football: the beautiful game

[polishmike]

I think Liverpool has a chance to break top 4 pushing Arsenal down. I still think that Chelsea will be at least in 3rd spot. They will still buy players and Torres already looked better in the first game then he did last season. Man City could and should push for the title, if they don't do well in the first half they will have a new manager by the second half of the season.

[JohannesDeSilentio]

Yeah, I think the addition of Kun gives Citeh an enormous boost. He's a player of staggering quality, I don't think most people over here have any idea quite how good he is, as no one pays attention to Atleti, or any team in La Liga outside the top two.

[Whodinihimself]

My friends who watched some of the Arsenal friendlies said that this Miyaichi guy played really well, but they were friendlies after all.

Anyone think that Liverpool might break the top 3 this season? I think it'll be man u, citeh, then Liverpool/Chelsea

I don't see Man U repeating. Rooney looks more of an attacking threat but we'll see how long that lasts. They're going to concede more goals than they're used to this year without Van Der Sar. That and Ferdinand and Vidic are carrying nagging injuries. I don't see them lasting the majority of the season.

Liverpool has a real shot if the team can settle into a winning ways. They drop too many points taking draws on games they should be winning. I think Suarez was a great signing...we'll see about Carroll.

[mis]

I dont think Carroll fits into the liverpool system, they need more of a poacher (Ruud/Chicarito) type striker to play off Suarez, as opposed to a target man, and Carroll drops pretty deep and takes forever to get back into the box by the time a winger puts a cross in.

Rooney will probably start dropping deep once Chicharito is back. I agree that man u look very shaky at the back, Vidic is the only solid defender I'd trust, but hes out, Ferdinand is slowly being phased out of the team, Rafael injured, and De Gea looks like he should still be coming on as a sub for experience.

Citeh have a dream team, strike force of Dzeko, Balotelli, Aguero, Tevez? Supported by players like Toure, Nasri, Silva, Johnson? Mancini is playing FM11/12. Not the best squad that money can buy, but a squad that any manager would love to own (maybe sans Balotelli)

[JohannesDeSilentio]

I hate making predictions, and am invariably proved wrong, but I think Chelsea and Liverpool are both being slightly overestimated. Chelsea seemed almost wholly without any creative wit to them at all, which is much as they were last winter. I rate Benayoun pretty highly, but somehow I don't see him getting an awful lot of playing time. Liverpool have a lot of pretty average midfielders, and one in Aquilani whose sporadically brilliant, but I don't know if Suarez, wonderful as he is, is enough to carry them through.

[Yom]

just sad to see him go no matter how inevitable it was..

i hope to see Ryo Miyaichi play tho, and become the first jp player to make an impact in England!

I work at Miyaichi's old jnr high school

i dont think he will feature heavily in the league but will definitely play the league cup games and probably the FA cup.

He did really well in holland.

[Magsåvningsreserven]

n5mj0Huxajk

joker

[Gecko]

Liverpool definitely being overestimated, I see them to crumble under the pressure a little bit, play some good football but end up 5/6th again.

Chelsea being underestimated imo, sure they need a creative midfielder but they'll probably end up getting Modric last day of the window and running with Utd and City for the top 3, which are all up for grabs.

Parallel to that, Modric to go and Spurs to have a shitty season and I will cry but it'll be just like being a yid used to be.

[Magsåvningsreserven]

i think we're already there

i really, really doubt it's as hard to sign a decent striker as they're making it seem. considering HOW MUCH WE NEED ONE etc..

we have the worst forward line. i remember the keane & berba days fondly..

+

hahaha

[cJajce]

damn, that one really hurt. it may take a while for me to recover fully emotionally. i know that we already have benz and pipita and have no right to be complaining, but w messi playing on another freaking level, he puts our 9's to shame. Dec 11 couldn't come sooner...

[Magsåvningsreserven]

it was a draw.. get a grip, man!

*whoops, didn't know they were playing tonight too

fabregas won a trophy already

olelvRKSpG8

[mis]

It would suck to be an Arsenal fan right now

[JohannesDeSilentio]

I don't think it sucks anymore now than it did, say, 48 hours ago. Fab wanted to go back for a couple of years, he stayed, played hard, beautifully sometimes, and wore the band with pride. He wanted to go home, took a massive pay cut for it, and left with honour in tact, in the eyes of most of the support. He also wanted to win trophies, and now he has. Not even the most deluded gooner can say he's done much of that at arsenal.

[polishmike]

Agree with all of the above. Not much you can do if the player wants to leave.

Now if Arsenal will spend some money or they could be really fucked.

[zeen]

UNajyNeem3w

[Yom]

cesc came on in the 82min

He should probably get used to that

[nism]

he won't start most games, but with xavi being 31 with his tendonitis, and the strike which will delay at least 1 match, barcelona's playing schedule will be extremely tight (espescially since la liga has the christmas break). cesc will probably get more minutes. damn i was actually hoping to see more of thiago

[mis]

I don't think it sucks anymore now than it did, say, 48 hours ago. Fab wanted to go back for a couple of years, he stayed, played hard, beautifully sometimes, and wore the band with pride. He wanted to go home, took a massive pay cut for it, and left with honour in tact, in the eyes of most of the support. He also wanted to win trophies, and now he has. Not even the most deluded gooner can say he's done much of that at arsenal.

Wasn't referring to fabregas specifically. Losing your two most creative players. Losing Song and Gervinho to a three match ban. Djourou and Gibbs limping off during the midweek match. Having to play Arsenal and Man u over the next two weeks. Only thing to cheer about is that Vermaelen is back, and RVP is not injured (yet)

Also, in his first 3 days at Barcelona, fabregas has won more trophies than he did in his last 6 years at Arsenal. Ouch

[JohannesDeSilentio]

Well, last point aside, it isn't impossible to cling to some shreds of optimism, the first being that losing Fabi allows room for a tactical shift away from the slightly ponderous focus on a trequartista to a more direct attacking play, evinced quite thrillingly (if profligately) by Walcott and Gervinho on Tuesday. The problem was that it formerly behoved Arsenal too often to get the ball up front, drag it out to the wing, and then tap it about until Nasri or Cesc were able to dink a canny pass through to a striker, assuming there even was one. Without such players, the imperative becomes to run straight at goal, something which hasn't been seen regularly since the last days of Henry. I'd be very happy with the signing of Mata as a like for like replacement for Nasri, an intelligent winger who can, in Don Fabio's lovely turn of phrase, "come inside". I would like to see Arshavin return to the form of his first season. I would like to see Frimpong, Ramsey and Wilshire boss the centre, three skillful and highly technical players with the added dimension of a bit of bite. I'd like another centre back. I've given up on Chamakh, who looked excellent and has inexplicably withered. He always came over a bit of a diva through his mini transfer saga, and I wonder if he's taken a look at the proverbial rainy tuesday night at the Britannia and decided the Prem's not for him. It's happened to greater players (Reyes?)

I think we're unlikely to win, but it always amazes me peoples haste to underestimate Arsene. He's always been a little tactically naive, and while last season we did good against the big boys, we struggled against teams who parked the bus, partly for a reliance on the habits described above. Time will tell, and a few of our usual injuries could spell disaster. I would much prefer Bendtner as back up to RVP than Chamakh for instance.

[JohannesDeSilentio]

Also Alex OC looks really good.

[polishmike]

So what do you predict for Saturday? I think we will again play Carroll and Suarez but bench Henderson and play Kuyt. Jenkinson, if he plays, will have nightmares about Suarez and Downing. I think this is the best chance for us to win in years. Said that if I would bet I would still pick the Gunners.

[JohannesDeSilentio]

It will be interesting, because with Arsenal's well publicised injury problem there's going to be very little mystery as to Arsene's team selection, however it would not surprise me if Liverpool were to field a conservatively minded team. Last season only four teams turned up to play at the Emirates: Blackpool, Chelsea, ManU & Spurs. Liverpool haven't given us a game in London in YEARS. Considering how much the Arsenal need play to be stretched, and how difficult it's been to weave goals through an overloaded penalty box in recent years, I really don't blame them. So we'll see. I have a huge amount of admiration for Suarez, but, the erratic Aquilani and goal bound Pepe aside, not a great deal of respect for any of your other players. I find the obsession with midfield mediocrity in old school managers like Kenny and Harry utterly bemusing. Why so many, so average?

I think this Saturday will be a lot more revealing of what the Kop's in for this season than how Arsenal will fare. If you come strong, if Jenkinson get's turned out, if Koscielny or Tommy pick up a knock, yeah, you could give us a hiding. But otherwise, I'm optimistic. If the fucking media and the minority of boo boys in the stands get off the teams back, then I see no reason to have any fear.

[Gecko]

Going to be a boring draw I bet.

[78]

Really? I think with Suarez being the handful that he is and the long ball tactics from Downing, Jose, et all to Carroll... The Arse-anal could be in for a massive butt raping

[JohannesDeSilentio]

Depends if you rate Carroll... he's way off his best form based on last week, and let's face it, his best form last season wasn't all that. But like I said, we could be in for a hiding, and I'm determined to remain foolishly optimistic.

[chchchip]

i just hope to god no more of your cb's pick up any injuries or else squillaci comes in and then were fucked. suarez will be a handful. hes sick. carroll can also be a handful on set pieces and what not which is our underbelly(or was). i hope we start a midfield of ramsey, eastmond, and lansbury. lansbury is sick. sucks that we're kinda fielding a carling cup squad.

[Aeros]

Really? I think with Suarez being the handful that he is and the long ball tactics from Downing, Jose, et all to Carroll... The Arse-anal could be in for a massive butt raping

As an Arsenal supporter, I happen to agree. SPEND SOME MONEY ALREADY WENGER !!

[zeen]

I think the arsenal vs liverpool game will be interesting. Liverpool has spent alot of money building their squad whereas arsenal are losing their players.

[Magsåvningsreserven]

scottish football is so shit

hearts probably wouldn't stay up in the championship

5-0 though, come on your spurs didn't eve know we were playing.

*lol, maribor beat rangers too.

[polishmike]

Depends if you rate Carroll... he's way off his best form based on last week, and let's face it, his best form last season wasn't all that. But like I said, we could be in for a hiding, and I'm determined to remain foolishly optimistic.

These guys didn't turn up to play you last year?

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