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Official Football Thread 2006/2007 (Soccer)

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Wow that miss is hypnotic. o_O

I'd assume Benitez would want to loan an attacking Midfielder of the Gerrard kind we clearly lack in depth of them type of midfielders.
 
navanman said:
Someone repost that Van Persie GIF quick!!
vanpersiemissbolton0vz9gu.gif
 
Hell of a match worthy of a final. Difference in the game was the backline organization. US had plenty, Mexico none. :lol

The 2nd US goal was goal of the tournament IMO. Amazing shot.
 
All your Gold Cup are belong to US.

Great game today - this rivalry will be awesome for years to come. There are a lot of good young players on each team.
 
Cornballer said:
All your Gold Cup are belong to US.

Great game today - this rivalry will be awesome for years to come. There are a lot of good young players on each team.

Agree wholeheartedly.

The future is bright for both teams.

The team will only get better when Vela replaces Bravo (PLEASE!!!!) and Dos Santos comes in to replace Bofo/Blanco in the creative attacking mid role.

Oh yeah and my Goat (heh get it?) of the match would be Magallon. Stupid tackle gave US it's first goal and had several breakdowns that could have lead to 2 more goals.

The guy is in over his head, and for Copa America I hope Hugo goes with Marquez and Salcido (even though I like him at LB) as the centerbacks.
 
Also, wtf is the US not taking a full strength team to Copa America? ****ing assholes, I wish Costa Rica was invited once again so we could have quality friendlies like those.
 
BatiGOOOOOOL said:
Also, wtf is the US not taking a full strength team to Copa America? ****ing assholes, I wish Costa Rica was invited once again so we could have quality friendlies like those.

Cause it's the middle of their domestic season.
 
DAMNIT!!!

I missed this game because I had to go to a family friend's high school graduation party... NOT COOL.
 
Outdoor Miner said:
Oh yeah and my Goat (heh get it?) of the match would be Magallon. Stupid tackle gave US it's first goal and had several breakdowns that could have lead to 2 more goals.
Karakand said:
MagaLOLón
.

BatiGOOOOOOL said:
Also, wtf is the US not taking a full strength team to Copa America? ****ing assholes, I wish Costa Rica was invited once again so we could have quality friendlies like those.

GaLOLaxy could really use Donovan right now so his decision to not go down doesn't bother me a whole lot. Dumpsey (see what I did there?)... won't miss him. I think DMB has some new gig lined up and doesn't want to make a bad first impression, can't really fault him too much for that either.
 
Whoops, I didn't mean friendlies, hehehe.

I guess I understand why they can't take their best team, but are they at least taking all the guys that play in Europe?
 
BatiGOOOOOOL said:
Whoops, I didn't mean friendlies, hehehe.

I guess I understand why they can't take their best team, but are they at least taking all the guys that play in Europe?

Chivas USA is giving up 3 players, DC 2. LA is being lame.
 
Copa America starts Tuesday and the U-20 World Cup next Sunday. Should be an interesting week.

Boy CONMEBOL really wants the CONCACAF teams to piss off early eh? Putting Mexico up against Brazil and USA against Argentina for their 1st matches. :D
 
jamesinclair said:
From the US-Canada game, its hilarious

Lando.gif

:lol The "WHO ARE YA?!" chant has never been more appropriate...

The Under 20 World Cup is a pretty big tourney BTW...24 teams split into six groups, and a lot of non-traditional football powers.

GROUP A
Canada
Chile
Congo
Austria

GROUP B
Spain
Uruguay
Jordan
Zambia

GROUP C
Portugal
New Zealand
Gambia
Mexico

GROUP D
Poland
Brazil
Korea Republic
USA

GROUP E
Argentina
Czech Republic
Korea DPR
Panama

GROUP F
Japan
Scotland
Nigeria
Costa Rica

Yep...no England, no Holland, and no Italy. Guess they were more interested in the U21 UEFA Cup.

Group C is going to be the group based in Toronto, which makes sense since this place is jammed with Portugese. Their match against Mexico should be wild.
 
Not to mention they've been ****ing shit for most of the season. They already gave up players for the Gold Cup...that's a big enough sacrifice.
 
Venezuela has confirmed that two stadiums wont be ready for the cup, but will still be used. One will have 3,000 less seats than planned.

Note the missing roof on the left, incomplete roof on the right and unfinished corner seating. This stadium still has 9 days before it will be used, so they have a bit more time for last minute additions....but why are there no workers in the pic?

DSC06338.jpg
 
rumours:

TRANSFER RUMOURS
Atletico Madrid have told Liverpool they want Peter Crouch in part exchange for Fernando Torres. (Daily Star)

Liverpool are closing in on the club record £25m capture of Torres. (Daily Telegraph)

Sven-Goran Eriksson is set to stun Manchester City fans by making West Ham's Marlon Harewood one of his first signings. (Daily Mirror)

Arsenal's Freddie Ljungberg is believed to be high on Eriksson's wish list. (The Guardian)

Manchester United have accepted a £6m offer from Middlesbrough for their out-of-favour striker Alan Smith. (Daily Mirror)

Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp is aiming to make a late bid to bring Smith to the south coast. (The Sun)

Sunderland have slapped in a £3m bid for Hearts keeper Craig Gordon. (Daily Mirror, Daily Record)

Tottenham's £15m swoop for Darren Bent is being held up because Charlton are holding out for more money. (Daily Mirror)

Manchester City have handed a two-year contract to teenage keeper Filip Mentel. (Daily Mirror)

Liverpool will only allow Djibril Cisse to leave the club next season if he is offered a permanent deal elsewhere. (Various)

Bolton are to step up their bid to bring Cisse to The Reebok. (The Times)

Bordeaux slapped a £10m price tag on the head of Rangers target Julien Faubert. (Daily Record)

Chelsea's sporting director Frank Arnesen was in the crowd to watch Holland Under-21 star Royston Drenthe at the European Championship. (The Guardian)

OTHER GOSSIP

American sports tycoon Stan Kroenke has requested a meeting with Arsenal's board to discuss the future of the club. (Daily Telegraph)

Former Gunners midfielder Gilles Grimandi is set to become the club's new director of football. (The Guardian)

Czech winger Libor Sionko has slammed Rangers boss Walter Smith for only talking to him once since returning to the club. (Daily Record)

Arsene Wenger's future at Arsenal was thrown into further doubt when it emerged that key board members are against the plan to bring back Nicolas Anelka. (Daily Express)

Sven-Goran Eriksson will decide whether to take over as manager of Manchester City in the next 24 hours. (The Sun)

The Premier League has requested more help from the Government to investigate new owners in the wake of Manchester City's likely takeover. (Daily Telegraph)

Newcastle's new owner Michael Ashley will accept the resignation of the club's board today but offer a role to chairman Freddy Shepherd. (Various)

Paul Ince will leave Macclesfield to take over as MK Dons boss today. (Various)

Property tycoon Daniel Williams, who is interested in buying Blackburn, is thought to have the backing of two companies with combined assets of £3.75bn. (The Times)

AND FINALLY

Wayne Rooney said he was more nervous in Ricky Hatton's dressing room before his fight on Saturday than when he plays for England and Manchester United. (Daily Telegraph)

The skipper of Charlton women's side Casey Stoney has blamed Alan Pardew and his flops for the decision to axe their women's set-up. (The Sun)

Story from BBC SPORT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport1/hi/football/gossip_and_transfers/6236086.stm

Published: 2007/06/25 06:05:34 GMT

© BBC MMVII
 
Atletico Madrid have told Liverpool they want Peter Crouch in part exchange for Fernando Torres. (Daily Star)

DO IT, DO IT NOW!!

Chelsea's sporting director Frank Arnesen was in the crowd to watch Holland Under-21 star Royston Drenthe at the European Championship. (The Guardian)

uh oes spaghettios.

Oh hooray today is parade Henry around Barcelona day.
Thehand.gif


I think I'll have a media blackout of SSN today, I'm not an Arsenal fan and even I can't stomach this.
 
Guardian said:
After Henry used Arsenal's official website on Saturday to reiterate his feeling that Wenger's commitment to the Emirates Stadium was uncertain the club will not permit the drift to persist. There are strong hints of an announcement that the Arsenal manager has signed a £15m-plus, three-year contract extension that would tie him to north London until 2011.
http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2110470,00.html

please be true

edit: the whole article is positive and a good read. I must be dreaming.
 
a very interesting look at Wenger's transfer history:

WENGER THE DEAL KING
Steve Stammers 24/06/2007

THE LIST is long and impressive and proves that, when it comes to selling superstars, Arsene Wenger never gets it wrong.

Amid the controversy generated by the £16million sale of Thierry Henry, there is one certainty.

If Wenger had wanted the French superstar to stay, the Gunners would have rejected Barcelona's overtures.

Wenger runs the football side of the club. No question. Players move on only when he says it's time for change.

In his 11 years at the helm he's cashed in on acclaimed heroes like Marc Overmars, Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit, Paul Merson and Ian Wright.

The only time Wenger has been forced into selling against his will was when Nicolas Anelka demanded a transfer.

And even then Wenger had the last laugh, forcing Spanish giants Real Madrid to pay a staggering £23.5m for a player who 30 months before had cost Arsenal just £500,000.

Wenger has never shirked from selling his established stars - and so far none of them has come back to haunt him.

The manager's judgment, based on the meticulous study of the physiology of each player as much as their current form, has always proved to be spot-on.

When Wenger believes the time is right, players move on. That's why Arsenal insiders are not dismayed by Henry's imminent move to Barcelona. They insist the manager will be proved right - again.

After Wenger's first season in control he decided to ditch local hero Merson, a player idolised by the fans as a home-grown, immensely gifted star.

Wenger thought differently. He felt Merson's flaws outweighed his qualities and the popular England international left for Middlesbrough.

Nor far behind him was goal king Wright. Wrighty might have been the Gunners' record goalscorer at the time but he was left on the bench for Arsenal's victory stroll in the 1998 FA Cup Final against Newcastle.

Wright could have gone in goal and still collected a winner's medal. But Wenger made his point and Wright was history when he left the club a few weeks later.

Petit was part of one of the most potent central midfield partnerships the Premier League has ever seen.

Vieira and Petit starred in the 1998 Double-winning team and Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson acknowledged their contribution when he hailed them as two very gifted players who also "loved a scrap".

But two years later Wenger felt there were too many miles on Petit's clock. A knee problem had reduced his dynamism and he was sold to Barcelona.

Wenger also believed the time was right to cash in on winger Overmars. The little Dutchman illuminated the Arsenal attack while he was at the club - elusive, quick and with an eye for a goal.

But he wasn't getting any quicker and he wasn't elusive any more. Bought for £7.5m, he was sold for three times that amount to Barcelona as part of the Petit package.

There is no resentment from the players Wenger ships out. Asked a year into his Catalan career if he missed anything about English football, Petit declared: "Yes - Arsene Wenger. I miss working with him."

Wenger's ruthless streak was also evident two years ago when Vieira left Arsenal. Costing just £3m from AC Milan, Vieira was arguably Wenger's greatest-ever signing - Henry included.

Wenger understood him, nurtured him, encouraged him and steadfastly defended him during Vieira's frequent brushes with authority.

He made him captain and always acknowledged the kind of influence that Vieira could exert on an English Premier League game.

But Vieira began to pay the price for his own courage as the years of incessant physical battering began to take their toll and the Wenger radar was in action again.

He knew Vieira would be an asset, even with a reduced workload. But he also knew Arsenal could cash in and the player could earn a lucrative move.

Juventus came in for Vieira and the Arsenal bank balance benefited to the tune of £13.7m. The following season, Juventus and Vieira were knocked out of the Champions League - by Arsenal.

When it comes to wheeling and dealing, Wenger knows his stuff.

paul MERSON Moved to Boro in 1997 and helped them to promotion - a feat he repeated with Portsmouth five years later - but never returned to the upper reaches of the Premiership.

ian WRIGHT Went to West Ham for £500,000 in 1998 but moved rapidly down the leagues with spells at Nottingham Forest, Celtic and Burnley.

marc OVERMARS Was only 27 when he moved to Barcelona in 2000 but started fewer than 40 league games in the next four years as he struggled with a knee injury and retired in 2004.

emmanuel PETIT Joined Barcelona with Overmars but could not hold down a regular place and moved on a year later for a disappointing, injury-ravaged spell at Chelsea.

patrick VIEIRA Sold to Juventus but moved on after Juve were relegated in the match-fixing scandal to Inter, who won last season's Serie A title.
http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/sport/football/2007/06/24/wenger-the-deal-king-98487-19348034/
 
Barcelona signing Henry to keep box at Arsenal: I'll be back
tribalfooball.com - June 24, 2007

Barcelona's £16 million signing Thierry Henry is keeping his executive box at Arsenal's Emirates stadium.

Henry has grown to love the English game - and the English game has grown to love him - since his £10.5m move to Arsenal from Juventus in 1999.

So much so that he will even keep his executive box at the Emirates.

He said: "I want to keep my box at Arsenal and watch some games, if they let me back in!"


Henry praised the loyalty English fans show their clubs, and learned that loyalty at Arsenal.

He said: "I had a pride in playing for the shirt and the team. In France we don't have that.

"When I was young I supported Bordeaux, but when they lost I went to support Marseille.

"Here, you really learn the importance and the value of the shirt and the club. Arsenal is like that - an English family.

"Everyone here has been great, the fans, playing away, getting booed, getting cheered.

"I will always, always remember that. And Arsenal gave me that.

"Getting standing ovations from away fans was out of this world. It's so difficult to understand because in France they are just not like that.

"If you play well at home in France you get a standing ovation.

"If you play well away from home, well, you play well away from home, that's it."

Stuff like this is what I've really loved about Henry...he's got an immense appreciation for English football fans across the board. I bet he would've played for England if it was possible.

As for that contract deal, I hope it's true...it seems like a high price to pay to prompt the board to decisively act and make Arsene's future secure, but I'd rather lose Henry than Wenger.

The scuttlebug has some Arsenal board members have cold feet about approving a bid for Anelka. Wenger felt he was just immature at the time and figures he can get him to stay on the straight and narrow this time around. If that bid fails (or isn't approved), then it's said he'll go after Babel and Huntelaar.

Also the Daily Mail says Arsenal will make a bid for Malouda, the man who seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth over the last week or so (remember when he was going to decide his future in 48 hours? :lol). Hell, with the Henry sale at least we could afford him now.

I reckon if Arsenal and Barcelona avoid each other in CL play this season, they'll schedule a pre-season friendly at the Emirates for next year. Hell, they oughta make that an annual fixture anyway...it'd be one of the few pre-season matchups that would be worth charging full price for.
 
If wenger does sign any sort of contract soon, its the best news arsenal fans could get. If wenger does sign an extension, he'll stay for how long he's signed, he isnt like some people who will change their minds a year later.

Thats what arsenal need now. If he signs, it provides to sort of security. Arsenal fans will start feeling a lot more comfortable. Wenger will be harder to replace than any player, so keeping him at the club is priority. Do that and then everything else should fall into place. If he's got his furutre sorted out, then he can fully concentrate on strengthening the team without having to worry about anything else.
 
Cisse in Atletico link
By Graeme Bailey - Created on 25 Jun 2007

PREMIERSHIP SEASON 2007-08PREMIERSHIP SEASON 2007-08

Liverpool are looking to use Djibril Cisse to strike a deal with Atletico Madrid for Fernando Torres, according to sources in Spain.

The French striker spent last season on loan at Marseille and they are keen for him to return to the Stade Velodrome.

However, Liverpool have ruled out any prospect of a new loan - which could hamper Marseille's efforts.

Bolton, who could struggle to hold on to Nicolas Anelka this summer, have also been linked - but Liverpool could have other ideas as they look to bolster their own forward line.

Reports in Spain suggest Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has made contact over Torres and he is ready to offer Cisse and other players to try and land Atletico's captain.

Arsenal and Manchester United are also being tipped to mount bids for the Spanish international, but Liverpool appear to be heading the race at present.

Torres has never shirked in his commitment to the Atletico cause, but the Rojiblancos may be ready to do a deal for the 23-year-old.

The chance to sign Cisse could be tempting for Atletico, who it is claimed have also been offered the chance to sign Luis Garcia - who is on his way back from a serious knee injury.

English reports suggested Peter Crouch could be offered for Torres, but Benitez has already insisted that the England striker is in his long-term plans - unlike Cisse.

DO IT, DO IT NOW!!
 
good stuff, that will also kill the rumours that we want Torres - and I really don't want him.

Wenger signing a new contract now would be the best thing that could happen to us. If true, no doubt it was caused or helped by Henry's comments about him probably not extending it, so this comments could have been a blessing in disguise.

It would give us a lot of stability, and to be honest that's more important than any new signings.

I will not get excited - I will wait until something is announced, or not. He said that he wouldn't talk about a new contract until next year and he usually keeps to those things. Henry could however have forced his hand. Let's see and hope.

Maybe get a bit excited.
 
psycho_snake said:
If wenger does sign any sort of contract soon, its the best news arsenal fans could get. If wenger does sign an extension, he'll stay for how long he's signed, he isnt like some people who will change their minds a year later.

Thats what arsenal need now. If he signs, it provides to sort of security. Arsenal fans will start feeling a lot more comfortable. Wenger will be harder to replace than any player, so keeping him at the club is priority. Do that and then everything else should fall into place. If he's got his furutre sorted out, then he can fully concentrate on strengthening the team without having to worry about anything else.

Agreed...it'll be far easier to find another Henry than another Wenger. I'm already dreading the day when Arsene finally moves on, whether it's a year from now, five years from now or whenever.
 
Steroyd said:
DO IT, DO IT NOW!!
Torres is really overrated. I doubt he can do much more than crouch can. This is his goalscoring record compared to crouch's

Torres club career: 212 games (82 goals) - 1 goal every 2.58 games
So if we use this data, it shows that in 38 games he would score 15 goals

Crouch's club career: 230 appearances (70 goals) - 1 goal every 3.29 games
Using this data shows that in 38 games he would score 12 goals.

There is a difference, but how much are you willing to pay for 3 more goals a season?
 
Personally I think that Kuyt is the better player than Torres. Labelled as disappointment by Mama, but I think he had a more than decent season. He could have scored more, but let's not forget that we are talking about Liverpool here - the amount of goals he scored was more than decent for Liverpool standards.


About the Anelka rumour that the board is against it - I doubt it very much. Ironically, apparently Dein's departure is what would make an Anelka deal possible. Anelka allegedly fell out with Dein and wouldn't have come back under him.
 
Anelka is a good player and a good goalscorer. He has a horrid personality / attitude but if your team can look past that he'd get you lots of goals. He did very well for Bolton who are essentially just a long ball team. He could score more if he went to a team that plays it along the ground ala Arsenal.
 
I dunno but I've quickly changed to the Cisse transfer switch (which got a tad confusing to which post you was quoting off)

The thing that kills it for me with Crouch is that he's immobile, he quickly kills off any counter attack we aim to do or any attack for that matter, while Torres isn't any more prolific than Crouch he's got bloody pace, which would make our attacks more effective than frustrating and we might get more goals around Torres than Crouch.
 
I love Crouch, he's a player that still has a lot of potential. If we get rid of him and Bellamy aswell (& Cisse), we'll be in trouble. Unless we get another striker along with Torres.
 
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