Looks like Nicolas Anelka's in a lot of trouble



http://www.theguardian.com/football/...itic-west-brom

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/foo...in-France.html

"vows to not do gesture again"

he'll have to score again to get the chance...

Hahahaha

"NFL rules say teams must sell out games at least 72 hours prior to kickoff to ensure they will be shown on local TV."

the millionaires care about their devoted fans, they really do.

wrong thread man.

don't be a troll.

Correction. Billionaires.

Interesting decision now for West Ham's owners. Do they pay off Allardyce and find a replacement that might (but probably won't) save us from the drop, or do they stick with him and pretty much resign themselves to relegation? Sam can blame injuries but he's the one who blew almost our entire budget on Carroll, who already had a rep for picking up injuries, so there's no cover at all, anywhere. Plenty of reasons to sack him but is it even worth it now? And who could turn things around that'd actually come here? This is even more depressing than when we went down with Avram. At least then we knew we had some decent players we could sell. Who'd spend anything like what we spent on Andy Carroll now? Seriously grim times.

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...eryone-screams

Michael Bradley back in MLS making four-times his Eurotrash "salary"..

A lot of folks are saying that this signifies the increasing irrelevance of American players as they are having to come back to the US to play professionally after essentially becoming bench warmers in Europe. Some are predicting doom and gloom for American soccer but perhaps the opposite is true?

While Klinnsman is right to talk about American players needing to step up and compete in Europe I'm not so sure this is the only way.. The NBA is a great example of what can happen domestically. Today almost 20% (THAT'S ONE IN FIVE PLAYERS!!) of the current NBA players are international and were NOT born in the US. Almost all of these played in the basketball leagues from their respective countries. Further, FIBA is getting increasingly competitive and many of the NBA's rising stars and solid glue guys/role players are from outside the US. Including some marquee names like Pau Gasol (Spain), Tony Parker (France), Nicolas Batum (France), Andrew Bogut (Australia), Goran Drajic (Slovenia), Omer Asik (Turkey), Thabo Sefalosha (Switzerland)..

Why am I talking about basketball on the futbol thread? No, not merely to troll !@#$%! (as fun as that is).. Its to point out how international competition in basketball has evolved and progressed in a short time (twenty years or so).. A lot of these players didn't start in the NBA, they worked they way up to it, and now several countries like France, Spain, and Australia are developing some competitive domestic players who compete well in the NBA. So MLS isn't necessarily a dead end, perhaps in a short time with focus it can becoming more competitive internationally. If Spain and France can become basketball powerhouses, surely the US can become a futbol nation as well.

I see this glass as half full here.. Yeah, a lot of American players are having to return from Europe, but on the plus side they are making way more money here which is a good sign of where MLS is going. For example, even ten years ago most international players wanted to play exclusively in the NBA in order to make more money, but now you see a lot of washed up NBA veterans going overseas to obscure places like Turkey to make MORE money. Its a sign that international basketball is getting better. So as MLS can afford to pay higher salaries, it can be a sign of things to come. Can the MLS become something competitive with Euro leagues? I think so.. after all there are currently over a hundred American born players playing in Euro leagues, obviously American talent isn't that shitty if these boys can make it there..

If you took away all the non-Spaniards from the Spanish league, the non-Brits from the Premier League, the non Germans from the German league, etc., you would have some SUCK ASS SHITTY teams.

Importing talent for your national team is a load of shit. Non-citizens should not be allowed to compete.

Not talking about the National teams, more so the domestic leagues (at least about basketball). I just mentioned FIBA because they are more or less setting the bar for European basketball leagues. Clearly from the talent coming out, countries like France and Spain, even Australia surprisingly are becoming better basketball countries. If those folks can rise up talent-wise to compete with the best Americans in America's biggest sport than surely Americans can do the same with Europeans at Europe's biggest sport.

you get better by playing against better competition. If US athletes play in the big futbol leagues, then return to USA, they could help improve the USA play for sure....

That is a myth. The reality is that when Americans play in more competitive leagues they tend to get less minutes and serve as more of a rotational players. US players aren't dominant players in the Euro leagues, they aren't always even given good slots as role-players. So really, that idea is moot because if they're not actually on the pitch playing considerable minutes how exactly are they evolving their game?

MLS isn't ASYO, dudes play hard. Meaningful minutes I think are more important to development than playing nominal roles on more meaningful teams. Further, US players aren't even really on any of the better teams in Europe, so are they really better off? Are some of the squads they play for necessarily THAT much better than MLS? I'd argue not.

Maybe it is about bringing top notch talent to play in MLS?

(Oops, wrong thread)

Results of the Ballon d'Or just in ...

FIFA World XI:

Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich)
Dani Alves (Barcelona)
Thiago Silva (PSG)
Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich)
Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)
Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich)
Xavi (Barcelona)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (PSG)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

Best manager: Heynckes
Best Player: Ronaldo

ugh! that asshole. so annoying.

he's a great player though. gotta admit that. but i love it best when he cries.

He cried when he won.



He deserved it. Messi's still the better player imo but he was injured at key points last season.

Thought the World XI was a bit uninspiring and safe, especially keeping Xavi in there. Not sure who I'd have put in instead though.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/...ferguson-audio

If this is legit, it's my favourite thinG of 2014 so far.

Good bit of business by Chelsea on the Mata deal.

(just a note, its not just Eurotrash futbol, I hate on all the fan favorites, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, and I'd probably hate on Lebron too if most people liked him but since they hate him I'm a big fan ;) fuck all that dickriding shit yo)

It's a masterstroke by Mourinho. By selling Mata to Man U, he's now almost guaranteed to get the player he wants most.

Hmm. I don't think so.

BTW, Willian now Salah... having a laugh at the bridge.

I'll be amazed if Rooney's not at Stamford Bridge next season.

I've been following Mourinho for awhile and I don't really believe in the Rooney love affair.

How come?

Rooney is a player that Mourinho wouldn't dislike but was perfectly aware that United wouldn't let go.

Win-win. He's done this sort of hounding before.

And come on, what's the likelihood he'll be back to form? Rooney is so much more useful as a destabilising element. He'll be benched next season and you'll be hearing about this love affair. "Mind games" really.

Assuming you're right, the masterstroke is selling Mata, knowing the amount MU have paid for him will force Moyes to play him in the position Rooney's currently in, and seems to really like. It's probably the one area that doesn't need strengthening. So yeah, if it is just a destabilising tactic, it's a bloody clever one.

They got Mata from Valencia for a substantially lower fee so the deal gives them a good headroom to move in market under the Financial Fair Play rules.

I'm not sure Man Utd are going to change their system mid-season, but Juan can play further back to left or to the right. At this point he should just be happy to play.

He seems like a marquee signing, more about proving a point than filling an immediate need. Similar in a way to Arsenal getting Ozil. If Moyes is ultimately about restructuring the midfield around Mata then it makes sense but if that is the case it doesn't leave room for Rooney.

Rooney could go back up front with VP as part of a 4-4-2 but that doesn't seem like a formation ideal for Mata or Rooney.


Then you really should love Ronaldo. He's probably the most disliked player out there. Most of even those who acknowledge how good he is have trouble liking him. But then if you're drawn to unpopular players, you should love Suarez, too.

i'm still tv-handicapped, but was mata kept on the bench at chelsea? why??

Yeah, Mourinho hardly plays him. He says he doesn't fit his system and hints that he's a bit lazy, even though he was Chelsea's player of the year two seasons running.

wait wait-- wait wait wait… ARSENAL IS #1 ON THE TABLE????

oh man i'm missing out

eta: and liverpool #4???

owwwww

haha, its been exciting year! I hope Liverpool and/or Everton can fnish in the top 4 this year. although that might be a big ask.

It has been a great season so far for the neutral. As a West Ham fan though I'm hating it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbfy05y5Ukw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGgPBiyxZi8

With me, sports beef and rivalries are complicated. I like to root for underdogs (who have talent or potential not just any underdog) when the favored or favorite teams/players are competing, because its fun for me to shit on other peoples' expectations. I grew up on 1990s Raiders and Lakers, so we were always being hated on by the Michael Jordans and the Dallas Cowboys of the world. What we had was grit, balls, and raw talent. What happened? Lakers went on to dominate basketball and win three championships, Raiders made the Superbowl and would have done it twice if not for some bullshit Tom Brady favoritism by the refs in the now infamous "Tuck Game" of 2001. So it happens that I become a contradiction, because while I'm an unabashed hater against the favorites, I ALSO HAVE A SCOUT'S EYE FOR TALENT AND POTENTIAL, so it seems every time I start to take notice of a nobody team, within a short time they win it all or at least get big fast. I ditched the Raiders and became a Baltimore Ravens fan ten years ago when I finally accepted the reality that Raiders ditched out on LA so why still root for them, and because Ravens were and are the PENULTIMATE "Fuck your team" team, nobody EVER believes we can win against the "better or favorite teams" and yet, nobody generally ever underestimates us. Year after year, we catch dick-rider teams slipping with a surprise punch to the mouth. NOTHING IS MORE FUN TO ME IN SPORTS THAN TO TAKE TH WIND OUT OF THE SAILS OF BANDWAGON, FANBOY, DICK-RIDING FAVORED/FAVORITE TEAMS WITH A SURPRISE GUT CHECK GAME.

Its why I became so damned in love with the Lebron era Heat. I started a bromance ten years ago with Miami Heat when Shaq left LA and swore he'd win a ring elsewhere, and I grew up LOVING Shaq, and LOVING Shaq in LA, and was very very bitter when he was chased out by everybody in LA loving Kobe more. I was like, "What the fuck yo?" So I followed Shaq to Miami and loved his revenge ring. I started rooting for Lebron in Cleveland in the same way, when he was the "Anti-Kobe" in the mid-2000s, and to top it off, Shaq even went to Cleveland. I was in heaven! So I followed Lebron to the Heat in Miami because its combined both of my revenge teams into one, Lebron AND the Heat? Fuck yeah.

Essentially with sports I'm a contrarian yet I still keep it based on stats.

Maybe you're an exception amongst US sports fans but fandom in the UK is much more defined by where you're from - in football, anyway. Even if you move from the area you grew up, most people keep supporting the same team for life. As embarrassing as West Ham are right now or as rich and successful as they might end up becoming, I'll support them either way. I just couldn't conceive of doing anything else.

There's other teams I like, either because of the way they play or something about their history or just some 'vibe' about them but they'll never be 'my team' in the way West Ham are.

The closest I've come was when they first appointed their current manager. I really questioned if I could support them under him. I still managed though, and certainly the idea of supporting another team instead was out of the question.

Basically a panic buy, is what you're saying.


The Bundesliga is still a one-team league.

Definitely. Not saying Mata's a bad signing but why disrupt one of the few areas in MU that seems vaguely functional? Moyes is under pressure to bring some stars in and that's obviously harder to do if you're trying to build a workable defence - which maybe should've been his real priority.