Henry 14 - 1.what do you feel about Senderos because l thought Drogba apart from goal did not do much to trouble the defense. Do you think the criticism handed to a 21 year old against a 28 year old is justified?
2.l have seen Chelsea and everyone’s seems to be waiting for them to fire on all cylinders and produce a performance that merits the stars in their team. Do you think Chelsea have reached their peak expected of them or they have but Man Utd. have just been too good for the champions to live with them?
3. What do you make of Abou Diaby?
4. Have you seen a better piece of magic or dribble than Ronaldhino did against Bilbao?
Bobby – 1. Senderos is an experienced international even though he is 21. Drogba’s primary job is to score goals and if he achieves that without “troubling the defense” then more power to him. Drogba has definetly got into Senderos' head. 2. I think Chelsea has an extra gear that they have still to use. 3. He looked good last year until he was injured against Sunderland. 4. Yes – Ronaldinho didn’t score. Here are a few of my favourites courtesy of youtube. There was also a Ronaldo goal when he was with Barcelona but I could not track I down.
Eddie Gray in 1970 scoring for Leeds United versus Burnley.
George Best scores against Sheffield United (not Wednesday as it says) in 1971. He scored goals like this more than once.
Another Best special – this one against Fort Lauderdale in the NASL.
Gongatore - .How do you see the Barca-Liverpool return leg? Who does Barca start? Tactically, what can they do to negate a fired up Scouser side at home?
Henry14 - As l sat to see the Barcelona match and saw Eto'o play more like his old self, l felt that, Barca at their best are the best on the planet, what approach do you think Liverpool will take because they are expected to attack at the same time Barca will have to attack?
Gunner44 - Do you think now that Eto’o is back Barca will be able to overcome Liverpool at home?
Bobby – Barcelona has to win by two goals or by a score of 3-2 or higher so they have to attack. Benitez will be happy to sit back and hit on the counter – there seems to be no reason to attack. The longer it goes on without a goal then obviously the better it is for Liverpool. If Liverpool scores a goal Barcelona still needs to score two to stay alive.
Wja425 - Javier Mascherano already has more playing time at Liverpool than he had at West Ham after September. And by all accounts, he performed well on Saturday. Is that a commentary on Pardew and Curbishley as managers that they couldn't fit him into their systems (there was an article suggesting that recently), or that Mascherano fits Benitez's style much better? It doesn't make a lot of sense that a player can not make the squad for one of the worst teams in the EPL but can play a critical role for one of the best teams.
Bobby – I think Benitez knows how to fit Mascherano into his team and I still think that he will come good and will turn out to be a great acquisition for Liverpool. In terms o####ood player not being able to hold down a place in a poor team I’m not sure it is as simple as that. It can be a case of the type and style of players you are playing with as well. After all do you think it is easier playing with good players or bad players?
Buffytvs - Ronaldo has been a huge part of the team's success this year -- do you think he will move on at the end of the year, as the rumour mill suggests?
Bobby – I cannot see Ronaldo moving from Old Trafford anytime soon. I think it is all part of the better-contract dance.
Gunner44 - Who do you think will win EPL player of the year Drogba or Ronaldo? Or will it come down to who wins the Title? And in your own opinion who has been more valuable to his team?
And do you think Cesc should be EPL Young POY coz in I think the boy deserves it considering how consistently he has performed all year been only 19?
What do you think Henry's Problem is confidence, new players around him, starting to lose his touch or just lost in his own little world? And should Wenger Bench him especially if RVP returns?
Bobby – I would pick Drogba at the moment as the player of the year because he carried Chelsea through a large part of the season. Fabregas is a shoe-in for the young player of the year. I don’t think Wenger will bench Henry. As for his problems – missing Robert Pires perhaps. Rosicky has had a good first season but Wenger is playing him in a position that he rarely if ever played while with Borussia Dortmund. Pires and Henry had a telepathic understanding – it is not the same with Rosicky.
Foxcube - I feel that Arsenal had no choice but to go with youth development, the Ajax way, whereas Chelsea remains absent-minded with huge money in the pocket. What about Man Utd in the 80s and 90s? Were they considerably richer than other clubs? How did they cultivate their own reserves? And why isn't AC Milan's system producing any great players?
Bobby – United may have been richer than other clubs but the youth squad they produced in the early 90’s was probably as good as any with the exception of the Busby Babes. United have always produced players through the youth system but few are up to SAF’s standards. (Colin Shindler’ s book George Best and 21 others is a great read, as well as Jeff Connor’s The Lost Babes). The lower leagues are littered with players who have not made it at Old Trafford.
Good question about AC Milan. They have always been regarded as a buying club rather than a club that develops players. The two that I think did come through the ranks and were world class players were Gianni Rivera and Paolo Maldini.
LosAngelesChelseaFan - Do you think the article on the Porto meeting between Abramovich and the fans in the Sun has credibility or is just their normal way of creating sensation?
Bobby – A way to create a stir.
Henry 14 - Do you know where Glen Little was and why he is at Reading when he has so much talent?
Bobby – I believe he spent a bit of time at Burnley and may have been at Crystal Palace at the start of his career when Steve Coppell was in charge. You don’t find too many tall rangy type wingers around anymore. He reminds me a bit of Chris Waddle, Ted McMinn (Rangers and Derby in the 80’s) and Tommy Hutchinson of Manchester City and Coventry in the 70’s and early 80’s.
Old Coach - What current managers do you consider to be the best talent evaluators?
Bobby - I think most of us would go for the usual suspects in England - SAF, Arsene Wenger - particularly Wenger. Sam Allardyce would have to be part of that group as well - even though many don't find Bolton's style entertaining.
However, I think the managers who really have to work their socks of to make sure that they leave no stone unturned are the Championship managers. George Burley has a great track record of team building at the lower level and Billy Davies at Derby is another one. Roy Keane has done a great job so far of moving players in and out and now has Sunderland in a position to challenge for an automatic promotion spot.
I think you also have to dig a bit deeper as well and look at the clubs that have developed a system that continually attracts good young players. I'm thinking of a club like Sevilla who have lost some very good players but they seem to find a way to replace them. Werder Bremen would be a good example of the same thing in Germany. Auxerre did it for years when Guy Roux was in charge.
Theres been alot made about the empty stadiums in the epl and everyone is quick to point to the high ticket prices paid, but in my view while that is an issue its secondary to the quality that is put onto the pitch to entertain fans.
I know arsenal have the highest prices and they have a huge waiting list, arguably along with Man Ure play the most entertaining football for their supporters.
I would say Reading also offer a good product, liverpool everton newcastle spurs seem to as well and they all seem to do ok selling their product.
Chelsea is kinda in a class alone, they win thus generating interest, but they have a hard time selling all their matches and their ruthless effiency isnt the most attractive.
Now look at clubs like Wigan Bolton Man City watford I mean do they play a good game? Is there any player on any of these teams worth the price of admission? I dont think the likes of Heskie, el diouf anelka are the types of players supporters warm to, combined with some hoofing tactics i can understand why people stay away.
Clubs like rovers villa charlton seem in transition trying to develop better games and stars.
just seems that entertainment value is both the cost of admission and associated value and only lookin at one side misses a big part of the problem.
- Arsenal's brilliant young guns take the field for a well-earned final at Cardiff. Win or lose, they get credit.
- Fabragas often gets well-deserved glowing reviews. But when he produces little, like much of the team, its written off by fans and media to youth and/or lack of top tier league experience.
- Arsenal's skillful midfielders Hleb and Rosicky are often raved by the media, yet the fact that Arsenal's defensive players have more goals and assists seems to be lost on most everyone.
There's been a lot of questions and criticism of Henry this season (despite still having the highest Gunner goal/match ratio), while his supporting cast has received a pass for not producing the goods. It's interesting to note that neither Chelsea, Man Utd or Liverpool "professionals" get this pass. I'm proud of the young guns and the potential talent within our side, but I can't help but think that Wenger has done Henry and the Arsenal a disservice with his wasteful choices this season. Has Wenger focused too much on youth and not enough on maximizing the potential of a top 4 side with proven world-class players like Henry, Gilberto and Gallas?
Last edited by Gunnerbabe on February 28th at 7:33 AM.
I've asked this once, and I'll ask again. When are people going to stop saying Chelsea hasn't hit top gear? In my opinion, it's more likely that Chelsea just aren't as good as they have been the last two seasons. Ballack and Shevchenko command playing time, yet are past their best and aren't as hungry as younger players would be.
riocharlie:
I think your point is valid. There are a couple things I would add though. First, you pointed out Newcastle, Liverpool and Everton as being good draws, and it's true. But I think you can't discount the fact that these three teams in particular have long, storied traditions that have built a large inherent fanbase. Secondly, I think you're a bit harsh about the "less interesting" teams, in particular to some of the players on those teams. I think there are some players (while not alone worth the price of admission) that supporters can and do warm up to. There are young players like Baines and Richards, and some older players as well. Take Bolton for example, I think their supporters have warmed up to Diouf (why...I'm not sure), but they do yell his name whenever he gets the ball. Anelka and Nolan are both well-liked (by supporters anyway), and I don't think there's a better keeper in the league this season than Jaskelainan. Just my opinion though, so don't crucify me like you did flashman.
Verbal97, Flashman was spouting vitriolic nonsense, reasoned opinions without rancor are always appreciated.
-Chelsea are in perfect position for Champions if you ask me, if they could have only kept Gallas for this season thay might have had a chance.
ill try not too verbman i asked for thoughts anyway. i agree with your assessment that all the clubs have some players that supporters can rally around, maybe its too few rather than none at all, but they also play a rather wicked defensive style that offers fans few moments of excitement. Prem clubs are always gonna have a core fan base 15-25k for the mid table clubs like bolton, to expand that base and energize your fans you have to put an attractive product out there, imo. it says to me that when players look to a clubs ambition its well thought out, too many clubs seem not to be ambitious enough.
i only slagged on the guy cause hes a racist xenophobe who yaks shyte, that profile will get me every time ---- guilty i am
I hate boring games as well, I was just playing devil's advocate. Personally, I think Bolton have outgrown their reputation a little bit, but they still aren't always fun to watch.
I think something should be said that Sheffield United and Watford are struggling this year playing negative after coming up and Reading are challenging for a UEFA Cup spot while trying to play an attacking game. I don't think it means much, just an interesting observation.
Gunner, on the issue of Henry both sides of the argument sounds valid to me, 1)Henry playing #### and he'd be sold; 2)Henry playing okay with injuries but the support sucks. Could it be possible there is truth in both? Really hard to interpret Arsenal's performance in the final third this season, which has been inconsistent and inefficient. One thing I'm sure about though, is that Rosicky and Hleb are not scoring as many goals/assists as they are paid to, especially Hleb considering it's his second season. And their performances are as inconsistent as the team as a whole. Fabregas is even worse in this respect. Another point I want to make is that if the new Wenger ball requires a higher level of technique and team play, you just can't expect the players to stay "sharp" in every game, can you? The sharpness is surely less dependable than power and experience. Then we have a team who plays beautifully but can't win more games, as some examples from Holland and Brazil in the past.
Bobby, I'm new to the EPL and I am having a hard time understanding why Adebayor received a three match ban for a red misappropriated. Gunners have two players out for THREE games now for one offense. IMHO His protesting was justified because he was wrongly accused.
You do your protesting after the game. A referee is not going to change his mind over a decision such as this so the best thing that Adebayor could have done was accept the decision and then appeal it. He talked and behaved himself into a long suspension.
Foxcube I do agree with you on that Rosisky and Helb especially Helb have been very inconsistant but I don't think Cesc has been all that inconsistant apart from very few games especially when you looka at the number of game he has played I have to say he has been one of our most consistant players.Rosisky and Helb missing so many games due to injuries has not helped them, because they haven't had a long run of games playing. Helb,Rosisky Cesc and Gilberto need a long run of games together then I believe we will see the best out of them because the few games that they have played together I don't think any midfield in the EPL yes even Man Ure can keep up with them.
As for Henry like I have always said if you are an Arsenal fun by now you should have learnt how to live and die with him during his greatness and his uslessness if that's even a word.
Bobby I do agree with you I think Drogba should be Epl player of the year whether Chelsea wins the title or not he has won games indiviually for chelsea this season more than C. Ronaldo who I think the whole teams brillience has helped him so much.
How is it possible that a 6'8" monster of a man like Ibrahimovic can waltz through a defense like that? That was unbelievable. Spectacular. I was glancing at the article and didn't notice the question was about dribbling skill - I was expecting some long range cannon of a shot. That's the difference between true world class tall players (like Zlatan), very good int'l tall players (Koller) and good tall int'l players (Crouch). I still think Crouch can raise his game, though, as he does have finesse - just not the strength of the other two players.
And, the George Best first goal was nothing special - he outran everyone and poked it in the net. The second one, though, was ridiculous. Five cutbacks within a three foot radius. Unbelievable. And the guy from Leeds - I didn't expect those moves on him either. As a fairly new fan to the game (couple of years), I guess I've got some watchin' to do of some.. past games.
I doubt it will happen, but it will be great (for me) if my favorite all-time player (Fowler) went to a team 25 minutes down the road from me (New England).
Bobby, thanks for recommending the books and I'll see if I can get to read them. And thanks for the videos. Is that kind of goals your favorite with a lot of dribbling and cutbacks?
Gunner44, I didn't mean Fabregas was inconsistent, I meant in the aspect of scoring. Do you not feel he needs improvement in shooting?
Foxcube
Good point with regard to style of play. But AW's going to do that then he needs better balance in the side to be consistent. Arsenal lacks composure and experience in the midfield.
An aside, watching Ljunberg coolly score that goal the other week brought chills because I saw a glimpse of his form and vision from fitter days.
I'm sorry to hear about Sevilla's manager. Opposing fans don't have to like him, but they don't have to resort to violence. In any case, once the game is completed, Sevilla look likely to advance.
Getafe made history today by making it to the semifinals of the Copa del Rey.
According to the Spanish press, Getafe's 21 year old defender Alexis will be joining Real Madrid next season.
In the Spanish press rumor mill: Atleti are interested in Bolton's Diouf.
In terms of Blackburn 1 Arsenal 0: I'm sure Rovers supporters are saying 'Bellamy who?' McCarthy is turning out to be a much better striker for them all round, with European pedigree to boot.
Last edited by atleti_female on February 28th at 7:35 PM.
Bobby: Early this week, Arsene Wenger was practically prostrate before the media in apologizing over the repeated misconduct and unsporting attitude of himself and his players during his tenure at Arsenal. He then proceeds to put himself in dire jeopardy of serious punishment with a new rant Wednesday about refereeing.
This isn't my opinion. Britain's media are full of these reports tonight and speculation is that this latest act of professional self-immolation could see him severely punished.
A serial offender in recent times, embroiled in unseemly physical and verbal confrontations, doesn't this latest outburst make a mockery of his initial apology for his bad act and the 68 red cards Arsenal players have received under this tutelage?
What would cause a man of his calibre to lose it so repeatedly? Are there any other managers of similar status who have a behavioural record as bad as his? What do you consider appropriate punishment?
atleti_female: Any word on whether Torres is still being targeted by ManU. Any chance of it? There's also speculation that Tottenham want Martin Petrov to join countryman Dimitar Berbatov, playing him at left midfield. How well is he playing and what's the likelihood of him leaving the scenic Vicente Calderon?
Arsenal season is quickly going from a bright okay season to a really dark tough season. It seems like Arsenal are back to there old behaviour of playing good but not taking there chances. isn't it amazing how quickly things can change in football we went from been unbeaten since the begining of the season to losing 3 games in a row.
And Foxcube the whole Arsenal team needs to practice how to shoot.
MasMaz. I'm sure if there were inappropriate comments from me, our host would have dealt with it. As there haven't been such comments, perhaps you can get back to dealing with your inability to handle inconvenient truths.
No worries Flash I was just messin' around. I think Arsene does act weird sometimes, but in this case he apologized for the incident, that doesn't mean he has to accept a total misconstrual of the events, I mean Adebayor did not punch fat Frank.
If Wenge was named Higgenbottom and he was from Portsmouth, every englishman and fan would be kissin his #### up one side of the thames and down the other.
He just constantly reminds englishman what utter neanderthals they are whenit comes to the beautiful game. Other than Copple at reading what english manager plays a fluid, attacking game? Nope you produce shyte and your club and country teams have shown it for decades, you were losers b4 wenge and you will be after he leaves.
Last edited by riocharlie on March 1st at 3:33 AM.
Recently, Torres has been linked to Chelsea, ManU, and even Barcelona (Atletico are their bogey team). I think Torres is the sort of player that would, ideally, prefer to stay in Spain. Of course, if a club make him an offer he (and Atleti) can't refuse, then I'm sure he'd leave...
I haven't read anything about Martin Petrov going to Spurs in the Spanish press. He (as well as Maxi Rodriguez) haven't played for quite some time because he's recovering from an injury he picked up early this season. Both of them are fantastic wingmen and their absence for most of this season has been greatly missed. Petrov signed a 3-year contract with Atleti in 2005 and, hopefully, he'll stay. He has an aggressive, fierce style about his play, and when he shoots at goal he can truly let 'em rip.
Ah, speaking of Maxi Rodriguez, I read a few weeks ago that he has start a bit of light training-- jogging.
in my book l feel wenger is correct, official are doing a lot of blunders and when players and managers react they are punished by the fa.you look at wigan who have a real case against a refere and they are charged.you look at liverpool against bolton and a lineman made an error about reina kicking the ball outr of the box.wanock must be pulling his hair after gerrard bought a penalty.at westham and against blackburn we had to stone wall penalties, now with a lot of money at stake , players and managers are bound to lose their heads, and the fa is biased in that it always goes against players and managers but not againstbad officiating
I agree with your sentiments about the refs. It seems that there is absolutely no consequence of bad performances. In pro sports here in NA, if an aggregious refereeing error happens, usually there is a public apology to the teams hurt (though they never replay the games in question) and the referees are punished. It happened in a high profile College football (american football) game this year, though I forget the teams in question.
I do however, disagree with Gerrard "buying a penalty". Assuming you mean the first one, that is one of the most undercalled fouls in the game. I find it ridiculous that a defender can almost rugby tackle an attacker on a corner/free kick with no call, while an attacker barely touching a keeper gets called all the time. The only reason the Gerrard foul was called is because the referee was staring at them the entire time (which makes it an even weaker argument from a Sheffield point of view).
atleti...you've made your feelings about Gerrard known.
It offends me not as Liverpool fan, but as a striker that people are making this much of a fuss about that call. Defenders get away with murder in dead ball situations and that grates on me. It was nice to see a call go finally in the attackers favor, and I'd be saying the same if it involved different teams.
Just looked at Arsenal's injury/suspension list, boy, they are in trouble. Unless they perform above their level come Wed, I don't see them overcome PSV, and if not, the defeat may be a blessing in desguise. Hopefully Wenger wakes up and discovers he's gone too far with this youth approach and buys some experience to replace a few of his current players, given he's got the funds of course.
Bobby, where do you think Lippi will end up next season? Chelsea, Real, or AC Milan? I certainly hope it'll be AC and not the others.
You seem to think I dislike LFC- I don't. My best friend happens to support them and I have no problems with him. In fact, we joke and make jabs quite often about our favorite clubs. Hell, there was a period of time when I called Torres rubbish because he was underperforming and missing penalties left and right. On his good days, Torres is a fantastic, influential player in the squad.
In terms of Gerrard, I rate him highly, but he's not without fault. For me, it looked like a plea for a penalty.
Last edited by atleti_female on March 1st at 10:52 AM.
Not wishing to take liberties with your blog, I wonder if you might take the trouble to post a link to David Bond's article in today's London Telegraph website.
It features comments from influential suit Trevor Brooking about how the massive amounts of TV money generated by the English Premier league should begin to be directed toward development of domestic talent. It would suggest that the current model of stocking English clubs and their acadamies with foreign talent is going to unsustainable over the long haul.
The injuries that Arsenal has sre really not helping and I do agree that we are in trouble. Its crucial that we win on Sat to instill some confidence in the team coz right now the team is at an all time down, they need a win to lift them even Wenger needs it. But he had every right in calling the ref a liar coz he did lie.
Re: the TV money for EPL and cultivating English players. Enough been said already by others like Ferguson. Blame must be on the FA, which to me doesn't do anything but punish players.
Hey Bobby, about that George Best NASL goal...
I was a young 10 year old San Jose Earthquake ball boy sitting behind that very goal mouth as he scored that piece of magic. It changed my life forever. I don't know if you know this, but that's commonly called the "Greatest Goal Ever Scored", not just in NASL history, but ever on a US pitch. 25 years later & it still gives me the chills! Plus George was such a hero to us all! Thanks mate!
I was at Azteca when Maradona ran past most of England to score the companion marker to his Hand of God goal. Heartstopping. Beat some decent players, too.
There's a couple of decent videos up on youtube now showing Handbag Heroes at the Cardiff Corral. One lower level view shows who Adebayor connected with - not Lampard, who admitted as much Thursday, but Carvalho, who fearlessly joined in knowing there were no Englishmen to trouble him again.
Adebayor doesn't so much chuck the knuckles as vigorously wave and land two fey, open-handed slaps, plus some grappling and grabbing at heads.
So vindication for Wenger! He's right, the linesmen was wrong. Hard to imagine how a linesmen standing to the side of that fray could mix up numbers 6 & 8.
Best defensive foursome of the modern era comprised three Milan products: Baresi, Costacurta & Maldini, along with Tassotti. Carlo Cudicini is a Milan product, as was recently retired Demetrio Albertini.
Hard to imagine wenger is whining and crying about something.
Lille are still whining about the Giggs goal, and blaming the overcrowding in their own stadium on Man Utd distributing tickets too early.
Lyon are whining the they were verbally abused by Roma players in the first leg.
Zidane's feelings are still hurt, and Domenech still thinks he was cheated out of the World Cup.
Ryan Giggs' reaction says it all: "....that's the French for you I suppose."
My apologies for not posting regularly this past week. The question about Abédi Pelé - the African Pele. I never saw much of him but he had a great reputation. You tube as a couple of pieces on him - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMcr FsspFeA&mode=related&search=.
Wenger - way over the top in his reaction and will probably get a sideline ban and fine.
Lippi's destination - it may depend on who or if someone moves first and that may set the dominoes falling. There are a number of reports that say Bernd Shuster has already signed to manage Real Madrid. One report claimed that a deal had been done last summer only for Real to have a change of mind and appoint Capello.
The David Bond article will be posted next week. The best book I've read that illustrates how badly the FA dropped the ball when the Premiership was formed was David Conn's effort - "The Beautiful Game". How can a sport that generates so much money have so many clubs that are essentially bankrupt?
Finally I thought a mention of AC Milan would lead to Venti clarifying Milan's record of developing young players!
Venti, the likes of Baresi and Maldini command the highest level of respect. Any promising players Milan are nurturing these days? Where are they playing now? Have been unable to watch Serie A for a while.
This weekend is Liverpool's 29th league game of the season and for the 13th time it's the early kickoff time. Now, I'm not arguing that Liverpool would be closer to the top simply because of kickoff time, but it does seem that playing 45% of their games to this point at an earlier time is very unfair, both to the players whose performance can be affected and the fans. Just something I found interesting.
Bobby, just watched Wenger's interview regarding the FA. I agree that he'll get lynched for this challenge but perhaps unjustly since I do feel he's got a case. Conspiracy theory aside, refrees and coaches and fans have considered/subconsiciously treated Arsenal as an arrogant French team that has overachieved for many years. There must be an "Arsenal complex" at work, fuelled by Wenger's spoiling his players.
After Glen Little lit up the Man U defense in the FA Cup replay, he looks like he might win the title of "most nutmegs in a season". Bobby, I won't stop writing about him until you recognize him as a "magician" :)
Re the clubs agreements with the FA: Clearly there is no Sanity clause in the agreement.
From the BBC: "Hammers charged by Premier League.
The Premier League has charged West Ham with breaching their rules in relation to the signings of Argentine duo Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano in August." It continues with a whole bunch of tosh about filing docs, undisclosed third parties. I assume they'll go for a big fine as a point deduction would be no punishment, since the curse of the Icelandic gnome has them doomed to plummet to straight through the bottom of next year's Championship league (you heard it here first) to join Leeds. At least Ferdinand will be able to watch from the comfort of his jail cell.
Watching the latest 10 min long "Wengerama" you have to think he doesn't get it. Of course he's right about the decisions being wrong, but so what. The point is that the FA is populated by idiots whos motive in life is to take every opportunity to exercise power. That's why they took the job. Chelsea figured that out and said we'll shut up and pay. The more Wenger says he's going to stand up and fight the more the FA are going to get their kicks from pushing him around. Wenger could have quietly bargained a deal that shortend the bans in return for $$$.
Three of Milan's best youth players are actually among the 20 man squad for this weekend's match against Chievo, so we might get a glimpse. They are defenders Bruscagin and Darmian, and midfielder Bottini. This is mainly because EIGHT regular defenders are unavailable.
I think Milan, like many other big European clubs, have better luck buying up young talent, rather than relying on their youth systems; recently signed Gourcuff, Grimi and Aubameyang; Gourcuff appears to be an incredible talent. They also seem to have a very good eye for budding stars: Kaka', Pirlo, and Gattuso were all signed as relatively unknown 21-year-olds.
I don't know of any highly rated youth players in the Milan system, other than Christian Maldini but I think he's only about 10 years old!
Last edited by Venti_vidi_vici on March 3rd at 8:07 AM.
Read the escalating tone of comments from Wenger in Saturday's newspaper websites and it's not hard to surmise that this is a man set on a course of his way or the highway.
You can do that with the players under your supervision, but you can't set yourself out to be bigger than the league you play in. He's done that and it would seem there is no way to retreat from the position he's staking out for himself.
The probable outcome? Wenger will not accept his impending punishmnent graciously and will leave Arsenal in a shower of acrimony.
His destination? Real Madrid will happily dump Fabio Capello, who never looked completely at home, and replace him with Wenger, who will fittingly be given carte blanche to mold the club into a cross between the Busby Babes and Cirque De Soleil.
Busby Babes and Cirque De Soleil? LOL Seems Wenger is on a fast rail to hell. He certainly needs a bit of cutting down to size at the moment and I hope the FA does so swiftly so we can get back to business.
Even as an Arsenal fan with some bias I try to be fair. I love the game and the league, period. I credit other teams that play good football, no matter the style; and I especially credit those managers that try to respect the game's authority. Wenger demands respect from the refs yet he aggressively disrespects them. He wants appreciation for Arsenal's game yet aggressively insults the game of others. Despite the fact that playing for their National team is one of the most significant highlights of most of his own players careers, he repeatedly makes insulting comments about National team footy and their managers.
AW is not above the law, the process or the sanctity yet he has somehow rationalized that he is, without regard for the ramifications of his actions for his team, Arsenal's fans, the league or football. Perhaps he just needs a vacation.
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