2012-2013 Soccer Thread (Premier League, ECL, etc)

Of all the fuck-you teams he could have picked, that's a good one. I imagine jerseys are getting burned as we speak.

 

I'm more surprised at the stance of you guys. Surely you know Dutch players have a history of getting transferred out once they've had enough of Ferguson (e.g. Jaap Stam, Ruud van Nistelrooy) - the only exception being van der Sar. I give it 2 years before he gets transferred out of Manchester United, or less. Thanks for the £20+ million though, United. You can enjoy the +- 4 months of game time you'll get from him in those 2 years before he throws a tantrum or sulks - you know how much Ferguson loves players like that. Hahahaha. RvP will , most likely in my opinion, be another Michael Owen for them - 2 great games a season and probably physically / mentally injured for the rest. RvP has made his bed, now he must lie in it.

A new rumour I heard is Hernandez could be on his way to Arsenal - he's not likely to get much game time at United, with Bebe apparently climbing the pecking order there and their signing of RvP. I'm still hoping for Berbatov to leave them - that's inevitable now with RvP's arrival, too. I can't wait to see the back of Bendtner either, hopefully to a league outside England. What an asshole.

 

Jeez dude, I like and respect your views on soccer, but you sound like a classic whiny Arsenal fan who immediately turns on any player who dares leave Emirates. I'm not saying RvP handled this well, cause he didn't, but immediately assuming (and wishing) he will play like shit and be worthless is a bit fatalist.

And your blanket statements to justify your sentiments are a bit skewed. Stam left cause he got into a fight with Ferguson over stupid shit he said in his book. And Ferguson benched van Nistelrooy after that fight with Ronaldo for whatever reason. Neither instance had anything to do with them being Dutch,

Oh and Michael Owen? Completely washed up by the time he got to Old Trafford. He averaged less than 9 goals a season at Newcastle before coming over. He wasn't coming off an MVP-like performance in the EPL. And thats coming from someone who was as big a Michael Owen fan as you'll meet.

As it stands, a front line of RvP, Rooney, and Chicharito/Bebe is pretty fearsome. Fucking ManU

 

Didn't do too well the other day, when we beat Mexico in Mexico for the first time ever. Should have scored on two separate occasions. (Tim Howard being absolutely sensational didn't help - as the announcer put it, "covered himself in glory.")

 

I will admit to being a bit extreme and maybe tongue-in-cheek with my last post. However, RvP handled his contract non-signing like shit, basically telling the club and the fans who stood by him through his MANY injury problems to fuck themselves so he cannot be surprised that many fans (including myself) have turned on him. I think there's something wrong with ANY Arsenal fan who doesn't wish him ill after transferring to our second biggest rival club, particularly after how he treated the club and fans. It would also benefit Arsenal if he played like shit, so, why wouldn't I wish that upon him?

You're right about the Dutch players at Manchester United - what I should've said was they generally don't fare well long-term. RvP, with his sulky and questionable personality (that's why Feyenoord sold him to Arsenal in the first place, after all - he had refused to train after a bust-up with the manager at the time), is not going to last long at Old Trafford. To paraphrase Sir Alex himself from a few years ago "I want him here but for his personality", which is why I'm surprised he didn't choose the move to Juventus over the move to Manchester United.

My point about Michael Owen is that he has a bad injury record, which he has in common with RvP: RvP has only played in 30+ games per season in 3 seasons out of the 8 he spent with Arsenal and in only one of those (least season, obviously) was he truly excellent, meaning chances are pretty good that he will pick up one or more injuries this season. Also, RvP has not had the benefit of pre-season training to link up with his new team-mates and figure out their individual games, so to think he will be able to hold his form playing in a new team with a different system and different coaches who will probably have different styles and methods to what he has experienced before is folly - he will most likely be poor until November or December. For example, what I have seen of Manchester United is they like to push the ball wide and then cross (Giggs and Valencia particularly, but also Young, Nani and occasionally Evra and the two Brazilians coming up from the full-back slots) when Rooney isn't hogging the ball unlike Arsenal who generally play the quicker pass through the middle of the park, usually via Rosicky or Song or occasionally Ramsey.

 

I've got to say, the one thing I expected out of this was that he would have the respect not to move to one of Arsenal's direct competitors. The club basically made him. From the sound of it, Man U was the only option available. But if RvP was smart and really wanted to stay, he would have made a statement right after the Giroud/Podolski signings to the effect that his confidence in the club had been reaffirmed, blah blah. He wanted to see ambition, right? Giroud and Podolski scored 21 and 18 goals last year, and Cazorla's a very important player for Spain, as well as a cross-first winger, which we've been sorely lacking. I'd consider those signings a mark of ambition.

Oh well. I'd like to say I wish the guy well, but it's hard to hope for the best for him while simultaneously hoping Man U crash and burn.

I agree with Durbanite in that I wish we kept Ryo this season. Young players need playing time to get good, and you can't tell me we're so full of wingers that we can't give the kid some with Arsenal.


Here's a good article from Brian Philips on Liverpool's 2012 woes. They do seem like a team on the verge of irrelevancy.

 

I agree with alot of that article, however I don't think they're about to slide into irrelevancy. Of those listed departures, they only ones that were of note were Kuyt and Bellamy. Aquilani hasn't been back from Italy in years and Maxi Rodriguez and Aurelio were only role players at times. They add Borini and Allen, who both figure to be starters straight away and I still think they have at least 1, if not 2-3 good signings left. Sahin is as good as signed from all I read and I wouldn't be shocked to see Dempsey pop up tomorrow as Friday announcements have been the trend for LPFC as of late. Again like I said, they're not Man U or Man City, but that would put them right back there. The club tried to force an identity under Daglish last year and I'm excited to see them with a plan. I'm cautiously optimistic.

 

Wouldn't be so sure about that, I'd say it's better than even, but last I heard Arsenal was throwing a wrench in the works. Apparently he's already told Spurs to piss off twice. As far as Dempsey, I haven't heard anything that makes me believe he'll actually move, just the typical "has been linked with Club X" type shit.

One guy I do think will be moving soon: Song to Barca. He won't be playing against Sunderland ("has a little knock" - yeah right). Supposedly he pissed off Wenger, and Arsene's in "turn this car around" mode.

 

Well speaking of this. Dempsey has been left off the squad for the match at Norwich tomorrow and Martin Jol fucking threw him under the bus this morning. Now I'm not saying Dempsey is or isn't going to Liverpool or anyone else, however, I think Fulham is full of shit saying they never received an offer or numbers.

 

Yeah, I heard about this. Now supposedly Arsenal are interested? With RvP gone and Bendtner very much on the rocks, you start to wonder.

e: from Reliable Twitter Sources (tm):

Also apparently Dempsey refused to play, and Fulham's fining him.

 

Did any one else expect this? This has GOT to be wrong for so many reasons: http://www.football365.com/news/21554/7999182/Ramirez-prospect-excites-Adkins

Still hoping Sahin picks Arsenal ahead of Liverpool (sorry jwags) and I think Song leaving will benefit that. As I said previously, he CANNOT defend, and so is not suitable as a defensive midfielder. Not sure honestly where Sahin will fit in, but maybe Wenger will be altering his match tactics? Maybe Steve Bould has been coaching a different formation?

This was also an interesting bit on Wikipedia about Chelsea's forgotten man Yossi Benayoun:

Perhaps this is why Jol isn't too worried about losing Dempsey? Benayoun is also a midfield goal-scorer. I was hoping he'd sign full-time for Arsenal, but Fulham could be a good move for him.

 

17:30 Newcastle 2 - 1 Tottenham
15:00 Arsenal 0 - 0 Sunderland
15:00 Fulham 5 - 0 Norwich
15:00 QPR 0 - 5 Swansea
15:00 Reading 1 - 1 Stoke
15:00 West Brom 3 - 0 Liverpool
15:00 West Ham 1 - 0 Aston Villa

Fucking lol at Liverpool going down 3-0 to West Brom. Watched the Arsenal match. Sunderland was in full bus-parking mode the whole game. Podolski was getting in everyone's way, defense looked bad (Koscielny and Sagna hurt), Giroud didn't get many chances (shanked one he should have scored). But Cazorla was fantastic. Basically everything that happened on offense went through him. ABAs are already crying about irrelevance and relegation and all this crap, but I think it's got a shot of being a good season.

 

Terrible loss for Liverpool any way you look at it. Wasn't quite as miserable as the scoreline suggested. First goal was an absolute wonder strike off a clearance. Agger getting sent off really changed the tone of the game. Quite of a questionable call. Conceding a second penalty a few min later (on another HORRIBLE call) that was converted really took the wind out of their sails. The last goal was just whatever. Of course people will grossly overreact, but bottom line is it might be a nice motivator for Rodgers going forward. Shelve the talks of a reemergence of LPFC and get back to winning matches they should win.

 

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2190563/Arsenal-sign-Nuri-Sahin.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... Sahin.html</a>
<a class="postlink" href="http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1137451/arsenal-close-to-signing-nuri-sahin,-reports-say?cc=5901" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story ... ay?cc=5901</a>

Daily Mail isn't exactly reliable, but all signs point to Arsenal beating Liverpool to Sahin.

 

Spoiler

Everton 1 Manchester United 0.

That result means Saturday's Arsenal vs. the Sunderland Parking Authority's match looks better. Much happiness.

 

Nobody is going to want to deal with Fulham when this shit is done. Honestly, I'm a bit biased, but I can't see much wrong in Rodgers' comments. This is the absolute worst way to convince Dempsey to stay.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2012/08/23/3324361/fulham-make-official-complaint-about-rodgers-pursuit-of" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/pre ... pursuit-of</a>

Also, now Real Madrid seems to have flip flopped on Arsenal and are favoring Liverpool again for Sahin? I just want the Kop to sign somebody and end this absurd speculation.

 

The news is that Arsenal wanted an option to buy Sahin at the end of the season, but Mourinho refused to budge, so Wenger ended his interest. Can't say I blame him - paying 10m GBP* to train another team's player for a season is kind of a shit deal.

Spoiler

*estimated, based on rumors. Liverpool's offer: 5m loan fee plus 70% of his wages. Arsenal: 2.5m + 60% + buyout clause.

 

Oh this Clint Dempsey nonsense, it would be a bunch of bullshit if Jol had'nt been a manager before...

 

Poor Martin Skrtel. There's not enough beer in the world. A pity because that goal of his was a thumper.

Liverpool very nearly won that game. I'm sad it was Tevez who scored - if an Arsenal player behaved like he did with Manchester City last year, no matter how good he is, the club would've told him to fuck off and sold him to the first bidder. What a twunt.

How good did Giroud look today? That effort near the end was fucking spectacular - just a pity it dipped too late. He was really mixing it up with Stoke's defence - a risky move considering the propensity of thuggery in that team (e.g. Huth, Shawcross, that cunt Walters, Whelan, Whitehead who wasn't playing today, etc.). I also liked Gibbs kicking lumps out of that felon Pennant - I laughed like a maniac when Gibbs smashed him so hard he was lying on his face. It's about time someone treated Stoke like the thug cunts they are. The only Stoke player who doesn't play like a thug is Crouch - he's tough but not illegal like Whelan, Shawcross, Huth, etc.

 

Gibbs looked really solid in defense all game, Giroud moved well, Cazorla looked great as always. The fact we haven't conceded a goal yet is heartening. Once we play some teams that open it up and don't just sit 10 men behind the ball, we'll start scoring.

I can't hate Crouch, the goofy bastard.