Champions League Fixtures, Round 2

Great goal from Aguero!!!!Assist from Maxi!!! What a player El Kun is!!!

Rune - how did he score?

Posted from  United States

Cavenaghi is not playing again for Bordeaux. Anyone know why? They’re winning but who cares?

Posted from  United States

Messi came on and scored 2 goals that turned it around for Barca

Posted from  United States

Bordeaux lost 3-1. That’s two champs league games Bordeaux have played and left out their top scorer. How can anyone complain about not winning when they do that?

Posted from  United States

Oh, and Maradona’s daughter has given birth to Aguero’s first son. That’s a boy born with the genes of Maradona and El Kun: it might not be very tall but that’s not a bad start for a little football player is it?

Posted from  United States

Leandro Romagnoli (remember him?) scored for Sporting as well. That’s it from me.

Posted from  United States

Great game by Aguero and beautiful goal, he took the ball down, shimmied made the goalkeeper think he was going to slot it bottom right and instead slotted it bottom left. Maxi didn’t have a bad game either, but the defence is still a bit creaky especially on high balls played into the box, and the players need to learn how to stop giving away possession and how to pass the ball to their own players rather than the opposition.

And Giannina is going to give birth in February, Kun isn’t a dad just yet.

Here’s a link to Aguero’s goal fo anyone who missed it:

http://rojadirecta.com/foros/viewtopic.php?t=48902

Aguero son will be the coolest kid in school.

Posted from  United States

how incredible is messis impact on barca. They looked like a very average team till he came in. Great through ball to eto( wasted it) and a great finish at the end. That goal was awesome. I love watching him play

Posted from  United States

A few words concerning Coloccini. I believe he’s a very good central defender. Far better than Burdisso, Heinze, Diaz, Milito. He needs to adapt to the Premier League, who is very hard physically and so fast, like FELIPE has mentioned. People don’t like Coloccini because he has done some big mistakes in the past, when he was incorrectly used (even by Pekerman). He has evolved a lot for 2 years and joined Newcastle when Real & Barca were wanting him. He preferred to be a starter and was right to go in a club that would give him the opportunity to play each game. Unfortunately, this club has become a zoo (with its Nigerians administrators) and changed its coach, Keegan. The atmosphere is terrible there. I don’t know how Newcastle play, who is bad or not. All I see is their poor results. If Coloccini did some mistakes with his club, I’m sure everyone here will spit on him and forget that he saved ourselves (and Basile?) in the last qualifying games (including Brazil!!!). I miss Pekerman and how he trusted in his boys.VAMOS FABIO COLOCCINI!

Sorry but you are absolutely wrong RUNE. But there are bigger issues than who’s better than Coloccini. You said it, Basile doesn’t prepare the future (which has no link with Colo). This is a real problem.

AJNYHC,
I don’t know if you watched Bayern-Lyon but De Michelis didn’t really score an own gol. He just deflected with a tiny touch another fantastic 50 meters free kick from Juninho! De Michelis played the game defensive midfielder and looked like an old Gago : )
The only 2 Brazilians I have loved to watch were on the field: Juninho & Ze Roberto (who has been used as a defensive mid, what a waste!).

TODDUTAH,
I think the lack of movements is our big offensive problem since 2006. Maxi seems to be asked to only defend by Basile. Before, he had a free role, he could go everywhere, left, right. And with Sorin & Saviola, he was always giving solutions to Riquelme. It brought magic on the field. Everybody was moving all together and re-positioning well when they lost the ball. Yes, our players must attack, defend, all together and coordinated. I’m giving this example about Maxi because he was one of our most active players we have had last years. With Basile, Maxi and all our players are completely static. Before, even Cambiasso was excellent offensively. Now, he’s asked with his 2 defensive mids teammates to stay in front of the 4 central defenders.

Good news for Figueroa. The move to Boca was expected for months! Now he has a chance to come back in the NT, isn’t it Basile?

I would have selected this group of 23 players for 2 years:

Carizzo, Romero
Coloccini, DeMichelis, Rodriguez, Garay, Heinze
Monzon, Zabaleta
Mascherano, Cambiasso, Lucho, Gago
Maxi, Di Maria, Zanetti
Riquelme, Messi
Tevez, Aguero, Palacio, Denis, Cavenaghi

Posted from  France

FELIPE,
I’m not sure but in CL, Blanc chosed to play 4-5-1 without Cavenaghi alone upfront because he believe he’s not strong enough. Or maybe he knows Bordeaux have no chances and he preserves Cavenaghi for the championship. Anyway, it’s ridiculous.

Posted from  France

Zarate

Posted from  Estonia

Laurent Blanc must have lost his mind when he decided to drop Cavenaghi. You always put your best team in the CL. Perhaps he should take note from Cluj.

Posted from  Malaysia

CL Albiceleste of the Night - Lionel Messi!!!

Posted from  Malaysia

As for Coloccini, he will get better once the situation in St.James Park is settled. I know he will. My main concern is that would the new coach have the same faith in him just as Keegen had?

Posted from  Malaysia

BTW, Franco Di Santo played about 15 mins for Chelsea yesterday. He looked a confident kid. Looked comfortable in the pitch. If you have some of Leto’s game for Liverpool in CL, you know what I mean. Leto looked petrified, Di Santo gives lots of hope.

Posted from  United States

Messi Messi Messi

Posted from  United States

Barcelona says they have agreement from AFA that Messi will not be playing in international friendlies this season.

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=893962

Posted from  United States

Javier Saviola
The Argentina striker on the tango, not joining Newcastle, and why he would never get it on with Maradona’s daughter

Buenos dias, Javier. How are you?
Buenos dias, Small Talk. Not too bad, thanks.

Let’s get down to business. You’re wearing the No9 shirt at Real Madrid this year. Bit of an improvement on the one you had last season, isn’t it?
I really didn’t like the No18. To be honest with you, I wanted the No7. That’s what I always wore at Barcelona and at River Plate. But that’s almost impossible here.

Well, it is Raul’s number …
OK. It’s completely impossible. You are probably right.

You don’t regret not joining Jonas Gutierrez and Fabrizio Coloccini on Tyneside?
[Pause] Well, there was talk about moving to Newcastle and a couple of other English clubs. But my coach said he had faith in me, so I decided to stay.

Was it Dennis Wise, Newcastle Brown, or the thought of going to the north-east that tipped the balance?
Nah, I just wanted to stay here in Spain. I would really like to go to England at some stage but I can’t be doing with arriving at airports and not understand anything. I’m actually having English classes now.

Good for you, but don’t let the tabloids hear that or they’ll link you to Bolton [Saviola stares at Small Talk; Small Talk remembers that they already have] Moving swiftly on then, tango or flamenco?
Tango. I heard a lot of flamenco when I was at Sevilla, and I really liked it, but it’s got to be tango.

Know any moves?
My mum does, but I haven’t got it in me. I can’t even string two steps together.

That’s two more than us. If you had to choose someone to teach you to dance, who would it be? Your glamorous Presidenta Cristina Kirchner or Spanish Princess Letizia?
[Thinks hard about this one] I think I’m going to go for Letizia. Until a decent politician comes around in Argentina I’ll always go for anyone else but her.

Typical Argentine asado, or a night on the tapas?
Asado.

[Saviola is now looking at Small Talk with contempt after the suggestion that tapas could claim superiority over the famed Argentine barbeque] Who would win a fight between the lion and the tiger?
That’s a tough one. I’ll go for the lion. He’s the king of the jungle, isn’t he?

Why do Argentines prefer using nicknames to surnames?
It’s just the way it is back home. If you’ve got a big nose, if you’re short or tall, you’ll get a nickname. But it’s not just in football. I don’t call any of my friends by their real name, it’s always by their nickname.

So what about your personal moniker?
I’m the Rabbit. After just three training sessions with the first team at River Plate, ‘Mono’ Burgos gave me mine. He saw the way I ran, and it stuck.

Your type of striker is referred to as the fox in the box in Britain. They weren’t tempted to call you the Zorrito?
No. In Argentina we actually say the mouse in the box, because of the speed of movement. But you aren’t the first person to tell me that.

You know Coloccini from your Argentina under-20s days. Has he always stuck with the same hair stylist?
Fabrizio has kept his hair like that for a long time. We used to laugh at it when he was younger. But he’s a great guy. He has a big personality and he is a very loyal person.

Who is the best player in the world?
Leo Messi, without doubt. He decides games, you just give him the ball and you know he will do something with it. Very few players have his ability. He is fast, and hard for defenders to stop when he has the ball. He’s a fantastic player.

That’s a glowing reference for a man who was named after Lionel Ritchie. What about the best player of all time?
Small Talk, you are asking an Argentine that question. Of course it’s Diego.

We’ll take it you’re talking about Maradona …
Just watching him play was amazing. You also have to remember what he did for Argentina. He put the country on the map for its football, and made people respect us for what he did on the pitch.

Is it true that Maradona once asked you for your shirt?
Yes it is. It was at a time when Diego was really ill, he was in a bad way. It was perhaps the worst he has ever been. I went to visit him in hospital and gave him a shirt of mine. Then I was flicking through a magazine a couple of weeks later and there was a photo of him coming out of the hospital wearing the shirt that I gave him. I almost died!

[Small Talk considers pointing out that so did Diego, but thinks better of it]
I had no idea he would do that. I felt really proud. And he also once asked me for a photo with his two daughters, at an awards ceremony in Argentina. I was leaving and he saw me in the parking lot, so he asked me for the photo.

One his daughters, Giannina, is shacked up with Kun Aguero. Were you never tempted to court Senorita Maradona?
[Slightly shocked at the thought] Nooooooo, you can’t mess with Diego. No way. Don’t go there.

Fair enough. We’ll leave it for now Javier, thanks for your time.
It’s been a pleasure, Small Talk.

Posted from  United States

Mascherano ready for Robinho: http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=893979

Posted from  United States

Genoa coach Gasperini hails Milito after Coppa Italia win
03.10.08 | tribalfootball.com

Genoa coach Gianpiero Gasperini was satisfied with their Coppa Italia victory over Ravenna last night.

A late double from Diego Milito was enough for Genoa to win 2-1 and Gasperini said: “I am satisfied, although we have suffered so much.

“The game has allowed me to see some players that we hope to use during the season.

“Milito? What can you say? He deserves every compliment.”

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Posted from  United States

Nice interview aj (you don’t mind if I call you aj do you?) but I have to say: please no more Argentines at mediocre English clubs!

Posted from  United States