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Football Thread 2013/14 |OT4| Everybody Hates Wenger renewed for 17th season

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None. Except Rooney, RVP and Shinji none would even make it into Newcastle's XI.

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Nyx

Member
Anyone who has recently seen Tommy Oar star for the Socceroos or previously when at Brisbane Roar will be surprised by the role his FC Utrecht coach Jan Wouters has given him.

I was certainly taken off guard when watching Tommy play live as his FC Utrecht side defeated AZ Alkmaar 2-0 in the Eredivisie on the weekend.

Most Australian football fans expect Tommy Oar to be sitting high and wide on the pitch, waiting to be played through by a midfield wanting to exploit his pace and quality foot skills.

Admittedly, Tommy did display these attributes when he took the ball on the half way line and blitzed a number of AZ defenders through the middle of the park to assist Steve De Ridder with his second goal.

However for most of the match Tommy tended to tuck inside and sit just off and in front of his midfield anchors Jansen and Yassin Ayoub.

Tommy allowed space to his left; on the flank for wing back Dave Bulthuis to run into. He occasionally asked for the ball wide but was quite conservative in his forays forward.

His coach clearly prefers Tommy to be able to drop back into Utrecht’s defensive block much quicker and easier. It was here where Tommy surprised me. He spent quite a bit of time in Utrecht’s defensive third, chasing and guarding AZ attackers.

The Queenslander sat centrally when his team had possession high up the field and on the opposite side to him. This left his wing back uncovered so he was forced to charge back to defend his flank on numerous occasions from the central position.

While he did not have a huge amount of touches during the game, he was dangerous when he got on the ball. This is evidenced by the amount of defenders he attracted when running through the middle of the pitch to assist Utrecht’s second goal.

For Socceroos fans, Utrecht coach Wouters is doing the national team a great service. He is maturing Oar as a footballer, developing a more defensive streak in him. Wouters has chosen to make sure he is as capable defending, as he is attacking which naturally makes him a more versatile and balanced footballer for club and country.

Tommy also played a neat ball through to the player who assisted Utrecht’s first goal. This ability to play dangerous passes into attacking areas is something else we are seeing Tommy develop at Utrecht.

Michael Zullo was not in the match day squad nor was Adam Sarota who is out injured. Dave Bulthuis who was playing in Zullo’s left back position seemed to be one of the crowd favorites at Utrecht.

Every fan I spoke to on the other hand lauded Sarota. They all expressed genuine disappointment at his absence from the side and made sure they portrayed to me how good a player they think he can be. We have not seen much of him for the Socceroos and he isn’t really spoken of that much in conversations about the future. Hopefully he gets back fit and playing soon.

Tommyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

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pappe

Member
I'm not sure that I agree with De Gea, and definitely not Carrick. Vidic is a fair shout though I suppose.

Its an apples and oranges comparison so i am not gonna go into detail. But Carrick, De Gea saved our ass a number of times in the past season, consistently. I dont even remember Rooney had 2 good matches consecutively.
 

Mastadon

Banned
Liverpool have tried to get Juan Mata on loan.

Hahahahahahahaha.

Did you not see that picture of BRod and Mou hugging it out like the lifelong bros they are? Laugh it up chuckles, that smile will disappear when Mata scores a hat trick against you at the weekend.

Kolo Toure shows signs of recovery - The Guardian

At 32, the natural thought was that he was finished and when Liverpool picked him up on a free transfer this summer, the assumption was he was being brought in as reliable cover. Touré's two games so far for Liverpool, though, have suggested there may have been something concrete to those hints of a return last season. He almost scored on his debut, heading against the Stoke bar, but what endeared him to Anfield was his preposterous charge forwards quarter of an hour from time to try to support a weirdly isolated Daniel Sturridge. It was a lung-busting surge of no subtlety whatsoever, a head-down sprint that achieved nothing other than to express a desire that enthused the crowd and perhaps inspired his team-mates.

This again, perhaps, was the charismatic Touré of old: it might have been coincidence, but there seemed something significant in the fact that he was the first player to congratulate Simon Mignolet after his penalty save, and that it was he who then cleared the subsequent corner, barging Steven Gerrard out of the way to do so. This was the old Touré, taking responsibility, dragging everybody forward. Brendan Rodgers has already said Touré brings the leadership of Jamie Carragher.

That may be overstating things a little but Liverpool handled Aston Villa's potent front three better than any other side so far. Two clean sheets bode extremely well. But perhaps most important is the bond that already seems to exist between Touré and the Anfield crowd. The spoof trailer for a Being Kolo documentary shows the affection in which he is already held, even down to the joke about his "fat arse".

And perhaps that is what Touré needs. There were few expectations of him at Liverpool, far less pressure than at City. Perhaps by being accepted and appreciated for what he is rather than what he might have been, he can return to being something like the player he was, and at last move on from what Amr Zaki did to him in Kumasi.
 

justjohn

Member
Chelsea should just give mata a new contract and kill all these speculations. Getting really sick of these shit clubs like arsenal and Liverpool genuinely thinking they've got a chance with him. Ugh
 

Jack cw

Member
And why should he?

Ribery didn't really stand out of this Bayern team.

Lol, pal if you have no idea then please stfu...
I know you watched only 4 Bayern games but remember the cl final and his 2 assists...
His performances against Borisow, Lille, Barcelona...
Besides: He had the best ratings in the Bundesliga in 12/13... so bitch please.
 

Carbonox

Member

Still hunting down the ideal way to acquire a Gotze Bayern jersey without paying extortionate prices. Might just go Oktoberfest and hope I bump in to Gotze and kidnap him. Ransom = shirt off his own back.

Edit: lolwot Kitbag have updated their player roster for the Dortmund kits but not the Bayern kits (Gomez shirt still being sold)?

http://www.kitbag.com/stores/kitbag/products/product_browse.aspx?category|category_root|13125=football&category|cat_13125|11142=football+kits&category|cat_11142|11434=european+clubs&category|cat_11434|13153=bundesliga+(germany)
 
Oscar was rather poor last night.

He was Chelsea's worst player after De Bruyne.

It was pretty hard for all of Chelsea's midfielders to be fair, because Schurrle hardly ever came short. That meant United's defence barely had to move, making it harder for the wingers too because they didn't have any space.

I don't know if it was a shitty tactical decision playing an attacking mid as a centre forward, in theory its ok but Schurrle didn't really know how to play there in my opinion.
 

Jack cw

Member
He should? On what individual merits? Both Messi and Ronaldo were better than him individually.
Because they scored more goals in an uneven league?
Where did they both helped their team win the trophies with their individual class? Skill alone doesnt justify this... otherwise Iniesta would never have won this last year.
 

Suen

Member
Because they scored more goals in an uneven league?
Where did they both helped their team win the trophies with their individual class? Skill alone doesnt justify this... otherwise Iniesta would never have won this last year.
Uh when was it decided that Bayern had won their league last season again? I forgot.
 

Tc91

Member
Oscar was rather poor last night.

He was Chelsea's worst player after De Bruyne.

Wat, he was one of our liveliest players, Very few players came out of that match looking good.

I'm with Steve on this, thought Oscar and Hazard were the only 2 players who played well in that front 4.

Schurrle and De Bruyne were crap. Can't get my head around that Mourinho doesn't like Mata, he's Chelsea's best player.
 

Jack cw

Member
Uh when was it decided that Bayern had won their league last season again? I forgot.
We played ONE exeptional season, dude. The last years were pretty even with changing winners... And that is the point. Players like Ribery made such an incredible season possible with their individual class.
 
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