I'm down for whatever everyone wants. I plan on being much more active this year. Still wish we would have finished that first season as I was right there within striking distance of Blaza but it's a new season and it should be quite fun. I can just imagine how good Barcelona and Real Madrid will be. It seems every top player ends up at Madrid.
the tough part about leagues is the guys who aren't doing well don't have a lot to play for. since it isn't a manager mode or whatever, interest seemed to tie pretty quick. that second one we were going to do didn't even get off the ground. i'm hoping we can create custom clubs with custom rosters and play with those online. if that's the case you could get a league, have a draft of some sort from a certain pool of players, inject a few new players in each year and have a sort of transfer period. i.e. you have a team and i have a team. you win X games and get X in funds. then we add Fernando Torres and you buy him, but then decide to sell off Robin van Persie because you can't afford both, and we have some movement and team building. but ... don't know how powerful the club creation tool is gonna be.
Uhhhh wha? Villa lost Milner and got Stevie I. Fair trade?...lol not really, and Villa hasnt even spent the money from last years big summer move....Liverpool lost their most productive player in Yossi. Throw in Aquilani, Kuyt, and Monster Masch with one foot out the door and Liverpool are well....on their way to being the new Tottenham.
Dude I hate Villa but they still have studs all over the park. Ireland is no slouch and their attacking options are still scary. Abonglahor, Heskey, Stuart Downing, Carew, and Ashley young can beat any EPL level club on a given day. Sidwell eats up attackers in the middle. I'm not saying they are as sweet as the Gunners or anything , but they are talented.
All IM sayin Blaz....of those players you listed, which of those players would earn a spot on a top 3 team in England, Spain, or Italy? Gabby, no, Emile, no, Downing, lol, Carew, nah, Ashley, closest to maybe having a spot.
Top 3 is tough though---but consider this: Emile Heskey has started alongside Rooney for the 2006 and 2010 World Cups. Obviously England has underachieved lately, but he had to beat out some pretty nasty strikers to win that spot. All of those guys are in constant consideration for some of the biggest national teams in the world. They have a solid defense and one of top 4 keepers in the EPL. Trust me, I hate the cunts but they are good!
Don't me wrong, I loved Yossi but calling him Liverpools most productive player is a bit of a stretch. I mean he scored as many goals as David Ngog did and less than Kuyt last year. the jury is out on Villa. they certainly don't have a lot of depth and it'll take a few weeks to find out how much of their success was because of O'Neil. and its never good when your manager quits outright because he doesn't feel the owner is doing enough to buy players.
No no i think were agreeing, just to a different level. I think Villa re good too, just not where they need to be to contend for a top 4 spot. Good yes, but they are consistantly battling for 6th. But I do disagree about Emile. Yes, he played his role, and thats why he was in the lineup, a big body who can hold things up at let Wazza make his runs. Too bad it didnt work out like that. DaFoe > Hesky....(sorry, lol) My bad, Yossi not their most productive, def one of their most though. And he def gets a nod for being clutch. The problem I had with Martin, was, last year and the year before he had depth. A good 3 striker rotation with Delufoneso(4) being a plus some games. Barry, Gardner, Petrov, Sidwell, Reo-Coker, and Osbourne were all in the middle, not counting Young Milner and later on Dowining......Thats good depth, but Martin NEVER used them correctly. Last season he only used 22 different players all year. Thats absurd, good coach yes, but he got that wrong and always wonder Villa flamed out in March and April.... /rant, sorry....(closet Villain here) And dont get me started on Randy Lerner. 40 Mil for two players in two seasons and he hasnt spent a dime of it. Cheap yank fuck!
Joe Cole > Yossi, despite any careless challenges that get him suspended for 3 games. Liverpool has a lot of upside this year, and if Ngog can continue to develop, I like what is possible. Last week's result went from "Oh man, I hope we win" at the start, to "ahhhhhh shit we need a draw out of this" when Cole was run, to "oh my god can we hang on" when Ngog scored, to complete exasperation when Reina had his blunder. What a topsy turvy game against the Gunners. My fantasy team got raped this week.
IMO Liverpool could make some noise this year. I think a lot of last years woes boiled down to Gerrard and Torres never being 100 percent and rarely on the pitch together, and the team just not being behind Rafa any more. The guy is a smart tactician, but he lost the players at the beginning of the season and you saw it at times on the pitch (i.e. some weird substitutions and players literally shaking their heads in disbelief). And he played waaay too defensive for the players he had (Lucas and Mascherano should never be on the pitch at the same time).
btw looks like we're actually getting the game BEFORE Europe does which is a first. Pretty sure we get it Sept. 28 and I saw an ad on the pitch during the Arsenal/Blackpool game that they get it Oct. 1.
Newcastle 6 - Aston Villa 0 Maybe Villa isn't all that good. What's up with all these 6 nil scorelines this season in the EPL?
Yep, too scum sides getting it on. This match should be interesting--both teams will feel that they should be able to beat the other. No Joe Cole, does that mean Gerrard gets pushed up into the creative #10 role vs. sitting back with Mascherano? Masch and company City's midfield with YaYa/Viera/Barry/et al. will be an awesome matchup.
i'd like to see them give Aquilani a shot. guy got a lot of flack last season despite IMO Rafa never giving him a fair shake. Plus the guy tied for second on the team in assists despite only playing in 18 games and getting 9 starts.
I'm a fan of Aquilani. Always rated him at Roma and love his direct style of play. If City's last game as any indication, its going to take a ton of chances to beat Joe Hart in goal. Guy is a freak.
i was surprised they kept both him and Givens. They basically have two of the top five to six keepers in the league on the same roster. I'm sure Arsenal would give their left nut for one of those guys lol.
Yes, we were linked to Givens heavily last week but word is Mancini doesn't want to sell him to us for obvious reasons. Wenger bought Squillaci over the weekend which solves the CB shortage, but we absolutely must buy another Keeper before the window closes. Almunia is just too shaky.
Damn, you two sure seem to know your Futball.. It's pretty crazy, if someone would have told me 10 years ago that I would love soccer, I would've asked them for the drugs they were using.. Now it seems to be my second favorite sport behind College Football. It was pretty weird, I found myself making sure to set my alarm on Friday night so I wouldn't miss the Arsenal/Blackpool game. Glad I didn't miss that one.. Whew, imagine when RVP and Cesc are fit.. Gonna be a good year for the Gunners! Seeing that your a big Gunner guy Blaza.. What's your take on Gallas possibly moving over to the Friggin Spurs?
Dude, it seems like yesterday that I was waking up at 3am or ditching school at 2:30 to catch a rare Champions League Game. I'm still amazed at how easily we can follow footie in the US now. I have FSC and FSC Plus which more or less quenches my EPL thirst and shows a ton of Serie A games as well. We all know how Wenger likes to handpick guys out of France so its cool to be able to catch a Ligue 1 game on FSC these days. Even ESPN is showing the big La Liga game of the week most weekends. I'm loving it. As far as Gallas, I actually really liked him when he was with Arsenal even though he wasn't a fan favorite. He came to work and was always solid in central defense. I can't say that I'm surprised though. I knew long ago that Gallas was a mercenary (not that I blame him)--he definitely is not one of those players who plays for the shirt. All I know for sure is that he will regret it when Chamakh jumps over him for a powerful headed goal!
If Arsenal can get themselves a good keeper they're going to be dangerous. IMO they also have to show they can play when a team is pushing them around. they have a bit of a well deserved reputation for being soft.
