If you have anything to say on any subject, mail us at theeditor@football365.com
Mwah Ha Ha Ha
Did Fergie sell Ronaldo for £80million just to make Liverpool have to pay £12million for Lee f**king Cattermole? He is an evil genius indeed.
Angus (hating the summer) LFC
Thanks Xabi
As Xabi nears the exit - on behalf of all Liverpool fans, I want to thank him for some great times and some fantastic memories. I can't begrudge a spanish player going to play for Real or Barca, and he's given us five years of his career. My personal highlights:
Istanbul: missing a penalty then scoring the rebound..
Goal v Luton: inside his own half
Goal v Newcastle: ditto
...and just trying his luck again and again from distance. I hope it all works out - unfortunately I fear for anyone at Real, cos it's clear that the manager won't last long, and there are so many egos on show. Also, Alonso and Ronaldo on the same team is weird
Dan
Arsene Will Buy...
I really can't believe all the Arsenal supporters emailing the mailbox and on the forums that truly believe that Wenger will not sign anyone before the end of the transfer window. Have Arsenal's transfer dealings over the last few seasons not taught you that Arsene keeps his cards close to his chest until the deal is done?
I don't believe that the sales of Kolo and swell head to City will weaken Arsenal significantly and I expect there to be more business done during the next month. I'd stake my eight houses (on Whitechapel and Old Kent Road) on it.
Cliff Mallinder
Selling Kolo Is Massive Gamble
Its been confirmed, Kolo's gone. I'm sorry to see him go cause I love Kolo, I can't remember if it was Juventus or Real Madrid he had a stommer against in our run to the Champions League final, but I was definitely willing to have his children after one of those games. But Arsenal's problem has been the center-back pairing for a while something had to change. Arsenal go to pieces against Drogba and I reckon that the improvement in results against Bolton in recent years may of coinsided with Kevin Davies moving out wide while Anelka played through the middle. What is not mentioned so often, however, is Arsenal's tendency to give away goals on the counter attack. A lot of teams 'park the bus' against Arsenal and a lot of the time it's not that we've been out fought it's just that our defenders go to sleep when they have nothing to do and a long ball to a lone front man catches them off gaurd. Every Arsenal fan wants a new centre-back and defensive midfielder, at least now we're guaranteed a new (player at) center back.
Wenger may be taking a gamble opting for Gallas though. Toure is a fan favourite and many Gunners would have greeted the sale of Gallas in a similar fashion to how they delt with the Adebayor transfer, 'Good riddence'. Added to Toure's popularity is the fact that it's Man City again, if they beat us to a Champions League place then I think with Arsenal fans in the mood they have been for a year or so it could be the end for Wenger. Some will question if Gallas was preferred because people would pay about £14m more for Kolo but as much as I love the guy, I've got to say, Toure has been going downhill since Campbell left, Gallas is the better defender. When Gallas is defending he's very good, ask him to do anything else like be captin, play at left-back, have a shower once in a while and he'll lose it. If he's just left to be a center back he does it better than Toure.
Surly Arsene knows that offloading youur longes- serving center-back and the last first-team regular from the Invincibles is not something that can be done without planning. Djourou? That guy we signed from Ajax? Hangeland? Another signing maybe? I'm sure Wenger's got something up his sleve, but I'm sure I'm not the only one worried that it could be 17 year old winger.
Terry Gallagher
Vieira Will Be One Of Youngest Soon
I heard Wenger has been trying to talk Liam Brady, Mickey Thomas and Dave O'Leary out of retirement along with re-establishing the famous back four of Dixon, Adams, Keown and Winterburn. It's time Cesc had some real experience around him, we can leave the Walcotts and the Arshavins and the Van Persies up front as long as we get Wrighty in as their new coach. Oh and I heard we are digging up the bones of Cliff Bastin and leaving them by one of the corner flags at the Emirates for good luck. Wenger is finally listening to the fans and bringing in some older heads for balance. The idea came to him when he sat down with Peter Hill-Wood and summoned the ghost of Herbert Chapman for guidance on what to do this season.
Dermot Woods, Irish Gooner in NYC
Vieira For United?
Heres a crazy thought, with Hargreaves out now until Xmas (Are the Arsenal medical team moonlighting at United?) Why doesn't Fergie take another cheeky punt on a proven Premier League player...Patrick Vieira?? He can do a job until Hargreaves is fit, if he manages that...
Arron (Well if Owen can sign for United, anything's possible) Kildare
Rooney The New Ronaldo?
Sir Alex has said that the loss of Ronaldo will mean some sort of resurgence or 'freeing up' of Rooney. With this in mind I have watched the latest pre-season games for the respective two front men and have made a couple of observations:
Rooney's step-overs look pretty slick, in some ways slightly smoother than his ever so smooth/slimy former buddy/nemesis who, due to his height and build, actually reminds me of Peter Crouch's dwarf brother.
Diving. Now here's an area where Ronaldo is streets ahead of our Wayne. Rooney's penalty-seeking dive versus Boca was all wrong. He doesn't have that ability to set the stage like Cristiano who is acutely aware of where the ref is and how to utilise his blind spots. Just watch the dive versus that esteemed LDU Quito team. The grace in which he dragged the defender into a half-hearted lunge, the positioning of himself, the defender and the ref, the skill in which his back foot scrapped along the turf and dug in there where, in the eyes of the ref, the defenders boot ought to be, the fantastic all-in-one swan dive and turn-in-mid-air towards the referee arms and boat race set in indignation. Poetry in motion it is, equal parts David Copperfield and Arthur Daley. And the mark of a true professional is that Ronaldo will do it in a friendly as easily as a big-stage cup final. No doubt he also does it in training against his team mates.
So, for heaven's sake Wayne, if you're gonna cheat do it well, put in the practice dude.
Buxx
Shut Up Jerzy
Today after I clicked upon on the bookmark 'Football365' on my Mozilla Firefox web browser, I noticed your current poll question. Now I have to say that I've always loved your polls, whether or not they were serious stuff or more light-hearted ones that made my day. Though seriously, this current one titled 'Given the choice, who should be blocked from speaking to the press?' poll made me somewhat irritated enough to write into the Mailbox for the first time.
I mean great job guys, you've added the usual fellas I'd expected to be on the list of options: Harry Redknapp, Phil Brown, Sam Allardyce all say the daftest things as managers, while Dave Whelan's always shooting his mouth off, thinking that bringing Wigan to be now slightly more 'fashionable' than they ever were gives him the right to have more media coverage than anyone else. Heck, I'll bet he was extremely ruffled during the Ronaldo transfer saga because the media weren't focusing on his beloved Antonio Valencia and hence robbing him of a chance to blabber garbage again. Alex Ferguson, needless to say, just spouts whatever rubbish that most of the time isn't really that important news or whatever, just so happens that it comes from Ferguson of all people.
But really, the latest guy who's seriously pissed me off big-time is Jerzy Dudek. He's been in the press a lot because of his comments regarding Alonso and how HE knows that Alonso wants to join him in Madrid. Okay fine, we all kinda know Alonso wants to leave Liverpool, but what gets my goat is who's saying it. Jerzy flipping Dudek, the goalkeeper who decided to spend the rest of his career warming his ass on Madrid's bench (even he isn't stupid enough to believe he'd edge out Casillas as the top goalie), despite getting tons of other offers guaranteeing him regular first-team football. I absolutely hate it when players starting shooting their big fat mouth off when they are simply fringe players with no bloody intention of playing proper football anytime soon. Instead of poking your nose into other people's business, why don't they go and actually work on getting into the bleeding team for once!
Paul
On The Issue Of Captaincy...
To John 'Do some work!' Matrix,
I see where you're coming from with John Terry and your suggestion that tub-thumping and ball-breaking do not a great captain make, but you're missing some of the larger issues surrounding Terry and his role at Chelsea. He's the guy Abramovic gets on the blower when he needs to communicate something to the players (ahead of the manager in Scolari's case), the one who leads by example in training, the one who sticks his neck out in trying to build team spirit (his fabled karaoke nights being a good example), the one who has been at the club for his entire career. So the reason he's captain is not just because he's a 'lion heart', as you put it, on the pitch, but because he puts in the hard hours off it - he clearly gives a sh** about what he's doing and his managers can all see that. The Times recently suggested he's the most influential player in Britain, which makes a lot of sense and, frankly, if he's good enough for Jose Mourinho and Fabio Capello then who are we to say otherwise?
The thing about captains is that they come in all sorts of guises and, as such, they can serve all sorts of purposes. They can be Gerrard-type swashbucklers, leading the team by example and winnings games single handedly. They can be Keane-style battlers - almost an extension of the will and personality of their manager. Or maybe you're in the market for a communicator - someone to organise the team and lead by intelligence, like Maldini. Whatever the case may be, captains are integral to the functioning of their team because they're leaders in some form or another and footballers, generally speaking, need leading.
If that doesn't persuade you then think about the effect of bad captaincy. Look at William Gallas in his centre circle, slumped, ignoble, absolutely out of his mind. That's bad leadership and you'd have to say that that kind of attitude has (and did have) a detrimental effect on the team. You're away from home, you're up against it and the guy you're looking to to gee you up that extra 5-10%, the guy you really need just to give you that bit of confidence in yourself just went off the reservation. Compare that with Roy Keane in Turin. The difference is obvious.
John Doak, Bristol
...First off, hats off to you, John 'Do some work!' Matrix. For once there is a topic of conversation in the mailbox that is relevant to all levels of football.
I often doubted the real value of captains, until a man named William Gallas decided to do everything in his power to change my opinions. Of course we all know the story by now: he became captain of my beloved Arsenal following the departure of Henry (for which I mourned for three weeks), seemed to be 'captain fantastic' for a while by leading his squad to the top of the Premier League and scoring several stoppage-time goals, but then it all began to unravel one February afternoon in Birmingham.
Most Arsenal supporters point to that afternoon as the turning point of the 2007-2008 PL season. Some suggest this to be the case because of Eduardo's horrific injury, other's because of the dropped points to a much weaker side, and still others, myself among them, highlight Gallas histrionics following the loss as the principal factor in our demise. His supporters suggested that it was his competitive nature that caused him to lose all composure after the 90 minutes were completed, and that if his teammates had the same desire to win as he, Arsenal wouldn't have lost that game. Rubbish. Absolute Rubbish. Had the 'wise,' competitive captain really wanted Arsenal to succeed, he would have gone over to young Clichy (who lost us the game) and told him that he had to keep his head up and that sometimes those sort of things happen... But no he didn't and our team began to fall apart.
Wenger had no remedy for the situation at the time, and the proud Frenchman chose to ignore the situation throughout our downfall in the Spring of 2008. Then the Gunners returned this season, and not to my surprise, struggled greatly out of the gate. By late autumn, reports had spread that there was disunity within the team. The source: none other than William Gallas, Captain of AFC. With the season already lost, Arsene finally picked up his pants and stripped Gallas of the band, although rather unfortunately he handed it to a player who went on to miss the next couple of months with an injured knee... Woe unto Arsenal. Now, with the recent exodus of West African players from Arsenal's first team (Eboue to follow??), there have been fresh rumours that there were several cliques forming in the dressing room.
Granted John Terry might not be the best player in the world, nor the best captain, but despite all of the egos of his overpaid teammates rarely do you hear about disunity within the ranks of Chelsea (unless of course an arrogant and overpaid coach is involved). The same goes for Gerrard. Arsenal's problems, on the other hand, were so bad under Gallas' leadership that they left the dressing room and walked out onto the pitch, in the form of one teammate headbutting another. Madness.
Now I don't think this can all be blamed on Gallas. I don't believe he is the reason for our failure to win silverware. Had we had a more adequate captain, I still don't believe we would have won. Manchester United have won everything over the last two years and they have four captains (Rio, Giggs, Scholes and that old, gremlin right back of theirs). Barcelona's Puyol is a fantastic captain, but even he couldn't stop arguments within the Barcelona dressing room in 2007-2008, which led to tremendous underachievement.
So, I've concluded that captains are important, but more because of their potential negative effects than their positive ones. They don't win you trophies, but they can certainly assist the team on its path to destruction...
Nickolas (loves supporting a selling club) Milan, Bs As
...To John Matrix (cool name), who asks about the importance of captains, I would point him in the direction of the performance of one Royston Maurice Keane against Juventus in 1999, where said captain took the game by the scruff of the neck and pulled Manchester United through, even though he got booked and missed the final, all because of Jesper Blomqvist, the swine!
Tobias Funke
Surely Not Nigel Mediocre?
Stan Petrov dislocated his shoulder. That's that then. Our player of the season injured and that traitor Barry gone. So that means Nigel Reo-Coker, the most awful player to wear claret and blue (and I include Bosco Balaban, Eric Djemba-Djemba and West Ham in this) will be wandering our midfield like a lost child come the start of the Season. Wonderful.
Seriously though, what kind of pre season do Villa have, Bouma last season, Heskey concussed a few days ago and now Petrov.
Conor (crying at the thought of a Reo-Coker Sidwell 'partnership') Byrne
Glen Johnson Has Made England Good Apparently
It bears noting that there have been two significant changes to the England line-up between now and a year ago, a period in which England have gone from failing to qualify to winning consistently.
The first is the change in manager and staff; a not insignificant change and the one that most people have noted, repeatedly.
The other is the change in right back, from the Gary Neville/Wes Brown Micah Richards combination used under Schteve to Glen Johnson who has featured in nearly every match under Capello.
Perhaps that bears noting for those who think he is definitely not the solution to Liverpool's title ambitions.
Craig 'Carnegies Taipei' Schofield
Where Are The New Arrivals?
The new season is almost upon and the anticipation is growing. But unlike previous seasons, the transfers aren't really doing it for me. I admit it'll be weird and fun to see Owen at Man Utd, pletheroa of faces at City and Sturridge at Chelsea etc... but there aren't any decent foreign talent making their bow this season.
Maybe there all going to spain, but it's a shame. Last season we got see Robinho, Arshavin, Modric and Rory Delap for the first time in the Prem, whereas this season???
Almost all the big signings so far have been from one Premiership club to another.
Everyone City have signed have all Prem. experience, Barry, Tevez, Santa Cruz Adebayor etc...Liverpool bought Glen Johnson, Utd - Valencia & Owen, Spurs - Crouch, Villa - Downing, Everton - Jo, Fulham.
The only exceptions are Zhirkov and Vermaelen.
I guess that all the cream seems to be rising to the top. All the premiership has to offer is ending up in the top six (and city), thus could lead to an uncompetitive league.
No doubt there is a Palacios or another Rory Delap out there somewhere, but it's more fun when it's Robinho and Deco.
Abhi (hello) Chohan
