World Football/Futbol/Fußball and Soccer Thread

Goooooooaaaaaalll! Leverkusen. Nice header!!

1-1

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Well that didn't last long. Leverkusen's defense beaten again.

2-1

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Bayer close to the equalizer... but the goalpost saves the day for FCB.

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A moment of brilliance from Messi. He was also just foiled by the post.

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Messi scores. FCB is just too good.

3-1 (a nice count of away goals).

GERMANS FTW!!!!

Whoa... Arsenal took a beating to AC Milan today. Ouch.

Even Man City reject Robinho looked a treat against the Gooners anemic defending.

I didnt see much of the game to be honest, I did however watch former Leeds great Johnny Giles give his view of the Arsenal performance on Irish TV. He said managers have been sacked on the strenght of performances such as Arsenal last night. The bits I saw of the game Arsenal were awful. Could well be Wengers last season with the Gunners.

Wenger is fine in my books. Arsenal just doesn't have the squad depth anymore. When a defender like Mertesacker gets injured... then the defending suffers. I think it is more down to the Emirates Stadium deal than its down to Wenger.

(just my opinion).

With Mertesacker out, that definetely hurts their backline.

What was that deal?

With high ticket prices to server the club's existing debts and low attendance figures, Arsenal explored the possibility of building a larger stadium to attract an ever growing fan base and compete financially with the biggest clubs in England.By comparison Manchester United, the most successful club of the decade enjoyed a rise in gate receipts from £43.9 million in 1994 to £87.9 million in 1997 helped by the expansion of Old Trafford. Arsenal's initial plan was to expand Highbury by 48,000 through rebuilding the West Stand and Clock End. The idea, met with outcry from local residents became problematic as the East Stand of the stadium was granted Grade II listing in July 1997. After much consultation, the club eventually abandoned the plan having decided the capacity would not be big enough and looked for other sites.


Ashburton Grove chosen

Eventually the club selected a site, an industrial estate at Ashburton Grove, which was just five hundred yards from Highbury. The plan was announced in November 1999, with a scheduled opening date of August 2003; this later slipped back to summer 2006 due to planning and financial difficulties. The Ashburton Grove site had many occupants, the most significant being Islington London Borough Council's recycling plant and the Royal Mail Holloway Delivery Office. In order to develop the site, it was necessary to buy out the existing occupants, and pay for their relocation (Arsenal purchased 10 acres (40,000 m²) of former railway land on Lough Road, off Caledonian Road, to house a new recycling plant, while the Royal Mail moved to Hamilton Park); this proved to be very expensive.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emirates_Stadium




The conclusion being that Arsenal's financial constraints have affected the on field product.

I see. What a beautiful stadium though. I'm jealous once again.

I paid a visit to the Emirates the day after the NFL game in London in 2010. although I didnt do the tour. also walked around to the old Highbury ground, some very nice apartments there now. They incorporated the roof of the stands into the plans, and the listed building looks very impressive. The pitch is a large garden for residents. Its private, but we managed to sneak in.

Arsenal booted out of the FA Cup by the Black Cats.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/16994657


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Neil Warnock being appointed Leeds' manager is a surprise to me.

I think Man City will eventually be confronted with the same problem. The City of Manchester (Etihad) Stadium is just a little better than half of the size of Old Trafford.

btw... Billy Goats are 14th and falling. Your one chance to outsmart the Great Sandolf is dwindling.

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Veteran Rehhagel to take over as Berlin coach

http://www.google.com/hostednews/af...ocId=CNG.8bd3cd588ffa31c54601d723c4e21a44.241

Foxes WIN ..... Foxes WIN ..........

FA Cup QF's here we come .............Wooooo Hooooo !!!!!

Bah... wait till Podolski comes back to action. My Billy Goat prediction was moreso an emotional one. I really want them to do well and stay in the 1.Liga. Atleast they lost to Der Club, I need them to do well too.

I want Koln and Der Club to stay in the 1. Liga and have Fortuna Dusseldorf and Furth join them in the 1. Liga. It would be nice for Der Club to have a real rival in the 1.Liga, and I really want to see (in person) a game between Koln and Dusseldorf. Kolsch for the 1st half and Altbier for the 2nd half.

Foxes EAT Canaries!

Solid win for Leicester.

Altbier for the win.

Nonetheless sir... 1.FC Koeln could be in a spot of trouble. More so now that King Otto has returned.

They'll be fine. They just need a few games against the likes of Augsburg and Freiburg, and all will be fine.

Don't underestimate Freiburg. Didn't they just hold the mighty Bayern to a scoreless draw?

Did they ever ................very nice win by the boys indeed and away from Filbert St too, most impressed is Jack.

They did. Bayern has been struggling a bit too. Any given day...

That's what makes this game great. You just never know. Bayern will be better when they get Robben back. He has always been a bit fragile. Otherwise he'd probably be still a Real Madrid or Chelsea player.

http://www.sabotagetimes.com/footba...aya-and-balo-show-exactly-whats-been-missing/

Oh no... Merteacker has surgery and may not be healthy by the time Euro 2012 starts. Tough break.

http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/news/newsid=1754990.html

GoooooooaaaaaLLLL!!! FC Basel. 1-0 87th min. against the mighty Bayern. This is fargin' excellent!


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yeah!!! Basel win!

Oh shyte. Wait for the 2nd leg in Munich.

Could there be some truth to these rumors of you being a closet Bayern fan?

Truth be told. I love the city of Munich, and it's an amazing beer city and you know how I am about my biers. Munich is rich in history and culture so it's hard not to like it.

For the Champions League, I am pulling for all German teams no matter who it is.

But you only need to look at my sig to know who I pull for in the Bundesliga.

Alas, Allianz stadium is one of the most beautiful stadiums in the world, so it's hard not to like Bayern.









Tell me you can't love that stadium.

Not hard for me. Arrogant bastages.

Allianz is a swine insurance company. But admittedly that is the only fault with that place.