Soccer thread 08/09 (will have spoilers!)

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 10:25 am

Many Premiership team didn't exactly go to town on the EL it's true, but those were Aston Villa and Everton who were in the mix for a CL spot at the time and haven't got a great deal of squad depth. City did make a proper effort though, and were a tad unlucky in getting knocked out on aggregate by Hamburg.

But if you are a team with no other prospects of Euro football, it is a good way to increase interest in the team.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 1:30 pm

Gareth Barry joins the Eastlands revolution for a bargain £12m....we do like that, oh yes.

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 2:09 pm

That's a bit of a steal; good for City.

Villa wanted almost 18m for him last year.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story ... rs&cc=5901

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 2:47 pm

Indeed, but he's got one less year on his contract, and of the big 4

- MU won't because they're still deciding on a midfield because Carrick and Park played so well vs Barca

- Liverpool are waiting to see if Real Madrid bid for Alonso

- Arsene only buys good young lads for Arsenal and Villa refused to take IOU's over 3 years.

- Chelsea have got a new manager and will be shopping in Milan for a while.

Good to get him early as well to gel with the squad.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 2:53 pm

Plus, you got him for cheaper than Hargreaves ( I think, might be doing the conversion wrong).

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 3:04 pm

Think Hargreaves was £18m, and they spent £16m the year before on Michael Carrick (aka the Poor Man's Owen Hargreaves) when Bayern wouldn't sell.

Hmm, but of course all MU's players are homegrown, it's not them ruining football with big money deals....hmmm yes.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 4:16 pm

According to the Spanish press, Mr 'Never leaving AC Milan' Kaka is off to Real Madrid for £56m. Good job they didn't let City buy him for the reported £100m six months ago, eh ?

I'm now waiting for Platini to weigh in with his 'ruining football' shite, or does that only apply to clubs wanting to join the boys at the big table ?

Surely he can't be going there for the money, after all they are only about...oooo....6 players away from being as good as Barcelona. Maybe City should try a cheeky bid for Higuain ?

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 4:49 pm

Big table is CL?

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 4:50 pm

How often is the Spanish press correct though?

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 3:18 am

Off and on really - Sky's La Liga show last night was mentioning that the state of play seems to be that the President of Real Madrid and the chairman of AC have agreed a fee, but that the player hasn't agreed terms. There is also the hint that RM are underwhelmed with the amount of 'commission' that Kaka's representatives are asking for.

RM's list of targets for this summer goes something like this

Ronaldo
David Villa (Or Diego Forlan)
Franck Ribery
Kaka

If I were them. I'd be looking for some defenders first - Cannavaro has gone back to Italy, and they lost 5 games on the spin to end the season.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 8:45 am

Ribery is not for sale, even if he is Muslim.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 11:05 am

As far as I know, he has signed a pre-agreement with Real Madrid. I wouldn't go ordering a 'Ribery 7' replica shirt just yet, fella.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 12:59 pm

Nevermind, Chelsea just offered 43 million pounds for Ribery. Accepted.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 1:30 pm

Still reckon he'll end up at RM. Unless a certain sky blue outfit decide to throw in a bid as well.

Still, means that Hoeness makes himself look like a complete cock again.

Not heard anything from him or that ginger arse Becker about big clubs ruining football yet, maybe the latter is too busy in a closet again.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 2:55 pm

Again, I don't think it was pointed at Man City in particular, but more at the clubs in Italy, Spain, and England that have an advantage in the CL. German clubs cannot be owned by foreign people or companies and they cannot take on debt over a certain low percentage. Add the fact that that the Bundesliga TV deal is not great and it is a case of "sour grapes"

Ze Roberto is leaving Bayern. Someone would be wise to pick him up.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 4:26 pm

Au contraire mon ami, there were comments by those two which were directed at City - there's one of my epic rants on the subject a few pages back

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 4:45 pm

davet010 wrote:Au contraire mon ami, there were comments by those two which were directed at City - there's one of my epic rants on the subject a few pages back

Aimed at Man City now and will be aimed at the next big takeover where millions upon millions are invested. Man City was just the latest, hence why they mentioned them.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 6:25 pm

I don't think Kaka will be going anywhere. And with all the $$$ that RM is ready to spend I do think that Ronaldo will be the one ending up there. But Tevez to City?

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 11:41 pm

US, not good

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 12:05 am

fsquid wrote:US, not good

Understatement!

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 12:13 am

DVR mix up means that I missed it, although if it was as bad as the accounts I didn't miss much. I was skipping the game this weekend here in town because I've got some stuff to do and wasn't that excited about watching them whoop Honduras. May have to recalculate.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 2:22 am

JRod wrote:
fsquid wrote:US, not good
Understatement!

You're talking about the 14th ranked team in the world.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 8:44 am

I'm talking about a team that looked worse than a Sunday League team.

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 9:30 am

Utterly abysmal. Costa Rica's goals barely even seemed contested in the area. Not a single positive for the US last night.

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 10:38 am

Naples39 wrote:Utterly abysmal. Costa Rica's goals barely even seemed contested in the area. Not a single positive for the US last night.

Agreed they don't deserve to even qualify after a pathetic showing like that. They truly looked like any MLS team, what a joke. I was watching it live on ESPN360.com last night and I left at halftime.

It was like the US was practicing and Costa Rica was playing a real game.