OT: Futbol chit chat

[trancemeister]

Space - I totally agree with you regarding the tracks that a lot of Italian stadiums have! The old Delle Alpi had a track which I am so glad they tore down when they built this new stadium. I think that is what differentiates the other European stadiums from those in Italy. Due to the tracks, the fans can feel sort of excluded from the action whereas in the new setup, they can truly be 'part' of the game being so close to the pitch. The stadium has also a reduced capacity from the old ~69k to the new ~40k. Matches in Italy don't sell out nearly as much as they do in say Spain or England, which almost leads to a hollow atmosphere during match days. I think with the reduced capacity, the noise level should increase and lead to a much better atmosphere.

BTW - those stadium pictures you posted above are unreal! It's wicked how the entire stadium lights up based on the team color!

Have any of you checked out the stadium plans for the stadiums that Qatar is planning for the World Cup? If not, check them out here ...

Latest news, comment and reviews from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk

Absolutely mind boggling!

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

Pato scores 23 seconds into Barcelona match! AC Milan-Barca happening, almost as good as it gets as far as I'm concerned, though its 10x better matchup if Ibra is playing......trying to watch this in the office, have to use all my stealth abilities today.

 

[trancemeister]

Arrgh!! I am going crazy cos I want to watch the games so bad! I about fell out of my chair when I got the alert on my phone that Milan had scored in the first minute! And Arsenal-Dortmund just got under way! I'm supposed to be getting a new office sometime this week ... looks like it is going to be a week too late cos I just cannot watch videos where I sit right now out in the open
Will have to watch these on taped delay!

 

[trancemeister]

have to use all my stealth abilities today.

Godspeed!

 

[CalamityX11]

GODSPEED indeed...

GO MILAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

Arrgh!! I am going crazy cos I want to watch the games so bad! I about fell out of my chair when I got the alert on my phone that Milan had scored in the first minute! And Arsenal-Dortmund just got under way! I'm supposed to be getting a new office sometime this week ... looks like it is going to be a week too late cos I just cannot watch videos where I sit right now out in the open
Will have to watch these on taped delay!

It was a helluva play, just dribbled straight through and split the defenders.....though to be fair, their defenders are midfielders, and the downside of this tactic has finally been made clear.

 

[trancemeister]

RVP in the houuuuuse!!

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

Milan in 92nd minute!!!! Have never heard Camp Nou so quiet. Great stuff, and this is without a few of their better players, though Iniesta had to come off as well.

 

[trancemeister]

This has been a disappointing day on different levels. First, I could not watch either game, and second, both my teams gave up their leads late late in the game! FML!

About the only good news is that Arsenal got a valuable away goal so that might help them in the return leg.

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

Trance - no best-of-2 in the group stages, its all single matches. A draw at Dortmund - a very solid team - for Arsenal at this stage is fine. They're not in a super tough group, a draw is good enough though I'm sure they would prefer wins to top the group.

Tomorrow is the one with Napoli, Man City, Bayern (and Villarreal)......ridiculous that they ended up with those four teams together, the first three teams would all have been the favorite in a few other groups.

 

[trancemeister]

Space - you're right. Brain fart there on my part. Don't know why I thought that the away goal would help! I agree, the draw away to Dortmund is huge though a win would have been so much better, especially given the struggles Arsenal have had lately. If nothing else, it would have been a tremendous confidence boost that they could have taken back to the EPL. Surely they should be able to handle Olympiakos and Marseille!

The grouping this year has been absolute shit! ManU and Inter should be able to snooze their way through to the Round of 16 and the group of death that you mentioned above has gotta suck for some of those teams! I'm going to cheer on Napoli (the only Italian side I don't dislike in this year's CL!).

BTW - did you see Perisic's goal for Dortmund? My Goodness!! What a beauty!

 

[trancemeister]

Just wanted to throw it out there ... Edinson Cavani is going to be a STUD! I wish Juve would pick this kid up. He is going to be making some serious cash real soon! What a baller!

 

[CalamityX11]

Just wanted to throw it out there ... Edinson Cavani is going to be a STUD! I wish Juve would pick this kid up. He is going to be making some serious cash real soon! What a baller!

And where does Cavani play for????

that's right.....

URUGUAY!!!!!!!!

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

Cavani/Lavezzi/Hamsik is as good an attacking unit as any team outside of Barca/Madrid. They signed Cavani for something like 15 million, they are gonna be able to triple that if/when they sell him. All three of those guys are highly-sought and Napoli will have tough calls on who to sell, who to keep and pay big.

 

[CalamityX11]

What ever happen to Balotelli? From Italy. He was was once on AC Milan then transferred to I believe was a Premier team but I don't remember where he is now.

A dumb ass kid who wasted an incredible talent potentially....

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

Manchester City. Doesn't play all that much. Supposedly is a "personal project" of sorts for their manager Mancini. Still gets called up for Italy but I bet he has to start producing soon or that will fade as well.

Probably a worse goofball than ever....check out his attempted backheel in the friendly against LA Galaxy, certainly on youtube. He got huge boos from fans, then removed from game 5 minutes later.

Just a guy that never strikes the right tone for the situation he's in......totally self-centered and oblivious......sulks around and pouts, but at the point when being serious might be a good thing he'll do something completely silly and stupid. I can't even think of an American player to compare him to. Maybe like a combination of Trailblazers era Rasheed Wallace and Zach Randolph, a mess on so many levels.

 

[clyde_carbon]

What ever happen to Balotelli? From Italy. He was was once on AC Milan then transferred to I believe was a Premier team but I don't remember where he is now.

A dumb ass kid who wasted an incredible talent potentially....

He's at City. Very talented but a complete headcase.

 

[Yoshi]

He's at City. Very talented but a complete headcase.

He's good but he's not all that. The guy is essentially as wasteful as Emmanuel Adebayor but with better on the ball skills. I don't know how you can use this guy - he thinks he's the second coming (among the best of the best and even at Pele/Eusebio/Van Basten level) but he's quite wrong. You gotta be a team player and unfortunately this guy doesn't understand that concept. His back tracking on the ball when it comes to defense is horrible. He also doesn't link up play very well with his midfielders and as space said, this guy is a mad whiner. He's a combination of Barry Bonds/Adebayor/Rasheed W. when it comes to his personality.

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

This Sunday morning game on Fox is a very interesting and welcome development....I think they're doing this three times this year. Quite obviously soccer is making huge headway in American audience.

 

[Yoshi]

This Sunday morning game on Fox is a very interesting and welcome development....I think they're doing this three times this year. Quite obviously soccer is making huge headway in American audience.

It should have made this type of impact earlier - i.e. after the 94 world cup. It's unfortunate that soccer is taking this long to get on the air, but better later than never.

FOX to Broadcast Premier League Live On Free-to-air TV in US: Exclusive | Premier League blog, soccer news and football shirts from EPL Talk

At least ESPN hosts the games live on some Saturdays. Would be great to have El Clasico, the best rivalry in all of futbol, on ESPN or FOX, but that's what La Liga's Gol TV is for.