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Football Thread |OT20| What's that smell?

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Feorax

Member
I suspect this deal has probably been in place for some time, and it was a case of all parties waiting to see if Arsenal would be playing in the Champions League. Just a matter of going through the motions now.
 

Arnie

Member
Meanwhile, in Dubai...

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I suspect this deal has probably been in place for some time, and it was a case of all parties waiting to see if Arsenal would be playing in the Champions League. Just a matter of going through the motions now.
Yes this has been the case, I think. His agent said it depends if Arsenal get into the CL (and we obviously have now) so yeah!
 

Zabojnik

Member
Not in that I think he is not good enough, more that I just genuinely do not know much about the player and his qualities.

It's not just you. It's everybody. He has yet to achieve his full potential. He might do it at Arsenal (or Juve), he might not. The talent's all there, that's for sure.

Sums up Juventus if they get outspent on a striker by Arsenal.

We're saving it all up for that last minute Suarez bid.
 
This is a hugely important summer for Barcelona, arguably their most important in recent years. There will be quite a few exits and still large question marks over the future of Villanova. Could be the end of an era if they fail to find the right replacements for their system. Their last three major signings (Ibra, Villa and Fabregas) have either failed or still have doubters
 

Wes

venison crêpe
Dedicated preseason thread is also an option

I personally dislike this. There's plenty of football related stuff to talk about for the next two months. Just keep the numbers ticking over if needs be. None of this pre-season/transfer thread nonsense.

Then start the new season thread on August 1st like we always used to. Tradition is a good thing.
 

Messi

Member
This is a hugely important summer for Barcelona, arguably their most important in recent years. There will be quite a few exits and still large question marks over the future of Villanova. Could be the end of an era if they fail to find the right replacements for their system. Their last three major signings (Ibra, Villa and Fabregas) have either failed or still have doubters

Ibra gave us a decent season, Villa was a success up until the leg break and Fabregas ill give you.
 

FootballFan

Member
This is a hugely important summer for Barcelona, arguably their most important in recent years. There will be quite a few exits and still large question marks over the future of Villanova. Could be the end of an era if they fail to find the right replacements for their system. Their last three major signings (Ibra, Villa and Fabregas) have either failed or still have doubters

We'll be okay as long as Busquets, Messi and Iniesta are staying. But we'll improve/win treble if we let go of waste like Dos Santos and Valdes, then bring in good defenders and Neymar.

Ibra failed, Villa was a success, Fabregas will get another chance, his stats are good, just needs to learn to play with the team better. Disappears like Nasri for 80 minutes except Cesc scores/assists in between. Not good enough.

Sanchez will also get another chance, he was great in his first season and has shown glimpses of very good play this season. He is still young, I believe in him.


Villa, Valdes, Afellay, Dos Santos, Bojan, Fontas and maybe even Alves should be sold.

GK, 2 defenders + Neymar coming in and the treble is on.
 

Messi

Member
We'll be okay as long as Busquets, Messi and Iniesta are staying. But we'll improve/win treble if we let go of waste like Dos Santos and Valdes, then bring in good defenders and Neymar.

Ibra failed, Villa was a success, Fabregas will get another chance, his stats are good, just needs to learn to play with the team better. Disappears like Nasri for 80 minutes except Cesc scores/assists in between. Not good enough.

Sanchez will also get another chance, he was great in his first season and has shown glimpses of very good play this season. He is still young, I believe in him.


Villa, Valdes, Afellay, Dos Santos, Bojan, Fontas and maybe even Alves should be sold.

GK, 2 defenders + Neymar coming in and the treble is on.

I disagree about Alves, who do you replace him with? His willingness to get forward is very helpful. sure he needs to work on defending but I find it hard to believe we would find a good replacement.

Afellay was never given a proper shot. Its terrible that Barca are trying to offload him for 3 mil. Give him another shot.
 

subtles

Member
Aye.

Brilliant read, the man's nuts.

One part that stood out in the interview:

When he took his "Special Forces" on the survival mission. I couldn't help but compare that to Rodgers' 3 wins on the bounce = team meal on me. Those are two very different ways to motivate.
 
Ibra gave us a decent season, Villa was a success up until the leg break and Fabregas ill give you.

The issue wasn't their performance but rather they ultimately wanted to play as the main striker and once that didn't happen, their departure was inevitable. I think the metric to judge them has been on how well they compliment Messi as opposed to how many goals they themselves reach
 

FootballFan

Member
I disagree about Alves, who do you replace him with? His willingness to get forward is very helpful. sure he needs to work on defending but I find it hard to believe we would find a good replacement.

Afellay was never given a proper shot. Its terrible that Barca are trying to offload him for 3 mil. Give him another shot.

Alba. Just bring in a more defensive minded right-back so Alba can go even crazier on the left. When we had Abidal starting, Alves going forward wasn't a problem since Abidal stayed back. We can't have both Alves and Alba running up and leaving the back wide open.

And I only said maybe anyways, wouldn't mind keeping him but if PSG offered 25m or something it wouldn't be bad to sell.


I was actually going to put stuff in brackets for Afellay but didn't want to. He was injured the whole time, and was actually pretty good when he got to play. Sucks that he went from PSV captain to being injured non-stop for Barca.

No matter what though his assist for Messi's first goal against Madrid in the CL semi's will be remembered by me.
 

Ushojax

Should probably not trust the 7-11 security cameras quite so much
Sherwood:

“I would say one million per cent he stays at Tottenham,” said Sherwood. “He is fantastically happy. I see him around the training ground all the time and he has a good working relationship with the manager.

“He loves his team-mates and they show him the respect he deserves and he gives it to them back. I don’t see him banging the door down looking for a move.

“It is crucial for all teams (to keep him) when you’re at the level we are pushing for in terms of Champions League football. It is important Gareth Bale stays at the club.”

“There will be a lot of clubs wanting to take Gareth, but he’s 23 and fortunately for Tottenham and Gareth, he’s got good advisors and they know he’s not a flash in the pan. They know there is in-built quality in this kid and next year he will be exactly the same.

I cannot wait for next season. If we get the right players in and our new-found determination and grit carries through, I think we can mount a much more convincing challenge. We had just 3 defeats in the last 26 league games compared to 5 in the first 12. It's such a shame that we left our business so late last summer, we dropped 7 points in the first 3 games. I was reading in the Times yesterday that Arsenal and Spurs actually got more points than Chelsea did once Benitez arrived. We both did very well and I think the fact that AVB and Wenger are settled in will be a big advantage compared to the incoming revamp at the top 3 sides.

There could plausibly be 6 sides gunning for 70+ points next season.
 
I don't think Arsenal are an attractive destination for him, but I could be wrong.

More likely than Juve, though, just because Fiorentina are involved.

But, Melo...


Honestly, even if we got Jovetic I still think we'd need another a wideman or a striker to really challenge.

Gervinho needs to be sold/replaced and with Arshavin finally gone we're down to Poldi/Theo/Ox, which is fairly underwhelming in terms of genuine quality (The Ox has it but still has some way to go, and the first two are very productive but not hugely talented players).
 
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