Football XXI

[MercenaryChef]

and carrol has found another goal. how long until he is stolen away by a larger club? that prick ashley would sell his own children.

[Jon AS]

So Diego's return to the Bundesliga got off to a good start, with Wolfsburg taking a 3-0 lead in the first half. Then Mainz fought back and in the end won 3-4. Not a good start for McClaren.

And Arnautovic scored two and set up a third one as Werder beat Köln, nice.

[Third Knight on the Left]

Blackpool manage a draw with Fulham 2-2 they could have had it, but man what a game. Shot after shot after shot. I tell you what, if your particular team isn't on I'd recommend tuning in to the Seasiders it won't be boring. Gilks made some great saves too.

[Renasko]

So Diego's return to the Bundesliga got off to a good start

Glad to hear that, but then I recall he began his Juve career off well, too. Received a standing ovation, amusingly enough against German opponents (Bayern) in the CL. I don't think I watched him again all season after that. Just how bad can he have been that Juve sold him at a 10 million loss?

[The Inquisitor]

Glad to hear that, but then I recall he began his Juve career off well, too. Received a standing ovation, amusingly enough against German opponents (Bayern) in the CL. I don't think I watched him again all season after that. Just how bad can he have been that Juve sold him at a 10 million loss?

And what about the massive loss Barça are set to suffer with the Ibrahimovich switch to Milan?

:stunned:

[Jon AS]

Glad to hear that, but then I recall he began his Juve career off well, too. Received a standing ovation, amusingly enough against German opponents (Bayern) in the CL. I don't think I watched him again all season after that. Just how bad can he have been that Juve sold him at a 10 million loss?

I think that has a lot more to do with Juve's situation and Italian football in general. Plummeting ticket sales, Inter monopolising the title, fan violence etc. And Juventus missing out on the Champions League probably meant that they needed to sell some players to raise money and get rid of some of those with very high wages.

[MercenaryChef]

And what about the massive loss Barça are set to suffer with the Ibrahimovich switch to Milan?

:stunned:

i really think barca is so deep that they could each year transfer away their top striker and still have a great season. samuel eto'o scored 36 goals for barca and they thought nothing of transferring him.

ibra had 21 goals in 41 appearances. i see no reason they do not have the depth of quality to replace him with ease.

[The Inquisitor]

i really think barca is so deep that they could each year transfer away their top striker and still have a great season. samuel eto'o scored 36 goals for barca and they thought nothing of transferring him.

ibra had 21 goals in 41 appearances. i see no reason they do not have the depth of quality to replace him with ease.

especially when they have just bought the best striker on the game today, David Villa

[Fireball07]

The big game of the weekend is obviously Sunderland V Man City. We're without our first-choice goalkeeper, our two right-backs (Onouha and Angeleri who has lots of rumours floating around about him), a proper left-back (because we don't have one...) and our best centre-back (Mensah). But I'm still confident of getting a result. Joe Hart surely can't be that good, and Bent scored a couple in midweek. A bit of fight and passion, and we can get a result, like last season. We're hard to beat at the SoL.

As for today's games:

Blackpool played very attacking as expected, and will be hard to beat at Bloomfield Road for most teams. There will be teams who will just rip them apart though...Chelsea and Arsenal, for instance. But a good result for them today, I'm happy for them.

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake has got a few goals, and seems to be hitting the form that people thought he'd be in last season. But he got injured fairly early last year and never really got going, but it was a nice finish today. Pity the Mags got a result, I really hate Andy Carroll, I must say. Hopefully Mensah will be fit for our game in October.

Shock of the day has to be Wigan beating Spurs at WHL. Spurs won't get in the top 4 again, if they can't take their chances in matches like these. Al-Habsi apparently had a brilliant game, but at home against a poor Wigan side, you'd expect them to rack up a couple of goals. Disappointing for Gareth Bale, who has been absolutely superb this year. Didn't see it coming, I must say.

As for Chelsea, probably could have been more. If they had scored the penalty, they probably would have went on the rampage, but that disrupted their flow a bit and Stoke defended well.

Good win for Arsenal, Walcott might actually be good? Or is it just a fluke? Seems slightly more aware of his surroundings this year, but too early to judge really.

[Fireball07]

especially when they have just bought the best striker on the game today, David Villa

Signing Ibra was a highly stupid move, everyone knows that, the price was disgraceful and they gave away Eto'o too, who is a much better player. But yes, Villa is the best striker around, with the addition of him and Mascherano, Barca could be pretty much unbeatable.

[MercenaryChef]

Pity fucking fantastic the Mags got a result, I really hate adore Andy Carroll, I must say.

i could not agree more!

and villa will in fact be a huge impact for barca. i could see him putting away 20 goals this year in all competitions.

[BigFatCoward]

if form had anything to do with picking the england team should walcott and caroll not be the england front two next week? i'd love to see someone of true pace running on from caroll winning almost every header he contests.

i personally don't think caroll is ready but who else is playing well currently?

[Alcibiades]

I feel like I should have seen this Spurs result coming. With Spurs coming down from the high of having qualified for the champions league, and the fact that Wigan had to do something eventually. I was thinking that there would be a chance for Wigan if it was at the DW, but I didn't give them a shot at White Hart Lane.

[Fireball07]

if form had anything to do with picking the england team should walcott and caroll not be the england front two next week? i'd love to see someone of true pace running on from caroll winning almost every header he contests.

i personally don't think caroll is ready but who else is playing well currently?

Bobby Zamora...but he's injured.

Darren Bent's got 3 in 3 so far this season.

[Jon AS]

and villa will in fact be a huge impact for barca. i could see him putting away 20 goals this year in all competitions.

A bold prediction, considering he hasn't scored less than 20 goals since the 2000/01 season when he made just a single appearance for Sporting Gijón.;)

[Renasko]

Yeah, if I was Villa (:lol:), I'd want to be scoring 30+ goals in all competitions over the season. He's playing for Barcelona. He could score a hat-trick a game if he converted all his chances.

And agreed, Ibra was a dumb ass signing. Especially taking in light the revelation of their disastrous financial accounts.