Gert & TheBoy's Official VNA Soccer... err Football Thread

[Gert-Jan]

Soccer. Soccer. Soccer. Soccer. Soccer. Soccer. Soccer. Soccer. Soccer. Soccer. Soccer. Soccer.

I think it's pretty obvious what this thread is about, lol. Want to talk about the two biggest clubs in the world, Real Madrid and Barcelona? Or Van Persie and Manchester United? Former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola who signed a 3-year deal with Bayern Munich? The latest on the American Major League Soccer? Beckham's transfer to PSG? The latest transfers? European soccer? Or the African Cup of Nations, which is now being played in South Africa? Wanna discuss the latest matchfixing scandals in the Italian Serie A? Or lower divisions in, for example, England? Portsmouth? Scottish Premier League still interesting without the Rangers? Arsenal? Ajax? Or more about Manchester United and when Ferguson is going to retire? And what about the Manchester battle/derby, United/City? Landon Donovan, Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo?

( Cellardoor ... does the Madrid star have a "dreamy smile"? )

American Football has its own thread and as of now soccer has one, too.

[CGYMike]

I am so excited Gert-Jan that you started a new soccer thread...now I have a place to put my stuff :)

[WSJ689]

i like the fact that Beckham's salary for the 5 month deal is all going to children's charities. whether you all realize it or not his 5 years in the states where huge for the MLS, we now have soccer only stadiums built or being built and are fans in some places,Portland and Seattle, are approaching the craziness of you euro fans. I got to see him live twice which was cool

[CGYMike]

I'm looking forward to seeing a game in Seattle...the fans there are amazing and if the English fellas want to come again and play a Friendly I'd love to go see them play as well :)

[cellardoor]

Had no idea Beckham was doing such a thing! More reasons to love him beyond talent and looks!

And Gert-Jan do you really need to ask about my feelings over Cristiano???? I mean COME ON! :

When I saw this thread I hard to laugh because my family is moving again for the first time in like 9 years and the posters that I was packing up from my room were of Ruud Van Nistelrooy when he was still playing for Man U and Hernan Crespo when he was playing for Lazio (simply because I loved the baby blue colors on the uniform...I'm such a GIRL! hahaha!)

As far as the African Cup of Nations goes I was really hoping Kenya would have gone on

[Gert-Jan]

I got to see him live twice which was cool.

WSJ, which two matches did you see?

I gotta admit, it IS admirable that he gives away all the money. Didn't see that one coming. He's known for wanting to have a big salaray, Paris St Germain is a team that spends millions and millions on players these days, but I guess the UK star really wanted to play in Europe again? *shrug*

And Gert-Jan do you really need to ask about my feelings over Cristiano???? I mean COME ON!

If you let me express my feelings about Irina Shayk, Mr Ronaldo's girlfriend, lol. I'm sure Mike can bring up a picture of her; just Google Irina & "Sports Illustrated".

I thought it was pretty funny, yet sad too, that he scored 3 goals for Real Madrid last weekend, when later in the evening Messi scored 4! I mean, he'd be the best soccer player in the world, if only the Argentina player wouldn't be around. Whenever Real Madrid doesn't play at home, supporters of the other team are cheering/screaming/shouting: "Messi, Messi!" C'mon, admit, that's funny!

As for the African Cup of Nations, Zambia was the defending Champion, but did I see them coming far again? Nah! The cup will be going to Ivory Coast!

Biggest match of this weekend ~~ Valencia vs Barcelona.

[thechibiknight]

i like the fact that Beckham's salary for the 5 month deal is all going to children's charities. whether you all realize it or not his 5 years in the states where huge for the MLS, we now have soccer only stadiums built or being built and are fans in some places,Portland and Seattle, are approaching the craziness of you euro fans. I got to see him live twice which was cool

They're building a special stadium just for the Sounders? I don't know why though. CenturyLink Field is an amazing stadium to watch the Sounders (I'll pass on the Seahawks). The fans are great and it's incredibly loud as we alternated between chanting SEATTLE... SOUNDERS...

Though MLS isn't my favorite league to watch, it is entertaining. I prefer the English Premiership League. I've always loved Ryan Giggs and Manchester United. I was a little upset with last year's season finish as the refs gave the league to Man City after giving them extra time to "win". Either way, this season has been alright for Man United.

[Gert-Jan]

Champions League draw ...

Barcelona - Bayern Munich
Real Madrid - Borussia Dortmund

"Surprisingly" Spain vs Germany ... but it IS the best of the best, though. And just think about the fact Wembley could host the biggest El Clasico ever!

[CGYMike]

After the tragic day in Boston I thought I could pass on a little levity tonight.

I love this thread :)

[WalterB]

Now, I'm no soccer player - OR fighter (I'm a lover, lol,) but, doesn't it seem to you that you should be sure you can take the guy before you get all up in his face?

Seems like it would be a little less embarrassing than getting knocked on your ass.

[Fikachu]

I happen to be a supporter for this Egyptian soccer club known as Al-Ahly

[h0rnytoad1]

i never really was into watching sports but if they had teams like this ...

[Fikachu]

I just remembered that Vicky Vette happens to be a fan of the British Soccer club, Liverpool


http://www.vickyathome.com/members/cont ... section=50

[Fikachu]

My favorite national soccer team is Egypt

[Fikachu]

Soccer happens to be the favorite sport of my brother, Osama

[TheBoy]

Big last day of the season here in England, at least for my team Spurs and our arch rivals! I can't deny I'll be disappointed if we miss out on the coveted 4th place, but it's still been a brilliant season all things considered: Losing star players Modric and my Spurs hero at the time Rafa van der Vaart, along with the legend Ledley King having to retire through injury, getting a new manager/head coach who had lots to prove and missing key players long term such as Kaboul and the beast Sandro through injuries.

Despite all of those things, we are still on course to attain our highest ever points total today and the future looks bright, it looks lilywhite as the saying goes.

By the way Gert-Jan, who do you support?

[Gert-Jan]

Well, I'm not supporting one team in particular, just in love with the game itself. But as for England, I can't deny I have a weak spot for Manchester United and Liverpool. Kinda odd as they're rivals of each other, but both are clubs with a long list of Championships as well as a fantastic group of fans, stadium and shirt.

Fully agree with you that Spurs have done an amazing job this season. Gotta admit I was a little surprised when Levy signed Villas-Boas, but I think in the end he has definitely proven why he had such major success in Portugal (Porto). Never understood why Real Madrid wanted Modric, though. He should have been wiser, too. Sure, he gets more money, bigger exposure, one of the biggest clubs in the world... and Tottenham Hotspur is, with all due respect, just "the best of the rest" in the Premier League. But if you look at Madrid's squad, with Kaka and Ozil, how much did Modric really expected to play in Spain??

You won your last game, but Arsenal did the same with their last two. Tuesday's match against Wigan was vital. For Spurs, Gunners AND Wigan, who will also play in the Europa League next season, despite the fact they were unable to avoid relegation.

The future looks bright, BUT I do feel as if Spurs' stadium is holding them back. White Hart Lane is an amazing place with lots of history. Just like Stamford Bridge, though... it is simply not big enough to really grow and take the next step. More fans, more sponsors, bigger budget, better players? Spurs and Arsenal are like water and fire, black and white, dark and night, but the Gunners DID get a new stadium! It's their fault they thought it'd be a good idea to spend the money on Mertesacker, Andre Santos, Gervinho and a few other players whom I never believed they were going to make it in London, lol...

Do you prefer Friedel or Lloris? Big compliment to Vertonghen, who played a great first season. And Gareth Bale ... he's God!

[TheBoy]

I can't blame you for having a soft spot for Man United and I understand that Liverpool are still a big draw around Europe due to their history. To be honest, I almost wish I supported United, purely because you don't have to deal with so much heartbreak when you're winning every week! I suppose it's the same in a way for us in the UK that a lot of people admire the big teams in other countries. Ajax deserve a special mention I think for sticking to their tradition of bringing through their own talent and keeping things 'in house' with appointing former stars onto the coaching staff and then onto future management. It would be hard to see English star players (not there have been many to compare with the likes of Bergkamp, Davids, Frank and Ronald De Boer, van der Saar, etc) going into coaching kids or younger players and I find that a very sad situation.

Yep, things did not go quite to plan on Sunday for Spurs, but we did everything we could. It's hard to argue with a record points total, even if it means another slog through the Europa League and not the glamour (and money!) of the Champions League. I think a lot of people were surprised when AVB was the man chosen to replace Harry Redknapp! I do think he's found himself a very good home and I hope we allow him to build and hopefully stay for a long period of time. Next season is going to be very interesting with the teams who finished 1, 2 and 3 all starting next season with a new manager and all for very different reasons! If ever there is a time to try and break into the top four on a more permanent basis, next season could very well be the one... Liverpool will be a big threat too, assuming they keep hold of Suarez and he doesn't cause them any more problems! Out of interest, how did the Dutch people view Suarez? I know he had the biting incident and I think the Uruguay handball happened whilst he was at Ajax too?

I would agree and disagree with you on Modric. I'd say you are correct on him being naive about getting much playing time when surrounded by so many amazing players, but as someone who watched him play pretty much every game for Spurs, he is truly a fantastic player. I would be delighted if somehow we could get him back, because he's exactly the player we are missing in midfield. Whether is was purely because he was one of the few players left still talking to Mourinho or not, but he seemed to get a decent run of games over the past month or so and he ran the midfield against Atletico Madrid until everyone lost their heads. But the change of manager could mean anything for him, especially at Madrid!

You are 100% right about the stadium holding us back and the sooner the new one is built the better! When you have a ground capacity of 36,000 and yet have a waiting list for season tickets currently standing at 46,000, it's not hard to see the difference a 60,000 seater stadium will make :) We keep seeing pictures of ground being cleared and building sites appearing, so it looks like work is pressing ahead.

As much as I admire Brad for still being a great keeper at the grand age of 42, I'd pick Lloris every single time. He suits our style of play perfectly, reading the game and rushing out to clear any balls played over the top of our high line defence. This was the problem in the Europa League games where we suddenly reverted to Friedel in goal along with the now rather slow Gallas. It changed our whole tactic, and confused our regular players who suddenly had to be aware of problems they normally had covered.

I'm still amazed that Vertonghen chose to sign for us - and I don't know if the story played out quite as much in the Netherlands as it did here, but for literally months he kept saying he thought he was about to sign for Spurs but for some reason we just couldn't get the deal done. Only Spurs could make such a fuss over signing someone who actively wanted to play for us lol. I love his 'SuperJan' celebration when he scores! He is an immense player and the skills he displays on the ball put a lot of our British attacking players to shame quite frankly.

I don't think I need to say too much more about Bale, do I? ;) I still would be truly astounded if he left Tottenham this season. The only possible thing I can see changing that is if a foreign team bid a stupid amount of money - and I mean Kaka, Ronaldo type money - for him. History shows that even when a player goes on strike (Modric) or sulks constantly (Berbatov) we simply do not sell unless the sum of money is way above a player's worth. And even then it won't be to a direct rival. Realistically, if after next season he is still on fire and Spurs are not at least in the Champions League then it's inevitable that he will go.

I'd better stop now or I will be talking about Tottenham all day long lol :)

[Gert-Jan]

I knew I forgot to reply to something ... just slap me for being late, lol.

Manuel Pellegrini has officially announced he will leave Malaga. Gee, I wonder what his next club will be.

Suarez came from Uruguay to FC Groningen, which is a small club most of the time finishing somewhere in the mid of the ranking. After one season Ajax saw potential in Suarez and offered Groningen €3.5 million for him, but Groningen rejected the deal. Suarez was upset and brought his case to an arbitration committee. Ajax increased their offer to €8 million, FC Groningen accepted. Liverpool bought him for €25 - €26.5 million... their most expensive signing 'till the ridiculous Carroll deal.

He's a typical South American player and he has often been criticized for his tendency to pick up yellow cards as well as diving in the box. Then, he puts on his most innocent look when asking for a penalty. The biting incident between him and Ivanovic wasn't anything new for us here. He had done it before in the big match between Ajax and PSV. Only difference, though, is that he left his bite marks in that player's neck, instead of the arm. Take a look at what we're discussing here... we're talking about a Football player who bites players of the other team... the FA made a right decision to ban him for 10 matches, IMO.

Little sidenote/positive comment; Suarez has been praised for his work rate and also creating scoring opportunities for his teammates. He will always continue trying to make a difference, like in the match against Chelsea. He runs, he bites, he scores. But honestly, I think he'll keep on making fuss next season. My advice to Liverpool is simple; sell him! But what club wants such a controversial player, who is at the same time one of the most scoring players in the Premier League...

You're right, Vertonghen publicly expressed his desire to make the move to White Hart Lane for months! I've read the whole inside story on this deal in "Football International", a Dutch Football magazine I'm subscribed to, but it's WAY to complicated to get in detail and exactly explain the situation. I'd be talking about that all day long, too, lol. It turned out to be a money thing. He and his smart agent had arranged that the Belgian defender would get a small percentage of whatever amount Ajax was going to collect from Tottenham. Ajax was never happy with that percentage (think it was 20%), so they had to keep on negotiating until everyone was somewhat satisfied. Turned out pretty well. Money, money, money...

So, instead of El Clasico, a German Champions League Final this Saturday... Bayern or Dortmund?

[WalterB]

GJ>> <<Walt