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.