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[Mama Smurf]

Sevilla wanted £12m for Alves last summer, and his stock has only risen since. Liverpool must be kicking themselves now for not going for it, they reckoned he was worth £7m, a laughable amount looking back.

I believe Sevilla want over £20m for him now.

 

[Cornballer]

£20m was the figure I saw most recently. Too much for a right back, I'd say.

Daniel Alves da Silva (born 6 May 1983 in Juazeiro), usually known as Daniel Alves, Dani Alves, is a Brazilian footballer who plays as an attacking right back or right winger for Sevilla in Spain. He is also known as Sid by some. Gets injured a suspicious amount of times on the pitch but his recovery rate is incredible.

:lol

 

[hadareud]

We'll just swap Aliadierre and Almunia for him, if they're nice I'll throw Reyes in too.

On a serious note, I doubt Wenger would want to pay any more than 15 million for just 1 player. With a few players leaving our budget could be somewhere between 25 - 30 million though.

 

[Mama Smurf]

I'm pretty certain Liverpool are looking at him as a winger rather than a right back...in fact all interested English teams except Chelsea probably are.

 

[Falch]

Well, the shit has hit the fan at PSV. We've given away the title yesterday by not winning at Utrecht. We had a freaking 11 poin lead....:/ We will end up 2nd or 3rd and will have to play in the play-offs to try and secure a CL-ticket (2nd place vs 5th place, 3 vs 4, winners play against eachother for CL, rest gets UEFA). AZ now has the best tickets for the title (AZ, Ajax and PSV al have 72 points, but AZ has the best goal scoring difference).

Aparently Koeman can't get along with our South-american players (Farfan, Mendez, Salcido, Gomes, Alex). Unofficially PSV is already looking for a new coach. Van Marwijk (former coach of Feyenoord and Borussia Dortmund) apparently has already been contacted. Other candidate could be Martin Jol.

I just pray to god we get that CL-ticket, because PSV CL-incomes are crucial for PSV.

 

[Dunpeal]

 

[hadareud]

 

[hadareud]

Well, the shit has hit the fan at PSV. We've given away the title yesterday by not winning at Utrecht. We had a freaking 11 poin lead....:/ We will end up 2nd or 3rd and will have to play in the play-offs to try and secure a CL-ticket (2nd place vs 5th place, 3 vs 4, winners play against eachother for CL, rest gets UEFA). AZ now has the best tickets for the title (AZ, Ajax and PSV al have 72 points, but AZ has the best goal scoring difference).

Aparently Koeman can't get along with our South-american players (Farfan, Mendez, Salcido, Gomes, Alex). Unofficially PSV is already looking for a new coach. Van Marwijk (former coach of Feyenoord and Borussia Dortmund) apparently has already been contacted. Other candidate could be Martin Jol.

I just pray to god we get that CL-ticket, because PSV CL-incomes are crucial for PSV.

yeah, my girlfriend is all excited because she hates PSV and supports Ajax. Unbelievable how they could have lost that lead.

Personally I think there's only one explanation: justice for the incredible luck they had against Arsenal

 

[Cornballer]

Plus Beasley's probably leaving at the end of the season. Too bad for PSV.

And if we're going to play that game...

 

[Luna104]

nm

 

[hadareud]

Plus Beasley's probably leaving at the end of the season. Too bad for PSV.

And if we're going to play that game...

:lol

but I worked hard on mine by using google images.

Sour grapes much?

not really. I don't think we have anyone else but ourselves to blame for going out against PSV. Arsenals lack of scoring can't be explained away by bad luck I'm afraid.

 

[Wes]

News on the Villa grapevine is that MON is interested in Udinese midfielder Sulley Ali Muntari. News is we're willing to pay £7mill but Udinese want 12

Well at least MON isn't hanging around and going straight in for some top quality players!

 

[Cornballer]

Beasley is a piece of shit. Here's hoping City wants to buy him.

:lol Where the heck did that come from? That's a mean thing to say about a player that scored four goals for you in the Champions League a few years ago. His form dropped off for a while, but I think he's back after some injuries and confidence issues.

 

[Ronok]

HAHAHA!

I'm not really sure it's a good idea to think about who/what Wenger might sign at this point, but, I have been some what. lol

I think the position least needing to be filled is up front.. We have Henry, Van P and Ade as well as Bendtner and I always saw Theo being more influential in that position as well....

Midfield we obviously need someone to take the place of Pires' 20 goals in a season, that's obvious.... Whilst we have score a decent amount from places other then upfront this season, the lack of a prolific midfield has definantly effected the way Henry plays... He was always known as the player who would make assists as much as score, but, this season and to some extent last season I didn't see this.

Defence, I'm not too sure we need to buy someone, but, something needs to be done..... At times it's been silly how bad we have been.. This has sometimes been down to the amount of injuries we've had, other times it's been with our full defence... I think it probably (hopefully) comes down to a lack of an opportunity to gel as a defensive unit, but, if not something else really needs to be done... The question is if we can wait until the next season to find out. :-/

Obviously the final position is down to Lehmen..... I don't think those saying that he hasn't been playing his best because he decided to leave are right though. I think he's obviously in two minds and it's been effecting his game, but, I think he would have said if he had made up his mind.


If Wenger is thinking the same thing then £20 million could go pretty far I guess, although the obvious players leaving the club could add quite a decent amount on top of this.... The Baptista/Reyes situation is obviously where the most would come from.....

Speaking of, would Wenger be willing to sell Reyes for much less then he paid? If not and no one was willing to pay then what would happen? Force Reyes to come back to London? I don't see that happening.... So, I think other clubs could end up offering a lot less then he's worth knowing Arsenal aren't in a good position on this which would really suck. :-/


As for Ribery, I'm not really looking at it like it's a done deal, I mean it's been expected, but, I'm really not sure. :-/

 

[Luna104]

nm

 

[Luna104]

nm

 

[hadareud]

I'd say it were PSV's qualities that gave them the edge. If you've been following Dutch football then you'd know that in Holland PSV is (was, sadly) known for two great qualities: 1) having a high ratio of goals to opportunities and 2) rarely conceding goals.

Alex's goal at the Emirates was therefore seen as a typical PSV goal here.

I'm not really following dutch football, my girlfriend is as she's Dutch so I know a bit. I also was watching quite a few PSV Champions League games over the years, so their qualities are pretty evident.

Still, and I don't mean to sound arrogant or disrespectful, Arsenal should have won easily over two legs. Even considering that they were hardly our best games I think that we still had enough chances to finish PSV off.

However, I think PSV played 2 very strong games and probably deserved to go through for their effort.

 

[Falch]

Yeah I hope we sell Beasley to Man City, I don't really want to see him come back. He started whining last year about not wanting to be a subsitute. We'll probably get 2-3 million for him.

Concerning the win against Arsenal:
- Based on quality, yeah Arsenal should have won. But that's just not all there is to it. In the last three years, PSV has beaten AS Monaco, Olympique Lyon, nearly AC Milan (3-1 win at home) and Arsenal all after the groupstage was over. All of those teams had more quality than PSV, but still PSV managed to beat them. It's a quality of PSV (or at least was, with the way thinks are looking right now).

 

[Luna104]

nm

 

[Mama Smurf]

I haven't seen the other games, but the difference is PSV actually deserved to beat Milan based on the play, unlike against Arsenal.

I just can't have a go at Ribery's looks, I'd feel too guilty. I don't know why I feel okay having a go at someone's looks if they were born that way and not okay when they've been in a car accident, but it does seem to feel worse.

EDIT: Why do PSV have to sell their best talents btw? I mean...they do it, but why do they have to? They have contracts don't they, why don't they just not let players leave whenever bigger clubs come in for them?

 

[Luna104]

nm

 

[hadareud]

the good news is that he probably would not exactly have been a hunk without the accident. Some might even call it an improvement. Not me, of course.

PSV definitely deserved to win against Milan btw

 

[Mama Smurf]

I'd still trade lives with him.

Probably get some braces and brush every so often though...

 

[Luna104]

nm

 

[Ronok]

I just can't have a go at Ribery's looks, I'd feel too guilty. I don't know why I feel okay having a go at someone's looks if they were born that way and not okay when they've been in a car accident, but it does seem to feel worse.

He had a car accident? I really didn't know that....... Now I feel bad for him.... I'm also slightly more impressed for some reason. lol

 

[hadareud]

I'd still trade lives with him.

Probably get some braces and brush every so often though...

that's just tasteless. you should be ashamed of yourself.

Spoiler

I've never heard about an Englishman wanting to be French

 

[Luna104]

nm

 

[Mama Smurf]

I doubt it, PSV might make it to the CL regularly, but I don't think that's enough incentive to step down in terms of domestic leagues. He's done a good job at Spurs who were the epitome of average before he arrived, and I think he wants to build a team there.

Apart form his looks, Ribery's life is probably awesome. Doing what he loves and being paid extremely well for it, adored by fans, wanted by some of the biggest clubs in the world...and when he actually moves to a bigger club, he should be on the sort of wage that can attract better looking women than someone 10 times his looks.

And if that fails, buy some off Abramovich.

 

[Luna104]

nm

 

[Blablurn]

it's seems like there will be some massive changes in bayern. Hitzfeld is talking about 8 new players

 

[hadareud]

8 players is quite something, very risky too. Then again, they can't do much worse can they.


Todays rumours:

TRANSFER RUMOURS

Arsenal defender William Gallas is on Real Madrid's hit-list of summer transfers. (Various)

Middlesbrough hope to sign Portsmouth midfielder Sean Davis in a £3m deal. (Various)

Midfielder Zheng Zhi will ask for a move if Charlton are relegated to the Championship. (The Sun)

Crystal Palace striker Dougie Freedman wants a new two-year deal or he will walk away from the club when his contract expires in the summer. (Daily Mirror)

Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres, who has been linked with a summer move to Liverpool, has the Merseyside club's famous 'You'll never walk alone' slogan on the inside of his captain's armband. (The Sun)

Coventry midfielder Colin Cameron will be released at the end of the season because he does not feature in manager Iain Dowie's future plans. (Daily Mirror)

Chelsea are planning a £45m bid for Valencia striker David Villa. (Daily Star).

Manchester City and Everton are vying to sign Cardiff striker Michael Chopra for £4m. (Daily Star)

Ex-France star Zinedine Zidane is ready to come out of retirement to join Major League Soccer side Chicago Fire. (Daily Mirror)

Liverpool say they have not forgotten about Benfica winger Simao Sabrosa since a bid for the winger was rejected in 2005. (Independent)

Sheffield United defender Chris Armstrong is at the centre of a tug-of-war between Scotland and England. (Daily Record)

Hibernian and Dunfermline have sold less than 5000 tickets for their Scottish Cup semi-final. (Daily Record)

OTHER GOSSIP

American tycoon Stan Kroenke is set to meet the Arsenal board so the directors can listen to his £500m takeover plan. (Daily Mirror)

Chelsea's Didier Drogba says revenge over Liverpool is his side's motive in their Champions League semi-final against the side who knocked them out in 2005. (Daily Mirror)

Liverpool's Xabi Alonso, meanwhile, says the Merseysiders are not fazed by the Stamford Bridge crowd. (Various)

Bolton boss Sam Allardyce fears the club's bid to qualify for Europe could be wrecked by an injury crisis. (The Sun)

AND FINALLY...

Brazilian player Cleberson was booked because he kissed a referee. The Cabofriense defender gave match official Ubiraci Damasio a peck on the cheek after a foul was given against him and after being shown a yellow card, Cleberson said: "I did not know it was against the rules." (The Sun)

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho broke a Uefa two-game touchline ban two seasons ago by being sneaked into his side's dressing room in a laundry basket. (Various)

Portsmouth keeper David James doubts England boss Steve McClaren saw him break the clean sheet record against Aston Villa on television because: "I think there was a documentary on the Discovery Channel at the same time".

Story from BBC SPORT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport1/hi/football/gossip_and_transfers/6586585.stm

Losing Gallas would be a big blow. To be honest, I don't think he'd stay should he get an offer from a club like Real.

 

[Wes]

Torres to Liverpool? Fergie would go mad! :lol

 

[Lakitu]

Wow, Chelsea making a huge bid for an overpriced player? What next. They spit their dummy out everytime nothing goes their way. They remind me of the little spoilt girl in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

 

[hadareud]

It worked out quite neatly for them with Shevchenko

 

[Lakitu]

:lol

 

[Wes]

Am I right in thinking Crespo is still a Chelsea player and he's simply on loan in Italy?

 

[Shinobi]

:lol That's bad ass...here's another one.

People do seem to forget Benni McCarthy, which I'm happy about. The less attention he gets the better as fas as I'm concerned.

I still haven't forgotten his terrific strike that knocked us out of the FA Cup...the ****ing bitch. Ahem.

I always knew that footballers are stupid. Until next year, when Cesc will win it. Then they're not stupid.

:lol

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho broke a Uefa two-game touchline ban two seasons ago by being sneaked into his side's dressing room in a laundry basket. (Various)

:lol :lol :lol

Fabregas said that his future with Arsenal is linked to Wenger. Basically if Arsene goes, he goes. Which doesn't mean much of anything to me, cause Wenger isn't going anywhere.

 

[Frenck]

Whoa, the image of Mourinho suddenly jumping out of my laundry basket while screaming "Puta!" in my face will haunt me for many nights

 

[hadareud]

 

[Aegus]

I bet he was trying to get into the ladies changing room. Much more entertaining than watching Chelsea playing.

 

[hadareud]

Chelsea star held on drink charge

Chelsea star Michael Essien has been arrested on suspicion of drink-driving

The 24-year-old footballer was released on bail pending further inquiries after he was pulled over by police on the Old Kent Road, south London, on Monday.

It is reported the midfielder, who is suspended for the Champions League clash with Liverpool, had been driving a black Range Rover.

Scotland Yard confirmed a 24-year-old man had been stopped in Southwark and arrested by officers.

A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said: "At approximately 0510 BST yesterday morning officers in Southwark stopped a vehicle driving in the Old Kent Road.

"Officers spoke with the driver and subsequently arrested a 24-year-old man on suspicion of drink-driving.

"He has been bailed to July pending inquiries."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6586827.stm

 

[Wes]

I bet he was trying to get into the ladies changing room. Much more entertaining than watching Chelsea playing.

WOW :lol

 

[Frenck]

btw.

The first contender for goal of the year (at least in the Bundesliga). An amazing player, I hope he stays with Werder for a couple of seasons.

 

[Wes]

I've only heard of Diego through Football Manager, always try to buy him! That's such a hard thing to pull off too, as it normally curls uncontrolably. Perfectly judged.

Just wait. Next week he'll be linked with Premiership clubs

 

[Wes]

Saw this on Guardian's page. Thought it was a cool picture. Building up tension for tonight. I'm tempted to even put some money on it which I never do!

Oh and a David Villa goal here to watch (scary music attached though) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZF_XC9Wv-k

 

[psycho_snake]

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho broke a Uefa two-game touchline ban two seasons ago by being sneaked into his side's dressing room in a laundry basket. (Various)

:lol :lol :lol You can actually imagine him doing it.

Ex-France star Zinedine Zidane is ready to come out of retirement to join Major League Soccer side Chicago Fire. (Daily Mirror)

I wouldnt be surprised if this is true. If he's going to offered a deal thats similar to beckhams, its going to be very difficult to turn down.

 

[psycho_snake]

I dont know what to expect tonight. On one hand I think that we can manage to get a decent result, but on the other hand I think we might get a very bad result. Our injury crisis is going to mean that we will probably adapt a formation like this:

------------------Van Der Sar-------------------------

Fletcher-------Brown------Heinze-------------O'shea

----------------------Carrick--------------------------

----------------Giggs---------Scholes----------------

Ronaldo---------------------------------------Rooney

-----------------------Smith--------------------------

The defence is appaling, so the three central midfielders will ahve to protect the back four as much as possible. Kaka will probably be marked by two players, most likely carrick and one of the central defenders, so that when he gets the ball he'll have little space to do anything with it. Giggs and scholes will have to take care of seedorf and pirlo, whilst Henize will have to watch Gilardino.

Our main strategy for attacking will be on the counter or attacking with a lot of pace. If the ball is collected in midfield, we'll distribute it to one of the wings. The winger with the ball srtays on the wing, whilst the other one drifts into the middle to support smith. If we can get the ball up quickly and deliver a good ball into the box then the midfielders wont need to push up, but if we are going to take a bit of time, then two central midfielders push up. We need carrick to play a more defensive role today, he wont be doing much attacking because we need to support the defence. The good thing for us about milans defence is that they're old and quite slow so roanldo can cause them some big problems. Jankulovski is their fastest defender so he'll probably play so that he can mark ronaldo.

 

[Mama Smurf]

I don't think there is any "overpriced" for Chelsea. With any other team you actually have to wonder "Is that player worth that?" because the money they're spending on him is going to take away from their budget that they could use elsewhere.

Chelsea, on the other hand, have no budget. Or at least no budget that's ever going to be met. They'll try and buy players as cheaply as possible, but at the end of the day it's all about the player's worth on the pitch to them. So long as it makes their side stronger, it doesn't matter if they player cost them £5m or £45m.

Well...I suppose even Abromovich has limits. Some players have release clauses of over £100m which I can't even see Chelsea meeting...but within normal football pricing ranges (say up to £50m) there doesn't seem to be any Chelsea budget.

Speaking of Chelsea, I don't think I've looked at their squad for next year yet. Abramovich refused to put up any money for players in January, but I think that had more to do with the uncertainty over Mourinho's future than anything else. He didn't want Mourinho bringing new players in if he was going to appoint a new manager in the summer with his own ideas of which players to buy. This summer though, either Mourinho will stay or a new manager will come in...either way they should be able to spend.

Current Chelsea squad:

GK

Cech
Cudicini
Hilario

LB

A Cole
Bridge

RB

Diarra
Geremi
Ferreira

CB

Terry
Carvalho
Boulahrouz

LW

Robben

RW

J Cole
Wright-Phillips

CM

Lampard
Essien
Ballack
Makelele
Mikel

FW

Drogba
Shevchenko
Kalou

It's hard to believe with the sort of money Chelsea have spent, but they still have problems. They don't have a great right back, they don't have enough centre backs and they don't have enough strikers.

Right backs - Glen Johnson will return from loan, but I think he should be Chelsea's reserve right back. They just need to spend the money on an established, top player to put this position to bed as it's been going on for years now.

Daniel Alves - I guess the obvious choice. Perhaps better at attacking the defending, but all the same, I think he'd fit in perfectly at Chelsea. Especially if they persist with playing such a narrow midfield, he'll be the guy to attack down the wings.

Micah Richards - I know Man City will let him go for the right price. He's kind of like Alves, only not quite as good going forwards but stronger defensively. Great in the air too, so dangerous at set pieces. Can also play centre back when needed. Young, possible star of the future.

Miguel - I have no idea if Valencia would sell him, but Mourinho seems to like him. Took over Ferreira's place at Euro 2004 and I don't think he's ever looked back.

Central defenders - No need to buy a superstar, the numbers just need to be made up with someone decent so Essien doesn't have to play in central defence again.

Tal Ben Haim - We all know he's leaving Bolton on a free this summer and that Mourinho wanted him in January, so he seems extremely likely. So likely that I'm not even going to bother looking at anyone else, though there are various other possibilities (Woodgate, Distin etc.)

Forwards - If they're going to play two up front, they need at least four strikers. And as Kalou is only pretty good and Shevchenko really hasn't found his feet in English football, I think they need a guy good enough to start alongisde Drogba, not just someone making up the numbers.

David Villa - Great goalscorer, looks like he'd do well in the Premiership though you never can tell, probably going to be playing at his peak for the next few years...the only problem is he has an extremely long contract and Valencia might not let him go for less than his £70m buyout clause.

Samuel Eto'o - The unrest at Barca seems to have quietened down, I haven't heard anything about it in ages anyway. I don't think they'd sell him unless he really wanted to go or there was such a split in the dressing room that it was between him or someone like Ronaldinho. Probably not likely to move anymore, but if so then he's ideal.

Dimitar Berbatov - If they're willing to spend £45m on Villa, then they can damn well spend enough to convince Spurs to let Berbatov go. Anything over £30m should do it, I don't see how Spurs could turn that down. The main advantage with Berbatov is that we know he can do it in the Premiership.

Carlos Tevez - They'd have to buy him, I can't imagine Abramovich ever being happy with a player in his squad that some other billionaire owns, but he'd probably be a hell of a lot cheaper than some of the other players they're going for. He's also recently shown that he can do it in the Premiership and he'd probably compliment Drogba nicely, being a guy who drops off more.

Javier Saviola - The lack of cost doesn't matter to Chelsea, but the fact that he'd be able to move wherever he wanted without his club getting involved does. Would he do it in the Premiership? I think he could.

Adriano - He seems unhappy at Inter, and he's got other strikers ahead of him so he should be available. Perhaps his form isn't what it was, but I think he could regain it and his style of play seems to fit the Premiership quite well. Great finisher as well, or at least he was.

Hernan Crespo - They could of course just recall Crespo. He always got a decent amount of goals for them, the only problem was he was fighting with others for that one striking spot. Chelsea no longer play that way so it's no problem.

Others - Chelsea could just buy in the above 3 positions and be fine, but I do feel they could just buy one more player to really make sure they're as strong as they could be. Robben's never really regained his form since he was injured that first season, though he's still dangerous. W-P has been doing better recently, but he's no better than Robben. Joe Cole is probably their best player in that mold, but they can't just rely on him. So i think that's the sort of player they need, and they have been linked to one, so...

Ricardo Quaresma - I hear he tore their defence to shreds in the CL. perhaps they could pick up their own Ronaldo in him.

In terms of the players to sell, there aren't too many as Chelsea actually have quite a small squad:

Geremi
Ferreira

I won't bother with the prices, it makes no difference. These two just won't ever get a game if Chelsea buy like I think they should, they barely get a game now.

So, next year's Chelsea squad would be something like (I'll go with the best player in each position who I think they actually would have a good chance of getting, rather than just the ideal player):

GK

Cech
Cudicini
Hilario

LB

A Cole
Bridge

RB

Alves
Johnson

CB

Terry
Carvalho
Ben Haim
Boulahrouz

LW

Quaresma
Robben

RW

J Cole
Wright-Phillips

CM

Lampard
Essien
Ballack
Makelele
Mikel
Diarra

FW

Drogba
Berbatov
Shevchenko
Kalou

If Chelsea do something like that, and it's well within their resources to do so, it just depends if they choose to or not...I think they'd go straight back to favourites for the title, regardless of who United can buy or Liverpool's money.

 

[Ghost]

Chelsea arent splashing the cash anymore, I doubt you'll see Berbatov going there. I wouldnt be supprised if they fail to sign anyone big for a couple of years because everyone will still be rolling out there signs saying 'Please Enquire for Russian Billionaire Rates' whenever Peter Kenyon comes a knockin'.

Liverpool seem to be the ones to watch for big money spending now. Wouldnt mind betting Villa will splash out a bit too.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Chelsea have claimed they aren't going to splash the cash for ages now, but everytime they've really wanted a player, out comes the chequebook. They said the same last summer, but in came Ashley Cole, Shevchenko, Ballack, Mikel, Kalou and Boulahrouz.

Even if they didn't want to spend too much though, it'd be possible to get the right players. Ben Haim is free, Crespo is already theirs and Miguel probably wouldn't cost that much.