The Football Thread 2011/12

[Cuttooth]

Next big thing who a few clubs have been after. Or the next Bebe.

He recently won every single end-of-season award Crewe dishes out.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17786681

[Tom1882]

I wonder how much responsibility Bale and Modric will feel, enough to convince them to stay?
FML.

this is football mate!!

I know.

[Dowbocop]

Next big thing who a few clubs have been after. Or the next Bebe.

He recently won every single end-of-season award Crewe dishes out.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17786681

[PES Fan]

How insightful.

Honestly, this strawberry floating thread, heaps praise on and jumps to defend that Chelsea performance last night, yet chastises anyone who praises one of the best football sides in the history of the game. Why do you lot even watch football, is it to be entertained, or just to have something to talk about with your mates in the pub?

Chastises? What you talking about?

So if Celtic won the champions league like that, would you be complaining? You don't really seem to grasp that defence is apart of football. And think every team should go and just attack like headless chickens. You keep saying AVB is some tactical genius, and have a go at RDM.

Did you watch Germany vs Spain last world cup? Germans couldn't play their usual style due to Spain keeping the ball well. Despite both teams having some of the best players in the world. Same in the final. Dutch had a lot of good players, but were forced into playing counter attack. The only team who had a go at Spain was Chile. Does that make the Dutch and German team poor? Chelsea couldn't do that against Barca or Bayern. I'm sure they would have loved to attack more, but Barca and Bayern were good at keeping possession. Same Bayern who outplayed Madrid over two legs.

Chelsea couldn't just go all out attack especially when there were concerns about both their centre backs fitness wise. So they needed protection.

I don't understand what is hard to grasp that you are going to find teams that are better at keeping the ball than you and you have to adapt to that.

[bear]

Chelsea could be ready to make a shock move to tempt Harry Redknapp to take over at Stamford Bridge.
Full story: Mail on Sunday

[PES Fan]

So does anyone know anything about this Nick Powell that United have shelled out £4m for?

Apparently Hazard and Kagawa were smokescreens for him. And I know he's better than Bebe.

[PES Fan]

Steve Kean is to be removed from the position as Blackburn manager but will stay at the club in a different role and keep his current salary.

Hmmm. So that story about his gangster mates owning the club for money laundering seems true.

[Curls]

Last nights game was strawberry floating boring until the 83rd minutes Drogba's goal was fantastic and the rest was tense enough to be fun to watch.

Cech is absolutely amazing and David Luiz is definitely a strawberry floated up stoner.

Congrats to Chelsea, whether you deserved it or not does not matter to me. It was an absolute pleasure to see you win it. Maybe another British club next year? (Not Man U!)

[Cuttooth]

Feel desperately sorry for Spurs, though. Harsh on them and a rule that needs loooking at again.

I've always thought that the winning nation should get an extra spot, so this year we'd get 5 instead of 4, last year Spain would have had 5. I think it's fairer as you don't have situations like this where Spurs lose out, and it gives each country a reason to support their teams.

Just thought I'd bring this up again. If that happened every season then the deservedly earned spot of a club from a lesser footballing nation would have to be sacrificed surely? That wouldn't be fair at all.

You couldn't really repeat the outcome from 2005 either since it would mean clubs could concentrate solely on their European fixtures rather than going for it in the league, with the full backing of its FA knowing it would garner them an extra place the following season.

It's extraordinarily harsh on Tottenham (and I'm so relieved Arsenal finished above them) but the rule isn't an unknown quantity at the start if the season, and third (or even second) was in their own hands for much of the year.

[Dark Ritual]

[Mafro]

Chelsea have had to cancel today's parade after they realised that the bus they planned to use is still parked in Munich.

[Cuttooth]

[Return_of_the_STAR]

Feel desperately sorry for Spurs, though. Harsh on them and a rule that needs loooking at again.

I've always thought that the winning nation should get an extra spot, so this year we'd get 5 instead of 4, last year Spain would have had 5. I think it's fairer as you don't have situations like this where Spurs lose out, and it gives each country a reason to support their teams.

Just thought I'd bring this up again. If that happened every season then the deservedly earned spot of a club from a lesser footballing nation would have to be sacrificed surely? That wouldn't be fair at all.

You couldn't really repeat the outcome from 2005 either since it would mean clubs could concentrate solely on their European fixtures rather than going for it in the league, with the full backing of its FA knowing it would garner them an extra place the following season.

It's extraordinarily harsh on Tottenham (and I'm so relieved Arsenal finished above them) but the rule isn't an unknown quantity at the start if the season, and third (or even second) was in their own hands for much of the year.

Whilst I agree with your comments that its our own fault for not finishing 3rd, my point is that this situation should never have arisen as the winners should have always been given a spot when the competition was created. But as u say now a smaller nation would have to lose their spot for England to get 5 spots this year as happened when Liverpool won but finished 5th. I honestly think uefa thought no one could win the CL and finish so low in their domestic league.

[the yattering]

Don't understand why people refer to Chelsea's performances this season as brilliant defensive displays. Good defending is winning the ball cleanly, marking your opponent out of the game, reading the game to intercept a pass etc. I have as much respect for good defending as anyone else. The fact is though, Chelsea didn't do an awful lot of those things, they didn't do an awful lot of anything, they just kept as many bodies as they could in their own half for as long as they could - to restrict Bayern's attacking space and stop them from creating chances. They didn't play football tonight, they stopped Bayern from playing it - that's why I don't think they 'deserve' to be European champions, and as I said before, Bayern et al don't deserve it much more because they didn't cut the mustard and should have put Chelsea away.

Restricting space and stopping the opposition creating chances is still defending, it is just defending as a unit instead of individually.

I am really pleased for Chelsea, sure they rode their luck at times and Bayern had enough possesion and chances to win the game four times over but it matters not in the end. I would have liked to see more of a threat from Chelsea as a neutral to make the game more of a spectacle but I thought they did really well even though they rode their luck on more than one occasion but then isn't that what football is all about? Look at us in Istanbul, dire first half, extraordinary second half and we were still nearly undone at the end when Dudek saved from Schevchenko, or the mancs against bayern years ago, outplayed for most of the game then two late goals to win it. Fantastic stuff and congratulations Chelsea fans, there certainly is no feeling like winning the CL.

[Dark Ritual]

Feel desperately sorry for Spurs, though. Harsh on them and a rule that needs loooking at again.

I've always thought that the winning nation should get an extra spot, so this year we'd get 5 instead of 4, last year Spain would have had 5. I think it's fairer as you don't have situations like this where Spurs lose out, and it gives each country a reason to support their teams.

Just thought I'd bring this up again. If that happened every season then the deservedly earned spot of a club from a lesser footballing nation would have to be sacrificed surely? That wouldn't be fair at all.

You couldn't really repeat the outcome from 2005 either since it would mean clubs could concentrate solely on their European fixtures rather than going for it in the league, with the full backing of its FA knowing it would garner them an extra place the following season.

It's extraordinarily harsh on Tottenham (and I'm so relieved Arsenal finished above them) but the rule isn't an unknown quantity at the start if the season, and third (or even second) was in their own hands for much of the year.

Whilst I agree with your comments that its our own fault for not finishing 3rd, my point is that this situation should never have arisen as the winners should have always been given a spot when the competition was created. But as u say now a smaller nation would have to lose their spot for England to get 5 spots this year as happened when Liverpool won but finished 5th. I honestly think uefa thought no one could win the CL and finish so low in their domestic league.

I think when Liverpool won, a team didn't "lose" their spot. I can't remember how it worked out, but I'm pretty sure a lower nation didn't lose their team because of it.

[Lotus]

That's superb.

[Return_of_the_STAR]

Feel desperately sorry for Spurs, though. Harsh on them and a rule that needs loooking at again.

I've always thought that the winning nation should get an extra spot, so this year we'd get 5 instead of 4, last year Spain would have had 5. I think it's fairer as you don't have situations like this where Spurs lose out, and it gives each country a reason to support their teams.

Just thought I'd bring this up again. If that happened every season then the deservedly earned spot of a club from a lesser footballing nation would have to be sacrificed surely? That wouldn't be fair at all.

You couldn't really repeat the outcome from 2005 either since it would mean clubs could concentrate solely on their European fixtures rather than going for it in the league, with the full backing of its FA knowing it would garner them an extra place the following season.

It's extraordinarily harsh on Tottenham (and I'm so relieved Arsenal finished above them) but the rule isn't an unknown quantity at the start if the season, and third (or even second) was in their own hands for much of the year.

Whilst I agree with your comments that its our own fault for not finishing 3rd, my point is that this situation should never have arisen as the winners should have always been given a spot when the competition was created. But as u say now a smaller nation would have to lose their spot for England to get 5 spots this year as happened when Liverpool won but finished 5th. I honestly think uefa thought no one could win the CL and finish so low in their domestic league.

I think when Liverpool won, a team didn't "lose" their spot. I can't remember how it worked out, but I'm pretty sure a lower nation didn't lose their team because of it.

I think uefa created an extra qualifying game or something so Liverpool played some team from eastern Europe who would have normally got into the 1st round of CL qualifying.

[Drumstick]

Is today Del Piero's last ever game?

[Return_of_the_STAR]

That's superb.

It's also funny that u can clearly tell that apart from obama all the other leaders were pissed that chelsea won.

[Mafro]

Didn't they put Liverpool in from the very bottom and without any country protection?