Mega News Roundup – August 17
Roundup of today’s news…
Liverpool
Wouldn’t it be really ironic if tomorrow morning we were to find out that Newcastle had offered Kuyt a double-your-money deal and that he had jumped ship from Anfield to St James Park faster than you can say money-grabber?
I doubt that will happen, but the transfer game is a very tricky one, and having seen Ronaldinho, Robben and Essien vow to come to Manchester United (3 summers in a row) and then jump ship to Barca and Chelsea takes away any faith you have left in the honesty of players.
After his medical, Kuyt should be a Liverpool before their first Premiership match on Saturday, finally completing the Liverpool squad and taking away the last excuse Rafael Benitez has for underperforming this season.
This season, Liverpool will be disappointed not to reach at least 2nd place but that is as much a result of their excellent form last season and their transfer market activities this summer as it is a consequence of Arsenal and Manchester United looking set to underperform once again (I say this with reservation though).
Liverpool still have an away tie with Maccabi Haifa to negotiate, which they should go through in ease. After that, it’s full-throttle in the Premiership as neither of the top four teams can afford to let up.
Newcastle United
With Kuyt out of their hands, Newcastle need to figure out fast where the next striker is going to come from. With news coming out that Newcastle United might lose the services of Michael Owen for a whole season, Roeder needs to find two strikers and fast. Collins John is one name that Newcastle could move for, with the Fulham striker expected to cost 5 mil.
Inter, with their newfound status as Champions and in pole position to win the Serie A before it even starts, will not be willing to let either Adriano or Martins go (neither would those two be too keen on going from a Champions League club to a UEFA Cup club)
Then there is still the small matter of Newcastle getting hold of a central defender.
Maybe Manchester United could interest them in Silvestre and …. damn, we sold Bellion and Forlan…
Chelsea
I had to shut down this discussion going on about the worth of Chelsea as a team, the legitimacy of their title wins and what not. Apparently Lampard is a better player than Steven Gerrard (or so says SoupDragon2). I’ve asked our resident Chelsea expert to tell us how that is possible, so let’s hope we see something next week (after watch the two stars in action over the weekend).
Warning: Chelsea bashing ahead
Chelsea’s transfer deals (apart from the one for Cole) are over, so there’s little to report except the usual – Drogba keeps telling us that he is only staying because the Special One (Mourinho) made a special effort to keep him. Now why would you do that, Mr. Jose? Was it the diving, or did Terry say that he didnt want the ugliest looking mug leaving his gang of ref intimidators? If you watch Chelsea (I know, not many people do that either) there is a band of 4-6 players who surround the ref every time a decision goes against them. Terry, Drogba, Makelele, Gallas and whoever else is closest.
In all fairness, Drogba has still to justify his high price-tag but is a quality player and does what he is asked to do (fall over, create chances for his teammates, miss the goal by miles) very, very well. High number of assists last season, and knows how to link-up with the midfield. Should be an excellent foil for Shevchenko this season.
Gallas – oh, you thought this was over, did you? – is again in L’Equipe asking out from Chelsea. A lot has been said, but I think that after being offered so much money to play football, Gallas should shut up and accept it. He is well-loved by the fans (despite his recent tantrums) but that patience is eroding. If he wants to be paid more, he should play his ass off this season and then make more demands.
In better news, Peter Cech is back in training from his shoulder surgery (although he is still quite some way before fully recovering). Bloody good keeper (better than Lehmann, possibly even better than van der Sar).
Mourinho has talked about needing 1 or 2 defenders – one of them would be Cole, the other one perhaps a replacement for Robert Huth (when he finally leaves – if he leaves).
England
If you are an England fan and were excited by England’s 4-0 win over Greece, please sit yourself down and go back to England vs Trinidad & Tobago Jamaica (right before the World Cup) when we won 6-0.
A big win against a bad team is not a sign of strength or excellence. At the international level Crouch is not strong enough to duke it out with top defenders, while Robinson is still a bit shaky and England need Cole and Lennon back in the team. It’s a tough call, but perhaps in Rooney’s absence Gerrard should be given a free role as tucking in behind Crouch. With Lennon on the right and Cole on the left we WILL have pace and penetration.
That being said, Lennon is just a kid and needs a lot more time before he can be termed as a guaranteed pick. Right now the only guaranteed picks are Gerrard, Terry, Ferdinand, the two Coles and Rooney, with Hargreaves having made a decent claim to being in that group as well.
The good thing is that this group should take us to the 2010 World Cup. Whether Lampard should be part of this bunch is still debatable. I’ll leave that one for another day.
Manchester United
First it was Giggs, now Neville – the United contingent are pretty peeved off at Rooney’s 3-match ban, blaming referees for trying to make a name for themselves and what not. In reality I think it is far less sinister – the refs don’t want to be considered soft with a player who has a reputation for getting into trouble (however unfair that reputation might be). It’s a messy situation, and whenever a ref is going to card Rooney he is going to be barracked by Manchester United – fans and club alike.
Neville’s also talked about Ronaldo and how the club will support him totally. At the end of the day Neville’s (and Man Utd’s) gripe with Ronaldo was about him talking about leaving Manchester United. Ronaldo should be fine once he starts scoring and United start winning.
No more news on Hargreaves – he didnt say much in the post-match interview yesterday but all eyes are now on Manchester United; what will the club say, how much they will bid, etc etc. Bayern Munich have said no once, but 13 to 17 mil should tempt them to part with the midfielder and give them enough cash to bring in two replacements.
It leaves Senna looking a bit ridiculous, but considering that it was Senna, his agent and Villareal who had talked most about the move, it’s as much their fault as Manchester United’s for keeping him hanging. United have made it clear that they are looking at several midfield options, with Diarra, Hargreaves and Senna definite names on the list. Senna spoke out some time ago, Diarra is off to Real and Hargreaves – well, Hargreaves would suit us fine for the Premiership.
Hargreaves’ (or Senna’s) arrival will also free up Smith to return to striking duties – the reason he was bought for. He’s a better striker than people give him credit for, although United have more ‘creators’ than out-and-out goalscorers. This year Rooney should be playing as an out-and-out striker – no mucking about in the midfield for him.
Update: Hargreaves’ agent speaks.
Up Tomorrow
Hopefully we’ll see some progress in the Cole and Reyes sagas, plus more news on Hargreaves. There’s season previews of Liverpool and Manchester United coming up, plus a couple of interesting posts from our contributing authors.
Oh, who am I kidding – I’m just waiting for Hargreaves to sign.
Oh how i love the begining of the season and being able to read way way too many blogs by various fans,this is a good blog mate and the 1st time i have come across it (i will renturn,but expect to be banned a few days into the season:-)..)
I’m not gonna say much but i will pick you up on one point and that’s
Hargreaves’ (or Senna’s) arrival will also free up Smith to return to striking duties – the reason he was bought for. He’s a better striker than people give him credit for, although United have more ‘creators’ than out-and-out goalscorers. This year Rooney should be playing as an out-and-out striker – no mucking about in the midfield for him.
I thought Whisky nose bought Smith as a replacement for Keane.And IMO Shrek is the perfect attacking midfielder.
As for Chelski i do believe that this year Moaniniho will be found out and shipped out i mean ffs the guys an average tactition at best,it’s all very well buying (i mean accepting as this summer Roman has been the man who gave the list to Moaniniho not the other way around) so called superstars (all be it ones that are coming to the end of their careers) but a man with Moaninihos tactical nouse will not be able to fit them all in but hey ho he always has his trusty centerback/forward combo to scare the hell out of us all.
That’ll do for now as i could go on and on and on and on but i feel that would get me banned sooner than i would like to accept.
Peace and GL to everyone Enjoy scrapping for 2nd/3rd and 4th places.
Nah mate, Smith was converted into a ‘Keano’ role in 2005, while he was bought back in 2004 as a striker (replacement for Forlan).
He’s more a Dorgba / Crouch than a Shevchenko though.
Mourinho I think is a good tactician and a lot of the work he does goes in preparing his teams (much like Benitez) – it’s an area Ferguson has to play catchup on…
You won’t get banned unless you start abusing authors or other commenters…and even then only your comments are deleted, you are not really banned per se.
So don’t let the fear of a negative response hold you back in your rants
PS – Comments are moderated, so until I approve them they won’t show up.
In all fairness Old Whisky nose claimed that he bought Smith (more like a Joe Bloggs than any of the above) because he saw him as a replacement for Keane Fergies words not mine he stated that Smith would learn from Keane and then fill his position..As for the blogs am i right in thinking that anyone can blog in here as after reading a Chelsea blog i feel that any old numpty can write any old crap even if like the guy who wrote that they know fvck all about fvck all.
Am i also right in thinking that you are this sites power-broker.
Shevchenko is a great player but he was never worth the money that Chelski paid for him i expect him to be wiped out early in the season even if he isn’t he will not prove to be any better than van horse face was for united (yet another expample of Fergie loosing the plot)
I genuinely think Liverpool will this season, finally, give Chelsea, Man Utd and Arsenal a run for their money. Rafa has proved he is as good a tactician as any manager in the world. Finally, he has (almost) got the players in place that the Liverpool transfer budget will allow him to buy. Liverpool have plenty of options, in defence, midfield and attack. I can see him using tactics that will confound our major rivals. One minute attacking through the centre, the next out on the wings. I am certain he will unlock even the most meanest of defences (like Chelsea’s) and make Liverpool’s defence almost bullet-proof. Time will tell if Rafa is on the right-track but I and the vast majority of Liverpool fans have great faith in Rafa, we finally have a man who has a plan and knows how to execute it. He is humble yet ruthless, intelligent yet honest but most of all he is a decent, loyal and respectful person. I think he is destined to go down as one of the truly great managers and boy am I glad he is at Liverpool!
Stevie G don’t be suprised if we also get Alves berife august the 31st
In Rafa we TRUST !!!
Skamp – you’re dead wrong mate.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/4188370.stm – That article is August 2005. Smith was bought in 2004 and played as a forward before being converted to a midfielder later – he wasn’t bought as a forward though.
About this blog – yes, i’m the ‘power-broker’ (nice way to put it) and no, anyone and everyone can’t blog here, they gotta go through this page first (more than that, I’m not telling here – if you’re interested write to me, otherwise let’s stick to talking football here).
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/4188370.stm – That article is August 2005. Smith was bought in 2004 and played as a forward before being converted to a midfielder later – he wasn’t bought as a forward though.
So mate i am right in saying that fergie bought Smith as a midfielder,so in that case i believe i am right in everthing i said (don’t ban me lol)
As for the bloggers i think i could do a good job pal a better job than soup-dragon in anycase as i would only blog facts after i had looked them up that said i would never submit a blog about something i knew so little about as soup-dragon obviously does.
Peace
By that i mean i would not have to look up facts to back up my blogs.
Peace…
In RAFA WE TRUST.
oh crap…I meant to say “he wasn’t bought as a midfielder though (but as a forward)”…
my bad.
So you don’t like SoupDragon, eh?
If you think you can hack it, hit the write page.
I hope you’re all looking forward to the Gerrard vs Lampard article.
I am not actually saying Lampard is better in the article, but you will see that when you all read it
Hopefully drogs has a productive season !!
Mourinho is a very good manager, anyone who can mastermind a Champions League win with Porto’s limitations must be special. He’s been great, and actually, quite unlucky in the Champions League over the last couple of years. Hopefully Chelsea will have a good season, and everyone will concentrate on the football rather than the histrionics.
It’s gonna be an exciting year for football this year domestically, with Liverpool having massively strengthened over the summer and Arsenal and Man Utd hungry for some silverwear (Don’t forget tottenham with their new signings!). La Liga might be a bit more interesting too due to R.Madrid’s transfer activity.
It’s not that i don’t like soup-dragon mate it’s just that anyone who says that shev is the same age as Henry is sadly a one hit wonder..
Iwill hit the write page when i have more time and i am sure i will stir up a few red blood cels until then peace.
Skamp,
Fergie bought Smith as a centre forward from Leeds, he had never played in the midfield.
When Roy Keane was injured, Smith was asked to study Keane’s play and fill his role because they were limited in midfield. When Keane came back, smith was relegated to the bench and used in rotation with Van the man. It was only in the Carling cup and when Keane left that he was thrust into that role again.
Judging by your posts, you clearly have an outstanding grasp of the English language and should be paid good money to write about football. Why are you wasting your time softening Ahmed up on a humble blogsite?
Calling Shevchenko and Ballack ’supposed superstars’, questioning Mourinho’s tactical ‘nouse’(which is actually spelt nous) and stating that you are not ever going to use ANY sources to back up your points will endear you to any journalistic organisation.
Give the Express a call, I hear they need another idiot like Mick Dennis to write unfounded controversial articles.
Skamp, it looks like you didn’t read the whole article and the replies.
Shevchenko’s Birthday – 29 Sep 1976
Henry’s Birthday – 17 Aug 1977
As I said, they are both 29 (I’ll assume you can’t count) and would be in the same year at school.
So, you’ve been wrong in everything you’ve said so far.
What are you inferring by calling me a one hit wonder? That doesn’t have anything to do with anything. Dummy.
Chelsea will not win anything this season. Ballack is past it and is not strong enough to last in the premiership also Shevchenko. When he gets welcomed properly to the league he will go on holiday for the rest of the season. That is why Maureenho has had his head shaved preparatory for him being shipped of to Siberia to work in the salt mines as they Chelski will be empty handed this year.
Soup…
now now, be nice
Sheva’s 30, Henry’s 29, 1 year diff.
Seriously, I don’t know why people make such a big deal about it when Sheringham is 40+
Ahmed, the dates say they’re BOTH 29
AAAAAARRGHGH.
Ps. sorry for being a meanie skamp.
Soup – I KNOW, but in one month Sheva will be 30…11 months difference between the two (actually, 10 months and 18 days or so) so come on and relax a little.
On the other hand, they are still pretty much the same age…
The alternative is they are the same age now, but last week Henry was a year younger – I know which one seems to make more sense to me
Shevchenko is a Great striker! Ballack is a Great midfielder! Let’s face it, were they to come to MU, they would have been the world’s best. Give them their due…
Besides, when we win the premiership this season, I want to boast “Manchester United beat the best”.
Smith was bought as a center forward. When Fergie bought him, he promised Smith that he would get used as a Center Forward, because in Fergie’s view (at the time), Smith seemed like a “classical center forward”.
Well, it was an interesting, and amusing, use of bias towards your club in the article, and against every other club in the Premiership there.
But I’d like to refer you to prior to the World Cup where England beat Jamaica, not Trinidad & Tobago, 6-0.
Seems you really know your stuff.
And it’s a shame, you can’t read amateur articles nowadays without the use of bias. Sucks.
Josh – thanks for pointing that out, my bad.
Bias? It’s a shame every two-bit armchair expert likes to mouth off before trying to digest something that disagrees with him.
But if you think there is bias, please point it out and I’ll argue the point with you here.
once again, my bad for that mistake, fixing it now.
There are times when you make fair comments, only to ruin them with what I can only consider as sly afterthoughts. For example,
“In all fairness, Drogba has still to justify his high price-tag but is a quality player and does what he is asked to do (fall over, create chances for his teammates, miss the goal by miles) very, very well.”
The stuff in brackets seems unnessecary. If the reporter was neutral, he would just say the part surrounding the brackets. When you begin to include the things in brackets it goes from a good article to an opinion based article, and as we can see, no opinion based article ever fails to include bias.
Also, if you can, guess which team I support.
And “two-bit armchair expert”? Couldn’t agree more.
Josh – good point. I’m going to assume that a) you’re a chelsea fan and b) you missed the part last week when I took my bias out on a host of clubs and got bashed as a result.
The type of statements that you point out are provocative not because I’m biased, but because I’m exaggerating certain faults of the player.
With reference to Drogba – his infamous “sometimes I dive, sometimes I don’t” interview, plus a frustrating knack for messing up scoring opportunities makes me write 2 of the 3 things in brackets. I’m exaggerating, yes, but in essence what I’m saying is also in jest. You may disagree with that, but let me assure you it is to poke fun at the player and at other clubs rather than an overt dislike of the player/club.
Opinion articles are not without bias, sure enough. But I write here as a fan and as someone who enjoys writing, and as a result I will write something that I find funny or significant about a person / club.
You will (as do many other people) dislike what I say about Chelsea but perhaps agree with the comments I make about Newcastle or Liverpool (find me a club you’re not fond off and comments from me in a similar vein about that club will be agreeable to you). So who is biased then?
The bit about terry and his gang of intimidators…really now, while i think they do go up to the ref a lot it’s not as if i’m thinking that they have an ‘acutal’ strategy on intimidating refs.
Oh hell, this is what happens in football blogging. I leave it up to you to distinguish between ‘digs’ and facts. That is, if you can set aside your bias long enough to accept facts as they are.
Ahmed, no need to apologise or justify too much. The entire site is a bit bias, but that is because you’re passionate about what you’re doing and whom you support. It’s ok. It makes it more personal. I believe that the site is open for any club fan to write an article. For the critics, instead of criticising, why not submit your own article. I feel its nice to have different ‘biased’ viewpoints and comment on it without getting rude.
In my studies I’ve learnt that Music and Sports share a common trait. That is that its supporters tend to “own” what they support. They take things very personally.
Eg. If someone criticise a song that you like, you tend to feel that they’re criticising you as a person. The same with sports. Because of this, it will be virtually impossible to have a ‘passionate’, ‘un-baised’ discussion on either of those 2 topics.
Not a Chelsea fan, by any means, and yes, I did miss you taking your bias out on a whole other host of clubs. It’s a shame I missed that.
And in reality, I couldn’t agree more with what you are saying about Drogba and his diving, but if you were indeed a neutral biased blogger you wouldn’t feel the need for the “sly digs”, so to speak.
I also agree with what you say about how the comments were made in jest. I indeed, did find them amusing, it’s hardly like I missed the point. I was just pointing out the bias which tends to nark me, as although in this article the bias isn’t that strong, other blogs you find that the bias is ridiculous. I suppose that this was just my way of venting it. =)
And in fact, I would have certainly disagreed with any of the sly digs against Newcastle, Given (pun intended?) that I am a Newcastle fan myself. But as I said before, finding a large site like yourself endorsing bias in your articles was what did encourage me to comment on, it wasn’t that I disagreed with what you are staying.
Karl – Yup, everyone is has a chance to rant on this site.
Josh – fair enough. I’d suggest you read this, then the link above.
I guess the ‘chelsea bashing ahead’ disclaimer will need to be explained next time…