The Football/Soccer Thread v2

[goldb]

Manchester Derby tonight, I think the outcome of this match will decide the championship. Though I find it hard to believe United will let their grip on title loosen.

[FrostyMouse]

Manchester Derby tonight, I think the outcome of this match will decide the championship. Though I find it hard to believe United will let their grip on title loosen.

Yet it happened, Bob. United was pretty poor tonight and let City fairly comfortably win.

[goldb]

What an epic title race this is turning out to be. Both on 83points, 2 Games left. Fergie is already accusing Mancini of badgering the match officials. He does this all the time

And it's been confirmed that Arsenal have agreed a deal to sign Lukas Podolski to the Emirates in the summer, I'm quite excited has he's still got a few years in him but I'm not sure about his form, so we'll see.

[FrostyMouse]

When I saw United's starting lineup tonight, the game always looked to be in City's corner. Even when Fergie did try to make changes, it was ineffective.

Podolski hasn't been that good for a few years. To be honest, ever since Podolski left Koln the first time, he's kind of struggled. He had a lot of promise, but...

He gets goals, but I don't know how he'll fare in the Premier League. He couldn't hack it with Bayern. Podolski will give Arsenal a second striker to rely on, but he's really not explosive or anything right now. I've been in Germany this semester and I've seen him play, and it hasn't been that inspiring. He does have 18 league goals this year, but I can't say that he's been great or anything. Koln has sucked, not giving him much service, nor has there defense even tried, which definitely doesn't help Podolski, so I can't tell you whether he'll do well next season.

[Doraku]

Fergie is already accusing Mancini of badgering the match officials. He does this all the time
And it's been confirmed that Arsenal have agreed a deal to sign Lukas Podolski to the Emirates in the summer, I'm quite excited has he's still got a few years in him but I'm not sure about his form, so we'll see.

Except when the match officials are led by Howard Webb start all the conspiracies!.

Another reason why I don't think buying Podolski is the right answer for Arsenal besides what has already posted by Frosty : Arsenal has too many strikers (6 if I'm not mistaken, unless they want to sell Chamakh this summer then it becomes 5) where usually only one striker used ( Van Persie). 13 Millions Euro is not cheap for player like Podolski, I think Arsenal should allocate the budget to find a good defensive midfielder and couple of defenders instead of buying a new forward. I hope Wilshere will stay in top form when he plays again next season, to cover Arsenal lack of central midfielder.

[Imperium]

When I saw United's starting lineup tonight, the game always looked to be in City's corner. Even when Fergie did try to make changes, it was ineffective.

Podolski hasn't been that good for a few years. To be honest, ever since Podolski left Koln the first time, he's kind of struggled. He had a lot of promise, but...

He gets goals, but I don't know how he'll fare in the Premier League. He couldn't hack it with Bayern. Podolski will give Arsenal a second striker to rely on, but he's really not explosive or anything right now. I've been in Germany this semester and I've seen him play, and it hasn't been that inspiring. He does have 18 league goals this year, but I can't say that he's been great or anything. Koln has sucked, not giving him much service, nor has there defense even tried, which definitely doesn't help Podolski, so I can't tell you whether he'll do well next season.

Another reason why I don't think buying Podolski is the right answer for Arsenal besides what has already posted by Frosty : Arsenal has too many strikers (6 if I'm not mistaken, unless they want to sell Chamakh this summer then it becomes 5) where usually only one striker used ( Van Persie). 13 Millions Euro is not cheap for player like Podolski, I think Arsenal should allocate the budget to find a good defensive midfielder and couple of defenders instead of buying a new forward. I hope Wilshere will stay in top form when he plays again next season, to cover Arsenal lack of central midfielder.

They needed Podolski. Currently none of the striking options Arsenal have can provide adequate backup to Vanpersie. If Van persie is injured, Arsenal is beyond fucked. Chamakh is a walking liability. Bendtner various and wide-ranging weaknesses are well known (that is if he even comes back). The few times park has been trusted to play he has been average at best, below par at worst, its especially telling that Wenger rarely trusts him to come onto the pitch. Neither is walcott the answer. Wenger knew if at anytime Van persie got injured Arsenal's season would be over. Nobody would score. We dont have the threat from the wings, a threat from midfield, nothing. Podolski at least provides a goal threat even when he is in poor form. Whether he puts podolski on the wings or he rotates him with Van persie, it takes a lot of pressure away from Van persie as the sole focus of our attack. His form though I agree is erratic, and im worried if he got homesick going to munich how will he manage to cope in london? I think he will have a middling season, maybe 15 goals during the course of the season. Which in any case will be 13 more than Chamakh and Park, put together, scored this season.

I think we need a cover for DM. Song this season has been Arsenals second best player this season, and imo has risen to be one of the best in the league in his position. He has become a pretty good assister as well. But his backup options are quite young and really inexperienced. I think a more pressing concern is our lack of quality on the wings. Walcott form is as unpredictable as the British weather and Gervinho is just...average. Chamberlain is the only bright spark. They need a genuinely good winger.

[FrostyMouse]

Wenger's not willing to pay out and try to get Eden Hazard or Al Shaariwy? Admittedly, the potential transfer fees for some of these players are getting a bit extreme. I like Giroud, as he has decent feet and he's a big target striker. Although, he might cost even more to pry away than Hazard or A Shaariwy.

Podolski's decent and will provide a back up for Van Persie, but like Jesus Navas, he was a player who had tons of promise, and then had homesickness issues and his form dropped majorly.

I do think that Wenger needs to spend some money upgrading his defense though. We'll see how it turns out though. I could be totally wrong and we see a rejuvenated Podolski who gets the goals and turns out to be the steal of the year.

[kakashi919]

Podolski is a good buy. I have a feeling he's gonna resurrect like Rosicky did...where the hell did all that bursts of speed come from? lol
Although Lucas hasn't been in top form for a while, he can still score some great goals. Imo, Arsenal has a good defensive line, what they need to work on is their midfield. Their style of play focuses on the midfielders anyway.

Anyway.... @ Man Utd fans

[ibra87]

Inter... DO YOUR MAGIC NEXT WEEK. BEAT MILAN. BEAT THEM LIKE THERE IS NO TOMORROW

[kakashi919]

Inter... DO YOUR MAGIC NEXT WEEK. BEAT MILAN. BEAT THEM LIKE THERE IS NO TOMORROW

Man....I was watching that game with a huge smile on my face....then Gigi took away that smile.

[Doraku]

Gigi's epic fail is a nightmare for Juve .

-------
Congratulations for Madrid and Ajax, for becoming the champion of their respective league.

[FrostyMouse]

I'm a Chelsea fan, but that was a nice goal scored by Cisse. It was nice, but I do think that it was a bit overhyped. The way they made it sound, I was expecting a little more when I clicked on it. It was really good, but on the other hand, Chelsea wasn't at full strength, and it required just a bit of luck to bring it down. Some wind or something could've blown it off course.

[blai]

Yea so there's a trophy waiting for us on Saturday :3 That makes it 2 for 3, I can live with that.

Rebuild phase, meh, I'll give it another season, 13/14 we're claiming the Barclays silverware again!

#YNWA

[kakashi919]

2/3 trophies. We did better than..well...all the top 4 teams

[blai]

I know, who needs the PL when you can get everything else :3