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

Kaka, Ronaldinho, Pato, Rafael and Ramires left off....yikes.



I don't see any way that Brazil's roster will be good enough to compete for a world cup come next summer. Not one established top striker...Fred is ok, Damiao is enh. Neymar, Hulk, Oscar, and Lucas the only top class attackers in their lineup and none of them are prolific goal scorers.
 
Mexico rejoice, Vela is back! Confirmed to be part of the world cup qualifiers and confederations cup.
 
Wenger has to be the most overrated coach in all of sports. Never seen a man who hasn't won a title in anything for almost a decade get so much praise.

That's how you know Arsenal is a 2nd tier club.


Any other top club in the world.....Barca, RM, Bayern, ManU, ManCity, Inter, ACM, etc.... you couldn't even go 3/4 years of not winning something without getting fired. Wenger goes 9 years and y'all praise him like royalty.

2nd best manager in the world and he's barely beating out Tottenham for a 4th spot in the league? C'mon b.
 
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I have no faith in Newcastle getting anything on Sunday.. so this is probably Arsenal's only chance to drop points.
 
Neymar would never go to play in Germany. Y'all know how homesick Brazilians get. A player like Neymar with that much leverage would much rather play in Spain where it's at least somewhat more comforting to him. No way he goes to Bayern.
 
Please look into Mancini's track record at Fiorentina, Lazio, and Inter. His cup record is impeccable.

Did he fail at City? Probably. But more because critics will always point to the large bankroll.

Harry and Moyes? Come on. Would have respected you more if you said Buck or Roberto Martinez.
 
Please look into Mancini's track record at Fiorentina, Lazio, and Inter. His cup record is impeccable.

Did he fail at City? Probably. But more because critics will always point to the large bankroll.

Harry and Moyes? Come on. Would have respected you more if you said Buck or Roberto Martinez.

I would have respected you more if you didn't think Mancini was a top 10 let alone top 5 manager.


For the record:

Martinez has won the FA Cup once and Football League One once, but okay.

Even if you remove Harry and Moyes and the internationals from my list, there are 10 managers which would get the job before Mancini.

He has a solid cup record I agree.
 
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MALONEY !!!!

What I'm worried about is that Wigan will now leave themselves open while they push for the win
 
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Granted I threw in a few NT managers for thought...

But....

Rafa: Can we please not forget he won La Liga twice with Valencia. He also won the UEFA Cup. Champions League winning manager. Did very well with Liverpool, performing better than anyone in many years previous to him. And he's the only manager in recent history to make Torres play well consistently :lol that in itself is an achievement.

Disclaimer: there is no bias here because he's going to United's next manager. I'm confident in his approach, I'm just not sure if he can manage a club the size of United. Only time will tell.

Moyes: He may not have won trophies, but Everton has very limited resources. I mean Goodison Park only seats about 40k people. He manages to find solid players and work them (Pienaar, Baines, Fellaini, Jelavic and lately Miralles). He's been pretty consistent over the past few years, and has got Everton some European action (even if it is just Europa). His consistency with limited resources have impressed me, I've always said that a United match with Everton is always full of surprises, and you never know.

'Arry: This may be a bit of a reach, but hell, it's my opinion, so why not. I like what he did at Tottenham. He was climbing reguarly with Spurs, with a Chairman that doesn't like to spend. He worked Bale and Modric very well. He's got a solid eye for seeing talent early (see the press conference I posted with him and Lampard in the 90's few pages back). What he did with Portsmouth is also remarkable.


Mancini had a blank check. None of the 3 managers I've just mentioned had his kind of resources, and he STILL couldn't perform any level of consistency other than snatching the title in the final seconds. Seriously, Steve Bruce with Mancini's resources probably could have won the title. Ian Holloway, hell Paul Ince probably could have won the title with Mancini's resources. Cause those managers could have done the same thing that Mancini did. Throw 11 men out there, wait and rely on their individual talent.

Kudo's for the 'Arry.... :lol I've always said that his best days have long passed him by. I always picture him standing around the pub with his mates talking about the good ol days with that thick cockney accent of 'is.

As for Rafa, his success at Valencia was predicated on the talent deep side he inherited. But soon after he resigned that team wasn't the same as before he came in part because he let the youth system languish.

The same with Liverpool. He destroyed the Liverpool youth academy & he won because he was able to spend a lot of money transferring players in. Liverpool's youth academy was once considered one of the best in the world before he came. After he left, the team went into decline much the way Valencia did albeit Liverpool is a lot worse for wear as they're still recovering from his reign.

The irony here is that Rafa got his start coaching in the youth ranks at Real Madrid if I remember correctly.

He also had problems with line-ups & substitutions that he still seems to have problems with. This issue really plagued him just before he left Liverpool.

Add to that, there is something slimey about him that I just don't like. Having said all this though, he did an OK job under the circumstances with Chelsea. That was an impossible situation he came under to coach/manage. He coached under an extremely toxic environment. I'm sure Chelsea fans would disagree with me.
 
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More programming for futbol fans stateside!!!

http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1447290/espnfc-show-air-espn2-starting-aug-11?cc=5901


ESPNFC daily show to air on ESPN2
May 14, 2013
By ESPN.com news services


ESPNFC will launch a daily studio show on ESPN2 beginning Aug. 11 that will feature soccer highlights from major soccer leagues in Europe as well as Major League Soccer and the U.S. and Mexico men's national teams.

"Soccer's popularity is at an all-time high in the United States as fans are now more familiar with the world's top players, marquee clubs and national teams. ESPNFC on TV continues our leadership role in coverage of the sport across all media," said Scott Guglielmino, ESPN senior vice president for programming.

ESPNFC's global reporters, columnists and bloggers will be featured on the daily destination show that will offer U.S. fans "need-to-know" soccer news and information from across the globe, including headline news and in-depth analysis as well as key interviews.

The show will also feature previews of key matches throughout the soccer calendar year with one-hour Sunday editions that wrap up the best highlights from the weekend action while looking ahead to what the results mean to the teams and their respective leagues.

Monday through Friday, the program will air for 30 minutes each day. ESPNFC on TV will replace the ESPNFC Press Pass, the global soccer discussion program on ESPNEWS, in the United States.

"ESPNFC will inform, entertain and provide hard-hitting insight on the global sport of soccer," added Guglielmino. "It will become ESPN's signature program for soccer, bringing tremendous value to the company, our affiliates and the ad sales community looking to reach core and casual soccer fans in the United States."
 
Rafa's short stint at Inter leaves a damaging impact in recent history. Outfoxed by Fergie while at Liverpool, complete implosion at Anfield. Chelsea supporters didn't give Rafa a square chance, but the beginning of his interim tenure was tense to say the least. He's done well to salvage a final appearance in the Europa League competition.

I believe Rafa and Harry are both guilty of living off reputation when younger, aspiring managers like Buck, Martinez, Ladrup, and RDM are ready to make claims for themselves.
 
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