[!@#$%!]

ah….

thanks for clarifying that.

i need to get me into a cable hock ASAP. but… the fucking thieves!

i have to pay for 400 useless channels in order to watch 5.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

ah….

thanks for clarifying that.

i need to get me into a cable hock ASAP. but… the fucking thieves!

i have to pay for 400 useless channels in order to watch 5.

Fuck cable.. not only do you pay, but pay for the fucking channels but to watch a fucking FOUR minute fucking commercial every 6 minutes????

[demonrail666]

The deals better here but still a rip-off.

The Kroos signing is great for Real but I think the reason for him going was mainly just his own ambition. He'd won everything he could win at Bayern and he's young and I imagine most players will have their heads turned if they know Real or Barcelona are interested. Bayern lose because they lose a great player for a lot less than he's worth.

Real will be interesting this season. They're reinforcing big time, with Kroos now in, James Rodriguez pretty much a done deal and Falcao still a strong possibility. Their midfield and attack is starting to look formidable:

Modric-Kroos
Bale-Rodriguez-Ronaldo
Falcao (possibly)

Although Barcelona's is hardly weakened, either.

Rakitic-Busquets/Mascherano-Iniesta
Messi-Suarez-Neymar

(Xavi meant to be on his way to the MLS)

And Bayern's isn't exactly shit, even without Kroos

Martinez
Ribery/Gotze-Thiago/Schweinsteiger-Robben/Mueller
Lewandowski

Hard to say which one is strongest out of those three.

[!@#$%!]

if hah-mess gets into real madrid, oh mama! and with falcao?? sweet colombia! i'd really want to see that.

it's reeeeally reeeally starting to bug me how bayern and every other team out there have been poaching dortmund's best players. goddammit.

having said that, dortmund used to be bankrupt and they came back to life with a loan from bayern. now they're a publicly traded company! but yeah, the poaching probably helps them pay back their debts. they'll find new talent. they still have gundogan and hummels and reus (for now...)

re: cable. i think i found a cheap-ish "latino" package that has most things i want (bundesliga, some la liga + serie a, champions league, fifa matches). unfortunately the prem remains beyond reach at that price point (i'd need a premium package for that), so i'll have to get the mourinho vs. van gaal updates via youtube?

the commercials thing: fortunately i only use cable to watch futbol, and that's going to be 45 uninterrupted minutes every time. the rest is garbage i don't care about or i can dvr and skip the ads.

[demonrail666]

Hummels looks like he's going to Man U and Reus has been shafted by Barcelona but I doubt he'll be at Dortmund next season. Liverpool are now apparently interested.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

Hummels looks like he's going to Man U and Reus has been shafted by Barcelona but I doubt he'll be at Dortmund next season. Liverpool are now apparently interested.

holy mother of fuck!

i had forgotten about hummels! apparently he went to see man u when he was 17 as a birthday present-- i remember that talk of transfer now. ayayay...

i really really hope dortmund is at least cashing in as they bleed players.

[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

.

i really really hope dortmund is at least cashing in as they bleed players.

They've probably been short changed on the Kroos deal and I can see the same happening if they sell Reus. Hummels should bring some money in though. Dortmund's problem is they have to rely on their youth set-up knowing as soon as a player really starts to shine they'll inevitably get tempted away by the bigger, richer clubs. But it's the same for 99% of clubs.

[demonrail666]

One of my fave photos from the WC

Mexico v Brazil

 

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

They've probably been short changed on the Kroos deal and I can see the same happening if they sell Reus. Hummels should bring some money in though. Dortmund's problem is they have to rely on their youth set-up knowing as soon as a player really starts to shine they'll inevitably get tempted away by the bigger, richer clubs. But it's the same for 99% of clubs.

kroos went from bayern i think you meant gotze or lewandowski or hmmm... who else got pinched someone is trying to get sven bender-- maybe arsenal? too many names to remember.

i'll tell you who, speaking of youth set-up… gotze's 16 year old brother!! just moved to bayern from dortmund. true story. i mean, it's like those old cartoons where they saw off the floor under someone.

i know it's like that for most clubs, but what hurts is that their huge success in 2012-13 has translated into such a massive ransacking. dortmund has the largest and most attended stadium in europe-- it's a shame their finances are not strong.

[Bertrand]

The above photo's been chosen by the Guardian too.
As a lazy poster, I'll just put the link to the panorama made by the editor, starting with one I crave:
http://www.theguardian.com/football/...65452&index=22

[Hip Priest]

Manchester City under-21 team has walked off the pitch in Croatia, allegedly following racial abuse aimed at our young French striker Seko Fofana.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28434345

I think teams should take this kind of action more often. Not to ruin games, but to force referees, teams, fans and FIFA to take things like bigotry and violence more seriously. By 'more seriously' I mean more than getting players to wear an anti-racism patch on their shirt.

[demonrail666]

Fifa has to deal with it at a national rather than club level, the way it did with hooliganism after Heysel. These are national cultural issues that wont be addressed until whole countries are suspended from European football. Not that it'll ever happen.

[Hip Priest]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

Fifa has to deal with it at a national rather than club level, the way it did with hooliganism after Heysel. These are national cultural issues that wont be addressed until whole countries are suspended from European football. Not that it'll ever happen.

I agree wholeheartedly, but I think that's precisely why clubs and players should act. It shows a stance and, ultimately, it'll embarrass FIFA and force them into action.

[!@#$%!]

wow! hip priest is REALLY BACK! hello.

--

re: photos, all those are amazing. originally i was going to reply to demonrail's posting with something about "mexi-bras" and ended up thinking about the unruly mexibro picture, and eventually lost track (ah, to have adhd can be such fun!).

of the guardian ones posted i think the most mind-blowing to me is the van persie one, because when you look at the static image and try to extrapolate the physics of it (speeds and trajectories and all that) you start to laugh and what he did.

anyway, re: racists. good job walking out. stick them with the ticket price and make them hurt. i'm all for banning whole countries.

[Hip Priest]

Hey !@#$%!. Your name has just forced me to learn the keypad on the new laptop, thanks.

The great thing about the Van Persie goal was his awareness of how great it was. Most players would have put their arms out to soften the fall then got up and run around like a lunatic. But he knows that the flight and the landing all add to the aesthetics of the thing.

[demonrail666]

Ew, West Ham are in the running for Valbuena, one of the stand-out players for me in the WC. Can't see quite how he'd fit in with Big Sam's 'style' but Carroll looking like he'll be out for another 4 months (after injuring another part of his foot!) means he can't afford to risk building everything around him again.

[Bertrand]

I don't see Valbuena being interested in going to West Ham.
He plays for a big French club that's had titles to its name and is a regular there. He became champion with Marseille in 2010 and has been there since 2006.
He's 29, his career is not on the wane yet. Plus he might consider Alou Diarra's transfer to the London club.
Loïc Rémy moved to QPR... who would?... when he no more was a regular for Marseille, with the idea to use his move as a platform for a bigger English club. Hence his medical at Liverpool. Which failed.

Anyway, WH signed Enner Valencia, which looks great.
He'll play there a couple of years and move on probably.

And for the addicted, the Premier League Fantasy is back!
http://fantasy.premierleague.com/
It's for those who are stubborn enough to shuffle their team during a whole season.
I built my team quite rapidly, which is odd - the past years selection was a heartache. The rules are simpler than those of the World Cup. There will be less points. The bonus system doesn't work here the same way. Don't expect a defender whose team's been beaten 2-0 to score 9 points...

I have not created any league yet, because I'm lazy (I was automatically drafted into the Sonic League and PaulyB's Liquid Football when their heads generated their squads).

[Bertrand]

Oops, I was completely wrong...
Marseille is letting Valbuena go and he has to pick between QPR and West Ham apparently.
So there's more cash at QPR -or there was - but the team has yo-yoed between the top league and the second tier, and still looks to me as a bunch of people in it for the money, whereas West Ham remains a consistent team.
In what do they consist is another subject though.
I reckon Valbuena and Valencia up front could look good, if the Frenchman is well accepted, as it's easy to pick upon him. Plus I liked the keeper used for the end of last campaign. Can't say good things about the creativity of their midfield though.

Too bad there's noone left to sell at Southampton in that department.
The Saints have agreed to let 5 of their regular starters go, and two more are supposed to be on their way to Tottenham...
Plus they have a new coach, the grrreat Ronal Koeman (what a player he was)... Mayhem ahead.

[demonrail666]

I was surprised too, mainly that a bigger club hasn't come in for him, either in the Prem or elsewhere. Both WH and QPR have to represent a step down for him career-wise. Cautiously optimistic about the Valencia move though. Not so cautious about the player but whether Allardyce can get the best out of anyone whose name isn't either Carroll or Nolan.

Southampton are screwed unless their youth academy can deliver again. I'm getting odds of 9/2 for them being relegated, which I'm tempted to put a few quid on - even though I ultimately hope they do ok.

I'm in another FF league but I'm happy to join any other leagues anyone wants to set up.

[!@#$%!]

i thought valbuena was great in the world cup.

QPR?!?!?!?!