The Official Football Thread 2005/2006 (14 Viewers)

[johnny_87]

Assuming Henry stays, I see the top 4 this year pulling away from the pack a little more next year assuming they get their transfer dealings mostly right.

We need 2 players to challenge for the title, 3 if Ruud goes.
Liverpool need a right winger, 2 strikers and perhaps another defender (yes, Benitez loves these!). You will have to hope some teams pay a bit of $ for Cisse and Morientes to help raise funds for some top strikers.
Arsenal need another striker as well as a mid (probably a winger), but even with these players, it would be hard to see them break into the top 3. I think that away from home they will drop just a few too many points.
Spurs, meanwhile, need that touch of class almost everywhere at the moment. Their lack of world-class gamebreakers is the difference between the UEFA Cup and the CL for them.

As for Carrick and Lennon, if they are ambitious and good enough, they will want to come to us and play CL football (past the group stages) rather than Uefa Cup football at Spurs

 

[copious]

Hmm just my thoughts

Liverpool : As for the right winger, didnt they pick up a spanish bloke? Gonzalez or rather? unless he is a defender. I think their defense is solid, with Kronkamp and Agger still to come. Strikers are an issue and I suspect some movement in the off season.

Arsenal : Well they definately need a winger, as for the strikers I think they are quite solid. Adebeyour is looking good, and dont forget Theo Walcott is yet to make his debut.

Spurs : They need a touch of class indeed. But then again the team is very young and I think they have done quite well despite missing out on Europe.

West Ham : I'm happy with finishing 9th, exceeded my expectations. In the offseason I hope we bring in a decent central midfielder, it will make the difference.

 

[Benny_]

A defender isn't urgent for Liverpool, we've got 2 quality players everywhere at the back except on the left, apparently we're picking Fabio Aurelio of Valencia so we won't have to use the likes of Warnock and Traore.

Gonzalez looks incredibly promising, but unfortunately he plays on the left. He looks to be a better option than Kewell even at the moment, so maybe Kewell to play in the hole behind Kuyt next season? We don't need a RW as desperately as all that anyway. Gerrard is probably the best RW in the league

If Henry doesn't leave, Arsenal don't need more forwards. Considering that they've mainly been blooding youngsters this year, I see them making a big leap forward next season.. provided Henry doesn't leave of course. If he does, they'll be way too busy rebuilding next year.

United.. get those CMs, a replacement for RvN, and a good backup for VDS. Shay Given maybe?

Spurs.. the thing is, a touch of proven class is usually too expensive for a club like Spurs to buy. Each of the top English teams only has one truly world class player who can change a game right now. Gerrard for Pool', Rooney for United, Henry for Barça and.. dare I say, no one for Chelsea, they're more like a collection of exceptionally efficient players. The best way to go is to invest in young talent. Maybe Lennon will blossom into that talent, or maybe Jol will look elsewhere. In any case they seem to have an exceptional scouting department, so I think we can look forward to another good season from them next year.

 

[johnny_87]

If a defender isn't urgent (unlike a striker - or two), why are you looking at signing Danny Aurelio? Waste of $ unless you plan on selling a defender.

Ronaldo--->Gerrard at RW. He will come infield too much and there will be no width. Simple.

Right about the Ch€₤$cum. But look how heavily they depend on Lampard, Terry and Makelele. For all their money, they are definitely a poorer side without these 3. Makelele will be gone too after next season, so expect them to blow ₤30m on a Mascherano or someone.

If Lampard or Terry actually get injured a little next year, watch them lose the title.

 

[Benny_]

Aurelio is available on a free, so not a waste of money at all.

Ronaldo is better as a pure winger, Gerrard is a playmaker who plays on the right. Most of the best players in the world won't play in the centre.. see Ronaldinho, Nedved, Zidane etc. Playing on the right allows Gerrard more freedom to play his game, and the end result is that he is more productive than Ronaldo.

 

[LMF^^]

.. and can you slow down the gif in your sig LMF? It's disturbingly hypnotic

I'm surprised you find Maureen such an attractive fella. Slowin it down would make him look much mo gay, so I won't.

Johnny lookz to have a dream plan there fo our off season, which would mean we have to spend mo than ₤50mil, which iz very very very unlikely under the current circumstancez. The best scenario would be fo Ruud to stay, and brin in a couple of midfielderz, and get rid of O'Shea and Fletcher. Silvestre haz done really well at LB but I don't see him fittin in anywhere in our back 4 after Gabi returnz. Maybe we can offload him and get a pretty good price on him too.

Shay Given a back up fo Van der Sar...? I don't think so. Hez too good to be a back up. We should sign him and make him our no. 1.

 

[Benny_]

True.

 

[DRAGONZ]

GO LEEDS!

The second leg of the playoff with Preston is tonight .. it's going to be incredibly tough, but here's to hoping!

Once again, I'll be waking at 4.45 to listen to the match over the internet, lol.


By the way, did anyone read the article about SAF giving Sven a stern warning about trying to force Rooney to play in the World Cup?

England announce their 27-man squad tomorrow, from memory.

 

[LMF^^]

England's provisional squad:
Robinson (Tottenham), James (Manchester City), Green (Norwich), G Neville (Manchester United), R Ferdinand (Manchester United), Terry (Chelsea), A Cole (Arsenal), Campbell (Arsenal), Carragher (Liverpool), Bridge (Chelsea), Beckham (Real Madrid), Carrick (Tottenham), Lampard (Chelsea), Gerrard (Liverpool), Hargreaves (Bayern Munich), Jenas (Totenham), Downing (Middlesbrough), J Cole (Chelsea), Lennon (Tottenham), Rooney (Manchester United), Owen (Newcastle), Crouch (Liverpool), Walcott (Arsenal).

No Defoe, King or Wright-Philips, but Theo Walcott...? Well I don't know what Svenz thinkin but he haven't even made hiz senior debut fo Arsenal yet. He did enough at Southampton to be included in the England squad...? Surely then Darren Bent and Defoe would have a case too.

Rooney and Owen both included, well Rooney iz still 50-50, so maybe Defoe still have a chance.

 

[DRAGONZ]

GO LEEDS!

The second leg of the playoff with Preston is tonight .. it's going to be incredibly tough, but here's to hoping!

Once again, I'll be waking at 4.45 to listen to the match over the internet, lol.


By the way, did anyone read the article about SAF giving Sven a stern warning about trying to force Rooney to play in the World Cup?

England announce their 27-man squad tomorrow, from memory.

LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDS!!!!!!

We smashed Preston 0-2 at Deepdale, into the Final vs Crystal Palace/Watford!!

Woooooo, come on you Whites!!

Two send-offs and another six or so yellow cards wasn't the best, but who cares? Bad luck to Crainey and Cresswell, who won't be playing in the Final.

 

[Benny_]

Interesting to see what sort of an impact Leeds can make in the PL if they do make it back next season.

 

[Jimmy_B]

from a united forum:

Training practice; Quieroz reffing

ronaldo fouled

ruud says something along the lines of; no surprise there giving your son a free-kick

ronaldo kicks it all off saying his dad is dead, ruud replies, no carlos is your dad. then mayhem.ronaldo leaves crying

ruud not picked, gets taxi to OT and then fucks off.

i'm torn here. he scores goals for fun, but he is an absolute scumbag cunt. would i want him at spurs?

 

[bJ_Bhoy 87]

I cannot believe Wright Phillips wasnt picked, but then again, it shows that being a benchwarmer, even at Chelsea, means that i hard for you to impress. He almost deserves not to go after leaving to Stamford Bridge.

England now look very soft up front with Rooney and Owen both in trouble, Crouch who will probably get a lot of gametime and.... Walcott??? Surely Sven couldnt seriously see himself throwing Walcott on over the likes of Bent, Defoe, or even Robbie Fowler? OK, he may be a future prospect for England but the world cup is no time to blood unproven youngsters, especially when as a manager you wont have a future with the national team. No real surprises in defence or midfield, and its good to see Green also included in the squad as third keeper.

 

[Benny_]

Based on current form, Robbie should've been picked. Based on medium term team development, it should've been Defoe. Walcott hasn't even so much as played a Premiership match, so picking him is really pretty nutty. I'm guessing that if England by some miracle secure top place before the last group match, Walcott might get a run on to see if he can hack it on the biggest stage. If he, by a second miracle does manage something eye-catching, don't be surprised to see him feature in the remainder of England's matches as a late impact player. Essentially, Sven has picked him as a like-for-like substitute for Rooney in the likely event that Rooney doesn't recover from the injury in time. A truly special playmaker who can create something out of nothing is hard to come by, and I guess Eriksson wants at least one player with the ability to do that when the chips are down.

What's most disappointing about his selection for me though, is his lack of faith in Gerrard to produce the goods as the playmaker. I know I'm looking at this through Red-tinted lenses here, but aside from Rooney, Gerrard is by far England's best and most influential attacking 2/3 player.. when given the go ahead to shine. He's shown it time and time again for Liverpool in almost every position you could want him for. He can be England's Roy Keane, Joaquin, Nedved or even Cafu (he's played spectacularly everytime at RB too), but Sven insists on using him as a Makelele. It's a travesty.

 

[LMF^^]

i'm torn here. he scores goals for fun, but he is an absolute scumbag cunt. would i want him at spurs?

If he had really said that then itz just a disgrace, can't do such a thing to yo fellow team mate. I'd like to see him at a club wit money, so we can cash in, like Inter or Madrid or somethin.

Gerrard playin at RB can only be az good az Alan Smith at midfield. I can understand why Sven keep usin him in the holdin role, there are no one better in England to do that job, at least not better than what Gerrard can do.

 

[Benny_]

Gerrard playin at RB can only be az good az Alan Smith at midfield. I can understand why Sven keep usin him in the holdin role, there are no one better in England to do that job, at least not better than what Gerrard can do.

He's scored 20 goals from RM this year for Liverpool.. so I don't really know what you're on about. Gerrard has quite frankly been SHIT for England in the holding role, the fact that he's a good tackler doesn't make him a holding CM. He's too indisciplined to just sit, tackle and pass ala Makelele.

 

[LMF^^]

Gerrard played 15 gamez at RB thiz season...? I find that hard to believe. 21 goalz from 50+ gamez iz a fair return, considerin he did score 5 goalz against TNS. Gerrard don't necessarily have to be the holdin CM, he and Lampard can operate the midfield in tandum, should they get the right cohesion goin. Sven might be lookin into that. Well England did play pretty well wit Gerrard and Lampard in the middle against France in the openin game of Euro 2004, other than that back pass. There are some good signz there.

 

[Benny_]

Typo

 

[copious]

Upfront options for England definately look soft. Wheres the muscle? Rooney wont feature for a few games and Crouch, while he holds the ball up well isnt gonna bang in the goals against World Cup defense. Walcott was a surprise, but I think Aaron Lennon is a big enough gamble as it is. I think they are missing a second out and out striker in either Andy John, Bent or Marlon Harewood.

Good to see Nigel Reo Coker on standby as well, he's deserved it.

 

[sweet_as]

The Socceroos side is to be announced tomorrow live on SBS at 11am, will be interesting to see who is named