All things soccer 2012-13

[Insidious Von]

Germany will not get a sniff at the World Cup, not enough soldiers. Only Schweinsteiger fits that mold and he can't battle alone.

Sir Alex worst folly:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L99royYZkSw

 

[Big Michael]

Not a big Ibra fan, not sure why, but my goodness what a goal.

http://www.101greatgoals.com/gvideos/the-greatest-goal-ever-zlatan-ibrahimovic-4-v-england/

 

[Insidious Von]

Juventus 3 Chelsea 0

Clearly Chelsea are missing Drogba. And the cruelest joke of all is that he may become a Zebra in January. Currently he is unhappy in the PRC - what a surprise!

 

[Insidious Von]

The hollowing out of the Premier League continues. Hugo Lloris saved Tottenham from getting trashed at the Olimpico. This should be disturbing for Premiership fans since the Spurs have more English players than most. Not to mention Liverpool could only muster a draw in Zurich. Without a core of homegrown talent, you cannot effectively compete for major silverware. The Premiership is well on it's way to becoming a predominantly mercenary league.

 

[rld]

Did I read wrong or are all of the German teams going through to the knock out round of the champions league?

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

Did I read wrong or are all of the German teams going through to the knock out round of the champions league?

All 3 of them, yup.

Not just going through but leading all 3 groups ATM. Germany has now surpassed Italy as the No. 3 league in Europe. Spain and England are 1 and 2

 

[bullitt]

Well if no one else is going to mention it, how about Celtic 2-1 over barcelona. great result considering they were without two of their better players, brown and hooper. a draw in barcelona was almost there too. they,ll go thru to the last 16.

 

[Don Draper]

Did anyone else see Mexes' goal vs. Anderlecht?

http://youtu.be/LjG26kuCQ14

My oh My!

 

[rld]

Well if no one else is going to mention it, how about Celtic 2-1 over barcelona. great result considering they were without two of their better players, brown and hooper. a draw in barcelona was almost there too. they,ll go thru to the last 16.

Good on Celtic. I have a soft spot in my heart for them.

 

[Insidious Von]

Breaking news:

Silvio Berlusconi is in the process of selling Ac Milan. I'll have a detailed opinion on this once the sale is finalized.

http://www.goal.com/en/news/1717/editorial/2012/11/24/3542530/what-the-future-holds-for-ac-milan-their-potential-new

 

[Insidious Von]

Manchester United are keen to bring Angelo Ogbonna to Old Trafford during the January transfer window. Torino have slapped a 19 million euro transfer fee to complete the deal. After what I saw against Reading they are stupid if they don't.

 

[Amarcord]

So why is it that you don't see Italian league anymore Saturday and Sundays? Now you see British games only....

 

[Don Draper]

So why is it that you don't see Italian league anymore Saturday and Sundays? Now you see British games only....

Because BeIN TV has bought all the rights and Canadian specialty channels are in over their heads and out of the bidding race.

 

[Insidious Von]

That is a shame since North Americans are missing out on the rise of Stephan El Sharaawy. I remember a certain ManU fan saying he was an average player at best. In comparison with his peer Mario Balotelli, the Ghanian has more natural talent but the part Egyptian has pitch savvy unmatched by anyone. The remarkable fact is that he just turned 20 ten days ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG3mpDx7vAs

 

[Don Draper]

I'm quite happy that UEFA and FIFA work so successfully out side of North America. There really is no need for the North American market.

If the NA mindset ever embraced futbol somewhat properly, they'd want to translate it into some garish NFL version approach to it.

No thank you.

 

[Amarcord]

Because BeIN TV has bought all the rights and Canadian specialty channels are in over their heads and out of the bidding race.

GGRRR that sucks, will see if internet viewing works. Thanx I use to get a lot of lag watching games on the net, don't know if its my connection or they just don't strem very well.

 

[scouser1]

The fact that in this country we cannot see the CFL of international soccer aka Serie A and La Liga is a blessing I am kidding, I think it's an absolute travesty that no one has stepped up to acquire the rights or bring in some sort of feed for BeIN TV in this country, and Balotelli is Ghanian? is that some sort of statement on Palermo Von? hehehe, but seriously ya gotta believe the Italian extreme far right wing nut jobs are going "pazzo" with players named El Sharaway and Ogbonna as their future hehehe. Oh can we begin a countdown as to when Mourinho gets canned from Real Madrid and when he replaces Sir "jackass" oh I mean Alex?

Also does anyone have any favourite football podcasts or programs they listen to online? I like the one produced by the Guardian and I have a Sirius satellite radio which carries a football phone in show but it is just awful, the main host Charlie Stillitano is such a name dropper, every story is "oh I was having lunch with Alex Ferguson and Roberto Mancini the other day, and in came Jose Mourinho" blah blah blah

 

[Insidious Von]

Well thanks for bringing your liberal zeal into the mix scouser1.

I'll go one further, if it was up to me these pazzos would be swinging from their ankles. It's a testament to how far Italy has come when its cultural mosaic produces its brightest young stars. A Nigerian born and raised in Torino. A Ghanaian with a rocky past and a part Egyptian who's father is a Sufi Muslim. And why would you want a podcast when you have my cug and Nigel Reed on TheFan? He was sitting at my table at a recent family wedding, he can be a very funny load when he has a few.

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/soccer-dirty-tackle/everything-know-stephan-el-shaarawy-milan-ridiculous-haired-230537520--sow.html

 

[Don Draper]

So, this is where we are at the end of the day today:

Group winners
Paris Saint-Germain FC, FC Schalke 04, Málaga CF, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, FC Bayern München, FC Barcelona, Manchester United FC

Group runners-up
FC Porto, Arsenal FC, AC Milan, Real Madrid CF, FC Shakhtar Donetsk, Valencia CF, Celtic FC, Galatasaray AŞ

To the UEFA Europa League
FC Dynamo Kyiv, Olympiacos FC, FC Zenit St Petersburg, AFC Ajax, Chelsea FC, FC BATE Borisov, SL Benfica, CFR 1907 Cluj

The next draw will take place in Nyon at 11.30CET on 20 December. Celtic and Galatasaray finished group runners-up on Wednesday and will therefore be at home in their round of 16 first legs on 12/13 and 19/20 February. Juventus, meanwhile, are among the section winners who will play their home returns on 5/6 and 12/13 March. No team can play a club from their group or any side from the same association.

Here's hoping PSG draws up with Real Madrid as Ibra will probably deck Mourinho right on the pitch. I'll keep my eye on Dortmund and anyone they play since they're a very exciting team to watch and Klopp has got to be one the best young coaches today.

All roads lead to the Azulgrana.

Viva el Futbol!!​

 

[Insidious Von]

Building a football club from press hype doesn't always work.

Seba Giovinco > Eden Hazard