General Football Talk (that's soccer guys)

Pretty sad to hear about a guy getting killed in complete error by a policeman.

La Viola and Juve drop points and Roma get postponed .

Can anyone possibly see McLaren keeping his job? Surely the FA will sack him.

I can't see the game but they're down 2-0 at Wembley.

b

england played a shambles of a game
goalkeeping was a disaster

mclaren's gone for sure

edit: a day later, the FA have fired mclaren ...... not surprising

Good riddance to rubbish IMO.Shame he takes around 2.5 million english pounds with him as he goes for having his contract cancelled.We must be the only country in the world that rewards failure in this obscene manner.

the list of contenders to succeed McClaren now contains an array of foreigners including two Germans, an Italian and a wily Portuguese.

Any comments on the latest CL round? Roma are through, and I'm looking forward to MU at the Olimpico in two weeks.

Liverpool have their work cut out for them, but rose to the occasion yesterday.

I think half(?) the groups are still wide open....

Yeah, it looks to be a pretty exciting last round! Some of the goals in this round were amazing too. I just watched Tottenham play in the UEFA cup and they came back from 2-0 down at half time to 3-2 after 66 minutes, pretty impressive.

I am totally disappointed. I simply have not had the opportunity to watch any of the games or even the time to watch the play-tracker (or whatever it's called) on the UEFA site. I'm so out of the loop all I can do is look at the results and standings. That said, what happened to Arsenal? Didn't they lose 3-0 or something on Wed?

b

... yes the gunners lost horribly; i was hoping for another clean sheet but three goals against is just unbelievable given they've had nil against up to that match

don't know what it was, maybe as they've qualified already they put in a half-hearted effort or something but now will finish second in their group instead of first

but sometimes a loss like that wakes a team up and they're good to go from there

it's nice to see some parity in some of the groups so that it does go down to the last game to see who gets into the knock-out phase - more excitement

From Fox Sports World:

Chelsea already have an agreement in place to sign Barcelona's brilliant Brazilian Ronaldinho, according to reports in Spain.

It is claimed by leading Spanish daily Marca that the Blues have finalized a deal with the 27-year-old - whose time at the Nou Camp looks set to be coming to an end.
Ronaldinho has long been linked with a switch to Chelsea, with owner Roman Abramovich thought to be a huge fan of the classy playmaker.

The one-time Manchester United target has been far from his best this term and has even been dropped to the bench by coach Frank Rijkaard.

And although Italian giants AC Milan, who also have a long-standing interest, could mount a late challenge, Chelsea now look on course to land Ronaldinho.

The reports state that he will be paid €10million (£7.1million) a year at Stamford Bridge, although the two clubs have not yet agreed a deal.

It is believed Chelsea want to take Ronaldinho in January and the player is also keen, but it remains to be seen whether Barcelona could be persuaded to sell him before the summer.

Anyone here a fan of Clint Dempsey?

I think most people in the US like him, but what do fans outside of the US think of him? Do you even know who i'm talking about? lol

I wouldn't say I'm a fan, but I know who he is. U.S. forward, like me, born in Texas. Started careeer with New England, now playing over in the Premiership for Fulham. Not ot be confused w/ Clint Mathis....

Serie A make-up games today: Roma - Cagliari, Inter - Lazio.

FORZA LAZIO!

re:Ronaldinho, good riddance. He thrived in a time lacking in extraordinary players - individuals who can truly change the game (pre-surgery Ronaldo, a younger Zizou, or even Rivaldo fit the bill). Now, he's just another good playmaker; Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi, Cesc Fabregas can all do just as well, if not better, with much less attitude.

BTW, no comment yet on the Euro'08 drawing? France, Italy, Netherlands, and Romania in the same group is about as crazy as it ever gets, I'd think.