Now, let's talk some SOCCER!

Well I'll be!!

Ole Jose never quits, does he? Because Chelski was screwed in that first match he said he was planning to take his "B" squad to Spain for the 2nd leg. "There is no way we can get a fair shake @ Barcelona". What a dork!

After the 1st match the English Press named John Terry "Man of the Match". I wouldn't be surprised if the Spanish Press did too!

God....I love it, big ed

 

you must have forgotten about last year

Jose Mourinho 2 -1 Frank Rijkaard

 

You say it sooooo right: LAST year.

Nothing as old as yesterdays' news...

Be a tough man and predict a win THIS SEASON in stead!

regards,
slam

 

It's about time you rose to the bait!

The matches are almost an afterthought. The more entertaining parts are the before and after comments and interviews!

Go So'hampton, Hmmmm ed

 

i think you two should know something - Chelsea are the best team in the world they have more players going to the World Cup then any team ever has. and they will win the tie .

 

they're talking about Chelsea on Talksport now. you can listen to it if they allow countries outside the UK. copy the link below to a text file and save it as Talksport.m3u

http://mediaserver.radiomonitor.com:8000/Fallback

 

Has Pele made his World Cup 2006 prediction yet?



snowbound

 

Yep....Brazil to win....England and Italy look pretty good....Darkhorses are Angola and Czechs.

Of course, word is that the best player ever is the worst predictor ever!

It's still a bit early yet. I'll let you know my pick in August.

Play on, big ed

Ps...England and Italy will crash...I'd like to see Holland win but only if slammer promises to not be insufferable!

 

Well what 'll ya know: I was a lousy player in my days....

Sorry mate: no can do. I'll try, though.........................................NOT!

 

Oh oh.... lots of work yet to be done by our 'beloved' (...) neighbours, and hosts of worldcup 2006...

Azurri smash Fritz in friendly on wednesday:​

ITALY vs GERMANY

4 - 1

​

 

Hah....England crushed "World Power" Uraguay 2-1 scoring the winner in extra time. This was despite the heroic efforts of 2 of my favorite defenders.....Terry and Ferdie....to give the match away. Terry made a awesome clearing header to the foot of an attacker who promptly tucked the ball into the net (DUH!). Ferdinand, several times, carried the ball to midfield and in an awesome display of dribbling lost the ball. Only his pace in the chase saved his bacon. Where is Danny Mills when you need him!

GO ENGLAND!!

Play on, big ed

 

Un-official warning for all non-orange competitors at worldcup 2006:

THE HUNTER* is on his way to catch the gold.

Last couple of months discussion is going on in Holland about the speed-up naturalisation of Feyenoord-striker Salomon Kalou, a player of Ivory Coast. Even Holland-coach Marco van Basten is in favor of this action.
Problem is: the law only allows this procedure when the person is living and working for at least 5 years in The Netherlands.

I'm against for 3 reasons:

1) Kalou isn't that important/skilled addition to the team. Therefor it would be an act of positive discrimination. Unfair to all other immigrants in the same procedure!

2) Kalou is only doing it for the money: with a Dutch passport he can easily get a lucrative$$$ transfer to f.e. the english premier league.

3) A new kid is on the block (from real Dutch origin):

It's AJAX-striker *Klaas Jan Huntelaar (Remember that name!!!!)
This weekend he scored his 3rd hattrick of the season to come at an average of more than 1 on 1: 27 goals scored in 24 matches played.

Who needs a greedy Kalou when you have a joyful Huntelaar?


Football is all about the joy of the game, friendship and fairplay.
Not about the money only.
We want JOY, superb play, smiles on the faces and goals, lots of goals!

Prospects are improving, mood is clearing, confidence is growing.
Looking forward to the start of the worldcup, bring 'em on!


[MOVE] All on the ATTACK!!! ("AANVALLUH!") [/MOVE]

Slammer is happy

Play on!

 

Hah!! Slammer,

I just knew that you would be unable to keep your enthusiasm bottled up for long!

As far as the "rules" pertaining to which country a player is qualified to play for.....it's a joke!

When is anything not about $$?

I find it quite amazing how a major % of these big, strong, and agile athletes can perform so brilliantly on 80 % of the pitch. Of course, when in their opponents penalty area, they seem to lose all coordination! I realise that it's only the opponents of one's favorite team that cheats. Just ask any Mgr.! I would like to see diving made a "red card" offense w/progressively stiffer sanctions for repeat offenses.

Play on Fairly, big ed

Ps...I can't think of "any" team that doesn't have a diver or three!!

 

Well...guess what?

Barca 1 Chelski 1 (bye Chelski)....on aggregate.

But of course... the best team lost! According to the "Special One" the reason Chelski is out is because of the penalty given in the first game!!

What a doofus!!

Losing some of my enthusiasm, big ed

 

thanks, big ed. i was quite busy yesterday and somehow forgot about the game, so i'm glad you let us know what happened.

actually, my friend told me JM said something like this right after the game - 'they haven't managed to beat us in 4 games when there's been 11 players from each side on the pitch' thinking about it he's quite right

 

Your welcome Icy,

When you're right ... you're right! Now...if we only could convince the Refs to stop throwing players out of the match when they are supposed to....

Ps...I guess it's easy to pick on a top ranking team...it has always been thus.

Pps...Bobby Charlton was quoted (not exact) the other day: "Since the influx of foriegn players diving has become a huge problem. English Football used to be a gentleman's game." AMEN, Bobby!!

Ppps...I rarely, if ever, watch MSL (US) Football ..... if it's a windy day you might have 22 guys laying on the ground moaning.

 

Short reply to the above 'sirs':

In general I'm with you guys: me too, I am disgusted with the diving skills (alas also frequently performed by some of my countrymen.. ); the irritating time delaying and provocations from southern european & latin american teams/players, and the sinking quality level of the refs....

But to come back to the Barca vs Chelski battles:
The best team did win, and I think anyone who denies it is just a sour loser.
But what would you expect with such a bad rolemodel like JM...

(beside that, your argumentation isn't that strong Iceni: a lot of teams underlaying the other in number manage to WIN nevertheless, see statistics...)

I for one am very satisfied that for the 2nd year in a row succes hasn't been & couldn't be BOUGHT by some Russian playboy!

For the love of the beauty of the game: AMEN

Play on!
slam

 

i admit it - i'm a very bad loser, i can't help it and they were the better team too, Rijkaard's tactics were better.

but, i don't understand the buying victory bit, and i never will. it's like saying a premier league side can only beat a non-league side because they have more money of course it's true, football's a business.

if Chelsea were the only team to buy their players and every other club only had players playing for free it would make sense. plus, we all know you can't buy success - buying the most expensive players, or even the most talented players won't win you anything e.g. Real Madrid, they were just beaten by Arsenal

anyway, luckily for me, the teams i support (Chelsea and England) won't be losing again for a very long time

 

I couldn't agree more about "buying a victory"! The Chelsea teams prior to the present regime were loaded w/gifted players but usually ended up in the middle of the table. The thing is....I really enjoyed watching their matches because they were so unpredictable. It's how a group of players jell as a "team" .... not a bunch of world class players running around. This is where the Mgrs. come in. Of course....sometimes they think too much!

I applaud both you and slammer for the unstinting support you give to your favorites. As I don't have a particular favorite.....it allows me to snipe from the touchline!

Play on, big ed

 

FIFA Worldranking March 2006:

 

Muahahahahahaha! Oh please...not again! We're #5...we're #5!!

I hear that FIFA had a seance w/The Three Stooges to get this latest claptrap!

Playing on...but my sides hurt, big ed

 

...Thought I'd give you a good laugh again

 

Germany 4 - US of A 1

Now thats more like it!

Didn't see the game but I understand the US pulled a goal back late in the game w/about a 60 yd shot after knocking the German Keeper down. Sounds fair to me!!

What was our ranking again??

Play on, big ed

 

It is. (Why stop there, when there are 10 german players left? )

Friendlies are useless for insight in actual strength: at the tournament it can -and probably & hopefully will- be the other way around....


By the way: I suspect a deal here. Klinsmann has probably used his US contacts and 'bought' a much needed confidence-boosting result...
Thát's why all the fuss about him staying over in Florida has silenced now. Got it?

Seriously: this German team is so shockingly B A D.
(It nearly starts to make one fear them again, looking at history...)

Play on!
slammer

 

Couple of Months to go!!

Will you get to see any matches?

Play on, big ed