Soccer Thread V1: Klinsmann for Gold?

what about a hockey puck?

That is hard!

Gotta have a twig with your berries.

All sorts of wrong, I'm afraid. You'll find that Rooney's no hero in England. In fact, the papers are very harsh on him this season.

Suarez is by far the dirtiest bastard in English football. By far. Nobody disagrees. He's the top scorer in the Prem and yet when he made the shortlist for the Player of the Year this week, there was controversy.

And that was before he bit a player for the second time.

Liverpool fans like to go on and on about their club's pride and history. Typically, tonight they still refuse to condemn Suarez and don't want him sold.

no Im not defending him at all as I think what he did was completely childish and idiotic and I suspect he will be sold this summer. But I'm just saying that worse things than this have happened and players were still allowed to play in the league. Example: Eric Cantona's kung fu kick.

Yeah, more violent things have happened. We humans are a bit odd that way. A high, studs-up tackle that breaks a player's leg will draw a red card and 3 game suspension. Then everybody goes about their business again.

But a more or less harmless bite to the arm will draw a 7 game (or more) suspension and universal revulsion. I guess the tackle is seen as part of the game, whereas a bite isn't?

I was talking about this kung fu kick

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRDzXV7IgiI

Yeah, a lot of people have been mentioning it since the bite. No different to De Jong's boot to the chest of Xabi Alonso, for me. Howard Webb, in his infinite wisdom, saw little wrong with it.




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Well, its a LITTLE different; as in it was on a fan after he got sent off.

Not surprisingly, Liverpool say they're sticking by Suarez.

"He's everything we'd want in a striker." :huh Sounds like they've fined him 3 weeks wages.

Makes sense. Liverpool can't afford to lose him if they hope to challenge for a top-4 next season. But now they they've defended, for the 3rd time, a serial diver, biter and a racial abuser, I do wish they'd stop bleating on about Liverpool being "a club with incredible values and ethics." Clearly they're not.

Thats pretty judgmental, but I have to agree with them needing him. If it were anyone other than Suarez or Stevie G they would be gone. But they need those two players.
Hopefully we can bolster our squad in the summer and who knows, a good offer may come in for him. But other teams have stuck by players that have done worse than this.

Can't think of an example. Who did you have in mind? With Suarez, the problem is he's a seriously flawed man who repeatedly does stupid things. It's not a single incident, it's the accumulation. (If you say Terry, I'll remind you that the Bridge thing is not true. And he never bit anyone once, let alone twice. )

Suarez has three years to run on his contract. I think the "club of incredible values and ethics" will find itself embarrassed by him again. It seems inevitable. Again, I don't blame them for wanting to keep him. Most clubs would. I just have a problem with the hypocrisy of the club holding themselves up as beacons of morality when in fact they're no better than any other club.

You're a Liverpool fan? Don't forget about Raheem Sterling. If he can keep his head on straight he looks like he'll be a great player.

I know Liverpool has plenty of great youth players, but they dont play well consistently. As for players who have been as bad/worse than Suarez : Keane, Rooney, Terry, Pepe, Cantona to name a few

They're all bad boys, I grant you that. But none of them is in the class of Suarez. He's a serial offender.

Let's not forget that punch he threw at a Chilean player last international break. That dust-up is still being adjudicated and he may be facing an international ban as well as a domestic one.

The way this looks to be shaking out, he'll stay at Liverpool and possibly not play again this season.

I reckon all this nastiness may cut a few years off the end of his career,. When he's older and loses a step, clubs will have less incentive to tolerate his behavior.

ps If anyone in the United States was wondering on which channel Real Madrid-Dortmund is airing, it's on FX on Wednesday.

Big bomb dropping time in German football.
Uli Hoehness, Grandmaster of Bayern Munich (and ironically owner of a sausage factory) did evade taxes. Quite a lot of them it seems, so he might even breath filtered air for a while.

Also, dropping as another bomb, Mario Götze will transfer to Bayern Munich in the summer for 37 million € (meeting his exit clause with Borussia Dortmund).

In another news, I hope they chose a bit bigger kids for today to lead the players on the field. Just to ridicule the little spaniards a bit.

I hope for a great game. Could end in a disaster for either side.
<announcer voice> Bayern Munich - Barcelona; FCB vs FCB. Who will win this game of the decade. The loser may win or cede reign of european soccer. </announcer voice>

Oh well, I haven't even drunken yet.

All the good players in Germany seem to want to play for Bayern. That's rough on the rest of the league.

Today's match ought to be entertaining. I can see Barcelona conceding a few. I wonder how Bayern will defend?

this site looks legit as well (for the barca game today too)

http://www.foxsoccer2go.com/

hope it works...

edit: nevermind, it's by subscription only...damn

If you need links to flash feeds of the game, go to wiziwig.com. When Chelsea aren't available anywhere else, that's how I watch them.

Some people on the pitch looked a bit shellshocked. :eek1

Great game! I hope for another one tomorrow.

Yup, this is definitely the year of Bayern. They look unstoppable. Very impressive. Even Gomez played well. Just think, if not for Chelsea's valiant effort, Bayern would be going for their second consecutive European Cup.

Barca are less of everything that they used to be. Less press, less tiki-taka, less Messi, and less defending (which was always suspect.)

Real Madrid's defending isn't going to be able to cope with this Bayern attack either. Some years there's an inevitability about the best team in Europe. This is one of those years.

ps The officiating was awful. Typical UEFA, huge stage, so bring on officials from Hungary.

Well, that was a clusterfuck of tactics if I've seen one. Tito seemed trapped in a tactical box that he couldn't see out of. Should not have had an obviously unfit Messi on the park and he should have set the team up for a stifling draw or 2-1 at worst.

There's no question that Barcelona are hurting badly in several positions and they rely too much on Messi (who wouldn't?). But, Fabregas as No.10 with Villa as a CF could have been much more productive while they played 90% possession football and stifled Bayern. Messi should have been rested for the return leg where they tend to win at home.

Bayern are a fantastic team and I would relish a match-up with them against Madrid in the final. But, today has to be on the shoulders of the coach.