I think the idea was to bring Berbatov in so that Rooney could play in his natural position in the hole.

Unfortunately, Tottenham are being bitches and are asking for 38 million for Berbatov from United, and United want no part of being price gouged.

That hopefully means they'll be getting KJH to play the 1st striker role.

I'd imagine that they'll play a 4-3-2-1 or something of that nature.

[Edited on July 30, 2008 at 7:38 AM. Reason : .]

7/30/2008 7:38:22 AM

david bentley to tottenham for 15 mil. pounds. They have a sick young attack, but they better buy some defenese if theyre gonna compete

7/30/2008 10:14:47 PM

Anyone watching any of the Club Friendlys today?

Barca-Chivas is on FSC right now... I caught some of the Arsenal game today... Adebayor with a penalty goal...

8/3/2008 7:19:37 PM

Tottenham is developing a pretty nasty team.

Gomes
Hutton/Gunter, King, Woodgate, Bale, Dawson
Jenas, Huddlestone, Modric, Lennon, Bentley, Zokora
Bent, Berbatov, Dos Santos

Those guys plus maybe Arshavin. Should be a fun to watch at least.


I think Berbatov will transfer for 25ish before the end of the summer. Id be really surprised if he didnt. Tevez and Rooney would play well off him. He holds the ball nicely, can be a target man and links up well.

8/3/2008 7:46:40 PM

8/4/2008 9:45:49 PM

Arsenal promoted Jack Wilshire (16 years old) to their first team. Hope they aren't rushing him...

8/5/2008 4:18:54 PM

And before anyone corrects me, yes, it's Wilshere

8/5/2008 6:15:43 PM

i know it's SPL/CL, but Rangers got dumped out of the Chapmion's League yesterday by playing that bullshit football they somehow made it to the UEFA Cup final with



serves them right, hahahahahha

8/6/2008 12:34:00 AM

'I will remain with Manchester United for at least another year.' - Ronaldo

atleast this will give ever united fan an easy feeling until next summer.

anyone else see another slow start for united with missing key players to start the season?

8/6/2008 6:33:04 PM

rooney and carrick being out hurts, but hopefully they arent gone for too long. Ronaldo obviously hurts a lot, and he will be out for longer. I hope man utd signs KJH but i have a feeling they wont. Maybe this is the time for players like frazier campbell and lee martin. Theyve both looked really good in preseason so maybe they can actually do something.

8/6/2008 7:03:21 PM

Chris Eagles shouldve stuck around, he'd be getting some serious burn with Anderson off to the Olympics, Carrick sick, Hargreaves with niggling knee stuff, Park Ji Sung recovering from surgery, and Ronaldo out.




Shit.



I just realized we may indeed be fucked for the first few weeks of the season unless we get Berbatov AND KJH.

8/6/2008 8:49:19 PM

West Ham and Freddie Ljungberg have parted ways... I guess this was a little while coming since he was pretty much told he wasn't going to be first team anyway...

8/7/2008 1:02:30 AM

Ljungberg played mainly in the physical therapy department from what I remember......I really really hate saying this, Reds 4ever, but I hope Rooney didn't get malaria or something crazy, that could end his career. SAF will most likely sign one player, despite the headlines. Should be an interesting start to the season with all the injuries and fresh faces. 1 more week to go!

8/8/2008 3:27:47 AM

i read that rooney was in training today, so hopefully thats a good sign

8/8/2008 2:16:46 PM

good to see everyone on the thread for the start of the new season.

united is going to be fucked for the first couple weeks. I could care less about the super cup.

I think LIverpool is league game 2, and chelsea is league game 3.

8/8/2008 9:51:17 PM

.....almost everyone....

8/8/2008 10:22:50 PM

It begins

8/16/2008 7:39:40 AM

BBC

KNOWS

FOOTBALL

Quote :

"Arsenal kicked off the new Premier League season with a win over West Brom as Samir Nasir scored on his debut."

Quote :

"Nasir made a bright Premier League debut for Arsenal"

8/16/2008 10:57:24 AM

Go to http://www.justin.tv to watch soccer from all around the World including the EPL.

8/16/2008 12:23:59 PM

the blackburn vs everton game was really exciting. paul robinson looks like hes set to have another paul robinson-esque year again

8/16/2008 12:26:23 PM

^

8/16/2008 12:30:14 PM

Ashton with 2 goals in the opening 10 mins but then had to leave with an injury...

Hoping it's just a cramp...

8/16/2008 2:41:53 PM

http://www.free-football.tv/

Has anyone ever joined this? Does it have as good of a feed as mlslive.tv, or better? It looks as though you get just about every European league for free. Is it worth doing?

8/16/2008 9:00:17 PM

You can watch every game online for free without having to pay a dime. Don't give that site your money.

http://livetv.ru/en/
http://www.football4less.com/ (join the forums here there is a hidden forum with all the matches each day)

8/16/2008 9:13:02 PM

^Thanks! I'm always looking for ways to watch soccer online. The only one I pay for is the MLSlive feed.

8/16/2008 9:28:35 PM

1-1 at old trafford

still no tevez. Is he hurt or something?

carrick was taken off in the first half with an injury.

[Edited on August 17, 2008 at 12:27 PM. Reason : carrick]

8/17/2008 12:25:55 PM

^ some family thing. He'll be back next week.

8/17/2008 12:28:29 PM

aaaand Chelsea wins 4-0

whoops

8/17/2008 12:40:27 PM

God damn it. Let's talk about playing defenders as forwards for a second.


da Silva is a RB, not a forward.

Evra is a LB, not a midfielder. Just because he played CF at Nice doesnt mean he can cut it as an attacking player in the Prem.


We needed Carlito today. I'm also not banking on Berba coming to OT anymore, so we need to figure out how Saha can play and stay healthy a whole season.


Campbell impressed the shit out of me today, even though he was over-eager at points (when he got his yellow for example).

We'll be fine once Anderson gets back, Nani's off suspension, and CR7 is 100%, but until that point we have a long hard fight ahead of us that I am not looking forward to.

8/17/2008 1:32:21 PM

campbell looks like he could be great coming off the bench for man utd this season. id much rather take him over saha, but hopefully we can get another option in there soon

8/17/2008 5:49:21 PM

silvestre to arse

8/20/2008 11:13:21 PM

I wish United would stop wasting time trying to buy Berbatov and invest in KJH. He's the better buy.

8/21/2008 7:58:17 PM

^huntelaar?

==He might be a better for the average team but Berbatov would fit perfectly into their system. Tevez and Rooney are both little guys who play off big guys. Berbatov can play up top. He has an excellent touch, holds the ball up well, etc. Having a tevez/rooney playing off him would be perfect. Its rooneys preferred position you know.

==A rant: Im a liverpool fan. Last year, we had the 4-2-3-1 working well. With gerrard playing off Torres. Unfortunately Babel couldnt play 90 minutes due to fitness and sometimes disappeared. And kuyt is kuyt, just awful. So what do we do? Spend 20 mill on Keane. Now, I like keane a lot as a player, but Im not sure how he fits in. He will play supporting to Torres......but Torres likes being the lone striker. It worked much better last year and he plays better alone when with Spain. AAAAAnd to add to that, Gerrard cant play his most effective position (last year, 4231), which is behind Torres.

I fail to see why we never signed someone who is creative or has the ability to play out wide. Pennant is the only winger on the team. And hes moderate shit. Yossi is the closest thing on the left and I guess he is creative. I prefer him over Kuyt. What about David Silva? I cant help but think he would have been a better use of 20 mill. Even Queresema. Shit, Ill take bentley. Or Modric. Or the other host of creative/wide players that have been transferred or available this summer

8/22/2008 8:58:54 PM

United is a 1.8B club, and you want to haggle over 5M to buy berbatov. I don't fucking get it... by the time they are fucking around in the transfer market, and everyone returns to health.... they could be too far behind chelsea to strike.

I am not trying to be an alarmist, but GD you probalby had 6 guys off the team who started in CL final in Moscow.

Also, if you knew your team was going to be so injured, why don't you just pay the spurs the extra 5M and be done. I mean you really want to count on Louis (TA McLendon) Saha to play for more than 20 mins without getting hurt?

Put Rooney behind Huntelaar or Berba and you are close to a perfect side. W/o a true strike this is a team that can't compete with Chelsea

8/22/2008 10:12:51 PM

also if chelsea sign robinho, you can fucking forget about it

8/22/2008 10:16:34 PM

Chelsea has such a stacked midfield:
Lampard, Essein, J Cole, Ballack, Makalale, (Robinho), Obi Mikel

did SWP ever transfer? I dont remember it ever finalizing?

8/22/2008 11:50:28 PM

Quote :

"And kuyt is kuyt, just awful."

I don't get all the hate for Kuyt. Sure, he doesn't score all that often and when he does, it's usually not pretty. So if you're judging him based on the fact he was brought in as a striker, than sure he's been disappointing. But I think he fills in decently on that right wing because of his work ethic, and he plays decent defense for a player in that position. He's a slightly above average player, not all teams can have 11 superstars.

The depth at defense/outside midfield hurt Liverpool... not the quality of the starting 11. I agree that they probably would've been better served to try and get a true out and out winger, although I disagree about Quaresma, he's overrated as shit to me. I also thought they bid for Silva, but it wasn't enough.

8/23/2008 12:32:59 AM

8/23/2008 11:52:28 AM

That was a great header by Cisse to give Sunderland a win at White Hart Lane.

8/23/2008 1:17:36 PM

Ramos drops Berbatov as Tottenham forward submits transfer request


Manchester United have been chasing Dimitar Berbatov for the past year

Manchester United have been chasing Dimitar Berbatov for the past year. Photographer: Action Images

The Tottenham head coach Juande Ramos has accused Dimitar Berbatov of having a negative effect on the dressing room and left him out of today's Premier League clash against Sunderland for not being "focused enough". Berbatov has handed in a formal transfer request and wants to leave White Hart Lane for Manchester United, with a departure appearing inevitable now Ramos has left him out of his squad for today's clash with Roy Keane's side.

Ramos has scheduled a meeting with the Bulgaria striker tomorrow to discuss his future. "As I said on Thursday, I needed to wait and speak to the player when he returned from international duty and then make a decision about whether or not he was right to play in this game," said Ramos. "I have not selected him as I do not think he is focused enough and I do not feel that he will be good for the dressing room and the team effort.

"It doesn't matter how good a player is, if he is not in the right frame of mind, then he will not perform well. The only thing I concern myself with is picking the best team to try and win the game. I shall talk to the player tomorrow, he is our player and we shall work with him at training."

8/23/2008 1:45:30 PM

Fulham beats Arsenal for only the 2nd time in 43 years, 1-0

RVP had some of the shittiest free kicks I've ever seen today

8/23/2008 2:38:24 PM

a bunch of ^s

I just cant stand Kuyt. Hes not as bad as I make him out to be, but he has no right starting a lot of games. Im fine if he plays in the 4-2-3-1 against a top team (chelski, manure, etc) because he provides a little extra defense. We primarily just counter attack in those games and gerrard, babel, and torres can take care of that. But, for 80% of matches, I hate Kuyt because:
-no speed
-absolutely no moves, cant get by anyone
-his touch is pretty bad
-technique is poor
-hes ugly
Basically, hes OK at not fucking up and defending. But when it comes to skill, speed or creativity...hes an absolute pile of shit. Hes so incredibly one dimensional. As a winger he cant cross, run or command attention. As a striker, he just doesnt cut it but hes not asked to be so Ill let it slide. As a midfielder he has no touch, vision or technique.
But he tries hard and would bleed for liverpool!


Spurs: I didnt get a chance to watch much of the game (20th-60th?) but they looked pretty flat. Modric looked good. Controlled the ball extremely well. Dictated the game. I wish they would play Huddlestone more, though service might not be their problem. Bent needs to get more involved in dangerous positions. But, the spurs are the spurs despite their pretty sick roster


[Edited on August 23, 2008 at 6:32 PM. Reason : i struggle]

8/23/2008 6:14:35 PM

That was great to see Fulham pull off the upset, but this is the EPL. By the end of the season Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool will be the top 4 teams like always.

8/23/2008 9:09:06 PM

Quote :

"Chelsea has such a stacked midfield: Lampard, Essein, J Cole, Ballack, Makalale, (Robinho), Obi Mikel did SWP ever transfer? I dont remember it ever finalizing?"

Makelele actually transfered to PSG (I think, I know he went somewhere in France), but SWP is still there. Like I said before Chelsea could field a 2nd team in the EPL that would probably qualify for a UEFA Cup spot. They can still eat my sack though.

On a side note, I will reiterate my extreme glee and happiness that Andriy is no longer a member of the team.

8/25/2008 10:09:25 AM

Liverpool just about gave me a heart attack today. It almost pains me that kuyt got the goal. It is still more proof that Im not sure the 2-striker approach works with torres. I worrrrrrrry. Also, gerrard is out for 2-3 weeks. Sort of scares me given the trouble up front.

Also, Niko Kranjcar is out for 2 months. That is a real downer, hes one of my favorite players to watch and his reputation had been growing

8/27/2008 11:52:22 PM

shevchenko was garbage in the premiership

liverpool is in trouble, its gonna be tough for them to win without gerrard

8/28/2008 2:04:52 AM

No doubt^
Alonso might be given some more freedom but he wont provide the spark that we need
Masch is totally defensive
Lucas hasnt played with the club for a while
Plessis is trash (imo)
Benayoun might be asked to play a more central, attacking position. Though he is too inconsistent for my taste
Riera, pennant, kuyt, babel, etc are all floating around as well

8/28/2008 3:27:48 AM

Liverpool is fucked.


I hate to say it, but once the Robinho to Chelski deal is done, there is absolutely no way they don't win the league by a landslide.

It just remains to be seen how they'll do in the Champions League.

8/28/2008 8:38:09 AM

Colemania

Quote :

"Kuyt has been Liverpool's lucky charm in such games, and this was his ninth goal in 15 European outings."

dude's money in Europe, give him a break

and

Quote :

"but SWP is still there. just completed the move to Man City"

8/28/2008 11:43:52 AM

Wow that either came out of nowhere or I just haven't heard any rumblings on it. Good for him though, he wasn't ever going to see the field this year for Chelsea unless it was during an early Carling Cup draw.

set em up

8/28/2008 11:51:04 AM