Confederations Cup

by **Crimey** Sat 15 Jun 2013, 8:05 pm

First topic message reminder :

Just kicked off and Neymar has scored a wonder goal to kick the competition off. A very good way of proving some doubters wrong I suppose.

by Guest Sun 16 Jun 2013, 10:39 pm

GSC wrote:Valdes, Albiol, Javi Martinez, Azpilicueta, Villa, Torres, Mata, Monreal, Cazorla, Silva, Jesus Navas, Reina

Spains bench would batter our first team

And their next batch coming up look pretty tasty too from what I've seen in the under 21 Euros. Scary.

by The Special Juan Sun 16 Jun 2013, 10:40 pm

Of course. I haven't seen him for Milan but he's been sent off at least once for them I think and was off for Italy too not that long ago.

by The Special Juan Sun 16 Jun 2013, 10:50 pm

Gonna be hard to follow this one and the golf. Vamos Spain!!

by NickisBHAFC Sun 16 Jun 2013, 10:53 pm

Gus Poyet has a fresh watch on tbf to him!

Really looking forward to this game Smile

by The Special Juan Sun 16 Jun 2013, 10:54 pm

Did he leave Brighton?

by NickisBHAFC Sun 16 Jun 2013, 10:56 pm

Suspended. Hasn't left yet mate, but can't see him staying. Time to go IMO. But we just need to get everything sorted out by the end of the week. Or its 24th finish for us next season!

by The Special Juan Sun 16 Jun 2013, 10:59 pm

Cheers. It'd be a shame if he left considering what he's done with Brighton but I suppose if he has to go, he has to go. I wonder where he'll end up at the start of next season.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Sun 16 Jun 2013, 11:02 pm

He'll be the next Swansea manager Whistle

Hopefully before he leaves he sells Bridcutt to the Nodge

by The Special Juan Sun 16 Jun 2013, 11:08 pm

Whatever happened to Lewis Dunk?

by GSC Sun 16 Jun 2013, 11:12 pm

I'd say Poyet is there scouting, but all his summer targets played for Spain in the 1997 Confederations cup.

by Guest Sun 16 Jun 2013, 11:24 pm

Suarez looks completely knackered!

by The Special Juan Sun 16 Jun 2013, 11:27 pm

Cannibalism really takes its toll Wink

I missed the goal, any good?

by Guest Sun 16 Jun 2013, 11:28 pm

Deflected shot Juan.

by **Crimey** Sun 16 Jun 2013, 11:29 pm

I imagine playing against Spain is awful for a player who chases after every ball.

by The Special Juan Sun 16 Jun 2013, 11:33 pm

Cheers Freek. I missed the 2nd one too because I was sending someone a link picard

by The Special Juan Sun 16 Jun 2013, 11:38 pm

Crimey wrote:I imagine playing against Spain is awful for a player who chases after every ball.

It's probably worse for the Uruguayans too because, as they said before the match started, a lot of them are over 30 and if they're chasing the ball in this humidity, they're in trouble. Wouldn't be surprised to see them win by 3-4.

by NickisBHAFC Sun 16 Jun 2013, 11:44 pm

The Special Juan wrote:Whatever happened to Lewis Dunk?

Tipped for big things, but has become crap. The whole made up r*** thing hardly helped.

by NickisBHAFC Sun 16 Jun 2013, 11:44 pm

Uruguay are shocking. They have wrecked this match.

by Duty281 Mon 17 Jun 2013, 10:40 am

What a horrible team Spain are. Pantomime doesn't even begin to describe it. Just an embarrassment to football.

by GSC Mon 17 Jun 2013, 10:43 am

If Spain are an embarrassment, I'd hate to see your opinion on England. Laugh

by Duty281 Mon 17 Jun 2013, 4:19 pm

That's all the Confederations Cup is; a who's who of those that can't beat England.

by Trebs Mon 17 Jun 2013, 4:30 pm

Hulk is the best player I've seen live, he is an incredible talent, great on the ball, difficult to tackle and has a brilliant shot on him.

Those who don't rate him don't know what they're talking about.

by **Crimey** Mon 17 Jun 2013, 4:52 pm

onlytreblewinners wrote:Hulk is the best player I've seen live, he is an incredible talent, great on the ball, difficult to tackle and has a brilliant shot on him.

Those who don't rate him don't know what they're talking about.

I wouldn't say he has a brilliant shot, most of the time it isn't even on target. He's massively overrated, he's struggling in Russia! Such a one-dimensional player.

by **VDT** Mon 17 Jun 2013, 4:55 pm

Whats everyones predicts for Tahiti v Nigeria? Could be a massacre - 8, 9, 10 - 0 i think!

by **Crimey** Mon 17 Jun 2013, 4:56 pm

Looking more forward to Spain Tahiti.

by **VDT** Mon 17 Jun 2013, 4:58 pm

Spain 15 Tahiti 0 i thinks!

by **Crimey** Mon 17 Jun 2013, 5:01 pm

Spain will put out a second string side I imagine, but even a totally different XI would be:

Valdes

Azpilicueta
Albiol
Martinez
Monreal

Cazorla
Mata

Navas
Silva
Villa

Torres

which would rip Tahiti apart.

by The Special Juan Mon 17 Jun 2013, 5:14 pm

The back 10 would but not the front 1 Wink

They might play something like:

Valdes
Azpilicueta - Albiol - Martinez - Monreal
Silva - Cazorla - Mata
Navas - Soldado - Villa

No point playing 4-2-3-1 against a team that can't hurt you. Possession stats at the end of it will be good!!

by **Crimey** Mon 17 Jun 2013, 5:24 pm

I was just trying to use only players that didn't start yesterday, doesn't really fit into any formation.

I expect it'll be more of a mix.

by The Special Juan Mon 17 Jun 2013, 5:28 pm

I know, I know. Don't think I was correcting you or anything Smile

I was just trying to see how I would play their second XI.

by sportform Mon 17 Jun 2013, 5:29 pm

VDT wrote:Whats everyones predicts for Tahiti v Nigeria? Could be a massacre - 8, 9, 10 - 0 i think!

Come on Tahiti! I've got them at 33/1 to win tonight.

by GSC Mon 17 Jun 2013, 5:55 pm

I think its just a case of how many Tahiti want tonight

by Guest Mon 17 Jun 2013, 6:12 pm

Duty281 wrote:That's all the Confederations Cup is; a who's who of those that can't beat England.

I'd miss you if you ever left us Duty Laugh

by Thomond Mon 17 Jun 2013, 6:16 pm

I've actually enjyoed it so far, decent games and some good football. Last ngiht showed why I don't think Liverpool will miss Suarez too much, wasn't up to much but socred a terrific goal. Nobody will get this basketball reference but Liverpool with Suarez are like the Knicks with Carmelo Anthony, rely on him to do a lot and it works but they're a btetter team without him.

by spencerclarke Mon 17 Jun 2013, 6:19 pm

Can't wait for tonight's game! Team Tahiti! Although I would quite like to see a world record score v Spain.

by Duty281 Mon 17 Jun 2013, 6:24 pm

FreekShow wrote:
Duty281 wrote:That's all the Confederations Cup is; a who's who of those that can't beat England.

I'd miss you if you ever left us Duty

That's all it is isn't it? I mean, looking at the most recent meetings:

Spain - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/15693231
Brazil - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22747509
Italy - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19238374
Mexico - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8699042.stm
Japan - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8712673.stm
Nigeria - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/worldcup2002/hi/matches_wallchart/nigeria_v_england/default.stm
Uruguay - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/4754630.stm
Tahiti - Doubt we've ever played 'em.

#anglosaxonsuperiority

by **Crimey** Mon 17 Jun 2013, 6:24 pm

Thomond wrote:I've actually enjyoed it so far, decent games and some good football. Last ngiht showed why I don't think Liverpool will miss Suarez too much, wasn't up to much but socred a terrific goal. Nobody will get this basketball reference but Liverpool with Suarez are like the Knicks with Carmelo Anthony, rely on him to do a lot and it works but they're a btetter team without him.

I don't think that's true at all, no team is better without their star player really. I understand why people think that, but I just don't buy it at all. Liverpool are a noticeably weaker side without Suarez. I also thought last night he was one of the better Uruguayan players, not that it says much.

by Thomond Mon 17 Jun 2013, 6:32 pm

Duty, Haiti drew with Italy last week, you can't use an international friendly as grounds for an argument of superiority, by your logic, since Ireland drew with England we can also beat Spain, Italy and all those other teams you've beaten recently.

It's not a popular opinion Crimey, I actually think they play better football as a team without him, get a decent goal poacher to replace him and Liverpool won't suffer a drastic dropoff in my opinion.

by GSC Mon 17 Jun 2013, 6:34 pm

Ronaldo and Messi could've played up front for Uruguay yesterday.

Wouldve made no difference. Spain were majestic

by **Crimey** Mon 17 Jun 2013, 6:44 pm

Thomond wrote:It's not a popular opinion Crimey, I actually think they play better football as a team without him, get a decent goal poacher to replace him and Liverpool won't suffer a drastic dropoff in my opinion.

It's a new popular opinion that teams can be better off without their star player, because of the idea that the team relies on them too much. I just don't buy it at all, you take away the only world class player from the side and Liverpool will be a worse side. Suarez wasn't just a goalscorer last year, he created more chances than any other player in the side as well as scoring more than any other.

Replacing him with a goal poacher would be a totally inadequate replacement. Certainly the second half of the season Suarez was more of a creator anyway. So a goal poacher wouldn't even replace him.

by Duty281 Mon 17 Jun 2013, 6:47 pm

Tahiti - Remote island, population of 175,000, just one playing professional, and a recent 7-0 drubbing to Chile under 20s. David and Goliath doesn't quite cover it.

by Thomond Mon 17 Jun 2013, 6:51 pm

The one or two games I saw Liverpool play without him I believe they score 7 goals, quality of the opposition could be questioned but they won't struggle without him as much as people think, they rely on him to do everything without him some of thier players actually show some of their creativity and initiative, they might struggle a bit but they would still be top 10 at least.

Liverpool struggle for goals, Suarez does a lot mroe than that yes but that is one of his biggest assets to them ,they have enough guys capable of creating chances, they need a guy to finish them off more often.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Mon 17 Jun 2013, 6:56 pm

They also played the Everton game without him (the only actually good team they played without him) and looked completely at sea going forward.

by **Crimey** Mon 17 Jun 2013, 6:59 pm

Thomond wrote:The one or two games I saw Liverpool play without him I believe they score 7 goals, quality of the opposition could be questioned but they won't struggle without him as much as people think, they rely on him to do everything without him some of thier players actually show some of their creativity and initiative, they might struggle a bit but they would still be top 10 at least.

Liverpool struggle for goals, Suarez does a lot mroe than that yes but that is one of his biggest assets to them ,they have enough guys capable of creating chances, they need a guy to finish them off more often.

Against a shoddy Newcastle side and a poor Fulham side, against both Everton and QPR the cutting edge of Suarez was lost.

Liverpool don't struggle for goals at all, they scored 71 goals last year, the most outside of the top four with only Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United scoring more.

I think with Suarez, Liverpool can push on and at least challenge for top 5-6, without him top 10 is achievable yes, but we expect a lot more.

by Thomond Mon 17 Jun 2013, 7:01 pm

The main reason I would sell Suarez is the cash being offered plus Morata. I think they would do reasoonably okay, the sample space to say definitively yay or nay is probably too small, although I will admit I'm probably being proved wrong!

He is missing for how many games next year? Liverpool could be out of contention and possibly Champions league after 6-7 games like.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Mon 17 Jun 2013, 7:03 pm

Well with any situation with selling a player, it's all about the replacement

If Liverpool sell him for 40m and bring in two world class players for 20m (like about what Suarez cost), then they'll be better off.

If they bring in another 35m flop then they're screwed

by Guest Mon 17 Jun 2013, 7:05 pm

With Suarez gone next season I'd still expect to us to finish around 5th/6th. I certainly don't think we'll hover around the 8th-12th positions which is where a couple of people I know think we'll finish should he go.

Okay we are miles behind Utd, Chelsea, City and Arsenal but I'd back us to push Spurs and Everton in the best of the rest race.

by Thomond Mon 17 Jun 2013, 7:07 pm

The simple solution to not buying a 35m flop, don't buy an English player, Liverpool wasted close to 70 million on 3 shoite players. (Downing picked it up a bit but still not worth that much)

by Dave. Mon 17 Jun 2013, 7:22 pm

Thomond wrote:I've actually enjyoed it so far, decent games and some good football. Last ngiht showed why I don't think Liverpool will miss Suarez too much, wasn't up to much but socred a terrific goal. Nobody will get this basketball reference but Liverpool with Suarez are like the Knicks with Carmelo Anthony, rely on him to do a lot and it works but they're a btetter team without him.

You might like the Ewing effect. Pretty much a 90s version of Carmelo Anthony.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8914895/the-ewing-theory

by Duty281 Mon 17 Jun 2013, 7:58 pm

Come on Tahiti!

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