the 370Z.com OFFICIAL football (soccer) thread

[cow]

The real tragedy here is the loss of that innocent banana.

[Jon@AAMComp]

Originally Posted by blue660r01

Side note. Wow England and Italy are RACIST.

Neymar racism incident mars Brazil win - ESPN Soccernet

Its not England that's racist, is the Scots that came down the North to watch their shite team get handled by a 19 year old Brazilian, and they couldn't deal with it. The Italians however, definitely have a huge problem with race. I would say out of all the countries in Europe, Italy and Spain are the worst when it comes to racism.



Guys, I don't think Fabregas is going anywhere this summer. Arsenal are asking at least €50 million for your Captain, I can't think of any club who would be willing to pay for him, other than Barca or Real. However, Real Madrid just spend big for midfielders Özil and Khedira, not to mention they have the very promising Sergio Canales ready to go. So confident in their midfield are Real, they are looking to sell the underperforming Kaká in the summer:

Real Madrid 'look to sell Kaka in the summer' - Telegraph

I see Kaká going back to AC Milan, or maybe even moving to Inter. Manchester City might also be willing to spend to bring him to Eastlands. After the money we burned on Torres, I don't see Roman spending another €50 million on yet another aging star.

Cesc is Catalan too, so I can't ever see him playing as a 'Galactico'. Barça also already have 2 midfield playmakers in the form of Xavi and Ineista, both of which show no signs of slowing down. Ask yourself what club has the money and the need for a midfield playmaker?

Cesc Fabregas expected to stay at Arsenal as Barcelona baulk at paying €50 million fee - Telegraph

[phelan]

Originally Posted by cow

The real tragedy here is the loss of that innocent banana.

This. Such a waste of good food. What kind of idiot would throw a perfectly good banana onto a soccer pitch???

Originally Posted by Jon@AAMComp

Guys, I don't think Fabregas is going anywhere this summer. Arsenal are asking at least €50 million for your Captain, I can't think of any club who would be willing to pay for him, other than Barca or Real. However, Real Madrid just spend big for midfielders Özil and Khedira, not to mention they have the very promising Sergio Canales ready to go. So confident in their midfield are Real, they are looking to sell the underperforming Kaká in the summer:

Real Madrid 'look to sell Kaka in the summer' - Telegraph

I see Kaká going back to AC Milan, or maybe even moving to Inter. Manchester City might also be willing to spend to bring him to Eastlands. After the money we burned on Torres, I don't see Roman spending another €50 million on yet another aging star.

Cesc is Catalan too, so I can't ever see him playing as a 'Galactico'. Barça also already have 2 midfield playmakers in the form of Xavi and Ineista, both of which show no signs of slowing down. Ask yourself what club has the money and the need for a midfield playmaker?

Cesc Fabregas expected to stay at Arsenal as Barcelona baulk at paying €50 million fee - Telegraph

45 and I think Cesc is gone. But I do agree Barca is pretty much the only team who will buy him and he'll be happy to play for. I think his Arsenal blood is enough that even if Mancini wanted Mansour to pay the full 50m, Cesc will never play for any other team in the EPL. Nor Real given his Catalan roots (we'd get some pretty fun stories out of the Spanish media if that happened though!). But the argument that Barca have the playmakers already is flawed, since they had them last year too - that didn't stop them from trying. Idiots.

What the hell happened to Kaka? He was lighting it up as little as two years ago...I don't think even Man City will get him, not with David Silva in the side. Although who knows what happens with the Citizens, they might blow up the entire team if they don't get a CL spot, and start over I could see him back in Serie A. Really don't think he has a spot at Chelsea, his free-flowing game doesn't really fit. Seems to me Chelsea's front line is very demanding of the ball, and it'd reduce Kaka's effectiveness.

Hell, I don't even want him at Arsenal. Go figure.

Other news - I feel REALLY bad for Kevin Doyle. Always puts in a solid 90 minute shift for Wolves, lost to injury in an international friendly. It's not even a team I care for, but good god I hope someone can figure out a different schedule for soccer. These internationals are killing clubs!

Blackburn - Hey Venky's! What the F*CK are you doing??? Ruud van Nistelrooy back to the EPL???? Wow, imagine if they got all of their transfers to go through. Ronaldinho, Beckham, and van Nistelrooy making up 30% of your outfield? They don't need a physio, they'd need a geriatrics ward!!!

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/st...elrooy?cc=5901

I'm gonna pick up one of the red USA shirts today

[Jon@AAMComp]

Originally Posted by phelan

45 and I think Cesc is gone. But I do agree Barca is pretty much the only team who will buy him and he'll be happy to play for. I think his Arsenal blood is enough that even if Mancini wanted Mansour to pay the full 50m, Cesc will never play for any other team in the EPL. Nor Real given his Catalan roots (we'd get some pretty fun stories out of the Spanish media if that happened though!). But the argument that Barca have the playmakers already is flawed, since they had them last year too - that didn't stop them from trying. Idiots.

Which is why I couldn't understand why they wanted to spend the money so badly last year. I suppose they want to add depth to the bench, but they've gone and signed Mascherano. Lets not forget they also have Keita, Jeffrén, and Busquets. Not trying to diminish the quality of Fabregas, but where does he fit? Barça already have a lot of debt, and in hindsight, it was probably better for their club to pass on signing Fabregas until his stock goes down a bit, if that ever happens.

Originally Posted by phelan

What the hell happened to Kaka? He was lighting it up as little as two years ago...I don't think even Man City will get him, not with David Silva in the side. Although who knows what happens with the Citizens, they might blow up the entire team if they don't get a CL spot, and start over I could see him back in Serie A. Really don't think he has a spot at Chelsea, his free-flowing game doesn't really fit. Seems to me Chelsea's front line is very demanding of the ball, and it'd reduce Kaka's effectiveness.

Hell, I don't even want him at Arsenal. Go figure.

Unless Florent Malouda or Zhirkov is sold, there isn't a place for him here either. We still have Kakuta on loan at Fulham, and we are already looking at much more promising Brazilian, who's skills were on display this weekend against Scotland.

I can't picture a move to the Premier League for Kaká. There are only about 6 clubs in the top flight that could actually pay him, and all are crowded already with midfielders. However at the end of the day, you never know really. I would have never guessed we'd sign Torres during the transfer window, and its still a little strange to see him wearing a Chelsea shirt.

Originally Posted by phelan

Other news - I feel REALLY bad for Kevin Doyle. Always puts in a solid 90 minute shift for Wolves, lost to injury in an international friendly. It's not even a team I care for, but good god I hope someone can figure out a different schedule for soccer. These internationals are killing clubs!

Its hard to choose between the two. Answer the call for your country and run the risk of injury at the expense of your employer? Such is the life of a footballer I suppose. I don't know how much they can actually change with scheduling. Unless they want footballers playing year round, there's not much that can be done.

Originally Posted by phelan

I'm gonna pick up one of the red USA shirts today

I like the new kits too, but what a terrible game. There were a few bright moments, but as a whole we looked pretty bad. I wish we could score a clean goal without relying on the opponents keeper to screw up.

I really hoped Klinsmann would have become the US National Team Manager, as I feel our boys would benefit tremendously from a foreign coach with experience playing and coaching in the highest level of football played in Europe. Here is a manager who has coached Germany to a World Cup Final, and I'm pretty sure has better credentials than Bob Bradley to coach a national team. He nearly landed the England job. I can understand the patriotism of an American coach for the national team, but I would gladly accept a foreign manager if it meant getting a higher quality team. Maybe one day US "soccer" federation will wake up.

[phelan]

My problem is Bob Bradley hasn't woken up to the fact that his son is effing horrible in our midfield. There's a reason why he's benched at Aston Villa (?) all of the time.

Aguedelo is earning high marks left and right, but I think he's going to end up very much like a cross between Theo Walcott and Darren Bent. That was a great poacher's goal, but the rest of the time he was on the pitch it seemed like he ran around a lot, but didn't do much else - a la Walcott. Put in a few shots on goal that had the crowd going 'oooh!!!' but never troubled the keeper - a la Bent.

I just think the international friendlies is rough in that they take club players, potentially crock them in a meaningless fixture, then return them to the club and go "heh...oops?". I wish the international squads had a bit more responsibility to injuries. I mean, it's the same thing that happened to Arjen and Bayern Munich, right?

[cow]

So yeah, Adil Rami looked fantastic today, & then he hurt his shoulder/neck trying an overhead kick off a corner. The medics had his neck stabilized but he was moving one of his arms. I hope he's ok.

It was amusing seeing Blanc & Slaven Bilic joking after the match (Blanc lightly elbowed Bilic in the semifinal of France 98 who writhed on the ground as though he'd never walk again & got Blanc sent off & consequently missed the final).

[phelan]

Robin's injured again.

edit - oop, looks to be 'dead leg', and he should be fine for blackburn. Whew!

[cow]

What exactly is a dead leg?

Rumor is a German threw it hahah

[cow]

I'm watching Germany vs Australia from earlier. I want to watch the USA match but there's a mean storm here so the signal is being interrupted.

[cow]

Watched the USA match. Pretty disappointing. Paraguay are so hard to watch as they always park the bus hard. The new kit is hot.

/choppy thought impressions

Back to Germany match.

[cow]

I was very impressed by Blaise Matuidi for France today. I think he'd look great in red & white.

[phelan]

Aguedelo played very well again today. I'd start him alongside the toothless Altidore.

I bought the white Arsenal jacket with goal club points, and nabbed the red soccer shirt while I was at it

[cow]

I imagine I've spent over $10,000 with Eurosport & have been a Goal Club member since the program launched & yet I barely have enough points for socks.

[cow]

Just checked for lol's sake. I've cashed in points maybe twice, & yet I only have 149 accumulated.

WTF, Eurosport?!