The Official Football Thread 2006/2007 (4 Viewers)

[withoutaface]

jimmy,
i wouldnt say we are 1 or 2 injuries from being totally fucked..we have cover in forwards, as ppl have said, rooney, saha,ole,smith,rossi (last 3 not tested or injured) plus if we lose scholes, then o'shea can fill in again, as can smith, we have defense covered. Really, only chelsea have every position covered, Arsenal, for instance, if they lose henry, fabregas, or van persie then they to are fucked, as are liverpool, with gerrard or xabi alonso, and spurs with defoe, king or jenas...UNited have sufficient cover, not what is required but it is decent, same with gunners, pool and spurs. As i said only chelsea have the Required cover of all positions.

I'd agree losing Henry would be a major issue, but with Adebayor who's solid, Reyes who can play wing forward if need be, and depending how Walcott comes along, we could deal without vP just fine, and we've got Rosicky who can take over Fabregas' playmaker position.

 

[matt#1]

On a different topic...but still relevant to the depth of our squad, Manchester United have apparently not given up on their bid for Atletico Madrid captain Fernando Torres. Despite Torres' insistence last week that he was staying with Atletico, DiarioSport says United intend to use the £10 million raised from Ruud van Nistelrooy's sale to Real Madrid to add to their bid for the player.

United are willing to bid £25 million to Atletico for Torres and have also drawn up a contract offer worth £4 million-a-year.

Atletico Madrid have also just signed two strikers in Aguero and Mista, plus they have Kezman who signed last year. So they have plenty of options upfront. Mista and Aguero cost them a reasonable amount of money and with Athletico not in the championss league... they would probably have to somehow balance the books. Please sign him Fergie! ... the Torres- Rooney partnership would be brilliant.

I also just read a report that confirmed Utd bid £16million Euros (£12mil) for Mascherano and were told they were £9mil Euros from their valuation. Utd have now bid £22million Euros. This offer is now being seriously considered by Corinthians. I really hope that this is true...Fergie did say that he is in negotiations with 2 players and I am sure that we will hear more about this in the coming days. Maybe im dreaming again, but who knows? Maybe Torres, Mascherano and Carrick will be signed. These 3 guys are EXACTLY what we need. It does sound too good to be true though.

 

[matt#1]

bahahahaha....

Liverpool slipped up against second division German opposition and finished their match against Kaiserslautern with goalkeeper Jose Reina in midfield.

An injury to Luis Garcia left boss Rafael Benitez with little option other than to press Reina into action in an unfamiliar position with 11 minutes left of a match being played in Liechtenstein.

And while Reina twice came close to scoring, shooting narrowly wide and then over the bar, it was Kaiserslautern who clinched victory thanks to Marcel Ziemer's strike in the 87th minute.

...Maybe Reina is the attacking midfield player that United so desperately need .

 

[withoutaface]

Reyes wants Real move

Arsenal forward Jose Antonio Reyes has confirmed he would be interested in a return to Spanish club football - with Real Madrid. 'I have always said that I want to return to Spain,' Reyes said. 'If Real Madrid want me then that is marvellous.'

Fucking Real, do they really need any more forwards?

 

[phoenix1988]

On a different topic...but still relevant to the depth of our squad, Manchester United have apparently not given up on their bid for Atletico Madrid captain Fernando Torres. Despite Torres' insistence last week that he was staying with Atletico, DiarioSport says United intend to use the £10 million raised from Ruud van Nistelrooy's sale to Real Madrid to add to their bid for the player.

United are willing to bid £25 million to Atletico for Torres and have also drawn up a contract offer worth £4 million-a-year.

Atletico Madrid have also just signed two strikers in Aguero and Mista, plus they have Kezman who signed last year. So they have plenty of options upfront. Mista and Aguero cost them a reasonable amount of money and with Athletico not in the championss league... they would probably have to somehow balance the books. Please sign him Fergie! ... the Torres- Rooney partnership would be brilliant.

I also just read a report that confirmed Utd bid £16million Euros (£12mil) for Mascherano and were told they were £9mil Euros from their valuation. Utd have now bid £22million Euros. This offer is now being seriously considered by Corinthians. I really hope that this is true...Fergie did say that he is in negotiations with 2 players and I am sure that we will hear more about this in the coming days. Maybe im dreaming again, but who knows? Maybe Torres, Mascherano and Carrick will be signed. These 3 guys are EXACTLY what we need. It does sound too good to be true though.

Well for a start, theres no way atletico will negotiate for "just" 25 mil. Secondly, If theres one thing torres has its loyalty and i doubt he'll go back on his word.
Oh and btw, aguero can play central midfield just as well as he plays striker so he may not play upfront for atletico.

 

[matt#1]

hmm...Ronaldo, Van Nistelrooy, Raul, Robinho...and Reyes. Surely not?!? If Reyes knows what is good for him...he will stay at Arsenal.

 

[withoutaface]

hmm...Ronaldo, Van Nistelrooy, Raul, Robinho...and Reyes. Surely not?!? If Reyes knows what is good for him...he will stay at Arsenal.

You forgot Cassano.

 

[matt#1]

Well for a start, theres no way atletico will negotiate for "just" 25 mil. Secondly, If theres one thing torres has its loyalty and i doubt he'll go back on his word.
Oh and btw, aguero can play central midfield just as well as he plays striker so he may not play upfront for atletico.

I clearly stated myself that it did sound a little too good to be true. I also do not doubt Torres' loyalty. As for your comment about Atletico not negotiating for 'just' 25 million...you may be correct depending on Atletico's valuation of the player...but I still disagree. Torres is an amazing talent, but for all his worth...25 million is alot of money. A club the size of Atletico would seriously consider an offer of such an amount.

 

[matt#1]

You forgot Cassano.

Bloody hell...Ronaldo, Van Nistelrooy, Raul, Robinho, Cassano...and perhaps Reyes?!?

...that makes even Chelsea's intimidating front-line look like that of a second division side...and that is saying something!!!

 

[withoutaface]

Shame Real still won't manage to overtake Barca.

 

[matt#1]

Shame Real still won't manage to overtake Barca.

I also think that Barca will once again prove too good for Madrid...but i'm certainly not 100% sure about that.

The signings of Cannavaro and Emerson should go some way to providing the defensive solidity that Real so desperately need.

I also see no reason why Van Nistelrooy won't continue to score 20+ goals a season...especially considering that he is on the receiving end of inch-perfect crosses from his old mate Becks again.

...With so many changes to their squad...I do accept, however, that it may take some time for the Real squad to begin to gel.

 

[hachoo]

Mate, for differing reasons Man United didn't have each of Van Nistelrooy, Heinze, Smith, Neville, Scholes, Solskjaer, Keane or Rossi in our side for significant periods of time during the previous season...so don't even try to argue that the loss of 1 player for a few games was the reason why Arsenal underperformed last season.

As frighteningly good as Henry is...his talent alone does not add up to the sum of the talent of all our players mentioned above. In any case, you are furthering my claim that United have greater depth than Arsenal by claiming that your side is screwed in the absence of 1 single player.



I expect that Ryan Giggs will play regularly on the left wing again this season...and I hope that he continues to do so until he can no longer make a valuable contribution to the team. Of course, Park and Richardson are there to back him up should Fergie give his old legs a rest.

As for your comment regarding Wes Brown...I feel that you must not have watched him play for quite some time. Yes, he was very mistake riddled early in his United career, but last season he matured into one of the best English centre-backs. That is no mean feat given England's quality in that position. I have full confidence in his ability and feel that heprovides more than capable back-up should Ferdinand or Vidic get injured. In my opinion...he is certainly not as mistake prone as Silvestre (who also had a reasonably impressive previous season).

I still don't feel confident in Man U's ability this year. I'm glad to be wrong, but a top 3 of maybe 4 might be optimistic.

 

[matt#1]

@ hachoo...I guess we just have to wait and see what happens. Alot will depend on whether Chelsea can be so consistent again (highly likely); whether Liverpool can continue to improve and whether Arsenal's youngsters are capable of reproducing their highly impressive European form over the whole course of the domestic season. Alot also depends on whether United can get off to a solid start for once. We could have won last season had it not been for our terrible start.

 

[LMF^^]

You forgot Cassano.

And Baptista.

Anyway there are a lot of reports saying that Fergie is completing the signin of Spanish midfielder Marcos Senna. Well I don't know about that one, I hope the things about Mascherano is true, like seriously I would be over the moon.

 

[copious]

I started playing Pro Evolution Soccer again with the latest rosters with transfers and I'm struggling with the lack of depth in Man Utd. Rooney, Scholes and Giggs got injured midway through my season and I had to put Rossi to play behind Saha and Smith and Patrice Evra to play on the left wing. Perhaps a sign of things to come for the Red Devils?

 

[- L1n -]

I started playing Pro Evolution Soccer again with the latest rosters with transfers and I'm struggling with the lack of depth in Man Utd. Rooney, Scholes and Giggs got injured midway through my season and I had to put Rossi to play behind Saha and Smith and Patrice Evra to play on the left wing. Perhaps a sign of things to come for the Red Devils?

LOL man don't use pes5 as a guide in pes 5 adriano can score from anywhere on the pitch and when u put recoba and adriano upfront u score like 5 goals each game on maximum lvl (6stars) and u put martins on LM, but the problem is in RL adriano is one of the most inconsistent scorer ever, his got talent but he lacks consistency and in RL Recoba has such bad stamina, hence why no Inter coach ever starts him, although talent wise Recoba is by far the best player on the roster.

Regarding Real Madrid, i'm scared of Real now do u remeber Ruud and beckham back at Man UTD Ruud scored 43 goals i think in all competition in 1 season, now thats savage, and 14 goals in 1 champions league season without even getting to the Semi's, you watch Ruud is gonna walk into the starting 11 and make Raul,Cassano,Baptista,Robinho and possibly Ronaldo like they don't exist. And now we'll see The Old ruud back to his best recieving some decent service from someone who CAN pass unlike the double sidestep scum who can dribble poeople but yet can't put a simple pass in. With Emerson in DMF role Madrid no longer misses Makelele's services. And Cannavaro in Defence will finally fill the spot left behind by Hierro.

I seriously hope Fergie starts signing players, i don't wanna see another poor season 3 seasons of poor performances and dissapointment is bad enough. Please ease the pain of us Manchester United supporters, ffs just sign Zlatan.

 

[phoenix1988]

As for your comment about Atletico not negotiating for 'just' 25 million...you may be correct depending on Atletico's valuation of the player...but I still disagree. Torres is an amazing talent, but for all his worth...25 million is alot of money. A club the size of Atletico would seriously consider an offer of such an amount.

Atletico are the 4th largest club in spain so i dunno what youre on about. And anyway, 25 mil cant be considered as massive an amount in football since chelsea started splashing the cash. Remember chelsea paid 30 mil for a 30 yr old shevchenko. And yes i know chelsea are different, but theres no way atletico will let go of one of the best young players in world football for that sort of amount, particularly considering their chairman has ambitions of challenging for la liga in the coming seasons.

 

[withoutaface]

While they may be the 4th largest they still only finished mid table last year.

 

[bazookajoe]

Tottenham have revealed they could get up to 18.6 million pounds for Carrick, I'm not sure what the front payment is, I assume they'll get extra after certain appearances etc.

That is a lot of money for a player like Carrick. Not saying he's bad, but they could have put that money to greater use

 

[Jimmy_B]

Tottenham have revealed they could get up to 18.6 million pounds for Carrick, I'm not sure what the front payment is, I assume they'll get extra after certain appearances etc.

That is a lot of money for a player like Carrick. Not saying he's bad, but they could have put that money to greater use

if he was that good other big clubs would've com in. very solid player but not what manyoo need. if they get senna as well though as is being reported thats a potentially excellent duo in midfield for them.

we signed zokora once we knew carrick wanted out, so no biggie. if we get downing and chimbonda we're looking tops for the upcoming season.