F-C

It's a conspiracy I tell ya.

FastAcura

Anyone signed up for the Uefa Champions League fantasy league?

http://en.uclfantasy.uefa.com/M/home.mc

moonraker

negative. do you join a league then after you pick your players or do you have to be in a league to start with? will have to look into it before the night is over

pumped about champions league starting though. games will be live on espn2 this week a few of them. i know man utd celtic is on weds. forget which game is on tomo...

also just out of curiosity i saw the sports handicapping/betting thread. anyone bet on soccer? i bet casually on games and went 3 winning bets 1 push this past weekend, was awesome. trying to find the best CL matches to bet on. the inter match has good odds considering they should dominate.

the bremen chelsea match intrigues me too. under asian handicap bremen is given +1 goal. but they also will not have klose. and borowski and frings are questionable. tough call

FastAcura

No you don't need to be in a league to start with. You can actually win champions league final tickets if you get the highest score. Last year I finished around 1000th out of over 100,000.

And Klose might play tomorrow.

http://www.sport1.de/de/sport/artikel_370950.html

But Wiese and Mertesacker will be missing for sure.

I think they're showing Liverpool against PSV on ESPN tomorrow, even though the Bremen game looks much better on paper.

I was looking through the UEFA website and found this:

http://video.uefa.com/video/index.html

I think I'm gonna order the Chelsea vs Bremen game tomorrow at work.

FastAcura

Btw, I joined this league

Name: SG League
Code to enter:3059-759

FastAcura

Just order the Bremen game on uefa.com for $9.95 and the quality is amazing, and no streaming problems at all...and the best part is that Klose is playing!

moonraker

damn man utd just lost at home to arsenal (w/o henry). crazyness, some great saves in that game for sure (man utd had backup goalie in, kuczack)

champions league inter lost which was surprising, comin up on 2nd round of matches here in a little while. should be entertaining and hopefully espn keeps covering them
also madrid lost to lyon just like they did last year haha. theyre gonna need to turn things around , but should still qualify out of the group i think

uzzmaan

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/5386228.stm

Interesting alternatives he's come up with. I personally think reducing players would work best, though it would probably tire out the remaining players to the point of exhaustion

gocubsgo55

Arsenal 2 - FC Porto 0
Henry (38')
Hleb (48')

Bremen v Barça today, that's going to be great!

uzzmaan

Sucks that TSN is showing the Chelsea-Levski Sofia game today. I'd much rather watch Barca

gocubsgo55

Barça 0
Bremen 1

Fast must be going crazy

Lister00169

Liverpool 3 - Galatasaray 2

Excellent striking by Liverpool, but their lackluster second half defense has me worried.

Highlight: 6ft 5in+ Peter Crouch with a scorching kick for the eventual game winning goal

mc_yanzo

Barca pulled that one out of their ass! Goal in the 87th minute!

Barca 1
Bremen 1

FastAcura

I was, but damn Messi, that guy is brilliant. Wiese had an excellent save against him earlier in the game when he dribbled through about 5 or 6 bremen players. I watched the game live at work and almost cried when they scored the equilizer. If they win the next two games against Sofia and Barca and Chelsea take each other the points away, anything is still possible...

FastAcura

Werder Bremen beat Bayern Munich 3-1 last weekend to stay in control of the Bundesliga. Now they need to take the momentum into the last three champion's league games and qualify for the next round.

BstonBruin

what a game goin on right now on ESPN...Arsenal vs Moscow. The Gunners have had about 18 shots on goal, two wide open goals and have not put anything in the way. 70th minute still tied a 0

gocubsgo55

dont even get me fucking started.

this team's offense is/has been pathetic all season long. Always want to WALK the ball in, and they couldnt even do that tonight.

BstonBruin

My roommate is a huge Arsenal fan...he is absolutely pissed

gocubsgo55

tell him i feel his pain. we should write in and let Arsene Wenger know that, although he's an awesome manager, he needs to tell his players not to cut through every damn player, or in today's case, DONT PASS TO THE GK!

It's ok, I have a soccer game tonight and I'll channel my frustration to the pitch.

FastAcura

Bremen 1-0 Chelsea

JediMindTricks

yup, don't sleep on bremen.

interesting to see if barca doesn't make the the next stage.

gocubsgo55

The North London Derby Match
Emirates Stadium, (02/12/2006)

Arsenal FC vs. Tottenham Hotspur FC

Arsenal 3 - 0 TottenScum

If I had to choose 2 losses and 1 win in the past 3 games, this is how I'd want it to be. We facking hate the Spuds!

oh, and it was a 12:45 GMT match which meant I had to wake up at 6:45 CDT time to watch, being quite intoxicated from my 4:00 AM sleep before. Let's just say I was quite loud and obnoxious. Roommate thought it was funny and ended up watching the game with me. Afterwards I passed out with a smile on my face

FastAcura

They didn't stand a chance in Barcelona. At least now they'll win the UEFA Cup.

moonraker

ya i was pullin for bremen from the start of that group, didnt want chelsea to advance, but oh well


man utd vs benfica is on espn2 right now. benfica scored a ROCKET early on, and man utd tied it up right before halftime, really exciting game, man utd has been on the offensive so much. tie or win for man utd sees man utd through, benfica win only sees benfica through, shit is nuts.... AND benfica is the one who knocked man utd out last year too. cooooooome on united

JediMindTricks

i was gonna start an "official soccer thread" until i remembered this one existed. (and we overcrapped the shevchenko thread with all sorts of soccer news/talk.)

the gold cup begins next week. i'm probably the only one in acurazine that's looking forward to it. i tried to get tickets to the semis and final in chicago but no luck.

but bob bradley u.s. named a full strength team except the injured convey and hahnemann. looking forward to feilhaber and seeing if he can be the american fabregas!

Lister00169

^^^
I think you are the only one looking forwards to it

I don't know, I just can't get into U.S. soccer games. Part of the game are the fans in the stands, they add something to the match.

F-C

The Gold Cup begins next week? I didn't even know that. Is it mentioned by any medio outlet? Is it even televised?

JediMindTricks

the u.s. games should be on fsc and univision, i think.

and lister, yea i see what you mean. the crowd adds a unique element to watching a match. it's nothing like europe, south america, mexico, and even korea, but i'll still watch to support the team.

in other news, england play brazil today. england get owen back and mcclaren recalls beckham, which was was a highly controversial move. (though it was expected, and mcclaren is desperate at this point.) no disrespect to beckham though. the guy's been in amazing form since capello brought him back.

Lister00169

Just when I thought England would FINALLY beat Brazil, our D goes and screws it up.

We need players on our D to focus on stopping the other teams progression and not worry about trying to score goals for themselves.

herbalist

looking forward to an afternoon of Euro qualification matches tomorrow afternoon. sopcast FTW

JediMindTricks

well, england were missing gary neville, ashley cole, and rio ferdinand (though many will argue that carragher deserves to start over rio).

i think the problem with england is that they always try to defend the lead and run out of ideas. and that's a big problem because they don't have much imagination and creativity to begin with.

with that said, a few points:
1. beckham had a gem of a performance. it was good sight when he walked off the pitch, and the crowd were singing "there's only one david beckham." (england fans are fickle though.)

2. of all of england's stars (becks, rooney, owen, lampard, terry, rio, etc.), steven gerrard is a cut above the rest and is probably the only player that can walk into any other national team. lampard was horrible again, and gerrard played like two men in the midfield. much respect to gerrard. possibly the most complete midfielder in the world, i dare say.

if mcclaren had the guts, the midfield should be:

j.cole ---- gerrard ---- hargreaves ---- beckham

3. england look a different side with joe cole and michael owen back.

4. is it a coincidence that ever since adidas offered the brazil team loads of cash to be the official kit sponsor (in retaliation to nike doing the same to germany), kaka, an adidas man, wears the #10 shirt?

supposedly nike is PISSED off at dunga since the R10 ad is their bread winner.

JediMindTricks

5. can someone tell me, what, and i mean WHAT, has alan smith done to deserve a callup or a start, more or less. i like the guy because he plays with a lot of energy and passion. and he's never afraid to get into a tackle. but c'mon. the only good thing i can say is that he's played himself out of starting against estonia.

i can understand bringing on crouch as a late sub. but alan's been out of the game for a year, barely played this year, had one good goal against roma, but he's done nothing to deserve a callup. in a friendly, why not try defoe or darren bent?

Lister00169

JMT - you should be managing England's squad!!!

All of your points my brother and I have been talking about and agree with.

I honestly think there is a conspiracy that Manchester United Players will always start over other players.

Also, when will people learn that Frank Lampard is garbage when he plays for the national team? Make him a sub and set up that midfield you stated above. Beckham now as more ability than Lampard at his best on the international level!

JediMindTricks

oh, don't get me wrong. i think many of us would pick a better squad than mcclaren.

i also believe the bias for man.utd players. now, i'm more a fan of united than any other club, and i strongly believe that gary neville, beckham, paul scholes, and rio deserved their caps and were for the most part, the best in their positions.

but, i am still astonished that phil neville has over 50 caps. 50! and he earned most of them while being a backup for united. he's proven to be a strong player and leader for everton, but PHIL NEVILLE!?!? and this is coming from a fan of neville. i even have his everton shirt!

(and don't get me started on wes brown and keiran richardson!)

but yea, alan smith doesn't deserve a callup. and definitely, he hasn't done anything to earn a start. if everyone is healthy, there's no way he's above owen, rooney, andrew johnson, crouch, defore, nugent, and darren bent.

as for lampard. here's my take on lampard, and i've been burned for my opinion.
1. he is a great player and a fine midfielder. and i think he's come a long, long way over the past 5 years. he's REALLY improved his game: passing, shooting, defending, positioning, etc.
2. he gets credit for scoring a lot of goals as a midfielder, and his goal scoring record is impressive. when you're constantly hitting 15-20 goals a season, that's very impressive for a midfielder

HOWEVER, looking back at a lot of his goals, how many of those goals are from penalties or deflections? i remember downloading a frank lampard compilation video and thinking he has to have the all-time record for deflected goals. take away those penalties and deflections, his goal scoring record is not that impressive.
3. he has the luxury of having one holding midfielder (makelele) that will cover him on the defensive end and another "box to box" midfielder (essien) that will also assume a lot of the defensive duties. so at chelsea, he's found most of his success roaming in the opponent's third.

one reason he struggles so much at england is that he doesn't have that luxury. yet, when mcclaren plays hargreaves, who mimics what makelele does for chelsea, he still looks lost and confused.
4. two years ago, there was a huge debate over who was the better midfielder: gerrard and lampard. i laughed at those who said lampard. gerrard is, i believe, the most complete midfielder in the world. (for the record, i thought vieira was at his peak - say 5 years ago.) gerrard can play in any position. he's been asked to play in every midfield position, right back, and even as a support striker. he can tackle, has the best passing range next to beckham on the england squad, has a goal-scoring record nearly identical to lampard without being the team's main pk taker, and is versatile.

people forget that gerrard SINGLE-HANDEDLY led liverpool to a champions league spot a few years ago. that was a bare squad. he literally carried that team on his back.

there is no way lampard could have done if the roles were reversed.

now, don't get me wrong. i'm not a lampard basher. i appreciate his game, and i respect how much he's improved. he's no longer considered harry's nephew or jamie's cousin. he's his own man now, and he's deserved it.

and i'm not a gerrard stan because, frankly, he plays for liverpool. but i recognize and admire his game. and it says a lot when the brazil manager says it's a shame gerrard wasn't born a brazilian.

5. sorry for the long rant. soccer gets me hyped up.

JediMindTricks

so apparently, mcclaren is thinking about playing kieron dyer as a right back ....now i like dyer. i think he's been unfortunate throughout his career because of injuries. and i understand that mcclaren is wanting a back that can overlap beckham on the right. but dyer is an attacking mid!

if he's serious about this, he's lost the plot and is admitting desperation.

on a positive note, the u.s. beat china 4-1 in a friendly to warm up for the gold cup. i know china's a pretty weak team, but that was an impressive win.

i am very excited about the midfield:

beasley --- bradley --- feilhaber --- dempsey

i think this is our most technical midfield i've seen in years. and i believe we have our center midfield partnership for the future in bradley/feilhaber. it's the latter that i'm really excited about, and i'm this close to a man-crush on benny. (no homo.)

i've always felt that the u.s. needed a central midfielder that can initiate the attack so we don't rely on landon donovan too much. i've always wanted to see a central midfield schemer in the sort of pirlo, fabregas, and heck, even a xabi alonso-type. (i always thought john o'brien was that player, but the poor guy's had the worst luck with injuries.)

feilhaber hasn't convinced completely yet, but he's impressed me a lot. and if he continues the track he's on, he will run past claudio reyna.

beasley looks ok. gave away the ball a bit, but he still scored and had an assist. dempsey should have had a hat trick, but at least he got one. interesting to see him play up front...he's been doing that for fulham. but i still think his best position is on the right for the national team so he can get out wide and create when he has space to run at the defenders.

(lol...i know i'm like the only one that cares about the u.s. national team but this is the soccer thread...)

F-C

Anyone saw that sucker punch at the end of the Denmark vs. Sweden last week???

JediMindTricks

yup.

crazy ending to that game. the fan running onto the pitch and taking a swipe at the ref was

herbalist

that was actually a fantastic game before that idiot ruined it.

JediMindTricks

^yup.

i've always liked watching sweden and denmark. very good and talented players. lots of flair too.

moonraker

nani, anderson, hargreaves to man utd = HELL YEA (delayed in posting this here, but oh well)

bayern have also done pretty well, signing ribery, luca toni, and a couple other germans jansen i believe is one. re-shaping the squad

still waiting to see what liverpool and arsenal are going to do transfer wise. lots of intriguing rumors, just waiting to see which one is right or close

and alexi lalas is saying they want to talk to figo. good lord, LA galaxy are just throwing money at every international they can find!!! bastards haha