The Ultimate Soccer Thread 2012-2013 Vol. 3 Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga etc

What's the deal with wenger always bringing in French players, sometimes they don't even work for like Squillaci. I mean I don't mind that he buys them but come on Wenger there are even far more better players out there. I guess this year he understands it but why would he want to brin mexes when there are other young and better defenders out there than mexes
To wenger :{
 
EPL:
1) Man Utd
2) Man City
3) Arsenal
4) Chelsea
5) Newcastle

La Liga:
1) Real Madrid
2) Barcelona
3) Atletico Madrid
4) Valencia
5) Athletic Bilbao

Serie A:
1) Juventus
2) AC Milan
3) Napoli
4) Fiorentina
5) Inter

Ligue 1:
1) PSG
2) Marseille
3) Lille
4) Lyon
5. Bordeaux

Bundesliga:
1) Bayern Munich
2) Dortmund
3) Schalke
4) Leverkusen
5) Wolfsburg


What I think will go down.
 
What's the deal with wenger always bringing in French players, sometimes they don't even work for like Squillaci. I mean I don't mind that he buys them but come on Wenger there are even far more better players out there. I guess this year he understands it but why would he want to brin mexes when there are other young and better defenders out there than mexes
To wenger :{

Cause he's French and French players love him :lol. I think he would do a great job managing the French NT.
Mexes is at least a better player than Squillaci. Kos can also play at RB, the RB and RCB positions can be rotated with Kos, Jenkinson, Bartley and Per. And as stated we also have some youngsters.

So RvP was booed yesterday?

Looking forward to another good loan spell for Ryo.

Santi is going to play for Spain. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't play on Saturday.
OX picked up an ankle injury....so it begins *knocks on wood*
 
What's the deal with wenger always bringing in French players, sometimes they don't even work for like Squillaci. I mean I don't mind that he buys them but come on Wenger there are even far more better players out there. I guess this year he understands it but why would he want to brin mexes when there are other young and better defenders out there than mexes
To wenger :{

Cause he's French and French players love him :lol. I think he would do a great job managing the French NT.
Mexes is at least a better player than Squillaci. Kos can also play at RB, the RB and RCB positions can be rotated with Kos, Jenkinson, Bartley and Per. And as stated we also have some youngsters.

So RvP was booed yesterday?

Looking forward to another good loan spell for Ryo.

Santi is going to play for Spain. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't play on Saturday.
OX picked up an ankle injury....so it begins *knocks on wood*
And the luck he has with keepers :{ hopefully his keepers won't mess up this year
 
PSG was not playing this transfer window, 51 million euro for Balotelli shot down before the Ibra transfer. 51 million euro at 21, Mario has a very bright transfer market future.
 
i dont even want to make predictions they wont be right just hoping manchester united get that 20th title


EDIT:
Marco Papa will join SC Heerenveen in january 2013


as a fire fan :(
 
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EPL:
1) Man Utd
2) Man City
3) Newcastle
4) Arsenal
5)Chelsea

La Liga:
1) Real Madrid

Serie A:
1) Juventus
2) Roma
3)Udinese
4) AC Milan
5)Napoli
Ligue 1:
1) PSG
2) Marseille
3) Bordeaux
4) Lyon

Bundesliga:
1) Bayern Munich
2) Dortmund
3) Schalke
4) Leverkusen
5) Wolfsburg


MEXES to Arsenal :smokin (Roma Traitor) :{
 
What you're saying is no matter how good he is, he can't be considered the best because he has top strikers in front of him. Considering the fact that only a top team could afford to bring him in, that's obviously a flawed argument - especially considering the fact that his absence coincided with City's dip in form, and them crashing out of 3 cup competitions. You seem to be wrongly measuring a midfielder by their strikers' output. City has four top strikers who they can rotate, but only one Toure who is irreplaceable and unique. His ability to retain/recycle possession, dictate tempo, create chances, destroy, protect the back four, and score key goals gives him a strong case to be called best in the league. There's no one else in the EPL who has such an all-encompassing influence.
I'm not saying an argument couldn't be made for others, but Mata and Ade? The first drifts in and out of games, and the latter is inconsistent in his touch, and wasteful in his opportunities. Mata has nothing over Silva in terms of ability, and I don't even think he'll be the best Spanish playmaker in London this season.

I'm not sure how Mata has nothing over Silva. If we are specifically talking about league play last season, Mata was as good if not better. Except you add in the fact that Mata was giving service to strikers not near as good as Silva was(Sturridge and Fat Frank lead them in scoring :x). Also it was Mata's first season. While I don't consider Adebayor overall as a top class playmaker, what he did last year at Spurs outshined any of his previous season as far as his overall contribution. Without him Spurs don't even get close to top 4.

You can't say no one else has the overall influence as he does. Having Kompany (easily top 3 CB in the EPL) makes Toure look better at what he does as well. Toure is definitely world class but if you replaced him with someone like Sahin, M'Vila, Capoue, De Rossi, there would not be that much of a difference in output if any. You can't tell me he was more influential for his team last season than Mata, RVP, Rooney, Ade.
 
PSG was not playing this transfer window, 51 million euro for Balotelli shot down before the Ibra transfer. 51 million euro at 21, Mario has a very bright transfer market future.
Balotelli's one of my favorite players, but I highly doubt anyone is willing to pay 51 mil for him in the future unless he can get his act straight and matures as a player.

PSG was just signing any top player they could get there hands on, that's why they offered 51 mil for Balotelli, but Balotelli wasn't get sold anyway, as Mancini had said he wasn't going to sell Balotelli at any price so it didn't really matter.
 
Balotelli's one of my favorite players, but I highly doubt anyone is willing to pay 51 mil for him in the future unless he can get his act straight and matures as a player.
PSG was just signing any top player they could get there hands on, that's why they offered 51 mil for Balotelli, but Balotelli wasn't get sold anyway, as Mancini had said he wasn't going to sell Balotelli at any price so it didn't really matter.

Thing is, if he leaves City I could only see PSG or AC milan as the targets. I would think PSG would be willing to offer the same or higher in the future, he's loved in Paris. Balotelli can only improve(as far as acting mature), I'm hopng that spain beating matured him to understand who he has to become. He's still young, he has time to improve but the next stage may be his most important yet...

DISCLAIMER: I do believe PSG got caught up in the oil money and his work in the Euros and was overvalued at the time.
 
I'm not sure how Mata has nothing over Silva. If we are specifically talking about league play last season, Mata was as good if not better. Except you add in the fact that Mata was giving service to strikers not near as good as Silva was(Sturridge and Fat Frank lead them in scoring :x). Also it was Mata's first season. While I don't consider Adebayor overall as a top class playmaker, what he did last year at Spurs outshined any of his previous season as far as his overall contribution. Without him Spurs don't even get close to top 4.
You can't say no one else has the overall influence as he does. Having Kompany (easily top 3 CB in the EPL) makes Toure look better at what he does as well. Toure is definitely world class but if you replaced him with someone like Sahin, M'Vila, Capoue, De Rossi, there would not be that much of a difference in output if any. You can't tell me he was more influential for his team last season than Mata, RVP, Rooney, Ade.

I seriously don't believe you watched any football last season with a reply like this. I love Juan Mata, but the way that Silva would dictate and turn games on their head, he was obviously more influential than a player who during a large chunk of the season was negated by his manager's tactics, and he wasn't seeing enough of the ball.

Then you are comparing guys to Toure who have NEVER had a season like he had last season, while playing against lesser competition. You're talking about him as if he has been playing like an anchor man, but he was so much more than that team, and his duties went far beyond your characterization of what he did.
 
I seriously don't believe you watched any football last season with a reply like this. I love Juan Mata, but the way that Silva would dictate and turn games on their head, he was obviously more influential than a player who during a large chunk of the season was negated by his manager's tactics, and he wasn't seeing enough of the ball.
Then you are comparing guys to Toure who have NEVER had a season like he had last season, while playing against lesser competition. You're talking about him as if he has been playing like an anchor man, but he was so much more than that team, and his duties went far beyond your characterization of what he did.

To be fair Silvas form really dipped towards the end of the year. I didn't watch city that much last year, but from what I saw toure influenced games just as much as Silva if not more. His passing IMO is just as good as Silva's. I honestly believe Toure is top 3 in his position worldwide and I would pit him top ten of the best players in Europe. Dude is easily the proper leagues best player (with a nod to Hart, Cole, Rooney and RVP)
 
To be fair Silvas form really dipped towards the end of the year. I didn't watch city that much last year, but from what I saw toure influenced games just as much as Silva if not more. His passing IMO is just as good as Silva's. I honestly believe Toure is top 3 in his position worldwide and I would pit him top ten of the best players in Europe. Dude is easily the proper leagues best player (with a nod to Hart, Cole, Rooney and RVP)

Exhaustion from Mancini riding him into the ground.
 
It's hard to say Toure is the best player in the league. He is above average in many different areas and has excelled as an attacking mid, holding mid, basically anywhere in the midfield. But both Toure and Silva are helped by having Tevez and Aguero playing up top because both those guys make any midfielders look better.
If we took last season alone it is hard not to say that Adebayor or RVP were much more influential on matches than just Silva or Toure. Then if we add Mata into the mix, Mata was better than Silva last year in the league on a team that didn't get near the results. Put a top top striker last year on Chelsea and Mata get much more recognition.
If we look at deeper playmakers which there is no doubt Yaya can play the role, Modric, Arteta, Song, maybe even Cabaye can be more effective.
I think Yaya is excellent, and clearly a top player but to me his talent is showcased even less at City because Aguero, Tevez, Dzeko are all guys who can bag 20+ goals regardless of their midfield behind them.
I don't agree. Dislike that argument and I could very well counter that Yaya Toure makes those on the pitch around him better than the impact you seem to believe Kun and Tevez have on the midfield.

I'll give you RVP possibly being more influential than Toure or Silva, but not Ade. Trust me, I like Adebayor from his Madrid loan and long before that, but I can't honor that statement. Wouldn't you give far more credit to Parker, Modric, and Bale for Spurs' early success pre-Harry implosion?

Mata is in no way, shape, or form better than Silva in any area. Not that international playing time in serious competitions determines everything, but wouldn't del Bosque give Mata more first-team action based on your premise. Silva and Fabregas found a way to become regular starting XI fixtures despite Spain's crowded and talented midfield and wingers. Drogba's last season form (especially CL and I believe FA Cup) and body of work historically doesn't constitute as a "top, top striker"? Even out of form, Fernando Torres is better than many options EPL managers have in disposal at the striker position. Only thing both Silva and Mata have to "improve at" is conditioning regularly to adapt to the intense rigors of physical EPL play throughout a full campaign.

I can't name many things Arteta is better than Yaya Toure at. He's a good footballer and a like-for-like replacement last minute to fill Cesc's gaping hole, but Toure is a great footballer. Step above, big difference. Song is a poor man's Yaya if anything, without quite the same box-to-box ability. I would also argue Toure's passing is better than Song's. Also a better finisher in front of goal when the opportunity presents itself. I'll give you Modric as a creative option in the midfield, elite passing and vision. A solid creative engine and driving force for any major club. But he doesn't provide the same defensive responsibilities and skills that you get in the Yaya Toure package. Cabaye is very underrated IMO, great Pardew signing last summer, so I'll leave the Frenchman alone.

In closing, I don't think Mancini would show more concern in the summer about Yaya's intended desire to leave Eastlands pre-Euro tournament than clearing Dzeko, Ade, and Tevez from the burdening wage balance if he as manager didn't feel Toure was most important as priority number one.
 
Adebayor more influential than Silva or Toure.

Wat.

We might be watching different sports. Or maybe we have different definitions as to what 'influence' means.
 
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