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7/4/2011 11:14:15 PM

City with a spot of bad luck today. Tevez is finally out.

7/5/2011 12:47:58 AM

fuck tevez

fuck fabregas

7/5/2011 8:00:55 AM

http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/the91stminute/2011/06/solskjaer-recommends-molde-duo-to-manchester-united/

what up Ole Gunnar, rep those Americans son

no idea if they're actually good enough for ManYoo because I've never seen him play but I hear that Gatt is one of our "ready for a good club/league" prospects. I think he was very close to getting a GC call up

7/5/2011 10:37:56 AM

Probably would have been better calling up this Cunningham kid than letting Bornstein see one second on the field.

7/5/2011 10:44:18 AM

This discussion is probably better suited for the US thread but

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Anthony_Brooks

That dude is probably one of our best up and coming defenders - he's projected to get plenty of minutes for Hertha BSC this year. I think he's a central back though.

7/5/2011 10:58:53 AM

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2011/06/30/us-u-17-midfielder-pelosi-says-liverpool-interested-him

And this one is receiving interest from Liverpool. No idea how good he is.

7/5/2011 11:05:53 AM

It's pretty crazy how many prospects we have in the 17-21 range floating around in various leagues in Europe that I've never even heard of before that seem primed to start making impacts in first division teams pretty soon.

I just hope we see them come around in time to get into the national team before 2014. I've had enough of assholes like Robbie Rogers.

7/5/2011 11:11:22 AM

when i watched the u-17 games, pelosi was definitely the guy who looked like he had a bright future ahead of him

7/5/2011 12:47:15 PM

Question for the gunners fans in here:

Have you guys had it with Wenger or not yet? Do you believe that he actually has cash to spend and is being a miserly jew or is he being undermined by his board and singlehandedly keeping the team afloat (ala Benitez)? I feel like it's gotta be one or the other...

7/5/2011 12:53:29 PM

^^That's good to hear. Didn't keep up with the U-17 tournament as much as I should have. I enjoyed watching Sterling from England though (Liverpool kid). I hope Pelosi signs with Liverpool. I would love to have an American to root for on my team.

7/5/2011 1:24:40 PM

Charlie Adam to Liverpool. Midfield gets even more crowded.

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/transfer-news/Liverpool-agree-deal-for-Blackpool-captain-Charlie-Adam-pictures-Kenny-Dalglish-article760261.html

7/6/2011 2:21:48 PM

I can breath a sigh of relief knowing that Modders will be in a Spurs shirt next season

7/6/2011 4:22:52 PM

^^I'd much rather have too many quality midfielders than too little (which we have had the past few years).

[Edited on July 6, 2011 at 4:54 PM. Reason : ^congrats. will he be happy though? ]

7/6/2011 4:54:15 PM

7/6/2011 6:43:42 PM

^ just wait, the 1-8-1 is gonna take europe by storm this season. I would like to think that our 35m striker would make the squad over Spearing...so maybe a 1-7-2?

7/6/2011 7:00:43 PM

^^
lol, awesome

7/6/2011 8:14:23 PM

wow, seriously the worst move for his career that Charlie could've made

7/6/2011 8:49:59 PM

mad?

7/6/2011 9:54:51 PM

I feel like big name transfers are either gonna pop off this week or fizzle out and not much happens.

7/7/2011 2:01:30 AM

Way to go out on a limb, bro.

7/7/2011 7:05:44 AM

I wouldn't be surprised if they sold Meireles (even though I don't want them to)

I think Liverpool is concerned about Gerrard's health too - Adam is a "replacement" for him currently, Henderson is one for the future but both are versatile enough they can play alongside Gerrard when he's healthy.

But I'm not sure what kind of formation he'll go with - you'd have to think Gerrard/Kuyt/Suarez/Carroll are locks in the 6 non-defender positions if they're healthy. I can't see him dropping Lucas because he's the only real holding midfielder they have. So that really leaves one spot for Henderson, Adam, Meireles, Aquilani, and Maxi. But if they get Downing, that means all of those guys probably start on the bench... crazy.


btw, how the hell is Nasri only worth 20m??!

[Edited on July 7, 2011 at 8:13 AM. Reason : arsene mad]

7/7/2011 8:10:14 AM

^^ I mean, literally, the next week or nothing at all. Although this is the first transfer season I've really paid close attention to so it might be like this every year. Seems like there's a lot of HUGE money trying to be splashed around though and everyone's waiting to see what ridiculous shit Man City is going to do. ManU is pretty much done though except for maybe one more midfielder. They got in and out quickly before shit really popped off.

^ I guess that's the going rate for a 24 year old midfielder who wants out of his team and has had half of a good season.

7/7/2011 12:28:21 PM

well I'd much rather see Pool spend 20m on Nasri before Downing

7/7/2011 12:55:59 PM

I don't know. I rate Downing pretty highly. I don't really see how either of them fit into that midfield clusterfuck at L'pool though.

7/7/2011 12:59:21 PM

I like Downing, I just don't know about that price.

Latest rumor is Aly Cissokho for under 10m which would be sweet. Bastos would be even sweeter but I'm sure he'll have better offers than Liverpool. Even so, they should offer like 25m for the pair and forget about Downing.

I read this morning that Joe Cole might be going to Hamburg too.

7/11/2011 9:50:32 AM

Downing at 20m is insane. At that point we should just be telling Villa to fuck off. I'd love to have Cissokho at Liverpool. He's perfect to fix our LB problems. Don't know much about Bastos though.

7/11/2011 10:08:45 AM

Even though he'd probably come in as a LW, Bastos is versatile enough that he could play LB if they needed him to. That's why I'd prefer him over Downing at this point.

[Edited on July 11, 2011 at 10:12 AM. Reason : .]

7/11/2011 10:11:46 AM

Thanks for the info man. Sounds good to me. Anything to fix our left side problem is fine with me at this point as long as the price is right.

7/11/2011 10:16:56 AM

yeah, like I said before though, I saw Inter, Barca, and a number of other teams are interested in him so he's probably a long shot for Liverpool.

Cissokho would be solid though. Plus he's only 23

7/11/2011 10:20:20 AM

What about Marcelo? Seems to me like he'll be the odd man out at Madrid now that they got Coentrao. He'd be an ideal fit I think because we could play him as a defensive winger against top sides w/ Aurelio (if he's ever fit) as a more disciplined LB behind him, and we can let him loose against teams that are parking the bus.

I wouldn't mind Cissokho either, but personally I'd rather see us opt for a top tier LB w/ pace who can play winger as well than for us to get a shitty winger (Downing) and a shitty LB for the same money. And we need to hold on to meireles at all costs. Even roy hodgson wouldnt be dumb enough to sell him.

7/11/2011 11:54:02 AM

Marcelo won't be going anywhere. Mourinho has a plan for using them. Coentrao can play on the right, and both he and Marcelo can play left wing.

7/11/2011 12:05:55 PM

Downing is not "shitty"

And while I'm admittedly not an expert on the guy, Cissokho certainly doesn't come across as "shitty" either.

7/11/2011 12:14:59 PM

http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/breves2011/20110711_100408_joe-cole-vers-hambourg.html

.... for 12 million euros.

This is the best transfer business in the history of transfers if true.

7/11/2011 12:58:19 PM

Wow. That is the sale of the century for us if true.

7/11/2011 1:08:56 PM

fans should burn that stadium to the ground if that club blows 12m on a cripple like joe cole.

7/11/2011 1:16:30 PM

I'm sure it's bullshit. Especially considering how high his wages are. Konchesky, Cole, Poulsen, Jovanovic - if they get anything more than pennies for these guys, it's a steal.

I see Essien is out 6 months. Looks like Modric just became even that more important for Chelsea. How about a Meireles for Lennon swap? We'll throw in Poulsen too

7/11/2011 2:00:31 PM

I'm not saying Downing is shitty, I guess that's a bit of an overstatement...I think he would fill a big need for us. It's just that he's another one of those lunch pail type players, who puts a solid shift in, works hard, etc.
We already have enough players like that. I think he's a slightly glorified Riera (let's not forget that at one pt Riera's form for us was so good that he was in the Spanish squad). I think we need pacy attackers with flair so we can start taking 3 pts off teams that are parking the bus.

As Shankly once said: "A football team is like a piano. You need eight men to carry it and three who can play the damn thing."

Right now I think we have enough guys carrying the piano, and we need more guys who can play it. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see Downing in red, I think his crosses to Carroll will give us another dimension in attack. But I just can't justify spending 20m+ on him when that's how much we spent on Suarez who is on another level entirely and younger!

7/11/2011 11:17:37 PM

I like that analogy, but no one on Arsenal knows a proper piano lifting technique and they usually just end up pulling a back muscle when they try.

7/11/2011 11:27:31 PM

Stewart Downing is a donkey.

7/12/2011 12:15:19 AM

^^^ I guess I can agree with that. Still think you're underrating him a bit but I do think 20+ for a player of his age and resume is a bit on the high side

7/12/2011 6:42:26 AM

tevez gone

7/12/2011 12:26:44 PM

BYEEEEE

7/12/2011 12:31:59 PM

I won't celebrate until it's official. I seem to remember that he hated it at Corinthians, too. Mainly because he refused to learn Portuguese. Sound familiar?



United don't want Nasri, according to SAF. That means we must be all in on Sneijder.

[Edited on July 12, 2011 at 12:40 PM. Reason : also, no one's going to bite on my SD comment? ]

7/12/2011 12:39:55 PM

I don't think anyone cares enough, really.

7/12/2011 1:06:54 PM

Anyone watch the LFC friendly this morning? I only caught the second half...
Charlie Adam is gonna need to learn to play some pass and move footy. Everytime he touched the ball he tried to make some 70 yard hollywood pass. His completion rate was like 20%.

I really hope we hold on to Aquilani...he's got a great attacking mind and great vision. He's so undervalued.

Coady looked really good at DMF...I'm not sure if he's ready for the next level yet, but I think he gives us backup for Lucas in case of emergency.

Agger, Special K, and Wisdom were all awful at the back. It was like women's WC level defending. Misreading long balls, not marking anyone, just embarrassing.

7/13/2011 10:22:04 AM

Quote :

"Everytime he touched the ball he tried to make some 70 yard hollywood pass."

First time watching Adam?

You're right about Aquilani, I was disappointed when he left and I really hope he stays. I'm just not sure there's going to be enough minutes for him.

7/13/2011 10:44:27 AM

Did I read that some of you were hating on Meireles? That dude was the only one who looked like he knew what he was doing out there for your team of schmucks last year.

7/13/2011 10:57:45 AM

Huh? Who was hating on Meireles?

7/13/2011 10:58:45 AM

Perhaps not hating - talk of selling and him riding the bench. Two stupid moves.

7/13/2011 11:01:29 AM