The "worms" in all of us...

So apart from the club that you support (yes, the ONE club) what other teams do you wish well? Maybe it is just a soft spot because of a certain player past or present or maybe there is some other connection. I suspect there is a little bit of worms in all of us.

I think I have mentioned before have always had a soft spot for Newcastle United ever since they beat Barcelona 3-2 in the Champions league back in the late 90s can't remember exactly 97 or 98 I think. I like Tino Asprilla since his days in Parma and when he moved to England I started keeping an eye out for Newcastle.

Also, I really loved watching the Nantes teams from the early to mid 90s with Karembeu, Ouedec, Pedros, N'Doram, Loko, Capron and later Landreau, Carriere, and Plus their uniforms with the green and yellow stripes were mega. Hope they can make it back to ligue 1 soon.

Roberto Baggio was one of my idols growing up so I always liked to watch him in Fiorentina and then after they sold Baggio I still had a liking for them when Batistuta arrived. Always seemed to play attractive football.

When I was little, I liked AC Milan. I didn't actually watch much football in those days, but my AC Milan team on championship manager was a thing of beauty.

I implemented a 3-4-1-2 formation with Mendieta playing as part of a three man defense. It didn't really work, but fond memories all the same.

I love watching Barca, who doesn't?

I quite like Manchester United, Everton and Chelsea as well.

Werder (Dortmund for the German title this year, natch). It's OK to support Bayern in Europe.

Soft spot for l'OM in France. Can't really say in Spain (apart from enjoying Barcelona; footballing reasons clashing with cuntishness a bit there) apart from the two boys at Real and if Athletic keep playing the way they have I can see some bandwagoning admiration developing. I like Milan (probably the "greatest" club of all for me) and am rather fond of Rome, though now Miro has joined the other lot so it's a bit different.

In England, Leeds. That glorious 91-92 generation. And Cantona will for ever be a Leeds player in my eyes.

Well this is flattering i must say but even I have some other teams who I like,Newcastle who I supported when I was younger and Inter Milan....

I really like Inters kit,blue and black stripes are unique in football,Ronaldo who is one of my favorite ever players played for them.

Then their 2010 treble winning team was amazing,amazing defense and counter attacking with legends like Zanetti,Samuel,Lucio,Eto and the Macedonian Panda ,the rest of the team was quality as well.All of the players where at their peak which is rare.So much experience.

Their performances against us especially in the 2nd leg with 10 men was some of the best defending I've ever seen

Probably said this before, but I used to love watching Lazio in the early and mid 90s. We didn't have Sky tv then, so aside from going to watch Arsenal play, following Football Italia was my main source of football viewing. Lazio, especially under Zeman, were a favourite, when they had the likes of Signori, Casiraghi, Fuser, Doll, Winter, etc. I'm sure most football supporters from roughly my generation have a soft spot for some of the more attacking sides of Serie A from that period such as Lazio and Fiorentina and also for Milan (if only for their evisceration of Barcelona in the cup final). I'm sure my memory is distorted a bit as well, I can clearly remember goals that Sosa scored for Lazio but I don't think I ever saw them live (I think he'd moved to Inter by the time Football Italia arrived on Channel 4) so I can only assume they were from watching compilation tapes as a kid.

Other than that, as a neutral I enjoy watching plenty of teams, but I don't have a particular soft sport or fondness for any other clubs.

For me it would have to be Arsenal and Ajax for the football and players they have produced over the years.

Great idea for a thread!

Since Raul moved to Schalke, I have developed a following for them. Paradoxically I also admire what Dortmund have been able to do and I'd love for them (or anyone) to be able to challenge Bayern for an extended period of time.

I'm also fond of Liverpool and Celtic as well. In Italy, I've always admired Roma, especially because of some of their loyal club servants over the years.

Generally I like many Italian clubs(Milan,Inter,Juventus,Fiorentina,Napoli,Palermo,Roma,Lazio) whether in Europe or in Serie A. I have always liked Italian football although I have never had a specific team that I favour so I change from season to season. This year I'm hoping for Juventus.

In England I like Chelsea,City,Liverpool,Tottenham and Newcastle. Arsenal used to be the only team I liked in England but they annoy me nowadays also I don't like offensive football anymore.

Outside those leagues I like Marseille in France and Dortmund in Germany. I used to like Schalke 04 when they had Ebbe Sand and Christian Poulsen and now they have Raul so I'm hoping they can win the title they should have gotten in 2001. I like Benfica and Porto in Portugal.

In Holland: Feyenoord!!! Have sympathy for Excelsior, Sparta, ADO and Utrecht

In Spain: Real Madrid, though I admire Barca's philosphy more these days. Have sympathy for Celta de Vigo and Hercules. And Real Ibiza!!!

In England: Manchester and Newcastle united (I used to support Arsenal between 1998 and 2002, so dont call me a gloryhunter cause I missed out on the treble )have sympathy for Leeds, Swansea, West Ham and used to like City more.

In Italy: I used to suppport Italian football in the 90's, mainly Juventus and Milan. Also have sympathy for Napoli, Lazio and Florentina.

In Germany: HSV, Dortmund and Schalke. They all remind me off Feyenoord.

In Portugal: Benfica and Porto. Though I have sympathy for Sporting they also win never something like Feyenoord.

In Scotland: Celtic and Ayr United.

In Belgium: Standaard Luik, though I have sympathy for Brugge.

In France: PSG and Marseille

In Russia: Zenit and CSKA Moscow have sympathy for Tom Tomsk

In Austria: Rapid wien

In Ukraine: Dnjepr Dnjepropetrovsk (though in the 90's it was Kiev)

In Poland: Lech Poznan

In Greece: Panathinaikos

In Turkey: Galatasaray, have sympathy for Diyarbakirspor

In Brazil: Corinthians have sympathy for Vasco de Gama

In Argentina: Boca Juniors have sympathy for Estudiantes

In Peru: Club Universitario de Deportes

In Chili: Club Universidad de Chile

In Japan Urawa Red Diamonds

In America: DC United

Fey wrote:In Holland: Feyenoord!!! Have sympathy for Excelsior, Sparta, ADO and Utrecht

In Spain: Real Madrid, though I admire Barca's philosphy more these days. Have sympathy for Celta de Vigo and Hercules. And Real Ibiza!!!

In England: Manchester and Newcastle united (I used to support Arsenal between 1998 and 2002, so dont call me a gloryhunter cause I missed out on the treble )have sympathy for Leeds, Swansea, West Ham and used to like City more.

In Italy: I used to suppport Italian football in the 90's, mainly Juventus and Milan. Also have sympathy for Napoli, Lazio and Florentina.

In Germany: HSV, Dortmund and Schalke. They all remind me off Feyenoord.

In Portugal: Benfica and Porto. Though I have sympathy for Sporting they also win never something like Feyenoord.

In Scotland: Celtic and Ayr United.

In Belgium: Standaard Luik, though I have sympathy for Brugge.

In France: PSG and Marseille

In Russia: Zenit and CSKA Moscow have sympathy for Tom Tomsk

In Austria: Rapid wien

In Ukraine: Dnjepr Dnjepropetrovsk (though in the 90's it was Kiev)

In Poland: Lech Poznan

In Greece: Panathinaikos

In Turkey: Galatasaray, have sympathy for Diyarbakirspor

In Brazil: Corinthians have sympathy for Vasco de Gama

In Argentina: Boca Juniors have sympathy for Estudiantes

In Peru: Club Universitario de Deportes

In Chili: Club Universidad de Chile

In Japan Urawa Red Diamonds

In America: DC United

You missed Egypt and Colombia.

Al Ahly or Zamalek or another one?
Once Caldas, Juniors de Barranquilla, or a less fancied team like Quindio?

Soft spot for Newcastle, due to that very enjoyable Bobby Robson team.

Like to see Ajax do well, due to the connections with Barça.

Enjoy watching Klopp's Dortmund play and it's nice to see them achieve success with an attractive football style.

I prefer certain players so I tend to favour their teams, but then if they lose I don't really get too sad, I just blame the rest of the team, e.g. gerrard is awesome, but rest of liverpool is shit, aguero, yaya and silva are awesome but the rest of man city are shit . A no lose situation you could say.

Come to think of it I need to find some new players to follow. I am thinking of the following bandwagons: Ozil, the Ox, Bale, are there any others that people can suggest? Messi and co are out as I like to get in relatively early.

BTW I think Terry is an awesome player-manager, even though slow and a c**t in real life

Watford, Newcastle, Celtic, Houston Dynamo, The Real Mallorca, Chile 2010 and Fulham are my main teams but I tend to have always liked any unfashionable underdog who suddenly start doing well. I liked the teletubbies and Robbie Williams before it was cool to do so and I stopped liking them as soon as everyone else did. I like Burgen bread, WiFi, The Colbert Report, geese, aluminium, New Balance Minimus, air conditioning, anything retro, anything nouveau, intestinal motility, multiple choice quizzes and custard.

The only ONE I have is the Germany national team... but the clubs go as follows:

Germany: Leverkusen

Italy: Lazio

England: Tottenham

also have soft spots for Real Madrid, Zenit, Hertha, Newcastle, and Udinese so long as the legend Di Natale is playing...

Nice thread...

I always had a soft spot for Fiorentina in Italy. La Viola since the days of Baggio, and then Rui Costa & Batistuta, and now Jovetic. They always seem to have a player I am really fond of.

Napoli I did not like during the MaGiCa (Maradona-Giordano-Careca) days, even though they were great to watch. But I kind like this new Napoli, and these new version of the "3 Tenors".

Torino, coz its my obligation as an Inter fan to cheer for them

City I like now coz of Mancini & Balotelli. I have a feeling that if Mancio wins the title, a few more Serie A players will move there.

In Spain, I like watching both Real & Barca, but I don't think I have a soft spot for either. At the mo, I want Real to win coz of Mourinho.

I always liked Bayern & Germany, I don't know why... perhaps something to do with the 3 German players Inter had in the early 90s.

In India, I like Salgaocar SC (Current State, National & Federation Champions) & the Goa state team. I used to be a regular for the games when I was living there, now I cannot catch any of those games (they are terrible to watch in TV anyways, crap programming!). But I still follow their progress...

Fey wrote:In Holland: Feyenoord!!! Have sympathy for Excelsior, Sparta, ADO and Utrecht

In Spain: Real Madrid, though I admire Barca's philosphy more these days. Have sympathy for Celta de Vigo and Hercules. And Real Ibiza!!!

In England: Manchester and Newcastle united (I used to support Arsenal between 1998 and 2002, so dont call me a gloryhunter cause I missed out on the treble )have sympathy for Leeds, Swansea, West Ham and used to like City more.

In Italy: I used to suppport Italian football in the 90's, mainly Juventus and Milan. Also have sympathy for Napoli, Lazio and Florentina.

In Germany: HSV, Dortmund and Schalke. They all remind me off Feyenoord.

In Portugal: Benfica and Porto. Though I have sympathy for Sporting they also win never something like Feyenoord.

In Scotland: Celtic and Ayr United.

In Belgium: Standaard Luik, though I have sympathy for Brugge.

In France: PSG and Marseille

In Russia: Zenit and CSKA Moscow have sympathy for Tom Tomsk

In Austria: Rapid wien

In Ukraine: Dnjepr Dnjepropetrovsk (though in the 90's it was Kiev)

In Poland: Lech Poznan

In Greece: Panathinaikos

In Turkey: Galatasaray, have sympathy for Diyarbakirspor

In Brazil: Corinthians have sympathy for Vasco de Gama

In Argentina: Boca Juniors have sympathy for Estudiantes

In Peru: Club Universitario de Deportes

In Chili: Club Universidad de Chile

In Japan Urawa Red Diamonds

In America: DC United

The new Worms

Gladbach in Germany, for historical (glorious late 60s-70s) and philosophical reasons. Total football, radically attacking, based on home grown players ("Fohlen"). While they aren't that radical anymore these days, they still have one of the best academies in the country and continue to produce very exciting players who often become favourites of mine. Gladbach have given German football a lot, more than many bigger / richer clubs.

Used to be Barcelona in Spain, especially before they started to win everything there is to win. Paradoxically, I always wanted them to finally get what they always deserved, a spot on the pedestal of Europe's biggest and most successful clubs, but ever since they've pulled it off and built a team that is rightfully named as one of the very best ever (and is a joy to watch indeed), my admiration has cooled down quite a bit. I don't know if it's the antics and theatrics by some of their players on and off the pitch, the at times insufferable arrogance of their fans nowadays, or simply because they have won too much. Or probably it's because of something they can't even be blamed for, the over-the-top praise and unbelievable one-sidedness of commentators and media in general. I do like Pep though.

On the other hand, it's even more difficult to have a 'soft spot' for Madrid under Mourinho these days, despite the two Germans playing there, one of them being a favourite player of mine for obvious reasons. I always admired their radical stance on playing the game 'the right way', the way they sacked successful coaches like Capello because they feared that the ideals of the club had been betrayed (not that I'm in favour of sacking coaches prematurely, mind). And while Mourinho's Madrid are hardly a shit-on-a-stick side most of the time, it's the majority of the encounters vs. their arch rivals in particular where he has shown his real face. Madrid have basically sold their soul for success, so much the dominance of Barcelona has hurt their pride. This is probably the biggest compliment they could have given their arch rivals.

In England, I don't have a soft spot for anyone in particular. I do like Boro though, because they always managed to annoy the big guns. I always liked Newcastle, too, a 'genuine' club with genuine fans and great tradition. I like Arsenal and Tottenham for their playing style, the latter also for their tradition with German players (the former seem to be catching up in this respect recently). I'm not too fond of Man City and Chelsea's owners and the way they have inflated the prices and made a mockery of financial sanity.

In Italy, I've always liked Napoli, fond memories of the days Maradona played for them (and Werder knocking that team out of the UEFA Cup in 1989... ). I also like Roma. These days, I'm following Lazio a bit thanks to Klose playing there, even if I've never been too fond of the fascist ties of the club and their fan base in particular.

In the rest of Europe, I admire Porto and Lyon for the way the clubs are run, the former also for the success they had in Europe despite their financial disadvantage compared to other big clubs on the continent. I don't like anyone in Holland in particular, but I do like the league and the general philosophy of most teams playing in it.

fcb wrote:Soft spot for Newcastle, due to that very enjoyable Bobby Robson team.

Like to see Ajax do well, due to the connections with Barça.

Enjoy watching Klopp's Dortmund play and it's nice to see them achieve success with an attractive football style.

Forgot to mention Roma in Italy now - try to watch if I can, to keep track of how Luis Enrique is doing.

In France: Nantes - for EXACTLY the same reasons as my main man Jaime

In Ze Vaterland: Werder Bremen for 3 reasons.

1) Being they were my favourite side on the old Sensible Soccer game I had in the early 90's as a young lad. What a game that was, every team and player slightly misspelt as they didn't have the licences. Bremen were awesome on that game, along with Norwich, IFK Gothenburg and Fenerbahce.
2) Championship winning team of 2003/04 and the awesomeness of Ailton winning me CA$$$$$H on some obscure bet I made on who would be top BL scorer that season
3) Green and white kit is sexual

In Holland: Anyone who plays Feyenoord. Who are scum

In Italy: Napoli for being rather big in the late 80's and shit ever since. Like Hi Tec trainers. Or Sony Walkmans. Soft spot for Lazio, because of Paul Spurs Legend Gascoigne of course.

In Spain: Like them all. What a league, full of gracious technical masters. Not like the DPL. What's NOT there to like about all the teams in Spain? If I had to choose: Sevilla (Juande Ramos days) and Deportivo La Coruna (Bebeto, Fran, Djalminha)

Portugal: Sporting Lisbon. Love the shirt. And preferable over Benfica and Porto

Don't care about any of the other leagues as they're shit and the EPL is obviously the BEST IN THE WORLD EVER IN THE WORLD. GARY NEVILLE IS A LEGEND, ANDY TOWNSEND YOU CAN SLEEP WITH MY MUM I LOVE YOU, ALEX FERGUSON IS JESUS

Metta World Peace wrote:In France: Nantes - for EXACTLY the same reasons as my main man Jaime

In Ze Vaterland: Werder Bremen for 3 reasons.

1) Being they were my favourite side on the old Sensible Soccer game I had in the early 90's as a young lad. What a game that was, every team and player slightly misspelt as they didn't have the licences. Bremen were awesome on that game, along with Norwich, IFK Gothenburg and Fenerbahce.
2) Championship winning team of 2003/04 and the awesomeness of Ailton winning me CA$$$$$H on some obscure bet I made on who would be top BL scorer that season
3) Green and white kit is sexual

In Holland: Anyone who plays Feyenoord. Who are scum

In Italy: Napoli for being rather big in the late 80's and shit ever since. Like Hi Tec trainers. Or Sony Walkmans. Soft spot for Lazio, because of Paul Spurs Legend Gascoigne of course.

In Spain: Like them all. What a league, full of gracious technical masters. Not like the DPL. What's NOT there to like about all the teams in Spain? If I had to choose: Sevilla (Juande Ramos days) and Deportivo La Coruna (Bebeto, Fran, Djalminha)

Portugal: Sporting Lisbon. Love the shirt. And preferable over Benfica and Porto

Don't care about any of the other leagues as they're shit and the EPL is obviously the BEST IN THE WORLD EVER IN THE WORLD. GARY NEVILLE IS A LEGEND, ANDY TOWNSEND YOU CAN SLEEP WITH MY MUM I LOVE YOU, ALEX FERGUSON IS JESUS

Metta World Peace wrote:In France: Nantes - for EXACTLY the same reasons as my main man Jaime

In Ze Vaterland: Werder Bremen for 3 reasons.

1) Being they were my favourite side on the old Sensible Soccer game I had in the early 90's as a young lad. What a game that was, every team and player slightly misspelt as they didn't have the licences. Bremen were awesome on that game, along with Norwich, IFK Gothenburg and Fenerbahce.
2) Championship winning team of 2003/04 and the awesomeness of Ailton winning me CA$$$$$H on some obscure bet I made on who would be top BL scorer that season
3) Green and white kit is sexual

In Holland: Anyone who plays Feyenoord. Who are scum

In Italy: Napoli for being rather big in the late 80's and shit ever since. Like Hi Tec trainers. Or Sony Walkmans. Soft spot for Lazio, because of Paul Spurs Legend Gascoigne of course.

In Spain: Like them all. What a league, full of gracious technical masters. Not like the DPL. What's NOT there to like about all the teams in Spain? If I had to choose: Sevilla (Juande Ramos days) and Deportivo La Coruna (Bebeto, Fran, Djalminha)

Portugal: Sporting Lisbon. Love the shirt. And preferable over Benfica and Porto

Don't care about any of the other leagues as they're shit and the EPL is obviously the BEST IN THE WORLD EVER IN THE WORLD. GARY NEVILLE IS A LEGEND, ANDY TOWNSEND YOU CAN SLEEP WITH MY MUM I LOVE YOU, ALEX FERGUSON IS JESUS

A bit like Tottenham

Spain: Valencia for their cool logo and 2004. Out of Real Madrid and Barcelona, I prefer Madrid because of all the intolerable adulation around Barcelona.

England: Even though they did a number on us, Liverpool are okay, though in general I don't like English football or the teams.

Italy: I have a soft spot for Livorno and Fiorentina. The former because they are a welcomed break from the right-wing fascist contingent of most clubs, the latter because, as bluenine and Jaime said, Baggio played there. I really liked Roma in 2001 with Montella, Totti, and Batistuta. Napoli for all sorts of reasons, as well as Samp. Inter make me physically ill, and so does Juventus. Lazio are odious as well. However, I don't hate any club in Italy enough not to support them in Europe, including Inter.

use to have a hugh soft spot for inter, before they joined the dark side, Now its palermo and roma
England: Spurs
Spain: Villarreal Bilbao
Argentina: River

Oh and any team Big sam coaches, I like the fact that he is honest about the type of football his teams' play