bye Barca

Remove all ads!

I agree, it ruins the game for everyone when this happens too, its a shame that some of the competition looses sight of the game and turns on officials to justify loses...

 

Barmy, every once in a while a certain group of footballplayers comes together, and it just clicks. From there on all it takes is the right coach to push the right buttons. Not sure if it sounds ridiculous to you, but didn't Greece prove us all wrong last summer ?

Well, this AZ team COULD be one of those cinderella teams. They better harvest now though, because next year most players will be playing elsewhere in Europe, including the coach. This AZ team can beat ANY team on any given night, because they play at full risk. This also means they could lose to any given team at any given night, but that hasn't happened yet. Bluff rules the day i suppose.

Btw... what's with all the non footy loving hooligans in this thread ? Someone should rough em up a bit.

 

No doubt about that.

We're just being hooligans....You mean like those guys with balls bouncing off their heads. Yeah, that's fun - zzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZ.

 

@joacquin

Adriaanse coached Ajax for a year and a half. He build the team with which Koeman (who quit last month) got almost (Play VS Milan 3-2 milan in overtime ) to the semis. Adriaanse got fired before he got the chance to really shine with his team. He even got fired when Ajax ranked 1 in the dutch competition.

AZ certainly has a chance. Advantage no one knows of them and AZ themselves have an excellent pre game scouting team, discovering every weakness of any team. I think that's there biggest strength.

Also let's not forget PSV (arch rival but since it's champion's league I can root for them) who according to some have one of the best if not the best defense of europe right now. Bad luck in draw though, olympique lyon will be terribly difficult.

 

Alex is da shizzle, made out of pure granite. Within the next two years this guy is considered the world's best defender, no doubt.

Go back to sleep Chandos, you're in the wrong thread.

 

Im starting to have doubts about how we can do against Juventus now, weve picked up too many injuries and Im not 100% confident we can win!

 

I'm not sure Liverpool ever had much chance of beating Juve to be fair mate. Especially not after all these injuries. Give Benitez a few more years and 'pool will be a very decent side. He's got too many donkeys in his side right now and is having to make do.

Pac man. It's baffled me for the last few years why Alex hasn't moved to a big side. A team like Man Utd would really benefit from his no-nonsense and intense style. Apart from it meaning they wouldn't have to play crappy Silvestre. He's a ready made, perfect EPL centre half. Best defender in the world though, I'm not sure about that .

 

This may come as a surprise to you, but PSV IS a big side. Just because they're not English, Spanish or Italian doesn't mean they're a bunch of hillbillies.

Also..PSV has a big reputation in South America, a lot of young Brazilian players want to follow the footsteps of Romario and Ronaldo, who both had their breakthrough playing for PSV. They scout constantly, and even contract 13 year old boys, who have more talent than other kids their age. They fly em in to Holland, with family and all, and hope he'll be a valuable player in a year or 5.

 

Well yes, but the Dutch league isn't exactly an illustrious league and inevitably, all the best players in that league go to where the money is. England, Italy or Spain.

 

I think its the same in scotland, the SPL has one maybe 2 good teams and they have found themselves doin well in europe, but at the end of the day they dont have the pulling power because there is no real competetion and the best players need that!

 

There's money here as well, and i'll bet there's even more of that stuff than in Italy and Spain together, except insane salaries like they pay in those countries are out of the question here. It's called realism, what you don't have, you shouldn't spent. A lot of teams in southern European countries don't realise that and have gone completely out of control, building up huge debts which they will never be able to repay. That's why in one or two decades those leagues won't even exist anymore, the banks don't have eternal patience.

 

So true. I mean, just look at Dortmund. They'll be out of the Brundesliga soon, because they can't afford to pay off debters.
The situation differs slightly in the EPL though. It is the most marketable and richest league in the world. Every so often a club is badly run and spend beyond their means then the preverbial starts to hit the fan (Leeds United, for example) but overall, it's a fine balance between spending money on the top talent while staying financially stable. Most teams here can do it, because of the money in the EPL.

The situation gets sadder as you hit the lower leagues though. The PL monopolize all the money and lower league clubs struggle for cash, big time. For example, Chesterfield FC (my club) haven't been able to pay a fee for a player in around 5 or 6 years. We just get free players who are out of contract at other clubs. We also have a **** ground that is crying out for a JCB job on it. We can't afford it. The situation is scary, but it's the FA's fault imo... anyway, that's all by the by I'll not bore you anymore .

 

I don't think the English teams are that much out of control as those in southern Europe, maybe with the exception of Chelsea. Should their Russian sugardaddy decide he's had enough, Chelsea will make a very deep fall, probably even causing their bankruptcy (did i spell that right ?)

But Barmy..you never told me...what's your favourite side ?

 

Well, as I said above, I support my local team. Chesterfield FC.
As far as the 'big' clubs are concerned, probably Man Utd. Before I hear the moans, there's a simple reason. Chelsea are currently the best side in England, but the way they have got that is through their Russian sugardaddy. Man Utd are successful from a looong time of hard work and planning. Whilst Liverpool were taking league after league, cup after cup, EU cup after EU cup, Man Utd were building the foundations for long term success.

Man Utd are who I most like to watch out of the 'big clubs'. But my love for football stems from watching Chesterfield FC week in, week out for years and years. I've had a season ticket there for ages. They are my first love.

 

hmm I can see what happened to leeds happening to chelsea, this will probably cause man u's ugly head to pop back up again...

 

Chesterfield, what league are we talking about here ?

Excuse my lazyness, i guess i could easily look it up and all, but i'd rather hear your side of the heroics of this relatively unknown club (no cynicism intended, i simply like football).

 

Chesterfield play the newly renamed English Football League One. Which is the 3rd league down, basically.

We're one of the oldest English clubs if I'm not mistaken and have one the countries oldest grounds. It's a shíthole. We need a new one, but don't have the cash right now and can't really afford more debt.

It's a club with good tradition and some good old players. Ever heard of the old England keeper, Gordon Banks? He's ex-Chesterfield.

We are only a very, very small club. We are having a decent season this year. Before the season started EVERYONE said that we were the team most certain to get relegated but we now sit in the top half the table. So a very good season so far.

Other than that, there's not much else to be said. We got into the FA Cup Semi-Final in '97 and were very cruelly robbed by the referee. One of only a handful of lower league clubs to get that far.

That's it really, lol.

 

Respect to you and Chesterfield mate, may they soon be back on the highest level.

Of course i know Banks, best goalie England ever had, possibly the best goalie ever in the world. Traditional clubs should always be at the top, no matter how crappy the stadium is.

 

Thanks mate .

 

I guess you will be relishing the arival of my ex-local team Yeovil town next season then?