Ok here it is, the UEFA Champions League 2010/2011 Thread ! Let's discuss all the Champions League action in this thread separated from the other football thread, which is filled with prem. league stuffs that I'm fed up with .
Since i don't have the time to introduce all the teams and won't have the time to update all the results in-time I have to ask you to give some input (such as a small introduction for your favorite CL team including current situation, predictions for this season and etc.) and post the results in an appropriate format in the thread, since I won't be able to update all the results all the time.
Now, let's get started for the interesting parts the introduction of the teams and the matches.
The Teams
Defending champion and national champions
FC Internazionale Milano - The defending Champion, Italian Champion & Italian Cup Winner + Show Spoiler +
1.FC Bayern München - The Runner-up, German Champion & German Cup winner + Show Spoiler +
Last season's runner-up started it's domestic season rather poor, with a win, loss and recently a draw against fellow champions league participant Werder Bremen. However it is to expected that Bayern will gear-up and reach top-form by October-November. In the last season, Bayern could rely on the "Flying Dutchman" Arjen Robben, who came from spanish rival Real Madrid and proved his former club wrong by taking Bayern all the way to their first CL final since 2001. Can Arjen Robben repeat his run and bring Bayern back to glory and triumphs of former days ? At the moment however one must fear that he can't, as "The Flying Dutchman" has turned himself to "The Man of Glass" and is still denied by an injury taken during his World Cup campaign. While is unable to play until November-December, the focus is set back on Franck Ribery. The other ingenius winger Bayern has. After a year of injuries and scandals, in which Ribery never found his form, he has promised fans and club officials that, this season, he will deliver what everyone is expecting of him and will carry Bayern far in the UEFA Champions League. But still Bayern would not be Bayern, if they would not have other exceptional players that can carry the whole team to success, such as Bastian Schweinsteiger, Philipp Lahm or youngster Thomas Müller, who has just won the "Best Young Player" award and the "Golden Boot" award of the FIFA World Cup 2010. Therefore Bayern has a squad that has the potential to go far (at least semi-final) in this years Champions League, and this is the least what fans and officials expect of them. As for the domestic league, Bayern fans are expecting the repeat of the "Double", winning the Bundesliga and the German Cup, everything less is considered a failure.
Poll: Who will win the UEFA Champions League 2010/2011?
Barcelona (27)
20%
Real Madrid (23)
17%
Chelsea (18)
14%
Bayern München (14)
11%
Manchester United (14)
11%
Arsenal (10)
8%
AC Milan (7)
5%
other (7)
5%
Inter (6)
5%
AS Roma (3)
2%
Werder Bremen (3)
2%
Olympique Lyon (1)
1%
133 total votes
Your vote: Who will win the UEFA Champions League 2010/2011?
(Vote): Inter (Vote): Bayern München (Vote): Barcelona (Vote): Chelsea (Vote): Real Madrid (Vote): Manchester United (Vote): AC Milan (Vote): Arsenal (Vote): Olympique Lyon (Vote): AS Roma (Vote): Werder Bremen (Vote): other
On September 14 2010 01:12 MaGic~PhiL wrote: Since I never watch Seria A Im looking forward to seeing what Holgerius Bonwja totti can do vs Munich
Considering the current form of Bayern and our semi-professional wrestler, Daniel van Buyten, I expect that AS Roma will give us much trouble... . But I think we will win 2:1 though
On September 14 2010 01:12 MaGic~PhiL wrote: Since I never watch Seria A Im looking forward to seeing what Holgerius Bonwja totti can do vs Munich
Well, right now things don't look too good to be honest. I was brimming with confidence for the team (and Totti) before the season began, because they kicked some serious ass during the latter part of the last season (getting more points than Inter after Ranieri took over), Totti looked fucking magical and now the squad is even stronger (signing Adriano, Boriello and Simplicio while losing only Motta). But getting only a 0-0 vs Cesena and then losing to Cagliari 1-5 (!!!)... man, that crushed my expectations for this season. I desperately want Totti and Roma to finally win a CL, but right now that doesn't look very realistic. Hopefully the bonjwa will start to deliver again vs Bayern so they can turn this nasty trend around and make me believe again. ^__^ I'm prepared for disappointment though.
On September 14 2010 01:12 MaGic~PhiL wrote: Since I never watch Seria A Im looking forward to seeing what Holgerius Bonwja totti can do vs Munich
Well, right now things don't look too good to be honest. I was brimming with confidence for the team (and Totti) before the season began, because they kicked some serious ass during the latter part of the last season (getting more points than Inter after Ranieri took over), Totti looked fucking magical and now the squad is even stronger (signing Adriano, Boriello and Simplicio while losing only Motta). But getting only a 0-0 vs Cesena and then losing to Cagliari 1-5 (!!!)... man, that crushed my expectations for this season. I desperately want Totti and Roma to finally win a CL, but right now that doesn't look very realistic. Hopefully the bonjwa will start to deliver again vs Bayern so they can turn this nasty trend around and make me believe again. ^__^ I'm prepared for disappointment though.
Forza Roma!
Hahaha so basically both sides have failed to live up expectations, i just hope we can see some good football . Tell your boys not to turtle ... :D
On September 14 2010 01:12 MaGic~PhiL wrote: Since I never watch Seria A Im looking forward to seeing what Holgerius Bonwja totti can do vs Munich
Well, right now things don't look too good to be honest. I was brimming with confidence for the team (and Totti) before the season began, because they kicked some serious ass during the latter part of the last season (getting more points than Inter after Ranieri took over), Totti looked fucking magical and now the squad is even stronger (signing Adriano, Boriello and Simplicio while losing only Motta). But getting only a 0-0 vs Cesena and then losing to Cagliari 1-5 (!!!)... man, that crushed my expectations for this season. I desperately want Totti and Roma to finally win a CL, but right now that doesn't look very realistic. Hopefully the bonjwa will start to deliver again vs Bayern so they can turn this nasty trend around and make me believe again. ^__^ I'm prepared for disappointment though.
Forza Roma!
Hahaha so basically both sides have failed to live up expectations, i just hope we can see some good football . Tell your boys not to turtle ... :D
So Bayern are failing as well, huh? XD That made me a little bit more optimistic. And I don't think we have to worry about any turtling, the system Roma has been using in general is pretty fun to watch (when it works as it should). I think the game has a lot of potential. ^__^
Feels great to have Roma back on the biggest stage again!
On September 14 2010 01:12 MaGic~PhiL wrote: Since I never watch Seria A Im looking forward to seeing what Holgerius Bonwja totti can do vs Munich
Well, right now things don't look too good to be honest. I was brimming with confidence for the team (and Totti) before the season began, because they kicked some serious ass during the latter part of the last season (getting more points than Inter after Ranieri took over), Totti looked fucking magical and now the squad is even stronger (signing Adriano, Boriello and Simplicio while losing only Motta). But getting only a 0-0 vs Cesena and then losing to Cagliari 1-5 (!!!)... man, that crushed my expectations for this season. I desperately want Totti and Roma to finally win a CL, but right now that doesn't look very realistic. Hopefully the bonjwa will start to deliver again vs Bayern so they can turn this nasty trend around and make me believe again. ^__^ I'm prepared for disappointment though.
Forza Roma!
Hahaha so basically both sides have failed to live up expectations, i just hope we can see some good football . Tell your boys not to turtle ... :D
So Bayern are failing as well, huh? XD That made me a little bit more optimistic. And I don't think we have to worry about any turtling, the system Roma has been using in general is pretty fun to watch (when it works as it should). I think the game has a lot of potential. ^__^
Feels great to have Roma back on the biggest stage again!
Yeah definitely. As for the group, I think both Bayern and Roma will do it. Basel and Cluj are just too weak to compete with Bayern/Roma.
On September 14 2010 01:12 MaGic~PhiL wrote: Since I never watch Seria A Im looking forward to seeing what Holgerius Bonwja totti can do vs Munich
Well, right now things don't look too good to be honest. I was brimming with confidence for the team (and Totti) before the season began, because they kicked some serious ass during the latter part of the last season (getting more points than Inter after Ranieri took over), Totti looked fucking magical and now the squad is even stronger (signing Adriano, Boriello and Simplicio while losing only Motta). But getting only a 0-0 vs Cesena and then losing to Cagliari 1-5 (!!!)... man, that crushed my expectations for this season. I desperately want Totti and Roma to finally win a CL, but right now that doesn't look very realistic. Hopefully the bonjwa will start to deliver again vs Bayern so they can turn this nasty trend around and make me believe again. ^__^ I'm prepared for disappointment though.
Forza Roma!
Hahaha so basically both sides have failed to live up expectations, i just hope we can see some good football . Tell your boys not to turtle ... :D
So Bayern are failing as well, huh? XD That made me a little bit more optimistic. And I don't think we have to worry about any turtling, the system Roma has been using in general is pretty fun to watch (when it works as it should). I think the game has a lot of potential. ^__^
Feels great to have Roma back on the biggest stage again!
Yeah definitely. As for the group, I think both Bayern and Roma will do it. Basel and Cluj are just too weak to compete with Bayern/Roma.
On September 14 2010 01:12 MaGic~PhiL wrote: Since I never watch Seria A Im looking forward to seeing what Holgerius Bonwja totti can do vs Munich
Well, right now things don't look too good to be honest. I was brimming with confidence for the team (and Totti) before the season began, because they kicked some serious ass during the latter part of the last season (getting more points than Inter after Ranieri took over), Totti looked fucking magical and now the squad is even stronger (signing Adriano, Boriello and Simplicio while losing only Motta). But getting only a 0-0 vs Cesena and then losing to Cagliari 1-5 (!!!)... man, that crushed my expectations for this season. I desperately want Totti and Roma to finally win a CL, but right now that doesn't look very realistic. Hopefully the bonjwa will start to deliver again vs Bayern so they can turn this nasty trend around and make me believe again. ^__^ I'm prepared for disappointment though.
Forza Roma!
Hahaha so basically both sides have failed to live up expectations, i just hope we can see some good football . Tell your boys not to turtle ... :D
So Bayern are failing as well, huh? XD That made me a little bit more optimistic. And I don't think we have to worry about any turtling, the system Roma has been using in general is pretty fun to watch (when it works as it should). I think the game has a lot of potential. ^__^
Feels great to have Roma back on the biggest stage again!
Yeah definitely. As for the group, I think both Bayern and Roma will do it. Basel and Cluj are just too weak to compete with Bayern/Roma.
What's wrong with those odds? Seems pretty normal.
Some odds are ... odd ... like Real 5.5 , that's more than Chelsea. Remember that Real haven't been in Semi-Finals for years. Arsenal 15.0 tied with Inter 15.0 is also weird, although i know that defending the title is more difficult than to win it. But with all the other odds it's fine. Just funny to think about betting on Cluj or Zilinia to get 500.0 thats hilarious,
On September 14 2010 01:12 MaGic~PhiL wrote: Since I never watch Seria A Im looking forward to seeing what Holgerius Bonwja totti can do vs Munich
Well, right now things don't look too good to be honest. I was brimming with confidence for the team (and Totti) before the season began, because they kicked some serious ass during the latter part of the last season (getting more points than Inter after Ranieri took over), Totti looked fucking magical and now the squad is even stronger (signing Adriano, Boriello and Simplicio while losing only Motta). But getting only a 0-0 vs Cesena and then losing to Cagliari 1-5 (!!!)... man, that crushed my expectations for this season. I desperately want Totti and Roma to finally win a CL, but right now that doesn't look very realistic. Hopefully the bonjwa will start to deliver again vs Bayern so they can turn this nasty trend around and make me believe again. ^__^ I'm prepared for disappointment though.
Forza Roma!
Hahaha so basically both sides have failed to live up expectations, i just hope we can see some good football . Tell your boys not to turtle ... :D
So Bayern are failing as well, huh? XD That made me a little bit more optimistic. And I don't think we have to worry about any turtling, the system Roma has been using in general is pretty fun to watch (when it works as it should). I think the game has a lot of potential. ^__^
Feels great to have Roma back on the biggest stage again!
Yeah definitely. As for the group, I think both Bayern and Roma will do it. Basel and Cluj are just too weak to compete with Bayern/Roma.
What's wrong with those odds? Seems pretty normal.
Some odds are ... odd ... like Real 5.5 , that's more than Chelsea. Remember that Real haven't been in Semi-Finals for years. Arsenal 15.0 tied with Inter 15.0 is also weird, although i know that defending the title is more difficult than to win it. But with all the other odds it's fine. Just funny to think about betting on Cluj or Zilinia to get 500.0 thats hilarious,
Yea you're right I guess everyone is afraid of the X-factor that Mourinho brings.
On the Hercules vs Barca match, Hercules was 100/1 ! haha imagine if someone put some money on them.
Does anyone realistically see Inter retaining the title?
Yeah, all of the top 8 teams can win it, as shown last year. However in the short history of Champions League noone ever has been able to retain the title. Obviously this won't hold for long but i wish it isn't Inter to retain this as first. xD hehe.
On a more serious note, i have doubts that Sneijer can get his form of last season. This goes aswell for Robben. Therefore we'll have to see what happens. Barca are still the favourites though.
Just reading ticker, because I have to work. Go Bremen, they turned a 0-2 into a 2-2 already. Always entertaining games with Werder Bremen. Schalke on the other hand is down to 10 men. Can anyone comment on the foul? I read the decision was pretty harsh and a yellow card would have also been enough.
Wow Barca schooled Panathinaikos with 5-1, that penalty from Messi was horrible !!! Why do all the superstars fail at penalties ? I'm thinking of CR7, Platini, Roberto Baggio, Ribery etc.
Bremen 2-2 against Tottenham was totally expected from my side, Bremen as how they are, are either top or flop. Inter 2-2 against Twente is a good result to make the group even more interesting.
On September 15 2010 05:55 StimD wrote: haha, thank you rangers as well as spurs-wb and barca-pana!! 650 euros in the BANK
What ? Holy shit ! My father missed his bet because Bremen drawed with Tottenham. He predicted Schalk/Bremen to lose and Inter to draw, i dont know what he would have gotten for this but the odds were about 15,0.
I'm looking forward to see how Real Madrid will play. With or without Özil/Khedira, and if they really are strong or not. As of now i must say that Barca >> Real. But I don't know in 3-4 months this can change in the other direction if the Mourinho factor takes effect
I looked at the valencia ankle or foot or leg break ... that's the most depressing sight I've seen in a while. The defender was just getting up then realized what happened and freaked ... no malice or anything in the challenge... it looks like his left foot jammed somewhere and trailed then the defender while tackling landed on it =(.
I think Fergusson was leaving valancia for the champions league too since he hasn't used him very much in the regular season Everybody here knows what team a cheer for, but to see stuff like this happen scares the shit out of me and brings very bad memories back. Let's hope that he will recover soon enough and be able to play in 5-6 months.
Good finish from Anelka for our 2nd . I love how he does a handcuff celebration, i'm guessing because of the whole French Federation thing, and Malouda, the current holder of the France armband, is celebrating with him.
On September 16 2010 04:10 Holgerius wrote: I haven't seen a proper Roma attack for quite a while now.
Yeah no proper attack from either side. Bayern as the home team has much possession, but isn't playing well towards Roma's goal. Damnit i want to see some goals !!!! Go Müller go !
The lack of Vucinic is quite obvius methinks. Well, something needs to be done. I want Menez to come in, to provide Roma with some speed and give Totti someone to play with.
On September 16 2010 04:52 Holgerius wrote: The lack of Vucinic is quite obvius methinks. Well, something needs to be done. I want Menez to come in, to provide Roma with some speed and give Totti someone to play with.
On September 16 2010 04:52 Holgerius wrote: The lack of Vucinic is quite obvius methinks. Well, something needs to be done. I want Menez to come in, to provide Roma with some speed and give Totti someone to play with.
Why are you sad?
This is the best Roma can do at Munich.
You don't think they could do better? And what makes you think that?
But honestly, if Bayern continues to shoot from the distance they will score a goal either by luck or not ! Roma can't win this game if they aren't willing to attack.
On September 16 2010 04:52 Holgerius wrote: The lack of Vucinic is quite obvius methinks. Well, something needs to be done. I want Menez to come in, to provide Roma with some speed and give Totti someone to play with.
Why are you sad?
This is the best Roma can do at Munich.
You don't think they could do better? And what makes you think that?
This is a International power house playing at home.
Apart from Barcelona no one comes to Munich and expects to win. A draw is already a huge win.
On September 16 2010 04:52 Holgerius wrote: The lack of Vucinic is quite obvius methinks. Well, something needs to be done. I want Menez to come in, to provide Roma with some speed and give Totti someone to play with.
Why are you sad?
This is the best Roma can do at Munich.
You don't think they could do better? And what makes you think that?
This is a International power house playing at home.
Apart from Barcelona no one comes to Munich and expects to win. A draw is already a huge win.
They are favourites to win and all, but phrasing it like you did is just incorrect and annoying. Roma has the potential to smack any team when they have a good day.
Man wtf ? Klose should have scored. It's about time Bayern scores. !! So many chances ...
Kroos has been playing like this every game last season, for Bayer Leverkusen. Bayer got him on loan from Bayern, because Klinsmann didn't want to give him a chance. He was once praised as the new big talent, before Müller suddenly appeared.
On September 16 2010 05:20 zulu_nation8 wrote: I find Julio Sergio's story to be quite amazing. How is it that he never got a chance to prove himself in 10 or so years.
Ya, it's weird.
Now Roma has to push forward, but it won't be easy to start doing that all of a sudden.
It's Roma's own fault for turtling all the game They didn't have one proper attack the whole game. Is it the lack of fitness ? I hope they can do better vs Basel and Cluj...
so, if we want to know how rangers/celtic would do in the EPL, rangers would go down as parking the bus for 90 minutes every game won't get you enough points to stay up, and celtic would also go down as arsenal can rape a side better than them 6-0
On September 16 2010 05:37 sixfour wrote: so, if we want to know how rangers/celtic would do in the EPL, rangers would go down as parking the bus for 90 minutes every game won't get you enough points to stay up, and celtic would also go down as arsenal can rape a side better than them 6-0
Football is not transitive man. A > B & B > C != A > C.
If Rangers/Celtic would play EPL i expect them to be in the middle of the field.
On September 16 2010 05:37 sixfour wrote: so, if we want to know how rangers/celtic would do in the EPL, rangers would go down as parking the bus for 90 minutes every game won't get you enough points to stay up, and celtic would also go down as arsenal can rape a side better than them 6-0
Football is not transitive man. A > B & B > C != A > C.
If Rangers/Celtic would play EPL i expect them to be in the middle of the field.
Going by that logic if Rangers could hold United @ Old Trafford then they can get lots of points from the poorer teams in the PL and indeed survive. Arsenal and Liverpool couldn't even do that. I know they played a weaker side etc.
everything should change when FIFA IMPOSES the Financial Fair play rule and teams will have to spend what they earn, can't wait !!
Players wages will go down, players will be sold at lower prices or at least they won't be inflated. Teams won't be able to pay there players through loans. This will be great!
As for Rangers and celtic, they would probably be ~8-12 so mid table. They remind me of a sunderland side with no prolific goal scorer which means hard defending, hard tackling, hit and run and long balls.
Arsenal today played a crappy team today, there was no real challenge. The problem now is that they face Sunderland on sunday and then Spurs next week for the Carling Cup... let's hope they can get the 2 W's in the next week
Too much Bayern Love in this thread right now. Currently I don't think they're playing that magnificent, I don't watch too much Bundesliga, Only the occasional big Game, but from what I've read they are struggling. I'll judge them when the get robben back.
Chelsea I don't think can concentrate on both the champs league and PL at the same Time (see Last year.) Right now they are dominating the PL tho so if they can do that in the champs league it would be very impressive given how old they are, and lol at drogba being suspended again.
Arsenal (GUNNERS WOOO) played like Sweetly flowing honey. Was unbelievably fun to watch. Braga isn't the strongest Team but they arent any Push overs having beat Sevilla twice to qualify. I'm going to judge them by their PL play because their group is too weak to see how they play against very tough opposition. But all i can say is CESC is BACK fucking beatifull and any one is dumb for thinking he'll leave Anytime soon, Barca already tried twice and got rejected .
And I almost forgot to mention are injury list is longer than the fucking nile and we're still playing golden. Arsenal to the finals easy. (ok well not easy but too the finals )
On September 16 2010 05:37 sixfour wrote: so, if we want to know how rangers/celtic would do in the EPL, rangers would go down as parking the bus for 90 minutes every game won't get you enough points to stay up, and celtic would also go down as arsenal can rape a side better than them 6-0
On September 16 2010 14:31 MadVillain wrote: Too much Bayern Love in this thread right now. Currently I don't think they're playing that magnificent, I don't watch too much Bundesliga, Only the occasional big Game, but from what I've read they are struggling. I'll judge them when the get robben back.
Chelsea I don't think can concentrate on both the champs league and PL at the same Time (see Last year.) Right now they are dominating the PL tho so if they can do that in the champs league it would be very impressive given how old they are, and lol at drogba being suspended again.
Arsenal (GUNNERS WOOO) played like Sweetly flowing honey. Was unbelievably fun to watch. Braga isn't the strongest Team but they arent any Push overs having beat Sevilla twice to qualify. I'm going to judge them by their PL play because their group is too weak to see how they play against very tough opposition. But all i can say is CESC is BACK fucking beatifull and any one is dumb for thinking he'll leave Anytime soon, Barca already tried twice and got rejected .
And I almost forgot to mention are injury list is longer than the fucking nile and we're still playing golden. Arsenal to the finals easy. (ok well not easy but too the finals )
Then I guess you missed the part where he didn't celebrated his fucking 2 goals?
Come on man, the guy wants to play in Barcelona, the longer they acknowledge this, the bigger the burden will be for him :/.
Özil is impressing me so much, pretty much carrying a team like real madrid in his first two games for them at his age is just ridiculous. Their lineup this season looks scary as hell, and Mourinho as coach... they should go very far.
it doesn't even matter if he wants to play at barca, because barca in 2 years won't be able to afford any of their players and so they are trying to win the CL and la liga as much as possible before the fair financial rules kick in. They had to take a 140M$ loan to pay their players in the spring and you expect them to be able to acquire fabregas...
When Fifa start applying this new rule, it will affect all the clubs that OVERSPEND like barca, real, man u, chelsea , man city, inter milan, ac milan. You will see the difference then. Until then, the only thing winning championship is not only skill, it's debt, that's all.
Also, everytime barcelona took a player that wasn't part of their youth system or that wasn't a defender, he played like shit for the club... henry, hleb, ibra, and so on. The only reason i see fabregas do well over there (if he ever plays that is) is because he actually plays in the Spanish team and he is most likely to get less injured since la liga is a league where you can almost rest all your players on some nights and still end up winning the league while this is definitely not true for the EPL.
Anyways, I would like him to stay at arsenal but by all means, if he wants to go, take him for 55-65M$... I think arsenal can sell him for that much and barcelona can be in bigger debt than before.
On September 16 2010 22:17 Freaky[x] wrote: Also, everytime barcelona took a player that wasn't part of their youth system or that wasn't a defender, he played like shit for the club... henry, hleb, ibra, and so on. The only reason i see fabregas do well over there (if he ever plays that is) is because he actually plays in the Spanish team and he is most likely to get less injured since la liga is a league where you can almost rest all your players on some nights and still end up winning the league while this is definitely not true for the EPL.
Anyways, I would like him to stay at arsenal but by all means, if he wants to go, take him for 55-65M$... I think arsenal can sell him for that much and barcelona can be in bigger debt than before.
Barca took players? Really? Most people (actually all of them) call it acquire. Barcelona payed for all the players they got, unlike Arsenal with their Mr. Pedophile. In Spain players can't sign professional contracts until they turn 18.
Henry's 1st season was alright, his 2nd season was amazing (sextuple) and his 3rd season was bad. That's pretty good for a player of his age. Hleb is shit. Ibra's 1st season really wasn't that bad, it was actually fairly good. It was just dwarfed by what they payed for Ibra and his wages. I love how you don't mention all of the other good players Barca 'took' who have been great. Like Sylvinho or Ronaldinho or Kluivert or Deco or Etoo.
The reason Cesc will do good in Barca is because he is a La Masia product. Arsenal is too small for him. He knows it. I know it. You know it. Everybody in London knows this, even Arsene. Arsenal won't win anything and we will have some very juicy drama in the next summer transfer window. Can't wait :O
I'm not going to actually get into a debate because I used the word "take" I'm sorry though, you are right I should have used acquire.
What you don't understand is that Barcelona does NOT HAVE the money that they use to acquire players, they take out loans to get these players, heck they took out loans of 140M$ to pay the players' wages last spring.
The team did have success when Henry came to Barcelona, but he himself didn't have a great season, he was struggling because they played him in a position he wasn't familiar with.
Hleb was doing great at Arsenal, he doesn't know how to play the same style as the catalan players though and he lost form ever since he went to barcelona. Ibra was overrated anyways, eto'os departure was a disgrace and should never happen, but Barcelona didn't want to give him the wage or status he deserved. Do you know how a player feels when he gives his all and the management don't give a fuck and bring in somebody worse and Pay an additional 40M$ for him?
The transfered I mentioned were transfers from the EPL aka Arsenal to Barcelona. And 8-10 years ago, barcelona didn't act like a bunch of assholes when they wanted a player, the're heads are inflated and they think they can acquire any player because the're the best in Europe.
Also, about Fabregas, when he was 16, he joined one of the best clubs back in the day with 1 of the best players in the world Henry. He was also permitted to play on a regular basis and develop. Let's be honest here, professional or not in Spain, he would not have developed as well in Spain as he did at Arsenal.
And you call Wenger a pedophile? what are you retarded? The guy does his job well and you know what... that's how it is in football, if players are unhappy in a situation and think they can go somewhere else and be able to play as a professional, they will be more than happy to and that's what he promises and delivers to those players. If Fabregas is that unhappy, Wenger will let him go ... at a fair price which I don't think Barcelona are willing to pay.
Barcelona got messi from argentina when he was 12. And they do the same thing as Arsenal. They give a kid a place to learn football and a chance to play on the regular team if he is good enough. Oh and they got him for free. So don't go around lecturing people about stealing or taking players. If you like the club support them, but don't think the team you support is entitled to anything regarding another clubs player who's under contract.
I'll edit this later, but I'll be happy for Fabregas if he goes to barcelona and gets to play as a regular there, I think he deserves to win more and more because he's a great player, but at the same time, Barcelona will have to cut down a lot on their spending when the new rules come into play, because it CAN affect their spot in the champions league and so on.
Not gonna lie, I like it when people get all feisty about their clubs.
I read somewhere that owners of clubs are allowed to inject 50M per season.
As Beater said in one of the threads Chelsea had all it's debt cleared. Last season we only got Yuri Zhrikov for about 18M and Sturridge but they are doing the tribunal thing for his payments and this season we got Ramires and Benayoun for about 22M I believe.
Chelsea got rid of a lot of big wage earners - Joe Cole, Ballack, DECO, Beletti.
We sold Stoch for 5M or so and sold Scott Sinclair.
No Chelsea hasn't broke even yet but we will as soon as Arsenal wins trophies. ( too harsh? A BIT OF BANTER )
Have to say Muller's goal for Bayern last night was awsome.
As for the whole Cesc and Barca thing. It's just laughable at how much they bid for the kid and shows exactly what they think of him when they paid 40m plus Eto for Ibra last season. He will end up at Barcelona, but it will be interesting to see the value he goes for when Barca can't even pay their own players without a huge loan. Arsenal may not win things, but least our debt only comes from building a new stadium.
I am surprised at the amount of Chelsea fans all the other star craft sites i post at seem to be all be Barcelona or Man U fans. My family is of English descent, but I M Canadian and the only time I have been to England my dad decided to take me to any soccer game i wanted. And i choose Chelsea vs Liverpool. Also by chance I got to meet gianfranco Zola before the game, and he left such an impression on me, that I have pretty much always been a s Chelsea fan ever since
Real Madrid may not exit at the quater-finals this year, but if they want to win the title they still have a long way to go ! Beating Ajax 2:0 at home is good but it is still to early to tell if the team has/can develop to what, which is needed to become champions. Also Özil played well for 2 1/2 games, and there will be a time when he doesn't play well. And then, I'm curious to watch how Real fans will behave.
On September 17 2010 02:37 Beavo wrote: I am surprised at the amount of Chelsea fans all the other star craft sites i post at seem to be all be Barcelona or Man U fans. My family is of English descent, but I M Canadian and the only time I have been to England my dad decided to take me to any soccer game i wanted. And i choose Chelsea vs Liverpool. Also by chance I got to meet gianfranco Zola before the game, and he left such an impression on me, that I have pretty much always been a s Chelsea fan ever since
Very cool story :D
Zola seems like such a nice person. Great Chelsea legend.
I know Ozil has been good so far for RM but even if he was to get injured i'm sure they have enough depth to cover for him. ( They have A LOT of midfielders )
Barca is so unbelievably reckless with their spending. I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the Mascherano deal. A 22million euro failure from what it looks like. Yeah he still has awhile to prove himself but honestly his brute force style doesn't fit and Barca has so many better options for the foreseeable future.
I just hope Cesc is smarter than Mascherano and can see that at Arsenal he has a leading role and can help them win the EPL and contend in the CL. His style fits so well at Arsenal Much better than watching from the bench. For now Cesc is on our team and has said he will give it his all and I trust him. So shut it with the needless speculation.
Can't wait till the new rules set in and Barca can't just buy their success.
Basel - FC Bayern München Roma - CFR Cluj Spartak Moscow - MSK Zilina Chelsea - Olympique de Marseille Ajax - Milan AJ Auxerre - Real Madrid Partizan - Arsenal Braga - Shakhtar Donetsk
On September 17 2010 09:49 MadVillain wrote: Barca is so unbelievably reckless with their spending. I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the Mascherano deal. A 22million euro failure from what it looks like. Yeah he still has awhile to prove himself but honestly his brute force style doesn't fit and Barca has so many better options for the foreseeable future.
I just hope Cesc is smarter than Mascherano and can see that at Arsenal he has a leading role and can help them win the EPL and contend in the CL. His style fits so well at Arsenal Much better than watching from the bench. For now Cesc is on our team and has said he will give it his all and I trust him. So shut it with the needless speculation.
Can't wait till the new rules set in and Barca can't just buy their success.
Seems like you just changed Barça for MAdrid, and went on.
Is this really surprising? Ronaldo has been around for years now and is probably the second best player in the world next to Messi. But he is such a joke when it comes to diving ...
T.T in the current shape it is most likely to happen, i doubt Bayern can win any game . I can't believe my team are doing so bad in the Bundesliga.
And Roma have found their form (somewhat) again. 5th in Serie A now (ahead of Inter) despite the retarded opening of the season. So we should definitely be able to smash you guys. :D Especially considering that the game in played in Rome. This is where we beat United, this is where we beat Real, this is where we beat Chelsea. You are going down.
On November 05 2010 09:47 Beavo wrote: You guys think Inter or tottenham will win their group?
Spurs coming off a win against Arsenal have surely got to beat a Bremen side at home who have lost 5 out their last 6 games and are bottom of the CL group, if they win that then it's hard to say what will happen away against Twente because they will probably not play a full strength team and Twente might have to win to qualify above Inter
Inter haven't won a game in 5 attempts, unfortunately Twente are coming off the back of two losses as well so I guess Eto will want/need to do the business to make up for his league headbutts. If Twente did beat Inter and Spurs beat Bremen then Twente could end up winning the group since Spurs will not care if they are 1st/2nd Not sure I answered question, it's a tough call
lol i felt bad for denilson, but common did you see the yellow for the "dive" this ref should be suspended for life for that decision, wtf was that. edit: Also, eboue tackled from behind and giving no yellow for the other guy, the ref just didn't want to show anything to the other team despite them having been hacking at arsenal all game.
On November 24 2010 06:38 Freaky[x] wrote: lol i felt bad for denilson, but common did you see the yellow for the "dive" this ref should be suspended for life for that decision, wtf was that. edit: Also, eboue tackled from behind and giving no yellow for the other guy, the ref just didn't want to show anything to the other team despite them having been hacking at arsenal all game.
arsenal won a clean penalty which was deemed a dive, (it was impossible to be a dive), then a braga player tackled eboue from behind and possibly tore MCL or ACL and no card was shown.
At the time, Arsenal had already made all 3 substitutions, and were forced to play 10 vs 11 and got caught on a break where they conceded the first goal. The second was the same thing.
The ref didn't want to give braga any yellows all game which was crazy when you watch the challenges they did.
I only saw the recap, not the whole game, but it seemed like unlikely for arsenal they didn't have a good ball flow or a shitload of chances like they typically do against weaker teams (which I consider Braga being). Did Wenger spare players?
On November 24 2010 16:58 uberMatt wrote: the yellow card rule is fucking retarded and just serves to create ridiculous situations like today
how can they possibly not see how this was going to be abused before they implemented it?
ugh
Yes, comical situation. Reminds me of the Playoff Game FC Barcelona vs FC Bayern Munich 2 Years ago, where Barca had 4:0 lead in first Game and 5 Minutes before end, Marquez just waited out a free kick to get booked and banned for the second leg. It doesn't really meet the purpose of the rule.
Oh i loved the game of last night :D, had so many good laughs with my friends, was an awesome game to watch, i'm so hyped for monday night, ell Classico has never been this exciting. :D
I'm been impressed by the Spurs this season. Man they are just one of those teams you see getting better and better and for the past 2 years I have told myself to look out for them the next year.
Now they are in the ro16, top of their group...really great story, congrats to them.
Just seeling one player should't brake a teams back that hard. Football is a team game after all. And it happened with them in the past, Micoud, Diego were sold and replaced aswell.
And yes, impressive performance and evolution by Tottenham this season so far.
Oh dear Mourinho might be in trouble. It's hardly his fault the rules are completely stupid.
lol what did they expect? no comment;;
but yes Spurs have done reaaaally well this season.. I remember some of my friends doubting whether they were worth the 4th place in the EPL at the end of last season; I was one of them.
i'm more surprised with Bolton though.. anyway this EPL is probably one of the most "balanced" as it gets in a long while! lots of teams competing, lots of teams with the potential, and chelsea and united not dominating like they used to. and arsenal.. well they're always "contenders" TT