European Soccer Part XIII

[Bob Gray]

I don't have much good to say about SAF, but I must say when I saw him haranguing the Porto coach about rampant "simulation" by the Porto players, I couldn't help but say to myself, "Go get 'em Alex!".

[Jon]

Originally posted by FerrisLives
Porto doesn't get enough credit. They are having one of the best seasons of the last two decades by a team from one of the smaller nations. They are having the dream season that fans of clubs like Celtic, Anderlecht, Rosenborg, Olympiakos, etc. wish their teams had in them.

Interesting you should mention Celtic since they got hosed by Porto's schtick last year.

[MavrckMngr]

First thing's first. Had Newcastle beaten Man City on Saturday, I'll let you all in on what was going to be my concession post, along with a photo of Noel Gallagher holding up the Nationwide trophy:

(sings) We never win at home, we never win away / We lost last week, we lost today / We don't give a ******* cos we're all p***ed up...M!C!F!C! O.K.!

I dunno...just figured it might convince Jon to hop on the (sometimes buzzed) Blue wagon. :p

Anyhow...

-It's days like this that I wish we had a consolation game in Champions League. Quite frankly, I still think Deportivo La Coruna-Chelsea would be a much more entertaining match.

-Fifteen minutes into the game at the Bridge today, I was 100% convinced that Chelski was going to come out on top. However, while they did get those two goals, the first one of the stranger goals I've seen, it could've been 3 or 4-1 going into the half. Furthermore, Ranieri must have been furious at the interval when EVERYONE in blue completely shut down a minute before the whistle. The goal wasn't the backbreaker, but it took the wind out of Chelski's sails, which probably made our boy Roman a little happier. It's hard to fire a manager who just won Europe for you.
I'm still praying that Wardle dumps Keegan and brings Ranieri in, however. We need a manager that's productive on the training ground, something we don't have at the moment.

-Deportivo got snowed. The penalty awarded to Porto was certainly justified, yes, but the referee missed two, possibly three incidents in the box that should've given Deportivo a free chance to equalize. The elbow that Tommy Smyth went nuts over was the most blatant. Deportivo gave a rather uninspired performance most of the day, but I'm appalled that they didn't get even one penalty in their favor. UEFA will probably take the appropriate actions, though, I'm sure.

-Quote of the day yesterday: I'm watching the game in my den with my friend from work, Ian, and right before the end of the match, I hear him say "You know, that girl they've shown about nine times now would be kinda cute if she wasn't, you know, crying."

-Watching the match today, did anybody else think Patrick Swayze was reffing? :p

[Don King]

This thread has fallen a little far down the page, so I'll give us a topic to discuss:

Who was the best side in the world this year?

Obviously I'm referring to European sides here; I'm not sure that any of us can argue that the best teams in the world aren't based across the pond.

Nominations:

ARSENAL FC-- Obviously, you knew I was going to start with them. They're two matches away from having the only undefeated season in Premiership history. But they blew it in the cup competitions, especially in Europe, where they were 45 minutes from making the semifinal and went crashing out to a team they hadn't lost to in 17 matches.

AC MILAN-- They ran away with the Serie A title in much the same way that Arsenal ran away with the Premiership, except they had to deal with a surging Roma club that has conceded only 15 goals the entire season (yet managed to lose thrice). Nearly pulled off an undefeated season themselves.

FC PORTO-- Sure, we all hate them. But they might be the favorite to win Europe this year, plus they're probably going to take the Portuguese league title, plus the Portuguese league cup. That's quite a season.

AS MONACO-- Hell, they're in the European Final, which has to count for something. With four matches to go, they're also in shouting distance of the French title (two points down to Lyon at the moment).

CELTIC FC-- Only because they have 29 wins, and a +78 goal differential, over 35 games. I mean, good Lord, that's dominance. If they hadn't gone completely out of Europe in the group stage of the Champions League, they might actually be a serious candidate for consideration...

CHELSEA FC-- Despite not winning anything anywhere. Even though they finished second in England, and failed in the FA Cup, and fell apart in the CL semifinal-- if there were an eight-team cup competition between the best sides in the world starting today, would you bet against a team this talented?

[MavrckMngr]

Arsenal gets my vote, European competition notwithstanding. When you're (probably) going to go through an entire season in arguably the best league in the world without a loss, it's very hard not to call your club the best. Milan comes second for me, and Chelski thid. Chelski would probably leap-frog AC Milan if the club brass didn't have their heads up their asses about firing their manager. Claudio, please, PLEASE come to City! :)

As for clubs that had breakout years:

1.) Deportivo La Coruna
2.) AS Monaco
3.) Newcastle United...the loss to City last week was a big blow to their Champions League hopes, but I still hope they qualify.

Safety for the Citizens and two games to go. Boro and Everton, in fact. You'll have to excuse me for not being too jacked about the rest of the season. Besides, they're back on the grass in a month and a half, with or without KK.

[BigPieps]

Roma!

Totti@!

[Don King]

Originally posted by BigPieps
Roma!

Totti@!

You and my roommate should discuss. He loves Roma too. :)

After their fans' display last Sunday (hitting Milan's keeper with firecrackers and missiles, throwing flares on the pitch, etc.) I say fvck 'em.

[Jon]

Great Old Firm game today. Even better ending with Sutton finally scoring for Celtic in with seconds remaining in injury team. :)

That makes it six wins in a row over Rangers... :eek:

[Terrierbyassociation]

Liverpool stomps Birmingham 3-0. Up six points on Newcastle now with Newcastle with two games left to play. It looks like it's probably going to come down to the last match of the season, just like last year for Liverpool, when they lost to Chelsea and missed out on CL by the slimmest of margins. Now they have their last match at Anfield and they need to win to go to Champions League with the fourth spot. Newcastle is playing Wolverhampton and Southampton before they play Liverpool. If one of those sides can beat Newcastle or tie, I would be very pleased.

[FerrisLives]

My nominations for best seasons:

1)Arsenal, goes without saying best season in EPL history.

2)Porto, could win Champions League, domestic league and Cup. Could be first team in European history to win a major trophy, league and Cup in consecutive seasons.

3)Werder Bremen, who foresaw this team winning the Bundesliga? They clinched the title today with a 3-1 win on the road at Bayern Munich. Awesome.

4)Ligue 1 as a whole. This has been one of the best seasons of French clubs in a long time. The league was sagging quite a bit behind England, Spain, Italy and Germany in quality for most of the last decade. Monaco are in the CL final, Olympique Marseilles are in the UEFA Cup final, Olympique Lyon made the CL quarters and may win the league, Sochaux won the French Cup their first trophy in 67 years, Paris St. Germain are starting to act like one of the richest clubs in Europe again. Just an awesome year for French club soccer.

5)Trabzonspor, you've probably never heard of them. But, they are going to be in Champions League group play next year, and they also won the Turkish Cup. They've ended decades of dominance by the 3 Istanbul clubs of Galatasaray, Besiktas and Fenerbahce.

6)Valencia, In UEFA Cup final and will win La Liga.

7)Millwall, in the FA Cup final and will be making an appearance in the UEFA Cup next year.

8)AC Milan just crushed the rest of Serie A this year.

9)Rhyl FC, won its first League of Wales title after many years of dominance by Barry Town and TNS Llansantfried.

10)Celtic, ran away with Scotland this year. Rangers are closer to Hearts this year than they were Celtic.

[jmh]

Question for whomever might know... Is MLS not playing overtime this year? I just got done watching an exciting seesaw game between the Metros and the Quakes, with the Metros tying it at 5 in the 89th minute, and was looking forward to the game keeping going, and then it didn't... :(

[purple_and_gold10]

I also just got done watching that game JMH...classic game...LOL...The metrostars have a VERY VERY explosive offense and if they can get some more defense they are going to be a very tough team to beat. Glen looked great out there in his first game scoring the Metros first and last goals of the game. The last one was a beauty off the back heal streaking towards the goal in the 89th minute. Metrostars should be very pleased with getting a point out of this one. When they went down 5-3 i was really doubting things and then when there was only 2 minutes left i didnt think they would pull it off. Then all of a sudden one break goes their way and the Metros have the ball in the goal. 5-5 soccer game??!!:eek: when is the last time that happened?

[x-cheque]

Originally posted by BigPieps

Totti@!

Ah yes, Totti. Here he is in action.

http://www.petermanchester.ca/full_size_images/diver.jpg

Or "simulating" or whatever you call it.

I used to be a huge Juventus fan but after a few years of steady exposure to the circus that is Serie A, I focused more on EPL. Can't say I blame the Italian fans, if I had to watch boring Italian football all the time i'd probably tear $hit up and burn it down too.

[x-cheque]

Originally posted by FerrisLives
My nominations for best seasons:

1)Arsenal, goes without saying best season in EPL history.



Still, it was success completely reserved for the Barclaycard Premiership. Failures in the FA Cup and the CL do stand out. But my lord if they finish unbeaten...it will be one for the books.

[BigPieps]

Originally posted by x-cheque
Ah yes, Totti. Here he is in action.

http://www.petermanchester.ca/full_size_images/diver.jpg

Or "simulating" or whatever you call it.

I used to be a huge Juventus fan but after a few years of steady exposure to the circus that is Serie A, I focused more on EPL. Can't say I blame the Italian fans, if I had to watch boring Italian football all the time i'd probably tear $hit up and burn it down too.

Don't tell me you think he was diving in the World Cup game...that was a horseass call.

Totti >>> you

[x-cheque]

The man is a talented footballer but needs to shelve his Greg Louganis impression. I also think he is a bit overrated, he gets quite a bit off press, but really, he hasn't done much for either club or country. Helped lead AS Roma to 2nd place in Serie A this year, congrats, here's your handshake. Granted, is still quite young and probably will do something great for soccer but as of right now I can name 10 players in Serie A alone that I would take over him any day.

[BigPieps]

Originally posted by x-cheque
Granted, is still quite young and probably will do something great for soccer but as of right now I can name 10 players in Serie A alone that I would take over him any day.

Please do :)

I'll help you...

Paulo Malidini...(there's 1)

[nubobcat]

Originally posted by jmh
Question for whomever might know... Is MLS not playing overtime this year? I just got done watching an exciting seesaw game between the Metros and the Quakes, with the Metros tying it at 5 in the 89th minute, and was looking forward to the game keeping going, and then it didn't... :(
yeah they did away with it this year.

[x-cheque]

Originally posted by BigPieps
Please do :)

I'll help you...

Paulo Malidini...(there's 1)

So, nine more players that are better than a young overrated striker? Sure.

Gianluigi Buffon, Alessandro del Piero, Andriy Shevchenko, Rui Costa is a fantastic playmaker, Jap Staam is a lion in defense as is Lilian Thuram, David Trezeguet is called the poor man's Thierry Henry but that's fine with me, Javier Zanetti, Kily Gonzalez, Christian Vieri. There, there's 10. Some fullbacks, a midfielder or two, and three strikers. More medals in there than Totti has seen so far, and less action off of the diving board.

[Bob Gray]

Arsenal wins 1-0 on another Reyes goal. Good to see Reyes putting it in the net. And now only a match at Highbury versus Leceister stands between the Gunners and history!