The TT Football Club

Ross K

Legend
OMG just heard about Hodgson being forced to make public apology for his ill-advised and untimely 'feed the monkey' allegory/joke at half-time with the Poland match... oh man, does he not recall what happened with Hodddle and some of his bizarre pronouncements?
 

Feña14

G.O.A.T.
OMG just heard about Hodgson being forced to make public apology for his ill-advised and untimely 'feed the monkey' allegory/joke at half-time with the Poland match... oh man, does he not recall what happened with Hodddle and some of his bizarre pronouncements?

Sad thing is, where would we be now if we had Hoddle for a few more years and he was able to stay on after in some capacity? He's an idiot, but he's a very good manager and gets alot out of players, some of his ideas are what we've been crying out for.

Didn't he work abroad running a school for players released from teams to improve them and get them back into the game? Some of them who weren't good enough for the lower leagues have gone on to have proper careers. That one gaff was probably as big a shame for English football as it was for him.
 

Ross K

Legend
Sad thing is, where would we be now if we had Hoddle for a few more years and he was able to stay on after in some capacity? He's an idiot, but he's a very good manager and gets alot out of players, some of his ideas are what we've been crying out for.

Didn't he work abroad running a school for players released from teams to improve them and get them back into the game? Some of them who weren't good enough for the lower leagues have gone on to have proper careers. That one gaff was probably as big a shame for English football as it was for him.

Well, they reckon what with him being asked to be involved with the new FA commission or whatever into advancing the England team set up that this is like a rehabilitation and re-entry into the fold. I think it's generally accepted he was a good England manager and generally regretted that he was given the boot in the circumstances he was.
 

Feña14

G.O.A.T.
Well, they reckon what with him being asked to be involved with the new FA commission or whatever into advancing the England team set up that this is like a rehabilitation and re-entry into the fold. I think it's generally accepted he was a good England manager and generally regretted that he was given the boot in the circumstances he was.

Yeah, it's been 15 years afterall. The way England used to play under him was great, he'd play 3 at the back, 5 at the back, tweak the midfield etc.. He was attacking, but usually got his tactics right.

Under him, Chelsea got back on the right path and it was the start of an updward curve that went on with Gullit, Vialli, Ranieri.. then on to where we are now.

He's someone we need, just as long as he keeps his mouth shut :)
 

PaulFCB

Semi-Pro
We got a FC Divealona fan here? :D

Except for Neymar who is fairly new and learned these habits from Brazil probably since he was a junior starting at Santos, what you just said there makes me feel pity for you if you really believe that.

Ahh interesting.

England are something like 17th at the moment, if it stays like that we could get a tough group. Maybe we'd do better having to play top teams instead of struggling against the likes of Algeria last time :)


Nothing will change, England is in the UEFA Pot. The ranking is already known. The only thing that can change is if Jordan knocks Uruguay outm which I totally doubt, in which case Netherlands jumps from the UEFA Pot to the seeded pots.

Anyway, it's a World Cup, fairly easier than a Euro when it comes to the group stage for strong teams. If at the Euro only playing a easy host from Pot 1 can save some of your problems, at the World Cup all you have to do is beat some teams from Asia and Africa and you're in the Last 16.
England should think less about how the group looks than about how to beat strong teams in the KO Rounds. A group with Germany is actually favorable. Remember they struggled in a very easy group in 2010 and didn't catch 1st place so they were executed by the Germans.
Remember 1998, they had 8 seeds, 2 from South America and 6 from Europe, only Spain didn't win their group, the other 7 did it ( Brazil, Italy, France, Argentina, Romania, Netherlands and Germany ) with maybe only Germany profiting from the seeding system ( they were clearly a very old and tired team with 1996 being their end ), the rest were clearly in top form at that moment and adding Croatia to those 6 = You have the best 7 teams in the World at the moment. At this moment, the system favors qualifying and friendly games more, because as long as the seeding is made 100-50-30-20%, the last World Cup can only count 20% to the point systems, while for example the Euro is 2 years before, the Copa America is always 3 years before the World Cup now ( final tournamets give off bonuses for points ) but South America's Qualifying = many more games than a team from Europe which plays 10 the most, and also note when you play San Marino and win 10-0, you rather lose points than add to the ranking because of the way they're calculated ( depending on the value of the opponent ) while South America doesn't have teams ranked so bad like SM, Andorra or Luxembourg etc. Look at Spain's points, they were in the only group that didn't consist of a adversary from the Last Pot while all the others had one to play against, it was a win-win for them considering they didn't have to play 2 pointless games they would've won easy but that couldn't benefit them in the ranking, instead, they used those International Match slots for Friendlies.
 
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norbac

Legend
Except for Neymar who is fairly new and learned these habits from Brazil probably since he was a junior starting at Santos, what you just said there makes me feel pity for you if you really believe that.

Don't forget about diving legend Busquets.
 

PaulFCB

Semi-Pro
You made me so sad, bro, you didn't actually post the picture of Busquets faking some pain, from 2010, that I keep seeing it for 3 1/2 years every time someone mentions he's name. Excuse me, but that's already lame for at least 2 1/2 years.
 
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Ross K

Legend
You made me so sad, bro, you didn't actually post the picture of Busquets faking some pain, from 2010, that I keep seeing it for 3 1/2 years every time someone mentions he's name. Excuse me, but that's already lame for at least 2 1/2 years.

Don't worry about it, Paul, most hate Barca around here but I'm with you. :)

A lot of this of course is due to their great success. But I think a lot also relates to a more general deep dislike of the kind of theatrics and play acting that does seem to be a very strong feature in certain leagues and football cultures.

It has to be said though, some of the Barca V Real games in recent seasons have just been the most truly appalling, amateur dramatics-laden spectacles (I blame Mourinho :wink: ). However, it's not as if the Premier and other leagues are immune to this kind of thing... Drogba, Bale, Young - I can think of countless examples where, for example, we've seen the most blatant diving etc in recent years.
 

Feña14

G.O.A.T.
Don't worry about it, Paul, most hate Barca around here but I'm with you. :)

A lot of this of course is due to their great success. But I think a lot also relates to a more general deep dislike of the kind of theatrics and play acting that does seem to be a very strong feature in certain leagues and football cultures.

It has to be said though, some of the Barca V Real games in recent seasons have just been the most truly appalling, amateur dramatics-laden spectacles (I blame Mourinho :wink: ). However, it's not as if the Premier and other leagues are immune to this kind of thing... Drogba, Bale, Young - I can think of countless examples where, for example, we've seen the most blatant diving etc in recent years.

Can't forget Townsend! His hurdle over Lampard and little roll around on the floor got him a well deserved yellow a few weeks back. Funny now he's the golden boy that doesn't get mentioned :)

As for Barcelona, it's not so much the play acting for me. As you say, it's part of a culture in Europe, it's probably even worse in South America. The thing that i'm not a big fan of is the way they seem to look down on anyone who doesn't play football like they do, because they pass alot they seem to have the attitude that they're entitled to things. Cruyff is one of the worst for it, it's great he has his views on how the game should be played, but to look down on teams who don't have the players and have different philosophies is never right.
 

forthegame

Hall of Fame
We won't even qualify for the Champions' League at this rate.

Succession bungled by the powers that be.

I see no light at the end of this very dark tunnel.
 

NickC

Professional
Downright p*ssed about how Chelsea played in the first half today, they were horrid. How can they hope to go deep in Europe this term if they start like that against Cardiff? Imagine what'll happen against the likes of Madrid or Milan if they are that poor?


Arsenal were great in the second half...Ozil, WOW.
 

SempreSami

Hall of Fame
I forgot to mention on here that I went to Schalke - Augsburg the other week.

994616_10151760759939234_2065299163_n.jpg


Great ground, great atmosphere, the moment you step out of Gelsenkirchen Hauptbahnhof you know that the city lives and breathes Schalke 04.
 

Feña14

G.O.A.T.
Downright p*ssed about how Chelsea played in the first half today, they were horrid. How can they hope to go deep in Europe this term if they start like that against Cardiff? Imagine what'll happen against the likes of Madrid or Milan if they are that poor?

Arsenal were great in the second half...Ozil, WOW.

Doesn't surprise me at all, they've been away for so long playing for the National sides all over the World that a slow start was expected. Everytime we start to get some momentum, the players have to go off and start from scratch again when they get back. Thank god it's all over till the summer and teams can really bed in.

As for the first Chelsea goal, everyone seems to be saying it shouldn't of counted and apparently the rules back that up. Why though? Their keeper released the ball and Eto'o did very well to get it on the half volley, surely once he's released it it's up for grabs?

We've seen that loads of times before, Dion Dublin did the same thing 15 years ago and it stood. Goalkeepers get alot of protection, surely we can't have them getting this rule in their favour too?
 

Ross K

Legend
We won't even qualify for the Champions' League at this rate.

Succession bungled by the powers that be.

I see no light at the end of this very dark tunnel.

Myself and others here predicted big problems appointing the far too defensive and cautious Moyes at Man U, tbh though, I actually honestly didn't think he'd be this bad.

Right, all the main players (bar Man U) have got the points on the board, so let's see if AVB can step it up after that West Ham disaster. He needs to...
 

Feña14

G.O.A.T.
Myself and others here predicted big problems appointing the far too defensive and cautious Moyes at Man U, tbh though, I actually honestly didn't think he'd be this bad.

Right, all the main players (bar Man U) have got the points on the board, so let's see if AVB can step it up after that West Ham disaster. He needs to...

As you said, the only teams that matter have already played this weekend ;)
 

Feña14

G.O.A.T.
What's Mourinho done to Torres?

He called him over against Tottenham and said something, he looked pumped straight away and he's not stopped since. Yet more Mourinho magic :)
 

norbac

Legend
Good on Torres to get a couple of goals.

In regards to Arsenal. I expected this loss. Champions League is not important, the Premier League is.
 

PureAlph4

Semi-Pro
In regards to Arsenal. I expected this loss. Champions League is not important, the Premier League is.

I thought Wenger was right when he said naivety cost us in the last 20 minutes. A draw would have been great for us bearing in mind how the group stood, and yet we were not disciplined enough. Clearly this is a consequence of the great run we've been on where it has felt like we could get away with anything, but the CL is about using your experience to eke out results; two years ago Dortmund would have lost this from throwing caution to the wind, and not employing the standard CL away side cagey / counter play.

The CL is still important to us. Yes, as a club, this season the title looks more accessible, and so that's the primary aim, but there's no way you could convince a top player that they should not take the CL seriously.

The loss of Flamini really is crucial. I was at the Norwich game on Saturday, and it was blindingly obvious pretty much as soon as he became concussed that we seemed to lose our shape and control of the game. Norwich consequently had a spell from about 35 minutes (when Flamini had the collision), until Ozil's goal on 58 minutes, where they seemed to be on top. His return is absolutely imperative for the run of games coming up.

------------

Re the Fergie 'autobiography,' is anyone else a little disappointed that (a) he didn't wait a little longer to mull over his career and focus his recollections; and (b) that he did not actually write the book himself (it was 'ghost written' by Paul Hayward of The Telegraph)?

It's a shame in that it would clearly be impossible to expect a present director of the club to be critical of the owners, or indeed anything about it, so necessarily all this 'autobiography' of British football's greatest manager could ever be would be a money spinner that strictly kept any real areas of intrigue off the agenda.
 

Feña14

G.O.A.T.
Good on Torres to get a couple of goals.

In regards to Arsenal. I expected this loss. Champions League is not important, the Premier League is.

For me it was his overall performance, these last few years his first touch has looked very clumsy. At his best he's a great dribbler and he has good strength, it's pretty unusual for a goal scorer to have, but it looks like it's coming back. Luckily it came together for that break away goal in the Nou Camp right at the end, but that run the length of the pitch was the longest 15 seconds of my life. I thought he was going to take a heavy touch and knock it away, or step on the ball or something. He rounded Valdes and yeah, the rest is history :)

The midfield is still abject though, the ball goes straight from the defence up to Hazard or Oscar, it totally bypasses the sitting players. They should be the ones setting things up but they don't get near the ball. Neustadter basically have a free reign in there, it's worrying but not surprising.
 

PED

Legend
I thought Wenger was right when he said naivety cost us in the last 20 minutes.

The loss of Flamini really is crucial. I was at the Norwich game on Saturday, and it was blindingly obvious pretty much as soon as he became concussed that we seemed to lose our shape and control of the game. Norwich consequently had a spell from about 35 minutes (when Flamini had the collision), until Ozil's goal on 58 minutes, where they seemed to be on top. His return is absolutely imperative for the run of games coming up.

------------

Agree totally with both. We bossed the game in the 2nd half after a horror show in the first. Jack W is just not there yet at this level. Santi unlocked the door when he came on and it all came together.

BD had one shot on goal in the 2nd half and made it count....

Flamini has always been a fav of mine. He's kind of like the guy in the Orwell quote: he does the dirty work so that the rest can play pretty. I knew we would have a hard time without him last night.
 

NickC

Professional
I forgot to mention on here that I went to Schalke - Augsburg the other week.

994616_10151760759939234_2065299163_n.jpg


Great ground, great atmosphere, the moment you step out of Gelsenkirchen Hauptbahnhof you know that the city lives and breathes Schalke 04.

That seems a nice ground, I've always been fascinated with that one in particular because it's the first ground in Europe that has the retractable pitch. We've got a stadium with a similar system in Phoenix. It gets really loud in there, which is always good.

Agree totally with both. We bossed the game in the 2nd half after a horror show in the first. Jack W is just not there yet at this level. Santi unlocked the door when he came on and it all came together.

BD had one shot on goal in the 2nd half and made it count....

Flamini has always been a fav of mine. He's kind of like the guy in the Orwell quote: he does the dirty work so that the rest can play pretty. I knew we would have a hard time without him last night.

Arsenal were nothing without Flamini yesterday. Ozil needs someone to win the ball for him.

Also can't see why Arsene doesn't start both Ozil and Carzola?
 

Feña14

G.O.A.T.
How was your team and Schalke's performance yesterday ?

Schalke played very well, but you could see they are still a young and naive side. Chelsea played a classic away from home in Europe style of game, defended well and then picked up goals on the counter when they were needed.

You could tell which side was the one who's done it all before and who were the new kids on the block looking to impress.
 

BlackSilver

Semi-Pro
Schalke played very well, but you could see they are still a young and naive side. Chelsea played a classic away from home in Europe style of game, defended well and then picked up goals on the counter when they were needed.

You could tell which side was the one who's done it all before and who were the new kids on the block looking to impress.

Thanks

In Brazil we used to say that when a team is obviously ****ed up by the referee that team was "operated"...... well, I think that was what happened yesterday to Juventus
 

PureAlph4

Semi-Pro
Some interesting games today. Arsenal manage to nick a win at Palace (Palace dominated for long spells), Moyes is saved at OT by his team 'doing a Fergie,' and Suarez and Sturridge are truly looking like the new S&S for Liverpool. Southampton and Everton continue to impress under new gaffers. A ref succeeded in ruining another Clasico.

While it's great for Arsenal to be top of the table, I really can't wait for the hard games to start (Liverpool next week, followed by United) because at the moment the table does not reveal anything. We've played 9, with the results being W7 D1 L1, which sounds great, but it you look at the exact corresponding fixtures last season (replacing Palace with Reading), we won them all (so if you were a pessimist you can argue we are 5 points worse off than last year). We steamrolled opposition placed 7th and below, but won only 1 game out of 10 against the other teams who finished in the top 6; so in terms of reading anything into Arsenal this season, we'll have to see what happens against Liverpool and United. Time to see what we're made of.

PS: Ibra is a boss - a true showman
 

PSNELKE

Legend
Some interesting games today. Arsenal manage to nick a win at Palace (Palace dominated for long spells), Moyes is saved at OT by his team 'doing a Fergie,' and Suarez and Sturridge are truly looking like the new S&S for Liverpool. Southampton and Everton continue to impress under new gaffers. A ref succeeded in ruining another Clasico.

While it's great for Arsenal to be top of the table, I really can't wait for the hard games to start (Liverpool next week, followed by United) because at the moment the table does not reveal anything. We've played 9, with the results being W7 D1 L1, which sounds great, but it you look at the exact corresponding fixtures last season (replacing Palace with Reading), we won them all (so if you were a pessimist you can argue we are 5 points worse off than last year). We steamrolled opposition placed 7th and below, but won only 1 game out of 10 against the other teams who finished in the top 6; so in terms of reading anything into Arsenal this season, we'll have to see what happens against Liverpool and United. Time to see what we're made of.

PS: Ibra is a boss - a true showman

Oh cmon. A Clasico is umpossible to umpire.
 

BlackSilver

Semi-Pro
Mkhitaryan and Aubameyang. No one hires like Dortmund. First goal was a masterpiece from them.
On a side note, Schalke's defence is atrocious. Their lack of organization on Dortmund counter strikes was obvious. Sahin totally free in the second goal, the third also the same pattern. Could make some experiments with Santana
 

NickC

Professional
Mkhitaryan and Aubameyang. No one hires like Dortmund. First goal was a masterpiece from them.
On a side note, Schalke's defence is atrocious. Their lack of organization on Dortmund counter strikes was obvious. Sahin totally free in the second goal, the third also the same pattern. Could make some experiments with Santana

Aubameyang has been a known quality for a few years due to his exploits at St. Etienne, and of course due to his boots

Crystal_2D00_Boots_2D00_Img6.jpg





Oh, and this was from today:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffWNriNg-_g
 

PureAlph4

Semi-Pro
Oh cmon. A Clasico is umpossible to umpire.

Undoubtedly difficult, but as a ref you're not helping yourself when you fail with even basic decision making.

The boy needs to be given time (he'll get this season and next), but I could see Bale playing for United in 2015 (£40m transfer fee).
 

hawk eye

Hall of Fame
Today Chelsea against Man City.
Rooney and Suarez may be in top form right now, but when Aguero is as sharp as he is right now he's second to none.
Plus with Negredo settling in nicely they have a great partnership upfront.

On the other side Torres only scores in European matches.

Also with an in form Silva on the pitch and Mata probably on the bench, Man City will be hard to beat.
 

Feña14

G.O.A.T.
Today Chelsea against Man City.
Rooney and Suarez may be in top form right now, but when Aguero is as sharp as he is right now he's second to none.
Plus with Negredo settling in nicely they have a great partnership upfront.

On the other side Torres only scores in European matches.

Also with an in form Silva on the pitch and Mata probably on the bench, Man City will be hard to beat.

Yes, very hard lol. Joe Hart has always been overrated, his shot stopping is great, his decision making has always been dodgy imo.

Torres was a beast though, now to fix the midfield and we'll be sorted.
 

hawk eye

Hall of Fame
Yes, very hard lol. Joe Hart has always been overrated, his shot stopping is great, his decision making has always been dodgy imo.

Torres was a beast though, now to fix the midfield and we'll be sorted.

Ok good for you. I'm glad Torres made another important goal, with restored confidence he should be able to score many more. The guy must have some character taken into account everthing that is said and written about him.

Can't watch the match live here, but i'm gonna watch the highlights tonight.
 
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BlackSilver

Semi-Pro
Torres was good today, but his capability of losing easy goal is still only matched by Robinho's (at least from players whose name pops uo in my mind). Let's see if he can keep it up.

But no Mata

And that's right.
 

Feña14

G.O.A.T.
Ok good for you. I'm glad Torres made another important goal, with restored confidence he should be able to score many more. The guy must have some character taken into account everthing that is said and written about him.

Can't watch the match live here, but i'm gonna watch the highlights tonight.

For me it was probably the highest quality game we've seen so far this season, the first where two top teams both turned up. So even if the result wasn't what you wanted, it was still good to watch :)

Torres just looks nastier. Mourinho has done his old trick of making a player know he's the main man and has got the fire going. He's done it with dozens of players over the years, Torres looks to be the latest one.

Torres was good today, but his capability of losing easy goal is still only matched by Robinho's (at least from players whose name pops uo in my mind). Let's see if he can keep it up.

What do you think about Oscar? So many great young talents in Brazil end up staying there for too long, or move to Spain or Italy. Oscar took the brave step of moving to England and it's payed off, he's stronger, he works for the team (how many Brazil number 10's have done that over the years?), he's tactically fantastic, he's scoring more goals etc..

When you think of someone like Ganso who was said to be the next big thing, but he decided to stay at home. You wonder what might of happened if he had come to England when he had the chance.
 

Feña14

G.O.A.T.
I really am enjoying this new fire from Torres. He really looks up for it now, love it.

The awkward moment where Gary Neville gives Aguero man of the match 30 seconds before Torres gets the winner...

Suppose it saved Sky from having to give out the award in the interview like they usually do :)
 

Ross K

Legend
Thought the City Chelsea match was a strange game and utterly in keeping with this season with the top teams generally - unpredictable... City looked superb for a good few chunks of the game (like first 20 mins when I didn't know Lampard and Oscar were even on the pitch). But the revelation is/was Torres... that surprise shot when he hit the crossbar was just like the Torres of old, absolute top draw class. Anyhow, a bit fortuitous for Chelsea right at the end. City looked really industrious and creative, Aguero is awesome... but, yes, all so hard to predict and turning on some random split-second occurrences.

On a different matter, you may have seen AVB come out and bemoan the Spurs fans for negative atmosphere at home matches... slightly skating on tho ice here perhaps? IMO the fans have a right when paying such high sums to utter disappointment at seeing us engage the likes of Palace, West Ham and Hull with the tempo of a tortoise on tranquillisers. It's just soooo slooooow these days! And the lack of chances being created up front is alarming. All that said, we're in a nice spot in the PL, and if AVB can positively tweak things (quite considerably, I'd argue), it bodes very well for the future. If he can't though, the 'bad' fan reaction will only increase.
 
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