressure. We stopped playing it out from the back. We kicked the ball long and they got it and just smashed straight back into our box. Eventually we drew 2-2 and the players were devastated.

"I told them we needed to learn the six-minute game.

“The following week we worked on managing the pressure. But with the ball. Low and behold the next game we are at Bolton. We are 2-0 up. With 17 minutes to go they go 2-1. You could sense the nerves in the crowd.

"How were we going to deal with it? For 10 minutes Bolton did not get a kick of the ball and, eventually, we got the goal to win 3-1.

"Afterwards in the dressing room it was fantastic — that was how to manage pressure. When they had the momentum we sucked the life out of them.

“Our idea is to pass teams to a standstill so they can no longer come after you. Eventually you wear them down. We did that against one of the greatest teams in Tottenham. We did it against Manchester United in the second half. In the first half we were playing the history.

"What I said to them is 'now that you know what shirt you are getting, now can you play our game my friends?’ And they did.”

Yet for all the focus on Swansea’s passing, Rodgers is keen to stress that there is a lot more going on.

“People don’t notice it with us because they always talk about our possession but the intensity of our pressure off the ball is great. If we have one moment of not pressing in the right way at the right time we are dead because we don’t have the best players. What we have is one of the best teams.

“The strength of us is the team. Leo Messi has made it very difficult for players who think they are good players. He’s a real team player. He is ultimately the best player in the world and may go on to become the best ever. But he’s also a team player.

"If you have someone like Messi doing it then I’m sure my friend Nathan Dyer can do it. It is an easy sell.”

Sold? You can make your own mind up on Sunday afternoon whether you want to join the flock.
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.
 
W

Wilbur

Banned
TrueBlue said:
I'm sure the money will help.
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Such an unnecessary comment. Say for example United and City offer him 100,000. It's the same. They both offer him a starting spot. The same.

But he picks United because it's United. That is the key part of the statement here.

It's like Hazard picking Chelsea because it's more playing time. I wouldn't cry about money (or fail to recognise a smiley face in the original post)
 
S

systemfehler

Member
TrueBlue said:
I'm sure the money will help.
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Of course it will help especially in a business where one injury can end your career. However I believe that there are still a few players left who also factor in the reputation, the fans, etc. into their decision and to be honest even if Dortmund would offer the same amount of money the prospect of playing for ManU with higher CL chances is quite good.

That said I have to add who the f**k are ManUnited ;-)
 
T

TrueBlue

Member
Wilbury said:
Such an unnecessary comment. Say for example United and City offer him 100,000. It's the same. They both offer him a starting spot. The same.

But he picks United because it's United. That is the key part of the statement here.

It's like Hazard picking Chelsea because it's more playing time. I wouldn't cry about money (or fail to recognise a smiley face in the original post)
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I'm not questioning his preference/love of United, far from it. I just imagine that the wages he will earn will help sweeten the deal further, which is natural, right? I mean hell, playing for Chelsea would be amazing for me, a chilhood dream. Getting paid a hundred thousand pounds a week would be the icing on the cake.

EDIT: The original comment wasn't intended to be a dig at Kagawa or United, so sorry if it came across that way.
 
W

Wilbur

Banned
TrueBlue said:
I'm not questioning his preference/love of United, far from it. I just imagine that the wages he will earn will help sweeten the deal further, which is natural, right? I mean hell, playing for Chelsea would be amazing for me, a chilhood dream. Getting paid a hundred thousand pounds a week would be the icing on the cake.
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But it's the other way around, isn't it? Wherever he goes he will be offered big wages. He would pick United over them because they're United; that's the icing on the cake, that United want him.
 
V

Vivalaraza

Member
Heh, let's see how much he "loves" United if City come along and offer him double the money.

I'm sure he loves the idea of playing for United. That's easy to do, let's see how much he loves it once he's here...well I should say "if" he comes here. Hopefully a lot :)

Apparently Kagawa is massively ambitious and super driven. I think this is a career path dream for him more than anything. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
 
T

TrueBlue

Member
Well United would certainly be a good career choice, no doubting that. Perhaps I'm too cynical when it comes to money and footballers today, which is ironic considering I support Chelsea.
 
W

Wilbur

Banned
TrueBlue said:
Well United would certainly be a good career choice, no doubting that. Perhaps I'm too cynical when it comes to money and footballers today, which is ironic considering I support Chelsea.
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Far from it. We all know that footballers love money. But saying the money helps yadda yadda... It's just self explanatory. He's going to get offered a fuckload wherever he goes, but if City and United offered him equivalent wages it would be interesting to see where he'd go.
 
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