Soccer Thread

[AquaRegisteel]

I'd like to have seen what would have happened if they'd've left AVB in charge at Chelsea (which I think they should've done, at least until the end of the season)... he could have been an absolute legend.



...and I can't disagree with that xD

Then again, I just stole that from pretty much everyone who said that.

AVB wouldn't have done much to help. Doubt he would get past Barcelona and Bayern Munich anytime soon at Tottenham...

EDIT: I don't think Jones will ever have that much team time at Old Trafford, due to RvP...replacement for Rooney.

[J-Myc]

In fairness AVB was arrogant in trying to change so much so soon and basically tried to force out the old guard and because of that Chelsea's season suffered. I think Abramovich knew that Chelsea may not win the title in this transition season but there was still a minimum expectation of finishing in a Champions League spot which seems pretty fair. However with the way things were progressing it looked as if Chelsea were not going to finish in the top 4 and that would have been catastrophic for them in terms of revenue and rebuilding the squad.

It's only because Chelsea via flukes and negative tactics won the Champions League that Di Matteo still has a job now.

[RevengeHitokage]

I heard that he left Stamford Bridge in tears after most of the players refused to say good-bye to him.

What a bunch of w*nkers. If I was AVB, I would have just gone back to Portugal after that.

It seems Kenwyne Jones is a United player now

Love his goal celebrations! Please let it be true!

[synthetica]

It seems Kenwyne Jones is a United player now; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenwyne_Jones

United sign yet another striker -_-

Obviously, that's not true. There's nothing about it on the official site of either club. It's just wikipedia getting trolled again.

[RevengeHitokage]

In fairness AVB was arrogant in trying to change so much so soon and basically tried to force out the old guard and because of that Chelsea's season suffered.

We see (or did see) armchair pundits criticising Chelsea's old guard week-in week-out, yet when somebody actually has the courage to sort it out, he gets sacked I think Spurs will suit him better anyway...

[J-Myc]

He didn't really try to phase them out or anything and that was the problem, he effectively tried to change too much too soon. There was no-one good enough to replace the likes of Lampard, Drogba et al which meant that from time to time he had to rely on Drogba or Lampard bailing them out by salvaging a draw which immediately undermined his position. He still wouldn't really give Lampard credit for the times he did save them in matches.

That right there instantly ruins team morale and will affect performances so the way AVB tried to change the team just did not work. I don't think it was courage or anything, he was just arrogant.

[Ninjames]

AVB tried to change Chelsea but they didn't need changing, not really. The older players were still doing fine. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

[KickAsh]

I was going to rant about how it wasn't entirely AVB's fault that he got fired, it was a player mutiny, etc. but I see that's already been taken care of.

AVB tried to change Chelsea but they didn't need changing, not really. The older players were still doing fine. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

AVB was trying to phase out the old guard of Lampard, Drogba, Cole, Terry, etc. Drogba was 35 at the time and his contract was running out and would not have been renewed. So it makes sense that AVB would play him less to give players like Lukaku more playing time. Lampard was 33, Ashley Cole was 31, and Terry was 31. These players, while all world class, are old and past their physical peaks. Drogba has gone to China because he wouldn't be able to consistently perform well in the EPL, Lampard is still a class player but his contract likely won't be renewed when it runs out at the end of the season. Cole and Terry have maybe two or three more years left in the tank before they retire or or go off to a lesser league.

Basically, these guys are old, and they needed replacements for the future. It wasn't broken yet, but it soon would have been, and ABV just wanted to make sure Chelsea could cope.

[ToeyJoey]

2-0 down at home to Swindon in the League Cup, with basically a full strength side.

Edit: 4-3 to Swindon. Screwed.

[Ninjames]

Fulham have officially confirmed that they have agreed a fee with Tottenham for the sale of Moussa Dembele.

[The Benmeister]

Good evening for the League Cup, shocks everywhere!

Also Malaga are in their first Champions League, good on 'em.

[~Nicole~]

Mourinho is excuses excuses, saying in a press conference today he said winning the Supercup and beating Barcelona is not important, so when Madrid collect their cutass tomorrow he won't look like a buttomhole. Note that he said he wants to win the Supercup and beat Barca last week so he'd have won everything in every league he has coached in, right? Good. Mourinho is a frickin' ass boy, God! Buying Modric from Tottenham, Modric will just be Kaka II, that's all. Time for Madrid to collect their third cutass in a row tomorrow, and for Fiorentino Perez to sack Mourinho's ass in panic, lol. Mou should have an expiry date, like milk. He expires after 3 yrs. Time for Perez and his gay club Madrid to sack him and bring in someone else.

[ShinyHaxorus]

I read an comment on the football app last night about Manuel Almunia saying Real paid way too much for Modric, what has he been smoking? In a tranfer window that saw players like Matt Jarvis and Steven Fletcher move for £11 and £14 (after add ons) million respectively I think Modric went for dirt cheap.

[Ninjames]

Dimitar Berbatov is set to move to Fiorentina after agreeing personal terms with the club. Good luck to him.

[abrar14]

At least he'll play a few matches there

[~Nicole~]

An interesting trivia fact about this evenings El Clasico: Any of Barcelona's last 7 results at the Bernabeau will be enough to win us our fourth consecutive Spanish Supercup.

I'm going to downplay the importance of the Supercup, cause we can win the Supercup and not win a crap this season, but I'm placing all the importance in the world on beating the gayest club in the world Real Madrid! Perhaps another 6-2 or 5-0 or maybe even 8-0 this time around? I think we deserve to win by any of those three results, but we'll see.

[ShinyHaxorus]

Dimitar Berbatov is set to move to Fiorentina after agreeing personal terms with the club. Good luck to him.

Good luck to the fella, bit gutted about him leaving but at least he's going to playing more games.

[ToeyJoey]

Agree with the Berbatov sentiments, also pointing out it's currently 4-0 to Everton against Leyton Orient. It might be League 1 opposition but they're shredding them.

[TheSirPeras]

And Higuain scored against Barcelona now. Cmon Madrid, let's win this

[Zantera]

Barcelona are really getting owned in this game, if Higuain had been better it would have been 5-0 after the first 30-40 minutes.