Futbol 2014-2015

[surfer]

Bit late for the opening weekend, but here are my predictions:

1. Chelsea
2. Man City
3. Liverpool
4. Spurs
5. Arsenal
6. Man U
7. Everton
8. Swansea
9. Hull
10. Newcastle
11. Stoke
12. QPR
13. Aston Villa
14. West Ham
15. Sunderland
16. Southampton
17. Crystal Palace
18.West Brom
19. Leicester City
20. Burnley

Champions League: Real Madrid

[MRS]

For all remaining unconscionable North American non-believers, skipped out of work early today for Evian/PSG on beIN in my living room, can't wait for the weekly hour-long Ligue 1 wrap up show. And I'll take Bayern to win the Federal League.

[surfer]

Yup, didn't I already concede the point? I saw Lille on there the other day playing some other French backwater. Looks like beIN is showing 2-3 Ligue 1 games a week, along with a smattering of Russian and Brazilan league games, for those that are interested. And Championship matches too, Derby v. Fulham on Monday.

Balotelli to Liverpool, they replace one cretin with another.

[surfer]

And since Schau would want you all to know that Bundesliga started tonight, Dortmund plays Leverkusen I think tomorrow. Best of luck to Dortmund and Immobile!

[roger.haddad.]

Curious to see how Liverpool will bounce back from that embarrassment today. Hopefully Super Mario will be a hit. Honestly I love him coming in solely because I find him entertaining and I don't really see Liverpool making much of a charge this season. The restructuring of the team is just a bit too big to hope they'll get it together before one of the big guns runs away with it.

I will say I'm loving Lovren so far. He's been stout in the center of defense, just need 3 more and we'll be good

I'm also ready for Serie A to start, I prob watched more of that than the PL last season.

MRS what's hard to believe about having love for Ligue 1? been following Marseille for a few years and am quite intrigued with what Makelele will do with Bastia. Hopefully PSG doesn't run away with it too early though.

[surfer]

Hey Roger!

I think Balotelli is a deft signing for Liverpool if only because it is fairly low-risk. You get a 50 million pound striker for 20 mil. And of course he is skilled and can even carry a team if he is motivated. However, there is so much that can go wrong with the chemistry between Sturridge, Sterling and Mario, I really cant see this working. He always needs to be the man, not keen on passing, can disapper for large stretches if he's not getting service. Its a gamble but worth it to take a shot I guess.

As much as I admire Balotelli for his attitude in the face of everything he's had to overcome in his life and career, I find him impossible to root for on the field. In the 8 years I've been watching EPL, he is is one of the most cynical, nihilistic, and callously reckless players I have ever seen, and I can name a half dozen times where it is clear he is deliberately trying to injure another player in the most disgusting way. He's right up there with Pepe for me.




In other news, best Spurs performance I've seen in at least 3 years. Going into a big early test against the Reds on Sunday, I have hope!

(Also QPR looked absolutely wretched, yow)

[surfer]

Btw, thanks to MRS suggestion, I am just finishing Tim Parks' A Season with Verona, which is very good, better than the McGinniss book (which Park does allude to) because Parks is a better writer and his musings are just more interesting. The only small issue I have is that he seems to bend over backwards to defend or at least rationalize the worst aspects (even the racsim) of the brigate ultras of the curva sud. And he certainly seems to buy in wholeheartedly to the paranoia that Verona and Hellas fans feel towards the Italian media and rest of Italy generally. I dont know, it all makes me feel a bit uncomfortable. But a good book and recommended to any Serie A fans.

[Antoine]

Di Natale http://youtu.be/NM2JCwepcKo

[surfer]

there is so much that can go wrong with the chemistry between Sturridge, Sterling and Mario, I really cant see this working.

I cant remember who said this, but someone commented that Mario Balotelli "has the unique skill of making people happy when he arrives, and even happier when he leaves."

[surfer]

Capital One Cup

MK Dons 4 - Man U 0

[roger.haddad.]

LVG is already getting the "You're getting sacked in the morning" chants from opposing fans.

Fantastic.

[surfer]

Their transfer dealings dont really seem to involve any plan or forethought,they still havent fixed their midfield and defense issues. To blow all that money on Di Maria who is primarily an attack-minded winger, no? Their problem is up the middle, central defense and midfield. I dont get it.

[roger.haddad.]

It's to try to convince their fans that they still make moves. And Di Maria will elevate the team for sure so I don't see the problem with it. They overpaid for sure but I guess I would too if my B squad couldn't deal with MK Dons.

If they land Di Maria, Rojo, and Vidal in one transfer window I will be impressed. I think Rojo was a steal.

Also, Xabi Alonso to Bayern, very slick move by Pep. In fact he's one of the few people that enabled me to hate Madrid a little less, not that it matters though since I don't follow La Liga very closely. I was talking to someone the other day about how I've still never forgiven Rafa for pushing Xabi out so he could bid for GARETH BARRY, which he [in typical Rafa fashion] failed to do anyway. Which was sort of the beginning of the teams rapid demise from the last few years.

[Antoine]

Here they are

[surfer]

I heard today that Ludogorets is in the Bulgarian town of Razgrad, population 33,000. Meaning you could fit every person in the town of Razgrad in the Camp Nou and still have the stadium be 2/3 empty.

Arsenal and Dortmund are in the same group for the third time in 4 years, amazing.

[Antoine]

You've probably heard the story, but just in case : http://www.theguardian.com/football/blo ... -fairytale

[roger.haddad.]

That's quite depressing to read, Antoine, I wasn't aware of that situation, but I'm not surprised seeing as football keeps proving to be less about sporting matters as time goes on.

On a less depressing note [for me anyway] LFC bounces back. Idk what sort of mental block Spurs has against scoring on the Reds but I'm not complaining. Quite sad though that this is the first clean sheet they've had since the last time they played Spurs in March, which is a miracle in itself with all the errors Sakho and Lovren were making all day. I blame all of our defensive troubles on Johnson though, since no one seems to like him lately. Very encouraging to see Balo getting involved with the team and putting in a good shift, he was less than clinical for sure and his legs looked a bit heavy, but I think he'll come good sooner than later.

Also, if anyone knows how to steal a login for Bein Sport so I can watch Serie A and Ligue 1 games, that'd be great.

[surfer]

Yeah, disappointing for us Spurs fans. On the plus side, its clear there is a system and a cohesion that the players are buying into. The 2 non-penalty goals were simply individual lapses that hopefully wont happen again. I dont understand what people see in Andros Townsend, he cant shoot, he cant pass, he loses the ball constantly, and he's not even that quick, seeing that he wasnt able to catch Moreno (great individual gallop and world class finish). Another plus is that Spurs had 60% possession and controlled midfield for most of the match. Liverpool were best when the ball transitioned directly from their backs to their strikers on the counter. Spurs had lots of trouble with that pace. Again. Kaboul is not the answer. The Henderson, Gerrard, Allen midfield is not convincing to me at all. The Sturridge / Sterling partnership is one of the best in the league. Balotelli was OK, but still finding his space. On the minus side for Spurs, Adebayor was isolated up in the box for stretches, while the ball was passed back and forth around the area. Same problem as last year, but they did look a bit more dangerous with it. Vulernable on the counter, clearly, as I said. Spurs are missing that spark of individual class that Liverpool have, at least on this day. Kind of wish we had gotten Welbeck, I think he would have helped.

[Alastair]

[roger.haddad.]

So yeah, LFC v AVFC was a total waste of time.

Diego Costa is making me an honorary Chelsea fan only because I'm curious as to how many goals he can score in his first season. He's unreal. I wonder how long it took Torres to score 7 goals in blue.

Arsenal v City looked like it was playing at 2x speed at some point, it was almost exhausting to watch. Pretty good game though. I was kind of hoping for the Gunners to edge since I don't see them challenging for the tope this season but again, if Liverpool don't remember how to play like last season then it's not going to matter.

Meanwhile, it's Roma and Juve battling it out in Serie A again, hopefully Roma takes them a little farther than last season, and I think they can cause Allegri is nowhere near Conte and I think Garcia will have the edge on him.