I think he's much better than Robinho was at this age but Neymar will be hardpressed to live up to the hype. Neymar has extraordinary talent, excellent pace and has alot of flash but at the same time I have seen put in some awful efforts. Neymar will have to buy into the "team" philosophy at Barca, if he does, Barca has another phenomenal talent on their hands. If he doesn't, he'll occupy a spot on the bench for most of the time.
If I were Varca or Madrid I'd invest my money on Lucas instead of Neymar.
If I were Varca or Madrid I'd invest my money on Lucas instead of Neymar.
Or Ganso. I like Lucas and Ganso both in the playmaking midfield role ... don't know how much depth Barca need there (Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas, Thiago, dos Santos) but if they ever wanted to just pass the ball around aimlessly and maintain possession for all 45 minutes, they're not that far off ...
Blanc has turned down an offer from Inter Milan and has received an offer from Chelsea : 1m€/month (source : Le Parisien).
As a reminder, the french federation has told Blanc they will wait until they see how the team does before handing him a new contract proposal.
Blanc has turned down an offer from Inter Milan and has received an offer from Chelsea : 1m€/month (source : Le Parisien).
As a reminder, the french federation has told Blanc they will wait until they see how the team does before handing him a new contract proposal.
What a strange way to run a national team. Surely the FFF should have descended into blind panic and thrust a ten-year, 150 million euro contract under Blanc's nose...
I don't follow Serie A closely so somebody help me ... what is wrong with Inter? How have they fallen from European champions to disaster so quickly? Five managers is less than 3 seasons? Is club management being too impatient with the managers or is it an old group of players who need to be overhauled?
As it's going, I think anyone with a good reputation and a good current job would be a fool to take the Chelsea, Inter or England jobs. Zero security, zero control, zero patience ... what a set of complete disasters.
I don't follow Serie A closely so somebody help me ... what is wrong with Inter? How have they fallen from European champions to disaster so quickly? Five managers is less than 3 seasons? Is club management being too impatient with the managers or is it an old group of players who need to be overhauled?
As it's going, I think anyone with a good reputation and a good current job would be a fool to take the Chelsea, Inter or England jobs. Zero security, zero control, zero patience ... what a set of complete disasters.
Everything you mentioned is a factor. The resurgence of Milan is another. For years after the match-fixing scandal, Inter scarcely had to do more than turn up in order to win Serie A; as such there was less scope for Massimo Moratti to get the jitters. Now that Inter face tougher competition, Moratti has returned to his former, harebrained ways.
With regards to England, the good news is that fools are not lacking. Step forward Glenn "I never said them things" Hoddle...
Everything you mentioned is a factor. The resurgence of Milan is another. For years after the match-fixing scandal, Inter scarcely had to do more than turn up in order to win Serie A; as such there was less scope for Massimo Moratti to get the jitters. Now that Inter face tougher competition, Moratti has returned to his former, harebrained ways.
With regards to England, the good news is that fools are not lacking. Step forward Glenn "I never said them things" Hoddle...
Ommm Mane Padme Hodddddd
...that would be absolutely perfect! Must be a part for Brian Rix in that.
Götze seems like a loyal guy to me, although this extension screams cash-grab... it's probably to make sure that Dortmund get enough money when they sell him in 2-3 years.
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That said, I don't think he's gonna join Bayern.
Dortmund are capable of becoming a serious long term challenger to Bayern, if Dortmund can do well over the next couple of years I could see Götze staying for a while. Bundesliga is better off for it as well.
And no, Götze wouldn't ever move to Bayern IMO, schalkenullvier might know more, but I swear an article last year said if he were to ever leave Dortmund he wouldn't move to another Bundesliga club out of respect to Dortmund or along those lines.
I don't follow Serie A closely so somebody help me ... what is wrong with Inter? How have they fallen from European champions to disaster so quickly? Five managers is less than 3 seasons? Is club management being too impatient with the managers or is it an old group of players who need to be overhauled?
As it's going, I think anyone with a good reputation and a good current job would be a fool to take the Chelsea, Inter or England jobs. Zero security, zero control, zero patience ... what a set of complete disasters.
Their starting XI just isn't good enough to be a consistent winner. Seems like they aren't willing to put money down to land a guy who's in his prime and has a chance to grow. They've taken flyers on established guys who are almost done.
Dortmund are capable of becoming a serious long term challenger to Bayern, if Dortmund can do well over the next couple of years I could see Götze staying for a while. Bundesliga is better off for it as well.
I agree, Dortmund has some really nice young, talented players to be a solid contender in the years to come. All they need to do is to make an atmosphere so all their young players wouldn't want to move and signing Gotze is a serious plus in that category.
It don't really know the guy, but apparantly Barça are taking a long and hard look at Nicolás Tagliafico. He's a 19-year old Argentinean leftback playing at Banfield and the Argentina U20 team. With Abidal's future in doubt I think they will sign a LB no matter what (Jordi Alba's name has been mentioned a lot) so will be interesting to see which direction they go.
Quote:
Originally Posted by great_one98
Their starting XI just isn't good enough to be a consistent winner.
It should though. If you have Pazzini-Forlan-Milito up front, with Guarin/Poli/Stankovic-Sneijder-Cambiasso behind that trio, you should be a lot better then 9th or wherever they're sitting now. So there's a lot more to it than the quality of their roster.
It don't really know the guy, but apparantly Barça are taking a long and hard look at Nicolás Tagliafico. He's a 19-year old Argentinean leftback playing at Banfield and the Argentina U20 team. With Abidal's future in doubt I think they will sign a LB no matter what (Jordi Alba's name has been mentioned a lot) so will be interesting to see which direction they go.
Saw him at the WC under 20's. First thing I noticed about him was how mature he is. He looks to be like a natural leader. As for his playing ability, he quite good offensively and decent defensively. I would love this buy for Barca. Another U20 Argentinean Barca were linked with last year was Esteban Andrada but it fell through. Not sure if Barca will go after him again but if they sign both these players, I'll be a happy camper.
Tottenham move for Ecuador youth international Cristian Ramirez
The 17-year-old is training with Spurs after arriving from Ecuadorian club Independiente del Valle, who have a co-operation agreement with the London side.
Ramirez broke through to the first team aged just 16 and made his name as an attacking left-back last year in the Under-17 World Cup and the South American Youth Championship, helping Ecuador to the semi-finals in the latter.
The report claims that Tottenham have now agreed to sign the player for £1.5 million in August, when he turns 18 and is able to move to Europe under transfer rules.
"AS" has rumors that Sergio Aguero will come to Madrid in a swap, bringing Higuain + 10mio € to city... major LOL at that almost as good as the Christian Fuchs to Barcelona rumors^^
17-year old Joel Pohjanpalo from HJK (Helsinki) turned down Liverpool's 3 year offer. They wanted him to join them in July when the transfer window opens. He set a goal scoring record in Finnish division 2 (3rd tier) with 33 goals for Klubi 04 (the farm team of HJK) and scored in the league cup final recently where Liverpool's representatives were in attendance. Haven't seen him play but I'm mostly happy he won't turn into another Lauri Dalla Valle.
Blanc is the center of a coach carrousel right now.
If France fares decent in the next Euro, he'll have a good expensive contract offer from the french federation.
But Inter, Sevilla, Valencia among others have made firm offers.
Inter has already approached transfer targets saying their next coach would probably be Blanc.
The french federation OTOH has not approached any other coach.
almost as good as the Christian Fuchs to Barcelona rumors^^
