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

[hugebird]

Enh, a point and a clean sheet against City isn't the worst result, but still not a particularly good performance, and leaves Chelsea at 3pts out of 15 in their last 5. I guess you need to be pragmatic, but I would have liked to see Rafa throw on another attacking player like Marin and take off one of the pivots and really go for the three points.

 

[dlo13]

Doesn't exactly inspire me to have faith in what the next six months will bring.

 

[imasoleman18]

 

[keepie uppie]

unless CR runs his contract out,there's no way United can ever afford him...
anyway,Chelsea hosts City tonite...i'm hoping for that match to end in a draw...

 

[ajeff]

Can't wait for Chelsea to be back.... They'll win the table

 

[mastamind89]

Playing Ox centrally seems like it would be the way to go. He got a game or two there at the end of last season, and looked rather brilliant. Ramsey is such an uninspiring player. Arsenal have looked fine with Wilshere in there with Arteta and Cazorla, but with Ramsey they lose some dynamism going forward. And without a holding mid (Diaby) behind him, Arteta can't get forward and pick out passes because he's stuck doing the leg work.

It's the same old story for Arsenal. Their fully fit starting XI is good enough to compete with any side in the EPL, but the depth isn't there. That comes down to investment.

I thought AW would have started with Coquelin, allowing Arteta to move up or even make that sub. Ramsey does really away from going forward along with Gervinho. Except when he is playing as a CF. Out wide, he over dribbles and never crosses. We just signed a new deal with Emirates for 150m over the next 5 years. Hopefully we can put that money to proper use.

Hopefully Lyon come out 2nd half and take these 3 points vs Toulouse.....then its top of the table ahead of those oil money scrubs at PSG At least one of my teams is doing well, Arsenal is just at the moment

Was hoping for a win but we're in 3rd place with 25 points and only 13 games played. It's a close race to the top in Ligue 1, Eredivisie too. I only got to see the 1st half. Toulouse does have some players I really rate, good side.

Chelsea fans are lively with their pro-RDM, anti-Rafa chants.

On Torres...need to borrow that "You don't know what you're doing!" chant from Arsenal...

I found that chant to be rather low. I understand that he has made very questionable decisions. Aside from the subs, there's only so much he can do when the players are on the pitch and how they perform. I think his responses were on point. I'm hoping when the next window comes we can buy and sell accordingly.

The rumor is that P$G want to drop 100mil on CR7, he is at the top of their list. I guess the other 25mil would be for Mou

Atletico doing work. I don't think that RC was totally called for.

 

[wizards23]

Terrible game City v Chelsea

Hopefully Milan v Juve is better

 

[eiddyfouw]

Just another day on the pitch...

Barce 4-0 Levante

Messi for 2

 

[i lax bro]

GOAT Messi is getting closer to Muller

 

[keepie uppie]

After Dani Alves got substituted by Montoya(in the 14min),all 11 Barca players on the pitch at that point were products of their youth academy.



















Wow.

 

[trunks206]

Son, let's be honest, he gets ****tier each game.

I cannot stand seeing his slow, non-creative, wannabe-Fabregas top flight professional footballer *** out there.

I NEVER have confidence in wining 3 points with Ramsey out there....ever. I dont care what the stats show Mastermind he's Denlison-esque where his stats show him to be a big player but....he sucks Seriously its like we play with 10 men every time. He takes FAR to many touches and slows down EVERYTHING. Oh and his Movember mustache makes his face VERY punchable....the kid just cant win.

As bad as the play was yesterday I put this on Arsene. Select the same team that won its last two games, is it really that hard? I'm so sick of playing out of form bottom teams back into form. Villa are poor and we, again, went there with a non first choice XI and for much of it looked like we felt we could just show up and win...as we always seem to do.

Jenkinson has made leaps and bounds from last season but Sagna is so much better than him it isnt even funny. He offers nothing going forward at all and gave away silly foul after silly foul.

Ox was pretty useless and has shown next to none of the potential he showed in flashes last season this year (although he was good vs Spurs but they were tired and down to 10 for much of the game before he came on.) Theo needs to get back to 100% ASAP.

What is the point of resting players while looking ahead to "big" fixtures on the horizon (ie Everton on Weds) if you're just going to throw away points vs poor teams? F U Arsene. Winning is the best way to deal with tired players. We need to biuld up some form and sloppy draws vs bottom teams wont do that. Plus if he was going to rest players (I know that Sagna and Jack both have come back from injuries) and put faith in our weak squad than freaking go all the way and rest Santi and Arteta for Coquelin and Arshavin as the two mentioned prior are the ones who desperately need a breather.

Playing Ox centrally seems like it would be the way to go. He got a game or two there at the end of last season, and looked rather brilliant. Ramsey is such an uninspiring player. Arsenal have looked fine with Wilshere in there with Arteta and Cazorla, but with Ramsey they lose some dynamism going forward. And without a holding mid (Diaby) behind him, Arteta can't get forward and pick out passes because he's stuck doing the leg work.

It's the same old story for Arsenal. Their fully fit starting XI is good enough to compete with any side in the EPL, but the depth isn't there. That comes down to investment.

Yup same **** different year.

However on the bright side of finances, we just re-uped with Emirates for shirt sponsor @ 150m for 5 years [+ stadium naming rights up until 2028] So its a HUGE increase from the front loaded deal we signed with Emirates to secure stadium financing back in 2004 which is @ 6m per year . The 30m per year puts us second behind only United in the EPL (they'll get 50m per year from Chevy)

Also reports are coming out about a potential deal with Adidas (I hope not for obvious reasons) for a shirt supplier deal at ~24m per year (compared to the 13m we currently get from Nike) so financially we should soon be in a much MUCH better position to compete both for new players in the transfer market and more importantly keep our key performers at the end of the season....however with this board of directers who knows....

 

[jordanman23]

Messi is on fire he will for sure pass Mueller in the next couple of games.

 

[mastamind89]

I was never defending Ramsey. I criticized him beforehand. It was for reflection. Stat wise he was our best player in that match. Stat wise Coquelin had more successful passes in the attacking third than Arteta ...Maybe I should have been more detailed or used Coquelin, his last cross pretty much described it all.

Resting those 2 STs and 2 MFs seems like a recipe for disaster.

Ramsey-Coq
Arshavin
OX-Chamakh-Gervinho
I would feel more comfortable with Eisfeld and Gnarby out there

I think IG said within the next season or two...like we have time to wait Theo and Sanga have yet to sign new contracts. He is also assuming that FFP works out

 

[eiddyfouw]

Son, let's be honest, he gets ****tier each game.

I cannot stand seeing his slow, non-creative, wannabe-Fabregas top flight professional footballer *** out there.

I NEVER have confidence in wining 3 points with Ramsey out there....ever. I dont care what the stats show Mastermind he's Denlison-esque where his stats show him to be a big player but....he sucks Seriously its like we play with 10 men every time. He takes FAR to many touches and slows down EVERYTHING. Oh and his Movember mustache makes his face VERY punchable....the kid just cant win.

As bad as the play was yesterday I put this on Arsene. Select the same team that won its last two games, is it really that hard? I'm so sick of playing out of form bottom teams back into form. Villa are poor and we, again, went there with a non first choice XI and for much of it looked like we felt we could just show up and win...as we always seem to do.

Jenkinson has made leaps and bounds from last season but Sagna is so much better than him it isnt even funny. He offers nothing going forward at all and gave away silly foul after silly foul.

Ox was pretty useless and has shown next to none of the potential he showed in flashes last season this year (although he was good vs Spurs but they were tired and down to 10 for much of the game before he came on.) Theo needs to get back to 100% ASAP.

What is the point of resting players while looking ahead to "big" fixtures on the horizon (ie Everton on Weds) if you're just going to throw away points vs poor teams? F U Arsene. Winning is the best way to deal with tired players. We need to biuld up some form and sloppy draws vs bottom teams wont do that. Plus if he was going to rest players (I know that Sagna and Jack both have come back from injuries) and put faith in our weak squad than freaking go all the way and rest Santi and Arteta for Coquelin and Arshavin as the two mentioned prior are the ones who desperately need a breather.

Playing Ox centrally seems like it would be the way to go. He got a game or two there at the end of last season, and looked rather brilliant. Ramsey is such an uninspiring player. Arsenal have looked fine with Wilshere in there with Arteta and Cazorla, but with Ramsey they lose some dynamism going forward. And without a holding mid (Diaby) behind him, Arteta can't get forward and pick out passes because he's stuck doing the leg work.

It's the same old story for Arsenal. Their fully fit starting XI is good enough to compete with any side in the EPL, but the depth isn't there. That comes down to investment.

Yup same **** different year.

However on the bright side of finances, we just re-uped with Emirates for shirt sponsor @ 150m for 5 years [+ stadium naming rights up until 2028] So its a HUGE increase from the front loaded deal we signed with Emirates to secure stadium financing back in 2004 which is @ 6m per year . The 30m per year puts us second behind only United in the EPL (they'll get 50m per year from Chevy)

Also reports are coming out about a potential deal with Adidas (I hope not for obvious reasons) for a shirt supplier deal at ~24m per year (compared to the 13m we currently get from Nike) so financially we should soon be in a much MUCH better position to compete both for new players in the transfer market and more importantly keep our key performers at the end of the season....however with this board of directers who knows....

I don't remember Arsenal ever having a problem with having money to purchase players. The board has said numerous times, that Wenger has the funds, and they will not make player choices for the manager. Even though the new money is nice, not much will be done unless Wenger changes his mind about picking young players with no experience and building them up. There needs to be a mixture of youth and star-studded experience.

 

[dlo13]

Start the Sneijder transfer rumors again. Inter saying he has to take a pay cut or be sold. Can be said for all of Inter, but he hasn't been the same player since 2010 and Mou's departure. They're doing well without him so far this year. They'll continue to leave him out even though he's healthy.

 

[Sinner]

 

[cs02132]

Stick one in for England
Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney
We will always answer
Wayne Rooney Wayne Rooney






















Charging down the right wing BECKHAMS FREEEEEE BECKHAMS FREE !!!

never gets old

 

[abovelegit1]

Start the Sneijder transfer rumors again. Inter saying he has to take a pay cut or be sold. Can be said for all of Inter, but he hasn't been the same player since 2010 and Mou's departure. They're doing well without him so far this year. They'll continue to leave him out even though he's healthy.

I think he's more or less the same player, as he was probably the only Dutchman who played well at Euros. It's just the system at Inter has been changed. He's not really effective in a 4-3-3 or 3-4-3 like they've been playing; just too poor defensively among other things. He needs a system with a free number ten role.

Not sure why he would agree to a pay cut, they didn't have to offer him that massive contract. Hope it's resolved soon, though - great player to watch.


Iniesta yesterday.

 

[imasoleman18]

smh

 

[mastamind89]

I don't remember Arsenal ever having a problem with having money to purchase players. The board has said numerous times, that Wenger has the funds, and they will not make player choices for the manager. Even though the new money is nice, not much will be done unless Wenger changes his mind about picking young players with no experience and building them up. There needs to be a mixture of youth and star-studded experience.

He's been shifting away from that, our squad is mixed. Yes, he is a stubborn but idk if it is completely. Not sure if we will ever know. Some reports and even AW, has said that the board has denied him of buying players. Some reports say AW and others say the club as a whole.

But one thing for sure, when there was **** of ownership and management, the likes of Dein, Bracewell, Kroenke, Gazidis and etc. A change of atmosphere, a lack of ambition, a lack of a winning mentality. Can't forget about our wage structure either. In the past players were fine with taking a pay cut to stay at the club. Some players never ever seen their contract and wouldn't be apart of the negotiations and sign it. But now where at a point where we let players go into the last year of their contract. Sagna made a statement how his contract ends in 2013-2014 and has yet to be approached. So I tend to feel that a lot of blame falls upon the board but that's just my .02 cents.

smh

If I'm not mistaken, I think they found them and banned them for life.

 

[quik1987]

Haven't been in here in a while. I dunno if this has been discussed.

Arsenal will get extra money to spend after Emirates deal

Arsenal's new £150m deal with Emirates will give the club extra money to spend on new players next summer, says chief executive Ivan Gazidis.
Dubai-based airline Emirates will pay Arsenal £30m per season for shirt and stadium sponsorship.
"This will be one of the biggest deals ever struck in the game of football," said Gazidis.
"We'll have additional money this financial year, which will be available to invest in the summer."

Arsenal originally signed a £90m contract with Emirates in 2004, covering eight years of shirt sponsorship (£48m) and 15 years of stadium naming rights (£42m) from 2006.
The Gunners currently receive £5.5m per year for shirt sponsorship, which is bettered by eight other Premier League sides, but once the new deal kicks in, they will only be eclipsed in England by Manchester United.
Arsene Wenger, who has been criticised for a perceived lack of spending, will have £40m available for new signings in January and the first £30m instalment from Emirates will arrive in time for the following transfer window.
"The deal is all about football, it's all about giving us the resources to be able to invest in what we put on to the field for our fans," said Gazidis, whose club have not won a trophy since 2005.
"This is an important and exciting day for our club. It is good news for Arsenal and our fans.
"The strategy, which has been driven and supported by [majority shareholder] Stan Kroenke and our board, is to grow our commercial revenues so that we can have more money to be able to invest in the playing side.
"This is as dramatic as the move into the new stadium [in 2006] was in propelling the club forward. Our revenues will grow to put us into the top five revenue clubs in the world."

Boutros Boutros, head of corporate communications at Emirates, added: "We would love Arsenal to win [trophies] and we hope this amount of money we are paying now will help them to invest more into the club."
Arsenal's last published accounts show a revenue of £235m, of which £52.5m was from commercial activities - a rise of just £4.4m (9%) since 2009.
The Gunners can also look forward to an improved kit supplier deal when their current contract with Nike expires in 2014.
Arsenal receive £8m per year from Nike, whereas Manchester United earn £25.4m from the same manufacturer and Liverpool £25m from Warrior Sports.
The Gunners will not, however, follow United in having a separate sponsor for their training kit.
At present, Arsenal's matchday income is one of the highest in Europe but it accounts for more than 40% of their total revenue - an unusually high percentage for a leading club.
The Emirates deal will lower that figure but, when asked if it would result in lower ticket prices, Gazidis replied: "I didn't say they would come down.
"I think we've been very responsible on ticket pricing over time. Since we moved to the new stadium we've had two increases in season ticket prices and both of those have been inflationary.
"We've tried very hard to balance the demand that we spend more money in the market with also trying to take a long-term responsible attitude towards our fanbase.
"Despite the fact that we've got long waiting lists in the stadium, we haven't pushed ticket prices forward, we've tried to hold them to a responsible level.
"The expansion of our revenue base will help us in managing that relationship."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20470165

 

[bandman]

[h1]Married Man: City star Kolo Toure tricked student into affair by claiming to be a car salesman[/h1]
Married Premier League star Kolo Toure had a lengthy affair with a young model – after tricking her into believing he was a car salesman.

The Manchester City defender told pretty Kessel Kasuisyo his name was Francois and showered her with ­expensive gifts he claimed he bought with cash he made selling motors, she claims.

And in a desperate bid to keep his real identity secret, she says, the £90,000-a -week star would sneak into her council flat wearing sunglasses with a baseball cap pulled over his face.

Smitten Toure, 31, kept up the astonishing facade for two years.

He married the mother of his two children during the alleged affair and even carried out a ­bizarre pretend proposal to ­Kessel, 22 – getting down one one knee to give her a £1,000 diamond ring.

But the game was up for the Ivory Coast ­international – who portrays himself as a devoted family man – when one of his mistress’s pals recognised him.

She told Kessel to Google her car salesman boyfriend’s real name – and the shocked beauty found Toure’s wedding pictures online.

Speaking to the Sunday Mirror, ­Kessel says: “I am devastated. On some of the wedding pictures he is crying but a few weeks before he was in my bed.

“Two or three weeks after the wedding he was at mine. Around the time he got married he called and said he was back in Africa and had just sold two cars.

“I believed everything he said, I am hurt and confused by it all. Maybe he wanted me to be a second wife. I just don’t know. Everything about his strange ­behaviour now all makes sense.”

Kessel met Toure, whose brother Yaya also plays for City, outside the Bijou nightclub in Manchester in September 2010. “He started chatting me up and we swapped numbers,” she says.

“Then he gave me a lift home. The next day he called me and we met at a hotel. I told him he looked familiar and he just said maybe he looks like somebody. He said he sold cars in Africa and did some charity work.”

At least Toure wasn’t lying about his charity work – he is an ambassador for Save The Children.

Kessel says: “He said he came from Ghana and was a student too. He said his father was a minister. I am not a fan of football. I thought maybe I had seen him on telly with his father.”

He called her again within a fortnight and they met in the same hotel, the ­Malmaison in Manchester. “He bought me some sexy white lingerie and black shoes,” says Kessel. “We started kissing and ended up doing it.”

Kessel claims their relationship was on and off until December of that year.

“We would go a week without seeing each other and then he would call me. Sometimes we would meet twice in a week,” she says. “I asked if he had a girlfriend and he said no.”

But devout Muslim Toure had been with fiancee Awo for at least nine years. The couple live in Manchester with their daughter and son. When Toure – who joined Man City for £16million from Arsenal – suddenly stopped calling Kessel in December 2010 she thought it was the end of their brief fling.

But nine months later, after she had moved home, he called her again. “He asked if I wanted to meet up and I told him I had my own flat now,” says Kessel. “He came around in a big car. He was wearing a cap and big sunglasses.

“I told him it was my birthday and he asked me if I would wear some of the stuff he bought me so I got dressed up and we ended up in the bedroom.

“The next time I saw him he bought me a birthday present. He got me a gold watch and some 18-carat diamond earrings.

“He used to call me constantly but from a private number so I couldn’t call back. I was suspicious, but he said he didn’t want me to waste my money calling.

“He once gave me £500 to send to my mother in Zimbabwe. Another time he gave me £200 for food because my fridge was empty. I started to question him about exactly what he did and he would say just ­selling cars. Things were on and off. This January he asked me to be a girlfriend but said he was ­going back to Africa to do business.”

Kessel said Toure, banned last year for six months by the FA for taking his wife’s diet pills, broke off contact again between January and May this year. When he got back with Kessel, she had no idea he was weeks away from getting hitched. “He said he had something special for me,” she says. “He called me Princess and turned up with a £1,000 diamond and ruby ring.

“It wasn’t an engagement ring but he said it was symbol of how he felt. He went down on his knee and said he was really serious about me.

“He really got to me. I started telling my friends about him. But whenever I asked to take his picture he refused which I found a bit odd.” Yet Kessel managed to snap him off guard. In June Toure went back to Africa and married Awo at a mosque in the Ivorian capital Abidjan with his brother Yaya as best man. Official photographs showing a tearful Toure wearing a white suit were released to African news websites.

Kessel still had no idea her new man was anything but a very successful car salesman.

Weeks after his wedding, “Francois” was ­seeing her back at her flat. “He told me he wanted me to go to Paris and said he would meet me there,” says Kessel. “I told him before I did that I needed to meet his parents.

“But he said I should give it time to talk to his parents because I am not a Muslim and they would expect me to be with a Muslim. I believed almost everything he said.” But eventually she got fed up with his secretive behaviour and hung up on him during a call in September. He hasn’t been in contact since. Kessel says she only found out the truth a fortnight ago when she showed a pal some of the snaps she had managed to take.

“She said I should go on Google and type in Kolo Toure. It all came up – Manchester City, the wedding pictures to his long-time girlfriend. I felt a fool. I now understand why he used to hide his face and use a private number. I want to make sure he doesn’t do it to anyone else.”

In an interview in 2005, Toure spoke about his excitement at becoming a dad and said he loved relaxing with his partner and family. And last month, on a visit to a school in Ivory Coast where he is a hero, he said: “We are role models. The way I behave is the way the children will want to be.” A source close to Toure said last night: “I have spoken to Kolo and he is denying ever knowing or meeting the girl.”

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/kolo-toure-had-affair-with-student-by-pretending-1455570

Spoiler: Warning%3A%20Spoiler!

 

[eiddyfouw]

KOLO

 

[trunks206]

KOLO

That picture is ******g PRICELESS!

 

[noskey]

Oh my god that picture