UEFA Cup

[CATCH17]

Im actually trying to get into Soccer.

After all these years im finally understand what the hype is all about.

I know Chelsea beat Liverpool yesterday and Barcalona tore up who ever they played.

So who is in the best position to win the cup?

What are all the criterias that teams have to make to put themselves ahead of the other as the front runner?

Why does it help your overall standings when you score more points?

Fill me in on what is going on lol.

 

[daschoo]

Im actually trying to get into Soccer.

After all these years im finally understand what the hype is all about.

I know Chelsea beat Liverpool yesterday and Barcalona tore up who ever they played.

So who is in the best position to win the cup?

What are all the criterias that teams have to make to put themselves ahead of the other as the front runner?

Why does it help your overall standings when you score more points?

Fill me in on what is going on lol.

where to start lol

chelsea beat liverpool and barcelona beat bayern munich in the first legs of the quarter finals of the european champions league which is the most prestigious tournament in club football. it is contested amongst the teams who finish highest in the domestic leagues throughout europe, the better the league the more entries that nation has in the champions league. full list of this for next season can be seen here.

http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/format/newsid=788260.html

the group stages are eight groups of four with each team playing against everyone in there group home and away with the top two teams progressing to the knockout stages. last 16 is played one game at each teams home stadium with the team winning on aggregate (ie win 1-0 at home then lose 3-1 away then you would be elimanated as you lose 3-2 on aggregate) going through to the quarter finals (stage we are at at the moment) this is the same format then the two winners play in a one off game at a neutral venue for the european cup, much like the superbowl.

hope that helps? any questions regarding positions etc feel free to ask, though i'll then take advantage of the fact you know a heck of a lot more about american football than me and pick your brain for some of the stuff i'm not to knowledgeable on

 

[CATCH17]

So who would you say are the top 10 players in the world and what team do they play on?

What jobs do all the players do that aren't a Striker or Goalie?

 

[thekavorka]

So who would you say are the top 10 players in the world and what team do they play on?

What jobs do all the players do that aren't a Striker or Goalie?

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

tough to do top 10. but the best player in the world right now is Messi

and if you want a team to support, support Arsenal

 

[thekavorka]

and unlike in America, there are a ton of competitions going on at once.

For example, with Arsenal...

1. They are in the English Premier League. This is the domestic competition in England. Consists of 20 teams. 38 games are played (double round robin). Team with the most points at the end is declared the winner.

2. Champions League. This is a tournament that consists of the best teams in Europe. This is the most prestigious competition in Europe.

3. FA Cup. This is a tournament in England that every team in England participates in.

There are minor things like the Carling Cup, etc. All of these competitions overlap.

So on Tuesday, Arsenal played Villareal in the Champions League. On Saturday, they play West Brom in the Premier League.

 

[RESIN8]

and unlike in America, there are a ton of competitions going on at once.

For example, with Arsenal...

1. They are in the English Premier League. This is the domestic competition in England. Consists of 20 teams. 38 games are played (double round robin). Team with the most points at the end is declared the winner.

2. Champions League. This is a tournament that consists of the best teams in Europe. This is the most prestigious competition in Europe.

3. FA Cup. This is a tournament in England that every team in England participates in.

There are minor things like the Carling Cup, etc. All of these competitions overlap.

So on Tuesday, Arsenal played Villareal in the Champions League. On Saturday, they play West Brom in the Premier League.

Also have the World Cup Qualifiers.

Barca has to be the favorite going into Champions League. Too much firepower.

I would have to say that Spain is the favorites to take the world cup. They blew it up during Euro Cup. Watching David Villia and Fernado Torres last summer was amazing. Those guys were playing ball at another level.

 

[thekavorka]

Also have the World Cup Qualifiers.

Barca has to be the favorite going into Champions League. Too much firepower.

I would have to say that Spain is the favorites to take the world cup. They blew it up during Euro Cup. Watching David Villia and Fernado Torres last summer was amazing. Those guys were playing ball at another level.

yeah, villa and torres are awesome. But I think Spain won because their midfield is so dominant. Lineup of Senna/Iniesta/Xavi/Fabregas is just amazing.

 

[daschoo]

So who would you say are the top 10 players in the world and what team do they play on?

What jobs do all the players do that aren't a Striker or Goalie?

not going to try and pick out a top 10 but in my opinion the top 3 would be

1 - messi (barcelona and argentina)
2 - ribery (bayern munich and france)
3 - ronaldo (manchester united and portugal)

all three play just off the strikers or on the wing and are more or less unplayable when they're on their game. i've been lucky enough to see all 3 of these play in the flesh. arguably the best player i've seen in the flesh though was ronaldinho who i saw play at celtic park a couple of times at the peak of his career or lothar matthaus who i got to see once towards the end of his career in a friendly match.

that wikipedia link of thekavorka is pretty good by the way

 

[thekavorka]

Best player (and my favorite player) I've seen live was Dennis Berkamp in the 94 World Cup Quarterfinals that were held at the cotton bowl in dallas

 

[EveryoneElse]

Im actually trying to get into Soccer.

What for?

 

[CATCH17]

not going to try and pick out a top 10 but in my opinion the top 3 would be

1 - messi (barcelona and argentina)
2 - ribery (bayern munich and france)
3 - ronaldo (manchester united and portugal)

all three play just off the strikers or on the wing and are more or less unplayable when they're on their game. i've been lucky enough to see all 3 of these play in the flesh. arguably the best player i've seen in the flesh though was ronaldinho who i saw play at celtic park a couple of times at the peak of his career or lothar matthaus who i got to see once towards the end of his career in a friendly match.

that wikipedia link of thekavorka is pretty good by the way

He is the reason I started watching the sport.

Unbelievable player.

 

[CATCH17]

What for?

Dude its not a bad sport at all.

Im just trying to figure out the sport.

I know the rules but all the different leagues and championships is very confusing.

Should I think of leagues more like a conference and England is the SEC aka the premiere league?

 

[daschoo]

basically each country has their own domestic league and cup competition. the main difference is that each countries domestic league is split into divisions. in scotland for example we have the scottish premier league (spl), 1st division, 2nd division and third division. then you have the domestic cups, in this instance the scottish cup and the scottish league cup.
the spl is made up of 12 teams (in other leagues this tends to be either 18 or 20) with the team at the bottom of the league at the end of the season being relegated and the team that wins the 1st division being promoted. between the lower divisions there are two relegation and promotions. the league season runs in tandem with the two cup competitions and also the two european tournaments. the winners of the spl recieve automatic entry into the group stages of the champions league while the runners up go into the prelimanry rounds. this season the 3rd and 4th placed teams along with the winners of the scottish cup go into the new europa league which is basically a revamped uefa cup which to quite honest i'm not sure how is going to be run. while the numbers in other countries ie divisions, teams per dision, promotion/relegation and european qualification vary the basic principles are the same

 

[Cochese]

Should I think of leagues more like a conference and England is the SEC aka the premiere league?

I really wouldnt say that. Each league has their own style of play and pluses and minuses. The English style is pretty much balls to the wall, long balls, quick counters, very physical. The Spanish style is slower and more deliberate, they get more time on the ball to do tricks and skills. The Italian Serie A has a reputataion for being boring, but they are far from it this season.

As far as players to, watch

Messi
Ribery
Adebayor
Fernando Torres
Kun Aguero
Rooney
Del Piero
Totti
Lampard
Arshavin
Henry
Kaka
Pato
Beckham

Look those dudes up on Youtube.


Check out this amazing Adebayor goal from midweek...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AhgxLnb_20

 

[Cochese]

Best player (and my favorite player) I've seen live was Dennis Berkamp in the 94 World Cup Quarterfinals that were held at the cotton bowl in dallas

I saw him and Robert Pires absolutely shred Newcastle in a FA Cup match at Highbury. Arsenal were 2-0 up within 10 minutes thanks to Dennis and Roberts absolute brilliance.

 

[CATCH17]

LOL @ Chelsea.

They were up 4-0 and now it is 4-3 with 11 minutes left.

 

[thekavorka]

LOL @ Chelsea.

They were up 4-0 and now it is 4-3 with 11 minutes left.

yeah. total choke job by Chelsea but they held on.

But freaking Man U. They always get so lucky. Macheda scores again. but I dont think they deserved the win.

And it's not looking good for Arsenal. We lost Djourou to injury. Silvestre and Gibbs scare the crap out of me. They looked shaky all game. Not to mention couple of mistakes by Fabianski. We just cant catch a break with injuries.

I saw him and Robert Pires absolutely shred Newcastle in a FA Cup match at Highbury. Arsenal were 2-0 up within 10 minutes thanks to Dennis and Roberts absolute brilliance.

yeah I miss Pires. I thought he was a good spark for Villareal last Tuesday. He made a lot of great through balls on the wing past Sagna.

It's tough to decide my favorite Bergkamp goal. Either the Newcastle goal or maybe the WC98 goal.

But definitely my favorite Bergkamp assist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYBUdi7ezHg

[youtube]rYBUdi7ezHg[/youtube]

 

[gazmc_06]

Ronaldo still remains the best player in the world IMO, doing what he does in the premiership is unreal This could be the 2nd seaosn in a row that he finishes top scorer, that is unheard of in the premiership.

If he does move to Madrid at some point he will dominate in Spain. Spanish football is so much slower and allows for much more space that he will just run past defenders like they aren't there.

 

[daschoo]

Ronaldo still remains the best player in the world IMO, doing what he does in the premiership is unreal This could be the 2nd seaosn in a row that he finishes top scorer, that is unheard of in the premiership.

If he does move to Madrid at some point he will dominate in Spain. Spanish football is so much slower and allows for much more space that he will just run past defenders like they aren't there.

cant agree with that at all. ronaldo is fantastic but he isn't in the same league as messi, no one is to be honest

 

[thekavorka]

Messi is on an entirely different level. Ronaldo has been making too many mistakes this season. He's been giving the ball away too much and is too lazy to track back.