Essential The Official Football (Soccer) Thread - We are SO back, the Premier League returns!

[blackzeus]

Is it just me or is this Roth guy worthless?

 

[yoyoyo1]

Is it just me or is this Roth guy worthless?

he's more of an acquaintance than a friend, really

 

[yoyoyo1]

@Equanimity

not up on paulinho, so i'm guessing its a sandro/dembele/paulinho midfield now?

with lennon/bale/dempsey/adebayor/defoe options up front in a 4-3-3

 

[Scottie Drippin]

Brehs, my high top fade is 5 inches high now

 

[yoyoyo1]

the american showing these lazy foreigners how its done

 

[TheFryingDutchman]

did Eddie Johnson do to his hair

 

[FakeNews]

did Eddie Johnson do to his hair

Him and Mo Edu

 

[EQ.]

@Equanimity

not up on paulinho, so i'm guessing its a sandro/dembele/paulinho midfield now?

with lennon/bale/dempsey/adebayor/defoe options up front in a 4-3-3

Something like that...you will def see that against Manu/Manc/Arse/Chelsea.

I think AVB will rotate between Paulinho/Dembele as the Box 2 Box mids. Hopefully he can bring in Villa + Young DM. Though there has been talk of selling deuce tho :yoo:

 

[yoyoyo1]

Him and Mo Edu

it was a pact thing during the qualies with eddie, mo, and boyd

except boyd went back to rapid and got a haircut/they made him shave it

@Equanimity thanks breh, spurs will contend but with arsenal retooling i dont know, still think they'll be stuck 5th



and kenny miller with a great finish!

 

[yoyoyo1]

am I the only one that still reps regularly?

i say this cause i always find myself short on reps, like now, while basically 95% of the posters are stuck on that one bar

 

[EQ.]

@Equanimity thanks breh, spurs will contend but with arsenal retooling i dont know, still think they'll be stuck 5th

If they get Higuain and a couple of solid CM's then they will definitely be unfukkwitable. Tho if we get Villa+ Soldado + Winger then i would feel confident about the upcoming season.

 

[yoyoyo1]

It's so nice to hear a knowledgeable American voice doing national MLS games with professional treatment (aka not FSC), definitely a step in the right direction hiring Strong.

 

[yoyoyo1]

microcosm of brazil nt 2003-2013

 

[Liu Kang]

Froome finished in the top 3 iirc in the 2011 Vuelta. Go to youtube and look for Froome vs Cobo in the 2011 Vuelta, Froome been ready.

That's what I was implying : he's really good since he's with Sky Team and that just leads me to think Sky Team management sure knows how to get the best of their riders.

Because for real, I'm not that surprised by Froome's performance, it's known that dude is a great climber. But let's be objective for a second, here are the top 5 times for the Ax-3 domaines climbs (source : http://www.fillarifoorumi.fi/forum/...a-km-h-VAM-W-W-kg-etc-)&p=2045251#post2045251) :
1. Laiseka 2001 : 22'57
2. Armstrong 2001 : 22'59
3. Froome 2013 : 23'14
4. Jan Ullrich 2003 : 23'17
5. Zubeldia 2003 : 23'17.

And you know damn well that '01 Lance was God on the roads (that's when he shat on Ullrich in the Alpe d'Huez with that famous arrogant look )

So, here's the link of a 2012 BBC article : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18921784

And a quote from said article :

[...]
"In the late 1990s and early 2000s if you were going to be competitive and win the Tour de France you would have to be able to cycle between 6.4 and 6.7 watts per kilogram at the end of a day's stage.

"What we are seeing now, in the last three or four years, is that the speed of the front of the peloton [of] men like Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome and Vincenzo Nibali, is about 10% down compared to that generation and now the power output at the front is about 6W/kg."

He says that they should actually be getting faster, not slower, because of advances in technology and sports science.

He thinks that what we are seeing now is a human race as opposed to the pharmaceutical races we saw in the past.

"The physiological implications of riding 6.5W/kg are for me, as a physiologist, beyond belief. What they are doing now is physiologically plausible."
[...]

Now, here's another link, but to a blog post of the the same Dr Tucker on Froome yesterday : The Science of Sport: Froome's first mountain performance: Cue debate

And a quote from the article if you don't want to read it :

[...]
It was fast, very fast. The 23:14 ascent of Ax-3-Domaines puts Froome in third on the all-time list for the climb, behind only Laiseka and Armstrong in 2001. The VAM of 1715 m/h converts to a power output of 6.3 W/kg (Ferrari method) and about 6.5 W/kg with other models (CPL, rst). Very fast.
[...]

But what baffles me the most is Richie Porte who has ridiculously improved over the past few years. Dude was known as a time trial specialist and he's not the second best climber in the peloton and has in 2nd place almost secured in this tour (unless unexpected drama)...
Him, I don't believe at all. His performance at Paris-Nice this year where he was passing by riders like they were walking made me highly doubtful. I don't have any more doubts anymore now.

On the real, to me, cycling is great entertainment, so I'm not trying to sound like a hater because I only stan french riders and I know for sure they will never win the TDF. Plus, honestly, I enjoyed the stage : that was great drama with carnage all over the road like a true mountain stage should be.
I'm just mad that Sky fukked up the suspense so early while there are still two weeks left !
Now, we both know that Froome and Porte will do 1 & 2.
At least US Postal leutenants had the decency to slow down to the finish to let others teams hope...

Only reason he didn't win was Wiggins

Froome should already have two grand tours under his belt

Froome is far more entertaining to watch than Wiggins and was definitely the best last year.
I'm still skeptical about why Sky didn't make Froome #1 in 2012 but considering that Wiggins is 5 years older, I think it was simply courtesy from them to let Wiggo win because they knew Froome was about to take over.

 

[BOBN]

Tony Thompson

David Price you bareknuckle gypsy fights in the parking lot status now breh