the 370Z.com OFFICIAL football (soccer) thread

[Jon@AAMComp]

Close call, but the correct decision from the linesman. Pedro went a fraction early. Messi did brilliantly to pull the Madrid defense to him before cutting a perfect through pass to Pedro. He just didn't time his run.

[phelan]

hmm guess i iddn't look close enough at the replays. or maybe i was still furious RvP's winning goal was disallowed...again. but that would've been hard on tottenham who played well.

so jon - torres is a flop (y/n)? the team is a whole different level of scary with drogs out there.

[Jon@AAMComp]

When Drogba is at his best, as it seemed yesterday, I don't think there's a better striker in the Premier league. He was all over the park yesterday. He can play with his back to goal, provide crosses, get physical with defense, hold up play and send powerful shots on target towards the goal. What more do you need out of a centre forward?

I can see why we brought in Torres during a time when Drogba had malaria or whatever, and clearly off his best. Although he hasn't totally impressed, I'm not sure if its fair to call him a flop just yet. He's close, but it wouldn't be fair. He's definitely struggling to find his feet with us though. From watching him, it seems like he's not used to working as hard as our other attacking options to put the ball in the back of the net. During the Birmingham game, you can see Kalou working his socks off, Malouda, full backs playing like wingers, Lampard pressing forward, Drogba, everyone working. Torres comes on and he just doesn't look as lively as the rest of the squad. I don't know if this is a striker who is down on confidence or what, but he needs to work harder. This picture about sums it up:



Drogz is like, 'I've been winning titles since 2004, what have you done for us? I'm taking this kick son.' In all honesty, I think Torres should have taken it; the points were secure, and he needs the tonic of scoring his first goal for the club to wake him up. His ex-Liverpool teammate Benayoun is on the bench too, why not let the two play together for a quarter of the game? Bring them on in the second half of the forthcoming West Ham match or something, and see what happens? I can't see us catching United or falling out of a Champions league spot, so what do we have to lose? Having money to spend on quality players is one thing, but when you spend as much as we did for Torres, and have yet to see the results, is frustrating. Especially when you consider Arsenal paid maybe £14 million for Nasri a few years back, and the signing looks like a bargain given what he's done for the club.

[cow]

Just finished watching the Arsenal match. God dammit.

[phelan]

^ ...yep. and bolton's gonna be PISSED this weekend. going to be tough.

[phelan]

Soccer: David Hirshey presents his EPL All-Disappointing Team - ESPN

is it just me, or is david hirshey, the self proclaimed espn 'gunner', a total bandwagon arsehole fan? throwing fab and szczesny under the bus? demeaning the team every chance he gets?

what a ******* ****.

[cow]

I think he's probably over-compensating.

[cow]

title

[phelan]

miyaichi played decently for feyenoord today, but i think he's already suffering from arsenal-itis. had at least four clear on goal chances, and chose to square the pass instead.

oh sorry, did we play today?

[cow]

I heard a rumor.

[Red370]

Honestly, I think the loss and finishing out of the top two is going to be just the push the Arsenal board needed to start pulling their heads out of their asses and make some changes. Fab is leaving this summer. Period. It'll be a miracle if we can tie Nasri up into another long term. Fab will bring $35-40 mil, and we supposedly have a $40 mil transfer budget, $80 million should be enough to shore up our defensive frailties, add another potent scorer to combine with RvP, and another world class attacking midfielder to cover Fab's loss. Fuck man we need change. BAD. I say we raid the Dutch league. Elia anyone?

[cow]

Elia plays for Hamburg.

[Red370]

Originally Posted by cow

Elia plays for Hamburg.

oh how i'm behind on the times. Still... pretty sure he could be prised on the cheap.

[phelan]

I don't think we'll have a problem with Nasri, especially if Fabregas goes.

At least we don't have to get linked with every goddamned goalkeeper under the sun this summer with Szczesny's meteoric rise in stardom.

I'm not even going to speculate anymore this summer. I don't think mass exodus and buying will solve problems. We do need some experience though. To me, personally, all we really need is Chamakh to get his head out of his arse, and for a Song-esque DM cover. LB if we can find a good one.

Maybe we can sell the best striker that ever lived Danish superstar living legend Nicklas Bendtner to Barca for Messi

The one thing I DO think will happen though - the failure to do ANYTHING right in the last few games will push Arsene's hand to pay Bolton too much for Gary Cahill. Or maybe Everton for someone like Phil Jagielka (did anybody see that masterclass he put in against Manchester United? Dude was EVERYWHERE.)

[Jon@AAMComp]

Originally Posted by phelan

LB if we can find a good one.

I have heard of this Portuguese guy who plays for Benfica who is pretty good.




Huge collective sigh of relief from the Bridge this weekend. Torres finally on the score sheet, and doing so quite emphatically if I may. There are now talks of a United collapse, and suggesting we might pick United's pocket and win the title again, but I'm a realist, and I really don't see that happening. I'm content to finish second if we can, retaining our Champions league spot and come back stronger next year to try to reclaim the title.

Not sure if anyone has seen it yet, but the new Bayern kit has been released this past weekend: