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Football Thread |OT20| What's that smell?

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T

The_Hitcher89

Member
lol@ the Sturridge thread on redcafe. As per all Liverpool related threads on there, it started off well with some good discussion and debate, then fell apart when one silly knobend went off on one about how Welbeck was definitely better than him, will be the future of Man Utd, and how both Welbeck and Jones will definitely be world class in the future. Shame.

Surprisingly positive Benitez thread on there as well.
 
S

Salazar

Member
The_Hitcher89 said:
lol@ the Sturridge thread on redcafe. As per all Liverpool related threads on there, it started off well with some good discussion and debate, then fell apart when one silly knobend went off on one about how Welbeck was definitely better than him, will be the future of Man Utd, and how both Welbeck and Jones will definitely be world class in the future. Shame.

Surprisingly positive Benitez thread on there as well.
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Bellends.

RAWK will always be supreme, though.
 
W

Wes

venison crêpe
RAWK, bluemoon and redcafe are all as bad as one another.

I do like bluemoons transfer forum though. One guy has a half decent game that is broadcast on TV? Cue thread "he could do a job for us."
 
T

The_Hitcher89

Member
Wes said:
RAWK, bluemoon and redcafe are all as bad as one another.

I do like bluemoons transfer forum though. One guy has a half decent game that is broadcast on TV? Cue thread "he could do a job for us."
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Bluemoon is the worst imo. Not only is it full of idiots, but its difficult to read because of the format and glitches
 
S

Salazar

Member
There's a Redcafe blert trying to blame RVP (not good in the air, apparently) for Valencia's shit season.

It's still nowhere close to RAWK.
 
K

KidA Seven

Member
Arnie said:
Yes.

He really is soul crushingly average.
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Good, good. Let the asspain flow through you.

i0O9KEodVsVb.gif
 
M

Meier

Member
Hey dc,

Was out all night so apologize if this has been posted but the Daily Star are saying we are trying to offer Suarez + cash for Isco. :( On the plus side, we apparently value him at about €10m...
 
M

Mastadon

Banned
The Guardian said:
The longest season has its reward. Chelsea's campaign has taken in 68 matches in 11 different countries across eight competitions, an energy-sapping schedule overseen by two managers that, courtesy of a stoppage-time winner near its end, has yielded silverware. Rafael Benítez paced his technical area here, hands sunk deep into his pockets, as this contest played out its frantic last seconds before the final whistle brought relief.

His punch of the air was stifled by Christophe Lollichon's bear-hug. Once he had emerged from the goalkeeping coach's embrace, there was a smile of satisfaction plastered across his face.

Some measure of the calm professionalism that has typified much of his seven months at Stamford Bridge, one acrimonious evening on Teesside aside, swiftly returned as he busied himself consoling distraught Benfica players. Benítez actually had to be coaxed from his thoughts, as he surveyed his team's guard of honour, to lead the victors up the steps to accept the trophy in the cluttered presentation box.

There were even congratulations from some Chelsea fans as he made that plod up the stairs, and further hugs of gratitude from Michael Emenalo, Ron Gourlay, Dave Barnard and Bruce Buck before he sidled off stage right. He has had to wait some time to receive public thanks for his endeavours at this club. "It has not been easy," he said, "so I am really pleased, really proud."

Proper acceptance at Chelsea was always going to elude the Spaniard, for all the giddy scenes in the aftermath. Theirs has been a fraught marriage of convenience, born of the team's mid-season lull in form and an out-of-work manager's desire to reestablish his credentials away from mere blogs and coaching seminars. He will depart this club in a few weeks' time, once his side have conducted a two-match post-season tour of the United States, with his reputation enhanced within the game. The Europa League has partly helped achieve that. A top-four finish is arguably even more impressive.

But his quiet dignity in an awkward and, from the start, distinctly fractious situation has been admirable. He deserved his chance to hoist the trophy in the aftermath, though the look on his face as he did so betrayed a man who felt he was intruding on someone else's party.
A penny for his thoughts as he held the Europa League aloft and those in the Chelsea end chorused in celebration as they waved their plastic blue flags. Once Sunday's visit of Everton concludes an English club's most cluttered campaign since Arsenal played 70 times in 1979-80, Benítez, will look back with some satisfaction at all he has achieved here. This had been an exercise in short-term firefighting, a lesson in pragmatic survival amid that draining schedule.

Coaching the European champions was not supposed to be a difficult proposition but this was a club with its own particular problems when he succeeded Roberto Di Matteo in the autumn. Chelsea were third at the time, and only four points from the top, but the team's trajectory was clear. They had shipped 21 goals in nine matches, had failed to win in four league games, and the manager who had claimed the Champions League six months earlier was showing no signs of restoring on-field discipline.

The Spaniard has pointed, with some justification, to the imbalanced squad he inherited with Chelsea having overloaded on creative midfielders, all mouth-watering talents but each set upon scuttling runs upfield with little regard for the acres they left unguarded at the back. They boasted only Fernando Torres up front, a player whose form had been flimsy at best.

It is to the interim's credit that the Spaniard's fine goal in the Amsterdam ArenA – the strength and pace of old to flummox Luisão and convert calmly beyond Artur – was his ninth in Europe this term, and only Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski boast more. The Spaniard is a reigning World Cup, European Championship, European Cup and Europa League winner which, in itself, is remarkable.

Benítez had still wanted to add more than just Demba Ba to the ranks in January, with his pleas for a mobile central midfielder falling on deaf ears. Benfica exposed his side's limitations with their fluid, attacking movement, with Nicolás Gaitán, Enzo Pérez and Eduardo Salvio gliding beyond blue-shirted markers far too easily. Chelsea can labour in central midfield when the ball buzzes around them at pace, and at the back when slippery opponents strike an upbeat rhythm.

Yet this group retains its stubborn streak, that old refusal to wilt. They clung to the contest, just as they had against Bayern Munich a year ago, and prevailed at the last. A team who has played this many games this term has no right to conjure a 93rd-minute winner when they have been chasing the ball for long periods.
His insistence on juggling his squad, sometimes amid a clamour of criticism, has helped meet his principal objectives. Retaining a level of freshness and zest represented a colossal challenge and, despite the near-misses in domestic cup competitions and the Fifa Club World Cup, he can now point to a significant trophy and Champions League qualification as evidence of proper success.

As his players celebrated raucously on the turf, the blue confetti still drifting around the arena, Benítez held the trophy up to the support once more and was greeted, perhaps for the first time in his short association with the club, with cheers. "I could see everyone was happy," he said. "So I was happy too." This relationship will end well.
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Well done Rafa.
 
M

Meier

Member
In the parlance of our Man Utd and Liverpool bros, cocks fucking out!

“It’s not easy to be a good manager, but he makes it look easy.

“He’s calm and measured. He doesn’t criticise referees or opponents. He is consistent with the media.”
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“He was a winner in South America and he arrived with the mentality to achieve,” said Villarreal and Spain midfielder Marcos Senna, who worked closely with Pellegrini.

“He never thought: ‘Oh, this is a small club.’ His line of thought always was: ‘I am going to make this team big’.”

Pellegrini puts his relaxed style down to having a varied life.

“I’m not obsessed by football,” he states. “The manager who just knows about football is lacking.

“To lead a group of players is to lead a group of people with different ways of thinking. You have to speak a lot to the players, have to make them feel what you expect of them. Have to convince them. Therefore it’s very important for a coach to have a life outside football.
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“Aesthetics are important,” he stresses. “People want to be entertained and the coach has a responsibility for that. Fans come to see things they are not capable of doing.

“My teams have great movement, they use the ball and we always try to win, never to draw. We don’t focus on opponents but on ourselves. I’m also sure that playing beautiful football makes it more likely you’ll win.”
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http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.../pellegrini-entertain-you-man-tipped-3815948?

This whole article is a peach.
 
X

xintin

Member
BrentonRodgers said:
Well done Rafa.
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He won't get a job in England like he wants, but he will get a significant spot somewhere in Europe. In my eyes he's done what the club asked of him, and his rotation policy has worked through this monster of a schedule. Well done Rafa, thanks again for the birthday present :lol
 
M

madmackem

Member
Chelski fans should feel a tad bit of shame the way they treated rafa, he was never going to stay there past this season anyway there was no need for the shit he got.
 
D

dc89

Member
Kyoufu said:
Well done.

Meanwhile, Arsenal...
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3Sixty said:
£300 season ticket*


*must come dressed a blue plastic seat
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Arnie said:
Would be amazing if it's true.

Hopefully that sets a precedent for other clubs.
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Clegg said:
I think it's more a case of City actually trying to get people to attend matches.
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3Sixty said:
After stadium expansion.

Free Season Ticket with copy of the Manchester Evening News.
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Kyoufu and Arnie have the right attitude.

Meier said:
Hey dc,

Was out all night so apologize if this has been posted but the Daily Star are saying we are trying to offer Suarez + cash for Isco. :( On the plus side, we apparently value him at about €10m...
Click to expand...

Denis Suarez?! NOOOOOOOOoooooo
 
Z

Zabojnik

Member
Frank the Great said:
a lot of noise today about us signing andrea poli. if true, i would be quite happy.
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What a twist! He was supposed to join us with the co-ownership / loan formula. Can't blame Sampdoria for prefering hard cash. Milan allegedly signed him for 6M€, 4 years contract. I quite like Poli, but he's hardly a player we need. I'll be pissed if / when Milan fucks us and signs Berardi. I can feel it coming.
 
D

dc89

Member
Amazon are pretty damn decent with their after sales. My gf's hair curler things broke that I got her last October. Emailed them about it, new product coming tomorrow with no charge at all. They don't want the broken product back.
 
Z

Zabojnik

Member
dc89 said:
Amazon are pretty damn decent with their after sales. My gf's hair curler things broke that I got her last October. Emailed them about it, new product coming tomorrow with no charge at all. They don't want the broken product back.
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This is why the economy is in the toilet. You should've insisted and paid for it.
Nope.
 
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