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[h0pper]

Sounds like good news to me. Especially when seeing the lineup we're running. Not sure how I feel about those shirts though.

 

[Cornballer]

When it's Toure and Gallas in there, one can blame some of the free headers on their height, but with Senderos and Djourou?!? Someone needs to sort this out...

 

[h0pper]

What's the score? And does anyone have a stream?

 

[hadareud]

I really don't like those shirts. They are good enough for Nazio though

 

[Cornballer]

What's the score? And does anyone have a stream?

2-1 Arsenal. Dudu and Bendtner.

:lol Nazio...

 

[Mama Smurf]

Wait until you see this Hoyte miss. 3 chances to shoot in the box, good chances, two passed up to play in someone else, Hoyte is about 2 yards out, just has to beat the 2 defenders on the line, ball rolls to him nicely on his right foot...smacks it into the far post.

 

[Cornballer]

Wait until you see this Hoyte miss. 3 chances to shoot in the box, good chances, two passed up to play in someone else, Hoyte is about 2 yards out, just has to beat the 2 defenders on the line, ball rolls to him nicely on his right foot...smacks it into the far post.

Unlike Bendtner and Dudu, he's been in the system since he was a young boy, and therefore he's been carefully trained on how to miss sitters.

 

[h0pper]

anyone play FIFA07 on XBL?

 

[Mama Smurf]

Final score 2-1. You didn't miss much, wasn't a great game, but it's another win.

Same old problems (and positives) for Arsenal though.

 

[Cornballer]

FT 2-1 Arsenal. Looks like Eduardo didn't get credit for the header, which is a bit mystifying. Seemed pretty clean to me.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Alex has got a work permit, don't know how, probably wanted to get their families back unharmed, just has to pass a medical.

So...just Alves left really.

 

[Cornballer]

Heh - youtube clips of Messi when he was 5.

 

[Outdoor Miner]

Heh - youtube clips of Messi when he was 5.

Decent workrate, awful touch. He'll never amount to anything.

 

[Karakand]

City have signed Elano for £8m, they've also signed Garrido for £1.5m and Corluka for an undisclosed fee. I think Sven has been using FM to scout for new players :lol

It's like having Billy Beane run a club with real money!

Actually I think Sven's gone off the deep end and become a member of an apocalypse cult. The technicolor dreamcoat of nationalities is obviously part of some ark-type plan to repopulate Europe with as many of its pre-end of the world cultures as possible.

It'd be great to see an MLS team win it - may light a fire under the Mexican teams so they bring more competitive squads next time.

Judging from their national team's response to losing 9 out of its last 12 to los Estados Unidos, I'd say probably not.

Also plz don't lose to DC, G's. I ****ing hate it when you do that.

Man City are kicking all sorts of ass with their signings. Bojinov is basically signed as well as the 3 today who definitely are, and I reckon if Sven left it at that they'd do very well this season. I've got a feeling we'll see another 2 or 3 arrivals though...a goalkeeper, another defender perhaps, maybe another striker or winger.

If they make another 2 or 3 signings I will let myself get excited. Heart-breaking be damned!

 

[hadareud]

(and I don't expect agreement here)

that's the part I agree with.

also, it's pre season after all. He'll pick it up when it matters.

 

[Cornballer]

that's the part I agree with.

also, it's pre season after all. He'll pick it up when it matters.

There were people joking on BigSoccer that his girlfriend was taking his Chi.

She's on the right. Errr, not the one in the hippo costume.

 

[Osorio]

anyone play FIFA07 on XBL?

nah man get on that PES2007. Or wait till FIFA08 I'll be getting that.

 

[Maverick]

I'll buy Mama's argument that Arteta is at least comparable to Fabregas. He's a fantastic player who seems to be just as effective against Wigan as he is against say a United.

Everton could have a very strong team this season if Cahill's injury isn't as bad as they are now fearing it may be.

Spurs will have plenty of company "gate crashing" the top 4, IMHO.

This season is shaping up to be a fantastic one.

I'm not that excited about the Alex signing - He's solid cover I guess, but I'm a big fan of Ricardo Carvalho.

After seeing Alves' pace in the Copa America final, however, I am very excited to see what he can do at Chelsea if everything goes through, especially if we do lose Robben.

I know everyone keeps stating the obvious, that Robben is injury prone, but at the same time, you just can never under-value raw pace on the wings.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Did you see Alex against Arsenal? He was superb. Though, the main reason to be excited of course would be that you'd have 4 centre backs :O

If Robben needs to be sold to buy Alves, I say that's worth it. But if you can get Alves anyway, I still think Chelsea should hang on to Robben and sell Wright-Phillips. It's nothing major if he does go, I just don't think anyone would argue that a squad with Robben in is stronger than one with Wright-Phillips, even if the first team wouldn't really change in strength.

 

[Mama Smurf]

MSI and West Ham have reached a settlement over Tevez's transfer, believed to be between £1m and £3m. If (big if) the Premier League agree to it tomorrow, he could be a United player by the weekend.

Thing is, it was reported that the Premier League wanted at least £5.5m going to West Ham, or they'd assume they don't own the rights to the player and punish them. I dunno if that's changed.

Let's all pray it's over when we wake up tomorrow, so boring.

 

[Maverick]

Did you see Alex against Arsenal? He was superb. Though, the main reason to be excited of course would be that you'd have 4 centre backs :O

If Robben needs to be sold to buy Alves, I say that's worth it. But if you can get Alves anyway, I still think Chelsea should hang on to Robben and sell Wright-Phillips. It's nothing major if he does go, I just don't think anyone would argue that a squad with Robben in is stronger than one with Wright-Phillips, even if the first team wouldn't really change in strength.

Exactly - I mean at this point it looks to me like it's just a wage dispute with Robben. I'm not even going to try to guess at figures here, but doesn't it seem like paying Robben what he wants and selling SWP would mean a negligible difference in the grand scheme of things?


Chelsea haven't spent that much this summer in comparison to the other top EPL teams - capturing many on frees - so to me, this Robben situation seems elementary. Just give him a damn raise.

If Chelsea want to challenge for the league, FA Cup and Champions League, they need the depth and wild-card pace that Robben provides, IMO.

 

[Ghost]

free monies, cool.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Now we can hopefully find out if Man Utd are buying Tevez outright, or doing the 2 year loan with an option to buy at the end thing.

BTW, although we have a predictions league, that's just for individual matches. We can still predict winners of competitions and relegated teams etc here. I mean, there's no rules for this one, but if you want people to be impressed if you get something right at the end of the season you pretty much have to call the Premiership by next Friday.

And all these signings recently, the picture's becoming clearer I think.

 

[Cornballer]

Looks like the US might play some qualifiers on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field early next year. Brrrrrrrrr!

Soccer at Lambeau? That's the go-o-o-al!

By Tony Walter
twalter@greenbaypressgazette.com

Discussions have begun in an effort to bring the men’s U.S. national soccer team to Green Bay to play an international team at Lambeau Field, possibly as early as next year.

Officials from the Green Bay/Brown County Professional Stadium District, the Green Bay Packers and area tourism organizations plan to meet soon with U.S. Soccer Federation officials in Chicago to talk about scheduling possibilities.

“It’s a very, very good event for this kind of stadium,” said Greg Kuehl, programming coordinator for the Stadium District. “We even have the type of grass now that’s used at soccer stadiums.”

William Vande Castle, legal counsel for the Stadium District, said hosting a national soccer team at Lambeau Field is a realistic goal.

“My vision is to have the men’s team one year, then the women’s team maybe the next year,” Vande Castle said. “We would like to get a team from a foreign country for a training game.”

With the next World Cup competition still three years away, local officials think they have a good chance of promoting a game at Lambeau Field.

“There would be great interest here,” Vande Castle said. “The ideal time would be mid- to late June when the Green Bay invitation soccer tournament is held. We could be talking visiting dignitaries and an internationally televised event.”

A meeting date with USSF officials has not been set, but Kuehl said it will likely be held within the next couple months.

 

[Osorio]

That sounds like a great idea. One of America's most historic sporting structures gets a game of America's "new" sport.

 

[Cedeo]

Where would LA Galaxy be in the English Leagues, are they Premiership standard?

 

[Osorio]

Where would LA Galaxy be in the English Leagues, are they Premiership standard?

They are one of the worst MLS team at the moment tbh. If they joined the Premiership now they'd be relegated for sure but I see them mid-table Championship. Then again, I don't watch enough Championship games to comment on that. MLS has improved drastically since the beginning of the league in 1996 but it's still not one of the best in the world. Not by a longshot.

 

[Cornballer]

That sounds like a great idea. One of America's most historic sporting structures gets a game of America's "new" sport.

Yeah, plus it's fun to make central american teams play in the snow. :lol

Where would LA Galaxy be in the English Leagues, are they Premiership standard?

If they played in one of the leagues? It's tough to say because the roster is decent as a first eleven, but past that the quality drops significantly. Over the course of the season, they'd struggle with injuries and have lots of problems because the bench players/reserves aren't very good. I'd put them in the middle of the Championship over the course of a season, but they could hang around with a mid-level Premiership team if it was a one-off. Also keep in mind that the Galaxy are one of the worst MLS teams out there.

 

[Cedeo]

They are one of the worst MLS team at the moment tbh. If they joined the Premiership now they'd be relegated for sure but I see them mid-table Championship. Then again, I don't watch enough Championship games to comment on that. MLS has improved drastically since the beginning of the league in 1996 but it's still not one of the best in the world. Not by a longshot.

Where would the top MLS team be ?

Sorry for the noob MLS questions.

 

[Cornballer]

Where would the top MLS team be ?

Top of the Championship, I'd guess. But they'd really struggle over an entire season because they have no depth. They'd be playing kids just out of college and some pretty weak veterans off the bench.

Sorry for the noob MLS questions.

No worries.

 

[Outdoor Miner]

Where would LA Galaxy be in the English Leagues, are they Premiership standard?

Well if they were in the EPL, they'd then have access to EPL money (sponsors, TV, etc.) and therefore would be able to buy a much more competitive team than they have now. Probably relegated but would dominate the Championship due to said EPL money and would probably find themselves back in the top-flight after a season.

 

[Osorio]

Where would the top MLS team be ?

Sorry for the noob MLS questions.

It's very hard to compare because a single Premiership player can make more than an MLS team combined. If the salary cap was much larger than I'd have no problem saying MLS teams would be able to regularly compete in the Premiership. However, that's not the case.

 

[navanman]

Lampard out for start of season with broken toe. And Cahill too with foot injury.
Damn you!!! Runs off to fix fantasy football team

 

[Cornballer]

Beckham is flying to Toronto, but he may not play. Shinobi's going to that game, right?

He ran today - on a treadmill, but not in training. After the effort in the Dallas game, the entire team trained inside today - fitness and regeneration.

He will travel to Toronto, but whether he will play is a game-time decision. The likelihood is no, he will not play.

The ankle, according to Yallop, is better. It's just really been slow going.

Nobody talked to Beckham today. Apparently, he's not talking until he's playing.

Makes sense, kind of. But there were a lot of disappointed media people who weren't there for anyone else.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Lampard out for start of season with broken toe. And Cahill too with foot injury.
Damn you!!! Runs off to fix fantasy football team

This is why I didn't post the Lampard news when I read it, I wanted to screw people not paying attention who had him in their team.

 

[Ronok]

To those say Fabre hasn't played to well this pre-season, you have to realise that he is quite a bit further behind most Arsenal players at this stage.. He hasn't really had many games to get back to match fitness and the only first team player(s) I can think of who have had less are Adebayour and Rosicky.... Rosicky didn't look to great today either. Really he hasn't really been able to get into the stride of things and I think maybe it will be a slow start for him this season for this reason. Oh well, atleast it's the position we easilly have the most competition for now for some reason. lol

 

[Karakand]

Lalas was on Pardon the Interruption and he didn't sound too enthused about DB playing in Toronto. (It's still possible).

 

[Ryck]

Lampard out for start of season with broken toe. And Cahill too with foot injury.
Damn you!!! Runs off to fix fantasy football team

Hmm might be Ballack's chance to show what he's made of. ( for whatever reason I feel like he's gonna have a good year)

 

[navanman]

Isn't Ballack crocked aswell with long standing knee injury?

 

[Ryck]

I dunno my hate for Chelsea prevents me from seeing any news on them .. I think I sorta block it out... but I hope so yeah that would be great.

 

[h0pper]

Wow good thing I didn't have Lamps in my team :lol

 

[Zoolaga]

Fiorentina website says Bojinov is going to City. Didn't Sven say something about signing 10 players? Bojinov would be number 7.

 

[Shinobi]

This is why I didn't post the Lampard news when I read it, I wanted to screw people not paying attention who had him in their team.

:lol

Yeah I'm going to the game...bought my tickets off someone on Tuesday. I think it's 35/65 that Beckham plays any part of the game, but a lot of it will depend on how his ankle responds to the flight here tomorrow (apparantely the body swells up a bit on long flights).

I'm not worried about Fabregas at all...considering he played virtually every game for us last year, I'm fine seeing him get a bit of extra rest and starting things off slowly.

 

[Cedeo]

Too bad Fat Fwank didn't cut it into my squad.

 

[psycho_snake]

MSI and West Ham have reached a settlement over Tevez's transfer, believed to be between £1m and £3m. If (big if) the Premier League agree to it tomorrow, he could be a United player by the weekend.

Thing is, it was reported that the Premier League wanted at least £5.5m going to West Ham, or they'd assume they don't own the rights to the player and punish them. I dunno if that's changed.

Let's all pray it's over when we wake up tomorrow, so boring.

The premierleague and FA have been informed on whats happeneing throughout the discussions, so if there was something that they did disagree with, then they would have intervened. I think everyone's finally managed to come to a conclusion and this should be over.

 

[psycho_snake]

This is why I didn't post the Lampard news when I read it, I wanted to screw people not paying attention who had him in their team.

That might not work because chelsea have said he'll be fit for the start of the new season

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/6928995.stm

 

[Ghost]

Im hoping Sidwell keeps fwank out of the team...havent picked either of them, it'd just make me laugh.

 

[Karakand]

TRANSFER RUMOURS

Fulham are set to complete the signing of Watford winger Hameur Bouazza for £4m within 48 hours. (Daily Star)

West Brom defender Curtis Davies has pleaded with he club to let him move to Tottenham. (Daily Mirror)

Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill is set to sign £4m-rated Norwegian defender Brede Hangeland. (Daily Express)

Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp is closing in on Real Mallorca winger Jonas Guttierrez, who is known as "Spiderman". (Daily Mail)

Fulham are set to sign 21-year-old defender Adrian Leijer from Australian side Melbourne Victory. (Daily Mail)

Sunderland are favourites to sign Cork striker Roy O'Donovan. (Telegraph)

Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate has turned his attention to Nantes striker Luigi Pieroni after missing out on Alan Smith. (Telegraph)

Everton are looking at Elfsborg full-back Daniel Mobaeck, who scored his side's winner in a Champions League qualifier recently. (Telegraph)

Sheffield United have been warned off making an approach for Wigan winger Kevin Kilbane. (Telegraph)

West Ham have made Barcelona striker Eidur Gudjohnsen their main target now that Carlos Tevez is set to leave for Manchester United. (Telegraph)

Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce is set to complete a deal for Brazilian defender Claudio Capaca. (The Independent)

Hearts have ande a move for Manchester City goalkeeper Kaspar Schmeichel, paving the way for Craig Gordon to leave. (Scottish Sun)

Celtic striker Derek Riordan may return to Hibs on loan if the Scottish champions sign Kilmarnock's Steven Naismith. (Scottish Daily Express)

St Mirren manager Gus MacPherson will sign a new 12-month rolling contract next week. (Scottish Daily Express)


OTHER GOSSIP

Derby have offered a trial to 19-year-old England youth international Jamie Mullan, who was released by Manchester United in June. (Telegraph)

Portsmouth striker Kanu is set to agree a new one-year contract with the club. (Daily Mirror)


AND FINALLY

Robbie Fowler has decided against moving closer to his new club, Cardiff, and will instead commute to work from his home in Liverpool by luxury helicopter. The 32-year-old will buy a chopper at a cost of £200, 000, build a £5,000 heliport at his home and pay a private pilot £200 per day for the 90-minute flight. (Daily Star)

Tottenham new boy Kevin-Prince Boateng has revealed his chosen career path was one of just three options available to those who grow up in the mean streets of Wedding, Berlin. "Here you either become a drug dealer, a gangster or a footballer", he said. ( Daily Star)

Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien has revealed the secret behind his energetic performances on the pitch - he sleeps 14 hours a day to make sure he is fully rested. (The Sun)

Manchester United's new dressing room at their Carrington HQ is apparently so big that phones are being installed in players' lockers. (The Sun)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/gossip_and_transfers/default.stm

 

[Ill Saint]

Someone ****ing sticky this thread!!!!!!

 

[psycho_snake]

Tottenham new boy Kevin-Prince Boateng has revealed his chosen career path was one of just three options available to those who grow up in the mean streets of Wedding, Berlin. "Here you either become a drug dealer, a gangster or a footballer", he said. ( Daily Star)

:lol He probably made the right choice.