A Beautiful Thread for the Beautiful Game

I would never vote Labour. I have actively despised them since I was eight years old and nearly froze my arse off during the Winter of Discontent. The Liberal Torycrats are right out too, especially since they sacrificed their political principles to gain temporary political office. There's a Jefferson quote in there somewhere...

Meanwhile in football, I hope Sevco lose against Hearts today.

If I lived in the UK I'd probably vote Labour because the stupid FPTP system would force me to do that to prevent the Tories winning. I might consider the Liberals for the same reason. The Tories are basically the last party I'd vote for, other than BNP and UKIP.

I CAN'T STREAM THE HEARTS GAME THIS IS HORRIFIC.

edited 22nd Nov '14 6:21:27 AM by Achaemenid

What is it with football commentators and being massive Hams anyway?

Hearts 2 - 0 Sevco Ra Peepul The Rangers.

"B-b-b-b-but Sooper Sally telt 'is thit ra Hertz wud crumble wi' aw ra injooriez an' susphenshuns an' that."

That's us nine points clear. Absolutely buzzing that we won the game, but devastated that I missed what seems to have been a cracking game. Apparently Sevco gave an absolutely classless performance - five yellows and Smith sent off, and the consensus seems to be they got off lightly.

I love it when we beat them. Love it!

edited 22nd Nov '14 7:04:59 AM by Achaemenid

Congratulations.

Tomorrow, we have the Portuguese Cup match against our regional rivals /arch-nemesis, Braga at our home.

Let's see if we give them another good ol' White Hell.

edited 22nd Nov '14 9:55:57 AM by Quag15

As I feared: Arsenal 1 - 2 Manchester United.

Arsenal had more shots (also on goal) and for most of the game United had to resort to parking the bus and hoping for a counter but Kieran Gibbs and Wojciech Szczesny managed to bump into each other and as they both lay on the pitch awaiting treatment someone took a shot that deflected off Gibbs into his own goal - so United scored before they had even 1 shot on goal. The other goal was a counter-attack against an Arsenal side that were attacking with basically everyone but Szczesny.

De Gea probably had the most touches of the ball of his team - he was saving shots all through the game, and what he didn't save his defenders managed to block.

Wilshere could've had a red card for his aggressive behaviour towards Fellaini. Later a United defender injured Wilshere with a disgusting tackle that would normally also have been a red - so those missed reds balance each other out. The referee was better than you tend to see in the Premier League. In addition to Wilshere Szczesny also had to be taken off due to injury (and replaced with Martinez, who made his league debut). Two substitutions due to injury is about what you'd expect.

Rather than aiming for the title or even a top-4 challenge Arsenal will now have to start thinking about surviving a relegation battle if their current form continues. They've had probably less luck than any other team in the league but they've also not been good enough.

There were three positives in this game, though: first, Arsenal pressed very hard and were consistently able to get past several United defenders by dribbling or passing. Arsenal haven't played a good pressing game recently but today they looked almost like the Dortmund side that did so well in the Champions League the season before last. This needs to become a constant feature of Arsenal's game if they're to stay in the league.

The second positive was that despite the scoreline Arsenal were actually the team that looked more likely to score through most of the game, and if De Gea always played like this I doubt that United would ever concede more than a goal per game at most. According to Whoscored Arsenal had at least 23 shots, with more than 15 of them either saved by De Gea or blocked. Arsenal also won the corner count 11-5

The third positive was that Giroud made his comeback much sooner than expected. He came in as a substitute for Ramsey and scored in extra time. Wenger has suggested that Giroud will be starting games now that he's back so Welbeck will play on the left and Sanchez on the right.

United fans would probably have accepted a 3-0 for Arsenal as a result that accurately reflected the nature of the game but a bit of bad luck from Gibbs and the necessary risks Arsenal had to take to try to score were enough for United to get their goals.

The man of the match for me was David De Gea - I can't recall a better performance by a goalkeeper, and now I'm actually wondering whether I've ever seen a better performance by any football player in any position.

EDIT: One more statistic that reflects how this game went: United managed to score 2 even though they only had 2 shots on target and one of them was saved.

edited 22nd Nov '14 11:42:46 AM by BestOf

Hearts goals today.

Well done the Hearts. And stop calling that Other Lot by a name they aren't entitled to. I honestly don't know what position Celtic are this week. I think I stopped caring a while ago.

FIFA to reopen World Cup investigation.

A PR move if I ever saw one.

Sevco have still never won a game in Edinburgh.

Sadly, since Star Sports has become a pay-to-view channel, I cannot follow any football (and I can't start paying now, because exams), so I kept track of the Arsenal-United game via mobile app. Good show, I think, for the United faithful, and finally back in the top 4! (In fourth, but have to start somewhere).

Don't worry, Best Of; I doubt Arsenal will have serious problems with relegation - Alexis combined with the curse of St Totteringham should at the very least keep you afloat. Perhaps you might get in the top 6 (Europa League qualification), and Wenger might get fired (though good luck getting anyone to replace him; any contenders among the Arsenal faithful?), but that should be the maximum extent of your misfortune.

If Alexis gets injured, though... then things could get worse.

I still think United will probably get Europa League qualification this year, not Champions League, let alone the trophy, and van Gaal will stay on to next - this is a recovery, these things take time.

Congratulations Ach for the win over the evil Sevco. God, five yellows and a red is a shameful performance. I think you should be promoted by the Christmas break (there is a Christmas break, right?), easily. Sadly, my only exposure to Hearts has been FIFA 14, not exactly the best way to understand the style of football or to see how a team is more than the sum of its parts - in Career Mode, I saw the Scottish League table (I was playing Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga) and Hearts were third from last, while Celtic were first with a 21 point gap between them and second, Aberdeen. What's worse from your perspective is that Hibernian were six points above you :O.

BTW, anyone who knows of the form of the following players:

• Aymeric Laporte (Bilbao)
• Raphaël Varane (Real Madrid)
• Ricardo Rodriguez (Vf L Wolfsburg)
• Carlos Vela (Real Sociedad, iirc)
• Aduriz (La Liga, but I don't remember where)

edited 22nd Nov '14 7:57:38 PM by arcanephoenix

Heh. We're not even in FIFA 15 because we got relegated. Shocker.

What is amusing is that when the Rangers fans started shouting "Ally, get to fuck!" the Hearts fans started singing "Super Ally"...which the hacks dutifully reported as the majority of Ranjurz fans standing up for their team. Muppets.

I just wish I supported a team that didn't concede before the opponent has had a shot on goal...

I don't think United fans who watched the game will be happy. It was all Arsenal for at least 80% of the game, with an injury to Szczesny the only reason there were any goals for United. (Szczesny was awaiting treatment when the first goal happened and the second was conceded by the Academy 'keeper Martinez, for whom this was a surprise debut.)

If Arsenal won a game from basically one shot against someone's reserves 'keeper I'd be very worried. (If you look up the stats you'll see that Fellaini also got a shot on goal but it was a very unmemorable effort from distance - it might've been intended as a through ball.) Of course Arsenal aren't currently doing well enough to manage even that. Winning from their only shot, that is - they did manage about 16 shots on goal.

Based on headlines from La Liga Varane and Laporte have been excellent this season - though in the case of Varane the bar might be set so high by now that people might say he's only doing OK by being one of the best defenders in Spain. Laporte is among the 2 billion defenders to have been linked to Arsenal during the last 2 transfer windows.

Rodriguez has persistently remained in the European best-XI according to Whoscored.com. I haven't watched any Bundesliga games this season but he must be doing very well to get such high ratings every week.

Carlos Vela did very well for Sociedad last season but I don't know if he's been able to keep that up. He's the type of player that shines in Spain but would probably be taken out by defenders in England.

edited 23rd Nov '14 4:28:11 AM by BestOf

Islamic State to host 2026 World Cup.

It is the next logical step.

Where's Ospina? Oh god, don't tell me, injured? While United may have more injured players, Arsenal certainly have more injured critical players. I believe Walcott came back yesterday, though.

Just a thing that I thought about; many of Europe's top players do not seem to play outside their own leagues. Only two members of Germany's Cup-winning team played outside Germany last season, and none of England's players play outside England, I think. France, however, has most of their main players being much more scattered. It just came to my mind, and I dunno why it is so. England are the only team in the top flight whose players don't play outside England - first team, anyway. Why is it so?

No, Walcott was back (mostly on the bench) for the last week or two but he was injured before yesterday's game. Ospina has been injured for most of the season so far.

If a nation' domestic league doesn't have as much prestige or wealth as that of another country the players are going to think about moving. That's why the Premier League and La Liga have been able to attract most of the best players in France and the Netherlands and Brazil and so on.

The English Premier League is considered the best league in the world, and it also has the most money so players in mid-table clubs there will probably feel that moving to a top club in another league would not be a step up, either in prestige or in earnings.

English players tend to be very reluctant to go to other countries. Part of it might be an aversion to learning new languages and cultures (which can explain why they'll go to the US more readily than Spain or France.) The thing about prestige is probably more important, though, as is the money.

An additional complication arises from the FA and UEFA rules concerning home-grown players. The FA requires that each team register at least 8 players (out of 25) that have played for at least 3 years in the UK before the year they turn 21. UEFA demands that at least 4 of those trained at their current club for that time - so buying from the same league is not enough. This drives clubs to pay British players more than foreign players, as well as buying British players at inflated rates. There are so many foreign players in the Premier League that British players, especially for top clubs, are almost a token they only keep to meet the home-grown regulations.

edited 23rd Nov '14 8:07:09 AM by BestOf

In the ISL,

Mumbai City FC 0-3 Chennaiyin FC

It was 0-0 until 71', and then three goals went in in the last twenty minutes. Gods alive, that was horrific; I genuinely thought we'd get away with a draw, a result that would've been astounding considering Chennai's rather amazing form. This win pushes them to first outright, with three points over Kolkata, while we slip to fifth and lose our playoffs spot with four games left.

You know who's fourth now?

Goa.

Yes, Goa, who had five points in their first seven matches, and were dead last, have won two and drawn two in order to push themselves to fourth, above Mumbai, Pune, NEU and Delhi. I said it'll take a miracle for them to pass, and Zico's side's recovery has been nothing short of miraculous.

Meanwhile, Hull vs Spurs, and Jake Livermore has already scored at 8' to push the Tigers in front.

Have Spurs lost that... flair that is so distinctive of them? I'd fallen in love with them back when you could count on them to spring a surprise, even against teams like Arsenal and a rampaging Man United. Now... I dunno, I'm faithful, but my faith is being clouded by doubt.

edited 23rd Nov '14 8:14:44 AM by arcanephoenix

I'm watching the game right now in a pub. Gee beasties, what a terrible way to give up a goal. Considering Hull has more than its fair share of ex-Spurs like Dawson, Huddlestone, and Livermore, the match has made me quite nostalgic. Still, it's been... less than satisfactory to see us play without confidence. November has been a terrible month for us and it really can't end quickly enough. Whether our form will recover is an entirely different story.

Good on Goa for not saying die when they were against the ropes though. Do you think the first ISL has been successful so far?

edited 23rd Nov '14 8:33:38 AM by sanfranman91

Spurs used to play beautiful football that made it hard to hate them but for 2 or 3 years now they've been a mess - they don't look like a team and they're not attacking like they used to. They look like a mid-table club failing to transition into a top-4 team - rather like Arsenal, actually.

I think Liverpool forgot that you are supposed to put the ball in the other netting while keeping it out of yours.

I mean, Christ. Crystal fucking Palace of all teams.

I know... lots of wasted chances on our end in the first half and we'll need a few changes to get ourselves jumpstarted.

Dier's temper needs work, Fazio and Soldado are out of their depths (yet again ), and Eriksen has been... better than last game but hardly the talisman we need to win this game. I say Paulinho or Stambouli should come in during the second half before it's too late.

Honestly, I don't know who's in hotter water right now: Brendan Rogers or Mauricio Pochettino.

And Chiriches replaces Dier for the second half. Given the former being streaky as hell, I don't know if we're going to get the good Chiriches or the horror show Chiriches. I guess we'll have to see for ourselves...

edited 23rd Nov '14 9:04:17 AM by sanfranman91

Double post alert: Gaston Ramirez loses his mind and attacks Jan Vertonghen. Ref wastes no time in giving Gaston the heave-ho. Hull is now down to 10 men... a golden opportunity for Spurs if I say so myself.

And Harry Kane ties it up with a beautiful followup from Eriksen's free-kick. Seriously, Kane is on fire in the cups and hopefully he'll also be hot in the league as well. Not a great game for us by any means, but you know what, I'll take it.

We've been attacking Hull for over half an hour and Eriksen has finally emerged out of his funk with a nice go-ahead goal. Final whistle: 2-1 victory to Spurs. Regardless if you think it's deserved or not, it's 3 points for us at long last.

edited 23rd Nov '14 9:58:00 AM by sanfranman91

Yay Spurs! Back in the top ten (in tenth, but you have to start somewhere)! Tied with Arsenal on points!

Also, I've noticed one rather strange thing - outside Honda at Milan and Nagatomo at Inter, almost all Japanese players (and most Korean players, for that matter) seem to play in Germany if at all they play in Europe. There are a few exceptions, of course - Japan's keeper plays for Standard Liége, iirc - but they seem to be disproportionately in Germany. Is there a particular reason for this?