A Beautiful Thread for the Beautiful Game

Scandinavia and the World.

Classic cartoon.

Philip Lahm has announced his retirement from the Germany national team, of which he was captain during the World Cup. It seems strange to do that when he's just 30 - usually players stop playing national team games a bit later - but I suppose he wanted to end it in the best way possible, rather than hanging on for the Euros in 2 years and seeing what happens. Obviously he'll still play for Bayern, at least for a few more years.

Aw, I was hoping to see him at the Euros (I didn't watch much of Germany in the last one). Still, he was awesome in the World Cup, so he probably felt he reached a sort of career peak.

Another recap of the WC by Polandball.

Transfer news: Rio Ferdinand and Steven Caulker to be QPR's starting centre-backs next season. Solid English defenders, good for them.

More importantly, though: Toni Kroos has signed for Real Madrid, describing the move as a "step up" and saying it was the only club he considered, and that he wanted to go to the "number one" club in the world. Must hurt to hear that if you support Bayern or any of the other clubs that tried to get him (including Chelsea and Manchester United.)

D'aw look at little happy Costa Ricaball

Link is in Portuguese. Basically, Dunga is now Brazil's manager.

And since Dunga is almost worse than Scolari...

Mixed results in the Europa League qualifying - Aberdeen (my team) are comfortably through to the third qualifying round with a 2-1 win against Groenigen in Holland, those away goals meaning we could have qualified with just a score draw. St Johnstone are also through, but only on penalties. Motherwell, however, have fallen, losing out 3-2 in extra time in their second round fixture.

Aberdeen will be confident after two great wins - but we've got La Liga opposition next in the form of Real Sociedad. We're also now probably smirking at Motherwell fans, who pipped us to second in the league (thus skipping a first round tie in this contest) but have lost at least one round earlier.

That could be...we're fucked, basically. As good as Aberdeen have been, I can't see us beating a team that can stay at the top end of a league featuring the Madrid teams and Barca.

edited 24th Jul '14 3:38:38 PM by CaissasDeathAngel

Speaking of managers, Jorge Luis Pinto, the guy who mnaged Costa Rica from Germany to Brazil, is involved in a shitton of drama, as apparently his treatment of people during the World Cup was particularly demeaning and harsh, having taken its toll on the players. Though no one can deny his tactical genius, the separation seems that it will lead him to Peru, or Venezuela national teams, maybe.

Arsenal have bought David Ospina, Colombia's goalkeeper, for about £3 million. He'd become a key player for Nice, so I feel sorry for them; but of course I'm happy that Fabianski's replacement is of sufficient quality to challenge Szczesny for the starting spot. Ospina might be even better than Szczesny, though if I were Wenger I'd start the season with Szczesny and if he fucks up more than once I'd switch to Ospina and stick to him until he starts fucking up - and so on. Whoever's second choice would still always get the cup games, though.

Arsenal have also bought Southampton's Calum Chambers for about £15 million (according to rumours; the actual price is undisclosed). He's a 19-year-old right-back who seems to be about as good as Jenkinson. Now Arsenal have 3 first-team right-backs. Debuchy will definitely be #1 among them, so one of the youngsters will have to go on loan or they'll take too many positions from the squad (and/or not get enough games). I think Jenkinson will be loaned - he's old enough that he has to be registered for league games, whereas Chambers doesn't need to be registered. A good team sould have at least 2 quality players for every position, and with this purchase Arsenal have guaranteed that they have that even after Debuchy passes his peak, which should be about 3-5 years from now. I wonder what Wenger will do when Chambers needs to be registered, though - and whether he'll keep loaning Jenkinson out now for the next 2 or 3 seasons.

Arsenal's only apparent need at the moment is at defensive midfielder. They have two - Arteta and Flamini - but both are quite old by now, and Arteta isn't natural at that position. If they had a third, preferably better option for that position they could rotate the squad properly while allowing Arteta to play a more attacking game, perhaps by pairing him with the more defensive midfielder.

Speaking of Arsenal, my team (Spurs). Compared to last season, we've been... more reasonable with our transactions. It's a shame that we had to get rid of Sigurdsson, but I'm glad Levy's finally paying attention to the dearth of our defensive options by getting Ben Davies and Michel Vorm from Swansea and (hopefully) Morgan Schneiderlin from Southampton. From what I've seen of the Swans last season, I think Ben Davies probably won't be an immediate second coming of Gareth Bale. That said, I think the 21 year old Welshman easily outclasses Danny Rose and he has the potential to accompany the likes of Walker and Vertonghen quite well. Similar to Ospina's move to the Emirates, I think Vorm could give Lloris a run for his money. I'm personally rooting for Lloris to keep his starting position in the Premier League, but it'll be nice to have the Dutchman for our cup matches as well as insurance if Lloris gets hurt or goes downhill. If we get a striker on top of that, then we should be set for the season.

I'm a bit concerned with the decision to name Mauricio Pocchetino as our coach, honestly. I know he's done very well at Southampton, but it's a different ballgame to coach a team that has become notorious for its George Jetson Job Security under Levy's ownership. I'm happy to see the attacking football continue its comeback after putting up with the abysmal tactics under AVB, but I'm not sure if Pocchetino's going to handle the amount of pressure placed by Levy and rival coaches such as Wenger, Martinez, and van Gaal.

My heart says that our acquired players from last year will finally step and help us pip out the likes of Everton and Manchester United for that final Champions League spot (not to mention winning the North London derby). My brain, however, thinks that while we have a much more stable squad, we're going to be in for a rough season competing against those three clubs as well as Chelski, City, and Liverpool. With the likes of Stoke and Newcastle emerging as solid darkhorses as well, it'll be interesting to see if our boys can keep calm against our competition.

Projected finish: 6th

My Starting 11: GK: Lloris DEF: Davies, Vertonghen, Kaboul, Walker MID: Dembele (DM), Bentaleb/Schneiderlin (DM), Eriksen, Holtby, Townsend ST: Adebayor

edited 30th Jul '14 1:04:45 PM by sanfranman91

I'd go with:

Lloris
Walker - Dawson - Vertongen - Rose
Dembele - Capoue
Lennon - Eriksen - Lamela
Soldado.

This gives a balance of players who are well established in the system and new signings (from last year, that is,) while also keeping something of a balance between youth and experience (though favouring eperience). I still believe in Rose, ad I think Lamela and Soldado will probably do better than last season. The bench would include Paulinho, Adebayor, Holtby, and Kaboul - formidable depth.

I don't think Tottenham will be able to sustain a top-4 challenge. Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool will be near the top (though losing Suarez will have hurt Liverpool), while Manchester City will probably also mount a title challenge or at least have a strong claim for a potential top-4 finish. Tottenham might be 5th or 6th, assuming that nobody springs any surprises on them.

I think Chelsea and Arsenal are the most improved teams, while Manchester United have also improved considerably. Southampton has declined through the players they sold to Liverpool and Arsenal - even more so if those stories about Schneiderlin going to Arsenal or Spurs are true.

Interesting... There's not a single doubt that Spurs have a strong bench and that anyone in that bench can come off to make a significant impact or potentially replace struggling starters. I'm not sure if Soldado and Capoue will be the right players for Pocchetino's playstyle, but I would love to see Lamela play in more matches (albeit as a super-sub). Chiriches and Paulinho are streaky players, but I think both will probably have better seasons given that they have had more time to adjust. Lennon would be a good bench option for speed but Spurs have solid youth so I'm more favorable toward Townsend and Bentaleb in the starting spots at the moment.

But yeah, there's no question your team's going to be the better side of North London (yet again ). I think Arsenal, City, and Chelsea are going to dominate their competition this year and which spots they end up in the top 3 are anyone's guess. Manchester United has improved, but I think van Gaal has not yet completely taken out the trash (Nani, Cleverley, Young, Fellaini, and Smalling are still with United). We'll see where they end up, but I think they'll place behind a Suarez-less Liverpool.

Rodgers might be a great coach, but I think he's committing the same mistake my team made last season by buying way too many players to compensate for a superstar. Tough Act to Follow, maybe, but I think Rodgers should've placed more faith in his own squad rather than pressing the reset button that will surely unnerve some of his players. Everton's playing it a bit safe by more or less getting the same squad back together (plus Besic). However, I do like Martinez's approach to players, tactics and off the field, so I think the Toffees might raise even more eyebrows. I don't know about you, but I have a feeling they're going to win a cup this year. What do you think?

edited 30th Jul '14 1:45:21 PM by sanfranman91

Everton have a very strong and balanced squad and I'm sure they'll challenge for top-4. They could very well win a cup - on their day they can beat anyone, and even with a routine performance Everton are one of the best teams in the Premier League (and thus the world).

Tim Howard still has enough quality to be one of the league's best goalkeepers, but Everton might be a bit short on that position if he's injured. Baines and Barkley are fantastic already, and both have recently shown signs of improving even further. Jagielka is still a solid centre-back, as well. Mirallas and Lukaku will make Everton very dangerous, and Barry will control the flow of the game to ensure that the transitions between defence and attack are quick but safe.

They lack a bit of depth, though, and with a few injuries they might be forced to make some players play too many games, resulting in further injuries or exhaustion - exactly what happened to Arsenal last season. You need at least 2 quality players for each position, plus a couple of versatile players (such as Osman) for rotation, depth, and tactical variety. Right now I'd say Everton have a quality starting line-up with some value on the bench, but they'd need more to survive an entire season of challenging on every front.

I think Everton will push Manchester United and Tottenham far for the top-4 spot, but they're all a bit behind Liverpool in my opinion. Should make for a great season, though - especially if one or more of the favourites falter.

Manchester City played a match at my alma mater today. Unfortunately I wasn't lucky enough to go, but it's pretty cool nontheless that my old campus played host to a Premier League club.

Since I'm in the UK I've tried to get my hands on tickets for Arsenal's season opener against Crystal Palace, but of course it was sold out before any tickets got to general sale - and the same will surely apply to all of Arsenal's home games this season, what with everything that's happened since last season started. I guess I won't get to go until I can afford club membership, which I think is a couple hundred £ a year. (I'm not sure if I'll ever buy that, though, as I probably wouldn't be able to go to more than a game or two a year anyway.)

At least I've been able to watch Arsenal's friendlies. Now that most of the squad are back from the World Cup Wenger was able to put a proper XI out against Benfica - well, except for having to use full-backs as centre-backs.

Yaya Sanogo, signed for free last season, hadn't lived up to the promise he had shown in France's youth teams; he didn't score a single Arsenal goal until the Benfica friendly, during which he scored a hat trick in the first one and one more goal in the second.

Joel Campbell scored a goal, as well. Like most Arsenal fans I've been waiting for years to see him so it's great to finally have him wearing the red-and-white and scoring with Arsenal. Wenger says he's staying this season, so no more loans. This, I think, means that Wenger is not looking for any more strikers, which is as it should be, as Arsenal already have plenty, if Campbell, Sanogo, and Sanchez will rotate with Giroud.

Jenkinson's been loaned out to West Ham, and Calum Chambers was used as a centre-back (and he was very good at it, as well). Debuchy is the default right-back, but neither he nor Koscielny played in this friendly. Instead, Wenger opted for Bellerin, an Arsenal academy player who has shown great promise in recent friendlies. It's actually fairly hard to see a future for Jenkinson at Arsenal right now. I'd prefer not to lose him, though.

Monreal was pretty poor at centre-back. Of course it's not his natural role, and if Wenger has been playing him there to test him in these last couple of friendlies surely he must've come to the conclusion that Monreal is not a real option at centre-back in competitive games.

Damian Martinez had a good game, even though he didn't have very much to do and Benfica scored once. It's hard for a goalkeeper to save a sudden shot when nothing has been going on in their end for a while, but Martinez did pull off a couple of good saves when he could've been forgiven for a bit of complacency.

Oxlade-Chamberlain is back, and he was on fire against Benfica. If he carries that sort of passion and pace into the new season he'll surely get playing time, even if he competes for the wing positions with Cazorla and Sanchez.

Ramsey seemed to be about as good as he was last season, playing box-to-box and providing key passes and assists. I'll be a little bit surprised if he's not as impressive this season as he was last season.

Benfica won't win a damn thing this year, that's for sure. They sold so many players that they're still reconstructing the squad.

Porto and Sporting are ready and far more stable.

Yeah, both North London clubs have pretty high prices for their club memberships. I don't know how much Arsenal membership costs, but last time I checked a base-tier membership for Tottenham costs 42 quid. It's not cheap by any means but it does get you a spot in the ticket waiting list and it comes with a voucher for its online store. Still, even after I move to London in the fall, I can pretty much forget getting a Premier League ticket with its exorbitant prices (without using Stubhub or some middleman, anyway). Fortunately, Europa League and domestic cup matches aren't too expensive, so I might get to enjoy a few games at White Hart Lane this year...

Fortunately, we're looking pretty solid thus far in the friendlies. We just hammered Celtic 6-1 in Helsinki and I'm glad to see Lamela and Soldado helping out Adebayor and Eriksen in the attack. I'm also glad to see Holtby getting some time back for us given how he was frozen out by AVB and Sherwood. I feel really bad for the Glasgewians though. First, a thumping in the CL qualifiers against a Warsaw club and now this. Where's the Old Firm when they need it?

Which club do you support, by the way?

edited 3rd Aug '14 2:12:49 AM by sanfranman91

This is pretty much why I expect I'll never get to see any of the big clubs in person even if I travel to England, because they all have that club membership system for buying tickets. I've read that Arsenal does allot a certain number of tickets for their official American fan club, which is considerably cheaper to join, but then the chance to buy tickets is made available via lottery so you never know what match you'll get or when you'll get to go, and you still have to find your own way to London.

Vitória de Guimarães.

edited 3rd Aug '14 6:09:10 AM by Quag15

Well that's interesting. I just saw a story on the local news that the owner of the Vikings and general manager of the Twins were at the Man City match yesterday, and both are considering bringing an MLS team to Minnesota. If that actually happened, you better believe that would get me following MLS.

Interesting choice...

Anyway, I think we've talked quite a bit about the haves, so now we should briefly discuss about the have-nots. In other words, who do you think is going to get relegated from the Premier League this season?

Southampton had a catastrophic transfer window, but I think they will barely avoid relegation. They have a good youth players, they still have veterans in Schneiderlin, Cork, and Rodriguez, and I think that Koeman will rapidly adjust to the English environment. Thus, looking at the squad changes for each team, I am going to bet that Aston Villa, Burnley, and West Brom are going down. Villa can only flirt with relegation so often until it finally happens and Lambert has failed to bring any significant changes to his struggling side. Moreover, if Ron Vlaar goes then Villa's all but guaranteed to go down due to a lack of defensive options. People have been saying that Burnley's coach is the "ginger Mourinho", but I frankly think the players in the club are going to be out of their depth. After all, Burnley's promotion was a shock explicitly because the squad was previously said to be that of a team being relegated from the Championship. Finally, West Brom has more balance than its Midlands rival or the newcomer, but I'm not digging their new coach Alan Irvine. Berahino aside, the Baggies' offense is a joke and this club is going to need all the goals they can get to stay up, I think.

edited 3rd Aug '14 7:39:42 PM by sanfranman91

So, Celtic is lucky annd managed to remain in the Champions qualification process, after Legia Warsaw lost due to fielding a suspended player. Now, they're going to play Maribor.

As for the Portuguese clubs: Porto is going to face Lille in the Champions play-off. In the Europa League playoff, after winning in the third round against Göteborg, Rio Ave (who is debuting for the first time in European competitions, if I'm not mistaken) is going to face another Swedish club (Elfsborg), while Nacional is gonna face Dinamo Minsk.

As for the English clubs, in the Europa League play-off, Tottenham are gonna play against AEL Limassol, while Hull are gonna face Lokeren. In the Champions, Arsenal are gonna face Beşiktaş.

edited 8th Aug '14 6:55:20 AM by Quag15

Feel very sorry for the Legia Warsaw fans. A single ineligible player for four minutes at the end of a six-one aggregate victory and they crash out. Rules are rules, but imho a fine would have been a better sanction.

Them's the rules - play an illegible player, and therefore cheat by doing so, and get caught doing so, you get the team turfed out of the competition. It doesn't matter how big a win you manage against the team you cheated against, that's neither here nor there.

Legia Warsaw only had themselves to blame. If the punishment for what they did WAS a fine only, then fair do's. It wasn't a fine, it was expulsion. Sion did the exact same thing against Celtic a few years ago and they got turfed out too.