International friendlies don't matter much in the grand scheme of things, and the attendance at most of Wednesday's game reflected that, but with just a couple of months left before national team coaches have to announce their prelim squads for the World Cup, this week was a good opportunity to see where some of the untested names stand. And from the looks of things a lot of squads came out with more questions than answers. England lost Jack Wilshere, possibly for the WC since Hodgson said he'd only pick 100% fit players, and need to figure out how to properly play Sturridge so they can profit from his blazing form. In Germany there was unconscionable booing of Ozil (who assisted on the lone goal it must be noted), while France handily beat a B-ish Holland team and have now driven the national media into its customary pre-World Cup all-or-nothing frenzy.

Back to the domestic stuff we don't have a lot of games in the EPL since there are a few Cup games to contend with. Thankfully one of those league games happens to be Chelsea v Spurs, which doesn't really have a spiffy derby name (actually come to think of it, few of the English derbies do) but plenty of importance, not to mention plenty of draws as of late. Stop me if you've heard this before but the Spurs are making a push for the 4th spot and its ever-elusive Champions League qualification. They have their work cut out for them though with 6 pts to make up on Arsenal (I assume City are gonna get more than 2 pts out of the 2 games they have in hand). Speaking of the Gunners they will be taking on Everton in the highest-profile tie of the round. And considering who else is left in the other games, the winner of this one will probably feel good about its chances to face off with City for the trophy. They will be without Wilshere but with Kim Kallstrom. One of these pieces of information is more important than the other. Back to the league we get to see if the United shitshow will resume at West Brom. Another loss and Moyes might need to pen a lot more apology letters to the fans. Cardiff City host Fulham, in what is clearly a must-win for Solskjaer's club as relegation creeps ever closer.

Spain: None of the big three face a really tough opponent this weekend, although that hasn't meant much lately. Barcelona icon Carlos Puyol made it official this week that he will be leaving at the end of the season. Will he pull a Raul and go to another league (some say MLS) to try to get more PT? Not sure his creaky knees will let him, and you have to believe a Barca title would be the perfect ending to an illustrious career.

Italy: Massive weekend in Serie A this weekend as the top 4 teams face off, with Juve taking on Fiorentina while Napoli host Roma. The Champions League spots seem close to being set, so this is probably one of the last opportunities to close the gap for the also-rans.

Germany: The big question now is whether Bayern will manage to make it through the entire season without losing. Their unbeaten streak is up to 48 games now, and their league over 2d place Dortmund has stretched to 20pts.

France: There is more and more insistent talk from the media that the title race is, for all intents and purposes, now done. 8 pts seems a little low to be calling it, but it is true that the club's form has only been increasing recently, Matuidi's fantastic goal against Holland being a good example of how high confidence is in Paris.

EPL
SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 2014
7:45 ET West Bromwich Albion v Manchester United
10:00 ET Cardiff City v Fulham
10:00 ET Crystal Palace v Southampton
10:00 ET Norwich City v Stoke City
12:30 ET Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur

FA CUP 1/4 FINALS
SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 2014
7:45 ET Arsenal v Everton
SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014
8:00 ET Sheffield United v Charlton Athletic
10:00 ET Hull City v Sunderland
12:05 ET Manchester City v Wigan Athletic

LIGA
SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 2014
10:00 ET Real Valladolid v Barcelona
12:00 ET Real Betis v Getafe
2:00 ET Celta Vigo v Atletico Madrid
4:00 ET Granada v Villarreal
SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014
7:00 ET Espanyol v Elche
12:00 ET Almeria v Sevilla FC
2:00 ET Real Madrid v Levante
4:00 ET Valencia v Athletic Bilbao
MONDAY, MARCH 10, 2014
3:00 ET Osasuna v Malaga
5:00 ET Real Sociedad v Rayo Vallecano

SERIE A
SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 2014
12:00 ET Udinese v AC Milan
2:45 ET Catania v Cagliari
SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014
7:30 ET Juventus v Fiorentina
10:00 ET Bologna v Sassuolo
10:00 ET Chievo Verona v Genoa
10:00 ET Internazionale v Torino
10:00 ET Lazio v Atalanta
10:00 ET Parma v Hellas Verona
10:00 ET Sampdoria v Livorno
3:45 ET Napoli v AS Roma

BUNDESLIGA
SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 2014
9:30 ET Borussia Monchengladbach v FC Augsburg
9:30 ET Hamburg SV v Eintracht Frankfurt
9:30 ET Hannover 96 v Bayer Leverkusen
9:30 ET Schalke 04 v TSG Hoffenheim
9:30 ET VfB Stuttgart v TSV Eintracht Braunschweig
9:30 ET VfL Wolfsburg v Bayern Munich
12:30 ET Nurnberg v Werder Bremen
SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014
10:30 ET SC Freiburg v Borussia Dortmund
12:30 ET Mainz v Hertha Berlin

LIGUE 1
FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 2014
2:30 ET Marseille v Nice
SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 2014
10:30 ET Bastia v Paris Saint-Germain
2:00 ET AS Monaco v Sochaux
2:00 ET Guingamp v Evian Thonon Gaillard
2:00 ET Nantes v AC Ajaccio
2:00 ET Toulouse v Stade de Reims
2:00 ET Valenciennes v Stade Rennes
SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014
9:00 ET Lille v Montpellier
12:00 ET Lorient v St Etienne
4:00 ET Bordeaux v Lyon

------------------------------
For the record, my teams:
MLB: Mets / Soccer: PSG
NCAA BB: Arizona / NCAA FB: Michigan
NBA: Spurs / NFL: Jets

After Lukakus equalizer, despite chamberlain hustling like a muhfucker and making up for a few poor passes, no-one really looked like they wanted it. Santi was the only one willing to actually fire at the goal with any level of threat.

But just as I was thinking to myself 'Arteta has to go, he's slow, and he whines too much', he shows me why he's worth playing......cool as a cucumber, both times.

Speaking of cool, the level of control for Sagna to hold the ball for that split second and wait to hit Giroud, instead of just bashing it into the box....quality. I'm not sure why we're talking about letting Sagna go.....sure, mertesacker is the backbone of the d line, but sagna has been one of the most consistent players for arsenal for years. solid defender, runs up the wing nicely and feeds in a cross when he needs to. always been one of my favorite players.

can't wait for the draw tomorrow, i'm excited, i really think we can win this fucking thing.

I'm supposed to be graduating on may 17th, but if arsenal makes it to the final, i'll be in my local in my cap and gown

>Speaking of cool, the level of control for Sagna to hold the
>ball for that split second and wait to hit Giroud, instead of
>just bashing it into the box....quality. I'm not sure why
>we're talking about letting Sagna go.....sure, mertesacker is
>the backbone of the d line, but sagna has been one of the most
>consistent players for arsenal for years. solid defender,
>runs up the wing nicely and feeds in a cross when he needs to.
> always been one of my favorite players.
>

I love dude, his composure and reliability are off the charts, and Jenkinson is clearly not the answer....but another team offering him a 4 year deal on 100k+ wages a week at the age of 31 is kinda ridiculous.

Agreed on the game...no one really taking control, Santi looked most dangerous. Glad to see Arteta slot home after the Giroud off-sides...as far Arteta the player, he's still playing out of position as the deep holding midfielder. He isn't strong or that great of a tackler but he certainly does his best, I can't even fault him...he anticipates well, he just isn't built for that position.

---------------------------------
<--The drought is over

"have fun reveling in your pettiness tho" (C) Dula summing up 98% of OKS

"I didnt finish a damn thing...matter of fact I jerked off after she left."
-Kobe speaking to investigators

L D E A

----------------------------------------------------------------
respect the gift.

Cause I'm doing better now, don't mean I never lost shit/ I was married to a state of mind and I divorced it -- Black Thought

His form has dipped but he played a decent game...he served up the goal on a nice platter. The entire team looked relatively hapless, didn't understand the fans piling on him; it really pissed Boateng off.

---------------------------------
<--The drought is over

"have fun reveling in your pettiness tho" (C) Dula summing up 98% of OKS

"I didnt finish a damn thing...matter of fact I jerked off after she left."
-Kobe speaking to investigators

L D E A

----

THFC
F1
MotoGP

And fuck Diego Costa. http://extra.globo.com/incoming/7882943-f3c-5b8/w448/marcelo-kaka-neymar-diego-costa-thiago-silva.jpg

http://youtu.be/u9-mag501s4

------------------------------
For the record, my teams:
MLB: Mets / Soccer: PSG
NCAA BB: Arizona / NCAA FB: Michigan
NBA: Spurs / NFL: Jets

Can't wait! (c) Bart

But that game was a hot mess. I agreed with Sherwood's comments after the game about the team and 4th place and whatnot, but he just put the nail in his own coffin as far as managing Hotspur next year (if it wasn't decided already).

This team will probably beat Arsenal next weekend just to tug on the heartstrings of the fans.

----

THFC
F1
MotoGP

de boer, plz.

oh, and if we could finish outside europa, that would be even better.

There is absolutely no point of wasting minutes playing in the Europa
league. I hope Unitied gets it just so they keep Moyes around for the schadenfreud.

----

THFC
F1
MotoGP

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTX-ilG7ikeoU1X9pAzN4JRSCU5pFyHAXkZC6wjRmGm5XzDiYtR

muhfucka look like Mecca World War

he just got that look, the ref puts his whistle to his lips the moment the ball comes within ten yards of him

Mamadou Sakho for Liverpool has that same look too.

----

THFC
F1
MotoGP

This is the moment to finally grab a trophy...it's setup for us obviously. After the recent heart-break (still have nightmares about the back-pass to Szcezny and then the misplay), let's wipe all that shit clean and finally break this drought. Yes, it's only the FA cup but it's psychologically, it's huge.

BPL wise, I've always been concerned with the depth...and all those minutes/chances for injury leads to well injury, we've seen that play out. Further, you get sloppy and tired leg games later in the season, which is exactly what's happened as well. I'm not even mad, we finally have the funds to build the needed depth but it takes a couple windows (esp for Wenger lol). I'm just hoping for the 3 spot and the auto-CL berth.

---------------------------------
<--The drought is over

"have fun reveling in your pettiness tho" (C) Dula summing up 98% of OKS

"I didnt finish a damn thing...matter of fact I jerked off after she left."
-Kobe speaking to investigators

L D E A

i don't.

i spent all day since yesterday afternoon, moving all my eggs into one basket.

all of 'em.

can we win champions league?...technically yes. will we? no

can we win the prem? ...technically yes. will we? well, i haven't completely given up but it seems unlikely.

can we win the fa cup? yes. will we? *moves last egg* FUCK YES WE WILL WIN THE FA CUP

I'm HYPE

It is what it is...being knocked out of the CL allows us to focus more time, energy, and stamina on the league and FA cup.

---------------------------------
<--The drought is over

"have fun reveling in your pettiness tho" (C) Dula summing up 98% of OKS

"I didnt finish a damn thing...matter of fact I jerked off after she left."
-Kobe speaking to investigators

L D E A

I guess I haven't watched these guys enough, but they seemed awfully plodding in the opponent half (esp Messi). Don't get me wrong VAD played their hearts out but are the stories of Tata losing the locker room actually true? Is Iniesta THAT much of a defining presence that the squad is lost without him?

------------------------------
For the record, my teams:
MLB: Mets / Soccer: PSG
NCAA BB: Arizona / NCAA FB: Michigan
NBA: Spurs / NFL: Jets

they almost never play that early in the day.

From what I heard/read about this game though... it would seem Tata could be losing them... sounds like guys just weren't putting in the effort. I would like to blame it on midweek internationals, but that didn't seem to effect Madrid any. The loss to Valenica was similar though in that they just... didn't do anything.

What I will say about Iniesta is that he makes things much, much easier for Neymar AND Messi. Without him, they play a little to far apart to play off of each other well (while maintaining space). Iniesta playing between them allows for both of them to have someone to combine with. Do I think that without Iniesta they should be losing to someone like Valladolid? Hell no.

--

"You can't beat white people. You can only knock them out."

I gotta say Xavi complaining about the quality of the pitch wasn't a good look for him, as valid as it was.
Wonder what happens if City scores an early goal on Weds...

------------------------------
For the record, my teams:
MLB: Mets / Soccer: PSG
NCAA BB: Arizona / NCAA FB: Michigan
NBA: Spurs / NFL: Jets

Roma are better suited to missing him than the national team, but that's still gotta hurt. He really held that squad together in the middle of the park.

But they've still got Mich...

oh, right...

You're such pests...now, what is it you want? In your depths of your ignorance, what is it you want? Well, whatever it is you want, I can't deliver because I just don't see it. - Orson Welles


Never Tired, Always Sleepy