Artful's Soccer Thread

[teddy ballgame]

I'm pissed I missed the Werder Bremen match.

[A Fleshner Fantasy]

I'm pissed I missed the Werder Bremen match.

Same here, sounds like a great one.

And here's to hoping for an early Spurs exit from the Champions league!

[The Artful Dodger]

When I miss a match, I just watch the highlights on FootyTube. Some of the highlight reels are just goals unfortunately, rather than just the Cliff's Notes of everything notable in the match, but you do see some of the latter in their searches if you're lucky.

[The Artful Dodger]

Here's an excellent HQ recap of Samp-Werder 2nd leg courtesy of Sky.

[The Artful Dodger]

It's 1-nil to Spurs in the fifth minute. Michael Dawson goes unmarked but volleyed away for Gareth Bale to gather the ball and off-balance at the left edge of the box, Bale crosses for Peter Crouch.

It's 3-3 on aggregate, Spurs will advance if the score holds. Somehow, I can't see Spurs not conceding once and I don't see them sitting on that tenuous lead.

[The Artful Dodger]

2-nil to Spurs now and 4-3 on aggregate. Jermain Defoe gets away with what I'd say is an apparent handball in slipping away from his marker, but a nice finish. Young Boys need two goals to advance and it'll take a minor miracle now.

Right now, Defoe missed a glorious chance as he beat the offside trap and slotted wide.

[AquaMan2342]

And here's to hoping for an early Spurs exit from the Champions league!

Aw...isn't that too bad....

[A Fleshner Fantasy]

And here's to hoping for an early Spurs exit from the Champions league!

Aw...isn't that too bad....

It was a long shot anyway so oh well. I'm still not too concerned about Spurs being a threat in the Champions League.

[The Artful Dodger]

Personally, I wanted to see Spurs go through to the group stages. Few teams in the Champions League want to play open-ended kamikaze attacking football quite the way Spurs do and they usually make for good entertainment. That said, they're going to be a bit stretched now between qualifying out of the group stage and finishing in the top four. You have to believe Spurs will be in a dogfight between at least Manchester City for presumably the fourth spot. It'll be interesting to see how that balances out.

That said, I don't see Tottenham as a contending threat either. They still lack a proper #9 up front and that backline can be shaky (especially sans Ledley King). If 'arry can get a couple of signings to bolster one or both of those problem spots, that will help although I reckon this late in the transfer window, they won't be able to squeeze in a big move. Kind of interesting to note that now Sevilla are out of the competition to some surprise, Luis Fabiano makes for a nice fit in that #9 role for Spurs. The Champions League revenue is a big miss for Sevilla this time around and if anything, that adds a bit of financial stability for them. Either way, I see Spurs either eliminated at the group stages or the first knockout round. It depends on how (un)friendly a draw they get.

Speaking of which, the Champions League draw takes place tomorrow. I believe, it's 5PM BST, which translates for a Noon ET/9am PT start.

[AquaMan2342]

And here's to hoping for an early Spurs exit from the Champions league!

Aw...isn't that too bad....

It was a long shot anyway so oh well. I'm still not too concerned about Spurs being a threat in the Champions League.

That's fine. Keep cheering for the frontrunners and I'll enjoy the benefits of rooting for the underdog.