English Football Thread! 2007-2008 Season

[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. 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.

[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.

[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. 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!

[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.