Futbol 2013-2014

[Jacques Oger]

http://giant.gfycat.com/FriendlyQualifiedFox.gif

[surfer]

http://giant.gfycat.com/FriendlyQualifiedFox.gif

Fine goal, but Cech cannot let himself get beat near post there.

[Jacques Oger]

http://gfycat.com/WellgroomedSomeGuineafowl

[surfer]

Wow, Benteke out for rest of season and the World Cup with achilles injury.

[roger.haddad.]

Bummer about Benteke.

That PSG/Chelsea game was pretty good to watch. I have to admit I'd be down with PSG winning the whole thing so this was exciting.

[roger.haddad.]

Of course the day I have things to do I miss Marseille win a game. Gah.

[roger.haddad.]

Pretty bummed about Dortmund and PSG going out in the same day. Lets see how tomorrow pans out. Hoping for Atletico to push through.

[surfer]

Atletico has hit right post, left post, and crossbar so far.

[surfer]

Its still obviously Bayern's to lose, but I would rank the final four thusly:

1. Bayern
2. Madrid
3. Atletico
4. Chelsea

It wouldnt floor me to see any of these teams win it though. Dont rule out Mou

[roger.haddad.]

I'm for Atletico all the way.

[Antoine]

Waiting for the draw (tomorrow?) but I'd like this for semifinals:
Bayern / Real
Chelsea / Atletico

[surfer]

I would like to see

Madrid / Chelsea
Bayern / Atletico

(which, if they use "the hot balls" is what we'll get.) Get the Mou derby out of the way right now. I have a feeling Chelsea / Atletico could be very dull.

[surfer]

ESPN 30 for 30: Hillsborough is on Tuesday evening, the advance reviews are that it's one of the best in the series. http://espn.go.com/30for30/film?page=hillsborough

Good luck on Sunday Roger!

[roger.haddad.]

Real v Bayern

Chelsea v Atletico


Best draw Atletico could get I think.


Can't wait to see how many goals Liverpool get disallowed on Sunday, and the next few weeks for that matter.

[roger.haddad.]

Today, I am euphoric. Not because of any phony god's blessing, but because I am enlightened by Liverpool beating City.

[roger.haddad.]

On another note, really hoping Everton can push their way into the top 4 this season.


EDIT:

And they lose to Palace at home. The plot thickens.

[surfer]

Today, I am euphoric.

So I finally got a few minutes to watch the second half of the match. 100% honest opinions

- This season, like the last two, has seemed almost eerily scripted. Not sure how you could have written a better ending to a day of Hillsborough rememberances. Maybe Gerrard scoring the matchwinner. This match had everything.

- Brendan Rodgers is practically being knighted as we speak, and while its inarguable that the job he has done at Anfield this season is amazing, especially with that midfield, its hard for me to reconcile the slightly self-important narcissist that he came across as in Being Liverpool with the tactical genius he apparently is now.



That being said, there is no doubt in my mind that Liverpool are playing the best football in the league and have been since December, and that they deserve to win this league because they are the best team, and have been for a while. Full credit to Rodgers, they have taken question marks like Sterling, Henderson, Sturridge, Skrtel, Coutinho, and turned them into a cohesive world-class unit. He kept Suarez when the finished 7th and could have sold him as Tottenham sold Bale. Every button he has pushed has worked this season.

- As recently as a few months ago, I thought Sterling was never going to be more than an Aaron Lennon, possibly Theo Walcott. All speed, dribbling into dead ends, no link-up play, non-existent finishing, where counterattacks go to die. He was the manboy of the match for Liverpool in the first half. His collected finish on the first goal was so calmly taken. Though you have to wonder what the hell Joe Hart was doing coming so far off his line so quickly. Standing 4 ft behind Kompany in his shadow basically negated the man advantage they had. He got caught in no-man's land and couldnt get back, but if he had stayed on his line and let his defenders defend, Sterling wasnt in that dangerous a position. Hart had a poor game overall I thought.

- Skrtel is improved as a defender. And man can he use that bald dome of his. Between Gerrard's delivery and Skrtel's noggin, Liverpool is very dangerous on set pieces. But I still hate him, and he should have conceded a penalty on that ridiculous deliberate handball at the end. That's pretty emblematic of what he brings to the table, decent defender (his positioning has gotten better, and Liverpool were solid defensively - except for Sakho), but shocking stupid mistakes in judgment on occasion.

- I could never be fully behind this team because I have such a personal loathing for Suarez. That dive was pathetic and despicable. Part of me is glad he wasnt sent off because it would have sullied a well-written script, but part of me did to prove the point that that is unacceptable, and that if you do it you will be carded and sent off. Great assist by Suarez on the first goal, he's so strong on the ball.

- Coutinho likes to shoot. Most of the time they end up hitting the cornerflags, but that was a really nice finish. He's improved too. Everyone in red played well, with the exception of Sakho and Jordan Henderson.

- Not to make excuses for them, but City's strength is up the middle (Kompany-Toure-Silva-Aguero), and not having two of those pieces healthy gives them a very different look. I am not a fan of Dzeko, and though he can be effective against lesser sides as a traditional target man, I think he's very overrated as a finisher, too slow on and with the ball, and is the wrong type of striker for this type of match, where Aguero's speed and strength were desperately needed.

- Silva was the man of the match in the second half. Came within a nanometer of the match winner, and was everywhere torturing the Reds backline. Brilliant performance.

- If I had two overwhelming emotions at the end of this match it was sympathy for Kompany and happiness for Gerrard. It was an awful clearance, and maybe he hasnt had the best year by his extremely high standards, but Kompany did not deserve to be the goat in this match. Perhaps no player has meant more to any single team over the past 3 years than Kompany to City. He allows them to push so many players forward and attack (and score) with such verve because he does the work of two men. He saved City's ass a few times in the first half with great positioning and clearances. Also I love him because he reminds me of Ledley King. The image of him crumbling to his knees like he'd been punched in the stomach after the Coutinho goal was heart-breaking for me.

- There's not much you can say about Gerrard that the images didnt portray eloquently. Local boy, long-time captain, won every trophy with Liverpool but the league, family member killed at Hillsborough, overcome by tears at the end. I mean this dialogue:

“Surely it's yours now, Steven.”

"Nothing's ours."

“What did you say to the players?”

"None of your business."

I mean this is going to be a fucking movie and they wont even have to change a single thing about it. Christ just have Russell Crowe lose 20 pounds and let's get this thing into production already. Great leader, the "what are we going to do with Gerrard?" questions have turned into "What would we do without Gerrard?". Not sure they would have had the intestinal fortitude to have won without him.

Not over by any means, but congrats Roger on a huge hurdle, that was more riveting than any serialized TV drama.

[roger.haddad.]

Lol

Much more in depth than I'd ever spend on it.

I agree on most of your points. I'd say we were def. lucky on a handful of huge calls [no calls, as it was], I just don't care at this point. You know? If Liverpool didn't get any love this game, City wins, and it's just like in december. It really was a case of just the ref happened to be blind to us this time. Which is something the big teams have always benefitted from. So maybe Liverpool is becoming a big team again.

I thought the Suarez thing was very suspect, esp. because the ref called nothing. No card for the defender, no card for the dive, because where the play happened and where Demichelis was for me it had to be one or the other. I fully expected Suarez to see red for that, but he didn't, and I didn't complain. I have a really strong sense of justice and wrong/no calls really bother me no matter which way they go.

Ever since the start of the season, I've said I'd be ecstatic if we made CL, esp. with where the squad was cohesively then.

Even now, Norwich are fighting for their lives and we still have to face Chelsea, which I know will be a huge one. Even Newcastle at the end of the season can pose problems [admittedly, not lately].

The whole thing with people getting carried away really does piss me off but it's just classic British media sensationalism, standard fair.

Rodgers, yeah he's done a great job, instilling a philosophy that is good to watch and gets results, and most importantly, the team is greater as a whole than the sum of it's parts. Is he God's gift to Merseyside? We'll see in May.

I do see the scriptedness of it too. It reminds me of when Garnett and Allen went to Boston and magically became immune to fouls. It'd really sour the taste of victory if they win the league due to questionable, game-influencing decisions from the refs in these last few games.

I will say though, if nothing else, I just want Stevie to have a league trophy. I really do, I don't even care if they don't for another 25 years after he's done. He's the guy I've been watching for years and I've known all along was good enough, just never got the love.

[surfer]

Even now, Norwich are fighting for their lives and we still have to face Chelsea, which I know will be a huge one. Even Newcastle at the end of the season can pose problems [admittedly, not lately].

Beware of Crystal Pulis. I'm telling you right now that is the trap game.

Newcastle is going to roll over, they're awful. Norwich is going to be relegated. Chelsea will be tough, but a draw should be enough.

[surfer]

I fully expected Suarez to see red for that.

Brian Phillips‏@runofplay·Apr 13
I believe Suarez could foul himself. RT @rpm164 @runofplay if anybody can get sent off and win a penalty at the same time it's Suarez