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An Ode To Rafa And Loads More Mails...
We have one Chelsea fan who recognises the job done by Rafa Benitez while there's maths from Liverpool, Newcastle and Manchester. And Shawcross to Arsenal? Nah...
Mails: Jol Out And Other Demands...
You might notice that we haven't included a single mail about teams in pubs, because most of them were terrible. Instead we have a disgruntled Fulham fan and Scouse maths...
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Funny
Exactly how annoying must Joey Barton be that, after having him in their country for six months, the whole of France emigrates to Newcastle?
Velamuri, India
Why Arsenal Won't Sign Anyone
It's not that there isn't anyone out there, it's not that the money isn't there...it's more that they haven't got a specific weakness. Hang on before you lynch me, hear me out. The trouble with Arsenal is that it is just generally across the board that they are...well just a little bit mehhh. They are ok but like 20% or 25% short of what you want. I'ts not like you can say 'Arsenal are great if only they had a new keeper they would win the league'. Basically other than maybe Jack Wilshire you could name three or four players that are better in almost every position.
So, firstly, that means the replacements are bloody expensive and secondly that also means then that it is a very difficult team to turn around, you almost need to swap out most of the team to make a real impact. One player not even Messi or Ronaldo would really make the difference (Okay they would make a bit of a difference but not enough!).
So, sorry Arsenal fans, it's probably another two years before they can win something.
Andy, Toronto
44 Trophies To Ex-Arsenal Players. Anybody Beat That?
*Sigh* Arsenal fans, please stop putting a '$' or a '£' in the name of your outgaining players name. Examples are:
A$hley Cole or Ca$hley
Van Per$ie
Na$ri
Ce$c Fabrega$
Yes blah blah blah they are on more money, but since your last trophy in 2005 a total of 44 trophies have been enjoyed among the outgoing star players at your club. Source here: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4498786/Stars-quit-Arsenal-and-win-44-medals.html
44! To Arsenals 0...in 8 years!!!
I won't go through them all, but you've got the obvious ones like Vieira, Henry, Nasri, Cesc and Cole, but there's even players like Lauren, Seb Larsson, Reyes, Sol Campbell and Lass Diarra. I wonder if any other club can match that kind of difference of 44 trophies to outgoing players since leaving within eight years. Maybe Leeds? I'd be interested to know.
TJ (Wil$here to Man United...eventually)
Good Luck Wilf
Congratulations Wilf. In my opinion United is the best place for him to develop his talent. While it is sad to lose a player with his quality who has come through the academy, it is an inevitability of our current status. The deal our chairmen have got is a good one with money to strengthen now and Wilf staying until the end of the season to help our promotion push. His ambition matches his talent and he fully deserves a move to a massive club like United. Everyone at Palace will wish him well and make the most of him for the rest of this season, it will be a while until we see such a player again.
For the United fans what you have got is an amazing talent, he does everything at such pace and it makes him incredibly difficult to play against. I have seen him do things that are difficult to comprehend just sitting watching so can't imagine what playing against him must feel like. Quite often he has two or three players marking him, which frees up the rest of our team and in particular Bolasie on the other wing, but this is demonstrated in his goal statistics. Some would argue he doesn't score enough but in reality he contributes goals consistently nearly every game, either directly assisting or providing space for others.
He won't have the same attention at United and given the space I think he will really kick on and become a force, United have got a great deal here and I really hope to see Wilf fulfil his potential there. Obviously after helping us get promoted of course.
Ant, CPFC
The Follies Of The PL
In reply to Nathan, the reason why the Spanish and French players have thrived in the EPL is the same reason why the Spain and France national teams have had more success than England over the past 15 years, far more technically gifted players. It doesnt make sense to me why the likes Zaha/Henderson/Wickham/Carroll have gone or are going for huge money when ya can pick up far better players in at least six leagues around the world for half the money. If I was Man City, the first signing I would make would be to get Benfica's and Porto's scouts. The players they pick up for pittance around the world every year and then sell on for huge profit while remaining very competitive themselves is astounding, and is surely the type of financial sustainability what FFP is looking to reward.
MagnumPIG (£10m on Coutinho is a waste however)
French Hits And Flops
In response to Nathan (in Arsene we trust...London), I don't think the French are necessarily the safest bets when it comes to picking foreign players for English clubs. A quick wikipedia search shows that they have been the most numerous imports, but as shown below in my (unofficial and completely biased) list of hits and flops, it's pretty 50-50 when it comes to success (I've only considered the best known players out of that wikipedia list):
French hits:
Cantona, Ginola, Cabaye, Sessegnon, Dugarry, Sagna, Clichy, Nasri, Henry, Vieira, Petit, Desailly, Leboeuf, Makélélé, Anelka, Darcheville, Distin, Gallas, Djorkaeff, Dumas, Givet, Grimandi, Kaboul, Legwinski, Malbranque, N'Zogbia, Pirès, Flamini, Queudrue, Laurent Robert, Saha, Silvestre (hesitate here but I guess he was a success for a while), Evra, Wiltord...
French flops:
Guivarc'h, Laurent Blanc (I'd say he actually flopped for ManU), Obertan, Pogba, Deschamps, Abou, Aliadière, Arphexad, Ba, Barthez, Bellion, Bonalair, Boumsong, Cheyrou, Christanval, Coquelin (so far), Cygan, Dacourt, Alou Diarra, Diomède, Goma, Kapo, Koscielny (so far), Diaby (same), Ferri, Le Tallec, Dalmat, Sinama-Pongolle, Marlet, N'Gog, Piquionne, Prunier (who can forget his appearances for ManU), Schillaci, Vignal...
I would say Spain has a better success rate (very few outright flops). Wonder if the Scandinavian nations have been more successful too (they have a reputation of adapting well to life in the UK)
Mike, Chelsea, based in Auckland
Shouldn't We See Giant-Killing On TV?
So, what a week it's been in the League Cup - and evidence of the excitement, unpredictable nature and drama of the domestic cups.
Ok, so Man U didn't take it seriously, and it was Arsenal's fifth choice 'trophy', but there's no doubt that the big teams didn't go out purposefully to lose (high-scoring drama with Reading v Arsenal and Chelsea v Man Utd remember).
So then we have the FA Cup. The biggest, most important domestic Cup in the UK, famous for giant-killing stories that trump those of Bradford.
We have two prime opportunities for such stories tomorrow - Macclesfield v Wigan, and Norwich v Luton. Both unlikely to see under-dog victories, but we all hope to see one. Neutrals across the country, whilst their teams are having a break from league action, will be following these games with interest. Five matches have been chosen for Live TV coverage, and they feature the teams who almost every weekend, have a live game on TV - Man U, Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool. Would it not have been nice, following such a great Cup week, to have followed this up with lunchtime TV games featuring the two potential giant-slaying games, or are we not bored of seeing the same players on TV every week?
Maybe it's just me..
Adam Shortland (Luton Town...oh, that's why he wrote this)
What About Villa?
As I understand (correct me If I'm wrong), due to a hospital A&E in the Millwall area protesting tomorrow against closure, Millwall have moved their FA cup tie with Aston Villa to tonight (quite a nice gesture by both clubs to agree with). Instead of showing it on ITV or ITV2 they have decided upon Ray Mears, who shows how a slightly portly man can survive when face with perilous circumstances, and You've Been Framed, a collection of amusing mishaps caught on camera. I won't go too much into killing two birds with one stone, but as much as I subscribe to there being too much football on TV sometimes, (sometimes, but you can always change channel) why isn't this?
It bloody annoys me to be honest, there's nothing better than a game of football on a Friday evening and a wee flutter, and before I get accused of being disrespectful, yes, I will be watching the AFCON match instead (Burkina Faso v Ethiopia), and there appears to be a Bundesliga game. It's just that I used to check the league fixtures to see if there was something to watch, whereas now I scan the TV channels to see IF it's being shown. It's the FA cup for God's sake, and just so I'm being fair, SKY have been guilty of this before when a League 1 or 2 match has been played but not shown.
Just so you're aware, my local streams football like a rivulet and so the players move like Dimitar Berbatov, but that's not the point. On a Friday evening, if there is a match on I say it should be shown. I demand to be sated.
Chris, ITFC, (Any tips on Burkina Faso v Ethiopia anyone?) Liverpool
Villa's Best XI Under Lerner
I wrote in after the League Cup debacle and vented my spleen about Villa and where it has all gone wrong. And as I prepare to go to Millwall tonight I find myself thinking about what could have been.
And in order to torture myself more, I came up with a Villa first team that have all played for the club during Lerner's tenure. And it made me sad to think how good this team could be. Imagine a 4-2-3-1
GK - Friedel
RB - Luke Young - probably the weakest position in the team, but still handy in his day.
CB - Mellberg.
CB - Laursen - with Mellberg, could you imagine a better looking centre-back pairing, makes me go weak at the knees. Rugged man beard of Olof and the golden haired, blue eyes of Laursen. I am in heaven.
LB - Warnock - why is he wasting in the reserves when we have problems?
CM - Gareth Barry - was our best player when he left.
CM (Captain) - Stilyan Petrov - great leader, massive miss this season and really puts everything into perspective when you think about it. Seems like a genuinely decent guy as well.
LW - Downing - player of the season when he left.
CAM - Milner - definitely his best position in the middle of the park.
RW - Young - annoying diving and all that, but still a massive talent.
CF - Darren Bent - great finisher who is wasted at the moment with no service. I know why Lambert doesn't play him as he doesn't do much other than score, but in this team he wouldn't need to.
Subs:
Given
Dunne
Benteke
Agbonlahor
Sidwell - central midfield is a massive problem
Albrighton
Bannan
Manager - Martin O'Neill of course.
There isn't much point to this mail, other than maligning the combination of bad luck (Laursen's injury, Petrov's illness) bad management (Friedel was frozen out by Houllier, as was Warnock) and Lerner cashing in (Downing, Barry, Milner, Young).
Why do I do this to myself!
Nic, AVFC
A Swansea Cup Final Song
In a week where most people have been concerned with fat ball boys getting kicked and Newcastle signing lots of people from France (how much must Graham Carr save on duty-free?) it might have escape people's notice that Swansea have reached a cup final.
Now everyone knows that cup final teams need a song. Everyone also knows that the best cup final song was Anfield Rap, so Swansea should have a rap. Because this week's Football365 quiz is too hard I've decided to spend some time writing them one. It goes like this:
We're the Swans and we're from Wales,
We want the cup and lots of ales.
Britton, Graham and Sung-Yeung Ki
on our way to Wemb-er-ley.
Part-owned by fans, you'll hear them roar
as they make their way on the M4
They will cross the Severn Bridge,
hoping for a goal from Wayne Routledge.
We're the Swans and we're from Wales,
We want the cup and lots of ales.
Britton, Graham and Sung-Yeung Ki
on our way to Wemb-er-ley.
Built by Brendan's philosophy and style,
improved with Laudrup's work and guile,
we have Ashley Williams and Little Boy Flower,
playing our football near the Gower
We're the Swans and we're from Wales,
We want the cup and lots of ales.
Britton, Graham and Sung-Yeung Ki
on our way to Wemb-er-ley.
We have a striker called Michu,
news of this transfer bargain is sure to reach you
when he bags us lots of goals
with Pablo and de Guzman in supporting roles
We're the Swans and we're from Wales,
We want the cup and lots of ales.
Britton, Graham and Sung-Yeung Ki
on our way to Wemb-er-ley.
We beat Chelsea and beat them well
with a guy in goal who is called Tremmel
and a right back with a rhyming name,
now Wembley victory is our aim.
We're the Swans and we're from Wales,
We want the cup and lots of ales.
Britton, Graham and Sung-Yeung Ki
on our way to Wemb-er-ley.
We're the Swans and we're from Wales,
We want the cup and lots of ales.
Britton, Graham and Sung-Yeung Ki
on our way to Wemb-er-ley.
Adam (if I knew anything about the Bradford players I'd have written one for them) Graham
Berbaflop?
Did anyone else see the BBC article about Berbatov, in which it referred to him as 'BerbaFlop'? I thought that word started in the mailbox (by a Liverpool fan) but did it originate elsewhere? Or has it simply spread?
Jack (It still isn't witty though) Manchester
