2011/2012 English Premier League thread

[Locke]

If cringing or making fun of Arsenal stopped being fun, then I didnt get the memo....

Barcelona vice president Josep Maria Bartomeu has admitted that Cesc Fabregas is probably worth the £53 million Arsenal initially demanded, after watching some of his early performances for the Spanish side.

the Spanish champions initially put off by Arsenal's valuation of their prized asset.

After much wrangling a deal worth an initial £25 million was agreed this summer, with that figure potentially rising by a further £10 million based on various incentives and clauses. Fabregas has since made a great start to his career at Camp Nou, and Bartomeu has now acknowledged that perhaps Arsenal's initial valuation was fair all along.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/st...h-L53m?cc=5901

So....Arsenal said Fabregas was worth 53M, Barca disagreed, Arsenal came down in price to 25M + 10M in clauses. The Barca comes around and says, with a straight face mind you, 'Arsenal were right and Fabregas is worth far more than we paid.'

Wow. Theres that Barca arrogance at its finest.

[d_phaneuf]

not getting any better for Arsenal

Thomas Vermaelen has delivered a devastating new injury blow to Arsenal.

The Belgian defender underwent surgery in Stockholm on his left Achilles yesterday – and could be out for two months.

It is a hammer blow for Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger after losing midfielder Jack Wilshere for up to three months.

MirrorFootball revealed last week Arsenal were worried about Vermaelen’s latest injury which is on the other leg to the Achilles injury which kept him out for almost all of last season.



Read more: http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news...#ixzz1X7vfelvn
Sign up for MirrorFootball's Morning Spy newsletter Register here

[Montana Moe]

So much for the deadline deals adding depth.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by Locke

So....Arsenal said Fabregas was worth 53M, Barca disagreed, Arsenal came down in price to 25M + 10M in clauses. The Barca comes around and says, with a straight face mind you, 'Arsenal were right and Fabregas is worth far more than we paid.'

Wow. Theres that Barca arrogance at its finest.

Pretty sad state the sport is in, when a team can use their public negotiating, media tactics and teammates in the way Barca did to lower the price.
They turned the whole thing into a distracting soap opera and even trying to sell Cesc elsewhere for market value was not a possibility.
They actually destroyed any market value he would have had.

I know I sound like a bitter Gooner, but this sort of things happens way too much in the sport, and is quite embarrassing.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

Pretty sad state the sport is in, when a team can use their public negotiating, media tactics and teammates in the way Barca did to lower the price.
They turned the whole thing into a distracting soap opera and even trying to sell Cesc elsewhere for market value was not a possibility.
They actually destroyed any market value he would have had.

I know I sound like a bitter Gooner, but this sort of things happens way too much in the sport, and is quite embarrassing.

Rivalries and affiliations aside, I agree completely.

We're going to see the entire sport become entirely top-heavy. The top clubs are going to be the only ones that can afford the top players and they're going to use their reputations to lure them away and not pay the developing club a fair price.

[d_phaneuf]

I think it's just moving closer to a European super league

[Addick]

Originally Posted by Locke

Rivalries and affiliations aside, I agree completely.

We're going to see the entire sport become entirely top-heavy. The top clubs are going to be the only ones that can afford the top players and they're going to use their reputations to lure them away and not pay the developing club a fair price.

I can see what you mean but Cesc was a bit different as there was a hometown discount since everyone knew there was only one destination. However, Real Madrid use to rely on their repuation very heavily a few years back when they had a president that loved to unsettle potential transfer targets. I can see clubs acting like that in the future.

[d_phaneuf]

"Sneijder is not the ideal replacement for Scholes," Ferguson said. "He's a fantastic player but he was not who we were looking for to replace Scholes. Only Xavi and Iniesta are comparable to Scholes."

[Locke]

Originally Posted by diane_phaneuf

"Sneijder is not the ideal replacement for Scholes," Ferguson said. "He's a fantastic player but he was not who we were looking for to replace Scholes. Only Xavi and Iniesta are comparable to Scholes."

I'm sure Paul Scholes is the greatest midfielder to ever play the game, just like I'm sure Sneijder not being bought by United had nothing at all to do with his outrageous wage demands.

[d_phaneuf]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/14825620.stm

good news for anyone who doesn't cheer for Chelsea/Man City/Barcelona/Real Madrid

[d_phaneuf]

http://www.rafabenitez.com

I want to make a joke about it, but the articles I read on it by him were very well done

[Locke]

Originally Posted by diane_phaneuf

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/14825620.stm

good news for anyone who doesn't cheer for Chelsea/Man City/Barcelona/Real Madrid

That is good news. The way things are going right now are just completely unsustainable. Clearly City dont have to care about pretty well anything if the only consequence is monetary. They'd just pay the fines and keep on keeping on.

Originally Posted by diane_phaneuf

http://www.rafabenitez.com

I want to make a joke about it, but the articles I read on it by him were very well done

That is well done, although something about it just seems awkward.

[united]

Haha when I heard that this morning I was pretty excited for some laughing material but it isn't half bad yet.
I'm sure Rafa has been counting down the days until he gets to stalk SAF again, though, so hopefully he produces some more classics like his rant of 2009.

[Locke]

"Look out 'Arry!!!"

Abbey Clancy has joked that she wanted to kill Harry Redknapp after husband Peter Crouch was forced to join Stoke on transfer deadline day.

Speaking to The Mirror, the model, who has recently given birth to the couple's first child added: 'I saw Jamie (Redknapp) and I told him: "I want to kill your dad". He laughed. It'll be fine, I'm sure Stoke's quite nice.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...ke-switch.html

If your husband could score a free header from 8 feet away he wouldnt have had to leave London....

[Barnet Flame]

Originally Posted by diane_phaneuf

I think it's just moving closer to a European super league

Sadly, I agree with that.

I look forward to the great fan rivalries of Man City v PSG usurping the insignificant domestic rivalries such as Liverpool/Everton, Rangers/Celtic and Spurs/Arsenal.

[d_phaneuf]

nsfw language on the pictures

Spoiler!

[Barnet Flame]

Originally Posted by diane_phaneuf

nsfw language on the pictures

Spoiler!

For this alone, I love the guy. Pretty convinced he could have taken all of them on, and decked 'em.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14828585

The guy is a top quality nutter.

[Locke]

A Premier League footballer who failed a drugs test and then made a 'multi-million pound' transfer without the buying club being informed of the result will be named and shamed in a TV investigation on Monday night.

A special episode of Channel 4 show Dispatches, which focuses on the use of recreational and performance-enhancing drugs in football, claims the player tested positive for cocaine.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/st...-shame?cc=5901

Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has confirmed the club are looking into an interview by Fernando Torres in which the benched striker appeared to criticise his own team-mates.

Torres, who has scored just one goal since his £50 million transfer from Liverpool in January, spoke to the official website of Spain's Primera Liga and appeared to hint at a lack of service from Chelsea's "older" and "very slow" players in an English translation that later appeared on his personal website.

Villas-Boas sought an explanation from Torres, who claimed his words were not translated accurately on his own website.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/st...erview?cc=5901

Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has revealed he has been mocked by Borussia Dortmund's players ahead of the Champions League clash between the sides.

Szczesny's Poland team-mates Lukasz Piszczek, Robert Lewandowski and Jakub Blaszczykowski, all of whom play for Dortmund, have teased him following the Gunners' 8-2 hammering at Manchester United last month.

Wenger has revealed he will lean on new signing Per Mertesacker, a Germany international, for advice ahead of the Dortmund fixture. "He knows the Dortmund stadium well and knows German football. He talks and communicates with the team and when a German communicates, you listen," Wenger said.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/st...taunts?cc=5901

Damn rights.

[Barnet Flame]

Too bad the German doesn't tell him to stop playing 4-3-3 because it looks like a 4-6-0.

[kdogg]

Originally Posted by Locke

Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has confirmed the club are looking into an interview by Fernando Torres in which the benched striker appeared to criticise his own team-mates.

Torres, who has scored just one goal since his £50 million transfer from Liverpool in January, spoke to the official website of Spain's Primera Liga and appeared to hint at a lack of service from Chelsea's "older" and "very slow" players in an English translation that later appeared on his personal website.

Villas-Boas sought an explanation from Torres, who claimed his words were not translated accurately on his own website.

This Torres thing just gets more and more comical.

At first, I thought he was taking this well. But since he is starting to place blame on his teammates, clearly he is not.

The first game of the season, he looked good. The last 3, he has been bad. He touch and vision have been terrible.

He is like Tiger, just broken right now. 1 goal in 22 games says a lot. Will he ever recover???