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.