Spuds are going to end up with another Modric / Suarez type debacle if they don't get this one sorted out soon http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...on-Real-Madrid-move-hangs-in-the-balance.html
Agreed with all of this. Liverpool fan in peace. At the moment its an odd situation where each of the top teams have strengthened and yet so many external factors are coming into play this year. Its impossible to predict who will succeed. United have the title-winning squad yet lack creativity so far, and will probably struggle with concentration under Moyes. The loss of Fergie will be felt in some way - but then again the lack of pressure to win this year could be a good thing for them. Chelsea have strengthened quite a bit but are overloaded with players and this may lead to dressing room harmony being trashed. Mourinho invites scandal as a tactic to distract from his players, yet this may have a devastating effect if taken too far - a la Real Madrid. You lot may have had a poor opener but the results have come since and the players you have are good players. It may depend on if you bring in adequate signings to provide cover, but you never know. As always, flowing attacking football is nice to watch but can be frustrating when your youth don't live up to expectations such as against Villa. Spurs have lost Bale and gained many more. Can AVB stabilise the team? Will they get results without penalties? Are their signings any good or will they lose their hype like Siggurdson and Holtby did? As for Liverpool we have added some very good players in Toure and Mignolet. Toure has done the job but it remains to be seen if we can fix our back 4 properly before the end of the window. We are investing in youth and while this will help us in the long run, it may not give results now. I can't be arsed to add city but they've got a 50/50 situation as well. There aren't any clear favourites for the top 4 at this point.
Signing and losing players changes the dynamic of a team, sometimes it can go as the manager hopes and other times there can be amore negative result. I think that usually the press and fans over-value new signings and under-estimate the year on year benefit of players staying at a club. My feeling about Spurs is the same as last year when everyone was saying how well they did signing Dembele and Dempsey. Their signings this year are in the same range and I think we have yet to see any real sign that they can compensate for the loss of Bale.
Too early to tell either way. We will have to see what kind of impact their main new signings of Soldado and Paulinho do. As a team unit they are good but if those players play as well as everyone is hyping them up to, then they will be very strong. As it stands, you can't argue that their midfield is strong and will take some exceptional players to penetrate it. The NLD will be their real first test, as they will be facing a dynamic midfield that is used to play together. We should have the advantage.
As much as it pains me to say this, Man Utd tend to start off slowly and hit top gear around Christmas/mid season. If they lose Rooney without getting a replacement or/and don't bring in a creative midfielder they will struggle. If they didn't sign Van Persie last season, no way would they have won the league. Very shrewd business by Ferguson. And Chelsea's problems lay in Man Utds hands. They really need a striker despite having three already. Torres just seems lost, Ba doesn't seem likely to hit 20plus and for whatever reason, Lukaku can't get a sniff in. I would still count City as favourites due to the quality and tenacity of their squad. Yeah, they lost to Cardiff but anyone on their day can lose in the PL (with all due respect to Cardiff) Time and time again, having a thin squad kills our momentum every season. With the amount of injuries we get and already have, bulking (with quality) should be out priority. I'm hoping for a huge spending spree this week but I won't hold my breath.
Nothing will be the same as losing Fergie. We are yet to see what kind of impact a Fergie free Manure will make. For one thing, I'm feeling more confident that Arsenal will do better against them this season.
While I agree strongly with the bolded, the highlighted part in red seems rather optimistic. Yes, Fergie has gone, but that is still Fergie's team. I'll be surprised if Moyes tinkers with the system a lot because if he does and Man Utd fall short of their expectations, it could be a very short tenure. If he remains cautious and sticks mainly to the system already in place... I don't think there will be too many complaints regardless of the outcome But as you said, we will have to wait and see throughout out the season if Man Utd retain that same mentality they had under Ferguson.
Fergie was something special, his mind games will go down as legendary. The way he leveled things up and gained advantage by using it was excellent. Moyes simply isn't in the same category as mangers like Fergie and Maureen when it comes to mind games. Even though Fergie has gone, we have Maureen back and he will use his mental disintegration to full effect on others and particularly with Wenger. With a Wenger team you never quite know what to expect and he will make sure he gives Wenger a few barrels before commencing battle again in the league...
http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/foo...rs-as-gareth-bale-snubs-training-8785849.html Lamela jets in to sign for Spurs Roma forward Erik Lamela has arrived in London to complete a £30million move to Tottenham as Gareth Bale’s protracted switch to Real Madrid threatened to turn ugly. Spurs have been in talks with the Italian club for a fortnight but stepped up their efforts after Chelsea hijacked their move for Willian last week. The issue over Lamela has been the fee but Spurs agreed to raise their offer from £25.5m to ensure they did not lose out on another target. Spurs have offered the 21-year-old a £66,000-a-week contract and, significantly, he was left out of Roma’s starting XI against Livorno on Sunday. It will be the third time this summer Spurs have broken their transfer record, having paid £17m for Paulinho and £26m for Roberto Soldado. The Argentina international, who predominantly plays on the wing, made a huge impact in Serie A last season, scoring 15 goals in 35 games. Big signing from Spurs and a player that will ramp their attacking potency by a few notches should it go through. He will provide that extra bit of creativity that is missing from their lineup
Shakhter Karagandy boss will sacrifice Scottish sheep before Celtic match http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/foo...ottish-sheep-before-celtic-match-8786190.html Shakhter Karagandy boss Viktor Kumykov plans to continue the Kazakh club's sheep-sacrificing ritual ahead of their Champions League play-off second-leg tie against Celtic at Parkhead. Speaking through an interpreter, the Russian said: "All I can say is that every team and every club has its own pre-match traditions and rituals. "Celtic must have their own. We will try to respect our traditions and those traditions have been in place even before we came to the club." Asked if the ritual would take place, he replied,"Possibly, yes." Then, when asked where he planned to get the sheep, Kumykov, to laughter, replied: "As far as we know in Scotland the agriculture is very developed so it shouldn't be an issue to find a sheep." The Shakhter boss, though, played down the effects the pre-match ritual had had on the first game in Kazakhstan. He said: "Of course this tradition may have certain psychological impact on players that can help them to relax before the game.
"You know what John, I was really stressed and nervous until we stabbed that sheep to death. I feel much better now." That's one dressing room that I really don't want to be anywhere near. What do they do if they lose?
Gordon Bennett I give up with these newspaper rumours. Better to live in a cave and come out when it's all over.
