Footy Time!

[Calibandar]

Re; Mourinho

Being a classy kind of guy, he decided to give an interview to the Observer ( UK newspaper) yesterday.

[url="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/may/25/chelsea.premierleague"]http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/ma...a.premierleague[/url]

[quote]Asked if Chelsea's campaign had been the good one Grant depicted it as, Mourinho said: 'That depends on your philosophy of leadership. In my philosophy it was a very bad one because in football "almost" means defeat and Chelsea almost won the Carling Cup, almost won the Champions League, and almost won the Premier League. Almost is nothing.

'After two titles per season for the last three years there were zero titles this season, which in my philosophy means a really bad season. Maybe in the philosophy of a loser this was a great season, which I respect.'[/quote]

Nice one Jose.

I also see we don't have to feel sorry for Grant. He was sacked yes, but gets 5.200.000 pounds pay-off from Chelsea. Not bad for a quarter year's work. Enough to retire in any case.

I hope either Rijkaard or Hiddink get the Chelsea job, as they generally have their teams play attractive football.

Teresa

Ever seen an Audi R8? Nothing to scoff at from anyone's POV, I can assure you, a brand new sportscar that I'd prefer over any Porsche or Ferrari at the moment.

I think Ronaldo saying that he will have news in two or three weeks only makes sense if he is leaving, otherwise he could simply say he is staying with Man U, no? He still has a contract there after all.

[Slick Mongoose]

[quote]ahem, do you think that midfield could work? because messi+cronaldo+ribery and derossi also, do you really think it´s workable?[/quote]

No, you can't play three wingers, that's silly. Stick Carrick in there for Ribery.

[mormont]

[quote]In my philosophy it was a very bad one because in football "almost" means defeat and Chelsea almost won the Carling Cup, almost won the Champions League, and almost won the Premier League. Almost is nothing.[/quote]

Thank you, Jose Mourinho: a man who [i]almost[/i] took Chelsea to a Champion's League final. ;)

edit for pedants :P

[Xray the Enforcer]

[quote name='mormont' post='1371147' date='May 26 2008, 14.09']Thank you, Jose Mourinho: a man who [i]almost[/i] got to a Champion's League final. ;)[/quote]

:lol:

[Hereward]

[quote name='SirRots' post='1371081' date='May 26 2008, 17.56']Of all the managers that are being talked about I would probably say Sven, he has a proven domestic record [b]likes to attack[/b] and did a good job with Man City.[/quote]

We're talking about the same Sven, right? Gnomish looking guy with a penchant for dodgy women?

[Black Wizard]

[quote name='mormont' post='1371147' date='May 26 2008, 19.09']Thank you, Jose Mourinho: a man who [i]almost[/i] got to a Champion's League final. ;)[/quote]
He won it with Porto.

[BLU-RAY]

[quote name='mormont' post='1371147' date='May 26 2008, 10.09']Thank you, Jose Mourinho: a man who [i]almost[/i] got to a Champion's League final. ;)[/quote]

Yeah, that interview was hilarious and ridiculous on a couple of levels.

[cteresa]

SM, yeah,looking weird and nobody in that midfield to do the work.

Mormont, Mourinho GOT to a CL final on first try. With a budget much smaller than Grant´s.

[quote name='Calibandar' post='1371120' date='May 26 2008, 18.44']Ever seen an Audi R8? Nothing to scoff at from anyone's POV, I can assure you, a brand new sportscar that I'd prefer over any Porsche or Ferrari at the moment.[/quote]
I am sure it is a very nice car, but I am sure he can afford it if he has his heart set up on one. Plus the whole idea of a car on a parking lot in Madrid with a papers just saying deliver to Cristiano Ronaldo (no adress given) who does not live in Madrid and who is at the moment in Viseu on training camp and then will move to Switzerland and who even if he DOES move to Madrid won´t show up anyplace close to Madrid for the car to be delivered anytime in the nearest month is looking a bit unbelievable as a journalistic scoop. Somebody wrote 3 words on a piece of paper in a car. Don´t you think it looks far far more likely to either be a prank or a great act of viral marketing? Surely if he moves and wants an Audi there will be time to arrange the delivery (with stuff like adresses, and phone numbers!) a lot closer to the date.

[quote name='Calibandar' post='1371120' date='May 26 2008, 18.44']I think Ronaldo saying that he will have news in two or three weeks only makes sense if he is leaving, otherwise he could simply say he is staying with Man U, no? He still has a contract there after all.[/quote]

contracts are always getting renewed all the time specially after great seasons. He signed a contract last year despite still having one which was just one or two seasons old. If Jorge Mendes wants him to be the best paid player in the world, now is a good time to work on it, and that will be news worth announcing in 2 or 3 weeks. Maybe he will go to Spain, I just think it far less certain. BTW I think there is a huge factor in the story which is who will be Manchester United´s ( and Portugal´s) next manager(s). If/when Ferguson and Queiróz go, the situation will be interesting...

[Padraig]

Besides vaguely recalling De Rossi in the Italian WC winning team, I don't know much about him. But isn't he supposed to do the hard work in the centre of midfield? He is a regular for Italy now anyhow.

These teams often seem to be more "Dream Teams" than anything else. 5 attacking players isn't realistic (excluding De Rossi) but would be a nice team for an exhibition game!

[Daeric]

[quote]We're talking about the same Sven, right? Gnomish looking guy with a penchant for dodgy women?[/quote]

How do you think he got all those dodgy women :P

[Hereward]

I'm pretty sure it wasn't his attacking football.

[Zoë Sumra]

[quote name='cteresa' post='1371101' date='May 26 2008, 18.27']eurosport picks an XI of this completed season. They misspell Bosingwa (seen it done a lot) and that Cuellar ( who I have not noticed playing sorry) is included. They say they pick a 4-1-3-2 formation, which is way over my head but interesting because there is talk Scolari is testing that. But tell me something

Julio Cesar (Inter).

Patrice Evra (Manchester United), Carlos Cuellar (Rangers), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United) e José Boswinga (Porto).

De Rossi (Roma), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) e Franck Ribery (Bayern).

Fernando Torres (Liverpool) e Luca Toni (Bayern).

Coach : Alex Ferguson (Manchester United).

Bench: David James (Portsmouth), John Terry (Chelsea), Marcos Senna (Villarreal), Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus) e Karim Benzema (Lyon).

ahem, do you think that midfield could work? because messi+cronaldo+ribery and derossi also, do you really think it´s workable?[/quote]
That is a side I'd like to see line up. :drool: I wonder about Ronaldo and Messi in the same team, though.

[cteresa]

Ronaldo and Messi dunno how it would work. Well Ronaldo actually passes the ball ( if he feels like it and if he likes the person he is passing to. That is an improvement on ricardo quaresma probably), but if Torres and Toni think they were getting to get much crosses to the area from those two they better bring a bench to sit waiting. The list now I think of it seems designed to please several leagues and markets, token portuguese based player, a couple german ones, balancing things out. But thanks for the feedback, I am never sure how seriously to take these kinds of lists.

Regarding Grant, I was long winded on why I was not feeling sorry for him the slightest. But about Mancini, ouch, I am feeling most awfully sorry. If he really only heard it today ( when A Bola was announcing it as a done deal yesterday), ouch, winning two leagues in a row, building a good team oh, if details are true, I do feel for him. I think both Grant and Mancini´s sacking, different as they are related to one thing only ( nevermind romantic points about playing well), Berlusconi has made all gazillionaires think they got a right to expect to win the big eared cup.

[Hereward]

I wonder how Loras' blood pressure is at the moment.

[url="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/7416981.stm"]http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/t...utd/7416981.stm[/url]

Extra points for the Franco reference, Fergie. :wideeyed:

[The Inquisitor]

[quote name='Hereward' post='1372623' date='May 27 2008, 21.45']I wonder how Loras' blood pressure is at the moment.

[url="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/7416981.stm"]http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/t...utd/7416981.stm[/url]

Extra points for the Franco reference, Fergie. :wideeyed:[/quote]


Its alright by now.

But when I heard that interview 2 days ago I think I burst a vessel or the vena cava.

I was about to write something slamming Ferguson for the piece of crap he is.

Come on, really.... the Franco reference? How miserable and low can you get?

:rolleyes:

Anyway, the club at least refrained to comment, which did not kindle the fire further.

[Jon AS]

Germany 2 Aliaksandr Hleb and 10 other guys 2

What a boring game. Not much to say about it, typical pre-tournament dross. Marin and Helmes provided some threat when they came in, so I hope they make the cut. Jones was a waste of space and Hitzlsperger is still not a fullback.

Players Löw should leave home: Jones, Neuville and either Trochowski or Schweinsteiger

[The Inquisitor]

[url="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/7417746.stm"]Interesting article[/url] diagnosing a possible cause for the rough times the pross live.

And its an alarming lack of englishmen as an average in the first XI of most premiership clubs vis a vis Spain and Italy.



[quote]Only 170 of the 498 players who started matches in the top flight in 2007-08 were English - just 34.1% of the total.

It marks a big slide from 2006-07, when 191 (38%) of the starters were English.[/quote]





[quote]On average, there were only four players available for England duty in each Premier League starting line-up last season.

Arsenal had the lowest number of English starters, averaging 0.34 per match, while West Ham had the highest number, with 6.61.[/quote]





Why, it sounds reasonable to me. The case of Arsenal is certainly significant. Less than an englishman by match all throghout the season?!

[Paddy]

I do think that what I've heard about Real's antics that they are behaving inappropriately. This quote for instance, shouldn't be coming from Real:
[quote]But Real president Ramon Calderon said: "We know they aren't a selling club. It is a problem between player and team."[/quote]

I still think that people are going about the foreign players thing the wrong way, placing the blame where the effect is seen. I still think that more English players should be playing in other countries than currently is the case.

[cteresa]

I liked that bit in Man Utd´s statement-threat about disturbing the portuguese national team :thumbsup: Media circus, spanish journalists expelled from the hotel, prank phone calls from"journalists" in radios, whatever. One club is showing concern, another is not even releasing Pepe from a pointless friendly. Real Madrid is really not popular in Portugal, particularly with the portuguese federation right now.

Inquisitory, I think there might be a correlation, but not necessarily just of "cause", or just it. The numbers of foreign players they got don´t seem necessarily much worse than say the numbers of portuguese players in Portugal ( lots of brazillians and eastern europeans and all) plus they already got far more "protectionism" than Portugal ( or Spain) has in the form of work permits meaning they got very few brazillian players. I think it´s far more shocking that almost none of their players plays abroad ( ok Beckham, but.. Hargreaves. Owen was a sort of almost-galactico but did not work out), not even in Scotland. That is more concerning. English players don´t do that, only example I can think is Colin Kazimwhatever and he is no longer even elligible. So they end up being stuck with only english players in the english league and they end up with no experience of playing in different countries with different referees along and against players which play a very different type of game. That IMO is a problem. Not necessarily the only one, but a big one.

[Jon AS]

Allez Les Bleus!

Their, err make that "our", new striker Gomis scored two on his debut yesterday, surely he and the rest of l'Équipe Tricolore are destined for greatness this summer!

Regarding England, I've read a lot of criticism for their youth system over the years, encouraging a very physical (and physically demanding) kind of play from an early age leading to smaller kids (or those who just develop a bit later) never getting a real chance and thus never making it to the professional level. I'm not sure if that's really their problem, though, as they still have a pretty good team on paper.