₦airaland Forum

A little over 20mins to gametime

Starting XI
Neuer – Lahm, Boateng, Dante, Badstuber – Gustavo, Schweini – Müller, Kroos, Robben – Mandzukic

This Swansea ase rufe ni won. Can't sell Michu now sef cos of the value differential and its obvious the muchacho is running out of gas. Thank goodness for Vorm

Vettel and Hamilton presently controlling things in qualifying. I like the RB's chances on this track! Seems well suited for their cars

JeSoul: I'd like to defend Romney just to balance the scales but you're making it difficult lol. I don't disagree with much of your criticism, he is truly a tough sell and many of the Tea Party movement have even sworn not to vote for him. The debates will tell us so much more, lets wait and see...I don't think Obama will blow him out of the water, it will be interesting.

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See this one...I'm glad I responded to your posts fully - that way anyone reading today, tomorrow or in 20years time will know that you're full of hot air and not much else . Its easy to throw out catch phrases you get from your weekly liberal newsletter, a whole nother ball game to actually critically think & defend them.

Like you said, the last thing you want to do is debate abi you know you cannot answer for yourself at all at all . I still love you sha, yeye boy lol.

Offtopic!

Iya have u abandoned Tom Brady already?? Lol no be so oh I thought u had left this joint!! Season don start na

So Eli and the Giants unleashed a beatdown on the Panthers. It wasn't a pretty sight at all

The Mighty Steelers vs Raiders! We should win this although I'm worried about Heath Miller,James Harrison and Troy Palomalu missing practice

3 interesting games this weekend
Chargers vs Falcons (should be a high scoring affair with two of the best QB's in the game and very generous defences as well)

Broncos vs Texans (Expect the Texans solid D to give Peyton Manning a work out)

And the star game and repeat of last season's AFC championship game

Ravens vs Patriots (Huge huge game! Both teams coming of losses and would want to make a statement! The Ravens in particular must still be hurting from that narrow loss cos it was a game they could easily have won

Hehehehe Ibime u are in rare form tonight

StarBoard: A-40 is a Bayern fan.
Interesting.
My 2-cents is that I think Bayern have an excellent chance of regaining the title.
Dortmund don't seem the same since the departure of Kagawa.
If they win the games they normally should (home ties, vs newly-promoted sides), they should be able to put Dortmund under pressure.

Bayern has always been like that old girlfriend we all have that we never really gained closure from. Like Prince Charles and Camilla
Its too early to predict tho! However if the team can stay injury free then yes we have a massive chance! The squad depth is what gives me the most joy! In just one transfer window we where able to clear out all the duds bar Van Buyten.
Dortmund is dangerous what they have going for them is teamwork! Man for man they shouldn't be a threat but they play as a unit work very hard for each other and play at damn near F1 tempo which over the last 2 seasons we have really struggled with

shymexx: I don't think Alex Smith is an elite QB, Frank Gore and the 49ers' running game is taking the pressure off him... And his OFL is great compared to most of the other QBs in the NL...

Alex Smith and Joe Flacco are still 3rd tier QBs..

Maybe not elite but he is knocking the door as his passes without INT record is showing. Flacco I would not rate as high as Alex Smith right now
I'd like to see your list of 2nd tier QB's tho

First tier
Manning (when healthy)
Brees
Brady
Rodgers
Roethlisberger

2nd tier
Eli
Matt Ryan
Rivers
Smith
Romo

3rd tier

Vick
Flacco
Schaub
Stafford

Manning picked 3 times. His arm strength was also suspect so one has to wonder if last week's heroics was a one-off!

Eli in action tonight against another young and exciting QB Cam Newton

dayokanu: Now this is absolutely ridiculous and insane.

Borrousia mochengladbach missed a last minute penalty in their Europa cup game today

4 German clubs have missed penalties now this week alone

That's not even the strange part what is strange is all 4 BL teams drew their games

For me our first real test! @ Schalke on Saturday. We can't afford to faff around cos the Dortmund I saw tearing Leverkussen apart mean business and would not give up their title without a fight

. Its too early in the season to bring in the band boys I for play mkpokirikpo for una dis nite

chic2pimp: At least when we last won ours Nairaland and Facebook were already in existence.

Now I ask again when una last win the CL the the twin towers were still standing true or false?

When last did Italy win the Euros?

chic2pimp: Those ones won centuries don't count abeg ..........It's Quality rather than quantity that matters. I expect y'all to know that since your league has not prouced a winner since Metusellah was an Infant.

On the Rafa thingy it's still all whispers and rumours. Tbh I'll give allegri more time if it was up to me. A doubt the combination of Fergie and Mou woulda done a better job with the squad we've got at present

By that logic more than 60% of Madrid's titles don't count as well! We have won 4 European titles! I know a few clubs that are dying to win one! At least a Bayern fan would not kill cow if we win the UCL

When was the last time Italy won the Euros I ask again?

Your team is shitty but Allegri is generally clueless! The talents of Ibra and T.Silva masked his deficiencies as a manager

dayokanu: Kroos, Robben, Schweini, Lahm, Ribery, Mandz all have missed penalties

Maybe Muller should be he one or Neuer

Maybe Mario is protesting for being left on the bench for a misfiring Pizarro. Seriously it is becoming alarming! Don't these wiggas train for it? For all the wonderful stuff these players do on the pitch its now become easier to miss from 12 yards these days than to actually score

Take nothing from FCB we where dominant from start to finish

Bayern alumni Valdez pulled one back and Mandzukic misses!! Shiiiit!

Oooshay! Kroos also seems to be on a purple patch! Its good to see the kid adding goals to his game

Schweini would be fine we just have to hope he is healthy this season

dayokanu: Madzukic for Pizarro who has been anonymous

Pizarro has been awful for a bit now! Good thing Mandzukic is firing

Gustavo on Martinez off

chic2pimp: When una last win the CL the Twin towers were still standing true or false?

I heard you guys want to hire Benitez.

chic2pimp: When una last win the CL the Twin towers were still standing true or false?

They all count right? No face your team wey no fit beat common Anderlecht for house! Shey u remember say na only 3 teams dey go from Italy this year

3 straight games he's scored now! Is the Schweini of old back?

chic2pimp: C'mon now y'all should be used to it now. After all the last you lot won the CL the twin towers was still standing

Hehehehe come and talk when you actually win a game at San Zero . Berlusconi was still PM when u won your last game there

That's the key thang

dayokanu: Surprising lineup.

Well they should get the job done

Its easier for a coach to rotate with what we have now compare to usami, Olic, Petersen, Breno, Van Buyten and Pranjic we had last season

Nerlinger! Smh! oversaw some awful deals

Man seeing the UCL trophy being paraded round the bridge is haunting!

Starting XI
Neuer – Lahm, Boateng, Dante, Badstuber – Martínez, Schweini – Robben, Kroos, Ribéry – Pizarro
Tommy Muller and Mandzukic conspicuously absent from the start! I guess the game at Schalke is on Juup's mind

medjai: IMO, Mou complicated things and overrated City by playing Essien in the midfield. He was merely another man in the midfield, not sure of what his role was. Madrid would have been far more dangerous with Ozil in that advanced role could have scored more in the 1st half. They could have killed the game in the 2nd half by playing another CM. What happened was the reverse...Ozil's introduction made them more penetrative and he assisted Marcelo's goal.

Anyway, Mou should thank his stars they won the game. I can't imagine the shit-storm a loss would have caused.

I think Mourinho just wanted to make sure he secured the midfield cos City was essentially playing 4-5-1 he probably believed or expected creativity to come from his widemen! I also was shocked with Essien's inclusion but maybe Mou wanted to shake things up a bit

dayokanu: based on experience Villa and Torres were the top strikers. Villa was crocked and VdB would rather use no striker than try out Torres. The other option was to use Rookies like Lloriente and Negredo who had prior to Euro cup started 5 games each for Spain

He rather went with the no striker option than Play the useless Torres

That means to say Torres na short 1? Indictments don't get any bigger than that! If playing a false 9 was Del Bosque's de-facto preference then why did Torres start the Croatia game after scoring twice against Ireland? That is what the pro-Torres faction would not answer

nateevs: Is this percieved tiredness by a journalist the same reason Soldado was not selected as well? This numpty is caught right in middle of proving that Llorente' s tiredness and Torres' loss of form, though suppossedly known before the tourney, is reason they didn't play in it and proving that although the situation of players was known before the Euros began, it still was not enough to take along an in-form and "a striker who wasn' t tired" .

Very stupid argument when a sensible conclusion was that Del Bosque was using Barca's false 9 tactics.

Barca's false 9 tactics where used because Del Bosque did not trust his strikers! Isn't this obvious?

medjai: City set up definsively too but it's understandable. They were away.
Mou's plan was to play on the counter. He expected City to attack. That's why Mou started Essien...He wanted someone that could play in the 'hole' and could also fall into midfield to help with defensive work.
They had more penetration once Ozil came on. They were limited to long range speculative efforts in the 1st half with few clear cut chances.

Few clear cut chances? I can remember Joe Hart making 3-4 point blank saves in that time period! Granted Madrid fizzled out around the half hour mark or so

Man! What a game! And while Mourinho's starting lineup might have appeared cautious it was deceptively offensive! Man City could barely hold on to the ball for the first 35 mins or so! I don't think Casillas made a save the entire 1st half.

Props to Madrid for fighting till the end they where the better side and deserved the win!! Man City seized the initiative when they had to but couldn't hold on in the end. They have nothing to be ashamed of tho! Few teams would come out of the Bernabeu with anything

debosky: That is where your argument falls apart - if Torres was the only CF available to VDB then your argument may be plausible - if there were other strikers available and VDB did NOT play them, then that points to a deliberate tactical decision not purely dependent on the form of any single player.

Or are you saying that Torres that was so poor was the only choice available to Del Bosque in a squad that contained Llorente and Negredo?

Ohh on the contrary it doesn't!! My argument stand gidigba! not playing Negredo,Llorente is quite understandable due to their lack of pedigree in international football! What is not understandable is why a so-called "world-class" striker was benched for the better part of the tournament? He was quick to jettison the "no-striker" policy when Spain struggled against Italy
But went back after his strikers failed to function! Torres against Croatia,Negredo against Portugal

Dortmund almost left it too late! Missing a penalty! Its key they take six points from Ajax who would most likely be the whipping boys of the group funny enuff Schalke missed one too

debosky: You guys always take things too far - were there no other strikers in Spain's squad?

Who was the 'recognised' CF at Barcelona last season? Messi? Alexis? VDB simply carried the 'false 9' system of Barcelona and perfected it on the international stage - little/nothing to do with Torres!

Y'all have now turned it into a Torres issue. SMH

Nansense!! If Torres was not dud for Chelsea Del Bosque woulda played him! Is it a Torres that was not even guaranteed a spot in the team that woulda started before? We are not talking about other strikers we are talking about Torres!
Villa who just came back from an eight months layoff has already banged in 3 goals for club and country

chic2pimp: He was not named in the squad because he did not get enough game time. Still did not stop him from winning the Golden boot though.

Top-scorer for a team that won it all and he still didn't make Team of the tournament! That shows you even his goals where not taken seriously

chic2pimp: Crap for two years?

2010/2011 = 10 league goals in 37 appearance(quite a number of those appearances were as a sub because he kept on having niggling injuries. Plus he moved to a new club that january and we all know most players need time acclimatise to new surroundings)

Yes crap for two years for both club and country! To a new club in the same league? I don't know what kind of adjustments you are talking about! Since Chelsea is presently better than Liverpool and more or less play the same pattern but with inferior players

chic2pimp: 2011/2012 = 6 league goals in 32 appearances. Probably the only year you can say he wasn't up to par

Torres has been sub-par for a while now! People can argue that well Chelsea has won the UCL since his arrival but I can tell you Paolo Ferreira has played a bigger role in that happening than Fernando

chic2pimp: He was not named in the squad because he did not get enough game time. Still did not stop him from winning the Golden boot though.

Lol why did he not get enough game time?? Torres was so shyte Del Bosque had to try what has never been done before! Try and win the Euros without a recognized center forward starting games