[jackl]

Luis Ocaña, on Sep 13 2005, 10:51 AM, said:

Oh, and jackl, how's Wayne Bridge's recuperation from injury going? I was at the ground when it happened and it was a terrible blow, hopefully he's on the road to recovery now (especially if he's going to plying his trade on the green, green grass of SJP come January).

Good news: Wayne's back in full training and has half a reserve match under his belt I believe. That said, he'll probably be back to match fitness by November/December.

Though Chelsea didn't play particularly well tonight, I was pleased to see Lampard take more control of the game than he has been doing of late. Michael Essien looks like the real thing too. The goals Kaka (lol) scored for Milan were mighty impressive, I'd be suprised if Milan didn't go very deep in the competition again this year. As for Real, I think they need to learn that only fielding finesse players doesn't work againt well organised, tenacious opposition. Gravesen is the only player in the Madrid side who has a 'rough and ready' type mentality, so how can they be expected to comeback after taking a shock? I know a lot has been said about how Madrid have beefed up their back lines this summer, but we're not seeing any results. Madrid have played the same kind of game for quite a few years now, teams have wisend up to their style - Osasuna beat them over the weekend and now Lyon have quite frankly humiliated them.

[Luis Ocaña]

Daft Punk, on Sep 13 2005, 11:11 PM, said:

Owen is meh. Ask Luis.

Bastard.

Regarding what you said earlier about Van Nistelrooy, one of the things that has evident when I have seen him play the last few times is that he has lost that special 'something' from his game. I just can't see him scoring a similar goal to the memorable one he scored against Fulham at Old Trafford at the minute, as he seems to be limiting the amount of times he comes deep and collects the ball before running at the defences. This is probably a result of Rooney's presence in the team, due to the fact that his favoured and most efficient position is operating just behind a lone striker it means that Ruud doesn't have to drop as deep as he may have used to for service any more.

That being said, he is still a tremendous predator, and, as was illustrated by Boumsong's slip, will take advantage of any opportunity thrown his way.

Quote

Good news: Wayne's back in full training and has half a reserve match under his belt I believe. That said, he'll probably be back to match fitness by November/December.

Good stuff.

[Luis Ocaña]

Daft Punk, on Sep 14 2005, 11:34 AM, said:

As for Real, although I've not seen them play yet, this season, I have heard that (because of the players at their disposal) Luxemburgo is adopting the Brazillian 4 2 2 2 method (the front four all interchanging). If anything, that's more attack minded than even the Real of recent past. Playing Beckham and Gravesen in front of their acknowledged crap defence isn't gonna solve any problems they've had for the last few seasons.

Signing Julio Baptista, a fantastic player, then playing him on the left wing is comparable to having Gordan Ramsey as a waiter.

[claas]

German news.

Schalke 04 will so not make it to the next round. Asamoah is out for months and Sand`s days are long gone.
Werder Bremen faces Barcelona - say no more.

Bayern looks like a contender this year.
They play an excellent ball these days - nevermind they are the German ManU.

Also, there are 5 (!) German teams playing the UEFA cup.
Hamburg won the UI Cup and Mainz (after ONE season of bundesliga play) qualified via the fair play ranking - as 11th ranked in the league.

None of them will make it very far in the competition though.

[Cragster]

jackl, on Sep 13 2005, 04:46 PM, said:

Instead of having to hijack threads, lets have an official thread on the beautiful game.  Use the thread to talk about domestic football, european competition, or whatever.

Tonight's Champions League games:
    PSV  Schalke
Milan Fenerbahçe
Lyon  Real Madrid
Olympiacos Rosenborg
Betis Liverpool
Chelsea Anderlecht
Artmedia Internazionale
Rangers Porto

I was at the Rangers v Porto (3-2) game last night. Wonderful atmosphere as you'd expect. We certainly rode our luck, I'll make no bones about that. Dado Prso could've been sent off for his 'Glasgow Kiss' on the Porto player, that guy's nose is truly fucked. All in all, delighted with this unexpected start but realistically we're still looking for a UEFA cup spot by dint of finishing 3rd. I wish I could've gone to Internazionale but there's no fans allowed in the San Siro.

V impressed with Lyons, dark horses surely for the Champs league?

[Hendrik]

poor Anderlecht

it's gonna be the same as last year: 0 points

unless they keep playing on the same level as last night, although Chelsea didn't play that well

[Kaziu]

Daft Punk, on Sep 13 2005, 10:14 PM, said:

I'm a Manchester United fan, or 'Man U' as they're known. :/

Or Shite as i call them.I support the real team in Manc................CITY!!!!The bluemoon is rising.

[Kaziu]

Hendrik, on Sep 14 2005, 03:15 PM, said:

poor Anderlecht

it's gonna be the same as last year: 0 points

unless they keep playing on the same level as last night, although Chelsea didn't play that well

I thought you needed to attack Chelsea more,you seem to accept they were going to beat you.Mpenza hardly saw the ball.Shame, your not that bad.

[Hendrik]

Kaziu, on Sep 14 2005, 08:22 PM, said:

I thought you needed to attack Chelsea more,you seem to accept they were going to beat you.Mpenza hardly saw the ball.Shame, your not that bad.

acctually, we didn't get our hopes up, we thought a draw would be the best possible result. But yes, anderlecht did play too defensive (at some time 3 players covering Drogba, come the fuck on), they wanted to build a defensive wall since our key player (Vincent Kompany) was still injured

[claas]

Kaziu, on Sep 14 2005, 04:22 PM, said:

I thought you needed to attack Chelsea more,you seem to accept they were going to beat you.Mpenza hardly saw the ball.Shame, your not that bad.

Is that Hamburg`s Emile`s brother?

[Hendrik]

claas, on Sep 14 2005, 09:40 PM, said:

Is that Hamburg`s Emile`s brother?

yup, Emile is the talented one

[claas]

Hendrik, on Sep 14 2005, 06:04 PM, said:

yup, Emile is the talented one

Talent schmalent, my man.
He better starts scoring soon or this will be his last Bundesliga season.

[Hendrik]

claas, on Sep 14 2005, 10:10 PM, said:

Talent schmalent, my man.
He better starts scoring soon or this will be his last Bundesliga season.

I know, but talent is relative. Although he can't play for shit in the Bundesliga, he would be one of the top attackers in Belgium

[Luis Ocaña]

Daft Punk, on Sep 14 2005, 11:34 AM, said:

EDIT: With regards my Owen comment, as decent a player as he is, he's always been hugely overrated, imo. What was interesting was the way pundits would always throw in the "he'll guarantee you 20 league goals a season" line, during the whole transfer saga. Owen has never scored more than 18 league goals in a season (even that was his highest tally). Even Kevin Phillips has managed more than 20 league goals in a season. Plus, his first touch sometimes makes me laugh.

My 'bastard' reaction to your comment was one of frustration that you'd pointed out his flaws. I have exactly the same opinion of him as you. A good player, yes. A world class one - sadly no.

[claas]

Hendrik, on Sep 14 2005, 06:37 PM, said:

I know, but talent is relative. Although he can't play for shit in the Bundesliga, he would be one of the top attackers in Belgium

He is a good striker really. Strong. Fast.
But it seems like he always tries to think too much in front of the goal.

He came to Hamburg last year with high expectations but he hasn`t done much so far really.

[dionisio]

Club Brugge 1-2 Juventus
Rapid 0-1 Bayern
Sparta 1-1 Ajax
Arsenal 2-1 Thun
Udinese 3-0 Panathinaikos
Bremen 0-2 Barcelona
Benfica 1-0 Lille
Villarreal 0-0 Man. United

Solid debut from Villareal, unfortunately they didn't get all 3 points.

[TheNew]

dionisio, on Sep 14 2005, 10:45 PM, said:

Solid debut from Villareal, unfortunately they didn't get all 3 points.

Ouch, even considering Rooney's foul temperament, Manchester United did not seem overly tight.

[Kaziu]

I was hoping Forlan would score a bagfull against them.United will do nowt this season.

[TheNew]

Kaziu, on Sep 15 2005, 01:14 AM, said:

United will do nowt this season.

Sadly enough, I may be inclined to agree. However, there is still time for improvement, as much as can be done in this build up to the mid-season.

[Kaziu]

I have a sneeky feeling that Bayern Munich will do well in this years Champs League,they are very strong this season and have got in a couple if decent players.At 40/1 they look tasty.Plus they have a decent record in this competition.

[dionisio]

Kaziu, on Sep 15 2005, 01:23 AM, said:

I have a sneeky feeling that Bayern Munich will do well in this years Champs League,they are very strong this season and have got in a couple if decent players.

I've got to agree, but i do hope Barca get through.

[TheNew]

dionisio, on Sep 15 2005, 01:26 AM, said:

i do hope Barca get through.

Ha, do you think they're strong enough to pull it off? They're a seemingly consistantly improving team and getting through may be the most significant step to recieving recognition.