The Ali Dia Football/Soccer Thread

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 22 Apr 2014, 21:29

go_Rubens wrote:This was a great choice by Machester United. Look at what Moyes did while at Everton. Mediocrity. He can keep a team afloat, but he is certainly no Mourinho, who is good enough to win titles with.

Not really. When Moyes took over at Everton they were in serious danger of getting relegated; within 12 months he'd got them into the Champions League. Certainly, over the past 5 or 6 years, Everton have been nothing special, but very few teams went to Goodison Park expecting to get 3 points. He also worked very shrewdly on the transfer market; see Steven Pienaar, Phil Jagielka, Tim Howard, Leighton Baines etc as proof. For a team like United, who don't have the unlimited resources of their immediate rivals, it made sense to go for a manager who could spend wisely, unlike Mourinho, who spends money like it's going out of fashion, often on players who fail to deliver (see Messrs Mutu, Shevchenko, Ballack, Pizarro etc). The fact that Ferguson personally endorsed Moyes was another plus point going for him; indeed, I, along with many others, could see why Moyes was signed by United. It's just a shame that he was unable to make it work for him.

watka · Post by **watka** » 22 Apr 2014, 22:09

David Moyes seems to come from the same mold as Mark Hughes. Does well when the resources are limited but can't cope with things at the top level and attaches himself to players who aren't good enough (Moyes had Fellaini, Hughes had Santa Cruz).

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 23 Apr 2014, 00:27

watka wrote:David Moyes seems to come from the same mold as Mark Hughes. Does well when the resources are limited but can't cope with things at the top level and attaches himself to players who aren't good enough (Moyes had Fellaini, Hughes had Santa Cruz).

The footballing equivalent of Fisichellitis.

We just need a name for it now.

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 23 Apr 2014, 02:39

FullMetalJack wrote:
watka wrote:David Moyes seems to come from the same mold as Mark Hughes. Does well when the resources are limited but can't cope with things at the top level and attaches himself to players who aren't good enough (Moyes had Fellaini, Hughes had Santa Cruz).

The footballing equivalent of Fisichellitis.

We just need a name for it now.

Moyes Pox.

watka · Post by **watka** » 23 Apr 2014, 12:29

Surprise, surprise, Barcelona wriggle out of their transfer ban: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27126522

They play by different rules to everyone else. Had a Championship/League 1-2 team done this they'd either get no chance to appeal or the appeal would be dismissed in a very short time meaning the ban would still affect them (and rightly so).

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 23 Apr 2014, 14:54

takagi_for_the_win, on the 2nd of April wrote:
Aerospeed wrote:Barca just got shiprekd

I can already see what's going to happen. Barca will appeal this, and for various legal reasons, said appeal will be continuously delayed until after the summer transfer window, by which stage they will have signed replacements for Puyol and Valdes, along with a bunch of 19 Spaniards nobody's ever heard of. It'll be business as usual at the Nou Camp next season, mark my words

watka wrote:Surprise, surprise, Barcelona wriggle out of their transfer ban: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27126522

They play by different rules to everyone else. Had a Championship/League 1-2 team done this they'd either get no chance to appeal or the appeal would be dismissed in a very short time meaning the ban would still affect them (and rightly so).

Called it first

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 23 Apr 2014, 19:59

takagi_for_the_win wrote:I'm fairly certain anyone with a vague interest in football has already heard that about 18482859 times already today. I'm just waiting for Big Sam to be offered the job

I'd swap Moyes for that useless lump any day. In fact I'd swap most managers for him.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 24 Apr 2014, 11:58

watka wrote:Surprise, surprise, Barcelona wriggle out of their transfer ban: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27126522

They play by different rules to everyone else. Had a Championship/League 1-2 team done this they'd either get no chance to appeal or the appeal would be dismissed in a very short time meaning the ban would still affect them (and rightly so).

And the best way they found to celebrate that suspension of their transfer ban for illegally signing foreign under-18s is, erm, signing 3 foreign under-18s! Hooray!

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 25 Apr 2014, 16:40

Continuing the Barca talk, Barcelona have confirmed the death of former manager Tito Vilanova, aged 45. Unfortunately it was inevitable, but still extremely harrowing and sad. RIP.

Alextrax52 · Post by **Alextrax52** » 27 Apr 2014, 13:59

Oh Gerrard what the hell happened there?

Post by **Londoner** » 27 Apr 2014, 14:11

Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:Oh Gerrard what the hell happened there?

Wait a second, it was Gerrard who made the mistake? The same Steven Gerrard who said a few weeks ago "this does not f***ing slip", regarding the title?

I'm sorry, but the potential irony of Gerrard costing Liverpool the Premiership is hilarious.

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 27 Apr 2014, 15:37

Given the amount of things that each team has done to throw away any chance of the title, I'm almost expecting Man City to win it all on the last day of the season.

Also,

Alextrax52 · Post by **Alextrax52** » 27 Apr 2014, 20:22

East Londoner wrote:
Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:Oh Gerrard what the hell happened there?

Wait a second, it was Gerrard who made the mistake? The same Steven Gerrard who said a few weeks ago "this does not f***ing slip", regarding the title?

I'm sorry, but the potential irony of Gerrard costing Liverpool the Premiership is hilarious.

Well at least a second defensive howler spared him a little bit. But there's no escaping the fact that this will be one of Stevie G's least finest moments ever. Still the title race is very much on now with BR JM and MP leading the way

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 27 Apr 2014, 20:58

As all the fellow Belgians here are all Standard-fans, i will not add salt to their wounds. But it does look like really nobody even wants to win the JPL.
-Oostende has qualified for the 'play off 2 final', and will probably have to face either Charleroi or Kortrijk, the winner of that duel will have to face the 4th placed team from play-off 1 for the european spot.
-Second division is now officially won by Westerlo who will return to first division. Play-Off 3 winner, Leuven will be joined by Eupen, STVV and Mouscron, to decide about the second promotion/relegation spot.
-Champions of third division are Racing Mechelen and Woluwe-Zaventem. This is a different Woluwe than WS Woluwe i think (one is St-Stevens-Woluwe and the other St-Lambrechts-Woluwe, but both are in Brussels)
-More news about the professional licenses is to be expected this week. Hoogstraten has been succesful in their appeal, Antwerp, STVV and RWDM have to return to additionaly explain things and i haven't heared anything about Tubize. It is also unclear how many teams from division 3 will get a division 2 license, at the moment, only 5 teams have them. Next to Woluwe Zaventem and RC Mechelen, these teams are Deinze, Patro Eisden and Turnhout. The teams that were denied a license but appealed are Verviers, La Louvière, Union and Berchem.
-After Seraing bought the matricule of Boussu Dour, it appears that Boussu Dour will buy the matricule of Charleroi Fleurus, who are playing in third division, but are dead last.
-The club owned by the Kompany-family, BX Brussels, are second to last in their division (4B) and will probably get relegated, it looks like their ambitions were way too high. (they even presented official stadium plans)
-Adnan Januzaj has officially chosen for the Belgian national team. (a few other nationalities that he could choose from were England and Kosovo) He is very likely to be selected for the world cup, as after Bentekes injury, there is one additional spot available. Altough they are very different types of players.

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 27 Apr 2014, 21:40

As much as I dislike Manchester City and Chelsea for being big spending clubs, I really hope one of them prevent Liverpool from winning the league. For some reason I just can't stand them, not to mention that Everton would probably be my favourite Premier League team.

Sunderland will survive after winning today, they've picked the perfect time to hit form.

We however are bathplug, first time outside the top two divisions for us for 20 years beckons, although we should only need 1 point from our final 2 games for survival. Doncaster who are a point above us are away at Leicester on the final day, so they should lose, and we have the superior goal difference.

Problem is, our game against Wigan on Tuesday is a home game, and they're out to avenge a home defeat to Blackpool, so we'll lose that game. So that means it'll come down to getting a result away at Bolton on Saturday, which i'm not too confident about.

Aren't I optimistic?

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 27 Apr 2014, 23:55

Sunderland, in all their glory, have beaten Chelsea, Man City, Newcastle (twice) and Everton. Their strokes of good luck have to be the only reason they're not at the bottom of the league right now.

Also, remember what I said about Liverpool and Chelsea earlier...

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 28 Apr 2014, 13:28

Aerospeed wrote:Sunderland, in all their glory, have beaten Chelsea, Man City, Newcastle (twice) and Everton. Their strokes of good luck have to be the only reason they're not at the bottom of the league right now.

Also, remember what I said about Liverpool and Chelsea earlier...

It's not really luck at all. It's merely the conviction you get when the odds have become stacked against you, and there's nothing left to lose.

Now however they've managed to drag themselves from being anchored at the foot of the table to one spot above the relegation places, and with a game in hand over the teams behind as well.

Manchester United vs Sunderland
Sunderland vs West Brom
Sunderland vs Swansea

Newcastle vs Cardiff
Cardiff vs Chelsea

Stoke vs Fulham
Fulham vs Crystal Palace

Chelsea vs Norwich
Norwich vs Arsenal

Norwich are level on points with Sunderland in 17th, but they've not been playing well enough recently to get anything from either of their remaining games. They will finish the season on 32 points, which will certainly lead to relegation.
Fulham on the other hand have it easy comapred to the rest - everyone else has to play a top team bar them, although both Stoke and Palace are solid midfield teams. Some points are on the cards there if they perform, but I can't even begin to guess how many.
Cardiff are down the swanny as well. They can't pick up a win from anywhere, never mind Chelsea and Newcastle. They're in the same boat as Norwich, and that boat is heading straight for the Championship...
Sunderland, for all their good form, probably still won't beat Man United. Not now Moyes has been shipped out. But on their current form the last two games could give them six points and give them comfortable safety in the end.

The most important thing from the Sunderland perspective now is, their fate is in their own hands. I'd perhaps say as little as one win from the last three games would be enough to keep them up - probably against West Brom.

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 01 May 2014, 07:14

Hi.

I dont normally post on here what with football being a bit shite and all but I thought Id post this topical link. Its a nice touch and, perhaps, shows that not all football players are over-paid, self centred, ignorant, arrogant, borderline rapists.

Enjoy!

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/05 ... _hp_ref=uk

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 02 May 2014, 10:39

Boy, that Juventus team does like to play dirty. Yesterday was one ugly semi-final, no doubt about it. Best of all was Conte blaming the referee for the elimination when said referee put, quite harshly, Benfica playing with 10 players for 25 minutes. This must be because they are certainly used to always having their way in the Serie A.

RonDenisDeletraz · Post by **RonDenisDeletraz** » 02 May 2014, 11:14

DanielPT wrote:Boy, that Juventus team does like to play dirty. Yesterday was one ugly semi-final, no doubt about it. Best of all was Conte blaming the referee for the elimination when said referee put, quite harshly, Benfica playing with 10 players for 25 minutes. This must be because they are certainly used to always having their way in the Serie A.

inb4 Biscotti makes you his new hero

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 02 May 2014, 11:27

RonDenisDeletraz wrote:inb4 Biscotti makes you his new hero

No wonder that he comes back at you here and there when you keep posting comments like that... Needless stuff, really.

RonDenisDeletraz · Post by **RonDenisDeletraz** » 02 May 2014, 11:51

It was intended to be light hearted in nature and not an insult, there was no malicious intent.

Klon · Post by **Klon** » 02 May 2014, 16:19

DanielPT wrote:
RonDenisDeletraz wrote:inb4 Biscotti makes you his new hero

No wonder that he comes back at you here and there when you keep posting comments like that... Needless stuff, really.

There was nothing. He merely pointed biscione's well-known dislike of Juventus in humourous manner. You, who always are quick to point out my well-known Barrichello obsession, should know that. Come on, son, you can do better.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 02 May 2014, 17:11

Klon wrote:
DanielPT wrote:
RonDenisDeletraz wrote:inb4 Biscotti makes you his new hero

No wonder that he comes back at you here and there when you keep posting comments like that... Needless stuff, really.

There was nothing. He merely pointed biscione's well-known dislike of Juventus in humourous manner. You, who always are quick to point out my well-known Barrichello obsession, should know that. Come on, son, you can do better.

I thought there was some kind of provocation behind his comment, but if the kid says it was light-hearted and without any malicious intent who am I to disagree?

Ah, but it's been a while now since I used to mock your well-known Barrichello obsession. Maybe I have been going through some sort of a decline in my posting form, I guess! :lol:

Alextrax52 · Post by **Alextrax52** » 03 May 2014, 13:25

Well Fullmetaljack Birmingham just stayed up. Be happy. Time to see if my wirral side Tranmere can stay up in league 1

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 03 May 2014, 13:54

Supporting Birmingham really isn't good for my heart at times, i'll have a heart attack following them one of these days.

I thought we were doomed when it was 2-0. Hopefully we can now get some sort of takeover, end our financial woes and try to get back on the right track.

go_Rubens · Post by **go_Rubens** » 04 May 2014, 00:09

Sunderland have beat Man United. Sunderland I think have pulled themselves out of the hole they nearly buried themselves in.

Meanwhile, Cardiff City and Fulham are mathematically relegated. I don't think Norwich City will be able to pull the selves out.

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 04 May 2014, 00:20

go_Rubens wrote:Sunderland have beat Man United. Sunderland I think have pulled themselves out of the hole they nearly buried themselves in.

Meanwhile, Cardiff City and Fulham are mathematically relegated. I don't think Norwich City will be able to pull the selves out.

Shame about Cardiff, I liked that team, they were quite decent for a while.

Also, remember what I said about Sunderland earlier - they beat Chelsea, Man City and now Man United. And given all the crap that they've been through this season, it's sadly not surprising yet very stunning to see.

And with Man City beating Everton, the title chances now fall in their favour...

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 04 May 2014, 02:13

So, Woodford United's second season of abject horror in a row is over.

They never managed more than just that one win all season that drew so much attention in the non-league papers... they lost their other 41 games, and finished with a goal difference of -200.
Have you ever seen anything like it?

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 04 May 2014, 11:14

dinizintheoven wrote:So, Woodford United's second season of abject horror in a row is over.

They never managed more than just that one win all season that drew so much attention in the non-league papers... they lost their other 41 games, and finished with a goal difference of -200.
Have you ever seen anything like it?

bathplug. They make Hyde look like Manchester City in comparison.

Alextrax52 · Post by **Alextrax52** » 04 May 2014, 19:22

FullMetalJack wrote:
dinizintheoven wrote:So, Woodford United's second season of abject horror in a row is over.

They never managed more than just that one win all season that drew so much attention in the non-league papers... they lost their other 41 games, and finished with a goal difference of -200.
Have you ever seen anything like it?

bathplug. They make Hyde look like Manchester City in comparison.

Droylsden scored even fewer points than Hyde believe it or not. They had 2 wins and 3 draws totaling 9 points while Hyde scored 10 with 1 win and 7 draws

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 04 May 2014, 20:59

dinizintheoven wrote:So, Woodford United's second season of abject horror in a row is over.

They never managed more than just that one win all season that drew so much attention in the non-league papers... they lost their other 41 games, and finished with a goal difference of -200.
Have you ever seen anything like it?

Only one win during the last two seasons in league play? God almighty...

go_Rubens · Post by **go_Rubens** » 04 May 2014, 21:08

Chelsea continues to be mediocre against the teams close to or in the relegation zone.

I don't understand how Chelsea didn't get 3 points out of Norwich City today. That should have been job accomplished, but instead Chelsea scored nil against Norwich City's nil.

Alextrax52 · Post by **Alextrax52** » 04 May 2014, 21:16

go_Rubens wrote:Chelsea continues to be mediocre against the teams close to or in the relegation zone.

I don't understand how Chelsea didn't get 3 points out of Norwich City today. That should have been job accomplished, but instead Chelsea scored nil against Norwich City's nil.

Still from an LFC point of view we might not need to worry anymore about them

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 04 May 2014, 21:24

Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:
go_Rubens wrote:Chelsea continues to be mediocre against the teams close to or in the relegation zone.

I don't understand how Chelsea didn't get 3 points out of Norwich City today. That should have been job accomplished, but instead Chelsea scored nil against Norwich City's nil.

Still from an LFC point of view we might not need to worry anymore about them

Yeah, but all City have to do is beat Villa and West Ham, something I can easily see happening.

go_Rubens · Post by **go_Rubens** » 04 May 2014, 21:29

FullMetalJack wrote:
Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:
go_Rubens wrote:Chelsea continues to be mediocre against the teams close to or in the relegation zone.

I don't understand how Chelsea didn't get 3 points out of Norwich City today. That should have been job accomplished, but instead Chelsea scored nil against Norwich City's nil.

Still from an LFC point of view we might not need to worry anymore about them

Yeah, but all City have to do is beat Villa and West Ham, something I can easily see happening.

As far as I'm concerned Chelsea will have to get lucky. Someone needs to lose for them to realistically win the title.

City have an easy job against Villa and West Ham. Both if those teams are lower in the standings and not as good. Heck, I don't think Aston Villa are safe from relegation yet.

Liverpool will have to win against Crystal Palace and Newcastle. I don't think that will be easy, Newcastle in particular.

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 04 May 2014, 21:41

go_Rubens wrote:
FullMetalJack wrote:
Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:
Still from an LFC point of view we might not need to worry anymore about them

Yeah, but all City have to do is beat Villa and West Ham, something I can easily see happening.

As far as I'm concerned Chelsea will have to get lucky. Someone needs to lose for them to realistically win the title.

City have an easy job against Villa and West Ham. Both if those teams are lower in the standings and not as good. Heck, I don't think Aston Villa are safe from relegation yet.

Liverpool will have to win against Crystal Palace and Newcastle. I don't think that will be easy, Newcastle in particular.

No, Villa are safe, unfortunately. Newcastle will probably be the easier victory for Liverpool, they're in poor form, bar their win against Cardiff yesterday.

I can see both City and Liverpool winning both games, with City winning the title on goal difference.

watka · Post by **watka** » 04 May 2014, 22:09

Man City almost lost to QPR on the last day of the 2011-12 season...

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 04 May 2014, 23:48

watka wrote:Man City almost lost to QPR on the last day of the 2011-12 season...

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=a9U_C_q6WcU

:/

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 04 May 2014, 23:53

go_Rubens wrote:Chelsea continues to be mediocre against the teams close to or in the relegation zone.

I don't understand how Chelsea didn't get 3 points out of Norwich City today. That should have been job accomplished, but instead Chelsea scored nil against Norwich City's nil.

I can't get over the fact that Mr Mourinho had a go at Norwich for sitting back and letting Chelsea attack them :lol:

Pot, kettle and black certainly spring to mind...