It was a fantastic game from a neutrals standpoint.

the transmission was crap and blurry and headache-inducing so i stopped watching & i'm catching up with the weekend's goals. here it's barely sunday morning (sorta) and everything is already over in europe already. blagh. lucky i have the "fox soccer" website that lets me watch english games on replay.

anyway stuttgart dominated the game and frankfurt yeah were crap during the first half. the last goal if i recall was a clear offside but a pity because it would have been cool. now schalke is 2nd on the table. the bayern game was great though so if you can catch it in some interweb thing the 2nd half was pretty thrilling, though if you're a bayern fan you'll be screaming why the fuck why. still fun game to watch.

anyway you wanted to root for a loser team so you got your wish. also west ham got spanked, yes? you crazy masochist! i saw them briefly yesterday.

see if you can catch that bayern game though. leverkusen got lucky and bayern couldn't fin the net. fuck.

ps - tuned back to river/boca and it's stil 1-0 for river plate at halftime (i saw the first goal, it was like the first few minutes). the teams have no great stars these days though, and both teams are currently mid-table.

pps - im gonna watch the liverpool and man-u/chelsea games on repeat this week. speaking of english games, i was happy to see man city come back in the 2nd half. i had forgotten they have so many players i like. not sure about the coach drama but i've been trying to read up on it (he doesn't talk to the players?)

Mancini's just one of those awkward characters. And when he u-turned on his statements that neither Tevez or Balotelli would ever play for him again, I think he lost a lot of players' and fans' respect. Now he's criticising Micah Richards for questioning his three at the back formation. Ultimately though, I just don't think he's a good enough manager to meet the expectations of Man City's owners. To be fair, few are, and with Fergie set for retirement and nobody knowing for sure if Guardiola will even manage again, that only leaves Mourinho, who I think is wanted by almost everyone but Man City will be among the few that could afford him.

I've always liked Man City. I like teams that are traditionally in the shadow of bigger local rivals - I like Everton, too, for that very reason. And same as you, I like a lot of MC's players, especially Yaya Toure, Kompany and Aguero and of course Balotelli. But I'm really losing respect for Mancini, as a manager and increasingly as a man, too.

that's weird cuz i was just reading his wikipedia page (hey, it's as accurate as the encyclopaedia britannica) and i found out that:

-he's got a contract till 2017!

-he's famous for doing well at cups for the past 10 years

- was the most successful manager of recent times @ inter

- won the premiere league for man city for the first time in 40+ years

- he tends to tell the media the opposite of what he means

...

however from what im reading his problem is not lack of tactical or strategic know-how but more on how he deals with people yes? what do you mean by "not good enough"? i mean--- not good in what sense? no football know-how or no people skills?

By not good enough, I suppose I mean as an all round person/manager. He's too impulsive and tinkers for the sake of it. Nobody can argue with his record but I do think he was the reason Man City almost lost the title last season, thanks to his mismanagement of Tevez, Balotelli, Silva and Dzeko. Had Fergie managed that team, I'm convinced they'd have sewn up the title weeks before they eventually did. Apart from that, there's just something slightly unconvincing about Mancini, at least for me.

The West Ham thing wasn't really a choice; I was brought up literally a few minutes walk away from their ground. They're a nice team to support though. Never successful enough to attract glory hunters but sometimes good enough to have an occasional good season in the Prem. They used to have a reputation for playing really attractive football, too, but that was a long time ago. Now, under Allardyce, they're pretty lumpen. Believe it or not, Barack Obama is meant to be a fan.

i see. i thought the problem w/ tevez had to do w/ tevez himself-- which is why the argentina national team doesn't want him (though it might have to do w/ lots of reasons not just discipline). and balotelli is famously out of control. but i don't follow the prem close enough to know these things and i wasn't aware of him having problems w/ other players. damn. i read that the herman-munster-lookalike lescott is unhappy as well.

alright thanks for the chance to catch up w/ the news. man city has lots of players i like (hart, lescott, kompany, higuain, tevez, toure, agüero, balotelli... i actually don't like silva or nasri but eh) and it's suprising to see them struggle like that.

we'll see how things develop then... so man city is now just 1 point behind chelsea it can't be such a debacle can it? maybe things will turn around. hmmm...

oooh! i see! also, looks like katy perry's tits are fans too. which i'm all for.

well then if you wanna watch a game from a team other than frankfurt don't miss the replay (if you can get it) of the bayern/bayer game (yes, one "n" difference). i know i already mentioned it but the 2nd half was great. really.

I agree, but the problem becomes Mancini's because he so regularly says one thing then does another. What authority can he have with players when he's publicly sacking them one day then taking them back the next? He criticises Micah Richards whose probably thinking, then fire me, just like you did Tevez and Balotelli.

so his problem is that he runs his mouth with the press then?

i read that this had worked for him during last season by relieving their players of pressure to go for the title, while secretly believing they still could win.

however, triangulation (and with the press, no less) is not a good long-term strategy, i'd agree with that-- triangles are terrible for loyalty-- this is some theory from my old shrink that i'd be happy to explain perhaps some day but basically if you recruit an outsider to gang up against your partner instead of telling them things to their face in private, the connection will go to shit very quickly.

To be fair, it's just my interpretation of things. I went from liking Mancini at the beginning of last season to really doubting him at the end of it. All managers talk shit to the press but what seperates say Fergie or Wenger is that they always seem in control of it, where Mancini just seems to speak too much from raw emotion - which initially seems quite refreshing but soon just becomes odd. Ultimately though, I'm not saying he's a bad manager, just that City's owners are rich enough to get the very best there is and I simply can't put Mancini in that category.

As someone who regularly finds themselves recruited as just such a go-between, I entirely agree.

so i saw his mocking celebration by taking a dive in front of that dude and i ask HOW CAN YOU NOT LIKE HIM.

also: taking the coin and putting it in his boot: hilarious.

suárez rules and this last match just confirmed it.

a pity for the ref's bad call but it seems it was a weekend full of bad calls. the gringo commentators here were screaming for "video assist technology."

anyway if you wanna witness true scandal, check out the highlights from the juventus/catania game. *atrocious*

west ham have katy perry and obama as a fan, Palace have jo brand and kid jensen

says alot

Fuck Suarez, he just rides Forlan's coat tail..

Fuck Suarez, he just rides Forlan's coat tail..

pfffthaaattttttaaaaahaaaaaaalololol

Or taking them back 4 months later. That's exactly my problem with Mancini. He just needs to show them who's boss. I don't get to see Man City very often at all, but coincidence had it I was watching the game vs Ajax and what was the most telling for me was when Man City were behind and Balotelli and Kolarov were arguing over who got to take a free kick. Kolarov won and after that it seemed as if Mario didn't feel like doing anything at all anymore. As if his team weren't on the fringe of elimination in the most important competition just two months into the season. With an attitude like that they're not going to get anywhere this season. And it's Mancini who is to blame for that. Fergie (or any decent manager) would never allow something like that...

forlan is garbage now being recycled in the brazilian league. his time is over.