The TT Football Club

T

Tiki-Taka

Guest
30 years since Maradona's warm up in Munich.


I didn't think I would witness another player even close to his or Johan's quality. What a wizard El Pibe de Oro was...
anfield said:
It's been a fortress, in the league we have not lost a match in TWO years. And on European nights, it's a cauldron. I wonder if he will play Couts there, he will be in for a torrid reception. We were fine with letting him go, but his 'back injury' when we [thought] we needed him left a poor taste in our mouths. You should have seen how Sterling played there, not great. I don't think we hate them anymore, just going to use it to our advantage.

It's a shame we are meeting in the semi's, but I'm glad we have Anfield in play against you guys.

You seem to have a lot of matches prior, but you have La Liga and don't need to stress about it, on the other hand, we can't blink. But at the end of the day, it suits us. Klopp likes to use the underdog card. But personally, I think Citeh will wobble, they are weaker mentally and the CL defeat should take the wind out of their sails and give other teams hope to go at them.

I'm glad we are flying under the radar. Last year a lot of our matches were like the City-Spuds game. This year, we have a great defense and balance. We don't freak out anymore, not only is big Viril calming our boys in the back, but also heading in some great balls. I know nothing about your defence, do you have a Puyol type at all now? That could be the difference.
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Good thing Mahrez missed that penalty, for the sake of your home streak and the title race. :p

I don't know what is going to be Valverde's choice regarding Coutinho. It's been a selection dilemma all season between him and Dembele. Dembele has clearly performed better, but he's also suffered injuries, giving Couts extra opportunities. He has improved slightly in recent weeks, although it's still not what is expected of our record signing.

Regarding our defense, Pique has been quite convincing in recent months after a poor start to the season while Lenglet is doing a good job. I thought Umtiti was an absolute rock last season, but having been out for a longer time due to injuries in this campaign, he hasn't rediscovered that very high level and has lost his place in the starting line-up as a result of that. I would have been more confident if he never went through that phase as I imagine he and today's Pique would have formed a very strong partnership. Having said all of that, the great Puyol hasn't and won't be really replaced for a while. He himself claimed recently that Pique is better than him, but I am not buying that.
 
TheAssassin

TheAssassin

Legend
I'd say the tie is 50-50 or 55-45 in either team's favor. Don't think either one of them is clearly superior. Even if Barcelona are not as good as they were before as a team, they do have Messi, the cheat code.
Tiki-Taka said:
The 1st leg against Liverpool will be played on the 1st of May at Camp Nou. But before then, Barcelona have three La Liga games in eight days. Sociedad, Alaves and Levante. These remaining fixtures in April present a great domestic opportunity for the club. Winning all three of them would mean La Liga title is retained. Obviously at this point it's a matter of when rather than if as there are six games left in total. But it would be good to seal it before the Champions League tie, especially the 2nd leg at Anfield, which I imagine will be tougher than anything Barca have had to deal with so far this season.

Valverde has named a full strength squad for the home game against Real Sociedad tomorrow as the team plans to get back to winning ways after a draw to bottom ranked Huesca last weekend. On another note, Leo Messi, who has already tied his goalscoring tally of the previous season, needing 12 fewer matches this time to hit 45, has an opportunity this month to reach an astonishing total of 600 goals for FC Barcelona. Only three away. I thought he would only start slowing down now but he has been proving me wrong again, with his general influence on the game being as big as ever. That is something we will need in order for further progress in Europe, hopefully he won't be having any dips now. Luckily he hasn't been forced to play too much this season, so I guess the possibility of long, consistent form is bigger.
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Near 600 already? LOL he scored #500 last minute winner at the Bernabeu just two years ago. :oops:
 
Poisoned Slice

Poisoned Slice

Bionic Poster
I have to take the red googles off and admit I'm looking forward to the semi final matches. I'm in the camp that considers Liverpool slight underdogs. Certainly worth a punt.
 
Poisoned Slice

Poisoned Slice

Bionic Poster
My dreams of United winning the RV and getting into champions league next season. It looks highly unlikely at the minute considering performances lately.
 
TheAssassin

TheAssassin

Legend
City narrowly beating Tottenham 1-0. Yep, Liverpool will be cheering madly for Manchester United in a few days. :laughing:

Juventus confirmed Italian champions. Eighth Serie A in a row.
 
Poisoned Slice

Poisoned Slice

Bionic Poster
Gary Neville was saying how you could feel the tension in the stadium today. When the 2-0 most dangerous lead becomes the 1-0 most dangerous lead in times like this. Had the feeling Spurs could sneak the equaliser.. Gotta doff my cap to Ederson. He shuts down that target. City get it done once more.

Time for United to pull their socks up tomorrow.
 
T

Tiki-Taka

Guest
Unspectacular but felt like a comfortable 2-1 win over Real Sociedad. Tonight, on a quiet night for both Leo and Suarez, the defenders delivered the goals. Lenglet headed the ball in from Dembele's corner in the final minute of the 1st half. While Juanmi finished off a nice simple move for the visitors to equalize on the hour mark, but Alba restored the lead in the very next attack for Barcelona, cutting in on his weaker right foot and scoring into the low far corner like the most quality wingers.

As said previously, it wasn't a great performance although the players weren't forced to do better, and with just a few points required for the title with five games left, I don't think they should be criticized for what they have given us tonight. Our opponents Sociedad played a decent game, but having a guaranteed mid-table finish and not being able to go up or down, they don't really have a lot of motives to chase points in the final few fixtures.

Three more points. One step closer. The title could be won as soon as Wednesday, though it would require Barcelona beating Alaves away on Tuesday and Atletico losing to Valencia at home the next day. Unlikely, and I would prefer to see our own players seal it themselves when they return to Camp Nou next weekend. Because despite all the won leagues in the last decade, the only time our boys clinched it at home was back in 2010, on the last day. Even though the tie with Liverpool is the one everyone will be focusing on, these players deserve a celebration at our great stadium for what they are accomplishing in Spain, year in year out.
 
T

Tiki-Taka

Guest
Neymar finally returned after a big injury break as Paris Saint-Germain officially defended their title and won their 8th Ligue 1. Congratulations @AlexanderTheGreat08

I see Mbappe scored a hat trick tonight to make it 30 goals in the league. Giving Leo a challenge for the European Golden Shoe with five games left maybe? :unsure:
 
AlexanderTheGreat08

AlexanderTheGreat08

Hall of Fame
Tiki-Taka said:
Neymar finally returned after a big injury break as Paris Saint-Germain officially defended their title and won their 8th Ligue 1. Congratulations @AlexanderTheGreat08

I see Mbappe scored a hat trick tonight to make it 30 goals in the league. Giving Leo a challenge for the European Golden Shoe with five games left maybe? :unsure:
Click to expand...
Thanks mate!

We should have 9 cause in 1993 Marseille was stripped from their title thanks to match fixing , Ligue 1 offered the title to 2nd place which was us and our owners Canal+ rejected the title to not upset the Marseille viewers which was at the time biggest in France. Also was one of the reasons we didn't got R9 in 1997 from you , cause Canal+ didn't wanted to upset Marseille viewers , I'm glad Canal lost the Ligue 1 rights.

Very happy that Neymar is back , I have different wish for next season , Not the CL , I just want our important players fit and ready to play in CL.

Mbappé is 3 behind , He needs to score like 7-8 goals in the next 5 matches to secure it
 
Poisoned Slice

Poisoned Slice

Bionic Poster
I know we are late in the night. Things like this does disturb me.

"Everton ran 4km further than them in the first half. Then you look at Liverpool, their biggest rivals, they die for every single inch on the pitch.''
 
Feña14

Feña14

G.O.A.T.
Poisoned Slice said:
I know we are late in the night. Things like this does disturb me.

"Everton ran 4km further than them in the first half. Then you look at Liverpool, their biggest rivals, they die for every single inch on the pitch.''
Click to expand...

I think that’s the hallmark of any side who are struggling and low on confidence. The players are getting a lot of stick, but every side goes through it. It always looks bad, but it’s understandable I think.

I do think it’s interesting that Solksjaer has avoided any blame, whilst the players are being hammered. LVG, Moyes and Mourinho got all the blame.. why is Solksjaer immune?

Not saying it’s all his fault, the players do need to share the responsibility. But yeah, they’re in a world of trouble if fans are turning on the players and the manager who’s totally unproven has a free pass. Good luck recruiting players this summer under those conditions! Even more so if there’s no Champions League football.

Speaking of which, we’re finally at the stage where things will be decided soon. Chelsea can put themselves in a great position tonight, then Man Utd have City and Chelsea in the space of a few days. Got to love this time of year!
 
Poisoned Slice

Poisoned Slice

Bionic Poster
Feña14 said:
I think that’s the hallmark of any side who are struggling and low on confidence. The players are getting a lot of stick, but every side goes through it. It always looks bad, but it’s understandable I think.

I do think it’s interesting that Solksjaer has avoided any blame, whilst the players are being hammered. LVG, Moyes and Mourinho got all the blame.. why is Solksjaer immune?

Not saying it’s all his fault, the players do need to share the responsibility. But yeah, they’re in a world of trouble if fans are turning on the players and the manager who’s totally unproven has a free pass. Good luck recruiting players this summer under those conditions! Even more so if there’s no Champions League football.

Speaking of which, we’re finally at the stage where things will be decided soon. Chelsea can put themselves in a great position tonight, then Man Utd have City and Chelsea in the space of a few days. Got to love this time of year!
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I'm not sure that his pass is an all day one with each ride unlocked. :p I just think he gets a bit of extra time up until the end of this season. The way we were all talking before, then the turnaround. But now it does have a feeling of being back to square one once more. And we are supposed to be competing for champions league place. I'm not saying Ole is innocent.

I am very concerned about the player recruitment. You hear that he will be handed 250 million etc. It's been a while since we've done anything in the market. They call RVP Fergie's last great signing. Is he still the clubs last great signing? That might be harsh on some players.

Was funny listening to Klopp talking about the Manchester derby. United being so rubbish lately that he will only watch the game if nothing else is on. He's not expecting any favor from United. hahaha And really, why should he? But it's funny, City need to win it all more than we need to win it all, Maybe that is wrong? Of coruse we would need to win it all to have a chance of champions league. I just don't think we do any more. The game against Spurs was very tense. But then they could come out and do exactly what Klopp is thinking of.

I'm just picturing Jurgen Klopp watching a cookery show or something.
 
Feña14

Feña14

G.O.A.T.
Poisoned Slice said:
I'm not sure that his pass is an all day one with each ride unlocked. :p I just think he gets a bit of extra time up until the end of this season. The way we were all talking before, then the turnaround. But now it does have a feeling of being back to square one once more. And we are supposed to be competing for champions league place. I'm not saying Ole is innocent.

I am very concerned about the player recruitment. You hear that he will be handed 250 million etc. It's been a while since we've done anything in the market. They call RVP Fergie's last great signing. Is he still the clubs last great signing? That might be harsh on some players.

Was funny listening to Klopp talking about the Manchester derby. United being so rubbish lately that he will only watch the game if nothing else is on. He's not expecting any favor from United. hahaha And really, why should he? But it's funny, City need to win it all more than we need to win it all, Maybe that is wrong? Of coruse we would need to win it all to have a chance of champions league. I just don't think we do any more. The game against Spurs was very tense. But then they could come out and do exactly what Klopp is thinking of.

I'm just picturing Jurgen Klopp watching a cookery show or something.
Click to expand...

It’s an interesting one for the two teams playing next weekend. One of United or Chelsea will probably be out of the top 4 race after that game. Both are in similar positions, fallen from the top of the game, badly needing to recruit new players etc.. I think Chelsea are playing better, could have a 5 point lead tonight.. plus the Europa League option. It doesn’t mean anything though, with the transfer ban. Man Utd need to find a way to get in the top 4 badly, at least they’ll be able to take advantage of it.

Haha Klopp watching a cooking show. I believe the Great British Menu is on Wednesday’s :unsure: other options include Veep, Billions. The Bay is on ITV or he could go with the NFL draft preview on Sky, if he still hasn’t cottoned on to the worst kept secret in sport.. the Cardinals will take Murray first. So he’s got a few options.
 
Slice'n'dice

Slice'n'dice

Hall of Fame
AlexanderTheGreat08 said:
We're oficially your 2018/19 Ligue 1 champions , Just a day after Juventus.

Also Lol at United , Wtf happened
Click to expand...

PSG managed to win the Ligue 1? You're kidding me, what an achievement, in a such a competitive league like that? Move aside Leicester, the new greatest story in football history has arrived.

In all seriousness, isn't it just ****ing boring now? Genuinely, it looks like it must be, where is the fun watching football and supporting a team when it's like that. Good quality football can only get you so far. I was starting to get bored watching the Porto game the other night and that's just one game.
 
Slice'n'dice

Slice'n'dice

Hall of Fame
Poisoned Slice said:
I'm not sure that his pass is an all day one with each ride unlocked. :p I just think he gets a bit of extra time up until the end of this season. The way we were all talking before, then the turnaround. But now it does have a feeling of being back to square one once more. And we are supposed to be competing for champions league place. I'm not saying Ole is innocent.

I am very concerned about the player recruitment. You hear that he will be handed 250 million etc. It's been a while since we've done anything in the market. They call RVP Fergie's last great signing. Is he still the clubs last great signing? That might be harsh on some players.

Was funny listening to Klopp talking about the Manchester derby. United being so rubbish lately that he will only watch the game if nothing else is on. He's not expecting any favor from United. hahaha And really, why should he? But it's funny, City need to win it all more than we need to win it all, Maybe that is wrong? Of coruse we would need to win it all to have a chance of champions league. I just don't think we do any more. The game against Spurs was very tense. But then they could come out and do exactly what Klopp is thinking of.

I'm just picturing Jurgen Klopp watching a cookery show or something.
Click to expand...

i personally think the sooner you get rid of him the better for your guys (so naturally I want him to stay for a lifetime), I'm not big on this sack the manager stuff but he is not a good manager in my view and I think that's shown by his record and some of the games this season where I feel like he'd kind of got found out for his lack or real tactical knowledge. He's ridden the "I'm not Mourinho" wave and that's worn off big time in recent weeks. We've seen some of these managers riding these waves and looking good in the past before being found out, I always go back to Dalglish at Liverpool after Hodgson as an example, we were great for about 5 months but the first full season it all fell apart because the game had moved on from him, he wasn't the manager for the modern game. Di Matteo for Chelsea too, also see Southgate for England where you can ride a wave of emotion and good feeling by having a former player who gets the club and the fans but when tough times come and you start to see their limitations.

I think you make a good point on the money and how it's spent, as although you've spent a lot since Fergie it hasn't been spent very well on the whole, you've bought good players but not really the right players, as much as City have spent over the years it's been spent pretty well and as far as Klopp, well basically every signing since he has come in has been good, it's unbelievable actually how good it's been it's great, and making sure it is the right player for the club, how we signed nobody to wait for Van Dijk last year is a perfect example of that, so many of our fans just saying to get someone in, our defence needs strengthening get someone in there but we waited for Van Dijk and now he's basically the best defender in the world and now nobody doubts that choice, similar for Coutinho in Jan (arguably we're still waiting on that). It's not so much how much you spend but how you spend it. Look at Tottenham too this season, signed nobody but still going strong, were in the title race till a couple of months ago and in with a great chance of a Champions League final now.

Yeah I won't be watching it either, but I probably wouldn't if you were on fire either, apart from how weird it'll feel to support Man Utd in a match watching so many City games hoping they drop points and them hardly ever doing so is depressing, and it detracts from your own enjoyment of how good your own team have been doing, so I doubt I will be either, If I check the score late in the game and you're winning, I might stick it on but other than that I'll save myself the stress, get enough from watching my own team play.
 
AlexanderTheGreat08

AlexanderTheGreat08

Hall of Fame
Slice'n'dice said:
PSG managed to win the Ligue 1? You're kidding me, what an achievement, in a such a competitive league like that? Move aside Leicester, the new greatest story in football history has arrived.

In all seriousness, isn't it just ****ing boring now? Genuinely, it looks like it must be, where is the fun watching football and supporting a team when it's like that. Good quality football can only get you so far. I was starting to get bored watching the Porto game the other night and that's just one game.
Click to expand...
It feels more like "We didn't lost" than "We won" if you know what i mean. We're the most hated club in France so winning more titles is nice as we plan to one day be the club with the most Ligue 1 titles , We're still behind our rivals Marseille and the sleepy giant Saint Etienne.

Of course is boring , I do wish for 1-2 more clubs to emerge and challenge us , But we will have to wait for that.Rennes's owner is worth 30b so he could do It , but he's not interested. Lyon could do it , but natural growth in Ligue 1 can only take you so far so they will struggle big time. Mónaco has the money , but doesn't stop them from being a selling club. Marseille has awful management , Even though they got a new owner to invest in them like 200m+ , They are far from reaching us and their academy sucks , It's important to have a good academy in France. The people who watch the league outside the club supporters is mostly because they're interested in certain fixtures or just want to see the talent of the league , The battle for European places is always what people find the most interesting in one horse leagues , St Etienne-Marseille-Lyon are fighting for the last CL place
 
T

Tiki-Taka

Guest
Winning the domestic league is special. Lord knows how much joy I felt after Barcelona won some of La Liga campaigns over the years. Being the best in the country after everyone has played nearly 40 games... Such achievement is extremely difficult to top. It is a more forgiving competition in a sense that you can afford a few slip ups, but at the end of the day, in 99% of cases, it's objectively the best team across the season that wins it. And there is great pride in that.

Although, our club never had such total control in the country like PSG, Juventus and Bayern are now. Even putting aside the teams that enjoyed their period of success like Atletico, Bilbao, Valencia, Deportivo and the other usual faces in top Spanish football, there has always been Real Madrid to compete against, and even when they didn't manage to put a lot of pressure like in a few recent seasons, it's always fantastic when you get the better of the royal club, the club that was basically untouchable in Spain while I was growing up, the club that holds the record and sets a target for the rest of us to chase. Witnessing Catalunya's finest being the finest in all of Spain is extremely satisfactory...

...

Trip to Deportivo Alaves tomorrow. A very strong match squad has been named, but Rakitic earns his rest. Alaves have enjoyed a quality season, even being in 4th position a few weeks ago, but a very poor run of five games without a win has made them drop below all European spots. They will be determined to rediscover their pre-spring performances. From our perspective, winning this game would put the club just one step away from winning the title. With the Champions League semifinal fast approach, it would be great to finish league duties before then...
 
Slice'n'dice

Slice'n'dice

Hall of Fame
AlexanderTheGreat08 said:

Lmao
Click to expand...


AlexanderTheGreat08 said:
It feels more like "We didn't lost" than "We won" if you know what i mean. We're the most hated club in France so winning more titles is nice as we plan to one day be the club with the most Ligue 1 titles , We're still behind our rivals Marseille and the sleepy giant Saint Etienne.

Of course is boring , I do wish for 1-2 more clubs to emerge and challenge us , But we will have to wait for that.Rennes's owner is worth 30b so he could do It , but he's not interested. Lyon could do it , but natural growth in Ligue 1 can only take you so far so they will struggle big time. Mónaco has the money , but doesn't stop them from being a selling club. Marseille has awful management , Even though they got a new owner to invest in them like 200m+ , They are far from reaching us and their academy sucks , It's important to have a good academy in France. The people who watch the league outside the club supporters is mostly because they're interested in certain fixtures or just want to see the talent of the league , The battle for European places is always what people find the most interesting in one horse leagues , St Etienne-Marseille-Lyon are fighting for the last CL place
Click to expand...

I guess until more interest comes into the league and in turn more money from TV deals and what not the motivation of such clubs to do so is always going to be limited. Problem is how much interest is going to come into the League if one team walks it every season, that's not really conducive to it either and in turn for any serious investment by other teams, but as has been shown by yourselves and with City, just having a team full of top quality players isn't necessarily enough and it takes time to develop that European pedigree. So I think you'll be walking that league for a while yet sadly. Would like to see a stronger French contingent, you've always got such a good national team it's a shame the League itself is as it is,
 
T

Tiki-Taka

Guest
A routine 2-0 away win over Deportivo Alaves.

Feeling sad for them and especially their manager Abelardo, our former player, for slipping now at the ending stage of the season. Hopefully they still manage to make it to Europe for the next season.

Controlled the match throughout, lots of possession, and opened the scoring with a very nice move early in the second half. Roberto exchanged passes with Vidal and found Alena who, after Suarez left it for him, got himself in front of the goalkeeper and scored. Minutes later Barca got a penalty after a VAR review and Suarez converted it. Leo came off the bench after that goal.

Job well done without extreme effort. Now, we wait. Atletico Madrid have to avoid defeat tomorrow at home against Valencia to extend the race for longer, and if they succeed, Barcelona will have a chance to clinch La Liga on Saturday, at home against Levante. Either way, the club is only one step away...
 
Badabing888

Badabing888

Hall of Fame
TheAssassin said:
Would have been even better if we had the quality to match City to begin with. :X3:

But it is a funny position. I remember Liverpool could have done us a favor when Chelsea went to Anfield on the penultimate day back in 2010. No surprise that Slippy backpassed it to Drogba. :laughing:
Click to expand...

What about 1995 when United needed Liverpool to beat Blackburn to win the title? I recall Liverpool did despite Man U not being able to capitalize.
 
TheAssassin

TheAssassin

Legend
Badabing888 said:
What about 1995 when United needed Liverpool to beat Blackburn to win the title? I recall Liverpool did despite Man U not being able to capitalize.
Click to expand...
I know, Man United only drew against West Ham away. Though a record breaking #19 wasn't on the line then. :whistle:

Anyway, I would prefer Liverpool to win this race.
 
Federer and Del Potro

Federer and Del Potro

Talk Tennis Guru
What a disastrous last month + of the season lol. Especially with Arsenal/Chelsea/Tottenham also dropping points left and right and still missing top 4. I didn't expect further Champions League success after scraping by PSG, but I did at least expect a UCL spot for next year. Terrible.
 
Otacon

Otacon

Hall of Fame
Federer and Del Potro said:
What a disastrous last month + of the season lol. Especially with Arsenal/Chelsea/Tottenham also dropping points left and right and still missing top 4. I didn't expect further success after scraping by PSG, but I did at least expect a UCL spot for next year. Terrible.
Click to expand...
I told you Man U was a mediocre team.
 
Federer and Del Potro

Federer and Del Potro

Talk Tennis Guru
Otacon said:
I told you Man U was a mediocre team.
Click to expand...

They've got the players to not be mediocre, but they're all interminably lazy. I guess it makes sense they beat PSG with largely nobodies because where theres a talent gap they'll make up for it with grit and effort.

The defense needs to be fixed / replaced at parts but they should have the talent up front to score goals and they just don't often enough.
 
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