[nicfit]

thankssss! changed formation he he. It's not much intuitive, that whole substitution/formation change thing.

[A Thousand Threads]

Ok,
my team is Allantoic Parasites

[the ikara cult]

we all know Bertand will win anyway, ive always suspected Gus Hiidink was a Sonic Youth fan.

[Bertrand]

Welcome Threads !

Dear ikara, to give people a chance, I chose not to name my team Gerbils again. Victory's all in the name, you know.

[pokkeherrie]

Originally Posted by the ikara cult

we all know Bertand will win anyway, ive always suspected Gus Hiidink was a Sonic Youth fan.

I'd highly doubt that about Guus Hiddink, but I know for a fact that Frank Rijkaard listened to them in the early 90s. When he was asked to pick his favourite music for a dutch radio show at the time he played Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Pixies, etc... but then a couple of years ago I saw a picture of him and his wife at a Coldplay concert in Barcelona.



Anyway, we can wait with making a team until june 7th, right? Because I still haven't made one and don't have time for doing it now. I used auto-complete and don't even remember what random players got into my team, except that the attack consisted of Anelka (is he even a regular starter?) and Van Persie (who's 100% sure not playing and might not even recover in time to play at the start of the tournament), so I may have to do, say, 12 transfers before this whole thing kicks off.

[Bertrand]

Well before the real thing starts we should consider the team we have as a training one.

From what I undersand, points will be erased on the 7th to start anew.
What I didn't get was : will we have to create a team once again and start a new tournament, or will we go on the way it is with zero point so that more people could join?
It wasn't clear for me; even with the French text; I think it's the start all over again bit that will prevail.

Either way, I'll keep you updated.

As for Anelka, the 23 players selected for France are :

Goalkeepers : Coupet as #1; subs are Mandanda and Frey
Defenders : from left to right, most plausible starters : Abidal, Gallas, Thuram, Sagnol; replacements are Evra, Squilacci, Boumsong, Clerc. It's hard to tell who could enter a game from Squilacci and Boumsong. I wouldn't bet on them. Sagnol has been injured a lot, so Clerc has chances to play a few minutes here and there. Abidal can play fullback, so Evra too has a chance.
Midfielders : defensive ones : Makelele, Vieira, with Toulalan and Diarra as subs - Toulalan being quite good.
Midfielders : offensive ones : Ribéry, Malouda, with Govou and Nasri as subs.
Forwards : most probably Henry with either Anelka or Benzema, and Gomis as third sub. I think Anelka will start more often than Benzema.

[o o o]

I am not too sure if I will be able to manage this thing and make the transfers during the tournament, but I registered and created a provisional team under the provisional name "Los niños del parque" (apparently one can still change the name of the team at a later stage...).

[nicfit]

Would anyone agree if I said that Domenech is lame? No mexes and no trezeguet??? whatttt??

[Bertrand]

No Mexes is a problem as he's better than Boumsong and Squilacci (my opinion). But he was injured from the Italian cup and couldn't train with the rest of the group. That didn't help. With the national team, he hasn't made much already. Which doesn't mean he never will - Emmanuel Petit was despised when he started.

Trezeguet has been invisible with the national team lately, compared to what he did 8 years ago. In his last games he didn't participate much, waited for the ball to come to him, received a red card and so on. Other forwards participate more. So here his exclusion came as no surprise.

o o o joining... 2006 champion... cool!

[PAULYBEE2656]

ha look at the matchweek 3 dream team.. russia invasion!!!!!

is it sure that the points are scrapped after the friendlies?

[Bertrand]

From the site :

Select your friendly team now and keep an eye on players in form for UEFA EURO 2008™. You can pick your final tournament team from 30 May.

So yes, your friendly team can beat mine I won't be offended.

Will we (I) have to start another league is the question. Other questions will have their answers by the 1st anyway.

[Bertrand]

So today the site has changed and the opening page offers now to start the real thing.

To do so, click on Play now once you've read Get ready for the real thing and the Rules section, as there has been some changes there too.

Most important changes :
- You'll be limited to 4 transfers between each group stage.
Once nations have qualified, for the quarters and so on, you'll be able to transfer whoever you want as many times as you wish, til the end.
This stands once the kick off as been given. Before that, transfers are free.
- You (we) are not allowed to use more than 2 players from a single team during the stage groups; then 4 during the quarters, 8 for the semis, to eventually pick a 100% French team as France will win.
- There's a wild card. A bit hard to understand. And demanding. Basically... Well read it...

And once you've clicked on Play now, you'll have to start again with designing your team kit, naming your team and so on...
While selecting your players, you might find it harder to build a squad, as prices seem to have gone up.

And to see how tough board members have been during the practice day we're having, top of the page, Friendly Game, and you'll know I'm at the bottom.

OK.

To join the new Sonic League tournament go to Leagues, and paste code 2708-698 in Join a private league.

Oh, I picked a different name for my team, by the way.

[PAULYBEE2656]

Ok. So Anyone With A Team Is Still In For The Real Thing??? Yeah???

[atari 2600]

Okay, so I'm Bulldogs FC now.

And I got the hoop-striped shirt I wanted ha.

Yeah, prices are up; can't afford C. Ronaldo and some others anymore.

[PAULYBEE2656]

ok. entered new team, same name and radically different line up...... my god they suddenly made picking a team quite hard! i thought my team was too good to be true!

let battle commence..

by the way
only 4 teams in the league at moment . me , bertrand, heckler and nic fit!

sign up to the new league quickly guys!

[HECKLER SPRAY]

Yeah, guys, come on !!!
I 've got pretty much the same team.

[PAULYBEE2656]

man a serious rethink has to be done.. i have no real star strike force but a pretty damn fine midfield........ too much money on one player i reckon......

i gotta spread some money around before giving it to others again!

[o o o]

Joined again! Under the same name too.

Yes, picking the team has now become real hard. I will probably change my line-up a few times before the Saturday deadline, maybe pick a different team altogether...

[o o o]

Originally Posted by nicfit

No mexes and no trezeguet??? whatttt??

Both are excellent players and it's a shame that they will not be able to participate, but as Bertrand said, it did not really come as a surprise...

Regarding Mexès: I think that Domenech knows that Mexès is better than Boumsong or Squillaci, but knowing that he already has his starting defending team in mind for some time (with Gallas and Thuram in the center), he thought it would be better to have as a substitute - a substitute who might actually never play during the competition - someone who would be comfortable about his status as sub and could fit better in the group (the team of 23)... Boumsong did that successfully in the last WC without playing one single minute (or did he?). but anyway, I don't think that Domenech and Mexès ever had a really good relationship: Mexès has not often been selected during Domenech's "era"...

Trézéguet, it really is a shame that no way has been found to make it work for him in the french selection these last years...

[HECKLER SPRAY]

Yeah, agreed. And concerning Trezeguet, he 's certaintly good with the Juventus, but he's too bad in the National team ( I don't remember when he kicked a goal for the last time), he missed the last penalty during the last World Cup final, and he doesn't fit with the current tactic of the manager.