In lower league news....the ever-wise FA have slapped a -30 point deduction on Luton Town. Jesus Christ. The 15 point penalty on Leeds last year was bad enough, and now THIS happens to another club.
A bit off topic, but here is as good as anywhere: played in a five a side tournament this weekend. Strange to start with, because in the States most small field games are 7 a side. The other thing of note was ex-footballer and movie "hard man" Vinnie Jones played on one of the opposing teams.
^ Awesome how good is he (Vinnie Jones) technically. I imagine professional footballers even at the Championship level are very good with dribbling, first touch, crossing, shooting, etc.
Tough to say how good he was really. Because it was clear he wasn't going all out. Whether that's due to his not wanting to show off, or maybe at 40-something he doesn't feel like it any more, he was content to spray the ball around to other players and control things from the back of the "diamond" formation. His first touch was good, however, and for a man that size he was deceptively light on his feet.
Milan announce they've signed a three year deal with Ronaldinho. I suspected there was no way City would land him. And now it will be of interest to see which Ronaldinho they get. The night clubber or the footballer? My guess is the footballer.
Well it's finally official. I've following the move with interest for the last few weeks. The interest peaked earlier this morning when the first definitive words came out of Spain that Barca has agreed to the move. And then it was reported in the La Gazzette and that is when I went into the holyshit mode. From the official site. The deal runs to 2011. He'll be in Milan tomorrow for the medical checkup.
Looks like another Brazilian is on the move. Gilberto will apparently sign for Panathinaikos today. Bizarre rumours suggest Arsenal will go in for Liverpool's Xabi Alonso as a replacement!
I know, I wasn't being serious. I wouldn't mind an equal number of big signings to significant losses. Nasri is a good start but someone more defensively minded would be good.
He can cheat, he'll just stand next to his mate Ronaldo. Next to him, Ronaldinho looks like Keira Knightley. We have supposedly tied up a deal with Amaury Bischoff who is a currently unattached Portuguese (by way of France and Germany) defensive midfielder. He said he had agreed a deal with Arsenal a couple of weeks ago but nothing has happened about it since. We have our annual "Thanks for putting us up" friendly with Barnet on Saturday to kick off our pre-season so I would think Arsene would want him around. Xabi Alonso's agent says that Arsenal have been in contact with Liverpool about his client. Liverpool surely can't want both Barry and Alonso so I'd imagine we would get Alonso which gives Liverpool a few quid (well, £14m or so) extra to get Barry in. Or, Martin O'Neill says Pat Rice rang him up to ask about Barry. There's also the Adebayor and Arshavin situations.
Just been speaking to my house mate who is an Arsenal fan and he told me of a famous Arsenal bust up from ages ago (well a joke that got out of hand)... Van Persie and Senderos had a exchange of words during training and Van Persie told his team-mate"At least am not Swiss" to which Senderos replied "I was in Holland the other week and saw your mum in a shop window" (for that Senderos should get a new contract) Apparantly Gilberto broke it up.
So no one is interested all the major transfer soap operas that is happening this summer? Robinho to Chelsea? Kaka to Chelsea for 79 million pounds!? Ronaldo to Madrid for 68 million pounds!? Lampard to Inter? Scolari and Chelsea. What do you think? Mourinho and Inter. What do you think? Will they win the Champions league? Adebayor to Barca? Eto'o to the Uzebekistan league!? Berbatov to United? Spurs chairman Levy to sue Sir Alex Ferguson for tapping up Berbatov? Where will Arshavin end up? The Arsenal lost Hleb, Flamini and possibly will also lose Adebayor. Who else is Wenger looking to get as replacements?
Why not! Although is he really that out of favor with RM or will he just be surplus once they get Ronaldo? I don't ever see AC letting him go, and you'd think they'd want to get at least a year of him and Ronaldinho playing together. United would be foolish not to sell him as he won't be worth more than he is today, plus if he stays he'll just sulk his way through the season. He feels entitled to a move after the season he just had and enduring England and its fans after the World Cup winkgate. Not going to happen this year, but this will probably be Lampard's last season in Chelsea blue. Best coach they've had since Jose.....which isn't saying much, lol. Should do good for their CL aspirations as Scolari basically specializes in round robin and then knockout games. I'm wondering what he'll be like over the grind of the Prem league though. So many good teams in the CL, so tough to call. They have to be considered a favorite.....along with like 6 other teams. The Headbutt plays well with skilled guys around him so he'd look good there. Guh? Scary striking force if that happens and Rooney quits smoking. What a hypocrite Ferguson is, if this is true. He'll probably stay in Russia after the mob threatens to kidnap his family members. They do it to NHL players after all. Seeing as the Arsenal board openly admits they'll pay players less than others are being paid in the market and their reluctance to transfer for proven stars, it'll be tough to secure any big names. So that means some more young and unproven talent that could be good in a few years but won't immediately pay off. Couple this with the obvious lack of depth they have, and thigns do not look good for those Gunners. 6th place in prem, UEFA cup glory next year.
Can't I have an opinion on Arsenal's fortunes this year? I don't think they'll be all that great, considering the already present lack of depth they have and the fact they've given up two decent players and are about to give a up a third, only replacing them with Nasri. Seems pretty fair. Besides, I wasn't even responding to you.
Not a chance. Inter are bottlers in Europe, and Maureen couldn't manage it with his expensively compiled Chelsea teams. Yes, he did it with Porto, but I won't hold my breath. I can't see Milan doing so poorly in Serie A again, and Roma and Juventus should not be discounted. The way Inter fell apart after their CL exit doesn't inspire confidence, so they'll be hoping Jose can.
Just because he thinks Arsenal will do poorly doesn't mean hes trying to get a response out of you. The facts are quite open Arsenal are losing there squad not building on it.