The Ultimate Soccer Thread 2012-2013 Vol. 3 Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga etc

It will be interesting to see how everything unfolds for Jose, Chelsea, & Real Madrid. As with every summer, this will be an interesting summer transfer window.


Here's a great story of a MLS' Portland Timbers granting a child's Make A Wish... His story is below.






http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/01/8yearold-atticus-lanedupr_n_3197541.html


Portland Timbers Invite Atticus Lane-Dupre, Boy With Cancer, And His Team To Scrimmage For Make-A-Wish Dream

PORTLAND, Ore. -- After missing his team's final soccer game last season because of cancer treatment, 8-year-old Atticus Lane-Dupre made sure his teammates were in on his wish to scrimmage against the Portland Timbers.

On Wednesday, the Timbers and Make-A-Wish Oregon treated Atticus' team, the Green Machine, to a game at Jeld-Wen Field. More than 3,000 fans came out to lend their support.

The Green Machine beat the Timbers, 10-9. Atticus scored the winning goal off a corner kick in the final minute. Portland coach Caleb Porter, leading the Green Machine for the occasion, lifted Atticus in celebration.

"Just how we drew it up," Porter laughed.

Atticus' response afterward was typical of a star-struck 8-year old: "I had lots of fun."

The Timbers Army supporter's group turned out en masse and provided songs and chants, tweaked a bit to honor the Green Machine. Commemorative scarves were made for the event and the Timbers set up a locker room for their young opponents. Hanging in each locker was a green jersey with the boys' names imprinted on the back.

A Make-A-Wish Oregon spokeswoman says it is the first time it has ever granted a game against a professional sports team. It also was the most community involvement the organization has seen.

"Atticus wanted to involve his entire team because they have been so supportive of him throughout his treatment," spokeswoman Tracey Lam said. "That touched our hearts, and the Timbers really stepped up and made it magical for him."

Atticus found out he had cancer when he was kicked in the stomach by a soccer ball during recess. When the pain did not subside after several days, his worried parents took him to the doctor. A cancerous tumor was found on one of his kidneys.

After his kidney was removed, Atticus had to endure several rounds of chemotherapy. That meant missing games with The Green Machine.

"I think he was kind of sick of all the attention for having cancer," his mom Jennifer Lane said. "So he picked something his whole team could do."

Among the Timbers players who lost to the Green Machine were Darlington Nagbe, Will Johnson, Jack Jewsbury and Mikael Silvestre. Porter and assistant Sean McAuley coached the teams.

"When a team like the Green Machine comes in it puts pressure on you," Jewsbury said afterward, smiling. "It's really tough."

Apart from the loss to Atticus' squad, the Timbers are riding a franchise-best six-game undefeated streak under Porter, new to the team this season after coaching at the University of Akron. Portland is coming off a 3-2 road victory over Sporting Kansas City and will face the New England Revolution at Jeld-Wen on Thursday night.

After the match, Will Johnson exchanged jerseys with Atticus.

"It's the first and only time in my career I'll ask for somebody's jersey," Johnson said as he proudly donned the too-small No. 1 Lane-Dupre jersey.


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More BS from United fans. I'm starting to really loathe y'all. He shouldn't go to Chelsea because then he won't be able to get the United job and he won't be accepted by the fans? :rolleyes Hello, newsflash...it is not every manager's dream job to be SAF's successor. Please just stop it. So full of yourselves.

:lol: You sound upset.
 
Portugal is a top 5 league, you can find there jerseys anywhere online. Porto do have great kits.

As for Porto, that's what they do. That's what they've been doing for the past 25 years, very successfully may I add. They have great scouts who run around South America looking for hidden talent. Buy them cheap and sell them high. It's a continuous cycle. Benfica hopped on board the train soon after, but they haven't had the success Porto has.

Porto has won the league most of time, champions league twice, multiple semi-final visits, and uefa cup twice during this span. Not bad for a team that's not worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Some top tier teams haven't been able to achieve that type of success.

It does suck tho sometimes from a Porto fan perspective, because every once and now we have an extremly amazing team, champions league winning potential like in 2011 but we end up selling players we fall in love with. - that's just the way it is tho. Scouting and investing are the priority.
yea, I'm a benfica fan, but the way Porto runs their club is perfect. You can't say they have financial problems, it's more like oil rich/debt ridden Premier League and La Liga teams offer huge amounts of $ that you'd be a fool to refuse if you're a player/club. Hulk to Zenit was a horrible move though. $ isn't everything
 
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More BS from United fans. I'm starting to really loathe y'all. He shouldn't go to Chelsea because then he won't be able to get the United job and he won't be accepted by the fans? :rolleyes Hello, newsflash...it is not every manager's dream job to be SAF's successor. Please just stop it. So full of yourselves.

Whether you want to admit it or not, when SAF steps down, several high profile managers would love to be considered to manage UTD. Can't say the same for Chelsea.
 
Barcelona's run was ended by players being complacent, not Real Madrid or Jose. I say complacency because the players lacked intensity especially when pressing on defense. Pep left because the players stopped responding the way he wanted. They got comfortable.

Mourinho definitely deserves credit for what he has accomplished at Real, but he did not deliver CL. Does that make him a failure? I wouldn't go that far. It's up for debate though.
 
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More BS from United fans. I'm starting to really loathe y'all. He shouldn't go to Chelsea because then he won't be able to get the United job and he won't be accepted by the fans? :rolleyes Hello, newsflash...it is not every manager's dream job to be SAF's successor. Please just stop it. So full of yourselves.

Whether you want to admit it or not, when SAF steps down, several high profile managers would love to be considered to manage UTD. Can't say the same for Chelsea.

:lol: ok buddy. When SAF steps down United will be considering a bunch of high profile managers that likely have already been gotten rid of by Chelsea...congrats.
 
Barcelona's run was ended by players being complacent, not Real Madrid or Jose. I say complacency because the players lacked intensity especially when pressing on defense. Pep left because the players stopped responding the way he wanted. They got comfortable.

Mourinho definitely deserves credit for what he has accomplished at Real, but he did not deliver CL. Does that make him a failure? I wouldn't go that far. It's up for debate though.

Like Jose put it, his success with different clubs and his great track record will haunt him. Especially is the Spanish press. Failure at Madrid? No way, he stepped into La Liga in the middle of Barcelona's prime (one of the best teams ever). He took on the challenge. Real had an amazing season last year and were a Sergio Ramos penalty shot away from making the finals.

Was it successful? Yes. Was it successful to Real and Mourinho standards? No. Not a failure tho.

One of the issues that Mourinho has with the Spanish press is the way the Castillano press rarely criticize there own Spanish Madrid players. Ramos, Alonso, and Casillas. They walk on water in Madrid because of there international success (even tho the Catalans/Barcelona players are the real reason Spain was so dominant).

Criticize Real, Critisize Jose, theres blame all around. But it's not just on him, it can never be just the manager. Like Pep knew the Barcelona players weren't responding to him last year, the players weren't responding to Jose well this season either.

This can def be repaired tho, that's why I don't think Jose should leave yet. If he leaves Real's going to go back to a different manager each year, it's going to go back to being unstable. That type of instability was the reason Real wasn't getting past the first stages of the champions league after 2003. Hopefully they can all just dead this madness within the clubhouse, but the media will never be repaired.
 
31 million dollars for Laurent Koscielny? Seems like they signing blank checks for Pep over there...
 
:smh: Mou

He didn't do himself any favors with that press conference. Is getting tactically out-thought at every stage of the CL not a failure? Dude really sat there and compared every previous manager with himself, as if they all had the players and resources at their disposal that he does. Wonder what he said when comparing Del Bosque's tenure with his own, because VDB was not only more successful than he was, but he did it without the antics, and he did it with his sides playing expansive football. And LOL at him ranting about semifinal appearances. Is that how they're measuring success at Real Madrid these days? As for Barca's 'decline,' the club lost in the CL semis and won the league the season before he came, and it's the same as he's leaving.

I'm glad he's likely on his way out of La Liga. The man has no respect, yet he wonders he's disliked. Shame about him probably ending up at Chelsea, though. Really enjoy watching Oscar, Mata and Hazard, and now they'll be reduced to playing his formulaic brand of football. Of course, despite all his 'love' for Chelsea, he'll wait until he's sure they will qualify for the CL before committing, but as long as he knows Pep was their first choice... :lol:
 
Rumors of Ronaldo possibly ending up at PSG. Really?!? I don't like that at all. I hope he doesn't chase that Emirates $$$. Would like to see him stay @ RM or go back to Man U.
 
Fergie could miss start of season

Sir Alex Ferguson could miss the beginning of next season after it was confirmed that he is to have a hip operation at the end of July.
Ferguson, 71, will undergo surgery when the club return from their three-week pre-season tour at the end of July.
Although there is no timescale on how long Ferguson would reasonably need to recover, the club are due to face Manchester City or Wigan in the Community Shield on August 11 with their Premier League title defence starting the following week.
Manchester United have privately confirmed reports in the media that Ferguson is booked in for the operation when the club return from Thailand, Australia, Japan and Hong Kong.
Ferguson was taken ill at a function in Scotland nearly a year ago, although the nosebleeds he suffered were put down to the number of short flights he had undertaken.
That forced him to miss pre-season matches in Norway and Germany and he also sat out a mid-winter break in Qatar.
At United's Carrington training ground on Friday, Ferguson remained in high spirits and poured champagne for the gathered journalists who attended his press conference as he celebrated a 13th Premier League title.

:frown:

hoping for his speedy recovery...
 
:smh: Mou

He didn't do himself any favors with that press conference. Is getting tactically out-thought at every stage of the CL not a failure? Dude really sat there and compared every previous manager with himself, as if they all had the players and resources at their disposal that he does. Wonder what he said when comparing Del Bosque's tenure with his own, because VDB was not only more successful than he was, but he did it without the antics, and he did it with his sides playing expansive football. And LOL at him ranting about semifinal appearances. Is that how they're measuring success at Real Madrid these days? As for Barca's 'decline,' the club lost in the CL semis and won the league the season before he came, and it's the same as he's leaving.

I'm glad he's likely on his way out of La Liga. The man has no respect, yet he wonders he's disliked. Shame about him probably ending up at Chelsea, though. Really enjoy watching Oscar, Mata and Hazard, and now they'll be reduced to playing his formulaic brand of football. Of course, despite all his 'love' for Chelsea, he'll wait until he's sure they will qualify for the CL before committing, but as long as he knows Pep was their first choice... :lol:

1000
 
Arsenal need these 3 points right now, no excuses...hopefully QPR just roll over and die and we get a comfortable win since they are already going down :lol:
 
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