The Ultimate Football Thread 2013-2014 Vol. 4 EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A etc

Vela: 1 goal, 1 assist

Dos Santos: 1 goal, 1 assist

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City could be Chelsea's biggest challenger for the title. I think the ultimate difference is Mou being a better manager than Pellegrini.
 
With the transfer deadline under two weeks away, Wenger's attempts to strengthen have seen inquiries also lodged with the Italian champions Juventus for their former Manchester United midfielder, Paul Pogba. That seems an ambitious chase, with Sevilla's Geoffrey Kondogbia, 20, an alternative even if the Spaniards, too, will resist a sale.

While Arsenal still hold out some hope that their pursuit of Luis Suárez and Wayne Rooney is not forlorn, the Swansea City forward Michu has emerged as a potential fall-back option though no bid has been submitted and it remains to be seen whether Wenger would be willing to pay in excess of £20m for a player who moved to the Welsh club from Rayo Vallecano for nearer £2m a year ago. Stoke City are still braced for a bid for their goalkeeper, Asmir Begovic, while Swansea's Ashley Williams and City's Micah Richards, who was suffering with a hamstring strain on Monday night, remain as defensive targets.

Yet time is ticking down towards the deadline and the sudden flurry of interest in potential signings, combined with the sense of mutiny at the final whistle on Sunday, has created an air of panic around the club. At present, the likeliest arrival in a summer that had begun with bold pledges to make waves in the market, with up to £70m apparently available for deals, still appears to be Mathieu Flamini.

The 29-year-old, who left Arsenal for Milan under freedom of contract in 2008, has been training at London Colney over recent weeks following his release from the San Siro club and is available for nothing, though his return would hardly constitute the marquee arrival the hierarchy had envisaged at the start of the summer.
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http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/aug/19/yohan-cabaye-arsenal-newcastle-united

It just randomly popped into my head that we were monitoring Jordy Claise during the winter. I never really got the full details, if anyone has any insight on that, please share.

Revealed: The Premier League reaches an all-time low of English players
• Two-thirds of Premier League players now foreign nationals
• Only 12 Englishmen bought by top-flight clubs this summer
Follow Louise Taylor by emailBETA

Louise Taylor and Mike Adamson
The Guardian, Monday 19 August 2013 18.02 EDT
Roy Hodgson
Getting England to the World Cup is no easier for Roy Hodgson with so few top-flight players to select. Photograph: Michael Mayhew/Sportsphoto
The opening weekend of Premier League fixtures marked an all-time low in terms of the number of Englishmen beginning games at the start of a season. A Guardian study shows two-thirds of those on view in the first round of fixtures were foreign nationals, highlighting the falling number of homegrown players in the top flight.

Back in August 1992, 177 players, or 73.1%, featuring in first-day first XIs held English nationality but this year that figure fell to 74, or 33.6%. This dramatic decrease has left the Premier League trailing Spain's La Liga, Germany Bundesliga, Italy's Serie A and France's Ligue One by some distance when it comes to showcasing indigenous talent and, it is argued, has impacted on the fortunes of England teams at all levels.

Roy Hodgson, the manager of the senior national team who already face a tough battle to qualify for the World Cup, can only be alarmed that of 61 signings made by top-flight clubs for transfer fees this summer, a mere 12 have involved English players. None of last season's top eight has paid a fee for an English player since the transfer window opened.

While this is partly attributable to the reality that imports are appreciably better value than their high-priced English counterparts, deficiencies in youth development, coaching culture and wider education also all contribute to the failure of England-born players to make the required grade. Only three of the 23-man Under-21 squad that beat Scotland 6-0 last week started in the Premier League last weekend.

"Everyone recognises the need for greater numbers of English players getting opportunities in the Premier League," Sir Trevor Brooking, the FA's director of football development, told the Guardian. "It is something Ged Roddy [the Premier League's director of youth], Dan Ashworth [the FA director of elite development] and I have worked closely on with the EPP [Elite Player Performance Plan].

"Ged and the Premier League share our desire to improve upon the quality of young players coming through the academy system. Combined with the work in kids' football to change the culture and increase technical standards, and raising the coaching standards through St George's Park, there is a lot being done."

The FA and Premier League are often seen as being at loggerheads but a Premier League spokesman stressed that, as Roddy's work emphasises, this is not the case. "We are one season into the Elite Player Performance Plan for which £340m has been committed over four seasons to enhance youth development programmes across the Premier League," he said.

"The number one stated aim of the plan is to produce more and better home-grown players. We saw some very good performances from English and British players over the weekend and the clubs are working hard to develop more who are of the quality to play Premier League football."

Richard Scudamore, the Premier League's chief executive, feels that his organisation have been blamed unfairly for the growing imbalance in elite English football. No to mention the dismal failure of the England Under-21 and Under-20 teams in this summer's respective junior European Championship in Israel and World Cup in Turkey.

"It's not the Premier League's fault the country's population is only 60 million and there are 212 countries playing this game," said Scudamore last month. "It's bigger than us."
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AZwildcats said:
ELCHAPULINCOLORADO said:
tSamShoX said:
Nasri still trash tho
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STILL MORE QUALITY THAN THAT THAT HORRENDOUS MANURE MIDFIELD
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He is trash though. 
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Yall are wild. Samir Nasri isn't trash by any meaningful definition of the word, the guy had a down year and still created more clear-cut chances than any other attacking player in the Prem last season.  He might have had an off year but class is permanent. Phenomenal technique, movement, and versatility. My son is gonna bounce right back under Pellegrini. 
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ICE CITY FC said:
AZwildcats said:
ELCHAPULINCOLORADO said:
tSamShoX said:
Nasri still trash tho
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STILL MORE QUALITY THAN THAT THAT HORRENDOUS MANURE MIDFIELD
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He is trash though. 
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Yall are wild. Samir Nasri isn't trash by any meaningful definition of the word, the guy had a down year and still created more clear-cut chances than any other attacking player in the Prem last season.  He might have had an off year but class is permanent. Phenomenal technique, movement, and versatility. My son is gonna bounce right back under Pellegrini. :pimp:
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You can't just go and make up things and call them facts.
 
eiddyfouw said:
what's this about?
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Bale right?

This typical Arsenal transfer deadline desperation annoys me... I (sadly) predicted it back in June hoping for the dear life of me I'd be wrong, and as usual i've been let down... It kills me to say it, but i'm losing faith in AW... smh
 
Shaktar just got that 2nd goal they desperately needed...

Situation is looking dire for Celtic...
 
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