Goooooooooooooooooooooooooool

[porcy62]

I was in France for the Christmas period and I managed to get some tickets to see the game Nancy - Lyon. Nancy is my team and I have been supporting them for about 25 years now. Great game that Nancy should have won. Final score was 1-1. I know the French league is weaker than the English, Spanish and Italian leagues but this match played in dreadful weather on a completely frozen pitch was a very good game of football. This is the first time ever that Nancy are doing so well in the league and I was over the moon to see that game against Lyon. For those who know a bit about football, Nancy is the team where Michel Platini started his career before playing for St Etienne and Juventus. We are still second behind Lyon who should win the French league for the seventh time on the trot.

Seems you had a great time, my main beef with the league, is that most teams play in a conservative way, French teams used to play with flair, not anymore they remind me of Calcio teams style of playing in the 80s sorry Porcy62

No offense, I too think that italian league' matches sucks most of the time, not only in the 80's, BUT, though I deeply hate Berlusconi for political reason, I have to admit that Sacchi's AC Milan with Baresi, Maldini, Donadoni, Costacurta, Rijkaard, Van Basten and Gullit was much more GALACTIC then today's Real Madrid.

Overall I think that team played one the best football I saw in my life.

[alexk]

BUT, though I deeply hate Berlusconi for political reason, I have to admit that Sacchi's AC Milan with Baresi, Maldini, Donadoni, Costacurta, Rijkaard, Van Basten and Gullit was much more GALACTIC then today's Real Madrid.

Overall I think that team played one the best football I saw in my life.

Even though I'm a Lazio fan, that was a FANTASTIC team. Fabio Capello's AC Milan, the team that trashed Barcelona 4-0 in the European Cup Final, was also great. Juventus may have won more championship titles but I think AC Milan have always played the most attractive football in Italy. If Man Utd don't win the Champions League this year, then I hope it's them.

[Van Basten II]

I was in France for the Christmas period and I managed to get some tickets to see the game Nancy - Lyon. Nancy is my team and I have been supporting them for about 25 years now. Great game that Nancy should have won. Final score was 1-1. I know the French league is weaker than the English, Spanish and Italian leagues but this match played in dreadful weather on a completely frozen pitch was a very good game of football. This is the first time ever that Nancy are doing so well in the league and I was over the moon to see that game against Lyon. For those who know a bit about football, Nancy is the team where Michel Platini started his career before playing for St Etienne and Juventus. We are still second behind Lyon who should win the French league for the seventh time on the trot.

Seems you had a great time, my main beef with the league, is that most teams play in a conservative way, French teams used to play with flair, not anymore they remind me of Calcio teams style of playing in the 80s sorry Porcy62

You are right about French teams being very cautious especially when playing away. Your comparison with the Italian league in the 80s is spot on. The problem is that French clubs can't compete with richer English, Italian and Spanish clubs and they find very difficult to attract very good strikers. So many French players leave the country every year for financial reasons ( salary and taxes). It is a shame but I can't see things change in the foreseable future. Yet, the level is better than many people think it is and apart from Lyon, the rest of the clubs are of similar quality. In the English or the Italian leagues, the bottom five or six teams are really poor.

It's one thing doing to do what you can with what you've got when you face strong european sides, but it does not excuse the poor quality of the domestic league, they all seem to play with the aim of not losing instead of winning. I look at a league like Bundesliga which isn't that stronger than the French Championship and there is a huge difference about the pholosophy of how the game is played.

[Van Basten II]

I was in France for the Christmas period and I managed to get some tickets to see the game Nancy - Lyon. Nancy is my team and I have been supporting them for about 25 years now. Great game that Nancy should have won. Final score was 1-1. I know the French league is weaker than the English, Spanish and Italian leagues but this match played in dreadful weather on a completely frozen pitch was a very good game of football. This is the first time ever that Nancy are doing so well in the league and I was over the moon to see that game against Lyon. For those who know a bit about football, Nancy is the team where Michel Platini started his career before playing for St Etienne and Juventus. We are still second behind Lyon who should win the French league for the seventh time on the trot.

Seems you had a great time, my main beef with the league, is that most teams play in a conservative way, French teams used to play with flair, not anymore they remind me of Calcio teams style of playing in the 80s sorry Porcy62

No offense, I too think that italian league' matches sucks most of the time, not only in the 80's, BUT, though I deeply hate Berlusconi for political reason, I have to admit that Sacchi's AC Milan with Baresi, Maldini, Donadoni, Costacurta, Rijkaard, Van Basten and Gullit was much more GALACTIC then today's Real Madrid.

Overall I think that team played one the best football I saw in my life.

Yep it was an amazing team, too bad at the time couldn't see much of them.

I do think that Italian games are quite watchable, they were some years that we had at least on great game per week. But my favourite domestic team remains Chievo Verona under the helm of Luigi Del Neri when they got promoted Serie A. What a wild and exciting they were, great offence and not much relance of defence which made for terridfic and entertaining matches. I remember fondly a few derby matches against rivals Hellas Verona.

[porcy62]

I was in France for the Christmas period and I managed to get some tickets to see the game Nancy - Lyon. Nancy is my team and I have been supporting them for about 25 years now. Great game that Nancy should have won. Final score was 1-1. I know the French league is weaker than the English, Spanish and Italian leagues but this match played in dreadful weather on a completely frozen pitch was a very good game of football. This is the first time ever that Nancy are doing so well in the league and I was over the moon to see that game against Lyon. For those who know a bit about football, Nancy is the team where Michel Platini started his career before playing for St Etienne and Juventus. We are still second behind Lyon who should win the French league for the seventh time on the trot.

Seems you had a great time, my main beef with the league, is that most teams play in a conservative way, French teams used to play with flair, not anymore they remind me of Calcio teams style of playing in the 80s sorry Porcy62

No offense, I too think that italian league' matches sucks most of the time, not only in the 80's, BUT, though I deeply hate Berlusconi for political reason, I have to admit that Sacchi's AC Milan with Baresi, Maldini, Donadoni, Costacurta, Rijkaard, Van Basten and Gullit was much more GALACTIC then today's Real Madrid.

Overall I think that team played one the best football I saw in my life.

Yep it was an amazing team, too bad at the time couldn't see much of them.

I do think that Italian games are quite watchable, they were some years that we had at least on great game per week. But my favourite domestic team remains Chievo Verona under the helm of Luigi Del Neri when they got promoted Serie A. What a wild and exciting they were, great offence and not much relance of defence which made for terridfic and entertaining matches. I remember fondly a few derby matches against rivals Hellas Verona.

IMHO other great teams of recent past were Napoli with Maradona, Sampdoria (MY team, I am native of Genova) with Cerezo, Briegel, Mancini and Vialli, that lost the final of Champion's Cup in an unlucky match with Barcellona. Juventus too had some great moments along the years, as well as AC Roma and Lazio. Chievo was a odd and happy surprise in a league dominated by rich teams. When money was less important, we had much more nice suprise from small teams. Overall the Campionato was much more interesting, maybe less technical quality, but more fight. Now all the game is among the three or four big teams like Ac Milan, Inter, Roma and Juventus. No way that a small team could gain the league.

Edited January 5, 2008 by porcy62

[ASNL77]

I was in France for the Christmas period and I managed to get some tickets to see the game Nancy - Lyon. Nancy is my team and I have been supporting them for about 25 years now. Great game that Nancy should have won. Final score was 1-1. I know the French league is weaker than the English, Spanish and Italian leagues but this match played in dreadful weather on a completely frozen pitch was a very good game of football. This is the first time ever that Nancy are doing so well in the league and I was over the moon to see that game against Lyon. For those who know a bit about football, Nancy is the team where Michel Platini started his career before playing for St Etienne and Juventus. We are still second behind Lyon who should win the French league for the seventh time on the trot.

Seems you had a great time, my main beef with the league, is that most teams play in a conservative way, French teams used to play with flair, not anymore they remind me of Calcio teams style of playing in the 80s sorry Porcy62

You are right about French teams being very cautious especially when playing away. Your comparison with the Italian league in the 80s is spot on. The problem is that French clubs can't compete with richer English, Italian and Spanish clubs and they find very difficult to attract very good strikers. So many French players leave the country every year for financial reasons ( salary and taxes). It is a shame but I can't see things change in the foreseable future. Yet, the level is better than many people think it is and apart from Lyon, the rest of the clubs are of similar quality. In the English or the Italian leagues, the bottom five or six teams are really poor.

It's one thing doing to do what you can with what you've got when you face strong european sides, but it does not excuse the poor quality of the domestic league, they all seem to play with the aim of not losing instead of winning. I look at a league like Bundesliga which isn't that stronger than the French Championship and there is a huge difference about the pholosophy of how the game is played.

I couldn't agree more. I think the only way for this negative philosophy to disappear would be to see the fans deserting the stadiums. Yet, I can't see this happen.

Edited January 5, 2008 by ASNL77

[Van Basten II]

Rather poor week in terms of entertaining matchups, watch NFL instead.

[Van Basten II]

With the closure of Soccertv.com the only place remaining to check out what's happening tv wise in the world of the beatiful gaame for those living in North America is this site.

http://www.livesoccertv.com/fixtures.php

Although i find it less reliable than the previous site.

Edited January 12, 2008 by Van Basten II

[alexk]

According to the IFFHS, these were the top 10 clubs of 2007:

1. Sevilla (306 points)

2. Manchester United (281 pts)

3. AC Milan (280 pts)

4. Chelsea (277 pts)

5. Santos (254 pts)

6. Boca Juniors (252 pts)

7. Inter Milan (236 pts)

8. Liverpool (231 pts)

9. AS Roma (229 pts)

10. America Mexico (222,5 pts)

I'm not sure how they award those points but it seems a bit wrong, doesn't it?

[Van Basten II]

According to the IFFHS, these were the top 10 clubs of 2007:

1. Sevilla (306 points)

2. Manchester United (281 pts)

3. AC Milan (280 pts)

4. Chelsea (277 pts)

5. Santos (254 pts)

6. Boca Juniors (252 pts)

7. Inter Milan (236 pts)

8. Liverpool (231 pts)

9. AS Roma (229 pts)

10. America Mexico (222,5 pts)

I'm not sure how they award those points but it seems a bit wrong, doesn't it?

Probably at the same place, they get the FIFA rankings.

[alexk]

According to the IFFHS, these were the top 10 clubs of 2007:

1. Sevilla (306 points)

2. Manchester United (281 pts)

3. AC Milan (280 pts)

4. Chelsea (277 pts)

5. Santos (254 pts)

6. Boca Juniors (252 pts)

7. Inter Milan (236 pts)

8. Liverpool (231 pts)

9. AS Roma (229 pts)

10. America Mexico (222,5 pts)

I'm not sure how they award those points but it seems a bit wrong, doesn't it?

Probably at the same place, they get the FIFA rankings.

Probably! But an organisation as pompously-named as the "International Federation of Football History and Statistics" (if I'm not mistaken that's what IFFHS actually stands for) really needs to do a lot better than boring ole FIFA...

[Van Basten II]

To be fair, to compare teams from different leagues that almost never play against each other is a near impossible task. I presume it's done with logarythms and league coefficients and all those tools, so you have to take it with the proverbial grain of salt.

I'm sure Seville fans will be happy to celebrate that their team is number 1 somewhere. Meanwhile in the real world they'll be fighting for a UEFA cup spot for the next European season unless they get a miraculous run in the Champions League

[alexk]

To be fair, to compare teams from different leagues that almost never play against each other is a near impossible task. I presume it's done with logarythms and league coefficients and all those tools, so you have to take it with the proverbial grain of salt.

Yes, I know, you're right about that. Isn't it a bit pointless though? I mean, the only reason the greek papers print those lists is to report on how the greek clubs ranked...

[Van Basten II]

Next on the agenda, here's the greatest event to piss off managers from the biggest clubs in Europe the African Cup of nation. Seriously, it's a very fine tournament that is well worth watching, although the tv broadcast are still a little sketchy, when i'll know more i'll tell you. Meanwhile here's the official website to know more about it.

http://www.ghanacan2008.com/fixtures.php

[Van Basten II]

La Liga has a few interesting games this weekend Villareal-Valencia late saturday and a nice doubleheader sunday with the Madrid derby and Barcelona receiving Racing Santander.

[Van Basten II]

Am i the only guy who can't wait for Bundesliga to come back in action, their break is way too long

Notable games this weekend

Saturday FA Cup action

Arsenal-Newcastle and my favourite Liverpool playing Havant & Waterlooville

In the late game Wigan receives Chelsea

Sunday

Udinese-Inter

Real-Villareal

[Van Basten II]

This is why the FA Cup is one of my favourite competition

Liverpool averts upset by 'minnows'

: One of the biggest upsets in sports history was averted yesterday when the mighty Reds of Liverpool were given the fright of their lives by tiny Havant & Waterlooville before beating the non-league side, 5-2, in an astonishing FA Cup fourth-round tie at Anfield in Liverpool.

The part-timers from Hampshire, six divisions and 123 places below Liverpool in England's football pyramid, twice led against the seven-time FA Cup winners. The FA Cup is open to all clubs that belong to the English Football Association, from the huge international Premier League sides to the tiny amateur clubs that play for joy and a pint. These little clubs are known as minnows.

A hat trick by Liverpool midfielder Yossi Benayoun denied Havant the biggest upset in the competition's 137-year history.

The Hawks left the field as heroes and were given a standing ovation by the Liverpool supporters and 6,000 of their own fans who made the trip from the south of England. The Hawks include a refuse collector, a trainee taxi driver, a teacher and security officer on their team.

H&W stunned the 42,000 crowd at Anfield when Richard Pacquette, who once played in the same Queens Park Rangers youth team as Liverpool striker Peter Crouch, put the visitors ahead after eight minutes. It took Liverpool until the 27th minute to equalize when Brazilian Lucas scored with a 30-meter shot but the part-timers went back in front four minutes later after a shot from Alfie Potter took a deflection off Martin Skrtel.

Benayoun put Liverpool level again in the 44th before producing a well-taken shot on the turn after 56. The Israeli international completed his hat trick to give Liverpool a 4-2 lead before a late goal from Crouch made the game safe.

"It has been a fairy tale," Havant and Waterlooville manager Shaun Gale said. "It will be a long time before anyone else does anything like this."

[Van Basten II]

Also considering today's results, you can send the championship trophy to Madrid. Real are truly a fine team and always get a way to win games as they showed against 3rd place Villareal. They now have 9 points over Barça and i don't see how they're going to cover up the lost ground

[Van Basten II]

Bundesliga is back friday after a long hiatus, Leader Nayern Munich will be on the road to face Hansa Rostock.

To quote Yeats, It's about motherfucking time !!!

[Van Basten II]

Game to watch this saturday Arsenal and Manchester City.

And in the African Cup the round robin has ended. Among the suprises Senegal was eliminated. Quarters will start sunday.

This sunday the host Ghana will face the experimented Nigerians and the Ivory Coast will face Guinea

Look for Ghana and the Ivorians to go through.

And monday two games that seem to be tight on paper as Egypt will face Angola and Tunisia meets Cameroun.

My picks Angola and Cameroun.

Edited February 2, 2008 by Van Basten II

[king ubu]

nice'n'friendly, huh?

[Swinging Swede]

Eduardo nearly had to be amputated. Absolutely horrible.

Something funnier happened in Real Madrid-Getafe. Arjen Robben scored a goal for Real Madrid, or so they thought, but it had been offside, so Getafe got a free kick and scored a goal while the Real players were celebrating.

Here's a longer clip with some more replays:

Real Madrid-Getafe 0-1

Edited February 25, 2008 by Swinging Swede

[JohnJ]

No activity here for a while!

Personally, I was delighted to watch Man U. win the Premiership again last Sunday.

Also looking forward to the first ever all English European Champions League final between Man U. and Chelsea. Will be in the UK next Wednesday and will watch the match.

Edited May 14, 2008 by JohnJ

[Jazzmoose]

Also looking forward to the first ever all English European Champions League final between Man U. and Chelsea. Will be in the UK next Wednesday and will watch the match.

Damn! I've never been on this thread before; I was hoping for some info on this very match. At least tell me who to bet on!

[JohnJ]

Also looking forward to the first ever all English European Champions League final between Man U. and Chelsea. Will be in the UK next Wednesday and will watch the match.

Damn! I've never been on this thread before; I was hoping for some info on this very match. At least tell me who to bet on!

Two very evenly matched teams Jazzmoose, both have massive squads (internationals regularly sit on the bench) which allow them to play at a frenetic pace and contest every ball all over the pitch. Not always pretty, but quite compelling and very effective, thus their success.

Personally, I think United have the better individual talent and are a more potent attacking force (the scored 15 more goals the 2nd placed Chelsea in the Premier League) so my money would be on a close game with United winning by one goal.