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[Sappy113]

I don't see the need to try and sign Hummels (or even Subotic) from Dortmund, that's presuming Dortmund would sell either and either player would be willing to go. I could only see United targeting Lewandowski and Kagawa as I think Rio has one more decent season in him left, we've Vidic to come back and hopefully Smalling will stay injury free.

Those two would be great a duo to sign, though. Both young players, proven winners, well acquinted with each other on the pitch and lots of room to improve. Seems like it'd be right up SAF's alley.

 

[Gareth Bale]

there is only one good show in the list

and one show that used to be good but has gone on too long

You have to say which ones they are now. I'm guessing one is Scrubs, but it could be either...

 

[Willkiller]

Fucking lovely day today, would love to be out having a kick about and a BBQ. Shame everyone is locking themselves indoor to revise for Uni exams :/

 

[Hixx]

Scrubs and HIMYM

 

[kharma45]

Fucking lovely day today, would love to be out having a kick about and a BBQ. Shame everyone is locking themselves indoor to revise for Uni exams :/

Tell me about it, weather is belter here and I'm stuck inside looking at the exciting topics like the economic restructuring of the labour market.

Woo.

 

[Carbonox]

Scrubs and HIMYM

I only really started watching the latter a few weeks ago and it's entertaining enough. I guess if I stuck with it since day one, it may have gotten tiring. Same with Big Bang Theory and Rules of Engagement (DAT WIFE).

Love Scrubs though.

 

[dc89]

Slow football news .
Waiting for some material to be sent to me.
Watching X Files.

 

[pslayer666]

OH GOD OH GOD TONIGHT THE BEST MATCH EVER HOLLAND-BAYERN.

Oh wait, no. Who in gods name wants to see this shit.

My wife!!!


When I reminded her that there's also the Eurovision 'song' contest, she went into rage-mode because she wants to watch both, so I just hanged up the phone.

 

[Mecha_Infantry]

JusT got interviewed by talksport about England's midfield. Was about to buss the iPad and get my PDFs out, but got an exam at 2

"keep it fresh man"

Fucking lovely day today, would love to be out having a kick about and a BBQ. Shame everyone is locking themselves indoor to revise for Uni exams :/

I know that feel bro

That'll be me for te next 2 days

 

[Salazar]

Waiting for some material to be sent to me.

Pornography
Bomb ingredients
Floral silk

 

[Yurt]

Nike officially revealed Barca's new kits.

CMON!

Allegri says he wants a smaller squad next year, but is keeping Silva and Ibra. With all their injuries this season I can't see this as a good idea. On the other hand, the savings in medical costs alone might pay Ibra's salary.

Allegri is slowly turning them into his beloved Cagliari.

 

[Messi]

Nike officially revealed Barca's new kits.

CMON!



Allegri is slowly turning them into his beloved Cagliari.

Where, gimmie gimmie

 

[Gareth Bale]

City looking sign Thiago Silva. Gold-tie apparently rejected a €40 million bid from Barcelona. City can have him for €50 million.

 

[Salvadora]

City looking sign Thiago Silva. Gold-tie apparently rejected a €40 million bid from Barcelona. City can have him for €50 million.

Although its goal.com I would probably that.

 

[Yurt]

Where, gimmie gimmie

Can't upload pics here

 

[Wessiej]

Tell me about it, weather is belter here and I'm stuck inside looking at the exciting topics like the economic restructuring of the labour market.

Woo.

Out here in the sun, browsing GAF and thinking about the 2 bbq's I have the upcoming 2 days. Ahh lovely.

 

[Messi]

I seen them. They went with yellow shorts on the away :/

New numbers look awesome

That goalkeeper kit is lovely too. I am still eh on the home kit.

 

[kharma45]

Out here in the sun, browsing GAF and thinking about the 2 bbq's I have the upcoming 2 days. Ahh lovely.

Bastard I'd thought about heading out onto our balcony (student living ftw!) to revise but WiFi signal up there is arse.

 

[GorillaJu]

Damn, Thiago Silva to City would about seal the deal for their next title. They already have the best attack, top 2 or 3 midfields and adding Silva would give them the best back five, bar none.

The PL is fucked.

 

[dc89]

City looking sign Thiago Silva. Gold-tie apparently rejected a €40 million bid from Barcelona. City can have him for €50 million.

Damn, Thiago Silva to City would about seal the deal for their next title. They already have the best attack, top 2 or 3 midfields and adding Silva would give them the best back five, bar none.

The PL is fucked.

Mancini asked about him when meeting with AC Milan. Maybe there is some truth behind this deal.

 

[pappe]

I like ht-e new Barca home kit. I wont buy it, but i think it looks good.

 

[Carbonox]

That Barca kit is hot. Surprise surprise Nike CAN make good club kits.

Anyway: http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/newc...m-the-far-east-with-a-trophy-72703-31018621/?

Our kids got a trophy! :O

We won the Hong Kong International Soccer Sevens tournament. Won all our matches. We have some promising kids so will be interesting to see who makes it professionally.

 

[MarshMellow96]

Slow news day I see.

Good thing I guess. I have my final exam on thursday and Max Payne's free aim warriors are driving me nuts in the OT. I'm not sure what a Martinez being announced as manager would do to my frail condition.

 

[GorillaJu]

The new Barça home kit looks terribad in my eyes. One of the worst I've seen. The away is more tolerable, and the GK strip actually looks quite nice.

 

[Messi]

 

[Broder Salsa]

Barca home looks bad but damn, the yellow and orange kit really managed to outshit it. Of course yellow is just a terrible color in general.

 

[Shatner's Bassoon]

That Barcelona shirt is horrendous.

 

[Messi]

I really like the away, but then again I love yellow and orange. Fuck yellow shorts and socks though.

 

[Ushojax]

The Barca shirt is one of the worst I've ever seen. That colour gradient just looks horrendous.

 

[tzare]

horrible shirts. i wonder how did Barça allow this. Well Rosell is a cunt afterall.

 

[José Mourinho]

Barca kits are grim. Numbers look funky though.

 

[GorillaJu]

Yeah. That looks awful =\

Here is an interview about tactics that AVB did. Really interesting stuff in there - particularly the way he says you should build a team with defensive players that can pass the ball forward. Given what he says here, if he came to Liverpool, I could see Lucas flourishing under his management.

Provoking the opponents in possession is something we were horrible at this past year. We got the back and teams were content to just sit back and soak it up for an hour, because we didn't have the passing or shooting quality to actually threaten from outside the box. Something that desperately needs improvement.

His opinions about English football echo exactly what John Barnes said in an interview just yesterday as well. Liverpool succeeded in the 70s and 80s not because we had a philosophy, but because we had the best players. Arsene Wenger brought the Brazilian and Dutch styles of employing philosophies and tactics.

AVB: There are more spaces in football than people think. Even if you play against a deep lying team, you immediately get half of the pitch. And after that, in attacking midfield, you can provoke the opponent with the ball, provoke him to move forward or sideways and open up a space. But many players can’t understand the game.

They can’t think about or read the game. Things have become too easy for football players: high salaries, a good life, with a maximum of five hours work a day and so they can’t concentrate, can’t think about the game.

Barcelona’s players are completely the opposite. Their players are permanently thinking about the game, about their movement, about how to provoke their opponent with the position of the ball.


DS: Does a top team need to dominate possession to win a match?

AVB: Not necessarily, for a simple reason. In Portugal we have this idea of match control based on recycling possession. That’s what we in Portugal, want to achieve in our football: top teams that dominate by ball possession, that push the opponent back to their area.

If you go find the top English teams pre-Arsene Wenger they tell you how to control a match in the opposite way without much ball possession, direct football, searching for the second ball.

Maybe now, controlling possession is the reference point for a top team, but that happens because they have much more quality players than the other teams, so it would be wrong not to take advantage of those individual skills.


DS: One thing Louis Van Gaal says is that you can control a match offensively and defensively but if you keep in control defensively you can also determine where your opponent will play on the pitch.

AVB: Yes, I agree. In that sense, yes. But the idea we now have in Portugal of match control is about having more ball possession than the opponent.


DS: Exactly, but match control has to result in scoring chances. That’s the only way it makes sense. There are teams that have like 60 per cent ball possession and that results in nothing at all.

AVB: That’s it. Match control always has to have a purpose, a main goal.


DS: And in that concept of match control, are there any sectors of the team more important than others?

AVB: Well, that depends on the mechanisms you want to use defensively and offensively. Let me give you an example:

Top teams nowadays don’t look to forward penetration from their midfielders because the coach prefers them to stand laterally (horizontally) and then use the movement of the wingers as the main source to create chances.

So, you, as a coach, have to know exactly what kind of players you have and analyse the squad to decide how you want to organise your team offensively. And then, there are maybe some players more important than others.

For instance, many teams play with defensive pivots, small defensive midfielders. And, except Andrea Pirlo and Xabi Alonso, and maybe Esteban Cambiasso and one or two more, they are players that are limited to the horizontal part of the game: they keep passing the ball from one side to another, left or right, without any kind of vertical penetration.

Can’t you use your defensive midfielder to introduce a surprise factor in the match? Let’s say, first he passes laterally and then, suddenly, forward?


DS: What’s the difference between playing with three or four midfielders?

AVB: Rafa Benitez created a 4-4-2 much more dynamic than the usual English 4-4-2. Because he introduced speed in ball possession, he gave it variation between forward and lateral passes.

The usual classic English 4-4-2 is more basic: a penetrating midfielder and another one that stays in position; a winger who moves inside and another one who stays wide; a full back who overlaps and another one who covers the defence.

If you talk about a 4-4-2 diamond, that’s totally different. You play with two pivotal midfielders, one defensive and one offensive, so it creates many more problems for your opponent. Defensively, though, you take a great risk of conceding too much space because you are very central and you lack width. You have to create compensation mechanisms.

Me, I’m a 4-3-3 fan, not 4-4-2. I don’t see how a classic 4-4-2 could work in the Spanish league, where every team plays 4-3-3 and the superiority of the midfield has become crucial. What Mourinho did with Chelsea with his 4-3-3 was something never seen before: a dynamic structure, aggressive, with aggressive transitions...and then there is Barca’s 4-3-3, which wouldn’t work in England, because of the higher risk of losing the ball.

If you have midfielders like Frank Lampard or Steven Gerrard you don’t want your forwards to come and play between lines, because Lampard and Gerrard have a large field of action and very often move in to those spaces. Lampard was often irritated with Didier Drogba because Drogba wanted to receive the ball there but then, amazingly, his first touch was poor, so he lost the ball and we were exposed to a transition from the opponent. So we had to limit Drogba from going there and ask him to play deeper.


DS: Is recycling possession essential in the attacking organisation of a top team?

AVB: Well, it’s essential to every team. Every team want to score. That’s the purpose of the game. Barcelona play laterally only after a forward pass. See how the centre backs go out with ball, how they construct the play. They open up (moving wider), so that the right or left-back can join the midfield line. Guardiola has talked about it: the centre backs provoke the opponent, invite them forward then, if the opponent applies quick pressure the ball goes to the other central defender, and this one makes a vertical pass - Not to the midfielders, who have their back turned to the ball, but to those moving between lines, Andres Iniesta or Lionel Messi, or even directly to the striker.

Then they play the second ball with short lay-offs, either to the wingers who have cut inside or the midfielders, who now have the game in front of them. They have an enormous capacity not to lose the ball, to do things with an unbelievable precision.

Another thing about Barcelona, there is always a full-back who arrives earlier in the attack, the other stays in position initially but then progressively joins the attack, as the ball circulates on the other side of the pitch, so he can be a surprise element. When you least expect he arrives. He chooses the perfect timing for the overlap.


DS: Louis Van Gaal says a forward pass is not a risk, but a lateral pass is because when you make a horizontal pass you are much more open, more exposed in case you lose the ball.

AVB: Yes, that’s right. And there are differences between a lateral pass and a slightly diagonal pass.

Something that used to happen a lot in England, when teams played 4-4-2, was that the central midfielders exchanged the ball between them in parallel passes so what we did with Lampard, or Liverpool did with Gerrard, was to try to cut into that space between the two midfielders with fast movement from Lampard (or Gerrard). If they got the ball there, there were already two opponents eliminated in the attacking transition.


DS: How do you attack a team that plays with park-the-bus tactics?

AVB: Let’s see. Juventus play with a very deep line, they don’t put any pressure on you high up the field. Nowadays most teams don’t. It can limit you because they control the space behind them with perfect offside timing.

They limit your forward passes as well because they are all grouped within 30 or 40 metres, completely closed in two lines of four plus the two forwards. So you start constructing “short”, begin the attacking process with your centre-backs of full-backs carrying the ball forward to the midfield area but then you want to pass the ball to the midfielders and you don’t know how to do it, because there is an ultra-limited space, everything is completely closed.


DS: So what to do?

AVB: You have to provoke them with the ball, which is something most teams can’t do. I cannot understand it. It’s an essential factor in the game. At this time of ultra defensive teams, you will have to learn how to provoke them with the ball. It’s the ball they want, so you have to defy them using the ball as a carrot.
Louis Van Gaal’s idea is one of continuous circulation, one side to the other, until the moment that, when you change direction, an space opens up inside and you go through it.

So, he provokes the opponent with lateral circulation of the ball, until the moment that the opponent will start to pressure out of despair. What I believe in is to challenge the rival by driving the ball into him. That’s something Pep Guardiola believes is decisive. And that’s something that Henk ten Cate also took to Avram Grant’s Chelsea. He took it with him from Frank Rijkaard’s Barcelona. We did it differently at Chelsea under Mourinho.

Our attacking construction was different, with the ball going directly to the full-backs or midfielders. With Ten Cate, play was started with John Terry or Ricardo Carvalho, to invite the opponent’s pressure. Then you had one less opponent in the next step of construction.

 

[Yurt]

Nike are losing it.

 

[Salazar]

What actually happened at AVB Chelsea was that the ball slowed in midfield like it had been drenched in molasses.

 

[WJD]

City after Thiago Silva?

 

[Broder Salsa]

What actually happened at AVB Chelsea was that the ball slowed in midfield like it had been drenched in molasses.

What really happened was he was trying to play a style of football the team was still not ready for at all and would take a much longer transition period and his man management was shit.

 

[dc89]

City after Thiago Silva?

I don't get to see Serie A. He good is he?

 

[Broder Salsa]

I don't get to see Serie A. He good is he?

No doubt one of the best central defenders around.

 

[WJD]

I don't get to see Serie A. He good is he?

In the Vidic/Kompany class.

 

[GorillaJu]

What really happened was he was trying to play a style of football the team was still not ready for at all and would take a much longer transition period and his man management was shit.

It was frighteningly poor - at least from what we know about it. If he's going to coach Liverpool, we'll need our technical director to do a lot of the man managing. Our academy director is good and well-regarded. If he (Pep Segura) becomes our technical director, then I think this will help a lot with keeping AVB focused on the training and tactics.

 

[Salazar]

What really happened was he was trying to play a style of football the team was still not ready for at all and would take a much longer transition period and his man management was shit.

I don't know how compatible this is with the economic and psychological dynamics of Big English Club.

 

[sohois]

So much for City 'only going to spend around £30million', 'spending mostly going to be funded by player sales' talk. I'm sure the £10mil they raise from Savic, Adebayor & Johnson will amply cover the fees for Silva, Van Persie & Hazard.

No matter how inept football's governing bodies may be, i simply cannot see City getting past FFP if they keep up this reckless spending.

 

[José Mourinho]

It was frighteningly poor - at least from what we know about it. If he's going to coach Liverpool, we'll need our technical director to do a lot of the man managing. Our academy director is good and well-regarded. If he (Pep Segura) becomes our technical director, then I think this will help a lot with keeping AVB focused on the training and tactics.

On the other hand, his Porto team couldn't say enough about his man management.

The fact is Chelsea wasn't ready for AVB and AVB wasn't ready for Chelsea. The guy is, in my opinion, still a great manager and will succeed in the future.

 

[Choc]

So much for City 'only going to spend around £30million', 'spending mostly going to be funded by player sales' talk. I'm sure the £10mil they raise from Savic, Adebayor & Johnson will amply cover the fees for Silva, Van Persie & Hazard.

No matter how inept football's governing bodies may be, i simply cannot see City getting past FFP if they keep up this reckless spending.

it's already been figured out how to beat FFP

have a no 1 season ticker holder, and that holder spends 200 million a year to be that person.

 

[Broder Salsa]

So much for City 'only going to spend around £30million', 'spending mostly going to be funded by player sales' talk. I'm sure the £10mil they raise from Savic, Adebayor & Johnson will amply cover the fees for Silva, Van Persie & Hazard.

No matter how inept football's governing bodies may be, i simply cannot see City getting past FFP if they keep up this reckless spending.

They will get morre than 10 mil for those 3. Then the sale of Tevez (Possible Balotelli or Dzeko too if RVP comes). Not that FFP isn't a joke, said it from day one : They won't have the balls to kick out any big teams.

 

[GorillaJu]

They will get morre than 10 mil for those 3. Then the sale of Tevez (Possible Balotelli or Dzeko too if RVP comes). Not that FFP isn't a joke, said it from day one : They won't have the balls to kick out any big teams.

If Liverpool buy Johnson, then I could see them making decent money from his sale. Otherwise, you aren't looking at much more than 15 or £20m for the trio.

 

[Broder Salsa]

If Liverpool buy Johnson, then I could see them making decent money from his sale. Otherwise, you aren't looking at much more than 15 or £20m for the trio.

Sure. Would say around 20 mil is realistic for them and they will probably end up using more than 30 mil themselves. But they will surely get Tevez out now and probably another forward if RVP comes, they also have that Swede coming back from loan, he could be a fantastic number four in their attack, so won't look that hopeless. But lets not pretend Hazard will come to City, he will of course go to the CL winners.

 

[sohois]

They will get morre than 10 mil for those 3. Then the sale of Tevez (Possible Balotelli or Dzeko too if RVP comes). Not that FFP isn't a joke, said it from day one : They won't have the balls to kick out any big teams.

It wasn't a serious estimation, all i intended to show was that any sales would almost certainly be irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

I too do not believe that UEFA will seriously enforce FFP, however I did expect them to make a symbolic gesture, kicking out one of the big spenders like Anzhi or Malaga. However should City continue to be so reckless I imagine they will be forced to act. I could see UEFA handing City a one year ban from Europe, City will sell a few players and avoid big spending and then being let in next year even if they are still making huge losses.

 

[Slizz]

City interested in Thiago Silva?! Didn't one of the Milan fans in here say they just locked him up for like 2 more years?

 

[TheLucifer]

I don't get to see Serie A. He good is he?

One of the best central defenders of the world as of today, two years ago was easily the best one. Plus he has proved himself to be pretty good even when we need to score. Hasn't played for the last two months (injured), though, and did some mistakes this season, conceding some shots and goal.

Please City, buy someone else. If we lose him, we'll have to play with Yepes and Acerbi as our CBs. Think about it.

Goal.com Italia said today that Snejider may have asked Boateng and Ibra to speak with Galliani and see if we could buy him next summer. That will definitely happen, I mean, we're full of money. If inter accept a one million offer, he'll be ours. Yup.