i never "apologized." i enjoyed watching him but he took himself out of the game, the stupid fucker.

Suarez, the cheating racist we can't stop liking. Haha.

A team you should follow in the Prem? If you're basing it mainly on style of play, given the current managerial and player merrygoround, it's almost impossible to predict what almost any team will play like next season. And I can't think of any real standouts among those looking a bit more stable. But this isn't a vintage period in the prem, quality-wise, anyway, so whoever you choose will likely frustrate you more than anything else. The team that most intrigues me for next season, though, is Man City with Pellegrini (we assume), just because I really have no idea what to expect. Failing that, West Ham, obviously.

An interesting article on Mancini's apparent fallout with his players.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/foo...nd-relief.html

for teams in the prem i really enjoy watching Swansea and Arsenal but i also like Everton and Fulham and Southampton too for some reason

Arsenal have driven me to distraction this past couple of seasons. They now seem to represent all that's bad about the Barca-style and less and less of what's good about it.

Benfica are playing some lovely stuff

To be fair so are Chelsea

And Torres decides to score in a final again. Whatever else we may say about him, he never disappears in the big games.

Other players have had similar length bans without damaging their career and even the most well behaved ones can get an injury and be out for just as long or longer. Rightly or wrongly, the only thing that'll ruin Suarez's career is a sudden decline in his ability on the pitch.

see, i like how those teams play but they kind of suck when it comes to scoring.

michu is great, a pleasure to see him on the pitch, but for what i've seen swansea can dominate a game and lose it.

re: arsenal, i could have liked them, but started the season "following" liverpool more or less. ah, liverpool! what a disappointment. but yeah, i think wenger is a fine coach, i think santi cazorla is great, but i can't stand fuckups like gervinho who insist on kicking the ball anywhere but into the net. what frustration.

but yeah they are both kind of to my taste actually, except they don't score goals ha ha.


kindly elaborate?


ah, i can't get them here. i should try to find a way.


really? but what happens the next time he gets caught and they give him a 20 match suspension? i mean, injuries are involuntary, but with suarez you get what, 1/2 player per year?

in the bundesliga this guy... what's his name... paolo guerrero (ex-bayern, then hamburg), was suspended 10 dates for a horrible foul last year... he now plays in brazil.

i wouldn't pay top money for a player as unreliable as suarez. great when he's there-- 2 out of 3? how many dates on the prem? how many did he miss?

the horror...

They've become synonymous with playing quite clever but ultimately ineffective football. It's amazing they're still in contention for a CL place.


I don't know much about Guerrero but I'll bet he was a disappointment in other areas, otherwise I'm sure another top side in Europe would've taken a risk on him. Look at Balotelli.

right! that's what frustrates me about them. for all that pretty play-- score some fucking goals!


nah, he was hamburg's first striker and he plays in the peruvian national team. he also scored the winning goals for corinthians in the club world cup recently when they beat chelsea. the germans just got tired of his fucking shenanigans.

That doesn't really happen here. There are problem players who are let go but not usually when they're at the top of their game, unless some other team (as happened with Balotelli) are willing to pay top prices for them. Although I suppose the argument there is whether a player like Balotelli was sold for his real worth, as a player. But they remain in work, usually at a club and at a price that reflects their playing skill rather than their personal issues. There's always a manager who thinks he can tame them and they're usually the ones to get sacked when they can't, rather than the player.

well he was sold for good money i think. it wasn't just the 2012 suspension for a vicious foul, or that in 2010 he threw a bottle at a fan's face, or that he has fear of flying and panic attacks in mid-air, no. it was also a matter of economics (he wanted a higher salary and wasn't scoring enough to justify it). last i heard last december chelsea wanted to buy him off corinthians but in the end he stayed in brazil.

anyway, my search for a favorite prem team continues... maybe i'll begin again next year.

Cantona got an 8 month ban for this, as well as a court conviction, and still carried on at Man U.

wow.

so you're saying that all those articles in english papers i've read calling for liverpool to get rid of suarez are all empty posturing bullshit?

my question is, at what point does a player become a liability, or, when does it become a waste of money to pay them bazillions to sit on the bench?

there's gotta be a breaking point. maybe there wasn't with cantona, but at some point, if expenses exceed revenues, it only makes sense....

Everton is the obvious answer OR just enjoy watching football, no matter what team is playing.

I don't think there's a reliable economic equation that can be applied to individual players, especially with clubs that are effectively run at a loss. The owner will probably have some vague idea when enough is enough but I don't think even they'd know what it's really based on, especially when things like ego and pride get involved.

No way. That's the social worker's answer. It's boring if you don't support a team at least a little bit. Although I think it's maybe even more important for el symbols, if he's gonna get the most out of next season, that he also finds a few teams he can love seeing lose, and maybe a pet hate manager and player. I get almost as much satisfaction seeing a Redknapp team or Chelsea or Stoke lose, or Terry getting sent off, as I do watching West Ham win.

And speaking of Terry, did anyone else see him come out in full strip to lift a trophy after not even being on the bench again?!? For his haters, he really is the gift that never stops giving.

haha, the last one kills me!

did anyone catch the cops del rey? what a fitting ending to mourinho's reign at madrid? and maybe christianos? that guy needs to learn a thing or two about losing gracefully. what a fucking baby although gabi did make a meal of it.

I never saw it but I heard about it. Sounded like a really nasty game. To see them banned for their last two games seems fitting, though, at least for Mourinho. It definitely feels like the most Mourinho-like of exits.

And did you know the Copa Del Rey was rescheduled this year because it clashed with the Eurovision Song Contest? Absolutely true. And people in England complain about the mistreatment of the FA Cup.

Also did anyone see Song's fight with a very drunk Pique during Barca's victory parade?

that's like saying just enjoy movies, no matter what hallmark movie of the week you're stuck with!

this morning (in my time zone): monchengladbach was up 2-0 over bayern after just 5 minutes, then bayern scored around 10', then monchengladbach scored again, then bayern scored again, and now at halftime, they've been stuck at 3-2 since about minute 18, going back and forth.

i don't care that "my team" isn't winning right now or that now i have concerns about the center backs for next week's CL final-- it's a great game, it's an awesome way to start a weekend, we have another 45 minutes to go, and i can't wipe the smile off my fucking face. THANK YOU, BUNDESLIGA.

4-3 to Bayern. For fuck's sake. They're ridiculous.

it was a delight to watch. i feel very lucky to have seen it. ribéry's 2nd goal was *fucking gorgeous*

look, it's already up!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7I6ARGghA8

yes, it's okay to tear up a little.

That's good but is it as good as Zidane's?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3BLrgvgHnE

zidane's is slightly better because the angles of the ball are tougher (both when coming to him and the space required to score), but that was 12 years ago, ribéry's was just this morning! and i was eating eggs and bacon! and that's exactly why i can't watch hallmark movies of the week. i could just watch the MLS for free but i don't wanna (it's shit).

forgot to say, because i have no geographic loyalties with european football, i have to like a team so i can follow them.

and teh reason i want to follow a good team is so i can like them more, because a) i can't watch every game so i have to maximize the benefit of what i see, b) the more i know a team the more i enjoy watching them.

it's kinda how knowing about how movies are made, and having a sense of their history increases my enjoyment of movies; or how people who know music theory and composition can enjoy music at another level from the rest of us mortals-- they get the tricks, the winks, the secret handshakes.

i find that the more i know a team, each individual player and the system in which they work, the more i get from watching them. more details come alive. i understand the game better.

so yes, in the end it's all about maximizing pleasure. cuz rib eye steak >>> macshit burger, and i want to focus on a *really good rib eye*. mmmmm! i'm hungry now!

Right well I'm going to be totally honest about Liverpool and this may come across as sacrilege considering I'm an Everton fan. However I've learnt from working with some ardent football fans that it's all too easy to ignore and team's positives when you dislike them as strongly as some people do.

Liverpool, I think, are going to continue to grow as a team. Next year is gonna be an interesting season to watch them. When you've got players like Sturridge (utter prick he is), Coutinho (namby girly man) and Borini who are continuing to get better then you could have a really good team there. Brendan Rogers is a *bites lip* good manager, and it's good to see the owners actually seem to be letting him try and improve a team over time.

HOWEVER! Are they a Champions League team? I'm not convinced yet.

One more HOWEVER! If you do start supporting Liverpool then, I'm sorry, I will have to block and ignore you for all eternity

haaaa haaa haaaa

thanks for that (observations + warning)

i like coutinho actually, last i watched him i saw lots of promise. he's a bit tiny for the prem i think, but if he toughens up i see a good future.

i am REALLY hungry now and this thread has inspired me to go get A BIG STEAK. yes.... steak...

ps- while i attend to the feeding trough, would you kindly let me know where you see everton going without moyes? cuz i am *not* constitutionally opposed to everton, and fellaini has an awesome fro.

The Ribery goal is amazing. Zidane's is better and it was also in a Champions' League final so it's one that'll be talked about forever but Ribery's has to be a contender for goal of the season.

And yeah, Liverpool are a good team to support. Good sense of tradition and a decent manager who wants them to play good football. Watch them tomorrow. It's Jamie Carragher's last game. You can practice crying.

Moyes will take Baines to Utd. without a shadow of a doubt. People have said he'll take Fellaini with him but I don't believe he will. That's even when you consider that Giggs and Scholes will be gone come next season. Fellaini will go somewhere else. Chelsea has been bandied around but why they would need another midfielder is beyond me.

As for who our new manager will be, I really don't know. There's talk of maybe getting someone who doesn't necessarily have loads of experience. This opens the door for Phil Neville (I certainly wouldn't want him), Everton legend Duncan Ferguson (that could be good, but if he fails then I suspect that would tarnish his Everton rep) or another David Weir (Everton's reserve manager).

One major point-Kenwright will have to be able to let the new manager spend a decent amount of money on new players. Lord knows the squad isn't filled with spring chickens. It feels like the median age for the squad is about 32 with the amount of older players they have. Here's the problem though-he can't.

It's not all doom and gloom though! With players like Mirallas, Barkley, Oviedo and Stones I think next season, while difficult depending on the manager, it won't be a relegation battle like some of my douche friends seem to think.

In defence of John Terry it's not that bad of a thing to do. He'd played and captained the whole of the europa league and the only reason he didn't play that game was because of injury.

People seem to forget that Rooney did the exact same thing only the other day with the Premier League cup.

True, but it's John Terry doing it.

This penultimate day of the season must be the most boring in years. Before today we know who's won it, we know all 3 who's down, all that's left is for Arsenal to smash us and claim their usual 4th place.

The last few minutes at St James' were a bit frantic once news came through about Bale's goal but, yeah, a pretty boring end to a pretty boring season. At least West Ham finished with a win, and with a Kevin Nolan hattrick, too.

EDIT: the radio phone-ins did their usual end of season best/worst thing. So here's mine:

Prem:

Best team: West Brom. Never got much media attention but were quietly brilliant.
Worst Team: QPR. Just awful. (Honorary mention, Man City. No team with that squad should've finished second.)
Best Manager: Rafa. Did a great job in the most difficult of circumstances. (Honorary mention for Steve Clarke, for reasons above)
Worst Manager: Mancini. For reasons that I've been boring everyone who reads this thread for about a year.
Best Player: Bale. No justification needed, I'd have thought.
Worst Player: Ben Haim. So crap even QPR decided to loan him to the MLS
Best goal: Peter Crouch against Man City: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aY5Q7r76gY

Europe-wide:

Best team: Dortmund. Bayern may be 'better' but, given their economic situation, Dortmund have been amazing. (Honorary mention for Malaga).
Best Manager: Klopp. Impossible to criticise, regardless of what happens in the final.
Best Player: Messi. He may currently be injured but what team would realistically say they didn't want him? At least the best player of his generation. More arguably the best ever. (Although personally I'd go with Maradona.)
Best Goal: Zlatan's goal for Sweden against England. It's jammy but still pure class. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6Xh2YFphR8 (honorary mention has to go to to Ribery last week: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lin8IurcaWM).

From what I've seen, obviously.

What a game yesterday, coming back from 5-2 was brilliant. The game had a fantastic atmosphere.

I really hope we can get Lukaku back on loan for another season, what a player he is going to be.

Pretty pleased with how the season has gone overall, need to invest this summer though as we are going to lose some players and our squad depth isn't great.

europe-wide bayern is the best team hands-down, even if they by chance manage to fuck up the final. because nobody wins on "deserves", they are the best team in europe right now.

BUT i'll concede Klopp is the best manager because, indeed, given his finances, he has put together an awesome squad-- just not the best one, but and awesome one, and in this category what you do with what you have counts. Re: Málaga-- now that Pellegrini is going to Man City, what can you expect?

(And yeah, Messi, okay. And that Zlatan goal! It leaves me tongue-tied...)

Haha. That game was nuts. I've loved West Brom this season. They dropped off a bit towards the end but they were invariably great whenever it mattered.

Relative to resources I'd still go with Dortmund but you're right, purely in terms of quality on the pitch, it's Bayern without a doubt.

Yeah it was a great way to end the season. We have played been really good, highlight has to be doing the double over Liverpool especially the game at Anfield. We didn't play that well towards the end but hopefully we can move on and build on the success.