2006-07 Soccer Thread

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by Critch

I kind of like the playoffs now, but I hate teams ending their season by losing on penalty kicks. I'd rather they just put through the team who were highest in the table in the case of a draw after 2 legs. Which tonight would have had the same result as penalties, Derby County through.

On top of it being an ex-Derby player who missed the deciding penalty (and it looked like he was going to miss from the moment he stepped forward), it was an ex-Derby player scoring in the last minute of regular time to get Southampton to extra time and penalties.

Other than the MK Dons v Shrewsbury snooze-fest, every playoff game I've seen has been great.

Tomorrow is a tough choice, WBA v Wolves 2nd leg on Setanta, UEFA Cup final on FSC. Two more weeks of great soccer before a long, boring, non-World Cup summer.

There is still like 5-6 weeks of La Liga left, and that title race is totally intense. There will be MLS, US Game, Euro qualifiers, etc between now and the kick off of the season. There are only 10 weekends without English football. FA Cup Final, 10 weeks empty, then Community Sheild. I can live.

[Fighter of Foo]

La Liga > EPL

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by Fighter of Foo

La Liga > EPL

I'm torn on this - my rooting interest is in the EPL, but in terms of trickery and showmanship, La Liga takes the cake. I think the faster pace of the English game precludes a lot of the, slow, patient buildup we see in Spain.

[cthomer5000]

I prefer EPL, and i think it's just largely because the covereage and presentation we can get here is much better. I'm fully open to becoming a La Liga fan though, as I generally enjoy the games I watch quite a bit. I'll definitely be watching more of it with the EPL season over.

I'm also certain I could be a fan of the Dutch league if we got any real coverage here. THe pace has been generally blinding in any game i've seen and the game even more attacking than EPL.

[SirFozzie]

It'll be West Brom who face Derby County in the biggest game of the year (Something like $60 million for the winner in TV rights next year), as West Bromwich Albion defeat Wolves 1-0, and 4-2 on aggregate

[cthomer5000]

If WBA win, it's the first time all 3 relegated teams immediately go back up together.

[Fighter of Foo]

Yeah in terms of production quality, it's really no contest. The EPL weekly highlights show is awesomely wonderful, but I struggle to get through the GolTV La Liga counterpart. There's defnitely a language and cultural difference too.

I think that difference makes it more rewarding to follow, if that makes any sense. Spain is a very regionalized country, and there's all sorts of built up resentment over the years through both sport and outside events that there's rarely a week where there's not 2-3 really fascinating games going on for whatever reason. Real Madrid visiting Athletic Bilbao carries all sorts of political significance, and that makes it more interesting than the corollary EPL matchup of ManU-Fulham.

Required reading here: http://www.laligaloca.blogspot.com/
and here: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns...europe&cc=5901

All the Spanish games are played at night, so there's no need to wake up early on the weekend. Lastly, theres loads more south americans in the league, which, generally, contributes to a slower, more technical game as well as wild indiscipline not seen in England outside of Newcastle....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Zmg4CXSgdY

I love the EPL, but Spain's the best and you don't need Setanta to watch it all.

/End Rant

Another great final going on today as well...watch the whole thing.

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by Fighter of Foo

All the Spanish games are played at night, so there's no need to wake up early on the weekend.

Well, this is a total non-issue to me in a DVR world. I probably watch 10% of the EPL games I watch live. It's awesome that the day's games start just after whenever the hell I wake up.

[GoldenEagle]

You still have an exciting race in La Liga to look forward to. I am not a big Real Madrid fan, but I would like to see them win if Sevilla can not.

There is also the famed silly season to look forward to.It will be interesting to see how Big Sam tears things up. I would love to see Tevez at Newcastle, though I think he will end up at Real Madrid. The Premiership clubs have something like a ridiculous $30mil in TV money to spend. The effect on the transfer market will be interesting.

I have a feeling the FA Cup final will be a bore. I am not planning on plopping down the $25 to watch it.

[Critch]

Originally Posted by GoldenEagle

I have a feeling the FA Cup final will be a bore. I am not planning on plopping down the $25 to watch it.

I'm with you on that. Not so much that it will be a bore, just that I won't be plopping down $25. $15 I can just about see, but $25 is too much.

I'll be going for the finale to the Bundesliga on GolTV instead. Stuttgart are 2 points ahead of Schalke with one game to go, Stuttgart are at home to Energie Cottbus, Schalke are at home to Armenia Bielefeld. Could have been more exciting if Schalke hadn't pretty much handed the title over to Stuttgart last weekend by losing to Dortmund, now it's all Stuttgart's to lose. Stuttgart are champions if they beat Cottbus, or if they tie and Schalke fail to win by 4 goals (I think).

Both games on GolTV, one after the other. The Schalke game is on tape delay.

[cthomer5000]

Yeah, i'm not entirely enthused about the FA Cup final. I'm likely watching it with friends though so we can split the PPV cost. There is almost no way this game will end in 90 minutes...

[Critch]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Setanta Sports has the lower leagues contract, I've been Tivoing all of the games. Great Atmosphere!

Last night's Lincoln v Bristol Rovers game showed that even in the lower divisions you can get good soccer and exciting matches (they both play in the English 4th level).

Some great goals plus some woeful defending added up to 8 goals and it could have been more.

[McSweeny]

I don't even want to talk about what happened in the Nottingham Forest match today

[cthomer5000]

FA Cup = teh suck

[Chief Rum]

So when is the switch over to next season this year? June 18?

Can't wait to see our latest youth crop.

[Critch]

Stuttgart finally wrapped up the Bundesliga championship, though Schalke jumped them to be top of the table for 8 minutes midway through the first half. Stuttgart fell behind 1-0 to Cottbus while Schalke were 2-0 up v Bielefeld, if it had stayed like that Schalke would have sneaked in as champions but Stuttgart came back to win 2-1.

Werder Bremen must be kicking themselves, at their best they looked the best team in Germany, but inconsistency and too many defeats in games they should have won left them in third.

Only the Spanish league left to crown a champion now.

And not spending $25 on the English Cup Final seems to have been a good decision

[Butter]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

So when is the switch over to next season this year? June 18?

Can't wait to see our latest youth crop.

LOL

[Ryan S]

Originally Posted by Critch

Stuttgart finally wrapped up the Bundesliga championship

Hamburg SV finished 7th and qualified for the Intertoto Cup after sitting bottom at the winter break. A pretty incredible turnaround.

[Mr. Wednesday]

Probably a combination of players getting healthy, and the team having been too comfortable with the old coach.

[MylesKnight]

Stopped by a Barnes & Noble over the weekend (my Girlfriend, a English Major, loves B&N due to the deal they have with Starbucks being in all of their stores now), and came across this book.

Soccer (Football) Against the Enemy, by Simon Kuper.

http://www.amazon.com/Soccer-Against...9778268&sr=1-2

I'm going to swing back by and pick this up in the next week or so, but was wondering if their are any other good reads out there. I've read Joe McGinniss's, The Miracle of Castel di Sangro, and A Season With Verona, written by Tim Parks.

I haven't checked out Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby yet, but hear it is a great one.

All of these books cover specific teams and/or leagues though. Is there anything else out there that covers the sport in general that one of my fellow FOFC'ers would recommend?

Thanks!

[ISiddiqui]

Soccer Against the Enemy is a great read... Get "Football Against the Enemy" though. In "Soccer...", they replace all references to 'football' with 'soccer', so you get interesting chapters were they reference "American soccer", LOL

"How Soccer Explains the World" by Franklin Foer is a similiar book to "Football Against the Enemy" and I highly recommend it. In fact, I think I like Foer's book over Kuper's, though plenty disagree.

[Critch]

So Steve Sidwell has decided to leave Reading to sign on free transfer with Chelsea. For the 1 month that Mikel and Essien are away at the African Nations Championship, Sidwell will be important cover, for the rest of the season he'll be lucky to get a place on the bench.

Unless there's a midfielder clearout coming at Chelsea anyway.

[Fighter of Foo]

Scott Parker Deux

[GoldenEagle]

Chelsea played 72 games this season. There will be plenty of chances for play. It was obvious at the end of the season Chelsea lacked any real depth. I would imagine you will see a couple of more big signings.

Robben may be on his way out as well.

[Crapshoot]

Nope - Robben is signing on. Jeez, I'd love him at Liverpool - a left sided midfielder who can actually play?

[Critch]

Originally Posted by GoldenEagle

Chelsea played 72 games this season. There will be plenty of chances for play. It was obvious at the end of the season Chelsea lacked any real depth. I would imagine you will see a couple of more big signings.

Yeah, he'll get some games, but he'll still be behind Ballack/Lampard/Essien/Mikel on the central midfield list. Won't be a regular starter.

The Chelsea chief exec has said there won't be any big signings this summer, just cover for central defence, a midfielder and a striker. He sad 3 or 4 in and 3 or 4 out. As Mourinho said he wants to stick with his 24 man first team squad, I'd guess Sidwell will be coming in as a direct replacement for Geremi or Makelele.

Surprised they don't have a right back on their want-list.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by Critch

So Steve Sidwell has decided to leave Reading to sign on free transfer with Chelsea. For the 1 month that Mikel and Essien are away at the African Nations Championship, Sidwell will be important cover, for the rest of the season he'll be lucky to get a place on the bench.

Unless there's a midfielder clearout coming at Chelsea anyway.

Thats shocking imho - another quality homegrown player to be destroyed by sitting on Chelsea's bench .... still haven't forgiven Chelsea for SWP's lack of progress in recent years.

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by GoldenEagle

Chelsea played 72 games this season. There will be plenty of chances for play. It was obvious at the end of the season Chelsea lacked any real depth. I would imagine you will see a couple of more big signings.

Robben may be on his way out as well.

I assume that's including the perseason games? Because I count 64 games (EPL, Community Shield, FA Cup, Carling Cup, Champions League).

edit: Anyway, your point remains. The least a team can play is 40 games (not including preseason friendlies) so the bottom line is there are plenty of games to go around with an extra 20ish games each year from the more successful teams.

[MIJB#19]

Funny guys. Yesterday Robben reported that he was going to sign a new 5-year contract with Chelsea.

[Marc Vaughan]

edit: Anyway, your point remains. The least a team can play is 40 games (not including preseason friendlies) so the bottom line is there are plenty of games to go around with an extra 20ish games each year from the more successful teams.

But to improve top players have to play regularly imho especially against the best opposition - this is something which Sidwell won't get a chance to do, he'll play against minor teams in the League Cup and the lesser teams in the Premiership when the 'stars' are rested (at best).

The Premiership being a 'strong' league has a definite disadvantage for England in the lack of chances for young english players generally (especially true for Goalkeepers) and Chelsea are worse than most for purchasing promising talents and then letting them rot away on the bench for a few seasons until they're past their 'prime' development years - at which point they return them to circulation now they're no longer a 'threat' to Chelsea.

Its no coincidence imho that in the past both Man City (SWP) and Charlton (Parker) caused Chelsea problems on the pitch and then had their key players poached.

(in Chelsea's defense Reading didn't do as well as either of these teams this year against Chelsea - despite a creditable draw away from home, doesn't stop me from expecting him to miss the majority of matches next season though ..)

[Mr. Wednesday]

How old is Sidwell, and how long is his contract?

Development-wise, it's an idiotic move, but career-wise he may be laughing all the way to the bank.

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by Mr. Wednesday

How old is Sidwell, and how long is his contract?

Development-wise, it's an idiotic move, but career-wise he may be laughing all the way to the bank.

He's 24. No word on contract length.

[Critch]

Something I read mentioned he was offered 25k pounds per week for 4 years at Reading, but he was offered 65k pounds by Chelsea, no mention of contract length.

[Ryan S]

Originally Posted by Critch

Something I read mentioned he was offered 25k pounds per week for 4 years at Reading, but he was offered 65k pounds by Chelsea, no mention of contract length.

You can't turn that kind of offer down.

[GoldenEagle]

I was hoping Robben would end up at Bayen Munich. I would really like to see Munich back on top of the Bundesliga, and Robben would help them get there even if he is a bit fragile for the German league.

I am going to watch the game at a British pub tomorrow with a huge Liverpool supporter. I guess by default I will pull for Pool.

[Mr. Wednesday]

Originally Posted by Ryan S

You can't turn that kind of offer down.

Depends on how long it is and what other teams are offering.

If he's getting another offer that's a lot more than Reading's, but somewhat less than Chelsea, at a club where the midfield is less crowded, he might be better off with it on the theory that he could then really cash in with his next contract.

[DaddyTorgo]

is the CL final today streaming online anywhere? I want to watch @ work while I make calls.

and i could just go out on the dish that we have in the reception room but then i'd get no work done

[RPI-Fan]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

is the CL final today streaming online anywhere? I want to watch @ work while I make calls.

and i could just go out on the dish that we have in the reception room but then i'd get no work done

$9.95 thru ESPN's website.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

and i could just go out on the dish that we have in the reception room but then i'd get no work done

So what's the problem?

[DaddyTorgo]

thanks RPI.

i also found hxxp://livefooty.doctor-serv.com/

there's a feed up there and running right now of ESPN, so i'm optomistic it might be a free alternative, otherwise 9.95 doesn't sound bad

[VPI97]

I'm taking the afternoon off to watch the game. Heading out in a few minutes

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by VPI97

I'm taking the afternoon off to watch the game. Heading out in a few minutes

oooh...i could do that too...hit a bar or something

[muzz81x]

Also another page for ESPN

http://www.footballonsat.com/TV/sop-1.php

it is free too...

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by muzz81x

Also another page for ESPN

http://www.footballonsat.com/TV/sop-1.php

it is free too...

sweetness.

nice 1st post muzz

[DaddyTorgo]

dirk's starting for pool up front alone

[st.cronin]

Liverpool looking lively.

[DaddyTorgo]

Spoiler

1-0 Milan in the 44th minute. Inzaghi deflects in a free kick from 22m out

[DaddyTorgo]

halftime

[SirFozzie]

BTW, I got all three USA Scarves for the summer tournaments (The Gold Cup, The Copa America and the U20 World Cup)

Copa America:


U20 World Cup:


Gold Cup:

[st.cronin]

Kaka