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

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S

Sloosha

Member
Salazar, have you seen the half-time T-ara performance during the Korea vs Lebanon game? It's amazing because of the subs continuing to practice in the background while the performance is going on. Also the kid dancing in the stands.
 
S

Salazar

Member
Sloosha said:
Salazar, have you seen the half-time T-ara performance during the Korea vs Lebanon game? It's amazing because of the subs continuing to practice in the background while the performance is going on. Also the kid dancing in the stands.
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lol, nope. T-ara are so awesome but so doomed as a group. Their CEO is like the Venkys.

Daily Mail transfer bollocks is so top grade.

"Arsenal eye swoop for Moscow ace Dzagoev".

And that's it, basically. The whole story is that bullshit headline with its trademark transfer-window verbs.
 
P

PaulLFC

Member
Great article from Rafa on England v France and how we could improve against Sweden:

Rafa Benitez said:
England have a very clear obstacle tonight when they play Sweden in Kiev. Everyone will be talking about Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the impact he has already had in these championships for his country and before I go any further on the subject of England I must say that I think that there is a way of dealing with him.

It's seven years since our Liverpool team encountered Ibrahimovic in the quarter-final of the Champions League, on our way to the Istanbul final of 2005. He was the big threat in Fabio Capello's Juventus side who we met at that stage but our three-man defence in the Stadio delle Alpi shut him out for the goalless draw that sent us through, after a 2-1 win at Anfield.

Yes, Ibrahimovic is very dangerous in the air and he has a very fine touch, but he doesn't like physical contact too much. He's not the quickest player but when he receives the ball to his feet, he likes to keep it, controlling with his chest, perhaps, and bringing other players in. He likes to turn, pass, maybe win some fouls. You might say he's a little like Peter Crouch in some of these positive respects – a player who makes up in other ways what he might lack in pace.

The key is to create a screen in front of Ibrahimovic, to prevent him receiving the ball in those areas. Like so much else, that is a job for Steven Gerrard or Scott Parker in the Olympic Stadium at Kiev. They will frustrate him.

In Turin with Liverpool that night in April 2005, we had six men in midfield, with Xabi Alonso holding, so Juventus could not find Ibrahimovic with the ball. It was a 3-5-1-1 system we used and after they had tried and tried without success to locate him with precise passes, it meant they had to try to find his threat in the air. But Sami Hyypia, who was playing for me with Jamie Carragher and Djimi Traor in our defence, was better than Ibrahimovic in the air. There was one cross from Fabio Cannavaro that reached him but he put it over the bar. We were not expected to come away from Juventus with much that night but we were organised for Ibrahimovic, as England will need to be.

Of course, England will not want a 0-0 draw of their own in Kiev because that will bring a lot more pressure on an already tired team. The important thing for Roy Hodgson's side will be not to have their two banks of four defending so deep. They didn't take advantage of the high line of the French team in Donetsk on Monday. When you are so deep, you find that when regain the ball you have the other team on top of you. So, without doing too much the opposition can stop the counter-attacks. This means that you have to be very, very precise with the first two passes when you regain the ball, if you are to create the space which enables you to start working with the striker.

England were defending 4-4-2 and attacking 4-2-3-1 and to me that was right. But they couldn't create too much in counter-attack because they were too far back. John Terry would regain the ball but Karim Benzema or Samir Nasri would be on top of him so it would not be easy for him to play a simple pass. A lot depends on the energy of the wingers or the attacking players to break out fast from those deep positions. If you don't have the energy, it will be hard to get up the field.

Everyone had been talking about France before the game. But their system was flawed because they didn't run behind the defenders and get strikers into the box. Benzema and Nasri and Franck Ribry like to play little passes between each other – to copy the style of Spain, if you like. But again you have to be very precise to play in this way and in the end they were not a threat because they were not getting anyone into the box. Their difficulties were more about themselves than about England's central defenders. In the end, all they could do was shoot from distance.

How could it all work differently against Sweden? Well, Sweden have conceded quite a lot of goals from headers – seven in 11 games – which could tell us there is an opportunity here. Against France, England's two banks of four were sitting so deep that I don't think Andy Carroll would have been an option, even as a substitute. But a side who concede a lot of headed goals in this way might be one who are also defending too deep – allowing cross after cross, and therefore more goals.

If England, have possession, control the game, assume they are stronger than Sweden and attack them, they will be closer to the box, and it will then be important to have someone who can head the ball. With Carroll, you could be sure you have a chance with the first ball in, or the second ball. He could be a good option.

Anyway, Stevie will remember all about Zlatan and Juventus. He missed the Turin leg with an injury but he was very strong in our win at Anfield, driving the play. He is playing far deeper for Roy Hodgson and driving forward far less but I think that is correct. He is the England midfielder who can pass the ball and switch the play better than all the others. He can also be that shield to frustrate Zlatan, who definitely won't have forgotten him.

Hodgson needs tired players to be honest with him

There is a lot of talk about fatigue in the England team and it is certainly interesting to see the way Poland and Russia have been able to play. They seem to have greater intensity and tempo.

The conditions are cooler in Krakow, where England are based, than in Ukraine where they are playing. In 2007, before Liverpool went to Athens for the Champions League final against Milan, we trained at Murcia in south-east Spain. But you can't control the weather, of course.

In my experience, the difficult part is making sure players are being honest when they say they are OK to play. I remember when I was at Valencia, having four players who came back from international duty and said: "Yes, yes we're fine." In the first minute of the game I could see they could not run.

All these England players are fighting for places and want to play, so they commit everything to play. It is why Scott Parker didn't want to come off the field when the bench asked him to do so the other night in Donetsk.

As a manager, however tempted you might be to play one of your best players just because he says he's fit, you have to be honest with yourself. If a winger or a striker, with the bursts of pace they need, is just slightly off his game you will see it the minute he starts the game. Then it will be too late.

Keep your eye on captain Kuba

They call the Poland captain Jakub Błaszczykowski just "Kuba" and I think the goal he scored against Russia the other night was so good that we know he will be one to watch if his country progresses.

One of the great things about tournaments is the way they can introduce us to new players.

That goal against Russia wasn't good luck – watch the way he went inside and scored. That was enough for everyone to be asking if he can prove other things in this tournament.
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K

Kem0sabe

Member
Rafa´s articles are no more than self promoting crap, count the number of times he mentions liverpool and the champions league final in all of his articles.
 
S

Salazar

Member
As a manager, however tempted you might be to play one of your best players just because he says he's fit, you have to be honest with yourself. If a winger or a striker, with the bursts of pace they need, is just slightly off his game you will see it the minute he starts the game. Then it will be too late.
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Use the bench, you goofy self-dramatising prick.
 
P

PaulLFC

Member
Kem0sabe said:
Rafa´s articles are no more than self promoting crap, count the number of times he mentions liverpool and the champions league final in all of his articles.
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Don't be an idiot. It's about time a column included some form of tactical analysis, and nearly all of Rafa's articles do.
 
P

PaulLFC

Member
Liking the Opta Stats thing on .tv, lets you compare with players from other teams too. Standout stat for me so far, Lucas has 86% passing accuracy and 76% tackles won. Can't wait until he's back in the starting lineup.
 
K

Kem0sabe

Member
PaulLFC said:
Don't be an idiot. It's about time a column included some form of tactical analysis, and nearly all of Rafa's articles do.
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Tactics advice from Benitez... that's rich. He might have been a good coach once, when at Valencia they played some very exciting football, but after that? There´s only the fluke of Istanbul, and as Chelsea proved this year... that had nothing to do with tactics but pure luck from the 5th best team in England at the time.
 
T

Tim the Wiz

Banned
Salazar said:
Daily Mail transfer bollocks is so top grade.

"Arsenal eye swoop for Moscow ace Dzagoev".

And that's it, basically. The whole story is that bullshit headline with its trademark transfer-window verbs.
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Isn't his contract running down soon? Someone's going to pick up a bargain there.

Salazar said:
Bethany, the new junior clerk. <3<3<3
Click to expand...

The stuttering clerk trailing her about like a sex-starved idiot might be the only sane male in that place.
 
S

Salazar

Member
Tim the Wiz said:
Isn't his contract running down soon?
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Perhaps. Darren Can implies that anybody (including, indeed specifically, the Daily Mail) who says they know how his contract works is probably trying it on. And that a total of zero clubs have made any kind of contact.

The stuttering clerk trailing her about like a sex-starved idiot might be the only sane male in that place.
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I can't pretend my face would look any different.
 
P

PaulLFC

Member
Kem0sabe said:
Tactics advice from Benitez... that's rich. He might have been a good coach once, when at Valencia they played some very exciting football, but after that? There´s only the fluke of Istanbul, and as Chelsea proved this year... that had nothing to do with tactics but pure luck from the 5th best team in England at the time.
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:lol

If you're going to throw accusations like that around, at least have some knowledge to back it up. I don't know if you do or not, but if you do you're certainly not showing it there.

Juventus, Barcelona, Chelsea, United, Real Madrid, Arsenal... just some of the teams we beat when Rafa was manager, which incidentally was after he managed Valencia. You don't beat those teams without tactics.
 
E

elseanio

Member
PaulLFC said:
:lol

If you're going to throw accusations like that around, at least have some knowledge to back it up. I don't know if you do or not, but if you do you're certainly not showing it there.

Juventus, Barcelona, Chelsea, United, Real Madrid, Arsenal... just some of the teams we beat when Rafa was manager, which incidentally was after he managed Valencia. You don't beat those teams without tactics.
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He also makes a great paella
 
Y

Yurt

il capo silenzioso
C_3_Media_1501986_immagine_ts673_400.jpg
 
A

Arnie

Member
Kem0sabe said:
Tactics advice from Benitez... that's rich. He might have been a good coach once, when at Valencia they played some very exciting football, but after that? There´s only the fluke of Istanbul, and as Chelsea proved this year... that had nothing to do with tactics but pure luck from the 5th best team in England at the time.
Click to expand...

Yesterday I had to contend with Ushojax's lunacy when I woke up, and now I've read this, which is frankly, hopeless.

Paul corrected you perfectly, and reminded you of why Rafa's a tactical genius, but I thought I'd just highlight the idiocy of your post once more for good measure.
 
A

Arnie

Member
Salazar said:
Uh oh.
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Don't fall into that trap Salazar. Try to free yourself from the shackles of Manchester Untited fandom and see the world for what it really is. Examine the scalps that Rafa has taken throughout his career, not with an air of cynicism, but with quiet admiration and you'll concur with what I've just said.
 
K

Kem0sabe

Member
PaulLFC said:
:lol

If you're going to throw accusations like that around, at least have some knowledge to back it up. I don't know if you do or not, but if you do you're certainly not showing it there.

Juventus, Barcelona, Chelsea, United, Real Madrid, Arsenal... just some of the teams we beat when Rafa was manager, which incidentally was after he managed Valencia. You don't beat those teams without tactics.
Click to expand...

Arnie said:
Yesterday I had to contend with Ushojax's lunacy when I woke up, and now I've read this, which is frankly, hopeless.

Paul corrected you perfectly, and reminded you of why Rafa's a tactical genius, but I thought I'd just highlight the idiocy of your post once more for good measure.
Click to expand...

When he left Liverpool in 2010... his last title was the Community shield in 2006... great run from a superb tactical genius.

What exactly makes him such a fantastic coach? His titles? his win % record? He couldnt even win the Premier league... after spending...

230 million pounds

Fucking genius management that.
 
S

Salazar

Member
Arnie said:
see the world for what it really is.
Click to expand...

I'll concede that Rafa's probably not as clueless as, say, McLeish or Kean.

But there is nothing in that article that rises more than an inch above the analytical level of a Jamie Redknapp column.

Watch Zlatan. He's a big man who holds the ball up well.

Try to dominate midfield.

Match big men with big men.

If you use a big man, try and put it on his head.
 
A

Awesome Animals

Member
Vivalaraza said:
Just finished my degree in Economics and Politics.

Would like to work in public policy somewhere, think tanks and the like. Problem is they don't have many spots and don't do grad schemes or anything like that. Can't be too picky right now so anything that I'm vaguely interested in will do, may go for management consultancy or something as there are a lot of grad schemes for that and it seems to be quite general.
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Sounds like more school may be the best option. I do wish you luck though. Political Science isn't an easy degree to obtain a career from. At least you went with Econ too. (I was PoliSci w/ an Econ minor)

Yenrot said:
Awesome Animals (and Yurt), you watched Father Ted yet?
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No! I will though!
 
U

Ushojax

Should probably not trust the 7-11 security cameras quite so much
Arnie said:
Yesterday I had to contend with Ushojax's lunacy when I woke up, and now I've read this, which is frankly, hopeless.
Click to expand...

Oh god, only Liverpool fans could get so salty about a joke picture of their new manager and some jabs at the seemingly unemployable Saint Benitez.
 
Y

Yen

Member
Kem0sabe said:
When he left Liverpool in 2010... his last title was the Community shield in 2006... great run from a superb tactical genius.

What exactly makes him such a fantastic coach? His titles? his win % record? He couldnt even win the Premier league... after spending...

230 million pounds

Fucking genius management that.
Click to expand...

Yeah, Arnie, you can't win this argument, not with this sound, fact-based logic.
 
LabouredSubterfuge

LabouredSubterfuge

Member
Ushojax said:
Oh god, only Liverpool fans could get so salty about a joke picture of their new manager and some jabs at the seemingly unemployable Saint Benitez.
Click to expand...

You don't refer to the divine as a mere saint Ushojax.

Nor do you refer to a decent manager as anything other than a 'tactical genius'. I wonder if Chelsea fans refer to RDM as a tactical genius?
 
A

Arnie

Member
Kem0sabe said:
When he left Liverpool in 2010... his last title was the Community shield in 2006... great run from a superb tactical genius.

What exactly makes him such a fantastic coach? His titles? his win % record? He couldnt even win the Premier league... after spending...

230 million pounds

Fucking genius management that.
Click to expand...
Forget spend, that wasn't the discussion. Forget titles, that wasn't the discussion. You're twisting this thing to fit your argument, which I'm not sure you're actually clear on.

Rafa consistently went toe to toe with Mourinho, often beating him. Rafa took Liverpool to the Camp Nou and won, as he did the Bernabeu. He fought off the likes of Juventus and Arsenal. He did all this with a worse squad than his opposition.
Salazar said:
I'll concede that Rafa's probably not as clueless as, say, McLeish or Kean.

But there is nothing in that article that rises more than an inch above the analytical level of a Jamie Redknapp column.

Watch Zlatan. He's a big man who holds the ball up well.

Try to dominate midfield.

Match big men with big men.

If you use a big man, try and put it on his head.
Click to expand...

Oh, goodness. You really are falling into the trap.

Ushojax said:
Oh god, only Liverpool fans could get so salty about a joke picture of their new manager and some jabs at the seemingly unemployable Saint Benitez.
Click to expand...
You're confusing 'salt' for something else.
 
LabouredSubterfuge

LabouredSubterfuge

Member
Arnie said:
Forget spend, that wasn't the discussion. Forget titles, that wasn't the discussion. You're twisting this thing to fit your argument, which I'm not sure you're actually clear on.

Rafa consistently went toe to toe with Mourinho, often beating him. Rafa took Liverpool to the Camp Nou and won, as he did the Bernabeu. He fought off the likes of Juventus and Arsenal. He did all this with a worse squad than his opposition.


Oh, goodness. You really are falling into the trap.
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A team of his own rather costly construction i might add.
 
T

TheLucifer

Member
Fun fact: I predicted what happened with Thiago Silva yesterday night a couple of days ago on Twitter. "Thiago will remain, Berlusconi will be seen as our hero by the journalists and Galliani will say that we won't make any expansive new signs this summer." Yay, our transfer window both started and ended at the same day.

Yesterday I also said that Italy wouldn't win against Croatia. Yay us. I wonder if Prandelli knows that trying to score another goal besides the first one would be a smart move.
 
P

PaulLFC

Member
Kem0sabe said:
When he left Liverpool in 2010... his last title was the Community shield in 2006... great run from a superb tactical genius.

What exactly makes him such a fantastic coach? His titles? his win % record? He couldnt even win the Premier league... after spending...

230 million pounds

Fucking genius management that.
Click to expand...
You went on about tactics in the post I replied to, and then when you realised you had no argument whatsoever, you moved the goalposts. Just do the admirable thing and admit you have no idea what you're talking about. Unless you want me to argue the points you've just put forward, but then I imagine you'd change your argument again...

Salazar said:
I'll concede that Rafa's probably not as clueless as, say, McLeish or Kean.

But there is nothing in that article that rises more than an inch above the analytical level of a Jamie Redknapp column.
Click to expand...
Oh come on now. Read his website, he knows what he's talking about.
 
C

Clegg

Member
Any Dead Space fans here?

You'll be pleased to know that EA want to sell 5 million copies of DS3.

Expect more action, less horror.
 
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