Two tittles in stoppage time in a week.

Someone I really dislike is a big Benfica fan so I'm pleased Porto did it.


I hope you're right but I've heard a few pundits say he's the kind of player Mourinho would like. We don't 'know' that Mourinho's going back to Chelsea but we sort of do. (Although it'd be hilarious if he doesn't)

Ha, I'm used to the hatred. They sort of did it themselves, they had a 4 point lead and drew home with a mid table team the week before.

You know, Porto is actually similar to West Ham in some aspects.

Aye that is true but if Mourinho does go back that could work for us because Clarke was his assistant at Stamford bridge and I think they are still friends. So he may be interested in doing us a favour.

I'd forgotten about Clarke's Chelsea connection. Given that you may well be right. Either way, Mourinho probably has a few big names he wants to bring in which would almost certainly mean Lukaku spending most games on the bench, so letting him stay at West Brom for another season would give The Special One a chance to monitor his progress while bedding in his own signings.


How so?

someone recently pointed out to me that if mourinho does indeed end up at chelsea next year and bayern wins the champions league final. it will be guardiola vs. mourinho yet again at UEFA Supercup! hahah, I'm sure thats the last thing guardiola wanted so soon into his tenure with bayern

Haha. Poor Guardiola He'll be the world's biggest Dortmund fan on Saturday, that's for sure.

Same bad reputation.

Which extends to the players:
Paulinho Santos, Jorge Costa, Bruno Alves, Pepe(might've heard of him, this is where he was 'schooled')... to name a few.


To top it off, they've been getting away with this for 30 years:

(from last sunday)

Pinto da Costa what a legend.

West Ham are the team of brotherly love. Look at how their fans like to congratulate a well earned throw in with the players.



And the traditional half time relay race is always a treat

We're still the club of the unwashed masses and every self-respecting alcoholic or taxi driver.

And how can you not love this man?


The broken language, the dyed hair, the chewing gum... football kitsch.

Jorge Jesus or the portuguese Rod Stewart as dubbed by Sky.

Haha. Pure class! Fantastic. You just know his wife's a 'stunna'.

West Ham's manager is a total cliche too. Albeit a different one than Jorge Jesus. The chewing gum is a constant but 'Big Sam' seems more in the 'dodgy used car salesman' mould. One of those faces that just screams, "I'm a bit of cunt, me."



I have to say though, West Ham don't really have a bad reputation anymore. The hooligan thing largely disappeared after the 80s and as far as I know the players have never had a reputation for being dirty. Crap, yes, but not dirty.

But yeah, I didn't realise Porto were responsible for Pepe and Jorge Costa. I only really know Costa by reputation but Pepe is a player that genuinely disgusts me. I can at least laugh at what John Terry does. Pepe's just vile.

10/10 would read last page again.

http://www.goal.com/en/news/1716/cha...-final?ICID=HP

gotze out for the final…

I've heard that Pepe is actually a very nice person and one of the most down-to-earth players you'll ever meet.

I pray that I'll one day get to see Zlatan kick the living fuck out of Pepe.

Paulinho Santos was the worst of the lot.

One day he was one-on-one with Acosta, and he was grabbing him, kicking him, he had already seen a yellow, and then he punches Acosta in the face... the next play Acosta gives him the elbow and breaks him a new one. Pushed the malar all the way in.

Fuck me, what a pleasant sight it was.

And no-one heard about Paulinho again.

i've heard him speak and he is, as seinfeld would have it, a "high talker".

i suppose he's a filthy bastard but i do appreciate him as a very good defender. although against dortmund he was made to look like an idiot (which he really isn't)

Sure, don't get me wrong, I'd have him in my team.

I invariably watch Pepe through such a dense red-misted filter of KILL IT WITH FIRE so I never really notice his qualities as a player. Hopefully he'll get to play against Uruguay in the World cup so Suarez can just eat him and have done with.

Ha, I've heard rumours about a Suárez move to Atletico, actually. Nonsense, of course.

No, Pepe in his prime is impeccable, see the last euro. You couldn't ask more from a defender. He ended the tournament with two fouls committed, which in itself is afuckingmazing for a CB.

The transfer rumours across the board now are becoming even more ridiculous than normal, probably because of the amount off management changes at the big clubs. If you take the English press at face value, Suarez will be playing for about five different teams next season. I'm convinced that if they ever allow cloning in Europe, it won't be the scientists they start with but the strikers.


Fair enough.

This is what y'all are missing. Psychedelic cup checks mid-layup ;)

Dream would have made that lay-up.

The cupcheck layup by Shane (as a Houston man surely you love yourself some classic Battier)? Probably not but definitely would have got that game-winner like Lebron had in fact, Duh, where in the hell else did Lebron learn it? Besides even JORDAN said recently that,"If he (Lebron) is going to the hole, I can't stop him."

Jordan ACTUALLY SAID THAT! And going left was definitely something the game picked up from Jordan, who was superb at driving left up the weak-side..

Love me some of the Dream.. Lebron reminds me of the Dream combined with Magic Johnson and a little bit of Oscar Roberston.

looked like hand ball to me

earlier today i watched the chelsea-everton match and it was okay but i'm not sold. yes, i am bundesliga-spoiled and hence hard to please but i can appreciate a good team regardless. so many fucking missed chances! but anyway, just wanted to know that i was for you guys. and no, im not a jinx, i watched the replay like 4 days late.

arsenal stuck on 4th... i'm curious about where they'll go next year.


i know, right? this one is way better:

You mean that literally right?

he was extraordinary that summer

Yeah, although Pepe might not have enough meat on him. Just as well Suarez never played against Benni McCarthy. He'd have seen him as a running Eat-All-U-Like deal.




Are you 'Bundesliga-spoiled' or just Bayern spoiled? No doubting the quality at the very top of the Bundesliga but Chelsea and Everton finished 3rd and 6th respectively and I'm not convinced a typical game between Bayer Leverkuson and Eintracht Frankfurt would offer a significant upturn in quality. Same with La Liga. No arguments that the top two sides in Spain haven't taken a bit of a dip relative to the Bundesliga but would you really feel spoiled watching a game between Germany's 3rd and 6th placed sides compared with one between Atletico Madrid and Malaga?

i really like leverkusen actually, and this year schalke has disappointed me (they've had their troubles), and frankfurt had done great, but this is not necessarily about quality as it is maybe "fire"-- which may be too subjective; but regardless, it's like they always leave the last drop on the pitch, there's always action, and it's always exciting.

regardless, i can't get every bl match on tv and i need an english supplement. i could like chelsea actually but hate the way it's run. no matter, i'll find a team to like one of these days. keeping an eye on liverpool, arsenal, swansea...

OK, but then seriously, if nothing else, the Prem overall is about as all-action, fully committed as it gets. Even its staunchest critics will give it that. Everton-Chelsea was a rare instance of two teams with nothing really to play for but a typical Prem game certainly doesn't hold anything back. Watch a few matches at the start of next season and I'm convinced you'll be converted on that score at least.

i want to, i swear.

but maybe it's the all-seat stadiums.

the germans are wild!

This man speaks the truth. I think next season in the Premier League is gonna be a great one with at least 4 teams in the running for top place. Germany has realistically...Bayern* and Spain is always a two horse race.

*Dortmund have lost Lewandowski, Gotze and seemingly Reus. That's gonna hurt any team.

Here's a preview to tomorrow's game from the guy at zonalmarking

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/b...tical-analysis

No big surprises in it besides discovering that Schweinsteiger can speak a bit of Spanish and that Martinez is "the most German of all Spanish footballers".

And here's a photo of Michael Cox himself, who writes them all.



And here's an interview with him from a couple of years back. He really likes Palermo apparently.

http://www.tomwfootball.com/2010/09/...zonal-marking/

YES he thinks (correctly) that martinez is very physical

HE IS A BASQUE FOR FUCKS SAKES. HIGHLY NEANDERTHAL.

so is my matrilineal heritage/ part ape-- for a reason.


ANYWAY good comments in all.

i don't know what dortmund can do to neutralize bayern.


MAYBE BREAK ROBBEN'S LEG?

that still wouldn't work.

my best advice is: play like mensch. loose like mensch if you must, but try not to. try winning, against every odd.

go dortmund go! go up, go down, but go like heroes.

i still favor bayern but you have my respect also. it's a great final! very well deserved.

Love,

!@#$%!

Well I won't be able to watch the game tonight. I'm at a wedding! I'd be more peeved if it wasn't two awesome people. It's a tad gutting though, plus! I also miss the boxing. Why today of all days?!

No doubt Bayern are massive favourites which may end up being to Dortmund's advantage, hoping that Bayern's players start to struggle under the pressure of expectation, and with memories of the previous final probably still looming in the minds of some players. I'd be surprised if that does happen (to any significant degree, anyway) but if Dortmund can frustrate them for long enough, I suspect it'll be Bayern who'll be the more likely to start getting nervous and become prone to making a silly mistake: perhaps giving away a cheap penalty or losing a player to an unnecessary red card - and if it goes to penalties then you may as well just toss a coin.

Only a fool would make Dortmund favourites but they'll be playing with zero pressure and with a strikeforce that always seems capable of scoring. The only question mark with them is how/if they can maintain that threat without Gotze. But if Bayern start well, maybe getting an early goal, and begin to take control of the midfield then it really could end up being a bit of a whitewash.


You should wear one of those radio headsets at the reception. Alan Green merged with 'Lady in Red'. Although you'll need to be careful not to let out a sudden "Stupid Cunt!" should Dortmund make a massive mistake midway through the father of the bride's speech.

Haha I was thinking of that episode when Homer wears the headphones at church. "IT'S GOOD! IT'S GOOD!...to see you all today..."

my head hurts.

also, i am sorry about yuor wedding situation!

i'd say get a stream going on yr phone. because headphones, whatever, but seeing is believing, yeah?

my phone's internet sucks though so i can't guarantee i've seen it work.

i've bought brats and beer. it is true. it's also not even 7am here just yet. an alarm got me out of bed. unnatural.

in any case demonyo is right. dortmund has little/nothing to lose and could headfuck bayern. it is true. however this hasn't been a year of getting headfucked for bayern. they did it last year enough times. this year they went from losing 0-2 to flippling the tortilla 4-3 just last week. i think they are ready for anything.

and so is dortmund1 ha ha ha. i'm so proud of both. i hope it's GREAT GREAT show.

Yeah, I think they're far stronger now mentally than they seemed to be last year. I'd like Dortmund to do it but my only real fear is that Bayern get into a position where they've pretty much won it in the first half, killing any real interest (from a neutral's point of view, anyway) in the rest of the game. A halftime score of 0-0 or 1-0 to Dortmund would set up the second half perfectly for me.

The pressure on Bayern will be massive, though. Not only because they're favourites or for what happened last year but because they'll also know that losing Heynckes will likely compromise their chances next year when they'll also probably be facing much improved teams from elsewhere in Europe. I can't see much change at Barcelona but Chelsea are believed to be giving Mourinho £100m to spend in the summer so if they click, and given the midfield they already have in place, we could see them being a real force. Not saying if Bayern don't win it this year that they never will but this is certainly the best chance they'll have for a long time.