De Gea has really impressed me this season. I haven't seen Neuer a whole lot either but I remember during the world cup being very impressed with his almost sweeper role coming up and cutting off through balls. Especially during the France game if I can remember correctly. Of course if he mistimed it would be a total disaster but I think he saved a few goals that way.

yesterday dortmund lost again! berlin beat them 1-0... dortmund is at #16 again, relegation playoff spot.

it was horrible.

berlin defended well, let dortmund have the ball, and then hit them on counters. who scored the winning goal before the end of the first half? none other than julian schieber, who was sold by dortmund before the season.

mkhitarian had to leave injured early and kuba came in for him fresh from his injuries. berlin's goal came soon after. later klopp kept making more offensive substitutions (ramos for kehl, sahin for subotic) but nothing worked because they failed to capitalize on every chance they got.

i watched this debacle rather than see bayern cruise to a 4-0 victory over augsburg. i guess that makes me a fucking masochist? fucking dortmund!


he's goddamn fantastic. the sweeper/keeper is not a gimmick, it's like 2 players in 1. he's already a supremo keeper and toss in an extra defender for bonus. did you see him vs. cska?

Fair play. You've seen him far more than I have.

from last week's game-- this happens fast but look how well he closes in.

http://www.lematin.ch/sports/footbal...story/26547407

it's not like the greatest keeper action in history but just a sample from last week. he's the main reason bayern has so few goals against them even with a so-so defense (3 goals against the whole bundesliga season so far).

That would have been an amazing goal!

I don't wanna be a contrarian, but you can hardly call Boateng, Lahm, Rafinha or Alaba "so-so".

I suppose the only way to compare these top keepers is how they perform in crucial games or crucial moments. Neuer's done it in a CL and WC final, with everything at stake. Until De Gea (or Courtois) can say the same, the top spot will always have to be Neuer's. Probably just fairer to say De Gea might be the most underrated keeper out there right now, which isn't the same as saying he's the best, necessarily.

lahm and alaba have been injured for a while and will remain so till next year.

rafinha is just coming into himself this year-- i haven't liked him in the past.

benatia is new and a bit of a hatchet man.

dante is old and slow, and boateng is the only true star in that defense right now.


indeed it was a great play and it had all the momentum for a goal but neuer didn't lose his head and shut it down.

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ps- we forgot bernat! bernat has been covering for alaba quite well though he was initially brought in as a winger. but given how bayern play it's the central defense where boateng is the one and only pillar.

*dusts hands off* well you've put an end to that argument quite successfully! :)

If only I could also put an end to the Prem this season. West Ham would be in the Champions League.

Last time they were in it it was called the cup winners cup and this was the only Frank Lampard who mattered



Prem? What Prem?

haha. we all know arsenal is going to eventually get that number 4 spot

pps- oh, and badstuber, i forgot too, injured/on the mend/ injured again/ out of shape for so long.

draw for the final 16 of the CL just released

PSG v Chelsea
Manchester City v Barcelona
Bayer Leverkusen v Atlético Madrid
Juventus v Borussia Dortmund
Schalke v Real Madrid
Shakhtar Donetsk v Bayern Munich
Arsenal v Monaco
Basel v Porto

Hang on, can't discount this fella.



Wouldn't want Neuer in that situation, he'd try and head him.

oh mama. poor schalke!


that is both disturbing and amazing. i get chills every time the gif cycles.

Ey you're forgetting the clash of the titans in the Europa cup. Everton v Young Boys and the press are already whipping themselves up into a frenzy about it :D

So long as that's all they're whipping.



It is disturbing, I agree.


Schalke and Shakhtar, I'd say.

PSG v Chelsea will probably be the most interesting though.

shhh...don't jinx it! :D

that, absolutely.

i still have to watch the last barcelona-psg which i recorded.

Gonna sound fickle but since Barcelona lost Pep I've not been as interested in them. They're obviously still a force. Messi's still incredible. I dunno, without Pep and with Xavi being slowly edged out, they just aren't 'Barcelona'.

i've read they haven't quite gelled yet and are relying on their star power to make up for it.

but it's messi + neymar + suárez upfront!

i wanna see that, regardless of what they are! it's the south american dream offense.

Of course, they may even end up being better. It's undefinable really. I just loved the aura of the Pep years, not just cos they were winning everything or the whole tiki taka thing but something else that I can't quite put my finger on but which somehow transcended trophies: from the style of play through to the La Masia thing, even the unicef shirts. Now we're just back to the merry-go-round of big name transfers, high powered sponsors, etc. Nothing wrong with that but for me they're now no different from any other mega club.

aaah! so true...



they've been tainted by petrodollars

:eek:

I wouldn't want to pretend that Barcelona were some kind of whiter than white team. A lot of the good will towards them was obviously a bi-product of Mourinho's arrival at Real. We all know Barcelona had a reputation for being as dirty as any other team in La Liga which would've most likely continued had Mourinho not made Real so unlikeable that even their own players and board were complaining about it in the end.

But who now doesn't honestly miss the pure ugliness of those Mourinho/Pep-era Classicos? Not that they were ever as ugly as that shirt.

Also, some fairly respected journalists, Tor-Kristian Karlsen, Gabriele Marcotti and Philippe Auclair, have compiled a list ranking their 50 best players of 2014. No major surprises, although they acknowledge the recent form of players like Aguero and Sanchez means they should've probably been ranked higher than they were. Anyway, the list:

1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
2. Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich)
3. Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
4. Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich)
5. Thomas Müller (Bayern Munich)
6. Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich)
7. Diego Costa (Chelsea)
8. Luis Suàrez (Barcelona)
9. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris Saint-Germain)
10. Angel di Maria (Manchester United)
11. Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea)
12. Javier Mascherano (Barcelona)
13. Neymar (Barcelona)
14. James Rodriguez (Real Madrid)
15. Toni Kroos (Real Madrid)
16. Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
17. Gareth Bale (Real Madrid)
18. Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal)
19. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
20. Paul Pogba (Juventus)
21. Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea)
22. Nemanja Matic (Chelsea)
23. Pablo Zabaleta (Man City)
24. Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich)
25. Keylor Navas (Real Madrid)
26. Carlos Tevez (Juventus)
27. Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona)
28. David Alaba (Bayern Munich)
29. Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
30. Sergio Aguero (Man City)
31. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
32. Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)
33. Yaya Toure (Man City)
34. Arturo Vidal (Juventus)
35. Mario Götze (Bayern Munich)
36. Diego Godin (Atlético Madrid)
37. Edin Dzeko (Man City)
38. Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund)
39. Hugo Lloris (Tottenham)
40. Raheem Sterling (Liverpool)
41. Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus)
42. André Schürrle (Chelsea)
43. Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea)
44. David de Gea (Man United)
45. Radja Nainggolan (AS Roma)
46. Vincent Kompany (Man City)
47. Vincent Enyeama (Lille)
48. Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)
49. Carlos Bacca (Sevilla)
50. Frank Lampard (Man City)


Only two English players make the 50, depressing and IMO a bit unjust in terms of Rooney.


http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/se...y-aston-villa/

Well let's see how Dortmund do tonight. Could be a good one.

holy fuck! i had forgotten we have midweek bundesliga! bless you and all your descendants.

and dortmund ahead 1-0 vs. wolfsburg!

wiziwig here i come.

FUCKS SAKE! My stream changed the channel to, get this, fucking Liverpool-Bournemouth (Who? Exactly) in the shitty league cup. Was a really good game so far too.

it's on BT sport 2 - about to start 2nd half 1-1 now. :(

it's on BT sport 2 - about to start 2nd half 1-1 now. :(

Yeah I remembered that I can watch bt sport online cos I have bt internet. Derp.

Anyway, Dortmund threw that one away. A couple of thoughts-Subotic is so shit. And I totally see what you mean by not having a clinical finisher to get the goals. Whilst Immobile's goal was a great one it took him long enough.

fucking defense! yeah. subotic-- can't say i fault him, he's been playing without rest while everyone else has been injured. normally he's well above average.

immobile was top scorer in serie a last year! while he's no lewandowski, by all accounts he should have been able to cover on that role-- instead he has been intensely constipated in the goal department. crisis of confidence or something else, i don't know-- but the thing is that he has been missing chances like crazy. today looked like his comeback, but dammit man, as a real fan you should be able to googletranslate this: en la puerta del horno se quema el pan. fuck!!

btw, debruyne has been really great lately. i know he didn't really deliver at the world cup but he's a big reason wolfburg has bolted ahead of the rest for 2nd.

Have a friend who works for the press and there are strong rumours inside Anfield that Rodgers is getting sacked and being replaced either by De Boer or ... get this ... Benitez! Not saying it's happening but that's the rumour.

Nah I don't believe it. The chairmen can't be that impulsive...can they?

I heard about Benitez a few weeks back and didnt think he'd go back. But it turns out his wife and kid still live in Liverpool and he goes back during the week. He could choose to live anywhere and he chooses Liverpool. Odd.

Yeah, Benitez must want to go back, and a large section of fans still love him ... "fact". I still think they should give Rodgers another season at least but if Benitez is available and wants it, it wouldn't be a terrible idea ... "fact". If I had to say who I thought was a better manager between Benitez and Rodgers I'd have to say Benitez ... "fact". It'd be harsh on Rodgers though ... "fact"

All that quoting got me paranoid that I had said something like that. Fact.

Haha. I was just quoting Rafa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO4JkUCaYi0

Fanbloodytastic.

Just re-watching the 2002 Champions league final with Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen featuring THAT Zinedane goal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crDzasp1-60

Every.Single.Thing about that is perfect from that impossible cross to that volley. Muh dick just got heard.

Football porn

just woke up to find werder bremen beating dortmund 1-0 at halftime (nice goal too). highlights show they had other good chances.

i have no idea how this will end, but damn!

(and klopp in an opel commercial. poor fucker.)

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bremen 2 dortmund 1. oh damn.

Jesus wept.