A Beautiful Thread for the Beautiful Game

Holy hell. I was actually shocked when my phone started up and I got the notification of the score.

Manchester United dropped points against Stoke, after Falcao yet again equalised after a Ryan Shawcross goal at 2'. Amusingly, this meant Ryan Shawcross was the first Premier League goalscorer in the new year, leading to such demotivational posters as 'Ryan Shawcross: More goals in 2015 than Messi and Ronaldo combined!'.

I'm now waiting for Tottenham against Chelsea, and honestly I'm just hoping for damage control - a loss less than 2-0 would be good, and a draw would be amazing, given Chelsea's form, even at White Hart Lane.

EDIT: ...I have no words. I'm guessing sanfranman will perhaps be dancing at home; I know I am. After Diego Costa got the first goal, I thought it'd be business as usual, but Kane equalised with an amazing goal, Eriksen let Chadli go through who hit the post before Danny Rose turned the ball in for the lead, and Kane was taken down in the box by Gary Cahill for Andros Townsend to convert the penalty to make it 3-1 for Spurs at White Hart Lane at halftime and send the Lane into raptures. Honestly, White Hart Kane looks like he could be a legend already for Spurs, with a role in all three goals. Spurs have been clinical, not something you generally hear.

EDIT 2: 4-1. Holy fuck.

EDIT 3: 4-2. Idiotic mistake by Fazio helped Eden Hazard reduce the deficit.

EDIT 4: 5-2. Assist from Kane for Naçer Chadli, deflected off Azpilicueta.

EDIT 5: 5-3. Tap-in for Terry after a quick free-kick by Hazard. Spurs zoned out, it seems, and must hold on. Ideally Spurs should be winning 5-1 if they weren't careless. Great game for Lloris, but five minutes added on.

EDIT 6: Full-time, 5-3 Spurs. Spurs should've won 5-1, but for the Fazio stupidity and Spurs zoning out in the Hazard free-kick. But we were clinical, with Harry Kane on fire, scoring a brace, Rose scoring a goal after a long time, Townsend converting a penalty cool as you like, and Chadli being great in general, not to mention Walker and Hugo Lloris with great saves.

edited 1st Jan '15 11:32:29 AM by arcanephoenix

A perfect "What" result.

edited 1st Jan '15 1:37:25 PM by Quag15

SFA Chief Exec says Rangers is still the same club as it was before liquidation

I find it amusing how this needs to be constantly stated by the powers that be.

edited 1st Jan '15 3:00:23 PM by Achaemenid

Aberdeen are atop the Scottish Premier League! Celtic's match was rained off, but it was after the Dons game anyway so we'd still be on top if we won, which we did, for a couple of hours. Our 6th league win in a row and another clean sheet.

That is a solid defence record, though if it doesn't end beforehand, it will next time we face Celtic. Still, the 1-0 victories we keep grinding out mean we need to be pushed all the way, and in several cases we should have gotten a few more goals.

Due to Celtic's next match being tomorrow, and ours today, we could be four clear tonight, though they'll have two games in hand by tonight.

I did not see this coming, that it would be so close. Celtic will still win the league by about 20 points, I'm certain of that. But Aberdeen and Dundee United - the socalled "New Firm" of the 80s - are nipping at their heels and will be doing all they can to keep it close. Combine that with Rangers being 13 points beind in the Championship and you have the most interesting Scottish league in years.

But I thought that Scottish football would collapse without the Rangers?

Oh, those conspiracy theories never get old.

I just realised that since the Aberdeen game starts half an hour after the Dundee United game, if they win then they'll be atop the league for at least half an hour. Three different leaders in 2015, that hasn't happened for a while! And Celtic down in third.

I would like nothing better than for a club other than Celtic to win the League.

BBC Sport: Ched Evans: Convicted rapist in talks with Oldham Athletic

Likewise. That I nominally support Aberdeen means I'd prefer it to be them, but Dundee United would be fine too. Rangers failing to get promoted and Celtic failing to win the league - my ideal season. And Rangers may not get automatic promotion, since Hearts have a healthy lead, and Hibs and even Queen of the South are pushing for second place.

Rangers finish in 3rd and they have a gruelling schedule to get up, and Queens found it too much last year.

If Evans could just fuck off and not take up headlines anymore that would just be gravy.

EDIT: Aberdeen win 2-0 while Dundee United can only draw 2-2, meaning the former do indeed go four clear at the top. Hamilton Academicals of all teams - they just got promoted this year - won too and are now level on points with Celtic, though behind on goal difference. Celtic are in second but have two games in hand.

Still, this means five teams within as many points of the summit, since Inverness Caledonian Thistle are only behind Dundee United on goal difference with 38 points. St Johnstone are 6th 9 points adrift.

edited 4th Jan '15 10:03:17 AM by CaissasDeathAngel

Okay, I have finally stopped dancing .

United won 2-0 over Yeovil Town in the FA Cup. Expected, you know, but after the result against MK Dons in the League Cup, I'm just thankful for small mercies. Everyone expected to win today won (perhaps QPR losing to Sheffield United aside), except for Southampton, who could only draw 1-1 with Ipswich Town and will have to play a replay. Arsenal, who seem to be the only big team which got another Premier League team (Hull, so not too bad), are playing right now and indeed leading after a Mertesacker header.

Arsenal are playing better than they have for several games now, probably because Wenger has finally rotated his squad so now there's some hunger and energy in there. Campbell is playing well, as is Walcott (!!!). Coquelin is really making a claim for a holding midfield position, and Ospina has been solid the few times he's been needed. I hope he'll force Szczesny to think about his complacency while sitting on the bench for a few weeks (or months).

After this game Giroud will have sat out his suspension. Wenger said in the pre-match press conference that Özil is almost ready to play. Ramsey is also said to be returning imminently. I don't know whether Arteta is about to come back soon but even without him Arsenal might soon have their first-XI available. Walcott, Özil, Giroud, Alexis, Cazorla - that's a solid attack, and when they're shielded by Ramsey and Arteta/Coquelin they should be able to control a game. With the first-choice defenders (Debuchy, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs) and a confident but not overconfident 'keeper Arsenal would be a major force in the league, able to reclaim the top-4 position that is always the absolute minimum requirement for Arsenal.

Speaking of Arsenal... I heard they're interested in William Carvalho (Sporting) after Hummels snubbed them. Do you think he would have a space in the team in his natural position (DM) or would he be a work in progress (especially since he's still fairly young (22))?

Vitória Guimarães 4-0 Nacional

I didn't talk about the last 3 or 4 matches, since they were defeats (1 for the Cup, 1 for the League Cup, 2 of them having happened against our arch-nemesis Braga) and kinda sucky ones, since we attacked more, but failed to overcome those teams (we lost 2 matches by the minimum margin).

Thankfully, we won today (while Braga lost yesterday), and so we return to the 3rd place. Sporting is just behind us, with just 1 point of distance.

André André scored the first hat-trick of his career (1 of the goals was through a penalty, but still...). His third goal is a beauty (a strong shot from outside the area). We also saw the scoring debut of Ricardo Gomes, which was the first goal. The only downside is the fact that two of our defenders appear to be injured.

Next match: in Lisbon, against Benfica, who is in the first place. It's gonna be extremely hard.

edited 4th Jan '15 11:02:03 AM by Quag15

2-0 for Arsenal. Deserved win, though for the first 20 minutes of the second half Arsenal gave control of the game completely to Hull. I don't know why but there you go.

The second goal was a beauty from Alexis. Oxlade-Chamberlain got a dirty kick to his knee fairly late in the game (he came in as a substitute for Walcott) and he limped quite a lot after it but hopefully he'll be fine.

Alexis got booked for a dive in a situation that didn't really look like much to me. He basically ran into a Hull player and fell down - he was fairly exhausted by then so I think it's entirely possible that he did it by accident.

Coquelin was lucky to get just a yellow for a game in which he committed 3 or 4 suspicious tackles. The one that finally got him booked was particularly stupid and looked dangerous (though in the replay it was evident it wasn't quite as bad as it had seemed from the angle that was shown first).

A decent game from Arsenal, all told. Hull maybe deserved a goal for their effort but a draw would've been a generous result for them.

Carvalho to Arsenal has been a lively rumour for almost a year now, and I do believe he'd be a good buy for Arsenal, even at £20 million or even slightly above it. Apparently he hasn't really shined this season but he's had a couple of good seasons before that and he's still developing. Arsenal desperately need a defending midfielder who can play a box-to-box game with more emphasis on winning the ball than surging forward.

Arteta and Flamini are probably only going to play this season and maybe one after that at Arsenal, and while Coquelin would be a decent rotation option I don't see him as a long-term solution, other than as backup.

Carvalho could come in and learn the Arsenal way while he's rotated with the established crew for a season or two before claiming a permanent first-team slot in a role similar to what Vieira used to do at Arsenal.

Oldham Athletic decide not to sign Ched Evans, wanting nothing whatsoever to do with the massive PR backlash that would result from signing him, though haven't yet decided what would constitute the most face-saving way to say this.

Note: It's possible that this is my interpretation of the story rather than the story itself.

Transfer news because no one else posted:

• Podolski on loan at Inter till June
• Enzo Perez joined Valencia, and André Gomes's and Rodrigo's loans have been converted to permanent deals.
• Dortmund accepting bids for Ilkay Gundogan, Manchester United interested
• Persistent rumour that Hugo Lloris might leave Spurs.
• Yedlin en route, but that was expected since the start of the season
• Kane is getting a new deal, giving him more money and a bigger role to play; Soldado and Adebayor mostly out
• Arsenal apparently interested in Petr Cech. Gods alive, Szczesny really pissed Wenger off.
• Burnley striker Danny Ings being courted by half the Premier League, says he'll stay at Turf Moor until June at least
• Yohan Cabaye to return to Newcastle from PSG. Gods, Best Of, don't tell me Arsenal can't outspend Newcastle.
• Hatem Ben Arfa leaving Newcastle, probably on his way to Nice.
• Edinson Cavani being courted by... too many clubs to count, really.
• Spurs need another striker as a matter of urgency - there has to be someone.

Also, Real Madrid's unbeaten streak ends, with a 2-1 loss to Valencia at the Mestalla, with a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty countered by goals from Barragan and Nicolas Otamendi. Barcelona were also defeated by Real Sociedad (yay, David Moyes!) and Atlético won, so fun times for the Rojiblancos.

Happy new year!

edited 5th Jan '15 6:08:09 PM by arcanephoenix

I can't find a reliable source for the Cabaye thing - so it's just a rumour at the moment. If he's coming back to the Premier League I think Arsenal is much more likely a destination, though Newcastle is sure to compete.

I don't believe anything about Arsenal looking for any 'keeper, except maybe for the academy.

Ben Arfa is a player I had seen as a future star in the Premier League. He must've had some sort of attitude and behaviour problems - Newcastle have released him on a free. Nasri-lite...

I'm sad to see Poldi go but I understand that he needs to play more. Inter is a good choice. He'll probably sign for them for good but I know he'll always support Arsenal and of course he's very popular among Arsenal fans. I wish him all the best.

Sorry for the absence, guys. I just returned from a holiday break in Hong Kong and I've been gathering some thoughts on what I saw from watching the FA Cup on BBC 1 as well as having a pint with my friends while watching the Sociedad-Barca game.

The cup thus far has been... disappointing to say the least. Almost every favorite apart from Nottingham Forest and QPR won their match and the style of play hasn't exactly been interesting to watch. I understand how some fans might not like seeing their clubs drawn against lower-level and amateur teams, but it gives a ray of hope that you could see a Cinderella story or two. And then there's the fact that Spurs drew against Burnley last night. The first half highlights nearly put me to sleep, and, while Chadli continues to maintain his excellent form, our defense ultimately let us down with an admittedly excellent goal from substitute Sam Vokes. At least I have the opportunity of potentially watching the replay at White Hart Lane, but this match really should have been straight-forward for us.

While I'm still not sure if David Moyes should have been Manchester United's coach in the first place, I feel really happy that he was able to pull through with a win tonight. Sociedad might have had only 27% of the possession, but their defense was sure feisty and driven to keep the likes of Messi and Suarez off the score sheet. And with Sociedad only losing one game out of six since Moyes' arrival, I think he and his tactics have been a great fit with the La Liga team. Well, you know he's been doing something right when the social media has been practically apologizing to Moyes for giving so much criticism to him during his time at United (as seen here).

Speaking of the FA Cup... the Fourth Round draws. Thoughts on Cambridge United playing at home to Manchester United, Arcane?

edited 6th Jan '15 3:46:41 AM by sanfranman91

BBC: Prince Ali to challenge Sepp Blatter for Fifa presidency

So how long before something comes up to make him withdraw this challenge to the President-for-life's leadership?

Arsenal were drawn against West Brom.

Last season Mourinho complained that Arsenal had too much luck in the FA Cup draws, as all of Arsenal's games (except the Wembley semi-final and final) were at home. I'm sure Mourinho would've loved to face Everton, Tottenham, and Liverpool like Arsenal did...

Anyway, after another won home fixture (against last season's co-finalists Hull) Arsenal are now finally forced to travel for the FA Cup. West Brom are a team that Arsenal would normally beat but they're often very strong at home so we'll see.

The next game for Arsenal is next Sunday, against Stoke. There will probably be a couple of injuries inflicted on Arsenal but hopefully Arsenal will get the three points at home.

edited 6th Jan '15 3:55:13 AM by BestOf

... Didn't Arsenal get Brighton & Hove Albion? And West Brom against Birmingham in a derby.

edited 6th Jan '15 4:27:44 AM by Elva

Oh. You're right. Seems I confused two Albions in my mind... Well, Brighton @ Hove is easier on paper than West Brom so good news.

Cambridge United for the Red Devils. Should be a good game for van Gaal to play a mixture of reserves and first-team players - like Rooney and Mata along with players like Wilson or Amos or Lingard. Then again, the FA Cup is nothing if not surprising, so I hope that United can establish their superiority. No offence to Cambridge, but it would be a massive, massive shock if Man United don't go through.

Spurs face Burnley again at White Hart Lane, and hopefully they should win and go on the next round match against Leicester City, which, again, they should win. Only Tottenham, however, can go from defeating Chelsea 5-3 one week to eking out a draw against Burnley the next (did you see that match, SFM?). I maintain, however, that, but for some stupid defensive errors, Tottenham could've easily won 5-1 - the second goal was gifted to Hazard by Fazio and the third was just not paying attention - and Pochettino should pay more attention in this regard, at least prevent the goals that are not results of counterattacks, but defensive unforced errors should be reduced to a minimum. Only this will ensure that Spurs remain in contention for that Champions' League place.

BTW, where do you get reliable transfer news? Most sites are about 80% speculation and 10% fantasy.

Also, the football world has gone nuts after Messi has started following Chelsea and Chelsea's players on Instagram. You'll find at least one headline on the Internet wondering if 'LIONEL MESSI COMING TO STAMFORD BRIDGE?!?!'. It's quite funny, honestly.

Also, again, because nobody has, till date, posted it here, somehow: Steven Gerrard will leave Liverpool after this season.

Thoughts? Personally I think if he's been with Liverpool so long, he should've retired at Anfield. It feels strange to even imagine a Liverpool without Stevie G.

Also, Best Of, what is the potential ability of the following players to be signed by Spurs:

• Mattia Destro (Roma)
• Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Schalke)
• Alexander Mitrovic (Anderlecht)
• Wilfried Bony (Swansea)
• Nabil Fekir and Alexandre Lacazette (Lyon)

Also, will Memphis Depay leave PSV this year?

edited 6th Jan '15 6:11:21 AM by arcanephoenix

Probably a year, at most. Blatter is too powerful, since not even Platini dares to challenge him openly (then again, Platini is connected to the petro-billionaires of PSG).

edited 6th Jan '15 7:26:26 AM by Quag15

I think Gerrard's doing his exit about as well as you can, short of retiring at the club. He says he'll only looking at clubs where he won't play against Liverpool. He's not demanding to be sold now, so Liverpool can choose whether to sell him in January (which they won't but technically they could) and they have two transfer windows to get a replacement. Gerrard is too good to sit on the bench and if he goes to the US or India or Australia he'll be huge.

I get my transfer news form a number of site, but recently I've found that Bleacer Report tends to have everything. Most of it is bullshit, though. You can assess factors such as playing time, club and player form, both managers' preferred playing styles, both clubs' finances and prestige, and anything else you might know about the player (such as which languages he speaks and whether he's worked with a given manager before). Even then, though, I won't consider a rumour worth caring about until either the selling or buying club, or either manager, or the player himself comment on it.

Let's look at those potential Tottenham transfers, then...

I don't know about Destro's contract situation but if he has a couple of years left I don't think Roma are willing to sell for anything short of maybe £30 million. He's one of the stars that are building Roma's current success so losing him would be a major blow for the club. He's pretty young and will certainly develop, and he's already a good forward with a decent scoring record. It seems he usually plays as a centre-forward but he's best when there's another forward supporting him (or supported by him). He can play on the flanks, as well. If he was to arrive at Tottenham I think he'd probably be on the flanks in a 4-3-3 or as one of the forwards in a 4-4-2.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is playing well at Schalke and he's loved by the fans (and I think he loves them and the club back). He might want to move to a bigger club, though - you only get one career as a player, and though Schalke is in many ways bigger than Tottenham it's plausible that he might want to win a cup or play in the Champions League for an English club before he finishes his career. He's got a couple more years left at the top before he'll decline. If his contract isn't running out he should be worth quite a lot of money, as he's not too old yet and he's at his peak. Schalke don't currently have a replacement for him, though, so if he was to be sold it'd probably be only after Schalke have secured a new forward at a similar level (or with loads of potential).

Mitrovic scored against Arsenal in that infamous Champions League disaster but I don't really know much more than that about him. I think he was a winger in that game, and I seem to recall that he was fast and had good passing. He's only 20 so he's got his career ahead of him. He's already got some Champions League experience, though, so he'd be a good buy for a club looking for a forward to develop into a star. At the moment he'd probably be a rotation option at a top-half or mid-table Premier League club.

Bony seems at home at Swansea and it's only his second season there. I don't think he wants to move just yet, though a bigger club certainly could tempt him. So far in his career he hasn't stayed long at any club so I suppose there's precedent of him moving after just a couple of seasons at a club. I doubt that he'd be cheap, though.

Nabil Fekir is a player I don't remember seeing. I know he was linked to Arsenal in transfer rumours recently but I didn't think it seemed realistic. To be honest I don't see Spurs buying a young attacking midfielder at the moment, as they've already got plenty of those. It's more likely that his agent is spreading rumours about English clubs trying to buy him to use as leverage in future negotiations. He's from Lyon, as well, and players often dream of playing for the biggest local club and he's there right now and he seems destined for a long career there.

Lacazette is also from Lyon and has a long career ahead of him - he's 23. He's an established star in Ligue 1 and he's been playing extremely well this season. I don't see why the club or the player would want a transfer but if he was to be sold it'd be to a really big club for really big money. I think he'd be a major hit in the Premier League. Moving to Tottenham would decrease his chances of appearing in the Champions League every year, though.