i know--picking 5 albanians as teammates!

Don't mock Albania, they could be one of the shock qualifiers from this new expanded groups structure.

lol no mocking, i was just pointing at italian neighbors where his teammates could have come from-- i was gonna say croatia (some old italians were born in dalmatia) but picked albania out of a hat instead. illyrians, then! :D

England Italy was decent. A draw seems fair though either team could've won. Strange to be in a position where Kane not scoring now feels like a major disappointment, as though he's gonna do it every time he plays.

Thought Barkley was very good when he came on, and we definitely miss Carrick when he's not playing.

holy shit i missed switzerland-USA! COMPLETELY forgot. o well. big fucking deal.

1-1 though! very highly meritorious. switzerland is good--- they played real players not benchwarmers it looks like (lichsteiner, shaqiri)

to tie with them at home is not an easy feat. jozy recarded! ha ha ha. damn.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/...ional-friendly

go klinsi go!

Never saw it but noticed you're still steadfastly holding on to your tradition of losing leads to late goals.

Dude i know i totally forgot about the USA Swizz game too! Though im not fond of low scoring draws in otherwise meaningless games so glad i didn't miss much.. big surprise USA had a 1-0 lead at the half, almost gave it all away in the second.. this trend has to stop yo



Also 12 shots on goal vs 5?? 8 corners to 1?? My only real beef with Klinsmann is that USA used to be REALLY good at getting and scoring from corners which has radically changed since Klinsmann took over..

under bradley the "tradition" used to be giving up the first goal.

I wasn't making points comparing managers and maybe it is progress. Although regularly losing leads late in games seems more like an issue of fitness related concentration or a lack of confidence, which does seem odd for a Klinsman team. Maybe he's using the wrong crystals.

I found this very very interesting because since bball is my primary sport whether playing or watching i always analyze futbol through a bball lens. Formations that are based on ball movement and spacing are what naturally attract my attention. Futbolers who sprint quickly to attack the gol remind me of the bball "attack the basket" and "driving to the lane..

I think it is amazing that an NBA player who because of his unique and singular talent at his position completely revolutionized basketball cites futbol as his muse.

tomorrow: bayern/dortmund!!

1-0 at halftime! amazing goal by lewandowski enabled by a great run from muller

i watching it on a splotchy slideshow that passes for a stream ha ha

(better than nothing!)

good game so far (from what i can see). started with abundant fouls which the ref tamped down with a couple of judicious yellow cards. dortmund's defense a bit "holy" on the flanks.

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this is on btsport 2!

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thiago alcántara coming in 1st time post-surgery

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neuer amazing stopping a reus free kick at 88' (should have been a penalty but diff story)

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aaand i think we can safely say dortmund is out of the champions league next year. maybe they have a chance at europa.

bielsa article on ZM

haven't finished reading yet but i'm posting for anyone interested

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2015/04/...and-negatives/

So it looks increasingly like West Ham are gonna get Moyes to replace Sam. From Shrek to Gollum. Fantasy football indeed.

Excellent article, thanks. Bielsa's system will always have its weaknesses but who wouldn't love to watch more football played the way he sets teams up?

Another great Bielsa article

http://www.theguardian.com/football/...-ham-marseille

"Bielsa to West Ham remains an unlikely dream. But take a step back and there is a case to be made here. West Ham’s fans demand attacking, progressive football, which is pretty much all Bielsa is interested in. The current owners seem to want a long-term plan and Bielsa is all about plans. This is a club that has traditionally allowed its mangers to settle and which also isn’t afraid of a certain academic intensity, from Malcolm Allison and the Cafe Cassettari set, with their tactical arguments over the squeeze ketchup bottle; to Ron Greenwood – in his own way a kind of homespun proto-Bielsa, – the tracksuit obsessive with his Hungarian fixation, his endless hours on the training pitch before eventually being dragged off in a daze still muttering about plans and formulae."

What I've been saying all along. Hallelujah!

gladbach 2 dortmund 0 @ halftime

ayayay!

Yeah I can't see either happening to be honest. It seems like Moyes is getting into the swing of things at Sociedad.

I say Ian Holloway.

i never thought i'd be saying this but i think klopp needs to go.

his team permutations are the worst possible ones, as are his substitutions.

when his system works it's a beautiful thing, but when it doesn't he has no alternative.

gladbach 3 dortmund 1. gladbach is great though. but dortmund was dortmund for maybe 10 good minutes-- the rest was a fucking mess.

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and you are all invited to sebastian kehl's retirement party.

I know Man U really want Hummels.

As for Klopp, who would you want in to replace him?