Football 2011-2012

[TheGayTent]

Valencia?

[The Nal]

Surely the issue here though is how our average teams stack up against their average teams....

Granted we have a couple more teams who can hold their own in europe...

I wouldn't call La Liga shit... and I wouldn't say they don't have good strong teams throughout the league...

Edited February 20, 2012 by The Nal

[TheGayTent]

Not a bad shout yeah. Soldado is a good player. But as soon as a player becomes clearly the best from those sort of teams e.g David Villa, they're always poached away by the top teams. That doesn't happen (as much) in Italy or England. Spurs managed to hang onto their players for example and they're 3rd and there isnt that split in Italy. Players go freely between the top 5 or 6 teams. A lot of lateral moves in that league.

[The Nal]

That is only a very recent phenomenon, and I'm not sure it'll last anyway...let's see what happens to Bale & Modric this summer.

Up until this season they have always sold their best players to balance the books - Berbatov, Carrick, Keane etc.

[TheGayTent]

Agree with that.

[strummer77]

This is true yeah. And Arsenal have sold to other English clubs too. As have Liverpool.

[thetime]

To be fair the only 'top' teams I couldn't see selling to each other are Liverpool/United and Arsenal/Spurs. I think Man City and Chelsea get given into at times just because they offer so much money!

[eFestivals]

Gallas and cambell, or were they frees?

both frees at the end of their contracts.

[TheGayTent]

How about this for support...

Borussia Dortmund played Hertha Berlin this weekend. Berlin is roughly 300 miles from Dortmund. Dortmund took...

...20,000 fans.

That is what I call support!

[The Nal]

Its rare you get AC/Inter or Real/Barca doing deals too. Although a lot of players play for those teams - Ibra, Seedorf, Pirlo, Ronaldo, Figo, Crespo, Hagi, but they usually go elsewhere for a year or so to buffer the move so they don't end up getting pigs heads thrown at them like Figo did.

Also, just googled "players who have played for both blah blah" there and saw that Peter Beardsley played for Utd?! Big Racist Ron signed him for 250k. He only played once though. Never knew that.

Strummer - Didn't see the game but I hear there was more progress from Big Andy?

Edited February 20, 2012 by The Nal

[eFestivals]

Didn't see the game but I hear there was more progress from Big Andy?

i didn't see the game but I saw his goal. Taken like a pro, it has to be said.

[thetime]

Also, just googled "players who have played for both blah blah" there and saw that Peter Beardsley played for Utd?! Big Racist Ron signed him for 250k. He only played once though. Never knew that.

[The Nal]

i didn't see the game but I saw his goal. Taken like a pro, it has to be said.

[TheGayTent]

[kaosmark2]

both frees at the end of their contracts.

Edited February 20, 2012 by kaosmark2

[eFestivals]

Yeah only saw the goals myself, (including that hilarious own goal at the end ), but you would expect a professional footballer to be able to finish a cross like that on his good foot. nothing special there. thats a minimum requirement.

I hear his general play was quite good. Against Brighton and Hove Albion granted.

Yeah, "you would expect a professional footballer to be able to finish a cross like that on his good foot", but not necessarily Andy Carroll.

I've only seen the goal the once, but there did appear to be something especially sweet about just how he took it. If it had been (say) Rooney I reckon there'd be plenty of comments about it being a nicely taken goal.

(Carroll wasn't under much in the way of pressure at the time tho. So from another angle it was about as easy as they come)

[The Nal]

[strummer77]

Nah Andy played well again. About 4 or 5 games in a row he's started that he's been one of the better players on the pitch. Not £35m worth of course (though he never will) but he looks a threat again. Needs to give a bit more of what he takes in regards of being fouled but all in all a good performance from the big man.

His finish was good but I thought his header for Suarez's goal was clever, and from one angle it definitely looked like he tried to head it across goal not an attempt on goal...

Yeah only saw the goals myself, (including that hilarious own goal at the end ),

Edited February 20, 2012 by strummer77

[TheGayTent]

No maximum away allocation then?

Edited February 20, 2012 by TheGayTent

[kaosmark2]

From my experience of going to German games, they don't seem to have an issue with segregation. Away fans stand or sit together, but aren't segregated in the same way fans are in out country or worse in Italy/Holland etc.

I recently went to two local derbies in the bundesliga and both times home and away fans used the same entrances/exits, toilet facilities, fast food outlets, etc before, during, and after the game. So I guess, if the ground isn't going to be filled with home fans, clubs are happy to sell as many as they have available to away fans - more tickets sold more income?

Hertha average just over 50k this season and the stadium holds over 70k - so I guess they were happy to sell 20k to Dortmund.

[The Nal]

From my experience of going to German games, they don't seem to have an issue with segregation. Away fans stand or sit together, but aren't segregated in the same way fans are in out country or worse in Italy/Holland etc.

I recently went to two local derbies in the bundesliga and both times home and away fans used the same entrances/exits, toilet facilities, fast food outlets, etc before, during, and after the game. So I guess, if the ground isn't going to be filled with home fans, clubs are happy to sell as many as they have available to away fans - more tickets sold more income?

Hertha average just over 50k this season and the stadium holds over 70k - so I guess they were happy to sell 20k to Dortmund.

[TheGayTent]

Damn those civilised German bastards getting a better life because they don't act like tossers!

[The Nal]

no wonder the bundesliga is the best supported league in Europe...

Edited February 20, 2012 by The Nal

[TheGayTent]

I went to a River Plate vs Boca game a few years ago and sat with the home fans. After the game, the process is that the home fans stay in the stadium until the away fans all leave and are escorted by the guys with machine guns over a bridge (which is then closed for a few hours) and then the home fans can leave. Knowing this, the Boca fans didn't budge. They stayed singing songs about keeping us waiting etc. All good natured stuff but I was told it would have been nasty if they two sets of fans met. We ended up having to sit in the stadium after the game ended for 3 hours.

Same in Old Trafford at a Utd/Newcastle game. Home fans leave first and the Toon fans leave at a parallel exit which is behind a wall and covered with glass (strong glass I presume).

And there was a world class gang fight at a Shamrock Rovers vs Bohemians game in Tallaght in Dublin a few years back. Police, horses, baton charges etc. And thats in a shitty League of Ireland game.

Sad really. Fair play to the Germans. They really get a bad rep due to that whole Jew burning thing.

[The Nal]

Very jealous!

Edited February 20, 2012 by The Nal