Iskaral Pust Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 Kept faith? You call Benitez hawking Alonso all over Europe all last summer keeping faith?Not perfect faith, I must admit, but he kept his starting position throughout two weak seasons and got an improved contract too. Rafa plucked him from obscurity at Sociedad and his experience with 'Pool has made him a better player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathis Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 Not perfect faith, I must admit, but he kept his starting position throughout two weak seasons and got an improved contract too. Rafa plucked him from obscurity at Sociedad and his experience with 'Pool has made him a better player.Alonso didn't hold a stating position out of the goodness of Benitez' heart, he was there on merit. And he wasn't 'plucked from obscurity'; Alonso had been capped by Spain before the scousers picked him up. The fact is that Benitez was desperate to offload Alonso this time last year in a misguided attempt to land Gaz Baz. Alonso had a great year which put him in the position where he could tell Liverpool to fuck off. Good for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mme Erzulie Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 I've heard that Rafa is looking at Lee Cattermole or Stuart Taylor as replacements :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 On to more important matters though:in the UEFA Cup tonight Aberdeen are at home to a Czech team called Sigma Olumuc, and if they don't win then the entire squad and coaching staff should be shot.I'm loading the guns as we speak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Mongoose Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 Sir Bobby Robson has died. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilgamesh Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 Great manager, and a great man as far as I can tell. Footballing hero. Glad that he could have last Sunday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Wizard Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 I'm loading the guns as we speak.It was an absoltely appalling result. :stunned: The first 60 minutes seemed pretty equal and it wasn't impossible for Aberdeen to win the game from 1-1, but as soon as I went to watch Mock the Week they fell apart.Now we have another team to add to the list: Artmedia Bratislava, Kaunas, Aalborg, Vaduz and Sigma Olumuc.I bet if Dundee United had qualified for Europe this wouldn't have happened to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 Awful news about Bobby Robson.I always believed him to be an absolute class act. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 I think Alonso is being pretty mercenary. A year ago he was desperate to stay at Liverpool and now after another excellent season with them he sees that Real Madrid are spending big again and wants the big-money move.I'm very disappointed about Alonso. We kept faith with him through two mediocre seasons when he was well below the form shown in his first season -- including giving him a new 5yr contract -- and then as soon as he rediscovers his form and fitness for a whole season, he wants to leave us for Madrid just as we are on the brink of winning the title.I have to agree with Mathis. As an outsider, I thought that the Barry transfer saga of last summer to be a bit disrespectful to Alonso.I think he's well within his rights to feel aggrieved about it and to me, it doesn't seem mercenary at all.At least Ronaldo won some trophies (near singlehandedly last year)Weird. I seem to recall that ManU's defence - in particular, Vidic - had some part to play in that.---------------------------------Did anyone catch Toure's freudian slip at his press conference?Audio here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/t...ity/8177039.stmIt's just at 1min04secs.To be fair, English is not his first language and it could have just been a slip of the tongue rather than a mental slip, but it's funny anyway :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 I bet if Dundee United had qualified for Europe this wouldn't have happened to them.I bet it would. Not to blow my team's trumpet, but there are exactly three Scottish teams equipped to play in Europe right now: Rangers, Celtic and Hearts. As much as I distrust the owner, he has at least managed to produce a team that can play in Europe without embarrassing the country. Sad news about Bobby Robson. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renasko Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 Yeah, really sad to hear about Robson dying. I was surprised when I heard about it, even though I know he was having health problems. :( He seemed a really lovely man and a 'true ambassador' to football. That term gets branded around too much, but if anyone deserved it - he did. A great manager, as well. One of England's best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Wizard Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 I bet it would. Not to blow my team's trumpet, but there are exactly three Scottish teams equipped to play in Europe right now: Rangers, Celtic and Hearts. As much as I distrust the owner, he has at least managed to produce a team that can play in Europe without embarrassing the country.No, no, no. Dundee United were destined to win the UEFA Cup this season. If only the team finished seasons well. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon AS Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Man it´s difficult to keep up with the silly transfer business on vacation.So Hleb is going to Stuttgart instead of Inter, Borowski is back at Bremen and Martins has signed for Wolfsburg.Hm, Bremen buying back a player they let go for free seems like less than brilliant business, on the other hand he´ll certainly not earn the silly amounts of money hed demanded when his contract was running out. And if he can recapture his form of a few years ago a midfield of Ozil, Frings, Borowski and Marin looks pretty good.Hleb is a kind of player Stuttgart can use, but they are still short a main striker.Martins could be a good addition to Wolfsburg´s attack, should be interesting to see how well he does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calibandar Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Hleb is a kind of player Stuttgart can use, but they are still short a main striker.Not anymore, they just signed Pogrebniak, striker from Zenit St. Petersburg. He was pretty good from what I saw. They pursued him when they couldn't get Huntelaar. They paid 11 million EUR for him.Bremen lost Diego to Juventus right? Pretty big loss that was bound to come sometime. I don't know what Bremen still have upfront, on the whole they do not strike me as having a team on the level of HSV & Stuttgart, let alone Munich.Wolfsburg suprisingly managed to hang on to their prized striker pair, and now thet purchase Martins as well. I'll be interested to see them play in the CL next year.Bayern Munich really takes the cake though. Van Gaal as the new coach, a couple of strong talents coming through from the youth, Ribery looks like he is staying after all ( unsurprising considering the 90 million asking price) and so is Toni, and they bought a couple very good players in Olic, Pranjic, Gomez. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renasko Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Just after watching the Arsenal - Athletico Madrid friendly game. Arsenal really looked good in this game, and if they continue to improve (Wilkshire, in particular), then they'll have a fine season. Really looking forward to seeing more of Rosicky and Arshavin together in the same team. I'm not sure about Eduardo or Bendtner, but they really need a third forward player to complete their forward line. Arsenal only need a couple of signings, really - the fans should be very optimistic for the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon AS Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 I don't know what Bremen still have upfront, on the whole they do not strike me as having a team on the level of HSV & Stuttgart, let alone Munich.Bremen still need a striker since Pizarro is almost certainly not coming back, but their squad is probably as strong as Suttgart´s and certainly ahead of Hamburg. On paper. Borowski and Frings in good form in the center and Ozil and Marin on the wings looks like a very strong midfield, Mertesacker and Naldo are a strong central defensive pair, Fritz is solid if unspectacular while Boenisch has a lot of potential, up front I rate Rosenberg pretty highly, but he is not a first striker like Pizarro, Klose or Gomez at their best.Bayern will always be favourites and field a very strong team, but them winning is luckily not a foregone conclusion. Toni is no longer the player he was two years ago and likely to start most games on the bench as will Olic, Ribery really wanted to leave which might lead to some troubles, they´ll have quite a few new players to integrate and van Gaal´s way of dealing with the press could lead to some friction there as happened with Klinsmann (though he had the disadvantage of being on Bild´s most hated list long before). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcelo Rebelo Firqoralas Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 I'm not sure about Eduardo or Bendtner, but they really need a third forward player to complete their forward line.They have van Persie of course, and Vela. After selling Touré, they need another defender more than anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renasko Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Hmm, admittedly I forgot about Van Persie there for a moment, but what I was really thinking of was a primary striker. Whereas Van Persie is only a secondary striker - a set-up guy. For the Gunners-sake, I hope the rumour of them chasing Huntelaar has some truth to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lessthanluke Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Hmm, admittedly I forgot about Van Persie there for a moment, but what I was really thinking of was a primary striker. Whereas Van Persie is only a secondary striker - a set-up guy. For the Gunners-sake, I hope the rumour of them chasing Huntelaar has some truth to it.Vela is awesome. It is known. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celtigo Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Vela is awesome. It is known.I'll admit to loathing him on nationality alone, but he seems to be fairly injury prone. I don't know how the EPL is going to work out for him in the long run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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