Football/Soccer Discussion 10/11

We need a new thread for the new season. Here is the place to discuss anything football related. England/Spain/Italy ect.

My predictions for this season (some are big calls):

Liverpool will not qualify for the CL. (I have no hope until we get rid of the Americans, they're choking the club and I'm already resigned to loosing Torres/Gerrard and others unless there's a huge takeover soon).

Spurs will make it to the knock-out stages of the CL, but crash out in the first round.

Real Madrid will make it to the final of CL.

Man City will be in the title-race until Feb.

Arsenal will win a domestic cup (FA Cup or Carling Cup)

Chelsea for the title again.

Barca for La Liga.

Inter will not win the league.

Valencia will qualify for CL.

Yeah.

Always thought C3 could do with a football topic, although I wasn't sure how many were actually interested in it (what with most gamers not having much of an interest in sport...).

I can't wait for Eduardo's return against Arsenal next month! I actually hope he scores.

I don't follow football enough outside of the Premier League to make good assumptions on any foreign clubs, but I do believe Real Madrid will make a name for themselves this year.

City still don't look good enough to challenge the title even at this moment in time, in my eyes. I think it will be Chelsea's year again, based on their form since the start of the season, with maybe Arsenal pipping United to 2nd place. That said, I would love for Arsenal to do it. I agree they might just win something this year. If only they could stop getting so many damn injuries. Thankfully, they look to have invested in a couple of very good centre backs in Koscielny and Squillaci, and an efficient striker in Chamakh. Van Persie cannot be relied upon anymore due to him being injured for half of the campaign every season.

The Man City win over Chelsea was pretty huge. Though I always think the biggest sign of champions, rather than beating the big teams on the big occasion, is beating the smaller teams when you're having an off-night. Still not convinced Man City have this quality, at the end of the day it comes down to experience.

The Liverpool/Sunderland game was another ridiculously disappointing result. They're just so unconvincing and it really does feel like Torres (maybe even Gerrard) is already considering a move away. Six points from six games is beyond terrible. It doesn't matter what team you've inherited, the fact is we still have a starting 11 that's capable of beating the majority of teams in the premier league.

Sunderland, granted, are looking much improved these days, but that doesn't excuse another bad result. I really like Roy, and I'm still confident he'll bring some stability long term - but these results need to pick up and fast. We've already wasted one season of Gerrard still in his prime, if we waste another...

West Ham won so I'm happy .

The LFC takeover is a massive relief. Here's hoping this set of Americans are a lot better for us than the last.

Chelsea have stormed to a lead at the top of the PL.
This is no fun.

I hope Chelsea win the CL though, they're the English team with the best chance, and I just want any English team to win it.

And I hope Arsenal do win a domestic cup too, Arsene deserves some more silverware.

EDIT: wow I've been living under a rock, noone is really into the PL in Japan so it's hard to keep up.. Liverpool being sold is a relief, now I hope something similar can happen to Man Utd, hopefully before the club goes downhill any further...

( Edited 16.10.2010 01:41 by Simon_ )

Pumped for Arsenal v Shakhtar on Tuesday. I hope Eduardo scores.

City still don't look good enough to challenge the title even at this moment in time, in my eyes. I think it will be Chelsea's year again, based on their form since the start of the season, with maybe Arsenal pipping United to 2nd place. That said, I would love for Arsenal to do it. I agree they might just win something this year. If only they could stop getting so many damn injuries. Thankfully, they look to have invested in a couple of very good centre backs in Koscielny and Squillaci, and an efficient striker in Chamakh. Van Persie cannot be relied upon anymore due to him being injured for half of the campaign every season.

Let's see how true your predictions were, Soundworks.

Liverpool will not qualify for the CL.

I'm already resigned to loosing Torres/Gerrard.

Spurs will make it to the knock-out stages of the CL, but crash out in the first round.

Real Madrid will make it to the final of CL.

Man City will be in the title-race until Feb.

Arsenal will win a domestic cup (FA Cup or Carling Cup)

Chelsea for the title again.

Barca for La Liga.

Inter will not win the league.

Valencia will qualify for CL.

Predictions for Champions League final? Gonna be closer than the last time Barca and United met, I reckon. Fergie can rest his players now that they've won the league, and being at Wembley might give them a slight advantage. Even though I've never been a big fan of United, I want them to do Barca over. I think they can, and predict 2-1 to United.

( Edited 14.05.2011 21:38 by Azuardo )

Glory Glory

I really hope Man U wins, mainly because I just don't like Barca. There is a huge advantage for Man U, it's in the UK. From a bunch of matches I've seen, usually the home team wins, and this, plus the fact that Wembley is one of the largest soccer stadiums in the world, should propel Man U to a victory. Can't wait.

Haha, I'm okay with my predictions. Some of them seem stupid now though.

I'm happy with Liverpool's revival under Daglish. Definitely think we'll be up there next year with a couple of key signings.

I'd like to see United win the CL too (and it hurts to say that as an LFC fan) - Barca are dominating everywhere and it's getting boring. But a good match is what I'm hoping for - goals for either side. A 3-2 or something like that would be epic, I just don't want either side to roll over.

Agreed. I'm getting sick and tired of Barcelona. And maybe I'm being biased against them, but I just generally don't like their attitude towards a lot of things. I get the impression that they think they are 'it'. That they think they are the only team in the world and no one can match them. And when things go against them, there's always an uproar, excuse, fight, etc. You could probably say that about most big teams though to be fair, but I dunno, just lately I'm getting sick of them.

Also, City can jump Arsenal to 3rd now. Wouldn't surprise me if they do. And the way Arsenal have collapsed once again, I can also see them losing one or two players this summer, e.g. Nasri, Arshavin, Bendtner. But I think Wenger knows that this summer he has to buy a couple of big names. Will be interesting to see how it pans out.

Is winning the Premier League big? Because, it's not won in a playoff system. It seems to me that the FA cup is more celebrated.

The Premier League is considered bigger than the FA Cup, I reckon. But there is a lot to be said about winning the FA Cup too because it's a nationwide knockout competition with a big history.

Please elaborate on this playoff system you speak of. I know it exists in American football, but I'm not 100% sure how it works is the same as over here. All I know in the NFL is that there are multiple mini leagues, with the best teams progressing to the final stages. Reminds me of the Champions League. But the Prem is just one league of 20 teams that has them all playing against each other for 9-10 months. The top team is the winner at the end of it all. Isn't that how it should be? No need for any more matches at the end of it all.

( Edited 15.05.2011 19:20 by Azuardo )

West Ham are relegated and Avram Grant's been Sacked, good riddance. But seriously, they were crap this season.

Oh well, I'm at Uni just across the road from Brighton's new stadium next season, so I'll get to see a West Ham away game atleast.

So, here's the complicated version. Back in the 60's, there were two completely different football leagues, the AFL, and NFL. In 1970, they merged to become the NFL with 2 conferences inside (AFC, American Football Conference, and NFC, National Football Conference). So, at this point, they went from 2 leagues, to 1. Over the years, more teams got added, and with the newest addition of the Texans in 2002, the current system was formed. In each conference, there are 4 divisions based on geographical differences (north, south, east, west). Most teams follow this, but there are stupid exceptions like the Dallas Cowboys who are in the NFC east. Now the top team in each division gets an automatic playoff spot (and depending on their record, will be associated with the right seeds). Now, there are 8 teams in all. But, there's something else. In each conference, the top 2 teams get byes, and the next top 2 teams (not counting division winners), go to the playoffs. In the playoffs, there is the first round, which is the wild card. Next is the divisional round, where the teams who had the byes now play. After this is the conference round, then the final super bowl.

This may seem really confusing, but it's not too bad. First you have to take into account that even though there are 2 conferences, it's the same overall league. There are interplay games between the conferences all the time. The NHL and NBA work the same way. There are 2 separate conferences (this time east and west) in the same league. Both leagues have 16 teams in the playoffs, and no teams get byes. There is also interconference play all the time. Now, the MLB is really weird. There are 2 separate leagues in major league baseball, and they are really different. Idk why. It just is, and I think it's completely stupid. Interleague play is pretty rare, and there's really weird arbitrary rules each have. Idk how MLS works, but more people here watch the Premier League than it haha.

Yeah, to be completely honest, it just sounds bloody confusing I'm sure I'd get it if I took the time to follow it properly.

About time West Ham went too. I want Birmingham to go as well.

Japan won the Women's World Cup against USA on penalties, and they really did well to win it, 1-1 at full time, 2-2 at extra time with Japan coming back from a goal down twice, and the US couldn't hold their nerve in the penalties.

First time I've watched the Women's world cup final, it had occasional signs of brilliance, overall it wasn't great, but it's a lot better than most of the women's football played over here in England (who were the only team to beat Japan in the competition).

Didn't like the commentary though, the woman who does BBC's Match of the Day commentary just doesn't sound right.

I actually did take time to watch the Women's World Cup. It was fantastically exciting, I must say. I'm not an expert in soccer in any shape or form, but I knew just enough for the game to be riddled with excitement and drama. I was incredibly stressed there at the end, and even though my country lost, it was a great game, and I might check out even more soccer games in the future.

Didn't watch it, but watched highlights of the odd game and the final. Really pleased for Japan that they won it.

Guess we'll have to make a 2011-12 footie topic soon eh.

I'm not gonna lie, but this was a really fun game to watch and honestly, I'm happy Japan won. It was their first time winning against the US in 20 something games, and it was the first ever Asian country to win a world cup. Also, they had the earthquake lingering in their thoughts too. From the game's perspective, the US played better, but they couldn't finish. I think they hit the post twice too.