Brazil Spot On, For Now
Jun 28th, 2014 by 'holic
Force yourself to watch. Have a bet. The inner demons were persuasive. 2-1 to Brazil was 15/2. Too tempting. The hosts are the only side I have seen at least part of all four of their matches. Those of us who watched them in their pomp in 1970 will always have a soft spot for them at the World Cup. The differences between then and now are telling, however.
There is still a talisman. Neymar has sparkled in the early stages of this competition, and just as well. The striking talent alongside him reveals a paucity of options. Hulk, Fred, Jo, really? Behind them though is a mix of graft and skill that deserves a better cutting edge. And yet there is a sense that fortune is favouring those in yellow. Surely the pack will be juggled for the quarter-final, and then we may just see them peaking at the right end of the tournament a nation demands they win?
That massive pressure though could prove to be a burden this particular group is incapable of withstanding. Brazil will need more than good fortune to beat their old rivals, Argentina, and Europe’s leading contenders, the Germans, Holland, and France. It’s a wide-open tournament, and one that at last is starting to grab my interest. Late to the party? I know many of you think I am.
Assuming the ‘Hulk to Arsenal’ nonsense is just that then our interest in the game centred on Alexis Sanchez. It is said that he is going somewhere this summer, and there are much worse options out there. He is different to anything we have right now. Compact, mobile, good in possession, quick. For me an upgrade on Eduardo, and for those that know how much I rated the Crozillian that will be an indication of the regard that I hold him in. You also know what I feel about internet tittle-tattle. He will be a popular target for a number of clubs. In tomorrow (Sunday) morning’s papers I’m sure we will find at least eight other striking options in whom we are ‘interested’.
As I type another two South American sides are seeking a quarter-final berth. Uruguay, minus some bloke called Suarez, are considered outsiders against Columbia. Whoa, James Rodriguez has just opened the scoring with what can be described by any of a large number of superlatives. Stunning strike, and he has just added an extra zero on the right hand side of his asking price.
As for Suarez, I see he has divided ‘holics in the drinks. A reminder that respectful discussion is what the drinks are usually about. Let’s keep it that way please.
Halftime approaches. That seems an extremely sensible time to savour a nightcap of the malt variety. Thank you for sticking with me as sporadic posts have been the order of the day in June.
Have a great Sunday, all.
457 Responses to “Brazil Spot On, For Now”
Ist?
I have been rather grudging in my praise for the footie this far. I hope Uruguay are beaten so that we can see Colombia okay Brazil. That will be a very interesting game
Second????
Happy Days.
It’s that man again!
Enjoy the garden, the golf and sitting outside at the pub ‘holic. That’s what I’m doing, and isn’t it lovely? Oh yes, and dreaming about a couple of Colombians in N4 next season.
We need a clinical finisher…
Doesn’t arsene know someone he can blackmail at Monaco?!
Nice post Holic
I must say, apart from England I have enjoyed this World Cup as much as any I can remember. I agree totally about Brazil. They don’t look anywhere near as good as I thought they would. James Rodriguez had been an absolute joy to watch.
I agree totally re Sanchez. If he is Arsenal bound then the first Puma shirt might also have a new name on the back.
Evening H, and Holics.
Holic, you have arrived at the party at the same time as me. Great stuff today and Sanchez was superb.
El Puno from previous,
I’m not into the whole thing of trying to make other people change their minds but, seriously, if you think Luis Gustavo is overrated, i would like to know by whom, and urge you to take another look.
Gilberto Silva won a World Cup with Brazil just before joining the Arsenal, where he did a hugely underrated but vital job for us.
Gustavo is the closest thing I’ve seen – a sniffer out and snuffer out of danger.
Just do it, Ivan. Or whatever Puma’s mantra is.
I’m with Trev on Gustavo. He is a very effective shield in front of the back four . If we are looking for a keeper to rival Ches I think Ospina looks excellent and Jackson Martinez while not on the target tonight put in a terrific shift
Isn’t Ospina out of contract? Couldn’t get a better bargain, but would he be interested in being no. 2? He’s only 25.
Brazil v Colombia should be fun. Of course whoever wins will lose to Germany in the semi finals anyway, and Argentina and Messi are still going to win the whole thing. Probably. Maybe.
Welcome to the party. I do think Sanchez is the striker to be longed for. Complements what we already have up front and adds a huge amunt of talent and pace. Wouldn’t Mesut love him as a playmate?
Heh, sign Sanchez, Gustavo and Remy and we won’t need to bother with defenders. 😉
Evening H
Sad to see that you have given in to temptation,but perhaps you are late to the party because of other distractions. ??
I am far more interested in the Tennis at the moment,there have been some absolutely cracking matches in the Men’s and the Ladies singles.
Ladies draw now wide open with the top 2 seeds out.
Men’s side is more predictable with all the top seeds through,with the Scottish Grouch yet to drop a set.
Can he go back to back, ?? which sad to say, is something i haven’t done since the Nineties.!!
On another matter,
I have been reading about a 60 yr old man viciously stabbed to death on a Cycle path near Swindon railway station on Thursday night.
Police quoted as saying the crime scene was horrific.
Apparently he worked at a pub called the Woodlands Edge on Midwinter Close.
I trust that is not one of your watering holes.
Police say the victim is not known to them.
I saw a picture of the Guy and he looks pretty harmless,so possibly a mugging got out of hand.??
Anyway not a very nice thing to happen in your own backyard.
Take care
Cheers
The Sweeper.
Best carry your taser and pepper spray when you leave the house, Clive. We need your wise words in here providing a little balance!
Öskar
Round 1 to you, Dr F. I expected Uruaguay to be fired up, but they looked more apologetic about being there.
Never seen him before, so shouldn’t judge on the one sighting but that James guy looked the goods. Has anyone checked his DNA for red and white blood cells?
Öskar
For the record, cba (last drinks), I had no idea you were Irish when I referred to ‘micknames’ (as a pun on nicknames for Irishmen). Nor was I referring to you in any way anyway. I was airing my disappointment with the way people’s names get pronounced incorrectly, using Irish golfer Graeme McDowell as one of the examples. Ffs, I was being offended FOR that particular Irishman, not being offensive TOWARDS him, and you had no part in the equation at all.
If you were offended by that then I was equally (possibly more so) offended by your insulting attack on my grammar when I was grammatically CORRECT and you were WRONG.
Call it one-all and accept the Bushmills on the bar for you, or please don’t reply at all and I will ignore you in future.
My last in this pointless brannigan.
Öskar
Sanchez is a very good player but he cannot lead the line aka substitute Giroud..
So Im not entirely convinced. Not doubting his quality though.
I miss Aaron Ramsey’s beautiful face on the pitch doing his thing, dominating the midfield in an Arsenal shirt.
(and contrary to popular opinion, I think Rambo is the best looking on the team, better than Giroud).
That is all.
Oskar
If only you could resist the temptation to bite back,[ no pun intended ]
I love an alternative point of view,as opposed to the ‘ love in ‘ that we quite often get in the Bar.
But sometimes you have to re read your post before pressing send,
Just in case.!!
It’s the impetuous ones who get themselves into trouble.
Choice of words and all that.
Cheers
The Sweeper.
Oskar @ 15: Thank you for such graceful conceding.:-)
You have never seen James Rodriguez before? He had some excellent games in the group stage and if you can check out some of his performances with Moncao last season. A great in the making …
Trev – that was tongue in cheek. Perhaps it needed a winked face or something like that. By the time I had pressed send on a list of desired transfer targets with Gustavo in, it had been officially confirmed that we have got Schneiderlin in the post above. I had no choice but to dig out that Brazilian who we didn’t fancy last summer either for good reason, the mid-table German mug 😉
Thank you Clive, I will bear your advice in mind. However, having reached, and still happily engaged with, the grumpy-old-man stage of life I can give no guarantees. Life is too short, especially when the clocks tick ever faster in its later stages!
Öskar
PS: I hope you don’t mind me calling you Clive, Clive? We’ve never met, but the term ‘sweeper’ could be construed as derogatory in certain contexts and I wouldn’t wish to offend…
Oskar
Clive is fine,although Sweeper in my context is as in the football analogy,as i am sure you know.
It was always my preferred position at the Golders Green Ramblers in the 60’s.
No Prisoners taken,No Quarter asked or given, No surrender.
Every team in our Sunday league Comp was so fanatical that any weak link in the opposing team was ruthlessly exploited.
So you had to have at least 15 madmen in your squad that were ready to risk life and limb.
You were allowed to replace injured players,but once you ran out of numbers,which wasn’t uncommon,you had to make do with who was left standing.
I still carry some scars from those encounters nearly 50 yrs later.
Sweeper@23: Sounds very Uruguayan 🙂
Speaking of which, here’s a brave man:
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/28/i-criticised-luis-suarez-uruguay-traitor
Fine stuff, Sweeper.
Oskar, the odd grumpy old git is fine in here, but,
cba really is a fine fella too – always one of the first to wish me well when I was really struggling.
The odd spat does brighten things up occasionally, but we all want the same thing at the end of the day.
Trouble is, Oskar is the only one in here at the end of the day.
So, whisky and whiskey on the bar – take your pick. 😉
Ahhh, the love-in has returned…happy days indeed.
Don’t Tread On Me.
No more solid transfer links of late.
Is that a good thing or bad? Dunno.
As long as we complete our target list adequately and do not not come up short, I will be happy.
Now back to the World Cup.
Every game for here to the final should be a scorcher.
🙂
Thnks Trev
Totally agree re CBA.
He got a bit upset with me in the early days of his vertical ramblings,when i wound him up a bit.
I think he has forgiven me, although he has slipped the odd knife in my ribs since then,just to remind me.!!
I still get a headache trying to read his posts,particularly when he gets on a roll,but at least he is different,and where would we be if everyone was bland and boring eh.??
I rather suspect a session with cba, Oskar, Clive, et al would turn into a thoroughly enjoyable occasion 🙂
Geriatric FC, eh, ‘Hols 😛
Sorry, I couldn’t resist. I’ll get my coat.
Obviously, I think you all are fine gentlemen. In the wise words of the late Richard Pryor, in character on being called an old fool “[Y]ou don’t get to be old, being no fool. Plenty of young wise men that dead as a motherfucker”
Have a good one fellas.
What? We did not get Sanchez yet??!
Call me when we do, meanwhile I’ll just : http://i.imgur.com/ENakUoU.gif till holland vs mexico!
Any more proof required that this is a World Cup worth watching after yesterday’s Colombia performance? Post-match reaction might sound over the top unless you were watching:
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/28076840
Lonestar.
Speaking as a young wise man that dead as a motherfucker, Fuck Off You Old Bastard!! 😉
Ramsey the best looking player in the team? What will they say next?? 🙂
Have we signed anyone yet ?
No ! back to hibernation.
Can’t remember which ESPN commentator said yesterday that James Rodriguez has been linked with Arsenal, but I was just wondering who would be better looking in an Arsenal shirt, him or Ramsey …
By the way, the commentator said it during the Colombia game, mentioning that AW was in the stadium watching.
And I’m glad to see you’re back in the fold, ‘holic. It’s somewhat discomfiting for the sheep to realise the shepherd has gone astray, even if he is just sitting in the garden. 🙂
Forgot to thank you for dropping by, Sarah. 🙂
Thanks bt8bbgfg 🙂
While I agree Rodruguez looks a huge talent we have absolutely no chance of signing him.
Firstly he is at one of the richest Clubs in the world and paying no tax.
Secondly he is not going to go anywhere without an auction with the mega- rich clubs piling in and thirdly as Arsene indicated we are well served in that area of the team. Pity but let’s just hope for Sanchez , Gustavo and Martinez with Ospina as a free transfer.
The German oompah music in the dressing room will need to be replaced by a Latin beat next season!
Nice post holic. I too am late to the party and I’m finding these knockout stages entertaining
What a strike it was by Rodriguez last night!
Hope all the holics are keeping well over the summer
cheers
8ball @ 35
I mean, come on 😉
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TQECSUblZj0/UuqULbX_WTI/AAAAAAAADik/dvA9IdAMtJE/s1600/ramsey+2.jpg
http://cache3.asset-cache.net/gc/482875943-aaron-ramsey-of-arsenal-during-a-training-gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=X7WJLa88Cweo9HktRLaNXpDv6%2F1%2FlS96ovnPb1LLVIxh%2F0AYimJA8ONm9pN9MHci
Holic @ 39
Thanks!!
great goal by Mexico
and what a save!
Holland have a couple of world class players but they also have some relative selling players at world level eg, Vlaar, De Guzman and dear old Dirk Kuyt! These guys wouldn’t even get near the England team.
Sorry platers!
Our next goalkeeper’s name will begin with O. This Ochoa is as good as Ospina
what a heartbreak for Mexico..:(
Wow. Tough way to lose mxco.
They should have done more in the 2d half tho.
What a dirty cheat robben is. Great shot by scheider. But robben is an unrepentent cheat. Odious human being.
Sorry but after watching that it this dutch team is soooo unlikeable. May they all get dissentary.
Robben is a horrible little miserable cheat. With all due respect, Lars
And H2H.
And Rafa marquez should know better then to get near robbe in the box given his propensity to dive.
Instant reply. Needed.
With lonestar. No offense meant holics.
Sorry but that was a penalty. Robben was looking for it but Marquez was stupid. And the Dutch had most of the play after going behind. I don’t like Robben but I think people are just annoyed that the underdogs lost so late on.
iLonestar@50, not really sure why you would direct that at me – I detest Robben as much as any sane person!
Don’t think it was a penalty, but the momentum was with the Dutch.
Mexicans sat back and that was always the mistake.
All credit to holland, should be interesting to see them up against Costa Rica.. (not Greece please… if Greece win it could be Euro 2004 again!)
Looking forward to seeing Campbell in action, he was anonymous in the last game. Let’s see if it was a one off.
Rumours:
Di Maria is for sale to the tune of £40million.
From Spanish daily Sport, regarding Alexis Sanchez, the Barcelona man has reportedly declared that Arsenal are his first choice – if he is forced to leave Catalunya.
robben is a cheat, but that was a penalty all day long for me. you can’t step on the opponent’s foot after he’s made a move to avoid you.
BB
I’m not sure any of this gossip is accurate. We are hearing stories of us about to sign Sanchez, Balotelli, Martinez, Schneiderlin, Grenier, Remy , Lovren , Aurier, Debuchy , Vidal and Chambers. I’ve seen stories claiming their signings are close or formal talks are going on. I’m very sceptical about all of them.
I thought the Dutch deserved to win as Mexico dropped too deep and couldn’t deal with set pieces. Robben is odious but Marquez was way too naive for a player of his experience and didn’t need to make contact there . Glad RVP didn’t get the glory of the pen. It was a great penalty in the circumstances
TTG,
One can only hope about the transfers.
Agree with you that the dutch deserved to win, although i believe if it wasn’t the last few minutes of play the ref would not have given the penalty.
All credit to the dutch for sticking it out in the heat.
Should have some squad depth with that lot, ttg. 😉
Trev – apologies…
BB@61 knows: “One can only hope about the transfers”.
Most sensible thnig that’s been said all summer, and it has stiff competition.
COYG
Watching Campbell carefully in this one. Though he’s not the finished article he’s obviously a little more seasoned that Sanogo. Assuming we bring in another striker this summer I wouldn’t mind keeping him and loaning out Yaya, as others have suggested. Clearly a very gifted player. Flicks and kicks, an excellent shot, holds the ball up well for a man of his size, seems to have a clear idea of what’s expected of him. A useful #3 or #4 striker IMO.
Cracking leg save by Keylor Navas there. He’s been stellar in this tournament, and for Levante as well.
Lots of excellent Latin American keepers on show in the World Cup. I say we buy whichever one is cheapest. No reason to go overboard for a backup keeper. Get someone serviceable and spend the rest in other areas of the pitch. I’d be happy with a Navas-type. Or Ochoa, or Ospina.
Painful match to watch.. almost like eng vs alg in ’10.
Campbell is quick and sharp but no clear shots yet..!
Problem with these keepers is that they probably do want to play matches and not be on the bench. I think we’ll go for a real young talent which no one has heard of or go for an established keeper who’s content to be second fiddle instead.
From the twitter Spanish ITKs: “Alexis prefers to stay next season. Agent and Barcelona could prefer transfer. If he has to leave, he would prefer to join Arsenal.”
That’s a good point, BB. The fact that we have an established #1 in Chesney makes it harder to recruit other keepers. Whoever comes to Arsenal will know they’re being brought in to ride the pine.
I have nothing but admiration for anyone who can stay awake to watch another half of that crap.
I’d rather eat a bad moussaka.
Sell Campbell.
If campbell scores against stoke, then take him on and give him a chance, otherwise we better get sanchez!
Fair enough dk. I’m gonna give it a try on the assumption that it’ll liven up as they tire out and get more desperate.
Well well. A goal and a second yellow card for Costa Rica. You can always count on this WC for drama. Set up for a tense 25 minutes.
Oh my… Euro 04 all over again…!
Holland better watch out if Greece get in..
Campbell just tried a David Villa ‘backheel’ for a shot… and missed!
Sell! 😀
Another fine keeper in Navas.
Good call TTG.
….and Holland dodged a bullet 😀
So we have another chance to see what Campbell can do..!
Four games and only one decent side has emerged. Colombia looked good but Brazil , Holland and Costa Rica confirm my view that’ this is a mediocre World Cup.Its frankly laughable that we finished bottom of a group that Costa Rica won. But the standard of goalkeeping in Latin America does look special!
Article on Campbell : http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/28071561
Great achievement by Costa Rica! Just to think that they not only topped a group leaving Italy, Uruguay and England after them, to get to QF would be something special.
TTG@79: Yes, English players in general are actually that bad. If Ox were not injured I think he could have made a difference.
Netherlands would not have it easy against Costa Rica. They are a very well drilled team with a smattering of quality in few places. Mexico made a key tactical mistake in not keeping two players up for counter-attacks while dropping deep and they would have had a at least one more goal or so before the equalizer.
Oskar — just to keep score so it should now be 2-1 between us then, in my favor, right? 🙂
Believe you? Because you’re a doctor? Not so fast my friend … it’s currently 2-2.
Yours were … Brazil-Colombia, Mexico-Costa Rica, France-Germany, Argentina-Belgium.
Mine … Brazil–Uruguay, Netherlands–Greece, Nigeria–Germany, Argentina–USA.
And Greece losing in a shootout would arguably give me the edge in a count-back? 😉
Öskar
Hey everyone, hope you’re having a good one 🙂
I’m so glad that Costa Rica move on and Greece go home. I don’t know if I would have been to take watching the Greeks fudge their way through another game. Might even get one of their shirts today! haha
Seriously though, they did well so far but are showing signs of fatigue so I think they may go out against the Netherlands.
As for James Rodriguez, would it be controversial if I said that I feel Ramsey is better for us? Doubt we can get him anyway so it’s all moot, eh?
I’d welcome a session with anyone prepared to risk one with me, ‘holic. Especially Mr cba (if he could be arsed). Best way to resolve all differences. Once decisions about WHAT to drink have been sorted. 🙂
Öskar
Ooops, hang on. Maybe it’s 3-2 to you Dr F, with three of your first four intact and just two of mine.
My bad.
Öskar
Or maybe it’s 1-1, with both of us getting only one right in each of the matches played so far. Or 0-0 since neither of us was right in either case.
Just not 2-1!
Öskar
Bugga. On reconsideration please cancel my last, it’s 3-2 to you.
Öskar (the confused)
OtD. WTF are you talking about now? 🙂
Colombian all the way.
Oskar, yes it should be 3-2 to me. Was almost close to being 4-1 if not for Robben’s Robbenesque robin’ . 🙂
Later.
Bt8 — it is a little challenge between us about our predictive prowess.
Faustus. I checked my predictions in the last drinks and I predicted Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico, same as you, apparently. Five minutes away from a clean sweep of a weekend.
No doubt about Robben diving for his first penalty claim in the second half, Dr F, but pretty clear that he was wrongly disallowed one after being fouled twice by two different players in the area late in the first half. Justice prevailed, much as I dislike the guy’s antics.
The two shootouts so far were contrasting. Brazil/Uruguay, two teams in the upper reaches of international football, were both poor, but Costa Rica/Greece, two also-rans in the sport, were brilliant (bar one).
Öskar
Just wondering if Giroud will put in his customary length of the field run and pinpoint left footed cross tomorrow.
I think we will definitely see Giroud hug someone.
In fact, you can put some quid on that I’d say 😉
8 ball @ 92: Yes, and I actually am quite the Oranje fan. But over the tournaments now I have learnt to enjoy the perverse pleasure of accurately predicting just when the mighty Dutch juggernaut will suddenly come unstuck, wheels falling apart and the little demigods sitting inside flying with rage at each other.
And I just don’t like Robben. That kind of schmuck would really suit at Chelsea …oh!
Oskar@93: About Brazil-Chile penalty shootout Chile you can hardly call in the upper reaches of international football. Cesar made a goodish save too.
If “managerial quality” is judged on the basis of making best out of limited resources Costa Rica’s manager has been one of the best in this WC. It is interesting how many of these managers who have never (or barely) played professional football with any distinction are actually very good: Arsene and Fergie are good examples.
thoroughly enjoying the World cup and the big matches, but even more enjoyable is the big match ups on here.
Oskar 1 v the holic World X1.
Both have strong teams but I suspect Oskar may just get over the line with his sheer persistence of effort.
surely the world X1 cannot sustain the current effort….
So 8 ball @ 37
The word in the streets is that the boss was watchin Columbia?
Hopefully he was watching Jackson pending tying up a deal.
Wishful thinking? It would be sensible thinking in my opinion.
Sanchez Aurier and bender and we will run riot. However, anything less equivalent, will be, less equivalent.
😉
Goonertown
Don’t know if Arsene has done any refining yet. It could be Bender..or Khedira…or Schneiderlin.
It could be Aurier…or Debuchy….or Chambers
It could be Sanchez…or Martinez …or Balotelli etc etc.
Worries the hell out of me that we are getting so many dubious links with so many different players at this stage of the window. I’m less excited than I am fearful that AW can’t make his mind up because after he dies ( if ever) and keeps it made up we send in the ‘ dream team’ of Dick and Ivan.
I’m suffering from a feeling if déjà vu all over again
ttg – I know exactly what you mean. I think you’ve caught a bout of Goonerfever.
😆
Been suffering with a bit of it me self 🙂
ttg -Thank for the assist by the way. I tried to do a James, but slightly missed the volley and went for a Martinez instead. Right in the bottom corner
oowur! 😆
Well in, Goonertown!
Thanks Cent 🙂
Great finishing Goonertown- are you available for the new season?
Morning playmates,
Have we, er ……. ?
No, of course not. Silly me. 😉
Easy way around all these rumours is to ignore the lot of them. Otherwise they get your hopes up, with the corresponding disappointment when the hopes are dashed. I haven’t watched much of the WC so far, hardly managed a single match all the way through. No doubt I’ve missed a lot, but from what I’ve seen, I’ve also saved wasting a lot of time too.
Underwhelmed by all of the rumoured purchases, bar one. Just goes to show how good our current squad is, imnsho – it just needs a bit of depth and structural support.
Arsene knows.
” have we bought anyone yet” is the adult gooner equivalent of kids saying ” are we there yet”.
Funny how the most common answers from parents and arsenal management are similar.
Possible answers usually include:
1) nearly there
2) yes we are getting closer
3) just keep buckled up and sit quiet
4) when we get there we will let you know
5) stop asking and just enjoy the scenary
Heh, Aussie. 🙂
dkg, fair enough, but I’m struggling with your use of the word ‘dashed’ in connection with Arsenal transfer business. 😉
And what is this ‘Ivan’ people keep referring to ? Some kind of Apple designed means of transport ? 😉
…and like “are we there yet” it can be used by one sibling to wind up the other.
Don’t be silly Trev@108, that would be an iVan. Pah! Honestly!
ttg @104- I am, but my agent’s have not met with Wenger 😆
Injury watch: Poldi unavailable for Germany because of thigh injury.
Columbia Brazil will be a terrific game to watch, again for the sake of the game i hope the better team wins and so far it has not been Brazil.
The dutch were lucky but then Mexico did what Chile did before, try to play out time than try to score one more, especially when they had an ample amount of chances to do so.
France and Germany play tonight, personally want either of them to win but going by the looks of it, it just might be the dutch or the Argentinian team doing so.
Come on Mesut, time to show the world what a special talent you always are.
Folks, the name of the country is Colombia and NOT Columbia. You know, Garcia Marquez, Valderrama, drug cartels, civil war, Shakira etc. etc. ? 🙂
Another place which isn’t always pronounced the way it’s spelt.
The only thing on your list I associate with that place is filthy drug cartels. 😉
Re: Aussie @107. Are we there yet? 🙂
Rumour :
Louis van Gaal is set to confirm Thomas Vermaelen as his first defensive signing after agreeing personal terms with the Arsenal centre-back, according to TalkSPORT.
GT @ 115: Well the world is not responsible for your old world colonial attitude. 🙂 And if hearing Colombia the name of Garcia Marquez doesn’t arrive at the forefront of your mind automatically I think there are better reading materials for you this summer than the rags on which you have been wasting your time looking for transfer “news”. 🙂
Doctor Fastus you should climb down from your very short sighted horse and take a look in the mirror.
Now move on
and that’s the printable version
GT @ 118: And what is the unprintable version? Don’t hold back on your creativity. 🙂
So not only we don’t do correct spelling of the name of a whole country, we don’t do literature or sarcasm as well. 🙂
We only do transfer gossip. Got it. Message received. Aye aye captain.
Bt8 – nearly there lad won’t be far now I’m sure….
Oh Doctor Fautus please stop hitting me with your keybord keys. It hurts 😆
bt8 – Look, relax, we won’t be long! 😆
Just over the next favela and a few more bends…
Rumour:
“Barcelona wanted Ozil before pursuing Suarez, who they are now considering offering a contract containing a bite clause”
Yes, we know. They tried to flog us Cesc in the process, but were told where to go. Funny how that was kept quiet.
They now want to offer Sanchez to Liverpool as a make weight. Wow who makes this stuff up? I know ‘relax, we won’t be long’
🙂
…don’t worry, we’ll be there when we hit junction number 10!
Dr.F@121. “We” don’t do spelling – or grammar – in this bar. As a prime member of the grammar police, I should know. There are too many recalcitrants, scarred by years in a Gradgrindian education system, to be able to do much about it. So many in fact, that I suspect that their spelling and grammar will soon be (already are?) the accepted norm and people like me become (already have become?) fuddy-duddies best ignored.
Wicked, man.
Only two weeks to go, children. Then the fun really starts.
dk – yes, but there is too much hypocrisy in the process.
As you say, its best left alone.
now just sit tight, we’ll be there soon. 😉
Don’t surprise me as they looked to be one of the best prepared teams:
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/28083462 .
The kind of tactical discipline and maturity shown by this group of mostly ordinary players must be a result of meticulous planning and drills.
Right, rounding it off for the day. Got a good collection of gooners playing tonight.
auf wiedersehen 😉
Despite Germany’s Arsenal contingent, I find myself hoping for Algeria to win today and not just because they are the underdogs. With the prospect of a France-Algeria quarterfinal, just think of the potential for a post-colonial revenge bonanza. 🙂
BIG Ivan.
I think Aurier, Alexis Sanchez, and Schneiderlin are done deals already. We are just waiting for this Flag-Waving Pot to be handed out and we will get the pictures out and the new kit draped all over them. (Why would they bother with announcements and fanfare 2 weeks before switching from Nike to Puma anyway?) That takes care of the real essentials. Then we will sit tight and see what opens up. Still obviously room for another striker if something “super quality” becomes available. Another defender.
Anywhere “super duper quality” exist BIG Ivan will be there fighting crime.
UTA
134 – Well in. Wallet says Allez Les Ozils.
Schnell, Schnell. Daas is Zer gut BIG Ivan.
UTA
El – can we add a post colonial Martinez to that post or should I just sit patiently until we get there?
😉
*list shite framers all fooled up 😆
Re: GT @137. The important thing about signing that type of striker is to make sure they score goals, not just hit the post.
Of course, it is always possible to order a striker through the post, or even to order the striker to run into the post. Always difficult though to get the post from a striking postman.
Now this looks like a proper game coming on…
The goalie’s in this WC has been nothing short of tremendous!
8 ball
Explain yourself. You do realise this is Jackson you’re referring to, right?
He’s bloody awesome. The only post he’ll be hitting is the local post headlines mayte 😆
Right Henry legend shirt just arrived
Lovely jubly 🙂
On Debuchy’s first half performance I would prefer Big Ivan as EP lovingly refers to him to reroute from Tyneside to Toulouse
and sign a younger , cheaper player who is better in attack and defence ie Serge Aurier.
Far too many links for my liking at present . Still suggests to me AW is all over the place. I’ve suffered through too many transfer windows to have much confidence
GT. I suggest eating a large plateful of feijoada and then sitting down to a post-prandial cachaca. (Final c with cedilla) Transfer rumors may be digested much more easily that way.
ouch, nasty looking that one
Whoever scores first looks the likely winner.
Debuchy? Hope we’re not in for him!!
137 – BIG Ivan not sure about Jackson :/
In other news:
Luis Suarez statement: After several days of being home with my family I have had the opportunity to regain my calm and reflect about the the reality of what occurred during the Italy-Uruguay match on 24 June 2014.
Independent from the fallout and the contradicting declarations that have surfaced during these past days, all of which have been without the intention of interfering with the good performance of my national team, the truth is that my colleague Giorgio Chiellini suffered the physical result of a bite in the collision he suffered with me. For this I deeply regret what occurred. I apologise to Giorgio Chiellini and the entire football family. I vow to the public that there will never again be another incident like this.
That Pogba guy is not half bad eh?
What a cracking game… despite the scoreline thus far!
Ooh close
Cu’mon Francois
8 ball you keyboard warrior I was wondering how long it would take you to refer to transfer rumours
Good thing utd let him go!
‘holic @29
.
‘al’
.
who be he?
.
🙂
.
sheesh
.
*blows raspberries at self*
.
.
easy Wolfie!!!!
.
easy raspberries!!!!
BB – saw that statement from Luis.
Good see he’s come to his senses after another flesh binge
If france gets through.. lloris will be their undoing in the next game!
Goonertown – When you have exhausted all other options.. then apologize! Should have come out with it in the first place, wager his ban would have been less if he did so.
BB
I presume he learnt that stubborn little game down at the merseyside swamp.
There’s just no helping some people is there?
Well done to my French brothers minus Evra!
Good show
Hard luck to Nigeria but well done for making the knockouts
🙂
Good workout for the French team, Griezmann made the difference! Koscielny has been immensed, Giroud just doesn’t click well with Benzema.. so i hope we don’t get Benz! 🙂
Koscielny flawless again.
France Vs Germany looks tantalizing!
Wonder what the Algerians can do about it though?!?
In fairness I’m not sure if Olly G is quite at this level and his deficiencies were shown up here. Griezmann made a massive difference. Koscielny looks VERY comfortable at this level as we know and I thought Matuidi was quite superb. Great box to box midfielder. Another one linked to us for a long time but we didn’t sign
Oops another dodgy refereeing decision which went against the Nigerians. Tut tut!
Oh well onwards and upwards!
Kos could have done better on that ruled out goal but luckily the official though it was off side
Giroud needs runners around him and that does not quite happen when he plays with Benzema, should he play with Griezmann I think his contribution would be much more significant.
Benzema was, apart from that great one-two with Griezmann fairly anonymous during whole game.
Nigeria made a good showing and created some good chances in the first half, which surprised me after their tedious game against Iran with few chances on either side. French quality showed through in the end (down Wolfie).
Had the right decision been made, France’s quality could have been tested beyond it’s capabilities.
But a well deserved scrape from Deschamps men in the end.
166 – Be a surprise to see Giroud start again this tournament. Whisper it softly, but another big game spent going missing. A fine, fine player to have in the squad, but we need to invest to add some zest to our striking options.
8 ball @ 147
What exactly is the point you are trying to make?
You have lost me with all of that Jibba jabba
ttg @ 146 – links to and from click-whores does not suggest that Arsene is all over the place. There is photographic evidence however to suggest that he is all over the beach 😉
The transfer speculation feeds on itself – tabloids quoting twitter quoting mentalists and in a heartbeat, it goes viral.
Still plenty of cricket to be played….
GT. 147 was nonsensical as you will discover if you attempt to look at it again. 🙂
As for Jackson Martinez on the other hand, I have seen him take his chances during this tournament and also seen him miss his chances. Not the most important player in the Colombia team by any stretch, if you ask me, but if Arsenal did sign him I would say he’s an upgrade on Sanogo due to his World Cup experience and his goals for Porto. Not that I consider myself an astute judge of his talent compared to some of the other strikers in the tournament. Joel Campbell, for example, is another who I have seen take his chances and miss his chances at other moments. Both of them have good potential but I wouldn’t want to be the one to say they are going to make the big time at Arsenal. Or that they will not be able to do it either. If we want a sure thing, I’d say Alexis Sanchez is your man though.
Ttg,
Not so sure mobile football in high heat and humidity is Girouds forte, but credit to Deschamps for rotating players and trying to see if the Benza / Giroud axis would work. Your right of course, it didn’t and Griezmann made a difference when he came in.
Not so sure I’d agree with your take on the Aurier vs Debuchy debate though. I think Debuchy is a good player and a better ready made option than Aurier. Older, more experienced and no bedding in time. I’d prefer a 28 year old replacing someone like Sagna than a 21 year old all day long. And another point that Stillman made so well on the Arsebog of late in relation to Sagna, Wenger tends to prefer his left backs going forward with the right back being somewhat more conservative (Sagna, Lauren).
Algeria’s keeper looks like one of Ali Baba’s forty thieves. Or something like that. Not sure I’d like to turn the corner in the bazaar and run into him.
nice backheel pass by Mesut
and Neuer just did Almunia…got away with it tho
8 ball
I did take the time to read your post. A couple of times even. Unfortunately I didn’t understand it. Still highly confused by your analogy to food. Presumably dinner time beckoned. That’s why I asked.
Regarding Martinez and Jackson, to me the World Cup does not determine a players league potential ( ie: Ronaldo and Messi). Martinez started two games and scored two goals in the last two games for Colombia (see what I did there?).To me that’s Job done. The issue you appear to be having with Martinez and indeed Campbell appear to be more expectations rather their ability as centre forwards due to the attention they have been getting recently. I wouldn’t play Campbell as a centre forward but I would Martinez.
#Free Jackson
Algeria are quick.. going to be an interesting game!
Their counter may just catch the germans off guard!
Algeria causing all kinds of problems to Germans right now.
Wow! What a match! This is going to be another cracking game!
Wow the Algerians are brining the game to em!
Awesome 🙂
Wow Ozil on target
Germans, Dutch and French all don’t like it if you press them…
Looks like Algerians got it right so far, do they have enough stamina to keep it up??! We shall see!
@185
Ha Ha ! 😀
I would so love BFG to stride forward and set up a goal. The stick he gets from the likes of Townsend is ridiculous. He is a German international with over 100 caps before the age of 30 and they treat him like he is Pascal Cygan. I think the Gernan back line has too many centre backs but the BFG is the most confident and dominant figure
Breathtaking at times… thought the Arsenal was playing!
Danish comm’s doin the white wee-wee every time there is a decent counter in a game “ooh 3 on 3 aaaaaah” etc. Not sure in 60 games last season I watched us and thought “fuck we’ve got a man spare on the counter.” Seems to be a respected and effective strategy though..?
#FreeSanchez
Yeah if Germany are not careful they could concede.
The first goal could go Eitherway
I think the Algerians will tire, they can’t play at this pace for the whole game. Germany looks to have survived the onslaught.
Algeria won’t want to go to penalties. I think the Germans will like the French, get stronger in the second half.
The very big problem Germany have is the small man they have playing in DCM. Lahm is no DCM. Constantly leaves space exposing the centre halves.
Algeria may not win but they played very well in the first half, as did Nigeria. Both those teams fully deserve to have achieved what they have.
I think there us a healthy disrespect in this bar for the level of real ITK connections in the English daily newspapers. Mail Online ran a story today saying that ‘ Ecuadorian ‘ star Morgan Scneiderlin might join Arsenal and then in the body of the piece repeated the error. I detest the Mail but I am a cantankerous old buffer so zi sent them a reply saying politely that Schneiderlin was actually French. I received a message from them saying that several people had objected to my message so it was not displayed! Subsequently they said that they were not prepared to show the comment. The level of reporting on some of the online sites is pathetic.
Come on Germany 🙂
Goalies are brilliant on this WC
I agree Goonertown. The best goalies are not necessarily European any more
Boom!
Sorry I meant Eandy- goalies are brilliant
Bloody ell Thomas 😆
Thought i’d just seen the first ‘header’ free kick by Muller! 😀
There you go
Scored by a chav an all
🙂
Ozil has worked his socks off
Ozil! Ozil! Ozil!
and now scores 🙂
What a shift he had to put in for that goal!
Congrats Mesut
What a gem of a player we have! He’ll be tougher next season and we should see him improve even more!
😀
Whoa, where did that come from?
Wow what a game
Algeria definitely won more fans here!
Next up…. Koscielny Vs Mertesacker … 😀
heh and pundits in the studio slating Özil for not contributing enough in the game apart from ..well…winning goal. Time to watch the games on czech tv again I suppose.
Rightly so BB, they took the game to the Germans and went for it. Got to have some balls to do so 🙂
Leave it to a former Uruguayan guerrilla president to tell it as it is. He called FIFA a bunch of old sons of bitches, which of course is what they are. The irony in the situation? The man is 79 years old and he was defending Luis Suarez. Hmmm.
Saw that too 8 ball. Guess it’s right to say it takes one to know one 😉
Honestly, some of these games could have gone either way, we might have had algeria and mexico advancing..!
Methinks no one will underestimate these teams anymore, are there really any clear underdogs now?!
Wonder if England might just lower their standards and target the Round of 16 next time round! That seems more realistic!
Only saw the last 20 minutes + extra-time. Was surprised to see Mesut still on the pitch – after all, the experts say he’s only good for 60 minutes, don’t they?
What’s that? He scored in the 120th minute?
Musht be shome mishtake.
I am tempted to say the Dutch have an easy round next against Costa Rica.. now i am not so sure.
Classy goal by Schürrle – great run followed by instinctive bit of skill. Just what was needed to break the deadlock.
Suarez’s apology is just another sneaky trick. He now needs to try and get the suspension reduced so he produces this bit of tripe – making fools of everyone who supported him and his claims of being victimised. He’s only interested in No.1 – typical psychopath.
He also says it will never happen again. How can he know that? It’s clearly something that happens instinctively and is beyond his conscious control.
Dkg,
He knows because he’s been having secret anger management lessons – you know, confidenturely. 😉
With 5 first team players still going hammer and tongs at the World Cup,there is no way any of them will be making the trip to New York at the end of July.
And with the 5 pitted against each other, at least 2 will still be battling away deep into next week as well.
All players are entitled to 4 weeks holiday,so i very much doubt if any of the 5 will even play in the Emirates Cup in early August.
If they get knocked out this w/end,the earliest they would report back would be 4th August,and those that go on to the semi final,will not report back till the 11th.
Which rules out the Community shield as well.
We also have 2 CL qualifiers to fit in at the start of the season proper,which increases the workload as well.
So it would appear that our 2 first choice defenders,top midfielder,and 2 strikers are not going to get the pre season fitness and endurance grounding that is fundamental to surviving the 10 months of the season.
I remember when Gilberto won the World Cup with Brazil,he wasn’t back at the Arse until mid August,and i don’t think he played a first team game till some time in September.
If memory serves me, i think that was how Fabregas got his first team debut at 16,because it took Gilberto a month to get back up to full fitness.
And Please don’t anyone try and tell me that because they are playing through till July that the players will not need a full pre season.
So the boss has some serious issues to deal with,with the squad depth set to be tested very early in the season.
Cheers
The Sweeper.
Beautiful sunny afternoon at daughter’s game in Minneapolis but her team will need a second half comeback. Too bad Podolski’s not available.
While its always nice to see someone like Per go forward – massive respect to Algeria.
They won me over for sure.. How about that GK of theirs.
DKG- spot on about ozil and suarez above.
GS54 – arsene and Ivan have just called me to say they aren’t far behind us and should be there soon…..
I deeply distrust the accuracy of these media reports that it is the third time Suarez has bitten an opponent.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/28099336
Seeing as he is a serial offender, as well as a knee-jerk denier of the fact that he is a serial offender, I am convinced there must be a long history of other Suarez biting incidents extending back into his schoolboy days. If only any of these “journalists” would do a little investigating into the extended history of the player’s background, rather than regurgitating the headlines reported time after time in the international press, maybe there could be something more to this? How the Premier League can continue to allow the employment of such a serial offender who at any moment might destroy the career of any fellow professional, is a mystery to me.
Suarez needs to simply learn that his football talent is no longer valid as the fact he is now a marketing and publicity no go zone.
Once the sponsors leave you you then know there is no way back in the publics eye.
His apology should be taken as not valid as it is no longer valid.
It is too late.
He should be made a public pariah by Liverpool but that is what won’t happen.
He will be kissing baby’s heads next at a Liverpool primary public school
“I suspect that their spelling and grammar will soon be (already are?) the accepted norm and people like me become (already have become?) fuddy-duddies best ignored.” dkg (#128)
——————————————————————————
I empathise, dkg. But if common usage had never prevailed we’d all still be talking like Chaucer.
Apart from people’s names – which I believe sacrosanct, to be pronounced as they themselves pronounce them – I have long since given up insisting on pronunciations current when I was schooled. In my lifetime, for example, I have seen the stress on words such as communal, respite, pergola and harass move from the first syllable to the currently more commonly preferred second syllable. It irritates me too, but common usage inevitably wins in the long run, and arguing the toss will only invite pitying looks from the young.
It’s a bit like telling them their music is rubbish, why don’t they listen to ’60s classics?
Öskar
No mistake with Mesut, dkg, he often plays well for his country – for example being leading goal-scorer in their WC preliminaries.
Without him Germany usually struggle, which they’ve been doing a bit in this tournament so far because his form has been indifferent at best. Imo.
Here’s hoping he can rediscover his mojo before the new season kicks off.
Öskar
Have faith in the Oranje, Dr F, until the final anyway. I just hope 120 minutes plus in 39C (in the shade, add 10 for the sunny side of the pitch) temp hasn’t taken too much out of them.
Qatar should be fun, aye!
Öskar
Oskar @ 233 — The Qatar World Cup simply should not happen. It is preposterous that the entire world should sit by and allow a WC to happen where to build stadiums etc. essentially enforced slave labor from Indian sub-continent is being used. Poor people are brought in the country in name of employment and then they cannot leave despite slave-like conditions because the exit permits depend on the employer. The predicted death toll on migrant workers would be nearly 4000 when the WC preparation is over. I am not going to post any link in this blog, but looking it up in the Internet would be enough for anyone.
It is also sad that even people like Arsene Wenger sees no problem with the Qatar world cup and simply wants to keep the conversations to the topic of players’ and spectators’ safety.
Cheers, Sweeper @ 224, no offense to any other drinkers, but yours was the first sensible post today. Apart from Trev’s biting repartee, of course.
Don’t Tread On Me.
Oskar @ 234: So our scoreline is 5-3 now, right? You had opted for Nigeria who did play very well for large parts of the game, but defensively too unsteady and not enough composure in the final third.
The Algeria match should be a wake-up call for Germany. Stop playing like Pep’s Bayern, use Lahm to add pace to that slow back four, and use more urgency in attack and in 50:50 challenges.
A superb tactical performance by Algeria. Neuer the savior …
I was quite selfishly supporting the wily Desert Foxes, today. Kudos to Jon Champion today pulling out the WWII juxtapositions today with the Desert Foxes v Germany.
I’m posting while dosing. Apologies for all the “todays”
Dozing that is. Apologies again.
Where’s cba when you need him or her…?
5-3 it is, Dr F. Thank you for the reminder. 🙂 I was expecting a surprise or two along the way, so elected a couple for the fun of it. But so far it’s just been a bit closer than expected in a couple of instances. Greece came very close and Nigeria worried France for most of the game, but you proved right in both cases.
Your lack of belief in the Dutch is disappointing mate. Heb vertrouwen!
Öskar
Oskar, it is past 2 AM here and I need to catch some sleep…only thing I would say about the Oranje is that I had supported Dutch teams with much better overall quality to be disappointed many times. Call it an intuition but I just don’t see this team wining. Both France and Germany surprised me today in different ways. I saw certain things in France’s game that if maintained can be a key factor. But my guess is still that Scolari will find ways to win matches as long as Neymar is fit.
224 – Great stuff. So what do we do to remedy this?
Massive respect to Algeria last night, what a fine performance that took everything Germany had to get through.
I had Ghana pegged as the African team who would shine at this tournament. Still think it is such a shame that they couldn’t put aside ego and money for a month to give the best they had. Ho-hum. Algeria are a credit to the tournament and, so my Algerian friend tells me, a joy to the Nation. Ghana a seething mess with players bickering in the newspapers as if anyone but them cares. (Prince-Boateng looks like this tournament’s Anelka.)
Arjen Robben has argued that he is guilty only of being too honest after he escaped punishment from Fifa despite admitting that he had dived during Holland’s 2-1 last-16 victory against Mexico.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/holland/10936459/Arjen-Robben-vows-not-to-change-his-game-or-personality-in-face-of-World-Cup-dive-storm.html
Madrid’s propaganda outlet AS reported as saying Di maria want out and they might have to get Hames Rodriguez in as a replacement… In translation:
“We want the hot new thing. Please give us £40mil for Di Maria to fund half of this.”
Has this ever happened before?
Smooth, slow and easy BIG Ivan.
UTA
The Suarez apology is all a bit sad, pathetic and very late. Anyone still think he is innocent??? I wonder what will now come out from the Uruguayan FA now?? It’s all a bit of a shame considering what an excellent World Cup it has been to date.
Oskar @231. – well good post, innit. 😉
@ 224
I love the caveat in the final paragraph
🙂
@ 247
His version events are a lie and an insult to intelligence.
Great player. Very naive guy.
@ 246
How dare you talk about transfer rumours in this bar in front of the higher beings who drink in here?
😆
BB
His dive was the last act of a desperate man. He has simulation down to a T.
Eeeek:
http://angryofislington.com/2014/07/01/arsenal-supporters-summer-checklist/?
List of players attacked up by our rivals mounting. (“But Totters last year blah bah blah.” Rivals. Not some half-backed bunch of knuckle draggers on their third hot young manager of the last 9 months.)
Costa, Fabregas, Shaw, Herrera, Lalana, Fernando, Sagna, Courtois… 2 central defenders and a right winger short of a pretty decent first 11 there.
I still think we have 3 deals ready to go, filling the potentially catastrophic holes in the squad, but we are notorious for dithering our way out of what we need. Until it is up on the website nerves will be frayed. Aurier, Schneiderlin, Sanchez with scope to add 2/3 more depending on what becomes available is superb business, but we haven’t actually done any business yet. AW doesn’t look stressed about it though, does he?
BIG Ivan. Cool, calm, collected.
UTA
@ 244
The previous ACON Champs were in with a shout last night.
Was it me or was Ozil on almost every German ball? I would love to see how much ground he covered. I heard people say his performance was poor. But just to counter any doubts anyone had about his performance he went and scored the winner.
Now that’s class 🙂
@ 253
I am willing to bet that Aurier is a done deal. I know Jenks is up for promotion and debeauchy is French, but I would be flabbergasted if we were to let young Serge slip the net, under the current speculative circumstances.
Striker wise I would be happy with either Sanchez or Jackson plus one or both.
The only thing now is the vermaelen situation, which could hold things up but doesn’t really to do so.
@253
Just a few thoughts:
Deals for Costa and Lalana haven’t actually been completed.
Courtois hasn’t moved clubs, just returned from loan.
Sagna is 31 and moving on a free transfer. If we signed a 31 year old on a free without doing any other business I suspect that would only fan the flames of Internet discontent.
That leaves: Fabregas, Shaw, Herrera, and Fernando. Doesn’t look too bad.
Patience – it’s worth waiting if we get the right players in by summer’s end.
Ohmmmmmmmmm….
I’m firmly in the Ommmmmmmmmmm camp.
What position does he play?
And how people think that we were going to sign new players when the Nike contract has just come to an end today. Think about how Puma might feel about chucking money at us in sponsorship if we then went and signed new players only to present them to the world in a Nike shirt…?
With the exception of maybe Cesc given the circumstances in his case, we were never going to formally “sign” anyone until July at the earliest. However considering its WC year and we still have to play qualifiers for the CL, I do think our business will be pretty brisk in getting business done this month.
Great.
I post 257 and Liverpool announce Lallana.
Cheers for nothing, Scousers.
@bath
Ommmmmm plays the lotus position.
EP@244: Algeria are higher in the FIFA country rankings, at 22, than any other nation on the African continent. Ivory Coast are two place below them. Ghana is 37th an Nigeria 44th. I, too, thought Ghana would have a deep run in the tournament but they are turning out to be like Portugal of a decade or so ago: a winning youth team not turning its promise into tournament results for the senior team.
That Pogba fellow is some player. big strong, fast and skilful.
Hope we are getting someone like that for anywhere in our squad.
That ozil fella looks great as well. Runs all night. Glad we own him.
I truly Hope that Ivan and arsene have enjoyed the hospitality with the folks from puma, received all their free puma shit for themselves and mrs gazidiz and mrs wenger. They have probably had a few beers the following day with the puma marketing team then dinner with the puma accountants and lawyers on the puma yacht, talked a bit of shit about the Nike team over a night cap and then got busy trying on their new puma trackies, beanies and new waterproof hoodies.
Ok boys, take your berroca’s and put those new puma arsenal shirts on our new arsenal signings and get the new boys into pre season.
Re: GT @252. They key to spotting a Robben dive is to look at the toes. He’s diving when it looks like instantaneous rigor mortis has set in.
By the way, against Mexico instantaneous rigor mortis definitely appeared right after Marquez stepped in front of Robben in the penalty box.
If FIFA were really serious about fair play they would send Suarez and Robben off to a solitary ice floe to battle it out for seal blubber scraps.
‘It got the hairs on the back of my neck standing up just watching them, and the style of football they were playing. Says Lallana on his transfer to liverpool.
No Adam, it’s just Suarez triggering the fight or flight response in the sympathetic nervous system. All quite natural really. Luckily if the reports are right then he’s off to Barcelona to terrorize the spanish league instead!
Netherlands don’t deserve to go through at all.
Mexico the better team.
Robben is nothing more than a cleaner version of Suarez.
A filthy cheating sportsman who has no honour or class.
Even admitting he dives is incredible.
What does he think he achieves by admitting he dived.
Does he think it absolves him of being A cheat.
Goonertown – I thoroughly enjoyed Algeria’s performance. Germany really struggled to contain their athleticism and determination. I thought they looked just as likely until about the 70th minute, but after that they tied and the superior technique took over.
Can’t say I see nearly as much in Jackson as Sanchez. Not as “super quality” imho and I don’t think it is what we need as much. Pace, pace, pace for my taste in attack. Plus Sanchez has the versatility to play wide, so he and Giroud can both get on the pitch together. Jackson looks like more of the same, a decent trier whose size compensates for a lack of pace. In an ideal world, for me, Sanchez and one more, with us being in a position to take the best available attacker, whether that is a wide man or a pure striker given AS’s positional flexibility.
Seen people knocking Aurier now. Only 21, can’t defend (who has ever seen hi outside the WC when he looked just fine) and talking up Debuchy. I hope we go for the potential of Aurier though. Attacking quality from full-back would be a real boost.
I am fairly zen about the whole thing, ommmmmmm etc, but it is all very exciting. If we get this right we are superbly positioned for another really wonderful period under AW. We stand still again though and we could find ourselves going back 3/4 years to a point where our best players get fed up at the lack of ambition and agitate out. No excuse for BIG Ivan and AW now though, stadium cannot explain us fucking up another hugely important transfer window. This is what we have been waiting for.
UTA
@ 264 yeah either that, or just wait for him to enter the box. Then apply the law of averages. In his case, 9/10 times, it’s a dive. 🙂
For all the fans of Pythons’ musical prowess, some kind of top 10:
http://www.wired.com/2014/06/monty-python-songs/?mbid=social_fb
El @ 269 – the thought of getting Sanchez has grown on me in recent weeks. He had a great reputation before moving to Barcelona and could have been slightly overshadowed by Messi. I think he has good movement, strength and can finish. Plus he could fit into our formation well.
My support for Jackson stems from his stats which are consistent and current for club and country. I just feel that if points make prizes and we need somebody to challenge Giroud then why not somebody who is similar and who can finish. Out of all of the centre forwards we’ve been linked with, he ticks all of the boxes, barring his age and the fact that he could want to be the main starter. So issues regarding fee and personal terms could arise.
Based upon what I have seen from both players during this WC and what we have in our squad already, those two in particular do it for me. However, being two years older than Diego Costa whose release clause is reportedly more than Jackson’s, I would say either or both release clauses are wrong. But anyhoo, release clause are not my area so I do not want off too far off track.
#Free Jackson
I hope Arsenal have some trick up their sleeves. Seeing all the other clubs strengthen is unsettling.
@ 271
I heard they were back. Will be exciting.
I walked past Michael Palin in the Strand last year. He’s ageing well me old mate. 🙂
@273 Sajit
Worry not, we’ll have effectively two ‘new’ signings confirmed. Diaby should finally be back and lest we forget Theo should be up and running.
😀
Our squad isn’t as bad as many make it but it is a little ‘thin’!
Aurier and Sanchez would fit the bill, one can hope!
Goonertown @ 274: Yes they are. And man, are you old! 🙂
I know, I know, we will all get there … eventually. 🙂
😆
Old enough to remember
Ahh, just realized that in that Wired link one of my favorite “Decomposing Composers” actually repeat the “Medical Love Song”… you can find the Decomposing Composers at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjWPXybVjYE .
Just a final note on strikers. My take on it is that it’s all about finishing. We create a lot of chances and as long as the man up front can put them away, then he is what we need, no matter who he is.
#Free Jackson
Oh now one of the 2 teams i wanted to win the world cup will go out in the next round. Germany versus France, one round too early i think. Well for the sake of the game may the better team win but on performance alone, think the French will nick this one, maybe 1-0 for if it goes to penalties., there is only one winner.
I really hope we finalize and sign the players we need to, no more OMG its Ozil moment on sept 1st again. We need atleast 5-6 players and can we please start now boss. Your expertise in commentating is appreciated as always, now is the time to put on the magician hat and pull of the deals, shall we start with a certain DM please, Khedira anyone??????
This World Cup has really been a good distraction for us from paying much attention to how inept our negotiating team are. Soon World Cup will be over and we all shall see how really bad they are in getting the right players in. We need to stop making excuses for them. Giving different reasons why they have not signed anyone. Like I always say, hope they surprise me but I doubt it. They get paid good money to do their job and they need to start doing it.
Sweeper @224. Very interesting post and usual and your point is well made. We need to hit the ground running at the start of the season not wait until mid – September before getting anyone back from the later stages. And we will have pre- season injuries.
If I may I would just correct one part of your mail. Gilberto joined us after the World Cup in 2002 and debuted in the Charity Shield where he scored the winner. He was in the team straight away. Fabregas started the 2004/05 season because Gilberto was injured and looked superb from the off.
Starting to get edgy with lack of transfer progress but I always am!
Afternoon all, finally managed to slog through all the drinks.
Glad to see those late to the party are enjoying what I would class as the best WC in years. Although I was around, I can only really fully remember the Argentiinian ’78 tournament of the 70’s, ofcourse living in the Lowlands, ’74 is repeated quite frequently too, have no specific memories of the 1970 tournament, but suffice to say football was an entirely different ball game back then so I find it hard to draw conclusions on which was “better”, all personal taste I suppose.
As I mentioned in previous bar, the team I was most impressed with in the group stage was Colombia and they did not dissapoint last time out either. Brazil showed great charachter to overcome a stubborn Chile, the weight of expectation is enormous, and for Neymar to step and slot that penalty away so coolly showed way he’s so highly rated by many. Costa Rica were dogged against the Greeks, didn’t see too much of that one due to the hysteira of the aftermath of the Oranje result here in my bar.
As for last night, I wasn’t too impressed by the French, I feel Nigeria were robbed, never an offside, plus Matuidi should of seen red for that tackle, no two ways about it. But hat tip of the tournament so far must go to Algeria, wow, what a performance against the mighty Germans. In the end the quality of the Manschaft won the day, but they were pushed all the way by the so called under dogs……. This WC is ace!!
Aussie @263.
A whine made out of the finest sour grapes there.
I’m loathe to defend Robben, his simulation has annoyed me for years and I’m not going to now condone it because he’s playing for NL, but to compare him to Suarez is outragous. Going to ground easily is indeed cheating but what you’re saying is that that is as bad as biting an opponent, are you fudging serious?
Claiming a throw in or a corner when you know the ball came off you last is also cheating, what do you suggest? A four month ban for repeat offenders?
I guess you’re probably still smarting a bit because Oranje knocked out the Socceroos, but non the less the Netherlands won and over 90 minutes were the better team against Mexico. The penalty was a penalty, the dive picked up by the media occured in the first half and happened outside the box, plus nl was also denied what looked like a pretty stonewall penalty too, I could ofcourse be biased, but then again so are you.
Hup Holland Hup.
I was very unimpressed with the group games but the tournament has come alive at the last sixteen stage. Virtually all the games have been very compelling and underdogs have been very close to some big upsets. Also some of the goalkeeping , especially by the less fancied countries has been brilliant. Ochoa, Ospina, Navas and until his error, Enyeama have made some phenomenal saves and Neuer was also superb for Germany. I find it very hard to pick a winner. Holland have an easier route through but have dome very ordinary players in their team and the best team I have seen so far is Colombia. It’s very much in the balance as neither of the two South American favourites, Brazil and Argentina look very convincing.
James Rodriguez must be so excited as he appears to be working his way towards a move to White Hart Lane, according to the Daily Exoress. Who makes this stuff up? Daniel Levy I think. They gave always tried to associate themselves with stellar talents simply to boost their standing in the world game .
In my book, diving is worse than biting, because it’s almost socially acceptable…and my book was signed by Mr. Kilmister, so….
One thing I gleaned from watching a few games at the World Cup:
Giroud played a lot better than Higuiain, and since they are the same type of striker they could not play together in the same team. The only need we could have for the Argentinian is if Giroud is injured or otherwise not available.
H2H. To downplay the evil of Robben is to not understand the plight of the Mexicans. They wuz robbed, no question about it. I’m agreed that the Suarez comparison is not fair but Robben is making a mockery of the officials, the fans, and the game.
Decent goal
@ 286
So do you believe we were therefore wrong, to have bid for Higuain?
There’s been a lot of scrapes from the so-called ‘big sides’ into the quarters.
Very good tournament this year
GT. I must demur never having watched Higuain play this much prior to last summer when the bid was made, but he has not impressed me in this World Cup as a game changing striker or as any upgrade on Giroud. I also can’t imagine AW changing formation to accommodate Higuain in the team. If we scoured the entire World Cup to find a player as slow as Giroud, Higuain might be the man.
*** wanders into bar – orders a small glass of speculation – loses glass 51 times – wanders out again ***
(almost forgets to close italics)
Just delighted to see the Argentinians through….or maybe I should be more specific, delighted to see Messi through to the next round. What a magical experience it is to watch that lad play and carry the entire Argentinian team on his back in the process.
That Djorou wasn’t too bad… err sign him up?! 😀
If the swiss had more self belief in going forward, they may have won it.
Glad to see the attacking teams through in this WC, no Catenaccio please!
@ 291
Fair play to you. I’ve just based my analogies upon Wenger’s previous set ups compared them to what we have and to what other championship winning sides have got.
After Henry left, I mixed up my formula and concluded that we required Fernando Torres. Wenger surprised me with a cheaper option in Eduardo.
When Eduardo left I concluded that we needed Suarez or Higuain. We didn’t strengthen as we had RVP and like Torres little Luis went to Liverpool. When RVP left, I concluded his replacement should be Higuain. Anyway, moving along we bidded for them both in one Window. Now the speculatives are whispering about Jackson and so for me, it shows me that myself and the club are starting to think along the same lines in terms of clientele.
There must be all sorts of minor details that the negotiators are privy to that not even the itk’s are aware about. One thing I know is that with the amount of chances we create, good finishers are a must. Target men with an eye for goal. But I’m also open to other inventive options that my naked eye cannot see. So I have not heard about anybody during this window which I would turn my nose up to. So barring an incomplete squad at the start of the season, I have been inspired by what I’ve seen and read in the last 12 months. Long may it continue.
Well, I would be very grateful to Lionel if he could carry the entire me on his back to the next pub.
Yeah, Joe, but it’s too bad he has to carry Mascherano along as well. What a detestable cretin.
On a brighter note:
I believe that we will win.
I BELIEVE that we will win.
I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!!!
don’t tread on me.
Too early for an assist?
Headed back towards goal for Dempsey.
Whoops I forgot Kolo is slower than Giroud or Higuain. 😉
…Slides it through…
Oh dear. At least I got the TaBS position.
We entering the dreaded Wibble Zone with Alexis Sanchez? Barca officially acknowledged that bids are in and being considered. All we need now for it to be a genuine Wibble is AW to say he is “on the case.” Then someone who looks like BIG Ivan will be spotted in a Harvester off the M25 with some slick haired hispanic and pictured on Twitter. After that we haggle about over 2/3mil and Man City buy him.
I’m remaining calm until the kit is out, can’t hype up the new boy and flog a zillion shirts with his name on the back til then. After that though I’m freaking out…
Going by precedent, will have to pick USA for this one. They won the last time they played Belgium by 3 goals to nil.
3 goals to nil?
Dyam
Come on Belgies
Right, time to sit through a Belgian game.
Cent. There’s always 400. Especially with ‘holic sitting in his garden. 😉
Dare I say some backers of the United States are coming across as a tad overconfident. I’ve heard of enthusiasm but this is ridiculous. On a slightly different but related note, and I honestly haven’t heard anybody say this anywhere else, if it’s Tuesday it must be Belgium. I’ll get my hat, not to mention my chapeau.
@ 303
I know what you mean it’s getting closer 🙂
295 – I can’t see us paying more than £20mil for anyone over 25, (26 tops.) Especially not someone who will be splitting time in the team. Like yourself I am attached psychically with BIG Ivan, he has whispered this to me in my dreams. He won’t pay £30mil+ to #FreeJackson from his contract.
We’d get 3/4 years out of him as a rotational Giroud and with no sell on value after is initial contract. I just don’t see us going for it. He’ll be 28 in October. He has played 2 years in Porto, highest standard he’s ever managed. Prior to being with the bully boys of Portugal his goal record was never great. He’s neither a sure thing nor a great potential player and the economics of it stink. I’d be happy to rent him for 3 years for top $$$, but Big Ivan don’t roll like that homes.
We can get a guy who would do a Giroud impression for far, far less. If that is the choice, we sign a “super quality” winger, or two, and look into getting at least one young project that AW can turn into something whilst he spells Giroud. Just what BIG Ivan said to me last night.
BIG Ivan was there the night they drove old dixie down.
UTA
309 – I have the tabassco ready my friend 🙂
Goonertown,
That was in the not so long ago world cup of 1930. 😀
Don’t Tread On Me, GT
Where’s your faith, 8ball?
Old Klinsky is counter attacking with both his fast wingers.. very predictable.. and might just catch the belgians out! They have not clicked as a team yet methinks.
So 8 Ball
Based on what you have now seen if Higuain, would you say we were wrong to have bid for him?
@ 313 excusez – moi
@ 312
Ah that World Cup 🙂
Interesting thing when a country with a population of just over 11 million people is the favourite and we find a side with over 300 million people as the underdog.
Fascinating Aldo to see Klinsmann singing the Star-Spangled Banner with gusto. He puts more into it than Sven and Fabio did when they managed us
BIG Ivan is intrigued by Origi.
No worries, GT.
That was a weak yellow, ref.
Don’t Tread On Me.
Almost a goal there… belgian defence is suspect…!
But their counter is super fast.. Origi.. wow!
Wake up, boys…
damn…
El P @ 310
So when did you conclude this? 🙂
You should have mentioned this earlier when I started to want Jackson free a couple of weeks ago. It would have saved me all of this time. Big Ivan must be two timing you mate, because he told me, talks have opened with Jackson, but that the sticking point was the release clause fee: Draxler and Costa stylie. He told me that after Luis release clause crisis, he wanted to be double sure he was not going to be insulted for meeting the release clause price so he has started bidding under the clause fee (genius huh?) 😉
We bid 40 mill for Suarez who was 26 now 27 and Jacksons stats speak for themselves.
Otherwise, I thought you wanted to free Baloteli? What happened to that campaign? 🙂
Are we there yet? 🙂
😆
Rather surprising.. this is the best I’ve seen belgium play in this WC.
If US wants to stand a chance.. they gotta get it to their wings and push out faster!
321
Well I do apologise. I’ll watch where I’m going next time.
🙂
Are we Arsenal in disguise? Would that we were.
The US are an organised unit.
The Belgians style of play boggles me.
Much obliged, GT. 😉
If i were the argies i would prefer to play belgium rather than the US.
US are better organized at the back.
Kompany had to double up defensively on the wings…lol
324 – Balotelli for backup money BIG Ivan will consider £20mil tops, but he can take him or leave him. Not convinced he’s “super quality” since Alexis started flirting.
Only found out about Jackson last night, like I said. BIG Ivan caught me looking at Wikipedia and watching youtube videos so he filled me in. Big time. I can also reveal that he is dead keen on schneiderlin, raging style.
Promised not to say the rest, but here’s a clue: ADM is a goer. Over.
UTA
Eden Hazard to get season long injury in 2nd half? We can always hope. Not even Mourinho likes him. Smirker.
By Howard’s Beard.. that was close!
Please don’t let us go down at the foot of a spud…
http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/486141/I-want-to-join-Arsenal-Gunners-fan-Jackson-Martinez-craves-Emirates-move
Interesting link.
We’re getting opened up like a discount can of soup here. Tighten it up boys.
I saw give Yedlin a chance… that kid is fast and can tackle!
Unlucky at the last moment.. US nearly had it there! 😀
Que sera sera.
No way that was only 1 minute of stoppage time. No way.
Condolences Lonestar… US throughly deserved a penalty shootout at least.
Brilliant game.
Methinks the Argies will eat this belgium defence for B’fast!!
Congratulations to our American friends on this site. Your boys were magnificent and a huge credit to your nation. Congratulations to Belgium too!
Unlucky cousins.
Briliant effort.
All 8 group winners through.. wow! It pays to win your group.
Sign Yedlin up and loan him out. Give him a season or two and bring him in! He’s one for the future, he is!
For those who are still not massively interested in the World Cup may I suggest that you are massively missing out. Another fantastic game to watch. With England being so pants it’s been enjoyable watching some great games as a neutral.
Thanks BB and TTG, but I’ve done nothing but sit on my arse all day and pretend to work. All credit to the boys. Good shout Belgium…Lukaku was the difference. How I really hate him (and Chel$ki).
BTW, how good is Julian Green?
Yes, BB – remarkable performance by young Yedlin (or Yeltsin as the commentator called him at one point). I thought the other guy, Johnson?, was good when I saw a bit of an earlier USA match but that was an eye-opener.
Unlucky USA – but a few talented plays and loads of pluck wasn’t enough. And fortunately, no-one from Belgium watched the Beeb’s half-time discussion when they talked about Howard going to ground early all the time and the need to just dink it over him. Let’s hope some of the Arsenal lads heard it for next season.
But well done Belgium, just about deserved it – dead on their feet at the end though.
That was the first game I’ve watched all the way through – well, sort of – missed bits when I went for refills and when the stream hacked, but otherwise …
” … a few talented players… ” that should have been.
Methinks this WC has shown beyond a doubt that while great individual players can sometime make a difference in a game, football will always be a team sport.
Goalies have been phenomenal in this WC, with Howard making 15 saves as an example. I think that is also, in part due to the more traditional ball they use instead of the ‘technologically enhanced spin disguised volleyball’ AKA “Jabulani” in 2010.
Lastly the glut of goals we see in many games may be attributed to the more attacking styles the coaches have employed as a whole, long may it continue. Say no to Catennacio!
dkgÖÖner,
Argentina – Belgium would be really interesting, both teams played extra time and were relieved to go through, so no advantage to either in terms of rest. They also have leaky defences and good attacks, so it will be really interesting. 5-4 to Argentina?! 😀
Maybe we should have a scout at least in the USA, we could really pick up a player or two rather cheaply. They seem up and coming!
BB, Danny Karbassiyoon is our US scout. He found Gedion Zelalim.
Greatest World Cup in my living memory, and the most important matches are yet to come.
What makes this World Cup special is the quality of almost every team in it. There hasn’t been demolitions, except France vs Switzerland maybe.
There are some brilliant individual performances but most importantly there is collective and team work, well prepared teams, good coaches with interesting strategies and formations, happiness and joy in the stands from the fans. Football in its essence.
Watching with friends, alone, at home, or in the bar, with my parents, with my wife, with lots of beer, or with ice cream- I haven’t missed a single game.
And all that without the tension and pressure that exists when watching Arsenal.
This is what watching football should be like. Pure enjoyment.
Only regret so far : Iran – Nigeria.
What i would give for that 90+mins back! 🙂 😀
7-4 to you, Dr F, congratulations! My ‘surprise’ picks all lost out, although one lost in a shootout and others went to extra time. In fact USA should have won in regulation time but for a virtual tap-in being blazed over the bar in the 93nd minute! Excuses, excuses, aye? 🙂
I thought Gokhan Inler had a great game for the Swiss. Just the kind of DMF we could use. A shame that’s he’s now 30, we should have bought him a few years ago when I remember he was looked at seriously.
Öskar
What makes me laugh loudest about Robben is that he was denied a dead cert penalty in the first half against Mexico, when clearly fouled in the area twice by different defenders in the same incident.
Robben would probably claim that not getting penalties under such circumstances is why he dives. I say the reverse. With a smile on my face.
You can’t say The Netherlands didn’t deserve their win, given the sauna conditions which greatly favoured the Mexicans. They paced themselves appropriately for the heat and had enough still in the tank when it mattered.
Öskar
Commiserations to the USA.
Brought so much spirit to the tournament and did wonders for football in the US.
Nice comments earlier 8 ball.
The penalty Robben was denied late in the first half against Mexico … http://metro.co.uk/2014/06/29/netherlands-denied-a-penalty-for-double-foul-on-winger-arjen-robben-in-the-area-in-world-cup-match-against-mexico-4780675/
Öskar
H2H@283 – I did say that “Robben was a cleaner version of Suarez”.
biting makes no sense to me at all and is truly despicable.
diving is just a cleaner way of also cheating, and I use the word cheating, as diving the way he does is a pre-meditated act. no sour grapes H, Netherlands are a far superior squad to the Aussies. no contest there. i just thought Mexico were very unlucky to lose and the pre-meditated dive made a difference.
Oskar – these players are professional world footballers, the heat had no bearing on the victor v Mexico. Netherlands won because of an admitted premeditated dive.
This has the ring of possible truth to it.
http://metro.co.uk/2014/07/02/arsenal-sign-12m-mathieu-debuchy-and-will-confirm-transfer-after-world-cup-4783479/?
If the Debuchy signing happens it would fit into two categories of Wenger signings. The solidifying veteran signing, a la Arteta, and the French category.
Hallelujah for the ring of possible truth. 🙂
Jackson Martinez a Goonah? Who knew? (You might also wonder, who cared, other than GT?) 😉
http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/486141/I-want-to-join-Arsenal-Gunners-fan-Jackson-Martinez-craves-Emirates-move
Soccer – 1
Football – 2
Don’t Talk To Me.
Care to explain, SSY?
are we going to buy anyone yet or are we just waiting to see whats left. its seems again everyone around us is strengthening ready for pre season
“Care to explain, SSY?”
No.
Sleep tight, fella.
The admitted dive had nothing to do with the result, Aussie. The pen that gave The Netherlands the win may have been dubious, but it wasn’t a clear cut dive, and nor did Robben say it was. The dive he admitted was earlier and no pen was awarded for it. So given he was denied a legit penalty in the first half it sort of evens out.
The heat definitely advantages South and Central American players, as does the altitude at which many games are being played. Euro players just don’t have much experience of the conditions, while South Americans have their annual Copa Libertadores where all their best players get accustomed to it. With more South Americans playing in Europe these day their advantage isn’t as significant as it used to be, but there’s a reason why no Euro team has won the WC in South America, and they may well lose out again – even though I am still predicting an all-Euro final!
Öskar
I do hope this whole Sanchez rumor is true
Oskar, so if i get this right, robben is actually disputing which of his dives was awarded the pen ?
“The dive he admitted was earlier and no pen was awarded for it. So given he was denied a legit penalty in the first half it sort of evens out”
How is it legit, when he admitted diving ?
this is a bit like Suarez saying ‘the bite i gave chileine in the first half was deeper and more disgusting than the one I got busted with in the second half…
why is robben not booked or fined retrospectively for admitting to diving….
He admitted to a dive, Aussie, but nothing was awarded on that occasion and the incident had no effect on the game. He never said he had dived for the penalty given at the end which, though dubious, was one of those that refs often give, and Marquez DID foul him. But he was definitely denied a clear penalty late in the first half (no dive involved).
I posted a link to the legit penalty after my previous but it’s disappeared. Here it is again … http://metro.co.uk/2014/06/29/netherlands-denied-a-penalty-for-double-foul-on-winger-arjen-robben-in-the-area-in-world-cup-match-against-mexico-4780675/
So, if the last-minute penalty was dubious, he was at least owed one. So no real miscarriage of justice and Mexico weren’t cheated.
Öskar
What a great match that was!
Despite being battered by Belgium, the US took it and kept their composure and kept trying to fashion their own chances even up to the final whistle. Total absence of fear when they played.
Disappointed they went out, because their fans were making the best World Cup memes! Where will the jokes come from? 😀
Ah well, time to throw my weight behind the last remaining underdog in the tournament, Cost Rica.
Yedlin is homegrown talent for my second favorite and hometown team, the Seattle Sounders. His has good potential (and pace) but he is young and very raw defensively. I don’t think he is as good as Jenks at the same age, although I think with a couple more years with the Sounders he could make the jump to Europe. But probably not the EPL.
I wonder if Tim Howard would be interested in spending a couple of years in London mentoring young Chez.
My take on transfers – our top, top, top new signings will be announced on July 10 with the official unveiling of the Puma kits. Of course I tend to be an optimist…
Oskar, well thank you!! 7-4 it is and it would have been 8-3 if only Mexico could have hung on for a few more minutes. 🙂 But I am glad that the Oranje are in the quarters. And still have that chance for the first World Cup. Costa Rica would be trickier than anyone is expecting though.
For a different type of prediction challenge this time: what would be the most scoring match in the QF round? My prediction is Argentina-Belgium. 🙂
Nice to see the transfers are coming along as expected, i.e. our rivals have already bolstered their squads (Chelsea 2 major signings, Liverpool 1, Man U 1) and will be able to give their new guys a full pre-season. We on the other hand…
COR@ 372: Speaking of underdogs, you can also support Colombia. They were well known to have team full of talents but no one predicted that they will go further. They have a good chance against Brazil even though I think the home & Scolari factors, and just that bit of extra experience, would see Brazil through. But if somehow Colombia can beat Brazil they would have genuine self-belief to last the distance.
Costa Rica could be very tricky for Netherlands, especially the way they slow down the game to a pedestrian pace and double-mark key players. Have been really impressed with Ruiz who didn’t enjoy a good time at Fulham after arriving with so much expectations. Technically excellent and a sound organizer.
Anybody seen BFG’s interview with German TV-Station after the Algeria game?
The way he puts the reporter back in his place is going to be a classic 🙂
Thanks Steve @ 336
8 Ball @ 363
The question still remains and requires a straight yes or no answer. With what you have witnessed from Higuain, by your own admission since the World Cup, do you think we were wrong to bid for him?
So if Columbia is Colombia, why is Brazil not Brasil?
Things that keep me awake at night.
Most goals in the quarters? Brazil – Colombia. Both have attacks way better than their defences. Least? Netherlands-Costa Rica. I expect the Dutch to play a slow game after their last sauna game.
Semis: Brazil-Germany, Netherlands-Argentina.
No surprises this time.
Öskar
Cos they’re nuts, zico. 😉
Öskar
No way were we wrong to bid for higuain. Went for 30 goals/assists combined last season with Napoli. If the price went too high then fine, but we were on the case for a reason and a good one. He’s quality and we had a need. Is he “super quality” BIG Ivan? That is a different question. Either way, as we all seem to agree MASSIVE mistake getting no one for that role.
Given the problems you would expect for Theo this season we now need 2 players with that sort of production. Split different ways if guess, but we need 2 players who each go for 20+ goals and assists. Just in the league we were 30/40 goals behind the pace setters.
Sanchez hopefully will be one, if we don’t dither over five million whilst others watch then do the deal. Think we could still use another attacker after that, theo may get fit but form always takes longer to return. Exhibit A: Ramsey and wilshere your honour. From the tattle, Reus the obvious fantasy, then ADM. I guess Jackson or Balotelli for a fair price would be pretty useful to.
UTA
Datsyuk – yeah I did and it is brilliant way how to put meeja shit-stirrers like that back to their place. I think that Per will be captain of Arsenal in coming years. I have tipped Arteta for the job before but BFG just oozes leadership.
Z @ 380 😆
Thanks El @ 383
I happen to think Baloteli is pretty awesome and would as before, give premiere league defences a thing or two to think about, whilst sneaking in a healthy number of goals.
#Free Jackson
@ 384
I have to agree. Per is pretty hot stuff right now. Long may it continue.
GT – According to this we only named 21 players in the “25 man” Premier League squad:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/arsenals-25-man-premier-league-squad-2252470
It’s a bit ridiculous for a club with our resources. Given 3 of those were GK’s and 3 were Bendtner, Park and an already crocked Diaby that left us 15 serious outfield players. Which I think was the number of players used by the 1971 double team, so only about four decades and change behind the times.
(We did have 4 players in the U21 category who contributed in some fashion. Wilshere and Ox did well, injuries aside. Sonogo and Gnarby looked like youth recruits and played sparingly. Call it 17 outfield players if you want, it’s still plain stupid and got brutally exposed.)
If we want to compete for the 2 main pots and still have enough left in the tan for nice days out like domestic up finals we need to get more players in. No one would say we don’t have quality in our squad, but the depth of quality is well below the clubs who were legitimately sit with as the 8 or so best in Europe.
So News Now is reporting all over that ‘ Arsenal have secured their first signing of the summer’ in securing Mathieu Debuchy.
Hold on a minute this comes from an ‘ exclusive’ in the Daily Star for goodness sake! This is a disreputable rag with a very poor track record for predicting transfers. I would much prefer Aurier who has much more upside potential. Debuchy has PL experience but has been pretty mediocre in a mediocre Newcastle team and hasn’t impressed me for France. He certainly isn’t an upgrade on Sagna although Deschamps clearly disagrees.
He would be a fairly typical Wenger signing in that he is French and Wenger will know a lot about him. And most of our French signings at this price work out very well. But Aurier would be a signing from France too- and cheaper
389 – Yep, may turn out to be true, but no more authoritative than me saying on here we are signing Sanchez.
#FreeAurier
Snap quarter final predictions:
France 1 Germany 2
Brazil 3 Colombia 1
Argentina 1 Belgium 1 (Argentina win on penalties)
Netherlands 2 Costa Rica 0
4 weeks = Em’s Cup
5 weeks = Charity Shield
6 weeks = 5 competitive games in 14 days that includes 2 tricky PL away games after CL qualifiers.
If we are going to get in to this season without slaughtering out own players with no scope for rest and rotation BIG Ivan needs to start moving. If we want our newbies to have any sort of pre-season learning the wonders and delight of Arsene-ball then it really is tick-tock.
UTA
Only 184 players left at the World Cup. Can we start signing some of the others yet?
#FreeSanchez
#LetTheBisonRoam
#WhereMeReus
El @ 388
Plus the landscape of the game has changed somewhat since the arrival of the oil slickers and metal dealers.
The club last year openly acknowledged that more money needs to be spent on the ‘right players’ and this year we were told that we are going to strengthen. So that is what I expect. That to me does not mean just replacing Sagna and Vermaelen if he also decides to abandon ship.
A top striker plus Campbell who is a top forward should be the basic minimum. In addition to replacing Sagna. I don’t really want to touch on vermaelens situation at present. Then I would start looking at strengthening DM and of course that elusive wideman. But that’s just the way I have worked it all out in my head. As I say, I didn’t see the Ozil move coming until the last minute and it made complete sense.
I am going to put my faith in our team having a plan. I can see the pattern which is forming nicely, however seems as though these things take some tying up. In particular, if another club comes into the frame you then start having to wait for them to do their thing too if the player is interested in weighing up options. The press don’t help anybody but the lazy scouts. But as I say, I am putting my faith in the club this summer, in particular, with regards to their completed project. It will be interesting. Who remembers when we started last season with the midfield with the most depth in the league, only for it to be worn away during our so-called ‘death run’.
Interesting this old game.
On another note, I wonder how the FA will cope with using intermediaries rather than agents as of April 2015? I’m sure that it will open the market for all sorts of shady Del Boys looking for a quick payday. Hope not.
@376: DoctorFaustus, maybe I will indeed throw my support behind Colombia too!
My quite biased predictions for the quarter finals are as follows:
France 1 Germany 2
Brazil 1 Colombia 2
Argentina 2 Belgium 1
Netherlands 1 Costa Rica 2
GT – I think we have a plan to, a really really good one. We are run by very clever people. That said, I thought the same last summer. Once bitten and all that. Until we turn a good idea into 4/5 players I’m going to be nervous. It matters too much not to be.
Germany, the Colombian marching band, Argentina, Costa Rica my mug money says.
UTA
Americans are quite reactive to the game : http://i.imgur.com/Bbj2vLC.jpg 😀
We have not signed anyone yet because all the players we are interested in are still in the competition. Except Aurier, he’s on holiday.
Still I am not worried! It will happen when it does.
El @ 396
I’ll drink to that.
🙂
BB @ 389
I’ll drink to that too.
🙂
Germany, Brazil, Argentina and Costa Rica to make it through is my guess.
Well In Goonertown! 🙂
LeYuppyGrove blogging (just can’t call it reporting) that Barca want more like €40mil and we are happy to pay it and soon. That is superb news.
(Bit worried that he actually says £30mil. Not sure Barca pay their taxes in sterling, but let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and say his source converted it for him approximately…)
I know some people prefer not to think about what is happening. The transfer equivalent of watching a match and saying, “don’t worry son, we get the result at 90 minutes, so I’m going to relax and see what comes then? Anyway, here is my ideal scenario:
Best option: Aurier, Schneiderlin, Sanchez, Reus, a young centre-back and that Norwegain fella in goal who I saw once paying U21 ball.
Second choice: Debuchy, Schneiderlin, Sanchez, Jackson, some GK.
I reckon we might flog The Panther this summer. his value will never be higher, (especially if he scores against Holland.) If we aren’t really sure he is Arsenal quality we could get another £10mil and basically flip him and Vela for another really quality striker. In which case, throw that Jackson fella in my best option list 🙂
Bring her home BIG Ivan.
UTA
Oh yeah thanks BB. That was my Baloteli ‘by the way’ flick into the corner.
*Places shirt over head to reveal message: ‘why always me’
🙂
El @ 403 both options look strong to me.
🙂
El puno- i am very surprised to be honest to read your note @ 392.
Only frickng 4 weeks until the pre- season & emirates cup…
Are you serious……
Shit a brick arsene and ivan!!!!!
Wtf are you guys doing
Cmoooooon surely we have someone if interest, even just one name.
One name, one sniff, one player valued at more than $20 mil + who is world class.
Not a $12 mil french back of average ability. Please not just that as our big signing…..
All i can say el puno is i seriously you have your dates wrong
406 – 4 weeks from Saturday the Em’s cup, to be precise. But no, dates not wrong.
Would be nice to start the season with a decent crack at Shitty as well, rather than throwing together the kids and reserves and taking it as a jolly boys outing. In my opinion anyway. Build on our last trip to that concrete mess 🙂
The Holland-Costa Rica game seems the most intriguing quarter final. Holland have yet to have their customary ‘mare; Costa Rica will inevitably reach their game-too-far. Which will arrive first?
In the other games, home-team emotion to carry Brazil past Colombia, Germany to blunt France, and Argentina to beat Belgium.
Have we….? No, of course, not…
Another bit of exciting transfer news form yesterday:
Esta es la oferta que el #Arsenal ha hecho al #Barça por Alexis Sánchez… (Arsenal’s offer to Barça for Alexis)
http://vozpopuli.com/deportes/45814-notc …
10:17 PM – 1 Jul 2014
In summary, we have bid 19.4 Million and Barca are weighing up the offer.
I spotted a bit of crafty journalism regarding Jackson.
Spot the difference:
http://metro.co.uk/2014/07/02/arsenal-supporter-jackson-martinez-couldnt-turn-down-chance-of-gunners-move-4783679/
http://metro.co.uk/2014/01/04/jackson-martinez-im-an-arsenal-fan-and-would-love-to-sign-for-the-gunners-4249227/
I beg to differ on the Germany France game. I think the Le Blues will win this one 2-1 with a cameo from our soon to be announced winger- Griezmann( whats wrong in hoping).
I concur that this has been a fantastic world cup, far beyond expectations. No issues with the grounds as well and the crowds have been fantastic.
Brazil to finally lose for they have no where been close to good, same with Argentina, its been a one man show even though Di Maria was really good last night.
Debuchy will be a smart buy than Aurier for me, he knows the league and his positional sense is far better than Serge, so a deal for 10 million should happen.
Costa Rica v Colombia final.
All underdogs all the way.
Would love to see Joel Campbell continue to develop on the world stage.
I also want ozil/per and poldi home safe for arsenal.
Vinay- are we really that excited about debuchy ?
Are we not a bit more attractive to world class RB’s that we can only get interwar from debuchy for $10 mil ?
Surely we could aim a little higher
@389, that’s Exhibit A behind the argument why we should have snapped up that Spanish Bloke regardless of Ozil’s presence in the team. Quality depth.
But Arsene knows.
GT@410: New wine in old bottles. Tabloid journalism 101.
@ 414
I know mate. Caught red handed.
No we haven’t NBN.
And El Puno – I was hoping your dates would be out by at least one to two months.
We have done diddly squat as usual, and if we have to wait until the official puma announcement on July 10, then we will obviously play the ems cup with the same old same old injury ravaged squad we ended with last season.
Brilliant stuff….
The garden for me….
Should have listened earlier
In the July issue of Arsenal magazine many of the players were asked who would be the star for us this season — last year on a similar question Theo was frighteningly prescient saying something like “I am certain this is going to be Aaron’s season” which everyone thought was words of encouragement to a close friend — and some very intriguing answers.
Obviously Ozil was mentioned by many, Ox and Serge mentioned each other (ha ha), some hedged their bets and mentioned multiple players but most intriguingly Koscielny said quite a few lines about Eisfield and how in practice sessions and even practice matches between senior team and reserves he has been excellent and scoring goals. Eisfield has a bit of Pires about him, and definitely has eye for goals, and would be interesting to see how he turns up in the pre-season.
Iggy has returned back from Leicester, and I think he could be a good option for the fourth choice CB, also would give LB cover. He had an okay season away, is being liked with Espanyol (hometown club and all) but given that we might need two new CBs — we managed to survive last season when Sagna could fill in as the 4th choice CB — he could be a good enough choice as the 4th CB (playing in League cup etc.).
Aussie @ 415: I had posted a few days back that once the world cup is over if you are going to take the upcoming transfer window to heart, especially given our schedule and the rumors we will be subjected to, it would be a very scary ride for you until August 31. I think once the window closes most reasonable fans would be happy with the shape of the squad but I think before that it would be excruciating to those who are prone to kvetching over the lack of (visible) activity.
I would be more than happy, if only for the health benefit to many of my fellow goners, if I am proven wrong. 🙂
DF @ 418 I totally agree.
I am however, having fun with it all in the spirit of the world cup.
I am sure things will work itself out.
🙂
Just in case this wasn’t spotted. DF take note:
http://www.reuters.com/video/2014/07/02/monty-python-team-begin-swansong-shows?rpc=401&videoId=316627949&feedType=VideoRSS&feedName=Entertainment&rpc=401&videoChannel=3
Goonertown @ 419: I think we will have enough for the Community Shield and the CL qualifiers, for which hopefully we will avoid Bilbao (if Zenit comes through then Bilbao would be unseeded).
In the PL the first month or so would most likely throw some strange results especially as big teams would be suffering more from the consequences of the WC. Arsene’s rule of thumb that after the first ten matches the league table takes on a meaningful pattern most likely is not going to be true this time.
For footballing reasons alone it would have been better if for this pre-season the squad were not making any long distance trips. On the other hand US football scene could do with a bit of Arsenal flavor (too many Chelsea and Liverpool shirts on display), and in any case I think for the upcoming NYC trip Arsene would bring only those who didn’t go to the WC. And maybe Jack and Santi.
BBC Sport’s David Ornstein: Joel Campbell will report for pre-season with Arsenal late July early August & compete for a 1st team place
In the end, i bet we only take Joel. 😀
@420: Thanks. Have been reading some of the reviews etc. People commented on how they actually did innovate a lot, with a healthy bit of self-mockery and not just presented the old sketches and how many of the old jokes still hold on so well. You lucky Londoners. 🙂
The best part for me in the snippet was “the last show on July 28th would be broadcast worldwide.” 🙂
Didn’t know this:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/us-soccer-goalie-tim-howard-speaks-about-tourette-syndrome-a-902729.html
Interesting thoughts on Eisfeld DrF, when I have seen him play he is not a hyperactive bunny but he does seem to have the knack of getting into the right positions to score goals. I would also prefer to keep Miquel as I believe he has the ability to succeed. With PM and LK having extended involvement at the World Cup he should be given playing time in the pre-season games.
@ 421 – on that note I do hope to see Santi for the Ems cup. I heard he is a wizard on the ball. 🙂
My son loves Santi too. Models himself off of both him, Ozil and Ramsey…get in 🙂
@ 423 thats two weeks before the fun starts.
We’re being spoilt this year 🙂
Joeos@425: Agreed. Eisfield also has another good quality, very good on dead-ball situations.
SHIT THE BED!!! Di Maria is going somewhere and we have good relations there… Same with Sanchez…
Do it to me BIG Ivan, just fuckin do it.
UTA
Am I the only gooner who is distraught by the news that Anouk Hoogendijk has left Arsenal ladies. 🙁
431 – Who?
She must have Ajax DNA, Sajit. But she is Dutch and orange seems to suit her. http://img003.lazygirls.info/people/anouk_hoogendijk/anouk_hoogendijk_nike_ads_S02sgIe.sized.jpg
El Puno the prettiest face in Arsenal ladies imho 🙁
El puno@430, I really admired your trust in Ivan and the rest of the negotiating team. I for one do not have any high hopes in them doing a major deal. Like I have been saying this World Cup has been a good distraction, but guess what it’s about to be over. And we will see what Wenger will do when it’s comes to getting the players we all know we need to push for a PL title. My fear with him is that he can’t make up his mind, why, I don’t know. I fear we will end up with just Campbell upfront Hoping for the best of course.
435 – I wrote this 2 years ago when people were going mad over our lack of transfers:
http://gingers4limpar.com/?author=12
I still think we have a genius plan and it is about to show itself. We have been waiting for this moment for almost a decade. This is what the Em’s was built for and the next 5 years will be AW’s second masterpiece.
UTA
I have to say it’s both remarkable and highly admirable that Tim Howard has gotten to the very top knowing now that he suffers from Tourette’s Syndrome. Meditation is apparently his way of combatting the condition, which never seems to have affected his play in a negative way. I was, however, taken by this question and answer in the interview, and wonder if he never consulted with Drs. F, C, or T. 😉
SPIEGEL: What did the doctor recommend?
Howard: He wanted to prescribe me a drug. But drugs were out of the question for us because there was a danger that they would dull my mind.
Faustus, Thanks for the link. My reference is to the other Dr. F., who seems to be mostly on summer hiatus.
SAG, I’d be happy with a choice of Giroud, Campbell and Sanogo to fill the front striker’s role next season, provided we’ve added a pacey, wide, preferably left-sided attacker in the Sanchez, Di Maria, Greizmann mould.
Speaking of Eisfeld, we saw much more of him two seasons ago than last season, but that fleeting glimpse revealed great potential, much on the Gnabry scale. Was AW keeping him under wraps last season for a particular purpose? It would be great to see a lot more of both of them this season.
Most interesting, and inexplicable, point to my mind in the Howard Q&A, bt8b, is that he said the symptoms don’t appear when he is closely involved in the play.
GT. I would not bid for Higuain now, preferring a Sanchez type (or even Jackson Martinez) but don’t know about Higuain a year ago, not having watched enough Spanish (or Argentine national team) football.
We saw virtually the same amount of Eisfeld in both of the two most recent seasons. One League Cup appearance and a second League Cup game as an unused sub in 2012-13 (plus 19 games for the U-21s); one League Cup appearance plus one FA Cup game as an unused sub (and 18 games for the U-21s) in 2013-14.
8Ball and Doc’ Faus’.
There’s only one Dr F.
I know, because he told me.
France 1 Germany 1 (Germany win on penalties)
Brazil 1 Colombia 2
Argentina 1 Belgium 1 (Belgium win on penalties)
Netherlands 1 Costa Rica 0
I’ll be backing Colombia to be a first time World Cup winner. They have a talented and exciting young team and it would be great for them to be known for something other than drug cartels, not to slight Colombian coffee. I’ll be backing Costa Rica too but realistically think they’ve gone about as far as they can.
Hedging my bets @445. Before the round of 16 I predicted Brazil to defeat Argentina in the final. Last round of predictions for me. 🙂
I am truly stunned by these quotes coming out of Spain from the Madrid press. They are really forcing ADM out. Can’t believe it really… Competition will be fierce, but BIG Ivan can do this. I know he can.
Wow. Exciting times.
8 Ball @ 445
Precisely my thinking too. I fancied the Argies form the start but having seen them now, I’m convinced they’ll fall short unless they begin to find some form. Belgium and Colombia are the most balanced of the teams left.
Joe @448. Great minds. Can’t remember the rest. 😉
El puno@436, that was a great piece. I really hope you are right. I guess we will see, just saying from past experiences, and how someone find it hard to close a deal.
Meant to say how we sometimes
Barcelona and Liverpool are close to reaching an agreement for Suarez. “Money only” deal !!!!! No other players involved.
Don’t want to jinx it, wont even say his name, but it looks like it is getting closer.
450 – My nerves ar wrecked already and we aren’t even really started the window, at least BIG Ivan hasn’t yet. We have everything you figure you’d need right there, just a matter of showing some balls now. BIG Ivan got coconuts for conkers I reckon.
UTA
Breaking News !
First signing of this window has apparently been completed, but is not to be announced just yet. I presume from his name – Weller – that he’s American as I don’t recognise him as English.
However, this was heard in an interview with Arsene Wenger –
Journo: “Arsene, have you signed anyone and can they be announced yet ?”
Arsene: “Well, err, ….. not yet, no”.
Just waiting on Alistair Hurrah now then.
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