Looks like we'll be missing Carsley -- out for a month. Guess we know where Neville will be playing! http://www.evertonfc.com/news/index.php?page_id=7151 Bent and Osman are also injured, but they are supposed to be back before Tuesday. My thoughts about the game: I'm very pessimistic about it, moreso than normal. I really don't think we're going to do well. Either we'll underestimate them or we'll just flat out play like crap. I *hope* that the pre-season friendlies are no indication of what's going to happen, but something tells me they are. I think I'll have to watch this one with my hands over my eyes. Ugh.
Are they showing the Everton-Villarreal match in Holland? The only match they appear to be showing in the U.S. is ManUre - Debrecen on PPV
Nope, but I know people who know people so I can always get them. I am probably going to the Johan Cruijff Shield tonight -- this will make my second game in two weeks. I love Europe!! Oh, and the CL match is on ITV2, so I should most definitely get to see it at the pub. I get Man Utd and Bolton at my apartment on Canal+. P.S. Ajax isn't likely to start in a week -- the opener against Den Haag was nixed by the Amsterdam mayor due to too many high-profile events. It's supposed to be rescheduled.
Yeah, this may not be pretty. I can see a scrappy draw at home (which is almost as good as a loss, given the format) but I fear we may get our butts handed to us in Spain. With the additions of Davies and Neville, I think our midfield has improved, our defense may be slightly better with Kroldrup, but our attack... It looks the same on paper, but our preseason has not been good in this area. We are going to have to rely on getting lots of goals from the midfield (come on Cahill!) or hope Beattie can start lighting it up. And that's a painful sentence to have to write...
I dunno if this helps or hurts, but here's some info on our opponents. 1. Villarreal have been on a steep upward curve since the Millennium. They only reached the Spanish top division for the first time in 1998. They were immediately relegated but returned in 2000 and have stayed since. 2. The club’s colours are yellow and blue. 3. Because of their yellow shirts the club are known as the ‘Yellow Submarine’ and until a club song was specially written in 2001, the side’s anthem was the Beatles number. 4. Last season Uruguayan Diego Forlan was top scorer in Spain (yes that Forlan) and shared the Golden Boot with Thierry Henry. 5. Villarreal’s stadium is called the ‘Madrigal’ and holds a compact 26,000. 6. The club have twice reached the UEFA Cup proper from the Intertoto Cup. 7. In 2003-04, they went all the way to the UEFA cup semi-finals, only to lose to their biggest rivals Valencia. 8. This will be their first tilt at the Champions League. The team qualified by finishing 3rd in La Liga behind Barcelona and Real Madrid. 9. The club makes a habit of reviving strikers who failed in England. Up front with Forlan is Argentinian Luciano Figueroa, who couldn’t get a regular place at Birmingham City. 10. If there is a collective noun for Argentinians (‘ a glut of Argentinians’?) then it applies to Villarreal. Joining Figueroa are the gifted Juan Riquelme , the unfeasibly hairy utility player Juan Sorin, plus a couple of other gritty defenders. 11. The club have lost their keeper Pepe Reina to Liverpool and have again gone to Argentina to sign Manuel Barbosa as a replacement. 12. As well as Forlan and the Argentinians, there is a Bolivian, Ecuadorean and a Brazilian presence at the club- and some Spaniards as well. 13. During their 2003-4 UEFA Cup run, the team eliminated sides of the calibre of AS Roma, Galatasary and Celtic. 14. The club have a state of the art training complex where they run a youth academy and sides at almost every age level and two women’s teams. 15. They are managed by Chilean Manuel Pellegrini, who previously had charge of River Plate and several other teams in South America. 16. Among the Spanish contingent are Jose Maria Romero, a striker with Atletico Madrid and AC Milan on his CV and a recruit from Las Palmas- midfield grafter Josico, who starred in the two Intertoto triumphs. 17. Key men at the back are two experienced Argentinians; Gonzalo Rodriguez who has international caps and worked with Pellegrini at San Lozenzo, plus Rodolfo Arruabarrena who has been at Villarreal for five seasons and won the Copa Libertadores with Boca Juniors. He is known as ‘El Vasco’ because of his Basque ancestry. 18. Riquelme has been on loan for two seasons from Barcelona where he failed to settle as expected. The move has now been made permanent. 19. The town is renowned for its ceramics industry and current President, Fernando Roig, has his roots in that field. 20. The club have just signed that veteran of the Juventus midfield Allessio Tacchinardi, who can provide considerable physical presence in the centre of the park.
Villareal will probably run up the score on Everton. Too bad that Everton had to be paired with Villareal it would have been great to see Everton play in the champions league group phase. Then again you get mixed feelings since Villareal has been playing great attacking football and they would add some spice to the CL. It would have been better to have both these teams in the group phase oh well.
Viilareal Schmillareal. Deadly Diego is in his mid fifties. Ricquelme is overrated. Sorin is too hairy, and Figuroa's confidence has been receding with his hair line. I'm confident that the Blues will triumph.
I'm so ready for this game to be over with, if for no other reason than to get rid of the pit in my stomach. I swear, if we actually *do* make it past Villareal, I'll have an ulcer before Christmas.
I hope our boys jam these words down Riquelme's throat. http://www.evertonfc.com/news/index.php?page_id=7172
The Villareal match is being shown on Setanta. It starts at 7:00 ET...so it's obviously tape delayed, but it's definitely on!
FINE!! WE!! YOU HAPPY NOW!!??? Although I do share a bit of pessimism. Even for me, the most unrealistically optimistic fan of 2 luckless teams, Hertha and Everton.
Amarillo submarino es , submarino es !!! If you boys come to Vila-real ( the town is Vila-real and the team is Villareal , this is becuase we were not allowed to speak in our own language for lots of years during Franco , so the team had to be called in Castellano , Spanish , not Valencian langauge ) , anyway if you come , you must visit the Celtic Submari Club social , is a Peña of people from Vila-real who follow Villareal and Celtic you are welcome to come
According to the official site, we could be without Bent, Osman and Koldrup tonight. http://www.evertonfc.com/news/index.php?page_id=7182 Um, yeah, this ain't looking so good. That pit in my stomach just went to full-blown nausea. I hate football, I really really do.
I'm feeling very nervous. It's the biggest game Everton have played since the 20th May 1995. But it's good to be in this position. I'll race home from work, pick up beer & pizza, get down a friends flat - a city fan, which I felt was tolerable considering the opposition, don't want no arrogant RS/Utd/Arse fan telling me how easily their team would beat Villarreal - and watch the game previews. Good luck all, hope you don't chew all your nails off