yeah I see your point but the chances are the goal probably wouldn't have occurred if the stoke players had put a bit of effort in. But they were 5 up so what can you expect. I'm not trying to take anything away from Gerrard as a player. I have nothing but admiration for him and his work rate and loyalty even when times were tough for Liverpool. He's been an exceptional player, one of the best midfielders to play in the EPL ever! On the matter of the Europa league I completely agree with you. It's more of a burden than an achievement lol. Playing a match on Thursday then having the possibility of playing again in 2 days ruins a teams performances in the league. Spurs showed that a couple of seasons ago.
How about making it a massive 128 or 256 team unseeded knockout competition? Keep each tie as two legs, but get rid of the group stages so that it is offers something different to the Champions League. So the fifth placed teams from England and Spain might draw one another in the first round. So a team from (say) Estonia might get a bit of luck in the draw and make it in to the last 32. Great! The UEFA Cup used to be such a great tournament; the Europa League in its current guise does not deserve to recognised as its successor.
I'm the opposite- really wanted Norwich to win promotion, mainly due to their manager Alex Neil. The guy was doing an outstanding jobs to get Hamilton promoted last season and seems to be doing the business now too . In the 25 games he's been in charge, they've won 17 and now promotion. Genuinely think they'll stay up for at least a season.
Khedira to Juve. Juventus forever signing quality players on bosman's or for cheap cheap fees. Such a well run club.
Oh my god...What a fucking team this is! Unbelievable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPReSVN3oUU So hard to believe that, considering the monumental heights he has already reached, Messi continues to improve and evolve and get better and better. He's like a fucking pokemon with unlimited evolutions, or Goku with unlimited energy ceiling. When Neymar showed up last season, I knew good things were on their way. But I never expected Suarez to fucking explode like he did, move to Barca, and continue that same form here. Ridiculous!! Absolutely unstoppable, especially backed by some of the most legendary and talented midfielders in the world, and a newly solid defense and goalie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_o8VQLN0NA You know what, I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Messi wins the next world cup when he's 30. I imagine him being some like Pirlo... someone who just keeps aging like fine wine. It is just so natural and effortless for him, and he keeps getting smarter and smarter year by year. More and more mature and wise. Imagine a further evolved Messi playing alongside the great Argentinian players that actually show up, and Mascherano... I think it could realistically happen! He was DAMN close to doing it all by himself THIS time.
Saurez! 😠This is the moved I wanted. Wouldve hated him staying in the prem. There is still so much more to see from these guys 😣
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11835/9866231/chris-coleman-feels-real-madrids-players-are-ignoring-gareth-bale Players at Real Madrid don't want to pass the ball to bale, apparently. Not sure if it's completely his fault for the poor season (Juventus esp) even though i'm not his biggest fan. Was talking to my friend about managers that have been pretty good but not really recognised as much as they should be. <span>Ronald Koeman and <span>Garry Monk are up there with Nigel Pearson picking up in the 2nd half. </span></span>
A lot of players have the potential to be one of the best, but as simple as it sounds, it all comes down to whether they want to actually get better at the sport. Messi has a level head and makes wise decisions on the pitch and it as a + influence on his team mates. I hope he sticks around because he's one of those players you know is going to bring some skill and a good match.
I think many people overlook the injuries to this team, mainly Modric. Modric controlled the middle of the field and is lethal with his passing and decision making. Bale is a superb player, but the injury bug hit this team and lets face it, once Barcelona found its groove..it was game over for La Liga. I hope we keep Bale...he is solid.
Bale having a poor season... 30 apps, 13 goals, 9 assists. Hazard wins player of the year… 38 apps, 14 goals, 9 assists. Couldn't agree more, would've been a different season for them if they'd had Modric fit all year. I think Bale has been made the scapegoat sometimes this year for some very poor team performances.
I guess they were really short on quality in midfield... lol Alan Pardew is the manager if the season for me. Garry Monk is up there too, and koeman, though southampton's slow decay into irrelevancy towards the end of this season was rather disappointing. Also, Tony pulis does it again. and, Tim sherwood. the turnaround at villa has been incredible, and there's still an FA cup final. absolutely. in my mind, real should absolutely be controlling the game against juve, but that honestly didn't seem like the case. Real's front 3 was left isolated and all 3 of them had minimal impact on either game. Too many creative midfielders drifting around and trying to get forward, and not anyone being an anchor. it's amazing for me personally, being of croatian decent. I still remember when Modric was a gangly-looking kid at tottenham, now he's the undisputed leader of Real Madrid's midfield. I knew he was good, but I honestly never expected him to reach THAT level on the world stage. it's great. croatian football is looking up. we got kinda screwed at the world cup by not having a decent goalie, and by that stupid fucking Fred dive in game against brazil. but there are lots of young croatian players working their way up in the world. Kovacic at inter, perisic at wolfsburg, there's more but I forget. Lovren is also croatian lol, hopefully next season goes better than this one did for him.
They might be pretty soon… I heard Pirlo's gonna be leaving at the end of the season, and I think just about everyone wants a piece of Vidal and Pogba. Croatia have that Halilovic kid that plays for Barca B too, he's meant to be quite something.
That's true. Also I'm not sure how I forgot, but also Ivan Rakitic is bossing Barcelona's midfield. 2 biggest clubs in the world and they both have croatian midfielders that are vital to their teams' success. so that's pretty cool.
Pogba would make other clubs salivate if he was made available. Any one hear about these FIFA officials and their corruption in Switzerland...whoa?!
Accolade of top Croat has to go to Davor Suker, imo. Dude just oozed class and was forever delivering on the top stage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWdD9my3jiY Modric is sublime tough. Real's key man, much more so than Ronaldo. Love watching him recycle possession and just keep the game ticking over. C.Ronaldo just makes them too top heavy. Can't stand the circus that surrounds Real though, absolute joke. The Madristas (those fans that go to the games) must be some of the most spoilt, short-sighted, ridiculous fans on the planet - no offence if you are a Madrid fan, like. Waving their white knickers about and hurling abuse at the players when leaving the ground and such, give me a break. How many euro's spent in the last decade to win... the league once and the European cup once... Makes you weep. The FIFA debacle also makes you weep... It's old news, just the first moves have been made to clamp down on it - for whatever reason. How in the flying fuck can you allow a World Cup to go ahead in a country that's effectively using slaves to build the stadiums (Nepalese workers were recently refused the right to leave Qatar and go home to be with their families/deceased ones after the earthquakes last month). Either the players should grow some balls and put humanity before their sponsorship deals and refuse to participate to show it's them who hold the real power, not the bureaucratic elites up above. Or, all TV channels, sponsors and fans should boycott both the World Cups. /rant On a brighter note... Europa League final in a half hour. Think Sevilla will take it comfortably, here's to hoping for a good game though.
This is a wicked game. Dnipro just equalised on the stroke of half time with a cracking freekick to make it 2-2.
everything that went down today is basically a direct challenge to sepp blatter.. they're closing in on him lol. I don't think it's a coincidence that this happened right before the election either.