English Football Thread! 2007-2008 Season

[Jess]

So this is the thread for discussing the upcoming 2007-2008 season.

As it hasn't begun yet we can discuss the transfer window, other football news, and the champions league final and the Euro qualifyers.

gogogogo!

[charliepanayi]

No European Championship or World Cup this summer :( - still there are the two days of qualifiers in early June to get a laugh from I guess.
As for tomorrow's final, I really have no idea who is going to come out on top. I may in the end plump for the natural law of footballing revenge to out and Milan to win. But so long as it's better than Saturday's game either way.

And any predictions for Derby v West Brom in the play-off final on Monday?

[Psychotic]

What I find the most interesting is the midfield battle.
Mascherano and Gattuso are similar types of player.
Alonso and Pirlo are similar types of player.
Gerrard and Kaka are (somewhat) similar types of player.

And they're all roughly equal in ability. (Before I get any whines about Kaka > Gerrard, come back when you stop believing in media hype, kthx. Form is temporary, class is permanent. Gerrard was better in '06, Kaka has been in '07. Regardless, they are both class players.)

Weirdly, my head says Liverpool, my heart says Milan. It should be the other way around, but it isn't.

I'm having more fun predicting the Liverpool line up than the actual score, though!

Definites: Reina, Finnan, Carragher, Agger, Riise, Gerrard, Mascherano, Kuyt.
That leaves three spots. Spot 1 will be contested by Arbeloa, Zenden and Kewell, and the other two will be for Sissoko, Alonso, Pennant and Crouch to contest. With Zenden and Kewell's fitness issues, I think Arbeloa will start at left-back, and Riise on the left of midfield. I think Rafa will either put Stevie in the middle with Mascha, and Pennant on the wing (and Crouch up front) or Stevie will go on the wing and Alonso will go in the middle. There is a chance of a 4-5-1 though. Part of me would love to see us go 4-5-1, stick Sissoko, Gerrard and Mascherano in the middle and watch the fireworks. :D

[Jess]

I'm really hoping that Liverpool win tomorrow - I have money riding on this! Ofcourse, I would be supporting them anyway because obviously I'd like to see an English team win in Europe - unless I was a bitter United/Chelsea/Arsenal fan. :jess:

For the play-off finals I really don't know who will be coming to the premiership next season. I did predict that it would be left down to WBA and Derby, though.

[Cuchulainn]

I am holding out for a Milan win. Nothing would please me more than seeing thousands of unhappy scouse gobs. That's my heart talking.

My head says they will win on penalties again.

[charliepanayi]

Liverpool on top, Milan playing very poorly...and then there's that sucker-punch. But Milan will have to play better in the second-half or there's no way they'll be winning anything tonight.

[Cuchulainn]

According to the Official Liverpool website they already won it! A twatish mistake by a scouse webmaster resulted in this!


It did not last long & they rectified their mistake but even so. Tempting fate?

[demondude]

According to the Official Liverpool website they already won it! A twatish mistake by a scouse webmaster resulted in this!


It did not last long & they rectified their mistake but even so. Tempting fate?

Lol i hope milan win chelsea for ever!!!:)

[charliepanayi]

Well that was a frenetic end to the game...I'm amazed Milan's zimmer frame defence made it in the end. They didn't deserve to win, but Liverpool fell into the Arsenal trap of not making the most of all their possession.

[demondude]

LOL!!!!!!

[Croyles]

What a boring final, I fell asleep for 10 minutes. It was dissapointing, also because I didnt want Milan to win, but meh. :choc:
Can we make this about other leagues too? Like the bundesliga for example. I doubt there are enough people on EoFF interested in the Bundesliga to justify its own thread, but maybe if its joint up with this one it might be worthwile.

[Psychotic]

I had a feeling we'd boss the game and they'd sneak a late winner, like the Utd game. Wasn't too far wrong.

Also, I said it after the Chelsea games and I'll say it again: Pennant for England.

Re: Tempting fate. Well, after the 2005 game all our players wore special CL winners t-shirts, so unless we'd printed them in record time after Shevchenko missed, I'd say it's no big deal. I imagine the LFC website also had a story about us losing written up before the game too.

[Cz]

Bad luck Red Team. If you were going to lost, you at least deserved to be outplayed, but Milan were pretty dreadful for seventy-five minutes of that game, and nothing worth shouting about in the remaining fifteen. Unfortunately, you just don't win Champions League Finals when your most threatening player on the night is Jermaine Pennant. Still, you've beaten better teams than Milan this year, and I'm sure you'll be in another final soon enough.

Of course, the real losers tonight were the collective ears of the British public. Clive Tyldesley and David Pleat were as terrible as ever, and the prospect of ITV covering the FA Cup and international matches from next year is pretty grim. Jesus Christ, we're going to be looking to Robbie Earle for our analysis. :(

[Doomie]

oh Oh OH! SAY WHAT?! WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?T?!?!?!?!?!?!


Woo. Woo. Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

You see, for all of you wondering what Psychotic did up there, his heart never actually believed that Milan would win. His head did though. People think it's easier to cope with loss by saying the worst possible scenario. SO, IS IT EASIER NOW?!

Also, you can't really compare Kaka and Gerrard. Not because one is better than the other (Pfftftftftftf WTF KAKA IS BETTER), but because they have such different styles of play. Kaka is more of a dynamic scorer. He can easily rip apart the defence. Gerrard is more of a playmaker and a leader....and KAKA IS BETTER.

(:D) Hell, these two teams were evenly matched to the core. Even the structure of the teams was incredibly similar. Kuyt/Inzaghi as the lone striker, with Kaka/Gerrard as the supporting midfielder. (Notice that the two long strikers had a nice warm spot on the bench. There's Crouch/Gilardino) Pirlo is Alonso. Gattuso is better, but similar to Mascherano. There was Nesta to match Carragher's aptitude in defence. The rest of the defence matched up with that of Milan's.

Also, as for the DOMINATING of the game by Liverpool...I'm sorry. I was watching the match facts after game, and if you manage to get 17 total shots, and only four of them are on goal, you pretty much deserve to lose.

I think Liverpool lost because of the following reasons:

No Peter Crouch.
I don't think they used Riise well enough. I think he is their second biggest asset, after Gerrard.
Revenge is a powerful motivator.

Milan won because:

Their team played much better together. Look at it this way. If we remove the best player from each team:

Kaka (Although I think Pirlo is their best player)
Gerrard

I firmly believe that Liverpool would crumble down without Gerrard. The same wouldn't happen if Kaka left. Or any other player. Liverpool places too much on that one player. If he's out, their whole team falls apart. I think Milan shares the workload much better, and that's why I think they one.

Also they won bevause they're Italian, and Italians never lose.

[charliepanayi]

That must explain why the record for most losing finals in the European Cup is held by Juventus ;)

[Rocket Edge]

Unlucky Liverpool. :-\

[Psychotic]

You see, for all of you wondering what Psychotic did up there, his heart never actually believed that Milan would win. His head did though.Wrong on both counts. As I said, I knew Liverpool's style would be one that would allow them to take control of the game, and logic dictates that we'd win based on that. However, I just had a feeling something like this would happen.
KAKA IS BETTER.Had a great game tonight, didn't he? ...after Mascherano came off, that is. :p
Also, as for the DOMINATING of the game by Liverpool...I'm sorry.Apology accepted. Please try harder when we meet again in 2009.
I think Liverpool lost because of the following reasons:

No Peter Crouch.
I don't think they used Riise well enough. I think he is their second biggest asset, after Gerrard.
Revenge is a powerful motivator.Yeah, somewhat. Also replacing Mascherano instead of Alonso for Crouch was costly.

...dunno about this Riise thing though. Or Gerrard. Would rather we lost Gerrard than Carragher.
I firmly believe that Liverpool would crumble down without Gerrard. The same wouldn't happen if Kaka left. Or any other player. Liverpool places too much on that one player. If he's out, their whole team falls apart. I think Milan shares the workload much better, and that's why I think they one.I...I...what? Now this is just silly. You do realise that Liverpool have a better record in games without Gerrard than we do with, right? :p Rafa's ideal formation is two holding midfielders in the centre, and two pure widemen on the flanks. Stevie is neither. Sure, he can perform those roles, but he isn't a specialist, as it were. But he simply cannot be dropped.

[DK]

Looking to buy a property abroad? Don't have a clue where to begin? Just ask Carlton. You can trust him. He's not an estate agent. (http://www.home-away.com/contact.html)

[Doomie]

I restarted my Fifa 2007 season again with Milan, without Oddo, of course. Now, for the first eight or so games, I found it strangely difficult. I was 6-1-1, but it was eerily hard. I then decided to sub out Inzaghi (Mostly because he's ugly), and decided to use Kaka as a supporting midfielder. I then crushed Lazio 5-0 on Veteran. Thus, Kaka is great.

[DK]

So wut, on fifa 2003 I beat France 10-1 with Man City in world class difficulty, and injured Thierry Henry in the process. We're still :skull::skull::skull::skull:.

[Psychotic]

FIFA has no editing function? Well that makes it fail even harder.

[Cz]

Beckham's back in the England squad. So instead of dropping the 'undroppable' players that are holding the team back, we've gone and brought one of them back. Hooray for progress!

[Croyles]

lol

[charliepanayi]

Well the press all demanded he be dropped to start with, and McLaren meekly complied. Now the press have suffered a case of amnesia from their previous view and all want him back - so he's back! Good to see the manager is the one picking the team and not the media...

[Cuchulainn]

England will never evolve under McClaran. He is a mediocre manager who was chosen because the FA paniced when the big boys backed out. This Beckham saga has proved his weakness. When the press hated him, he dropped him & treated him like dirt. Now the press say he should be back...look what happened.

England national side is outta his depth. Despite being Irish & therefore duty-bound to hate the English national side, I like to see United players do well internationally & I can't see that happening under him.


Ireland are having a similar problem with Staunton.

[Rocket Edge]

Ireland are having a similar problem with Staunton.
The guy is a joke. He claimed today that he can be the next Jack Charlton. I hope to see it backfire & see him get as far away from the managerial scene as soon as possible.

Great work John Delaney!

[Burtsplurt]

It's weird that McClaren has started listening to people, even if it is the (idiot) media. In his 5 years at Boro, he ignored just about everyone (with the exception of his guru, Bill Beswick). Everyone else knew that Mendieta was no right winger. John Barnes could skin him for speed! McClaren just pursued his own agenda.

I think the guy is an utter idiot, but I'd rather have him managing the national side than messing with Boro.

[licence]

Chelsea for the Quadruple, discussion of 07/08 season over :p

[Doomie]

Beckham is one of the greatest English players ever. He is a legend in England, or rather, he was. Everything went downhill after he left Man U. But he's been such a big part of the England's World Cup, that they can't just drop him. He's like Maldini. Maldini gave up his spot allow another younger player. Lippi never would have left him off the squad. Although Maldini is still greater than Beckham in my books, Beckham is also pretty damn good.

[Psychotic]

Welcome back, Derby. Re-sign Wanchope!

A while back, Liverpool signed Lucas Leiva for around £8m, a signing which I am very excited about. Not only is his name very similar to everyone's favourite moderator, but he is also captain of Brazil's under-21 team. He also won the Golden Ball in Brazil's league. That's the award for best player, if you didn't know. Previous recipients include Kaka and Tevez, or if you want to go further back, Romario and Zico. Apparently he is a Michael Essien/Steven Gerrard type of player, so I think he will adapt well to the Premiership. He's going straight into my fantasy football team next season! I bet he'll be dirt cheap. :excited:

[Cuchulainn]

As I'm obsessed with south American football I know quite a bit about Lucas Leiva. He is a very good player, but until last year he was playing in Serie B in Brasil. Granted it was with a Gremio side that should never have been relegated (incase you are unsure about Brasil domestic football, Gremio are quite a big club).

Not only that, he is moving to a game that is twice as fast as Brasilian football. I just hope Liverpool give the young guy time to develope & adapt to the English game. His arrival surely must mean Sissoko is leaving.?

[Psychotic]

Not only that, he is moving to a game that is twice as fast as Brasilian football. I just hope Liverpool give the young guy time to develope & adapt to the English game. His arrival surely must mean Sissoko is leaving.?I think he'll be given time to develop. Rafa often likes to ease younger players from other leagues into English football with a few substitute appearances and starts against weaker teams. He did with Agger and Arbeloa, anyway. I imagine the same will happen with Leiva. As for the departure of Sissoko, well, I like him but Mascherano does the same job, and is better technically. Still, the fact that he wasn't even on the bench for the Chelsea and Milan games tells its own story, I guess.

[dragoonknight_kain]

It was in 2005 that Lucas played in the Serie B. And, in that same Gremio squad, he played with Anderson. In 2006 Gremio had the best season ever, for a team that had just been promoted back to the Serie A (third place). By the way, Gremio will probably qualify for the Copa Libertadores of America final (against Boca Juniors, probably). He was considered the best player of the Brazilian championship (not a poll, but by earning points game by game).

He never stops fighting. Plays as a center midfielder, but runs everywhere on the field. All the time. It's amazing (and I'd like to remember you all that temperature in here is way higher than in England).

He has great attacking skills, a very good kick and scores some goals (something that Mascherano is horrible at, scoring goals).

For his last games, he wasn't doing very well, but didn't have vacation in almost 2 years. And that led him to, as far as I know, his first thigh injury.

Well, 9 million is a pathetic price for a player like him. Anderson was also sold to Porto for 9 million, and now he's worth 32 million...

Great business for Liverpool.

[Rocket Edge]

Nani and Anderson, that's all I will say for now in my happy state.

[Psychotic]

England v Brazil thoughts: Draw was deserved by both teams. Neither really excelled.

After every England game I come into the football thread and say drop Lampard, so here it is again: Drop Lampard. I enjoyed it immensely when the line up was announced and his name got booed, and I also enjoyed it when he only got a small ripple of applause and a few boos when he got substituted. :D It's not Lampard - Gerrard which doesn't work. It's Lampard.

No more Alan Smith please.

Only other England player who was naff was Carra. To be fair, though, with Gary Neville and Micah Richards out, who else are we supposed to play at RB? Phil Neville? Wes Brown? Yeah, no.

Glad to see Gerrard was made man-of-the-match. It's funny, because his England work is often understated, but his Liverpool work is often overstated. I'd like to see him partner Carrick against weaker teams, and Hargreaves against stronger ones.

Beckham = very yes. Other than Stevie, I don't think there is another viable option on the right hand side, and as Mr. Gerrard showed today, his dynamism is needed in the centre. Lennon? Overhyped, in my opinion. He had a good World Cup, coming on as an impact sub and all, but what has he done since then? SWP? No. Put SWP behind Bentley and Pennant in the pecking order plzkthx Steve McClaren.

Brazil, well, I think that Naldo fella was impressive, and could be a very good signing for the likes of Newcastle. I am pleased Diego is nowhere near as hideously ugly as he is on Pro Evolution Soccer 5 (I literally gasped in horror when I first saw him on there). Daniel Alves is another transfer target for Liverpool, and has been for some time, but in this game, and the couple of games I've seen him play for Sevilla, he hasn't impressed me enough to match the price tag that Sevilla have slapped on him.

[Doomie]

I'd just like to add that Owen Hargreaves is Canadian (WOOOOOOOO), and that Frank Lampard plays decent anywhere except England. His inability to play well at the right moments is what's not going to make him a legend. If you're a hockey fan, he's much like Daniel Alfredsson. The difference is that for the first time Alfredsson is producing. I'm sure England isn't holding its breath for Lampard's big break. Though I think it could be worse. If you had a team full of Lampards, you'd probably get just as far as Spain. For the record, Lampard isn't England's biggest problem, it's Robinson. Until they get a REAL quality goalie, don't expect them to win any Cups. Hell, I'd put Shay Given over Robinson.

The upside to this game is that it shows that England can play with the big boys. Thankfully, they're not Spain. If you can make a team that features (arguably) the two best players in the world look boring, you're doing something right.

Ok course, England comes only second on my list. My beloved Italians are playing another qualifier. If anyone else watched their last game, then you must have noticed that Toni scored his quota for the tournament. Although I would much rather spread out these goals, rather than the outburst of two-goal games. (Much like thw World Cup) Although this game is against the Faroe Islands, so I'm praying for a thrashing. I'm thinking I won't have to pray too hard considering the fact that the Faroe Islands have a goal differential of -22. :D

[Burtsplurt]

As far as these things go, it wasn't a bad performance. It didn't excite me (not that McClaren has ever really given fans much to cheer about in terms of dynamic, attacking football), but the result was decent, even if the Brazilians didn't really turn up.

I think he should make some changes for the Estonia game:

Lampard - Kick him out and put in either Hargreaves or Carrick. I'm not a huge fan of Carrick as he never seems to put too much effort in. His movement is awful, but he can pass a whole lot better than Hargreaves. Both will allow Gerrard to have more of a free role.

Joe Cole - Is never a left winger. He dances over the ball, does very nice stepovers, but it's all kind of pointless as he doesn't have the pace to go past people. He had the ball in some decent crossing positions last night, but never delivered because he can't cross with his left foot. A confident Stewart Downing is a better left winger.

Alan Smith - Man Utd reserve and it's not difficult to see why. I expect Crouch will play, which won't be a bad thing considering that Beckham (and hopefully Downing) are excellent crossers of the ball.

[demondude]

Why do england even bother with they're defence
they let a brazil goal in,in the end of the game :(

[Garnie]

o.k so Garnie is a happy bunny coz
DERBYS BEEN PROMOTED!which makes me happy!
Billy davis is stayin as manager and now we have £60 million to spend and stuff!

yay!.......(wonder if they will give me some cash!)

[Jess]

Joey Barton looks set to sign for Newcastle as he has already undergone a medical.

I think if any manager can deal with his temper, it's Sam Allardyce. :jess:

[Cz]

You're supposed to be getting Viduka as well. That's probably more worth getting excited about, since Barton will probably end up spending half of his time in Newcastle suspended or in prison. Plus, Viduka's a proven goalscorer who doesn't have permanently broken legs, meaning you guys might actually have a decent strike partnership next year.

[Rocket Edge]

After every England game I come into the football thread and say drop Lampard, so here it is again: Drop Lampard. I enjoyed it immensely when the line up was announced and his name got booed, and I also enjoyed it when he only got a small ripple of applause and a few boos when he got substituted. :D It's not Lampard - Gerrard which doesn't work. It's Lampard.
Yeah good stuff. Lampard is the most overrated player i've ever come across. One of the main reasons we won the league was because of him. Thank you Frank! :D

[Psychotic]

Joey Barton looks set to sign for Newcastle as he has already undergone a medical.And you're selling Scott Parker, a better player with a better attitude, to make way for him. Ah Newcastle, your transfer policies never cease to amuse me.

[Jess]

Parker wants to go because hes a London boy and not to mention a money grabber. (I remind you of transfer to Chelsea to sit on their bench).

I will miss him dearly. :weep:

[Psychotic]

And, of course, Joey Barton, the man who famously demanded that City substantially increase his wages or else he'd leave for a bigger club (unfortunately for him, only Boro wanted to know) is joining Newcastle purely because he loves the club.

[Jess]

Parker wasn't exactly on little wages with us, though! BE QUIET, PAUL. :mad2:

[Psychotic]

I guess that heroic performance against Arsenal last season when he had the utter :skull::skull::skull::skull:e kicked out of him but carried on playing until they knocked him out is irrelevant.

[Jess]

Personally, from my point of view - I'd take Scotty any day. However, I don't make the decisions. :(

I always used to mock Loz that he destroyed Charlton by leaving them and now he's leaving us. :mad2:

[Burtsplurt]

Viduka always has been a mercenary and always will be; I think Boro fans accept that. I don't think anyone is too happy that he's moving to the barcodes, though.

Beware, although he can be awesome, this usually only happens when he wants to play, i.e. when he wants a new contract or when he wants to play in the World Cup. Since Newcastle will give him an 8 year contract on £120,000 a week, I can't see him being all that bothered about anything other than eating pies.

[DK]

I definitely want Brooklyn to be christened, but I don't know into what religion yet. (http://blogs.smh.com.au/sport/archives/2007/05/a_funny_old_game.html)

Some funny stuff in that link. My personal favourite quotes were:


"If you stand still there is only one way to go, and that's backwards." - Peter Shilton

and


"Matches don't come any bigger than FA Cup quarter-finals." - Neil Warnock

I laughed so hard.

[charliepanayi]

The fixtures for the first two weekends of the Premiership season:

Opening weekend fixtures - Saturday 11 August
Arsenal v Fulham
Aston Villa v Liverpool
Bolton v Newcastle
Chelsea v Birmingham
Derby v Portsmouth
Everton v Wigan
Man Utd v Reading
Middlesbrough v Blackburn
Sunderland v Tottenham
West Ham v Man City

Tuesday, 14 August 2007
Birmingham v Sunderland
Portsmouth v Man Utd
Reading v Chelsea
Tottenham v Everton
Wigan v Middlesbrough

Wednesday 15 August
Blackburn v Aston Villa
Fulham v Bolton
Liverpool P-P West Ham - due to Champions League qualifier
Man City v Derby
Newcastle P-P Arsenal - due to Champions League qualifier

Saturday 18 August
Birmingham v West Ham
Blackburn v Arsenal
Fulham v Middlesbrough
Liverpool v Chelsea
Man City v Man Utd
Newcastle v Aston Villa
Portsmouth v Bolton
Reading v Everton
Tottenham v Derby
Wigan v Sunderland

All the fixtures can be found on the BBC website. Thoughts?

[Garnie]

Derby v Portsmouth

Man City v Derby

Saturday 18 August

Tottenham v Derby

NOT BAD!
i recon we will lose against tottenham though! but im very happie with the rest!

[charliepanayi]

So Henry appears to be leaving. Bit of a bugger really but ah well. We've gotten use to not having him for a fair amount of last season anyway. We'll survive. Though the fact the reported fee is less than that of Darren Bent is either funny or tragic, and I'm not sure which yet.

[Psychotic]

Not really, considering as how Darren Bent is much younger than Thierry Henry is, and doesn't whine every five minutes. :D

[charliepanayi]

Sounds more like the usual absurd over-pricing for English players =P

[DK]

Hm, looks like Sven is set to take over Man City after all. I was naturally skeptical at first, but he's got a class record at club level so it'd be interesting to see how he goes at least. Not going to be winning the FA Cup any time soon though.

[Cz]

This is only a huge mistake if Wenger refuses to spend the money on bringing in established talent. Our youngsters aren't ready to take over from the old guard quite yet, and this money needs to be spent in a way that will ease the transition, or else I think we'll struggle to compete this year. I'd say he's probably worth more than £16m, too, but I guess that being a striker whose pace is one of his main assets, his age works against us.

On the subject of Sven, I think he'll be a good appointment for Man City. Just because he wasn't the right man to win silverware for England doesn't mean he's not the right man to turn a club like city around. Without the dimension of ridiculous expectations and a hostile media, and with the chance to bring in his own players, he ought to do well.

[Cookie]

Derby v Portsmouth

Man City v Derby

Saturday 18 August

Tottenham v Derby

NOT BAD!
i recon we will lose against tottenham though! but im very happie with the rest!

You won't beat Portsmouth. As much as I hate say it, I doubt you'll beat City either, good luck with that though :p.

[Psychotic]

I think Wenger would be an asshole to spend the money, seeing as he's leaving at the end of next season. He might as well go now, to be honest.

Either that or he should invest the money on Darren Bent. Young, English, decent enough for Arsenal, and would be a real morale boost for Arsenal fans to see their club snatch a Spurs and West Ham target from under their noses.

[charliepanayi]

I think Wenger would be an asshole to spend the money, seeing as he's leaving at the end of next season. He might as well go now, to be honest.

Either that or he should invest the money on Darren Bent. Young, English, decent enough for Arsenal, and would be a real morale boost for Arsenal fans to see their club snatch a Spurs and West Ham target from under their noses.

....and massively over-priced and over-rated.

And why should Wenger leave now exactly? :mad2:

[Psychotic]

True to some extent, but eh, he'd still get you 15-20 goals a season, and who else in the Arsenal team will do that?

What's the point in this entire season if he plans to leave the next one? Why bother to try to build up a team when you know you're not going to use it, especially when somebody new is going to come in and change all that? The board will probably be holding back money from Wenger so that they can entice a top manager with a very nice transfer kitty.

Also, without Henry, Arsenal will have a transitionary period until Christmas or so, just like they did when they sold Vieira. Without Wenger, again, they will probably have a transitionary season. May as well get both out of the way at the same time.

[charliepanayi]

There's no guarantee Wenger is going anywhere though. And that may sound hopelessly naive, but I'm not going to start concerning myself with possible events of next summer yet anyway.

And who else will get us 15-20 goals? Robin Van Persie for one. Though I suspect you mean who out of people who don't play for us right now...

[Cz]

True to some extent, but eh, he'd still get you 15-20 goals a season, and who else in the Arsenal team will do that?RVP scored eleven in the first part of last season, before being injured in January and sitting out the rest of the year. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to suggest that he'd have ended the season somewhere in that range. Not that I'd say no to Darren Bent, of course, but a strong finisher isn't our primary concern, and we could get two quality players for the amount Bent would cost us.


What's the point in this entire season if he plans to leave the next one? Why bother to try to build up a team when you know you're not going to use it, especially when somebody new is going to come in and change all that? The board will probably be holding back money from Wenger so that they can entice a top manager with a very nice transfer kitty.I don't see why the departure of Dein means Wenger's packing his bags at the end of next season. Clubs have been through far more uncertainty and still held on to their managers, like Man. United throughout the whole Glazer takeover saga. Saying that Wenger will leave at this stage is little more than speculation, and I think we all know that most summer speculation in football is a load of crap.


Also, without Henry, Arsenal will have a transitionary period until Christmas or so, just like they did when they sold Vieira. Without Wenger, again, they will probably have a transitionary season. May as well get both out of the way at the same time.We've already played a good half of last season without Henry, and in many cases our performances were better without him. That's quite different from the situation with Vieira, who was a first team regular right up to his departure, and arguably played a more important role in the side.

I think that with six weeks to go until the season restarts, the team will have settled down by the time competitive football rolls around again. The MotD pundits will shake their heads and talk about how much we're going to miss him, but in reality we'll cope without Henry in the same way as we did last season: just fine.

[Psychotic]

Thierry Henry, talking about Arsene Wenger's role in why he left:
"Unfortunately and understandably he has said that at this moment he will not commit to the club past the expiration of his current deal which finishes at the end of the coming season."

Now get over it. :tongue:

[charliepanayi]

That doesn't change mine and Cz saying that we're not about to get pulled into endless worrying and speculation. We know Wenger is not saying anything at the moment at staying beyond 2008, we just aren't going to kill ourselves panicking about it. Wenger usually leaves these things until the time comes, so we'll wait and see.

Besides, shouldn't you be more concerning yourself with how Liverpool (like Arsenal) are actually going to attempt to get closer to the Top 2 next year =P

[Psychotic]

I'll bet the pair of you £20 that he won't be your manager at the start of the 2008-2009 season.

I would, but we're using the Rick Parry transfer market strategy of dragging our feet and switching our mobile phone off on transfer deadline day (true story. It's why Michael Owen plays for Newcastle) and doing sweet fa. As such, I have to live through you gunners, with your excitement and upheaval and what have you. Although I could talk in depth about how Rafa announced today that Cisse will not be loaned out next season, if you like :p

PS: We have a great replacement for Thierry Henry you could have if you like - Craig Bellamy. £9m if you're interested. Fast, whiny, Welsh...you'll never notice the difference!

EDIT: Actually, speaking of Cisse, he's also fast and whiny, not to mention French. You can take your pick.

[charliepanayi]

Whining is no good unless you have the genius Henry had to back it up :)

And I'll gladly take that bet, I may end up wrong, but I'm prepared to risk it.

[Cz]

Thierry Henry, talking about Arsene Wenger's role in why he left:
"Unfortunately and understandably he has said that at this moment he will not commit to the club past the expiration of his current deal which finishes at the end of the coming season."

Now get over it. "At this moment he will not commit" doesn't mean anything. In the past, Wenger hasn't engaged in contract negotiations until the final year of his existing deal, and we're still over a year from his current contract expiring. God knows why Thierry said what he said, but he's either misjudged the situation at the club, or he's trying to stir up trouble.

And as fast, whiny strikers go, I think I'd buy Nicholas Anelka back before I went for either of those two. At least he's got the talent to make him worth it.

[Hazzard]

So, Arsenal fans, do you think we can lure Samuel Eto' to the club, and I'm a bit disappointed at Henry's departure, but I understand why he left.

[Psychotic]

Let's chat about Rafa's goatee.

http://forums.eyesonff.com/attachments/general-chat/26263d1183242654-what-liverpool.jpg

...and what it is doing as EoFF's background. :laugh:

[DK]

It's a mini-goatee within a goatee! It's amazing.

[Cz]

I don't know much about Eduardo Da Silva, but his record is pretty promising, and it's good to have another striker around. From what I understand, he's a pretty no-nonsense goalscorer, which is exactly what we need considering the number of chances we wasted last season. If he produces the goods, he'll be a great asset for us.

[Psychotic]

Bye bye little Luis. I love you. I love you so much. :(

Official Liverpool site has also announced that Torres has passed a medical, and they don't announce stuff until it's 100% so yeah, that's a done deal alright. Torres is a good player, but he is not what Liverpool needs. He hasn't even managed 20 league goals in a season. £27m flop, me thinks. :cry:

[Cz]

Official Liverpool site has also announced that Torres has passed a medical, and they don't announce stuff until it's 100% so yeah, that's a done deal alright. Torres is a good player, but he is not what Liverpool needs. He hasn't even managed 20 league goals in a season. £27m flop, me thinks. :cry:I wouldn't be so pessimistic. He'll get better service at Liverpool than he did at Atletico, and we saw at the World Cup that he's capable of flashes of inspiration. Then again, £27m is a hell of a lot of money, and you guys haven't had a lot of luck with big name strikers in the past. If Torres turns out to be an exception, then that's great news for Liverpool. If not, it'd be a waste of money of Shevchenko-esque proportions.

[Heath]

With the might of Phil Jagielka and Jason Koumas Everton will steam roll all opposition and fight tooth and nail to gain that magical 10th position after spectacularly crashing out the FA Cup at the hands of either Chelsea or the Arsenal youth team. Aston Villa will defy all odds and win the Champion's League (having faced the might of League of Wales champions The New Saints in the final). This will surprise all pundits except Andy Gray who will somehow predict Villa to win despite them not being in the competition. Sven will last a record seven hours at Man City before he realises exactly what club he's joined and quits in outrage after being told that the assistant manager isn't a blonde. The League Cup will deservingly go to Chelsea after they carve 1-0 victories out all their opponents (the strongest being Norwich, Port Vale and Bristol Rovers). Newcastle will cease to have any supporters at all after hundreds of Geordies realise just how bad their team is, moments after Sam Allardyce falls head first into a deep-fat fryer. Skies will mostly be overcast with spots of rain in the north-east, while David O'Leary will become the new manager of West Ham half way through the season.

Oh crap, forgot to mark my spoilers.

[Resha]

Unhappy Gallas in Arsenal blast

William Gallas has hinted he wants to leave Arsenal after criticising Arsene Wenger's transfer policy and questioning the club's ambition.


The French defender claims several Gunners players are unhappy following the departure of Thierry Henry to Barcelona and insists Wenger's policy of buying young players will not deliver trophies.

And he revealed he plans to hold talks with the board when he returns for pre-season training to discuss his own future after becoming frustrated at Arsenal's failure to compete with title contenders Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool.

He told his own website: "What is sure, it is that several players are questioning the club's future.

"Around us, all the teams are recruiting but what is planned to compensate for the departure of Titi Henry?

"I am not at Arsenal to play for third place. It is necessary to recruit players of reputation because the young players have many qualities but the season is very long.

"The young players are thirsty for victories but Arsenal must obtain results to gain titles. If not, one will have to change policy and do the same as the other teams: recruit with more means.

"I will have a discussion with Arsene Wenger and board members to know the objectives of the club this season and what they wish to set up to build an even more competitive team."

And despite only joining Arsenal from Chelsea last season, Gallas indicated he may seek a move if Wenger cannot convince him the club are moving forward.

He added: "Today I am at Arsenal but I do not know what can occur tomorrow.

"All happens so quickly in the world of football."
What the hell

I'm so angry! :irked: Only I don't quite know with who

[Psychotic]

Hahaha "Titi" Henry. Also why the fuck does he think the board will listen to him? :laugh:

He's right, though. At the moment, I am looking at Newcastle, Spurs and so on, and other than their grand tradition of failure, I can't see any reason why they shouldn't finish above Arsenal.

[charliepanayi]

Hahaha "Titi" Henry. Also why the smurf does he think the board will listen to him? :laugh:

He's right, though. At the moment, I am looking at Newcastle, Spurs and so on, and other than their grand tradition of failure, I can't see any reason why they shouldn't finish above Arsenal.

Seeing as we finished LEVEL ON POINTS with you last year (despite not having Henry for half the campaign), surely you're just as much at risk of finishing behind those teams. ;)

Seriously though, Gallas is a moron and should keep his big mouth shut. And your suggestion that we're going to finish behind the likes of Spurs and Newcastle is so insulting I'm almost angry here. Seeing as your team is no nearer to challenging for the title than we are I wouldn't write us off so blithely.

[Psychotic]

You only finished LEVEL ON POINTS with us because we played the reserves in the last 3 or so matches and promptly lost them all. :)

Oh, and we haven't sold our captain (who makes people accuse us of being a one-man team) in the meantime either.

I didn't say we were close to challenging for the title. I think we can challenge Chelsea if Drogba gets crippled, but other than that I think we're out on our own in third, just like we were last season.

[charliepanayi]

We still would have finished closer to you than we did in 2005. And we didn't have our captain for most of last year anyway (and still finished way ahead of 5th place downwards with room to spare), and there was the small fact that we beat you three times last season. Hardly counts as being 'out on your own'.

[Resha]

Around us, all the teams are recruiting but what is planned to compensate for the departure of Titi Henry?
I get this. Because I don't know if Eduardo da Silva is enough...(even expected!)...to compensate for Henry's departure. 34 goals last season, but can't expect that much from him this coming season.

And it's stupid. This whole domino effect thing is stupid. Dein leaves, so Henry and Wenger must leave too (I don't think Wenger will leave; it's silly to assume he will just because Henry made some comments, because a lot can happen in a year, and I don't think anyone forsaw that Henry would be leaving this time last year when he extended his contract), so everybody else loses morale and wants to leave too. No :mad2: NO. And Gallas should be the one of the last ones talking.

And "recruit with more means"? Oh, he did come from Chelsea, after all. Money is money. Not money is not money. Got a :skull::skull::skull::skull: deal for Henry :irked: Darren Bent goes for more.

dewdjkjwd

edit: "three times last season" iirc one of these times our reserves beat your reserves + some first team!

[Psychotic]

If beating Liverpool is the highlight of your season, and you're using it to suggest that Arsenal are a good team, then you're in trouble. Newcastle beat us too, you know. :) We beat Chelsea three times last season and I'm not going to say that makes us better than them, because then I'd look just a little bit silly.

But since when was this about Liverpool? You can criticise us all you want, but it doesn't detract from the fact that Arsenal haven't stepped up a gear in the transfer market, and now the likes of Spurs, West Ham, Portsmouth etc. are spending more cash than they are. And yes, money matters: Look at Utd and Chelsea.

[Cuchulainn]

This Tevez saga is driving me mental. I wish he'd just sign & be done with it. The more I see of him the better he gets. Last nights Copa America QF was the Second Half Tevez show.

Fantastic capture if we do finally untangle that legal quagmire. Ugly as sin though, it has to be said.

[Heath]

If beating Liverpool is the highlight of your season, and you're using it to suggest that Arsenal are a good team, then you're in trouble. Newcastle beat us too, you know. :)

And Everton beat both of you :D

[Cz]

Sure, money's important, but a huge bank balance is only effective if it's spent intelligently. Last season's wave of Chelsea imports were big-name signings, but didn't gel with the squad at all, and probably contributed to the club's second place finish this season. Maybe if that money had been spent on quality goalkeeping or defensive cover, they'd have won the title again. Meanwhile, Harry Redknapp managed to turn Portsmouth's fortunes around with a relatively meagre transfer budget. Now, nobody's saying that Arsenal can win the title without strengthening their squad, but to say that being outspent in the transfer market means we'll be outplayed on the pitch simply isn't true.

I do agree, though, that we're making things difficult for ourselves by limiting our involvement in the transfer market. The issue isn't money, because Wenger's proven before that he can find quality at a low price, but we are still limited in places. Our youngsters might well step up this season, but youth alone won't bring success, and refusing to make a move for anybody strikes me as being rather stubborn. Let's hope I'm wrong, though.

[charliepanayi]

The season doesn't start for another month, we may sign others before then. Gallas is just a moron who is stupidly feeding the tabloid frenzy. And as I maintain we had a comfortable 4th place last year even without Henry for large stretches (and not at all for the last few months) - we beat Man Utd at Old Trafford without him! - and the only way I think Spurs and Newcastle will be finishing above us this year is if it's in the Fair Play League. I see no evidence for these medicore teams suddenly bettering us. £16 million for Darren Bent? Ha!

And actually beating Liverpool in the FA Cup WAS one of the few highlights of last season for us, it was a fantastic result. Games like that and our ones against Man Utd and Chelsea showed we do have the potential to get good results.

[Psychotic]

I don't know, I look at Newcastle and I see some very shrewd signings by Big Sam, like Geremi and Rozehnal. Oh and yes, I am including that tubby waster Mark Viduka. He's a huge arse but he can still deliver the goods when necessary. If Middlesbrough can't keep Yakubu then that's it: They're down. Adding that to a squad which already has some very decent players like Given, Taylor, Dyer, Duff, Martins and Owen, I can see Newcastle pushing, I truly can.

As for Spurs, observe their strikeforce: Berbatov, Bent, Defoe, Keane. Better than Arsenal's? Yes. Better than Liverpool's? Yes. Heck, as of right now (pre-Tevez), I'd say that's better than United's quartet of Rooney, Saha, Solksjaer and Smith. No, a strikeforce alone isn't enough, (although it's not like they're especially weak in defence or midfield) but it's going to keep them up there and chasing.

It intended as less of an observation about Arsenal and more of an observation about Spurs and Newcastle, really. I still think Arsenal need to make a couple of big signings though.

[DK]

All you people must be having fun higher up the table. THERE ARE STILL SOME OF US WHO FLIRT WITH THE LOWER END AROUND THIS WEBSITE.

I'm feeling quite optimistic about our situation at the moment, really. Actually looking forward to seeing what Sven will do a lot more than I thought I would. All the transfer speculation is getting on my tits, though. So many different names being bandied about about who is coming to City and who is not. By my count we're apparently going to be buying 13 different players and all the deals have already been confirmed! Stupid papers.

Although it seems most likely that we're getting this Bianchi chap from Reggina, and I know nothing about Italian football or the players, so I'm afraid that we're going to be getting another Corradi. Let's hope not. I'm happy that we've kept Dunnie and Richards at least.

[Burtsplurt]

The new investors in football are making things ridiculous. Even clubs like Arsenal (who I always classed as quite rich!) are suffering. You know things are bad when the majority of clubs can't even complete with West Ham. But hey, if they want to pay a lazy Aussie full back £70k a week then I'm not going to argue. God knows how much they're paying Bellamy (the biggest git in football).

I don't think it's going to turn out well. Leeds are a prime example of where mismanagement, er, leads. I think there will be a few more examples within the next 5 years. I mean, how passionate can a criminal from Thailand be about Man City? Mike Ashley, the new Newcastle owner, doesn't even support a club!

I know Arsenal fans might be bitter, but I'd rather be an Arsenal fan than a Chelsea/ Manure/ Wet Spam fan at the moment. At least the club is owned by people who care about it - I don't think you can ask for much more than that. I know I'd hate it if the Boro were taken over. Steve Gibson, the chairman, is one of us. So what if we can't compete with a bunch of mercenaries? I'd rather do it on our terms any day.

[charliepanayi]

West Ham signing Bellamy! I want them to go down even worse than ever now.

[cloud21zidane16]

West Ham signing Bellamy! I want them to go down even worse than ever now.

same here, hate them

[Psychotic]

And according to the BBC website, Yossi Benayoun has gone the other way. Hmm. Interesting. I like him as a player, but I can't help draw comparisons between him and Bellamy and Pennant - someone who did well for a smaller club but didn't reproduce that form for LFC. Mind you, Pennant became immense in the last third of the season, and has kept that up in pre-season. He has to be picked for England. He HAS to be.

On a similar vein, good on you for quitting England, Carra. Fuck me, being picked behind Wes Brown is just a straight out insult.

[Cz]

Benayoun's a useful option for Liverpool, and I'd rather have him in my squad than Craig Bellamy. What's more, this gives me another reason to hate West Ham, and that's got to be a good thing. I don't see them going down next season, but as long as they suffer a bit I'll be pretty happy.

[Heath]

It sure is fantastic to see Everton keeping up our tradition of "let's be linked to about 50 good players who are supposed to be minutes away from signing for us, only to suddenly sign for someone else when it emerges we were too cheap to pay the asking price and end up with about 2 signings all summer."

Also: Thank you Cz for reminding me of another reason to dislike West Ham!

[Psychotic]

And apparently we're close to Ryan Babel, too. A long time transfer target of Arsenal, it would seem. Well, I trust Wenger and Benitez's judgment.

Not sure if all the transfers we're making (you should see the absolute ARMY of youth players Rafa has signed. I think he's signed something like 7 or 8 in this summer alone, and he signed 4 or 5 back in January. It's insane!) is going to be helpful. Leto, Leiva, Voronin and Torres are the first teamers, and with Benayoun and Babel to follow, and apparently a left back, we'll be filled to the rafters with newcomers once again. United only made one first team transfer last season, Carrick, (two if you count that Polish keeper from West Brom whose name I can't spell...Kuzscak?) and look at how well they did, whereas we made a fair few and didn't gel as a team until October/November. Having thought about this sort of thing in more depth, perhaps it does not look so bad for Arsenal after all. I don't know.

[Doc Sark]

We have offloaded a fair few players too don't forget and realistically, to compete with Chelsea and Man Utd we needed to strengthen in almost every area of the team. Personally, I've never been more excited about watching a Liverpool team in action. Chelsea filled their team to the rafters two years running and won the title...two years running. It's a massive relief for me to see us bringing in such high calibre players in areas of the team that have needed improvement for years. Torres represents the type of player we have been missing since Michael Owen left (though I don't like to speak too soon).

I think Rafa has built a very good squad now and I think next season, we will see the transfer activity calm down. I guess you can't bring about a new era without making significant changes. With the crop of players we had last season, we were never going to challenge for the Premiership because we were still carrying so much dead weight, we still are to be fair and I think there will be a few more players headed out the door fairly soon but they are tempered by the strength, depth and variety we now have in key positions. I would agree though that some of the signings seem like overkill, Voronin has had me baffled since the day we signed him, I just don't see what he adds to our forward line. He will struggle to find a set position in the team just like Smicer, Kewell, Litmanen and any number of other Attacking Midfield come Striker's we've bought in the past. Versatility isn't necessarily always a useful asset in a player.

His youth policy excites me too and right now, these players are unlikely to have a significant impact on the first team. Rafa has reiterated a number of times how he wants to produce an elite crop of youngsters so he can cherry pick them into the first team during coming seasons, like a certain Mr. Wenger. I'm not sure I'll ever be buying a shirt with "Amoo" on the back though...

[Loony BoB]

Next season will be thoroughly entertaining. More talent coming to the Premiership than there is leaving, as far as I'm concerned, and this should make for some really great football.

More than happy with our recruits already... if we get Tévez, it'll be the biggest bonus I could think of. I've been wanting us to sign him since the first time I saw him play (and effectively run the game).

It's fun to look at this...



...............................................VDS/Foster/Kuzscak

Neville/O'Shea/Bardsley.........Ferdinand/Brown/Piques.....Vidic/Evans/Silvestre......Evra/Heinze/Silvestre

Ronaldo/Eagles/Park.........Hargreaves/Carrick/Fletcher........Scholes/Anderson.....Giggs/Nani/Richardson

...................................Soljskaer/Saha/Smith........Rooney/Rossi

Possibly to become...

...............................................VDS/Foster/Kuzscak

Neville/O'Shea.....Ferdinand/Brown.....Vidic/Evans/Silvestre......Evra/Silvestre

Ronaldo/Park.........Hargreaves/Carrick/Fletcher........Scholes/Anderson.....Giggs/Nani

...................................Soljskaer/Saha/Tevez........Rooney/Rossi

[Psychotic]

You're not the only ones who can boast such an impressive squad, you know...

...............................................Cech/Cudicini

Ferreira/Johnson.........Terry/Ben Haim....Carvahlo/Alex......A. Cole/Bridge

J. Cole/SWP.........Lampard/Mikel/Sidwell........Makelele/Essien/Ballack.....Robben/Malouda

...................................Drogba/Pizarro........Shevchenko/Kalou

Methinks they can push you all the way. Now, for my own personal gratification, let's see the greatest club of all time's 07-08 offerings.

...............................................Reina/Carson

Finnan/Arbeloa.....Carragher/Paletta.....Agger/Hyypia.....Riise/Aurelio

Pennant/Benayoun.........Mascherano/Alonso/Sissoko........Gerrard/Leiva.....Babel/Kewell/Gonzalez

...................................Torres/Voronin.......Kuyt/Crouch

You know, I actually think we're superior to United in goal, at right back and the two central midfield posi<b></b>tions. Marginally, I will grant you. And yes, they pretty much obliterate us elsewhere, but hey, none too shabby. :cool: I think we're only definitely better than Chelsea at right-back (although it's rumoured they want Alves and/or Chimbonda :-/) and maybe in one of the central midfield posi<b></b>tions (the left one), and we're probably better on that right strike posi<b></b>tion. I think if we can have a good August, September and October, we can be at least be within shouting distance of United and Chelsea when May rolls around, and that will have to be what we aim for. 9 points or less when the season ends = Mission Accomplished; good season. :cool:

[Loony BoB]

You know, I actually think we're superior to United in goal
So why don't you score goals? Torres isn't going to boost your goal tally (not even with assists) as much as Tévez will boost ours (should he sign up). Rooney, Tévez, Saha, Rossi (who has excelled on loan at Italy and is being headhunted by the Milans), Soljskaer in there for supersubability... would put them streets ahead of Kuyt and an Prem-untested Voronin & Torres. I actually think Crouch is extremely useful, though.

at right back
Disagree there, although might agree if you include backups. Nev's not past it yet, but I wouldn't say Bardsley is there enough to be the best backup at the moment. Certainly O'Shea isn't the best either, but he's a good utility.

and the two central midfield posi<b></b>tions.
I rate Scholes ahead of Gerrard/Alonso, and Hargreaves I'd say is about par with Hargreaves. Carrick is the more unassuming type who is hard to rate because he's not an impact player, you never notice his passes. Not sure on Anderson... can only find out (a la Voronin/Torres).

[DK]

You know, I actually think we're superior to United in goal
So why don't you score goals? Torres isn't going to boost your goal tally (not even with assists) as much as Tévez will boost ours (should he sign up). Rooney, Tévez, Saha, Rossi (who has excelled on loan at Italy and is being headhunted by the Milans), Soljskaer in there for supersubability... would put them streets ahead of Kuyt and an Prem-untested Voronin & Torres. I actually think Crouch is extremely useful, though.

In goal = goalkeeping


Hargreaves I'd say is about par with Hargreaves.

No :skull::skull::skull::skull:

[Psychotic]

at right back
Disagree there, although might agree if you include backups. Nev's not past it yet, but I wouldn't say Bardsley is there enough to be the best backup at the moment. Certainly O'Shea isn't the best either, but he's a good utility.For me, Finnan has the best right-back in the Premier League over the past two or three seasons. Before then, I would have said it was Gary Neville. While still having the ability on a level similar to Finnan's, he seems to be missing half the season suffering from injuries and as such lacks Finnan's consistency. He's like Darren Anderton, Jamie Redknapp et al. Look at Finnan's assist count and tell me he is not the best. As for backups, well, yeah.


and the two central midfield posi<b></b>tions.
I rate Scholes ahead of Gerrard/Alonso, and Hargreaves I'd say is about par with Hargreaves. Carrick is the more unassuming type who is hard to rate because he's not an impact player, you never notice his passes. Not sure on Anderson... can only find out (a la Voronin/Torres).Well I rate Gerrard ahead of Scholes, absolutely I do. Mascherano and Hargreaves (I assume that is what you meant :p) are probably equals, although we've yet to see how the United man will perform in the premiership. Alonso and Carrick are similar sorts of players, and I prefer Alonso to Carrick myself. Sissoko vs Fletcher...should be no contest, although Fletcher has been improving so who knows about the future? Anderson is the same as Leiva - unproven young Brazilian talent who did good in a different league, so we have to see how they will do in the Premiership before judging.

Strikers, though, yeah, what Dan said - I meant keepers. I'd say Reina is ahead of VDS, seeing as how he's kept the most clean sheets in the premiership for I think it is two years running. He certainly did in 05-06, anyway. Carson and Foster are at the same level. As far as strikers go, I 100% agree. United thrash us. Rooney + Tevez = holy christ.

EDIT: Actually, I don't 100% agree. Torres will add to our goal count. He's Bellamy's replacement, and he can hardly score less goals than Bellamy did!

[Burtsplurt]

I'm still not convinced by Man Utd's attacking line up. Rooney and Tevez are very similar players - they both like to drop back and control the game and neither is a target man, or even a player that likes to play off the last defender. Utd will always get goals from the midfield, but I still think they miss a van Nistelrooy-type player. Even though his link-up play wasn't great, he was guaranteed to net 25 a season.

[DK]

Who the fuck is Gelson Fernandes? :-\

[Loony BoB]

I'm still not convinced by Man Utd's attacking line up. Rooney and Tevez are very similar players - they both like to drop back and control the game and neither is a target man, or even a player that likes to play off the last defender. Utd will always get goals from the midfield, but I still think they miss a van Nistelrooy-type player. Even though his link-up play wasn't great, he was guaranteed to net 25 a season.
Thing is, we're no longer a team that plays that way. The way that United seems to be moving towards is one goalkeeper, four defenders and then what is being touted as a "floating six" which are all capable of moving between forward and midfield positions - ie, a team that doesn't rely on a single player netting 20+ goals in a season (although I should point out that Rooney had a 'bad' season last season and still netted 23 goals).

The fact that we scored so many goals last season with so few coming from Saha shows this quite well.

[Psychotic]

re: Heinze. Don't want him; Riise is better and younger. That injury took a huge toll on him.

And I don't want to give Man United money, especially when we've got the money they paid for Hargreaves. :D (Bayern Munich used that money to buy Ribery from Marseille, and Marseille used a large chunk of money to buy Cisse from us)

[Loony BoB]

He won't go there anyway.

[Psychotic]

Not if he gets his way. Current top story on the BBC Football website:

Heinze may fight for Anfield move
Gabriel Heinze may defy Sir Alex Ferguson to secure a £7m move from Man Utd to Liverpool, BBC Sport understands.

[Loony BoB]

£7m? Paying over the odds, at least. However it would be surprising to see SAF say one thing and then be overridden by someone else. I'm sure Real Madrid would be happy to take him and he's said beforehand that he'd like to play there... but then the Spanish-speaking influence of Benitez & the possibility of continuing in the Prem might make a difference. will have to see how it all plays out.

Personally, I must admit, I'd also take Riise as well. Would take Evra above both. And Silvestre far after any of them.

[Burtsplurt]

I think Real have brought in a few defenders this close-season, so I'm not too sure they'll go for him. Would he even be first choice?

7m is crazy money, but that seems to be the new norm. How many clubs have actually spent wisely and brought in a few bargains? Woodgate looks an absolute snip at 7m - a far better player than Heinze and younger. Sanli Tuncay and Jeremie Aliadiere for a combined total of 2m isn't bad as well. Now, if only somebody would sell us an awesome right back for 73p...

[Psychotic]

Yeah, apparently we're also interested in Chiellini for the same price, and he, like Babel, is a player I have been an admirer of for a couple of years, so I would be much happier with him, especially because of his age.

I don't think Ferguson would sell him willingly, but I remembered reading that Heinze qualifies for that FIFA directive thingy where he can buy out the last two years of his contract and leave on a free.
Personally, I must admit, I'd also take Riise as well. Would take Evra above both. And Silvestre far after any of them.*nods*

[Cz]

Of course, the real United transfer story is that you've somehow managed to offload Kieran Richardson to Sunderland for a reported £5.5million. Does that mean he's worth a third of a Thierry Henry? :(


Now, if only somebody would sell us an awesome right back for 73p...Luke Young for 73p would be a good deal. Luke Young for £2.5m, less so.

[Loony BoB]

I think Thierry Henry is on the decline, while Richardson gets the young surplus and the English surplus.

Heinze past the age for the buying out of the contract dealio, so he can't do that. But if he wants to go, we'll likely let him go if we can find the appropriate party to sell to with the appropriate cost.

[Burtsplurt]

I think 2.5m isn't a bad price for a 28 year old England international. Admittedly, he got those caps when just about every other right back in the country was injured, but hey! I don't think he'll be spectacular, but he'll do a job - and a better one than Andrew Davies.

Next target: Steven Gerrard for 4m and a nice hat.

Oh, and I really hope we don't get landed with Alan Smith for 6m. He makes Aliadiere's goal scoring record look good (not really).

[Loony BoB]

Now, before we go ahead and make a fantasy football league, I think we should agree on what site we use FIRST.

I noticed they use this one at CricketWeb and I must say it looks good...
Fantasy Premier League - a Fantasy Football Game for the Barclays Premier League (http://fantasy.premierleague.com/M/help.mc?category=rules)

[DK]

Speaking of CW, there's a Battrick style football thing called Sokker. I think it's basically the same engine as Battrick but Football...could be interesting! Only really takes 5 minutes a week to maintain, at the minimum.

That league for FF looks pretty good, though, yeah. I MUST DEFEND THE CROWN

[Resha]

Goodbye, Fweddie. :cry: Awesome little Swede. 'tis sad he has to go those wankers.

[Cz]

Of all the places he might have gone, it had to be West Ham. And just as I was getting all geared up to totally hate those guys. Now there's always going to be that nagging Freddie Factor stopping me. :(


Now, before we go ahead and make a fantasy football league, I think we should agree on what site we use FIRST.

I noticed they use this one at CricketWeb and I must say it looks good...
Fantasy Premier League - a Fantasy Football Game for the Barclays Premier League (http://fantasy.premierleague.com/M/help.mc?category=rules)That looks great to me. Should keep people a lot more involved than last year's system.

[Doomie]

I just hope that this time around I don't get bored 10 weeks into the season.

P.S. I still think Yahoo is the best.

[Burtsplurt]

Didn't we do that one last time? Or did I do it with some other people? Either way, I can't remember which means I'm old and it'll soon be drinking soup through a straw time.

But, yeah, the Premier League one is very good.

[Psychotic]

We used like, three or four different ones last season.

And now Arsenal have no widemen. Yes, Walcott, van Persie, Hleb and Rosicky can play there, but it isn't their preferred position. Unless Denilson can play there! I forgot his position. Cz, old boy, remind me.

Also Liverpool are talking about lawyers with regards to Gabriel Heinze. He. Is. Not. Worth. It. Looks like United are going to have their hands full with Argentine legal battles this summer!

[DK]

I had a look around the Premier League one and got a team set up and everything and it was simple enough and pretty good. We interested enough to start a league on it or no?

[Loony BoB]

I say go for it. It's better than the various ones I tested out last season, including Metro, which was the best of the lot for 2006-07.

Of course, I've not tested out Metro this season yet... so uhm *dunno*

[Cz]

And now Arsenal have no widemen. Yes, Walcott, van Persie, Hleb and Rosicky can play there, but it isn't their preferred posi<b></b>tion. Unless Denilson can play there! I forgot his posi<b></b>tion. Cz, old boy, remind me.He's not a natural wide player, though he's capable of playing there. So you're absolutely right, we're severely lacking in width.

I'd like us to buy a replacement for Ljungberg, and it's not as if we've ruled out a move for anyone, but I think Wenger will try and adapt one of our existing players to fill the gap (hey, it worked with Kolo Touré). Obviously Hleb and Walcott played plenty of games on the right last year, without neither being particularly successful. I think he might try playing Eboué as an orthodox right sided midfielder, since he's always been much better going forward than defensively, and he's probably a better crosser than Hleb or Theo. I'm not thrilled about the idea, but it might do the trick.

[Loony BoB]

Bye Smith! You always dreamed of regular first team football for United, now you can have it!

Hi, Tevez! Nice to see you training at Carrington! :D

[Psychotic]

Thank fuck that Tevez nonsense is over! To me, the major transfer news in Manchester is Bojinov and Elano joining City - I've seen 'em play and I like what they have. If their players can adapt to the Premiership, they will be pushing hard for those UEFA spots. Mind you, are are probably a good 7 or so other teams who will be doing the same.

[blim]

Just thought i'd make my predictions on this season

Premiership:

1: Man U (i hate em but i think they are stronger than last season and i cant see anyone stopping them)
2: Chelsea
3: Liverpool (i think they will be nearer but not quite there yet, maybe next year)
4: Arsenal
5: Tottenham

Relegated: Derby, Sunderland and West Ham

And i think Brentford will get relegated to the conference :(

[Loony BoB]

Seriously. I feel a bit sorry for the three teams coming up - they've not had the most amazing signings and the teams that stayed up all look to have improved in big ways. At least, the vast majority have.

Then again, it'll be interesting to see how quickly Sven can get his eight new signings (and whichever others he goes for!) to gel in with the rest of his sqaud.

[Burtsplurt]

The Premier League and West Ham are shysters and crooks. If they owned Tevez, they wouldn't be getting just 2m for him. I'm not really sure how they've managed to get away with that.

I'm becoming increasingly disillusioned with top-flight football and the way increasingly dubious figures with massive amounts of money are ruling the game. Colonel Gaddafi for Derby, if I'm not mistaken (which I am).

[Loony BoB]

Personally, I wouldn't care if they were all crooks. So long as the football was entertaining and there is no matchfixing etc, I'll be happy. The PL is where it all goes wrong, though. It should be run by the FA... although from what I've seen of them they aren't much better.

[Psychotic]

I thought the Tevez deal was like the Mascherano one. Pay a fee to have him on loan for a while, then an option to buy for £(whatever)m at the end of it. Allegedly the Tevez fee is £30m and the Mascherano fee is somewhere around £10m. If it's true, think I know who got the better deal~

[Loony BoB]

From what I've read, the Tevez deal is "worth" £30m all up. The first two years of salaries adding up to £5m, the option to buy him all up being somewhere between £15m and £20m and then when you throw in the extra £7.5m for salaries on the three years he'd be contracted to us for should we buy him, it'd be £5m + £7.5m (12.5m) in salaries and then £15-20m for the purchase... all up, between £27.5m and £32.5m.

If that makes sense. However, these things we'll never know. All I know is that we got a crapload better a deal than Chelsea did for the man from Ukraine.

EDIT: And I reckon a much better deal than £26m for Torres, that's for sure. I hear so much about him but whenever I watch him play I can't put him above £20m, and even then that's just based on potential rather than visible awesomeness. But yes, Mascherano for £10m is great.

[Psychotic]

Torres was £20m, though. :p (well, £20.2m) Speaking of, the lad scored his first goal for Liverpool today in his first start, against the mighty Shanghai.

[Loony BoB]

Torres was £20m, though. :p (well, £20.2m) Speaking of, the lad scored his first goal for Liverpool today in his first start, against the mighty Shanghai.
No, he was reportedly £26m just like Tevez is reportedly £30m.

[Psychotic]

£26m was the figure thrown around by the media before it happened. Since then they've all said £20m. To quoth the Wikipedia:
It was revealed during the Liverpool press conference that the fee stood at €30 million approximately £20.2 million

EDIT: You can find videos of said press conference on YouTube so yeah.

[Loony BoB]

Strange, the reference for that statement is a bad link. And the article of that name in Sky Sports doesn't say anything about a statement, and they say in his profile he moved for £26.5m :S

I suppose it doesn't matter anyway considering we never really know what gets bandied about in these things. Carrick a prime example... God knows how much we really paid for him in the end. I'd expect it to be closer to the alleged £18.6m (which includes performance related stuff) than the original £14m, though.

EDIT: Did this post before seeing your edit.

[Burtsplurt]

Personally, I wouldn't care if they were all crooks. So long as the football was entertaining and there is no matchfixing etc, I'll be happy. The PL is where it all goes wrong, though. It should be run by the FA... although from what I've seen of them they aren't much better.

There's absolutely no transparency - like you say, we'll never know the details of the Tevez deal. I think that they broke PL rules, were slapped on the wrist with a 5m fine, and then continued to break PL rules by playing Tevez. And this was pretty much condoned by the PL. Back in 97 (I think), Boro broke PL rules and were docked three points. I don't see how the situations are different, except one team is a London club and gets preferential treatment. 5m vs. however much relegation was worth in those days and the loss of several key players (Ravanelli, Juninho, Emerson).

And I think there's a lot more to football than entertainment. Heart and passion. I don't think Shinawatra has too much of that. I wouldn't want a crook to own the team I support. "Oh, we won the league, and the money did come from a guy with alleged human rights crimes, but hey!"


I thought the Tevez deal was like the Mascherano one. Pay a fee to have him on loan for a while, then an option to buy for £(whatever)m at the end of it. Allegedly the Tevez fee is £30m and the Mascherano fee is somewhere around £10m. If it's true, think I know who got the better deal~

So that money will all go to West Ham once the loan period is up?

[Loony BoB]

If Roman can buy Chelsea, there's no issue over at City at all.

EDIT: I don't believe Tevez/Mascherano were contracted to West Ham in any way beyond the end of the next season or else the one after that, so there is no reason to pay West Ham at that point. It does all stink a lot, yes, but all companies do. That's just the way things go, really.

[Resha]

Edwin van der Saar what the hell :heart:

I like Pizarro and Malouda; Pizarro was on the ball almost as soon as he came on. They seem to be better (i.e. more effective) deals than Shevchenko and Ballack last season (although it's only been one game). And boy oh boy doesn't Fergie play his cards close to the chest.

[Loony BoB]

I'll take that. :) Seriously, how often do you see Cech (supposed best in the world) miss three in a row and then, far more notably, any keeper in the world save three in a row against the likes of Chelsea? Their shots were really poor, though, I have to say.

[Psychotic]

Seriously, how often do you see Cech (supposed best in the world) miss three in a rowChampions League semi-final, 2007. He missed four in a row. :bigsmile:

Regardless of this, I still think Van der Sar is United's weak point, and I still think Chelsea will take the title.

[Loony BoB]

Seriously, how often do you see Cech (supposed best in the world) miss three in a rowChampions League semi-final, 2007. He missed four in a row. :bigsmile:

Regardless of this, I still think Van der Sar is United's weak point, and I still think Chelsea will take the title.
If Van der Sar is our "weak point" then I think we're sitting pretty comfy, actually. Because he was in "bad form" last season and we still conceded no more than a slightly more defensive Liverpool did.

Kuzscak is in fantastic form as well, regularly making incredible saves in preseason, so we have more than adequate backup (and that's not even mentioning the currently injured Foster at all).

[Psychotic]

It's a shame that it's not Liverpool you have to beat then, isn't it? :p

Besides, if you look at the Premiership table for the end of April, (ie, when Liverpool stopped trying and started playing reserves. For example, Jerzy Dudek and Daniele Padelli played in goal during that period) and Liverpool had conceded 2 less than United. :strut:

[Loony BoB]

Chelsea ironically spent all this time improving their defence and using it as an excuse for their failures at the end of last season when in reality they just didn't score enough goals and should have focused on improving their attack. Now they're starting the season apparently without Drogba (although that isn't confirmed yet) and I'm still not convinced on Kalou and Shev being anything on Tevez, Rooney and Saha.

I'm sure it'll be tight, though, but I think United have improved on their squad in every area whereas Chelsea have improved only in the areas that didn't really need it. Especially midfield!

[Heath]

I've always felt that Van der Saar was the weak point in the United but as BoB said that's not a terribly bad indication of the rest of the United squad.

On the whole I'm quite looking forward to the first day of the Premiership season (yay for borrowing season tickets so I can see the match). We put in a solid performance against Werder Bremen the other day probably deserved a win more than a draw. Apparently we've made an offer for Argentinian midfielder of £10-11 million (better be better than Fernandes for that price) as well as Baines. Everton do make me laugh sometimes; Sunderland had a £6 million accepted by Wigan but Baines himself rejected the move. For some reason, we decided to then bid £4 million (plus a player). We really need the players though.

[Loony BoB]

Have to say, that £11m midfielder is pretty good stats-wise... 19 goals in 60 games for Porto!

[Psychotic]

I hope Rafa doesn't bed in any new signings against Villa, or in any away games. He has to go for tried and true, with a Kuyt-Crouch strikeforce and a midfield along the lines of Pennant-Gerrard-Mascherano/Sissoko-Kewell. The newbies can be used as subs later in the game, and can feature more heavily in games at Anfield until they are settled. We need to hit the ground running.

So, some predictions. Chelsea to win the title, providing they have no major injuries like last season. Losing Cech, Terry and Carvahlo at the same time was a huge blow to them, and they dropped a fair few points during that time.

Arsenal to finish 4th ahead of Spurs. I think Spurs have the better players, but Arsenal have the better manager.

Wigan, Derby and one of the other two promoted teams to go down. I think Middlesbrough will be in there, but Tuncay and Yakubu will fight a two-man battle against relegation and they'll be okay. If they get injured or sold or whatever, though, boro will be in trouble. Fulham might not be too far away, either.

As for the rest of the table, it's way too close to call. There are so many half decent sides filling up the Premiership so it'll be interesting to see how all of that turns out.

[charliepanayi]

Chelsea to win the title. I don't know why I think this, I just don't think Man Utd are going to walk it as easily as many think. Chelsea lost fewer games last season, they just need to cut out the draws a little. Last year Man Utd took Chelsea by surprise, and it'll be harder to do that this time.

Liverpool and Arsenal the same as last season. We have a better manager AND better players than Spurs. If Van Persie stays fit that will be a big help.

Relegation: Derby, Sunderland, Fulham.

[Loony BoB]

If I have to predict some random crap, though...

United, Chelsea/Liverpool, Arsenal/Tottenham, Everton next on the condition that Cahill returns for at least two thirds of the season. Wigan, Derby and Fulham to drop. City to do twice as good in the second half of the season as opposed to the first half. Drogba or Ronaldo to get injured for at least four weeks, and this injury to be blamed for the loss of the Premiership by millions of fans of their respective team. Torres to score more goals for Liverpool than he did at Athletico. Villareal to win the UEFA Cup on the condition that they aren't playing against Bayern Munich in the final. If Bayern Munich reach the final then they'll win for sure. Arsenal to waste half their chances by passing the ball around the opposi<b></b>tion's six yard box. Unless Fabregas scores more than eight goals, they'll finish below Tottenham. United to go much further than last season in the Carling Cup. In fact, United to win any Cups they reach the final of.

Heinze to not get to play for Liverpool without pulling a Hamann. Loads of speculation about Ronaldo leaving United. Rooney and Tevez to turn out to be a wonderful combination. Saha to be injured a lot. Uhm. I dunno. I'm just going on tradition here.

EDIT: "Didier Drogba, Claude Makelele, Salomon Kalou, Michael Ballack, Andriy Shevchenko, Wayne Bridge and Paolo Ferreira were also out of the squad." ... "And Mourinho's predicament was not helped by keeper Petr Cech, Glen Johnson, Florent Malouda and Shaun Wright-Phillips all picking up injuries before half-time against United."

...what the hell do they feed these guys? They're so brittle.

<hr />
And now, in retaliation to the old "But our backline was injured for so long!" excuse...

Terry - 44 (1) - 11 draws, 5 losses
Carvalho - 51 (0) - 10 draws, 3 losses
Cech - 36 (0) - 7 draws, 2 losses (21 conceded)
Cole - 37 (3) - 9 draws, 3 losses
Ferreira - 29 (9) - 11 draws, 5 losses

SUMS - 197 (13) - 48 draws, 18 losses

VDS - 47 (0) - 4 draws, 8 losses (42 conceded)
Rio - 48 (1) - 5 draws, 8 losses
Vidic - 38 (0) - 5 draws, 5 losses
Evra - 29 (7) - 2 draws, 6 losses
Neville - 33 (0) - 4 draws, 3 losses

SUMS - 195 (8) - 20 draws, 30 losses

Your preferred backline was used more often than ours was, so shut up. Your problem was that you simply didn't score enough goals.

[Burtsplurt]

Top 4: the usual suspects, and I don't really care who wins because it's a two horse race (again). It's boring. I'd like Aresenal to do well because their passing can be absolutely exquisite. Unfortunately, their squad looks paper thin at the moment.

5th: Middlesbrough. :) Okay, I think we're still lacking a couple of players and I may be a tad over-optomistic, but I think we could have a decent season. With Luke Young at RB, our defence looks very solid. If only Pogatetz (who is awesome) and Woody weren't injured for the start of the season. I don't think Wheater and Davies will be quite the same rock at the back. I'm really looking forward to seeing Tuncay.

Relegated:
Derby - although I think Billy Davies is a very good manager. He was impressive with Preston NE before he moved.
Fulham - very average, and the players that have been brought in stike me as Championship material.
Wigan - I think losing Paul Jewell will be a big blow for them. Leighton Baines is also on his way, and I rate him highly.

[Heath]

I'd agree with Derby, Fulham and Wigan going down, even if I'm rather hoping Newcastle will go down for some reason.

I think that provided we can get that Argentine fellow (or someone else decent) Everton stand a decent chance of reaching Europe. Otherwise, I think the top 5 is pretty much set in stone beyond who will occupy first/second and who gets third/fourth. Looking forward to Saturday! Woo for having tickets.

[Psychotic]

Gather round, EoFFers! Let us all celebrate! why? Pepe Reina has won the Barclays Golden Glove award for the second season running after keeping 19 clean sheets in the Barclays Premier League campaign. Reina's closest competition came from Everton's Tim Howard (14 shut outs) and Reading's Marcus Hahnemann (13) I suspect our goals conceded column would've been the lowest if our first six away fixtures hadn't been United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Bolton, Everton and an up-for-it Sheffield United.

Speaking of Liverpool keepers, silly Scott Carson thinks he will become Aston Villa's #1 keeper by going out on loan there! No Scott, I say no! You will be behind Sorensen. :( And we signed some French dude in his place, so smiles all round.

Meanwhile, I am inviting you all to witness my experiment. Using my superbly edited Pro Evolution Soccer 5, I have played all the opening fixtures of the season on six star (the hardest) difficulty. I am the team on the left, and I play to win! So here are the results.

Arsenal 0-0 Fulham (Arsenal are a horrible team to play with)
Liverpool 4-1 Aston Villa (hahaha even I am not that optimistic!)
Blackburn 1-0 Middlesbrough
Chelsea 5-0 Birmingham (there was a 5 minute period where I scored 3)
Portsmouth 1-1 Derby (Derby captain Matthew Oakley smashes in a last minute equaliser)
Manchester United 2-1 Reading (Reading snatched a first minute lead, but Ole Gunnar Solksjaer equalised with an overhead kick and then grabbed the winner)
Manchester City 0-0 West Ham
Newcastle 2-0 Bolton
Wigan 0-0 Everton (ugh, two 4-5-1 defensive SMALL teams. Boring!)
Spurs 2-0 Sunderland.

Now we sit back and wait to see how accurate it truly is. Exciting, eh folks? :excited:

[Rocket Edge]

Thats a great idea. *Slaps open FIFA*

EDIT: On second thought maybe later, this chair i'm sitting on is incredable.

Predictions for this weeks games:

Aston Villa 2 - 2 Liverpool

Tough game. Two teams who are much more prepared for this coming season than the last. I predict a close game, and although Liverpool are the better side, gut feeling tells me that its gonna be a draw.

Bolton 1 - 2 Newcastle

Revenge for big Sam. Newcastle are just the better side this season.

Derby 0 - 1 Portsmouth

Games like these are always hard to call. Look at Reading & Wigan in their first seasons and you'll see why. Derby are well coached & managed, but I believe Portsmouth will be experienced enough by now to pull a reult out of the bag.

Middlesborough 0 - 0 Blackburn

Draw.

Everton 3 - 1 Wigan

Somewhat comfortable win for Everton. I'm sure they'll be looking to even improve on last years position. Wigan I feel are a team in decline.

Sunderland 1 - 1 Tottenham

Shock result for Keanos boys. I believe that Sunderland will do well this season.

West Ham 3 - 2 Man City

They'll probably get the win because they are at home. If West Ham do win this game you'll probably see fans express their desire to sack Eriksson. heh

Chelsea 3 - 0 Birmingham

Bang. Get the goals. Bang. Leave.

Arsenal 3 - 0 Fulham

Although I believe Fulham can be good defensively when they want to be, away from home they are just like any other team. Arsenal will start the season with a point to prove that they can contend for the title. I expect Van Persie to grab one.

Man United 2 - 0 Reading

This will be a tough enough game I expect. Reading can be bastards to break down by the best of times, but I think we'll grind out a win.

[Psychotic]

Can you edit FIFA, Mr. Edge? I know you used to on '98 and '99.

I can't disagree too much with your predictions, although I can't see four goals in our game. Maybe 0-0 or 1-1. Could be wrong though!

[Cz]

Oh man, what an awesome first result. I think I might be warming to the idea of Roy Keane as Sunderland boss. :D

[DK]

Sunderland for the motherfucking win, that was quality

[Loony BoB]

Awesome start. Roy for SAF's replacement in five or so years. :D

[Resha]

I reJOICE.

[Psychotic]

Ah man, if Todd and Utaka hadn't scored, my Portsmouth - Derby Pro Evolution game would've been spot on, even down to the goalscorers. :D

Good result for us today. Torres and Babel both did better than I thought they would, actually. Torres had some good movement, nice touches and strength, and Babel always looked dangerous when he got the ball. I am more optimistic about those two than I was previously, as they do add some much-needed flair. Disappointed in Pennant and Sissoko, who regular viewers of this here thread will know I am in love with. Well, they were both a bit naff today, let me tell you! But good ol' Stevie :love: Deserved win, I think.

[Burtsplurt]

I'm mighty annoyed. Boro deserved to win against Blackburn. They had two shots and two goals, both the fault of my least favourite Boro player - Chris Riggott. Never mind losing his man; if he ever finds him then he's having a storming game (not happened yet).

Referee was appalling as well. One of their players wrestled George Boateng to the ground and hit him - only a yellow card. Samba was all over Yakubu all game and got away with it.

On the positive side, we had a really good first half. We look a lot quicker than last year and our defence (with the exception of Riggott) was very good, despite the absence of Woodgate, Pogatetz, Huth, Young and Bates. David Wheater was awesome in the air (Riggott wasn't). Aliadiere and Tuncay both looked useful, but I expect it'll take them a while to settle in.

[Rocket Edge]

Chopra you legend! Keano's back in the Premier League with a bang.

Can you edit FIFA, Mr. Edge? I know you used to on '98 and '99.
Could you? I'm not sure, but what a game! I liked the fact about Fifa 98 that you could pretty much kick the ball from anywhere on the pitch and score a spectacular goal. Ah, the memories.

Awesome start. Roy for SAF's replacement in five or so years. :D
YES.

[Hazzard]

Lol, I used to play Fifa 98 all the time; when I tackled a goalkeeper I knew I was in deep s***


I heard Arsenal won today 2-1 against Fulham, the Gunners are back in town!

[Loony BoB]

I heard Arsenal won today 2-1 against Fulham, the Gunners are back in town!
If you heard how long they were losing you probably wouldn't be sounding so confident right now, mind you. Heard it was won in injury time, both goals after the 84:00 mark.

[Hazzard]

Yeah, my brother told me, but we got the three points at the end of the day and that's what matters. We're steadily making our way back up there.

[Armisael]

Yeah, my brother told me, but we got the three points at the end of the day and that's what matters. We're steadily making our way back up there.
You're a Gunners fan, i already love you! ^_^

And you are right, three points is what counts.

[Hazzard]

Yeah, my brother told me, but we got the three points at the end of the day and that's what matters. We're steadily making our way back up there.
You're a Gunners fan, i already love you! ^_^

And you are right, three points is what counts.


See what advantages come out of being a Arsenal fan, fellas? :D

[Loony BoB]

1) Kitson didn't deserve a red card.
2) I respect Reading a lot.
3) But that was a disgraceful way to play a game. If you're in the Premiership, you should play to win. 1% of the game played in United's half says it all, really.

Disappointed and really, really frustrated. Still confident that we'll win the title, but I'd rather watch a League Two game than that kind of game, United or not.

[Resha]

Man it's like nothing's changed from last season x_x STILL way too much passing, I wish they'd shoot more, guh, frustration, but oh, Rosicky did actually take a few shots, and I'm so happy for that. He seems to know what's up.

Hleb and Rosicky were brilliant today. And I'm really impressed with Sagna as well; he was making some awesome crosses into the box and passes around as well (although his hair :(). We need more headerers. Headerererers. For alla them cornerererers.

[Hazzard]

Yeah but we've never been the sort of side that can respond well to "Hoofing the ball into the box, and netting it in with the head" I don't think that's Wenger's style of play, along with the passing. I want us to cut down on the flashy stuff even more, and get on with a couple of long shots.

[Burtsplurt]

3) But that was a disgraceful way to play a game. If you're in the Premiership, you should play to win. 1% of the game played in United's half says it all, really.


I don't agree. Steve Coppell chose the tactics that he thought would be most likely to get points from the game. Whether it's offensive or defensive, it doesn't really matter. I'd rather watch attacking football, yes, but there was a whole lot to admire about that game. I can't remember the last time I saw a team stick to a rigid man-marking system - I found that fascinating to watch. It's like watching a tactical exchange in snooker - there's no potting, but it can be just as engaging.

I still think you need an out-and-out striker. Crosses seem almost pointless at the moment, and that's such an important source of goals. Anything that can get defenders facing towards their own goal has to be good. And there's no-one to hold up the ball and allow players like Rooney and Ronaldo to run off. I think someone like Mark Viduka (on a free) would have done a good job for you for a season or two. It just provides more attacking options - it looks a bit too one dimensional at the moment, and I think Coppell recognised that.

[Loony BoB]

3) But that was a disgraceful way to play a game. If you're in the Premiership, you should play to win. 1% of the game played in United's half says it all, really.


I don't agree. Steve Coppell chose the tactics that he thought would be most likely to get points from the game. Whether it's offensive or defensive, it doesn't really matter. I'd rather watch attacking football, yes, but there was a whole lot to admire about that game. I can't remember the last time I saw a team stick to a rigid man-marking system - I found that fascinating to watch. It's like watching a tactical exchange in snooker - there's no potting, but it can be just as engaging.
I still don't like it... I mean, I would have liked it if they tried to get the ball and break on occasion, but they just booted the thing as far away as possible at all times. Oh well, we'll win the next games, I'm sure.

I still think you need an out-and-out striker. Crosses seem almost pointless at the moment, and that's such an important source of goals. Anything that can get defenders facing towards their own goal has to be good. And there's no-one to hold up the ball and allow players like Rooney and Ronaldo to run off. I think someone like Mark Viduka (on a free) would have done a good job for you for a season or two. It just provides more attacking options - it looks a bit too one dimensional at the moment, and I think Coppell recognised that.
That's where Saha and Soljskaer come in. Both fully fit and training at the moment, it's just a case of them getting back to the position that they can play in the first team. No point in purchasing an out-and-out striker when you have two just a week or two away from being fully fit - managing four lead strikers is easy. Managing five would be a bit much. Luckily for us, Saha is able to come back from injury and start scoring immediately, he's scored something like 37 goals in 66 games in the past two season for us in the middle of all those injuries.

[Croyles]

Im just gonna intrude here and say that my promoted team beat the DFB Pokal winner (equivalent to FA Cup) 0-2 in Nürnberg!
Oh yeah oh yeah!
Oh and gratz to lucky Arsenal!
Lol at poor Lehmann's first touch of the ball.

[Resha]

Yeah but we've never been the sort of side that can respond well to "Hoofing the ball into the box, and netting it in with the head" I don't think that's Wenger's style of play, along with the passing. I want us to cut down on the flashy stuff even more, and get on with a couple of long shots.

I hope he decides to darned well give that style of play a shot, because out of all our players, the only two I've ever seen take long shots and wild chances are Eboue and Rosicky. The others seem unwilling to shoot unless they're standing right in front of a defenceless goal, and want to pass until they are. And people like Rosicky win us corners. I think we should try and give it a shot. Adebayor might be something, and I have hopes for da Silva.

[Rocket Edge]

That game was ridiculous. Reading are supposed to be a premiership team, not flipping Wycombe Wanderers. I swear, I hope to god other teams don't catch on to that because that was so frustrating to watch. I'm pissed.

As for the red card, I believe Kitson deserved it. With the speed and angle in which he came in with his foot, he could have broken Evra's leg.

[Hazzard]

Yeah but we've never been the sort of side that can respond well to "Hoofing the ball into the box, and netting it in with the head" I don't think that's Wenger's style of play, along with the passing. I want us to cut down on the flashy stuff even more, and get on with a couple of long shots.

I hope he decides to darned well give that style of play a shot, because out of all our players, the only two I've ever seen take long shots and wild chances are Eboue and Rosicky. The others seem unwilling to shoot unless they're standing right in front of a defenceless goal, and want to pass until they are. And people like Rosicky win us corners. I think we should try and give it a shot. Adebayor might be something, and I have hopes for da Silva.

I've never really liked Adebayor for some reason, he just isn't my cup of tea for a forward, he can prove difficult to be tackled but isn't the best scorer either, I've never seen him header though, and Arsenal players are renowned for their flaws in the aerial aspect of the game.

Eboue shouldn't even be shooting! The strikers should be doing that, and I haven't caught a glimpse of the new signings yet, haven't really been into football for about a year and a half.

On a side note, can't wait for Football Manager 2008, gonna definitely choose the Gunners.

[Resha]

Yeah but we've never been the sort of side that can respond well to "Hoofing the ball into the box, and netting it in with the head" I don't think that's Wenger's style of play, along with the passing. I want us to cut down on the flashy stuff even more, and get on with a couple of long shots.

I hope he decides to darned well give that style of play a shot, because out of all our players, the only two I've ever seen take long shots and wild chances are Eboue and Rosicky. The others seem unwilling to shoot unless they're standing right in front of a defenceless goal, and want to pass until they are. And people like Rosicky win us corners. I think we should try and give it a shot. Adebayor might be something, and I have hopes for da Silva.

I've never really liked Adebayor for some reason, he just isn't my cup of tea for a forward, he can prove difficult to be tackled but isn't the best scorer either, I've never seen him header though, and Arsenal players are renowned for their flaws in the aerial aspect of the game.

Eboue shouldn't even be shooting! The strikers should be doing that, and I haven't caught a glimpse of the new signings yet, haven't really been into football for about a year and a half.

On a side note, can't wait for Football Manager 2008, gonna definitely choose the Gunners.
He ain't the best finisher, or the highest scorer, but I'll give him one in the sense he really manages to get in great positions to score (although you could argue that's his job -- blegh -- if only he worked on ACTUALLY GETTING THE BALL IN it'd do him oodles of good!) x_x too bad he doesn't. I haven't seen him header overmuch either xD but I can hope.

he does, though; he takes shots and crosses beautifully when he flanks down the right <3 and I wouldn't even care if some of the others tried ecstatic shots half as much as he does.

[Hazzard]

Yeah but we've never been the sort of side that can respond well to "Hoofing the ball into the box, and netting it in with the head" I don't think that's Wenger's style of play, along with the passing. I want us to cut down on the flashy stuff even more, and get on with a couple of long shots.

I hope he decides to darned well give that style of play a shot, because out of all our players, the only two I've ever seen take long shots and wild chances are Eboue and Rosicky. The others seem unwilling to shoot unless they're standing right in front of a defenceless goal, and want to pass until they are. And people like Rosicky win us corners. I think we should try and give it a shot. Adebayor might be something, and I have hopes for da Silva.

I've never really liked Adebayor for some reason, he just isn't my cup of tea for a forward, he can prove difficult to be tackled but isn't the best scorer either, I've never seen him header though, and Arsenal players are renowned for their flaws in the aerial aspect of the game.

Eboue shouldn't even be shooting! The strikers should be doing that, and I haven't caught a glimpse of the new signings yet, haven't really been into football for about a year and a half.

On a side note, can't wait for Football Manager 2008, gonna definitely choose the Gunners.
He ain't the best finisher, or the highest scorer, but I'll give him one in the sense he really manages to get in great positions to score (although you could argue that's his job -- blegh -- if only he worked on ACTUALLY GETTING THE BALL IN it'd do him oodles of good!) x_x too bad he doesn't. I haven't seen him header overmuch either xD but I can hope.

he does, though; he takes shots and crosses beautifully when he flanks down the right <3 and I wouldn't even care if some of the others tried ecstatic shots half as much as he does.

Then the lad should be demoted down to attacking midfielder, if the best he can do is cross. Although I don't wanna sound grumpy, we've now officially lost Henry and need someone who can actually net in some goals, we can't have more passers like we had for the past five years. I feel optimistic about Da Silva's Brazilian heritage (sounds a bit sad...) and my bro told me he's a good player.

Can't wait to see him in action, is the Premiership show on tonight?

[Psychotic]

You're a Gunners fan, i already love you! ^_^Pretty much the whole of EoFF are Arsenal fans, so expect to love a lot of people. I think it's just me, Burtsplurt, BoB, Rocket Edge and DK defending EoFF against the North London tyrants.
I swear, I hope to god other teams don't catch on to that because that was so frustrating to watch.Believe you me, you're going to get it every other week. That's the reward of the champions.
Eboue shouldn't even be shooting! The strikers should be doing thatFrom long range? I'd say that's more of a midfielder's job, as you want your strikers to be in the box.

I think people (namely those on the Teletext football talk page, something which I have just discovered) put waaaay too much emphasis on the first day of the season. A half-strength Spurs lose, so suddenly they're :skull::skull::skull::skull:? Torres doesn't score, so now he's a flop? I fully expect to read about how United are going to come third or fourth tomorrow.

If only England didn't have a striker crisis, I'd be satisfied that Toffee git Rooney was injured (although I am not one to wish injury on players, there are a dozen or so who are exceptions, and he is one of them). He sure knows how to pick the worst times to break bones in his feet as far as England is concerned.

[DK]

You're a Gunners fan, i already love you! ^_^Pretty much the whole of EoFF are Arsenal fans, so expect to love a lot of people. I think it's just me, Burtsplurt, BoB, Rocket Edge and DK defending EoFF against the North London tyrants.

Yeah, but as the old saying goes it's "quality, not quantity" that is important, and as we all know Arsenal scum failures are the lowest quality people on the planet :spin:

Anyway, despite my sadness at my lack of being able to (h), I was very happy with our start to the season. Stuffed West Ham on their own turf, all of our new players fired and were causing trouble all over the place. Elano especially looks to be the business, and Petrov was always going to perform brilliantly.

[Heath]

You're a Gunners fan, i already love you! ^_^Pretty much the whole of EoFF are Arsenal fans, so expect to love a lot of people. I think it's just me, Burtsplurt, BoB, Rocket Edge and DK defending EoFF against the North London tyrants.

Ahem. I'm not a filthy North Londoner!

Still, I got a laugh out of Spurs losing because of how much people have been rating them to come 4th this season. I don't imagine we'll fare very good against them on Tuesday though.

[charliepanayi]

I was under the impression the only Arsenal fans were me, Resha and Cz. Where'd all the rest suddenly come from? XD

Doesn't bode too well that we started the season in the same way as we spent of most last season, going behind and spending the whole game toiling to get back level or in the lead. I'm not sure what to think yet, I do know that Blackburn away next weekend is the sort of game we really have to perform in this season.

And yeah, a good laugh seeing Spurs lose anyway.

[Cz]

The first day of the season doesn't mean much, but it's always nice to get off to a good start, instead having to play catch-up right from the first game. With that in mind, I'm not too bothered by our performance against Fulham; the important thing is that we got the result. Our side was practically unchanged from last season, and once we get Gilberto back and we've seen what Da Silva can do, I think we'll be a little more settled. It'd help if we didn't concede stupid first minute goals, too. :mad:

Can't say I'm too worried about Rooney's injury, to be honest. England can perform well without him, and if we screw up our chances of qualification in September, it won't be because of his absence.

[Loony BoB]

On a bookie-note, United were listed as favourites before the weekend, now it's Chelsea. Shows how tight they see the Premiership this year!

[Psychotic]

Can't say I'm too worried about Rooney's injury, to be honest. England can perform well without him, and if we screw up our chances of qualification in September, it won't be because of his absence.Yes, it will be because big Pete is suspended. England's best striker over the past two years? Most definitely! (this is regards to international football, before you all jump on me!)

[Cz]

]Yes, it will be because big Pete is suspended. England's best striker over the past two years? Most definitely! (this is regards to international football, before you all jump on me!)I must admit I'd forgotten about that, but I hardly think Rooney was going to be the one to get the goals in Crouch's absence. His goalscoring record at international level is pretty poor, after all. Obviously he'll be missed, but his absence won't be quite as crucial as, say, Steven Gerrard's would be.

[Rocket Edge]

]Yes, it will be because big Pete is suspended. England's best striker over the past two years? Most definitely! (this is regards to international football, before you all jump on me!)I must admit I'd forgotten about that, but I hardly think Rooney was going to be the one to get the goals in Crouch's absence. His goalscoring record at international level is pretty poor, after all. Obviously he'll be missed, but his absence won't be quite as crucial as, say, Steven Gerrard's would be.
Internationally, Gerrard is without question Englands best player. With that said, I'd have to reverse that view if Scholes was still playing!

[Psychotic]

Spurs lost again, United drew again, Chelsea scraped a win again. WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN? Don't answer that, chaps, because I am about to do so. It means Spurs are going to come 10th, United 4th and Chelsea 1st. Of course it does.

Oh and Wigan won against Boro. Interesting for the relegation fight me thinks.

[DK]

Another win for us, looking good. Was never that concerned about losing to Derby so whoever. However, Manchester Derby coming up which is going to be the benchmark for the new squad I think, I don't expect a win but I would like us to put up a fight and make life difficult for United and we might pull it off.

Funny stat that Paul Scholes is now the all-time top scorer for Man Utd (according to Match of the Day) with 96 goals, which I found really random, you'd expect a club like United to have one of those immense strikers with masses of goals for them.

[Rocket Edge]

Funny stat that Paul Scholes is now the all-time top scorer for Man Utd (according to Match of the Day) with 96 goals, which I found really random, you'd expect a club like United to have one of those immense strikers with masses of goals for them.
I'm happy for Scholesy. Trademark cracker to take the record too.

This is atrocious. We are being really, really unlucky this season so far with everything. I swear, if we don't win on saturday the title is as good as gone.

[Psychotic]

I swear, if we don't win on saturday the title is as good as gone.I would be surprised if Chelsea won 36 games. Besides, they're coming to Anfield this weekend! Someone you want to drop points will be dropping 'em, that's for sure.

[Rocket Edge]

I swear, if we don't win on saturday the title is as good as gone.I would be surprised if Chelsea won 36 games. Besides, they're coming to Anfield this weekend! Someone you want to drop points will be dropping 'em, that's for sure.
Ah yes, but what will happen when United come to Anfield?

[Psychotic]

You'll be dominated the entire game, but we'll fail to take our chances and the game will be 0-0 until Nemanja Vidic scores in the 92nd minute.

[Rocket Edge]

You'll be dominated the entire game, but we'll fail to take our chances and the game will be 0-0 until Nemanja Vidic scores in the 92nd minute.
I'll make sure to add him to my team in Fantasy Football that week. ;)

That was one of my favourite moments from last season. John O'Shea, what a legend. He is one of the weirdest players i've ever come across though, like a Gary Doherty or Peter Crouch. Semi useless players who can create moments of brilliance deserves cult status!

[TheAbomination]

Only players who are so brilliant the world can not contain their brilliance and they are so fantastic and awesome that they just don't try because it would make it unfair on everyone else deserve cult status. Which is why Paulo Wanchope is the greatest cult hero of all time

edit: :skull::skull::skull::skull:, not logged in to my normal account 'cause this is IE. but yeah.

[Burtsplurt]

Poo. We're in trouble.

[Heath]

We're top of the league! It won't last, but we're top of the League! Deservedly so, I feel, after how well we owned Spurs.

[Bart's Friend Milhouse]

I really want Chelsea to get relegated

[DK]

fucking absolutely beautiful :cool: I always said City were the superior Manchester team, and there we have the proof. :cool:

haha nah, in all seriousness that was exactly how I thought we'd win the game if we managed to win at all, totally sneaked it with that flukey deflection goal and then just managed to hang on until the end, but sometimes that's how you've got to do it. Man Utd were all over us but they ran into a wall called Micah Richards who was an absolute colossus for us today, seriously the difference between a 1-0 win for us and a 4-1 win for Utd, imho. Dunnie was also good and Kasper Schmeichel with another clean sheet, although there were still dodgy moments, he's got a way to go yet. But yeah, Richards was the deserving man of the match.

I am happy :aimkiss:

[Resha]

massively irritated at Blackburn. ugly creatures

[DK]

massively irritated at Blackburn. ugly creatures

gahahaha today gets better and better :love:

[Psychotic]

The song "The referee is a wanker" has never been so more true. Way to ruin the game, you stupid sack of :skull::skull::skull::skull:. Not even referring to the penalty, which was diabolical, nor the one he didn't give to Torres. No, I refer to that :skull::skull::skull::skull: yellow carding anything that moved.

FAO FA: Never send him to Anfield again please.

I'm so annoyed that I'm not even enjoying jabbing my mouse cursor up the Chelsea player's arses, and up Mourinho's nose.

[Resha]

massively irritated at Blackburn. ugly creatures

gahahaha today gets better and better :love:

why don't you go dance around the liverpudlians :aimkiss: they just got majorly cheated and it's actually funny. a fallacy. but funny. what the hell was he thinking?

[Psychotic]

Hey Pooja, don't talk about the Liverpool - Chelsea game. The matters of the big three do not concern a lowly Arsenal fan. Start commenting on Portsmouth and Aston Villa games instead, as they're your nearest rivals.

Besides, conceding a goal from David bloody Dunn is ten times more hilarious than being on the end of a Chelski screw job. ;)

[DK]

Hey Pooja, don't talk about the Liverpool - Chelsea game. The matters of the big three do not concern a lowly Arsenal fan. Start commenting on PortsmouthMan United and Aston Villa games instead, as they're your nearest rivals

:cool:

[Rocket Edge]

City, you wankers. As for Fernado Torres, he might as well be a united player because I love him so much for that goal he scored. Quality. Psy you remain true to your word, you dropped points on Chelsea, as did they, but if we don't start winning our games i'll be adament that we will lose the title as early as this stage. United, will ye wake up fellas!

[charliepanayi]

Curse you Lehmann! :( Still, at least we've started off a little better than last season anyway. And we gave as good as we got today.

Man Utd must be trying to emulate the start we made last season :) - hell they've turned into us what with bulldozing the opposition but being unable to score!

[Resha]

Besides, conceding a goal from David bloody Dunn is ten times more hilarious than being on the end of a Chelski screw job. ;)
Not really. If he hadn't scored, someone else would have. They were kinda stomping on us in the second half. (literally too)

[DK]

City, you wankers.

Only got yourselves to blame. :aimkiss:

[Cz]

Fabianski to start the return leg of the Sparta match, please. I want to see our alternative goalkeeping options right now.

Our continuing inadequacy aside, this looks like being the best season in ages. The table's looking much more competitive throughout, with teams like Newcastle and Man City looking much improved this time out, and the obvious relegation candidates, like Wigan and Birmingham, looking stronger than most people anticipated. Plus, Spurs and United got off to terrible starts, so there's plenty of consolation for jaded Arsenal fans.

[charliepanayi]

It's only three games in. Soon enough, it will turn into the same old Premiership I suspect.

[Psychotic]

I thought Arsenal had a good start, to be honest. 4 points from 6, and a decent result away in Europe. And to draw away to Blackburn is not a bad result, definitely not. When it was 1-0 in both games, I contemplated a four horse title race. Heck, still no reason why there shouldn't be, really, as none of the big four (yes, the portsmouth thing was a joke, and none of you took the bait :() won this weekend so yeah.
As for Fernado Torres, he might as well be a united player because I love him so much for that goal he scored. Quality.That was an absolutely perfect finish. I loved it. I didn't think he'd score when I saw him running through on goal, but wow.

[charliepanayi]

I was so tempted to take the bait, but thought it's far too early in the season to be arguing with Liverpool fans over that 3rd place ;)

[Psychotic]

Yeah that's the problem with there being so many bloody Arsenal fans here! I usually try to get Resha or Cz going but I usually end up in a debate with you :lol:

Cz thinks he's too good to deal with a lowlife like me with regards to football these days. He only cares about iissues like Gandalf vs Harry Potter.

[Cz]

I'm not going to argue over third place because I honestly don't think we can get it. The Blackburn game wasn't disappointing so much for the result as the fact that we played exactly the way we did last season. On this evidence, we're still going to struggle against tough-tackling opposition, and still not going to take our chances in front of goal. With upcoming fixtures against Man City, Portsmouth and Tottenham, and our defence Gallas-less, I can see more results like the one we saw yesterday. Unless we can take six points from those games, I can't see us being anything more than a cup team this year.

[charliepanayi]

I thought we stood up very well to Blackburn's physical approach. If it wasn't for Lehmann's error, we could well have won. I think it bodes well for the coming season, we're giving as good as we get. Or at least we will be until we hit a five game winless streak sometime in November.

[Heath]

Yeah, what's the point of arguing over third place when we're obviously going to end up there?

...

What?

[Croyles]

England 1 - 2 Germany.

Well, someone has to say it.
England, you lost against a German B-Team. We had 11 injured players, with around 6 that were important regulars in the team. England had a few injured too, Michael Owen for example definitely wasnt in form, but he didnt have many chances to prove himself. We had to completely change the formation and player posi<b></b>tions (Lahm in defensive midfield anyone?).
Honestly, both teams played poor football. I think Germany showed the worst football out of both teams in the first 10 minutes. After that the game was merely mediocre, with lots of mistakes on both sides. England had managed a few good moves but were mostly relied on the inexperience, nervousness and failed passes of the German B-team, with the exception of one or two really good plays. Germany managed to create a few chances, and not out of Englands mistakes. They were quite well played. But yeah, their were only few of them.

I think the best player on the pitch was the Germany coach Joachim Löw. He showed the most spirit out of everyone. He was also really daring with some of the decisions he made.

[Psychotic]

First of all, Mark Lawrenson and John Motson-
- MEEKAH? No. It's Micah. My-cah. Got it?
- John Terry and Rio Ferdinand coming up for a free kick or corner is not a wonderous tactical innovation that needs to be announced with grandeur each time it happens.
- The New Wembley! The Rebuilt Wembley! Wembley! New Wembley! Oh just smurf off.

Good god Frank Lampard and Kieron Dyer were, well, dire. I would be shocked if that oaf John Terry did not come out in the media and say that Frank has proved his critics wrong. No. He hasn't. Great, he scored a goal...and missed two good opportunities when passing it to/leaving it for a team mate were a much better option. And poor old Jermain Defoe, to know that McClaren would rather see Dyer up front than him!

After the Brazil game I said in this very thread (or at least, I assume it was this one) that I hoped I would never see Alan Smith lining up in England's no. 9 shirt again. I still very much hold onto that hope.

Not even going to bother with Paul Robinson; the media will do that for me. But David James is not a viable alternative. Yeah, he's doing fine for Portsmouth, good for him. But the man chokes in big games and messes up just as badly as Robinson does. Never forgiving him for single-handedly costing us the title with error after error ten years ago!

Positives, well, Richards was good until he took that knock on the knee, Joe Cole and Wright-Phillips were inventive, and I thought Carrick didn't do too badly.
Honestly, both teams played poor footballAbsolutely.

McClaren out! Now, who can we replace him with? Well, Man City have a 100% record so far, let's see if we can't entice their mana...oh, right.

[Croyles]

WHAT A SHOT by Pander though. After that awful defending against Richards, he redeemed hismelf slightly. I was loving the passing preceeding the shot.

Lahm was pretty good in defensive midfield surprisingly. Turns out he used to play that posi<b></b>tion in the Bayern youth squad. I love him, such a little guy, but he's an extremely good defender. He won 80% of challenges.
Despite Lehmann making some mistakes he also made one pretty good save and a couple of really good actions.

What are your predictions for the headlines of The Sun?

Im somewhat relieved that a German B/C-team can win against an A-/B England squad in England. There were many first timers in our team.

[Rocket Edge]

Denmark 0 - 4 Ireland

Great result. Probably because Staunton wasn't present. What a mess of a man. Trust me England, when it comes to both managers, the feelings are mutual.

Oh & I've said it many times before i'll say it again. Frank Lampard isn't worth a :skull::skull::skull::skull: for neither club or country. Its gotta be Becks, Gerrard, Hargreaves, & Joe Cole in midfield. At least, thats what I think!

[Psychotic]

WHAT A SHOT by Pander though. It was bloody fantastic.

What are your predictions for the headlines of The Sun?Knowing The S*n, a reference to either 1966 or World War II.
Denmark 0 - 4 Ireland

Great result.Yeah, winning 4-0 in Denmark is fantastic. I looked at the team sheet of Denmark and it did not look weak to me. Did you see the match? If so, how did Agger and Finnan do? :D
Its gotta be Becks, Gerrard, Hargreaves, & Joe Cole in midfield. At least, thats what I think!Yeah. Or shunt Gerrard out on the right and install Carrick in the middle, if Beckham is lacking fitness, like he clearly was tonight.

[Croyles]

For The Sun, I predict something along the lines of "Robbo lotto howlers and lucky Germans" or something along that line.

It would have been a really interesting game if both sides were playing their normal line ups.
Dont shoot me, but I think Germany would have won by a larger margin in that case. Something like 1 - 3. If on a bad day then something like 2 - 3 or 2 - 2. Hard to say though. Out of all the current teams in Europe, Germany's is probably one of if not the most balanced team. Considering that before 2005, Germany was utterly rubbish, im chuffed. Today they played awefully :D

I want England to do better and I hope they make it to the Euros. They will have to drastically change a few things though.
Maybe the Premier League has so much competition that the players dont get along with each other? I dont know, maybe they care more for their clubs than their national team? Its sort of the same situation with Spain, a really strong league, a pretty mediocre national team.

[charliepanayi]

I believe the Sun's headline on the back page was 'What A Load of Robbish' - doubtlessly they save the 1966/WWII references for when the teams meet in the World Cup or Euros ;)

[Rocket Edge]

Yeah, winning 4-0 in Denmark is fantastic. I looked at the team sheet of Denmark and it did not look weak to me. Did you see the match? If so, how did Agger and Finnan do?
Didn't really see much of Agger to be honest, all I could catch were the highlights as I missed the match because of work. Finnan did his job well, but he's like Richard Dunne in that you know that you have steel in your defence with them. In the first ten minutes that speedy bastard Rommedahl made a run past him and we nearly conceded an early goal. Apart from that the defence was solid. That's why even if we don't score many goals, we usually don't concede much either (apart from that Cyprus shambles of a game) with them there, and Given in goals to boot. The main positives we can bring from the game was the good performance, everyone played as a team.

Yeah. Or shunt Gerrard out on the right and install Carrick in the middle, if Beckham is lacking fitness, like he clearly was tonight.
How is Beckham gonna make that whole transatlantic situation work? Its obvious he wants to play for his country, but i'd imagine the general public wouldn't even mind if he missed an odd friendly every now and again. I say keep him for the big games when you really need to call on him. As it is right now he's wearing away his minutes on the pitch by the truckload.

[Psychotic]

2-0 away to Sunderland is a good result, especially when both your centre backs get injured (poor Sami :()...and Momo finally scored! :love: :love: :love: The Pennant-Sissoko lovefest that usually reigns supreme in my posts will now continue unabated after that game, as they both played really well, and also mad propz to Torres. Didn't score (Craig Gordon was incredible) but he led the line well and always looked dangerous.

Xabi, though. Ohhhhhh Xabi, Xabi, Xabi. Don't know what's wrong with him, but if he keeps this up, Momo should be preferred until Masch gets over his Copa America hangover.

[Cz]

Those injuries might be a problem for you. Supposedly Carragher's got a broken rib, which could keep him out for a bit. On the other hand, none of your upcoming fixtures look particularly taxing, so you might cope after all.

We really ought to have brought in a centre-back over the summer. With Gallas and Senderos missing, and Djourou on loan at Birmingham, we're back to the old standby of playing Gilberto as a makeshift defender. He's a decent replacment, but a back-up who's natural in the position would be preferable.

[Resha]

Makeshift defender --> makeshift defense, now :-( And it's showing; the occasional gaping holes and terrifyingly Man City might just break and score, like they've looked to do :O But I hope Sagna's injury isn't too bad. I think the man's a genius and I love him.

In the meantime oh <3 we're playing so beautifully; and were especially towards the end of that first half. A tiny (very tiny) part of me almost doesn't mind about the not scoring, just because it's so smooth and intercepty. But score ffs

[charliepanayi]

Well we did score...eventually. 7 points from 9, so can't complain there, but the next two games against Portsmouth and Spurs will be tricky ones. I'm still not too sure how to read our prospects at the moment. I do love Fabregas though.

[blim]

A win at last for the bees, and mousinho's first goal. I'm very happy, not sure when the last time we won was!

[Psychotic]

Come on everybody, let's have a Man Utd are in the relegation zone party! :strut:

[Loony BoB]

Shut up! If we win by three goals, we'll almost be in UEFA Cup territory!

...:(

[Heath]

Come on everybody, let's have a Man Utd are in the relegation zone party! :strut:

I'd love Manchester United to have a decade like Everton had in the 1990s. Actually, I'd rather Liverpool had it, but I can dream, can't I?

Decent result against Blackburn but the game could've went either way really. Our first half performance was generally poor after we conceded but I think our second half was rather good. I'll be happier when we have Fernandes in the mix and when Baines, Yobo, Lescott and Hibbert makes up our defence.

[charliepanayi]

I'm still just old enough to remember when Man Utd were rubbish pre-1992, I cling on to that memory! Mind you, I can remember Arsenal finishing 13th in 1995 so nostalgia isn't always good...

[Psychotic]

13th? Wow, in the wonderfully dark days of Graeme Souness as manager, I think 8th was as low as we got.

[charliepanayi]

It was only one season! We finished 10th in 1993 but won both cups that year so it wasn't too bad overall. That's the only two times so far we've been below 6th since I started supporting Arsenal in 1989 or so.

[Heath]

We've never been below 17th :cool:

[blim]

We havent been in the top flight since the thirties :(

[Cz]

1995...Stewart Houston...Nayim...

Gah. Football nostalgia doesn't get good for me until about 1998. Although I guess I was alive for the Michael Thomas incident, which I like to think I appreciated, even though I couldn't hold myself upright.

[Rocket Edge]

NAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!

[Psychotic]

Nani, what happened?! Nani, answer me! NANI?!
NAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!

DUM DUM DER DUM DUM, DUM DUM DUM!

[charliepanayi]

1995...Stewart Houston...Nayim...

Gah. Football nostalgia doesn't get good for me until about 1998. Although I guess I was alive for the Michael Thomas incident, which I like to think I appreciated, even though I couldn't hold myself upright.

I was six years old at the time, my dad threw me up in the air in celebration :D - I guess I'd have felt the same if I'd waited 18 years for us to win the title...

[Heath]

Yeah, well! We won the FA Cup and Charity Shield in 1995! Take that, other clubs!

[Psychotic]

I liked Everton's socks in that final (black and blue stripes) , and I wish they would wear them forevermore. Still, Channel 5's Italian football thing on Sunday (John Barnes, colour commentator, called Adriano - not even on the bench! - fat, in the mother of all ironies) shows that Inter wear them, so I am satisfied.

That really lacked cohesion, didn't it?

[Loony BoB]

Ole. :(

[Rocket Edge]

Ole Ole, to a United LEGEND. Thanks for everything Solskjaer! The season of 98/99 doesn't go unnoticed. :ty:

[DK]

What a king, gutted that he's calling it a day.

[charliepanayi]

Ole Ole, to a United LEGEND. Thanks for everything Solskjaer! The season of 98/99 doesn't go unnoticed. :ty:

Yes, that's why as good a striker he's been (and a huge bargain) I have to hate the git forevermore for giving Man Utd a European Cup and Treble. Curse you Ole! :D

[Loony BoB]

Anyone who hates Ole deserves a slapping. Nicest bloke to play football.

[Psychotic]

Nicest bloke to play football.Second nicest. (http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N156758070821-1605.htm) Never seen a player do anything like that before. Was good to hear the Kop sing his song last night, probably louder than they sang YNWA.

[blim]

Third nicest at best.

Jay Tabb now of coventry, that guy is a true legend.

[DK]

Paulo is better than every other football player ever at anything you could care to mention. :heart: