Would not be shocked at all, always thought Man City would go looking for a bigger name and he's probably been forced out.
Official Football Discussion Thread 2012/13
- Thread starter AZUCAR!
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As many people may know, AC Milan accepted an offer of around €65 for Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva from PSG the other day due to them needing the money. Well Silva has officially signed with PSG for a reported fee of €42 million which makes him the worlds most expensive defender. I'm sure Ibrahimovic will join PSG in the coming days once personal terms have finally been reached. But for me, PSG are building a team that can compete in this seasons Champions League (I think they can make it to at least the QR Finals). They missed out on the Ligue 1 title last season by 3 points to Montpellier and if they don't win the title this season upcoming i'll be totally shocked.
Looking ahead to the weekend the stand out fixtures for me are Newcastle VS. Spurs two attractive sides one of which are in a transition period, Reading VS. Stoke and Everton VS. Man Utd. Nice to see that for the first time in ages Utd have not lucked out with an easy home fixture to start off.
As for my team Villa it is hard to call the trip to West Ham as they are a newly promoted side and it is hard to predict how they will play certainly should be a good crowd at Upton Park for the opening weekend but then that could work in our favour if we stay tight and play well on the break. I will go for a draw which is fine by me to start off with. I am happy with Lambert as the new manager certainly the football will be better and he is good at working with a low budget and should have some fresh ideas, but it will be a rebuilding process for sure and we have some key injury concerns.
As for my team Villa it is hard to call the trip to West Ham as they are a newly promoted side and it is hard to predict how they will play certainly should be a good crowd at Upton Park for the opening weekend but then that could work in our favour if we stay tight and play well on the break. I will go for a draw which is fine by me to start off with. I am happy with Lambert as the new manager certainly the football will be better and he is good at working with a low budget and should have some fresh ideas, but it will be a rebuilding process for sure and we have some key injury concerns.
Villa should do well this year, especially since Lambert's there now. I can see Villa getting a top 10 finish come the end of the season.
As for us, we're still after Van Persie. We've got Kagawa, who's an awesome player. Scholes is with us for the start of the season, in what will probably be his last full season before he retires again. Hopefully Tom Cleverley can stay away from injuries this season. And some other good news is that Darren Fletcher made a 30 min appearance in a friendly against Aberdeen, so he'll be like a new signing for us. We've not had the best of luck with injuries to our defenders this pre-season, which has left us a little light at the back. Hopefully Fergie can address this issue and perhaps bring in a defensive player, or we'll ultimately probably end up using one of our youngsters.
As for us, we're still after Van Persie. We've got Kagawa, who's an awesome player. Scholes is with us for the start of the season, in what will probably be his last full season before he retires again. Hopefully Tom Cleverley can stay away from injuries this season. And some other good news is that Darren Fletcher made a 30 min appearance in a friendly against Aberdeen, so he'll be like a new signing for us. We've not had the best of luck with injuries to our defenders this pre-season, which has left us a little light at the back. Hopefully Fergie can address this issue and perhaps bring in a defensive player, or we'll ultimately probably end up using one of our youngsters.
Can't blame you, but I wouldn't rule anything out. After the last two seasons, most are writing Liverpool off a top four spot, but I believe Rodgers could do wonders with the club. He's a new name with fresh ideas, unlike Hodgson and Dalglish, so I'm looking at your club to be a threat to the Top 4. After all, if Liverpool turned five or six of their draws last season into wins then they would've made the Top 4 I'm quite sure. An extra goal here or there and there you go.
My Arsenal Summary
I'm pretty pleased with Arsenal's business so far in the transfer window, but I hope it hasn't ended there. These are our ins and outs thus far for anybody that's wondering:
IN
Lukas Podolski (from Cologne for about £11m)
Olivier Giroud (from Montpellier for about £13m)
Santi Cazorla (from Malaga for about £16.5m)
OUT
Carlos Vela (Sold to Real Sociedad for about £6m)
Manuel Almunia (Free Transfer to Watford due to being Released)
Denilson (Season Loan to Sao Paulo)
Joel Campbell (Season Loan to Real Betis)
Benik Afobe (Season Loan to Bolton)
Ryo Miyaichi (Season Loan to Wigan)
Lukas Podolski (from Cologne for about £11m)
Olivier Giroud (from Montpellier for about £13m)
Santi Cazorla (from Malaga for about £16.5m)
OUT
Carlos Vela (Sold to Real Sociedad for about £6m)
Manuel Almunia (Free Transfer to Watford due to being Released)
Denilson (Season Loan to Sao Paulo)
Joel Campbell (Season Loan to Real Betis)
Benik Afobe (Season Loan to Bolton)
Ryo Miyaichi (Season Loan to Wigan)
Three quality buys that can all fit straight into the first team. Wenger's line-up consists of 4 Defenders, 2 Centre/Defensive Mids, 1 Attacking Mid, 2 Wingers and 1 Striker, and the formation was used for all 38 Premier League games last season and looks to be the same again this season. Cazorla would be my pick over Rosicky and Ramsey for the Attacking Mid position, Podolski can play Left Wing with Gervinho or Walcott on the opposite side, which leaves Giroud as the Striker (although I'd pick Van Persie over him first). If Van Persie leaves, probably go with Podolski as the Striker with both Walcott and Gervinho as our Wingers, but Giroud could easily handle the role himself.
- I'm happy to see Carlos Vela sold, but only for his benefit. Always saw potential in him but he never made it into the starting line-up, so a move away is great for him and I hope he plays well at Sociedad again.
- Big fall from grace for Manuel Almunia, but he was never getting a new contract no matter how good he once was.
- From what I've read, Arsenal tried to sort a permanent deal out with Sao Paulo for Denilson, but nothing could be worked out so a quick Season Loan once again was the way to go. He'll hopefully be sold next season.
- I was keen to see what Joel Campbell could do this season, but unfortunately he again couldn't get a work permit and has to go out on loan again. Looking forward for the day he pulls on an Arsenal shirt, which'll hopefully be next season.
- Happy to see Benik Afobe land a solid Season Loan with Bolton, who has proven a reliable club for Arsenal for successful loan stints for Jack Wilshere then Ryo Miyaichi. Hopefully Miyaichi will have another successful loan spell at another Premier League club, but both players have bright futures.
I'm hoping we continue to buy as we still have a few areas to strengthen:
- Goalkeeper: Szczesny is easily our first choice, but the second is probably in the air. Fabianski and Mannone have both played more than Szczesny in the Pre-season matches, but everytime they've come into the first team in the past they've made costly errors. I really hope they have better showings when played, but if not Wenger may look to buy a top keeper or elevate Damian Martinez from the Reserves, who Wenger rates very highly and is the reason why we're not replacing Almunia.
- Defenders: If we can limit the amount of injuries to our defenders, we'll be fine. In the Centre Back position we have Vermaelen/Koscielny/Mertesacker who're all strong, but we could use a better fourth option as Djourou & Squillaci are not good enough. Kyle Bartley is back from two loan spells at Rangers and is in the first team, so he could be that fourth option. At Right Back, we don't have Sagna until the end of September, so Jenkinson & Yennaris are really going to have to stand up and show what they've got. At Left Back, we've got Gibbs fit which is great, but I'm not a fan of Santos. He's decent when played in an advanced role at Left Wing, but defensively he is bad. Wouldn't mind if he's used as a Winger more often, but if that's to happen we'd need to buy another Left Back. Ignasi Miquel has played well there as a cover, but he's primarily a Centre Back so that's not an option. Possible CB or LB buys, but nothing desperate.
- Midfielders: We're fine in the midfield with Cazorla/Rosicky/Ramsey as our Attacking Mids and Wilshere/Song/Arteta/Diaby/Coquelin/Frimpong as our Centre/Defensive Mids. If we sell Song to Barcelona then we'd obviously need to buy, but other than that we're good. We could be getting Nuri Sahin on a Season Loan from Real Madrid, which would be a great addition.
- Wingers: Another top Winger to really push Walcott and Gervinho is needed. Oxlade-Chamberlain should push them but he's the only other option. Miyaichi needed further first-team experience and is therefore out on a Season Loan, whereas Arshavin could be sold, but if he stays I really can't see him playing like he used to for us. So yeah, definitely on the Wing is a place we need to strengthen.
- Strikers: As it stands, Van Persie is still at the club, so right now we have him, Podolski and Giroud up front. It then moves down to Chamakh, Bendtner & Chu-Young who either have one foot out the door (Bendtner) or are into their final season at the club and final chance to prove they should ke kept, but it's tough to see them staying any longer if Afobe & Campbell have great loan spells. No need to strengthen here, in fact the selling should continue after Vela. Sell Bendtner, sell Chu-Young, replace Van Persie.
Going into our match this weekend against Sunderland, we have Bacary Sagna, Jack Wilshere, Tomas Rosicky and Emmanuel Frimpong out injured. There's also a doubt over Theo Walcott and also Aaron Ramsey will be rested, but everybody else will be fit enough (yes, even Diaby). If Walcott is out then my starting line-up would be this:
GK: Wojciech Szczesny
RB: Carl Jenkinson/Nico Yennaris (can't decide, either will do)
CB: Laurent Koscielny
CB: Thomas Vermaelen [c]
LB: Kieran Gibbs
DM: Alex Song
CM: Mikel Arteta
AM: Santi Cazorla
RW: Gervinho
ST: Olivier Giroud
LW: Lukas Podolski
SUBS: Fabianski, Jenkinson/Yennaris, Mertesacker, Santos, Coquelin, Diaby, Oxlade-Cham, Van Persie (I know there's 8 instead of 7, but that'll do).
RB: Carl Jenkinson/Nico Yennaris (can't decide, either will do)
CB: Laurent Koscielny
CB: Thomas Vermaelen [c]
LB: Kieran Gibbs
DM: Alex Song
CM: Mikel Arteta
AM: Santi Cazorla
RW: Gervinho
ST: Olivier Giroud
LW: Lukas Podolski
SUBS: Fabianski, Jenkinson/Yennaris, Mertesacker, Santos, Coquelin, Diaby, Oxlade-Cham, Van Persie (I know there's 8 instead of 7, but that'll do).
I wonder how close I'll be with that line-up and the subs.
Yeah I expect us to finish roughly half way up the table and after the last couple of seasons that would do me a decent cup run would be good too.
Where Utd need to buy the most is in midfeld I think they just lack that play maker who can be the difference in key games and who can take them from being a good team to a great team. Van Persie would be a good buy as he would give them something different up front and take the pressure of Rooney.
A lot of money for an injury prone 29 year old who had one year left on his contract. Granted, he's quality.
He's a judas bastard and we can only hope he gets dogs abuse when they come back to the Emirates in November.
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