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Football - clouds on the optimism horizon


Rorshach

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Nah, Allardyce gave advice on how to use loopholes to circumvent explicit rules set by FIFA and the FA (his employer). 

So any situation involving Allardyce keeping his job would have reflected badly on the FA. The FA kinda had to bring the hammer down here. 

23 hours ago, Horse of Kent said:

A game away at second place didn't seem like a fair place to judge St. Pauli's attack. I thought Rzatkowski could have done better than a move to Austria, especially to Red Bull's second team. 

Yes, and no. Red Bull offered him the chance to play European Football and a significant pay rise.  Ratsche is 26, so for him it made perfect sense. If he does well and establishes himself as a first team player there, he can realistically hope for a move to the Bundesliga, if not he signed the one big(ish) contract of his career. It's not like he has earnt milions over the course of his career. So I was/am really not mad at him for joining the Red Bull franchise. Of course I wished he found a less of a "modern football club". 

Rzatkowski's move alone would not have been such a big problem (painful but manageable). The problem was Alushi also not wanting to resign (no matter how much he might have enjoyed playing for the club). He also had pretty good reasons not to. His wife Lira (nee Bajramaj for those who are into womens' football) gave birth to their first child. And she obviously wants to start playing again, and that LDR with Hamburg - Paris was under those circumstances of course not really desirable. So they hoped, they would both find clubs in western Germany, which is closer to their families. That did not really work out the way they hoped, as Enis has signed with Nurnberg, which is somewhat really not western Germany by any stretch of the imagination. He is not a fast paced player, but somebody with a solid ball distribution. I just hope that Neudecker lives up to the talent label and grows into that role rather sooner than later. Because he was like the only real new acquisition for that position.

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Europe's kind of passing me by again this year. I'd sort of like to see how Leicester do but with it being exclusively on BT Sport, which I don't have, I just can't really muster the enthusiasm to seek it out ways of watching the games.

The Allardyce thing is fairly ridiculous. He's a bit of a knob and it's entirely his own fault but I still feel a bit sorry for him. This is the job he's obviously wanted for years, he finally gets it and he lasts one game before shooting himself in the foot. If I actually cared much about international football I'd probably be pretty pissed off. Since I don't I'm mainly interested in whether he really did order a pint of wine at this meeting.

 

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14 hours ago, Consigliere said:

Dortmund vs. Real Madrid has the potential to be a real humdinger. I fancy Dortmund to win this one. Real have looked flat in their last two league games while Dortmund have been red hot. Not to mention that Real have an abysmal record in Germany. I'll be switching over now and again to the Leicester/Porto game as well.

I expected a draw beforehand and that was what it became. However it should be said Madrid played their best line-up, contrary to the last two league games. It was a good game and Madrid looked strong as well. Kroos is a giant in midfield, and James and Modric there as well, that is bags of talent. BBC upfront even, for the first time this year. Dortmund deserved a point. Interesting to see a lot of very young guys in the Dortmund team actually starting, like Weigl, Dembele, Gurreiro.

Americans who are following this will be happy to see that Pulisic is a talent the like of which they have never seen. 17 years old and he just looks phenomenal for his age.

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3 hours ago, Calibandar said:

I expected a draw beforehand and that was what it became. However it should be said Madrid played their best line-up, contrary to the last two league games. It was a good game and Madrid looked strong as well. Kroos is a giant in midfield, and James and Modric there as well, that is bags of talent. BBC upfront even, for the first time this year. Dortmund deserved a point. Interesting to see a lot of very young guys in the Dortmund team actually starting, like Weigl, Dembele, Gurreiro.

Americans who are following this will be happy to see that Pulisic is a talent the like of which they have never seen. 17 years old and he just looks phenomenal for his age.

Yeah, a draw was a fair result. Real managed the game pretty well but will be disappointed with their recent inability to hold onto a lead. It was a great game to watch for the neutral. Dortmund are fantastic going forward but their aggressive press combined with a high defensive line leaves them very susceptible to the counter-attack. Indeed there are a number of talented youngsters in that Dortmund lineup. If the club can hang onto these players, Dortmund could be serious contenders for the CL in a couple of years. Atm they can be a bit naive (as they were against Real) due to inexperience at this level.

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5 hours ago, Calibandar said:

I expected a draw beforehand and that was what it became. However it should be said Madrid played their best line-up, contrary to the last two league games. It was a good game and Madrid looked strong as well. Kroos is a giant in midfield, and James and Modric there as well, that is bags of talent. BBC upfront even, for the first time this year. Dortmund deserved a point. Interesting to see a lot of very young guys in the Dortmund team actually starting, like Weigl, Dembele, Gurreiro.

Americans who are following this will be happy to see that Pulisic is a talent the like of which they have never seen. 17 years old and he just looks phenomenal for his age.

I thought Dortmund played great, especially with their youth. So many opportunities squandered but they were there.

Agreed about Pulisic. Most exciting player for the USA I've ever seen. Looks incredible.

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7 minutes ago, Mexal said:

I thought Dortmund played great, especially with their youth. So many opportunities squandered but they were there.

Agreed about Pulisic. Most exciting player for the USA I've ever seen. Looks incredible.

I hope Pulisic stays put in Germany. They do a great job of giving Americans an opportunity to earn some respect.  

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1 minute ago, Arch-MaesterPhilip said:

I hope Pulisic stays put in Germany. They do a great job of giving Americans an opportunity to earn some respect.  

Especially at Dortmund where Tuchel is playing a lot of young guys and they're repaying him by playing well.

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3 minutes ago, Mexal said:

Especially at Dortmund where Tuchel is playing a lot of young guys and they're repaying him by playing well.

That's the perfect place for guys like that. I never thought I'd see an 18 year old American getting minutes in a Champions League match against Real Madrid.   

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1 minute ago, Arch-MaesterPhilip said:

That's the perfect place for guys like that. I never thought I'd see an 18 year old American getting minutes in a Champions League match against Real Madrid.   

And play so well! He was a big spark for Dortmund.

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