2014-15 European Soccer thread (Premier League, Champions league, etc)

[joseephuss]

Chelse blows a late lead. A bit of a weak call that gave ManU that free kick, but the Blues didn't do enough to finish that game off.

 

[jterrell]

Chelse blows a late lead. A bit of a weak call that gave ManU that free kick, but the Blues didn't do enough to finish that game off.

That was a terribly officiated game all the way through.
7 yellows for Chelsea was ridiculous.
Ivanonic shouldn't have had a yellow on either play.
And there was a far worse play against him where he was clotheslined that was missed.

Chelsea dominated the game all the way through.
And only the pathetic call that put them to 10 men cost them the 3 points.

ManU is no where near as good as Chelsea this year and weren't today.

Chelsea has to be more clinical in attack and thus really missed Costa.
That was a 3-0 game.

 

[RastaRocket]

That's just too many guys who need the ball on the pitch together.

Playing Inesta as some type of holding midfielder is a joke.

Naymar, Messi, Suarez at once? good grief its fantasy football.

I think it will work out nice. All three of them are very good playmakers as well as goal scorers. Suarez made some real nice passes last game; he had one to Messi that Messi should have buried for a goal. Once he missed that momentum shifted back in Madrid's favor and then they took over. Barca is still shaky at the back, so they will need to fix that once they are off of transfer ban. They are vulnerable to counter attacks and Madrid can counter better than any team in Europe; they look scary good especially with Ronaldo playing like he is right now.

Looks like Chelsea and Madrid are the most complete teams at the moment. Haven't seen a lot of Bundesliga this year though. Barca had yet to give up a goal until the game yesterday.

 

[jterrell]

I think it will work out nice. All three of them are very good playmakers as well as goal scorers. Suarez made some real nice passes last game; he had one to Messi that Messi should have buried for a goal. Once he missed that momentum shifted back in Madrid's favor and then they took over. Barca is still shaky at the back, so they will need to fix that once they are off of transfer ban. They are vulnerable to counter attacks and Madrid can counter better than any team in Europe; they look scary good especially with Ronaldo playing like he is right now.

Looks like Chelsea and Madrid are the most complete teams at the moment. Haven't seen a lot of Bundesliga this year though. Barca had yet to give up a goal until the game yesterday.

They have enough talent to just swarm most teams and they have had injuries so have often had one or more of those creators on the bench.

But playing them all is not a recipe for success and never has been.
My guess is they'll be selling one of those guys to PSG pretty quickly.
TBH the guy I'd sell is Messi.
He'd bring the most in return and set them up in FFP.
The other option is Iniesta but they'd be selling him ay low value since this WC and recent run has been far below his typical standard.

 

[RastaRocket]

Don't think they should sell Messi. I'd like to see him spend his career there. I do think they could get a lot for him and have a great team but it would feel weird. I think you move him wide right, put Suarez in the middle, and neymar on the left.

 

[joseephuss]

There will be no rush to sell anyone. Barca can't buy any new players until January 2016 due to the two transfer window ban. There is no benefit to selling off a player quickly.

 

[MC KAos]

its time for a new manager, Peligrinni was never a long term solution, just a bandaid. we need to get Simeone!! Come on Mansour, go get that guy after this season!!!

 

[jterrell]

There will be no rush to sell anyone. Barca can't buy any new players until January 2016 due to the two transfer window ban. There is no benefit to selling off a player quickly.

Benefit that matters is playing better and winning.
Unless they start rolling out two balls Barca needs to adjust.
Those type players don't sit on benches so it means a sale is best way to fix the obvious imbalances.

 

[jterrell]

Don't think they should sell Messi. I'd like to see him spend his career there. I do think they could get a lot for him and have a great team but it would feel weird. I think you move him wide right, put Suarez in the middle, and neymar on the left.

that is a sweet FIFA lineup but in real soccer not having two way wing players is gonna hurt.
Suarez is a 9 and those two are both 10s.
Going 1980 style 4-3-3 has proven very beatable.

Jose traded Mata because he wanted to make room for a different CMF. Fabregas has provided much better passing and more 2 way play.
It has made the team much better.

I can definitely understand no one at Barca wanting to trade Messi tho. He is what he is.
So realistically they'll try to move Iniesta instead and get guys to play more defensively.
Going to be interesting to see them in later round UCL play.

 

[joseephuss]

Messi has been great this year. His distribution has been top notch. He has adjusted his game. He has done really well creating scoring opportunities for other players and is among the leaders in assists in La Liga.

Barca has to play better on defense to get deep in Champions League. They don't allow any scoring when playing against weaker teams, but once you amp up the competition you start seeing how vulnerable they are on the back end of the team. Getting rid of Messi won't help that situation.

 

[jterrell]

Messi has been great this year. His distribution has been top notch. He has adjusted his game. He has done really well creating scoring opportunities for other players and is among the leaders in assists in La Liga.

Barca has to play better on defense to get deep in Champions League. They don't allow any scoring when playing against weaker teams, but once you amp up the competition you start seeing how vulnerable they are on the back end of the team. Getting rid of Messi won't help that situation.

Messi is imo still the best player in the world.
I am suggesting trading him because you could free up so very much and in 2 years time he may not be the best player on even that team.
Chelsea traded Mata when he was really still their best player.
He just wasn't the best fit for the team. But it cleared up FFP and made this run possible.

Who'd look really good for Barca is Ramirez. He is a very good defender but he scores once a year it seems.
They should also be trying to grab a Chelsea fullback.
I don't know if they could get the FFP ban reduces or not but I'd certainly be trying and my first move towards that would be a BIG sale. --since the BIG signings is what did them in.

My favorite player non-Chelsea/non-US player is Iniesta but watching him play in that set up is almost painful. Poor dude gets like 3 touches a half it seems.

 

[joseephuss]

I don't think Chelsea selling Mata is comparable.

Barca are not going to get their ban reduced, so selling Messi now doesn't help matters. Their transfer ban had nothing to do with their big signings. They got in trouble for their dealings and signing of international players under the age of 18. Once their ban is over then they could consider selling Messi, but there is no rush to do it now.

 

[joseephuss]

Good win by Chelsea. Liverpool should have been awarded a PK for a hand ball. It was an entertaining game.

 

[jterrell]

I don't think Chelsea selling Mata is comparable.

Barca are not going to get their ban reduced, so selling Messi now doesn't help matters. Their transfer ban had nothing to do with their big signings. They got in trouble for their dealings and signing of international players under the age of 18. Once their ban is over then they could consider selling Messi, but there is no rush to do it now.

It is more comparable than just about any other possible example.
Mata was a two-time reigning player of the year for Chelsea including in a UCL Championship seasons.
He is an offensive minded and creative number 10.

The player ban has been appealed once and last I heard was going to CAS for final appeal.
But the FFP piece of spending 90M this last transfer window could make them a repeat offender and possibly cost them UCL participation.

Again with a chance to appease FIFA over FFP and to make the team more balanced on the field a sale is likely a wise consideration.

 

[joseephuss]

It is more comparable than just about any other possible example.
Mata was a two-time reigning player of the year for Chelsea including in a UCL Championship seasons.
He is an offensive minded and creative number 10.

The player ban has been appealed once and last I heard was going to CAS for final appeal.
But the FFP piece of spending 90M this last transfer window could make them a repeat offender and possibly cost them UCL participation.

Again with a chance to appease FIFA over FFP and to make the team more balanced on the field a sale is likely a wise consideration.

They won't see any punishment for FFP violations. I haven't seen any rumors that they are in trouble for FFP violations. It is a non-matter as far as UEFA are concerned. They don't go after the big, historical clubs for FFP violations. They save that for the smaller clubs.

The Mata comparison isn't comparable because Mata was lacking in some skills the team(Mourinho) needed and wanted from him and therefore he was let go. Messi isn't lacking in anything that Barca want out of him.

Barca will probably sell Pedro. Xavi is MLS bound. And as mentioned earlier in this thread, Iniesta is probably one they could sell. Even with them I still don't see any rush to sell anyone. When you can't buy a new player in over a year from now there is no need to rush to get rid of players especially great ones like Messi.

 

[jterrell]

They won't see any punishment for FFP violations. I haven't seen any rumors that they are in trouble for FFP violations. It is a non-matter as far as UEFA are concerned. They don't go after the big, historical clubs for FFP violations. They save that for the smaller clubs.

The Mata comparison isn't comparable because Mata was lacking in some skills the team(Mourinho) needed and wanted from him and therefore he was let go. Messi isn't lacking in anything that Barca want out of him.

Barca will probably sell Pedro. Xavi is MLS bound. And as mentioned earlier in this thread, Iniesta is probably one they could sell. Even with them I still don't see any rush to sell anyone. When you can't buy a new player in over a year from now there is no need to rush to get rid of players especially great ones like Messi.

UEFA is going after PSG and Man City for FFP violations currently.
They won't shy away from tackling Barca if need be.

Again, to be clear, Barca isn't looking anywhere near as good as their roster suggests so change is probably coming.
Change will start with a sale.

 

[jterrell]

Rumors out now that Messi could be traded.
Probably just drama but you did hear it from me first as an idea.

Saying 300M and he'd leave Spain because of tax issues.

 

[jterrell]

Kinda sad we can;t even keep one Soccer thread going on the boards.

Anything cooking in the January window that interests?

Chelsea may loan out Salah and buy then loan out Krameric.

Ready for UCL play to get going again.

 

[joseephuss]

EPL is a close battle and should be the remainder of the season.

http://metro.co.uk/2014/12/28/paris...r-raid-on-chelsea-for-andre-schurrle-5001782/

Paris Saint-Germain eye up January transfer raid on Chelsea for Andre Schurrle

 

[joseephuss]

Bad day for Chelsea. They lose sole possession of first place and Lampard scores the winning goal for Manchester City. It is a dead heat right now. Sets up for a good battle the second half of the season.