*Official Football Thread*

In response to the Tevez rumours, he's been linked with Real Madrid today, but i think it will be a bad move for United because he always seem to pop up with some vital goals. He scored the winner against Stoke and i remember him scoring important goals against Liverpool and Chelsea last season.

It wouldn't surprise me if he goes because of the lack of first team oppurtunities but i think he's a useful player to have to come on and change a game...

yeah but for a 30 million rated player should not be warming the bench

gazwim Wrote:newcastle squad might get smaller with arsenal rumoured to be after shay given, stephen taylor and charles n zogbia
plus the uncertainty of harper, owen, butt and viduka

Given will stay because Kinnear said he loves the club and they don't want to stay.
Taylor will stay coz he's a gordie and he loves the club.
Harper has been at the club for over ten years and i think he will stay because Given will go if one of them do.
Butt wants to sign a new contract and he has said he wants to end his career at St.James' Park so i think he will stay.
N'Zogbia will go in jan, he said he wants to leave.
Owen will leave in the summer.
Viduka will retire soon because of the persistent injuries.
Thats my verdict, we will have to see what happens...

gazwim Wrote:yeah but for a 30 million rated player should not be warming the bench

True

good news for liverpool fans there is a rumor that Andrea Dossena is wanted by some italian clubs and arsenal still wants xabi alonso (rumour) but no one wants the useless lucas more news on the liverpool front manchester city wants lescott and arteta from everton

Man City are being linked with everyone at the moment, Wayne Bridge was in talks with them today, that would be a decent signing for them. Don't think they will get Lescott, and Arteta is being linked with Arsenal so he might prefer a move there.

Dossena is crap so Liverpool would be happy to see the back of him

With the transfer window open it should interesting to see who goes where before the window is closed.

Newcastle need to buy in new players,if Ashley is to stay he needs to get his arse in gear and start helping the club. I've been with Newcastle since they were 2nd division before they moved to i think it was Coca Cola league which is now Premiership and this is definetly the worst they've been since ive been a fan

tmfkamr-gummidge Wrote:Unless MON strengthens during the window, I can't see Villa keeping up a push for fourth place. While their first choice XI is very good, they don't have a great deal of depth. One or two injuries and suspensions, especially going forward, and they'll end up exposed for the paper tigers they are as things stand. The rumour mill is in overdrive about Elano's future at City and I think Villa could do a lot worse than sign him. Petrov isn't the creative force he was north of the border, and with Reo-Coker and Sidwell behind him he could really add something different to their attack. If they lose Carew for a prolonged period their attack lacks focus, so they could probably use another target man as well.

As a United fan this sticks in my throat, but I honestly think the team look jaded this year, particularly the midfield. As much as I love Scholes, he doesn't control our creative play the way he used to, preferring to hang back and stroke the ball around from deep instead. Anderson isn't quite ready to fill the gap that Scholesy's ageing legs have left and Fletcher lacks the quality. Carrick is a wonderful holding player, but we don't have any cover in that role when he picks up those niggly miss-a-game-or-two injuries that he keeps picking up so long as Hargreaves is missing. Giggsy was never a fourty game a season man even in his youth, and these days he plays centrally rather than on the wing. Ronaldo is the best player in the world when he's fully match fit and back to form (the Japanese adventure looked promising in that regard), but he drifts off the flanks pretty much constantly, leaving Park or Nani as the wide man, and that width is usually only on one side of the pitch (left) and neither of those players have proved especially great at unlocking defences, although I would rate Park as a more reliable option than Nani. All three of our forwards like to drop off and pick the ball up from deep, just ahead of a midfield who don't like, or are unable, to bomb on and trouble defences with their running. That's why so often this season we have dominated possesion in games and failed to turn that into the flood of goals the build up play deserves. While our passing and abiltiy to find space in the middle of the most congested midfields can only be matched by Arsenal, that passing is often lacking a cutting edge up front.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying United are shot, not by a country mile. I think we'll run the eventual winners, probably Liverpool (ouch!), right to the wire. However, before we can get back to winning the league I believe we need a left winger of proven quality and despite the arrival of Berbatov, a different option up front, a genuine predator of the Owen/Defoe/Andy Cole (oh, how I miss him!) type. Sir Alex insists he won't bring anyone into the club in January and I belive him, he tends to stick to his guns on these matters, so it will likely be next season before these niggling problems are sorted. That's not to say this season will be a write off, I think the way we are set up at the moment is close to ideal for CL football and if we can get past Inter we have a real chance of retaining the Trophy and I think we're better equipped than Chelsea or Arsenal to push for the title at home. (Transfer window activity permitting.)

I deeply hope that I'm wrong, but I just don't think we're quite right for domestic success this season.

Great Googly Moogly, that was a long post!

Jeez - that was a long post but good reading and nice to see there are some decent United fans about.

Elano has been shite for a year now - his free kicks are an embarrasment and he is a bad influence on the team with his recent outburst in the press.good riddance if he goes