I just hope he comes to play, and not take a season long retirement tour the way Lothar Matthaus did.
http://www.caughtoffside.com/2010/0...er-ready-to-make-move-for-mandanda-and-mexes/ I'm guessing this is just as legitimate as if I said it, but whatever. More rumors to whet the apetite. Mandanda and Mexes. EDIT I just realized something...although I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a shock or not, but Mexes is another relatively big name left out of the France squad for the World Cup.
I know Eboue has been linked to Roma in the past, but I honestly think he's an important part of this squad. He's someone that at this point I would feel very uncomfortable with our depth if he left.
I suppose (I've never seen him play, but have heard good things), but do you bring in a young promising full-back as a back-up/squad player when he could be getting consistent and extremely valuable first team football at the Champions League club he's already at? EDIT but there is this romantic idea in my head (and probably everyone else's) of Van Der Wiel coming to Arsenal and playing so well that he takes the starting job away from Sagna (still one of the best fullbacks in Europe...at least defensively, theres no doubt in my mind about that).
Ajax will have to play a qualifier to get into the Champions League, won't they? That hasn't worked well for them in recent years.
Folks who follow MLS more closely than I do can correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like (thankfully) Matthaus has been the exception rather than the rule when it comes to aging former stars in the league. Blanco, Angel, Beckham, Djorkaeff....just off the top of my head....seemed to take things pretty seriously. Heck, Stoichkov took things a bit too seriously at times.
For whatever it's worth, if this team stays together I've never been more confident that qualifiers will be a breeze. This is the best Ajax team in a long time. That said Van der Wiel would look nice in an Arsenal jersey but he'll be relatively expensive signing for a fullback.
For the most part I'd agree. Beckham has seemed to be kind of in and out, more in last year, more out the year before even when he was healthy. His first appearance at Crew stadium was almost a massive piece of performance art -- hoards of kids in the wrong color shirt, teenage girls squealing and rushing to the railing to take pictures, while he strolled the pitch absolutely invisible. But most of the "big name" signings seem to come to play these days.
Ehh. I don't think I can honestly say I think Sagna is one of the best fullbacks in Europe. A pretty good one? Yeah. I just hope Suarez doesn't go to Man Utd as the rumors indicate right now. And for what it's worth, van der Wiel loves Arsenal.
I'm wary about the french duo. Though they have undoubted quality they are prone to making mistakes. At least Mexes is whenever he's suited up for les bleus, I don't watch Roma enough to judge his league play.
from the bbc gossip page: I wouldn't mind a move for Lloris, not too familiar with Piyatov. Has anybody seen him play?
well, i'm sure i watched fulham play shaktar but to be honest i can't remember anything about it now.
From the Guardian's news flash:" Breaking news: * The Guardian understands Cesc Fábregas has told Arsenal he wants to rejoin Barcelona. More soon .." They make it look like it's more than a rehash of last week's news... we'll see when they give the full story. edit: seems like a rehash to me http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/may/18/cesc-fabregas-arsenal-barcelona-transfer
BBC, skysports, guardian are all saying the same thing.. time to look for a replacement? Gourcuff anyone?
Who would've thought the bastian of truth in this rehashed Cesc saga would be soccernet? It's like bizarro world - or goal.com doing actual journalism before posting a transfer rumor. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=788236&sec=transfers&cc=5901