The Ultimate Soccer Thread 2011-2012. VOL 2 (EPL,LFP, SERIE A, BUND, ETC.)

[ham city]

Originally Posted by xsalvioutlawx

Someone mentioned the environment was good, to think the Home Depot Center was limited to only 20,000 tickets because of an agree they have with a nearby university not to oversell games on school nights.

Just to clarify, HDC is actually on the campus of CSU Dominguez Hills. They own the real estate, the Galaxy are just tenants. 
Still kinda ridiculous though, I had heard they were gonna be capped at 15,000 earlier in the week. 

 

[ham city]

Originally Posted by PersiaFly

Watching MLS is sort of like playing Fifa with some who is not good at the game. Predictable offense, defenders out of position all over the place, etc.

This often applies in some way to the bottom half of all the big four leagues too. 

 

[persiafly]

Originally Posted by HAM CITY

Originally Posted by PersiaFly

Watching MLS is sort of like playing Fifa with some who is not good at the game. Predictable offense, defenders out of position all over the place, etc.

This often applies in some way to the bottom half of all the big four leagues too. 

Oh mos def. I have no shame in admitting I only watch 10-12 club teams total across Europe. Don't have time to watch mediocre, predictable soccer. 

 

[abovelegit1]

Originally Posted by PersiaFly

I wonder how much Pele stands to benefit financially from the potential rise of Neymar. It can't be just nationalism that is prompting him to say things like Neymar will be better than Messi and if he could partner with any other striker it'd be Neymar. Doesn't add up.

Despite his greatness, he's always been ludicrously arrogant yet insecure about his place in history. Seems like whenever a transcendent talent comes along, Pele is always there rip said player, and remind us of how great he was himself. Perhaps he's just close to Neymar due to the Santos connection, but I seem to remember what Brazillian Ronaldo called him some years back: "a two-bob opportunist." Not to mention the whole player of the century fiasco in 2000.

 

[persiafly]

*$! was that? How do you just kick a dude like that in the penalty box when you desperately need a goal to advance?

 

[xsalvioutlawx]

!++% the redbulls

 

[jello b afro]

terrible attempt at a defensive play by that red bulls dude

kicked beckham right in the ribs

 

[xsalvioutlawx]

He kicked Beckham on purpose, because Beckham kicked that shot on goal right before and it hit the guys arm/face. Beckham called for a handball and got the ball back then that dude straight kicked him on purpose.

 

[persiafly]

Originally Posted by abovelegit1

Originally Posted by PersiaFly

I wonder how much Pele stands to benefit financially from the potential rise of Neymar. It can't be just nationalism that is prompting him to say things like Neymar will be better than Messi and if he could partner with any other striker it'd be Neymar. Doesn't add up.

Despite his greatness, he's always been ludicrously arrogant yet insecure about his place in history. Seems like whenever a transcendent talent comes along, Pele is always there rip said player, and remind us of how great he was himself. Perhaps he's just close to Neymar due to the Santos connection, but I seem to remember what Brazillian Ronaldo called him some years back: "a two-bob opportunist." Not to mention the whole player of the century fiasco in 2000.

Yeah, it might have all been a passive aggressive dig at Messi. 
I don't know, watching Neymar, he seems too physically frail to be world class. That might sound like a dumb statement given how small Messi is, but Messi and both Ronaldos and Ronaldinho seem/seemed much stronger than Neymar on the ball. More powerful legs. With Neymar it seems his main skill right now is drawing fouls. And when he gets fouled he just goes flying as if he weighs 30 pounds. Maybe he'll develop more strength on the ball, not sure, but it seems to me to be keeping him from playing up to his perceived potential against world class defenders. 

 

[nychiphophippo]

He also picked robinho as his heir when he was 15

 

[ham city]

Originally Posted by PersiaFly

Originally Posted by abovelegit1

Originally Posted by PersiaFly

I wonder how much Pele stands to benefit financially from the potential rise of Neymar. It can't be just nationalism that is prompting him to say things like Neymar will be better than Messi and if he could partner with any other striker it'd be Neymar. Doesn't add up.

Despite his greatness, he's always been ludicrously arrogant yet insecure about his place in history. Seems like whenever a transcendent talent comes along, Pele is always there rip said player, and remind us of how great he was himself. Perhaps he's just close to Neymar due to the Santos connection, but I seem to remember what Brazillian Ronaldo called him some years back: "a two-bob opportunist." Not to mention the whole player of the century fiasco in 2000.

Yeah, it might have all been a passive aggressive dig at Messi. 
I don't know, watching Neymar, he seems too physically frail to be world class. That might sound like a dumb statement given how small Messi is, but Messi and both Ronaldos and Ronaldinho seem/seemed much stronger than Neymar on the ball. More powerful legs. With Neymar it seems his main skill right now is drawing fouls. And when he gets fouled he just goes flying as if he weighs 30 pounds. Maybe he'll develop more strength on the ball, not sure, but it seems to me to be keeping him from playing up to his perceived potential against world class defenders. 

I'm with you 100% on Neymar. Messi is very small. He's also ridiculously strong in the legs and trunk. Neymar is frail, like as in he's physically weak. 

I don't think it will stop him from becoming truly world class but he'll never be able to dominate with the absolute top players in the world if he doesn't get stronger physically and add some mass to that lower body (nh).

 

[abovelegit1]

Neymar has pace and trickery in spades, but I'd also agree with the criticism of his physical attributes. Granted he's 19, but he doesn't seem to have the low center of gravity typical of elite attacking players of similar size. At this point he's a quicker, pacier, and lightweight version of Angel Di Maria, complete with the antics.

 

[o fenomeno]

hes 10 times more lethal in front of goal than di maria.

neymar is going to bulk up. he already rides challenges well kind of like messi. messi these days doesnt receive the criticism he used to, but folks used to rip him for his strength. always tombout 'oh dude cant ever do this against english teams.' a header in the cl final against man u and 4 goals against arsenal later, that criticism is gone. neymar will be fine. he's not going to the premiere league so he wont have to worry about extra physicality.

 

[imasoleman18]

i was at bww watchin the game and i died of laughter when becks got kicked in the chest

 

[engoi]

Arsenal wants Podolski.says Daily Mail.They're ready to pay 23mil to get someone who could
replace Robin van Persie.

 

[nychiphophippo]

Originally Posted by o fenomeno

hes 10 times more lethal in front of goal than di maria.

neymar is going to bulk up. he already rides challenges well kind of like messi. messi these days doesnt receive the criticism he used to, but folks used to rip him for his strength. always tombout 'oh dude cant ever do this against english teams.' a header in the cl final against man u and 4 goals against arsenal later, that criticism is gone. neymar will be fine. he's not going to the premiere league so he wont have to worry about extra physicality.

There's no way that open header can be used to make a case for physicality

 

[elchapulincolorado]

Originally Posted by engoi

Arsenal wants Podolski.says Daily Mail.They're ready to pay 23mil to get someone who could
replace Robin van Persie.

no way in hell podolski is in rvp's level.

 

[thatpersianguy]

Kevin Prince-Boateng quits Ghana
November 4, 2011

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By ESPNsoccernet staff

AC Milan and Ghana midfielder Kevin Prince-Boateng has quit international football in order to focus on his fitness for his club.

GettyImagesKevin-Prince Boateng impressed at the World Cup, scoring against USA in the second round

Prince-Boateng, 24, is a former German youth international who was born to a Ghanaian father and German mother. After much controversy, he opted to play for Ghana in time for the 2010 World Cup and starred as the side reached the quarter-finals of the competition.

However, having helped Milan to win the Serie A title in 2010-11, he has now chosen to focus his attentions on his Italian club.

A statement read: ''The Ghana Football Association has received a letter from player Kevin Prince-Boateng on his decision to resign from the senior national team, the Black Stars.

''According to Kevin, the physical demands of playing for both club and country at high levels are taking a toll on his health.

''The player also explained that in order to remain healthy and stay off any injuries, he has consulted his doctors and family over the matter and has decided to take the decision to excuse himself from national duties since he is on a special training that he has to interrupt to honour national invitations.

''The Ghana Football Association is yet to take a position on the decision of Kevin Prince Boateng.''

 

[ham city]

He's probably been my favorite player of the last year. He a mercenary though.

 

[thatpersianguy]

Originally Posted by HAM CITY

He's probably been my favorite player of the last year. He a mercenary though.

Co-sign.

 

[persiafly]

Boateng probably regrets his decision to play for Ghana that he'd rather just quit. Most of these third world soccer federations are incredibly corrupt and are run like mafia basically. And he could certainly have had a shot at cracking the Germany starting line up in 2012 and 2014.

Who quits international football at 24?

 

[nychiphophippo]

Can you go into detail about the corruption and mafia-like way these federations are ran?

I'm sure each case is different, but a little insight on the statement would be appreciated.

 

[persiafly]

Originally Posted by nYcHipHopHippo

Can you go into detail about the corruption and mafia-like way these federations are ran?

I'm sure each case is different, but a little insight on the statement would be appreciated.

I'll use Iran as an example because that's what I'm most familiar with, but I'm fairly confident it can be applied to most non-democratic countries. The main issue is that the soccer federation is usually tied directly to the government. So whatever corruption, cronyism, inefficiency, etc. exists in the government is also going to trickle down to the soccer federation. In Iran, there is almost zero rhyme or reason as to why certain hiring or firing decisions are made within the soccer federation, just as there isn't in government. The president of the soccer federation was fired on live television immediately after Iran was eliminated from the last World Cup with three meek performances.  
Coaches are hired and fired before they even have a chance to groom players or figure out their best formations, etc. Part of this is certainly the incredible pressure put on coaches by the public, but the government just caves completely to public opinion. Bob Bradley would have been fired 30 times over his USNMT career if the federation here was like in Iran. When you have a soccer federation that is controlled by a deeply corrupt government, there will be no stability within the federation, no confidence or security for the coaches, and this affects the players to an immeasurable extent. You have to constantly put up with all this drama surrounding the game. Especially with someone like Boateng who lived in Germany and came up in their international youth teams, the way soccer is run in Ghana is probably intolerable. 

 

[mastamind89]

Any reason to why Boateng didn't go to Germany instead?

 

[thatpersianguy]

Originally Posted by PersiaFly

Originally Posted by nYcHipHopHippo

Can you go into detail about the corruption and mafia-like way these federations are ran?

I'm sure each case is different, but a little insight on the statement would be appreciated.

I'll use Iran as an example because that's what I'm most familiar with, but I'm fairly confident it can be applied to most non-democratic countries. The main issue is that the soccer federation is usually tied directly to the government. So whatever corruption, cronyism, inefficiency, etc. exists in the government is also going to trickle down to the soccer federation. In Iran, there is almost zero rhyme or reason as to why certain hiring or firing decisions are made within the soccer federation, just as there isn't in government. The president of the soccer federation was fired on live television immediately after Iran was eliminated from the last World Cup with three meek performances.

And you're bang on, the FFIRI banned some of their best players (who are today eligible to play again as FIFA questioned the banning if memory serves me correctly) because they were wearing green wristbands during a match a few days after the presidential election in 2009. The green wristbands were a symbol of support to the losing opposition as the election was a coup d'état. To this day, I still wear mine every day and everywhere I go.

In any case, there's some things that don't add up with Boateng leaving international football, clearly more than just taking care of his body for Milan.