The (Round) Football Thread

[Torpedo]

If I was a conspiracy theorist, I would suspect that Real loaned Kova to Chelsea so that he and Hazard can get used to playing together before both move to Madrid for the 2019 season.
[emoji20]

Wishful thinking for "el presi". Either way what el Madrid (nobody in Spain calls it el Real) needs is a renewed defense. Ramos is getting old and coarser, Varane loses concentration, Marcello takes longer than needed to be back in his place, Carvajal is not tall enough to defend well the fauls and corners, and we don't have good replacements in the bench. We were doing good enough thanks to Cristiano helping to make a goal more than the rival, but that's over. Bad times ahead

[guzziguy]

15 hours ago, Hopstretch said:

Alright, back to the regular season.

Pretty happy with Chelsea's start in the Premier League -- today against Arsenal was the proverbial game of two halves with some scintillating attacking and shocking defending to mull on. ...

 

Just watched the clip.  From what I saw there, Chelsea was fortunate to win the game.  Arsenal missed two wide-open chances in front of the goal and a third chance that would result in a score more often than not.  Neither team seemed to be playing much defense except for the goalkeepers.

[Hopstretch]

I love every single thing about this goal. The great pass to break the lines from Rudiger, telepathic dummy from Hazard, one-touch return from Giroud, the little body feint from Hazard that fakes the Cardiff defender out of the 50-50 ball and then a glorious finish past arguably the most in-form keeper in the league. Purest filth, as they say!

 

[morphsci]

Just to put it in perspective, it was against Cardiff City, which was 0-2-2 coming in to the game.

 

[Hopstretch]

Just let me enjoy the sexy football you big Bayern meanie.

We've had two dour, defensive managers in a row with Mourinho and Conte -- so someone like Sarri who wants high energy pressing and fast and vertical ball movement, while allowing flair players like Hazard to use their gifts, is a breath of fresh air at the Bridge. We're playing Liverpool twice in a week at the end of the month and that will probably be the end of the honeymoon.

[Hopstretch]

This is what is known as a ridiculous banger. Pure hit, no spin on the ball, knuckles back right inside the post. Oooooooooof.

https://streamable.com/0jpkc

[Hopstretch]

Eden Hazard continues to be quite good at football.

https://streamable.com/dl6du

(Bonus for French commentator actually saying "ooh la la!")

[Hopstretch]

31 passes in the buildup here. Really remarkable the change of style in such a short time, but I'm not exactly going to complain!

https://streamable.com/c1n8i

[Hopstretch]

Not sure what language these gents are speaking but they perfectly captured my feelings. Fast ball movement, few touches, filthy finish. No Hazard no problem. (But don't go Eden!)

https://streamja.com/MLmG

What on earth is going on at El Madrid, Antonio?

[Torpedo]

Read the first post in this page, kind of said it. To make matters worse Carvajal is injured, so the right side has been a hole for the first half. Lopetegui will be replaced, and things will improve a bit for a while, but the problem is rather deep, starting with the president and his ginormous ego. He should have listened to Zidane Now we have a bunch of players that aren't that good (like Isco), we've spent a lot of money in a goalkeeper that we didn't really need, and he's probably going to spend 600M in refurbishing the stadium instead of bringing the players that Zidane wanted to make the team keeping the pace after Cristiano left. Considering becoming an Atlético fan  

[Hopstretch]

Permit me to suggest that a little adversity may not be the worst thing for a fan base accustomed to nothing but the finest things in life. [emoji6]

[morphsci]

I’m certainly glad that Madrid at least had the good sense to sack Lopetegui. Never really liked him and never thought he was actually a very good manager. 

[Hopstretch]

Leo that's just mean. Keepers are people too!

https://streamable.com/2o9jr

https://streamable.com/sclh3

 

Also, how the fuck do you lose to Wolves on Wednesday and beat Man City on Saturday, Chelsea? Actually I don't care -- it happened. 

[mikeymad]

those clips !

indefensible ? - keeper owned

[Voltron]

Perfecter!

[Hopstretch]

Chelsea not playing very well recently, but every now and then ...

WTF is this ball from David Luis? And the take and finish by Pedro while being mauled by a defender twice his size. Redonkulous.

https://streamable.com/82f64

[morphsci]

I wonder why Pogba couldn't do this for Mourinho ...... oh that's right, Mourinho had him benched. 

 

 

[Hopstretch]

Antonio I hope you appreciate our boy. I think he is going to tear it up in your league. My favorite player ever.

 

Edited June 8, 2019 by Hopstretch

[Torpedo]

We'll see, Madrid's problem isn't only the lack of a goal machine like Cristiano, but who could better or just being an equal to replacement for Modric, Marcelo, Ramos and so many others that are well past their prime? Fortunately Neymar doesn't seem to be in the wishlist anymore  

[morphsci]

Madrid definitely has to rebuild, but this seems like a really good start. 

[Torpedo]

Sure, though I'd be happier if they didn't spend a silly amount in refurbishing the stadium and part of those 500+M were spent wisely in the rebuilding of the team. Zidane knows his shit but the stupid-know-it-all presi won't let him get what's needed nor free the dough.

[Hopstretch]

This is a dead dead thread but I cannot resist. 

 

[Torpedo]

Fuck Guardiola!

[morphsci]

41 minutes ago, Torpedo said:

Fuck Guardiola!

Yep! That’s where I was at.