With this season coming to a end and both CL and EL reaching its climax stage,decided to create this thread and see what's in store for next season. Starting with eredivisie if I'm not wrong then both PSV and Ajax will have to go through the qualifications to reach the CL and boy they both could be in for a treat as they could come up with some of thecbig names given the how things are unfolding in other leagues.this means one will seeded in the playoffs and other one will have to come through the qualifying rounds. I guess it will be a big task for the runner up but again the coefficient could influence the seeding for the winner. So if Ajax wins eredivisie they could be at a disadvantage. EPL,I think you can pencil in Leicester and Tottenham and Man City and Arsenal to be 3or 4 or vice versa. Unless Man United wins this week, this is how I would expect the standings to be on the last match day. Bundasliga,you can pencil in Bayern and Dortmund.3&4 is still up for grabs and it could well be either Hertha,Leverkusan or schalke.all are one or two points behind each other. Series A. Again Juventus already has one hand on the Scudetto and Roma and Napoli should should battle in out for 3&4. Spain ,I dont think they will be any suprises from here as top 4 should be barce,Atletico Madrid,Real,Villareal. France, the race is still on for 3 and it could be either Lyon,Rennes or Nice. This could be tight as the form of Dembele ( Rennes) and Ben Arfa (Nice) have been phenomenal thus far and it could go down to the wire. Apart from above I will only add Porto from primeira league who should finish third behind sporting. The rest can come up through qualifying stages. With this again it looks like it will be second tier competition (EL) for Dutch teams with the chances high both PSV and Ajax will bomb out of CL qualifications. What do you guys think?????
Leicester, Tottenham, Arsenal, City...Bayern, Dortmund, Leverkusen...Juventus, Roma, Napoli...Barca, Real, Atletico... only 2 dutch players in this list, one is old and injured a lot, the other one is always injured and never plays. This is really embarassing for dutch football. You can find more croatian, suiss or polish players.
I think the league winner gets automatic qualification next season but not the following season but I could also be wrong.
That is right but those rarely had a 'patient' holistic player development model like Netherlands had. Remember that e.g. Davids was nothing spectacular at the age of 19-20. He became great just when he was 22. Bergkamp was just a nice gimmick at the age of 19 etc. The typical 'Dutch' way is now like a boomerang in your face when each year your best 'MyScout' prospects are taken away at the age of 15-16.
intresting lineup from Blanc. 3-5-2. Van der Weil in his favourite position. oh no Aguero misses the penalty. will this miss cost Man City.
Well, PSG are out and one can say that Zlatan has failed when it mattered. I donot think we will have any trouble dealing with Sweden in the WCQ.
Rumor has it Ibra is a major dick to have on your team. And it looks like vdWiel will move on this summer: http://m.ad.nl/ad/m/nl/38855/Buiten...ij-PSG.dhtml?originatingNavigationItemId=5585
PSG have always failed to live up to expectation in knockout stages. even last season when they played Barcelona they never looked like a team which really could.take Barcelona down to the wire. the formation vs Man City also looked suspicious as there was no venom in their attack. especially in the midfield
Well, I was talking about the first match from Ibra. The return in Manchester PSG after the injury sub missed their entire normal midfield and that fast striker. But that wouldnot matter if Ibra didnot fail in Paris.
They were undone by crap defending in Paris. The loss of Matuidi for the return leg was devastating to them as they had no really fast player to cause ManCity any problems. Two of my least favorite teams Madrid and ManCity are now through to the semifinals.
Hopefully the pairing will be that ManCity and Real are not put in a semi match up, otherwise one of them goes through. So Barca vs PSG and Real vs Bayern and that Robben may scre a hattrick in Bernabeu.
This was the same for every nation before 2000, Zidane was no one until 23-24, Henry 22-23... I guess only some brazilian players had early developpement. Remember when Owen started to score goals with Liverpool at the age of 18, he had such a big mediatic interest on him. Now everything is faster. The players developpement, they roles they get with big clubs, the speed of the game... This happens to other big nations too, Holland takes belgian and danish teenagers as well and many of them succeed. Eriksen and Vertonghen played with dutch youngsters, and they were better than them. Pogba and Griezmann are now two of the best players he world and they were taken away from France at the age of 16 and 14. Why couldn't Rekik, Bruma, Van Aanholt, Ozyakup and many others make it in the big clubs they signed for ? Because none of them is elite. Even now. Bruma and Ozyakup became good players but not elite. That's just a quality problem.
PSG lost yesterday (I know you made a simple mistake) and you assume Barca will prevail over Athleti today. I'm not so sure; if Athleti can snatch a goal and defend like crazy they will win the tie on away goals.
Owen, Ronaldo, Maldini, Guardiola, Giggs, Raul Gonzalez, Albertini. Maybe I forget some. Netherlands/Ajax had always a massive focus on positional play. It was an important pillar. Typically this is only fully mastered at a certain age, and with a steady development (playing against good peers). You also see it at Barcelona, and the difference with the bought players. Eriksen is not really world class either and was always seen as the most talented and technically gifted Dane since Laudrup. Someone who picked up things quickly, and could adapt quickly. Denmark does better imho but hasn't a world class system. Laudrup himself left Denmark at the age of 18. 30 years ago. But what goes wrong in your view? What does a country as Belgium, Portugal and Denmark do better.
Called it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Is there any team in Europe that is as well managed and disciplined as Athleti? I hope the win the whole thing.
The match commentators on the US feed had it right. Barca have no plan B when MSN don't get untracked. Athleti totally closed everything down tonight and Barca could not defend the narrow one goal lead that they brought into the match.
Lessster city. Funnily enough the team I think is most likely to beat them is Man City. Mostly just because of the style of play and that it doesnt play into Atletico's hand. Atletico is so strong against RMadrid and should be favourites against any (if then still) under-strength Munchen.. Man City vs Atletico would be an ugly boring ass game I imagine though..
It would have been interesting if Barca were granted the deserving PK in the final minutes of extra time when Koke clearly handled the ball inside the box. I suspect with the poor form, Messi would have missed the spot kick.
It was Gabi, and Iniesta the guy who shot the ball should have been off for his handling of the ball in his own penalty box earlier @ the PK anyway Would have loved the extra-time though, the carnage and amount of cards there would be... Hate cheating in the game, but when 2 spanish cheating teams do it against eachother it's kinda fun to watch.