IdleRich

IdleRich
I'm watching Sporting collapse, looked bad for them after the penalty and sending off in the 10th minute or so... hilariously clumsy foul as he swung his leg like a pendulum about a minute after the ball went past and completely cleaned out the striker instead.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Just flicking through the European goals from this week and this one is amazing. Of course, although it's top flight it's not a glamour tie, but it's a much more difficult volley to pull off than the Son one above, plus the build-up of three or four passes - in fact probably about five* touches total - which take the ball from central defence to the back of the net, is also brilliant. If this had been in a more highly regarded match it would surely be a contender for goal of the season - reminds me of that legendary Van Basten goal in the Euros that time. I also love the defender nodding his head in stunned appreciation.
For some reason I can't seem to make this video start at the right part so if you can't wait jump to 26 seconds in



*Actually counted and there are five guys who touch it once and one guy who touches it three times. Eight touches from winning the ball to it swelling the net unstoppably... it's just perfect.
 
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IdleRich

IdleRich
Though, watching that again, there is no question as to why it's seen as one of THE greatest goals of all time



As the ball drops he's got so much to do, the crowd is getting excited by the ball moving to the USSR (as they were then) area but they are not on their feet, they are not expecting a goal, they are not even expecting an attempt, they are hoping he can control it and hold it up long enough for Gullit etc to turn up and support him, in fact, when I dug out this clip, the first time I watched the replay I found myself thinking "don't waste the attack, there is no point shooting from there"

Edit - good job it wasn't that guy who was on the mic when Bergkamp scored against Argentina, I think he would have ruptured something.
 
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jenks

thread death
Though, watching that again, there is no question as to why it's seen as one of THE greatest goals of all time



As the ball drops he's got so much to do, the crowd is getting excited by the ball moving to the USSR (as they were then) area but they are not on their feet, they are not expecting a goal, they are not even expecting an attempt, they are hoping he can control it and hold it up long enough for Gullit etc to turn up and support him, in fact, when I dug out this clip, the first time I watched the replay I found myself thinking "don't waste the attack, there is no point shooting from there"

Edit - good job it wasn't that guy who was on the mic when Bergkamp scored against Argentina, I think he would have ruptured something.
I do remember watching that match live on my portable tv in student accommodation and saying out loud ‘fuck off!’ In bewilderment.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I was at primary school then, I'd just come back from a camping holiday in France and loads of the other kids there were Dutch, as a result I was desperate for USSR to win.
 

WashYourHands

Cat Malogen
That and Zidane’s left foot strike again Leverkusen, with Bale’s overhead in there even though the precise location point was more best guess scenario, you watch it for ZZ’s disbelief as much as the goal itself
 

Leo

Well-known member
My neighbor across the hall just mentioned he's heading to Qatar next week for the World Cup. His brother lives there, is a big Germany fan and has tickets to all their matches.

How the other half lives, must be nice.
 

WashYourHands

Cat Malogen
Who's the favorite to win it this year?

not England, conversely they could finally do it, worth a punt if you bet

just imagine a bit of luck in the mix, I know utterly terrifying prospect, the hullabaloo you’d never hear the end of after mass rioting when an entire population goes on the lash for a month

why am I thinking of this? sorry ancestors
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I'm watching the Spurs game on some dodgy link cos my mate is a fan and I want to be able to discuss it with him. They are in real trouble, being played off the park and finally conceded just before half-time. They need to score now or they're out. The thing is Conte was sent off last time after arguing about Kane's disallowed late goal so he can't even come into the changing room and give them the much deserved bollocking they need.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Well something changed things cos they instantly look a different side and have equalized.
And in the other game it's level too now.
Anyone know the goal difference - I mean, if Spurs lose and the other game is a draw then Marseille will have 9 pts and all the other teams will be on 8, who will go through if that happens?
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
The group stages have been nuts this time around. The group with Atleic finished in roughly the reverse order to what anyone would have predicted, Tottenham's group changed leaders and bottom positions about ten times tonight, Barcelona and Juve are out in the first round.... so you might argue that the tournament is not as predictable as people say.... but then again, when it gets to the business end if I say that the final four will look something like City, Real, Liverpool and Bayern then I probably won't be far wrong.

One obvious thing to take from all this is that a superleague with the biggest teams guaranteed locked-in membership looks increasingly cynical and really only makes sense for the teams who want to be in by status instead of results, which right now means Juventus and Barcelona. It seems incredible that those teams think they deserve to be given a free pass to the top table, and it's increasingly clear that when they said it was necessary to save football, what they meant was that it was necessary to save Barcelona.
 

jenks

thread death
I think with Spurs group the top seed was Frankfurt cos they won the Europa but objectively they weren’t really a top seed team so we ended up in a league with four quite equally matched teams. As opposed to Rangers or Pilzen who between them have the worst records ever in CL qualification cos of the other beasts in their groups.
Anyway, I don’t know what all the stress was about, the mighty Spurs qualified top of their group, never in doubt.
 

jenks

thread death
Enough historically big clubs havent made it through to the group stages - Althetico, Barca, Ajax from tonight for example - maybe there is a slight sea change. Although I think all four English teams are through
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I think with Spurs group the top seed was Frankfurt cos they won the Europa but objectively they weren’t really a top seed team so we ended up in a league with four quite equally matched teams. As opposed to Rangers or Pilzen who between them have the worst records ever in CL qualification cos of the other beasts in their groups.
Anyway, I don’t know what all the stress was about, the mighty Spurs qualified top of their group, never in doubt.

I was just gonna ask if you were a Spurs fan. You know what, I'm getting too old for the stress of a game like that, I was thinking that if I actually cared about Spurs at all I would have been a nervous wreck by the end of that game. And it's only the first round!

Enough historically big clubs havent made it through to the group stages - Althetico, Barca, Ajax from tonight for example - maybe there is a slight sea change. Although I think all four English teams are through

Also Juventus gone. But although that is good and it's always delicious to see Barcelona embarrassed, I would say that all it means is that teams that would have been expected to reach the quarters or thereabouts have gone out early, at the start I would have said that the only teams that can realistically win it are the English sides and Bayern and Real - and that hasn't changed.

For the last ten years the winner has come from the Spanish league or the Premiership or the Bundesliga - and Bundesliga here simply means Bayern, and it looks as though La Liga is coming to mean Real. I think that we're actually relatively lucky in the UK in that we don't know who will win the league at the start of the year... I know I say this a lot - I'm becoming as predictable as the Bundesliga - but where is the fun in watching a league where you KNOW who will win it? At least Juve seem to have lost their death grip on Serie A but more cos they got worse than cos the other sides got better. It used to be that the CL could only be won by a team from Spain, England, Germany or Italy... but Italy have slipped out of that now too.
 
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