The Ali Dia Football/Soccer Thread

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 17 Aug 2014, 17:27

Blackburn to get promoted back to the Prem at the end of this season. You heard it here first!

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 17 Aug 2014, 21:03

AndreaModa wrote:Blackburn to get promoted back to the Prem at the end of this season. You heard it here first!

#JordanRhodesGoldenBoot

While the English leagues are in full swing, it's another two weeks before Serie A gets underway. Our first tie is against Torino - and their squad might be significantly weaker between now and then, if the rumours of Alessio Cerci and Matteo Darmian being sold come to fruition...hopefully to Inter!

As for Manchester United...clearly the biggest issue is their utterly hopeles defense. They need new first choice players across all four positions! Matteo Darmian would be a pretty good RB for them at this rate. And they need to smash the piggy-bank open for Benatia. But it looks like they're getting seriously desperate, as today Corriere suggested they're going in for Mexes! They must be really depserate to be considering going so low! Apparently Inter are looking to offload Hugo Campagnaro now that Vidal has arrived, frankly he'd be a better choice than Smalling!

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 17 Aug 2014, 21:58

And in United Counties League Division One news... Woodford United have already scored more points than in their last two seasons combined! They're even in the top half of the table!

Lost their first match at home to Raunds Town, must have thought "here we go, more of the same again", drew away to Olney Town... and yesterday, walloped St Neots Town Saints (well, relatively speaking, given who we're dealing with) 3-2. Saints must be as sick as the proverbial parrot... that's eaten a poisoned millet spray.

Happy days are here again in a small village in Northamptonshire...

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 19 Aug 2014, 17:05

Anyone on this forum looking for a job? Because nobody wants to become Genk coach, it seems :lol:

Really sad, it's the richest club of the country for a while now (even richer than Anderlecht), and they still can't get to be a consistent top team.

watka · Post by **watka** » 19 Aug 2014, 23:29

This wrote:Anyone on this forum looking for a job? Because nobody wants to become Genk coach, it seems
Really sad, it's the richest club of the country for a while now (even richer than Anderlecht), and they still can't get to be a consistent top team.

Not sure why that's a sad thing. Ask your standard Englishman and they'd love to see Chelsea or Man City managerless and struggling.

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 20 Aug 2014, 00:14

watka wrote:
This wrote:Anyone on this forum looking for a job? Because nobody wants to become Genk coach, it seems
Really sad, it's the richest club of the country for a while now (even richer than Anderlecht), and they still can't get to be a consistent top team.

Not sure why that's a sad thing. Ask your standard Englishman and they'd love to see Chelsea or Man City managerless and struggling.

Indeed. AC Milan are staggering around like a blind drunken mess at the moment, racking up embarassing loss after embarassing loss in pre-season. The players look downright scared. And yet Berlusconi refuses to bankroll a proper splash into the market, even if he has the money to, instead opting to be stingy and lose Cerci to Atletico Madrid as a result. And replacing one inexperienced coach with another. Which so far appears to have backfired massively.

I don't understand how Inzaghi gained a full understanding of the nuance of football tactics, considering his only job as a player was to sit so far beyond the offside trap he was basically on a 90 minute date with the opposition goalkeeper every weekend :lol:

watka · Post by **watka** » 21 Aug 2014, 00:02

Biscione wrote:
watka wrote:
This wrote:Anyone on this forum looking for a job? Because nobody wants to become Genk coach, it seems
Really sad, it's the richest club of the country for a while now (even richer than Anderlecht), and they still can't get to be a consistent top team.

Not sure why that's a sad thing. Ask your standard Englishman and they'd love to see Chelsea or Man City managerless and struggling.

Indeed. AC Milan are staggering around like a blind drunken mess at the moment, racking up embarassing loss after embarassing loss in pre-season. The players look downright scared. And yet Berlusconi refuses to bankroll a proper splash into the market, even if he has the money to, instead opting to be stingy and lose Cerci to Atletico Madrid as a result. And replacing one inexperienced coach with another. Which so far appears to have backfired massively.

I don't understand how Inzaghi gained a full understanding of the nuance of football tactics, considering his only job as a player was to sit so far beyond the offside trap he was basically on a 90 minute date with the opposition goalkeeper every weekend

I believe that dear old Pippo was the origin of the term "born offside".

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 21 Aug 2014, 00:44

watka wrote:
This wrote:Anyone on this forum looking for a job? Because nobody wants to become Genk coach, it seems
Really sad, it's the richest club of the country for a while now (even richer than Anderlecht), and they still can't get to be a consistent top team.

Not sure why that's a sad thing. Ask your standard Englishman and they'd love to see Chelsea or Man City managerless and struggling.

It's a sad thing because a lot of tax money went into their stadium

watka · Post by **watka** » 21 Aug 2014, 12:21

This wrote:
watka wrote:
This wrote:Anyone on this forum looking for a job? Because nobody wants to become Genk coach, it seems
Really sad, it's the richest club of the country for a while now (even richer than Anderlecht), and they still can't get to be a consistent top team.

Not sure why that's a sad thing. Ask your standard Englishman and they'd love to see Chelsea or Man City managerless and struggling.

It's a sad thing because a lot of tax money went into their stadium

Man City's stadium was funded by the tax payer too.

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 21 Aug 2014, 16:41

watka wrote:
This wrote:
watka wrote:
Not sure why that's a sad thing. Ask your standard Englishman and they'd love to see Chelsea or Man City managerless and struggling.

It's a sad thing because a lot of tax money went into their stadium

Man City's stadium was funded by the tax payer too.

But not mine :lol:

I want to see return for my investments!

Post by **Ataxia** » 22 Aug 2014, 21:36

And it seems Genk have gone for puffy-faced League Cup-botherer Alex McLeish. Enjoy your negative football tactics.

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 22 Aug 2014, 22:20

We're used to negative football tactics here...

Oh and by the way, Sprimont is also eliminated in the cup, boo, losers :lol:

(they lost against Dessel)

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 23 Aug 2014, 02:55

Ataxia wrote:And it seems Genk have gone for puffy-faced League Cup-botherer Alex McLeish. Enjoy your negative football tactics.

Poor bastards. I'll have to have a minute's silence on their behalf

Post by **tommykl** » 23 Aug 2014, 05:53

This wrote:We're used to negative football tactics here...

Oh and by the way, Sprimont is also eliminated in the cup, boo, losers (they lost against Dessel)

They're one division higher than us, we could hardly expect to go through

ADx_Wales · Post by **ADx_Wales** » 25 Aug 2014, 18:51

Dear Liverpool, What are you like?

You get rid of your arsehole in the form of Luis "Ow my Teeth" Suarez after his superlative display of cannibalism in front of the biggest television audience in the world, this would appear to be a good move, right?

When Newcastle United got rid of their pain in the arse social media nightmare that was Joey Barton, they just disposed of him via a free transfer to Queens Park Rangers, and he hasn't seen a top half of a league table since.

Also that's 75m of dirty money you've now given to southampton, what are they supposed to do with that money now? nobody wants it.

And to cap it off even further, having rid yourself of any PR disasters, you go and sign Mario Balotelli? somone who has been spoilt more than Lewis Hamilton and North Kardashian combined?

If you're going to have player problems I dont feel bad for you son, You've got 96 morals but a transfer policy aint one.

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 25 Aug 2014, 19:10

Yet another win for the mighty Spurs at the weekend, I have a very good feeling for a top 4 finish this season

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 25 Aug 2014, 19:36

And now Genk has appointed a former Antwerp mayor who has no experience in football, (other than supporting Beerschot, of all teams) as their manager. What on earth are they doing? :lol:

I'm really glad i don't support them. Oh wait, that's right ,the team i support is still in divison 2 and keeps on losing.

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 25 Aug 2014, 21:11

ADx_Wales wrote:Dear Liverpool, What are you like?

You get rid of your arsehole in the form of Luis "Ow my Teeth" Suarez after his superlative display of cannibalism in front of the biggest television audience in the world, this would appear to be a good move, right?

When Newcastle United got rid of their pain in the arse social media nightmare that was Joey Barton, they just disposed of him via a free transfer to Queens Park Rangers, and he hasn't seen a top half of a league table since.

Also that's 75m of dirty money you've now given to southampton, what are they supposed to do with that money now? nobody wants it.

And to cap it off even further, having rid yourself of any PR disasters, you go and sign Mario Balotelli? somone who has been spoilt more than Lewis Hamilton and North Kardashian combined?

If you're going to have player problems I dont feel bad for you son, You've got 96 morals but a transfer policy aint one.

At least Balotelli is kinda funny when he makes a fool of himself in the press. Either way, good news for the rest of the title contenders...

ADx_Wales · Post by **ADx_Wales** » 26 Aug 2014, 19:54

And Manchester United are now losing to a fictional team from milton keynes.

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 26 Aug 2014, 21:18

Man United are having an absolute Barry Crocker, not won a match in the league and now out of the league cup after losing to MK Dons 4-0. :shock:

go_Rubens · Post by **go_Rubens** » 27 Aug 2014, 00:57

On the day Manchester United breaks the transfer fee record for an incoming player into Britain (£59.7 million for Angel Di Maria from Real Madrid), they make themselves look like complete fools. Pretty mixed day I'd say! :lol:

ADx_Wales · Post by **ADx_Wales** » 27 Aug 2014, 20:44

4-0 to the McDons against a very weak Manchester United.

Tonights games put this into perspective.

Leyton Orient , another League One side, 2 tiers below, just like MK, have beaten Aston Villa, a premiership side from Birmingham, IN the second city.

and more notably...

Burton Albion from League 2 a tier below MK and Leyton ORient, have beaten Tony Fernandez's QPR.

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 27 Aug 2014, 23:25

Our defeat tonight is why you need to make the most of your chances, but we were so bad at defending counter attacks. I'm not sure 3-0 is a fair representation of how we performed, we could have beat Sunderland within an hour, but we failed to convert chances, and duly paid the price for it.

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 28 Aug 2014, 00:20

FullMetalJack wrote:Our defeat tonight is why you need to make the most of your chances, but we were so bad at defending counter attacks. I'm not sure 3-0 is a fair representation of how we performed, we could have beat Sunderland within an hour, but we failed to convert chances, and duly paid the price for it.

As the resident Brummie of the thread, what do you make of all these rumours of Zigic heading to Arsenal?!

go_Rubens · Post by **go_Rubens** » 28 Aug 2014, 04:11

FullMetalJack wrote:Our defeat tonight is why you need to make the most of your chances, but we were so bad at defending counter attacks. I'm not sure 3-0 is a fair representation of how we performed, we could have beat Sunderland within an hour, but we failed to convert chances, and duly paid the price for it.

Well, as (likely to be) F1 Reject's #1 Sunderland fan, I was paying attention to the cup for once (also because of hearing how awful QPR, Villa, and Man United were) and I will say, we did a good job. Birmingham really did need better defensive work though. Sunderland have a fairly decent bunch of lads who can get the ball forward and when done right, into the net, like Conor Wickham. If anything, our match against Manchester United this past Saturday proved that Sunderland can get forward well and create good chances. If anything, that's what will keep Sunderland out of relegation, and keep them going forward.

So far, I think West Brom, QPR, and Burnley will go down. QPR and Burnley really haven't impressed me, and West Brom's new signings have for me been nothing short of bad. Although Southampton aren't looking too good either...

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 28 Aug 2014, 07:11

Biscione wrote:
FullMetalJack wrote:Our defeat tonight is why you need to make the most of your chances, but we were so bad at defending counter attacks. I'm not sure 3-0 is a fair representation of how we performed, we could have beat Sunderland within an hour, but we failed to convert chances, and duly paid the price for it.

As the resident Brummie of the thread, what do you make of all these rumours of Zigic heading to Arsenal?!

He can't be worse than Yaya Sanogo in any case...

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 28 Aug 2014, 14:21

Biscione wrote:
FullMetalJack wrote:Our defeat tonight is why you need to make the most of your chances, but we were so bad at defending counter attacks. I'm not sure 3-0 is a fair representation of how we performed, we could have beat Sunderland within an hour, but we failed to convert chances, and duly paid the price for it.

As the resident Brummie of the thread, what do you make of all these rumours of Zigic heading to Arsenal?!

I'm happy for him finding a club, I loved the guy when he played for us, even if he wasn't our most gifted player.

First thing I did was think of when he scored the opener against them in the League Cup final.

I've never known a player where our fan's opinions are like what they are/were with him. It's almost split down the middle, fans either love him or hate him. I'm the former.

ADx_Wales · Post by **ADx_Wales** » 29 Aug 2014, 18:35

Haven't looked through this thread entirely, but I think there are enough of us to be in a Fantasy Football league on sky sports' website, its free to enter, and you can use that id to play in the super-six, which is also free to enter and you could win a lot of money. Probably the best two things Sky will ever let you be part of without paying any money!

Whos up for it?

https://fantasyfootball.skysports.com/

The Ali Dia F1 Rejects Ultraleague
Pin: 8107753

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 29 Aug 2014, 19:04

We've missed the start of the season though, so it's a bit pointless now isn't it? Unless everyone starts from now with a new team?

ADx_Wales · Post by **ADx_Wales** » 29 Aug 2014, 19:11

OK, i'll try and reset the league for next weekend...

Update: Damn, turns out I can't reset anything, so I guess I'll have to either make a completely new one for next week, OR we make the most of this one, you have until the first kickoff at noon uk time tomorrow for the first week...

On the website, first transfer deadline is 16 hours time...

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 29 Aug 2014, 19:21

Some meanwhile in Belgium
-teams somehow don't manage to make a deal about who is wearing which shirt, so they end up wearing the reseve outfits of the other team, it happened a few times. It happened to Charleroi against Lierse, and i think some other team against Gent (i think it was Genk, but i'm not sure)
-Tubize somehow fails to get their stadium licences for division 2, altough it should in theory be good enough for division 1
-Aalst' statium is considered unsafe for their cup match, so they will play at the stadium of their local rivals Dender. Playing at your arch-enemy's stadium is defenitely the way to go to please your fans.
-Lokerenwinslol in Europa League (well they didn't actually win the return against Hull, but they should be able to make people notice)

And HJK bathplug Helsinki qualified for the group phase of the Europa League, wow!

ADx_Wales · Post by **ADx_Wales** » 29 Aug 2014, 19:24

that vital away goal for Lokerenwinslol, I used to hate the away goals rule simply because I didnt understand it when i was a kid, the first time I was aware of Newcastle in Europe they got knocked out by Athletic Bilbao after we won the first leg in St.James' 3-2, all Bilbao had to do was score one more in Spain, and they did.

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 30 Aug 2014, 10:48

So it seems Southampton got so sick of Saphir Taider, they terminated his loan after only three weeks! Have you ever seen that? A one year deal terminated after less than a month, with no injuries involved?

Anyway, today is finally Serie A kick-off day! Today's big game is Roma v Fiorentina - it will be interesting to see how their back line fares now that Benatia has shipped off to Bayern, while La Viola were able to somehow keep hold of their talisman Juan Cuadrado.

go_Rubens · Post by **go_Rubens** » 30 Aug 2014, 16:06

Maybe there's a chink in Manchester City's armor? That was appalling for a team expected to win. Great to see an underdog win though.

Sunderland :lol:

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 30 Aug 2014, 21:59

Happy. Very happy. I love Mama Biram Diouf and want to have man babies with him. Happy happy happy.

watka · Post by **watka** » 31 Aug 2014, 00:30

Biscione wrote:So it seems Southampton got so sick of Saphir Taider, they terminated his loan after only three weeks! Have you ever seen that? A one year deal terminated after less than a month, with no injuries involved?

Anyway, today is finally Serie A kick-off day! Today's big game is Roma v Fiorentina - it will be interesting to see how their back line fares now that Benatia has shipped off to Bayern, while La Viola were able to somehow keep hold of their talisman Juan Cuadrado.

How do you reckon Fernando Torres will get on at AC Milan?

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 31 Aug 2014, 14:10

watka wrote:How do you reckon Fernando Torres will get on at AC Milan?

I honestly have no way to predict that.

Obviously, going by his recent form, you'd have to say badly - but on paper he has a couple of good players to act as suppliers of chances in the box (Honda, Menez), but Milan have just been so unbelieveably poor in pre-season, and Torres hasn't had time to gel with his team-mates, he'll certainly get off to a slow start, and probably Pippo will mainly rely on Pazzini for the opening weeks of the season. It'll be about October or November before we get to see how Torres is really doing in this next phase of his career.

I think that even if Torres can rediscover the form of his Liverpool days, it'll make next to no difference, the team as a unit is so poor that they'll drag him and his reputation even further down, a-la Fred in the Selecao. So I think he will flop, but not because he as an individual failed the team, but rather the team as a whole failed every individual...if that makes any sense?

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 31 Aug 2014, 18:02

So at the moment, in Belgium, it's Lillewinslol. You guys are asking yourself, didn't Lille play in the French league? Yes, but they kind of own Mouscron, and more than half of their players are owned by Lille.

Post by **tommykl** » 31 Aug 2014, 18:04

This wrote:So at the moment, in Belgium, it's Lillewinslol. You guys are asking yourself, didn't Lille play in the French league? Yes, but they kind of own Mouscron, and more than half of their players are owned by Lille.

Oh, how I'd love to see Mouscron-Péruwelz win it. If only to see the look on the faces of Anderlecht fans

go_Rubens · Post by **go_Rubens** » 31 Aug 2014, 19:08

This wrote:So at the moment, in Belgium, it's Lillewinslol.

In England, it's looking more and more like Chelseawinslol.

The one thing that Chelsea needed to do was solve their issue with mediocre forwards. Well, I'm not sure what happened to Torres. Diego Costa has proven to be the solution to the mediocre forwards. Last season in La Liga, Diego Costa scored 27 goals. How many goals did the combo of Ba/Eto'o/Torres score last season? The answer is 19. Diego Costa has already scored 4 goals out of 3 games this season. Now that their issue was resolved with not enough being done be the forwards, Chelsea should have a team that can overhaul Manchester City. Manchester City has a great squad in the midfield and defense, but they also had forwards like Agüero, Dzeko, and Jovetic. Chelsea didn't really have that before, but now they do. Chelsea are favorites, and I wouldn't be surprised if they deliver.

Liverpool had a great match today against Spurs. They seemed to have the flair they had last season with scoring. Balotelli actually had a decent début with the club.