[!@#$%!]

HEYNCKES IS PLAYING THE SUBS VS. DORTMUND

ps- with alaba as winger!

--

pps- this is madness. they are tied 1-1 and bayern is playing with this formation

 

and bayern looks like it dominates slightly. gomez almost scored his 2nd goal.

dortmund is playing:

DORTMUND (4-2-3-1): Weidenfeller - Grosskreutz, Subotic, Santana, Schmelzer - Kehl, Sahin - Blaszczykowski, Gundogan (Leitner), Schieber - Lewandowski.\
^ /Gundogan left (injured) afer clashing with Neuer

[!@#$%!]

oh man! a 1-1 tie! i think dortmund is the loser here. gotze and hummels didn't play and reus didn't start (he came in later for kehl) but they fielded many more starters than bayern and they played at home. neuer stopped a lewandowski penalty! ha ha ha. i love this shit. there was drama and fights and rafinha got himself redcarded, the fucking idiot.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Suarez bites another dude in his career, and then finishes that game with another handball? Dude should be banned. seriously.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Suarez bites another dude in his career, and then finishes that game with another handball? Dude should be banned. seriously.

[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

oh man! a 1-1 tie! i think dortmund is the loser here. gotze and hummels didn't play and reus didn't start (he came in later for kehl) but they fielded many more starters than bayern and they played at home. neuer stopped a lewandowski penalty! ha ha ha. i love this shit. there was drama and fights and rafinha got himself redcarded, the fucking idiot.

I caught the highlights. It looked like both managers seemed less interested in winning and more into giving nothing away, which was obviously understandable but hardly made for a great game. Just as well Dortmund don't have to rely on Schieber each week, though. What a stinker!

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

I caught the highlights. It looked like both managers seemed less interested in winning and more into giving nothing away, which was obviously understandable but hardly made for a great game. Just as well Dortmund don't have to rely on Schieber each week, though. What a stinker!

oh man he fucked the dog on this one. TERRIBLE. i had my doubts about him but today he sank to a new low.

i found the game entertaining, actually. they weren't at their top level but there was plenty of back and forth and lotsa drama.

[demonrail666]

Yeah, it was an 'interesting', rather than 'good', match, with both sides trying to gain some kind of psychological advantage in time for the final. I agree that Bayern effectively won that battle, if only, as you say, by showing they can be competitive even while playing so many second stringers. The awful performance by Schieber, while maybe just a one off, shows that Dortmund are far more likely to struggle if anything happens to their core team.

In terms of sheer strength in depth, Bayern would put most teams even outside Germany to shame. Look at Barca's decline since Messi's injury, and God help them should anything happen to Xavi or Iniesta. The two teams that can compete on that level are Chelsea and Man City but Chelsea are still in a transition period as they wait to bring in a replacement for Benitez and Man City are shackled with a manager who's out of his depth. But given Chelsea's spending power, and assuming rumours that Mourinho's going back there are correct, they may be one of the very few teams that'll be able to compete with Bayern - but even they're likely to be far more handicapped by the Fair Play scheme than Bayern will. And even if everything does work out for Chelsea as planned, I still don't think they'll be fully up to speed until at least another season or two, at least in terms of the CL. Man City have the resources to compete with Bayern right now were it not for Mancini. And if PSG can get their act together they might be competitive, too. Interesting times.

[!@#$%!]

i've seen schieber fuck up before and i thought maybe it was under pressure but yesterday was the horror. he used to be better!

speaking of core team, there's been some talk of dzeko going to dortmund, though some italians want him too.

and speaking of dzeko-- watched swansea/man city. what a crap game. so many good players and zero goals!

i get what you say about mancini-- with such a constellation of stars and NOTHING!

[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

i've seen schieber fuck up before and i thought maybe it was under pressure but yesterday was the horror. he used to be better!

speaking of core team, there's been some talk of dzeko going to dortmund, though some italians want him too.

and speaking of dzeko-- watched swansea/man city. what a crap game. so many good players and zero goals!

i get what you say about mancini-- with such a constellation of stars and NOTHING!

Dzeko's a decent player but I'd have thought Dortmund would be setting their sights higher, especially given the sales of Gotze and (probably) Lewandowski. I know lots of people think Chicarito at Man U is just a goal hanger but I'd take him over Dzeko (and plenty of other even more expensive and high profile strikers) in a heartbeat. He's probably gonna cost no more than Dzeko and is about as guaranteed a goalscorer as you're likely to find below the price-range of the usual megastars. His attitude is phenomenal, too, plus he's a few years younger than Dzeko. There's a rumour Man U are willing to offer him to Atletico as part payment for Falcao but we know Fergie's a big Lewandowski fan so maybe a deal could be done with Dortmund instead. I also think Man U will lose out to a richer team in their bid for Falcao. Either way, Chicarito deserves to be at a club where he starts more regularly.

 

That picture makes a lot of sense for me.

[TheMadcapLaughs]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

Dzeko's a decent player but I'd have thought Dortmund would be setting their sights higher, especially given the sales of Gotze and (probably) Lewandowski. I know lots of people think Chicarito at Man U is just a goal hanger but I'd take him over Dzeko in a heartbeat. He's probably gonna cost no more than Dzeko and is about as guaranteed a goalscorer as you're likely to find below the price-range of the usual megastars. His attitude is phenomenal, too, plus he's a few years younger than Dzeko. There's a rumour Man U are willing to offer him to Atletico as part payment for Falcao but we know Fergie's a big Lewandowski fan so maybe a deal could be done with Dortmund instead. I also think Man U will lose out to a richer team in their bid for Falcao. Either way, Chicarito deserves to be at a club where he starts more regularly.

http://p2.trrsf.com/image/fget/cf/61...o-borussia.jpg

That picture makes a lot of sense for me.

agreed! with some much midfield quality at dortmund (even w/out gotze) thats all he would need to do is get into decent positions. what was the last mexican to play in germany i wonder?

[demonrail666]

Reus and Chicharito would be a great combo, I think, although I've heard Mancini's after Reus. City are gonna need an even bigger stadium just to make room for their bench.

[TheMadcapLaughs]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

Reus and Chicharito would be a great combo, I think, although I've heard Mancini's after Reus. City are gonna need an even bigger stadium just to make room for their bench.

i think they're definitely going to unload some players though: kolo, dzeko, lescott, nasri, maicon, etc... i dont think anyone other than hart, yaya, zabaleta, and silva are bulletproof for next season. tevez and aguero(i hope to barca!) could certainly go elsewhere with the right money.

[demonrail666]

Yeah, if only because of Financial Fair Play, Man C will have to sell quite a few players. Aguero to Barca would be good. I've also heard they're interested in Kompany. Although this time of year, every half decent player ends up being connected with a possible move to one of the very top teams. It's a bit different this year, though, with so much movement at the management level. Managers won't mention players until they're confirmed in their new post, and players won't go to a team until they know who's in charge there.

Not to speak ill of the, er, ill, but Vilanova's future at Barca feels like a massive topic nobody in the game really feels comfortable bringing up. I always thought he was an interim manager when Pep left but it seems the side have forged an even deeper loyalty to him since the return of his illness, despite their relative dip in form. He's become almost unsackable, like it would feel too callous to replace him after what he's been through, but I do think they need to, and wonder if he might not stand down himself over the summer. Certainly, were it any other manager, even having won La Liga, Barca's decline in the CL would be causing all kinds of speculation about his possible replacement. I've heard that they're grooming Xavi as a future manager which is a great idea but won't happen (if it happens at all) for a few years. And by their very nature, Barcelona will find it a lot harder recruiting someone from outside.

As an aside, while I take this with a massive pinch of salt, the Spanish press seem to have it in their heads that Guardiola is trying to bring Messi to Bayern. That'd be the coup of all coups but I really can't see it happening.

[!@#$%!]

the zonal marking website has a bunch of people calling for tito's head.

i feel sorry for the guy, but mang, maybe he could use a vacation.

pep sure knew when to walk away.

[demonrail666]

I feel sorry for him as much as I would anyone battling cancer but I'm not sure he has what it takes to be a top top manager. Although I obviously hope he recovers fully and proves me wrong, albeit with another club. By all accounts the Barca board are split on whether to stick with him, but seem to have decided to give him at least another season.

I think you're right about Pep. I don't think he'd have chosen Bayern had he known they'd improved the way they have but I certainly think he saw the writing on the wall re Barca. They've not suddenly become a bad side but too little has been done to build for their future. They're still relying far too heavily on their Holy Trinity. And a large portion of blame for that has to be levelled at Pep himself.

All this time I never noticed the comments section on ZM. Some of them are even more interesting than the articles they're commenting on. Great stuff!

__

On another note, I'm now officially sick to death of Fergie's arrogance and hypocritical complaints, after fielding a weakened side against Chelsea, completely disrespecting Arsenal and Spurs who are also fighting to get a CL place: the very thing he's accused other managers of doing in the past. And to complain about Chelsea players crowding the ref? He obviously has a short memory and can't remember the likes of Keane doing the exact same thing, and even currently, with players like Rooney or Ferdinand. He's insulting people's intelligence, not least Man U fans, who are expected to shell out major money to effectively watch a second string team. Aside from the disrespect it shows to the league, if he wants to field his B team Man U should be charging B team prices to watch them.

Plus there's his refusal to talk to the BBC, who should respond by boycotting coverage of Man U games. It's not like they rely on the revenue.

/rant

__

And there's something inevitable about this ...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2...cial-fair-play

[demonrail666]

Big rumours that Fergie is about to announce his retirement. Meant to be some kind of announcement later today.

Inevitable speculation in the media about who would replace him if it's true. Moyes? Mourinho? Klopp? This could be massive.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/b...rement-rumours

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/foo...ek-is-out.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/f...d-8606905.html

EDIT: It's official, he's gone.

Only reason I can think that they've made the decision now is to pip Chelsea in getting Mourinho, even though the bookies make Moyes favourite. Either way, a definite end of an era. For the Prem almost as much as MU.

 

[Trama]

Moyes, really?

I'll be surprised either way.

[!@#$%!]

whoa. he probably wore out his jaws with all the chewing!

[h8kurdt]

*sob* I can't bear to think about it. If he does go, you be sure that he'll take Baines and Jagielka with him. Just the idea of having to return to the dark days of the 90's is making me feel sick.

I will say this though-it's a strange choice if they did go for him. Someone who never won a cup in 11 years at Everton, minimal experiance at the Champions League and NO experience with money (fun fact-all the transfers Everton made since the Premier League started still doesn't cover the money Abramovich spent buying out managers at Chelsea) it doesn't really make sense.

Surely Benitez would be a better cover?

[TheMadcapLaughs]

haha, its funny that the timing is perfect and yet mourinho shant be getting his dream job.