I see Shea is proud to be Tejano!

For al you friendly lovers, Everton play Real Madrid at 1am GMT tonight. Might as well stay up.

Well Real aren't fucking about with their starting XI! Everton are gonna get bummed so dry.

A penalty that should've been allowed, a ball hits the crossbar AND a goal disallowed. Everton should at least be a goal up. However, Ronaldo is being Ronaldo and has got 2. The bugger.

Bad penalty calls and wrongfully disallowed goals which affected the outcome of a soccer game?

The big worry with Martinez seems to be his pretty laid back attitude to defending. Any signs of that tonight?

You might find this interesting

http://www.theguardian.com/football/...-pep-guardiola

Yeah he put 3 in the back...against Real Madrid!

How did anyone see a thing in a stadium shaped like that?

damn, yes.

the comment about the shirt was hilarious.

the thing about the ferrari motor was apt.

since the beginning i've been fearing the possibility of a neo-barcelona mess (a step backward) rather than a bayern with some innovations.

i'd have been much happier from the start had bayern poached jurgen klopp (lol) but he's not moving from dortmund until he finishes his project (that is, if he's allowed to finish and people stop buying the whole team from under him). because i think he's more future-oriented than most coaches-- even though he would have broken the possession model.

about the thiago deal, sure, weird, not just because of the personal connection there, but because it's not like bayern needed another midfielder-- unless it was for the bench (what if schweinsteiger gets injured, etc). so it's overkill. buying another central defender would have been more apt instead of pushing javi martinez back-- i mean, okay, i've said this before, donkey-face can play defense in an emergency, but he has been fucking *supreme* where he was last year and that's teh last thing about bayern that needed to be broken.

still, we don't know how things will look once the dust settles-- he's only been on the job for a month (since june 30, yeah?) so it's waaaaay too soon to tell anything really. maybe the weird formations were just a way for him to test what his players can and cannot do and this has nothing to do with the future setup. if he fucks it up everyone will be quick to lynch him though.

For me the big question hinted at in the article is what Pep will do about Thiago and Schweinsteiger effectively jostling for the same position. No doubt he sees Thiago as Bayern's future but he risks a massive split in the dressing room and potential fan unrest if he tries to edge out Schweinsteiger too soon, especially if Thiago in any way struggles to find his form. And if some of the old guard do start to show concerns about the direction Pep's taking them, the board will be crucial in terms of where they show loyalty. Bayern could very easily become for Pep what Chelsea became for Villas-Boas.

As you say, far too early to speculate but a helluva lot of fun nonetheless

oh no, not too soon to speculate! speculate away i say. just too soon to draw any meaningful conclusions, ha ha.

and it's not just schweinsteiger, it's javi martinez. the most expensive signing in bayern's history took 6 months to show his mastery of the midfield, scored amazing goals (his first one at bayern was a bycicle kick) and after a triumphant season gets thrown back as a boateng replacement. and he's the guy who fixed everything that had been wrong with bayern.

no, just no. that is what hurts the most.

and there's still luiz gustavo in the bench!

what was needed was someone to cover for badstuber's long injury who is faster than van buyten and more consistent than boateng.

also i don't like rafinha even as a sub. fucker is always getting into shit.

I see what you mean. I definitely see Martinez in the defensive midfield role, sitting just behind Kroos and (eventually) Thiago.

Given what you're saying, I'm surprised nothing's come of Pep's supposed early interest in David Luiz.

not sure, this from 5 days ago

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...h-bid-40m.html

Ah, ok. I thought that bid was from Barcelona for some reason.

Luiz is one of the most improved players I've seen in ages. I hated him at first but I can't get enough of him now. Although in terms of Bayern he may represent the same dilemma as the one surrounding Martinez, in that they're both defenders who are probably better in midfield than in defence. In many ways a lovely problem to have but not if you're in need of a traditional 'thou shall not pass' central defender, a la Chiellini or Kompany or someone like that.

Saying all that, if you're just talking about someone covering for Badstuber, Luiz is pure overkill moneywise. He'd represent a much more significant reshaping of the defence. And if he was used as a LB, that'd put Alaba at risk who, in that position, I think is far better than Luiz.

How did Bayern's defence typically line up under Heynckes?

EDIT: There's a rumour that if Man U don't get Fabregas they're gonna put a bid in for Schweinsteiger, and I can't see Pep putting up much opposition if they do.

yeah, im against barca getting luiz. not the type of defender we need at all. pique already strays too much. we need a thou shalt not pass defender who is strong in the air. obviously they have to be good with their feet, thiago silva or hummels would do although i know im dreaming.

i think david luiz is great. not so much a classic central defender for sure-- more of a fullback. but that goal he saved in the final w/ spain would suggest he can do it all.

alaba can play fine as a winger (he does for austria) but he's no ribery (yet) and w/ david luiz there it would be a huge redundance esp. with alaba's youth. as for a ribery's replacement there is none-- shaqiri is left-footed and can play in his spot okay plus he kicks like a mule. maybe they'll sell shaqiri. though that would suck because he's young and uberstrong and could become really great. he just doesn't have ribery's genius for shaking off defenders.

usual defence lineup last year was:

alaba - dante - van buyten/boateng - lahm

contento subs for alaba, rafinha for lahm

alaba+ribery, lahm+robben on the attack

when badstuber was ok (early in the season) it could also be

alaba - badstuber - dante - lahm

clearly what's missing is badstuber, but even when he played he could be a little shit getting carded too often (he's got a temper).

hummels could have been a great fit, he actually came out of teh bayern youth system.

the thing is, pep can't do fuck all about who stays or goes-- he can ask, but it's the the club's officers (sammer, rummenige, et. al.) who pick the players- that was clearly stipulated when they hired pep.

buying thiago was an indulgence of sorts i suppose-- and my feeling was that he'd be competing more with kroos. bayern will sooner let go of pep than schweinsteiger though. it's a member-owned club and i think some things just won't be allowed happen (which is why i like the bundesliga).

http://www.goal.com/en/news/15/germa...-for-greatness

With Badstuber fit, that defence looks pretty rock solid to me.

I don't think it'll be a case of Pep putting Schweinsteiger up for sale but let's just say that if Pep's still at Bayern this time next year, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Schweinsteiger isn't.


Vertonghen?

i don't know when he'll recover, if he does at all.

and next year-- noh wheii. that man will be buried at allianz arena.

After they've shipped his body over from Manchester maybe ;)

Anyway, something a bit more concrete, Dempsey's gone back to the US! Not surprised he left Spurs but very surprised he's gone back to the MLS.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/...ticle/10915534