Costa in the 10? Nah he's fucked for the rest of the games now.

11 I mean

I’m pretty sure he’ll be on the 23. Del Bosque would rather use Cesc as a false 9 than get Llorente or Negredo.

anybody here gonna do the usual fantasy league or something?

McDonalds are doing the official one and I don't mind setting up a league but how many people here will join?

if you do i will, but 2 people don't make a league. if there was beer to be waged i'm sure it would be easier.

"loser buys a keg" or any such thing.

dammit. i miss real life. :(

k, the official site only starts on June 8th, so we'll see how it goes.

Could've put this in the reading thread but seemed more relevant here.

Midway through Diego Torres's book The Special One, about Mourinho's time at Real. Honestly one of the most fascinating books about football I've read. It's mostly centred on Mourinho's falling out with Casillas but ends up becoming a real look into his methods of management overall. Mourinho himself has dismissed the book but Torres is a respected journalist and he refers to big name players by name who, if he was misrepresenting them, would definitely sue him. Some absolutely sensational revelations here.

name some! i'm curious.

OK, sensational may have been the wrong word. There's no specific 'wow' event. It's more of a slow-burning Borgias-style power struggle between Mourinho, a divided dressing room and the Real board. It's almost all back room stuff. Faustian pacts with agents, dressing room rebelians, etc. Although the bit where Pepe was ordered to go into the Barcelona dressing room after Real had lost so the media would focus on the fight not the loss is laugh out loud funny, mainly because Pepe apparently got an absolute battering.

haaa haaa haaaa. poor pepe. who now looks hilarious with hair btw.

i googled "david torres mourinho" after your mention here and found a review that basically states that mourinho will do *anything* to avoid being blamed for anything. this sounds right on that mold. ha ha ha ha.

it's a match where there's nothing at stake (but there's money from box office).

'mericans i think call them "exhibition" games.

except that the ones you're watching now are more actual practice matches than "exhibitions".

if you notice, it will be a world cup finalist vs. a team that didn't qualify.

since national squads are composed of players who played in different teams/countries, these friendlies give you a chance to prepare-- and also spy.

e.g., in the peru-england friendly the other day (england is in, peru is out), there was a man with an azzurri blazer in attendance.

why, you wonder? here be group D:

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/groups/group=255939/

(that's gonna be a tough group btw)

I just finished it. Great stuff. The last third goes far more into Mourinho's tactics and was probably the bit I enjoyed most. Some really interesting quotes from Klopp contrasting their two styles.

^^ nice.

i've re-picked up "inverting the pyramid" for a fresh look.

also, been watching some old world cup anthology dvds-- produced by fifa. man, they look like shit, production-wise, and the footage is poorly organized. but it's still nice to watch highlights of the 66/70/74 world cups in grainy black and white (though the 66 final looks like was shot in film). also, electronic titles that looked like a dot matrix printer! but no, seriously, nice goals & all. i didn't even know about the existence of EUSEBIO-- portuguese player born in mozambique. hot damn, could he play. also, 1970 and 1974 looked worlds apart.

Funny that cos I'm currently speeding my way through this...

I wouldn't mind reading that. The Mourinho book hints at some pretty serious tensions developing in the Barca dressing room during that time. Something about an apparent falling out between Messi and Pep before he left.

Spain squad announced yesterday. They may not be favourites but it's hard to see many weaknesses there

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Pepe Reina (Liverpool), David De Gea (Manchester United)
Defenders: Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Raul Albiol (Napoli), Javi Martinez (Bayern Munich), Juanfran (Atletico Madrid), Jordi Alba (Barcelona), Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea)
Midfielders: Xavi (Barcelona), Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Koke (Atletico Madrid), Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Santi Cazorla (Arsenal), Cesc Fabregas (Barcelona), Juan Mata (Manchester United), David Silva (Manchester City)
Forwards: Pedro (Barcelona), Diego Costa (Atletico Madrid), David Villa (Atletico Madrid), Fernando Torres (Chelsea)

How has Torres got in over Negredo?

Torres does seem to do well in big tournaments and Negredo's form really dipped towards the end of the season.

Torres hasn't been reliable since he left Liverpool. At least Negredo did his job for a good portion of the season. Torres has been terrible this season and many before that.

I'd have probably chosen Negredo too but ... no, you're right, no buts. Regardless of his crappy end to the season he's still a better option than Torres. Although I can't see either of them starting anyway.

what a waste of javi martinez to put him as a defender and not a defensive midfielder. fucking guardiola does the fucking same. he single-footedly took bayern to new heights last year.

There's not a free space there for Martinez. Busquets and Alonso are set in stone. Although hard to see a space for him in defence too. I don't think he'll be starting anyway.

busquets? fine. remove the dinosaur xabi alonso then. ha ha ha ha.

i think del bosque is too personally attached to some people, and that will be his undoing.

--

re: dino -- i'm only exaggerating to make a point.

Alonso's retiring from Spain after the WC so Martinez will most likely take his position from the Euros on. Right now though, on current form, I'd still start Alonso over Martinez. But I agree that Pep's not helping his case.

And what about those Germans? Only taking one proper forward. Is that even legal? Or are Germany becoming as Spanish as Bayern, with their new fangled falscher neuns:

Goalkeepers: Neuer (Bayern Munich), Weidenfeller (Borussia Dortmund), Zieler (Hanover).

Defenders: Boateng (Bayern Munich), Durm (Borussia Dortmund), Grosskreutz (Borussia Dortmund), Höwedes (FC Schalke), Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Lahm (Bayern Munich), Mertesacker (Arsenal).

Midfielders: Draxler (Schalke), Ginter (Freiburg), Götze (Bayern Munich), Kramer (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Khedira (Real Madrid), Kroos (Bayern Munich), Müller (Bayern Munich), Özil (Arsenal), Podolski (Arsenal), Reus (Borussia Dortmund), Schürrle (Chelsea), Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich).

Forward: Klose (Lazio).

yes the problem seems the spaniards only perceive javi martinez as a back. but heynckes made him the heart of bayern and triumphed. he can run all he wants, he can defend, he can pass, he can score. he's strong as a mule, and twice as smart!

ha ha, but really, they are wasting him in that position.

re: germany. they've been doing that for a while. the ramdeuter or gotze or reus can play as false nines.

UNFUCKINGFORTUNATELY i was unable to watch last season's bundesliga & CL, so i can't report first-hand on any of them as to how they've been used or in what places. there's reportedly a kruse from monchengladbach but i haven't seen/noticed him.

don't know how gomez has been doing in fiorentina either. apparently, not too well, if he wasn't picked.

in the past i have not been a big fan of podolski or schurrle, who can be rather hapless, but they were in england so you probably saw them better this past year.

fucker should have put kiessling as a forward and remove one of the unluckies. kiessling plays for leverkusen.

jogi boogers: another broken record playing the same broken tune.

Tactics nerds may just have found a new God



Marcelo Bielsa, Marseille Manager

From his wiki-page:

A fanatic of football videos that he adds to his collection, Bielsa on occasion checks pitch measurements by pacing them out before deciding on a particular formation. He allocates separate training times for different parts of his squad. Former Argentine national team captain Roberto Ayala and defender under Bielsa stated "Sometimes we wouldn't see any of the strikers, because he'd have them training at a different time, and it was the same with the midfielders."

He is known for watching and collecting numerous football videos to the point of obsession. He edits and analyzes each video for each individual player. He also utilizes statistical software and other technological tools to prepare for games. John Carlin, an English journalist, has stated that Bielsa "has the most cultured library of soccer in the world."

Athletic Bilbao's striker Fernando Llorente said in an interview "At first he seems tough and he may even annoy you with his persistence and don't-take-no-for-an-answer resilience, but in the end he is a genius." Barcelona's Pep Guardiola called him the "best manager in the world" in 2012.

As Bielsa refuses to grant exclusive interviews, the press conference has become his preferred method of communication. He has been known to field every last question from the assembled media during these gatherings. If the talk turns to the intricacies of the game, a three- or even four-hour press conference is possible.

oh how I can't fucking WAIT for this World Cup to start !!!

since Slovakia sucks and we didn't qualify, I will probably cross my fingers for Argentina and Mexico.

in south america, he took over as manager for chile and became legend--really turned the team around.

haven't followed him as atlético bilbao manager, but maybe someone here does (slavo, h8kurdt?).


don't know about those chances, but demonyo is gonna set up a fantasy league so you can test some players. opens june 8.

I'm the same. I'm watching all the build up stuff on TV Counting down the days. NEXT THURSDAY!!!!

A friend of mine who was born in the Netherlands will be hosting an all day world cup viewing party on Friday the 13th. I cannot wait!!!!!!!

Watched the England Ecuador friendly last night. Looked ok going forward but while The Ox was probably our best player it looks like he picked up a knock and Wilshire still seems way off pace. Defensively though, even though I doubt any of them will start in the tournament proper, just makes me pray that nothing happens to Cahill, Baines, Johnson etc.

holy shit

they'll be playing spain! so looking forwards to that.

england-italy is the next day

fuck, it's gonna be 14 days or of non-stop games before there's a break.

Step off, bitch. Barkley was the star of the hour.

Yeah with you there. Forgot to mention him. He has to start against Italy.

Hart
Johnson/Cahill/Jagielka/Baines
Gerrard/Henderson/Barkley
Lallana/Sturridge/Rooney

;) !

so, ingleses, how do you see your chances vs. italy and uruguay?

italy i don't think so, but uruguay you might.

in spite of the good show at the confederations cup, uruguay had a hard time qualifying (came in 5th). ecuador was actually ahead of them on goal difference. but a lot has happened since then... though at least you won't have to face suarez in the group stage… maybe.

All I really know about Uruguay is Suarez. Just looking at their squad now. OK, I recognise a few other names but they're still a bit of an unknown quantity. I think Suarez will play though.

Italy aren't in great form at the moment and there's apparently a real down mood in their camp. It also helps that they're traditionally quite slow starters so playing them first might do us a favour.

We'll probably be underdogs in both games though.

USA Portugal is a tough opener. Although there's doubts about Ronaldo's fitness. So again, you playing them in the first game may have done you a favour too.

true about italy being traditionally a slow starter!

you might remember godin as the defender whose header could have won the champions league for atletico madrid. plus a bunch of others in great teams (e.g. cavani @ psg)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/foo...014-squad.html

they have *really* good players and… they still have forlán ha ha ha. tabarez was talking about putting suarez up on the first game vs costa rica, depending on how he recovers from surgery.

team usa is thoroughly fucked in that group. i have zero hope. with or without ronaldo i expect them to get creamed.

my favorite dark horse was colombia. i was hoping they'd go far-- they came in 2nd in the conmebol qualifiers after argentina, and they have a strong, solid team. unfortunately, woe is them, they'll be missing falcao who this week had to drop out due to injury. ouch! what a loss.