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

[frush11]

Iniesta winning that award is playing with his emotions.

That picture is classic

 

[yoyoyo1]

Whatever about De Gea bollocks, Guzan starting today.

missed the 11am games, but very glad about this

about time he gets a chance, lambert was talking very highly about guzan in the preseason and that he was in for a shot

then given messed up badly last week and he got his shot

i like that from a coach, i have a feeling he would've started brad off the bat but it would've been too controversial


bradley freidel, helping his fellow goalkeepers out

paired with keller, gave timmy his usmnt shot, gives guzan an epl shot

 

[concise]

took it from F365 but still

I saw this a few weeks back in TLR, was dying

 

[yoyoyo1]

USA lineup for both Jamaica qualifiers.

GOALKEEPERS (4) : Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)

DEFENDERS (9) : Carlos Bocanegra (Racing Santander), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Maurice Edu (Stoke City), Clarence Goodson (Brondby), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim), Michael Orozco Fiscal (San Luis), Michael Parkhurst (Nordsjaelland), Jonathan Spector (Birmingham City)

MIDFIELDERS (8) : Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), Joshua Gatt (Molde), Jermaine Jones (Schalke 04), Brek Shea (FC Dallas), Jose Torres (Pachuca), Danny Williams (Hoffenheim), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)

FORWARDS (4 ): Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar), Terrence Boyd (Rapid Vienna), Clint Dempsey (Tottenham Hotspur), Herculez Gomez (Santos)

Josh Gatt getting a callup

ironically, he got injured today some guys have all the luck.

no landy or general bradley, im nervous.

 

[yoyoyo1]

hey brazilians, how come santos loses so much?

and every time i see santos lose, they never have neymar, ganso, any of the top guys in the lineup. whats up with this? it's like their A lineup only plays once every three games. confusing as fukk.

 

[mastermind]

What happened at Liverpool FC yesterday reverberated across the club's base like a seismic shock. The ripples were massive, jarring and troubling - even for myself, an eternal optimist when it comes to the club's affairs. What's more, is that it was clear that many within and around the cub felt similarly. And by the time the transfer window closed I was caught completely flat-footed and without a crutch. I looked for an escape route. I grappled for an answer. I wavered between disbelief and a nonchalant self-told lie wherein I reassured myself that it all didn't really matter. Transfer deadline day: a charade of hope usually compounded by despair.

From the onset I expected the signing of one Clint Dempsey this window, a positive move in my mind's eye, but by no means the answer to our every prayer. I had settled on that after a summer of relative discontent; the idea that he would be the final peg in a new system that would deliver us from mediocrity. At the very least a springboard, so to speak, that our new manager would use to advance his ideals - even if the b*stard was 29-years-old. A perfect final token after the signings of Borini, Allen, Assaidi, Sahin and Yesil.

The emotions I experienced during the afternoon, and then well into the evening, ran the gamut in hyperspeed: euphoria, hopefulness, patience, disappointment, anger, rage and then finally a form of weird and perverted acceptance. I blamed Twitter and Facebook, agents and ITK's for my wavering emotions. I blamed 24-hour network news and SSN. I blamed an overload of media and message boards, over-saturation and information. I blamed anything but myself. They all must be to blame. I told myself that I will not accept mediocrity as a rabid fan of this historic club - and that FSG were raping us all with a giant sandpaper condom. f**k them, I said. They don't get it. Poor Brendan, he must be fuming.

And then I stepped back.

Hours later, I stepped way back.

My faith in Liverpool FC had wavered.

I repented. I confessed. How could this have happened?

I remembered how much I loved this club and less than two years ago fretted for its future, not as a matter of longevity, but as a matter of days, hours, minutes and seconds. I remembered how H&G took my life's passion to the brink and nearly stole it all. And while this is not an FSG v H&G post, I reminded myself about financial fair play, economic viability and debt… in a time of massive global debt. I remembered how I promised FSG and Brendan Rodgers time; time to take us back to something greater - even though I knew the growing pains would be painful, wrought with fear and trepidation.

And when I stepped back I saw the numbers, as clear as day: the nearly half million pounds saved a week in wages. I saw the skeletal squad of 17 senior players, but it included Agger and Skrtel, Suarez, Allen, Lucas and my captain fantastic Steven Gerrard. I saw a once-in-a-lifteime opportunity for 4 or 5 youth players. I saw a singular goal.

Maybe it was just my mad optimism again and my eternal hope for this magnificent club. But I was upbeat. I saw the next transfer window, and the window after that as real opportunities to begin anew and grow the club - even though this was all supposed to be the case two transfer windows ago. And, in my mind that's a real feat after least year's 100m spending debacle WITHOUT the revenues Champions League Football.

So the last 24 hours were historic indeed. They will, I believe, be remembered by all of us as a "Where were you moment", when the massive ship of Liverpool FC, with its maritime history intact, began to change course drastically and finally right itself. For others, it will be remembered as that lean window when the club waved the white flag before the season even began. But I think those naysayers are sorely mistaken and that narrative will change in time. The ills of the last few years are still a bone in the throat waiting to be coughed up. The financial state of this club when the new owners took over was dire. I have not forgotten that and the raw anguish I felt when I almost lost my club. And I regret almost turning a blind eye to our financial shortcomings and the lousy former owners who masked those dangerous liabilities with ghastly lies. It may be a skint season and the growing pains will smart like salt to an open wound. But I just pray for patience from all of us, because a ship with this history, aura and legend does not change course overnight. But when it does, the rewards will be sweeter than any sugar daddy owner could ever provide.

 

[Roaden Polynice]

22 guests? At this time?

 

[frush11]

It's 24 at the moment

 

[yoyoyo1]

now its 2. what happened

 

[BIGDENNIS10UK]

Stop it

 

[SubZeroDegrees]

Di Canio pissing off a black player again.

 

[Eoin]

what were you saying about Diaby again?

the new viera

 

[Mané Swagincha]

hey brazilians, how come santos loses so much?

and every time i see santos lose, they never have neymar, ganso, any of the top guys in the lineup. whats up with this? it's like their A lineup only plays once every three games. confusing as fukk.

And theyre second in the league when Neymar plays for them, theyre just shyt without him thats all, hes a beast when he plays in Brazil, hes probably got an average of like 1.3 goals when he does play. Ganso wasnt called up, but he didnt play because hes about to leave the club, most likely going to Sao Paulo, after hes asked for Neymar-like wages and Santos denied his request, hes fallen off with fans since then.

Rumor has it that Mano will get sacked from the NT after these friendlies and Santos coach, who originally was looked for, Muricy Ramalho will take over.

 

[Mané Swagincha]

Liverpool's transfer strategy defended in open letter by John W Henry

I am as disappointed as anyone connected with Liverpool Football Club that we were unable to add further to our strike force in this summer transfer window, but that was not through any lack of desire or effort on the part of all of those involved. They pushed hard in the final days of the transfer window on a number of forward targets and it is unfortunate that on this occasion we were unable to conclude acceptable deals to bring those targets in.
But a summer window which brought in three young, but significantly talented starters in Joe Allen, Nuri Sahin and Fabio Borini as well as two exciting young potential stars of the future – Samed Yesil and Oussama Assaidi – could hardly be deemed a failure as we build for the future.
Nor should anyone minimise the importance of keeping our best players during this window. We successfully retained Daniel Agger, Martin Skrtel and Luis Suárez. We greatly appreciate their faith and belief in the club. And we successfully negotiated new, long-term contracts with Luis and with Martin.
No one should doubt our commitment to the club. In Brendan Rodgers we have a talented young manager and we have valued highly his judgement about the make-up of the squad. This is a work in progress. It will take time for Brendan to instil his philosophy into the squad and build exactly what he needs for the long term.
The transfer policy was not about cutting costs. It was – and will be in the future – about getting maximum value for what is spent so that we can build quality and depth. We are avowed proponents of Uefa's Financial Fair Play agenda that was this week reiterated by Mr Platini – something we heartily applaud. We must comply with Financial Fair Play guidelines that ensure spending is tied to income. We have been successful in improving the commercial side of the club and the monies generated going forward will give us greater spending power in the coming years.
We are still in the process of reversing the errors of previous regimes. It will not happen overnight. It has been compounded by our own mistakes in a difficult first two years of ownership. It has been a harsh education, but make no mistake, the club is healthier today than when we took over.
Spending is not merely about buying talent. Our ambitions do not lie in cementing a mid-table place with expensive, short-term quick fixes that will only contribute for a couple of years. Our emphasis will be on developing our own players using the skills of an increasingly impressive coaching team. Much thought and investment already have gone into developing a self-sustaining pool of youngsters imbued in the club's traditions.
That ethos is to win. We will invest to succeed. But we will not mortgage the future with risky spending.
After almost two years at Anfield, we are close to having the system we need in place. The transfer window may not have been perfect but we are not just looking at the next 16 weeks until we can buy again: we are looking at the next 16 years and beyond. These are the first steps in restoring one of the world's great clubs to its proper status.
It will not be easy, it will not be perfect, but there is a clear vision at work.
We will build and grow from within, buy prudently and cleverly and never again waste resources on inflated transfer fees and unrealistic wages. We have no fear of spending and competing with the very best but we will not overpay for players.
We will never place this club in the precarious position that we found it in when we took over at Anfield. This club should never again run up debts that threaten its existence.
Most of all, we want to win. That ambition drives every decision. It is the Liverpool way. We can and will generate the revenues to achieve that aim. There will be short-term setbacks from time to time, but we believe we have the right people in place to bring more glory to Anfield.
Finally, I can say with authority that our ownership is not about profit. Contrary to popular opinion, owners rarely get involved in sports in order to generate cash. They generally get involved with a club in order to compete and work for the benefit of their club. It's often difficult. In our case we work every day in order to generate revenues to improve the club. We have only one driving ambition at Liverpool and that is the quest to win the Premier League playing the kind of football our supporters want to see. That will only occur if we do absolutely the right things to build the club in a way that makes sense for supporters, for us and for those who will follow us. We will deliver what every long-term supporter of Liverpool Football Club aches for.

John W Henry's open letter to Liverpool fans | Football | guardian.co.uk

 

[concise]

And theyre second in the league when Neymar plays for them, theyre just shyt without him thats all, hes a beast when he plays in Brazil, hes probably got an average of like 1.3 goals when he does play. Ganso wasnt called up, but he didnt play because hes about to leave the club, most likely going to Sao Paulo, after hes asked for Neymar-like wages and Santos denied his request, hes fallen off with fans since then.

Rumor has it that Mano will get sacked from the NT after these friendlies and Santos coach, who originally was looked for, Muricy Ramalho will take over.

in short,

They've become entitled c*nts.