2012/13 Soccer Thread

davet010 wrote:

I think Cesc will stay with Barca for the full season. And then I think he'll go back to Arsenal next summer.

Agree to the former. Would kill to see the latter.

Ideal scenario would be Arsenal improving this season (say, finishing 3rd and now very far from top two) and then Cesc coming back next summer as signature signing/statement of intent.

No Klinsi on the sideline Sunday.

This has been a blisteringly boring transfer window in England, huh? The only way I can imagine things getting interesting is if Arsenal actually cough up 55M for Suarez, which... just...

...maybe i'm just jealous because my team's most interesting move is to bring in a keeper I remember best for being a great buy in FM if your team wasn't quite challenging for the titles yet but was still regularly playing in Europe.

Independent now saying that United's deal for Cesc is 'off'. Does something have to have the capacity to be 'on' in order to be declared 'off' ? Obviously not, so I am declaring that my desert island rendesvous with Lucy Liu is now 'off' as well.

This has either been the most masterly piece of misdirection ever, or a public piece of posturing in an attempt to convince United fans that Moyles isn't floundering like a drunk chasing the night bus. As one wag commented last night in the pub

"It's like we've gone from a Rolls-Royce to an exploding clown car."

Prederick wrote:

No Klinsi on the sideline Sunday.

Wow, now I'm even more pissed at that referee.

Fedaykin98 wrote:
Prederick wrote:

No Klinsi on the sideline Sunday.

Wow, now I'm even more pissed at that referee.

You are playing Panama, not Brazil. If the players can't work out how to beat what looks like a pub team without the aid of Klinsmann on the touchlines, then they are in the wrong profession.

First trophy of the season for The Engineer

Tell you what though, Sunderland are much improved over last season. Not convinced by a centre half pairing of 2 Man Utd castoffs though, think if Brown had been playing last season (and di Canio had therefore seen him paired with O'Shea) then Sunderland would have replaced at least one of them.

davet010 wrote:
Fedaykin98 wrote:
Prederick wrote:

No Klinsi on the sideline Sunday.

Wow, now I'm even more pissed at that referee.

You are playing Panama, not Brazil. If the players can't work out how to beat what looks like a pub team without the aid of Klinsmann on the touchlines, then they are in the wrong profession.

This may be true, but it still sucks that our coach has to miss the final.

So Real Madrid have apparently made an £86 million (€100m) bid for Gareth Bale.

My instinct is that selling him and re-investing that money would be the best route given where Spurs are, but that's coloured the unrealism of Football Manager being the main viewpoint. With the new TV money they really shouldn't have to sell to re-invest but Bale isn't going to stick around long-term and they will have to let him go eventually. I'm not sure holding out brings in a much bigger bid for Bale either.

Can Spurs push for a Champions League spot after selling Bale and buying two or three good players to kind of replace him?

If you can't push for a CL spot when you finished 5th last season and you have 86m to spend, you are in the wrong job.

For one thing, you shouldn't be picking up 'two or three good players' for that sort of money...you should be picking up top quality players.

For another, it would take away their over-reliance on one player.

For a third, they've already added to their squad this season, albeit not in the place where they are weakest - up front. If Spurs were to purchase Soldado from Valencia for 25m quid, and pick up another striking option, I'd say they were well placed to go for a CL spot.

I gave the matter some thought as it affects my club directly (meaning: I need Spurs to keep failing to guarantee Arsenal place in top 4) and I'd probably prefer disgruntled Bale having to stay than them having hundred million euros to spend.
However, market seems so competitive this summer that's it's really hard to gauge what that amount of money buys you. Also, would Rooney or Suarez be interested in moving to non-CL club? Don't think so. And who else is really available?

Come to think of it, it might somehow turn out to be a win-win for us. Which is not something you say very often when your rivals have €100M on the table.

Soldado + Verratti (PSG) + Gomez (Bayern)

Probably £65m for the lot, and that'll leave them with a squad superior to Arsenal's.

In other news, Dortmund beat FC Arrogant 4-2 last night in the German Charity Shield, though it's fair to say BM were missing a fair few players. Some thoughts....

- That Gundogan chap is good
- That Alcantera chap...early days, but he looked bone idle.
- Might be unpleasant of me to say, but every time I see Arjen Robben's gurning face, I do not wish him well.
- That wasn't Bayern's first choice defence, which is a good job because Tom Starke wouldn't even be my choice for squad keeper on that showing, and Van Buyten is a good couple of years past his sell-by date.

Still reckon they'll win the Bundesliga, but not by a 20 point margin.

Let's go Team USA!

Dominating possession for the 1st half.

Stele wrote:

Dominating possession for the 1st half.

Yeah, but next to nothing in the attacking third.

Gutted for Stuart Holden.

And I still don't know how Beckerman gets a run on.

Stele wrote:

Dominating possession for the 1st half.

I didn't feel as dominant as the US has been in many games, you know? I was surprised by the time of possession being so one-sided.

No hand ball?

Brek Shea is from COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, home of the Fightin' Texas Aggies, as well! Whoop!

And he's a goal thief.

Turning your teammate's goal into an assist, that's a special talent.

Stele wrote:

And he's a goal thief.

Turning your teammate's goal into an assist, that's a special talent.

Donovan tried the same thing, bro.

And how did Johnson miss from point blank?

If the ref would call the first foul, he wouldn't have to card people when they retaliate. That's twice in the last 5 minutes. Sheesh.

An ugly win for the US (especially at the end), but I'll take it.

Meanwhile, in the 2013 Women's Euro tournament, Germany edged Norway 1-0 in the final, with Germany's keeper Nadine Angerer saving two penalties during the game to keep her team in it.

Talk about a player taking the team onto their shoulders.

jowner wrote:
whispa wrote:

What the heck??

http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/07/world/...

saw that also. Its a crazy world.

I know this is from 3 weeks ago but I guess I missed it in the thread here.

My dad asked me about it today when we talked about the US match, if I had heard about a referee in Brazil getting killed. Quick google led me to a Deadspin article, which even has a video that I will not click on... and yeah, CNN, SI, and lots of other places seemed to have coverage.

A player gets a red card, he punches the referee, the referee pulls a knife and stabs the player. While the player is rushed to the hospital, his family and friends tie up the referee. When word reaches them that the player died, they stone, and dismember the referee. WTF?! :shocK:

This just seems insane. We're really having the World Cup in that country next year?

My Brazilian friend would rather not have the World Cup in Brazil, much as I'd rather not have the Super Bowl in Houston.

This is a terrible, terrible story, but maybe the referee shouldn't have murdered the player.

Dimmerswitch wrote:
Stele wrote:

Dominating possession for the 1st half.

Yeah, but next to nothing in the attacking third.

Gutted for Stuart Holden.

And I still don't know how Beckerman gets a run on.

As much as I hate Beckerman, he has been pretty solid during the Gold Cup. Holden's injury was terrible, you could see it on his face when he first came off.

I had a long discussion with a friend about players poaching goals from their own team. His feelings were, if the puck is not yet in the net, and you have a chance to make sure it gets there, you do it. Sure, Shea could have let that go and it probably would have ended up in goal, but he had the chance to make sure it did. Can't fault someone that.

All around a great tourney from the USMNT, a tough last game, but I think Panama's organization on defense had a lot to do with that.

So, Gareth Bale. This, apparently, is RM's offer.

- Fabio Coentrao
- Angel di Maria
- £51m cash.

I'd have their hands off for that - Gareth Bale doesn't strike me as a long-term galactico, not after he spent 4 seasons being sh*te.

davet010 wrote:

So, Gareth Bale. This, apparently, is RM's offer.

- Fabio Coentrao
- Angel di Maria
- £51m cash.

I'd have their hands off for that - Gareth Bale doesn't strike me as a long-term galactico, not after he spent 4 seasons being sh*te.

If that's actually the offer I don't know how on earth Tottenham doesn't take it.

They need a left-back, right?

I know di Maria isn't in Bale's league, but maybe they can get a star or two with that extra £51m?

Dimmerswitch wrote:
davet010 wrote:

So, Gareth Bale. This, apparently, is RM's offer.

- Fabio Coentrao
- Angel di Maria
- £51m cash.

I'd have their hands off for that - Gareth Bale doesn't strike me as a long-term galactico, not after he spent 4 seasons being sh*te.

If that's actually the offer I don't know how on earth Tottenham doesn't take it.

They need a left-back, right?

I know di Maria isn't in Bale's league, but maybe they can get a star or two with that extra £51m?

Its not actually the offer because like I said earlier in this thread when do player trades actually happen.

Its pure lazy journalism. The rumor is maybe Real want to get rid of those 2? bundle them into the next transfer rumor as some makeshift deal and TADA! new headline.

As for the Bale rumor I'm not sure if it makes any sense for Real at all. Wouldn't Suarez for 55 make more sense? Play him upfront and I see him 'working' with Ronaldo much better where I don't really see how Bale and Ronaldo fit on the same pitch. I doubt they fear the price going up but waiting a year and have a team like PSG come in for Bale and offer him something mind boggling stupid. Why flirt with Messi and Ronaldo when they are a year older and Bale has another wonder season?

I guess I can't complain though. You would assume Spurs getting 85 for Bale means they would actually have a chance to build a solid team but that assumes they actually buy efficiently. Just the turnover of new players and the amount of money on rushed signings that turn into busts (see Arsenals binge spending after they let Cesc and Nasri walk so close to a season starting) I would be very confident that they wouldn't be able to re-invest and challenge for 4th this year.

Also I can't complain that Real are not getting tied up in the Suarez rumors and are after our main rivals best player ;D

August is starting, some European leagues are kicking off, let's move: http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/1...