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Football Thread 2013-14 |OT2| Caravanning all the way to France
- Thread starter Fry
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I made these gifs of some of Merlin's magical moments in 2011-2012 a few months back. My god.. still amazed.
http://i.minus.com/d7ZQ2pRquFWqU/SilvaAssistWigan.gif
http://i.minus.com/dGqXk1NkdjT3W/SilvaGoalManU.gif
http://i.minus.com/d2Uj4UWNheQO1/SilvaAssistSpurs.gif
They're with gifcam so the size is monstrous, otherwise I'd embed them all. If David can play anywhere near this level again, we're golden.
http://i.minus.com/d7ZQ2pRquFWqU/SilvaAssistWigan.gif
http://i.minus.com/dGqXk1NkdjT3W/SilvaGoalManU.gif
http://i.minus.com/d2Uj4UWNheQO1/SilvaAssistSpurs.gif
They're with gifcam so the size is monstrous, otherwise I'd embed them all. If David can play anywhere near this level again, we're golden.
Shake Appeal
Member
Man City have had one of the strongest transfer windows, because they're actually forming a team with an identity that fits their appointed manager's and not just splurging on the 'best' players.
Michael Cox had a good article about this recently, calling them favourites for the title.
Michael Cox had a good article about this recently, calling them favourites for the title.
Re: that Goal article. Makes some good points and some bad.
Fiorentina are doing a fucking top job. Gomez, Joaquin and Ilcic for the price of one Jojo is great business; add that to a returning Rossi, a hopefully staying Llajic and Pizarro; and their front line's look brilliant. Could improve on their back three but it's hardly bad.
Madrid's activity is also very good all things considered. They've spent what, 75m on Isco/Carvajal/Illaramendi and have made 60m back just to Napoli, with Sahin about to follow? Probably looking at - including Kondogbia - only a 15-20m net spend for this pre-season which is fucking great for them. They can easy afford a top class striker this season... just a shame so many have gone already. They really should push for Lewa. He legally can't sign a contract for 5 months, so give Dortmund the relatively small 25m and then give the player a fuckload of wages.
City have done really well, as I've posted a few times.
Juventus should be on the list; they already had great depth in midfield, Pepe has come back and they've added another top centre back who can play in a 4 and a 3. And then on top of that they've added two genuinely brilliant strikers. If they can get a winger like Cuadrado, Ibarbo, someone to give them a little bit of unpredictability on either flank to sacrifice Asamoah/Licht's defensive qualities, they'll be a nigh on perfect side.
Bayern, enough said. Brilliant transfers, if a little self indulgent.
And no mention of Norwich!
Fiorentina are doing a fucking top job. Gomez, Joaquin and Ilcic for the price of one Jojo is great business; add that to a returning Rossi, a hopefully staying Llajic and Pizarro; and their front line's look brilliant. Could improve on their back three but it's hardly bad.
Madrid's activity is also very good all things considered. They've spent what, 75m on Isco/Carvajal/Illaramendi and have made 60m back just to Napoli, with Sahin about to follow? Probably looking at - including Kondogbia - only a 15-20m net spend for this pre-season which is fucking great for them. They can easy afford a top class striker this season... just a shame so many have gone already. They really should push for Lewa. He legally can't sign a contract for 5 months, so give Dortmund the relatively small 25m and then give the player a fuckload of wages.
City have done really well, as I've posted a few times.
Juventus should be on the list; they already had great depth in midfield, Pepe has come back and they've added another top centre back who can play in a 4 and a 3. And then on top of that they've added two genuinely brilliant strikers. If they can get a winger like Cuadrado, Ibarbo, someone to give them a little bit of unpredictability on either flank to sacrifice Asamoah/Licht's defensive qualities, they'll be a nigh on perfect side.
Bayern, enough said. Brilliant transfers, if a little self indulgent.
And no mention of Norwich!
90TilInfinity
Member
Why do people listen to him?
The_Hitcher89
Member
Meh, didn't happen to us
re: Those Marca quotes, is it not illegal to make up quotes when they're not used for sattire?
The way Wenger talked about him in relation to United's interest made it sound like he's still in close contact with him. I don't believe there's any deal to be done in this window, but once the dust has settled I reckon he could return.
He called Cazorla & Monreal before anyone else.
I don't think he'll return this year either, but I think the door is wide open for a potential return. He's well loved at the club and we have a much increased financial position to offer him big wages.
The_Hitcher89
Member
Laters, knobends
#thespiritoftheoldTorresisinme
#thespiritoftheoldTorresisinme
Vivalaraza
Member
Merlin lol
Surely the worst nickname since "SatNav"
Surely the worst nickname since "SatNav"
Bale hasn't even handed in a transfer request lol
Marca seem like the Spanish love child of The Daily Mail & The Daily Star...
I'm sure he was happy to replace Chino or whatever with Merlin. Haha.
He. Is. Glorious.
90TilInfinity
Member
Just Monreal, the Dean dude called Cazorla.
He's made so many links since then though, without ever really committing. Whatever though.
CrashBandicoot
Member
Doubt it, we've already got enough competition between the sticks, signed Cammy Bell this summer and there's a promising kid apparently. Dundee Utd's keeper signed a contract extension at the end of last season too, so I fancy your chances!
Milchmonster
Member
Stop posting about Sahin please, so much wrong.
Sahin wasn't good at Madrid and certainly didn't play "like expected". That had a lot to do with his injuries, shortly said he was shit. At Liverpool, well, I guess they must have thought Gerrard would get injured for half the season again. It doesn't make all that much sense to field both of them in CM, especially with a Sahin that hasn't played regularly for over a year. All in all, too much pressure in the wrong situation.
A proper pre-season with us and he already looks quite good again. We'll see if he gets back to his 2010/11 self but he's already a more than decent Gündogan backup. And even if Sahin doesn't make it in our starting XI, that hardly means anything, Gündogan is just that good.
Sahin wasn't good at Madrid and certainly didn't play "like expected". That had a lot to do with his injuries, shortly said he was shit. At Liverpool, well, I guess they must have thought Gerrard would get injured for half the season again. It doesn't make all that much sense to field both of them in CM, especially with a Sahin that hasn't played regularly for over a year. All in all, too much pressure in the wrong situation.
A proper pre-season with us and he already looks quite good again. We'll see if he gets back to his 2010/11 self but he's already a more than decent Gündogan backup. And even if Sahin doesn't make it in our starting XI, that hardly means anything, Gündogan is just that good.
Mad Bowser
Banned
Arsenal's form since Bayern Munich win:
Thanks, Pep.
#We'reGonnaWinTheLeague
Since Bayern win we haven't lost a game but hopefully this will continue in the league next season
CrashBandicoot
Member
Liverpool need to shift Suarez ASAP, all he does is get in the way of Coutinho anyway.
Coulomb_Barrier
Member
If Arsenal sign Suarez next season I might actually try and watch the Premier League.
Got my pins on the Bundesliga and La Liga next season. Even Lique 1 looks very exciting with PSG and Monaco.
Got my pins on the Bundesliga and La Liga next season. Even Lique 1 looks very exciting with PSG and Monaco.
I was very impressed with their form towards the end of the season. Not even sure where it came from since their season had been average till then but they just came out of nowhere and stormed to 4th.
Why would any sane football fan pick the bundesliga over the epl? Unless you're german or a fan of a bundesliga club doesn't make sense to me?
Ligue 1 looks interesting though. I'll be keeping my eye on that.
Coulomb_Barrier
Member
The Bundesliga is an amazing competition, not a two-horse race every season.
Anyway, it's more to do with what each league represents for me at this point. The fact that the majority of German clubs are majority fan-owned and Germans put faith in their academies are reasons why footy lovers should support it son.
It does seem he has a source at the club but not everything the source tells him is going to come off, it's best to take what he says with a pinch of salt.
Frank the Great
Banned
Didn't Vydra do really well in England last season? Udinese put him in their Euro League squad, so he's probably staying with him.
I totally agree. This is why I'm not too upset if we have to wait until January for Honda, at least Saponetta would get a lot of minutes then. The kid is going to be a star.
I totally agree. This is why I'm not too upset if we have to wait until January for Honda, at least Saponetta would get a lot of minutes then. The kid is going to be a star.
Apparently he revealed his true nature in it. Turns out he's actually a black supremacist.
LabouredSubterfuge
Member
I think Bacon's been sending racial hate-speech to people by PM. Not cool imo.
Frank, do you think you guys will be sticking to 4-3-1-2 or do you have a plan B, unlike us?
Mad Bowser
Banned
I was impressed too believe me. I haven't seen Arsenal in this form since god knows when.
You know what really sucks? That Arsenal's target is always to finish 4th just to reserve a chair to the CL
I dont know who took our ambition. We used to be something scary once upon a time
Everyday I look at this picture and just ask myself when is this day coming back:
Meus Renaissance
Member
I'm sceptical as to whether a top striker -- whether it be Rooney, Higuain or Suarez -- is the answer to Arsenal's inability to challenge for the title. The biggest thing we have lacked since our Highbury glory days are goal-scoring midfielders. Despite the evident technique and skill of Hleb, Nasri, Fabregas, Rosicky, Wilshere and more recently Santi Cazorla, they've never been goal-scorers for us.
On a personal note, I felt our possession retention last season suffered along with our creativity around the box. Put bluntly, we were boring to watch.
Taking into consideration that we still have question marks over our central defence partnership and a RB that desperately needs competition, a striker should be the least of our priorities. An Arsenal with RvP barely managed to finish fourth the season before last: what do we hope to gain by pursuing only Suarez?
On a personal note, I felt our possession retention last season suffered along with our creativity around the box. Put bluntly, we were boring to watch.
Taking into consideration that we still have question marks over our central defence partnership and a RB that desperately needs competition, a striker should be the least of our priorities. An Arsenal with RvP barely managed to finish fourth the season before last: what do we hope to gain by pursuing only Suarez?
Meus Renaissance
Member
CrashBandicoot
Member
Its not like you won the PL with RVP on his best form, a top striker would more or less just put Arsenal back to the season before last plus Carzola.
Frank the Great
Banned
The order to play 4-3-1-2 came from Berlus, but I think Allegri still likes the 4-3-3. The difference between 4-3-1-2 and 4-3-3 isn't really that big at all, especially because El Sha can easily play striker or LW. I think 4-3-1-2 will definitely be our "primary" system, but with the players we have it should be very flexible. Someone like Saponara, for example, can be trequartista, right winger, wide midfielder, etc. Same thing for Urby, on either wing. Our strikers (bar Pazzo) can all play on the wing, as can Prince. We have a very flexible midfield/attack with plenty of backup options.
The defense is a disaster though and we could never attempt a 3-man defense unless we sign another quality CB.
And I wouldn't be worried about your lack of a plan B. At least you have a very solid plan A, unlike us.
That's because we sold Cesc without getting any sort of replacement and had a defence that ran around like a headless chicken.
A top striker can only get you so far.
Naughty God
Banned
How was Fabregas not a goal scoring midfielder?
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