Football (Soccer) Fans...Fall In!

[Aquanoob]

Colin, why don't you start the discussion on other football clubs like Chelsea, Man United, Arsenal, Man City, Spurs or even Newcastle etc? I will continue to waste bandwidth and talk about the club I support, Liverpool?

[Limy]

last game newcastle also not bad. LOL..I used to support them back then.. LOL.. a nice bounce back into premier league. I noticed that alot of teams from champ league come up got surprise wins for 1st few games..lol

[neverwalkalone]

Ya, good to see Newcastle bounced back; though I hope they will be able to sustain their momentum. They had a tough start playing at Old Trafford in the first game, though the scores seem to indicate a worst performance. Same with Reds yesterday; the results make it seems like it was totally 1 sided, which it wasn't. (as was the case with Newcastle vs Villa).

Man City's got a HUGE squad - they have enough Internationals to form 2 teams to play in the league! Didn't think Mancini could get them to gel so quickly, but it looks like the home ground makes a HUGE difference to their game; they were pathetic last week at Spurs.

Reds were off form yesterday; almost all of them didn't do very well. Remains to be seen what Hogdson can do to fix the issues. Think they need to get another solid (young + fast) Striker before the transfer window closes.

[Limy]

I feel that they currently lacking abit of composure.. lol.. they had the skills. Torres had some almost goals but didn't score.. LOL..think he still trying to get his touches back.. haha...

[barmby]

For purist - European football is very important. I remember asking my buddy in our bunk if wanna buy Pool jersey for CL after Pool entered the competition first time under Houllier and since 1985... There is sooo much pride even for the fan to see your team in the comp.


And Spurs is in .. after beating Small Boys no less.. zzzzz...


"White Hart Lane glory nights, absent for two generations, are back; this time complete with the anodyne sound of the Champions League aria. It may have taken Spurs almost half a century to emerge from the shadows of the elite, but Tottenham Hotspur will once again dine at European football's top table. ".. Soccernet


The mickey mouse represent the success Spurs achieved in the mickey mouse tournament. 2 finals in 2 years

[Aquanoob]

Managed to scape through this tough match against Trabzonspor in Turkey with an own-goal and a 87 minute goal by Kuyt. Let's see who Liverpool will face in the draw tonight. Final score in Turkey 1-2, Total score 1-3. Good job done by the Reds nevertheless.
Saw Villa leading and Man City drawing now, still got 2nd half for them.

You Will Never Walk Alone!

[neverwalkalone]

The mickey mouse represent the success Spurs achieved in the mickey mouse tournament. 2 finals in 2 years

Colin - nice collection of jersies. Ya- those were good years for Spurs. Hopefully they'll survive their Group with holding Champion Inter Milan.

Aquanoob: wah... you stay up to watch all the game ah?? *envy* Ya, Reds manage to survive the difficult game. Post match comment by Hogdson indicated he's pleased with performance - eh, I'm really worried if that's the case, cos they didn't play well at all!! ;-(

Too bad Villa is out. Think they just imploded with O'Neill's departure - this is really sad as they still have a fairly good team despite loosing all their (money chasing) "stars". ;-( Blackpool's manager made a great comment - it's ridiculous the way top teams are spending on players - there's no way they can make the money back; the wages are simply too high. Looks like more clubs will fall into bankrupcy soon, or end up being own by Oil-rich countries! ;-(

[Aquanoob]

Neverwalkaone, the first half was terrible and the lack of concentration allow Trabzonspor to score in the 4th minute, but I think Hodgson gave the lads a "hairdryer treatment" and they came back fighting in high spirit in the 2nd half. Liverpool should at least scored a goal before the own-goal with Ngog missing a clear open goal opportunity and some other good chances. It is a good match as Liverpool has not beaten an Turkish opponent before in their home turf, and this will surely spur them on with high morale and do the same thing against WBA this Sunday. Come on Reds, thrash WBA at home, I want to see a repeat of what Chelsea did. If Chelsea can do it, so can we!

It is confirmed that Barcelona has finally signed Mascherano for a fee of about 23 million. Hodgson can use the money to snap up some players before the transfer window close on next Tuesday.

[neverwalkalone]

Well, given there were only 5 "regulars" in the team against Trab, i guess it's a good result.
'
Was disappointed with Martin Kelly, he didn't do many flanking runs to deliver/support the front, and just 'pumped' the ball upfield many times (like a schoolboy) when it was only Ngog up there; would have been better to pass the ball upfield. Lucas was a lost puppy (hardly saw him), but Poulsen did a good job on his debut. His passes were spot on; showing good visibility, though he wasn't 'commanding' enough as Masch is. Not sure if it's match fitness too... Hope he fills into the role quickly, especially now that the latter is confirmed to be out. Sad to loose a player of his calibre, but happy that this saga is ending so we can move forward.. don't know if Hodgson has enough time to react, and we certainly don't want just any 'fringe' player!! Pacheco is good - young, hungry, fast and hardworking!

Go Reds! ;-)

[fotoudavid]

Go Liverpool Go!!!

[neverwalkalone]

Transfer window is now closed.... and no new Striker for Reds. ;-( Good news is Konchesky signs in time to beef up the back four, and Meireles joins to add more meat to what is already a very crowded midfield! Trust Hogdson will do the necessary to organise the team so they will improve on their play; the scrappy win against WBA was really a poor show at the Kop!

Best signing of the Opening season - I must say Man U's got another great deal with Hernandez; and for some 'strange reason', Milner has become 'alive' at Man City. I'm holding my breath to see how long Mancini can keep all of his players happy, as he's got a VERY BIG squad, and already, you can see the faces of all the International stars NOT HAPPY at being left on the bench! ;-)

Thoughts from others on the changes so far?

[barmby]

I am waiting for Van der Vaart - Arry

[barmby]

Win leow. They used to have a lorry of strikers (Pavlyuchenko, Keane, Crouch, Defoe, and Bent) and now they have a lorry of midfielders because Sandro and Van der Vaart going to sign for Spurs!! I cannot believe it..

[Aquanoob]

Now that the transfer window had closed, so here is the official squad list of selected teams. It should remain this way till next January transfer window opens again.
(Homegrown players in Bold)

Arsenal

1 Almunia, Manuel
2 Arshavin, Andrey
3 Bendtner, Nicklas
4 Chamakh, Marouane
5 Clichy, Gaël
6 Denilson
7 Diaby, Abou
8 Djourou, Johan
9 Eboué, Emmanuel
10 Fabianski, Lukasz
11 Fábregas, Cesc
12 Koscielny, Laurent
13 Mannone, Vito
14 Nasri, Samir
15 Rosicky, Tomas
16 Sagna, Bacary
17 Song, Alex
18 Van Persie, Robin
19 Vermaelen, Thomas
20 Squillaci, Sébastien
Under 21 players (selected)
Gibbs, Kieran
Ramsey, Aaron
Traoré, Armand
Vela Carlos
Walcott, Theo
Wilshere, Jack

Chelsea

1 Cech, Petr
2 Ivanovic, Branislav
3 Cole, Ashley
4 Essien, Michael
5 Ramires
6 Lampard, Frank
7 Benayoun, Yossi
8 Drogba, Didier
9 Mikel, John Obi
10 Malouda, Florent
11 Bosingwa, Jose
12 Zhirkov, Yuri
13 Ferreira, Paulo
14 Kalou, Salomon
15 Turnbull, Ross
16 Terry, John
17 Alex
18 Anelka, Nicolas
19 Hilário, Henrique
Under 21 players (selected)
Bertrand, Ryan
Borini, Fabio
Cork, Jack
Hutchinson, Sam
Kakuta, Gaël
Lalkovic, Milan
McEachran, Josh
Mellis, Jacob
Mitrovic, Marko
Philliskirk, Daniel
Rajkovic, Slobodan
Sebek, Jan
Sturridge, Daniel
Taylor, Rhys
Van Aanholt, Patrick
Bruma, Jeffrey
Woods, Michael

Liverpool

1 Jones, Brad
2 Johnson, Glen
3 Agger, Daniel
4 Aurélio, Fábio
5 Gerrard, Steven
6 Torres, Fernando
7 Cole, Joe
8 Jovanovic, Milan
9 Kyrgiakos, Sotirios
10 Rodríguez, Maxi
11 Kuyt, Dirk
12 Leiva, Lucas
13 Carragher, Jamie
14 Reina, José
15 Spearing, Jay
16 Darby, Stephen
17 Skrtel, Martin
18 Poulsen, Christian
19 Babel, Ryan
20 Konchesky, Paul
21 Meireles, Raul
Under 21 players (selected)
Amoo, David
Ayala, Daniel
Eccleston, Nathan
Gulacsi, Peter
Hansen, Martin
Ince, Thomas
Kelly, Martin
Mavinga, Chris
Ngog, David
Pacheco, Daniel
Shelvey, Jonjo
Wilson, Danny

Man City

1 Hart, Joe
2 Given, Shay
3 Taylor, Stuart
4 Logan, Shaleum
5 Richards, Micah
6 Zabaleta, Pablo
7 Kompany, Vincent
8 Boateng, Jérôme
9 Lescott, Joleon
10 Touré, Kolo
11 Bridge, Wayne
12 Kolarov, Aleksandar
13 Johnson, Adam
14 Barry, Gareth
15 Touré, Yaya
16 Vieira, Patrick
17 De Jong, Nigel
18 Milner, James
19 Johnson, Michael
20 Silva, David
21 Wright-Phillips, Shaun
22 Tevez, Carlos
23 Adebayor, Emmanuel
24 Santa Cruz, Roque
25 Jô
Under 21 players (selected)
Ball, David
Balotelli, Mario
Boyata, Dedryck
Ibrahim, Abdisalam
Nimely, Alex
Trippier, Kieran
Weiss, Vladimir

Man United

1 Van Der Sar, Edwin
2 Bebé
3 Neville, Gary
4 Evra, Patrice
5 Evans, Jonny
6 Ferdinand, Rio
7 Brown, Wes
8 Anderson
9 Berbatov, Dimitar
10 Rooney, Wayne
11 Giggs, Ryan
12 Park, Ji-Sung
13 Vidic, Nemanja
14 Carrick, Michael
15 Scholes, Paul
16 O'Shea, John
17 Fletcher, Darren
18 Valencia, Luis Antonio
19 Gibson, Darron
20 Kuszczak, Tomasz
21 De Laet, Ritchie
22 Hernández, Javier
23 Owen, Michael
24 Hargreaves, Owen
Under 21 players (selected)
Amos, Ben
Cleverley, Thomas
Drinkwater, Danny
Eikrem, Magnus
Evans, Corry
Gill, David
Keane, William
Macheda, Federico
Obertan, Gabriel
Da Silva, Rafael
Da Silva, Fábio
Pogba, Paul
Smalling, Chris
Welbeck, Danny

Tottenham Hotspurs

1 Assou-Ekotto, Benoît
2 Bassong, Sébastian
3 Bentley, David
4 Corluka, Vedran
5 Crouch, Peter James
6 Cudicini, Carlo
7 Gomes, Heurelho
8 Dawson, Michael
9 Defoe, Jermain
10 Gallas, William
11 Huddlestone, Tom
12 Hutton, Alan
13 Jenas, Jermaine
14 Kaboul, Younes
15 Keane, Robbie
16 King, Ledley
17 Kranjcar, Niko
18 Lennon, Aaron
19 Modric, Luka
20 Naughton, Kyle
21 O'Hara, Jamie
22 Palacios, Wilson
23 Pavlyuchenko, Roman
24 Pletikosa, Stipe
25 Van Der Vaart, Rafael
Under 21 players (selected)
Bale, Gareth
Bostock, John
Butcher, Callum
Button, David
Sandro
Dos Santos, Giovani
Livermore, Jake
Obika, Jonathan
Parrett, Dean
Rose, Danny
Sheriff, Ramil
Townsend, Andros
Walker, Kyle


For the rest of the 14 remaining Premier League team squad list,
refer to http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2...ue-squad-lists

[Aquanoob]

Unlucky United and Lucky Reds

Seriously, United really threw away 2 points in the 3-3 draw with Everton and that will result in a harsh "hair-dryer" treatment in the dressing room after the match. I watched the game and switched channel after United was up 3-1 thinking that the game had been wrapped-up and case-closed. But to my surprise, I was reasonably amazed by Everton upping the gear in stoppage time and scored 2 goals to tie the game 3-3. Look like the "oldest" squad this season may have many things to ponder about.
Wonderful run and crosses by Nani created the goals and finally Berbatov showed why Ferguson paid 30 million to engage his service but woeful defence by United in the dying minutes made them lost 2 points.

On the other hand, Liverpool was really lucky to get a point from the match against Birmingham. Liverpool could have lost a consecutive 3-0 defeat or worse if not for the superb-form Reina who single-handedly saved those goal-destined headers.
Torres looked out-of-sort and off-the-pace and he should have been replaced at the 2nd half, but I really wonder what was Hodgson thinking when he continued to allow Torres to roam the field like a headless fly. I say give Babel a chance and allow him to show us what he is capable of. Konchesky performed quite well in his debut but was injured and substituted. I hope he is is not another Aurélio in-the-making. Meireles came off late in the game at about the 76th minutes and have only 15 minutes to show his prowess and was just too short to make an impression, but he had a chance to score late in the game although he was clearly offside. An overall lousy performance by the Reds and should have been handled the 2nd defeat of the season, but due to the heroic saves from Reina, Liverpool gained a point.

This Sunday's Battle of the Titan match between United and Liverpool at Old Trafford will definitely be a intriguing one. Will Torres once against prove to be the nemesis of Vidic or Rodney finally settled his off-the-field "affair" (pun intended) and ready to play football. Another 6 days to go and I can't wait for the Big Day, but before that, United will face Rangers at home on Wednesday morning in Champion League group match and Liverpool will head off to Romania to face Steaua Bucuresti in a Europa League group match on Friday morning.

[barmby]

At the meantime, relax and watch some S-League "action"



Goto 2:32

[neverwalkalone]

Colin, so sad that you've reminded us of the DISGRACE in our local game. This is one of the reasons why I stop supporting local football, and I'm sure I'm not alone given the empty stands... so sad.

Back to BPL - it was an exciting weekend. Like Aquanoob, I almost stopped watching the Everton-United game at 90mins, but (pleasantly) surprised Cahill rose high to nod home the spark that brought on the revival. That guy is not tall, but can "hang"! ;-)

Ya, Reds were dismal again. In particular, Poulsen I think was overwhelmed, and Lucas and Maxi didn't play well (again ;-( ). Don't know why Hodgson didn't bring Meireles on earlier; he did make a difference even though it was only 15mins. Gerard was given the position just behind Torres, but had too much ground to cover without the effective work of Lucas and Poulsen. Torres didn't get the service he needed from Jovanovic and Maxi. In short, the mid-4 (Poulsen, Maxi, Lucas and Jovan) had a lousy game. I think if Babel and Ngog had been on for Torres, they would also be struggling as there simply wasn't the service required from the mid-4. It's frustrating to see the team you support display such performance when they are capable of better. Good thing Joe Cole will be back after this.

Among all the débutantes, I think Konchesky did a GREAT job, as did Van De Vaart. Too bad Reds didn't get him earlier and Rednapp pulled the coup. Looking forward to next Sunday's big clash with the rivals. ;-)

[Aquanoob]

Maxi and Lucas are just too soft and don't put in tackles like Mascherano and they don't track back as much as Kuyt. Poulsen looks to be overrated but I think he maybe still getting used to the pace and strength of the BPL matches. Jovanovic has the skill to get past players and put in nice crosses and shots but I don't like his play-acting trying to get referee's attention "technique". He need to change this and play more "cleanly" further on. Frankly, I still believe Aquilani can contribute to the team although he is also a sick-chicken like Aurelio, but Hodgson thought othewise and prefer to loan him out.

[neverwalkalone]

hahaha... well said brother! My thoughts exactly - I much prefer Aquilani to Jovan if you ask me. Ya, hopefully Poulsen will settle quickly. He did OK defending, but was HORRIBLE moving forward and had terrible passing/no vision, unless Masch. It's not a secret that many Reds fans want Lucas "out", but I don't think anyone is going to buy him! ;-(

I think the nature of the games are just too frequent/hard/fast. Can't help but these guys get injured; that's why a big squad is required. I think Man City's got a cut above the rest with respect to that. Interesting to see how things will look come Christmas, when the toil of 3 domestic competitions and Europe (Champions or Europa league) will make to the top teams - that's when the likes of Villa, Birms and even Blackpool will have advantage since they have more 'rest'!

[Aquanoob]

The fat lady has sung, and the final result between the two most successful clubs in EPL ended in 3-2 in favour of United.
Liverpool fought back bravely after going 2 goals down to a defensive-mistake header and a wonderful overhead kick by Berbatov
Gerrald scored a penalty and free-kick to level the game but Berbatov scored another hat-trick header over Carragher to make it a victory for United and handled Liverpool their 2nd loss this season.

Torres once again played below par and should have been substituted but Hodgson stick with the superstar for the whole match expecting miracle to happen, but it was not to be. He should have given Babel a chance to shine as he scored the winner in the 2-1 victory 2 season ago, and Babel have a point to prove after been given the deadline. But the main problem of this defeat is allowing too much space for Nani to explore and charge forward. Liverpool should have deployed a "shadow" to follow his every moves and put in tackles when needed. Where is the famous hardliner Poulsen when he was a terror in Italy? Has he change into a kitten and has retracted his paws? Maxi is virtually non-existence and far too too soft to contribute to the game, and it is just too bad luck that Kuyt injured himself in a stupid manner. In my opinion, only Johnson performed reasonable in defence with the remaining 3 defenders plenty of things to ponder about. Meireles and Cole are almost the same style of player and performed decently but no where near to what was expected of them. Captain Gerrald is on form but it is just too bad that he can't lead the team to at least a draw in this game.

After this match, Liverpool has 5 points from 5 matches and stands at an undesirable 16th position while United sits at the 3rd place with 11 points. The next 5 league opponents will be Sunderland (Home), Blackpool (Home), Everton (Away), Blackburn (Home) and Bolton (Away). The team really need to buck up and at least pick up 10-13 points this time. I feel quite sad that the team with such a squad but still cannot gel together and start a winning streak.