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[Mama Smurf]

I agree with Wenger. Michael Owen always comes of as the Tim Henman of football; only appreciated in his own country because they have no better strikers.

Hmmm.

- Unlike Henman, Owen has won things. Sometimes he almost alone is the reason for those victories (FA Cup final against Arsenal for example).

- He's the fourth highest scorer for England ever, and he's only 25.

- Has won the UEFA Cup, the FA Cup, the League Cup twice, the UEFA Super Cup.

- Scored a hat trick against Germany when England won 5-1.

- 159 goals in 297 games for Liverpool, 32 goals in 70 games for England (60 starts).

- Liverpool's highest goalscorer in Europe ever, also their youngest goalscorer.

- Personal Awards: Golden Boot, BBC Sports Personality of the Year 1998 (might not mean much elswhere, but there's quite a fuss over this award every year in the UK) and European Footballer of the Year (first Englishman since Keegan in 1979).

- At the time, he was England's youngest ever goalscorer (Rooney's replaced him).

- He's the only English player ever to have scored at four major tournaments, World Cup 98, Euro 2000, World Cup 2002, Euro 2004.

- Has captained his country.

- 13 goals in 20 starts for Real Madrid.

- Has consistently scored against some of the best teams in the world.

So, how can I put this...he's clearly NOT only appreciated in his country (I hear the Real fans were extremely fond of him, can't exactly back that up with data though) and having no better strikers than Owen isn't exactly a bad thing (but arguable anyway).

Besides, with Henry, Bergkamp, Reyes, Ljunberg, Pires and van Persie, who needs Owen anyway?

So...yeah, you're just taking the piss, aren't you? Let's move Henry to the side as he's clearly better than Owen and I have nothing bad to say about him...actually, I thought of something...

Henry - has a reputation for not scoring in big games, Owen scores in big games all the time.

Bergkamp - He's 36. He's getting tired, which is understandable, but unescapable too. He can't play all the games every year. Despite having a repectable overall total for Arsenal of 118 in 393 games (1 goal every 3.33 games), last season he only managed 8 in 38 (1 goal every 4.75 games). He won't fly, so can't make it to many away games in Europe.

Reyes - For a start Wenger seems to want to play him as a left winger, secondly he scored an ok number of goals last season (12 in 45), finally I've yet to find anyone reasonable (ie. not a blind Arsenal diehard fan) who thinks he was worth what they paid or fits in the team.

Ljungberg - ...He's a right winger. Why is he even in a discussion about whether a team needs a striker? You just have to look at how Wenger had to play Ljungberg up front last season (he tried bless him, but he was no good, it totally fucks his game when he can't make late runs from midfield) to see they need a striker.

Pires - Same points as Ljungberg, plus he's almost 32 and won't be around forever. He might not even be there next season with the contract problems. Hell he might not even be there come January!

Van Persie - This kid's (sorry, he's a year older than me) got talent, that's clear. His attitude sucks, but they can work on that. I can never see him being a goalscorer like Henry or Owen, but a less talented Bergkamp? Yeah, I can see that.

I think it's clear Arsenal would benefit from someone like Owen. He's proven himself at the highest level, he WILL get you goals (in big games too!), and he offers something Arsenal don't really have...goals when the whole rest of the team, and often Owen himself, are playing shite.

Having said all that, I don't even like Owen much as a player. Who cares though, he'll get any team goals.

 

[psycho_snake]

Owen coming to Manyoo would be great. Last season was a nightmare for us because we couldnt finish off our chances and the FA Cup was the perfect way to sum up our season. In most matches we played, we dominated, but we just couldn't find the back of the net. Owen would change that. He's proven in two leagues that he is capable of scoring goals and would be a big help to us. I realise that we have four other strikers, excluding Bellion, Ole and Rossi (who like he has a shot at breaking into the first team), but saha has already said that he will move if Owen comes in and Alan Smith has been putting in some decent performances in midfield. I also want Own to come to manyoo so we can start playing 4-4-2, instead of having Rooney on the left.

Many people think that a top class midfielder would be a better buy, but when we played Arsenal in the league and FA Cup final we were the team with more possesion, but that means nothing if you cant tkae your chances. At the moment, Van Nistelrooy isnt doing that and although Rooney scored 17 last season, he isnt a striker, I consider him to have a similar role to Ronaldinho.

As for Essien, its obvious that they said Manyoo and Arsenal are interested to to make Chelsea pay more. Im sure both teams are interested, but Manyoo and Arsenal won't spend that much on Essien. Anyway, Abramovic and his Russian mafia will be going to "speak" to the Lyon chairman, just like they "spoke" with John Obi Mikel and Frisk.

And mama smurf, the reason Manyoo seem to look so miserable is probably because of the weather. Its been very very humid over there and having to play 6 games in 10 days isnt really a barrel of laughs. I thought that we played well and the reson that we lost to Koshima antlers was because Tim Howard is a prick who can dive for the ball, not to forget having P. neville on the pitch is a disaster:/. Its good to see Blackbirn doing well (only because their manager was one of the greatest players to have played for Manchester United, what a talent). Im surprised that you didn't have four clean sheets, considering the way that Freidel players against United. mark Highes has got a bit of work to do though. Having Bellamy and Savage on the same team can never be good and the only way it could get worse is if Bowyer joined the club!

 

[Mama Smurf]

I also want Own to come to manyoo so we can start playing 4-4-2, instead of having Rooney on the left.

Seeing as everyone in the world except Ferguson can see how much better United are playing 4-4-2, I can understand grasping at anything that might possibly mean that formation will stick, but I can't see Owen's arrival doing it. If Rooney and Van Nistelrooy isn't enough to do it, I don't see Owen and Rooney changing things.

although Rooney scored 17 last season, he isnt a striker, I consider him to have a similar role to Ronaldinho.

Really? Rooney's such a striker! He's not a Shearer or a Van Nistelrooy, but he's not a Ronaldhino or a Scholes either. The latter two are clearly midfielders who like to get forward and score. Rooney's more like...Bergkamp or Zola. Clearly both strikers, but they like to pick the ball up away from the front line, perhaps even as far back as midfield sometimes, and do things from there.

Just think of playing Rooney in midfield, or Bergkamp. They could probably do a job, but it wouldn't be great! Ronaldhino or Scholes on the other hand, perfect.

And mama smurf, the reason Manyoo seem to look so miserable is probably because of the weather.

I hope so for your sakes.

Having Bellamy and Savage on the same team can never be good and the only way it could get worse is if Bowyer joined the club!

Yeah, we're not exactly working towards cleaning up our act.

Bowyer you say....that's interesting. In fact, that's a really good idea! We need a right winger and he's obviously talented, plus he's available on the cheap because he's such a fucktard! So he can just join the rest.

I'm not even taking the piss, I really want Blackburn to move for him now.

 

[gollumsluvslave]

Man, Madrid need to get their head checked!! £40 million combined on Baptista and Robinho?? Not that I don't doubt they are great talents, but strikers was not the area I was looking for Madrid to invest in.

Toward the end of last season, after Figo was dropped, Luxemburgo played Owen and Ronaldo up front with Raul in behind, and they played some of the best football of the season. What Madrid need is a quality defender - even if he regains fitness I don't think Woodgate is it, and I would suggest they need another. Gravesen was a good squad signing, but I don't think he brings all they things they lost when they offloaded Makelele to Chelsea.

[/Rant]

 

[Hooker]

Madrid need a whole new defense, not just a defender. Plus, their midfield still isn't balanced. Graveson is a bit too light IMO.

 

[gollumsluvslave]

Madrid need a whole new defense, not just a defender

I sort of agree with this. I think Helguera would be the ideal replacement for Makelele, as he is a better defensive midfielder than a centre-half IMO. Roberto Carlos has always been better going forward than defending as well. Casillas and Salgado are only 2 players in the Madrid defence that have had any degree of consistency over the last 2 seasons.

Woodgate may be one centre-half, but as I said they need another, and I'd prefer to see a replacement for Roberto carlos as well.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Woodgate's a really good defender...well...he was, who knows what so long out has done to him.

I hear Walter Samuel is moving to Inter. God knows why Inter want him, I saw quite a few Real games last year and I have NEVER seen a player give away so many free kicks around the box. It was awful, I just didn't know what the fuck was wrong with him.

He's exactly the sort of player I'd dread having in the England team as for some reason we can't defend free kicks, but would love to be playing against us as we're so dangerous from our own.

 

[gollumsluvslave]

http://skysports.planetfootball.com/list.asp?hlid=295900&CPID=14&CLID=&lid=2&title=Bobo+in+l'OM+link&channel=football_home

Celtic's Bobo Balde is a reported transfer window target for Marseille coach Jean Fernandez.

:lol :lol :lol

I'll bet Strachan is eyeing a replacement as we speak... he fucking needs one!! :lol :lol

 

[Mama Smurf]

He is indeed.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/celtic/4734763.stm

 

[gollumsluvslave]

Don't know what was with Varga in the opening to games of the season - he was probably Celtic's most consistent player last season.

With regards to Walter Samuel - there is only one word that can do him justice

Donkey.

 

[CelticFC#1]

Hopefully Du Wei will have some talent as we desperately need a quality defender, actually like Real Madrid we need a whole new fucking defense.

There are rumours today that we're going after Alpay, the guy got sent off in 3 of his 7 games for the Urawa Red Diamonds, he's now training with Cologne and he's 32. He is not the answer.

I also heard we could be going after Dabizas, seriously you couldn't make this shit up.

I'm so fucking deluded with the football club right now.

 

[psycho_snake]

I hope so for your sakes.

Well, Sir Alex Ferguson is the once that said the heat was unbearable....on MUTV (which, as we all know, is NOT the most biased TV channel in the world! :lol )Unfortunately, the truth is obvious. Rio Ferdinand has still not signed his contract (I still remember a few weeks before the FA cup he said he will sign in a few days). The fans are not helping by calling him a greedy git and he hasn't reacted well to that. We also have Wes Brown and Silvestre as defenders to play alongside Rio, but they would probably do the team better if they just stood there and do nothing. Rio and Ruud Van Nistelrooy were having a go at each other, Rooney is being wasted by being played on the left wing, Our midfield isnt getting any younger, we still have the world cup winner Kleberson, the pathetic P Neville, we dont know whats happening to Ole any more, its as if he's dead or something. It sounds a lot better when we say that its the heat thats making us look miserable!

 

[BatiGOOOOOOL]

Samuel to Inter is already done.

Madrid are after Sevilla's young star, Sergio Ramos, who would be a much needed addition to the defense. But Sevilla's asking price is a little too steep ATM.

And people tend to forget how useful a player like Baptista is. He can play pretty much every position from the midfield up. It's not a matter of just buying another striker.

 

[Ghost]

I cant believe Rios stalling, wanting more money, or wanting to leave seem like the only reasons for it. Both of which are so outrageous after Man U stuck by him and paid him to sit on his ass for 9 months after the drug fiasco. He should be begging them for a new contract imo.

 

[Spellbound]

Well, Sir Alex Ferguson is the once that said the heat was unbearable....on MUTV (which, as we all know, is NOT the most biased TV channel in the world! :lol )Unfortunately, the truth is obvious. Rio Ferdinand has still not signed his contract (I still remember a few weeks before the FA cup he said he will sign in a few days). The fans are not helping by calling him a greedy git and he hasn't reacted well to that. We also have Wes Brown and Silvestre as defenders to play alongside Rio, but they would probably do the team better if they just stood there and do nothing. Rio and Ruud Van Nistelrooy were having a go at each other, Rooney is being wasted by being played on the left wing, Our midfield isnt getting any younger, we still have the world cup winner Kleberson, the pathetic P Neville, we dont know whats happening to Ole any more, its as if he's dead or something. It sounds a lot better when we say that its the heat thats making us look miserable!

.............truth

 

[Shinobi]

Seems Man United aren't interested in Owen for the time being, believing acquiring him at the present time would mess up the salary scale in terms of resigning Rio.

http://www.football365.com/teams/manchester_united/story_158497.shtml


That leaves Newcastle as the only loud suitor at the moment, and I'd sooner rot on the Real Madrid bench then head to that mess. :lol


Speaking of Rio, this story says the deal will get done within the next fortnight.

http://www.football365.com/teams/manchester_united/story_158495.shtml

 

[Mama Smurf]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/4737331.stm

What...the fuck. Walter Samuel moved to Inter for £11 million! I just...I cannot believe it. And he went to Real for £18.5m? Jesus.

Was he really good at Roma or something and just lost it at Real? That's the only way any of this makes any sense to me.

Moving on, Owen's in a pretty crappy situation. Chelsea have decided they're happy with their strikeforce (I still disagree, especially when Mourinho talks so much of wanting an English core to his team), Arsenal don't even want a striker apparently (again I think that's a mistake, and Baptista must have been a midfield attempt), Liverpool have their strikers since they've got Crouch and would prefer to spend money elsewhere (like centre back, fair enough) and now Man Utd are perhaps not interested, for the time being at least.

So what are his choices?

- Stay at Real and probably spend even more time on the bench than last season? He wouldn't be happy with that normally, but with a World Cup coming up he definitely wouldn't be.

- Go to a different team in the Premiership? I don't think there are many who could afford him for a start, and I'm sure he wants Champions League football. Everton's a possibility I suppose, I imagine they could afford him (the fee, maybe not his wages) and do want a striker, but does he want to go to Liverpool's rivals? Does he, like so many other players who've turned down Everton, think last season was a one off? Can he even see them getting into the Champions League when they have Villarreal to face? And yeah, Newcastle are a mess at the moment, even if they could afford it.

- A different team in Europe? Maybe. I have no idea who and the indications seem to be he wants to come back to England, though I'm pretty certain he hasn't actually said anything about it himself, but maybe. Again though, unless it's a major league (Spain or Italy really, maybe Germany but I don't see it) and he can get Champions League football and win things, what's the point?

I don't know what's going to happen. I still think the Man Utd deal might go through. I don't know how reliable the Daily Telegraph's source is, but their reason is bullshit. Owen's £5 million wage demands might "upset the wage structure"? That's the contract Rio's turning down! That's less than Rio's demanding! He's after rouglhy £6.25m a year. Unless they have some fucked up wage structure where centrebacks earn more than forwards, I don't get it.

Besides, Owen's never struck me as a greedy guy. I don't know him, but he seems level headed, you don't see him in the papers like other big stars...maybe he'll take a lower wage? That's probably the best thing for him right now, assuming the only stumbling block is his wages as the paper claims.

In other slightly crazy news, Andy Johnson is staying at Crystal Palace having signed a five year contract. Does he actually think that won't affect his England chances? He was barely on the fringe anyway and, while a player like Crouch has taken the gamble and gone for a bigger team where if it goes wrong he won't even play, Johnson's stayed loyal. Admirable, but if Palace don't come straight back up I think he'll regret it.

I reckon there are four places available for strikers in the England squad at the next world cup (I keep talking about it like we're already there, really shouldn't do that). Now barring injuries, 3 of the places are basically gone with Owen, Rooney and Defoe claiming them. Those fighting over that last spot include:

- Vassell. He's had a bad season but could regain his form this time and has done well for England before. My main argument against him is that he really offers nothing Owne and Defoe don't already.

- Crouch. We'll see how he does at Liverpool, but at the moment this guy would be my choice. He scores goals, he actually has a decent touch on the ground, and he offers something none of the other 3 main strikers do: height. He can knock it down to players, he can score from crosses, he's obviously a threat at all set plays (and useful defending them I'd imagine), if we're playing badly we can switch to route one and just boot it up to him, if we're playing REALLY badly and the other team has us with our backs to the wall he's be incredibly useful as an outlet to hit the ball to when we get it...not a bad choice.

- Heskey. Please no. I wouldn't even mention him if he hadn't popped up in an England squad not too long ago. Once upon a time he really was a talent, but somwhere along the way he lost it. I just don't think he believs in himself enough, doesn't take on players and have the shots he once did. The only advantage he has he shares with Crouch, he's tall. but not THAT tall, he's a few inches shorter than Crouch, so he really has no advantage over him aside from experience. Think how many times Heskey has played for England. Think how many times Vassell has. Guess who's scored more? Sad.

- Alan Smith. He could make it. I wouldn't particularly want him in my England team, but if he carries on in midfield for United this season then he could be a very useful squad player. He's decent in the air, though he's no Crouch. I'd only take him as cover in case of injuries though, I wouldn't want to bring him on to change a game like I would with Crouch.

- EDIT: James Beattie. Forgot Beattie. No way in hell he's going if he shows the form of last season, but if he can recapture something of that he used to show, he'd be a strong contender.

And then there's Johnson. Yes, I know he finished second top scorer last season, but 11 (!) of his 21 goals were penalties. Unbelievable. So that's swaying the stats a bit. And a whole season on the Championship? No, unless there are serious injuries I'd not take him.

EDIT: Just haveing a look at some stats...if we take penalties away, here's what the standings look like (Premiership):

Henry 25 (no penalties anyway and he takes corners. The guy's a god)
Defoe 13
Pires 13
Hasselbaink 13
Gudjohnsen 11
Cole 11 (Andy)
Crouch 11
Cahill 11
Rooney 11
Keane 11 (Robbie)
Lampard 10
Johnson 10
Ljungberg 10
Heskey 10
Drogba 10
Wright-Phillips 10

Doesn't look so good now huh! 4 England players are ahead of him (and no Owen there), 3 are on a par with him. Looking at them as a whole, 2 midfielders are ahead of him and 3 on a par. He has been SO overrated with his penalty count.

 

[Ghost]

Johnson wants to go but CP wont let him, they say he's going to win them promotion so he's worth at least 20mill to the club, and naturally no one will pay that. He seems pretty loyal so he probably wont kick up a fuss, unlike Defoe who earned himself a January transfer by getting sent off 5 times or something stupid (and was still one of the top scorers in the league at the time if i remember correctly).


Hopefully Owen will find a nice Italian team, i think he'd suit that style of play, lots of tight defences for him to make darting runs through. Mind you im not sure that any of the ones that can afford him want him...imo AC should go for it, they lost Crespo, Owen is a good replacement.

 

[Hooker]

AC bought Vieri and Gilardino, both better strikers than Owen IMO (although Vieri is getting really old) That alongside Sheva and Inzaghi. They've got enough. And don't forget that Italian football is TOUGH, Owen will get the shit kicked out of him. Isn't he really injury prone?!

 

[Mama Smurf]

Johnson wants to go but CP wont let him

Players who want to go don't sign new five year contracts.

And I agree that Milan don't need him. Owen's not particularly injury prone though. He's had injuries, but most players have. I think he could handle Italy, it's no tougher than the Premiership, it's just tougher in a different way, but I don't think it's as good a match as Spain or the Premiership to his game.

 

[gollumsluvslave]

Jeso!
Madrid are looking likely to have Owen and Madrid on the bench this season? WTF?

After last season I really don't think Owen deserves that at all.

 

[Solid]

celtic won 4-0 tonight but they still lose 5-4 aggregate. talk about disaster. :lol

 

[Mama Smurf]

From the other thread:

If you do it, I'll be impressed. I reckon a 4-0 win, just not enough.

Thank you, thank you.

 

[Solid]

nice mama! now predict the upcoming community shield game, chelsea-arsenal

 

[Mama Smurf]

I will do, but later in the week when I know more about injuries and possible signings.

Not that it'd matter, I can clearly do no wrong.

 

[Shinobi]

:lol Cocky bastard...nice prediction though.

 

[Solid]

UEFA unveils Monaco nominees
Wednesday, 3 August 2005

A total of 21 of Europe's finest players have been shortlisted for the UEFA Club Football Awards to be held in Monaco on 25 August - including Gianluigi Buffon, the only one of those nominated to have previously claimed the prestigious Most Valuable Player award, having done so in 2003.

2005 UEFA Club Football Awards
Best Goalkeeper nominees
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus FC)
Petr Cech (Chelsea FC)
Jerzy Dudek (Liverpool FC)

2005 UEFA Club Football Awards
Best Defender nominees
Cafu (AC Milan)
Jamie Carragher (Liverpool FC)
Sami Hyypiä (Liverpool FC)
Paolo Maldini (AC Milan)
Alessandro Nesta (AC Milan)
John Terry (Chelsea FC)

2005 UEFA Club Football Awards
Best Midfielder nominees
Michael Ballack (FC Bayern München)
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool FC)
Kakà (AC Milan)
Juninho Pernambucano (Olympique Lyonnais)
Frank Lampard (Chelsea FC)
Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan)
Mark van Bommel (PSV Eindhoven, now FC Barcelona)

2005 UEFA Club Football Awards
Best Forward nominees
Adriano (FC Internazionale Milano)
Samuel Eto'o (FC Barcelona)
Ji-Sung Park (PSV Eindhoven, now Manchester United FC)
Ronaldinho (FC Barcelona)
Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan)

 

[Kola]

inter signs figo

gazzetta dello sport

 

[Ryck]

For the english speaking community

Figo set to join Inter Milan - Report


MADRID, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Real Madrid midfielder Luis Figo has agreed to sign a two-year deal with Inter Milan, Spanish media reported on Wednesday.
Radio Marca said the 32-year-old Portuguese international would travel to Milan on Thursday to have a medical and sign a contract with the Serie A club for a reported salary of €4.5 million ($5.54 million) a year.


The former World and European Player of the Year, who fell out with Real coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo after being consigned to the bench for the latter part of last season, had been given permission to negotiate with other clubs.

Figo joined Real in 2000 in one of the most controversial transfers in Spanish football history when newly elected club president Florentino Perez paid a then world record $56 million to buy him out of his contract with arch-rivals Barcelona.

The midfielder, viewed as Real's first Galactico signing, helped them to the league title in his first season at the club and played an important part in their victories at the 2002 European Cup and the 2003 Spanish championship.

Figo, who had a year to run on his Real contract, agreed recently to come out of international retirement and has made it clear he wants to continue playing for Portugal until next year's World Cup.

If he does sign for Inter, he would be the fourth Real Madrid player to join the Serie A side in the last 12 months.

Argentine midfielder Esteban Cambiasso joined Inter last year and compatriots Santiago Solari and Walter Samuel have followed the same route in the close season.

 

[B-B-Bomba!]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/t/tottenham_hotspur/4719445.stm

Tottenham complete Davids signing

Tottenham have completed the signing of Holland international Edgar Davids on a free transfer from Inter Milan.
The 32-year-old, who has 73 Dutch caps, has passed a medical and agreed terms with the London club.

Has to have been deliberate ...

 

[RonaldoSan]

Brøndby IF advanced to the third qualifying round of Champions League. We're up against Ajax for a spot in the tournament. Brøndby IF is on fire atm. Ajax have seen far better days, they have injuries and their league hasn't even started yet. I hope and think we can pull through.

Michael Laudrup as the coach inforcing the kind of football he likes and used to play himself.

Johan Elmander as the key player making everything happen.

 

[Shinobi]

Wow, this is simply amazing to me...

The Football League are to announce tomorrow that the Coca-Cola Championship attracted more fans last season than Italy's top-flight Serie A. The figures make it the fourth-best attended league in Europe, with a total of 9.8 million spectators, after the Premiership (12.88 million), the German Bundesliga (11.57 million) and Spain's La Liga (10.92 million).

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ma...4AVCBQUJVC?xml=/sport/2005/07/27/sfnars27.xml

That was from last week...that's just stunning.

 

[MrPing1000]

p.neville off to everton for £3.5million good deal for the lad he isn't going to be a first team regular ever at man utd but he will get a lot more games (and at least 2 champ league games) at Everton.

 

[Falch]

Brøndby IF advanced to the third qualifying round of Champions League. We're up against Ajax for a spot in the tournament. Brøndby IF is on fire atm. Ajax have seen far better days, they have injuries and their league hasn't even started yet. I hope and think we can pull through.

Michael Laudrup as the coach inforcing the kind of football he likes and used to play himself.

Johan Elmander as the key player making everything happen.

Yeah, that's going to be an interesting match next week. Tomorrow though, Ajax will play PSV for the 'Johan Cruijf schaal', which is the national supercup. It'll be interesting to see how Ajax will play, after losing both to Arsenal and Boca Juniors in a tournament last week. I'm curious also as to how good PSV is, seeing that they've lost Vogel, Van Bommel and Park.

 

[Juno]

The Bundesliga is watched by more poeple than La Liga? Yeesh!

 

[cja]

Pfft, those shocked at the numbers for The Championship, the fourth most popular division in Europe, should watch the real thingTM. The fizzy drink sponsored Championship is only going to get bigger with the likes of Hull and Sheffield Wednesday back in the 2nd tier of English football.

 

[Solid]

finally official.

i hope inter takes home the scudetto this season!

 

[Mama Smurf]

Blackburn beat Espanyol 4-0 today. Our side was pretty strong, if missing a couple likely starters, and I have no idea about theirs. Still, a 4-0 victory over a team that finished 5th in Spain last year is a good result however you look at it.

As for Chelsea-Arsenal tomorrow...I'm going to say 2-1 to Chelsea. I'm tempted to say a draw and then either way on penalties, but Chelsea have strengthened over the summer, while Arsenal have, at best, stayed where they were.

 

[Alucard]

I agree with Wenger. Michael Owen always comes of as the Tim Henman of football; only appreciated in his own country because they have no better strikers. Besides, with Henry, Bergkamp, Reyes, Ljunberg, Pires and van Persie, who needs Owen anyway?

Yeah, the only thing I can think of would be to get Owen to replace Bergkamp at the end of this season. Otherwise, Henry, Reyes, Bergkamp, and Van Persie have been doing just fine up front. (Respect for Van Persie - 1000000000000 after rape allegations, but he's still a damn good striker).

 

[Alucard]

finally official.

i hope inter takes home the scudetto this season!

Woot! I really like Figo, even in his old age. In the games I saw him play for Madrid last season, he was often times their best player IMO. It'll be cool to see him and Adriano feeding the ball to eachother.

 

[celestial body]

Those figures for the Serie A don't surprise me, when you see Juventus these days the Delle Alpi is nearly always half empty. I think it's pretty strange that no Italians play in the Pship and vice versa, I think the last Italian to make a splash in England was Maccarone and you might even have to go back to Paul Ince to see an English playing for a top Italian club. I was hoping Chelsea would get Gilardino but I guess that's not going to happen :/

 

[Shinobi]

Yeah, the only thing I can think of would be to get Owen to replace Bergkamp at the end of this season.

That's why I'd want to sign Owen...that way when Arsenal plays their road games in the Champions League, they've got a world class talent they could trot out there beside Henry. Plus they wouldn't have to go fishing for a Bergkamp replacement a year from now.

I think a lot of this "we're not interested" talk though are just teams trying to lower the asking price as much as possible. It'll still be tough for Arsenal to afford him, regardless of how low the price gets.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Maccarone's barely made ripples, let alone a splash. The last one would probably be Cudicini, who did fantastically well at Chelsea and is just unfortunate that Cech was a little bit better. He was probably joint best keeper in the league the season before last.

We've had some great players here over the years from Italy, even relatively recently: Zola, Vialli, Ravanelli, Di Matteo, Cudicini, Casiraghi, Di Canio, Carbone, Festa, Dino Baggio...probably more I can't think of. And alright, most of those played for Chelsea, but it was nice to see.

Strange that there are so few here, I'm not sure why. There are basically fuck all English players abroad of course, not decent ones anyway, outside of Madrid and Owen Hargreaves at Bayern (but he's barely English). Which I'm always glad of, I like being able to see the best English players week in week out, but I'd like to see the best Italian players too if we could just nab 'em.

 

[Shinobi]

Yeah, Hargreaves is Canadian. Fear!

 

[Solid]

As for Chelsea-Arsenal tomorrow...I'm going to say 2-1 to Chelsea. I'm tempted to say a draw and then either way on penalties, but Chelsea have strengthened over the summer, while Arsenal have, at best, stayed where they were.

and luis figo is a great signing for inter. i'm amazed how many players they've signed during the summer, Wome, Samuel, Figo, Julio Cesar, Solari, Pizzaro and Choutos returning from loan.

 

[Shinobi]

Arsenal's owned Chelsea for the longest time for reasons that are unexplainable (which made their win over Arsenal in the Champs League a couple years ago all the more unexplainable), but with Chelsea's easy EPL triumph they probably feel they could own anyone on any day of the year at this point. But I don't expect Arsenal to just lay down and die either. Still, a 2-1 result for the blues sounds about right. Gonna be watching this game at a bar tomorrow, so it should be a fun time.

 

[MrPing1000]

charity shield today Arsenal vs Chelsea kick off 3pm in the UK.


in other news we have apparently sold Kleberson to Besiktas but it isn't being reported anywhere.

 

[Kola]

ibrahimovic

 

[MrPing1000]

ibrahimovic

woah. He has a knack for scoring amazing goals heh.

 

[Kseutron]

zidane/makelele/thuram are making a come back on tthe french national team (they retired last year)

france to be feared again ?