₦airaland Forum

Debo
So you sef see Eboue yesterday? Given your theory about Litte Nicky and Berbatov, Tevez and Owen scored the same amount of goals last season (i stand to be corrected) We didn't pay Tevez £25M and instead got Owen for free. That makes Fergie a genius

Eastbay:
because Berba and gay icon were tied in terms of goal ratio doesn't equate the in ability.
Bendtner was a waste.Even your own fans were booing him.
It turns out the Makossa crew (including Ebuoe-why is he still in Arsenal?) are quite vital in Arsenal's scheme of things.

Eboue is going to be shipped to Fiorentina, don't worry. He threw his shirt to the crowd and was kinda waving good bye. Well, that's the way press sees it but then, what does the crazy english press ever not misinterprete?

Emperoh:
Hmm!! Valencia on his debut scores. . . . Ando also scores his first goal for Man U in open play?
If am correct, Valencia contacted the South American Baba Ijebu to free Ando
All good for man U!!!

Pls when is Man U plying Bayern? We need to shut some people up for good!!!

Nah God do am o. That does not mean he'll be ttrying his lucky with all our FKs now sha. I still don't know who is capable definitely not Nanny. Valencia had a good game, no effizy, just plain hardworking homeboy and that should do just fine for now. That Bayern match is tomorrow night I think, DK has been spewing gastric juice since yesterday, he need Man Utd laxative seriously.

MrCrackles:

[font=Lucida Sans Unicode]This is for ya'all scummies thinking Berbatov was quality last year. . .
I dont think SAF should solely take the blame, Molotov just didnt work hard enough and didnt justify the huge price paid for him!
On SAF's more to come, fingers crossed. . . Maybe the hair pomade loving fella can pull it off this season!
What a chunk of bulgarian meat!

You sef morsel of molete peppered pomno . Berbatov had a good season but well below everyone's expectation. The manager takes the blame because he's the captain of our war vessel. Maybe he can pull it off this season, we all know he has the potential. Fingers crossed, hair gelled.

Dk
Gerrout jor ! Una beat Class of '60. Any decent team will brutalize that band of quintugenerians. How I wish it was round-robin so we could take our turn at disrespecting elderly ones. Nah me and you for the Audi cup final, you will see what we will do to you. Europe should be afraid, are you people planning WW3? It's ku ku not beyond your ability.

Everyone except La Galaxy,that is. That's one hell of a geriatric team. They might end up fighting for a CL place with the likes of Napoli and Fiorentina. I can't imagine Inter winning a 4th league title in a row but there's pretty much less to expect except maybe Juventus can successfully keep up.

Schumacher returning to F1

Seven times Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher will replace injured driver Felipe Massa at Ferrari if he passes a fitness test, the team have said. The German, now 40 years old, retired from Formula One at the end of 2006 but all being well will make his comeback in Valencia next month.

"Ferrari intends to entrust Michael Schumacher with Felipe Massa's car for as long as the Brazilian driver is not able to race," the Italian team said in a statement.

"Michael Schumacher has shown his willingness and in the next few days he will undergo a specific programme of preparation at the end of which it will be possible to confirm his participation in the championship starting with the European Grand Prix on August 23."

That race is one of the few Schumacher is unfamiliar with since the Spanish street circuit was added to the calendar only last season.

Schumacher's comeback for the reigning champions will be a huge boost for Formula One organisers as well as local fans, who could be without home hero Fernando Alonso after his Renault team were suspended for one race.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/29072009/58/schumacher-returning-f1.html

FBS:
Bayern M 1 - 0 AC Milan

Match in progress.

Where's DK now? So he can come and gloat.

MrCrackles:
Starting to show some class?
After how many years?

Better late than never jo.

Very solid performance by a seemingly weak side. Things are looking up. Kiko is getting valuable match practice and he'll be better off for it. Bring on Bayern ke? Let them beat Milan first. Cathcart is one for the future in the build of J. Evans. He captained our U19 for a couple years before spending last season at Royal Antwerp. He'll only get better. Another encouragement was Valencia. Gel-loving my left nut, he's no Ronaldo but he'll do just fine.

I tire for the boy but it's been a solid performance so far. Even Park and Fabio put on a good show today. If Boca scores, it goes straight to penalties.

The match is being taken seriously and only three subs are allowed. No changes for now though. Meanwhile, Arsenal has been confirmed as Man City's feeder team and have given them Kolo Toure for £16M. I really hope Wenger knows what he's doing.

Good performance by both debutants today and a great goall by Valencia, the keeper's gaffe does not take anything away from the approach. I really do hope Brown is well sha, ANother injury now is more than we can take o.

It's not going to be easy at all. This is a very strong Boca side. I'd wait till halftime before I comment on Valencia. Good stuff so far but we're so under pressure now.
Goal! It's all over for the scoreless one. Praise the Lord!

It's essentially what our second side may look like next season. I like the Rooney/Kiko raising. My eye is more on the midfield now. I'd like to see how they cope with Riquelme.

Una no get work. Gel-loving slowpoke? You should be given a degree in Nomenclature.

tkb417:
u dey crase

Not soo surprised, Like gunner, Like coach. Speaking of which, I hear Eboue is heading off to Fiorentina. What's with the deportation form Ashburton grove?

Madrid has a thread on NL, transfers have a thread too, why not make use of one of them for Madrid related news stories? Just my 2cents.

How won't he be happy? Dude has never had this kind of company before. Imagine the kind of service and support he's gonna be getting. How won't he smile die? Besides, he really has the chance to get over that injury tag now.

I don't understand why Arsenal is contributing so much to the Man city cause. Kolo Toure again?

Nah. Not exactly heartbreaking. We all knew it would be nearly that time give or take a couple months before he would have been fit again. As far as I'm concerned, he's our January signing. About the quiz, I'm sure you know the answer, well, sick is in his name

Pop quiz: Name a player so sickly he has "sick" on his birth certificate?

I hate to be a harbinger of this sort of bad news but its not all that bad though

Bros, nah one day injury dey heal so there's hope no matter what the doctors say. Ole20 spent nearly 2 years on the treatment table and still came back to finish his career on a high. Hargo will be no different.

Eastbay
I've seen Tosic play, honestly I don't think he's worth the amount we paid for him, his physique leaves much to be desired but he makes up for it with a precocious footballing brain. I believe playing time will show us exactly what he can do. Rooney is definitely going to play down the middle, he deserves it more than anyone else, he works hard, gives selflessly for the team also. Capello knows where to use him and Heskey and anyone else shines, Kiko, Owen or Berba who pairs him. I daresay he'll make even O'shea look like a good striker. I really need to confirm those squad numbers for this season, there's still a couple of players that I want to see in there. They may not all play o but one day one day, holy spirit will expose their talents like the way He moved against Macheda last season .

It's 6:30pm Bst. Supersports should show it, Peace cup, The whole asia tour and most of the pre-season matches have been shown. I even watched sunderland-atletico over the wknd.
Eastbay
you're welcome. Giggs is not a bad choice either. They should sha let Ando score one soon or it might start to get to him somehow. We hardly splash cash when the world thinks we will and go for subtle changes when everyone expects overhauling. Fergie has the grace of this season to do any kind of tweaking he wants to but I know and am supremely confident it won't take to long for him to find our best shape and team for this season and even more importantly, squad rotation tactics and order. Craig Cathcart is going to join the main team from the reserves as well as Fabio da Silva. I'm going to find out who else is likely to be given a squad number for this season. I suspect we'll see a lot of new faces and experiments before we get things right. And when we do, all hell is gonna break loose again.

Eastbay
If there's one thing I know, name calling only breeds more name calling. Anonymity is a very good excuse to reclaim lost youthful exuberance, it's human nature. Ronaldo scored his first goal from the spot yesterday which brings me to a certain worry. Who's gonna be taking spot kicks for us next season? I'd vote Anderson o, he's yet to miss one so far.
Dk
Actually today, we're playing Boca juniors today, please check a couple pages back. I posted all pre-season fixtures. We're also waiting for the Winner btw Milan and your beloved team to know who we use as punching bag. Or have they decided already?

It's funny but Anderson has not a single goal in his Man utd career but still has more trophies and medals and major final appearances than the whole Arsenal team put together. Even if Obertan does not play a single match next season, I'm positive he'll still turn out a better player then he came to us. I remember the jibes when we signed "non-tested" tokunbo Vidic upper January. I don't need to remind you of his howler of a debut either. Fast forward two seasons and there's no better defensive enforcer anywhere. Obertan is a dumb player, not worth the free kits he'll be getting at OT. Those who named him MVP at the Toulon tournament had a bias for french players. He's injured and will be of no use until we dash him to Derby County. We hear you. Given these conditions, anything we get from him is a bonus and we'll take it like that. Verminlien will be Kolo Toure's successor and the gaynner world will be a happy place once again.

Biina,
that's so suprising. 42pts? 2 questions; Is that for the team bottom of the league and how does that statistic compare over the last 5 seasons?

Eastbay
Anything anyone says or doesn't say in a newspaper article can be supported and refuted by a reader according to his point of view. Yours and debosky's views can never be reconciled, quit giving it a try. No matter what we do or say, we'll still get ribbed so it might be better to ignore the long arduous mudslinging and name-calling. It's pretty boring and exhausting in the long run.
Tk, Emperoh
i dey, bros. Long weekend but we thank God About the article I posted, the authors of the column always say serious things which are nestled in huge tubs of BS. The point of the contradiction is still that, no matter what history or prejudice may want us to believe about the deal, their future performances will justify the nous behind the transfer and who gets the better deal long term.

Barcelona still have a better team while Madrid just have now presently have a marginally better group of individual players much more expensively assembled and paid. With time, madrid has the potential to become a better team than Barca has right now. The addition of Ibra to me has weakenen Barcelona because I don't think Ibra would have been as effective as Etoo is the UCL Finals was replayed.

Everyone still thinks Baarca got scammed. Ibra is nothing more than a glorified Berbatov, I'll say.

TK, Sorry about your loss. Don't mind Dayo, he is secretly hurting for you but pride will not allow him show it.

Here's the story.

Why Ibrahimovic is ace

Tue Jul 28 08:55AM

It is the transfer coup of the century. In flogging Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Barcelona, Internazionale have managed to offload a problem player, and have received one of the greatest strikers in the world, Samuel Eto'o, plus a massive suitcase full of cash and the use of Alex Hleb for a season.

Barcelona have taken leave of their senses and will now combust faster than a firework at a petrol station.

It is a popular view. Even the Observer's normally excellent Paul Hayward has dismissed Ibrahimovic as: "A Serie A myth who should not be allowed anywhere near the new European champions."

Eto'o is the ruthless assassin who snuffed out Manchester United's Champions League challenge, and formed the focal point of the world's most devastating attack.

Ibrahimovic is the temperamental, inconsistent enigma who has filled his boots in an inferior and discredited league, but struggled to perform on the big stage.

That is the theory. And it is absolute rubbish.

Early Doors doesn't know whether Ibrahimovic is worth £40 million plus Eto'o and a bit of Hleb, but he is undoubtedly one of the world's best players, and anyone who believes otherwise simply isn't looking hard enough.

So, let's explode some myths.

1 - La Liga is a huge step up from Serie A

Barcelona are better than Internazionale, no doubt. But are they playing in a superior league? Absolutely not.

Serie A's finest teams might not be as good as they were, but the general standard is just as good as in Spain, where the quality fades horribly in the lower reaches.

The fact that Barcelona scored 105 goals in 38 Liga games says as much about the defending of most Spanish sides as it does about the Catalans' attacking firepower.

Barca scored only three more league points than Inter last season yet scored very nearly a goal a game more.

That suggests there is more than a little cannon fodder in the lower reaches of the Liga table - cannon fodder like Sporting Gijon, who shipped a massive 79 goals and were not even relegated.

For pity's sake, the minute Diego Forlan and Fredi Kanoute touched down on Spanish soil, they transformed into the second comings of Ferenc Puskas and Eusebio.

2 - Ibrahimovic is too temperamental to be any good

Ibrahimovic might be outspoken but he is not noted for clashing with his team-mates or managers. Well, not since he and Mido fought each other with scissors at Ajax, anyway.

He was open about wanting to leave Inter for pastures new, but in a measured, reasonable way. Compare Zlatan's approach with the histrionics of Carlos Tevez, and make your own conclusions over who is the volatile one.

Eto'o is no saint either. He had a training-ground bust-up with coach Pep Guardiola in January and is prone to the odd barbed quote.

Simply put, Ibrahimovic is the kind of player Brits hate. Just because he looks languid, he is pigeon-holed as an inconsistent underachiever. Never mind the fact that he plays like a more skilful Didier Drogba.

3 - He has never performed on the big stage

This one is hard to refute, but only if you replace 'big stage' with 'when English people are watching'.

True, Ibrahimovic hardly covered himself in glory against Manchester United in last season's Champions League, and his overall record in Europe (18 goals in 66 games) is not great.

It is also the case that he performed poorly at Euro 2008, although he was carrying an injury and at least managed to get there, which is more than can be said for Wayne Rooney.

The problem is that few Brits watched him score twice on the final day of the 2007/08 season to win the Scudetto for Inter; significant big-match heroics.

And just because nobody saw the moments of magic that won him Serie A's 2008 Player of the Year award, plus the 2008/09 goal of the season and Capocannoniere titles, that doesn't make them any less valid.

The bottom line is that Ibrahimovic is a more complete player than Eto'o, he won't spend a month of this season at the African Cup of Nations and, most crucially, he wants to be at Barcelona.

Like Francesco Totti, he is the kind of player that just happens to rub British fans up the wrong way, but few can truly doubt he is a special talent.

While the Catalans might not have got themselves a bargain, Ibrahimovic has all the credentials to be a huge success at the Camp Nou, and stick it to his critics.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/early-doors/article/186277/

Emperoh:
I just saw a clip of his miss on MUFC website. . . .maybe we need to consult the [b]Brazilian Baba Ijebu to know whats with this guy!!

I just want us to meet Bayern. . .these pre-season's are quite tough ones and i guess thats what we need to gel this team.
I still can't factor in what our first team will look like! It doesn't look like but did Valencia travel for the pre-season?[/b]

LOL, I tire for the boy o. Methinks he should be allowed to take the next penalty in open play so that at least he go get one start with. I don't see much truth or substance in the David Silva rumour. We're very unlikely to sign anyone else. Me sef wonder how we stacked up these kind of matches but it's for the best. No point playing Exeter City or Nasarrawa Utd whose players would spend the whole match dreaming about exchanging jerseys. These will be tests that will bring the sharpness out of our boys early enough so that we get rid of our recent slow starts to seasons. Starting with a good winning streak is not a bad idea o.

Valencia, Vidic and Craig Cathcart are joining up the squad for the next match. They all need that preparation, especially Valencia so that he doesn't spend the whole season crossing to throw-in , he needs to learn the United way and fast.

As for our first team, NO IDEA!! I'm just sure of the defence and attack. Berbatov, Rooney look the first choice pair, Owen, Macheda as third and fourth choice strikers.

There you go! CR9 just dey play anyhow yesterday. The madrid team still has a long way to go. We might not meet bayern but I hope we do for a certain anglophobe person's sake . Bragging rights on Milan (who got whipped by Inter - Ibra last night) or bayern will be just the thing heading into the season.

biina:
The game was alright with the team showing better cohesion than against shamrock but still lacking the fitness to maintain constant pressure.
Surprisingly, I was a bit disappointed in Lass Diarra, as I felt he kept going upfront and got caught out of position too often. We really need a DM that would stay at home and not one that feels he is a CM.
Everybody seems interested in the CM spot and it hampered the flow of the game.
If those Saudi boyz just had a decent finisher, they would have won the game.
Anyways will see what MP has for us on Tuesday. Still have a month to get things right, with Kaka Casillas, Ranos and Albiol getting in today.

Lass didn't have a really good game but Granero was impressing, as was Miguel Torres. Everyone else still lacking good coomunication and fitness. Don't fret, that's what pre-season is for. But y'all should have lost that game.

Today's scores