A Beautiful Thread for the Beautiful Game

Celtic are up against Internazionale Milano. Those words in that sentence still raise chills even up my lapsed-Hoops-fan spine.

Because of this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_European_Cup_Final

@Rambler: Sorry to hear about that.

@Best Of: My conflicting sympathization with Basel and Porto (the former because I already sympathized with them, the latter because of Portugal) leads me to believe it will be a very tight 180 minutes, and to not make any prediction on who will go through.

Also, Bayern and Madrid have it way easy.

@Tam: Good luck. I will probably be a very symbolic match.

£10 on Liverpool to win the Europa League at 10/1? Should I? Decisions, decisions...

edited 15th Dec '14 6:47:05 AM by Achaemenid

I'd bet on Roma or Zenit instead.

Spurs against Fiorentina (a name I believe is the prettiest name for a football club. Just... say it)

I am not optimistic about Spurs' chances. Fiorentina may be 8th in Serie A, but they have a number of good players. Mario Gomez has been doing pretty well, I believe, since moving from Bayern after not getting many games, but they also have Colombia's Juan Cuadrado and an Italian-American (FIFA nationality: Italy) striker named Giuseppe Rossi, who is a very decent left-footed creative sorta guy. Apart from that, I dunno many of their players (Micah Richards is on loan from Manchester City), but again, I would not bet money on Spurs winning.

I'm just looking at the league tables, and I'm wondering if Dortmund is going to start losing players, especially if people are going to come with good offers. Klopp could make a decent amount from Wenger if he comes knocking for, say, Hummels or Sokratis or even (oh god Polish spelling) Piszceck, but... Reus might leave for greener pastures even within Germany, given that Dortmund's chances of playing in the CL next season look bleaker and bleaker. Unless they win it, of course, and even then, are you allowed to defend your CL trophy even if you're relegated, which Dortmund seem likely to be? It's a question to wonder, though - where would Reus go, if he could go somewhere away from Dortmund? Real don't need him, Barca same, the top five in England either can't afford him, don't need him, or can't guarantee CL football any more than Dortmund can, PSG don't need him, Bayern can't play the players they have (which is why I have a feeling someone might lure, say, Shaqiri or Reina from them, especially Shaqiri). Anywhere else... I dunno, Wolfsburg? Sevilla? Valencia? I'd say Real, but Real have the same problem as Bayern - to the point that I think Wenger could get Varane for pretty cheap, or even, say, Arbeloa or Nacho. Or perhaps not, considering Real are running a pretty tight ship and a small squad.

Also, in unrelated news, the Cricket Thread is up, so, do join in! :D

I'd love to have Varane at Arsenal but I don't know why Real would sell him.

Reus would be great but either Cazorla or Podolski (or both) would need to be sold to make room for him, and Arsenal would be better off buying defenders instead.

Piszceck would be a world-class right-back but with Debuchy and Chambers already at Arsenal and Jenkinson probably returning at the end of the season I don't think Arsenal need a right-back at the moment.

Hummels would be brilliant, and that transfer has already been written about but he's said he's proud to play for Dortmund and Klopp so there's no guarantee he'll want to leave even if the club accept an offer. Sokratis would be more likely, and I'd be hugely felieved if someone like him was to arrive in January. (It'd have to be January, though. Summer would be too late.)

Shaqiri has been rumoured to be on the way to Liverpool, and he would probably get the playing time he deserves if he was to make that move.

If you win the Champions League you get to play it next season regardless of what happens to you in other competitions, so by winning it Dortmund would guarantee Champions League football for next neason.

While I'm glad we got the win against Swansea last night, I am also pretty nervous about drawing against Fiorentina. While they are currently mid-table in the Serie A, I have to admit that they have been far more consistent in their playstyle and tactics than we have been over the last two months. There's also the issue of playing a leg in Italy, a country that is notorious for giving visiting sides and their fans a hard time. Overall, I feel that those two games are going to make or break Mauricio Pochettino's term as Spurs manager, and knowing Daniel Levy's lack of tolerance for failure...

At least Celtic vs. Inter should be interesting to watch. Arsenal seems to have a fighting chance in the Champions League for once as well, though I am doubtful they'll get anyone from Dortmund this January. UK press has been heavily speculating that Hummels will join Manchester United over the transfer window and that Reus is more interested in joining Barca or Real Madrid than any English side at the moment. Pisczek or Sokratis would be a godsend for Spurs, though the fact that we can't necessarily promise being in the Champions League every year could be a deal-breaker.

edited 15th Dec '14 7:10:12 PM by sanfranman91

I'm not sure if Manchester United will be buying. The club recently announced massive financial losses, and though it's still an extremely wealthy club (and constantly linked to big-money teams) the manager has talked about how now is not the time for them to spend more than they already have. You'd think there'd be pressure on him to challenge the FFP rules and everything else in the background going against the idea of spending when they currently have so many injuries, but I think it's also quite possible that Van Gaal will try to get by with his current squad to prove that they've got what it takes.

I don't think United will be making many (or any) signings in January. Maybe he'll sell a few (there's talk of sending Januzaj out on loan, and Falcao's 'loan' will probably not convert into a permanent Man United player, even if he wants it (I don't think he's been in the best of form, either). De Gea has been the best player so far, allowing the Devils to win or draw games which they should've drawn or even lost.

Has anyone been in touch as to how West Ham have progressed to the extent of holding a CL place by Christmas?

West Ham haven't had many injuries, they don't play in Europe, and they got knocked out of the League Cup very early. This means they've had fewer games than their toughest opponents. West Ham didn't have many players in the World Cup so they've had a rest in the summer and a good pre-season.

Results-wise they've won most of the easier games and managed to beat Liverpool and Manchester City (but lost against Manchester United, Tottenham, Everton, and Southampton.) Those results aren't actually all that impressive - so I'd say it's probably more down to everyone else playing poorly than them playing well. Arsenal are in crisis, Liverpool and Everton are mid-table, and Spurs have a negative goal difference (as do Liverpool).

West Ham's next games are against Chelsea and Arsenal. Probably they'll beat Arsenal but if they lose both games they'll probably be mid-table - Swansea, at 9th in the League, are within two games of West Ham.

News: Thierry Henry has retired. He'll be a pundit for Sky for a bit before he decides where he'll start as a coah or manager. Arsenal, of course, are the most likely destination for Henry. On the prospect of playing for one more club he says "we all love the first Rocky but I'm not so sure about the last one".

edited 16th Dec '14 5:55:01 AM by BestOf

BBC Sport: Fifa dismisses complaint from lawyer Michael Garcia over report

Show of hands, who's surprised?

Bad week for Celtic:

- Aleksandr Tonev loses his appeal against a seven-match ban for calling Aberdeen's Shay Logan a black c%$nt.

- UEFA investigating them over "crowd disturbances" in Zagreb.

Celtic blame the weather.

Beyond parody. Rangers have been such a rich seam of twattery since they died that I'd almost forgotten why the Old Firm is two cheeks of the same arse. Eagerly await "but ra Hertz fans froo bananas in ra eighties so it disnae count" and the usual chat about "heavy-handed foreign police" and a big proddy conspiracy to keep Celtic down. Berks.

edited 16th Dec '14 7:01:26 AM by Achaemenid

In the ISL,

Chennaiyin FC 3-1 Kerala Blasters FC (Kerala won 4-3 on aggregate)

Chennai got the game to extra time, but couldn't get the clincher, while Kerala got the clincher at 117' due to Scotsman Stephen Pearson. Scrappy game, with both teams getting red cards (two for Chennai, with Materazzi getting a second yellow, and Bojan Djordjic getting a straight red, both in extra time, and one for Kerala at 28' with Scotsman Jamie Mc Allister getting another straight red), and Materazzi actually missed a penalty which could've been the second goal at 50' (actually he scored, then the referee claimed that it was invalid because another Chennai attacker had entered the box before the shot was taken, then he took it again, drove the keeper the wrong way, but the shot hit the post and went out).

Silvestre got the first goal at 42' after a great header from a Materazzi cross, a horrific, horrific defending and goalkeeping error meant Sandesh Jhingan put the ball in his net for 2-0, and Jeje Lalpekhlua got a chested tap-in from Bernard Mendy for Chennai at 90', so Chennai must be sad that they took the game so far and yet could not come away with the clinching goal in extra-time. A match I was sorry to miss, all in all, even though I was getting regular updates from friends.

Highlights

Hearts fans threw bananas in the 80s? You guys had bananas to throw?

@Best Of: Legend, Thierry Henry. Also, to all Irish fans, fucking cheat, but whatever. At least he knows when to retire.

edited 16th Dec '14 10:17:18 AM by arcanephoenix

That handball, unfortunately, will always remain part of the story of Henry. Other than that his record is fantastic so it really is a bummer that he did that.

First world m8

Roy Keane had some interesting views on that. Basically: if you let Henry get goal-side of you and you let the ball bounce in the six-yard box then you deserve to concede a goal, handball or no handball.

If Roy Keane is defending you you know you've done wrong.

I disagree. He's a first-class arsehole but his analysis of the game is pretty good.

@Ach: I didn't mean it that way; I meant as in, Hearts fans were prepared, complete with bananas? Sounds like an interesting story.

Also, still an asshole.

@Best Of:

I still can't believe Chennai got knocked out. First in the league, and there's no league champion's medal or trophy like MLS. Cracker of a match, though.

Nothing interesting at all really. Throwing bananas at black players is a racist classic. People brought the bananas for the express purpose of throwing.

edited 16th Dec '14 2:54:21 PM by Achaemenid

-sigh-

So, Goa face Kolkata today in Fatorda, with a goalless first leg at the Salt Lake. I'm betting on Goa, with the home advantage, even if they have no away goals to counter any that Kolkata could score.

In the ISL,

FC Goa 0-0 Atlético de Kolkata (Kolkata won 4-2 on penalties)

And, the inaugural ISL final is going to be played between the teams that finished 3rd and 4th in the league table, Atlético de Kolkata and Kerala Blasters. The second semifinal was a bit of a bore, though, with neither Goa nor Kolkata able to get the upper hand, unlike the Chennai-Kerala one. So, the final is on Saturday at DY, another game I can't see, but I will still get updates from friends and stuff.

Darn, I was hoping Goa would win.

BBC Sport: Michael Garcia: Fifa investigator resigns in World Cup report row

@ Best Of: Awesome post right there.

I was expecting a Goa vs. Chennai final, honestly. Still, it'll be fun to see David James attempt to hold off the Spaniards of Kolkata's team. I wish that UK television would show the ISL, because it sounds like the first season has been surprisingly excellent. Perhaps ITV 4 will get rights for it after losing IPL rights to Sky Sports?

Turns out Star TV has rights for the ISL in the UK. I haven't seen a single promotion there though...

edited 17th Dec '14 9:26:33 AM by sanfranman91