Football, Fútbol, Futebol, Soccer

[blazindw]

Edit: Oh yeah, and give the armband to either Toure, Fabregas or possibly even Clichy, but Gallas does not need to be our captain.

Assuming my team, Real Madrid, doesn't swoop in and steal Cesc like they've been promising for two summers now, give him the armband. I think he's ready to assume the full leadership of the team.

[BlueDevilJay]

Assuming my team, Real Madrid, doesn't swoop in and steal Cesc like they've been promising for two summers now, give him the armband. I think he's ready to assume the full leadership of the team.

I can't see him ever going to Real honestly, given his Catalan heritage and all. From what I can tell that would be almost sacreligious if he were to sign with Real, at least in Spain. I truly believe him when he said most recently that he is still very happy at the Emirates, and even went as far as saying he sees Wenger as a father figure to him. Hopefully he is a bit more loyal than Vieira and Henry decided to be. (Although now I am glad both left when they did)

[blazindw]

I can't see him ever going to Real honestly, given his Catalan heritage and all. From what I can tell that would be almost sacreligious if he were to sign with Real, at least in Spain. I truly believe him when he said most recently that he is still very happy at the Emirates, and even went as far as saying he sees Wenger as a father figure to him. Hopefully he is a bit more loyal than Vieira and Henry decided to be. (Although now I am glad both left when they did)

I don't see him going to the Bernabeu either. I see him staying at Arsenal for a long while. However, you never know what kind of offer can come about, and Madrid's known for their mega-offers that leave heads scratching in disbelief.

[BlueDevilJay]

I don't see him going to the Bernabeu either. I see him staying at Arsenal for a long while. However, you never know what kind of offer can come about, and Madrid's known for their mega-offers that leave heads scratching in disbelief.

Yeah, them along with most Spanish Primera teams are known for tapping up players under contract with English clubs and trying to cause unrest in those teams. The whole "Silly Season" is kinda weird to me. I mean I love seeing diff players linked with diff clubs, but at the same time I get so sick of every single summer hearing "Arsenal Player X moving to (Insert Spanish Team here)?" when said Player X has come out in the press 100 times and stated Im not going anywhere, I love life in London and love Arsenal. It really gets frustrating at times. I DO see Fabregas leaving London later on in his career to return to Spain but I figure he will join Barca, and I think he will do so before this 8 year contract is done.

Oh, and congrats on the Spanish League title as well, forgot to tell you that earlier. It's always a good season when your team brings home silverware.

[Lavabe]

Yeah, them along with most Spanish Primera teams are known for tapping up players under contract with English clubs and trying to cause unrest in those teams. The whole "Silly Season" is kinda weird to me. I mean I love seeing diff players linked with diff clubs, but at the same time I get so sick of every single summer hearing "Arsenal Player X moving to (Insert Spanish Team here)?" when said Player X has come out in the press 100 times and stated Im not going anywhere, I love life in London and love Arsenal. It really gets frustrating at times. I DO see Fabregas leaving London later on in his career to return to Spain but I figure he will join Barca, and I think he will do so before this 8 year contract is done.

The Liverpool fan in me says "been there, done that" with the likes of McManaman and Owen.

I still loathe it.

FWIW, I suspect Xabi will be back in Spain pretty soon. This sounds all too familiar.
Cheers,
Lavabe

[BlueDevilJay]

The Liverpool fan in me says "been there, done that" with the likes of McManaman and Owen.

I still loathe it.

FWIW, I suspect Xabi will be back in Spain pretty soon. This sounds all too familiar.
Cheers,
Lavabe

Exactly. Its almost like they pick on the EPL because they know the managers won't take them to FIFA for investigation. Of course the Italians do it about as much as well.

[blazindw]

Just barely held off Fulham to get the Fair Play Index spot in the UEFA Cup Qualifiers.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/st...535761&cc=5901

[BlueDevilJay]

Just barely held off Fulham to get the Fair Play Index spot in the UEFA Cup Qualifiers.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/st...535761&cc=5901

Dang, and I was hoping Fulham would have gotten the spot. What a reward that could have been for making the push to stay in the top flight, and THEN being handed a UEFA Cup spot to boot.

[blazindw]

Dang, and I was hoping Fulham would have gotten the spot. What a reward that could have been for making the push to stay in the top flight, and THEN being handed a UEFA Cup spot to boot.

I agree, that would have been spectacular. EPL hasn't updated the fair play index on their website, but I bet the final tally was really close.

[Ben63]

Tomorrow is the big game. Chelsea was on a hot streak, but I think they have cooled off a bit in the last 2 weeks. Losing the title must have been demoralizing, and not taking 3 from Bolton. That being said Manchester United has played really well of late and have been head and shoulders above the rest all season, Chelsea being that close at the end of the year was rather remarkable.

I hate to say it, but ManU will win this thing. I'm not saying I dont have confidence in Chelsea and I certainly will still root for them, but I cant see them winning this game.

Manchester Utd. 2-0 Chelsea

Goals: Ronaldo, Tevez

Damn I hope I'm wrong but I dont see it any other way.

[blazindw]

My prediction:

Chelsea 3, Man U 1

Chelsea Goals: Drogba, Ballack, Lampard (PK)
Man U Goal: Scholes

Both teams have been on a roll, but I think that Cech has the game of his life and I see some inspired performances from Terry and Makalele. Chelsea brings home its first CL title.

[Lavabe]

Q: Which do I want ... migraine or ManU?

A: Anyone but ManU.

Who will win?

ManU 2-0

Goals: Scholes, Own Goal (Terry)

Ugh ... can't stand it.

Meanwhile, Liverpool is expected to sign Swiss right-back Philipp Degen.
Cheers,
Lavabe

[Lavabe]

Odd that no one mentioned anything about Portsmouth over Cardiff, in one of the strangest FA Cup final pairings of the last ten years.

Cardiff 0 - Portsmouth 1 (Kanu 37)

I know that weird things happen with the FA Cup, but to have these two teams face off was a breath of fresh air. Did anyone see the game? How was it?

I'm still a bit annoyed at the salaries being doled out these days (especially ManU, Liverpool, Chelsea). That Cardiff and Portsmouth made it this far is a hopeful sign that the little guys can beat the big ones.

As for the CL tomorrow, I'll pull for Chelsea.

What happened with relegation (aside from Derby)?
Thanks,
Lavabe

[Deslok]

The FA cup was ok, it was not that exciting honestly for a good chunk of the time. The last 10 minutes go exciting as Cardiff scrambled to get an equalizer, coming close on a couple occasions.

I always like to see new teams in the hunt, so it was a refreshing championship(though would have been even better had a nonpremiereship side won in Cardiff).

As far as relegation went it was a pretty thrilling final day of action. Reading moved ahead of Derby early and by half an hour or so were pretty much assured of winning. Birmingham scored on the half hour and led at halftime vs Blackburn. Fulham was nil nil and really hadn't generated much offense in their first half and as things stood, they were the ones headed for relegation. Blackburn got an early 2nd half goal, which put Reading as the team that would avoid the drop. But around the 70 minute mark, Birmingham moved back ahead, to put Reading and Fulham below the line. And Fulham really still had generated no offense to speak of. But then off a free kick, Murphy headed home to give Fulham the lead and the spot to stay up. Reading and Birmingham continued to thrash their opponents, adding goals towards the end, hoping that Fulham would concede an equalizer. But they held on to stay up(getting 3 away wins in a row to do it), tied on points with Reading but with superior goal differential. So the bottom fo the table had 5 teams between 35 and 39(with Derby way below) in a very tight finish at the end.

For the CL final, I think it will be ManU. In March/April Chelsea had the best form in Europe, closing the gap in the EPL and taking care of business in Europe(and trying to forget the name Barnsley ever existed). But they've lost their stride the last couple of weeks. And while they should be healthy enough to play, Terry, Drogba, Cole, and Carvalho are all under 100%. It will be a tight game as both sides can shut opponents down very well. I expect a 1-0 final unless a team adds a late goal in the closing minutes, and I'll go with Tevez to get the goal.

[BlueDevilJay]

Im thinking 1-1 and going to penalties tonight. I finally came to the conclusion that I am rooting for Chelsea to win for a host of reasons.

1) If they win, I won't have to hear crap from their fans as I only really know 2 or 3 Chelsea fans in real life.

2) Man U fans with a double winning team will be intolerable. They are bad enough already just from squeaking out the PL race.

3) I just really flat out despise Man U and can never bring myself to pull for them.

4) I know Chelsea fans will rub it in Arsenal fans faces that the Gunners have never won a CL title, but like I said there aren't many around here to do that to me, so it wouldn't affect me as bad as it would if ManU won it again.

5) I can't stand Alex Ferguson (no sir, thanks) and enjoy watching him when Man U is losing a big match.

Anyhoo, I can't wait for the match and am going to try and slip out of here today around 2:15 to go home and watch. Good luck to you Chelsea and ManU fans today. There is NOTHING quite like waking up on the morning of the CL final, and knowing you'll get to watch your team go for it. (Just hopefully for you, that dream isn't shattered by your keeper being sent off 18 min into the match ) Savor it guys.

[greybeard]

Just read that the conditions are expected to be awful and the field worse. Rainy, chilly, thunderstorms (good English weather) and one can see the outlines of each individual piece of the recently sodded pitch. Could seriously detract from the Championship. I hope not.

[Deslok]

Just read that the conditions are expected to be awful and the field worse. Rainy, chilly, thunderstorms (good English weather) and one can see the outlines of each individual piece of the recently sodded pitch. Could seriously detract from the Championship. I hope not.

SPOILERS AHEAD IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED
















Wow. Just wow. Unfortunately the pitch did come into play, as there were at least half a dozen times I recall players slipping down or seemingly being tripped by the field. Not the least of which would be on Terry's PK that could have ended it.

Odd game though. Man U really should have put the game away early. Ronaldo's header was perfect slotted inside the post. But Carrick should have buried the sitter he had, instead he hit it right over Cech's shoulder for a relatively easy parry away. The first half hour or so seemed to be all United. Then Essien and Ballack really started to assert themselves in midfield and ManU just disappeared. They still had some good counterattacks(and Giggs should have buried the one that Evra slotted over to him, instead of hammering it his right, he tried to flick with his left and Terry was able to head away). But for the last hour of regulation, Chelsea really set the pace of things, using their physical presence to seemingly intimidate ManU. Their goal was rather fluky, deflection that hits the back of Ferdinand(I think, or was it Vidic?) and ends up plopping down for an easy put away by Lampard. But since he later caught the crossbar on a nice turn and shoot, and Drogba had caught post on a great little curler from outside the area, you can't say Chelsea didn't deserve a goal. As an aside, the Chelsea players did drive me nuts with the really physical play and then accompanying it with the whinyness(that would be you Ballack, Drogba, and J. Cole in particular). One of the reasons I really respect Essien(since he stopped cheap shotting, a problem in his early career), is that he'll play physical, but when he gets called on it, he nods, shrugs, and gets back on D. Was so happy to see Drogba get sent off, get the feeling that assured any doubts about him coming back to Chelsea. And then Ronaldo almost costing ManU the crown with a poor PK(was really kind of a perfect ending for me, I wanted ManU to win, but was happy to see Ronaldo look foolish).

Sigh... great way to end the season though. How long til the US starts playing European friendlies? And then Euro 2008 starting up? I don't really feel up to trying to follow the Toulouse U-20 tourney, despite some interesting talent there.

[Lavabe]

In all fairness, I typed a message, and it started out VERBATIM like Des.

Terry: doesn't deserve what happened.
Drogba: DID deserve what happened to him. That was utterly insane. Stupid move in the middle of a row.
Ronaldo: Agreed, couldn't have happened to a more deserving whiner.
Lampard: SOOOOOOO close to making it 2-1 Chelsea.
Rooney: Not a difference-maker today.
Anelka: What a pathetic shot (and the only good guess by van der Sar).
Greybeard: ultimately correct about the pitch.
BDJay: Correct about the score and PK's.

LOTS of cramping up on both sides.

I felt bad karma for Terry going into this (lingering Liverpool karma). I am sorry he wound up with the slip.
Lavabe

[Ben63]

Damn. Not too many people I'd rather have on the spot than John Terry to win the CL. The ping of the post was the ping that will send Avram Grant and Didier Drogba packing. I like both of them and I wish Drogba would stay, but if he's not happy theres no point. Ive voiced my opinions on Grant before, he should stay.

Not much for me to say, you all know how dissapionting this is to me. No silverware for Chelsea this year so mind as well look forward to Euro 08.

[Deslok]

Damn. Not too many people I'd rather have on the spot than John Terry to win the CL. The ping of the post was the ping that will send Avram Grant and Didier Drogba packing. I like both of them and I wish Drogba would stay, but if he's not happy theres no point. Ive voiced my opinions on Grant before, he should stay.

Not much for me to say, you all know how dissapionting this is to me. No silverware for Chelsea this year so mind as well look forward to Euro 08.

Well, I think Drogba slapped his way away from Stamford Bridge before the PKs(and oh btw, hmmm wouldn't Drogba have normally been the 5th taker... oops). And the fact that he didn't just miss it, he slipped in sloppy conditions on a bad field. Anelka on the other hand...(though it really wasn't a bad PK, van der Saar just guessed right and made the play). Plus Terry had saved the day earlier. I wonder if Grant could be considered to have sealed the deal not having brought Scheva on, in Russia, and the attacking player he did bring on missed the crucial PK.