Henry leaving Arsenal (for real this time)

[Akileese]

Originally Posted by Mimirswell

Yeah, ~5.6 million pounds a year is reasonable especially considering the skill of Tevez. The man almost single handedly saved West Ham with seven goals in the last ten games, including the lone goal against Man U that prevented regulation. Put him in a dynamic offense like Man U and his threat potential will rise considerably.

I really don't think so. I believe he'll be a small fish in a big fucking lake (I know the analogy is pond, but it doesn't fit with the United players). What made him special on West Ham was that he was a #1 option. You've now got Rooney, Saha, Ronaldo, AND Tevez? With an undisclosed fee to be payed (probably a good fucking chunk that will push it close to 50 million pounds), that's a lot of money to pay for a guy who isn't even going to be a top 3 option for atleast 2 or 3 years.

Rooney and Ronaldo are both incredibly young. United will refuse to sell either of them (especially Rooney considering the media and fan backlash they would face from selling a young top draw English striker).

He had a fairly average season for the most part until (and I will agree), he pretty much pulled them out of relegation.

Surprise surprise, Chelsea and Man U. are spending hundreds of fucking millions and everyone else is picking up the scraps. At least United have been spending smart money (well, up until getting Tevez). Chelsea just throws money around for the sake of it. Sheva is fucking worthless in England. He's too slow and doesn't have the pace. The only thing he's good for is taking the attention off of Drogba and allowing him to get free and score more. Now that teams realize that Sheva has lost a few steps, they'll focus more on Drogba and give Sheva more space. They should of tried to sell him while they still could. There were plenty of decent strikers available (not just the near untouchable and overpriced superstars that they gun for. See Malouda).

I really don't see how United will be able to find a ton of minutes for Tevez unless you play him over Saha, which would be a huge mistake.

One thing I will say, this is NOTHING compared to what Bayern Munich have swooped up. How the hell can teams allow them to lose basically just owen Hargreaves and end up with all this?


Jun 2007 Franck Ribery to Bayern € 25m
Jun 2007 Miroslav Klose to Bayern € 15m
May 2007 Luca Toni to Bayern € 11m
Mar 2007 Jose Ernesto Sosa to Bayern € 10m
May 2007 Marcell Jansen to Bayern € 9m

Yeah, those are the 5 biggest transfers of the off-season. Notice something? Yeah. Paying 9 million for jansen and 10 million for Sosa. Not to mention the awesome 11 million for an AGING Luca Toni. Klose is a nice addition because he and Podolski mesh very well together as they showed in the World Cup. Ribery is also a great addition and I was fairly pissed Arsenal didn't get him, but much like with Tevez and United, 25 million for Ribery is a lot of money for a guy who is pretty much going to be complementary to the team.

I just wish these big teams would start spending smart and not just try to sign up players for the sake of it. Bayern pretty much signed Ribery to keep him away from other teams which is a shame.

[Ossoi]

Originally Posted by Gwen Rockpounder

I'm a Nottingham Forest supporter so a) I'm a neutral for the top teams(except hating the Car Thieves )

As a Forest fan hating Liverpool must be easy after the '88 Team gave you a masterclass in total football...still have that game on tape and the performance really is on a par with any team in world football history

[Ossoi]

Originally Posted by Akileese

. No one player is worth this much (well, maybe , or Fabregas).

ha.

[Akileese]

Originally Posted by Ossoi

ha.

What? Fabregas played all but like, 2 games all season for arsenal and not only that, but I heard from more than a few Madrid fans that Real was willing to offer 30 million pounds for him at one point last year (they're still coveting him now, but there's almost no chance of Fabregas leaving).

He's a young talent with a ton of stamina and he's a great passer. He's never really had any health problems and on top of that, he's probably still 3 or 4 years away from reaching his prime. There aren't many players in the world like that (I probably forgot a few), but Drogba, Ronaldo, and Fabregas are the first three from the prem I can think of. Out of those players, only Drogba is primarily a goal scorer (Cristiano Ronaldo is more of a setup man right now, but he can score too).

If you disagree with me, that's fine, just give me some valid reasons. I'm not so stubborn that I'll refuse to bargain with a valid arguement.

[Mimirswell]

I wouldn't compare Drogba to Ronaldo in terms of worth, he's a great player but not in the same league (price-wise) as Ronaldo for a couple reasons. First and foremost, Drogba is 29 and Ronaldo is 23, there is a lot of growth left for the latter player but the former will be declining in fitness and has peaked (or near it) in talent. Second, Ronaldo is virtually an equal threat to Drogba in scoring but much more versatile overall (especially in assists).

Stats for Premier league 06/07:

• Ronaldo - (winger)30+4 app+sub, 17 goals, 10 assists.
• Drogba - (striker)32+4, 20, 4
• Fabregas (midfielder) 34+4, 2, 14

There is also the positional difference that should be factored in regarding goals scored with Ronaldo primarily a winger and Drogba as a full time Striker. Overall, Drogba is a great player, clearly one of the greatest in the PL but not really "worth" what Ronaldo is to a prospective club, not even close.

[Kiely]

Originally Posted by Akileese

You've now got Rooney, Saha, Ronaldo, AND Tevez? With an undisclosed fee to be payed (probably a good fucking chunk that will push it close to 50 million pounds), that's a lot of money to pay for a guy who isn't even going to be a top 3 option for atleast 2 or 3 years.

Surprise surprise, Chelsea and Man U. are spending hundreds of fucking millions and everyone else is picking up the scraps. At least United have been spending smart money (well, up until getting Tevez). Chelsea just throws money around for the sake of it.

I really don't see how United will be able to find a ton of minutes for Tevez unless you play him over Saha, which would be a huge mistake.

I just wish these big teams would start spending smart and not just try to sign up players for the sake of it.

Firstly; Saha is not what I would prefer to call a top striker. I wince whenever he has the ball to save me time, rightly so. I think Tevez coming in would be an important component. Ronaldo isn't a striker and incase you forgot we were having a bit of crisis last season with alot of our players being injured. This played apart into why he's gotten in alot more blood so we don't end up having patchwork teams for the FA / Champions semi/final's again, (although it was freakishly unlucky to have our entire top defenders team injured)

If they manage to get Tevez, which they will, it'l mean they have spent around £80Million! (Nani, Anderson, Hargreaves, Tevez, Kuszczak) Why on earth are you insulting chelsea when they have only gotten Malouda this season? If anything you should just point and laugh at Alex as he has a squad full of people who will sit on the bench with £15million price tags on them.
Edit- I'l agree that Chelsea don't spend the money wisely in the past, it's just this summer they have yet to live up to the name. But equally with MU is that Nani, Andersson, Hargreaves & Tevez are not yet proven their worth.

Not that I'm complaining. I enjoy united since I was a kipper. When Gigg's / Scholes leave I'll be saddened, but it's inevitably soon. Nani & Andersson & hargreaves better dress to impress otherwise it's another famous waste of money from Alex.

[Akileese]

Hargreaves is typically a defensive midfielder so he'll be a nice addition. Also, most of the guys they signed are pretty young which is why they're unproven. I like their signings for the most part. I loved the Hargreaves signing a lot more than the impending Tevez signing. Also remember, West ham doesn't HAVE to sell him. They retain his rights completely so while a deal is likely, it certainly isn't set in stone.

Also, the reason United faired so well in the league last year was due to their LACK OF INJURIES. They suffered a few injuries in the tail end, but that Milan team was playing for nothing other than Champions League. By the time the group stages were over, they were already 30 points out of first place in Serie A. They focused all their talent on qualifying for Europe (not a problem considering the amount of lackluster teams in Serie A) and winning Europe (also not as hard because United were in the FA Cup and attempting to win the league. They were out of Carling Cup thanks to the lost to Southend (probably the funniest thing I saw all year because it still makes me smile).

I'm pretty happy with Arsenal's moves for the most part. They're a very young team and getting rid of Henry pretty much signified that we were in a place to rebuild. This coming season is the first time in a long time I'm worried about our chances of qualifying for Champions League.

[Zorle]

Ill have to agree so far I'm ok with what Arsenal is doing. Hopefully they will finish up and sign Sagna. Im very excited to see how "DuDu" Da Silva will fair. Last season watching Arsenal waste chance after chance in front of goal was brutal. Hopefully DuDu is the skillful goalpoacher we need.

Arsenal also needs another winger badly, especially if the Freddie rumor is true and he is leaving. I really wish they did follow through on the Babel rumor even tho he is supposedly linked with liverpool now.

I wonder how long the Tevez thing is gonna get dragged on since the FA is trying to step in and make sure West Ham gets all the money.

[Akileese]

It's gonna end going to court. The Tevez thing is going to end VERY badly.

[Mimirswell]

It will end fine for West Ham, Manchester United and Tevez. West Ham until the PL intervened were pretty much going to let Tevez go, they got him for three extra games than they had counted on and that saved them from Regulation. The Premier League on the other hand has to fight this tooth and nail and West Ham loses nothing letting them try. If the PL let the matter drop without outside intervention, it would be tantamount to saying that Tevez was playing illegally the last three games of the season. Subsequently, Sheffield United would sue them for allowing Tevez to play those extra three games and resulting in West Ham barely edging out Sheffield United and as a result, a ton of money. Most likely, this will go to the courts and the courts will allow the deal. The PL will apologize to Sheffield United but say they did everything properly. Sheffield Utd. might sue anyway but it won't matter, they won't have much of a case.

[Ossoi]

Originally Posted by Akileese

No one player is worth this much (well, maybe Drogba, Ronaldo, or Fabregas).

Whilst Fabregas is a great talent there are a number of players better than him that you fail to mention, Kaka, Gerrard, Ronaldhino, Messi, Eto'o and Fabregas certainly does not fall in the same bracket as these guys, hence my laughter..The fact that you compared someone that scored 2 goals with the seasons 2 highest goalscorers was also hilarious

[Akileese]

Originally Posted by Ossoi

Whilst Fabregas is a great talent there are a number of players better than him that you fail to mention, Kaka, Gerrard, Ronaldhino, Messi, Eto'o and Fabregas certainly does not fall in the same bracket as these guys, hence my laughter..The fact that you compared someone that scored 2 goals with the seasons 2 highest goalscorers was also hilarious

Fabregas also can't legally drink in the US. Everyone else you mentioned is in their mid to late 20s and Eto'o is a headcase. messi and Kaka I won't argue. Gerrard is a maybe because I've seen him choke in plenty of big stages and same for Ronaldinho. Messi on the other hand scored big goal after big goal. My bad for forgetting him.

As someone who watches every Arsenal game believe me, our midfield would be in utter shambles without him. He was much more vital to our season than you thought. Without him, we don't finish in the top 4 and it's Bolton that's going to the Champions League qualifier.

Goals aren't nearly as important as ball control and setting the pace. That's what he does. If he does indeed stay with that team, he's their captain of the future. That being said, he probably ends up at Real next off-season.

[Ossoi]

Originally Posted by Akileese

Gerrard is a maybe because I've seen him choke in plenty of big stages .

youve just confirmed for me you dont know half as much about football as you think you do.

Istanbul 2005, Gerrard inspires and leads Liverpool from 3-0 down to 3-3 and an eventual win on penalties vs AC Milan, scores 1, wins penalty for the 3rd and converts penalty in the shootout.

FA Cup Final 2006 : 94th Minute, hits the goal of the season to score the equaliser and converts penalty in the shootout.

[Grooverider]

Except, Akileese, it isn't bolton going to the champions league. It's Spurs.

ta thou!

[Akileese]

Originally Posted by Grooverider

Except, Akileese, it isn't bolton going to the champions league. It's Spurs.

ta thou!

Meh, either way, we finished pretty well clear. I thought Bolton was 5th. Either way, IDK, I like Gerrard and all, I'm just not real high on him. He has one of the best shots in the game though.