Discussion The Football/Soccer Thread

[Imperium]

^ Oh god, i read the most funniest thing today. Apparently chelsea intend to sell most of their star players. Oh, god. Hahaha, i just cant stop laughing. Most teams wont/cant pay the wages that chelsea players are played. So no one knows what could happen to these players. This summer will defintely be intresting.

I'll find the article, here: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/chelsea/article3754622.ece
(and the times is always a good source, so im confident its going to happen XD)

What I like in the premiership, is the stability given to the coaches. In Portugal, some clubs change managers like they were changing shirts... it never goes well. A 4-0 loose against a rival club would origin a firing for sure. Still, I think Wenger's a great coach, and I fear not much people can replace him and keep doing what he does with such small resources. I never got why Arsenal seems to have no money for new players when clubs like City, Newcastle and Portsmouth. Is there no millionaire interested in Arsenal?

*cough* You see...we do have money. Check this . It puts us third in the richest clubs. While this puts us fifth. Anyway, i dont know a lot about how the lists are decided, but it says the same thing. We have a LOT of money. But Wenger sees a club (his own words) "as a buisness". We have shit-load of cash, but he buys safely to say. He gets young players at cheap prices and makes them superstars. He doesnt like going all out, and buying "galacticos". Its his policy and the club respect it. As for replacing him, i doubt it. He changed Arsenal in every sense of the word. The supporters love him (At the north end of the Emirates stadium, in every match, their is a banned that reads "In Arsene we trust"...says something about him) the board love him, the players love him. Unless he decides to go, he will not be replaced. Imo.

And this is the thing im most proud off. In fact we do have billionaires/millionaries after full-control of the club. The major one, goes buy the name of Usmanov. He tried to take full control, but the share-holders were too smart. Apparently with some clause or something, he cant try to buy more share until 2012 i think. We are the only ones out of the top four, that is not fully controlled buy foreign investors, in fact not one shareholder has more that 50% shares. So no-one has full control over Arsenal. And i believe its a good thing, just look at liverpool. Their is always constant war between the owners, and United was put into shit-loads of debt by Glazer, while everybody hates chelsea because all they do is just buy superstars.

By the way, what are your opinions on Arsene Wenger at the moment? I mean, the guy has lost it now. 2 seasons without winning anything, he's mentalitiy is just gone. Do you think he has managed the team well enough? :\ When Arsenal lost 4 nil against Man Utd in the FA cup, I think that was when it went down the hill for Arsenal.

It is kinda annoying what the papers nowadays are saying. The thing people forget is that the first full season Arsene had was in 97/98. We done the double that season. And afterwards we went three seasons without winning anything.He was changing the squad, the likes of Tony adams and co were getting old. So Arsene just steadily bought players for little money and raised them. Like Henry, Viera, Ljungberg, Cole, Petit, Pires etc. The new players matured and got better. And at their peak they...well im sure you know about the "invincibles". It's the same as this generation. He is changing the squad, the likes of henry were getting old. They young ones showed what the could do this season. They went to the quarter-finals of the CL and dominated the league for a long time. So, no, i dont think he lost his touch. He probably made one mistake this season and that was giving the armband to Gallas. He is most likely the reason we went down.

The Fa cup defeat didnt really matter in most eyes. At that time we had a peak of 11 injuries, and most of the first XI were not playing. Actually i think the only first team player of Arsenal were fabregas and hleb who were then substituted for two other first team players. So in essence, it was Arsenal reserves against United. But even after that loss, they went a couple of days later and played Milan and done fantastically. So no it wasnt the Fa cup. My belief is, it was the Birmingham match, and not because of the Eduardo injury. That match we were winning 2-1, it was extra time. And we conceded a penalty. Gallas who was meant to be the captain, went off in a strop. The players (most who are really young) saw their captain, not hold his ground and be a role model (like a captain should) but go off on a cry. It was said that after that the players lost confidence in him, and in Wenger own words "The dressing room changed". Meh, but wengers is sometimes to loyal to his players. He never sees wrong in them. (maybe he does, but doesnt say it publicly...).

I'm sad that so many important players will leave Porto, but proud to have portuguese players shine in the toughest leagues.

Portugal is easily becoming one of the strongest national teams in the world. They have a big chance of taking the Euro 2008. Dont be sad, be happy. What is a "tough" league doing for england. >_>

 

[Mendes]

I dont share your view on the captain's role Imperium, I actually think its something more symbolic than any other thing. Arsenal's youngsters look up to Gallas as a model, not because he's the captain, but because he is an experient player, just like Gilberto, Henry and Lehman. When Wenger says the dressing room changed, I dont believe he's speaking in particular of Gallas. The french center back does childish mistakes from time to time, but Henry left the squad, Gilberto lost the spot in the 11, and when he plays its noticeable that he's far above Arsenal's level, and Lehman... well, you know, he's one of the most troublemaker persons in football. That's my view of it.

In that FA cup match, you can say Arsenal was playing with lots of injuries, but I remember Man U had some too, so the result was shocking indeed. It happens though, but I have no doubt that Man U has proven themselves far stronger than their opponents. Will Man U win every competition this year? I think so...

I was surprised when you told me that Arsenal was one of the richest clubs in the world :O Well, I salute Wenger for having enough emotional control to keep himself from buying some superstars from time to time :P In Football Manager I just cant do that. The more money I have the more I spend :P

Still, I think Arsenal's squad is too limited for a club with so much money. The premiership's top clubs are involved in 5 competitions, and its rare when a club has more than 3-4 days of rest before a game, so its only natural that injuries and fatigue appear at the middle-end of the season. I guess some useful players wouldnt hurt at all in Arsenal. I mean, look at Man Utd, they have Park, who can play every position in the midfield and as winger and as side back. O'shea can do every spot in defense and center midfield and Brown can screw up play in every position of the defense. Why doesnt arsenal reinforce themselves in order to have at least 2 competent players for position? Hoyte, Bedtner, Traore aint good enough.

About the Chelsea going down news, I guess its a tragedy for them. I dont like Chelsea's method of hiring lots of superstars and hope they get it together in the pitch, but selling them all at once in one summer is the end for them. Players like Cech, Bridge, Terry, Carvalho, Obi Mikel, Essien, Lampard and Shawn-Wright are vital for the team (I exclude Drogba coz he said publicly he will quit chelsea). It would be already bad if they lost half their team, but imagine if their rival clubs hire their players. Not just United, Arsenal and L'pool, but also City, Tottenham, Portsmouth... Chelsea could loose their competitiveness and become like newcastle

 

[Imperium]

^You might know, but Quaresma is attracting a lot of attention. I dont know how long porto will hang onto him. He is a good player, no?

I dont share your view on the captain's role Imperium, I actually think its something more symbolic than any other thing. Arsenal's youngsters look up to Gallas as a model, not because he's the captain, but because he is an experient player, just like Gilberto, Henry and Lehman. When Wenger says the dressing room changed, I dont believe he's speaking in particular of Gallas. The french center back does childish mistakes from time to time, but Henry left the squad, Gilberto lost the spot in the 11, and when he plays its noticeable that he's far above Arsenal's level, and Lehman... well, you know, he's one of the most troublemaker persons in football. That's my view of it.

I dont know about portugal, but here we see a captain differently. A captain is meant to be the leader on and off the pitch. Not only a model, but when the team is losing its upto him to keep morale up. When the teams is winning its up to him to get players in position, he is meant to be tactically aware, to understand what to do if someone is not playing at their best, to make sure he wins the game. When a referee gives a card to a team, he will consult the captain to tell him to tell the players to calm down. The best example of a captain at their best is Gerrard at the 2005 CL finals. When they got the first goal and the score was 3-1, he was everywhere making tackles, starting plays, building encouragment. This is the role of a captain. That is why right now, their is so much fuss about who is going to be the new england captain. It is vital for the stability of a team to have a strong captain, a strong leader.

In Gallas's case, he rarely does these things. For example when we played united at the weekend. When United got a corner, he would not be telling players to get into position but just silently waiting for the corner to come. He is not the worst captain in the world, im not saying that, just that he needs to become a better captain! And quickly.

But i might as well mention his good parts, not only is he arguably on par with the best defenders in world but he does act as a captain should sometimes i.e. the Bolton game (were we made the comeback).

In that FA cup match, you can say Arsenal was playing with lots of injuries, but I remember Man U had some too, so the result was shocking indeed. It happens though, but I have no doubt that Man U has proven themselves far stronger than their opponents. Will Man U win every competition this year? I think so...

The thing that changed the match was the full backs. Clichy and sagna did not play. And the result was that hoyte made so many mistakes, you could say he gave them the first three goals. But even if we played with our full side, i dont know. It probably would have been a draw. Just like in our first match. But i agree, we might not have won. But still i can moan about us having more injuries than united

Still, I think Arsenal's squad is too limited for a club with so much money. The premiership's top clubs are involved in 5 competitions, and its rare when a club has more than 3-4 days of rest before a game, so its only natural that injuries and fatigue appear at the middle-end of the season. I guess some useful players wouldnt hurt at all in Arsenal. I mean, look at Man Utd, they have Park, who can play every position in the midfield and as winger and as side back. O'shea can do every spot in defense and center midfield and Brown can screw up play in every position of the defense. Why doesnt arsenal reinforce themselves in order to have at least 2 competent players for position? Hoyte, Bedtner, Traore aint good enough.

That is the thing people are saying is our disadvantage. At the begining of the season, when we were fresh. We had the perfect start. But then the injuries kicked in and the players on the bench were young and inexperienced not good enough. Im guessing he is going to buy a lot of players, but maybe just to make up for the depth. Not players straight into the starting 11.

I agree about hoyte. I think he is just in the team for novelty value (wow we have an english player...etc). He might be a good player in the reserves, but for a top team like Arsenal, he is just not good enough. But the other two, especially Traore they have talent. Traore is only 18. I think he will only get better. But he should not be on the bench, more like a loan move to a smaller premier league side, or championship side maybe? Bendtner is a complex case. He has some skill in air, as shown against United and liverpool, and he could dribble well. But for all that we have adebayor. So he is probably not right for arsenal, but definte room for improvement. (And he seems to have this mentality that he is the best striker on the planet...-_-). Btw, add senderos to that list. If you think brown is bad, he comes nowhere near senderos.

About the Chelsea going down news, I guess its a tragedy for them. I dont like Chelsea's method of hiring lots of superstars and hope they get it together in the pitch, but selling them all at once in one summer is the end for them. Players like Cech, Bridge, Terry, Carvalho, Obi Mikel, Essien, Lampard and Shawn-Wright are vital for the team (I exclude Drogba coz he said publicly he will quit chelsea). It would be already bad if they lost half their team, but imagine if their rival clubs hire their players. Not just United, Arsenal and L'pool, but also City, Tottenham, Portsmouth... Chelsea could loose their competitiveness and become like newcastle

Oh no, thats not the half of it. I'll try and look for the article but i read it in the newspaper so maybe i cant find it. Anyway, Abramovich, is promising Grant about 100 million pounds to go and waste on buying players. So its like spring cleaning.

And i thought id say (as bragging rights XD) that apparently Villa likes arsenal wants to come and play there.

 

[Sasuke_Kai_92]

I don't think Gallas is a good captain, well to me. All he does is swear and gets annoyed at he's players. He should be there helping out the team and helping them get back on their feet if they are loosing, but the guy is just too aggresive. He overreacts a lot, and thats definitely something which a CAPTAIN is supposed to do.

Kinda out of topic but nowadays, football is just a business. The players just care about the money instead of the actual sport. United gave £40 million to keep Ronaldo for 5 years and now hes gonna get £150,000 a week. That is just too much for even him. Imagine if he gets injured and he is out for 3 months, he would still get paid for sitting on the bench.

 

[Mendes]

^You might know, but Quaresma is attracting a lot of attention. I dont know how long porto will hang onto him. He is a good player, no?

Quaresma is the player that's confirmed to leave. Our chairman, Pinto da Costa, is known for great deals (Paulo ferreira: 20M€ xDDDDDDDDDD) and he set a clause on Quaresma for 40M€ (the same amount Rooney left Everton for) and I assure he will leave for no less than that. I guess you dont know much about Quaresma, but he was from Sporting CP's school (heard about it?) and he left for Barça very young at about the same time as Ronaldinho went there. He scored some goals and did some nice things, but eventually the competition went to high in Barça in his winger position, so in the following season he was involved in Deco's transfer for Barça, and since there he's been shining in Porto.
Truly, our most important player in the last seasons. He's a top technician winger, but suffers from the same disease as C.Ronaldo when he went to MU: He gets overexcited with dribbling opponents and ends up taking too much risk on his plays. I think its time for him to leave. His importance in Porto was so hyped that he became a Superstar player and there seems to be a tabu that he cant be replaced, even when its obvious the game isnt going his way.

Still, with some training in a great and serious club he can learn to be a world class player. The skill is there and you'll find on youtube thousands of videos. The best player in the league last season (this year I'm convinced it'll be Lucho Gonzalez).

I dont know about portugal, but here we see a captain differently. A captain is meant to be the leader on and off the pitch. Not only a model, but when the team is losing its upto him to keep morale up. When the teams is winning its up to him to get players in position, he is meant to be tactically aware, to understand what to do if someone is not playing at their best, to make sure he wins the game. When a referee gives a card to a team, he will consult the captain to tell him to tell the players to calm down. The best example of a captain at their best is Gerrard at the 2005 CL finals. When they got the first goal and the score was 3-1, he was everywhere making tackles, starting plays, building encouragment. This is the role of a captain. That is why right now, their is so much fuss about who is going to be the new england captain. It is vital for the stability of a team to have a strong captain, a strong leader.

You're right, in Portugal the captains role in the game is just given to the eldest player in the club, or the player that's been there the longest time. The influent players push the team's morale up and the game forward, but the captain is not that important.
Its another great thing to add to English football: the referees actually talk with the players and explain to them why they called fouls or showed cards and they talk with the team's captain a lot. In Portugal that's unimaginable. Our football is light years away from yours...

I agree about hoyte. I think he is just in the team for novelty value (wow we have an english player...etc). He might be a good player in the reserves, but for a top team like Arsenal, he is just not good enough. But the other two, especially Traore they have talent. Traore is only 18. I think he will only get better. But he should not be on the bench, more like a loan move to a smaller premier league side, or championship side maybe? Bendtner is a complex case. He has some skill in air, as shown against United and liverpool, and he could dribble well. But for all that we have adebayor. So he is probably not right for arsenal, but definte room for improvement. (And he seems to have this mentality that he is the best striker on the planet...-_-). Btw, add senderos to that list. If you think brown is bad, he comes nowhere near senderos.

Porto is shining in Portugal now, not just because they have the best 11, but because they have also the best bench (some of our bench would be totally on our rival's 11) And because we have about 6 or 7 young players on loan to smaller clubs. Some of them have been playing so well that I'm not that concerned about departures on our 11, coz good replacements are assured. Arsenal should just loan all of the players who are still not prepared for such a big challenge. It fastens their learning and gives them a chance they dont have of playing regularly. The loan is a transfer method that I specially appreciate.

Oh no, thats not the half of it. I'll try and look for the article but i read it in the newspaper so maybe i cant find it. Anyway, Abramovich, is promising Grant about 100 million pounds to go and waste on buying players. So its like spring cleaning.

Pathetic. That's the worse thing they can do. I can tell coz Benfica has been having terrible chairmans on the last years and one of the things they did when they started loosing success was selling the whole squad and buying another supposedly better. The 1st time they tried that they finished the season in an historical 7th place...
And, unlike Mourinho, I doubt Grant is the adequate person to use those 100M pounds in new players. He'd most likely buy some more old superstars or in a descending phase of their career. If this happens, I'm pretty confident Chelsea will go back to the middle of the league. Mourinho would laugh his ass off for sure...

And i thought id say (as bragging rights XD) that apparently Villa likes arsenal wants to come and play there.

Aside from Adebayor, Arsenal has no decent striker, so Villa would be a superb acquisition for Arsenal. Between him and Torres, its hard to tell who's the best

 

[Sasuke_Kai_92]

@ Imperium and Mendes:

Your football knowledge blows my mind. :| I am nothing compared to you guys lol. Bloody hell.

 

[Mendes]

When I read what you wrote on Bedtner thinking he's the best striker in the world, I had a deja vu on Stojkovic, Sporting's and Serbia's GK. He's in Serbia's 1st team, but he seems to have some problem with Sporting's coach, Paulo Bento, so he's not even in the nominees for their matches. Its still something unexplained, but when Stojkovic said directly to the press: "I dont understand why I dont play in Sporting, since I'm The best Goal Keeper in Europe", then I think I understand Paulo Bento's resilience in not letting him play...

When players like this kind of complex start getting success, its a bother. The best example I know its Jardel. I dont know at how point he is known outside Portugal, but he's a brazilian striker that scored goals with the same ease as breathing. He started getting success in Porto, as he was the unstoppable top scorer in consecutive years and left for Galatasaray to earn more money. Outside Portugal things didnt go well, so he went back and this time to Sporting, when he scored some impossible 46 goals in 34 games of the league in his 1st season. Then he felt like he deserved so much to go to a greater club in Europe that he demanded Sporting to let him leave, but no one was interested in him abroad, so he stopped playing because he was depressed and he eventually left for a no-name club and we never heard of him. I searched for him recently in the net, and since he left Sporting in 03, he had a short passage trough Bolton, then Ancona, Palmeiras, Newel's Old Boys, Alaves, Goias, Beira-Mar, Anorthosis and Newcastle Jets... and scores about 1-3 goals per season. He was a top finisher but lacked lots of physical and technical skills (and mental too :P) for a more challenging league.

 

[Imperium]

Quaresma is the player that's confirmed to leave. Our chairman, Pinto da Costa, is known for great deals (Paulo ferreira: 20M€ xDDDDDDDDDD) and he set a clause on Quaresma for 40M€ (the same amount Rooney left Everton for) and I assure he will leave for no less than that. I guess you dont know much about Quaresma, but he was from Sporting CP's school (heard about it?) and he left for Barça very young at about the same time as Ronaldinho went there. He scored some goals and did some nice things, but eventually the competition went to high in Barça in his winger position, so in the following season he was involved in Deco's transfer for Barça, and since there he's been shining in Porto.
Truly, our most important player in the last seasons. He's a top technician winger, but suffers from the same disease as C.Ronaldo when he went to MU: He gets overexcited with dribbling opponents and ends up taking too much risk on his plays. I think its time for him to leave. His importance in Porto was so hyped that he became a Superstar player and there seems to be a tabu that he cant be replaced, even when its obvious the game isnt going his way.

Still, with some training in a great and serious club he can learn to be a world class player. The skill is there and you'll find on youtube thousands of videos. The best player in the league last season (this year I'm convinced it'll be Lucho Gonzalez).

Another one for portugals second home in england (Manchester united)?

Although they dont need him i imagine, they have nani and ronaldo. But arsenal could do with a good winger. We dont have people meant for that role, the ones who usually play it, are out of their original positions. Thats why i would like wenger to go and snatch Samir nasri as fast as possible. As for quaresma, if his price tag does not fit his room for improvement, his quality...etc. Count arsenal out of it. Maybe chelsea or a spanish team?

You're right, in Portugal the captains role in the game is just given to the eldest player in the club, or the player that's been there the longest time. The influent players push the team's morale up and the game forward, but the captain is not that important.
Its another great thing to add to English football: the referees actually talk with the players and explain to them why they called fouls or showed cards and they talk with the team's captain a lot. In Portugal that's unimaginable. Our football is light years away from yours...

Oh, and here we are complaining about the referee's. >_>

People seem to think their is little respect for referee's and when they are giving fouls or something players should'nt crowd around the referee. It reached a climax when - shock and horror - ashley cole turned his back to the referee and said no when the referee said face him! Im sorry for being sarcastic but seriously sometimes we english should look outside and see actually its not so bad. Marcel desailly was in a football show a couple months ago when they were discussing this, and when they asked him to give his opinion, he said simply "its much worse in france". >_>

Porto is shining in Portugal now, not just because they have the best 11, but because they have also the best bench (some of our bench would be totally on our rival's 11) And because we have about 6 or 7 young players on loan to smaller clubs. Some of them have been playing so well that I'm not that concerned about departures on our 11, coz good replacements are assured. Arsenal should just loan all of the players who are still not prepared for such a big challenge. It fastens their learning and gives them a chance they dont have of playing regularly. The loan is a transfer method that I specially appreciate.

Im guessing he didnt loan most of the players cause the squad was too small. He loaned the ones who could defintely become better with a loan deal. Liken Fran merida and Vela.

Pathetic. That's the worse thing they can do. I can tell coz Benfica has been having terrible chairmans on the last years and one of the things they did when they started loosing success was selling the whole squad and buying another supposedly better. The 1st time they tried that they finished the season in an historical 7th place...
And, unlike Mourinho, I doubt Grant is the adequate person to use those 100M pounds in new players. He'd most likely buy some more old superstars or in a descending phase of their career. If this happens, I'm pretty confident Chelsea will go back to the middle of the league. Mourinho would laugh his ass off for sure...

Their is a saying here, you either like Mouriniho or you hate him. For me, i like him but hate chelsea. I had mixed feelings when he left. I was happy because he was a good manager and that if he left, chelsea would drop. But sad because you cant deny he was the biggest character in english football. The press absolutely loved him. The guy was true genius. After he went we were left with a sour-faced israeli who never smiled...Chelsea wouldnt have been in this mess, you kinda miss the "special one" at times. >_>

I hate it when teams buy players needlessly its drives me mad. They have a decent squad, and if Grant says their not good enough he is lying. Come one, i would love to have some of those players playing for us. Its just that he is not getting the best out of them. Instead of buying a whole new squad just get a decent mangager.

Aside from Adebayor, Arsenal has no decent striker, so Villa would be a superb acquisition for Arsenal. Between him and Torres, its hard to tell who's the best

Adebayor is not really all that great either. He over-achieved this season. And it was because of eduardo. Once he left ade stopped scoring. Eduardo did the Bergkamp thing, in which he would be the one to assist adebayor in his goals, open space for him etc. Thats why Ade is inconsistent if he doesnt have that type of player alongside him, he wont score. So getting villa would be excellent.

Kinda out of topic but nowadays, football is just a business. The players just care about the money instead of the actual sport. United gave £40 million to keep Ronaldo for 5 years and now hes gonna get £150,000 a week. That is just too much for even him. Imagine if he gets injured and he is out for 3 months, he would still get paid for sitting on the bench.

They get payed bonuses if they play though. But ronaldo is wanted by Real, who are willing to dig deep to get him, so in some ways its understandable. But the thing that kinda makes me proud of Wengers methods is that the players he has are not superstars (yet) and so they dont really get big-headed. The most impressive thing ronaldo can do now is sustain his form. Not dip, but stay consistent. He said it in a recent interview, that he is where he is now because he worked his ass off the whole of last season and the beginning of this one. I like ronaldo (even for all his theatrics) so lets just hope he continues to work his ass off. Or he would just end up like another galactico, and i assure you, the second he stops working hard, ferguson will sell him to the highest bidder. He is worse than Wenger and Mouriniho in selling/dropping famous names. But united are known for giving their players high wages, the match on the weekend, a intresting statistic went like this. The players playing for Arsenal were worth 40 million pounds, while the ones playing for united were 150million.

 

[Mendes]

@ Imperium and Mendes:

Your football knowledge blows my mind. :| I am nothing compared to you guys lol. Bloody hell.

Lol its experience. Watch football for 3 or 4 more years and you'll see. I started enjoying football when I started watching other leagues, coz it gets boring in Portugal. Imagine a league where only 5 clubs in history won it, and 2 of them only got it once. 3 Clubs own a league with an average fouls record per game is about 50-60, corruption processes coming in and out with no conclusions, penalty and injury simulations and the smaller clubs defend so much that you can almost feel that there's a huge bus parked in front of the goal line...
Foreign football saved me!^^

 

[Imperium]

@ Imperium and Mendes:

Your football knowledge blows my mind. :| I am nothing compared to you guys lol. Bloody hell.

Heh, mendes knows more though. He's the taichou.

When I read what you wrote on Bedtner thinking he's the best striker in the world, I had a deja vu on Stojkovic, Sporting's and Serbia's GK. He's in Serbia's 1st team, but he seems to have some problem with Sporting's coach, Paulo Bento, so he's not even in the nominees for their matches. Its still something unexplained, but when Stojkovic said directly to the press: "I dont understand why I dont play in Sporting, since I'm The best Goal Keeper in Europe", then I think I understand Paulo Bento's resilience in not letting him play...

When players like this kind of complex start getting success, its a bother. The best example I know its Jardel. I dont know at how point he is known outside Portugal, but he's a brazilian striker that scored goals with the same ease as breathing. He started getting success in Porto, as he was the unstoppable top scorer in consecutive years and left for Galatasaray to earn more money. Outside Portugal things didnt go well, so he went back and this time to Sporting, when he scored some impossible 46 goals in 34 games of the league in his 1st season. Then he felt like he deserved so much to go to a greater club in Europe that he demanded Sporting to let him leave, but no one was interested in him abroad, so he stopped playing because he was depressed and he eventually left for a no-name club and we never heard of him. I searched for him recently in the net, and since he left Sporting in 03, he had a short passage trough Bolton, then Ancona, Palmeiras, Newel's Old Boys, Alaves, Goias, Beira-Mar, Anorthosis and Newcastle Jets... and scores about 1-3 goals per season. He was a top finisher but lacked lots of physical and technical skills (and mental too :P) for a more challenging league.

Bendtner apparently said to the danish press, about on of the players that he was coming on for as a substitute he said the guy was a "lesser player". Its on his wiki page. Rubbish. And what worse was when he fought with Adebayor. First thing is he is your senior and their should be at least some respect, he is one of the top scorers in the league. Honestly even if you dont like him, still play with him. But no. He goes and agravates the guy. -_-

Then its also in his playing style, say he is in midfield just dropping back, and he gets the ball, he would not pass, but take it and dribble and dribble and dribble until he is tackled. You can see the tackle coming but he is still dribbling and your like " FUCKING PASS YOUR NOT RONALDO!!!!". The boy really gets my blood pressure up sometimes. But he has skill, but even more room to improve.

 

[Mendes]

People seem to think their is little respect for referee's and when they are giving fouls or something players should'nt crown around the referee. It reached a climax when - shock and horror - ashley cole turned his back to the referee and said no when the referee said face him! Im sorry for being sarcastic but seriously sometimes we english should look outside and see actually its not so bad. Marcel desailly was in a football show a couple months ago when they were discussing this, and when they asked him to give his opinion, he said simply "its much worse in france". >_>

I cant believe people think there's no respect for the referee's in England... I mean, then what would you call to the adorable relationship between Portuguese referee's and players? Referee's dont talk to the players and they long quited awarding cards for words directed at them. You can lip read clearly with the TV replays in slow motion the words the players shout out loud when they say what they think of the referee's decisions. Those words aint nice for the referee's at all (neither for the referee's moms)...

They get payed bonuses if they play though. But ronaldo is wanted by Real, who are willing to dig deep to get him, so in some ways its understandable. But the thing that kinda makes me proud of Wengers methods is that the players he has are not superstars (yet) and so they dont really get big-headed. The most impressive thing ronaldo can do now is sustain his form. Not dip, but stay consistent. He said it in a recent interview, that he is where he is now because he worked his ass off the whole of last season and the beginning of this one. I like ronaldo (even for all his theatrics) so lets just hope he continues to work his ass off. Or he would just end up like another galactico, and i assure you, the second he stops working hard, ferguson will sell him to the highest bidder. He is worse than Wenger and Mouriniho in selling/dropping famous names. But united are known for giving their players high wages, the match on the weekend, a intresting statistic went like this. The players playing for Arsenal were 40 million pounds, while the ones playing for united were 150million.

Its always the same thing every year. Every year Real and Barça approach Ronaldo with bigger offers, and United has no option but to re-negociate his contract in order to keep him happy in Old Trafford. I dont think most players deserve such outrageous salaries, but football moves so much money nowdays its scary... I guess player's salaries and transfers will only get bigger every year. I'm surprised the record of Zidane (75M€) for Real Madrid is still the highest transfer. I guess if a top player like Ronaldo, Kaka, Pirlo, Messi, Iniesta, (Fabregas?) etc is to be involved in a transfer, this record would break by far

---

Heh, mendes knows more though. He's the taichou.

That's arguable, but I rather not :P

Then its also in his playing style, say he is in midfield just dropping back, and he gets the ball, he would not pass, but take it and dribble and dribble and dribble until he is tackled. You can see the tackle coming but he is still dribbling and your like " FUCKING PASS YOUR NOT RONALDO!!!!". The boy really gets my blood pressure up sometimes. But he has skill, but even more room to improve.

I get what you say... Porto had an Offensive Midfielder called Carlos Alberto and although he had a lot of technique, he skipped his football lessons where he should have learned how to pass the ball. I swear I saw a game where he made 2 or 3 passes in 90 minutes(and he probably passed for mistake in those few times). He would just recieve the ball from another player and started dribbling his way trough till he loose the ball or till he find a shooting spot (where he would shoot for sure, never pass). He could obviously do some amazing things, but it was scary the number of counters his selfish moves originated in the direction of our goal... Mourinho sent him straight back to Brazil, where he could play alone as much as he liked... (still, he jumped 1000 points up in my consideration when he scored in the CL's final )

---

I just read a new on a portuguese newspaper that Grant wants Kaka &/or Messi for the next season. He also said he's confident that a transfer like that would be not just possible, but likely. Wanna bet, mr Grant?

 

[Epul]

Its always the same thing every year. Every year Real and Barça approach Ronaldo with bigger offers, and United has no option but to re-negociate his contract in order to keep him happy in Old Trafford. I dont think most players deserve such outrageous salaries, but football moves so much money nowdays its scary... I guess player's salaries and transfers will only get bigger every year. I'm surprised the record of Zidane (75M€) for Real Madrid is still the highest transfer. I guess if a top player like Ronaldo, Kaka, Pirlo, Messi, Iniesta, (Fabregas?) etc is to be involved in a transfer, this record would break by far
<hr noshade size="1">

Well I would like to think that Ronaldo deserve the wages he's getting. He has been awesome this season. So it is hard not to see him demanding for such wages. The question is whether he is able to maintain such form for years to come? I would love to think he is able to but all great players will have a dip in form somewhere in their career.
btw, it looks like United is also gonna give Rio Ferdinand the same wage as Ronaldo.

I just read a new on a portuguese newspaper that Grant wants Kaka &/or Messi for the next season. He also said he's confident that a transfer like that would be not just possible, but likely. Wanna bet, mr Grant?

First of all, I don't think grant will stay as Chelsea manager next season...not if Chelsea wants to win some trophies next season. He is under a lot of pressure now and I've read in a newspaper that chelsea fans are calling for his resignation...

 

[Imperium]

^Btw, was it your birthday?Happy birthday

Its always the same thing every year. Every year Real and Barça approach Ronaldo with bigger offers, and United has no option but to re-negociate his contract in order to keep him happy in Old Trafford. I dont think most players deserve such outrageous salaries, but football moves so much money nowdays its scary... I guess player's salaries and transfers will only get bigger every year. I'm surprised the record of Zidane (75M€) for Real Madrid is still the highest transfer. I guess if a top player like Ronaldo, Kaka, Pirlo, Messi, Iniesta, (Fabregas?) etc is to be involved in a transfer, this record would break by far
<hr noshade size="1">

It would have broke if Arsenal sold henry a couple seasons earlier. Two "spanish" clubs gave world-record bids of 50million pounds which would have beat Zidane's 47million. But im waiting to see how much milan will buy ronaldiniho for, maybe that could break the record.

I just read a new on a portuguese newspaper that Grant wants Kaka &/or Messi for the next season. He also said he's confident that a transfer like that would be not just possible, but likely. Wanna bet, mr Grant?

Hahaha, i read it too. Grant likes his jokes. xD I always saw Kaka as the loyal type, so i would say he wont leave milan even for a lot of money. And messi...Barcelona wont sell messi the same way united wont ronaldo, simple as that. But maybe he could try eto'o. At least that is in the realms of possibility.

First of all, I don't think grant will stay as Chelsea manager next season...not if Chelsea wants to win some trophies next season. He is under a lot of pressure now and I've read in a newspaper that chelsea fans are calling for his resignation...

Well...to be fair ever since he started, the've been calling for his resignation. He apparently said that he wasnttold to win any trophies this season. Hahahaha, i thought such things didnt need to be said but were obvious.

Btw, grant gave the press the silent treatment after their match with everton.

Spoiler

Question: Are you back in the hunt?

Answer: Maybe not.

Q: Was it a deserved win?

A: Yes.

Q: What pleased you most?

A: I don't know.

Q: Is it a relief to win here?

A: Yes.

Q: Were you impressed by the performance or the result?

A: Both.

Q: You seem to have something on your mind, a problem?

A: No, no problem.

Q: An issue?

A: No, I'm okay, sometimes I have nothing to say.

Q: Do you have a message for the Chelsea fans, who think you are back in the title race?

A: No message.

Q: But you are back in it now?

A: I don't know.

Q: Is it because of Sky TV (who had switched the game to Thursday)

A: Maybe it is because of you, I don't know.

Q: Would you rather say nothing?

A: It's a good question, I don't know what to answer. It's not Sky, I enjoy watching them.

Q: You are two points behind Man Utd but you don't know whether you are back in the title race?

A: No, I don't know

Q: Are you in the title race again?

A: I don't know. I am sorry, you can write what you want and I will answer how I want.

He barely spoke, just one word answers and sometimes grunts.

btw, it looks like United is also gonna give Rio Ferdinand the same wage as Ronaldo.

English players are the most over-payed players in the world. Rio, as good as he is doesnt need to be paid such ridiculous amounts. He is not the best defender in the world, so i dont understand why he is highest paid. (and their thinking of increasing it). He is an amazing player but the likes of thuram and nesta werent never paid as much as he is. This is why their is no english players in other league (discounting...beckham) you dont get value for money. >_>

 

[Mendes]

Well I would like to think that Ronaldo deserve the wages he's getting. He has been awesome this season. So it is hard not to see him demanding for such wages. The question is whether he is able to maintain such form for years to come? I would love to think he is able to but all great players will have a dip in form somewhere in their career.
btw, it looks like United is also gonna give Rio Ferdinand the same wage as Ronaldo.

I know, I just hope Ronaldo's form doesnt break before the Euro Cup... I honestly have a bad feeling. He told the press some time ago that he would probably be tired in the end of the season, thus in reduced form for the Euro Cup. I think I can tell Ronaldo doesnt feel his country's shirt as much as many other players... he definitely puts Man U ahead of Portugal. The proof is he didnt play in the last game coz he was 'injured'. The game was on Wednsday, and he had played 90 minutes in MU's game the Saturday before and played 90 minutes in the following Saturday... That's what I dont like in players who have nothing more to proof. Maybe he'll be motivated by the chance of winning the World's Best Player award.

First of all, I don't think grant will stay as Chelsea manager next season...not if Chelsea wants to win some trophies next season. He is under a lot of pressure now and I've read in a newspaper that chelsea fans are calling for his resignation...

I cant imagine what Abramovic had in mind when he hired a coach with such a low curriculum. I can only assume they are friends, so maybe Grant'll have another season to prove himself, despite the fans reactions. I may not like Grant, but I wasnt expecting him to have such good results (as for performances... terrible) and he didnt have a chance to mold a team from the start of the season. I bet my 2 cents he'll stay for the start of next season.

Oh and happy birthday Epul!

It would have broke if Arsenal sold henry a couple seasons earlier. Two "spanish" clubs gave world-record bids of 50million pounds which would have beat Zidane's 47million. But im waiting to see how much milan will buy ronaldiniho for, maybe that could break the record.

For what I've been hearing, Ronaldinho will go to Milan for a relatively low quantity. I wouldn't discard the possibility of Chelsea ending up with the brazilian. I hope he goes to Inter instead :P

Btw, grant gave the press the silent treatment after their match with everton.

Spoiler

Question: Are you back in the hunt?

Answer: Maybe not.

Q: Was it a deserved win?

A: Yes.

Q: What pleased you most?

A: I don't know.

Q: Is it a relief to win here?

A: Yes.

Q: Were you impressed by the performance or the result?

A: Both.

Q: You seem to have something on your mind, a problem?

A: No, no problem.

Q: An issue?

A: No, I'm okay, sometimes I have nothing to say.

Q: Do you have a message for the Chelsea fans, who think you are back in the title race?

A: No message.

Q: But you are back in it now?

A: I don't know.

Q: Is it because of Sky TV (who had switched the game to Thursday)

A: Maybe it is because of you, I don't know.

Q: Would you rather say nothing?

A: It's a good question, I don't know what to answer. It's not Sky, I enjoy watching them.

Q: You are two points behind Man Utd but you don't know whether you are back in the title race?

A: No, I don't know

Q: Are you in the title race again?

A: I don't know. I am sorry, you can write what you want and I will answer how I want.

He barely spoke, just one word answers and sometimes grunts.

LMAO! Grant is perfect when impersonating a wall... I'd laugh in his face if I was the interviewer xD

 

[Lohnt]

If I was in Grant's position I'd probably pee my pants from joy. All that money to buy any players I can possibly want/get? That's like pro manager with infinite money cheat.

I think he has a shot at Messi, but I think it would be a mistake, In his position I'd rather buy Aguero who plays the same position, but has IMHO a lot more potential.
If he plays his cards right, he could probably get Ronaldinho, but again, I have NEVER really liked Chelsea as a charismatic club, and dinho is very charismatic which just doesn't fit.

Aside from Aguero, I'd go after L. Fabiano and Pogrebnyak who are both having great seasons.

 

[Imperium]

Its apparently 100million pounds spending money. And a bit more if he needs it. To be honest just lookinf at his current record i dont think he is as bad as the press make him out to be. He is the semi-final of the CL (as far as mouriniho has gotten with chelsea) and is still in the title battle. I guess he could have done better in more important matches. The only thing i think he is really BAD in, is discipline of the players. You can blatantly see they dont respect him, but with mouriniho they not only respected him but i think also revered him.

Anyway, Chelsea already tried to get Aguero. Athletico said no chance, though (might not stop them, though...) Which seems reasonable since they lost their best player last summer and im sure they wont want to do the same again this season. Oh, and speaking of that Grant wants Gerrard too.

Btw, i read Aguero is dating Maradona's daughter...I wouldnt put it past some clubs to already sign pre-birth contracts for the boy. XDDDDDD

 

[Lohnt]

I bet their kid plays basketball... that or they have 4 daughters and give up XD

 

[Epul]

^Btw, was it your birthday?Happy birthday

Oh and happy birthday Epul!

Thanks guys. My birthday was actually on the 14th... Sorry for the late reply. Been busy with real life...

Btw, grant gave the press the silent treatment after their match with everton.



Q: You are two points behind Man Utd but you don't know whether you are back in the title race?

A: No, I don't know

Q: Are you in the title race again?

A: I don't know. I am sorry, you can write what you want and I will answer how I want.

I think the interviewer just made a fool out of grant there....

I cant imagine what Abramovic had in mind when he hired a coach with such a low curriculum. I can only assume they are friends, so maybe Grant'll have another season to prove himself, despite the fans reactions. I may not like Grant, but I wasnt expecting him to have such good results (as for performances... terrible) and he didnt have a chance to mold a team from the start of the season. I bet my 2 cents he'll stay for the start of next season.

Grant will definitely use his friendship with abramovic to remain as Chelsea manager or if not as manager, as a footballing director or something like that.....

For what I've been hearing, Ronaldinho will go to Milan for a relatively low quantity. I wouldn't discard the possibility of Chelsea ending up with the brazilian. I hope he goes to Inter instead :P

'Apparently Ronaldinho has agreed a contract with AC Milan but AC Milan is yet to agree terms with barcelona over how much the transfer will be. Barcelona has rejected AC Milan's initial offer though.

 

[Imperium]

'Apparently Ronaldinho has agreed a contract with AC Milan but AC Milan is yet to agree terms with barcelona over how much the transfer will be. Barcelona has rejected AC Milan's initial offer though.

Speaking about that, eto'o said something about him leaving barcelona if they have another poor season like this one. The he said "I will go to whoever pays the most". You gotta love his honesty. (http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11833_3454180,00.html)

And it seems Juventus made a bid for Flamini...I wonder if he will go to them. And inter are still after Hleb, while Milan want adebayor. Cant they leave our players alone...greedy italians.

Btw, Champions league. My predictions

Liverpool - Chelsea 0-0 goes to penalties. (again) kuyt just proved this prediction wrong ;_;
new one.
Liverpool - Chelsea 2-1

Barcelona - United 3-2 (I can hope )

 

[Mendes]

Inter should go for a huge midfielder. I'd like to see a player like fabregas, iniesta, diego or van der vaart there. That would allow stankovic to play on the best position I see for him (winger) and perhaps hiring another winger to replace Figo would be a good idea. Hleb, Ronaldinho could be good options to fill that hole.

Liverpool 1 - 1 Rise

How lucky can Chelsea possibly be?