The Ultimate Football Thread 2013-2014 Vol. 4 EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A etc

[Sinner]

What a save!!!

 

[dlo13]

What in the world? 5-3!

 

[nomadicsole21]

Suarez to Sturridge! Amazing composure to net that one by Sturridge

 

[Sinner]

That was wild. 

 

[tomdiginson]

Liverpool

 

[eiddyfouw]

@CentreTransfer: "I wish luck to Lewandowski and Götze, but Bayern will never sign me. Money is not everything." - Marco Reus

 

[rook]

@CentreTransfer: "I wish luck to Lewandowski and Götze, but Bayern will never sign me. Money is not everything." - Marco Reus

Always was my favorite out of the three superstars

 

[vrai1]

@WilliamGooner: Bad news: Torn ACL for Nasri, out 9 months, (Man City official page). Another player to miss the World Cup

just terrible. Had a hunch the way he was writhing in pain. Mbiwa deserves a ban for that crap.

 

[rook]

@WilliamGooner: Bad news: Torn ACL for Nasri, out 9 months, (Man City official page). Another player to miss the World Cup

just terrible. Had a hunch the way he was writhing in pain. Mbiwa deserves a ban for that crap.

Smh damn thats awful news

 

[dlo13]

Milan...

 

[jada2001retro]

You cannot ban him afterwards.

Remember a couple years ago, De Jong went in very hard and broke Ben Arfa's leg and got nothing.

 

[vrai1]

Distinctly remember it. That tackle was criminal & it was outrageous he went unpunished. But apparently the FA changed their rulebook on retrospective punishments this past year.

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11661/8820695/

 

[mastamind89]

@Milanello Milan will release an official statement tomorrow about Allegri.
- Barbara Berlusconi: "Milan delivered an absolutely unacceptable performance tonight."
- Barbara Berlusconi: "It's necessary and urgent that we make a change. We can't tolerate that our fans watch these unacceptable performances"

@PortuBall Arsenal, Man City, Man United, LFC all at da Luz tonight. RT @Portu_Goal: List of clubs who sent scouts to SLB-Porto

@AFCAcademy Mirror reporting Arsenal are looking at Atletico's and Spain U21's 19 year old midfielder Saul Niguez currently on loan at Rayo Vallacano.

 

[Coupé It]

@PortuBall Arsenal, Man City, Man United, LFC all at da Luz tonight. RT @Portu_Goal: List of clubs who sent scouts to SLB-Porto

Although I hate them with all my might, I'll give the fans credit, they did a beautiful job honoring Eusebio. If their was a time it was somewhat okay to beat Porto, I guess it'd be on a day like today. :\



View media item 742175

View media item 742177

View media item 742176

 

[mastamind89]

I just found out that the Emirates and Luz were designed by the same architects

The Benfica were amazing

 

[Coupé It]

i didn't know that but I've always thought they looked alike, the Emirates is like a suped up version

 

[mastamind89]

New signing – BVB’s Tim Väyrynen
by Rich Nelson

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Borussia Dortmund announced the signing of young Finnish starlet, Tim Väyrynen, to their 3. Liga reserve side. The 20 year old striker was already a successful club-level and international player for Finland. BVB locked Väyrynen up through 2016. So who is Dortmund’s new signing? Rich Nelson from the excellent Escape to Suomi blog tells you all about Dortmund’s new youngster.

In 2012, Tim Väyrynen had a mixed season by winning a Finnish cup medal, but also saw his side almost kicked out of the top division over financial difficulties. Fast forward to 2013, which saw Väyrynen lead his FC Honka side to second place in the championship, winning the Goal King award with 17 goals in 24 matches. Despite missing the start of the season from an injury, Väyrynen continued to develop and score a variety of goals.

At 1.91m, Väyrynen is tall, yet still seems to have room to fill out. The striker is still only twenty years old, and has scored 34 league goals in two and a half seasons. He is a fine finisher, especially one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Väyrynen is used to playing up front by himself, and his movement is excellent – no doubt related to the fact that he was a promising basketball player at school. At FC Honka, the attacking midfielders were a lot closer to him (they played 4-2-3-1), and he flourished. For the Finland U21s, who usually play a similar system, the midfield dropped so deeply that Väyrynen was left incredibly isolated.

His stand-out individual performances in 2013 both involved hat-tricks with very different outcomes. For Finland U21s in August, who blew away Wales in Bangor 1-5, Dortmund II’s new signing scoring his three goals from close range. In September, his goals came from running onto a through-ball, a well taken penalty, and a curling effort from outside of the box which salvaged a point in a 3-3 draw.

Despite Väyrynen’s relatively slight build, he shows plenty of aggression and desire to get onto loose balls. He hasn’t scored many headed goals, so it’s difficult to evaluate his aerial ability. His coach at FC Honka, Mika Lehkosuo, said about him: “I’ve never believed that hunger can be created, but I can see it in Tim’s eyes. Everything is in his own hands.”

An early move to the second team of a European giant worked well for Jari Litmanen at Ajax (21 in 1992) before being promoted to replace Dennis Bergkamp. Not comparing the two players, or the relative strengths of early 90s Ajax or the current Dortmund side, but it is a good natural progression for Väyrynen to play under a different coaching structure in Germany, without going straight into the first team. After so many Finns headed to Britain in the late 90s/early 2000s, Germany is now the clear destination of choice for young Finns such as Joel Pohjanpalo (Aalen on loan from Bayer Leverkusen), Joel Mero (Borussia M’Gladbach), Alexander Ring (Kaiserslautern), Joni Kauko (FSV Frankfurt), Mikko Sumusalo (RB Leipzig) and Jesper Brechtel (Karlsruhe), who are all playing in the 2. Bundesliga or the 3.Liga).

The striker’s fee is believed to be around €350,000, which is less than was apparently offered by Dutch clubs Utrecht and AZ Alkmaar in the summer. The FC Honka chairman had also said he would only sell for €500k, or €1 million to an English club, but despite various reported interest, they dropped the price because they believed Dortmund would be the best move for the youngster. It’s unclear if there are any clauses associated with the deal. He had been scouted by AC Milan and Genoa in 2011, but was injured shortly after.

Väyrynen has spent the winter doing his compulsory military service in the Finnish army, but is now set for the next stage of his career abroad. His potential is huge, and a nation will be watching his development – Dortmund will have gained a nation’s worth of extra fans if he makes it.

- See more at: http://bundesligafanatic.com/new-signing-bvbs-tim-vayrynen/#sthash.eOf6bEUu.dpu

f

Bundesliga | 11.01.2014 20:50:38
RYU AND MARUOKA FOLLOWING IN DISTINGUISHED FOOTSTEPS

FacebookTwitterGoogle+
Could Seung Woo Ryu (l., against Congo DR's Jonathan Bijimine) be South Korea's next big thing in the German game...
Previous
Next
Munich - Having missed out on the chance to join Borussia Dortmund following a trial last summer, it was a case of second time lucky in the Bundesliga for Seung Woo Ryu, who was snapped up by Bayer 04 Leverkusen from Jeju United FC last month on an initial year-long loan. Dortmund have meanwhile been active themselves in the Far East market over the winter recess, bringing Japanese prospect Mitsuru Maruoka on board from Cerezo Osaka. The loan arrangement here extends to 30 June 2015 with BVB, like Bayer, having the option to then thrash out a long-term deal. bundesliga.com takes a look at the league's two latest far eastern recruits looking to follow in the distinguished footsteps of the likes of Heung Min Son and Shinji Kagawa respectively.
Ryu quick off the mark for Bayer

Woo Ryu may as yet be an unknown quantity in the Bundesliga but he demonstrated his credentials on the international stage last summer, chipping in with a couple of goals to help South Korea into the knockout stages of the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey. He has not been slow to make an impression for his new club either, earning a penalty and netting once himself in the second half of an hour-long friendly against Dutch outfit SC Heerenveen at Bayer's winter training camp in Lagos, Portugal.

After the match, skipper Simon Rolfes praised the 20-year-old newcomer for his “intelligent play, good movement and use of space". Head coach Sami Hyypiä was likewise satisfied, all the more as he explained to sports magazine kicker given that Ryu “doesn't speak German or English and my Korean isn't the best either. With that in mind, he's integrated really well.” Help is close at hand on the linguistic front, however, in the form of compatriot Heung Min Son.
One for the future

Although only 18 months older, Son is already a five-year veteran of the German game and it is no coincidence that Ryu, too, has landed up at Leverkusen, as he explained to bild.de: “Sonny had nothing but good things to say about the club. He'll always help me out.” Whether he will be quite so close at hand in the immediate future remains to be seen, however, as with shooting star Julian Brandt, another winter signing, and Son himself, Bayer already have options aplenty out wide. Indeed,given their current strong form, they may well decide to farm Ryu out to to a Bundesliga 2 side on loan.

Borussia Dortmund certainly have no shortage of midfield talent of their own but they have also added to their ranks with the acquisition of Maruoka. The budding playmaker from Tokushima only turned 18 on 6 January and that very day put pen to paper on a professional contract with the beaten 2013 UEFA Champions League finalists.
In Kagawa's footsteps

Maruoka is not earmarked for an immediate place in the senior squad either, with the BVB U-23s his first likely port of call. That said, head coach Jörgen Klopp has form when it comes to giving Japanese prospects an early break.

Shinji Kagawa also made the journey from Osaka to Dortmund in 2010 and within months, the previously unknown summer signing had become a household name far beyond the confines of the Ruhr district. Now Kagawa plays for English record champions Manchester United and enjoys superstar status back in Japan. It's another inspiring example for the Bundesliga's freshest far-eastern duo.

Sebastian Blome/Angus Davison

 

[Kimchi Papi]

I've always joked instead of signing Dortmund players, teams should sign the players they will sign to fill those spots...

 

[mytsharp]

Smh damn thats awful news

@djofils @lizhobbs_afc It was a fake account, I didn't know. I really hope the injury is not bad
— William Steve K (@WilliamGooner) January 12, 2014

Apparently Samir's girlfriend says he's only out for four weeks, and he did leave with a brace on. We shall see tomorrow....

My-T.

 

[MetalMario]

Sturridge's goal was flithy

the amount of work he put into for that is piff

reminds me of Walcott's goal from awhile back where guy fell over him and still went at it and scored like a beast

 

[Thierry Henry]

Puma kits are so damn tight/small lol, I'm 6 ft 225 and that XL fits me like a M lol

:x :x

Also happy the ESPN 30 for 30 will include Chile, Ireland and Argentina. ESPN thinks soccer revolves around England.

Milan...

Domenico Berardi

the crazy thing is, he started playing organized football at 16

 

[mastamind89]

@Football__Zone Benfica and Chelsea have agreed a fee well below the €50m release clause for Nemanja Matic. Player to sign early next week. (Portuguese TV)

 

[jada2001retro]

Chelsea is the worst business team.

 

[mastamind89]

i didn't know that but I've always thought they looked alike, the Emirates is like a suped up version

Same here, it all makes sense now.

Davis Luiz was also at the game today to pay his respects

John Guidetti is going out on loan to Stoke
@ctfcpoliceteam Spent some of the day working with FA fraud team and we ended up detaining a male feeding info back to an overseas syndicate at the match

 

[tego calderon el abayarde]

View media item 743169
JD is in TO