OT: Futbol II

[CapitalsCupReality]

It looked like he was responding to something Varane said. I like seeing that kind of passion from managers but he was doing stuff you shouldn't even consider (running onto the pitch before stoppage time was officially over in the first half) during a CL final.

Absolutely I read Varane made some gesture (poor winner will fit in nicely at Chelsea if the rumors come through ) It was the running onto the pitch while the game was still going that annoyed me.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Atletico got very short bench. In what you called embarassment I thought they could not come back, were out of energy completely.

Injuries to Juanfran and Filipe Luis were the end of their defense. And their offense was done before 10th minute.

CR7 and Bale were poor

Cool that Bale got the game winner though. Some instant justification for him at least.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Time to change this thread name and add World Cup 2014...

 

[kmdoom]

Absolutely I read Varane made some gesture (poor winner will fit in nicely at Chelsea if the rumors come through ) It was the running onto the pitch while the game was still going that annoyed me.

Transfer news is usually wild but that rumor makes sense. Losing David Luiz opens a big hole for Chelsea; Varane is young, but he's got a BPL ready game and experience at the highest level.

Time to change this thread name and add World Cup 2014...

Who are you rooting for? I'm hoping holland, ghana, and le cote d'ivoire (or really any of the other african nations) make deep runs.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

USA first, then Germany. I've got a few other dark horses. I'll root for England, Uruguay, and Portugal in spots.

 

[Paddis]

Transfer news is usually wild but that rumor makes sense. Losing David Luiz opens a big hole for Chelsea; Varane is young, but he's got a BPL ready game and experience at the highest level.

Losing David Luiz doesn't leave a big hole. The place it stings most for Chelsea is probably at midfield if they get a new left back and it doesn't leave hole there either. Luiz wasn't a regular starter under Mourinho and was a squad player with the upside of playing 2 positions. He started 15 league games this season.

If they get a new left back this summer, Azpiliqueta will most likely be moved back to right back and Ivanovic considered a center back again meaning they'll about the same cover there as when they had Luiz with Ivanovic not playing fullback any more. Ivanovic is also quite a lot better than Luiz defensively.

That said though, I do think Chelsea will get a CB this summer, I just don't agree with what you said about Luiz leaving a big hole. My guess is Mangala.

 

[Marshall]

Anybody running an office world cup pool? Any ideas on websites to use?

 

[Ajax1995]

Chelski will be more than fine without Luiz.

They already signed Zouma in January, supposedly they are set to bring in Filipe Luís from Athletico, Kalas deserves some playing time, and has already been pointed out Ivanovic will be available to play in the center more with Azpilicueta able to play on the right more with the addition of a new left back. And Supposedly Tiago is coming back, also from Athletico, to help in midfield.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Absolutely right. Luiz had a hard time finding playing time this year. Like the player a lot but it's clear that Jose wasn't a huge fan. Matic is going to get the lion's share of that midfield time next year and that seemed to be the only place he was really trusted last season. Amazed at how Chelsea continues to makes a fortune off these guys. Need that killer finisher this offseason too.

I'm hoping for Luke Shaw opposite Azpilicueta but I'm reading MU is willing to overpay on his wages ($100k vs $60k). Kalas impressed in his short time last year, the D is really transitioning nicely.

 

[QuadrupleDeke]

USA first, then Germany. I've got a few other dark horses. I'll root for England, Uruguay, and Portugal in spots.

The countries ranked 3rd, 6th, and 11th in the world are your dark horses?

 

[Capitlols]

My darkhorse is South Korea, really feeling Argentina to take it though.

 

[Ajax1995]

The countries ranked 3rd, 6th, and 11th in the world are your dark horses?

Yeah all hail the FIFA world rankings...

Switzerland 8th? The US 14th?!?!?

 

[Ajax1995]

So anyone else find this quote from Angel Di Maria concerning the transfer speculation that surrounded him last summer hilarious?

"It hurts you when you are trying to always do your best for a club and then it comes out that you might be going to Tottenham."

 

[QuadrupleDeke]

Yeah all hail the FIFA world rankings...

Switzerland 8th? The US 14th?!?!?

Which of those three (England, Uruguay, Portugal) do you think is severely over-rated in the rankings?

 

[Paddis]

Portugal are maybe not severely over-rated by being 3rd but they are quite a few places to high in my opinion. No chance they'll win anything big with that midfield and center forward, no matter who plays up front. That's not to say they won't get good results, but when it comes to it, I don't believe they'll ever win with this team.

It's the same as I've felt about Arsenal all this season, and the past years. No matter how close they are to winning the league, point wise and by leading the league come spring, they are still miles away because of their lack of character and leaders and were always going to choke.

 

[Ajax1995]

Which of those three (England, Uruguay, Portugal) do you think is severely over-rated in the rankings?

How did I miss Columbia being ranked 5th when mocking the FIFA rankings...?

Portugal is not the 3rd best team in the world. They might be the 3rd best team in southern Europe.

 

[QuadrupleDeke]

How did I miss Columbia being ranked 5th when mocking the FIFA rankings...?

Portugal is not the 3rd best team in the world. They might be the 3rd best team in southern Europe.

A dark horse is something that isn't likely to win, but that you think has a decent chance.

Your dark horses seem to be countries that, despite the rest of the world thinking have real chance to win the World Cup, you think are overrated and then, once you rate them lower in your own head, you then think are underrated? What?

If you don't like FIFA rankings, perhaps you like betting odds?

According to Bovada:
England is 6th
Portugal is tied for 9th
Uruguay is 11th

Real dark horses there.

 

[Ajax1995]

A dark horse is something that isn't likely to win, but that you think has a decent chance.

Your dark horses seem to be countries that, despite the rest of the world thinking have real chance to win the World Cup, you think are overrated and then, once you rate them lower in your own head, you then think are underrated? What?

If you don't like FIFA rankings, perhaps you like betting odds?

According to Bovada:
England is 6th
Portugal is tied for 9th
Uruguay is 11th

Real dark horses there.

First of all these are not my dark horses, someone else brought those 3 teams up. I was simply making fun of the Fifa rankings.

But I would say without a doubt none of those 3 teams are likely to win this tournament IMO. And if indeed England are the 6th best odds to win the tournament anyone putting money on them is a complete fool as you deserve WAY better odds than that. If I had to pick one of those 3 teams it would have to be Uruguay since this tournament is in South America but with the major questions about Suarez's knee I don't like their chances either at this point.

Honestly anyone outside of the big 4 of Spain, Germany, Brazil, and Argentina going into this tournament is a dark horse. I guess it is hard to say a traditional power like Italy is a dark horse as they definitely have enough quality if Balotelli doesn't flake out so ok not them. So yeah 27 dark horses...

 

[QuadrupleDeke]

First of all these are not my dark horses, someone else brought those 3 teams up. I was simply making fun of the Fifa rankings.

But I would say without a doubt none of those 3 teams are likely to win this tournament IMO. And if indeed England are the 6th best odds to win the tournament anyone putting money on them is a complete fool as you deserve WAY better odds than that. If I had to pick one of those 3 teams it would have to be Uruguay since this tournament is in South America but with the major questions about Suarez's knee I don't like their chances either at this point.

Honestly anyone outside of the big 4 of Spain, Germany, Brazil, and Argentina going into this tournament is a dark horse. I guess it is hard to say a traditional power like Italy is a dark horse as they definitely have enough quality if Balotelli doesn't flake out so ok not them. So yeah 27 dark horses...

Holland is a dark horse? Undefeated in qualifying and defending runner-ups. What?

 

[Paddis]

Look at Hollands defense and central midfield full of young guns, all unproven at this level. If not a dark horse I'd be extremely surprised if they were to go be anywhere near the title. My guess is that they're gonna have a hard time getting through from their group and if they do, they'll get knocked out by Brazil in the first knockout round.

That said, they went to the finals last time with a ***** defense as well so you never know, but the main difference is of course that the last bunch had a ton of experience while now playing De Vrij, Martins Indi, Janmaat and then Clasie in CM. I think this championship is a bit too early for this Holland generation, that said, Van Persie and Robben will most likely not be playing next WC and if they are, they'll probably be well past their prime.

 

[Ajax1995]

Holland is a dark horse? Undefeated in qualifying and defending runner-ups. What?

I'm going to assume you don't really follow football(soccer) if that is what you are basing this on.

The Dutch have no chance whatsoever. They are in a tough group to begin with. They lost their workhorse in midfield a few months ago when Strootman tore his ACL playing for Roma. The guy who was going to replace him, who was in no way the same type of player and was already going to be a serious step down, van der Vaart, just dropped out with a calf injury. And their defense is made up of guys who either haven't moved out of the Dutch league, which is a decent league but is definitely 2nd tier, or play for lower tier teams in bigger leagues and not too well mind you. Even the guy who pulls the strings in midfield, Sneijder, is a far cry from the player he was 4 years ago having to play in Turkey for the last few seasons.

They have a couple of world class forwards and that is pretty much about it. The Dutch had a cake qualifying group. They will be lucky to get out of their 1st round group in Brazil.

And I'm a huge fan of the Oranje but that is a team in transition that even if Robben and van Persie are fantastic has no hope.

 

[Raikkonen]

I can confirm that Netherlands have no chance (E5).

I do believe Spain is weaker this time and England is not good to win it all every tournament.

My bets from Euro teams are Italy or Germany.

But you have to expect Brazil in the semis probably because of climate, being a host and their recent bad results. They have a good coach and many classy players. Why not? I can see them even winning but I believe they will need to win several matches against more structured european top teams.

If there are upsets like Uruguay>Italy or something of that kind and Brazil will not play tops until semis, all bets are off

It's FIFA in the end, they can help a little.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

The countries ranked 3rd, 6th, and 11th in the world are your dark horses?

Wrong word, just have some limited rooting interests.

 

[Ajax1995]

So the US/Turkey game today was chalked full of shambolic defending by both sides. If they had been anywhere close to as clinical as you'd expect is could have finished 5-5...

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Welcome to Chelsea....


http://www.espnfc.com/story/1875328/cesc-fabregas-signs-for-chelsea-from-barcelona