The Soccer Thread

[jags224]

russiaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

 

[davie]

Russia was actually one of the better teams in Euro 2008. They made the semis. And no mention of Turkey, the most exciting team of Euro 2008? Did you even watch the tournament?

World Cup 2006 was a garbage tournament. Other than Zidane's performance against a lackluster Brazillian team, there wasn't any Joga Bonita.

Italy drew 1-1 against a short-handed USA, played pitifully against Australia and snuck by on a soft PK, then defeated France on PKs thanks in large part to Zidane's red card. Italy basically did just enough to win, which was effective but not necessarily memorable.

Portugal made it to the semis by scoring just 1 goal in the knockout phase, and that 1 goal occurred in the worst World Cup game ever played (Portugal-Holland).

Mostly difference of opinions.

Anything good Russia did was down to Hiddink.

Isn't joga bonita just what they do on those fake/staged adverts? Stuff that doesn't work in a game.

Yes I watched every game of the tournament since it was on when I left school and had the summer before finding a job.

Edit: What would Senser know about what works in a game? It wasn't Rio Ferdinand's fault.

 

[calgaryballer]

If United replace him with Valencia, there is a severe dropoff in talent. Ribery, if they can get him, maybe not. But Ronaldo is a one of a kind goal scoring winger. Ribery, for all his skill, won't replace the 20+ goals that are leaving

 

[davie]

Florentino Perez has issues and, evidently, a lot of money.

The most I'd seen one team spend in one summer before this was when Milan spent £107m a few years back (Juventus spent £106m the same summer). Then though it was for groups of players when Fiorentina when bankrupt and were raided. £136m on two players ... wow.

Ronaldo has wanted to leave for some time? I thought he'd enjoy playing alongside the "magnificent" Wayne Rooney lol

 

[Archer]

I still dont think Real will win anything next season even after getting Ronaldo (to go with Kaka)

Maybe they will get the league seeing as how bad some of the spanish defenses are but until they buy some sort of defence i dont see them getting a champions league

 

[Archer]

I think that Real Madrid will finally win the Champions League this upcoming year. Ronaldo is the best player in the world and now you give him Kaka, plus you have all the other players on that team that are great, I think you will see the champions in the Spanish league and the Champions League. The only thing they have left to do is sell Nistelrooy and get Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Edin Dzeko, the striker from Wolfsburg.

Still forgetting a defence .

God forbid somebody can somewhat contain their attack and force a counter attack

Real`s defense was literally the worst out of all the teams in the champions league last season

And lets be honest Barca arent going anywhere in Spain , when they conceded 6 at the Bernabeu , that had nothing to do with the attack nor will Kaka or Ronaldo help stop the 6 .... if anything its arguble that Ronaldo would make it worse in defense

Amazing looking attack but football isint played soley in one half

They might do the double , but it wont be as easy as predicted

 

[Archer]

I think that Real Madrid will finally win the Champions League this upcoming year. Ronaldo is the best player in the world and now you give him Kaka, plus you have all the other players on that team that are great, I think you will see the champions in the Spanish league and the Champions League. The only thing they have left to do is sell Nistelrooy and get Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Edin Dzeko, the striker from Wolfsburg.

Messi had a way better season than Ronaldo last season .

 

[Bigpapa42]

Love em or hate em, at least Real Madrid are always interesting. I love that the "hey, let's just buy top caliber attacking players" approach didn't work for them in the Galactico era. So they smartened up, got some quality role players, and won back to back titles. But Barcelona find their attacking greatness again, so it time for RM to load up on attacking players once again... Good fun.

 

[wr50l]

I think Manchester United will be just fine without him. Every player in the world can be replaced adequately with £80m.

As for Madrid I'm sure they'll win the odd trophy with the new Galacticos. They change managers every year so someone will get it right even just for a season or two.

 

[Kuzzy Powers]

Even if he did, Manchester is nothing without Ronaldo. You will see next season where Manchester will be on the table. You mentioned the defense and they will probably need to work on that but when you have those kind of players on one team then I don;t think stopping the other team will be a problem although every team needs a player or two on the defensive side that know what they're doing.

I bet Man U still wins the Premiership.

 

[1ke]

Even if he did, Manchester is nothing without Ronaldo. You will see next season where Manchester will be on the table. You mentioned the defense and they will probably need to work on that but when you have those kind of players on one team then I don;t think stopping the other team will be a problem although every team needs a player or two on the defensive side that know what they're doing.

Where will they end up? What 1st, 2nd, 3rd at the worst. I cant sit and deny that Ronny wasnt anything special, cuz he obviously was. But he was not the team. The fact that United still have one of the best defenses in their league, bodes well for them.

Yes they will miss him, but any United fan knew this day was coming. Now it all depends on how Fergie spends this money. Nani was too inconsistent last year, but still shows brief flashes. Park is great, but thats as a role player. Giggs is on his last legs.

Some say Valencia, I think hes great, but not world class. Ribery is world class, but he may be overpriced. I personally would like to see them sign Ashley Young, the pace, and crosses and only going to get better. Realistically though, they will probably sign 1 new winger, striker, and defender specifically a fullback.

 

[ATL Jones Bro]

Where will they end up? What 1st, 2nd, 3rd at the worst. I cant sit and deny that Ronny wasnt anything special, cuz he obviously was. But he was not the team. The fact that United still have one of the best defenses in their league, bodes well for them.

Yes they will miss him, but any United fan knew this day was coming. Now it all depends on how Fergie spends this money. Nani was too inconsistent last year, but still shows brief flashes. Park is great, but thats as a role player. Giggs is on his last legs.

Some say Valencia, I think hes great, but not world class. Ribery is world class, but he may be overpriced. I personally would like to see them sign Ashley Young, the pace, and crosses and only going to get better. Realistically though, they will probably sign 1 new winger, striker, and defender specifically a fullback.

I think they can afford him after the shit load of money they are getting from selling Ronaldo.

I'm pretty sure Man U will be fine. Defense is still top notch, and they still have Rooney who can score the ball. Also with all the money they are getting they could get a Ribery and still go out and buy some more player to fix up their weaker points.

 

[wr50l]

I am a Manchester fan and I hate seeing Ronaldo go. He was the play maker on offense when other teams play us they had at least two guys defending him when he gets the ball, the try to knock him down or do whatever to make him lose the ball. You'll see unless they can get someone to fill in his role, someone like Messi but I doubt Barcelona will let go of him. Nani could possibly play in his spot but Manchester got f*cked for losing him but that is a lot of money as well and they can bring in any player they want. Just wanna see how this plays out. Giggs, Scholes, Berbatov, Tevez are probably gonna leave, Giggs and Scholes might retire, Berbatov is a nice handler but he is slow and doesn;t have the speed to play in the Barclay's Premier League. Rooney is really all Manchester have left. Anderson and Nani are nice also Vidic and Evra on defense. May god help them out. Now Liverpool, Chelsea are in front of Manchester talent wise and we'll see what happens.

:joker:

Giggs and Scholes will probably stay another year but they don't really project as starters anymore, losing them ultimately would mean very little. Berbatov leaving? Nope. 42 goals in two seasons at Spurs and after one average year at United this guy isn't good enough for the Premier League? Tevez leaving? Perhaps but the sale of Ronaldo makes it more likely he will stay.

Manchester United have plenty of world class throughout their squad and within a few months they will have found one maybe even two players to fill the void. Manchester United of all teams will have a contingency plan for losing the world's best player, Sir Alex could've made him stay another year if really felt he needed to. Come the start of this season I'm certain the defending Premier League Champions will be the bookies' favourite.

 

[Bigpapa42]

I think they can afford him after the shit load of money they are getting from selling Ronaldo.

I'm pretty sure Man U will be fine. Defense is still top notch, and they still have Rooney who can score the ball. Also with all the money they are getting they could get a Ribery and still go out and buy some more player to fix up their weaker points.

Yes, they can afford to buy whoever they want now. But do they really want to massively overpay for a player, even as good as Ribery, if the current club does not want to sell?

I also wonder how much of the Ronaldo money goes back into the transfer chest for United, given that they still have massive debt from the Galzer takeover?

 

[wr50l]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/8095917.stm

Bravo.

 

[Senser81]

Love em or hate em, at least Real Madrid are always interesting. I love that the "hey, let's just buy top caliber attacking players" approach didn't work for them in the Galactico era. So they smartened up, got some quality role players, and won back to back titles. But Barcelona find their attacking greatness again, so it time for RM to load up on attacking players once again... Good fun.

I think Real Madrid was better when Van Nistlerooy was still a good striker and they had Beckham on the team. Those two guys knew how to get things done. Guti was a dependable player. When they got rid of Beckham and started playing guys like Gago instead of Guti, they really hurt themselves IMO.

 

[1ke]

So its been said and its on good word that United have put bids in to Wigan for Valencia. Dont know the price yet, but it looks as hes gonna be th fist to show up. Wigan's chairman said that Fergie scouted him damn near every games last season.

So he;s nimber one, and the positive thing about this is that Fergie has been hitting more than missing in the transfer market the past couple of years. We'll see who is next.

Also, Real Madrid are also about to put in a massive bid for one of the Davids. I dont know which one, Villa or Silva. Anyway, thats a shit load of money, lkike everyone else said...they need D.

 

[calgaryballer]

I've heard is for both. Plus Albiol. Rumours of a 65 mil bid for all three

 

[Bigpapa42]

Don't want to see Villa, Silva, or Albiol leave Valencia... But it seems likely to happen. Valencia are a financial mess, which I can't understand to that point.

 

[davie]

Love em or hate em, at least Real Madrid are always interesting. I love that the "hey, let's just buy top caliber attacking players" approach didn't work for them in the Galactico era. So they smartened up, got some quality role players, and won back to back titles. But Barcelona find their attacking greatness again, so it time for RM to load up on attacking players once again... Good fun.

They won the 00/01 La Liga, the 01/02 Champions League and the 02/03 La Liga. They spent a lot more during this period but there was success. Beckham, signed in 2003, didn't win his first La Liga title until Capello came back and won the league for them again.
The defence was always a major problem, but they did go from signing actual great players who will be remembered as some of the best to play the game (Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo) to signing Beckham (largely big name), Owen (injured tramp), Robinho (lol).

Don't want to see Villa, Silva, or Albiol leave Valencia... But it seems likely to happen. Valencia are a financial mess, which I can't understand to that point.

As far as I know they had a huge wage bill for years that they weren't keeping up with. No idea why something like that would be overlooked.