European Cups, Domestic Cups and Internationals Thread 2015/16

PARlance

KevIRL wrote: »

Herrera

Herrera Off

zarquon

Penalty, Chicarito missed

KevIRL

Hernandez taking and misses

alchemist33

The wife and kids have a team for the first time and have had Rooney from the start.

"He scored a hat-trick," said I.

"Feck sake," says she.


Welcome to fantasy football!!

zarquon

Looks like Rooney is not first choice penalty taker. That's a major negative at his price point

KevIRL

Lukaku and Naismith goals for Everton. 3-3 there

KevIRL

zarquon wrote: »

Looks like Rooney is not first choice penalty taker. That's a major negative at his price point

Think mata is 1st choice then Rooney. That looked like a charity donation from a guy with a hat trick secured

zarquon

KevIRL wrote: »

Think mata is 1st choice then Rooney. That looked like a charity donation from a guy with a hat trick secured

Yes, Mata should be first choice.

alchemist33

KevIRL wrote: »

Think mata is 1st choice then Rooney. That looked like a charity donation from a guy with a hat trick secured

Thats what I thought. Chicho is very unlikely to be ahead of Rooney in the peno pecking order.

Ace2007

alchemist33 wrote: »

Thats what I thought. Chicho is very unlikely to be ahead of Rooney in the peno pecking order.

Rooney was taken off them last season cases he missed, so had Chicho scored tonight, and was on the pitch in the PL game at same time as Rooney, and mata wasn't - then every chance he would be ahead of Rooney.

km79

Ace2007 wrote: »

Rooney was taken off them last season cases he missed, so had Chicho scored tonight, and was on the pitch in the PL game at same time as Rooney, and mata wasn't - then every chance he would be ahead of Rooney.

and then there is depay.....

Ziegler1988

GROUP B: PSV, MAN UTD, CSKA Moscow, Wolfsburg
GROUP Juventus, MAN CITY, Sevilla, Borussia Monchengladbach
GROUP F: Bayern Munich, ARSENAL, Olympiacos, Dinamo Zagreb
GROUP G: CHELSEA, Porto, Dynamo Kiev, Maccabi Tel Aviv

stephenl15

Mane benched. Pelle starts

spock.

stephenl15 wrote:

Mane benched. Pelle starts

Cedric benched too.

#SaintsFC team vs #FCMidtjylland: Stekelenburg, Martina, Fonte, Caulker, Yoshida, Targett, Romeu, S. Davis, Ward-Prowse, Pellè , Rodriguez.

Swiper the fox

Mane fit enough for the bench will do me, lovely Sunday afternoon fixture with Norwich to prepare for!

iroced

Ziegler1988 wrote: »

GROUP B: PSV, MAN UTD, CSKA Moscow, Wolfsburg
GROUP Juventus, MAN CITY, Sevilla, Borussia Monchengladbach
GROUP F: Bayern Munich, ARSENAL, Olympiacos, Dinamo Zagreb
GROUP G: CHELSEA, Porto, Dynamo Kiev, Maccabi Tel Aviv

Jesus :eek: ?!?!?! What did City do to the UEFA gods?! Again group of death, maybe one of the worst ever with Juve, Sevilla & 'Gladbach :eek: i.e. CL finalist, EL winner & Buli third. Ouch!

The French clubs have been a lot more fortunate, especially Lyon since coming from the third seeded pot they could have had a much much much tougher group (e.g. City's one).

Group A: Paris, Real Madrid, Chakhtior Donetsk, Malmö
Group H: Zénith Saint-Pétersbourg, Valence, Lyon, La Gantoise

Nib

Distance Premier League clubs will travel during CL group stage (miles)
Chelsea: 9,184
Arsenal: 5,894
Manchester United: 5,452
Manchester City: 4,842

km79

Nib wrote: »

Distance Premier League clubs will travel during CL group stage (miles)
Chelsea: 9,184
Arsenal: 5,894
Manchester United: 5,452
Manchester City: 4,842

the week of the Derby
united play Everton away Moscow away then city home
city have 2 home games ......

KevIRL

Southampton 1down in EL qualifier

spock.

Southampton are out of Europe.

shineon23

spock. wrote:

Southampton are out of Europe.

As a Southampton fan i can't pretend I'm not delighted they're out.

will only be good news for the club's league campaign and then hopefully a few Saints FPL options will emerge.

No way the small squad size was going to cope with the extra games if they got to the group stage.

Paully D

shineon23 wrote: »

As a Southampton fan i can't pretend I'm not delighted they're out.

will only be good news for the club's league campaign and then hopefully a few Saints FPL options will emerge.

No way the small squad size was going to cope with the extra games if they got to the group stage.

Yep, better to get knocked out in order to improve the league campaign and hopefully qualify for the, eh, Europa League. :pac:

In fairness to Southampton at least they played virtually their first choice side throughout the qualifying phase. They just ultimately weren't good enough to progress but at least tried, unlike Hull last year and West Ham this year.

shineon23

Paully D wrote: »

Yep, better to get knocked out in order to improve the league campaign and hopefully qualify for the, eh, Europa League. :pac:

In fairness to Southampton at least they played virtually their first choice side throughout the qualifying phase. They just ultimately weren't good enough to progress but at least tried, unlike Hull last year and West Ham this year.

Definitely were good enough to progress, opposition wasted a lot of time in the home leg once they got their away goal, would have been a lot of bookings if it was Premier League match. And tonight were denied a clear penalty from a delibrate a hand ball.(Raised arm in the wall)

Saying that I'll gladly take all that bad luck if it means, less games for a small squad, pushing on in the League and eh avoid qualifying for the Europa League next year. The competition destroyed Hull, Everton, Swansea, (and Birmingham/Wigan following relegation) league campaigns in recent years.

4th or 9th would be ideal. Or top 17 is also acceptable :P

Lemlin

Paully D wrote: »

Yep, better to get knocked out in order to improve the league campaign and hopefully qualify for the, eh, Europa League. :pac:

In fairness to Southampton at least they played virtually their first choice side throughout the qualifying phase. They just ultimately weren't good enough to progress but at least tried, unlike Hull last year and West Ham this year.

I think the whole "qualifying for Europe thing" is just something to motivate players. It's the next step to qualifying for the CL and is a top 6/7 finish so has a prestige about it.

Blackburn used to generally do the same when they qualified under Highes so it's not something new to not bother with it once qualified.

Paully D

Lemlin wrote: »

I think the whole "qualifying for Europe thing" is just something to motivate players. It's the next step to qualifying for the CL and is a top 6/7 finish so has a prestige about it.

Blackburn used to generally do the same when they qualified under Highes so it's not something new to not bother with it once qualified.

I can understand it from the manager/clubs point of view and I used to feel differently, but now I think it's absolutely ridiculous.

Look at Hull last year for example, they pissed away quite possibly the only chance their fans would have even gotten to see them play in European competition and then got relegated anyway. You have West Ham fans travelling to Romania midweek to see a bunch of kids/reserves play and quite obviously purposely lose which is a disgrace IMO.

The likes of Southampton (and in fairness I'm not criticising them, they played their first team throughout but simply lost the tie), West Ham, Hull etc are never in a million years going to qualify for the Champions League through league position. With the Europa League now offering a Champions League spot for the winners, I thought it would prove to be an incentive. Obviously not however.

The common argument about the small squad not being able to handle it was banished when Fulham reached the final and finished comfortably in 12th in 2009/2010. 'Boro also finished comfortably in 14th the year they reached the final.

The end game in getting knocked out before the group stages is to improve league position, but at the end of the day the ceiling for these teams is Europa League qualification the next season. Madness.

iroced

There's something I don't get about squad size, not being able to play both competitions for small clubs etc...

Didn't the PL signed a record TV rights deal (£1.2 billion IIRC) such that for example bottom PL sides can now buy players and offer better contracts than top French sides (even PSG!)?
I mean it shouldn't be a problem for any PL side to build a large enough squad to face 2 competitions, especially for the Europa League where most clubs would be lower standard than the PL.

Paully D

iroced wrote: »

There's something I don't get about squad size, not being able to play both competitions for small clubs etc...

Didn't the PL signed a record TV rights deal (£1.2 billion IIRC) such that for example bottom PL sides can now buy players and offer better contracts to top French sides (even PSG!)?

Giaccherini trebled his wage when he moved to Sunderland from Juventus. Sessegnon doubled his when he joined from PSG. Crazy.

km79

Paully D wrote: »

I can understand it from the manager/clubs point of view and I used to feel differently, but now I think it's absolutely ridiculous.

Look at Hull last year for example, they pissed away quite possibly the only chance their fans would have even gotten to see them play in European competition and then got relegated anyway. You have West Ham fans travelling to Romania midweek to see a bunch of kids/reserves play and quite obviously purposely lose which is a disgrace IMO.

The likes of Southampton (and in fairness I'm not criticising them, they played their first team throughout but simply lost the tie), West Ham, Hull etc are never in a million years going to qualify for the Champions League through league position. With the Europa League now offering a Champions League spot for the winners, I thought it would prove to be an incentive. Obviously not however.

The common argument about the small squad not being able to handle it was banished when Fulham reached the final and finished comfortably in 12th in 2009/2010. 'Boro also finished comfortably in 14th the year they reached the final.

The end game in getting knocked out before the group stages is to improve league position, but at the end of the day the ceiling for these teams is Europa League qualification the next season. Madness.

Completely agree
For a team like united it's different
For anyone from 6th or 7th down ......I mean look at spurs . Will they win league . No. Will they qualify for champ league thru league position . No
Why don't they go for Europa glory instead ?
Look at Sevilla and the other Spanish teams

manual_man

meh. i can understand the reservations with the EL. one CL spot up for grabs between 48 teams (and then add in the CL teams that finish 3rd in their group). games on a Thurs, often with a lot of travelling. it's bound to affect teams that don't have the squad depth that the teams in the CL have, i just think the competition is overkill and there's simply too many games involved, i'm not sure of the number of games you'd need to play to win it, but i'm sure it's more than in the CL, which is absolutely mad i.m.o.

Benimar

manual_man wrote: »

meh. i can understand the reservations with the EL. one CL spot up for grabs between 48 teams (and then add in the CL teams that finish 3rd in their group). games on a Thurs, often with a lot of travelling. it's bound to affect teams that don't have the squad depth that the teams in the CL have, i just think the competition is overkill and there's simply too many games involved, i'm not sure of the number of games you'd need to play to win it, but i'm sure it's more than in the CL, which is absolutely mad i.m.o.

If Liverpool make the EL Final and Man U make the CL Final they will play exactly the same number of games. Just cannot understand a fan of any team hoping they get knocked out of a competition. For someone like Liverpool or Spurs it's important they take it seriously because if they ever make the CL they will end up as 4th seeds otherwise.

Surely a West Ham fan would rather finish 11th and have a good run in Europe than get knocked out early so they can concentrate on finishing 9th!

Lemlin

Benimar wrote: »

If Liverpool make the EL Final and Man U make the CL Final they will play exactly the same number of games. Just cannot understand a fan of any team hoping they get knocked out of a competition. For someone like Liverpool or Spurs it's important they take it seriously because if they ever make the CL they will end up as 4th seeds otherwise.

Surely a West Ham fan would rather finish 11th and have a good run in Europe than get knocked out early so they can concentrate on finishing 9th!

I never had a problem with Blackburn not competing in it. Not sure how it works exactly but clubs get a higher payment for each PL position in the table.

At the end io the day, for most clubs outside the top six, the key is survival, nothing else. The stakes are too high to risk under performing.

The likes of Hull or Swansea aren't going to win it. Boro and Fulham both made the final but ended up with nothing.

Swiper the fox

Spurs and Liverpool will try to win it, they have the squads that should be able to swat away the minor league teams until it gets serious. Keeps fringe players happy enough as well. It's high time an English team won it. The reward is huge now.

manual_man

Benimar wrote: »

If Liverpool make the EL Final and Man U make the CL Final they will play exactly the same number of games. Just cannot understand a fan of any team hoping they get knocked out of a competition. For someone like Liverpool or Spurs it's important they take it seriously because if they ever make the CL they will end up as 4th seeds otherwise.

Surely a West Ham fan would rather finish 11th and have a good run in Europe than get knocked out early so they can concentrate on finishing 9th!

the way things are now though, mid-table to 18th can be very bunched! i agree the likes of Liverpool and Spurs can make a better fist of it with more capable squads, but the ultimate goal has to be always getting CL football, and let's be honest the chances of getting it through the Europa are very slim! Even if you give it 100%. Whereas if the likes of Liverpool and Spurs have just the league to concentrate on, it makes sense that their chances of a higher league finish are increased. This has shown to be the case, last season when Man U managed 4th without European football, and the previous year when Liverpool almost went all the way without European football also. Not to mention the examples of smaller clubs having suffered with the extra commitments, most notably Hull last season who got relegated.

PARlance

Benimar wrote: »

If Liverpool make the EL Final and Man U make the CL Final they will play exactly the same number of games. Just cannot understand a fan of any team hoping they get knocked out of a competition. For someone like Liverpool or Spurs it's important they take it seriously because if they ever make the CL they will end up as 4th seeds otherwise.

Surely a West Ham fan would rather finish 11th and have a good run in Europe than get knocked out early so they can concentrate on finishing 9th!

The chances of winning it are small though.

I don't blame managers for not giving it more respect. They don't have the job security (not that they're short of a penny, but self interest/preservation is to be expected) they once had.
A QF defeat and a bad league and they could be gone.

I think West Hams approach was a good move. They don't have the squad, were never going to win it so why even bother. The powers that be should see this and make changes. Less games and possibly just back to a proper knockout cup (rather than league then cup) imo.

FHFC

Just realised that Ayew sat out the first of his 2 international games as an unused sub in Ghanas friendly with DR Congo on Tuesday past.

They play Rwanda on Sat afternoon.

Cypher_sounds

Spurs new player Son scored a hat-trick for South Korea earlier today.

MarkSRFC21

Cypher_sounds wrote: »

Spurs new player Son scored a hat-trick for South Korea earlier today.

Against Laos in an 8-0 win tbf

FHFC

KdB goal and assist in a 2-1 lead at ht vs Bosnia. Dzeko for Bosnia.

spock.

Iceland 1-0 up at Holland (Siggy penalty)
Depay has played ok but his end product has been poor again.

CSF

Maybe swiper was onto something..

FHFC

spock. wrote: »

Iceland 1-0 up at Holland (Siggy penalty)
Depay has played ok but his end product has been poor again.

Its Depoo. Didn't you get the memo!?

Swiper the fox

I saw the goals from last night and was rightly impressed with De Bruyne again, it was a super delivery for Fellaini's goal, I wonder will he get much dead ball action at city??
His goal was a fantastic strike, it happened so quickly that Begovic was caught on the hop, shouldn't have been beaten from that distance but it was placed perfectly.
Hazard took and scored a penalty in case ye didn't know, put it right into the corner and he seemed to have his mind made up although he did wrap his foot around it in an unusual way which suggests he is still trying to trick the goalkeeper in some way. Perhaps taking against a clubmate might have changed his style but we won't know anything until Chelsea get a penalty this year.

Paully D

Swiper the fox wrote: »

I saw the goals from last night and was rightly impressed with De Bruyne again, it was a super delivery for Fellaini's goal, I wonder will he get much dead ball action at city??
His goal was a fantastic strike, it happened so quickly that Begovic was caught on the hop, shouldn't have been beaten from that distance but it was placed perfectly.

De Bruyne's very, very good but it was a horrendous piece of goalkeeping IMO.

Swiper the fox

Paully D wrote: »

De Bruyne's very, very good but it was a horrendous piece of goalkeeping IMO.

Shouldn't have reached the net but it was completely unexpected and couldn't have been better placed, when he received it a shot was not on at all.
I only saw the goals, De Bruyne seems to have gotten all the plaudits but that could be as a result of his current status as interest story of the month.

Ziegler1988

BREAKING: Line up- Razak, Afful, Baba, Amartey, Boye, Acquah, Atsu, Wakaso, Boakye-Yiadom, A. Ayew, J. Ayew #RwaGha

FHFC

Ziegler1988 wrote: »

BREAKING: Line up- Razak, Afful, Baba, Amartey, Boye, Acquah, Atsu, Wakaso, Boakye-Yiadom, A. Ayew, J. Ayew #RwaGha

Am actually waiting nervously for this game!!

Ziegler1988

Also, Aguero got two goals and three assists against Bolivia last night. They play Mexico on Tuesday night. Maybe he'll move his post international break heroics up a month this season

FHFC wrote: »

Am actually waiting nervously for this game!!

Haha, stay safe Prince Andre

Iused2likebusts

Ziegler1988 wrote: »

Also, Aguero got two goals and three assists against Bolivia last night. They play Mexico on Tuesday night. Maybe he'll move his post international break heroics up a month this season



Haha, stay safe Prince Andre

I'd expect aguero and sanchez to be up to full speed after these internationals and the extra bit of training.

shineon23

Sadio Mane starts and scores for Senegal.

jimmii

England get what must be the softest penalty in history even with several replays its hard to see what it was given for.

Rooney dispatches it to go to equal Charltons 49 goals.