Jump to content
DVDVR Message Board

FOOTY - Spring 2016


Dolfan in NYC

Recommended Posts

30 minutes ago, ReiseReise said:

Not too much of a beer drinker. Maybe I should start. 15 minutes in, Liverpool already got shafted twice on ref calls, one of those two could have been a pk.

Brilliant brandy from Rüdesheim, you mean.

Man, what a beautiful goal. But... three times hands in the penalty zone and nothing?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Villa statement

Quote

Aston Villa Football Club is pleased to announce that an agreement has been signed today for the sale of 100% ownership by Randy Lerner to Recon Group owned by Dr Tony Jiantong Xia subject to the approval of the Premier League and the Football League. Once those approvals have been granted and the new board members approved under the fit & proper rules of both leagues, Dr Xia will become Chairman of Aston Villa. The Club will announce the appointment of a new manager shortly.

Randy Lerner has sought the right new owner for Aston Villa who would take great care of the Club and restore its fortunes. He believes that Tony Xia is an excellent choice.

Recon Group is Dr Xia's privately owned holding company that owns the controlling interest in five publicly listed companies on the Hong Kong and Chinese stock exchanges and many other private companies employing 35,000 people in 75 countries.

Dr Xia played football as a striker until he finished at college and football has remained his passion. Dr Xia decided to buy an iconic football Club in England as the cornerstone of his Sports, Leisure and Tourism Division. He became a fan of Aston Villa many years ago and is delighted at the opportunity to become the new owner.

Dr Xia's immediate objective is to return Aston Villa to the Premier League and then to have the Club finish in the top six, bringing European football back to Villa Park. He plans to make Aston Villa the most famous football Club in China with a huge fan base.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, Death From Above said:

It's a real shame refereeing will dominate the headlines in an otherwise very enjoyable final.

Agreed on that. There was also no need at all for this collapse of epic proportions for Liverpool. But hard to deny that this game would probably have taken a different turn had the refs been up to the task.

 

To get the bitterness level down: Sevilla's 2nd half was as EL winners worthy as Liverpool's first, but more clinical. That was an amazing comeback, bad refereeing or not.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That went about how I thought it might. Great first half, with excellent attacking movement and possession, as well as high pressure. Then Sevilla came out like gangbusters in the second scoring after two Moreno mistakes. I said he was the wildcard and he turned out to be a flop tonight. Sevilla changed the shape of their midfield, spreading it out across the pitch rather than the very narrow approach we saw in the first half. This put a lot of pressure on the attacking midfielders of Liverpool to track back and they weren't up to it and neither were Can and Milner. They stretched out the LFC defending 6 and that was the game. I put my head down after the Sevilla midfielders played a 1-2 around Milner and Can before the second goal. Could see that miles away. Defending decides finals and Sevilla made the adjustments and Liverpool didn't. Congratulations to Emery and his squad. 3 in a row is unbelievable.

Also, fuck the officials. They had a nightmare. Three shouts for penalties. The Firmino one in particular should have been a stonewall penalty. Fuck the handball, it was a clear foul in the box. And the not offside, offside, not offside again summed up their incompetence.

Summer priorities for Liverpool:

1) A midfield anchor. Lucas isn't up to it anymore and going with two box-to-box types in Milner/Can or Henderson/Allen isn't going to work and hasn't since Brendan Rodgers arrived. After the first 10 minutes of the second half, it was pretty clear we needed a third man in midfield - not another striker. They stretched us out and we couldn't cope. Krychowiak is the type of player I'd target, though he wouldn't leave Sevilla for Liverpool. He's strong, great defensively and technically solid. A dream to have in the middle of the field. Also a personal favourite because I signed him in FM 2010 or 11 and he turned into a gem. 

2) A leftback. Moreno is generally very good going forward and is one of the fastest footballers I've ever seen. But he's way too much of a liability defensively to be anything better than a second option at a top club. Either that, or push him back up as a winger like he used to play. Even then, his crossing is generally pretty poor.

3) Two first choice centrebacks. Lovren can be a decent option but he needs a very strong partner to make up a reliable back end. Who knows what's up with Sakho after his suspension. Toure was brave and gave it his all but no way should he be an option for a team wanting to win trophies at the top level. Skrtel is a disaster. 

With the rumours surrounding Gotze, I'm concerned the management is going to spend a huge chunk in attack where the squad is the deepest. Unless they can line-up a buyer for Benteke and get a half-decent return, I just don't see the point. I would add a goalkeeper to that list, but it sounds like Klopp likes Mignolet for whatever reason. Decent shot-stopper at best and brutal at controlling his area, decision making, and distributing the ball.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Oyaji said:

3) Two first choice centrebacks. Lovren can be a decent option but he needs a very strong partner to make up a reliable back end. Who knows what's up with Sakho after his suspension. Toure was brave and gave it his all but no way should he be an option for a team wanting to win trophies at the top level. Skrtel is a disaster. 

Well, at least they snagged Matip for free. He won't be a top defender, but I'd pick him over Touré at least.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

He's fast and solid defensively. That's better than 3 of the 4 CBs at Liverpool already! I've always been impressed when I've watched him (which, admittedly hasn't been much the past few years with Bundesliga coverage stuck behind a bullshit pay package in Canada). 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With the increased money in England, and Italy being Italy, I expect a lot of Serie A raiding in the near future.

 

If Tottenham could find a right back that is NOT KYLE WALKER I'd be happy with that. He's really really fast. That's about all he has going for him. I worry that he'll keep his spot on that alone but he's really not very good. Then again Pochettino has been pretty good at identifying and shedding dead weight.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

gotta laugh at Michael Owen suggesting there's no bigger team in England than Liverpool. 

8th place Liverpool.

Why on earth would any player want to leave Liverpool? 

I hope he doesn't represent all scousers because that it one delusional man. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

37 minutes ago, Mr Harms said:

gotta laugh at Michael Owen suggesting there's no bigger team in England than Liverpool. 

8th place Liverpool.

Why on earth would any player want to leave Liverpool? 

I hope he doesn't represent all scousers because that it one delusional man. 

thekop.jpg

Calm down, calm down!

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Mr Harms said:

gotta laugh at Michael Owen suggesting there's no bigger team in England than Liverpool. 

8th place Liverpool.

Why on earth would any player want to leave Liverpool? 

I hope he doesn't represent all scousers because that it one delusional man. 

"Liverpool didn't lose the champions league .. the champions league lost Liverpool .." a RAWK poster after they crashed out in the group stage in 2009.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...