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[Shake Appeal]

Surprised there aren't more posts about the Palazzi statement.

 

[Gaaraz]

Why oh why oh why are Chelsea being linked to so many central defenders? We already have Terry, Alex, Ivanovic & Luiz - I'd take any of those over the players we're being linked to.

 

[Blackhead]

Yeah, the Clichy hate is a bit much. Arsenal's two worst 'unforced errors' last season were Cesc's backheel against Barcelona and his handball against Spurs and yet no Arsenal fan is applying the same standards when evaluating Fabregas's worth compared to Clichy. It's even more hypocritical when in one breath the fan is touting Fabregas' assist stats and demanding top dollar then in the next breath dismissing Clichy's defensive stats and claiming he's no loss...

That said, it's also true that statistics don't tell the full story. There is a reason why some clubs pinpointed Clichy as a weakness and decided to target him last season. Part of it was that he was returning from injury at the time and wasn't match fit. Another factor was that Clichy often has Arshavin, who doesn't help out much in defence, ahead of him. Clichy is prone to the odd lasp of concentration—but so is the rest of Arsenal's backline! I think Clichy is quite talented but he needs that strong vocal captain beside him to keep him focused. He got that when he was part of the Invisibles and played pretty well. He'll get that again at Man City.

Here's the thing though that's amusing. People keep saying it's only downhill after Arsenal (Let's ignore for a moment that Henry won a treble . Clichy is only 26! His peak years are ahead of him. It's way too early to write him off imo.

Spoiler

if clichy's stats are so great, why didn't liverpool buy him?

Edit: Got a question. Who scored the most freekicks last season?

 

[dc89]

Savic has been dubbed as 'the new Vidic'. He's 20 years old and quite a big lad.

Doing battle with Arshavin.

Will Nasri be joining him at City shortly?

 

[Salazar]

City will win the transfer window, hands down.

 

[Yurt]

Surprised there aren't more posts about the Palazzi statement.

Calciopoli ? I'm usually alone in my ramblings about Juve and Serie A Do you want me to post the new stuff ? Supposedly Milan and Inter should've been relegated to Serie B and not Juve. Juve's wrongdoings were "fines" at best according to Palazzi.

Got a question. Who scored the most freekicks last season?

I'm intrigued....

 

[dc89]

City will win the transfer window, hands down.

How?

 

[Yurt]

dc89 why are you guys buying that many defenders anyway ? your defense looked solid to me.

 

[Salazar]

How?

United don't seem likely to splash anymore. Liverpool are probably done. Wenger is hard pressed to keep the players he has. I don't care at all about Chelsea.

You'll do some exciting business.

 

[Mastadon]

United don't seem likely to splash anymore. Liverpool are probably done. Wenger is hard pressed to keep the players he has. I don't care at all about Chelsea.

You'll do some exciting business.

Liverpool are probably done? Er, based on what? We're linked to more players than Man City!

We'll be signing at least 2 more players I'd think.

 

[Kermit The Dog]

dc89 why are you guys buying that many defenders anyway ? your defense looked solid to me.

I actually wondered that myself today, but I assume it's a case of Mancini wanting lots of options around CL week, and a safety bet from injuries, which caused us problems last year. Richards, Zabaleta, Boateng were all injured for large parts of last season, and it affected our ability to defend properly at times.

 

[Vivalaraza]

Clichy - He may not be as bad as people are making out but he certainly isn't as good as he was a couple of years back. He was a really awesome full back for 2/3 seasons and he has levelled off a little bit lately. As has said before, he's 26 so there is alot of time left for him to find his form again and a new club, players, manager etc can give him a new spring. Stats don't prove anything though, there was a stat that Berbatov runs more on average than Tevez per match. Must have been true...but in reality, a worthless calculation. I can believe Clichy had a better season than Evra did last season, Evra was terrible for the entire year, dunno about the others. Ashley Cole is the best left back in the league by a distance for me. And world actually.

Tevez - I don't buy the Tevez story because some things he says are stupid. Like the restaurant thing, didn't he know there was 1 restaurant in Manchester after two years at United? I don't see how in 2 years at United and 1 in London it did not become clear to him he did not want to live in England.

Cesc's Value - I think he is worth 50m at least with the current prices. He's young, a great player, only going to get better, a good marketing option, the prized asset of Arsenal and on a long term contract. I think he is better than Sanchez, Aguero, Pastore players going at this 40m range price. The reason the price will be so low is because Barca have a sitting duck. Fabregas wants to move to Arsenal only. There is no competition for his signature. Barcelona have played enough transfer games for Arsenal to be sick to the stage where they are prepared to sell. Well played by Barca. They will get their man, IMO, "on the cheap".

 

[Moobabe]

I'm sure that a lot of us haven't rated Clichy for a long time - just that that the Man City fans in this thread have such a complex that any criticism about a player they're in for is jealousy or "hate." Whatever keeps you guys going I suppose.

 

[Kweh]

I'm pretty sure Arsenal fans are qualified to say how good a player Clichy is after watching him for 7 years. Call it transparent or what you want, the fact is, he isn't as good as he was, and has been in decline for a couple of years despite whatever stats SSN want to choose to show.

Off the top of my head from last season :

- Error in the last min against Sunderland away, 1-1 draw, 2 points dropped
- RIDICULOUS error against Shaktar away costing us a draw, and subsequently led us to second place, and we all know who we met after that...
- Played Villa onside against Barca for their away goal

 

[Kermit The Dog]

I'm sure that a lot of us haven't rated Clichy for a long time - just that that the Man City fans in this thread have such a complex that any criticism about a player they're in for is jealousy or "hate." Whatever keeps you guys going I suppose.

Ludicrous. The sarcasm that drips from many Red posts in here says more about your current headspace than ours. I know it feels good and warm to be part of a hive, but that doesn't make you correct or accurate.

No City fan here has lauded Glichy as some sort of defensive colossus, but rather have just welcomed his acquisition with optimism. At 7 million he will never be able to be regarded as a bad buy, so City can't really lose.

 

[dc89]

Mancini wants to get rid of Bridge & Onuoha. K.Toure can't play until September at the earliest. Note how the two defenders he has gone for have CL experience.

 

[Salazar]

I know it feels good and warm to be part of a hive.

It feels better to win the league.

 

[LabouredSubterfuge]

It feels better to win the league.

Don't be like that. City won the FA Cup last year. They worked really hard for it too.

 

[operon]

Don't be like that. City won the FA Cup last year. They worked really hard for it too.

Don't forget the award winning website

 

[Ushojax]

Clichy is a good signing for City. He's an ordinary player but he's far better than Kolarov, plus he's actually left sided unlike Zabaleta. There are only about 5 decent left-backs in the PL so it's not that surprising they went for him.

 

[Kermit The Dog]

It feels better to win the league.

Does it? I doubt you and the inhabitants of this thread really know how that feels. :lol

 

[anonnumber6]

Clichy is a good signing for City. He's an ordinary player but he's far better than Kolarov, plus he's actually left sided unlike Zabaleta. There are only about 5 decent left-backs in the PL so it's not that surprising they went for him.

Agreed, City fans shouldn't delude themselves and believe he is still in the same kind of form that would rival Ashley Cole but he has experience in the CL and if he can rediscover the form he was playing at in 08/09 it will be a good buy.

 

[Salazar]

Does it? I doubt you and the inhabitants of this thread really know how that feels. :lol

I genuinely do not know what you mean.

 

[LabouredSubterfuge]

He means that none of us have Premier League winners medals. A salient point I think.

 

[Shake Appeal]

Calciopoli ? I'm usually alone in my ramblings about Juve and Serie A Do you want me to post the new stuff ? Supposedly Milan and Inter should've been relegated to Serie B and not Juve. Juve's wrongdoings were "fines" at best according to Palazzi.

I'm a Juventino. I mean, all of this is stuff Juventus fans have been saying for a few years now if they were following Moggi's case and the hapless handling of the whole thing by the FIGC. It's just cool to see it plastered on the front page of the Italian sports dailies.

On the other hand, we have lost more than a hundred million euro from Calciopoli and spent five years rebuilding our team only to finish seventh last season, whereas Inter went on to win a treble, and Milan, who shouldn't even have been in Europe, won the CL in '97.

So yeah, it still makes me shake my head with disgust, if I'm honest.

 

[Salazar]

He means that none of us have Premier League winners medals. A salient point I think.

I have a couple of engraved pint glasses. I always prefer a functional prize.

 

[Kermit The Dog]

Agreed, City fans shouldn't delude themselves and believe he is still in the same kind of form that would rival Ashley Cole but he has experience in the CL and if he can rediscover the form he was playing at in 08/09 it will be a good buy.

We haven't. The bulk of the Clichy criticism has come from Arsenal and United fans for whichever reason. For 7 million he can never be regarded as a bad buy, and it's not as though we dont have a plethora of options if it doesn't work out.

It's not even a guarantee he'll walk into the team. Zabaleta, Richards and Kompany are definites, so that 4th position is up for grabs. The benefits of having options, I guess.

 

[rvy]

Coentrão at Madrid for €30 million. About time we made a decent deal. I'll never forgive selling Di Maria for that absurd price.

 

[Vivalaraza]

We haven't. The bulk of the Clichy criticism has come from Arsenal and United fans for whichever reason. For 7 million he can never be regarded as a bad buy, and it's not as though we dont have a plethora of options if it doesn't work out.

It's not even a guarantee he'll walk into the team. Zabaleta, Richards and Kompany are definites, so that 4th position is up for grabs. The benefits of having options, I guess.

You guys haven't just bought Messi. It's okay for there to be a debate about a signing like Clichy without people being jealous or haters.

Anyway, money is not a problem for City at all so City can never reaaalllyy have a "bad buy". Perhaps if he is on big wages and then it doesn't work out and you want to let him go it could be a problem. The way it could possibly be a hinderance (if he doesn't play well this is) is in terms of time lost. Say he has a poor season and Kolarov not much better and City don't progress this season...it could be said a better LB option (though tbh I can't think of a realistic one off the top my head) could have been a better choice. Anyhow, I think City's defence could be improved and Clichy is definitely better than Kolarov so it's an advance in that spot for sure.

 

[anonnumber6]

We haven't. The bulk of the Clichy criticism has come from Arsenal and United fans for whichever reason. For 7 million he can never be regarded as a bad buy, and it's not as though we dont have a plethora of options if it doesn't work out.

It's not even a guarantee he'll walk into the team. Zabaleta, Richards and Kompany are definites, so that 4th position is up for grabs. The benefits of having options, I guess.

Saying he only cost £7 million isn't really telling the whole story, I'm assuming Clichy is on £90k+ which is a large contract and has to be taken into account along with the initial fee. I personally don't think it will be a bad buy for City, for two seasons he didn't play to the level he was at before so the time was right for a change of clubs and I wouldn't be surprised if he rediscovered his form. I don't think at his best he is as good as Cole but he is the best left back in the world right now and he has always been one of the best for quite a few years now. City's defence looks complete with this signing and it was already quite a good back four.

 

[K1LLER7]

I like the germany world cup kits. I buy a lot of my stuff from ktbag.com but I don't think they have that one. Ŷour best bet might be world soccer shop. Pricy yes, but the world cup kits are getting harder and harder to get especially away strips.

The argentina kit is badass compared to some of the others
My friend said that he was going to go to germany on holiday a couple of months ago, so i'll ask him to bring me one from there, probably a lot cheaper aswell.

edit: Aguero moving to Juventus looks likely, SSN say juventus offered a large amount for him, but no decision is being made until after the copa america. probably hoping his value increases even more.

 

[LabouredSubterfuge]

Very interesting stuff from Italy's Corriere dello Sport, who claim that Inter are desperate to sell Wesley Sneijder to Manchester United for £30m because they need the money to pay for Velez Sarsfield midfielder Ricky Alvarez, Santos defender Jonathan and Genoa striker Rodrigo Palacio.

Sounds pretty odd to me. Do Inter have no money?

 

[Slizz]

Yea, 'desperate' to sell to United?

 

[Moobabe]

Ludicrous. The sarcasm that drips from many Red posts in here says more about your current headspace than ours. I know it feels good and warm to be part of a hive, but that doesn't make you correct or accurate.

No City fan here has lauded Glichy as some sort of defensive colossus, but rather have just welcomed his acquisition with optimism. At 7 million he will never be able to be regarded as a bad buy, so City can't really lose.

That would, of course, mean that I'm a Man Utd fan. I'm sorry to disappoint you; but I'm not. I suppose it's credit to me that my posts don't drip with such obvious bias that you've been able to ascertain what club I support.

And if the success of a club is measured by the headspace that your club earns then perhaps I'll follow a different sport. Luckily; it's measured in silverware which I suppose ranks your club up there with Portsmouth. Congratulations.

 

[elsk]

I don't think at his best he is as good as Cole but he is the best left back in the world right now and he has always been one of the best for quite a few years now. City's defence looks complete with this signing and it was already quite a good back four.

 

[anonnumber6]

Sounds pretty odd to me. Do Inter have no money?

Inter’s club accounts show it lost 500 million euros ($724 million) in the three seasons to 2009.

Money has been poured into Inter and Moratti now needs to balance the books, Eto'o and Sneijder are on big contracts IIRC. If he wants Tevez then some first team players will have to go.

FFP is great.

I don't think we will go for Sneijder unless he is willing to take a pay-cut.

Well this is embarrassing, when writing that post I completely forgot about Lahm.

Spoiler

I still think Cole is the best left back in the world

 

[near]

Coentrão at Madrid for €30 million. About time we made a decent deal. I'll never forgive selling Di Maria for that absurd price.

I'm pretty sure Madrid did not meet the €30million demand. The inclusion of Garay has lowered the fee from what I've read.

 

[Blackhead]

London Review of Books | Swing for the Fences

Scorecasting: The Hidden Influences behind How Sports Are Played and Games Are Won by Tobias Moskowitz and Jon Wertheim
Crown, 278 pp, £19.50, January 2011, ISBN 978 0 307 59179 1​

Until recently, one of the most remarkable unbeaten records in sport belonged to a football manager, the much reviled Portuguese provocateur and clotheshorse José Mourinho. Before Real Madrid lost 1-0 at home to Sporting Gijón on 2 April, no team managed by Mourinho had lost a home league game for more than nine years, a sequence spanning four different clubs in four different countries (Mourinho has also managed Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan) and lasting 150 matches. It is true that Porto, Chelsea, Inter and Real are all rich and powerful clubs and you would not expect them to lose at home very often – but still, nine years is a mighty long time. Even if you calculate that on average away teams only ever had a 10 per cent chance of beating one of Mourinho’s sides (for some, like Gijón, it might be a lot less, but for others, like Sporting Lisbon, AC Milan, Manchester United or Barcelona, it would be a lot more), the odds against going unbeaten for 150 matches are more than seven million to one.

How did he do it? The difficulty in answering this question is that there are really two puzzles here. The first is Mourinho. Is he supremely talented, or supremely lucky, or a bit of both? Does he have a secret formula, or is the secret that there is no formula, just enough bravado to make it look like he knows what he is doing? But the other puzzle has nothing to do with Mourinho. It is the mystery of home advantage itself. Why is it so hard to beat a team in its own stadium? Why does every team, no matter how unbeatable at home, lose something of its invincibility when playing away? Chelsea, who did not suffer a single home defeat during Mourinho’s three and a bit years in charge, were beaten ten times away from Stamford Bridge during the same period. If you calculate that the chances of beating one of Mourinho’s teams rise to about 20 per cent when they play away from home, then the odds of his going unbeaten for 150 away matches are nearly 350 trillion to one. It’s never going to happen to him or to anyone else.

It’s not only the big clubs. Take any European football league in which all the teams play each other twice in a season, once at home and once away. Add up the total number of home victories and compare it to the total number of away victories. The ratio will be at least 60:40 in favour of the home sides (often it’s more: in the English Premier League home advantage currently runs at around 63 per cent, in Spain’s La Liga it’s 65 and Italy’s Serie A it’s 67). The advantage holds across almost every major sport, though exactly how big it is tends to vary. Fans are so used to this that they take it for granted their team is much more likely to win on its own turf. They also take it for granted that they know why – it’s because the home crowd is cheering the team on. But there is no evidence for this. In fact, despite a fair amount of research in the top sports science journals, there is no conclusive explanation of what makes teams play better at home. This is the real puzzle about home advantage: everyone knows it exists but no one knows why.

Now here come Tobias Moskowitz and Jon Wertheim to clear up the mystery...

Interesting article (via metafilter)

 

[Kermit The Dog]

That would, of course, mean that I'm a Man Utd fan. I'm sorry to disappoint you; but I'm not. I suppose it's credit to me that my posts don't drip with such obvious bias that you've been able to ascertain what club I support.

And if the success of a club is measured by the headspace that your club earns then perhaps I'll follow a different sport. Luckily; it's measured in silverware which I suppose ranks your club up there with Portsmouth. Congratulations.

Red would cover many clubs, but I was referring to United, Arsenal and Liverpool, who all wear red prominently. I don't know who you support, but I do notice you singling my posts out for constant assault. I'm strangely chuffed.

 

[Ashes]

I heard tevez is leaving manchester. Where is he going?

 

[Moobabe]

Red would cover many clubs, bug I was referring to United, Arsenal and Liverpool, who all wear red prominently. I don't know who you support, but I do notice you singling my posts out for constant assault. I'm strangely chuffed.

I tend to call BS as I see it; maybe you're just lucky. I've been calling Clichy a liability for a couple of seasons now; I'm not saying he'll do poorly at City - maybe he'll flourish - but I'm not 'jealous' of the signing or attacking your club. I just don't think he's a good player.

And I don't support any 'Red' club

 

[rvy]

I'm pretty sure Madrid did not meet the €30million demand. The inclusion of Garay has lowered the fee from what I've read.

I have read nothing about Garay from CMVM yet. So far, Coentrão has been sold for €30 million. That's not to say that we will not get a Madrid bench-warmer. We always end up getting fucked.

Garay sucks.

 

[elsk]

I have read nothing about Garay from CMVM yet. So far, Coentrão has been sold for €30 million. That's not to say that we will not get a Madrid bench-warmer. We always end up getting fucked.

Garay sucks.

Talking about left backs, Coentrao is very average

Spoiler

in defence.

Don't know how RM ended up paying 30M, seriously. Thank God Bayern board didn't get him after all.

I wouldn't pay more than 15M for someone like Fabio Coentrao.

 

[Salazar]

And I don't support any 'Red' club

GenericSovietIconography.jpg

 

[rvy]

Talking about left backs, Coentrao is very average

Spoiler

in defence.

Don't know how RM ended up paying 30M, seriously. Thank God Bayern board didn't get him after all.

I wouldn't pay more than 15M for someone like Fabio Coentrao.

I know I wouldn't pay €30 million for Coentrão. Pretty sure Mou can get him to be a much better defender anyway.

 

[Vivalaraza]

Coentrão at Madrid for €30 million. About time we made a decent deal. I'll never forgive selling Di Maria for that absurd price.

Man, 30M. I know he's good but is he really better than Marcelo? Real Madrid's squad just gets bigger and stronger.

 

[Vivalaraza]

Inter’s club accounts show it lost 500 million euros ($724 million) in the three seasons to 2009.

Money has been poured into Inter and Moratti now needs to balance the books, Eto'o and Sneijder are on big contracts IIRC. If he wants Tevez then some first team players will have to go.

FFP is great.

I don't think we will go for Sneijder unless he is willing to take a pay-cut.


Well this is embarrassing, when writing that post I completely forgot about Lahm.

Spoiler

I still think Cole is the best left back in the world

Sneijder is definitely going to have to take a pay cut to come to United. That said I dont think we will go for him before we exhaust our attempts to get Nasri or Modric.

FFP is indeed great though. Really hope UEFA stick to their guns on it. Would certainly favour us in many cases.

 

[Ashes]

I support the red side of Manchester, and I still think clichy is a good buy for city for seven million. You would have thought, they would have bought him closer to twenty million. But at seven million, that's a decent buy.

 

[rvy]

Man, 30M. I know he's good but is he really better than Marcelo? Real Madrid's squad just gets bigger and stronger.

IMO? It's about the same, really. Marcelo is even worst at defending.

 

[Vivalaraza]

Surprised there aren't more posts about the Palazzi statement.

What's going to happen now? Will Inter be fined/face any prosecution? Quite disgraceful something like this could happen really.