The Soccer Thread 13/14

Originally posted by vrabbit:
Gerardo 'Tata' Martino is the new Barca coach - didn't see that coming

Would have preferred Luis Enrique. I agree, I didn't see this coming...but as long as he continues to the same system - I'm happy.

Now get the CB.

Originally posted by vrabbit:
agreed

Aren't youth tournaments usually low in crowd attendance?

Originally posted by 1251alex:

Originally posted by vrabbit:
agreed

Aren't youth tournaments usually low in crowd attendance?

not THAT bad.

Higuain to Naples at a rip off price. LOL.

RIP Chucho Benitez

Neymar had his debut yesterday. Played about 15 minutes and got hacked for about 12 of them. Messi left the game about 2 minutes before Neymar went in. They will probably play at the same time this Friday when Barca plays against Santos.

Originally posted by H41L5ATAN:
RIP Chucho Benitez

seems like just yesterday that he was ripping the mexican league apart...so sad.

Andrea Agnelli and a selection of Juventus delegates today discussed the future of sport with executives from American Football team San Francisco 49ers.
The visit formed part of a variety of activities planned to expand the club's contact with a host of top organisations during this summer's Jeep Tour in the United States.
The Juventus party was this morning hosted by San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York at the team's Santa Clara headquarters, where they spoke at length about the challenges faced by elite sports clubs in assembling a winning formula both on and off the field of play.
A significant part of the agenda focused on the construction of a new sporting arena. While the Bianconeri have already enjoyed two glorious years in their state-of-the-art Juventus Stadium, San Francisco 49ers are currently in the process of creating their very own groundbreaking Levi's Stadium, which is expected to be completed in time for the start of the 2014 National Football League season.

Originally posted by NinerAce:
Neymar had his debut yesterday. Played about 15 minutes and got hacked for about 12 of them. Messi left the game about 2 minutes before Neymar went in. They will probably play at the same time this Friday when Barca plays against Santos.

I didn't watch the game...thanks for the update. I saw some highlights on youtube. Alexis Sanchez looks great so far this pre-season. IMO, he'll be my breakout candidate during the first half of the season. It will take Neymar a good 6-7 months to adjust to Barca. Hopefully, he'll be ready when ECL knockout stage begins.

The way Sanchez has played this pre-season...I can't wait to see Messi, Neymar, and Sanchez playing together. This will give Messi a lot of space to operate the center of the pitch. The biggest problem with Villa was - he lost a step or two after his injury. Defenders would constantly cheat off him. Sanchez and Neymar will pay 'em if they continue to do that.

Lookin' forward to the Santos game and then the Super Cup. Should be fun.

Originally posted by 4ML:

I didn't watch the game...thanks for the update. I saw some highlights on youtube. Alexis Sanchez looks great so far this pre-season. IMO, he'll be my breakout candidate during the first half of the season. It will take Neymar a good 6-7 months to adjust to Barca. Hopefully, he'll be ready when ECL knockout stage begins.

The way Sanchez has played this pre-season...I can't wait to see Messi, Neymar, and Sanchez playing together. This will give Messi a lot of space to operate the center of the pitch. The biggest problem with Villa was - he lost a step or two after his injury. Defenders would constantly cheat off him. Sanchez and Neymar will pay 'em if they continue to do that.

Lookin' forward to the Santos game and then the Super Cup. Should be fun.

Agree with everything above. They still need that elusive center back.

Originally posted by NinerAce:
Agree with everything above. They still need that elusive center back.

Really should have gone out last year and get Silva when they had the chance to. I don't understand why they aren't showing more interest in Hummels.

I do think Bartra is almost ready. He needs one more year. The thing I disliked most about Tito was - he didn't rely on young guys ever. This is the reason why Thiago left and guys like Bartra and Montoya didn't get enough pitch time to improve. They'd be ready this year had they played enough last year. I've heard Tata really believes in developing the youth like Pep did.

Originally posted by 4ML:
Really should have gone out last year and get Silva when they had the chance to. I don't understand why they aren't showing more interest in Hummels.

I do think Bartra is almost ready. He needs one more year. The thing I disliked most about Tito was - he didn't rely on young guys ever. This is the reason why Thiago left and guys like Bartra and Montoya didn't get enough pitch time to improve. They'd be ready this year had they played enough last year. I've heard Tata really believes in developing the youth like Pep did.

Just watching the Barca / Santos game now. 4-0 Barca in the first half hour. Neymar still on the bench. Messi, Alexis, and Pedro with a goal each. The other was an own goal.

Alexis having an outstanding first half so far. I agree that it looks like he will have a monster year.

Originally posted by NinerAce:
Just watching the Barca / Santos game now. 4-0 Barca in the first half hour. Neymar still on the bench. Messi, Alexis, and Pedro with a goal each. The other was an own goal.

Alexis having an outstanding first half so far. I agree that it looks like he will have a monster year.

I saw parts of the 1st half and first 20 minutes of 2nd half. Alexis looks like he has finally figured it out how to play off the ball.

I like this new coach. This is how Barca played under Pep. Yes, I know it was Santos...and I don't care if we win these games or not...but I like what I'm seeing from the team. Results don't mean much to me right now.