Same thing happened to me with Taylor. Disasters all round. I'd banked on Everton thrashing QPR and Chelsea at least keeping a clean sheet. If Man City don't do the business tomorrow I'm fucked.

Bloody Hilario

It was highly amusing hearing that Nasri's transfer has fallen through. Cheer up Arsenal fans, at least you know your price hike is helping pay someone who doesnt even want to be there :)

Arsenal will just have to accept that they're now just another feeder club for the uber rich ones. They're basing everything on Wiltshere but if he turns into the player they hope he'll just be bought up by Man City, Chelsea, Real Madrid or Barcelona. Wenger's whole philosophy is about grass roots team building but the game now makes that impossible unless you're rich enough to keep the spine of your team intact.

Im a Spurs fan, and in the last 5 years or so we've sold Berbatov for 35 Million, Carrick for 28 Million, Keane for 19 Million (how good does that look now), and might still sell Modric for 30 Million plus.

You kinda have to find a moment where all that good business stops being about money and about pushing up. We beat Man City at the end of 2010 cos we were a better team, and if we sell Modric to Chelsea we will take an even bigger step back. He obviously wants Champions League football, so if we keep him, and we get Diarra, we had better kick Arsenal out of the top 4 this year.

I'd say Liverpool pose a far greater threat to you getting into the top 4 this season than Arsenal.

good match and a good result for both teams although Leeds should have won it really. own goal and a missed penalty, the defense lets us down again.

I'd have to agree.

how's everybody feeling now after three weeks? Can't wait for the Man U Man City showdown. As much as I love Liverpool I'd be fool if I didn't admit these two are clearly the top of the league. Reminds me of Yankees/Red Soxs back here. Both bought their championships too. What kills me is I predicted Dzecko for a good year and then don't draft him. Oh well I'll have to settle for Ashley Young's performance today. If dam Surez would settle down he'd have about 6 or 7 goals already....Dam Rooney looks sharp. Now I see why everyone was praising him. World Cup and early last year he looked like shit.

The 8-2 eased the pain slightly from getting pasted 5-1 at home. I cant wait for the first Manchester Derby

While I really like Sammy Nasri he should be ashamed of himself for the performances he put in for Arsenal on his way out the door.
Given that the Mans are above the rest besides looking forward to their derby, I also can't wait for Liverpool vs. Chelsea in the battle for 3rd. Amazing the speed Man U. posses this year. I expect Vidic to regain his first 11 spot but I'm not so sure about Ferdinand. Little Pea is also going to have his trouble putting Welbeck back on the sidelines. Where oh where did Cleveley come from? I'm impressed with his play as much as anyone on their squad.

When Rooney's head is in the right place he's almost unplayable, but the thing that this season is showing so far is just what an awesome manager Fergie is. On paper this isn't a great Man U side but he has some way of always turning what he has at his disposable into a totally ruthless unit.

Liverpool's only problem right now seems to be in knowing what to do with Carroll. He doesn't seem to have gelled with Suarez at all. It increasingly looks like they can't play together but Carroll so far hasn't shown any reason why Dalglish should ever consider him over Suarez. And the potential signing of Craig Bellamy - a similar kind of player to Suarez - seems to even further marginalise Carroll, who I'd not be surprised to see put up for sale (albeit at a loss) in the next transfer window.

Of course the real drama is that surrounding the almost unbelievable decline of Arsenal. Wenger has until midnight tonight to rebuild and still shows no signs of giving way to the higher echelons of the transfer market. The way it's looking so far (and it's obviously too early to really tell) I think they'll be lucky to be fighting for the fourth Champions League spot with a so-far very unconvincing Chelsea (how long will they be able to keep faith in Torres?). It certainly looks like the top two places will be filled by City and United with current form suggesting Liverpool for the third spot.


I agree. Also Anderson, who I never rated before but who seems to have really grown into his position. Again, love him or hate him, Fergie definitely knows how to get the most out of a young squad.

I have to agree with you on Fergie. At first I just thought him to be a manager who's owners bought him the best players and that was it. The way he has these young guys playing and the fact that so many of them are in their first year with the club is amazing. They've gone from a defensive minded squad to an all out attack unit this year. Anderson is twice the player he was last year. The thing that really impresses me about Rooney is he's all over the field. He comes back on defense to help goes to the middle to get the ball and take control always willing to pass and he just has speed to burn. I like how tough he is and he rarely goes to the ground looking for a phantom call. My man Suerez has shown a knack to do this and it cost him last week. On a legit foul the refs just said forget you're always falling. Carroll's great in the box because of his size but he's too slow and not a great dribbler of the ball from what I've seen. He is going to go down as a flop unless he figures out some ways to contribute. It isn't like he hasn't had chances, his teammates are always trying to set him up. If I was Kenny I'd loan him out so he might go shine for a lower team and then they might get some of their money back. They seem to be building a team for speed and he's not up to that task.

Yossi Benayoun: Chelsea -> Arsenal

Mikel Arteta: Everton -> Arsenal

Craig Bellamy: Manchester City -> Liverpool

Raul Meireles: Liverpool -> Chelsea

Shaun Wright-Phillips: Manchester City -> Queens Park Rangers

Diego Forlán: Atlético Madrid -> Inter Miláno

Nicklas Bendtner: Arsenal -> Sunderland

Jermaine Jenas: Tottenham -> Aston Villa

Peter Crouch: Tottenham -> Stoke City

Joe Cole: Liverpool -> Lille

Wilson Palacios: Tottenham -> Stoke City

Bryan Ruiz: Twente -> Fulham

Royston Drenthe: Real Madrid -> Everton

Per Mertesacker: Werder Brémy -> Arsenal

Owen Hargreaves: Manchester United -> Manchester City

Guy Demel: Hamburg -> West Ham

Diego: Wolfsburg -> Atlético Madrid

Helder Postiga: Sporting Lisabon -> Real Zaragoza

Dmitrij Bulykin: Anderlech Brusel -> Ajax Amsterdam

Gueida Fofana: Le Havre -> OSC Lyon

David N'Gog: Liverpool -> Bolton Wanderers

Gael Kakuta: Chelsea -> Bolton Wanderers

Owen Hargreaves to Man City is a real surprise. I thought his injury had pretty much ended his career but he's obviously passed a medical.

Scott Parker to Spurs is a great bit of business for both sides involved. Amazed that Arsenal didn't go for him. Exactly the kind of player they need right now.

Yep, Arsenal probably invested in paper bags to cover their players' faces so that people won't see them blush.
8-2 was too much; Arsene ain't a bad coach, but the players he doesn't have to sell he loses through injury.
I wonder whether Arsenal's financial situation is good. I know some top clubs are crippled with debts, I have no idea about the Gunners. They obviously had to starve a bit after going to a new ground, new stadium.
In a world where when you can't afford to pay, you're not allowed to (a bit like life for you and me), would they be in a better position, thanks to the decline of the others?
Has Arsenal been thinking of making money through harboring young talented players - though I can't see many of them - rather than getting trophies?

From what I can gather, Arsenal's finances are fine. The issue seems more about Wenger's dislike for what he sees as the transfer market demanding inflated prices for what he believes to be average players. It's hard to disagree with him but that's how football is right now and principles (while admirable) don't win trophies.

Arsenal are fine financially
thats been Arsen's argument for a few years. They haven't won anything, but they may be one of the only "big" clubs (not just domesticaly) to be financialy sound. And they can play lovely football. And they have alot of kids. And they dont get bent over by agents

but they haven't won anything

just seen Man Utd have declared £29.7m profit, which kind of tells Arsene to shut up doesn't it?

It's gonna be interesting to see how FIFA's Fair Play thing affects matters when it comes into force. Surely Wenger's good business sense will put Arsenal at an advantage over teams like Man City and Chelsea, that are used to spending their way out of any slight problem.

It's false economics. Even with the profit, they're still over 300 million in debt.

really disappointing day if your a leeds fan, lost three players one of which is our best and replaced them with nobody. well done masterbates.

Slovakia-Armenia 0:4

embarrassment of the year.

I really expected Slovakia to finish 2nd in their group.

Felt sorry for Wales against England. It should've been a draw. England don't look any more convincing now than they did in the World Cup. That they're currently 4th in the world rankings is absurd. They're probably not the 4th best team in europe, never mind the world.

Current Fifa top ten:

1 Netherlands
2 Spain
3 Germany
4 England
5 Uruguay
6 Brazil
7 Italy
8 Portugal
9 Argentina
10 Croatia

I'd definitely say Argentina, Portugal, Brazil and Uruguay are all far better than England right now.

I expected us to comfortably win the group, given that we beaten Russia last spring in Moscow. But our coach is specific by the fact that he quickly tends to get complacent having had a couple of good matches and he needs a slap in the face like this one to have a proper motivation. Cause he's a bit of a genius when he wants to.

any idea how they come up with the placings?
surely Spain are number 1? World Champions, European Champions. shit they'd win the coppa america if they could enter

i dont think england should be a top 10 team

I don't know how they come up with it. Guess, by the looks of things. I'd probably put them in the top ten, but definitely below Brazil, Uruguay and Portugal, I just think there's a massive gulf between the top say 5 or 6 and the rest. I'd probably put England on a par with Italy or Croatia but miles behind Spain, Holland or Germany.

last time i saw brazil it was a piece of shit team undeserving of any glory. okay, it was missing a bunch of players. but argentina wasn't! it got kicked in the balls right at home. still, haven't seen brazil play well since... oh shit, it was the fog of time.

I totally agree that Brazil now aren't a shadow of what they were in the 70s and 80s. But they're still a formidable force in World football and in a match over two legs would still probably beat 90% of national teams out there. I'm as bored with hearing the whole 'samba football' name being used in reference to them now as you are, considering they haven't played that style for nearly 30 years, but I can't think of any team right now except Spain and maybe Holland who I'd back to beat them in a major tournament. Since their golden age, they've won the World Cup twice and, had Ronaldo not been unfit to play in the final against France in 1998, would've almost certainly won that one, too. I agree with your point but you have to admit that, for a team that's been living off former glories for more than a quarter of a century, that's pretty impressive.

finally some decent signings for leeds. hopefully they will work out but i have thought that so many times and been disappointed.

as for the premiership, i think its gonna be man city then man ure as i cant see anybody not conceding against the strike force man city have. alright they only drew today but they probably took it easy as its only the early stages of the champions league and they have been told not to risk any injuries.

yeah i understand that, but when is *the last time* you actually saw them play WELL? i know on paper they look awesome, but in the copa américa they finished 8th, right behind:

1. uruguay
2. paraguay
3. peru
4. venezuela
5. chile
6. colombia
7. argentina

yes, they did not lose a single game until paraguay took them out on penalties in quarterfinals, but the only game they won was against ecuador, 4-2. ecuador! they placed 10th-- (9th was costa rica, a sub-21 age team.) last were bolivia @11 and mexico @12 (mexico was also nerfed with a juvenile team). brazil tied with venezuela and paraguay on the first round.

haven't seen them play since then. they have great players and i want them to be great but i think as a team they've been sucking balls.

then again, they are playing a friendly with argentina in a little while, and maybe they've turned a corner this past couple of months (i doubt it, but eh).

I agree. Spain are currently doing a far better impression of 'Brazil' than Brazil are. But I think part of their mystique is the way they continue to confound expectations. In the last two world cups they reached the quarter and semi finals with really quite dodgy teams. They barely even qualified for the one they got to the quarters in. They have a way of grinding out results when they have to (or more likely feel motivated enough to). They're also notorious for dips in form when not playing in the world cup. In that sense, while I've seen plenty of terrible German, Spanish, English, Italian and French teams in recent world cups, I've seen plenty of average Brazil teams but never a terrible one. They may not always be pretty (they rarely are these days) but it's a brave man who writes them off, especially when it comes to the world cup.

But I would like to ban the term 'samba football' from any pundit talking about Brazil. (Just as I think it's about time they dropped the patronising 'efficient' when describing Germany.)

Edit: the biggest concern I see right now is that I can't remember a time when their players haven't at least challenged as the world's best, but I can't think of a single Brazilian player right now to compare with say Messi, Xavi, iniesta, Ronaldo, Rooney, Sneijder or Eto'o.

ronaldinho and kaká are past their prime, and neymar who is supposed to be the new star is a big fucking pussy. pato is in italy so i don't get to see him play much but in copa américa he didn't do much (nobody did). still maybe he'll be alright but he's no sneijder.

aaand the game was fucking boring. ronaldinho is back playing for his national team and the argentinians made a point of fouling him at every occasion. a couple of missed opportunities on each side and it ended 0-0. yawn. oh, and did i say neymar is a pussy? he's a big fucking pussy. maybe he's got brittle bones.

Just watching Spurs v Liverpool and as much as I love Suarez he really needs to sort out his diving.

i hope we stuff manure tomorrow. i have the feeling it will be a bit of a white wash but if they put out a youth team then even with some of the experienced people they have we could just do it, or at least get a replay.

According to Mancini, Tevez refused to come on as sub for Man City tonight. Says he'll never play for him again.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/foo...rn-Munich.html

Worth taking note if you were thinking of replacing an injured Rooney for him in Fantasy Football

i was in the pub watching City V Munich expecting it to be a good game. Turns out it was dull as tits and the Man U game was great. Arse.

RIP Gary Speed
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-15909277

I'm neither a Welshman, or a Leeds/Bolton/Newcastle/Sheffield Utd fan, but I did find the news quite heartbreaking. A great footballer and by all accounts a great man. The minutes applause at the beginning of the Swansea v Villa game put a real lump in my throat. I listened to Robbie Savage on the radio afterwards and he was in bits. A very sad day.

RIP

huge result for Palace the other day, typically our league form has plummeted since

nice to see utd go out of europe so early! ITV4 here we come!

i heard there was accusations against Lyon but what happened with Marseille?