General Football Thread

[MJB]

Two goals in five minutes for Real Madrid, the first from Ronaldo then Benzema. Still 4-3 to Barca overall though, but one more goal from the men in white and they go through on away goals.

[MJB]

Two minutes of normal time left and Ramos has just been sent off for a second yellow card.

[IAceI]

The thing is Alves doesn't really play as a right back most of the time for Barcelona. Sometimes he'll be in line with the likes of Messi and Fabregas and essentially be operating as a right wing forward. He's brilliant going forward though and has a great shot on him but he's suspect defensively, but Guardiola knows this and Barcelona play with a counter for this, generally with Puyol moving over the RB, Pique and Busquets slotting in at CB and Abidal staying at LB because he's not nearly as advanced as Alves and provides the defensive counterbalance.

I didn't see the second leg, it's recorded for me to watch later, but in the first leg it was no surprise to see Ronaldo getting the better of Alves. Because Madrid broke with such pace and three strikers, Ronaldo could easily show Alves a clean set of heels, Busquets wouldn't be back to drop into CB quick enough because it was such a quick break and with Benzema and Higuain both in the middle, neither Pique or Puyol wanted to move over too quickly to shut off Ronaldo. That said, Guardiola changed it up a bit at half time to help counter this and Ronaldo was less effective in the second half of the first leg.

Alves is definitely the best in the world at what he does, and clearly a very talented player if not with a reputation for being a bit of a diver, but take him out of the Barcelona team and give him that big money move to England for a 4-4-2 playing side and would he be nearly as successful? I highly doubt it. Alves is brilliant in that knowledge that if Barcelona lose the ball high up the pitch that he doesn't have to get back immediately because the team has a plan to cover with him not there. And I've seen Barcelona line up at the start of a match or at half time when waiting for kick off with Alves stood wide right on the half way line which isn't the mark of someone playing full back or even wing back. But that's Barca for you, they don't adhere to stict formation guidelines like we do in England so for many critics it's hard for them to peg Barca because they can't put them into a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-3 or a 4-5-1 or any discernable formation, and it must make it very hard for opposing coaches to come up with a gameplan to deal with them.

[mikevandam]

Why is Pepe such a bitter little man, that he resorts to that kind of tactics out there ? >_<

[Colly]

Vaguely watching the Italian cup game on ESPN (where the commentator has just suggested Milan have done great business shipping out a well off form Taiwo to QPR), after a bit of petulant kicking about Van Bommel has actually just been punched in the box. Penalty box that is, I believe he's a man.

Massive punch though, no idea how no ones seen it.

[Lineker]

Former Leeds United and Stoke City star Chris Kamara has turned out for a struggling mid Wales side after they were mocked on Sky Sports.

Soccer Saturday presenter Jeff Stelling ribbed Welshpool Town when they lost to local rivals Waterloo Rovers 10-1.

But manager David Jones emailed the show explaining how the club nearly folded, and Sky made amends by arranging for Kamara to play for them.

Sadly, he did not have much of an impact as Welshpool lost 6-1.

The channel's cameras filmed the game against Rhayader, which kicked off at 14:00 GMT.

About 500 fans turned up to see the ex-pro in action, 10 times the attendance the club has been attracting of late.

The temporary new signing played a full 90 minutes in midfield for the Spar Mid Wales League outfit.

Kamara announced his comeback on Twitter before the match, saying: "After 17 years retirement I am back, move over Scholes & Henry."

He said he was playing for Welshpool Town, adding "I must be mad".

Welshpool manager David Jones said: "Chris played really well. He's still very fit."

Town were 2-0 down at half-time, but scored just after the break to put themselves back in the game.

"He gave us a team talk before the game and at half-time and he was talking to the lads throughout the match," added Jones.

"We got back into it early in the second half, but Rhayader ran away with it in the end.

"Chris said he enjoyed it, but there are no plans for him to play again for us."

Kamara, 54, who played in defence and midfield during a 20-year playing career, made his league debut in 1975 for Portsmouth.

He went on to play for Swindon, Brentford, Stoke City, Leeds, Luton Town, Sheffield United, Middlesbrough and Bradford City.

He became a pitch-side reporter for Sky Sports following his retirement from the game in 1995.

He has since become well-known for his catchphrase: "Unbelievable Jeff".

Known as the Lilywhites, Welshpool are languishing near the foot of table, with eight points from 21 games.

Two years ago they were in the Welsh Premier League and in 2007 just missed out on qualification for the Uefa Cup.

But since then the club, which was founded 133 years ago and is one of Wales' oldest, has fallen on hard times, and had no players or a manager in August.

The Boxing Day hammering by Waterloo Rovers was the lowest point of the season so far. It was picked up by Stelling, who quipped that Welshpool had met their Waterloo.

Unfortunately, the crushing 10-1 defeat was followed by a 7-1 thrashing at the hands of Llansanffraid Village on New Year's Eve, which Stelling then mentioned on the show.

Sky Sports contacted Jones and said it was sending a camera to one of the club's matches and a former football star would play for them.

Kamara has had to sign for Welshpool until the end of the season, and because his last club was in England he needed international clearance from the Football Association of Wales to play.

Unbelievable, Jeff!!

[METALMAN]

I love Chris Kamara

I once did a short-lived FM diary here where Chris Kamara died. I regret that.

[Lineker]

World Cup winner Lothar Matthaus has signed up to become a reality TV star.

The 50-year-old enjoyed a glittering playing career, appearing at five World Cups and lifting the trophy as captain of the then West Germany at Italia '90.

However, he is also known in his homeland for four failed marriages and a mixed coaching career.

Matthaus says appearing in the six-to-eight-part docu-soap TV series is designed to show the German public what he is really like.

His professional troubles and colourful personal life, including his current relationship with Polish underwear model Joanna Tuczynska, 23 years his junior, have made Matthaus a figure of fun in sections of the German media.

While the cameras will have access to most aspects of his life, some parts will remain off limits.

"The shower and bedroom are taboo and there won't be any sex scenes for sure," he told German newspaper Bild.

"But the cameras will be with me through all aspects which make up my life: my girlfriend Joanna, my children, my travels and my leisure time.

"I want to show people how I really am. Most people are only familiar with some of the headlines. I think there will be a lot of positive surprises for me."

Matthaus is regarded by many as one of the greatest midfielders to grace the game, with Diego Maradona describing him as "the best rival I ever had".

He is the most capped Germany player of all time with 150 appearances (83 with West Germany), scoring 23 goals.

As well as being the only outfield player to appear at five World Cups, he also played in a record 25 matches at the tournament between 1982 and 1998.

However, Matthaus has struggled to make his mark as a professional coach, spending short spells in charge of the Hungary national side and clubs in Austria, Brazil, Serbia and Israel.

He was sacked as Bulgaria coach last September after failing to qualify for Euro 2012.

[METALMAN]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/f340caae-47cd-11e1-b646-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1kpvU7sR1

This is an interesting article about evaluating the success of different managers. Paul Sturrock seems like a gent.

[The Lusophone]

A Gent with Parkinsons who took Plymouth down

[Adam]

A Gent with Parkinsons who took Plymouth down

Ferguson and Busby combined probably couldn't save Plymouth to be fair. And IIRC, Sturridge is the man who took Plymouth out of the bottom 5 of League 2 and up to the top half of the Championship, didn't he?

[The Lusophone]

A Gent with Parkinsons who took Plymouth down

Ferguson and Busby combined probably couldn't save Plymouth to be fair. And IIRC, Sturridge is the man who took Plymouth out of the bottom 5 of League 2 and up to the top half of the Championship, didn't he?

Sturrock left before promotion to the Championship iirc. Bobby Williamson won promotion in his first match as gaffer?

[Lineker]

Former international football players are to be auctioned on Monday to play in a new tournament in the eastern Indian city of Calcutta.

The players being sold include Fabio Cannavaro, captain of Italy's World Cup-winning team in 2006, former French international Robert Pires and Nigerian Jay-Jay Okocha.

The Premier League Soccer (PLS) tournament will feature six teams.

The organisers expect the league to do well in India's football capital.

Last year the city hosted India's first international friendly between overseas teams, with Argentina beating Venezuela 1-0.

Organisers of the PLS, which begins next month, hope to emulate the success of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the cricket tournament that attracts huge crowds and which inaugurated the auction system.

They also believe that it will inspire more Indians to play football. India is ranked 158 of the 203 football-playing countries.

The BBC's Rahul Tandon, in Calcutta, says 20 foreign players and five foreign coaches will be auctioned on Monday.

"For the first time ever football players will be auctioned and I think that we are at the crossroads for Indian football. I am sure that the PLS will provide a new path for Indian football," Bhaswar Goswami, one of the organisers, told the BBC.

But critics of the league say the money would have been better spent in developing talent and question whether football can ever challenge the multi-billion dollar business of cricket in India.

Football has been played and followed in India for almost 200 years.

The televising of the Mexico World Cup in 1986 made Maradona a hero and created a generation of Argentina fans.

An Indian company, Venky's, now owns the Premiership club Blackburn Rovers.

Liverpool are setting up an academy in Delhi and Manchester United chief executive David Gill has spoken openly about his team's desire to crack the Indian market.

sampatricklyon Sam Lyon

RT @petermstaunton Interesting news coming from Brazil. Daniel Carvalho claims CSKA gave him steroids to build him up as a 20-year-old.

Edited January 30, 2012 by #LINEKER

[Adam]

A Gent with Parkinsons who took Plymouth down

Ferguson and Busby combined probably couldn't save Plymouth to be fair. And IIRC, Sturridge is the man who took Plymouth out of the bottom 5 of League 2 and up to the top half of the Championship, didn't he?

Sturrock left before promotion to the Championship iirc. Bobby Williamson won promotion in his first match as gaffer?

So, basically, Sturrock managed Plymouth for the entire campaign of promotion to the Championship, until the last few games? It's hardly any less his promotion now is it?

[The Lusophone]

A Gent with Parkinsons who took Plymouth down

Ferguson and Busby combined probably couldn't save Plymouth to be fair. And IIRC, Sturridge is the man who took Plymouth out of the bottom 5 of League 2 and up to the top half of the Championship, didn't he?

Sturrock left before promotion to the Championship iirc. Bobby Williamson won promotion in his first match as gaffer?

So, basically, Sturrock managed Plymouth for the entire campaign of promotion to the Championship, until the last few games? It's hardly any less his promotion now is it?

And where did I say it wasn't?

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

CAIRO (Reuters) - Seventy-three people were killed and at least 1,000 injured on Wednesday after a soccer pitch invasion in the Egyptian city of Port Said, a health ministry official said, in an incident that one player described as "a war, not football."

"This is unfortunate and deeply saddening. It is the biggest disaster in Egypt's soccer history," deputy health minister Hesham Sheiha told state television.

Violence at football matches across north Africa has increased significantly since political unrest sweeping across the region began more than a year ago.

Wednesday's trouble flared at the end of a match when Port Said team al-Masry beat Al Ahli, one of Egypt's most successful clubs, 3-1.

Live television footage showed fans running onto the field and chasing Ahli players. A small group of riot police formed a corridor to try to protect the players, but they appeared overwhelmed and fans were still able to kick and punch the players as they fled.

"This is not football. This is a war and people are dying in front of us. There is no movement and no security and no ambulances," Ahli player Mohamed Abo Treika told his club's television channel.

"I call for the premier league to be cancelled. This is horrible situation and today can never be forgotten."

State television reported that Egypt's football federation had indefinitely delayed premier league matches.

Another match in Cairo was halted by the referee after receiving news of the violence in Port Said, prompting fans to set parts of the stadium on fire, television footage showed.

The Egyptian health ministry has announced that more than 70 supporters were killed after thousands of Masry fans invaded the pitch following the team’s 3-1 Egyptian Premier League victory over Ahly on Wednesday.

"There are 11 deaths at my hospital. Two other hospitals have 25 deaths. Three fans have also died in the stadium," Medhat El-Esnawy, the manager of Port Said's El-Amiry hospital, said in a television interview.

“Some died in the stampede and others died of suffocation.”

Egyptian Football Association (EFA) chairman Samir Zaher announced the league had been postponed for an indefinite period in the wake of the deadly clashes.

Ahly’s panicked players flooded the club’s in-house television channel with phone calls to speak about the post-match horror and call on authorities to intervene and protect them.

“The security forces left us, they did not protect us. One fan has just died in the dressing room in front of me,” veteran playmaker Mohamed Abou-Treika screamed during a phone call with the club’s channel.

“People have died, we are seeing corpses now. There are no security forces or army personnel to protect us,” attacking midfielder Mohamed Barakat added.

“It is our fault because we played that match. The authorities are afraid to cancel the league because they just care about money, they do not care about the lives of people.”

Thousands of Masry fans stormed the pitch immediately after the final whistle, chasing Ahly players and technical staff members, who ran for their lives. They subsequently clashed with Ahly’s visiting supporters as the melee escalated.

Later in the day, Zamalek’s league game against Ismaily in Cairo was called off following the end of the first half upon the request of both teams.

The outer part of one of Cairo Stadium’s four stands caught fire after an electrical short circuit. Fire brigade trucks rushed to the scene to extinguish the fire.

“We are in a catastrophe. We had to show solidarity with the fans of Ahly and Masry,” Zamalek coach Hassan Shehata said.

Alexandria-based clubs Ittihad and Smouha announced their withdrawal from the league competition. Many TV analysts have also called on authorities to suspend football activities in the reeling country.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/01/egypt-football-pitch-invasion-dead?newsfeed=true

Video on the link above, absolute madness.

[Johnny Latino Heat]

An Al-Ahly supporter apparently said that the war that erupted may have political reasons, because a section of Al-Ahly's supporters was involved in Mubarak's fall and the other team's supporters were Mubarak's supporters as well, and apparently they started the game amidst death threats to Al-Ahly's team and supporters like "we're going to kill you" and "you won't make it home alive".

I don't even know what to say. I don't know how to express my dismay in Portuguese, much less in English. I'm just speechless. This isn't football. Football should be something where you could have fun and take your family. This is just war, pure and simple.

EDIT: Just read that the Egiptian league has been suspended indefinitely. It's the best course of action, I think Things look to be way too volatile, especially because another stadium's stands have also been torched during another game. What a disgrace.

Edited February 2, 2012 by Johnny Latino Heat

[IAceI]

One of the journalist I follow - may have been Jonathan Wilson - tweeted about there being a picture with a man with his eyes gouged out and the like. The fans who came to the ground who did things like that had no intention of watching a football game. You don't go to a match to murder someone.

What an absolute joke, obviously there are still tensions after the 'Arab Spring' and this just escalates it.

Blergh. What a horrible shame. RIP to all those who lost their lives.

[Lineker]

....damn. Not sure what to say.

:/

[IAceI]

For anyone looking for something to read may I suggest "A Life Too Short" by Ronald Reng about Robert Enke. I got it for Christmas - a cheery present, I know - and read it over the past month when I had time and it's a really well written book and highlights the problems with depression in professional athletes as well as remembering fondly how good he was.

Well worth a read. Can't reccomend it highly enough.