Arq

Looking into the crystal ball? I'll give it a shot. - Brazil will NOT win the 2014 World Cup at home. Early money is on Germany. - Euro 2012 will be interesting, I think you'll see another good show from Turkey. - England will be strong for Euro 2012 with mostly their current squad, but will go very young for the 2014 World Cup. - Argentina will play Germany in the knockout round in the 2014 World Cup to make it three times in a row. And will lose three times in a row. - The USA will make at least the quarters of the 2014 World Cup. - Goal line technology will be in place but will be mostly worthless since it's really extra refs that's needed. - Adidas will use a different ball again.

I just read through the two pages of this post and I don't get the point. We, the fans, got to enjoy a close season (and at times bite our nails a little much). The league was won by one point. That's the way it finished. I don't see how that diminishes that accomplishment... AND We, the fans, got to enjoy the club's first... ever... DOUBLE! If someone had said to me that the EPL season would be full of close calls, up and downs, but eventually Chelsea would win the league by one point and win the FA Cup the next weekend... Um, I would take that in a heartbeat. A f**king quick one at that. You want to argue that it came down to one game? Ok, I'll bite. One game decided who would be champions... followed by another game... followed by another game. My point? 38 games decided the Premiership champions. It took 38 fully played games, not one but one after another after another. Now, someone tell me we'll enjoy another EPL season where we repeat as champions but only win the league by one point. Yeah, I'll take that too. FFS, enjoy it and get ready for the upcoming season!

I didn't read through the 43 pages of the Cole signing post on RAWK, but they seem generally ecstatic to sign him. Most also don't seem too worried about him being prone to injury. They also would do a Yossi for Cole swap any day of the week. I dunno. I really liked Cole but I'm not seeing this as the downfall of our club as some of them are implying... :unsure:

Some of my friends here in the US, that are LFC fans, are acting the same way. One even went as far as telling me that this signing GUARANTEES them making the top 4. Huh?

Not sure how many have seen this, but it looks like Liverpool is trying to scoop him up. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=809288&sec=transfers&cc=5901&cc=5901

The Capello Index is confusing. Maybe he should spend less time with his ratings and a little more time being the manager?

Well said stride. I would really like to know this as well. Maybe I'm odd and maybe I'll get flamed for this, but I could see the argument that the way the Spanish play is the real anti-football. The diving, the card-waving, the antics just scream against the basic premise of the game. It's not that they want to play, but they want to play the system. F that. Watching the video of Iniesta's dive was one thing (the more I see it, the more I rage over it... I despise blatant diving and it doesn't matter if it's Chelsea, Germany, or some other team I don't follow. I just hate diving.). Seeing Pique's actions disgusts me. I know that a lot happens elsewhere but wtf was that all about? Show some class people. They obviously have talent, and truthfully enough to be the best in the World. They always seem to escape judgment for some of their over-the-top actions and a lot of people buy into it. It's tiring.

I would love to see this signing happen. I don't think it's going to though. I don't think Bayern is going to budge no matter what the price.

I was thinking about doing this next Spring, so I'm going to keep an eye on this thread. How are those packages? The hotel and ticket packages. Are they pretty decent?

That was awesome... And somewhat gross all at the same time. :P

No, not the octopus! Can't we just blame Peter Kenyon fully? ;)

Interesting article. I hope you're right.

For the amount of money we're being linked with a Torres transfer? NO. Nuff said. :P

I didn't need to be reminded of this goal.

Congrats to Spain. Last three World Cups, the team that beats Germany wins the World Cup. Very bleh. Ok... showtime!

Watched Zombieland last night. Definitely not an intellectual movie, but pretty entertaining. Woody Harrelson was hysterical.

Yeah, people seem to think that since Germany went young, that if England (or anyone else) mimics them that they will have the same success. Germany did much more than that. Dropping JT and Lamps will make a massive difference for the England squad. I just don't think it'll be positive.

Go Dutch! I hope that this isn't a repeat of 2006 (and 2002)... The team that beats Germany wins the World Cup. Please let this not be a repeat of 2006. Except... Germany wins 3rd place game. :D

Exactly, I agree. So what if they had more shots? I didn't see Spain have a lot of real chances. I'm not saying that Spain wasn't the better team last night, but I didn't see a one-sided dominance either. Having more possession and more shots doesn't equal dominance. Argentina had more possession, overall shots, and shots on goal in their game against Germany. They didn't win.

They didn't break anything down in reality. Germany missed a marker on a set piece. That could have happened to any team at any time. Germany mark Puyol, I believe that game is still 0-0 because Germany wouldn't have played as open as they did the last 15 minutes. Yeah, Puyol missed a header early in the first half as well. I've seen many of those misses. I think Germany's defense played a great game really. They didn't allow many through balls and the ones that got through (minus Villa's open chance in the 6th minute or so that Neuer saved), were subdued pretty quickly. Germany lost because they made a mistake on a set piece. Who knows what would have happened if that header doesn't go in. It did, and Spain moves on. They deserved it.

That's definitely a plus!

Gutted. Just gutted over this one. The marking on Puyol was atrocious. Ugh... I'm just at a loss of words. It's made the rest of my evening sour. Time to focus on Euro 2012 for the national team after the third place game, and the upcoming Blues season.

I second this.

Same here! And the club would save a lot of money in the process...

Germany haven't won anything yet. They will have to get through Spain, and most likely the Dutch. IF Germany do win the whole thing, it's one heck of a road to travel... I was screaming at the top of my lungs for every German goal. I thought Schweinsteiger was fabulous. The whole team was really. And you're right Lady, they play as a team, not as a bunch of individuals. Being a Germany fan, I'm happy to see it. I think it's going to be a good decade for the DFB. :) And at the very least, it's been a great tournament for Germany. Not many expected this team to make it this far.