I'm guessing me complaining back in the 90's that I couldn't go to enough home games because I couldn't afford the petrol to travel the round trip from Brid to Sheffield didn't go unheard then!
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2009-10 Football Thread The Second Half
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It's refreshing to see that the FA are trying to secure Fizzoid backing for 2018/2022, that's for sure.
I was listening to Intelligence Squared debate about if Football is a beautiful game, and the guy said league position in the Premier League is 83% about the amount of money the club spends.
USA center half Oguchi Onyewu negotiated his contract extension with AC Milan - and is going to play his final year for nothing after bveing sidelined so long with a tendon injury.
Well played Gooch!
Well played Gooch!
i wouldn't overrate it ... Ballack's most important strength was always being the team captain ... and being strong with headers... over the years he sure lost a little bit of his old play making ability
Löw not having appointed Thorsten Frings to the squad was a much bigger hit to the team.. currently he is in great form and thus perhaps one of the best defensive midfielders with fantastic work rate and also team captain potential
on the plus side the german side sure now is completly unpredictable for opposing teams since both frings and ballack were pretty much always on the pitch at the big events and always kinda played the same.. going so far that some claim a "Ballack" curse: "as long he is playing germany can only finished 2nd"
at the recent test game against malta Aogo has shown to work great as a left defender, linking up with Kroos, so i suspect Lahm will be playing on the right side
my guess:
Neuer
Lahm, Mertesacker, Westermann, Aogo
Marin,Khedira, Schweinsteiger, Kroos or Özil
for the 2 attackers: every combination is possible
I know you follow closer than I do...I only watch Bayern games...but I see it as:
Neuer (I think Butt has a chance)
Lahm, Mertesacker, Westermann, Aogo (Badstuber has to be in the running)
Marin,Khedira, Schweinsteiger, Kroos or Özil (I believe Prince Poldi will be on the left side)
for the 2 attackers: Klose and Muller/Gomez
well for the goal keepers its hard to call since all are quite close
badstuber is a tough one on the left side .. he isn't bad but Aogo is perhaps more used to offensive play
badstuber is a learned central defender _and_ defensive midfielder so he makes sense to keep as benchplayer if either khedira or schweinsteiger get injured
the left midfield is pretty much unclear with either Kroos or Özil playing there (also Müller having played quite a bit there) that's why i would rather rate Podolski as a joker sitting on the bench: he haven't had the best season, but for the midfield he is a very offensive option ... and he can also be used as normal striker
in the offensive it's hard to make guesses since the choices are between a bayern attack or taking the better scorers with Cacau and Kießling
Müller and Cacau are both strikers which often fall back a bit and attack over the flanks so i suspect on of them will be playing combined himwith one of the other 3 Gomez, Klose, or Kießling which are more traditional central forwards
More Thierry Henry to NY Red Bulls rumors.
I'm sure he's being heavily recruited by the MLS but I have not yet seen a credible report so I continue to take it with a big grain of salt. The only evidence for a move is his lack of playing time at Barca. I hope he does come...
How would you rate Germany's chances for the tournament? Do you feel they are a strong squad? I don't know as much about German football as I would like, but we don't get much Bundesliga on TV in the States.
I'm sure he's being heavily recruited by the MLS but I have not yet seen a credible report so I continue to take it with a big grain of salt. The only evidence for a move is his lack of playing time at Barca. I hope he does come...
How would you rate Germany's chances for the tournament? Do you feel they are a strong squad? I don't know as much about German football as I would like, but we don't get much Bundesliga on TV in the States.
From what I've heard this is a done deal, he's been going for some time. Arsene even alluded to talking to Henry about it a couple of weeks ago.
red bull sure likes spending their money.. being the austrian champion _again_ wasn't enough aparently
hard to guess: their current squad on paper is much more offensive than the squads in past year.. of the prelimanary squad in the midfield the only defensiv players are schweinsteiger, khedira and träsch.. and schweinsteiger played a lot of attacking in the past and khedira is for a defensive midfielder very involved in the attacking
but the question will be if this new generation of german players can play a strong tournament on the "seniors": Neuer, Boateng, Khedira, Özil, Aogo were all members of last years Under-21 european champion team
i honestly don't remember when germany had as many great, and i really mean great, attacking players the last time in their squad
i suspect the restructuring after the bad tournaments 1994/1998 are finally paying off with this new generation of players
Fabregas to Barça gets closer
Guillem Balague, in an exclusive article in AS, writes.....Cesc Fabregas has told Arsene Wenger today (18/5/10) that he wishes to leave Arsenal this summer in order to return to FC Barcelona. The Spanish midfielder flew into London for talks with the Arsenal coach today for a meeting that will prove decisive in determining his future. Fabregas recently made clear his desire to play for Barcelona, should he ever leave Arsenal, and emphasised that he would like his future sorted before the World Cup finals in June.
Fabregas has now informed Wenger of his desire to play for Barcelona next season and the Spanish club understands that the Premier League club will demand a fee in the region of £30 - £35 million. If Arsenal were to insist on a fee in excess of that figure, it may prove too high for Barcelona who feel that while a deal could still be done, it would be difficult.
Cesc Fabregas left Barcelona in 2003 to sign for Arsenal when he was 16 years old in a move that angered the Spanish club who felt that the Premier League side had exploited a Spanish employment law that prevented Barcelona from tying him to a professional contract. Consequently, Barcelona feel that Arsenal should be willing to negotiate as they would have little grounds for complaint if Barcelona were to aggresively bid for the player.
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As I predicted a few weeks/months back along with David Villa who is, it seems, even closer to signing than Fabregas. Apparently Barça want Clichy too. Is he left back or right back?
Guillem Balague, in an exclusive article in AS, writes.....Cesc Fabregas has told Arsene Wenger today (18/5/10) that he wishes to leave Arsenal this summer in order to return to FC Barcelona. The Spanish midfielder flew into London for talks with the Arsenal coach today for a meeting that will prove decisive in determining his future. Fabregas recently made clear his desire to play for Barcelona, should he ever leave Arsenal, and emphasised that he would like his future sorted before the World Cup finals in June.
Fabregas has now informed Wenger of his desire to play for Barcelona next season and the Spanish club understands that the Premier League club will demand a fee in the region of £30 - £35 million. If Arsenal were to insist on a fee in excess of that figure, it may prove too high for Barcelona who feel that while a deal could still be done, it would be difficult.
Cesc Fabregas left Barcelona in 2003 to sign for Arsenal when he was 16 years old in a move that angered the Spanish club who felt that the Premier League side had exploited a Spanish employment law that prevented Barcelona from tying him to a professional contract. Consequently, Barcelona feel that Arsenal should be willing to negotiate as they would have little grounds for complaint if Barcelona were to aggresively bid for the player.
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As I predicted a few weeks/months back along with David Villa who is, it seems, even closer to signing than Fabregas.
Apparently Barça want Clichy too. Is he left back or right back?
What's the point of Fabregas to Barca? He will see plenty of 'pine' as long as Xavi and Iniesta are around...
-J.-
Not true. Barça play 433. Usually with a deep lying destroyer like Touré or Busquets however they often play with 3 more attack minded midfielders. Like Iniesta, Xavi and Keita. It wouldn't be difficult for him to slot right in. However I think it is a signing to improve the squad to allow for more rotations as Xavi and Iniesta were knackered towards the end of the season, both picking up injuries in the process. It will be a fantastic signing if he does go and also with Villa joining I'm very happy bunny at the moment.
Anyone want to buy Ibrahimovic? I also have a wardrobe a tenant left in my apartment I need to get rid of.
EDIT: I also need a new tenant.
While I admire Wenger very much he always seems scared to really go for it and make a splash. He'd rather spend 10 years 'building' a team than actually pushing for a title by signing one or two top notch players. Arsenal are a good squad but its taken them years to get back to anything like when they were champions (and they are still not there yet). Strange.
Is Clichy a left back or right back? If he goes too then it will be a major step back for Arsenal again unless they really spend some cash.
Where did the £30m go for Adebayor? I believe in only spending what you can afford but Arsene doesnt seem to spend at all. They cant be that hard up can they? Arsenal are somewhat of an enigma.
Clichy is a left back. Selling him is one of the positions where it won't be a major step back for Arsenal, as although I like and rate him, Kieran Gibbs has shown he is very promising, and ready to make the step up. Having Clichy around is good for competition.. but yeah. Clichy has been better recently, but went through a very suspect period late January/February where (I remember specifically) he was directly at fault for both Chelsea goals away at Stamford Bridge.
£30m for Adebayor doesn't just get spent immediately. The January before £18m was spent on Arshavin, and £10m ish on Vermaelen that summer. I believe that makes £28 million of short term spending.
Arsene doesn't want to sell Fabregas. We don't want him to go, he is a brilliant player, and would be a huge miss for us. But to be honest, if he wants to go, sell him. No player is bigger than the club, and if they want to go, let them go. The problem is replacing him - if Ramsey wasn't so horribly injured I'd think about just playing him, but no one knows how he will recover - I think we would need a better option than that.
Wenger doesn't want to throw money around, no, but if Fabregas goes, along with the signings we needed anyway, I think he'll have to accept some spending is necessary. I have heard rumblings of Yaya Toure coming the other way, but that rumours been going on for years.
EDIT: I should add, these Fabregas quotes have been around for a few days now, with nothing new added. I think it is as likely he is around for one more season as it is he goes. Maybe I'm being optimistic, but I think that depends on what Wenger has lined up. No player has left unless Arsene has wanted them too before (see Viera, Henry, Adebayor) ie. he has a replacement lined up, internally or externally. If he doesn't, I think he would keep Fabregas for another year.
Oh goody, the summertime Cesc to Barca rumors start again. It'll only be worse with presidential elections coming up too.
I forgot about Arshavin. So he does spend a bit of money then
Yaya Touré is likely to be part of the Fabregas deal. He wants to play "every match" but that just doesn't happen at Barça. He is a fantastic player but as you say no player is bigger than the club.
Fabregas has told Wenger today that he wants to leave
According to whom? All this speculative nonsense from the Spanish press gets really tiring. We hear this every year from them.
Until I see Cesc himself giving the interview and making this statement I'll rest easy.
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