I know some of you out there are big-time European soccer followers as well. Pretty interesting news this week as two of the best midfield players in the world have agreed to sign with Real Madrid. Not to mention they are also being linked with Valencia forward David Villa. I might have to start paying more attention to the Spanish league. Those Barcelona/Real Madrid battles are going to be epic, with Messi, Kaka and Ronaldo all on the field. -Pop
Fox Soccer Channel for EPT and Serie A, plus Champions league next year. Gol TV(finally available in central NY) for Spain and Latin America. If they get Villa and Ribery, they'll be around 250 million Euros on 4 players. Galacticos 2.0 here we come!
Plus Iniesta and Xavi for Barca. 5 of the top attacking players in football. El Classico next year will have current World player of the year (will be Messi by then) as well as the previous 2 years winners.
Ribery will probably go to Man U. Should be interesting, though, to see if the power of European club football shifts from England to Spain now. Right now, I'd take the top four of the EPL over the top four of comparable leagues in Italy, Spain, Germany, France, or Holland. But you're starting to see some of the better players move to Spain ... so ... who knows in a couple years. -Pop
You think Arsene will spend this time? Nice to see us grab Arshavin in the January window, but we've notoriously been big talkers and non-spenders in recent years. -Pop
Yeah hopefully we'll grab Yaya Toure/Veloso/Alonso (holding mids) or Hangelande/Vermaelin (defenders) and we might get Dzeko or Roque Santa Cruz is Adebayor is shown the door. I'm thinking we'll be spending more than previously, but nothing "out of this world".
ah Gol Tv.. thanks for that info.. I follow it if I can, I just didnt know what package to get. thanks again. repped.
I don't think Ribery Is going to United. Just doesn't feel like there's anything there. I'd like to see Valencia and Benzema, and the new talk is Eto'o to United, then, Barca will bring in Ibrahimovic. Can't imagine UTD bringing in both Eto'o and Benzema. One or the other obviously... Unless the fuck Tevez off and leave Berbs in a dropped back position and keep rooney out left They desperately need an attacking center mid who can score a few. This summer is going to be mental.
Looks like David Villa is on his way to Real, anyway. Rumour has it United are grabbing Wigan's Valencia. He's a great player but he definitely can't fill Ronaldo's void. I don't think there is any midfielder in the world that can score 30+ goals a season. It doesn't look like Ribery will be going to United any more. He's either going to stay at Bayern for another season or so, or he'll go to Spain. Who knows? 90m is a lot for any player. Benzema, David Silva, Arjen Robben, Sergio Aguero, and Aaron Lennon have all been linked with United. Perhaps they should secure the signing of Tevez before they break the bank?
It seems Tevez is sour on ManU management and isn't keen on staying, now. They should've extended him last summer. I think Benzema will go to ManU.
Yep, we definitely need to sure up our defence. The thing that shits me, is that these are the exact same moves we needed to make last summer, and we did nothing about it. Adebuymore can piss off. Especially since he's started referring to himself in the third person. As for Real, they can buy as many overpriced attacking players as they like. They still don't have a defence.
I was just reminiscing about the previous Ronaldo saga and I came to this conclusion: I believe United said to Ronaldo, "You can leave next summer, just give us another season and we'll let you go." That's why Ronaldo was at one point, "Real would be a great place to play," to "I'm happy at United." Obviously there was some sneaky business going on behind-the-scenes--And at the end of the day, it isn't Real or United that look bad for this, it's Ronaldo.
I think it will be a huge mistake to let Tevez go. He is a huge fan favourite and once you get the fans questioning the manager (whether it's Ferguson or not), then you've got a problem. They need to do the utmost to sign Tevez even if it takes a large amount out of their bank. Off-load Berbatov, he's suck a lazy twat--Even worse than Adebayor, in my opinion.. Get Benzema or Eto'o and then work from there. It looks like Valencia is going to end up there, and the Ribery move is obviously ruled out. There are also rumours that they might lose Vidic or Evra to Barce and Real but I'm not too sure about that. They need to find another wonderkid like they did with Ronaldo. Yeah, Wenger had too much faith in the squad. Actually, I correct myself. We all had too much faith in the squad and for the most part, they let us down. We really should of had a bigger push towards the title with the talent and chemistry that we have but the kids let us down. It's hard to admit it. Anyway, I'm optimistic Wenger will make some good moves this summer. I'd like to see him get rid of the over-inflated egos though!
damn I just realized that I dont get gol tv cause Dish dropped it last year.. looks like I might be going to Directv afterall
25 million for 4 league goals is bad business. I was a big fan of his. He'll end up at City. And, anyone that would question SAF and his squad building/management is a knobhead, therefore who cares if a knobhead is questioning him.