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Croak

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Congrats FC Bayern. And let me quote a famous man: " I have a dream...."
I hope one day I will have the chance to see Hamburg play a final like this again. Good night ;)

Hamburg will. They are making changes.

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Croak

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As a wiser man than me once said ''treat victory and defeat as imposters.''
Congrats Croak on your teams win today great game. Shame their had to be a loser.

A few points, both Ribery and Lewandowski should have been sent off for the elbow and the stamp. And its a shame Lewandowski controlled his disallowed effort with his arm, that would have been one of the best final goals. Pleased for Robben as a former Chelsea player i'm glad if any one got the winner it was him. Irrespective of the fact that Ribery plays for Bayern i find players like him disgusting his antics on the pitch are everything that's wrong with the game. Once again congrats on the win must make up losing the final last year to the best team in the world. ;)


Yeah, but look at it this way. Germany won all around. I don't like Ribery's antics either. Lewandowski played dirty the whole game. I don't want him on Bayern. He spent so much time hanging on Bayern's players that you would think he belongs in a closet.

Robben had me disturbed through the game because he once again didn't pass the ball off enough when he was triple teamed. Then he went and scored that final goal and made me feel stupid.

Weidenfeller was amazing. He even stopped the one shot with his face. Props to him. You know I'm not a big fan of Boateng and today he was a distraction. He hurt himself playing too far forward. He's a central defender. If he wants to play midfield he should tell them. Mandzukic was OK, but spent too much time acting as well. Bayern started slow but picked up after half time. I don't know what Jupp said to them.

I do think the refs let Dortmund play more "physical" than they did Bayern. But Ribery should have been shown the door after his second outburst. I think the first one was totally justified. Lewandoski was beating up on him and the ref was turning a blind eye. I think the ref was star struck with Lewandoski.
 

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I watch ALOT of football, but i can honestly say that was one of the best games i have seen in my life. Great advertisement for football (apart from a little bit of diving here and there), and a great advertisement for the Bundesliga. There wasnt a dull moment in the game, I went thirsty whilst watching it as I was too scared to run in to the kitchen for a beer. :laugh:

Brilliant entertainment, thank you Bayern & Dortmund.
 
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PackerFan71

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Yeah, but look at it this way. Germany won all around. I don't like Ribery's antics either. Lewandowski played dirty the whole game. I don't want him on Bayern. He spent so much time hanging on Bayern's players that you would think he belongs in a closet.

Robben had me disturbed through the game because he once again didn't pass the ball off enough when he was triple teamed. Then he went and scored that final goal and made me feel stupid.

Weidenfeller was amazing. He even stopped the one shot with his face. Props to him. You know I'm not a big fan of Boateng and today he was a distraction. He hurt himself playing too far forward. He's a central defender. If he wants to play midfield he should tell them. Mandzukic was OK, but spent too much time acting as well. Bayern started slow but picked up after half time. I don't know what Jupp said to them.

I do think the refs let Dortmund play more "physical" than they did Bayern. But Ribery should have been shown the door after his second outburst. I think the first one was totally justified. Lewandoski was beating up on him and the ref was turning a blind eye. I think the ref was star struck with Lewandoski.

For me the physical aspect of the game within the rules is in footballs DNA whatever the code, otherwise it would be a yawnfest like Basketball. You may be right about favouring Dortmund in that aspect though, i wasn't counting. Sometimes refs are starstruck and its so obvious when they are.

A nice article on why no doubt there were two German teams in this years final.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/may/23/germany-bust-boom-talent
 

Croak

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For me the physical aspect of the game within the rules is in footballs DNA whatever the code, otherwise it would be a yawnfest like Basketball. You may be right about favouring Dortmund in that aspect though, i wasn't counting. Sometimes refs are starstruck and its so obvious when they are.

A nice article on why no doubt there were two German teams in this years final.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/may/23/germany-bust-boom-talent

Nice find on the article. That's where Europe is light years ahead of the U.S. in football. The U.S. has a very haphazard youth development program. So if their teams want talent, they have to pay big money and buy the good talent from other countries. When it comes time for international play, the U.S. gets stuck.
 

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For me the physical aspect of the game within the rules is in footballs DNA whatever the code, otherwise it would be a yawnfest like Basketball. You may be right about favouring Dortmund in that aspect though, i wasn't counting. Sometimes refs are starstruck and its so obvious when they are.

A nice article on why no doubt there were two German teams in this years final.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/may/23/germany-bust-boom-talent
Very interesting indeed.
In my opinion Freiburg is the best example how to develop young, talented players and that you dont need a bag of money to be successful as long as you have a concept and the right people to put the concept into practice.
I guess they will never win a Championship but qualifiying for Europe is a huge success, especially if you compare their budget to other teams like Schalke, Wolfsburg and yes....Hamburg too :rolleyes:;)
 

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Nice find on the article. That's where Europe is light years ahead of the U.S. in football. The U.S. has a very haphazard youth development program. So if their teams want talent, they have to pay big money and buy the good talent from other countries. When it comes time for international play, the U.S. gets stuck.

I believe in what is mentioned in the article too - because our teams are not owned by investors or billionaires who want so see a return on their investment immediately we are perhaps a little bit more patient with young talents in Germany though there is a lot of pressure too.
And I must admit, not every team is compareable with Freiburg.
Teams like Wolfsburg prefer spending huge amounts of money instead developing young talents, not everything in Germany works as perfect as described in the article. ;)
 
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PackerFan71

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Very interesting indeed.
In my opinion Freiburg is the best example how to develop young, talented players and that you dont need a bag of money to be successful as long as you have a concept and the right people to put the concept into practice.
I guess they will never win a Championship but qualifiying for Europe is a huge success, especially if you compare their budget to other teams like Schalke, Wolfsburg and yes....Hamburg too :rolleyes:;)

Crewe Alexandra a lower level English club were phenomenal at developing players for a time. Their Coach Dario Gradi was a one man player industry, he kept developing and churning out players at a huge profit. Sady he left the cub and they declined, but its a good model for the smaller clubs to follow.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22278754
 

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Crewe Alexandra a lower level English club were phenomenal at developing players for a time. Their Coach Dario Gradi was a one man player industry, he kept developing and churning out players at a huge profit. Sady he left the cub and they declined, but its a good model for the smaller clubs to follow.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22278754

Never heard of Dario Gradi before but sounds quite similar to what they do in Freiburg.
Is there any well known player who made it to a EPL team so far ?
 
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PackerFan71

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Never heard of Dario Gradi before but sounds quite similar to what they do in Freiburg.
Is there any well known player who made it to a EPL team so far ?

David Platt was the first biggest graduate from Crewe that hit the big time. He arrived there after he was released by ManU to get first team football. Aston Villa snapped him up and he became a star at Italia 90. Neil Lennon, Robbie Savage, Danny Murphy, Geoff Thomas Rob Jones to name but a few.
 

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Never heard of Dario Gradi before but sounds quite similar to what they do in Freiburg.
Is there any well known player who made it to a EPL team so far ?

Dario's still there guys, but he's in a director role now, he still oversees pretty much everything at the club and has been involved at Crewe Alexandra for over 30yrs.

Notable players from Crewe? Off the top of my head theres been Robbie Savage, Dean Ashton & Nick Powell who joined Man Utd last summer.

Their last game of this season was against Walsall, and they fielded a whole starting XI that had came through their youth team, now take a moment to digest how difficult that is to achieve in the modern day game.

Ironically the Crewe manager Steve Davis is a huge Wolves fan and is actually the favourite for the Wolves job ;)
 

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Dario's still there guys, but he's in a director role now, he still oversees pretty much everything at the club and has been involved at Crewe Alexandra for over 30yrs.

Notable players from Crewe? Off the top of my head theres been Robbie Savage, Dean Ashton & Nick Powell who joined Man Utd last summer.

Their last game of this season was against Walsall, and they fielded a whole starting XI that had came through their youth team, now take a moment to digest how difficult that is to achieve in the modern day game.

Ironically the Crewe manager Steve Davis is a huge Wolves fan and is actually the favourite for the Wolves job ;)

Thats quite unusual, nice idea ! :tup:
 

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Well, its here again:
Group A: Manchester United, Shakhtar Donetsk, Bayer Leverkusen, Real Sociedad
Group B: Real Madrid, Juventus, Galatasaray, Copenhagen
Group C: Benfica, Paris St Germain, Olympiakos, Anderlecht
Group D: Bayern Munich, CSKA Moscow, Manchester City, Viktoria Plzen
Group E: Chelsea, Schalke, Basel, Steaua Bucharest
Group F: Arsenal, Marseille, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli
Group G: Porto, Atletico Madrid, Zenit St Petersburg, Austria Vienna
Group H: Barcelona, AC Milan, Ajax, Celtic
 
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H looks like a true ''Groupe de Mort'' Celtic must by now be sick of beating Barca.
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The Blues in E got a freebie there. :sneaky:
 
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H looks like a true ''Groupe de Mort''
Both Ajax and Celtic are not as strong as those teams used to be, so I think Barcelona and AC Milan will proceed.

F is a nice group. Two of the weakest teams from the first two pots, and the two strongest teams from the last two pots. Should be nice exciting matches to watch. And hopefully Napoli will proceed!
 
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Both Ajax and Celtic are not as strong as those teams used to be, so I think Barcelona and AC Milan will proceed.

F is a nice group. Two of the weakest teams from the first two pots, and the two strongest teams from the last two pots. Should be nice exciting matches to watch. And hopefully Napoli will proceed!

Thats what it looks like on paper, a shoein for Barca and Milan.

:laugh:
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Well, its here again:
Group A: Manchester United, Shakhtar Donetsk, Bayer Leverkusen, Real Sociedad
Group B: Real Madrid, Juventus, Galatasaray, Copenhagen
Group C: Benfica, Paris St Germain, Olympiakos, Anderlecht
Group D: Bayern Munich, CSKA Moscow, Manchester City, Viktoria Plzen
Group E: Chelsea, Schalke, Basel, Steaua Bucharest
Group F: Arsenal, Marseille, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli
Group G: Porto, Atletico Madrid, Zenit St Petersburg, Austria Vienna
Group H: Barcelona, AC Milan, Ajax, Celtic


Beside Barca Group H is a quite balanced group. I dont see Milan that strong anymore and I expect a little surprise with Ajax winning the second spot for the next round though I'd prefer Celtic.
Chelsea should win their group easily, even when they bench half of their starters during the group stage.
Unfortunately I see City qualifiying for the next round too. :rolleyes:
ManU, Real, Bayern, Dortmund, Arsenal and Juventus are no-brainers.
 
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PackerFan71

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Beside Barca Group H is a quite balanced group. I dont see Milan that strong anymore and I expect a little surprise with Ajax winning the second spot for the next round though I'd prefer Celtic.
Chelsea should win their group easily, even when they bench half of their starters during the group stage.
Unfortunately I see City qualifiying for the next round too. :rolleyes:
ManU, Real, Bayern, Dortmund, Arsenal and Juventus are no-brainers.

For Celtic qualifying was a minor miracle in itself 0-2 down in the first leg, they also lost the spine of their team over the summer. I think they are just happy to be there.
I like the look of group F also. :)
 

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Uuuuh, didnt notice the CL results yet because they dont show much football/soccer on TV....Chelsea lost at home against Basel? :eek:
And Real 6-1 at Galatasaray is another strange result....
 
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PackerFan71

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Uuuuh, didnt notice the CL results yet because they dont show much football/soccer on TV....Chelsea lost at home against Basel? :eek:
And Real 6-1 at Galatasaray is another strange result....

If i'm totally honest with you a draw is what i expected, Basel are always annoyingly stubborn. We were winning 1-0 then they scored against the run of play, and got another late on due to a defensive lapse. Not the end of the world but we need to get the finger out now. Gowd even Spurs won the other night and i work with a couple of their fans, just as well they hate Liverpool more than Chelsea........
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mhnessie

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If i'm totally honest with you a draw is what i expected, Basel are always annoyingly stubborn. We were winning 1-0 then they scored against the run of play, and got another late on due to a defensive lapse. Not the end of the world but we need to get the finger out now. Gowd even Spurs won the other night and i work with a couple of their fans, just as well they hate Liverpool more than Chelsea........
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Lucky you :D
But indeed, its never easy to play against teams like Basel.....always a little underestimated....
 

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