Soccer • Football • Voetbal • Futbol • Calcio 2011/2012

Yeah, kind of getting sick of this crap.

I should be Argentina's DT.

It really is frustrating watching these guys play with absolutely no organization, crispness, timing. They are really, really off. A team with that much talent...and Romero has been their best player??? Lavezzi has been a disaster. Messi looks really out of sorts. They'll probably still qualify but they really need to wake up.

The teams that have looked the best to me are Colombia and Uruguay, but it's true that no one has been especially brilliant.

Excellent write-up one page back, El Arg.

Adam is going to do very, very well for Liverpool. The team is indeed bloated around the midfield, but you can expect some people to move out. Meireles, as good as he was last season, didn't pull off anything more than a flashy pass here or there for most of the season. He scored some big goals at important moments, but I expect him to move on.

The perfect scenario is that mighty Tottenham continue their Glory, Glory years with a Premiership, with the frigging Gooners going down.

Since neither will happen, I think Chelsea and Utd will fight it out.

1. Utd
2. Chelsea
3. Liverpool
4. City
5. Les Arse
6. Spurs

Can't wait for the season to begin.

One thing is for certain - all of the top four clubs have major holes in their teams right now. United's midfield is a mess, Chelsea lacks width and overall delivery into the box, Arsenal are losing their most influential players, City seems stacked but they play like they're the last line of defense in trench warfare.

Originally Posted by Brian SD

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Good write-up!

Originally Posted by venessian

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Excellent write-up one page back, El Arg.

Thanks fellas. Nice to have a thread just for this.

I agree that the EPL will be fascinating this year. I think I'd currently tip Chelsea as the favorites, just because Boas-Villas is there now. I think he'll do well to rebuild that team.

ManU though always fascinate me, because they start any given season looking like they're patchwork, and then they just hit top gear and work through their issues. I agree they need midfield reinforcements, but it's not beyond me to say that all of a sudden Anderson will find his place, Carrick will become a world beater, and Park will have the year of his life. We'll just have to see.

Arsenal - oh Arsenal. I really hope they get hammered this year, just for all the Nasri/Fabregas business going on. DO SOMETHING ARSENE! ANYTHING!!

I've given up on understanding ManCity.

Liverpool I think will be the surprise. Interesting to hear that Gerrard will miss their Pre-season Asian tour... I wonder if the sun is permanently setting on StevieG's career.

Tottenham, for all their talk... I have the aching suspicion that if the right bid came along, Modric and Bale would be out in a second. They need a decent striker REALLY BAD.

Originally Posted by Brian SD

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One thing is for certain - all of the top four clubs have major holes in their teams right now. United's midfield is a mess, Chelsea lacks width and overall delivery into the box, Arsenal are losing their most influential players, City seems stacked but they play like they're the last line of defense in trench warfare.
United's midfield was a mess. Adding Young, and hopefully getting Nasri and Sneijder will help massively. Got some excellent kids coming through the system, and Anderson and Nani are playing the best they've played for ages. Same goes for Carrick, who really needs to start earning his wages but was doing alright towards the end of last season.

Originally Posted by jstupple19

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United's midfield was a mess. Adding Young, and hopefully getting Nasri and Sneijder will help massively. Got some excellent kids coming through the system, and Anderson and Nani are playing the best they've played for ages. Same goes for Carrick, who really needs to start earning his wages but was doing alright towards the end of last season.

Carrick is a useless lump.

Nani would be a top class player if he was consistent.

Anderson has 1 good game in 5 (the rest he is invisible).

We'll have Carrick and Berbatov back if you like. Is 25% of what MU paid us OK.

Originally Posted by El Argentino

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I thought Sanchez was making good runs and really pumped for the game, but I have yet to see why he's (Udinese's) clamouring for 50 million...
No kidding. He's good, and played OK today as well (although the Chile-Uruguay match was another snoozer), but I can't see how he's worth 50M, with ManU and Malaga offering 35-40M for Sneijder, or Barca 35 for Fabregas, for example.

The kid Campbell from Costa Rica impressed me yesterday.

Originally Posted by El Argentino

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I've given up on understanding ManCity.
Same here.
A team with Mancini and Balotelli has to be the most annoying team, though. Mancini is so arrogant and charmless and Balotelli is simply an idiot.

Originally Posted by venessian

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...Balotelli is simply an idiot.

I swear, I remember watching him come on for Inter maybe two years ago and being really blown away by his talent. I thought he'd be a star for the future.

And then he publicly demonstrated that he's got the mental maturity of a 6-year old (multiple times). And I kind of gave up on him become a legend.

I mean, what was that crap about shooting people off of his million-pound apartment's balcony? Paintballs or darts or something? (Maybe I'm confusing this with the now infamous Ashley Cole airgun incident...) And then the near-countless traffic tickets for leaving his Mazzeratti parked on a sidewalk?

He's either alpha-as-**** or a minority Italian with a chip on his shoulder.

...Oh, wait...

/endrant/

Originally Posted by El Argentino

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I swear, I remember watching him come on for Inter maybe two years ago and being really blown away by his talent. I thought he'd be a star for the future. And then he publicly demonstrated that he's got the mental maturity of a 6-year old (multiple times). And I kind of gave up on him become a legend. I mean, what was that crap about shooting people off of his million-pound apartment's balcony? Paintballs or darts or something? (Maybe I'm confusing this with the now infamous Ashley Cole airgun incident...) And then the near-countless traffic tickets for leaving his Mazzeratti parked on a sidewalk? He's either alpha-as-**** or a minority Italian with a chip on his shoulder. ...Oh, wait... /endrant/
That's the problem; he's just incredibly immature. He's a legitimate talent, but he's become a real headache. Hell, he makes Cassano look like a professor of decorum! No, you got it right. First, firing a toy pistol in Piazza della Repubblica in Milano. Then, throwing darts at ManCity's youth team. Plus, throwing down the Inter jersey, the multiple parking tickets, a bunch of other incidents. He's just wasting an incredible talent. He was definitely subjected to nasty racism in Italy, but that's no excuse. Huge shoulder chip. "OOOOOOO Balotelli, He's a striker, He's good at darts. An allergy to grass but when he plays he's fuc**n' class. He drives around Moss Side with a wallet full of cash!!!"
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Robinho.
Pato.
Neymar.
Brasil.

To be fair to Balotelli, he is only due to be 21 in a month. Sure throwing darts and all that stuff is immature, but a 20 year old with as much money as he at a young age is almost guaranteed to be a bit childish. I used to find him annoying; then he pissed off Rio Ferdinand and United. Now he gets a pass from me. Plus when he hits it big at casinos he helps out the homeless.

That US - Brazil game was insane. What a finish.