Unprofessional Foulcast #10 (9/1/10) — The Bizarro Episode

@Lad: Was that Pupsters in the background during your discussion of the ‘Arry/Levy dichotomy?

“They’ll play a 4-5-1…”
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What in the f**k has ever shown us that Harry even knows what a 4-5-1 actually is. There’s two options here: 1) VdV works into an already crowded central midfield situation, and does his I like to drift to the left wing thing, crowding Bale. 2) They line up in a 4-4-2 with VdV as a striker, and the pregame graphics displays show it as a 4-5-1 because there’s no way anyone would ever play VdV as an out-and-out striker. Unless that person is FOOTBALL MANAGER and TACTICS! master Harry Redknapp. This will keep Spurs fans happy because they respond well to colorful graphics, therefore if it shows a 4-5-1 it must be.

@Shane: He played a 4-5-1 in the win against Stoke. And in the win against Benfica in pre-season.

Just to let ya’ll know, it’s not playing when you press play. :(

I get a “File Not Found” message. And I can’t download it either.

Biggest thing about VdV is now ‘Arry will have to change the entire structure of that midfield to make it work. Modric/VdV are the same basic player in terms of preferences and position. VdV is entirely, 100% left-footed. 4-4-2 would be weird to see him out wide, where he sucked for Holland and sucked for Real. Plus, where do you put Bale? Back at LB?

Plus Redknapp loves to use two strikers, as you’ve got to deploy Defoe with a foil like Keane or Crouch, both of whom he can play off.

Could VdV not play in the hole behind Defoe? Isn’t that where he started his career playing, and where he wants to play for Holland but can’t because of Sneijder?

I got it to work in Firefox. I’m not sure if you’re having an issue with Internet Explorer because that’s what I was using before.

@LE
Guess he could, in a 4-4-1-1, but he’s limited bc he’s really, really left-footed and sucks on his right. Not ideal for someone playing in the hole, as you can gameplan that.

I’m with JT here. VdV is a quality player for sure, but I don’t see him fitting. Yeah, Harry played 4-5-1 in the win(*) at Stoke, but wasn’t that more of necessity? He didn’t even name a striker to the bench, and Robbie Keane’s apparently on indefinite golf holiday.
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VdV occupies the same space as Kranjcar and Modric. That’s getting a little crowded.

Would it make Wag happy to know that Villa was originally “chocolate and blue” the first time they tried the colors?

And, TSE, Aquaman’s uselessness is originally a Chappelle/Dr. Katz joke
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/discreditingFamilyGuy

@Keith (without viewing the link): “Hi Aquaman!”

The golden-lasso bit of that is the best, btw.
/Harry’s still retarded and buying because he can

@Shane: Have you seen anything unusual. . . under the water?

Didn’t we… park the car right here?

@Keith – yes, it would make me happier. There’s not nearly enough chocolate colors in the league (or sport, for that matter). But when I click on your link, it says it’s forbidden. “You don’t have permission to access /Aston_Villa/images/aston-villa-1886-1887.gif on this server.” Bastards.

@WAG: That’s because it just parted ways with AV over the wage structure presently in place at the club.

@Shane – nice.
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Separately, Mourinho says he’s not so special after all: http://sns.ly/JQL41

@WAG: I simply can’t believe that. He’s the only manager in history to make John Terry look like a real defender.

@ Blog Overlords: Thank you, it seems you removed the Spurs filter, listening right now–lots of discussions of balls, shorn and not.

@Goosie: I can’t get it to give me an error message in any browser on PC or Mac. I’m not saying it didn’t happen. I’m just saying I’ll keep looking into it.

@ TSE: Your slightly irrational hatred based on the theory of ‘Arry’s ugliness leading to poor management doesn’t seem to comply. The list of Prem managers of the year include Sir Alex, Arsene, George Burley(huh?), Kenny Dalglish, and the Special One along w/’Arry. Only TSO breaks the mold of not being a butt-ugly gaffer, unless you think King Kenny is a looker.

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/mol/exhibitions/shakeshaft/graphics/kenny_daglish.jpg

@TSE: I don’t think the Sloth debate is as one sided as you seem to think. Dowie makes a pretty strong case for himself.

@LE: Are you sure that’s not a picture of Kuyt that’s just relabeled?

Also, I like how TSE makes the same old tired point about ‘Arry killing clubs when he leaves without addressing any of the numerous counterarguments we’ve made. Hmph.

*sticks tongue out and makes nanny nanny billy goat face at Spurs fans*

@WAG: It sounds like you’re arguing that Ancelotti’s master plan is “just fookin’ run about”.

@ WAG: Despite your irrational hatred of claret and blue, I love the fact you expressed your frustation with the phrase, “That frosts my cookies.” That’s 2nd rate instead of 3rd rate. Fantastic.

Every podcast should conclude with Chas & Dave.

@OM: Watch out or I’ll turn on the Spurs filter again.

Why is West Ham so s**tty? With a starting lineup of:
Green
Faubert-Da Costa-Upson-Ilunga
Behrami-Parker-Hitzlsperger-Barerra
Cole-Piquionne
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That doesn’t really look like relegation material. Those are mostly guys with PL experience and some of them are even half decent.

@LE
It doesn’t look bad on paper, but have you watched them this season?

@ TSE: Just saying, b/t that and WAG’s bubbly insights, you guys are trying hard to move from being a podcast from a third rate soccer blog.

@ LE: Agree with JT on that. The names don’t look bad, but Uncle Avram can’t get them to do jack on the pitch so far. They’ve been pitiful looking, and I’ve watched some of their matches despite the claret and blue.

Based on the comments so far, this could apparently be redubbed the “Irrational Hatred Episode.” But I guess that could be any episode, really. :P

@Anonsters
I blame TSE, whose hosting muzzle was removed.

@ TSE: Also appropriate for inclusion: Adult Swim jokes, but I don’t think I’ll listen again if, in addition to admitting watching Around the Horn, you also admit to watching Dr. Phil.

@JT/OM: I guess that’s exactly my point. They look fine on paper, so why are they so s**tty? They’ve looked completely inept on the pitch. Is it Avram? He did decently in his efforts to save Portsmouth and his stint with Chelsea. With a seemingly competent playing staff and a decent manager, what is the source of their utter s**ttiness?

So much hate. You guys hate on Spurs more than you talk about your own dead-end clubs. VdV came in for 8 mil. That’s nothing for a player of his quality. He gives the manager options and loads of depth, which is important given Spurs crowded schedule. No longer is an injury to Modric or Hudd or one of the strikers as big a deal. There are 57 varieties of 4-4-2, 4-1 (Sandro?)- 3- 2, 4-5-1, etc. I hope Arry finds the best combo, but even if that’s no guarantee, I don’t think signing up a 27-year-old Dutch international attacking midfielder from Real Madrid for less than 10 mil pounds is ever a bad thing.

@ TLL: Agreed, given Modric’s current and past injuries. Last year when Luka broke his leg, first thought was: “Well, that’s the season, no depth to cover this type of player loss.” Now, depth would not be an issue, but playing like Neymar with your pants down will not cut it either.

Ummmm… Why did Liverpool only name 21 players for their 25-man squad?

@Lad: But are you getting the Rafa VdV from Hamburg, or the one that failed to break the team, and when he did, was pretty average for Real? 8 million becomes less of a bargain for a passenger. Then again, MON paid 8 million for Nigel Reo-Coker (not a sham!)

@ LE: for West Ham, they haven’t been given any breaks with their 1st 3 matches. First, facing a Villa side that probably had that “Let’s win one for the new guy” feeling after MON ditched them. Then, they ran into a Bolton side that is looking to be much better than I thought they would. Finally, ManU. They’ve given up 3 goals in each match and scored only once, so you could say they’re bad on both ends. I would tend to blame that goal leakage problem first, as the line in front of Green hasn’t given him a chance to breathe while in goal.

@ Keith: Does it matter as long as Spurs got the Sylvie VdV that is attached to both the Hamburg Rafa & the RM Rafa?

@OM: No. No it does not. Good point, sir!

@Anonsters
Why did Chelsea name just 19? Or Villa just 22? Teams can name 25 or fewer if they choose to. Remember that “squad” can be augmented by unlimited number of U-21s who don’t have to be homegrown. Oh, and the squads are only fixed for EPL play only.

@JT: Because we’ve got a small squad, and we’ve got to realize that when we set our expectation level for the club.
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/MON’d

Right, but it would only make sense to name 25. Especially if you can still supplement with U-21s, and you can change it in January.

Maybe they don’t have that many over 21 players on their books?

@Keith: What’s the prognosis on Lichaj? I read in the City reserve report that he was seriously hurt yesterday.

@LE – tell me they don’t just f’in ‘run about’ c’mon. (-;
@OM – Would you expect any other expression of frustration from a WAG except discussion of her ‘cookies’? Separately, regarding the ‘bubbly insights’, I don’t know whether I should be flattered or insulted. It went over my blonde head.

@Ryan: Having scans done, should be OK. He was stretchered off after colliding with Citeh’s Elite Development Keeper, but nothing lasting. Lichaj was actually playing CM yesterday, which was interesting, and he scored a goal that was flagged for offside, though from all reports it was a borderline call.

Thanks for the pod!

@ WAG: All in complimentary fashion; was written poorly but was attempting to relay the idea that you guys might be moving up from being 3rd rate to 2nd rate. Ways to improve: More champagne, somebody throwing in some quality scotch, and perhaps discussion on some of the lesser lights of the Prem for a more well-rounded podcast.

Thanks guys, and keep the critiques coming. We can’t, and won’t, get better without them!

And OM, we can’t do anything about The Likely Lad’s decision to swill Jameson. It’s tolerable, sure, but it’s no quality scotch.

@ JT: It’s tolerable, but then again, it’s also OK to use the lower quality gasoline to fill up the tank on your BMW when you’re budget’s tight. He must upgrade!

@TSE – It might just be the computer that I’m on. I know I got it to download on my home PC on Internet Explorer. But thanks for looking into it!

@MW- Why so much hate for the claret and blue? Personally I really like the color combination. :)

@Goosie – Claret has always screamed “1987-we-can’t-decide-if-we-want-to-be-red-or-brown” to me. Can’t help it. I’ll never buy a Claret kit. (-;
@OM- noted. Thanks for the clarification. I second your suggestion on the more champagne. I’m not nearly as insightful without it. But it was for a special occasion (celebrating the end of another perfectly good Arsenal season – end of transfer window. No new keeper. Goodbye title).

I’m late to the party, but I finally finished the foulcast on the train home today. As a West Ham fan, your insults are nothing compared to the suffering of watching them the last three weeks. Thanks (sort of) for confirming what I’ve been trying not to think about– unless we get lucky and someone sucks even worse than we do, West Ham is going to Npowership next year. I will now go to the Globe, watch the Armenia/Ireland replay, and drink myself into a coma.

@Chad
Hey now, we’ll give them a shot all season long. We’re rooting, but it’s hard!