UEFA Cup 2008-2009

[Wanted Man]

http://www.topnews.in/sports/files/uefa_cup.jpg

Werder Bremen vs Saint-Étienne
CSKA Moscow vs Shakhtar Donetsk
Udinese vs Zenit St. Petersburg
Paris Saint-Germain vs Braga
Dynamo Kiev vs Metalist Kharkov
Manchester City vs Aalborg BK
Olympique Marseille vs Ajax
Hamburger SV vs Galatasaray

Discuss.

[Killfacer]

You only care becuase Ajax are in it. I want Man City and ajax to do well.

[Wanted Man]

And nobody else cares because there's only one English club in it. Go watch the Barclay's Pre-- err, Champions League, imperialist. :tt2: You're right though.

[F9]

Werder Bremen vs Saint-Étienne 1
CSKA Moscow vs Shakhtar Donetsk x
Udinese vs Zenit St. Petersburg 2
Paris Saint-Germain vs Braga 1
Dynamo Kiev vs Metalist Kharkov 1
Manchester City vs Aalborg BK 1
Olympique Marseille vs Ajax 1(:p)
Hamburger SV vs Galatasaray dc x-2

thats my "predictions" for those not aware with the (booking) system, 1x2 represents 1 for win of the home team, x a draw, 2 winf for the away, and dc means double chance.
;)
Interest games i can see first OM-Ajax, and as OM is one of the teams i like especially for their supporters C.U.84 i hope they win(sorry tcm:p), there is the Zenit-Udinese game, udinese do not convince me, i havent seen and much Zenit but i think they will win, Mancester is an interesting game as Galatasarays and Werder too.But the "highlight" for me at least is the OM Ajax.

Fuserg9:star:

[Wanted Man]

About the system with numbers: here, we usually say "1" for home win, "2" for away win, and "3" for draw. So in that spirit:

Werder Bremen vs Saint-Étienne 1
CSKA Moscow vs Shakhtar Donetsk 1
Udinese vs Zenit St. Petersburg 2
Paris Saint-Germain vs Braga 1
Dynamo Kiev vs Metalist Kharkov 1
Manchester City vs Aalborg BK 1
Olympique Marseille vs Ajax 3 (Ajax must get an away goal, then finish it off at home! :p)
Hamburger SV vs Galatasaray 3

[Killfacer]

Werder Bremen vs Saint-Étienne 1
CSKA Moscow vs Shakhtar Donetsk 3
Udinese vs Zenit St. Petersburg 1
Paris Saint-Germain vs Braga 1
Dynamo Kiev vs Metalist Kharkov 1
Manchester City vs Aalborg BK 1
Olympique Marseille vs Ajax 3
Hamburger SV vs Galatasaray 1

[Wanted Man]

Fucking hell, the public broadcasting station here are idiots. They are not broadcasting Ajax live entirely, because there is also the ice skating world championship. So they are going to do the skating first, then commercials (yes, they are allowed to have commercials too), then highlights of part of the first half of Ajax, then the rest of the first half, then more commercials, then the bloody fucking goddamn awards ceremony of the ice skating, more commercials, and then the second half of Ajax!

What the fuck is wrong with them? They've got three channels, yet they only want to use one for sports. It is possible to watch the match through live stream on the 'net, but it's not the same as on the couch with a beer. There is a maximum amount of viewers for the live stream, luckily I put it on in time. Can you guys view this as well: http://voetbal.nos.nl/uitzending/ajax/ ? Otherwise, there's always good old justin.tv.

[Killfacer]

That's fucking stupid. Surely more people will watch the Ajax game than some ice skating?

[F9]

Fucking hell, the public broadcasting station here are idiots. They are not broadcasting Ajax live entirely, because there is also the ice skating world championship. So they are going to do the skating first, then commercials (yes, they are allowed to have commercials too), then highlights of part of the first half of Ajax, then the rest of the first half, then more commercials, then the bloody fucking goddamn awards ceremony of the ice skating, more commercials, and then the second half of Ajax!

What the fuck is wrong with them? They've got three channels, yet they only want to use one for sports. It is possible to watch the match through live stream on the 'net, but it's not the same as on the couch with a beer. There is a maximum amount of viewers for the live stream, luckily I put it on in time. Can you guys view this as well: http://voetbal.nos.nl/uitzending/ajax/ ? Otherwise, there's always good old justin.tv.

Sorry made i have to say this but ... HAHAHAHA, i would fucking call them each second to cut it down the fucking ice skating:laugh:Haha ice skating, i would kill them!Loosing such a great match.
Why do not connect a laptop with the TV?I think its possible, i never did such a thing, but i have seen it happening!;)
And about the link, of course and it dont plays for me, but thats totally "natural" since it needs something from fucking microsoft to work, which as of today declared a war against me :@

Fuserg9:star:

[Killfacer]

Why do not connect a laptop with the TV?I think its possible, i never did such a thing, but i have seen it happening!;)

One of those things we would all love to be able to do, but lack the capability or the patience.

[Wanted Man]

Well, ice skating is a big sport here, and it's a big tournament. But why not just clear out some shitty quiz shows from another channel, and show the skating there? Turds.

As for the laptop/TV: what Killfacer said.

[Wanted Man]

Anyway, entertaining match so far. Surprisingly, Ajax are starting with Toby Alderweireld as centre back. The boy is just 20, and he's one of the talented young Belgian defenders at Ajax, with Vermaelen and Vertonghen.

Ajax had a pretty big chance, Sulejmani almost managed to square the ball to Suarez, but the pass was just an inch not good enough...

Edit: FUCK. 1-0. :(

[Killfacer]

Benoit Cheyrou no less.

[Wanted Man]

http://i39.tinypic.com/24yw7te.gif

He gets 5 fucking seconds to move in and shoot! :cursing: Some people say the goalie should have had it, but it had a treacherous bounce.

[Killfacer]

Sorry but that's just poor goalkeeping. I assume that's that young Ajax goalie you mentioned before?

[Wanted Man]

Yeah, Vermeer. I still think it was made tougher because of the bounce on it. Ah well, no use crying over spilt milk. Time to get that away goal. And let's see if it's on tv now.

[Killfacer]

The away goal is easily the most important thing. A 2-1 loss is fine.

[F9]

Sorry to hear it mate, you make me feel sorry of enjoying OM wins :p.
The fault wasnt completely on the keeper, is hard as hell having the ball bouncing on the ground in front of so much people, and with that power, and a "mistake" can be easily made in such situations.Its not random that most of the players that wont to score, especially from away, put a lot of power and send it to bounce!

Fuserg9:star:

[Wanted Man]

2-0 now. OM are damn effective, I must say.

But penalty to Ajax now!

[Wanted Man]

FUCK YEAH! Back in it!

[Killfacer]

any chance of more footage mate?

2-1 is a perfectly good result, as i said above! Although, you're right back in the game now!

[Killfacer]

Quote from the BBC sport forums:

"How badly are Ajax and Madrid playing nowadays? What a fall from grace of two giants of European football, I can't see it ending either."

[F9]

Have you got a red card? Van Der Wiel?:ohmy:
2-1 is a great away score for Ajax, if you can keep it!

Fuserg9:star:

[Killfacer]

Uh Oh. Rest of the game clingin on to that scoreline... Gonna be tense!

[Wanted Man]

Yeah, red for Van der Wiel. Too bad. It required a substitution: Emanuelson out for the right-back Bruno Silva (VdW is a right-back as well). It's not that weakening, to be honest. I don't like to slag Emanuelson, but sometimes, with him, you might as well play with 10 men because he's just invisible on that left flank. He's a left midfielder in a 4-4-2, not a left back or left winger in a 4-3-3 system.

Anyway, the away goal is in the pocket. Now it's just a matter of clinging on. Maybe counter our way towards a second goal, but that's just wishful thinking.

This will mean a lot of suspensions for the next game, though. Vermaelen got one yellow card too many in this match. Vertonghen had better be fit by the next match...

[Wanted Man]

Can't help in the way of footage much, but here's another gif:

http://i40.tinypic.com/28pb7m.gif

Not much of a foul, perhaps (it's hard to see if he touches Enoh), but who cares? :D

Oh, and Mathieu Valbuena is a diving ****. Of course, Suarez is as well, but ssh.

[Killfacer]

Looks like a penalty to me.

[F9]

Thanks for thos pics, i am just watching the scores from xscores:(, and yeah there wasnt a penalty there:p

[Killfacer]

He clattered him! Although he may have got the ball first...

[F9]

He clattered him! Although he may have got the ball first...

He got for the ball tackled, hit the ball away(not very good) and then they clashed with both falling down, its not an ice-skating its football:p

Fuserg9:star:

[Killfacer]

Hmm, you're probably right. Stupid making such a clumsy tackle in the box though!

[Wanted Man]

I can't say I really care if it was supposed to be a penalty, the point is that the ref gave it! :p

Anyway, second half. Ajax's back in this mothafuckin' yo.

[Wanted Man]

Well, that was it, nothing changes. Not the worst possible result, all things considered. But damn, Marseille were shit in the second half, they didn't take advantage of the situation at all. Only in the last 20 minutes or so, when Ben Arfa (he didn't do a thing this match) went off for Zenden, did we finally see some serious attacks from them.

And Bruno Silva and Leonardo (who else?) actually came close to giving Ajax some good chances in the last minutes. It was good to see Bruno Silva again, in the way we were used to when he was still the tough right-back of FC Groningen: relentless, diving into challenges, as it should be. And is it just me, or does Sulejmani totally lack stamina? He already has a disappointing season, but he looked spent in the final 20 minutes or so.

Also, umm, I really respect l'OM's fans. But who the hell are these twats who were using laser pointers to blind Sulejmani and Suarez when they were taking free kicks? Fuck that.

[Killfacer]

Good result all said, managed to cling on with ten men, shall we do our prediction scores, say 1 point for a correct result:

Werder Bremen vs Saint-Étienne 1 1 Point
CSKA Moscow vs Shakhtar Donetsk 3 0 Points
Udinese vs Zenit St. Petersburg 1 1 Point
Paris Saint-Germain vs Braga 1 0 Points
Dynamo Kiev vs Metalist Kharkov 1 1 Point
Manchester City vs Aalborg BK 1 1 Point
Olympique Marseille vs Ajax 3 0 Points
Hamburger SV vs Galatasaray 1 0 Points


__________________

A poor 4 points for me.

[Wanted Man]

Werder Bremen vs Saint-Étienne 1 (1 point)
CSKA Moscow vs Shakhtar Donetsk 1 (1 point)
Udinese vs Zenit St. Petersburg 2 (0 points)
Paris Saint-Germain vs Braga 1 (0 points)
Dynamo Kiev vs Metalist Kharkov 1 (1 point)
Manchester City vs Aalborg BK 1 (1 point)
Olympique Marseille vs Ajax 3 (0 points)
Hamburger SV vs Galatasaray 3 (1 point)

5 out of 8.

[Killfacer]

Grrrrr

Only Fuser left to score. If i come last, we shall have to do it for the next load of matches.

[Wanted Man]

Oh, I almost forgot this:


Quote from the BBC sport forums:

"How badly are Ajax and Madrid playing nowadays? What a fall from grace of two giants of European football, I can't see it ending either."

It's not a very good comparison. Compare Ajax and Real from, say, 1997, till now. Real remained at the top of European football, they had the rise and fall of the Galacticos, and all that stuff. Whereas Ajax have been in free fall, with a resurgence around 2004 (all those players are gone now), and simply cannot seriously compete on the European level anymore.

Of course, it's a problem of Dutch football itself, that is worth going into later. But suffice to say that this explains why they can't really be compared to Real at all. And why every UEFA Cup victory of Ajax is something to be cherished nowadays.

[Killfacer]

I know, i just wanted to gloat because the English Premiership is easily the best league in the world :thumbup:

I'm sure Real will recover fairly soon, they have the financial clout and the ability to bring in the best players in the world.

Ajax are going to have tp hope that they have another crop of stars.

[Wanted Man]

That is true. I'm not sure what to make of England's dominance in the CL, though. But I suppose that, while it is less diverse, it is not any less fun. The Spanish and Italian leagues are strong as well, but clearly, the English sides have won the day again. That's not something that just happens by chance. They're just damn good.

Real will recover if they get their heads down, make a sensible transfer policy (as opposed to buying good players at random, and then put all those new guys on the bench because the new manager wants to distinguish himself...), and make it a team again. Of course, sometimes important players can just have a poor season. Sneijder, for instance: if he plays crap, you know your midfield is in trouble.

The same can be said of Ajax. This season was supposed to be the new beginning, with a new board and a big-name manager (but with little managerial experience...), as well as any desired purchases (€30M invested in total). But it has been an illusion, to say the least. I also don't think that there are any really big stars among the youth squad, but there will be some decent to good players coming from the youth system. Van der Wiel, Sarpong and Schilder have already broken through. And yesterday, we saw the Belgian Alderweireld. I also have good hopes for Daley Blind (Danny's son) and Rodney Sneijder (Wesley's brother).

[Wanted Man]

Oh, and here's the match:

2uEHz-bc2G8

[F9]

Werder Bremen vs Saint-Étienne 1 (1 point)
CSKA Moscow vs Shakhtar Donetsk x (0 points)
Udinese vs Zenit St. Petersburg 2 (0 points)
Paris Saint-Germain vs Braga 1 (0 points)
Dynamo Kiev vs Metalist Kharkov 1 (1 point)
Manchester City vs Aalborg BK 1 (1 point)
Olympique Marseille vs Ajax 1(:p) (1 point)
Hamburger SV vs Galatasaray dc x-2 (1/2 point)


Which means 4 and a 1/2 points ;)
But you people shouldnt forget who is the football predicting "god" around here, and who got first on the recent board predictions on euro!:D:p

Fuserg9:star:

[Wanted Man]

1-1 in Amsterdam now... Tough match.

[Wanted Man]

Shit. Shit. SHIT!

We were better, that's all there is to say. So much better. Now I remember why I hate playing against French teams. Fucking hell. This is so sad and so unfair. But it's the points that count, and they got one more away goal, nuff said. By the way, I'm also getting my ass full of Vermeer. I know it's unfair, I know he's a talented goalie, blah blah. But his doubtful coming out, his punching and his careless abandoning of his goal is just going to hurt Ajax. He has many good saves, but when Ajax do concede, it's usually because he bumbles. Stekelenburg is out of the first 11 and will no doubt be looking for another club. A very poor decision on the long term.

As we went into the second half of extra time and still looking good, I was really hoping it was going to happen now. The greatest pleasure would be to see the tears of those PSV ****s Zenden and Gerets. Especially Zenden, who said to the media that he wanted to beat Ajax to take revenge on Van Basten for snubbing his mediocre ass in the national team in the past. But instead, they got the last laugh.

Also, there was a disgusting incident in the final minute: Ben Arfa gets challenged by Bruno Silva. He falls down, wriths and squirms all over the floor, screams like he's being tortured and grabs his throat, as if he'd been punched in the throat or something. Silva gets an instant red. But what happened in the replay? Nothing. What a prick! It's irrelevant, we're out anyway. And Silva will not be bothered by it until next season, if he even plays in Europe by then. Because he's tired of Van Basten, who made the genius move of consistently snubbing this great player until he absolutely needed him. So we won't be seeing him at Ajax next season, I'm afraid.

Speaking of which, the season is over as far as I'm concerned now. No hopes of the league (except struggling for a chance to get into the second qualifying round of the CL!), eliminated in the cup by fucking Volendam, and now this. Time for a hibernation. What a crock of shit.

[Killfacer]

Sorry to hear it mate :crying:, still you're in the uefa cup still surely?

Speaking of failure. My team conceeded in the 87th minute last saturday and that pretty much ended our playoff hunt. :crying::crying:

[Wanted Man]

Yeah, we'll be back in the UEFA Cup next season of course. But this match allowed l'OM to progress on away goals. The only way Ajax can somewhat save face is by ending second in the league, which will allow them the chance to qualify for the CL. Of course, they will have to play two qualifying rounds, because Dutch teams have generally sucked ass in Europe over the last few years (with Ajax as one of the worst, unfortunately, but this campaign was pretty good).

But for now, this is where we stand and there's no use *****ing. At least Ajax finally fought for every single inch, something that hasn't always been the case in the past seasons (getting eliminated by mediocre eastern European or Danish teams in the CL qualifying rounds and UEFA Cup). I really liked how they were finally a team (they failed to gel for most of the season), with the return of Aissati playing a big role.

Sad to hear about your (Brizzle?) failure. It's always nice to go for the top. That's why I inevitably want Ajax to win the league, Zwolle to somehow get promoted, and my local amateur side to somehow win the amateur league with much less money than the semi-pro "amateur" clubs who dominate. :lol:

[Wanted Man]

Annnnd here's the match!

etR6HV0cdlE

Suarez was just amazing, with his two great assists. What a shame.

[Killfacer]

sounds like you were pretty unlucky :(

OM are a quality side though.

[Wanted Man]

Of course, OM's way of playing is a quality of its own. They have the ability to make something out of nothing. Even if they're pushed with their backs against the wall, they can usually make one or two good attacks and score. And of course, they dominated the first match in their home ground, so they can do that too.

All French teams seem to have this quality, which makes them tough opponents. Certainly tougher than Italian teams like Fiorentina, who can be kept at bay by defending just like the Italians themselves.

[Killfacer]

Taiwo is a quality left back. Man City should have got him instead of Wayne Bridge.

[Killfacer]

anyone watching a game? I'm watching Man city but it's pretty tepid.

[Wanted Man]

Strangely enough, I don't give a shit anymore! :tt2: The media seem to agree, because they're not even broadcasting any games. Apparently, a science news program, Little Britain and two anti-consumerist shows are more important. :thumbup1:

[Killfacer]

Little Britain? I didn't think it would transfer particuarly well abroad... Personally i liked the first season, but it grew old fast.

[Wanted Man]

Yeah, it's been on here for quite some time. Can't say I ever watch it, but it's supposed to be pretty good.

[Killfacer]

Manchester City go through on penalties after conceeding two goals in the last 10 minutes of normal time.

[Wanted Man]

Well, that's the end of the line for City. Too bad for them, but deserved, I do think. They had some good opportunities in the second half, but it just wasn't enough, as usual with them. Too many damn boys who just aren't prepared to fight for the team.

[F9]

Marseille lost:(:(

[Wanted Man]

That's too bad. Guess it's going to be a German-Ukrainian party then.