Football (Soccer) 2007/2008 Season

[Archy]

UCL Draw:

Group A:
Liverpool
Porto
Marseille
Besiktas

Group B:
Chelsea
Valencia
Schalke
Rosenborg

Group C:
Real Madrid
Werder Bremen
Lazio
Olympiacos

Group D:
AC Milan
Benfica
Celtic
Shakhtar Donetsk

Group E:
Barcelona
Lyon
Stuttgart
Rangers

Group F:
Manchester United
AS Roma
Sporting Lisbon
Dynamo Kiev

Group G:
Inter Milan
PSV Eindhoven
CSKA Moscow
Fenerbache

Group H:
Arsenal
Sevilla/AEK Athens
Steaua Bucharest
Slavia Prague

Wow. Very interesting draws - we have rematches all over the place. AC Milan vs. Celtic, Chelsea vs. Valencia and the biggest of all...

Manchester United vs. Roma!

Sweet, there probably won't be any more 7-1 thrashings because Roma's defense is ten times better with the addition of Brazilians Juan and Cicinho.

Predictions:

Group A: Liverpool to qualify with ease, Porto as well, I'm doubtful of Marseille's chances, and Besiktas probably won't.

Group B: Chelsea will qualify most certainly, second place is a toss-up between Schalke and Valencia.

Group C: Real Madrid to top, I'm doubtful of Bremen ever since Klose left but they're still a good side, though Lazio can crash into the round of 16.

Group D: Barring any problems, AC Milan will top. Celtic vs. Benfica for 2nd.

Group E: I think this would be the Group of Death - Ligue Champions Lyon, Bundesliga Champions Stuttgart, and always contenders in their leagues Rangers and Barcelona. Rangers will probably not make it given their opponents. Barcelona should make it, they're the best team in the group, I'm giving the 2nd spot to Stuttgart, Lyon lost alot in the transfer window really. It can go either way, though - Lyon have more experience.

Group F: Manchester United, definitely. Roma to come 2nd.

Group G: Inter Milan are the best team in the lot, so they'll top it. PSV to come 2nd.

Group H: Arsenal should top this group, if Sevilla makes it they'll go through as well. If they didn't, no idea.
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[Aurelien]

Aurelien's Prediction

Group A:
1. Liverpool
2. Porto
3. Marseille
4. Besiktas

A bit no-brainer I suppose. Liverpool is the strongest side in the group by far, while Porto should have enough to defeat Marseille who is getting better but still up and down. Besiktas just seem to be quite out of place.

Group B:
1. Chelsea
2. Valencia
3. Schalke
4. Rosenborg

Reasonably fair seeding too in this group as Chelsea is the strongest side, but we'll never know what Valencia can do because David Villa is one heck of a forward to deal with (when he's not diving that is .. lol .. he got red-carded for diving on the weekend's La Liga 0-3 defeat against Villarreal). Schalke needs to get stronger before they can really challenge the big two teams. Rosenborg is just out of place.

Group C:
1.Real Madrid
2. Lazio
3. Werder Bremen
4. Olympiacos

I'm putting Lazio ahead of Werder Bremen just because I believe that Bremen is getting weaker from last season while Lazio maintained their strength, and Rocchi is becoming more and more dangerous up front. Real Madrid should be the top team, but we'll never know. A loss or two against Bremen and Lazio could ruin their plan.

Group D:
1. AC Milan
2. Celtic
3. Benfica
4. Shakhtar Donetsk

AC Milan should win the group comfortably, though I wouldn't be surprised if they were held to draws when away against Celtic or Benfica. I put Celtic ahead of Benfica just because of Nakamura. I really believe that he is a class player and he could bring Celtic to the next round. Shakhtar can play a part, but I'd assume they'd be bottom though not losing all of the matches.

Group E:
1. Barcelona
2. Rangers
3. Stuttgart
4. Lyon

The group of death, some might say, but Barcelona should have no problem topping the group as they are on a different level than the rest. However, the one taking second spot is quite tricky. They're all pretty much on the same level, but I sense that Lyon is going down this season. They're struggling in French Ligue already, and I still think that Milan Baros is a worse striker than John Carew. So they're just getting weaker a lot. That leaves Stuttgart and Rangers. The problem that I have with German clubs is that if they're not really big clubs (like Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund back in those 90's days), they seem to be very up and down. So I'll go with Rangers to cause an upset in this group.

Group F:
1. AS Roma
2. Manchester United
3. Dynamo Kiev
4. Sporting Lisbon

Another group that is quite tight, in my opinion. I'll put AS Roma ahead of Manchester United because I really don't believe that Manchester United is getting better than last year. Roma, though losing Chivu, should be getting better as their young Italian talents (De Rossi and Aquilani) should improve from last season. I'll put Kiev ahead of Sporting Lisbon just because.

Group G:
1. Inter Milan
2. PSV Eindhoven
3. CSKA Moscow
4. Fenerbache

Quite straight forward. That's about it.

Group H:
1. Sevilla
2. Arsenal
3. Steaua Bucharest
4. Slavia Prague

Arsenal will somehow mess it up against the weaker club by failing to get 3 points against them. On the contrary, Sevilla would have no such problem and continue to impress to top the group. Bucharest and Prague would most likely draw against one another. XD

That's the latest from ... Aurelien!
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~City-States of Jowston and Tinto Republic~
06.06.2004 - 20.01.2008

[Goldy]

Goldy's Predictions

Group A:
1. Liverpool
2. Porto
3. Besiktas
4. Marseille

Well obviously Liverpool are going to get through here and i fancy Porto to come in a close second.

Group B:
1. Valencia
2. Chelsea
3. Schalke
4. Rosenborg

Going to be cheaky here and say Chelsea to finish second. Just like Manchester United, they are not playing well at the moment!

Group C:
1. Real Madrid
2. Lazio
3. Werder Bremen
4. Olympiacos

I think this might be a tight group and Werder Bremen could nick a top two finish depending on which Real Madrid and Lazio team turns up!

Group D:
1. AC Milan
2. Benfica
3. Celtic
4. Shakhtar Donetsk

An easy group for AC Milan.....it should be! I think Celtic will struggle.

Group E:
1. Barcelona
2. Lyon
3. Stuttgart
4. Rangers

Barcelona to top this tough group with Lyon in second, Stuttgart could nick it though. I do not think Rangers are anyway near strong enough to progress, but they are looking good in the Scottish Premier League at the moment.

Group F:
1. AS Roma
2. Manchester United
3. Sporting Lisbon
4. Dynamo Kiev

I will stick Manchester United in second place in hope that they actually qualify! They will have to get themselves sorted out in front of goal sharpish as any two teams in this group could go through!

Group G:
1. Inter Milan
2. PSV Eindhoven
3. CSKA Moscow
4. Fenerbache

Quite straight forward.

Group H:
1. Sevilla
2. Arsenal
3. Steaua Bucharest
4. Slavia Prague

Arsenal will need to win more on the away games if they want to finish as group winners. Sevilla should prove a strong team this year.

[Archy]

Bunch of Euro Qualifiers Results:

England 3 - 0 Israel
Italy 0 - 0 France
Wales 0 - 2 Germany
Scotland 3 - 1 Lithuania
Netherlands 2 - 0 Bulgaria
Ireland 2 - 2 Slovakia
San Marino 0 - 3 Czech Republic
Belarus 1 - 3 Romania
Latvia 1 - 0 Northern Ireland
Moldova 0 - 1 Norway
Portugal 2 - 2 Poland

So yes, this shakes things quite up a bit in some groups.
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[Goldy]

To answer your question from the 'Who's Online' thread Archy, the reason Ireland drew is because the team is poor but the manager is worse!

[Aurelien]

BIGGEST NEWS SO FAR IN 07/08 SEASON: Jose Mourinho has part ways with Chelsea.

This is a big blow for the club obviously. I wonder who they have to be the next manager. The only well-known manager who is a free agent at the moment is Fabio Capello, I think. Is he going to be the one?

EDIT: Oooh, I just remembered. Jurgen Klinsmann is also a free agent. I would love to see Klinsmann managing Chelsea to be honest. He would be great!
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~City-States of Jowston and Tinto Republic~
06.06.2004 - 20.01.2008

[Goldy]

When i first heard this news this morning my reaction was.....

"WHAT!!!!!!!!!"

I thought i was hearing things!

Apparently Chelsea's Director of Football, Avram Grant, will become the new Manager.

[Archy]

Honestly, I don't think Avram Grant will last long. Probably only a transition manager.

Now Chelsea, don't get the big names, maybe except Klinsmann and Hiddink because they're actually good.

Get Vinnie Jones. He's gritty and should add grit, hardheadedness and a bgreat attitude to you players. That's a pretty damn good thing, I must say.

Anyhow, I'm quite shocked by this. Oh well, now we know that Martin Jol isn't the first.
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[Goldy]

Well Roman wants 'stylish' football so i am sure he will try to get a good attacking minded manager and buy a few 'flair' players.

[Aurelien]

Midweek results from all over Europe are in.

A few shockers arrived this week with Manchester United being thrown out of Carling Cup by a 0-2 loss against Coventry after a double by Michael Misfud. Another one came from the land of Italy where AC Milan continued their bad start of the season by losing 1-2 against Palermo right at the dead when Miccoli scored from a free kick.

One shocked that is actually a good one is Villarreal currently (temporarily) leading the La Liga after 2-0 victory against Racing Santander through goals from Nihat and Rossi. Boy oh boy, Manchester United seems to be throwing out the only forward in-form with Rossi already bagging 4 goals so far.

But yeah, with Real Madrid 2 points behind with 1 game in hand, Villarreal could lose their top spot in a day. Valencia in the mean time stayed close with equal points as Villarreal after their own 2-0 victory courtesy of goals from the two Davids (David Silva and David Villa). Speaking of 2-0 victory, Atletico Madrid also won with the same scoreline through Aguero and Forlan (my my .. another ex-Manchester United striker). I'm liking Aguero more and more these days. Though I still think that he is far overpriced and that he's not as good as Messi, Aguero is definitely becoming more and more dangerous in front of goal.

Other random results include:
Aston Villa defeated by Leicester 0-1
Chelsea destroyed Hull 4-0
Everton defeated Sheffield Wednesday 3-0
Blackburn defeated Birmingham 3-0
Bolton defeated Fulham 2-1 via extra time
Tottenham defeated Middlesbrough 2-0 (Bale scoring yet again)
Inter defeated Sampdoria 3-0
Juventus destroyed Reggina 4-0
AS Roma drew with Fiorentina 2-2
Bayern Munich destroyed Energie Cottbus 5-0 (Klose banging a hattrick)

---


Not sure if you guys are following this, but the Women's World Cup is currently going on in China. Last night, I watched Norway vs Germany in the first semi-final match (the second semi-final is tonight between USA and Brazil, Brazil defeated Australia 3-2 in Quarter Finals). Boy oh boy, it was a VERY entertaining first half. The play was very fast paced and the ball moved very fluently from one end to another. Germany took a 1-0 lead via an unfortunate own goal. Norway had SIX shots on target in the first half while Germany had ZERO.

However, the second half was far more one-sided and less interesting. Norway seemed to be getting tired while Germany was quite happy to defend their lead and rely on their superstart Pritz to create chances. Norway then conceeded another unfortunate goal where Germany's defender's shot was blocked by Norway's defender and it looped to the far post beating the goalkeeper. 2-0 and a few minutes later, Norway hit the self-destruct button when their defender gave a weak back-pass which was stolen and converted to goal by Germany. 3-0 victory, and Germany continued their record of keeping longest clean sheet in the world and also 11-consecutive victories in World Cup.

Hopefully USA vs Brazil would be entertaining as well. I was amused when I saw Brazilians player's names. We all know Daniel Alves of Sevilla on the Men's side, but I sure only realized that Brazil have a Daniela Alves on the Women's side. And while there is Maicon on the Men's side, they have a Maycon on the Women's side (she sucks btw ... gosh ..). But yeah, I'm hoping to see some Marta magic tonight.
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~City-States of Jowston and Tinto Republic~
06.06.2004 - 20.01.2008

[Archy]

Freaking Coventry, man. I remember when they lost last year too, only it was against Southend and Freddy Eastwood.

Like, how exactly does that even happen?
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[Goldy]

That was a terrible result from Manchester United......and never mind the bull about it being an 'understrength' side.......Nani and Anderson started, so did John O'Shea.......Michael Carrick and Wes Brown came on in the second half......also, never mind the bull 'we dont care about the Carling Cup'........i want to win them all!!

[Exile]

[Aurelien]

I just finished watching USA vs Brazil for the second semi-final, and boy oh boy it was an excellent, though one sided, match. Brazil won 4-0, and I highly encourage to you to have a look at Youtube or something to find the goals. Have a look at them, especially the last goal by Marta. She is a magician for sure. Definitely a worthy Player of the Year.

The Americans were disappointing. They went down 0-1 first via an own goal after Osborne magically did a diving header from Formiga's corner. The ball that didn't seem to be harmful at all was headed into the net. USA was shaken. Then Marta showed her class by going away from the defender after the American defender pulled Marta's pants (not until down, but she grabbed the pants) and shot the ball past the keeper for 2-0. At the end of first half, the Americans were down to 10 women after Shannon Boxx was sent off for second bookable offense. I couldn't quite see what she did wrong to be honest, but the replay was too inconclusive, and the lack of protest from the USA side showed the sign that she might've done something wrong anyway.

Second half was all Brazil. Swift counter attack resulted in the third goal by Christiane, and Marta magic was the fourth. Brazil also hit the bar, and the left post. So the final result was 4-0, but it could've been easily 8-0.

However, the big things from this match are actually about the selection of the USA's keeper and the quality of the referee. The American coach decided that Brianna Scurry, the veteran goalkeeper, would be better choice and he left the younger Hope Solo (yes, that's her name) on the bench. Scurry was quite awful on the match, and one couldn't help but wonder if the match would've gone differently if Solo was the goalkeeper.

The quality of the referee ... well I obviously don't know much about women's referee. But oh maaaan, this one sucked badly. There were way too many mistakes that she made, and she didn't seem to be able to control her anger either by lashing out at players during the push-n-shove that always happens during corner kick. I suspected that she got the red card decision wrong, but I wasn't quite clear. But she definitely missed one CLEAR hand-ball by the Brazilian that would've given USA a penalty kick (it was 2-0 or 3-0 by then though), and there was a weird moment when an American defender suddenly pulled a muscle and went down. As she went down, she CLEARLY touched the ball and knocked it out which would've resulted in Brazilian's corner kick. The referee went to check the player, but then grabbed the ball and gave a goal kick instead. The referee was simply awful.

But yeah, joy for me as Brazil go through. It's going to be an interesting final. Brazil with the full attack against Germany the team that hasn't conceeded any goals yet. I'm rooting for Brazil obviously. =)
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~City-States of Jowston and Tinto Republic~
06.06.2004 - 20.01.2008

[Exile]