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The 2013-2014 Football Thread

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So, Mata. Fantastic player, but yet another #10 to add to the logjam of #10's at United's disposal. Surely Moyes will have to change his tactics and get away from the rigid 4-4-2 now. Surely.

There are still many, many holes in the squad, but surely this will be a huge psychological boost, which may very well be enough, along with more players coming back from injury.
 
I wonder if Ole Gunnar Solskjær will follow in Steve Bruce's shoes (apologies, Jaffa :eek:) and function as an obliging punching bag for Manchester United during his tenure at Cardiff.

Fizzoid said:
Keep it up!
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Indeed. Gooch has a few years in him yet, it would be nice to see him finish out his career on a high note.
 
We can only blame ourselves. We've been getting away with it the last 2 or 3 games but today was d-day.

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Guess today is the day we handed the title to City/Chelsea. Thanks Southampton away...again.
 
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I felt reasonably confident going into the derby, but I can't believe Liverpool won so handily - with Gerrard in the middle! That probably says more about Everton's injury problems than anything though. A very English penalty by Sturridge as well. :roll eyes:

A huge result for Liverpool though. If they can win their games against Spurs and Man Utd, they'll be in a great position for that fourth place finish.

daneoni said:
Guess today is the day we handed the title to City/Chelsea. Thanks Southampton away...again.
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Nobody can compete with all that oil and gas money. that's it in a nutshell. Arsenal's first XI are still good enough to win the league, even if they are third favorites.

EDIT: Liverpool are supposedly in talks to sign Ukraine international left-sided winger Yevhen Konoplyanka. Don't know much about him though we've all seen him at the Euros and WC qualifying and he did score a nice goal against England, beating a very wild and very English last-ditch tackle from Stephen Gerrard in the process. (go to 0:43 for the slo-mo replay)

He looks pretty technically gifted, and the fee is reported to be 16m pounds. I wonder if Liverpool's defensive frailties have convinced Rogers to avoid giving his fullbacks attacking duties, and this transfer is a means to give Liverpool some wing play without tasking the defense further.
 
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^
As long as Chelsea or Spurs don't come swooping in.

Meanwhile, Arsenal have apparently tabled a bid for Draxler and have moved for Matuidi. The same player PSG told City to stay away from.

On another note, cracking game going on at Villa Park. And City get another lucky call. Dawson not offside.

EDIT: And another wrong call. Rose got the ball.
 
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Is that Le Saux as the sidekick? Whoever its is, what a :eek:. Call it what it is, a dive.

Edit - at least the clean sheet has gone.

Manchester United should go for Draxler; him, Rooney, Kagawa, Januzaj, and Mata all behind RVP - can't defend, may as well go for it. :)
 
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I'm really not looking forward to playing Man City. :eek: At the moment they have it all: Dangerous attack, stout defense and a strong hand at the helm. Oh, and unlimited amounts of money.

I re-watched the Merseyside derby today...still a great result but I see a lot of the same old issues cropping up...a few defensive errors and the team taking its foot off the gas a bit in the second half. Sturridge did very well to score his brace, but after that he got a bit cocky and greedy. He definitely wasted a scoring opportunity just before being substituted. Suarez fumed at a couple of Sturrige's decisions. The defense was not tested, so it looked solid. But against Man City it will get shredded.

EDIT: West Ham grab a point and a clean sheet at Stamford Bridge. Title implications.
 
I'm looking forward to their Monday game against Chelsea and the Barca game. Then we will know whats up.

At least Chelsea drew, however small a consolation that is. Still pisses me off we didn't win yesterday.
 
It should be interesting. Chelsea look solid but Man City look like they are on the verge of running away with it. Their depth is really coming into play, and they are not just beating but crushing their opponents.
 
All of a sudden Liverpool's result yesterday looks massive. 3-4 pts clear of their rivals and only 4 behind Chelsea and 6 behind Arsenal.
 
Very true. Our defense still worries me. Against an injury-depleted Everton we didn't miss Johnson, Enrique, Agger, Sakho or Lucas. Against Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal we surely will. Also Man Utd, Newcastle and Spurs could still be very big tests.

Flanagan did well today, that was encouraging.
 
Mourinho cracks me up. Parked the bus at Old Trafford and the Emirates and even mocked us for not scoring at home against his team.

"...I think boring is a team that plays at home and cannot score a goal. That's boring!"
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Now he's complaining that West Ham did the same and blaming referees.

Erm...pot meet kettle. :rolleyes:
 
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Could be worse, you could have Titus Bramble in your First XI.

On another note, hearing the Draxler to Arsenal deal is nearing final stages.
 
Kariya said:
On another note, hearing the Draxler to Arsenal deal is nearing final stages.
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if they buy him _now_ he will be ridicilously overpriced: his release fee clause comes into effect in the summer: ~45 mio euro (which IMHO is overpriced)

currently he would be even more expensive

as a player he is very dynamic/energetic with an ace shot and great 1-2s but he isn't a classical dribbler
considering his age(20) though he is extremely mentally mature already, simply because Schalke threw him into the big games right from the start (30+ internationa cup/CL games, 10+ national squad games, cup final)


the next german youngster are already on the the horizon as well: Max Meyer from S04 (already considered a 'younger' Götze) and Timo Werner from Stuttgart
 
I read Mourihno's big moan about West Ham's tactics this morning, but the best part was Big Sam's reaction:

Allardyce, when told of his opposite number's comments, laughed and said: "I don't give a *****, to be honest."
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Well said, Big Sam.

takao said:
if they buy him _now_ he will be ridicilously overpriced: his release fee clause comes into effect in the summer: ~45 mio euro (which IMHO is overpriced)
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£37million was the latest figure I saw.

The market seems very inflated nowadays. The elite clubs have more money than ever, and it seems like more and more players are having 40m+ price tags slapped on the than ever before. It wasn't all that long ago when very few players were valued at even 30m.

Fizzoid said:
Not sure he can hit the high notes, but perhaps he can fill in for Posh if the Spice Girls do reform...
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Saw that, but couldn't bear to watch it....too much secondhand embarrassment.
 
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