The Official Soccer/Football/Futbol/Calcio thread

[TheRiddick]

2005/2006 wasn't really Benitez's team, he inherited most of the players. Now that Liverpool are stretched financially, he will need to sell before he buys. Should be interesting. Yes, I know they bring in the money from TV and other competitions, but as is, unless a miracle happens on Tuesday, they only have one to play for this year (EPL) and it won't depend on them, either. Kuyt is another Tevez, huge charge of energy, but I'll take someone with football smarts (Benayun in 'Pool) any day of the week.

Still, for a 200M+ pounds outlay, Benitez has to show much more than he has so far. Imagine Moyes with that much cash available. Or O'Neill. Or Bruce. I would bet any of them would show much better results. There is no way in hell I would be signing Benitez to a 5 year extension without certain guarantees and pay for performance written in. His entire team and season depend on just 2 players, way too little to show for that 200+M expenditure.

Let's see what happens in Arsenal game, although they are without 2 central defenders now. If they draw or loose to Arsenal with United having 2 games in hand, its a done deal (and season for Liverpool) whether United loose to Arsenal or not.

Go liverpool!

[4WheelVFR]

I just picked up Directv with Setanta Sports this month. I can finally keep up with this thread a little bit.

[mastershogun]

wow, perfect start for 'pool

Well boys, I told myself I wouldn't check scores, I wouldn't fast forward to the end, I would turn of my phone so as to ignore the texts/calls with score updates, and I couldn't handle it. I checked about 2 minutes before Drogba scored, and was overjoyed. I was ecstatic. then Drogba, then alex, and now lampard. I can't decided if I even want to see the goals. I hear Aurelio's was cheeky and that the Penalty was soft as lotion layered toliet paper. But, shogun and riddick I will need your addresses. *unless there is a repeat of istanbul with 5 minutes to go* but I bet on my team and lost, and you gentlemen have won. but I still point out that I called for a barca - MU final... and that's still a possibilty. Congrats.

apparently I should have kept typing, as liverpool scored twice while I was... but then lo and behold Chelsea score no sooner than switching back to soccernet... curses.

[Lumpold]

Oh.My.God.

Originally Posted by Lumpold

Oh.My.God.

yeah. too bad it didn't finish my way... but Good luck with barca... really.

[aldukes]

That game was like watching a bunch of 8yr olds play.

bunchball from one end to the other? or just stupid sloppy?

[Lumpold]

Originally Posted by theycallmedan'lboone

yeah. too bad it didn't finish my way...

or mine, mate.

[aldukes]

Originally Posted by theycallmedan'lboone

bunchball from one end to the other? or just stupid sloppy?

Both keepers were terrible. Cech was all over the place, except on his goal line. If Chelsea plays like that against Barca- we could see 7-1 agg.

[TheRiddick]

As a long time stopper/left back all I can say is that a defender always thinks his goalie got his back. Actually, trusts so. The howler Chech let in, from way out there in the boondocks seriously altered the game for Chelsea, defense at that point had to think twice about making any minor mistake seeing how Chech cannot be depended upon.

Great game. One thing that strikes me about this Chelsea team is how primadonna like most of them are, not just in this game, but this entire season. They score a goal or two and all of a sudden switch it off thinking the other team is done with. Pretty arrogant and self defeating, IMO. And as much as I thought they may give Barca a decent game or two, I am not at all sure now.

Speaking of Barca, what a team of divers. Jeeezzz... With so much talent they should play like true professionals. Oh well. At least Chelsea is way more physical than Hamburg, so there is hope. I felt really bad for Ribery, he had no one to pass to.

[TheRiddick]

2 great games to day, IMO. United seem to be back, complete control of the game (Porto had their first corner at the 74 minute mark), defense back to its normal self save for 1 or 2 mild scrambles. Arsenal did as they were supposed to.

As much as I hope Chelsea will kick Barca's ass, I am not sure of that pairing. ManU and Arsenal should give us great games. So, how many times will ManU and Arsenal play this season? Crazy.

[Bubba - NJ]

While I'm no expert , it seems to me that Man U. dressed there B squad against Everton and lost the game in the FA Cup . It was an entertaining match for 0-0 after 120 minutes . Are they not as good as they're thought to be ?

[TheRiddick]

If you think ManU's youngsters are not that good by taking the game to Everton's squad, then I am not sure what game you were watching. Everton's first corner came in the 73rd minute, they had what, 2 shots on goal the entire game, while United had a few chances and one clear penalty denied (one of the "not as good" youngsters, BTW). FA Cup is not what it sued to be, United certainly didn't have to "have" the game in order to qualify for ECL next year and the pitch was terrible by any standard, why risk any of your best players. The only mistake Freguson made was sub Macheda in the end in the hopes that Berbatov will score the penalty kick. Did I ever say here just how much I dislike Berbatov?

[TheRiddick]

Oh, and I forgot to add that Ferguson most likely will have a loooooong talk with Foster and his idiotic thinking on the pitch, he put the team in jeopardy on two occasions with simply stupid and very childish decision making. Actually, for anyone even with half a brain those would not have been "decisions" to begin with. That was the only serious mistake Ferguson made, IMO.

[mastershogun]

Originally Posted by Bubba - NJ

While I'm no expert , it seems to me that Man U. dressed there B squad against Everton and lost the game in the FA Cup . It was an entertaining match for 0-0 after 120 minutes . Are they not as good as they're thought to be ?

i wouldn't go as far as to say B-team. he did field some great players, maybe not the best team available to him but certainly not a B-team.
props to howard

[mastershogun]

Andrei Arshavin (36')
Andrei Arshavin (67')
Andrei Arshavin (70')
Andrei Arshavin (90')
too bad liverpool always manages a late extra-time goal to ruin things

[TheRiddick]

Just my thought, exactly. If I ever hear Benitez complain about other teams getting preferential treatment, I will hurl. Liverpool have been getting these "mystical" added minutes at the end of games for years now. Where did 7 minutes come from? Just 4 subs (add 2 minutes, standard, OK, maybe another 2minutes for stopages).

I want to see both Pogrebnyak and Zhirkov move over to EPL, Arshavin and Pavlyuchenko are proving that Russian youth academies can produce talent (my father-in-law used to be in charge of one in Moldova). I think these two will be picked up this summer and so will be Dzagoev (17 year old).

This is getting interesting with Chelsea-Everton coming up tomorrow. With United at pretty much full strength again, I do not think Portsmouth will be an issue for them (and hope Berbatov is benched). And Villa can benefit with the top 4 teams losing points. Probably the most interesting EPL finish in the past who knows how many years.