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#3951
Kaiser Arian XVII

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That. Is. It. I've lost my patience and I'm hopping on the Wenger Out train. He's taken a team that's good enough to cruise to 3rd in a weak season and made them look like a bunch of amateurs. Enough is enough. Bring in Kloppy. Bring in Simeone. Bring in anyone! Just get this guy out of Arsenal!

Right, on to slightly less aggravating things. Costa was once again on target as Chelsea dominated West Brom and cruised to a 2-0 win, while Man City nervously survived a late Swansea surge to finish 2-1. Newcastle's renaissance continues with a 1-0 over QPR. Chelsea opens up a 7-point lead ahead of Southampton, who play Aston Villa on Monday.

In La Liga, Lionel Messi
 

 

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN! That geezer should go vacation just like Alex Ferguson!

 

Lionel Messi is a Goners, right? He is not content.



#3952
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Lionel Messi is a Goners, right? He is not content.

 

It's a little more complicated than that. Here's a good analysis of the context around what he said. Basically, I just think it's a case of him being older, wiser and more battle-scarred. He's not the same player he once was during the halcyon days of 2008-2011, and neither is his club. Where once he was a lock for the Ballon d'Or, he's now a long shot. Where once he and his club were winning titles left, right and centre, they finished last season empty-handed. And where once the powers that be at the club were eager to sell their left nipple to keep him happy, there is now whispers of disenchantment; grumblings about how "that senor" keeps getting new contracts so often and the likes.

 

Basically, as he's drawing closer to the post-peak stage of his career, things are not quite so certain for him any more, and neither are they for the people around him. My prediction is that with both camps unwilling to initiate and therefore be held responsible for Messi's exit, Barcelona will grit their teeth, keep handing him new contracts and allow him to finish his career gracefully. But again, as Messi himself said; "Football is full of unexpected twists and turns."


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#3953
Kimosabe

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Arsenal - United was painfull to watch and the worst thing was that Van Gaal was proud of it. As he said, they won with the football of the Dutch team during the WC but that is not something to be proud of. 2 chances in the entire match against a raging, but incompetent, Arsenal is not the football that United should be playing but it seems that these days, it is the only type that they, or Van Gaal, knows.

 

And the refs were on a bad streak in England yesterday. Wilshere should have had a red card and in Everton - West Ham there should have been at least 2 red cards

 

In The Netherlands, Ajax played terrible and won and call it coincidence but their opponents got a red card, while if anyone deserved one it was Ajax, again... We lost hopelessly against another direct competitor and there are no signs that things will chance in the near future. At this point we will have to fight to avoid direct relegation.

 

During the EC qualifiers The Netherlands won 6-0 so Hiddink didn't quit at the spot but it is still uncertain that he will be trainer when the next match comes. The problem is that the KNVB put themselves in an impossible situation with a strange system. After Hiddink, Blind is meant to take over but with this horrible run, the assistent trainer has to be held accountable as well. So if they fire Hiddink, they have to fire Blind but then they don't have anyone to fill the position. No sane person would touch this team with a ten feet pole. Robben pretty much has taken the lead of the team, over the trainer hiimself and that seems to pay of a bit but a win over Latvia doesn't really say anything. Blind proved that he has absolutely no place at United since he was overrun by the the attack of Latvia untill he got injured and as shown in the Arsenal - United match, Van Persie is still hardly consistent

 

Meanwhile the Dutch woman tied their first match against Italy, so the return will decide who wlil go to the WC next year, The first half was for Italy but the second half should have seen more Dutch goals


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#3954
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I actually agree with Van Gaal that we should be proud of it because there's just no chance in hell that we should've gotten away from that game with anything but a huge defeat. With at best 1 defender fresh each game United should look this pathetic, United should be a miserable experience to watch because there's never been a chance for the team to build anything before the next 2-3 players get injured. United will look better around the time we actually can field a partially normal line-up for 2 games in a row which has not happened yet. Winning awful games when you look terrible is something United of old used to do. That it happened again I can only see as a good thing

 

Suppose we can disagree on that point  :lol:


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#3955
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Dammit. Can you people write comments that I can't "like"!



#3956
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Women's football, eh? I actually happened to be taking a little more than a passing interest in the England Women vs Germany Women game today, and I was thinking; damn, those German girls played like the German boys. Same disciplined defending, same lethal counter-attack, and their goallie Almuth Schult even channelled her male counterpart Manuel Neuer, playing sweeper-keeper and making some fine saves when England applied pressure. Germany won 3-0 in front of 45,000 at Wembley.

Back to the men's game, and Liverpool might as well be desperate enough to think about signing Schult in January, because they slipped to yet another defeat, this time going down 3-1 to Crystal Palace. Despite owning 64% possession, Crystal Palace actually out-shot them 15 to 12, 5 to 1 on target, which just about says it all. Liverpool have now lost 3 in a row, and are winless in 5. Elsewhere, Harry Kane had a much happier second outing after his miserable Premier League début against Stoke, scoring a goal as Tottenham beat 10-man Hull 2-1 to move to 10th, level on 17 points with Arsenal and Everton.

In La Liga, Valencia's strong start to the season hits more turbulence, as they fell to a 2-1 defeat to Levante. Maybe they're distracted by their legal wrangle with DC Comics over the Batman logo. In Germany, Dortmund's roller-coaster season took another twist, as Marco Reus is ruled out for the rest of 2014 after picking up an injury in yesterday's 2-2 draw against Paderborn, while Jurgen Klopp sends the English press wild as he muses about managing in the Premier League. Hook, line, sinker.

And last, and certainly not the least, the Milan Derby, which lacked a bit of quality but still had plenty of intensity. Lots of close-quarter stuff, lots of cynical fouls. Chances were few, but the goals that did come were high in quality; Jeremy Menez opened with a great volley for Milan in the 23rd minute, before Joel Obi threaded the needle from long range to equalise on the 61st. The game finished with both sides having golden chances of snatching the winner, but it ended 1-1. Welcome back to Italy, Roberto.

Next up, Champions League. Too many tasty fixtures to list, so see you on Tuesday.


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#3957
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Bits and pieces before tonight's games. Southampton drew 1-1 with Aston Villa on Monday, putting them 6 points behind Chelsea. Iker Casillas somehow managed to shamble his way into contention for FIFA's World XI award, proving that FIFA either have a twisted sense of humour, or they don't watch football. Finally, Stuttgart becomes the latest club to pull the Marty McFly act, re-hiring Huub Stevens to try to once again save their bacons as they battle relegation.

Champions League tonight. CSKA Moscow vs Roma, Man City vs Bayern Munich, PSG vs Ajax, Schalke vs Chelsea. There's also a small matter of Apoel Nicosia vs Barcelona, where Lionel Messi will be gunning to break yet another record: Raul's 71 Champions League goals.

#3958
CrazyRah

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If City manages to screw this golden chance up I don't know what they might ever need to advance. It just doesn't get better than this. One man up and a goal!



#3959
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Well they sure have managed to screw it up in remarkable fashion! I honestly don't know how they can manage to screw it up 3 years in a row. The groupstage shouldn't be this hard City!


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#3960
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Man City AKA "Arsenal 2.1", screwed it up against Bayern by the end of first half time!

When Chelsea wins the first half time by 3 goals.



#3961
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What. A. Game. Bayern were reduced to 10 men after Banatia hauled down Aguero, who converted it into a lead from the spot. Instead of deflating Bayern, however, it seemed to galvanise them, as they raced back to a 2-1 half-time lead, and had chances for a third. With just 4 minutes to go, all seemed lost for City. But then, Agueroooooo!!! The Argentinian escape artist does it again, producing two late goals from Bayern errors to finish the game 3-2. City keep their qualification hopes alive.

Elsewhere, another day, another Messi hat-trick, another record broken. Messi grabbed three as Barcelona ran out 4-0 winners over Apoel Nicosia, smashing Raul's 71 Champions League goals record in style. Lionel Messi; 74 and counting. Your move, Ronaldo. Chelsea produced another slick performance to thrash Schalke 5-0, securing top spot in Group G with a game to spare. Who else here can't wait to see Mourinho's men go up against the likes of Real, Barca or Bayern?

The evergreen Francesco Totti blasted a free-kick to open for Roma, before a late Berezoutski goal ended the game CSKA 1-1 Roma. CSKA Moscow, Roma and Man City are now all on 5 points in Group E heading into the final groups matchday. Porto beat BATE Borisov 3-0 to secure top spot in group H, after Shaktar Donetsk slipped to a 1-0 defeat against Athletic Bilbao. Ibrahimovic produced a touch of class as PSG comfortably beat Ajax 3-1.

Next up, Ludogorets vs Liverpool, Arsenal vs Dortmund, Atletico Madrid vs Olympiakos, Malmo FF vs Juventus, FC Basel vs Real Madrid, Zenit St Petersburg vs Benfica, Anderlecht vs Galatasaray.
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#3962
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Really pleased that City in the end managed to save themself from another abysmal display in the groupstage. A few other interesting results but in general most groups feel rather unintersting as usual. A few too few upsets to be honest but one round left and hopefully tomorrow got something in store



#3963
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Liverpool really is a disaster to watch right now and I genuinly feel for the fans that after an insane last season right now have to deal this.



#3964
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Arsenal showed they do know how to defend after all, blunting Dortmund's counter-attacks and shutting them out despite their 55% possession. Thus, for once, Alexis Sanchez's hard work wasn't squandered. Overall, a pleasing performance. Even Yaya Sanogo scored, which I would be pleased about if I wasn't scared it might be a sign of the Apocalypse. On the minus side, both Sanogo and Arteta picked up injuries, but that's just par for the course for Arsenal. Arsenal won 2-0 to qualify for the knock-out stage. Another season, another Round of 16 berth, another opportunity to get completely outclassed by Barca, Real or Bayern and go back to trying to qualify for next season's Champions League.

Elsewhere, Liverpool could use some defending lessons of their own, as they let a 2-1 lead slip to finish 2-2 with Ludogorets. Watching the game, you could feel the unbridled sense of panic as they sought to cling on in the closing minutes, which just about sums up Liverpool this season. Remarkably, Liverpool could yet still qualify for the knock-stage, after Real Madrid beat Basel 1-0 with a Ronaldo single.

Atletico Madrid crushed Olympiakos 4-0 to seal their own qualification, while Juventus beat Malmo FF 2-0 to record their first Champions League away win in two years. Juventus will meet Atletico on December 9th, needing just one more point to qualify. Anderlecht beat Galatasaray 2-0 to qualify for Europa League Round of 32. With Bayer Leverkusen already qualified, Group C's second knock-out stage spot will come down to the December 9th showdown between Monaco and Zenit St. Petersburg, after both teams recorded 1-0 wins to keep their hopes alive.

So, in summation, here are the teams who have qualified so far: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, Porto, Paris St-Germain and Shakhtar Donetsk.

 

Next up, domestic leagues. Southampton get their first big test against Man City, Valencia host rampant Barcelona, Roma vs Inter Milan, and many more.



#3965
Kimosabe

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Bayern - City was crazy. City was lucky that Bayern failed to make it 3 or 4-1 in the first have with 10 men and somehow managed to turn it into a win. This does make that group really interesting with City, Roma and CSKA all on 5 points.

Real managed to win but that is about everything that can be said. With again only a 1-0 it has to go wrong for them eventually

 

After the match between Ajax and PSG, as ridiculous as it sounds, the players and coach of Ajax actually felt they had a chance to grab a point. De Boer looked like a good coach the first and maybe second season at Ajax but since then he has completely lost touch with reality. Sure, they managed to equalize but as soon as PSG decided to attack for 10 minutes they were hopeless and down 2 goals..

 

Anderlecht managed a great win over Galatasaray which secured them a place in the Europa League next season and got another smile on my face for the fact that Sneijder will not be seen again:P

 

Meanwhile in the Europa League Feyenoord managed a relatively easy win against Sevilla securing their place in the knockout phase for the first time in 10 years. As much as I hate Feyenoord, I must admit that it is one of the few good things to happen to Dutch football in a long time.

Estoril - PSV got suspended after the first half because the field of Estoril had turned into a pool and the second half will be played today. This might actually be a good thing for both teams because even though 5 goals were scored in the first half, the match was absolutely terrible to watch. The defense of PSV was horrible and those are the guys the Dutch national team has to rely upon these days..

 

Lastly I want to all to meet the girl that ensured that the Dutch woman are going to their first ever WC, Vivianne Miedema

18 years old, 18 matches played for The Netherlands and scored 18 goals, truly a revelation in woman football

With a 1-1 in The Netherlands and a 1-2 win in Italy, our woman sold themselves short as they were the better team in both matches but those things are details now

 

1365065878_vivianne-miedema-oranje.jpg



#3966
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Any day without seeing Wesley Sneijder is always a happy day. The Estoril vs PSV game did continue 24 hours later; Wijnaldum scored an 82nd minute equalizer to finish 3-3, sending PSV through to the Europa League Round of 32 and eliminating Estoril.

Anyway, off-the-pitch stuff before today's games. Obviously, I have to start with the rumoured Messi move to Chelsea. Also obviously, the British press are eating it up like a free-for-all buffet. However, considering the guy has a ₤200 million buy-out clause, I'm convinced it's just the Messi camp doing the contract renegotiation dance with a more reluctant Barcelona. As I wrote in another post, Barcelona will not want to be blamed for their fans having to watch their mega-star player line up against them in the Champions League, or worse yet, in La Liga, which means they will grind their teeth to dust and give him what he wants eventually.

Roy Keane has left Aston Villa, just five months after taking the job as assistant manager. It was never going to last; juggling two managerial jobs at once was always going to be huge ask, even for someone of Keane's ego. In truth, I'm rather surprised at the rather low-key nature of his exit, and at the fact that the ticking time bomb at the Republic of Ireland team hasn't exploded yet. Next up, Brendan Rodgers? Rodgers himself certainly seem to think so.

Finally, while this isn't really about football, or even a sport I usually follow closely, death in any sport is always a shocking and tragic occurrence, especially when it happens so suddenly to someone so young with so much to give. So I thought it was a classy gesture by Arsenal to post this on their Twitter page:

ArsenalPutOutYourBat.jpg

RIP Phil Hughes.

West Brom vs Arsenal, Liverpool vs Stoke, Man United vs Hull and West Ham vs Newcastle in the Premier League today, and Malaga vs Real Madrid in La Liga.



#3967
CrazyRah

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Today's game from United was the closest to the "old" United we've been in a very long time. No glamour, just a simple basic game that went 3-0 to United. Fellaini keep being impressive and on top of winning and keeping the ball in the team he did a much better job today than Mata at delivering quality passes. Mata need to shape up badly!

 

Arsenal still look so very unimpressive but 1-0 is still better than what they could've ended up with. Same goes for Liverpool but they look far worse than Arsenal! I'd be more scared of Stoke at this point than Liverpool and that's not how things are meant to be. So few things going the way they are supposed to in that team and Rodgers really got miles to go before Liverpool start looking like a quality team. 



#3968
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Definition of agony: watching a confidence-depleted Arsenal bash their heads against a wall trying to break down a stubborn but toothless West Brom for 60 minutes. Still, the breakthrough did eventually come, and once again I can't believe I'm having to say this; thank Goodness for Danny Welbeck. Cazorla also had a good game, and for once, when Arsenal say the shop is shut, the shop really is shut. Injury aside (it's an Arsenal tradition), an unspectacular but pleasingly routine 1-0 win.

Liverpool dropped Gerrard to the bench - on the 16th anniversary of his debut. Awkward. It did seem to have the desired effect, however, as a Glen Johnson header saw them beat Stoke 1-0. Man United produced one of their best performances of the season to beat Hull 3-0 and stay 4th, though they seemed to have contracted "Arsenalitis" as they lose Di Maria to injury.

Sunderland just about worked the skins off their backs to stifle Chelsea, and had some fine chances of their own before finishing 0-0. Newcastle's winning run suffered a cruel end; an unlucky goal and a Moussa Sissoko red card sealed their 1-0 defeat to West Ham. QPR vs Leicester was a cracking 3-2 win for the home side. In La Liga, Ronaldo provided 2 assists for Real Madrid to beat Malaga 2-1 and stay top of the table for another week.

For tonight, we have Southampton vs Man City and Tottenham vs Everton. In La Liga, we have Atletico Madrid vs Deportivo la Coruna, Sevilla vs Granada, and Valencia vs Barcelona. In Serie A, we have Juventus hosting their Turin neighbours Torino, and Roma up against Inter Milan. Finally, Mario Goetze is selling his World Cup-winning boot for charity, grass, dirt and all. Daaawwwwww.

#3969
Kaiser Arian XVII

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If Arsenal hadn't won over Dortmund, I would cease watching their matches. But now... I'm unsure.

 

Real Madrid kicks ass. So watching its matches is always enjoyable.



#3970
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Eh, it's just par for the course for Arsenal. They're like a roller-coaster, and you can either steel your stomach and go along for the ride, or get off before you puke.

 

Real Madrid is what happens when someone runs a football club like he thinks he's playing FIFA on a Playstation.


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#3971
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A follow up to my last round-up post; apparently, Gerrard didn't start on Saturday because Rodgers forgot that it was his 16th anniversary of his debut. Don't worry, Brendon, we've all been there. Also Diego Costa will miss Chelsea's next game after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season for, well, being Diego Costa.

Right, to Southampton vs Man City. All signs pointed to the Saints getting a result; an in-form team playing at home versus a Man City fresh from their Champions League exertions and looking shakey in defence. It then looked even better for them when Mangala made a bone-headed challenge and got sent off, while Aguero looked well off his best. But after a competitive first half, Toure, Lampard and Clichy scored three great goals to impressively sink Southampton 3-0. Man City replaces Southampton in 2nd on the table, 6 points behind Chelsea. Title race back on?

Elsewhere, Tottenham took a 2-1 lead against Everton into half-time then promptly shut up shop. 4th to 9th are now separated by just 2 points. In La Liga, Atletico Madrid vs Deportivo la Coruna was overshadowed by violence before the game which claimed the life of a Deportivo fan. Unable to delay the game, Atletico won 2-0. After a frustrating first half, Sevilla ran riot to crush Granada 5-1. Busquets scored in injury time to keep Barcelona in Real Madrid's rear view mirror.

Finally, in Italy, Pirlo scored his own injury time winner to help Juventus see off feisty neighbours Torino 2-1. Roma won a six-goal thriller against Inter Milan 4-2.

Phew! It was not easy writing this post on a phone AND getting a good night's sleep at the same time. Next up, England begins their December rush with a full Premier League midweek, while Spain's big guns begin their Copa del Rey campaigns.

#3972
CrazyRah

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If there's to be any excitement this title race in the Premier League we really do need City to pull of a string of great results. For the league their win over Southampton is the correct one and while it's always nice to see clubs being way higher than they were expcted to but some semblance of "normal" need to be reality. Question is if Southampton had been running on genuine quality or if it was the momentum that had kept them moving forward in the way they did. Coming 2 games will show just what kind of team they are



#3973
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FIFA Ballon d'Or shortlist is out. Ronaldo. Standard. Messi. Standard. Neuer... ...okay, not so standard. Neuer's a long shot, of course, but going by objective standards, he should have as much chance as his more glamorous rivals. Ronaldo had a decent season with Real Madrid, winning Copa del Rey and Champions League, but failed to win La Liga and was practically AWOL at the World Cup. Messi had a mixed bagged season with Barca, finishing empty-handed, but controversially won the World Cup Golden Ball. Neuer, meanwhile, has been a literal and figurative giant for both Bayern Munich and Germany throughout, and has arguably innovated the goalkeeper position to a whole new level. As you can probably tell, I would love for Neuer to win, but again, he's a long, long shot.

Also, Frank Lampard is having a good season, so naturally, Man City want to keep him for a little longer, and are rumoured to be prepared to cough up ₤6 million to do it. Thierry Henry has left New York Red Bulls, prompting Arsene Wenger to cryptically comment on his possible return to Arsenal... ...somehow. Finally, Mario Balotelli is in trouble again, this time over an apparently racist/anti-semitic post on his Instagram page. He quickly deleted the post and denied it was offensive, seemingly unaware of the old adage; "what goes on the internet stays on the internet... ...forever." He has since apologized. Always Mad Mario.

Man United vs Stoke and Leicester vs Liverpool tonight.



#3974
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The 3 expected to make the list got there and Ronaldo most likely winning it this year. With that all clear focus can be shifted to far more important thing like the Premier League!

 

United should have no problem taking 3 points from Stoke at home but it's still a work in progress so the risk for an unfortunate bump in the road will keep the match exciting and far more tense than it normally would. Still very crippled by injuries but the squad has been allowed time to grow closer to each other so it does look a little less disasterous than it used to.

 

Liverpool.. I'd never bet on how this game could go. Leicester is really not doing well right now but Liverpool is the last team in the league that I'd say I could do a decent guess of how they'll do on the field. They are just as likely to win 2-0 as impress us with dreadful 3-0 defeat. Not that I expect that result to happen but it's too close to the truth to be good for Liverpool



#3975
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Yeah, to be honest, Ronaldo has this one in the bag. One can always hope for a surprise, though - at least until the crushing predictability of reality sinks in.

I thought United's win against Hull was the most balanced their midfield have looked in a while. Obviously, they'll miss Di Maria, but they still have Herrera and Januzaj who can cover while he's gone.