Soccer • Football • Voetbal • Fútbol • Calcio • Futebol - 2012-2013 Thread (Including EURO2012)

[Sir Humphrey Appleby]



Ribery is a not a Beur ...
He is from Boulogne and is as beauf as you can...
He converted to Islam to marry his wife and went to see prostitutes...
Le Pen will prefer losing every sport competitions and kicking them out...
By the way , Malouda is from La Reunion ...
Do not tell him he is not French.

TBF the France team is like Jack Charlton's Ireland. Boulogne should be ours from what I remember of school history lessons anyway

 

[DLester]

I don't know how they could know this, but the Guardian says that Porto and the Russian have agreed to £38m for poor man's Roo. The deal is pending personal terms, which are going to fly through.

If true (very uncertain), that would mean Hulk on the right, Mata in center, Hazard on the left, Torres up front. Maybe swap Mata and Hazard.

That looks good on paper, but you never know how people are going to play together until they actually do. The Torres/Drogba pairing looked good on paper (to me at least) but was woeful in practice.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/may/31/chelsea-agree-deal-hulk-porto

 

[Burton]



U.S. - Brazil was entertaining to watch last night: solid turnout too. It would have been nice to see better defense from the U.S. (Brazil's wasn't much better), but the U.S. played very well for stretches. A more fair scoreline would've been about 5-2 or 5-3. Herculez Gomez played an excellent match, and I think Michael Bradley did pretty well in midfield. Canada on Sunday before WC qualifying, so hopefully they can get back on track.

The scoreline was not particularly harsh. We blew the first half giving the ball away needlessly and got lucky with a goal from our only solid series of plays. That said, I thought we played Brazil even --with maybe a slight advantage-- in the second half but there is much work to be done. Our centerbacks need to be replaced and, although I agree Bradley played well, we need more creativity in the midfield. In the end, too many of our current group of players do not have a good first touch (and make other basic mistakes) and don't think like real footballers. Our forwards are good and strong and having a German coach is exactly what we need. I was happy but not elated. Five years from today I know the world will be different.

 

[Burton]



I don't know how they could know this, but the Guardian says that Porto and the Russian have agreed to £38m for poor man's Roo. The deal is pending personal terms, which are going to fly through.
If true (very uncertain), that would mean Hulk on the right, Mata in center, Hazard on the left, Torres up front. Maybe swap Mata and Hazard.
That looks good on paper, but you never know how people are going to play together until they actually do. The Torres/Drogba pairing looked good on paper (to me at least) but was woeful in practice.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/may/31/chelsea-agree-deal-hulk-porto

Paper never won anything -- unless we are speaking about Lampard's character.

 

[idfnl]



Not sure how Brazil's lineup vs the US is full of "no names" or even local players. Pretty star-studded lineup. Also, Hulk and Rooney are not remotely similar. Whoever made that comparison, have you ever seen either of them play?

That was me. Yes, many times.

I guess I disagree without much more to add. No players are identical but Hulk is more skilled than a Yakubu and less fluid than a Berbatov. Nani might be a better comparison, but Rooney is the first comparison I thought of.

 

[El Argentino]



Not sure how Brazil's lineup vs the US is full of "no names" or even local players. Pretty star-studded lineup. Also, Hulk and Rooney are not remotely similar. Whoever made that comparison, have you ever seen either of them play?

Oscar, Romulo, Danilo, etc - Brazilian-based players. I mean, sure Neymar, Hulk, Marcelo, Thiago Silva etc. were all there, but it wasn't the "Brazilian" lineup that would be put forward in WCQ for example, or of the past five years where every starter was a world beater (ie WC2006 team, etc).

 

[Burton]



Oscar, Romulo, Danilo, etc - Brazilian-based players. I mean, sure Neymar, Hulk, Marcelo, Thiago Silva etc. were all there, but it wasn't the "Brazilian" lineup that would be put forward in WCQ for example, or of the past five years where every starter was a world benot ater (ie WC2006 team, etc).

Look that isnt' a good argument. Brazil today is a good scoring team but they are weak at the back and the U.S. exposed them more than a few times. They can add players here and there but saying sure they had Neymar, Hulk, Marcelo and Silva but we didn't start a first rate squad is laughable. None of the twelve apostles started nor was Pele seen in the stands but that is very representative of who they will be playing at the WC in '14.


Edit: I think both teams played poorly from a defensive perspective. Brazil was very lucky we hit the post, missed some easy shots we should have made and their keeper was fantastic. Don't know enough about the keeper but I am guessing he does not always play that well. I think the scoreline was fair because we sat back in the first half and played some messy stuff.

 

[El Argentino]

Keeper was Santos' starting guy. First cap, I believe.

 

[Burton]



Keeper was Santos' starting guy. First cap, I believe.

Yes. He looks first rate. I thought they said it was his first cap. Gotta wonder if he can play like that every game - or even most games. If so, I would think Cesar's job may be in jeaporady.

 

[lasbar]



TBF the France team is like Jack Charlton's Ireland. Boulogne should be ours from what I remember of school history lessons anyway

Not really because they are nearly all French born and bred..

Ramil is Morrocan and Evra was born in Senegal but arrived very young..

Do not forget people from La Reunion ,Guadeloupe ,Martinique and so on are French for hundreds of years.

Following the same reasoning, Cole, Lescott, Johnson, Young and co are not English and 80% of your athletic team for the Olympics.

It's different from some Rugby having Saffers ,Samoan ,Tongans with no real connections with the country apart form having played there for three years..

You can have Calais back..

It is a shithole.

 

[romafan]



The scoreline was not particularly harsh. We blew the first half giving the ball away needlessly and got lucky with a goal from our only solid series of plays. That said, I thought we played Brazil even --with maybe a slight advantage-- in the second half but there is much work to be done. Our centerbacks need to be replaced and, although I agree Bradley played well, we need more creativity in the midfield. In the end, too many of our current group of players do not have a good first touch (and make other basic mistakes) and don't think like real footballers. Our forwards are good and strong and having a German coach is exactly what we need. I was happy but not elated. Five years from today I know the world will be different.

We? Aren't you from Manchester?

 

[El Argentino]



Not really because they are nearly all French born and bred..
Ramil is Morrocan and Evra was born in Senegal but arrived very young..
Do not forget people from La Reunion ,Guadeloupe ,Martinique and so on are French for hundreds of years.
Following the same reasoning, Cole, Lescott, Johnson, Young and co are not English and 80% of your athletic team for the Olympics.
It's different from some Rugby having Saffers ,Samoan ,Tongans with no real connections with the country apart form having played there for three years..
You can have Calais back..

What are all the official overseas territories from which France can draw players? Because Thurham was from Guadeloupe if I remember as well.

Also - new kits!

Everton Away - (now by Nike)



Real Madrid Home - (+Benzema looking like a douche)



PSG Home -

 

[the shah]

i think it's about time PSG find a new sponsor for the kits considering the owners

 

[Douglas]

btw i like the new usa kit.

 

[El Argentino]

Also - Hulk lining up to move to Chelsea (as everyone anticipated), and Prandelli saying Italy would withdraw from Euro2012 if asked.

Ronaldinho not getting paid at Flamengo.