The Champions League Thread 2013/14

[winchester_royal]

Has Mesut Ozil just dropped the ashes

[soggy biscuit]

[John Madejski's Wallet]

Quite surprised that was a red tbh.

As soon as Robben touched it sideways, the goal-scoring chance had surely gone.


Still, LOLZaplenty

[Handsome Man]

Quite surprised that was a red tbh.

As soon as Robben touched it sideways, the goal-scoring chance had surely gone.


Still, LOLZaplenty

I think we would appeal and get it rescinded. I work with a German, and will try really hard to get this point across tomorrow.

[genome]

Ozil has been shocking, again

40 miLOLLOLion

[John Madejski's Wallet]

Ozil has been shocking, again

40 miLOLLOLion

He was awesome for about a month, and has been utter garbage since

[SHORT AND CURLY]

Like our game against the Owls

With ten men the game was spoilt.

Bayern are hard enough to beat with eleven. Ten men - No chance.

[genome]

Second half stats:

Possession: Arsenal 12% Bayern Munich 88%
Passes: Arsenal 62 Bayern 508

[TBM]

Bet nothing gets done bout this

http://youtu.be/QzeQThKpPkk

[Royalclapper]

As much as the Bundesliga gets praised by many folks, Bayern Munich must be an absolute scourge for that League. They feast on everyone else's best players and have way too much leverage when you consider they don't even have much bother luring players away from massive clubs like Dortmund.

The Champions League is now just an ego battle between the vanity project clubs who dominate their own domestic set-ups. There's only a small pool of usual suspects that can ever consider winning it.

You could imagine one of the reasons that there might not be a European 'Super League' is because most of the big club monsters are fed by constantly winning titles etc which there would only be one of if a breakaway league was formed, whereas at the moment fans can live with a latter stage CL exit as long as their club continues to bully their own League and Cup Competitions.

[stealthpapes]

I reckon they'd have a minor team left in the home league. Most could afford to pay the 1 and a half squads required.

[genome]

[Starfish]

As much as the Bundesliga gets praised by many folks, Bayern Munich must be an absolute scourge for that League. They feast on everyone else's best players and have way too much leverage when you consider they don't even have much bother luring players away from massive clubs like Dortmund.

I was at a podium discussion a couple of months ago and the head of the youth system in Nuremberg compared Bayern's youth system with that of Nuremberg. He gave statistics of how many players from Bayern play for German national underage sides ... there were very very few. Nuremberg, in contrast, had many. As soon as these kids get to 15 or 16, Bayern start scouting them. And their way to convince the cream of the 15 or 16 years old to join, is admitted and very simple. They go directly to the parents and offer (say) the father a 'consultancy' position with Bayern for the next 3-4 years. The father doesn't have to actually do anything but receives anything up to 50,000 EURO a year for his consultancy services. I can imagine how difficult it would then be for a 15 year old to convince his parents that he wants to stay in Nuremberg/Ingolstadt/Fürth ... wherever. Very few of these kids break through, of course, but when one does, Bayern is commended for its youth policy.

This had been the traditional method but he seemed to think that Bayern are probably just going to buy ready made products in the future, as they have recently done with Götze and Lewandowski. Incidentally, I went to see Germany - Ireland in Cologne in October and Götze was brought on as a substitute, and was very very roundly booed.

[Starfish]

Manuel Neuer was interviewed after the game on German TV last night after the game and admitted that he thought he had a huge advantage when Özil decided to take the penalty. He basically said that he knows how Mesut approaches a spot kick, he knows that he makes his decision where to place the ball based on the keeper's movement, and that he doesn't choose a corner in advance. He admitted that he, as a keeper, would normally go one way or the other, but that he knew he should not commit himself immediately with Özil.

[creative_username_1]

Ozil also knows that Neuer knows this

[Starfish]

Ozil also knows that Neuer knows this

And who was the winner?

[creative_username_1]

not necessarily because of having this knowledge

[TBM]

not necessarily because of having this knowledge

If Ozil had just hit it a little higher then it wouldn't have been saved - so really you can say they both knew

[Starfish]

not necessarily because of having this knowledge

I simply quoted what Neuer said he felt, and that was that he had an advantage knowing the player he was facing as well as he does. He changed the way he faces a penalty, Mesut didn't, and it remained 0-0.

[creative_username_1]

not necessarily because of having this knowledge

I simply quoted what Neuer said he felt, and that was that he had an advantage knowing the player he was facing as well as he does. He changed the way he faces a penalty, Mesut didn't, and it remained 0-0.

get Neuer to post on the 'Things you believe' thread