Football/Soccer Discussion Thread

[Went]

im bouncing all over the house and shadshadsjkadsf jesus christ i could hug every single person i saw reight now

[Razor Leaf]

I've been out. Someone update me. HOW BADLY DID CHELSEA LOSE AND HAVE SPURS ACTUALLY FORMALLY SIGNED ANYONE YET.

[Went]

Originally Posted by Razor Leaf

I've been out. Someone update me. HOW BADLY DID CHELSEA LOSE AND HAVE SPURS ACTUALLY FORMALLY SIGNED ANYONE YET.

4-1 (Falcao 7', 19', 45', Miranda 60' // Cahill 75'), and Falcao hit the wood twice and David Luiz once (he just wanted to score, either goal worked for him apparently) in the most atrocious performance I have seen from a defender in ages, so it could have easily been a 7-1. Chelsea tried to play the ball and failed horribly once they got anywhere close to the general box area, usually to lose the ball and get a 5 VS 3 counterattack- the third Falcao goal came after a corner kick from Chelsea! They did score in a corner kick shenanigan, but that was the closest they ever got to doing anything at all.

[Nuke]

I have also been out the house and nothing has happened except Chelsea being thrashed it seems, poor deadline day really.

Spurs have signed Lloris and are close to signing Dempsey it seems, a good day for them.

[-Lapras-]

Spurs lacking some creativity in the middle of the park though aren't they?

Lloris looks a good buy even if they have a good first choice keeper in Friedel. Putting up the extra couple of mill for Dempsey is a smart move, him playing off Defoe and Adebayor could be good. Perhaps they'll do something in January regarding that lack of spark, or perhaps I'm overreacting.

Villa signed a couple of interesting players. Christian Benteke and Ashley Westwood. Going by Lambo's record here I'd be excited if I were a Villa fan.

Seems we didn't sign anyone, rumours going around that we've signed Harry Kane from Spurs but I don't think the club would take this long to announce it.

[Razor Leaf]

Originally Posted by -Lapras-

Spurs lacking some creativity in the middle of the park though aren't they?

Lloris looks a good buy even if they have a good first choice keeper in Friedel. Putting up the extra couple of mill for Dempsey is a smart move, him playing off Defoe and Adebayor could be good. Perhaps they'll do something in January regarding that lack of spark, or perhaps I'm overreacting.

Not forgetting Siggurdson and Vertonghen earlier this season - we've actually got a fair few new people to play with. But, yes, so far we've been lacking too much of a spark. It'll be interesting to see how AVB uses our new additions to bring something new to the table.

But honestly I'm with Nuke on his conclusion: "I have also been out the house and nothing has happened except Chelsea being thrashed it seems, poor deadline day really.". The most interesting thing to happen was QPR - 11 signings in one day!!! Gotta be a record. Can't help but think they're trying to pull a City move on us.

[Nuke]

This Pozzo family business is starting to annoy me. They own Udinese, Granada and recently Watford so they just swap player between each club.

Watford now have ten players on loan from Udinese and couple from Granada, it shouldn't be happening.

Anyway, Boro had a quiet day unfortunately.

[-Lapras-]

We actually did get in a striker, all be it a loan. Harry Kane from Spurs. Can't say I know a lot about the guy but he seems to have a decent scoring record. I expect he'll be hungry and be looking to impress so it's probably not a bad signing.

Bringing in Steven Whittaker, Jacob Butterfield, Michael Turner, Robert Snodgrass, Javier Garrido, Sebastien Bassong, Alex Tettey, Mark Bunn and Harrry Kane whilst retaining all of the key players from last season I have to say well done Hughton. If we survive this season I really think Norwich can really start to reestablish ourselves in the top tier.

I saw the Watford thing and you're right, it shouldn't be happening. It sucks that a club are being used as a feeder team to that extent. As a fan of a club that was made up of mostly loanees at one point (under Peter Grant) I feel bad for the Watford fans....although maybe I'm wrong and this will help both clubs. If their financial position is really that bad that they have to become Udinese's reserve team perhaps this is a good short term measure.

[bobandbill]

That was indeed quite a thrashing. Also saw a heck of a miss from AM at one point too that involved one of the woodworks.

Looks lik Del Piero may come to the A-league for Sydney which is making a lot of headlines... interesting if he does (still a vry young league in what, its 8th season?) Certainly a big name star for a marquee player but I wonder how much he'd end up doing.

[-Lapras-]

Never really been a big fan of players doing that. I'm sure he'll be a decent player even at the age of 37 but I'm pretty sure nothing will change in the league. I mean have Becks and Henry improved the quality of the MLS? nope.

In other news, damn I'm good at fantasy football.

[bobandbill]

Nope, not that likely! But it does help get the league some positive exposure (which is a pretty big issue for Australia; football is competing with three other 'football' codes in rugby league/union and australian football rules, and recently a couple of football fans doing dumb things at games has been called riots by football hooligans by the media. Yay australian media!) So it's not all bad.

He's not in the club I follow though so I don't have to worry too much about how well he might not play, heh.

[-Lapras-]

And another happy day out at White Hart Lane for my lot. A draw in a game which we actually probably edged. Spurs looked very ordinary.

[Razor Leaf]

Ughhhhh why does AVB keep making crap substitutions towards the end. He did this against West Brom and exactly the same thing happened. ~_~

[Ryoutarou]

That Swansea game was pretty awesome today, I've enjoyed their style most of the season. Think I might have found me a new team to try and follow.

[-Lapras-]

Swansea are a pretty good passing/counter attacking team, a good choice to follow. Not as good as Norwich but much better than a Man City or Arsenal.

I can see what he was doing with the introduction of Huddlestone but that lack of fitness really helped us. His sending off was harsh but he didn't look good.

Guess it's time to watch Citeh vs QPR now, captain Nasri better score me some fantasy league points.

[Razor Leaf]

How are Swansea doing without Siggurdson or Sinclair? I've always liked them but not heard much from them lately.

[-Lapras-]

They signed Pablo Hernández from Valencia as a replacement, I think he'll fit in really well.

[Nuke]

I think Swansea will be one of those surprise teams who gets a Europa League spot this year. Laudrup has recruited some great players like Michu for low fees.

Time for my regular annoying Boro update - We got beat 3-1 away to Milwall, which is obviously disappointing because it's only Milwall.

[pleb]

I very much doubt that happening, Nuke. Mabye West Ham.

[-Lapras-]

I don't think there will be any big shocks this season, the bottom half of the table is going to be horribly close.

[Went]

Originally Posted by -Lapras-

I don't think there will be any big shocks this season, the bottom half of the table is going to be horribly close.

Welcome to La Liga, where, in the last three seasons, there was a bigger gap between 2nd and 3rd than between 3rd and 18th.

[Nuke]

Originally Posted by pleb

I very much doubt that happening, Nuke. Mabye West Ham.

I did say it would be a surprise. :P Fulham have a very strong team this year as well, I can't help but think we've got a much stronger Premier League this season and the top teams have lost a bit of an advantage I think.

[-Lapras-]

Oh wow Arsenal and Liverpool are rubbish.

[pleb]

Southampton have a good start again... and lose again...

[Went]

Well, news from last night: Ronaldo scored two against Granada in a 3-0 win for Madrid (their first victory of the season, they currently are 7th with 4 points to Barça's 9). He didn't celebrate any of them and left the pitch after an hour, looking injured. After that, he said on TV that he was very unhappy for "professional reasons" and that the team knew about it. Today, the entire press has "Ronaldo wants to quit Madrid" splashes. We are still trying to figure out how and, specially, why he opened Pandora's box right after the transfer window closed.