Ultimate Football (Soccer) Thread 2014-15

[Auremena]

Townsend seems like he's improved...but I don't know. For some reason, I just don't see him on the same level as Eriksen and Lamela, and they're both just about as young as he is. Depay or J-Rod really would be the crowning piece to our front three. It would throw so many sides off to see Soldado drop deep, Depay/Rod/Kono take his place, and then a beautiful Lamela cross followed by an effortless flick in the box. On some level, though, Townsend is needed. We need depth with our history of injuries and I really can't see Lennon fitting into a rotating front three (He was very, very good at pressing in preseason though. More than the other players barring Soldado, Lamela and Eriksen, he seemed to understand it the best.), so for better or for worse, he needs to stay, but maybe on the bench.


Sandro and Capoue-I don't think there's any attack in the league that could go centrally with those two patrolling the middle. A bit of passing range is needed though, so maybe Bentaleb. The ideal striker combination would be a tried and tested partnership in Soldado and Ade-big man, small man kind of deal.

EDIT: A word on the 3-5-2. I think it also comes down to United not only lacking good players out wide and for central midfield, but also a complete lack of players. Any formation they play (442-not enough fullbacks in case one goes down. 4231-Herrera aside, they don't have a good enough tackling defensive mid to make it work. 433-Rooney or RvP is less effective, and so on and so on.). Even in a 3-5-2, they had only four center backs prior to Rojo.

Yeah, I meant Lennon on the bench as an impact sub.
Dnipro isn't willing to give Kono no matter the price it seems, J-Rod could fit well at a good price but Southampton need to keep what they've got. Depay will probably be the best option, and I don't think he'd take too long to acclimatise to the PL.

Seems Hull is reaching a deal with Dawson. It'll be nice to see him play. He's still not a bad player, just has run his course with the top clubs. I think he'll do well with the Tigers.

And Rojo will probably play out left (of if they get Blind he will) until Shaw comes back.

[KoloToure]

Dnipro isn't willing to give Kono no matter the price it seems

You know Konoplyanka's injured, right? For about another 3 months.

[Maineiacs]

Meanwhile, I'm quite happy with my MLS team (DC United). They just took over 1st place about 2/3rds of the way through the season. Big improvement from last year.

Funny to see all the DC United fans coming out of the woodwork after years of being, well, missing. I'm not saying you're one of them, mind - I know you've discussed them before and whatnot, but I'm speaking generally. DC United seems to be one of those MLS clubs where the fans burst to the forefront when things are good but then fade away in the disappointing years (much like RBNY).

Hopefully you lot get the stadium you deserve sooner rather than later. Not just for another soccer specific stadium in MLS (which is always good, except maybe in Seattle), but because I really do think that it would do DC United a world of good to get out of RFK

Been with DC United since the league began and to be honest, they really haven't had too many bad years; last year was just a terrible embarrassment. And it's unclear when a new stadium will be built. They've only recently decided on a location within the District, and AFAIK haven't even drawn up plans.

[Yellow Yellow Red]

Funny to see all the DC United fans coming out of the woodwork after years of being, well, missing. I'm not saying you're one of them, mind - I know you've discussed them before and whatnot, but I'm speaking generally. DC United seems to be one of those MLS clubs where the fans burst to the forefront when things are good but then fade away in the disappointing years (much like RBNY).

Hopefully you lot get the stadium you deserve sooner rather than later. Not just for another soccer specific stadium in MLS (which is always good, except maybe in Seattle), but because I really do think that it would do DC United a world of good to get out of RFK

Been with DC United since the league began and to be honest, they really haven't had too many bad years; last year was just a terrible embarrassment. And it's unclear when a new stadium will be built. They've only recently decided on a location within the District, and AFAIK haven't even drawn up plans.

It seems like for years they were still trying to find a suitable place for it, I'm glad they've finally got a location in the city. Having your stadium in the suburbs is absolutely awful (I'm a Fire fan - it's killer to play in Bridgeview instead of the city).

I'm thinking of the late Rongen years and then the Hudson reign, when league showings weren't great (did alright in the cup though, iirc)

[Angleter]

They were talking about Man Utd not being as good as they used to be on 606 last night, and one woman called up and said "I'm a Liverpool fan - we've had it awful for years!"

I wish Villa had it awful.

[Equestrian States]

Been with DC United since the league began and to be honest, they really haven't had too many bad years; last year was just a terrible embarrassment. And it's unclear when a new stadium will be built. They've only recently decided on a location within the District, and AFAIK haven't even drawn up plans.

As a fellow DC United fan (having grown up in the DC area), I'd agree we haven't had too many bad seasons, and despite being awful last year we still managed to win the Open Cup. Amusingly, I went to more games last year than I have so far this season, so I don't think the "fair weather fan" label applies to me.

Anyways, I could've sworn I saw a design for the new stadium somewhere, though I can't recall if it was in anything official.

[Apox]

My teams I'm rooting for in each league:
EPL:
Arsenal

MLS:
New England Revolution

Ligue 1:
PSG

La Liga:
Barcelona (typical of me)

Bundesliga:
Bayern München

Serie A:
AC Milan

What the SSE Airtricity League not good enough for you to follow!

Shamrock Rovers ftw!

[Dei Terrare]

Arsenal to buy striker after Giroud injury
-Goal.com

Then I would recommend Max Kruse

And plus New England got Jermain Jones HAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAH

[Auremena]

Dnipro isn't willing to give Kono no matter the price it seems

You know Konoplyanka's injured, right? For about another 3 months.

Well then definitely not going anywhere

[Bundabunda]

Dnipro isn't willing to give Kono no matter the price it seems

You know Konoplyanka's injured, right? For about another 3 months.

Really? Wow, that's incredibly bad luck on his part. Four teams in England wanted him, and so did Roma. Ah well, at least he'll leave on a free next summer, I think.

Yeah, I meant Lennon on the bench as an impact sub.
Dnipro isn't willing to give Kono no matter the price it seems, J-Rod could fit well at a good price but Southampton need to keep what they've got. Depay will probably be the best option, and I don't think he'd take too long to acclimatise to the PL.

Seems Hull is reaching a deal with Dawson. It'll be nice to see him play. He's still not a bad player, just has run his course with the top clubs. I think he'll do well with the Tigers.

And Rojo will probably play out left (of if they get Blind he will) until Shaw comes back.

Dawson's more of a victim of our faster play evolving over the years than anything, IMO. Seems we're in for Fazio, and seeing how it's Levy week, I think we'll get him over Mussachio. He allegedly punched Costa after an altercation, and is an Argentine, so he's already got two things going for him. I wouldn't mind giving Dier another go though. The right back situation is worrying considering he'll have to be covering Sterling next week.

Really admirable that Dawson fought for his place for two straight seasons. As far as J-Rod and Schneid go, I'm hoping that it's J-Rod that we trade Townsend in for (if anything like that does happen), and pay straight cash for a Schneid who's practically begging to leave at this point. J-Rod is probably the ideal to playing our style, because he's already done that. That's why picking Southampton for those two specific targets to address our weaknesses seems to make so much sense, especially for Spurs.

[Osarius]

They were talking about Man Utd not being as good as they used to be on 606 last night, and one woman called up and said "I'm a Liverpool fan - we've had it awful for years!"

I wish Villa had it awful.

I know, right? Even what we've had isn't that bad, when you think about it. At least relegation battles are sort of exciting, lol.
I dread to think what Man Utd, Liverpool and Arsenal fans would say/do if they had what we have for the past five years, let alone if they actually had it "awful".

[KoloToure]

They were talking about Man Utd not being as good as they used to be on 606 last night, and one woman called up and said "I'm a Liverpool fan - we've had it awful for years!"

I wish Villa had it awful.

I know, right? Even what we've had isn't that bad, when you think about it. At least relegation battles are sort of exciting, lol.
I dread to think what Man Utd, Liverpool and Arsenal fans would say/do if they had what we have for the past five years, let alone if they actually had it "awful".

Sliding scales of experience. Most Liverpool fans can still remember - as you probably know well - the purple years.

My dad often says he reckons it would have done the club good to actually drop right down the league, to lower mid-table/relegation battlers. To make everyone realise what the rebuilding process was going to be - long and hard.

[Alvalero]

What the SSE Airtricity League not good enough for you to follow!

Shamrock Rovers ftw!

Gwan Sligo Rovers!

Disappointed about last nights result. Slightly better defending could have prevented all 3 city goals but we had our chances as well and city were just more clinical on the night.

[Dei Terrare]

Arsenal moves for Cerci
-Goal.com

Or him.

[I V Stalin]

They were talking about Man Utd not being as good as they used to be on 606 last night, and one woman called up and said "I'm a Liverpool fan - we've had it awful for years!"

I wish Villa had it awful.

I know, right? Even what we've had isn't that bad, when you think about it. At least relegation battles are sort of exciting, lol.
I dread to think what Man Utd, Liverpool and Arsenal fans would say/do if they had what we have for the past five years, let alone if they actually had it "awful".

My brother's best friend is a Stockport fan...I'd probably hold my tongue.

[Uitbregen]

Manchester United (albeit a second/third string team) are currently 3-0 down to MK Dons in the second round of the League Cup. Absolutely fabulous.

[Alvalero]

Manchester United (albeit a second/third string team) are currently 3-0 down to MK Dons in the second round of the League Cup. Absolutely fabulous.

I like how someone called Grigg scored twice. And Celtic have been knocked into the competition they should have already been trying to qualify for after losing 1-0 to NK Maribor.

[KoloToure]

This is extremely enjoyable.

[KoloToure]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcKT4wb ... e=youtu.be

[Eastfield Lodge]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcKT4wbL1fw&feature=youtu.be

That is sheer brilliance.

[Bundabunda]

Hilarious. MK Dons aren't even a Championship side! They really should have outclassed them.

If they draw or lose the next few games, I see a behind the scenes implosion coming.

[Uitbregen]

Hilarious. MK Dons aren't even a Championship side! They really should have outclassed them.

If they draw or lose the next few games, I see a behind the scenes implosion coming.

The thing is, van Gaal won't get any of the blame. It's all just going to be 'oh, the team is rubbish', whereas in Moyes' time, it was 'oh the team is fine, the manager is rubbish'

[Bundabunda]

Even funnier, they went straight back to Moyes-ball in the second half of the Swansea game. LvG will get more time on reputation alone, which isn't fair at all to Moyes, who pretty much got Shaw and Herrera (the former wasn't the hardest to scout considering he played in the PL and Moyes managed in England, in all fairness) and the contract signings were only a formality.

In hindsight, thank fuck we didn't get him at Spurs. The locker room atmosphere was toxic before Poch showed up, and I'm not sure how a crazy Dutchman could've helped that situation out. Then again, we did have Jol.

And I'm still struggling to see where Di Maria fits into 3-5-2, considering they're paper thin in central mids to play 4-3-3.

[KoloToure]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bv_yLzhIcAAN_SL.jpg:large

Fucking superb.

[Bundabunda]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bv_yLzhIcAAN_SL.jpg:large

Fucking superb.

I see that and I raise you this:

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/08/27/vunazu7y.jpg