football: the beautiful game

[its swanny]

first indoor game tonight.

maaaaaaaaan i'm out of shape.

won 9-5. quality.

[LaiShin]

great times...

Arsenal with sexy football, such a joy to watch.

[beast]

Arsenal with sexy football, such a joy to watch.

7-0 thrashing of Slavia Prague no less and young Theo even brazenly said they have forgotten about Henry, his boyhood hero.

They would face their strongest test against Liverpool at Anfield this Sunday. Senderos looks realy shaky as usual. Aderbayor still cant score regularly and Van Persie is still out.

While Liverpool will be looking to erase their humiliation of the defeat to the lowly Besiktas and a run of not so brilliant results. Hopefully Torres will be fit. No doubt they will harass and browbeat Wenger's youngsters. I think Mascherano and Sissoko and Gerrard will play. Alonso will be sub in if any is under performing. Pennant or Babel to be winger. And Torres and Kuyt as strikers. Crouch and Kuyt to be strikers should Torres still be unfit.

Should be interesting match with Benitez a bit under fire now.

[Guest itsmeJT]

arsenal will batter them

only prem side who might threaten the winning streak is man utd

[beast]

arsenal will batter them

only prem side who might threaten the winning streak is man utd

I am not convinced Wenger's side have conquered their weakness to lesser sides who are not out to play football like Bolton, Blackburn and even Everton. If Benitez plays the same style and get 5 in the midfield and play Torres or Kuyt in front, they may batter Arsenal especially at Anfield.

Plus Bolton with a change in manager lasted 70 minutes in Emirates before conceding to a stupid Toure freekick which broke their spirits. With a tougher and more organised side, they can frustrate Arsenal and get 1 or 3 points.

[polishmike]

I am not convinced Wenger's side have conquered their weakness to lesser sides who are not out to play football like Bolton, Blackburn and even Everton. If Benitez plays the same style and get 5 in the midfield and play Torres or Kuyt in front, they may batter Arsenal especially at Anfield.

If Torres plays I think Liverpool will win. One point will be a pretty good result for Arsenal in this game.

[polishmike]

A lot of you younger guys might not know him but Nicolae Dobrin passed away today. He was probably the best Romanian player ever and was considered by many as one of the most talented to ever play the game.

He was voted the best player in Romania in 60s and 70s but he never played outside his native country. Real Madrid wanted to buy him but he was not allowed to leave under the Ceausescu regime. He was very quick with great vision and passing ability. He could dribble like Henry and pass like Zidane. Unfortunately there isn't much footage of him and I only saw 2 or 3 of his games but he was way ahead of his times and would be a footballing icon if he would ever play in a bigger club.

oWqi-B46hEo

wyN4gNGNtLg

R.I.P.

[Tisswat]

That 7-0 battering of Slavia Prague is just too painful to watch! I mean they knocked Ajax out of the CL preliminaries. It's just embarassing really.

[beast]

If Torres plays I think Liverpool will win. One point will be a pretty good result for Arsenal in this game.

Torres in Athletico Madrid hits as many as he misses. So he singlehandedly cannot save the entire team. It could be a draw unless someone pulls something fantastic out of his bag of tricks.

[cyberPUNK]

Nicolae Dobrin R.I.P.

[Guest itsmeJT]

3 - 1 arsenal

[beast]

3 - 1 arsenal

A draw as expected. Should be Arsenal wins it because Gerrard's goal was due to Arsenal's crappy wall and Fabregas breaking the wall to run at Gerrard. I dont recall Chelsea's wall being so bad when Gallas was there.

At least Benitez went for an attacking 3 or 4 man striker formation with Gerrard taking an advance role.

[plongin]

$10 bucks over paypal says that tottenham will get relegated.

(thats how much i want them to)

[Guest itsmeJT]

A draw as expected. Should be Arsenal wins it because Gerrard's goal was due to Arsenal's crappy wall and Fabregas breaking the wall to run at Gerrard. I dont recall Chelsea's wall being so bad when Gallas was there.

At least Benitez went for an attacking 3 or 4 man striker formation with Gerrard taking an advance role.

fuck a draw. they dominated; two open goal chances they fluffed...

shame they couldn't capitalise their greater possession in the first half, they really put the fear into liverpool. should've had more shots, too much indecisiveness allowed liverpools defense to crowd the box time and time again.

ahh well a victory against man u would lift my spirits...

[beast]

$10 bucks over paypal says that tottenham will get relegated.

(thats how much i want them to)

The London bookies are taking 25-1 for Spurs to be relegated. You are better off betting with them. Unlikely they will be.

I am also surprised Spurs will be opening an account for 40 million pounds for Juande Ramos to buy new players in the January transfer window. Utterly ridiculous given how much they spent under Jol this season already. I doubt with the money, they can get Alves, Kanoute and Sevilla's goalie even if they sell Defoe, Keane, Robinson and Bent. They should shore up their defence instead.

[st_]

chelllllllllllllllllllllllseaaaaa....!

look out lads, we'll be on the march now..! good to see a bit of life out there at last. they should get a bit of a roll on now, and string a few wins together.

united will put the gunners away this week.

[beast]

chelllllllllllllllllllllllseaaaaa....!

look out lads, we'll be on the march now..! good to see a bit of life out there at last. they should get a bit of a roll on now, and string a few wins together.

united will put the gunners away this week.

Chelsea is interesting. The referee in the Schalke 04 match fluffled a few important decision including a wrong offside and the ball rebounded from the post into Cech's hands. If not, it could have been a draw.

In the Man City match, Sven played it wrong. He shouldnt' have played his passing game. He should have played like Blackburn at the Bridge. You know City sucked when 2 of Sven's pillars, Hamann and Elano had to be subbed. And who was supposed to be City's left back? 5 of the 6 goals came from the left side the whole game. Under Jose, once Chelsea lead 2-0, he would have closed shop.

So it remains to be seen if Grant and Ten Cate can get them the BPL and Champions League this season. Remember: No team changed their manager and won the BPL in the same season.

[st_]

Under Jose, once Chelsea lead 2-0, he would have closed shop.

yes, precisely. this is what i'm most happy about - i'd forgotten what its like to tear a team to pieces, and have it show on the scoreboard. it feels good sven would have to be very embarassed - as you said they were tactically far below par.

So it remains to be seen if Grant and Ten Cate can get them the BPL and Champions League this season. Remember: No team changed their manager and won the BPL in the same season.

that is an interesting stat, i didn't know that. at least it will be an interesting season this year, there looks a few likely challengers for the title.

what you thinking for united v. arsenal?

[beast]

fuck a draw. they dominated; two open goal chances they fluffed...

shame they couldn't capitalise their greater possession in the first half, they really put the fear into liverpool. should've had more shots, too much indecisiveness allowed liverpools defense to crowd the box time and time again.

ahh well a victory against man u would lift my spirits...

I remember the ball rebounded to Fabregas with an open goal, Carragher running in and Fabregas shot wide.

Although both had about equal possession, Arsenal looked more deadlier and it was thanks to Gerrard's box to box runs and tackles, Mascherano's getting back the ball all the time that earned them the point. Torres was not fit and Crouch cannot make those runs as good as Torres and Voronin seems to be exposed and Kuyt is out of position.

Arsenal sorely miss Van Persie especially when Bendtner fluffled a last chance and Carragher should be red carded. Didnt the referee watched the tape last week when Carragher was fouling strikers left, right and centre in the box with Everton?

Emirates will be a hard proposition to win for Man U next week. Tevez and Ronaldo didnt play well. Scholes and Carrick are still injured. Jury still out on Anderson and Nani. Anderson look good but was terrible when they crashed out of the League Cup. I am not sure whether Vidic is 100% yet. They would need Rooney to propel the team and hope a recently recovered Hargreaves can stop the lightning fast pace of Arsenal. I think a draw or Man U to lose. At the rate things are going, Arsenal will win BPL. Chelsea is too far away to catch them now.

[beast]

yes, precisely. this is what i'm most happy about - i'd forgotten what its like to tear a team to pieces, and have it show on the scoreboard. it feels good sven would have to be very embarassed - as you said they were tactically far below par.

that is an interesting stat, i didn't know that. at least it will be an interesting season this year, there looks a few likely challengers for the title.

what you thinking for united v. arsenal?

I dont think Sven ever lost so badly in internationals or Italy. Looks like Thaksin better open his chequebook this January otherwise they will be last seasons' Portsmouth, who was first in BPL this time but ended up not even qualifying for Europe.

I think Grant is over-rated and its not like he is some tactical genius like Jose, Benitez, Wenger and Ferguson. He even removed Joe Cole who was terrorising City from the right flank and Malouda and SWP werent even on the bench. If Chelsea is smart, they would look for another permanent top coach to replace Grant, Rikaard?

And you know City must have sucked when even Shevchenko can score against them. The same Shevchenko who can only score against the lower division English teams.

As for challengers, after Christmas, we will see who are the true challengers. If Liverpool gets knocked out of Champions League (unlikely in my view), they should be top contenders. I think Chelsea wont be contending but will settle for top 4 position not even top 2.

Man City and Spurs would be works in progress. Portsmouth and Villa would sputter. Leaving Blackburn and Everton to grab the remaining UEFA Cup slot and maybe Portsmouth, VIlla or Newcastle to grab the final UEFA Cup slot.

[Guest itsmeJT]

I dont think Sven ever lost so badly in internationals or Italy. Looks like Thaksin better open his chequebook this January otherwise they will be last seasons' Portsmouth, who was first in BPL this time but ended up not even qualifying for Europe.

I think Grant is over-rated and its not like he is some tactical genius like Jose, Benitez, Wenger and Ferguson. He even removed Joe Cole who was terrorising City from the right flank and Malouda and SWP werent even on the bench. If Chelsea is smart, they would look for another permanent top coach to replace Grant, Rikaard?

And you know City must have sucked when even Shevchenko can score against them. The same Shevchenko who can only score against the lower division English teams.

As for challengers, after Christmas, we will see who are the true challengers. If Liverpool gets knocked out of Champions League (unlikely in my view), they should be top contenders. I think Chelsea wont be contending but will settle for top 4 position not even top 2.

Man City and Spurs would be works in progress. Portsmouth and Villa would sputter. Leaving Blackburn and Everton to grab the remaining UEFA Cup slot and maybe Portsmouth, VIlla or Newcastle to grab the final UEFA Cup slot.

is it known when van persie will be fit again to play? it seems adebayor can only score against lower tier teams... even walcott seems to be smarter when it comes to taking on a keeper one on one. i think arsenal have a good chance next match if they continue to make runs and play with an offensive formation

hopefully it won't come down to once again arsenal having to rely on fabregas saving the day

[beast]

is it known when van persie will be fit again to play? it seems adebayor can only score against lower tier teams... even walcott seems to be smarter when it comes to taking on a keeper one on one. i think arsenal have a good chance next match if they continue to make runs and play with an offensive formation

hopefully it won't come down to once again arsenal having to rely on fabregas saving the day

I doubt Van Persie will be back by the Man U match. He was injured during Internationals. Injuries are funny. He could be back far in advance of schedule.

As for Fabregas, I would have thought Benitez would have used Mascherano to man mark him like what he did for Kaka to devastating effect during the Champions League final.

Adebayor is tall. If he fills up, he can be the next Drogba down to the ridiculous misses.

[st_]

do you really think adebayor could be as good as drogba?

i think didier is pretty special.. i don't think adebayour will ever be as powerful/dynamic, he seems a rangier build and isn't as aggressive..

spot quiz: who is my avatar?

[beast]

do you really think adebayor could be as good as drogba?

i think didier is pretty special.. i don't think adebayour will ever be as powerful/dynamic, he seems a rangier build and isn't as aggressive..

spot quiz: who is my avatar?

He better hope he becomes the next Drogba and not Kanu. Drogba was/is still missing obvious goals and is not clinical like Henry or even Shevchenko in the past.

Drogba is rightly very grateful to Jose because thanks to him, he has jumped from a French 2nd Division Club to someone earning in excess of 100,000 pounds a week. Even if he moves, who can afford that pay? He said he wants to go to the top clubs in Europe. I doubt his style fits Barca, Inter has too many strikers. Real? Dont think he has the style the Bernabeau likes.

Which leaves AC which seems to be stockpiling old strikers like Ronaldo.

[fatchino]

He better hope he becomes the next Drogba and not Kanu. Drogba was/is still missing obvious goals and is not clinical like Henry or even Shevchenko in the past.

Drogba is rightly very grateful to Jose because thanks to him, he has jumped from a French 2nd Division Club to someone earning in excess of 100,000 pounds a week. Even if he moves, who can afford that pay? He said he wants to go to the top clubs in Europe. I doubt his style fits Barca, Inter has too many strikers. Real? Dont think he has the style the Bernabeau likes.

Which leaves AC which seems to be stockpiling old strikers like Ronaldo.

Bit unfair on old Drogba ... he was banging 'em in at Marseille for a while (impressive in the UEFA cup I remember against Newcastle) before Chelsea. The most suprising jump in form he made was from season 2 to 3 at Chelsea for me. Previously he had looked like a waste of 25million or whatever. He was basically Mourinho's battering ram at the top of the 3 forward players. Direct football for Drogba to knock down or whatever. At the time I was complaining that Kezman never got a chance (he really didn't in any case) even though he had a better goal scoring record at PSV that a certain horse-faced Dutchman. Was much more of a Crespo fan too.

Since then he's looked a much better player; scoring ridiculous goals from all over the place, (I remember one against Everton ... he must have hit it from 40 odd yards) as well as upping his goals per game ratio. Already 29 though ... you wouldn't really think he; only been around for a few seasons at the higher levels.

I am gonna say Socrates for the above question ... best beard/name combo in footballing history.

[beast]

Bit unfair on old Drogba ... he was banging 'em in at Marseille for a while (impressive in the UEFA cup I remember against Newcastle) before Chelsea. The most suprising jump in form he made was from season 2 to 3 at Chelsea for me. Previously he had looked like a waste of 25million or whatever. He was basically Mourinho's battering ram at the top of the 3 forward players. Direct football for Drogba to knock down or whatever. At the time I was complaining that Kezman never got a chance (he really didn't in any case) even though he had a better goal scoring record at PSV that a certain horse-faced Dutchman. Was much more of a Crespo fan too.

Since then he's looked a much better player; scoring ridiculous goals from all over the place, (I remember one against Everton ... he must have hit it from 40 odd yards) as well as upping his goals per game ratio. Already 29 though ... you wouldn't really think he; only been around for a few seasons at the higher levels.

I am gonna say Socrates for the above question ... best beard/name combo in footballing history.

Yup you are right. Except for the last season, Drogba wasn't no 20 goals a season striker. He reminds me of Cisse who I am puzzled how he can play for the French team. After 2 seasons, Drogba improved by leaps and bounds and now he is expected to deliver the 3 points for Chelsea every game.

Mourinho likes Drogba because he serves a dual purpose as a big centre forward during set pieces against Chelsea.

I recall his goal at home against Liverpool last season. Stunning goal that really caught Reina unaware.

Kezman really sucked when he was in Chelsea because he was on the bench for so long he lost his confidence. He didnt shine when he was sold to Athletico Madrid. Robben was more of a speedy winger who is again injured in Real. Sooner or later, Real will regret buying a lemon like him.

Crespo? Never felt comfortable with Chelsea. I think he played better for AC and Inter than for Chelsea.

[fatchino]

Not a Robben fan? He was one of my favourite players at Chelsea ... him and Duff used to produce some amazing football back in the Ranieri era when it was just about ok to admire Chelsea's game. I think he has the ability to be as good as Cristiano Ronaldo. He needs a manager that wants him to play regularly and his natural attacking game though first of all though. I hate to say it but it seems there aren't many around like SAF. Ronaldo, now Nani and Anderson look to becoming into some great form now. It must be the way be shouts at them ... young 'uns respond well whatever it is.

Anyone got the new PES?

[st_]

yeah, i don't think robben is a 'lemon', but i see what he means.

he fails to play consistant football; as in, he fails to consistantly even play well, when he can play fantastically. he did some special things for chelsea - its not as if the standard of the epl was above him. i think he is one of those guys that are relatively injury prone, so struggles to consistantly produce what he is capable of.

is pes out yet? maybe it just isn't here in australia. i picked up fifa 08 for ps3, and thought it was pretty mediocre. better than last years but.

[fatchino]

is pes out yet? maybe it just isn't here in australia. i picked up fifa 08 for ps3, and thought it was pretty mediocre. better than last years but.

PES 2008 is out here in the UK/Europe. Not that impressed really ... still managed to spend enough time playing it to win the Master League though. Awful lag on the Xbox Live too, which is most disappointed; hopefully thats only temporary. Maybe I'm just beyond my student days of sitting around banging in goals with Adriano, I dunno but the gameplay just isn't quite as good to me.

[beast]

Not a Robben fan? He was one of my favourite players at Chelsea ... him and Duff used to produce some amazing football back in the Ranieri era when it was just about ok to admire Chelsea's game. I think he has the ability to be as good as Cristiano Ronaldo. He needs a manager that wants him to play regularly and his natural attacking game though first of all though. I hate to say it but it seems there aren't many around like SAF. Ronaldo, now Nani and Anderson look to becoming into some great form now. It must be the way be shouts at them ... young 'uns respond well whatever it is.

Anyone got the new PES?

I think Ferguson pales in comparison to Wenger who can spot emerging youngsters discarded by other big clubs and make them into the soon to be mega stars they are. And he doesnt scream at them either.

Duff? Is he still at Newcastle? He has been injured so long everyone forgot about him.