http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23570801 United still pursuing Fabregas - aslong as this is on-going i still have some hope that we may end up re-signing him. For him personally i think he is better off staying put for another year though.
As some of you may know, Newport County are my 2nd club, and i'd just thought i'd mention the fact that they're beating Brighton 3-1 away at the Amex.
http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/meet-the-tottenham-turfies-070813/?source=webgains&siteid=54264 Groomers
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23602755 I was impressed by Luiz in the confed cup, and he can only get better with age, but you always feel that there is a mistake in him. Would be perfect for Barca, but Chelsea have no need to sell. On the whole, if they did sell him, I think it would weaken them.
If everyone was rating him for what a CB is supposed to do, this guy would have been forgotten 2 weeks into his Chelsea tenure hadn't he been an overrated "SupposedToBeAWorldBeater" Brazilian with funky hair. He could be a good player elsewhere on the field, and Barcelona would be a good option as they don't really have much use for a classic CB, but this guy is still a defensive liability. The fact that I can't think of a single other high-profile defender that constantly puts his team in needlessly complicated situations every game (he makes ****ing Vermaelen look better at that) and he is still placed ridiculously high in that stupid top 100 players shambles by Guardian shows how much hype there is around this guy. Yes I know he played excellent as DM that one time or the other, but that doesn't trump a whole season of average-to-**** performances as a CB. If Chelsea were intent on playing him as a CB this season, selling him now and getting any CB in Europe with some of that money (for just 50% of whatever hype-inflated price they get from Luiz) can only improve them.
You are right that he put in a few dodgy performances early on in his career, but lately he has been fairly solid. He is never going to be the type to give you confidence, but these days we are seeing this type of ball-playing CB more and more. It is almost like teams are playing a 3-5-2 or a 3-6-1, with one of the CBs stepping up into midfield. The disfavor with the long-ball, means that packing the midfield is a profitable exercise! So I agree with you if you use the definition of what a CB was, but things change and we may have to accept that Luis is an excellent "modern" CB.
If that is the case someone like Koscielny and Vertonghen would be miles ahead of him as a modern CB as well. They can manage not to **** up left and right by being pretty good ball-players at the same time. (Vermaelen's first 6 months with us were a good example too, but then he became pretty unreliable just like Luiz is)
Possibly, we tend to play with the BFG in that role right now. He generally is the one passing the ball out of defense. I must admit to not being entirely confident talking about this subject. I am not at all sure about my knowledge of what the position entails. I just know that it exists. I think pass completion is the most important thing that is required, and Kos or Vermaelen are not necessarily the best in that regard.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/aug/07/rene-meulensteen-anzhi-makhachkala And we thought the Venky's were bad. 16 days.
Anzhi are ****ed, I hope they will represent the downfall of the megabucks approach to football. Might be a chance to poach some players, if they are prepared to accept a lower wage. But to be honest, who would want any of them ? Eto'o is finished, Willian maybe ? Lassana Diara is still there .....
Willian is a great striker. We may have to go in for him if this Suarez deal doesn't work out. I just don't know anymore, it seem to change by the day, one day he's coming, another he's staying.
http://www1.skysports.com/football/...-with-toulouse-over-midfielder-etienne-capoue Spurs want another midfielder. They already have Parker,Sandro,Paulinho,Dembele,Huddlestone and Livermore.
2 or 3 of those will be gone by 1st September. Parker will go to West Ham and Livermore will be off too. Capoue is for Central Defence cover.
Yup, same reason that I instantly rubbished talk of Spurs signing him, and Hulk of Zenit. You guys must have freed up quite a lot of wages with your departures though...?
