ihatemusic

What a glorious waste of time camped out on my couch this morning. Watford with the late equalizer against Liverpool, Burnley up three, at the half, on the road at Chelsea WTF, Rooney pops one in his first game back at Everton, Huddersfield over Palace, and the clock strikes midnight about 70 minutes in for Brighton and Hove Albion against City.

And I'm finally out of the coaching end of the deal - I got bumped upstairs to Town Coordinator - so my Saturday mornings are free for the first time since 2004. (Insider tip: sell all your Dunkin' Donuts stock immediately) Woo-hoo!

UCL groups:

Group A: Benfica, Manchester United, Basel, CSKA Moscow
Group B: Bayern Munich, Paris St-Germain, Anderlecht, Celtic
Group C: Chelsea, Atlético Madrid, Roma, Qarabag
Group D: Juventus, Barcelona, Olympiakos, Sporting Lisbon
Group E: Spartak Moscow, Sevilla, Liverpool, Maribor
Group F: Shakhtar Donetsk, Manchester City, Napoli, Feyenoord
Group G: Monaco, Porto, Besiktas, Leipzig
Group H: Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Tottenham, Apoel

Tough draw for Spurs. Ratballers get a decent draw. Easiest groups look like A & E to me.

In league play, Spurs cannot find a way to get a result against Chelsea. They had a lot of possession and a ton of impotent corners. Spurs buildup play is just too slow, and though they win the ball back quickly with great pressing and a physically imposing midfield, they always want to cycle it back through the centerbacks, or keeper, allowing a disciplined Chelsea to regain their shape. They need to catch Chelsea off-guard a few times, which is why Lloris tried to force a quick counter with the throw up the middle of the pitch, which led to a Wanyama giveaway, and the winning goal. That and it points to their need imo of another well-rounded attacking midfielder who can do multiple things: score, create, pass, dribble, track back. Sissoko isnt that person, nor is anyone else they have on the bench. They need someone in the de Bruyne, Hazard mold, and they were linked with Real Madrid midfielder Mateo Kovavic who would tick a lot of those boxes. They just lack some extra creativity in the midfield, and another scoring threat. Everything cant go throw Alli / Kane, and Eriksen isnt enough of a scorer / dribbler to make a impact on games like these. i dont think they need another wingback or striker, I think adding the right kind of attacking midfielder would solve a few problems.

United still have problems with balance, but boy do they have attacking weapons. Adding Lukaku has made a huge difference, and Pogba seems to be liberated.

Hajduk Split try to overturn a 2-0 deficit in Split today against Everton in the Europa League playoff. Ajmo Bijeli Ale!

surfer wrote:
Hajduk Split try to overturn a 2-0 deficit in Split today against Everton in the Europa League playoff. Ajmo Bijeli Ale!

Well the Splichani get knocked out, but they played well and had a chance. Gylfi Sigurdsson on his debut for Everton scores the goal of the year so far. Check it out:

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/footba ... opa-League

surfer wrote:Tough draw for Spurs.

Oct / Nov fixture schedule for Spurs looks like:

@Madrid
Liverpool
@ManUtd
Madrid
Palace
@Arsenal
@Dortmund

yey

surfer wrote: Gylfi Sigurdsson on his debut for Everton scores the goal of the year so far. Check it out:

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/footba ... opa-League

And another goal from long distance, by Fekir (OL) last week: https://youtu.be/8hhVW6XmwxI

this is the last season my boy will fit into his kane jersey, so spurs better get something going quick. anyway i'm glad we don't hate mourinho, because man u should continue to entertain but play much better football. still i fear despite the draw last weekend, city are just too sharp ... and since we do hate pep, we probably will give up on the pl mid-season.

of course my boy says leipzig will win the bundesliga, but realistically the gap between bayern and everybody else should remain ... and that's although they're probably losing ground internationally (due to a lack of leading personalities below the age of 40 or so ... (some think that's vidal's role now, but while you can rely on him to dish out contusions until the end, he can't direct a game .... also it's strange that everybody seems to expect so much from james))

as for the rats



actually they've bought quite sensibly, plus keita is still there (huh? it was startling when they rejected all the liverpool millions and presumably the wishes of the player like that, one felt it must end very badly ... now teams everywhere are doing the same), so on paper they're a deeper bunch of players now. but they very much depended on enthusiasm and the pressure is on (for all that talk about nothing to lose, fun during the learning process, you can feel the expectations run high), plus they'll have to run the game more, etc. i guess they need a bit of (or very much) luck in the cl, then if they survive the group stage with some thrilling games the vibe might return ...

I guess the big news today is Mbappe to PSG, who is just taking a dump on FFP. A joke really.

Looks like Leipzig sell Keita to Liverpool.

I was surprised how shitty Holland looked against France today. Old and slow. France put on an absolute clinic: dominated every aspect of play.

walto wrote:I was surprised how shitty Holland looked against France today. Old and slow.

Yes, terrible, and the red card didn't help.

surfer wrote:I guess the big news today is Mbappe to PSG, who is just taking a dump on FFP. A joke really

Yes, I guess this pseudo loan will delay the 180M€ in their 2018 "balance".

Antoine wrote:

walto wrote:I was surprised how shitty Holland looked against France today. Old and slow.

Yes, terrible, and the red card didn't help.

On the second yellow, Strootman didnt even foul him. His foot came down but didnt touch Greizmann's foot, who hopped in the air like a jackrabbit. There was a bit of body contact, but mostly it was either simulated, or simply Greizmann trying to avoid contact. On the other hand, Oranje are terrible, and are not qualifying for a second consecutive major tournament after third place in Brazil. Credit to France who are loaded (Lemar's first goal, and Mbappe's slaloming run and finish), but the Dutch didnt really create many chances.

surfer wrote:I guess the big news today is Mbappe to PSG, who is just taking a dump on FFP. A joke really

Antoine wrote:Yes, I guess this pseudo loan will delay the 180M€ in their 2018 "balance".

I thought UEFA had safeguards against this accounting trickery, we'll see if they have any teeth. Qataris are basically using PSG as a soft-power PR engine for their country and brand. There are a few interesting articles in the Guardian I've been reading.

Here's a new one today: https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... ity-neymar

And an even better one from always reliable Gab Marcotti: http://www.espnfc.us/blog/marcotti-musi ... -questions

Watched way too much soccer yesterday. Enjoyed the upsets--Bulgaria and Denmark, and the near miss of the Czech Republic. Wished Panama had done better, but, LOVED Costa Rica shutting out the U.S. with the added plus of Altidore being out for Honduras.

I generally root for small countries when they play the U.S. in any sport, but I think it's particularly important for us to suck now, when Trumpy will take credit for every win (just like every job created) as being a matter of him making America great again.

mercato balances: http://www.football-observatory.com/IMG ... 17/193/en/
and the full report: http://www.football-observatory.com/IMG ... r/mr27/en/

+ costs to buy a barcelona fc player, at the end of the season: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DI5tRtlXcAQplkA.jpg

What NBC sports did to soccer this season is deplorable now I'm reduced to streams rather than enjoying Spurs on my tv

Scintillating match of football last night, with Spurs taking an unusual role of counterattacking at home. Dortmund took the initiative and for long periods of the first half, Spurs were chasing the ball in their own end. But every counterattack they had looked really dangerous. Dortmund had trouble with Son's pace, and directness; and were no match for Kane's strength and desire. Son is a very predictable attacker, he always does the stepover with his right to put the ball on his left, and he looks to drive it near post. He always goes to his left, which was surprising how much space Soktratis gave him. Yarmalenko's strike was a calligraphic beauty. Kane's match-winner came from nothing and was like watching a fullback stiffarm defenders who are trying to bring him down but physically cant. Eriksen and Dembele were peripheral in the first half but influential in the second. The back three were solid, Sanchez had one major misplay when he tried to dribble the ball out of the midfield, otherwise solid. Alderweireld was immense. Vertonghen's late red was silly and and unnecessary. Aurier's debut was solid (if you see no other highlights, check out his self-dummy on Pulisic), although he looked wasteful going forward. Davies was dependable as always. Great team performance, very clinical. Reminded me of what Monaco did to us last year. Dortmund looked really naive at the back, and had some stunning lapses in concentration eg Kane's second goal. Aubameyang's goal was incorrectly waved off. Great exciting European night, what a start to the campaign for Spurs!

yeah no german team looks exactly frightening this year.

the rats' performance was generally seen as an ok first step, but now they need at least a point from istanbul or it's already tails against the wall. yes it was monaco but that's the easiest to beat monaco they will meet, and even if the strategy of steadying the nerves through controlled cowardice kind of worked, they will make no great inroads this way ... hm ...

(and hey i managed to score tickets for the cup game against bayern, we do have hopes for that)

Wombatz wrote:yeah no german team looks exactly frightening this year.

the rats' performance was generally seen as an ok first step, but now they need at least a point from istanbul or it's already tails against the wall. yes it was monaco but that's the easiest to beat monaco they will meet, and even if the strategy of steadying the nerves through controlled cowardice kind of worked, they will make no great inroads this way ... hm ...

(and hey i managed to score tickets for the cup game against bayern, we do have hopes for that)

I had no idea Pepe was at Besiktas. This group is a strange one. I think the Ratballers will be ok. How Monaco deals with the loss of a bunch of players will remain to be seen. (they lost 4-0 to Nice before Leipzig). Going to Turkey to get a result will be difficult because of the venue, but Monaco away is practically a neutral venue.

Just here to remind everyone I'm a Liverpool fan so you can all feel free to laugh with me. I know "it's a long season" but it's even longer when the same problems are appearing for all the world to see after only a handful of games. Loving Everton being in 18th for the time being so that's a small bit of fun.

Haven't caught much action thus far this season due to a hectic schedule but hope to take in some more games in the coming weeks.

Did anyone else in here kind of die a little bit inside when Neymar's deal went through? The amount of money in the sport is mind blowing.