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In any event, he's the star of the team that really locked me into football so I'm rooting for Stoke. If he's given a more similar role to his role at Blackpool. I suspect he'll do fine. Hopefully he sticks it up the Kop's collective ass at Liverpool...just like he did in 2010.
Edit to add: I'm also on my phone.
I have a smile on my face. This certainly gives AVB some options, no?
That puts Tottenham almost exactly even for the window. It's hard to be too hopeful that they've got another £20M to spend on Moutinho. On the other hand, that's a great deal for Dempsey.
...and a three-year contract for Deuce, no report of wages.
Thing I'm mildly confused by - City signed a 19-year-old defender Matija Nastasic for £10M from Fiorentina, with Stefan Savic going to Fiorentina in return. Didn't this happen after the Italian transfer window closed?
That's crazy. I know Deuce is 29, but are you trying to finish in the top four or are you trying to be Arsenal-lite and become a farm club for someone with money?
Matt, I agree. If you run the numbers taking into consideration the wages LFC shed and the new kit deal it does not add up. I'm hoping Swiss Ramble does an item on it. Maybe Karl is the sane one and the rest of us wankers are crazy.
edit to add: Dan unless I very much miss my guess the loan fee was a bribe to get Carroll to go to West Ham. I doubt LFC ever actually saw that money. They just save the wages.
On Henry and FSG's finances, I'm not overly concerned yet. Net spend puts Liverpool in the top five this summer -- United, Chelsea and maybe Sunderland are the only ones I can think of immediately (long day at work, I may be missing one or two) who ranked higher.
(Gotta catch a train, apologies for the thrown-together nature of this post.)
Essien to Real is so silly it has to be true.
It was silly, and it happened!
Sorry for the poor typing. Still on my phone. COYS!
I like getting Berbatov, but it's kind of soul crushing that our two best players coming into the year and my two favorite players both left because they didn't want to play at Fulham anymore. It's enough to make me want to be a Man City fan.
First, obviously, Spurs...Overall, I think this window has been a wash. Losing VDV, King and Modric hurts, but Adebayor is back and I really, really rate Dembele, Sigurdsson and Lloris. Vertonghen is going to be good, I like what I see from Caulker, Naughton and Townsend as returning loanees and there are intriguing young players like Kane, Carroll and Smith to get a run in Cup games. And then there's the unexpected arrival of Mr. Dempsey. I think, talent-wise, it's about the same as last year though it's distributed differently. The wild card, of course, is Villas Boas. Is he better than Harry? He'll need to be.
Now...Liverpool. Before I start hammering Liverpool let me say I actually like the 'Pool. Of the traditional Sky 4, they were always the one I wanted to see do well. Liverpool is a legitimately great club and I harbor no ill will for them. That said, they had a disastrous window. Sahin was a real coup and Allen and Borini are good player but I wonder if it's good value for the 26 million they paid for the pair. The blatant tapping up of Dempsey and then the lowball bid was just embarrassing and it's no wonder Fulham told them to #### off. So they are left with a good first 11 but absolutely no depth. A shocking lack of depth. How do you let Kuyt and Maxi and Bellamy and Carroll go without bringing in more reinforcements? When signing Michael Owen makes sense you have completely screwed the pooch. A very, very bad summer for Liverpool.
I'm also not impressed with Arsenal's summer. Giroud looks too slow for them and Podolski looks fine but not a world beater. Once again they didn't spend the money they received from selling their best players and, worse than that, they are freaking Arsenal, one of the biggest clubs in the world, they should be able to buy the players they need without obsessing over net spend. I think they are still a top 4 club, but they aren't title contenders and I think they could have been.
Man U...an all right window. Kagawa and Van Persie are class but Fergie seems weirdly stubborn about not adding to his midfield. Still, when you add Kagawa and RVP and get Vidic back, that's not a bad summer.
Man City: Nothing spectacular but they added the depth they needed at a couple of positions and signed a real nice prospect for CB. I think they probably kept themselves from sliding back.
Chelsea. Great summer. I'm sure they'll break even soon. And #### them. I think they're a bit weak in the back, though, and judging from the first couple of games, they should have kept Lukaku around. Lukaku is frightening!
Newcastle: Pretty static and I think they needed to add a bit as they scored more points last year than they should have. Too bad they couldn't get Debuchy and I expect them to slip a little though I hope former SC FREIBURG star Cisse scores a million goals.
QPR: Hell, I don't know. Did they do well? That's a lot of good players but I'm not sure how it all fits. It'll be fun to watch them progress.
Crap, this is getting long. Again, I feel guilty about my club raiding Fulham again but it seems like this was a case of Fulham screwing over Liverpool and Spurs were nimble enough to take advantage rather than Spurs raiding Fulham. I will admit I've been a little jealous of Everton and Fulham fans the last few years and am very much looking forward to having Dempsey on my favorite club's side week in and week out. USA! USA! USA!
That is a very good point, and I am ashamed I didn't think of the MLS angle. Dempsey is a good addition, especially at such a low price. Still wish we'd just kept Rafa, though. For sentimental reasons and because I wanted to see if Villas-Boas would throw him out there as a false nine at some point. But that's why I post on the internet instead of run a football club.
Boy oh boy do I wish they'd worked things out with Moutinho. The link play during defense-to-attack transitions is going to be problematic unless Dembele is the real McCoy and/or Thud finally shakes off the lingering effects of that ankle problem.
Villas-Boas has quite the array of attacking options now. I look forward to some bona fide squad rotation this season. Fingers crossed for the health of Ade and the back four*, though - anything happens to them and we're really in the s**t.
* Adebayor and The Back Four would make a great Motown soul revival band.
Kane, Carroll and Smith to get a run in Cup games.FTFY. Kane went to Norwich on loan at the eleventh hour.
Not cool! You may get to see a false 9 after all, even if it won't be Rafa. I guess I'm ok with Dempsey up top in a pinch.
Arsenal – F
Out: Bendtner, Park, Song, RVP
In: Cazorla, Podolski, Giroud
Given that this is a subjective grade, I’ll share an anecdote. A friend of mine at work is a big Arsenal fan. Initially he was excited at getting Cazorla, etc, but when the Gooners sold RVP to Man U he looked like someone ran over his dog. He finally brightened somewhat and said “well at least they have all that money from RVP to use.” I told him maybe they had already spent that money. He looked so crestfallen I wished I could have taken it back. And then they lost Song. RVP carried the team on his back last year and Arsenal was fortunate to finish in the top three. I don’t understand why they did not beat out LFC for Sahin, there is no reason they should not have gotten him. If Wilshire does not come back at full strength they are in a world of hurt in the midfield. Cazorla is very good, I don’t think Podolski is going to cut it, and Giroud has not looked very good so far although it is early. RVP and Song were basically Arsenal’s whole offense last year. I don’t see it for Arsenal this time around. I think they finish outside the top 4 and there is no reason for it. None.
Aston Villa - C
Out: Makoun, Collins, Cuellar
In: Benteke, Bennett, Vlaar, Lowton, El Ahmadi, Holman
I do not know much about the incoming players other than Vlaar. The few times I’ve seen him he hasn’t been impressive. For the most part it looks like roster churn to me but Lambert has at times shown an eye for diamonds in the rough. I’m a little concerned for them though, they were not very good last year and I think they are taking a risk by treading water or making a slight improvement.
Chelsea – A
Out: Kalou, Bosingwa, Drogba, Essein
In: Moses, Azpilicueta, Oscar, the Hazard brothers, Marin
Where to start. Geez. It is enough to make me wish Hank Scorpio owned my club. It is like playing a video game. Buy up many of the best young players in the world. Moses is ok, Azpilicueta is good, Oscar is brilliant, Eden is amazing, Thorgan is a Hazard, and Marin is very good (although I have some doubts as to his ability to adjust to the Pl.) With Mata, Torres, etc. this team is going to be a joy to watch. I am envious. They are younger than they have been, but I don’t see any reason they can’t finish in third. At worst fourth barring injuries. Only reason they did not get an A+ is because they have money to burn.
Everton – B+
Out: Rodwell, Cahill
In: Oviedo, Mirallas, Pienaar
Moyes had another good window. Rodwell is decent but not worth anywhere near what he went for. Cahill is cooked. They kept key players. Pienaar plays better for Everton than he does anyone else and I think Mirallas and Oviedo stand a chance to be typical Everton players in punching above their transfer fee. Everton are a dangerous team. If Donovan comes back and they catch some breaks I think they might be able to make a run like Newcastle did last year.
Fulham – D
Out: Dembele, Dempsey
In: Berbatov, Richardson, Rodallega, Petric
Fulham are one of the teams I like the best in the PL and it was sad to see them get ripped apart. Dembele and Dempsey pretty much were Fulham and the guys they brought in I do not think are an adequate replacement. Berbatov’s old, probably on high wages, and hasn’t played much recently. I did not like the acquisition. Richardson is not Dembele. Rodallega is not very good. Petric is ok. I think Fulham went from being a tough out to the lower end of mid table this window. It’s a shame.
Liverpool – D-
Out: Adam, Carroll, Bellamy, Aquilani, Rodriguez, Kuyt
In: Yesil, Sahin, Assaidi, Allen, Borini
The grade is not because of the players they brought in. It is about the overall mismanagement of the club. Allen is a very good player and bringing in Sahin was a miracle if he’s healthy. Those two are the only reason this was not a grade lower than F. Assaidi is a decent player and Borini is a useful player in Rodgers’ system that will probably be a crowd favorite. Yesil is an excellent prospect. The problem is that the club continues to be mismanaged. Despite what people might say, the difference between a club like Liverpool (at the present) and a club like Tottenham is not that one is in London and one is not. The problem is not that one club was more recently in the Champions League and a better prospect to reach the Champions League this season. The problem is that one club employs a man like Dan Levy and that the other club employs a man like Ian *radio edit* Ayre. LFC has behaved like a bunch of clowns under Ayre. The man got them a good shirt sponsorship deal. And? Why is he still in a position of authority? There was the Suarez fiasco, his obnoxious comments about revenue sharing, and now the club loaned out a striker for wage relief and did not bring in a replacement leaving the club with zero strikers. That’s right. I said zero. Suarez is not a 9, he’s a support striker or wide forward. Borini is the same. I understand Carroll doesn’t fit Rodgers’ plans. But that doesn’t change the fact that they have nothing up front. Absolutely nothing. On a club that was anemic on offense already. If Suarez gets hurt we may be talking mid table here. I’m serious. Deadly serious. I know that doesn’t mean much to a supporter of a club in danger of the relegation zone (nor should it) but at a club with LFC’s resources that is a joke. All the talk of net spend is ridiculous. You have to factor in the wage bill. Look at the players they cut off the bill and the players they brought in. Just take a look at it. When you have people like Alan Pardew and Derek Llambias openly mocking your club’s stupidity in public you have serious problems. I’m not going to lie, not getting Dempsey was a crushing blow. He’s my favorite American player and it would have been a joy to watch him play for Liverpool. But they had to go and tap him up and then lowball Fulham on top of it. Fulham was absolutely right to tell them to do one. The fact that he went to Spurs made me sick. As others mentioned, the best part is despite being 29 he’s on a three year contract and will probably bring most of the fee back on a transfer to MLS.I Iike to make fun of LFC supporters as much as anyone, I can’t think of a fanbase more given to histrionics and stupidity on the face of the planet. But this club got taken to the woodshed yet again at the negotiating table and it is time for it to stop. If my rational mind were to look at it, I think this club had no intention of competing this year and is trying to clear the deck for a run in a year or two. If viewed charitably management could be given credit for being willing to weather the storm coming their way (and trust me, it is coming, at least one major LFC site crashed for an extended period of time). They would have certainly been much better served to have done that at the time Carroll was brought in to mute fan reaction. But I ain’t happy. And I ain’t the only one. Maybe Drogba will ride up in shining armor.
Manchester City – D+
Out: Savic, Santa Cruz, Axe Murderer, Boyata, Johnson, Adebayor
In: Nastasic, Sinclair, Maicon, Rodwell, Javi Garcia
Did not like this window for City. I think Mancini is done after this year. Looking at his club you can understand why his teams struggle in Europe. Garcia saves it somewhat (I’m not that familiar with Nastasic, Ursos would have to comment on that) but it seems like City is stuck in a similar position to some of the Chelsea teams of the past (although City is not as good). They can’t seem to decide if they are going to bring in good young players or go with guys who are currently good or used to be good. They paid an awful lot of money for people to make the domestic numbers in Rodwell and Sinclair. Maicon is pretty toasty. For the money they spent they did not get much in return. The team lacks creativity and pace. I’m not sure they repeat this year and I predict an early exit in the Champions League.
Manchester United – A-
Out: Berbatov, Park
In: RVP, Kagawa
An unusual window for SAF. I think he is feeling his age. Bringing in RVP is out of character. The grade is mainly for Kagawa, who is awesome. I hated that he went to Man U. Setting aside age and the transfer fee, bringing in RVP is not shabby either. Man U has serious problems at the back, but I don’t think City got much better if at all and I think this Man U team is stronger than it was last year. Park is pretty cooked and Berbatov was out of the picture. I think Rooney may meet an early career demise and that might be why SAF ponied up for RVP. (That and PSG poaching transfer targets.)
Newcastle – B
Out: Forster, Best, Guthrie
In: Anita, Amalfitano
Keeping their key players was no small feat. I was sure that Tiote and Cabaye would be on the way out at a minimum. Anita was a nice pickup. It sounds churlish to complain after they kept a talented team together, but they really needed to bring in talent to maintain a place towards the top of the table. Last season was fluky and they are due for a regression. I think Newcastle is probably due for one of the bigger regressions in the league this year. But still, they kept players that other clubs would have been very happy to sign. As has been the case of late, a good window, but one that left me wishing they had done more. They have to stay healthy. A few injuries and it could go pear shaped in a hurry. They are good though and even with regression I think they have a good chance to qualify for the Europa again.
Norwich City – C+
Out: No one of note.
In: Tettey, Bassong, Turner, Snodgrass, Whittaker
The C is for trying to get better. I’m not sold on the people they brought in. Turner is like using a blow torch to put out a gasoline fire. They knew their defense was a problem, but I don’t think it is fixed. It might be even leakier. They might go down this year. I hope not but they overachieved last year and although Hughton is cromulent he’s not Lambert. I like the Canaries, I hope they make it, but I think they could be in trouble.
QPR – B+
Out: Bothroyd, The Poet, Reason, Common Sense, Sanity
In: Mbia, Granero, Cesar, Bosingwa, Hoilette, Park, Fabio, Diakite, Johnson, Nelsen, Green
The B is for bringing it Dodgers style. Let’s hope it is not Pompey style. It would be hypocritical of me to criticize given that I praised them last year for going all out to try to stick the landing after being promoted. But jeez… The thing is many of the players they bought are good. Which means they must have paid outrageous wages to get them to sign. Pompey bought a bunch of good players too. On paper this team should not be relegation fodder. But it is the team of Hughes’ dreams. That’s not a good thing. This could end very, very badly. I fully expect a fire sale, perhaps as soon as next summer. Maybe it will turn out differently, I hope so. I like clubs that throw caution to the wind.
Reading – D
Out: No one of note.
In: Mariappa, Gunter, Shorey, Guthrie, Pogrebynak
This team is nostalgic. It looks like what it is. A team coming off promotion. It also looks like my early favorite to make the drop. There isn’t much here. Pogrebynak was a good signing and helps some, but there isn’t much else. Guthrie isn’t very good. Shorey isn’t very good. I think it is probably one and done for Reading which is a shame as they are a well-run club, but I can’t drum up too much sympathy as they have not done much to strengthen. We can’t all be QPR. The truest maxim in football remains: Evil always wins.
Out: Sharp
In: Ramirez, Yoshida, Mayuka, Clyne, Davis, Rodriguez
Another club coming off promotion trying to get their foot in the door. It is the right strategy. It is a competitive sport and the reward of staying up is worth some risk. If a club gets relegated there is no guarantee they will make it back. The goal should be to stay up the first two or three seasons and build from there. The club made some interesting signings. Opinions are mixed on Gaston Ramirez. I’ve watched him play a little, and my personal opinion is if you play for Uruguay you are probably a good player. That is a lot of money for a promoted team to spend though. Clyne is a good prospect. Davis may be out of his depth but it was worth a shot. Overall they did a lot to help themselves.
Stoke City – A-
Out: No one of note.
In: Charlie Adam, Maurice Edu, Kightly, Cameron, Ness.
Picked the bones of a few clubs. Stoke City have become a guilty pleasure for me, and that was before they brought in a couple of Americans. Stoke City embraces what it is. I get the impression its gotten to the point the club’s supporters would actually be angry if they played a different style. They have become infamous enough that the greatest insult you can give to a team in other countries is that they “play like Stoke”. I respect that. They are a middling club that has managed an FA Cup final, a decent run in the Europa League, and stability in the PL. Good on ‘em. Charlie Adam was born to play for Stoke. He’s dirty, slow, and tough as nails. He was criminally misused at LFC. He needs a caddy to run for him and a position where he’s further up the pitch. Maybe Edu will serve as Adam’s legs. Stoke has gotten even nastier. Throw in the dogs of war at the back and there is not a team in the league that wants any part of Stoke.
Sunderland – B+
Out: Richardson, Turner
In: Rose, Fletcher, Johnson, Saha, Cuellar
Martin O’Neill do what Martin O’Neill do. Sunderland have a chance to reach heady heights for their club. They will also likely find their club reduced to rubble in a few years. Rose is a good prospect. Fletcher was overpaid but he’s a decent source of goals. Johnson is very talented but he makes Andy Carroll look like a tee totaller. Saha is Saha. Again, I don’t fault clubs for going for it. It’s a competitive sport. They are trying to win and I give them credit for it. I place the over under on cratering at 3 seasons.
Swansea- A+
Out: Sinclair, Allen, a couple of key loanees
In: Hernandez, Ki, Schechter, Michu, Chico, Guzman
The smartest team in the league and perhaps the team I respect the most in the entire PL. Allen was a key player for them but the amount of talent they brought in with the money they got out of he and Sinclair is astounding. Hernandez is a top tier player. He’s very good. If you had told me a year or two ago that players from top Spanish teams would be going to Wales to play ball I’d have laughed in your face. It’s a sad commentary on the state of Spanish football clubs, but it is also a truly amazing achievement on Swansea’s part. Ki is a good player and as everyone has seen Michu is a monster. Swansea fans should be having the time of their lives. I don’t know that it will ever get any better than it is right now.
Tottenham – A+
Out: Van Der Vaart, dos Santos, Modric, Bassong, Saha, Pienaar, King, Kranjcar, Nelsen
In: Lloris, Dempsey, Dembele, Adebayor, Vertonghen, Sigurdsson
If there are any Spurs fans anywhere that don’t rate Dan Levy they should be excommunicated from the fanbase and left to the elements. I thought Spurs had the best window out of the big clubs when taking resources and circumstances into account. Missing out on Champions League did hurt them, but not as much as it should have. Lloris is good (if in my opinion somewhat overrated) and is the type of face and player I think could grow to be an iconic image for the club. I don’t think the price paid was a big bargain, it is just that players of that nature (Lloris was one of the names most associated with Lyon) are not available very often. Dembele is very good. Adebayor is good. Vertonghen was a very nice signing. Sigurdsson broke my heart in not signing for Liverpool. That they were even rumoured to be close to getting Moutinho is absurd. That would have been ridiculous. As discussed earlier Dempsey was the capper. That hurt. I know Van der Vaart was the binkie of a number of fans on this board, but Dempsey is a better player. Van der Vaart is a luxury player and was sold for about twice what the club paid for Dempsey and probably made a lot more money. Van der Vaart was rarely fit and needs a caddy. Dempsey isn’t as slick a passer but he’s better at just about everything else. The starting 11 is very good. I don’t think AVB will run the club into the ground like ‘Arry did. Spurs are pretty scary. They have a real opportunity if AVB doesn’t mismanage what he’s got. I think Spurs are probably no worse than the fourth best team in the league at the moment, and if pushed I might say third. If Man U and City stumble even a little Spurs could be nipping at their heels. Barring managerial incompetence (which I don’t rule out, I really did not like how AVB handled his business at Chelsea) Spurs will return to the Champions League.
West Brom – C+
Out: Cox, Shorey
In: Popov, Lukaku, Rosenberg
West Brom have a solid club. They improved the squad although I would have liked to see them do more. Lukaku is a monster and I think he will feature more as the season goes on. Clarke is a solid manager I think and the Baggies should be upper mid table with a chance for more if things break their way. A well managed club, I would like to see them do well.
West Ham – A
Out: No one of note.
In: Carroll, Jarvis, Diarra, Collins, Maiga, Diame
The Hammers have been pretty abject so far but they went for it. Pairing Carroll with Jarvis and Nolan is shrewd. As I’ve said before Carroll and Nolan are easy to make fun of, but they also scored goals. Big Sam is Big Sam. They will not achieve much, but I can’t see them going down either. For all his faults Allardyce would not have seen Blackburn relegated I don’t think. Hammers fans may want to cover their eyes at points, but I think Carroll and Nolan will beer league the team to a position safely out of the relegation zone.
Wigan –C+
Out: Moses
In: Kone, Ramis
I’ve given up touting Wigan for the drop. On paper they should be in for another relegation fight, but they were another club that raided La Liga. I think they are a better team than they were last year but are still one of the more marginally talented teams in the league. I’m done picking against them though. At the very least Reading should finish below them. After that some teams will screw up. Things always seem to break Wigan’s way in the end.
Fulham's team plus Berbatov I think would have been a Top 4 side. I really think everything lined up this year and the guys just didn't want to see it through. Which it's tough to blame them for, because the entire culture of soccer is that you have no loyalty and try to constantly go to a better team instead of trying to bring your team up.
There are many other reasons why Barcelona are who they are, but I think that ability to have the cohesiveness because they're the king of the hill is important.
The thing that strikes me are the consistencies between LFC and the Red Sox. Henry seems to have the same issues in each place right down to the egomaniac running things instead of someone who knows what he's doing.
I'm with you on Stoke, they are oddly engrossing. They aren't truly fun to watch but I can't help but root for them. I think Pulis is an exceptional manager based on the way he gets 100% buy in from everyone associated with the squad.
They already don't sell out games anymore. If they finish 5th this year they will be trying to shift 10,000 tickets a game because people have had it with the penny-pinching. Stop blaming the stadium.
Agreed. +1 for effort. I mean I disagree with about 80% of the actual content, but definitely +1 for effort...
DF: Walker, Naughton, Kaboul, Vertonghen, Gallas, Dawson, Assou-Ekotto (Caulker, Smith)
MF: Lennon, Parker, Sandro, Livermore, Jenas, Huddlestone, Dembele, Sigurdsson, Bentley, Falque (Townsend, Carroll)
FW: Adebayor, Defoe, Dempsey, Bale
Give or take a player or two, that's the 25-man for Tottenham. Even with some obvious, let's say, "inefficiencies" that's a squad that should be the favorite to finish fourth again I would think. It would be a title-challenging squad if they'd managed to dump Bentley and two of the non-Lloris keepers and filled those three roster spots with Moutinho, Remy, and Kjaer. That would have required a net spend of about £50M though, and I don't think Spurs were willing to do that in this window. Not after being heavily rumored to have loosened the restrictions on the club's wage structure, anyway.
With a fully healthy squad, the two main weaknesses (besides the silliness of carrying four senior goalkeepers) are the lack of: (1) a dynamic passer in midfield who can retain and circulate possession in tight quarters (i.e. Modric replacement) and (2) proper cover for Adebayor at the center forward position.
Spurs were hot after Moutinho to address (1) but may be able to get by with Dembele and Sigurdsson supported by a holder in the midfield three. Alejandro Faurlin might have been a decent fallback option, but it seems like Levy genuinely thought he could get a deal done for Moutinho. (And he would have gotten away with it too, if it hadn't been for those meddling
kidsthird party player ownership vultures!) Oh well. Frustrating, but not crippling.Center forward is potentially more problematic because Spurs don't have anyone who can be reasonably counted on to come even close to consistently replicating what Adebayor offers. Loic Remy really was such a good fit for this squad. If they can get him in January for a reasonable fee, they should do it.
With Kaboul out for half the season (at best), keeping the defense healthy and fresh is going to be a tightrope act for Villas-Boas and his staff. Caulker will need to step up and showcase what he learned at Swansea because it's virtually guaranteed that Gallas and/or Dawson will also miss time as a result of fitness issues. Another significant CB injury or Adebayor going down for a while are the two things that could really scupper the season.
Looking forward to tomorrow's game. Bedtime.
Sweet merciful crap, I know Friedel and Cudicini have about 80 years between them, but this is an insane amount of talent to have at a position where only one guy can play and he'll almost never be injured or fatigued.
Meh. Gomes is hurt and will be shipped out in January. Friedel and Cudicini are at the stage of their careers where I think they are ok with being backups. Buying Lloris was a slam dunk.
But they're kind of screwed if Adebayor goes down. And I've been assuming that AVB wants to compete in the Europa League, but they obviously can't be playing Adebayor 180 minutes a week this winter. Should they have spent the Lloris money on a striker instead? If there was another £20M to spend - if the Moutinho rumors were based in reality - should they have focused instead on a striker? I don't really know.
--------------
Props to Jorge as well. I think the main thing I disagree with is Arsenal's F. I was surprised they didn't spend their £10M profit on an upgrade for the defense (whether the back line or in midfield), but I think it's a pretty huge overreaction to two draws against teams that came in playing for 0-0 to think that this team is lacking in attack. It's not clear how all the pieces fit together, but I am not going to bet against Arsene Wenger figuring how to best deploy a deep and talented array of attacking players. I want to say that Spurs are #4 right now, but I think I'd probably bet on Arsenal over them.
I'm still not sure what I think of Chelsea. Hazard looks like an immediate superstar, which papers over a lot of deficiencies, but it's not clear to me how that roster all fits together. They're putting a lot of eggs in the Jon Obi Mikel is really good and protects our back line for 50 games basket, and Juan Mata has seemed a lot less dangerous when asked to drop into a deeper creative position. I'm probably wishcasting a bit because of my recently discovered sports-hate for CSKA London (because their owner, he's a Russian!) but I'm not inking them into the top two or three just yet.
I guess I'm sort of surprised they didn't move one of the codgers, particularly Cudicini. He's still good enough (one would assume) to play at a fairly high level, he's got some value, and he doesn't have much time left. I guess maybe he was okay with cashing his check and sitting around.
And I can't really blame him for that - my dream job is to get paid gobs of money and have absolutely no responsibility.
And I'm seriously questioning my decision to continue rooting for Fulham in anything beyond a glancing at the scores way.
Don't give up on them. They looked great the first 2 games and now they'll get a break from the transfer madness now and Jol can go to work. This is a bad one, but it's just one game--they had stinkers like this last year with Dembele and Dempsey in good form.
How was that not a foul on Hangeland, by the way? Looked like he made no real attempt to play the ball and was just trying to obstruct/take out Carroll. (Or did they call it when I went to get a drink?)
You've just articulated why I wanted them to get Remy. He's primarily a central striker, but he has the pace and dribbling ability to play as a wing forward too (usually on the right of a front three). Remy could play with Adebayor or instead of Adebayor. That's what Spurs needed: a quick, left-footed forward who can play on the right and who's also enough of a physical presence to play through the middle.
This is really wishful thinking by the Spurs Think Factory. MLS rarely pays transfer fees, big name imports come mainly via free transfers. I can not see them paying near the ballpark of $5M for anybody two years from now.
If they've got the money for a transfer fee presumably they have the money to pay Templeton handsomely. When the inexplicable happens, money is often the answer.
Humor them, it seems that the P/L on transfer fees are vitally important for Spurs fans' mental balance. And never, ever mention the TCO to them.
Maybe Swansea will be my next FM challenge ...
Other news: the semifinals of the U20 women's world cup in Japan are Nigeria-USA and Germany-Japan, Germany being the favorites at this point.
Losing points against Villa would be just cause for a firing.
What are you talking about? Spurs had the best transfer window of any team in the PL, and are favourites to finish in the top 4!
I read that on the internet, so it must be true!
Drinking 5 Tennants before noon is never a good idea. Ugh what a horrible ####### beer.
Some people call that breakfast.
Are they really restricted and not just a lack of traveling support?
Seriously, one guy told me he liked Man City because of Oasis. Lol wut?
Youngsters getting their comeuppance seems to be a favorite storyline in the British press.
Naw, I'm weirdly relaxed about it all. Can't wait to see Dembele start games.
Mixed day overall for Shooty FC. Freiburg lost on the road but I don't expect them to win often away from Boris Badenova stadium. Torino looked sensational today even accounting for Pescara going a man down. Every ball they sent into the box seemed to create a good chance. They just bossed that game which is good news as they'll need to beat teams like Pescara at home to achieve il salvezza. Also, Partick won big again and continue to sit atop the table.
My middle name. My best friend has always felt that if I were good enough to be a professional soccer player that I would have had to have gone by "Ignacio", just the one name. Alas, I'm a little fat guy better suited to being an accountant.
My take is that Villas-Boas learned from his time at Chelsea, but he may have taken some of those lessons onboard incorrectly. I feel like maybe he's showing a little too much deference to the Spurs old guard (such as it is) and bending over backwards to give playing time to the likes of Gallas, Defoe, et al even though their performances might not merit it. Early doors, though. The teams he's put out have been good enough to win every game, but the players haven't executed very well thusfar. I can also understand that he's reluctant to throw too many new players into the team until he's had them all in training for a bit.
D'oh!
Those 3rd party ownership deals never seem to happen for Spurs--you have to do a Chelsea-like deluge of cash to get everyone to agree quickly. Anyway, the transfer window is over and time to worry about the team at hand. There's a lot of guys on the team I like--Sigurdsson, Dembele, Dempsey, Lennon, Sandro, etc. so I hope Villas Boas can make it work. Hopefully afer the break they can run this out there and see if it makes a difference:
Lloris (though Friedel was great yesterday)
Walker Vertonghen Gallas BAE
Sandro Dembele
Dempsey Sigurdsson Bale
Adebayor
Despite early results, how can I not be optimistic about that team? I should just quit watching them if that lineup doesn't make me hopeful.
And I'm hoping for a 0-0 score this morning just for the statistical oddity of it. I wonder if any other team in the top flight has started the season with three nil-nil games?
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