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The 2011-2012 Football Thread

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Silencio said:
Danny offers everything Berbatov does -- excellent hold-up play, good passing, nifty tricks and flicks -- but with pace and work rate that Berba doesn't have.

If Welbeck can continue to improve his first touch and become a more ruthless finisher, the sky's the limit for him.
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That's the thing...he's a striker....bu doesn't finish as well as berbatov. Not even close yet.

As to carrol. I don't consider him to have good headers for his size, in fact it's remarkable how often he is beaten. He needs to work on leg strength IMO. For vertical.
 
h00ligan said:
As to carrol. I don't consider him to have good headers for his size, in fact it's remarkable how often he is beaten.
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Agreed, he's often outmuscled by players a fair bit smaller than him, and his positioning in the box is one or two players behind where the ball actually arrives, almost every time.
 
h00ligan said:
That's the thing...he's a striker....bu doesn't finish as well as berbatov. Not even close yet.
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Berba has been an awful finisher this year. I don't think Welbeck has fared worse than him in this regard, but he's nowhere near as ruthless in front of goal as Chicharito.

Can't we just combine Chicharito and Welbeck into one player? Take the former's game inside the six yard box, and the latter's everywhere else. I'd pay to watch that player.
 
Jaffa Cake said:
There are rumours tonight that Arsenal have agreed personal terms with Lukas Podolski – it's also said though that an agreement is still to be reached between the Gunners and Köln, however.
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he could bring some serious firepower especially over the left side if he can get used to being in London in a big club
a big positive is that Poldi is very much a player for "back-and-forth" on the pitch and also likes fast counter attacking which fits well with the arsenal style
(he didn't fit in the possession-slow build up football at Bayern)
also when he sees, even a small, chance for a goal he goes for it without trying fancy moves
enormous international experience (43 goals in 95 caps at age 26)

on the negative side keeping him in a good playing form and mood is essential ... in form he can occupy defenses pretty much alone ... when not happy he is useless ...
also to be honest: he isn't known for being a very 'smart' player on the pitch ... he is essentially all about instinct wether in his movements, shots out of nowhere, or playing no-look passes ..
 
150pxdumbartonfclogosvg.png

Dumbarton 3 - O Stenhousemuir
Brian Prunty (1')
Mark Gilhaney (32')
Scott Agnew (74')


GOALS
12 Prunty
11 Agnew
7 Gilhaney
4 Lithgow
3 Walker
2 Lyden
2 McNiff
2 Graham
1 McBride
1 Nicoll
1 Winters
1 McKinnon


....
3rd: 13-5-7
O3/O3/2O12

@
MON 'EH SONS!

roll on Sons, roll on...
 
Jaffa Cake said:
There are rumours tonight that Arsenal have agreed personal terms with Lukas Podolski – it's also said though that an agreement is still to be reached between the Gunners and Köln, however.
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OMG. Please be true! :eek:

RVP and Podolski...*takes a moment*
 
Lord Blackadder said:
Not so fast there, RVP has delayed signing a new contract...:eek:

I'd love to see Podolski in the Premier League though, and Arsenal seems like a good place for him.
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I saw a quote earlier that Arsenal will not sell RVP this summer, and will make him see his contract out, even if that means he'll leave on a free.
 
I heard the same rumor. If RVP doesn't extend his contract, Arsenal will be up a creek, unless they are ready to spend the 30ish million pounds a direct replacement of the same quality would cost (assuming such a replacement could be found).

RVP is not bigger than the club, but if Arsenal fail to either keep him on or effectively replace him their results will suffer.
 
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I don't think Wenger will let RVP bail easily. With Fabregas and Nasri he was banking on Ramsey, Wilshire and Song to take over.

With RVP there is no replacement whatsoever so he (Wenger) would probably fight more (at least i hope so)

I don't think RVP really want to leave either but rather just wants to see some new quality faces at the Emirates. Rumors say Wenger is willing to break protocol and offer him a £150k deal but i don't think money was the issue (doesn't strike me as a mercenary like Nasri/Adebayor). He's approaching 30 and probably wants to win something within the next 24 months and the current Arsenal squad isn't strong enough for that. Hence the trepidation.

Podolski is a first step towards that...if He/Koln sign.
 
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Realistically, every story about Robin is ********, other than the quotes. Whilst I'm sure there will be interest in him in the summer, his departure isn't as cut and dry as the press make it out to be. Here's his latest:

I have been there for eight years and I’m proud. At the end of the season I will it down with the trainer and the president. Then we make a cup of coffee all together.

I am a true Gunner. I love this club and that’s no secret. We will soon talk about many things. I do quite often with the trainer anyway. Only later on is the president there.
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By belief is that he wants to sign a new contract, but a lot will depend on our ability to get top 4, and to attract the players to be able to challenge for trophies. Podolski would be a good sign of that...

EDIT: Sorry daneoni, pretty much paraphrasing what you said... :eek:
 
Meanwhile, the only concern the sporting world – nay, the world in general – has had in recent times is of course who the new England captain will be. We found out earlier that the player selected to receive the greatest honour in international football™ is none other than Scott Parker.

I've no complaints – Parker has a sensible haircut, wears black boots and tucks his shirt into his shorts. That's all the necessary boxes ticked as far as I'm concerned. :cool:

Quite a few Liverpool fans are up in arms over this, seeing it as a snub for Steven Gerrard and by association Liverpool. Some have pointed out that Gerrard is a far better choice as he actually has experience of lifting trophies as his club's captain, forgetting that trophy lifting is a skill no England captain will be needing in the foreseeable future. :D
 
XIII said:
By belief is that he wants to sign a new contract, but a lot will depend on our ability to get top 4, and to attract the players to be able to challenge for trophies. Podolski would be a good sign of that...
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I agree, I don't think RVP wants to leave. But, as you say, there will be interest in him and like any club Arsenal will need to convince its best players to stay by strengthening the squad.

Jaffa Cake said:
Quite a few Liverpool fans are up in arms over this, seeing it as a snub for Steven Gerrard and by association Liverpool. Some have pointed out that Gerrard is a far better choice as he actually has experience of lifting trophies as his club's captain, forgetting that trophy lifting is a skill no England captain will be needing in the foreseeable future. :D
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I don't see it as a snub myself - besides, for all we know Gerrard may have quietly declined the captaincy. An international side should be full of captains anyway, and Scott Parker is an experienced player with a good personal reputation, along with his 1966 throwback appearance.

I think it was a wise move to choose a captain over which little furor can be extracted by the press.
 
Italy 0-1 USA

:eek::D

Howard was huge, excellent defending overall and Dempsey putting another feather in his cap with a goal against one of the world powers in football. Loving it, even if it was a 'meaningless friendly'. :)
 
So, after watching the England friendly I had a thought.

Every rational person knows that England don't have a shot at winning Euro 2012, so rather than watch the old timers amble to a 2nd round exit, why not only take players who are likely to feature in the 2014 World Cup. Give them some tournament experience. Also, maybe they won't play like they're carrying their bank balance in pennies on their backs and they'll show some enthusiasm.

This is who I would take to Euro 2012:

GK: Hart + 2 others (doesn't matter who, Hart is England's only top quality keeper)
DF: Johnson, Richards, Cahill, Smalling, Jones, Baines, Gibbs
MD: Milner, Cleverly, Downing, Young, Walcott, Chamberlin, Johnson, Rodwell, Wiltshire/Lennon
ST: Rooney, Sturridge, Welbeck, Carroll/Agbonlahor
 
swiftaw said:
So, after watching the England friendly I had a thought.

Every rational person knows that England don't have a shot at winning Euro 2012, so rather than watch the old timers amble to a 2nd round exit, why not only take players who are likely to feature in the 2014 World Cup. Give them some tournament experience. Also, maybe they won't play like they're carrying their bank balance in pennies on their backs and they'll show some enthusiasm.

This is who I would take to Euro 2012:

GK: Hart + 2 others (doesn't matter who, Hart is England's only top quality keeper)
DF: Johnson, Richards, Cahill, Smalling, Jones, Baines, Gibbs
MD: Milner, Cleverly, Downing, Young, Walcott, Chamberlin, Johnson, Rodwell, Wiltshire/Lennon
ST: Rooney, Sturridge, Welbeck, Carroll/Agbonlahor
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I thought that the match showed that neither team is really comfortable defending.

The first half was poor from both teams, but the second half more than made up for that.
 
I thought the England side did quite well considering they were missing this much needed experience we keep hearing about from various pundits. It would have been nice to get the draw, but the Dutch attack, and especially Robben, caused us problems all night, and rightly so, it's a great attacking lineup.

So, on to more important news. Despite doing over our local rivals, in one of the more important derby games of recent times, it seems MM has parted company with his "top-drawer manager". We've already been linked with Dave Jones although I heard he died yesterday...
 
Jaffa Cake said:
...

Quite a few Liverpool fans are up in arms over this, seeing it as a snub for Steven Gerrard and by association Liverpool. Some have pointed out that Gerrard is a far better choice as he actually has experience of lifting trophies as his club's captain, forgetting that trophy lifting is a skill no England captain will be needing in the foreseeable future. :D
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Expect a number on RAWK ended up in hospital; the site is a rich seam of comedy. Not choosing Gerrard gives the next manager some distance, good move.

England; the ease getting to the defence to one side, Cahill, oh dear:eek:

Always puzzled me how Shearer got away with pushing/climbing and forearm/elbow smashes, it's the same with Carroll. Are today's international referees stricter - Carroll a liability? Re respect, domestic referees deserve all they get for allowing Rooney, A Cole, Carroll etc. to mouth off.

Berbatov; good to see the option has been exercised, now play him.

Cheers,
OW
 
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