Futbol 2017-2018

[Wombatz]

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.

i thought the neymar transaction was crazy enough to be fun. i only felt the distaste when the mbappe deal was done (who would have been almost half the prize had they bought the two the other way around).

[surfer]

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.

i thought the neymar transaction was crazy enough to be fun. i only felt the distaste when the mbappe deal was done (who would have been almost half the prize had they bought the two the other way around).

Agreed. I was happy when Neymar left Barca, because I found the whole MSN thing annoying. Mbappe was a whole different situation, because it was within the league, and so clearly a nose thumb to FFP.

[surfer]

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.

I was going to post Squires panel but if you havent already you might as well check out the whole thing, not much more needs to be said:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng ... n-troubles

Liverpool is such a bipolar rollercoaster. I know the Mane thing has been dissected to death, but just having a man sent off doesnt mean a total capitulation like what happened. They seem to lack not only competent centerbacks, but onfield leadership. And the ability to defend set pieces. The CL match was just more of the same. I feel bad for Lovren, but they have a good record when they pair him with Matip.

[roger.haddad.]

Yeah I think it's fine that Neymar wanted to be the man badly enough to move from such a great situation but just the amount of money is crazy to me. My initial reaction is that "the spending is out of control" but I'd imagine the people involved ran the numbers enough to know whether it's good business or not.

[roger.haddad.]

They seem to lack not only competent centerbacks, but **ONFIELD LEADRESHIP**.

This right here.

[surfer]

the strategy of steadying the nerves

Well it didnt work for Werner in Istanbul who apparently asked to be substituted after 32 minutes because of dizziness, "breathing and circulatory problems" due to the loud crowd noise. I only saw the highlights but Besiktas' second goal was beautiful, and that outside the boot cross was Modric-ian.

Kane surgical finishing help stave off a rather uninspired display in Cyprus. They cold have easily lost, and should have been down at the break, but they get the full 3 points, and sit top of their table. Winks looked great, a toddler Iniesta. Aurier had a poor match, and they really lack any creativity in midfield with Eriksen out. They needed to add another attacking midfielder during the past window, and now they're overly reliant on Sissoko, and hoping Lamela can come back to full-effectiveness in the next few weeks / months. They now have a away and home with Real Madrid.

[Wombatz]

yes, pretty much as expected, tails against the wall (and toothless appearances from bayern and dortmund (not that i mind that)). i think if they still can, the rats have to largely revert to last year's (lack of) tactics. this year e.g. they play through the back to keep possession, which was explicitly forbidden last season, because indeed now they make silly mistakes. and it's like hasenhüttl rotates the players and kind of half-heartedly adapts to different systems because that's what you're supposed to do for cl, but (partly since the new arrivals are nowhere near integrated yet) right now there's not much identity left in the team, the unquestioning purpose has gone (and most of the players are not individually that good). they've kicked into gear on a couple of games in bundesliga (against average opposition), so we hope there's still hope ...

[surfer]

Ancelotti sacked at Bayern after their loss to PSG yesterday. Again I only saw highlights but PSG looked like they were ballroom dancing all over Bayern. Mbappe's fake-shot-toe-drag fooled Alaba so much he didnt even know where the ball was.

[Antoine]

I thought the score was quite severe, Bayern made a not so bad 1st half (with several unavailable players)

Unrelated, Messi made a friend during the game against Girona
https://youtu.be/qWEmjFtwQek

[DarkAttraktor]

hold onto your seats fellow ihm soccer nutjobs, in the next coupla days WC 2018 qualifying wraps up #ihmWC2018predictor

[surfer]

Yeah Croatia finds itself in a precarious position after failing to get a result in Turkey. They're still top of the group on goal differential, tied with iceland, and Ukraine and Turkey 2 points behind. If Croatia win against Finland in Rijeka, they'll be in good shape going into the last game on Tues away against Ukraine. Its hard to give any opinions on the team right now, because the match against Kosovo was a complete joke because of the pitch, and Turkey I only saw highlights. Looks like Kalinic is going to be out, as well as Kovacic, Pjaca, and Corluka. So I dont know who plays striker, I guess Manzukic in a 4-2-3-1.

[DarkAttraktor]

what's happening with Croatia nowadays doesn't have anything to do with football. Mamic's chokehold of the HNS (and football in Croatia overall) is taking a toll on the NT and people are growing sick by the minute. never in my life i saw average people in Croatia being so indifferent towards the NT. in fact, its pretty much like Serbia in that respect, which is really strange considering the Croatia NT's special status in the nation-building process of the 1990s. IMO, it would be really a shame to miss out because of Modric and Mandzuka, cause WC 2018 will possibly be the last big tournament in their prime.

USNT also isn't in a good place. should they draw with Panama at home, they depend on other teams' results to go through. but boy USNT owes Panama big time after sending them out from the WC with two goals in stoppage time in 2013.

[surfer]

what's happening with Croatia nowadays doesn't have anything to do with football. Mamic's chokehold of the HNS (and football in Croatia overall) is taking a toll on the NT and people are growing sick by the minute. never in my life i saw average people in Croatia being so indifferent towards the NT. in fact, its pretty much like Serbia in that respect, which is really strange considering the Croatia NT's special status in the nation-building process of the 1990s. IMO, it would be really a shame to miss out because of Modric and Mandzuka, cause WC 2018 will possibly be the last big tournament in their prime.

USNT also isn't in a good place. should they draw with Panama at home, they depend on other teams' results to go through. but boy USNT owes Panama big time after sending them out from the WC with two goals in stoppage time in 2013.

yes the reaction to Modric's "I dont remember" non-testimony was pretty scathing amongst my Hajduk supporting relatives. Its too bad, Modric is my favorite footballer ever, but clearly he doesnt want to cross Mamic or endanger the lives of relatives (or business interests) he may have there. I dont really know. Anyway, I dont know the murky details of the whole situation, other than Mamic has his corrupt tendrils in every aspect of Croatian football. The "arrangement" he had with Eduardo basically amounts to indentured servitude. I still root for the Vatreni because they're more fun to root for than the often unimaginative and underachieving overdogs USMNT. The Panama game I think they will win, I imagine Dempsey (the greatest outfield footballer US has ever produced) will play a role in that, because he's got a level of class, sophistication, and calmness in big situations that almost every other player on that team lacks. Pulisic included. Also I cant stand Bruce Arena, that guy just really rubs me the wrong way.

[Wombatz]

view of our own private stadium from the window of our holiday flat. unfortunately there's a storm outside and the greenkeeper has neglected his job. my boy happily watches the germany game, but it's really too boring to bother ...

[surfer]

That pitch is in better shape than the one I play on for my rec league. Last week, no joke, I had the ball in the attacking third, dribbling towards the edge of the box, and a gopher popped his head out of a hole not 6 feet away from me. Scared the crap out of me.

[walto]

view of our own private stadium from the window of our holiday flat. unfortunately there's a storm outside and the greenkeeper has neglected his job. my boy happily watches the germany game, but it's really too boring to bother ...

Germany really did pound the living daylights out of North Ireland, didn't they? What a machine they are! The England-Slovenia match wasn't much better, in spite of the final score.

I feel bad that the Czech Republic won't qualify. They had something like 20 legitimate opportunities to score against Azerbaijan, but barely won that match too.

[surfer]

HNK Rijeka's ultras are boycotting the match today, I wonder if there will be a disruption. The smart money's on flares . . . . . . . . .

[Wombatz]

That pitch is in better shape than the one I play on for my rec league. Last week, no joke, I had the ball in the attacking third, dribbling towards the edge of the box, and a gopher popped his head out of a hole not 6 feet away from me. Scared the crap out of me.

nice shot you took there under the circumstances!

[surfer]

Well that wasnt good. Looks like 2nd is the only possibility barring a Kosovar miracle on Monday. Seems to me we're still in the same position we would have been w/r/t Ukraine: a win or a draw will do. We own the GD tie breaker. However, its a major question of whether this team can recover psychologically. I'm not sure.

[surfer]

nice shot you took there under the circumstances!

I think that is technically a groundhog, not a gopher. Not sure what I saw, but I can tell you the pitch is in much worse shape than the one in the photo I linked to.