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[macbk]

Late to the thread but Pirlo in New York is surreal . Need to get to a game and watch him play.

 

[rook]

his shorts are 26?

Somebody said 26 isn't the number he'll wear during the season. It's normal for Man Utd players to train with numbers they will eventually not wear.

"United players did not used to wear their squad numbers in training. Juan Sebastian Veron's first session featured the No.7, which inevitably led to rumours he was replacing David Beckham."

 

[jape]

It is weird but he'll be a good fit for what Enrique wants to do. He wants an attacking on the ball midfield. Busquets, Rakitic, & Turan with the front3 Barca has? You then rotate Iniesta & Rafi in there too.

This poly means Sergi Roberto is out...

I just don't like the signing from an age stand point for the money the club paid.

It will be interesting to see who Atleti buys now.

but what i like the most is turan's defensive capabilities.  

he works hard and isn't afraid to get dirty. no disrespect to iniesta but he is a non factor on defense. 

and if barca is solid defensively then they have the best chance at winning any matchup because you know that front 3 is going to score. 

and pirlo just looks like he fits in NY.   his whole demeanor 

i really hope he enjoys his stay. 

 

[dragicon]

http://www.nbcdeportes.com/copa-mun...deo/gol-de-lloyd-usa-estados-unidos-4-0-japon

 

[rck3sactown]

Chivas is in town for a friendly vs Leon


chiva1908 come up for the match bro

 

[chiva1908]

Chivas is in town for a friendly vs Leon


chiva1908 come up for the match bro

*Hits google*

 

[chiva1908]

ah, I see it's tomorrow. I have to work...

 

[Kimchi Papi]

jape , I'm conflicted with the signing because I think the club paid way too much money for Turan especially at his age. Don't get me wrong, I think he will do well at Camp Nou but realistically, Turan is at the back end of his peak.

Cruyff can be a loud mouth at times (a lot really) but I agree with his recent statement. The club has lost it's values with the recent transfer business whether it be the Neymar controversy/saga or the Galatico type signings that have been occurring (even during the transfer ban).

The club has let La Masia fall by the way side & constantly spending all the cash in transfer market stunts the growth of Barca's academy players.

Sergi Roberto, Rafinha, Denis Suarez (not La Masia I know), & Marc Bartra. I was really hoping to see Sergi Samper make it too...

 

[jape]

yeah i agree with you. 

i still have hope for sergi samper and the core of the team is still la masia but yeah i understand what you are saying.

i think the trophyless season in 13-14 has scared our president but our rival has a lot to do with it too...we have to keep up with the giants of the football world and real madrid has put a lot of pressure on barca. 

rafinha is progressing well imo. 

and im never giving up on samper and i still want sergi roberto on our squad but that isn't looking likely.

what do you think barca ought to do?  

loan the young players out? they seem like they will sit on other teams benches too...like the rumors of munir going to arsenal

and do you think montoya will thrive and come back stronger from inter?

 

[flyeed]

I think it has more to do with these kids just not having elite potential to begin with. Being good isn't enough for the Barca/Real type standards, you have to be elite. I mean, Bojan was a prodigy at La Masia and was given a crazy amount of opportunities and clearly just wasn't cut to be able to make a senior career at Barca. These other dudes coming up don't have half the buzz. And it's not like Barca is letting these kids go and watching them develop elsewhere into phenomenal talents.

Also, it's difficult to give these kids chances for obvious reasons I'm not going to get into.

The only player it seems like they screwed up with was Thiago, but that had more to do with Pep.

It's a dream to be able to farm elite talent with youth academies into the first team for top clubs, but realistically there's always going to be less players reaching that level and more players being transferred and using the academies as a resource of making money and nowadays a makeweight for FFP.

 

[flyeed]

I don't think any of those prospects are getting their growth stunted by Neymar and Luis Suarez coming in, they just aren't as good as they are and never could have been anyways. And that's the standard Barca wants to have.

 

[slamcity]

My thoughts as well. I think youth academies in football have similar worlds to Oak Hill Academy in HS basketball (melo, Rondo, Josh Smith, etc.) Going to these prestigious academies means more eyes on you at a younger age, people see your skills and want to make the leaping assumption that your talents will continue to grow unobstructed. To criticize international transfers for stunting the development of local academy players gives these academies too much credit. It truly is mind blowing what crop of talent came of La Masia now on the Barca first team, but you'd be hard pressed to convince me that was less alignment of the stars and more curriculum. That bunch was one of a kind.

For every Sergi Roberto, there are 8 Gerard Deulofeu's.

 

[eiddyfouw]

Milenko Acimovic, Kazuyuki Toda, Jonathan Blondel, Mbulelo Mabizela, Bobby Zamora, Stephane Dalmat, Andy Reid, keeper Stipe Pletikosa, Roberto Soldado, Paulinho, Lamela, etc, etc...

There's a very loooooooooong list of Levy purchases since he's been there since what 00 or 01 that were touted to some degree or another that never panned out... He's been the downfall of the Spurs since he's gotten there...

Damn when you list it out like that, smh it really isn't a good look at all for Levy...

Interesting cause he's often hailed as a such a great chairman off the back of ensuring he gets the maximum out of players like Bale and Modric's moves.

 

[rck3sactown]

Interesting cause he's often hailed as a such a great chairman off the back of ensuring he gets the maximum out of players like Bale and Modric's moves.

Maaaaaan, I still remember when I took my tour at WHL during that tumultuous period of whether Bale was staying or not, and I surveyed 2 tour guides, 2 people in the lobby, and the god damn shirt maker (I had to get a Dempsey jersey customized) if they thought Bale, and to a lesser extent, Deuce would be around for the upcoming season.

All 5 so confidently replied, yes.

Gives me a good laugh when I reminisce about that.

 

[User 37837]

Darmian to United is agreed upon for 18million and 2 mil bonuses

http://www1.skysports.com/football/...e-agreed-a-fee-with-torino-for-matteo-darmian

 

[eiddyfouw]

NEWS: MARIO BALOTELLI has been given compassionate leave from pre-season training at Liverpool after the death of his adopted father.

View media item 1617097


Gotta be a tough time for the guy.

 

[Kimchi Papi]

Yeah eiddyfouw , there are like 15-20 more signings I could name that Levy has made since he's been at Tottenham. It's absurd.

flyeed , slamcity , Not every player is going to be elite. Some are resigned to being role players. Up until recently, La Masia has turned out a crap ton of talented footballers that have contributed well for either Barca or other teams they moved on to.

Here's a few to name; Messi, Iniesta, Pedro, Cesc, Xavi, Pique, Victor Valdes, Sergio Busquets, Puyol, Pep & to a certain extent Fernando Navarro, Guillermo Amor (Cruyff/Pep era), Albert Ferrer, (Cruyff/Pep era), Luis Milla, Thiago Motta, Nayim, & Mikel Arteta... If you're familiar with those other names, you'll understand they're good footballers.

I don't think Sergi Roberto will be any better than he is already but Suarez has been an integral part of Sevilla repeating as EL champs. Bartra can be a solid CB but he hasn't been given a chance to play regularly. World Class, maybe not but solid player & someone that can play for the national team, yes.

Sergi Samper is one that will shine at some point. I think his ceiling will be even higher than Busquets, in fact I think he could be another Pep.

Edit - I forgot to mention Rafinha who has played very well despite Enrique asking him to play several different positions. I think he could be solid role player too.

To me the drop off & lack of attention to growing La Masia occurred once Pep left & Cules are seeing the price being paid now. There has been a distinct lack of attention paid hence numerous leadership changes with La Masia & manager changes/firings with Barca B over the years.

It makes me a bit nervous because there is a some really talented young players in the youth ranks, specifically the 98ers like Lee Seung Woo, Ayoub Abou, & Carles Alena. There needs to be direction to help guide these kids to give them a shot to get to the first team.

Woo in particular. He looked absolutely amazing playing for South Korea in last year's Asia Games.

If you have talent & train hard, the only way you're going to get better is if you play against great competition.

Edit pt. II - If you wanna say Messi, Pep, PuyuIniesta, Xavi, & the like are an exception to the rule, then I can agree with that. If you wanna say the days of La Masia churning out talented footballers are over, I'm not ready to say that.

 

[Kimchi Papi]

I hope Pirlo does well. Villa, fat frank, Pirlo, it's like that Clint Eastwood movie with all the astronaut old timers getting together for 1 last mission.

 

[d3si]

Jose Mourinho shows class.

I am certain fans have no problem if he accepted the pay rise.

Chelsea offer £11m a year to use Wembley for three years while Stamford Bridge is rebuilt from 2017... and that's £3m more than Tottenham's bid to use stadium

Atletico Madrid's Toby Alderweireld has Tottenham medical - sources

Paul Pogba will not join Barcelona this year - Josep Maria Bartomeu

Manchester United want Torino's Matteo Darmian - sources

Spoiler: Benteke wants out

Benteke wants out

Liverpool's summer recruitment drive has been impressive -- the club have made six senior signings so far, including Roberto Firmino from Hoffenheim for £29 million -- and the Guardian says that the Reds could be on the verge of landing their biggest fish yet.

Brendan Rodgers' longtime target Christian Benteke has reportedly had enough of Aston Villa's annual relegation scrap and is ready to have a chat with Villans boss Tim Sherwood in an attempt to force through a move to Anfield.

The sticking point seems to be around Villa's valuation of the striker who joined from Belgian side Genk for £7 million in 2012. Liverpool think that a figure somewhere in the region of £20 to 25 million is reasonable, whereas Sherwood refuses to entertain any bids that fall below Benteke's £32.5 million exit clause -- a price that Aston Villa are legally obliged to accept.

Sherwood and his squad are due to jet off to Portugal on Thursday for a preseason tour, meaning that any showdown talks that Benteke is planning will need to take place in the next 48 hours. Watch this space!

Spoiler: Boateng is unlikely to join Galatasaray or AC Milan

Kevin-Prince Boateng unlikely to join Galatasaray or AC Milan - agent

chalke midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng is unlikely to join Galatasaray or AC Milan, his agent has told Bild.

Boateng is searching for a new club after having been indefinitely suspended by Schalke, and agent Edoardo Crnjar said in May that Galatasaray were interested, while the player himself had suggested he was open to a return to Milan.

However, Crnjar has now said: "I don't think he will play at Galatasaray Istanbul or AC Milan. I don't know what will happen."

There had also been speculation about a potential move to Fenerbahce after Crnjar was pictured at the club's premises, but the agent said: "We met because our player Nani was joining Fenerbahce."

Boateng has also been linked with a move to Major League Soccer.

German sport website Spox reports that Boateng's former Milan teammate Kaka, who now plays for Orlando City, contacted the 28-year-old to convince him to move to the United States.

Boateng was suspended along with Schalke teammate Sidney Sam in May after a dismal run of form under boss Roberto Di Matteo, with sporting director Horst Heldt saying "the level of trust is no longer there."

Heldt stressed last month that there was no way back for the pair despite Andre Breitenreiter replacing Di Matteo as coach.

Bild reported on Friday that Sam was on the verge of joining Eintracht Frankfurt on loan, although later on Tuesday kicker claimed the move fell through after the forward failed his medical.

Southampton FC ‏@SouthamptonFC · 4h4 hours ago
CONFIRMED: #SaintsFC have completed the signing of defender @CucoMartina on a two-year deal from @FCTwente.

 

[Kimchi Papi]

Ronnie found a mobile phone while vacationing in Las Vegas. He called the girl to say he found her phone & ended up taking her out to dinner. She posted some pics on IG, her name is Austin Milan.

View media item 1617219View media item 1617220

 

[8pm at msg]

That's a good two for one special

 

[heggsy]

Ronnie had the yambs.

Can somebody close the Internet please, some of our fans genuinely believe we can get Klopp.

 

[mr marcus]

Ronnie

 

[atransta]

My dude CR7 stays winning

 

[rolaholic]

Ronnie