The Ongoing Serie A, La Liga, All English Football, Champions League Thread - Part 3

[kit1982]

They probably wouldn't but we would never offer that kind of money for any player. Adam is good at being the big fish in a small pond, he has too many flaws though for United and Liverpool who are looking at winning the title.

As he proved yesterday, he looked completely out of his depth I think Craig Mackail-Smith made more of an impact.... and he only played for 2 minutes!

 

[ttotheusher]

i've only managed one live united game.... last season at OT V Spurs....as much as i wanna go to all the games... it's too much to haul myself, my chair and a helper (AKA my Bro) across the country each weekend

planning on hitting another game this season, but it's highly unlikely atm

Yea that's understandable man. I've only been to see United twice, once against Spurs in the FA Cup, and last season against Portsmouth. Hoping to go again this season to see them play against Blackpool though.

On top of that, I've been to Craven Cottage about 5 times to see Fulham play, and then once to the Bernabeu to see Real play against Xerex. So not so bad overall, next year I'm hoping to go to the Camp Nou and the San Siro at some stage.

 

[thebatsam]

They probably wouldn't but we would never offer that kind of money for any player. Adam is good at being the big fish in a small pond, he has too many flaws though for United and Liverpool who are looking at winning the title.

Exactly, we get about £25m a season, end of. We are just not the spending powerhouses we used to be. It's hard to buy big names when you have City, Chelsea and Madrid inflating the market. Also, when you're run by a bunch of muppets like the Glazers, you just thank god you even get the 25m.

If that De Gea article is true I would be over the moon. He looks really good and we've been scouting him for bloody ages. We obviously want him. Our policy on buying players has been we buy players who we feel will be worth more in 5/10 years and hopefully De Gea won't crash and burn like Kleberson and Djemba-djemba.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Not really.... no chance i can travel up to Manchester for that...will probably end up watching the game with some mates on a comfy sofa instead...

That's a shame man as those CL nights at Old Trafford are special.

As he proved yesterday, he looked completely out of his depth I think Craig Mackail-Smith made more of an impact.... and he only played for 2 minutes!

Eactly, asked to be the central figure outside of Blackpool where everything is built around him, and he struggled.

Exactly, we get about £25m a season, end of. We are just not the spending powerhouses we used to be. It's hard to buy big names when you have City, Chelsea and Madrid inflating the market. Also, when you're run by a bunch of muppets like the Glazers, you just thank god you even get the 25m.

If that De Gea article is true I would be over the moon. He looks really good and we've been scouting him for bloody ages. We obviously want him. Our policy on buying players has been we buy players who we feel will be worth more in 5/10 years and hopefully De Gea won't crash and burn like Kleberson and Djemba-djemba.

I think over the next two summers Fergie will get more leeway to spend, given we have to replace, Scholes, Giggs and finally Hargreaves, however I still expect Fergie to look for more Hernandez gems rather than splurge on the Modric and Sneijder level players.

Personally for midfield I think Nuri Sahin of Borussia Dortmund and Yann M'Vila of Rennes are very good, and reasonably priced, options.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Arsene Wenger & Arsenal Search for Best XI: Best Left-Winger Poll

For me it has to be....

 

[Brian Braddock]

Man, Overmars was awesome.

Viera, Petit, Overmars, Anelka - Arsenal was brilliant back then; and this was even before the Tierry Henry that we all know had established himself (remember that 1st season when he was used basically as a winger and everyone thought he was rubbish? how little we knew, eh?)

 

[Brian Braddock]

Barcelona Not Happy With Arsenal and Will Not Pay £43m for Cesc Fabregas

Liverpool Target £32m Creative Trio as Kenny Dalglish Looks to Reshape Anfield Attack

Manchester United Agree £17.5m Deal to Sign Atletico Madrid Keeper David De Gea: Spanish Press Claim La Liga side Have Accepted Offer

Blackburn Rovers Are Favourites To Sign Ruud Van Nistelrooy

Liverpool Chase Three Left Backs as Fulham Prepare to Re-Sign Flop For £1.5m

Hmm, Jeffren - yes, please.

 

[Van Petrol]

Yep, I'd agree with that Hunter. Pires was great to, but I'd still pick Overmars for that poll, simply because he was an actual winger.

 

[B]

Barcelona Not Happy With Arsenal and Will Not Pay £43m for Cesc Fabregas

"Prices are reduced in football each year"...

Certainly seems that way what with distinctly average players like Andy Carroll going for £35m, injury ridden & not having a good season strikers.. but World Cup winner commanding a £50m fee..

I don't know if hes been misunderstood but the way he has said that makes me want to punch him "If we offered £40m last year then £50m this year is impossible", if £40m wasn't enough last year why would anything less than that amount be enough this year you clown.

The mere thought of 'Barcelona being unhappy with Arsenal' is ****ing laughable as well considering their disgraceful pursuit of another teams star player by publically speaking about wanting him & having senior members of the team constantly come out & say they want him at the club.. a tactic employed completely to unsettle the player. Same tactic that those ****s from Real Madrid used to unsettle Ronaldo.

At least we extorted every last penny we could out of Madrid for him, I hope Arsenal do the same should they let Cesc go..

 

[Thread Manager]

This is a continuation thread, the old thread is [split]349109[/split]

 

[Van Petrol]

Hazard warning to Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool: I'd rather play in Spain

Ramsey boost for Arsenal as fit-again Gunner says he's better than ever

Meh, what he means is he wants to play for Barca or Real.

Great news.

He'd be a fool to go to Real at this stage in his career, methinks. But anyways, to each his own.

Come on Rambo! Here's hoping he can come back and reach his undoubted potential!

 

[B]

Barcelona Not Happy With Arsenal and Will Not Pay £43m for Cesc Fabregas

"Prices are reduced in football each year"...

Certainly seems that way what with distinctly average players like Andy Carroll going for £35m, injury ridden & not having a good season strikers.. but World Cup winner commanding a £50m fee..

I don't know if hes been misunderstood but the way he has said that makes me want to punch him "If we offered £40m last year then £50m this year is impossible", if £40m wasn't enough last year why would anything less than that amount be enough this year you clown.

The mere thought of 'Barcelona being unhappy with Arsenal' is ****ing laughable as well considering their disgraceful pursuit of another teams star player by publically speaking about wanting him & having senior members of the team constantly come out & say they want him at the club.. a tactic employed completely to unsettle the player. Same tactic that those ****s from Real Madrid used to unsettle Ronaldo.

At least we extorted every last penny we could out of Madrid for him, I hope Arsenal do the same should they let Cesc go..

 

[B]

I hate the Thread Manager.

 

[Iceman]

Arsenal you've been naughty. You didn't give us the player we want for a very cheap price even though we are the best club in the world & we've been as obvious as we can that he is our player & we want to pay a cheap price. We just don't understand what's wrong with Arsenal. They were just as silly over Thierry, why don't they understand that they should give us their good players? (on the cheap)

 

[Darthphere]

Damn really guys? That sucks. Do you get to see many live games? I'm lucky to see a game season.

Edit: Kinda misread your post Darth. Speaking of American football, I'm hoping to go see LA Galaxy play during the summer when I go there.

Yeah, people here are gearing up already. Everyone wants to see Beckham play against Manchester United at the All Star game. Barring injury, it's almost a sure thing at this point.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Arsenal Likely to Complete Signing of Dutch International Keeper Who Confirms He Wants Gunners Move

Arsenal Star Gael Clichy to Secure £13.2m Juventus Move?

EXCLUSIVE Sneijder tells Man United: Come and get me

Liverpool star Lucas set for an Italian job

£30m Neymar to replace Drogba

Cesc Fabregas wants to leave Arsenal for Barcelona – Xavi

 

[Van Petrol]

Apparently we're after Manuel Neuer. I know we've been following him for over a year and Jens has confirmed that.

 

[Darthphere]

Arsenal Likely to Complete Signing of Dutch International Keeper Who Confirms He Wants Gunners Move

EXCLUSIVE Sneijder tells Man United: Come and get me

Liverpool star Lucas set for an Italian job

£30m Neymar to replace Drogba

Cesc Fabregas wants to leave Arsenal for Barcelona – Xavi

Would be a terrific move for Arsenal I think, I don't know why but I still think he'll end up at United for some reason.

I'll eat a hat if Sneijder ever ends up at Manchester United, literally eat a hat.

Replacing Lucas with Charlie Adam is ridiculous, they're not even close to be the same type of player or caliber of player IMO.

If Neymar is replacing Drogba, who's replacing Torres?

I've never seen this before...

 

[spidey-dude]

doubt we will get rid of lucas

 

[Brian Braddock]

Lucas is going nowhere mate; Kenny has clearly recognised that Lucas is one of our key players, through his team sheets if nothing else.

Interesting articles from the Guardian the other day:-

After more than three years on Merseyside, Lucas Leiva still struggles with the local accent, but understands it well enough to work out that Liverpool's supporters are now singing his name without irony. But although his relationship with the fans at Anfield has improved immeasurably, the Brazilian acknowledges that his every move will be scrutinised each time he steps on the pitch. It is a familiar feeling.

"Playing for Liverpool brings a similar kind of pressure to when I represent my country," Lucas says. "Both sets of fans have a very low tolerance level of defeat and will not hesitate to demand more from the team. Playing for Liverpool is like being watched by Brazilians!"

The 24-year-old midfielder should know, having featured in each of his country's last five games since being called up by the new coach Mano Menezes, under whom he played at Gremio. Alongside Chelsea's Ramires, Lucas has formed a solid midfield partnership that, barring a late injury, should start Sunday's friendly against Scotland at the Emirates.

Nonetheless, Lucas reveals that he had to convince Menezes he would fit into his plans. Since taking over from Dunga after Brazil's dismal World Cup quarter-final defeat by Holland last summer, Menezes has introduced a more traditional attacking game while Lucas has been deployed in a more defensive role by Liverpool than he was at Gremio. "In Gremio I had carte blanche to go forward and participate more in the attacking plays. But things had to change when I arrived in Liverpool, where I am used much more as a holding midfielder. That transition took time and made settling in even more challenging. It was necessary to prove to Mano that I could still be useful."

Indeed, Lucas partly attributes his struggles to win over the fans and his early lacklustre performances at Anfield to being asked to change his game by the then manager Rafael Benítez when he arrived in 2007. The Brazilian rarely got a glimpse in the first team and even created problems for the club indirectly – in Brazil's 3-0 defeat by Argentina in the 2008 Olympic semi-finals he earned a red card in a dangerous tackle that also injured his club team-mate Javier Mascherano.

"Things were not looking good and some supporters were obviously not happy," he says. "I still think people needed to see the bigger picture. The move to Liverpool represented a change of country, language and there was also the not so small detail that I was only 20 and arriving at a traditional club in one of the most demanding leagues in the world. Also, few people seemed to remember Liverpool had a group of players that had made two of the last three Champions League finals. It would have been impossible to just parachute in. Maybe the supporters thought a Brazilian midfielder would do magic.''

His frustration and anxieties were alleviated by a combination of long conversations with his parents back home and the support of Benítez, who publicly backed him while privately advising Lucas to keep his head down and work harder. Lucas speaks fondly of the role the Spaniard played in rebuilding his confidence and it is no surprise that Benítez's departure last summer was a huge blow, not least because the Brazilian thought the club would sell him at the first opportunity.

"How could I blame Liverpool [if they had]? At that point I had not had a sequence of games long enough for people to see what I was all about. I had the feeling they were not counting on me for the new era. But at the end the club and I reached common ground. I was happy because nobody would want to leave a club as big as Liverpool without a true chance to show their abilities."

Not that there was any immediate chance for Lucas to do so. The arrival of Roy Hodgson in Benítez's stead was followed by a collective dip in form that resulted in Liverpool going out of the Carling Cup and into the bottom three in the Premier League. Reports indicated the players had lost faith in the manager. Lucas, however, fervently denies any mutiny contributed to Hodgson's entry in the history books as Liverpool's shortest-serving manager.

"We lost Rafa and until the pre-season there was not a substitute," he says. "Roy simply brought a philosophy that did not work with the team at that time and this is not the first or last time it will happen. This rumour about us not working hard enough is nonsense. And so was the questioning of Roy's managerial capabilities. He did a great job at Fulham and now is doing well at West Brom."

Hodgson's departure at the start of this year brought the return of an Anfield legend under whom Lucas, and Liverpool, have prospered. The midfielder had met Kenny Dalglish in his ambassadorial role at the club and the manager had also featured heavily in Lucas's crash course in Liverpudlian culture when his move to Merseyside was finalised. Along with piles of Beatles CDs, Lucas devoured DVD anthologies of Liverpool FC goals. A good bunch were scored by his now-manager.

I could see that Dalglish was unbelievable as a player, but he has also made an impression on me as a manager. The world is full of great players flunking as managers. But Dalglish has rescued our confidence and at the same time he has helped us think a bit better."

Dalglish and his assistant manager Steve Clarke have masterminded a change which Lucas says was most evident in the team's first-half display in the 3-1 defeat of Manchester United this month. "During the week of the game, Dalglish talked about the possible United line-ups and made sure we understood how important it would be for us to give them some of their own medicine. He went on and on about suffocating them in midfield. We had a great afternoon doing what he said. His mantra is: make it simple and work together."

Impressive enough for Lucas to forgive his Scottish manager's banter in regards to the London friendly. In the last few weeks, Dalglish has constantly told his player that Scotland will finally break their duck against Brazil in their 10th meeting. After a promising start under Menezes, with victories over the US, Iran and Ukraine, Brazil stumbled against Argentina and France. Winning at the Emirates is essential to keep the fans on board.

"It's a new era and the team is still gelling, for a lot of players who were around in the last World Cup have departed," says Lucas. "We lost both games 1-0, with Argentina scoring in the 90th minute and against France we played almost 60 minutes with 10 men. Scotland will be desperate to surprise us which makes our responsibility to ensure they do not even greater."

When Lucas returns to his club, he will have more on his mind than mulling over the aftermath of the game with Dalglish. With his club contract ending in 2012, Lucas is hoping to re-open talks over an extension: He wants to stay and has even joked that would like to see his newborn son Pedro Lucas speaking English with a Scouse twang. But he is still waiting for the club's move.

"I have no reasons to go and I hope the club see things the same. It would be fantastic to play for Liverpool in the Champions League again and I don't see why we can't return.

"We have a squad that is united in its will and desire to return this club to where it belongs."

Also, for those who simply dont think that he's worth anything - the opta stats say that Lucas has made more tackles for Liverpool than any other player in the Premier League this season.

Just thought I'd leave that out there.

 

[Two-Face]

Would be a terrific move for Arsenal I think, I don't know why but I still think he'll end up at United for some reason.

I'll eat a hat if Sneijder ever ends up at Manchester United, literally eat a hat.

Replacing Lucas with Charlie Adam is ridiculous, they're not even close to be the same type of player or caliber of player IMO.

If Neymar is replacing Drogba, who's replacing Torres?

I've never seen this before...

Man I would be so happy, class player. He was the master in the game against Bayern Munich.

 

[Van Petrol]

Apparently we're after Manuel Neuer. I know we've been following him for over a year and Jens has confirmed that.

Although we have been following Neuer closely for some time, ultimately I don't think we'll go for him. He's young and I don't Wenger is going to go for another top young keeper when we have Szczesny already staking his claim. Of the one's we've been rumoured with, I'd say Buffon would be the most likely, as he's the older more experienced head who could do wonders for the team as well as the up and coming keepers.

 

[Darthphere]

Bayern has expressed interest in Neuer.


Also, debate time people, so Manchester United have released their summer tour schedule and have confirmed many matches. Now, the MLS All Star game is where initially I wanted to go, but they also play Barcelona 3 days later in Washington DC. Considering this is a pre-season friendly, we can expect a lot of the top player getting little to no playing time. Which seems like the better match to attend, MLS All Star Game or Barcelona?

 

[spidey-dude]

why has square head come out and made the whole carroll thing public? what is the point of that can i ask?

he has moved clubs and i doubt dalglish is gonna put up with andy drinking alot plus I dont think its capellos biggest problem in the team

terry will knob your wife, rooney will pluck your mum (of your grandmum....or both), rio will snort off your arse, gerrard will deck you if he doesnt like your taste in music and cashley will pop a cap in yo ass for seemingly no reason whatsoever

 

[Darthphere]

why has square head come out and made the whole carroll thing public? what is the point of that can i ask?

he has moved clubs and i doubt dalglish is gonna put up with andy drinking alot plus I dont think its capellos biggest problem in the team

terry will knob your wife, rooney will pluck your mum (of your grandmum....or both), rio will snort off your arse, gerrard will deck you if he doesnt like your taste in music and cashley will pop a cap in yo ass for seemingly no reason whatsoever

Andy is driving the team bus home, so as you know, "Don't drink and drive."