World Football Thread XV - Life after the World Cup

[MikeH]

Liverpool at home second leg. Very tough task, possible but I can't see them getting through. The other English teams should qualify. Celtic are out.

[reds4ever]

Bah, show ponies!

[Maquiladora]

Originally posted by MikeH
Liverpool at home second leg. Very tough task, possible but I can't see them getting through. The other English teams should qualify. Celtic are out.

Thats obviously what i meant, Cort.

Except maybe i fancy Celtic to go one more round.

It's a cup tie, no 'miracle' needed.

Certainly something we havent seen this season is needed. The bookies are backing Barca for some reason.

[MikeH]

If Celtic were at home in the second leg then maybe they might have a chance, but even then it'd be a slim one.

[duke o' york]

King Zog's out. Possibly for the rest of the season.

While it's nice to put in a brave performance and only lose 1-0 against Chelsea with a patched-up team, and a load of youngsters, then it's not something I want every week.

[duke o' york]

We won a trophy!

Unfortunately, it's the UEFA Intertoto Cup, awarded to the team that does the best in the UEFA Cup after having qualified through the Interjoko tournament.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Well, whatever, it's a trophy, even if it is the lamest piece of hardware in the world .

[Locutus]

We reached the mid-way point in the Dutch league and knowing Twente this probably won't last so allow me to gloat while I can

1. PSV	  		17  	46
2. AZ 			17 	39
3. Ajax 		17 	38
[b]4. FC Twente 		17 	35[/b]
5. Feyenoord 		17 	32
6. sc Heerenveen 	17 	26

[Colon™]

Same position as Bruges in Belgium. However, this is anything but ot be happy about to us.

[Cort Haus]

Locutus, it's no surprise to see PSV up there, but how is their form at the moment? My lot have them in the CL last sixteen, though the games are not till Feb/March.

[Locutus]

It's very hard to say, they haven't really been tested yet. They are miles above any other Dutch team right now so noone in the Dutch league can really challenge them, even if they play very poorly they still win with ease (Twente is the only team that managed to scrape a win from them this season ) and in the CL they had a very easy group and were already qualified after 4 matches, so the only match that says anything about their true strength was the home game against Liverpool (which ended in 0-0) -- but that was back in September. The games against Arsenal will be PSV's first real test of the season.

That said, in the last two years their playing style has become increasingly more defensive and efficient, it's almost Italian now. Two years ago they got 10-20 chances a match and manage to score 2-3 times from that, as well as conceding a goal or two. Now they get maybe 4-5 chances but still score 1-2 times while defensively not giving anything away: in the 4 CL games that actually mattered they only conceded 1 goal (in the other 2 games they very clearly weren't even trying) and in 17 Dutch league games they conceded 6 (which I'm pretty sure makes them the strongest defensive team in Europe, stats-wise anyway). So I think Arsenal will have a tough time against them, as would any team. But again, this will be PSV's first real test of the season, so just how tough noone can really say...

[Imran Siddiqui]

Everton are pissed that Mourinho called Andrew Johnson a diver!

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=396737&cc=5901

There are few occasions where I'll unequivocally agree with Jose, but this has to be one of them. I mean, come one, this is like Chelsea getting pissed because someone says they have a ton of money. Anyone with eyes can see that AJ is England's best diver. This reaction by the Toffees just amuses me and smacks of frustration.

[Cort Haus]

Thanks, Locutus.

[Cort Haus]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui


Everton are pissed that Mourinho called Andrew Johnson a diver!

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=396737&cc=5901

There are few occasions where I'll unequivocally agree with Jose, but this has to be one of them. I mean, come one, this is like Chelsea getting pissed because someone says they have a ton of money. Anyone with eyes can see that AJ is England's best diver. This reaction by the Toffees just amuses me and smacks of frustration.

"Everton have taken legal advice and are threatening action on Johnson's behalf against Mourinho for alleged defamation of character."

This is a joke. There's a nationally-biased perception in England that only dirty foreigners dive, but this is going too far. Should referees sue managers for defamation every time they get accused of being blind / stupid / biased by managers?

[Imran Siddiqui]

Hey, if this creates a precedent, I know a bunch of refs who could cash in quite nicely .