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[Shinobi]

The lack of face is a nice touch.

To be fair, Viera couldn't keep his mouth shut a few times himself...seemed like there was an imminent transfer with this guy every summer. Plus he went over the line on the field on a few occasions. With players like that, you just have to take the bad with the good.

I think much of Gallas outbursts were as much to do with his own frustrations with his inability to stay healthy as anything else. Same thing with Henry for that matter.

Still, Gallas has to be more careful with how he words his criticisms now that he's the C. Saying something detrimental would reflect badly on Wenger more than anyone else, and that simply wouldn't be cool.

 

[hadareud]

that's true.

Also, something has changed in the last couple of weeks. The comments he made a couple of days before the training started made it clear that he would rather leave than stay, now he seems convinced that this team will win something this season and he is dedicated to the club.

Was it really the training and the quality of the current squad that convinced him? The prospect of being a captain? Did Wenger hint at another transfer?

I am intrigued to say at the least.


The fear I have is that as soon as there is a period where things aren't going well he will again blame others instead of himself. And like you say we can't have that. It reflects badly on Wenger and the club as a whole.

A captain has responsibilities off the pitch as well and he has to present himself and the team in the right light. This is not about personal vanities and egotrips.

Not that our former skippers took any note of things like that.

 

[Mama Smurf]

*fiddles with his fantasy football team*

Healy?!? What was I thinking.

Just proves you're a man like any other, thinking with your penis.

I'll predict the table a bit later, it's harder than ever this year I think. Don't take my mid-table predictions too seriously, it's mainly the top and bottom that I've actually thought about.

 

[psycho_snake]

I think much of Gallas outbursts were as much to do with his own frustrations with his inability to stay healthy as anything else. Same thing with Henry for that matter.

I dont think that was the case with henry. It seemed like he thought he was bigger than the club. The fans worshipped him and he was arsenals greatest ever goalscorer, but he let it get to his head. he began to think that his ambitions were greater than the club and he didnt have the patience to sit and wait for wenger to build a team that can compete for all trophies.

Also, something has changed in the last couple of weeks. The comments he made a couple of days before the training started made it clear that he would rather leave than stay, now he seems convinced that this team will win something this season and he is dedicated to the club.

Its gallas. He always changes his mind. Its best just to ignore his comments sometimes.

Maybe his recent optimism is the same as the rest of the arsenal fans. Now that everyone has finally gotten over the shock of henry leaving and we've seen arsenal play without him, I think people are properly starting to believe that things will be fine, if not better than they were before without henry.

 

[psycho_snake]

My table prediction:

1. United
2. Chelsea
3. Arsenal
4. Liverpool
-------------------
5. Spurs
6. Everton
7. Newcastle
8. Blackburn
9. West Ham
10. Man City
11. Pompey
12.Villa
13. Bolton
14. Reading
15. Sunderland
16. Borough
17. Fulham
-------------------
18. Birmingham
19. Wigan
20. Derby

 

[Mama Smurf]

I know we all like to hate FIFA, so here's some more fodder:

Fifa vice-president Jack Warner said he will battle to stop England hosting the 2018 World Cup.

His decision will be a blow to the Football Association, who were likely to plan a bid on the back of any change to the current selection procedures.

"If the World Cup were to go to Europe, I'm quite sure, with the English luck as it is, they won't get it," Warner told BBC World Service.

"There are moves to give it to England. I must fight that."

Warner, a member of the world football body's executive committee since 1983, added: "It will be Italy, Spain, or even France who will get the World Cup if it goes to Europe.

"Nobody in Europe likes England. England invented the sport but has never had made any impact on world football."

It is believed Fifa president Sepp Blatter is set to end the World Cup rotation policy when the executive committee meet later in the year.

Instead, the association are likely to approve a format that only precludes the continents that held the previous two World Cups from bidding again, which in 2018 would be Africa and South America.

Warner, president of Concacaf, added that he would battle to bring international football's premier tournament to his region, which covers North and Central America and the Caribbean.

"I really don't believe that we should just lay down and play dead to anyone who wants to take the World Cup from Concacaf," he said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/6939170.stm

Basically, if you run it through the bullshit translator, he's saying "England have become favourites and will take the WC away from my region, I have to convince anyone supporting them that they have no hope so we still have chance".

First of all, it's just not true that no one in Europe likes England. Germany have come out and said that they will support England, and when it came down to France or Britain hosting the Olympics, where did that end up? How did we get Euro 96 if everyone hates us? And England have never made an impact on world football? England?! I mean, I realise we can't compete with the US or Jamaica, but I think we might have had a little bit to say.

As for Italy, Spain or France hosting it, Italy had it in 1990 and once before that, France had it in 1998 and once before that, Spain's only time was 1982 (and obviously they've had a big impact on world football, unlike England), whilse England's only time was way back in 1996. I haven't even heard any rumours that those 3 nations want it and England already have Germany's support, so that's big. If it does come to Europe and not to England, it'll probably go to somewhere like Holland/Belgium with a joint bid, which is fine.

I'm pretty certain we could get the support needed to host it, even if parts of Europe hates us the rest of the world is voting too, but then I'm pretty certain Jack Warner knows that too.

 

[Cornballer]

It's an interesting experiment by Wenger. Hopefully Gallas is up for it. Gallas has been shockingly optimistic and positive in recent weeks.

The lack of face is a nice touch.

I didn't want you to get distracted by how handsome I am.

 

[Osorio]

Altidore is thinking about going to Europe.

Fuck that. I'm tired of my team losing our young talent. Tim Howard left for Manchester United, Eddie Gaven went to Columbus, Michael Bradley went to Heerenveen, and now Jozy is thinking about leaving?

Btw does anyone else cringe when Sky Sports News tries to talk MLS? I don't know who writes that stuff up but they've got all their shit wrong. The Galaxy are not playing Washington DC today, and Salt Lake is not bottom of the Eastern Conference. They should just hire me, and I'll do all the MLS news for them.

 

[Cornballer]

Fuck that. I'm tired of my team losing our young talent. Tim Howard left for Manchester United, Eddie Gaven went to Columbus, Michael Bradley went to Heerenveen, and now Jozy is thinking about leaving?

I think NY and Chicago have been hardest hit over the years by having developing talent take off for greener pastures.

 

[Osorio]

Columbus is there too. I don't know about developing talent but they've lost McBride, Friedel, Szetela now, some Kiwi that went to Fulham, and a few others I can't remember right now.

 

[velvet_nitemare]

Gallas?

Seriously?

Bizzaro world total

 

[Cornballer]

I was going to include Columbus, but their recent track record *cough*Sigi*cough* involves burying talented US youth players (Martino, Gaven, Szetela, Buddle, Grabavoy, Marshall...)

 

[Osorio]

That is true since both Gaven and Szetela are from Jersey, and Szetela actually wanted to join the Metrostars but got picked by Columbus in the draft. Which brings up my point of the draft being retarded. Big ups to Garber for instituting the ability to bring players from the academies straight to the first team.

 

[hadareud]

I know we all like to hate FIFA, so here's some more fodder:

fuck me. this is incredible.

do you have to be lobotomised to get a job at FIFA?

 

[Cornballer]

Fucking Jack Warner is a corrupt imbecile. The sooner CONCACAF jettison that asshole, the better. (Don't you love that the profanity filter is no longer active!)

Here's his email address, btw: jack.warner@concacaf.net

 

[BatiGOOOOOOL]

No one dares to touch that motherfucker. Even after the ticket fraud last WC he was barely scolded by FIFA.

It's bad news for England to have him against. He is probably the most corrupt member of the Association and seems to manipulate everything at will.

 

[Guileless]

What's the deal with the 2014 WC? And 2010 for that matter, are there still rumors about it getting moved from SA or are they making progress?

 

[Mama Smurf]

Brazil have bid for 2014...and I believe that's it.

 

[Cornballer]

No one dares to touch that motherfucker. Even after the ticket fraud last WC he was barely scolded by FIFA.

Minutes of FIFA’s executive committee indicate that a fine of almost $1 million, equal to the expected profiteering, was imposed on the family. Despite numerous reminders from FIFA, only $250,000 has been paid.

:lol

 

[BatiGOOOOOOL]

And you can bet he won't pay the rest. Ignoring the fact that he should've been substituted immediately after discovering the fraud.

 

[Cornballer]

FIFA: Why are you going to pay the fine?
Warner: Because I don't want to.
FIFA: Oh, ok.

 

[Manager]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/6927561.stm

Aston Villa is one f'n crazy team, no-one will ever know what was actually going on there! (?!)

 

[Wes]

Aston Villa is one f'n crazy team, no-one will ever know what was actually going on there! (?!)

That's how you keep clean sheets baby. Keep the enemy confused!

 

[Wes]

Hahaha one of the Sky Sports News' presenter's surname is Matterface.

Made me chuckle

 

[Osorio]

Hahaha one of the Sky Sports News' presenter's surname is Matterface.

Made me chuckle

I should be a Sky Sports News presenter in the future. Or would it be too weird for an American to have that job?

 

[Wes]

As long as you didn't call the sport Soccer, I don't see why not.

By the way has anyone seen the adverts for David Beckham's Soccer in the USA on channel 5? The adverts translate what american commentators are talking about during random games :lol

 

[Hooker]

Drenthe is flying to Madrid as wel speak to do his physical and dotting the i's. So it's a done deal I reckon




Another Dutch talent to waste?

 

[Osorio]

As long as you didn't call the sport Soccer, I don't see why not.

By the way has anyone seen the adverts for David Beckham's Soccer in the USA on channel 5? The adverts translate what american commentators are talking about during random games :lol

I wouldn't call it soccer if I lived in England. That's just disrespectful.

As for David Beckham's Soccer USA we have that show on Fox Soccer Channel every Wednesday at 8 P.M. Do we get the same show? It's mostly a MLS week-in review kind of show. Yesterday's talked about Toronto and a few other things.

 

[Cornballer]

Feilhaber is on his way to Derby.

Derby gain Feilhaber work permit

Derby County have gained a work permit for German club Hamburg's United States midfielder Benny Feilhaber.

The 22-year-old, who was born in Rio de Janeiro but moved to the United States when he was six, will now fly to England to complete the move

Derby boss Billy Davies said: "We're bringing in another very good young player with excellent potential.

"He is growing in stature with his national team. I believe he's ready for the challenge of the Premier League."

Feilhaber made his debut for the US earlier this year and scored the winner in the 2-1 Gold Cup final victory over Mexico in June.

Feilhaber did not meet the qualifying criteria of playing in 75% of internationals in the last two years, but the Home Office have now given him the work permit.

Is it too soon to start worrying about them getting relegated?

 

[Osorio]

Aw yeah. Cornballer we should do a Yanks in the Prem weekly review.

Btw I could watch that goal all day.

 

[MrPing1000]

By the way has anyone seen the adverts for David Beckham's Soccer in the USA on channel 5? The adverts translate what american commentators are talking about during random games :lol

They do those segments in the show as well. They say southpaw for left footed players harhar.

 

[hadareud]

I had a feeling the Gallas decision won't go down well with the fans and I am not wrong. Apart from the forums going mad, this is was arseblog has to say:

How to become Arsenal captain in 5 easy steps

1 - Kick up such a fuss your current team has no choice but to sell you. Then move to a club where a player is kicking up an even bigger fuss so you don’t look like as much of a trouble maker.

2 - Have the most average season of your life. Don’t tackle, don’t challenge for headers, but make sure to applaud the fans at the end because that makes everything ok.

3 - Publicly blame the Arsenal medical staff and physios for the time you spent out injured.

4 - Publicly criticise the players at the club for underperforming when you’re as guilty as anyone else, if not more.

5 - Publicly criticise the manager for his transfer policy.

Once you do those 5 simple things you can be made captain like William Gallas just has been. I have to say I’m less than impressed with this decision. Gilberto was a good captain last season and deserved to keep the armband. He’s a proper Arsenal player, not a Chelsea moaner like Gallas.

If it wasn’t going to Gilberto it should have gone to Kolo. I really can’t believe William Gallas, of all people, will have the honour of being Arsenal captain. I can normally see some method in Arsene’s madness but this is just the weirdest and wrongest decision he’s ever made. The job as captain of Arsenal is an honour that must be earned, what the fuck has Gallas ever done to deserve it?

People might not have liked Henry as a captain, I can’t blame them, but at least his appointment, and that of Vieira, came on the back of years of excellent service to Arsenal FC. Gallas has been given the captaincy after a dreadful first year in which he did little to win over Arsenal fans beyond giving supporters a clap at the end of games. It’s a shocking decision.

The only shining light on the horizon is that the armband might do to him what it did to Henry and Vieira and he’ll fuck off to the continent next summer.
http://arseblog.com/columns/2007/08/09/how-to-become-arsenal-captain-in-5-easy-steps/

 

[h0pper]

Gallas as captain seems the right thing to do right now. He's got some fire in him so he'll keep us in line and he has the experience to be captain as well. I hope he steps up to the occasion and does well for everyone at Arsenal.

 

[Cornballer]

Oh, and GGM #1 = the Invincibles season. That's cheating! They picked the entire season. :lol

Also...

Gilberto out, Adebayor doubtful for Fulham
By Richard Clarke

Arsène Wenger has no new injuries to report ahead of the season-opener against Fulham on Sunday.

Last week, the manager ruled out Gilberto from the start of the campaign because he is still recovering from the effects of the Copa America and suggested Emmanuel Adebayor was extremely doubtful with a groin problem.

When he spoke to Arsenal TV Online on Thursday lunchtime, those were still the only likely absences for the Emirates Stadium clash.

"Gilberto is not ready and at the moment the only one who is doubtful is Adebayor," said Wenger.

The manager described the Togolese striker’s recovery time as "very short." But the Brazilian may not be ready until September.

"We have a three-week plan to build him up again," said Wenger. "He did not play the last game of the Copa America and had three and a half weeks off. It will take two or three weeks to get him ready. If you don’t do that he will suffer during rest of the season."

 

[Cornballer]

Aw yeah. Cornballer we should do a Yanks in the Prem weekly review.

Heh, there are a lot of them. I think my fantasy team has all of the ones I can think of, but it's not a full team of yanks yet. Not quite enough players.

 

[Osorio]

I feel that Johann Smith will eventually make Bolton's first team so that would make one more. What's the situation with Convey?

 

[BatiGOOOOOOL]

Another Dutch talent to waste?

Ugh. STFU.

It's only on him to succeed. Real Madrid has produced countless of legends and has never stopped the development of true talent.

 

[Cornballer]

I feel that Johann Smith will eventually make Bolton's first team so that would make one more. What's the situation with Convey?

Bobby is back! He went 90 at a recent friendly and scored. He's in contention to be on the bench for the ManU game. Hopefully his knee holds up.

 

[h0pper]

Ugh. STFU.

It's only on him to succeed. Real Madrid has produced countless of legends and has never stopped the development of true talent.

I think alot of the anti-Real Madrid feelings around here stem from the fact that they come out and say things like "Cesc Fabregas will be a Real Madrid player next year" and things of that nature. Half of the people ehre are Arsenal supporters and for a manager to come out and say that is ridiculous. They also fired Capello for winning La Liga and ditched Beckham only to try to get him back right before he left for LA.

They have all of the money in the world. It's the same thing with the New York Yankees. I'm from New York and I'm a Mets fan, though I don't hate the Yankees, I completely understand why alot of people do.

There is no sense of team on organizations that just buy up already developed talent. How can you call that a club? It's more of a corporation and the only reason it seems that organizations operate like that is to generate revenue (obviously).

 

[h0pper]

Eggy has said "the Magpies should be embarassed" b/c the Dyer move fell through. Apparently they upped the price by 2 million pounds on him when it was agreed that he would be sold for 6. Sucks for West Ham, they just can't win. Well, they have some more luck than Sheffield.

 

[Hooker]

Nah, it's because Holland is largely Barça country. Just look at Barça's history...



And that comment wasn't aimed at Real Madrid per say. It was based on a player going abroad too early. Look at Quincy Owusu Abeyie. Kicked out of the Ajax camp because he was too much of a tomboy, and went to Arsenal. Couldn't get playtime at Arsenal so he went to Moscow, nobody heard from him again.

There's countless other examples of players going for the big monies too early in their career.

 

[Falch]

Hooker's right. Drenthe will probably not make it a Real. He's too young. All he did was play a good U21 Euro tournament. He's not ready to play at Real yet. He could have learned a lot in the Eredivisie if he had stayed just one or two more years.

 

[psycho_snake]

Gallas as captain seems the right thing to do right now. He's got some fire in him so he'll keep us in line and he has the experience to be captain as well. I hope he steps up to the occasion and does well for everyone at Arsenal.

Its a horrible decision. Gallas does far too much moaning. He complains about everyone not performing as well as they should be whilst he's playing like shit himself. Recently he's come out and started saying good things about the club, but it seems to be that he's done that to suck up to wenger and have a better chance of getting captaincy.

Gilberto or toure should have been the ones to get it. Gilberto did a decent job last year when henry wasnt injured. Toure would have been just as good too. He loves the club and he's commited to playing. The great thing about toure is that you barely ever hear him complain to the press or say anything negative.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Gilberto and Toure are mice. And mice don't make good captains, you need a tiger, even if he does occasionally lash out at his own.

Apparently Madrid have just signed Robben too.

 

[Cornballer]

I think it's something that Toure can grow into. He'll yell at players if necessary.


Saw this over on BigSoccer, I don't know if it's accurate or not....


Summer spending table so far. This is all in Euros. Pounds in parenthesis.
1) Tottenham Hotspur -61.575.000 (41 Million pounds)
2) Manchester United -54.650.000 (36 Million)
3) Manchester City -51.150.000 (34 Million)
4) FC Sunderland -40.950.000 (27.8 million)
5) FC Liverpool -33.300.000 (22.4 Million)
6) FC Portsmouth -30.900.000 (21 Million)
7) FC Fulham -22.000.000 (14.9 million)
8) FC Chelsea -21.000.000 (14.2 Million)
9) Newcastle United -20.800.000 (14.1 Million)
10) FC Middlesbrough -13.750.000 (9.3 Million)
11) FC Everton -12.000.000 (8.1 Million)
12) Derby County -10.275.000 (6.9 Million)
13) Birmingham City -8.800.000 (5.9 Million)
14) West Ham United -7.000.000 (4.7 Million)
15) Aston Villa -6.100.000 (4.1 Million)
16) Blackburn Rovers -5.525.000 (3.5 Million)
17) Bolton Wanderers -5.234.000 (3.4 Million)
18) Reading FC -1.300.000 (884,000)
19) Wigan Athletic +425.000 (289,000)
20) Arsenal FC +14.175.000 (9.6 million)

 

[psycho_snake]

Hooker's right. Drenthe will probably not make it a Real. He's too young. All he did was play a good U21 Euro tournament. He's not ready to play at Real yet. He could have learned a lot in the Eredivisie if he had stayed just one or two more years.

Its the same with babel too. He should have stayed at ajax and improved himself instead of moving to Liverpool.

I can understand why they would want to move. If they dont take the chance to move to a really big club now, then maybe the chance wont come again. If drenthe hadnt decided to join real madrid, they might have bought someone else and he wouldnt have the chance to sign for real madrid again, but there's also a good chance that if they stayed in the dutch league and made big improvement, there is bound to be one or a few big clubs interested in you.

 

[BatiGOOOOOOL]

There is no sense of team on organizations that just buy up already developed talent. How can you call that a club? It's more of a corporation and the only reason it seems that organizations operate like that is to generate revenue (obviously).

Funny you say that, when Madrid has always had very strong team identities where many, many players have made their career. Of course, people rather look at what Florentino did with the team and hate it, but eventhough Calderon is a moron when he opens his mouth, he, along with everyone in the club, is trying to build a very young core that can be established as a strong, competitive team for many years to come.

Yes, sacking Capello was the dumbest mistake ever, but just take a look at the young core:

Casillas
Ramos
Diarra
Robinho
Marcelo
Gago
Higuain
Pepe
Torres
Saviola
Drenthe
Robben(most probably)

25/26 years old max.

The team still is in a rebuilding proccess, because eventhough they're the champs, the team still had glaring limitations. As for the youth system, that was pretty much forgotten during the Florentino era and was in shambles for a while. Now, it's gaining strength with the young spanish internationals like Bueno and Granero, coupled with a few prospects that have been signed from other countries. So, slowly, but surely, it's looking up.

 

[psycho_snake]

Gilberto and Toure are mice. And mice don't make good captains, you need a tiger, even if he does occasionally lash out at his own.

Apparently Madrid have just signed Robben too.

I reckon toure is the type of guy who could become a leader. Gallas doesnt feel like the right choice. One day he wants to leave, the next day he's the happiest man alive. You need to have a captain who will lead by example even when the team isnt doing well. Gallas looks like the type of player who will only be a leader and perform to his best when the team is doing well.

 

[Cornballer]

Aw yeah. Cornballer we should do a Yanks in the Prem weekly review.

Found this on someone's blog.

Yank's Abroad (American) Premiership Appearances (1992/3 - 2006/7)

This does not include data for any seasons before the formation of the Premiership.

	              Games 	Goals
1 	Brad Friedel 	248 	1
2 	Kasey Keller 	188 	0
3 	Brian McBride 	131 	33
4 	Claudio Reyna 	104 	7
5 	C. Bocanegra 	94 	7
6 	Tim Howard 	81 	0
7 	Roy Wegerle 	75 	13
8 	Joe-Max Moore 	52 	8
9 	J. Spector 	48 	0
10 	Preki   	46 	4
11 	John Harkes 	43 	2
12 	M. Hahnemann 	38 	0
13 	Jay DeMerit 	33 	2
13 	Juergen Sommer 	33 	0
15 	Jovan Kirovski 	23 	2
16 	Cobi Jones 	21 	2
17 	D. Beasley 	18 	3
18 	Oguchi Onyewu 	12 	0
19 	Clint Dempsey 	10 	1
20 	Bobby Convey 	9 	0
21 	Ian Feuer 	5 	0
22 	Jemal Johnson 	5 	0
23 	Eddie Lewis 	1 	0
23 	Johann Smith 	1 	0

When did Friedel take a penalty? Or did he score off of a header or something?

 

[Blablurn]

I think it's something that Toure can grow into. He'll yell at players if necessary.


Saw this over on BigSoccer, I don't know if it's accurate or not....


Summer spending table so far. This is all in Euros. Pounds in parenthesis.
1) Tottenham Hotspur -61.575.000 (41 Million pounds)
2) Manchester United -54.650.000 (36 Million)
3) Manchester City -51.150.000 (34 Million)
4) FC Sunderland -40.950.000 (27.8 million)
5) FC Liverpool -33.300.000 (22.4 Million)
6) FC Portsmouth -30.900.000 (21 Million)
7) FC Fulham -22.000.000 (14.9 million)
8) FC Chelsea -21.000.000 (14.2 Million)
9) Newcastle United -20.800.000 (14.1 Million)
10) FC Middlesbrough -13.750.000 (9.3 Million)
11) FC Everton -12.000.000 (8.1 Million)
12) Derby County -10.275.000 (6.9 Million)
13) Birmingham City -8.800.000 (5.9 Million)
14) West Ham United -7.000.000 (4.7 Million)
15) Aston Villa -6.100.000 (4.1 Million)
16) Blackburn Rovers -5.525.000 (3.5 Million)
17) Bolton Wanderers -5.234.000 (3.4 Million)
18) Reading FC -1.300.000 (884,000)
19) Wigan Athletic +425.000 (289,000)
20) Arsenal FC +14.175.000 (9.6 million)

cant believe that bayern spend more than your number one