Football Thread No. 9

[Takhisis]

Sporting 2 - 1 Metallist, i didn't expect it after the 2-0.

Athletic doing away with all conventions and refusing to give up to go 4-2 up was great to watch! Both sides could have equalised/taken the lead at several moments in the second half.

It's still a pity Simeone's allowed to coach, but, well… he'll fall, eventually.

Has anybody seen Lambert?

 

[pesgores]

I'm glad we didn't keep Hildebrand

That penalty was a shame, Rui Patrício is definitely one of the best European goalkeepers right now and saved Sporting from Renato Neto's fail in defending at least 3 times. I seriously hope Neto's next season is spent at the B squad. Or sold for 1M.

Still, we won. My season ticket doesn't cover the UEL knockout phase, so I didn't go to the stadium

 

[Josu]

Sporting 2 - 1 Metallist, i didn't expect it after the 2-0.

Athletic doing away with all conventions and refusing to give up to go 4-2 up was great to watch! Both sides could have equalised/taken the lead at several moments in the second half.

It's still a pity Simeone's allowed to coach, but, well… he'll fall, eventually.

Has anybody seen Lambert?

IMHO Schalke deserved much more than Athletic did. The match was equalised about 20-30 minutes in which Athletic felt more confortable and the other 60-70 were clearly for Schalke. There were moments in wich I was specting 2 or 3 goals more for them However, we did not give up, but it is nothing surprising to me, not giving up is our history.

I agree, with you about Simeone, he is not "very loved" here in Bilbao

 

[Takhisis]

But 'deserving' isn't good enough. Schalke had the ball but didn't have that many chances to score, and Raúl was diving all over the place just before halftime.

 

[Josu]

But 'deserving' isn't good enough. Schalke had the ball but didn't have that many chances to score, and Raúl was diving all over the place just before halftime.

Yeah, right. The only valid deserving is the one in scoreboard, however as I said before, there were moments in which we were on the ropes. Fortunately we waited for our chances, and in difference to we have seen this season we did not need many shots to score goals. I did not like too much the match done by Aurtenetxe, Iraola and Iturraspe however I think that Llorente, Susaeta and Muniain were superb. On the other hand after yesterdays match I think that Schalke has a problem with their goalkeapers, did not like none of them and the defense shown weak.

 

[classical_hero]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17566188

Stiliyan Petrov has been diagnosed with Leukemia. That is certainly not good news.

 

[Takhisis]

Yeah, right. The only valid deserving is the one in scoreboard, however as I said before, there were moments in which we were on the ropes. Fortunately we waited for our chances, and in difference to we have seen this season we did not need many shots to score goals. I did not like too much the match done by Aurtenetxe, Iraola and Iturraspe however I think that Llorente, Susaeta and Muniain were superb. On the other hand after yesterdays match I think that Schalke has a problem with their goalkeapers, did not like none of them and the defense shown weak.

No, no, there's also off-scoreboard deservings but if you allow a visiting team to score four goals your defense is just crap. Schalke attacked somehwat brainlessly without a conductor, Raúl is a good forward but not a playmaker and they really need a psychologist, you can't fall apart like they did after Llorente's goal.
Sometimes I think the away goals rule makes for a huge psychological threat as home teams tend to dig in and try to weather out storms. I much preferred the Libertadores when there was no away goals rule, if you lost 1-0 away and then were 1-0 down at home you didn't have to score three, only two, so both teams kept attacking.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17566188

Stiliyan Petrov has been diagnosed with Leukemia. That is certainly not good news.

Eck.

 

[MCdread]

On the other hand after yesterdays match I think that Schalke has a problem with their goalkeapers, did not like none of them and the defense shown weak.

Schalke has 3 goalkeepers out injured. The one that finished the game is the 4th GK in their pecking order. Talk about bad luck...

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Come on Newcastle tomoz, beat the Reds and keep us above them in the table.

 

[Takhisis]

Real Madrid are already at the 100 goals mark.

It's interesting to see that al-City are now officially a 'big' club as they get all the questionable penalties they ever need.


And… we win… against Motherwell… yet again… Meh. Whee, I suppose.

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

And… we win… against Motherwell… yet again… Meh. Whee, I suppose.

You should have just lost and get it over with. No point delaying our victory, really

 

[Takhisis]

£2 million for Naismith, we'll be forced to sell. F*ck you Craig Whyte!

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Newcastle 2 - 0 Liverpool, at the moment.

Oh deary deary me

 

[azzaman333]

Newcastle 2 - 0 Liverpool, at the moment.

Oh deary deary me

Liverpool are so embarrassing it's not even funny any more.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

It is funny.

EDIT: Reina sent off, does this mean he misses the cup semi?

EDIT2: Apparently, I think I have a few more LOLs in the tank

EDIT3: So time to listen to the Radio Merseyside phone-in. I'll let you know if anyone starts crying.

 

[pesgores]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4231833/Chelsea-weigh-up-big-money-bid-for-Benficas-Oscar-Cardozo.html

Probably it's just another April Fools' prank, but Chelsea can take him, that would be a huge favor

 

[holy king]

it's funny again.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

No-one cried. Lots of people need to question their intelligence according to the Kenny metric.

 

[Lambert Simnel]

Has anybody seen Lambert?

Still here. Just a bit busy with real life, so I've seen very little football recently.

So what do you do now if you're Mancini? Stick with Plan A because 2.3 points a game is still a cracking pace, you have the most expensive set of players, and you will have occasional blips, and the thing to do is not panic, and the luck will go your way again soon?

Or do you suspect something is suddenly wrong with the team - only 5 points from the last 4 games, leaking goals aplenty, Silva suddenly looks ineffectual, and an away game at Arsenal coming up - if you don't change things and restore the team's ability to win now, then the season will have slipped away from you in a fortnight's time?

I don't know which is the best/right path. And I guess this is where there is the advantage of having someone like Ferguson in charge, because he can probably tell when his team is in Scenario A, and when in Scenario B.

 

[Takhisis]

Actually Cardozo is a great player.

Mancini, I don't know what he'll do, I think the entire club spent too much time whining about referees (when they got a lot of decisions their way) and focusing on Tevez instead of building up their lead. I also think Fergie's mind-games might unsettle them just enough for them to lose a further one or two points and United only ned to not lose at Eastlands to be on their own from there onwards.