I don't expect any major signings. Letting Zlatan go was major but not that big a sign. Letting Thiago Silva go shows they are definitely in cost-cutting mode. Plus after losing some major contributors from the past few seasons, I gotta believe they'll be just content with qualifying for the 2013-14 UCL season. Juve are still looking great to me.
Kagawa is nice and Lucas would be great if the purpose is to play him in an attacking midfield role and not just merely on the wings. RVP I think is a pipe dream. Still need more help in midfield. I can't imagine Mancini or any City players quaking in fear at the thought of any of United's new signings or even at the thought of playing United home or away. City showed who the bawse was last season and as much as it pains me to say it, they'll still be running England come the end of next season. (I pray I'm wrong).
Hoping Barca does "pull the trigger" on another Gunner in Song. He would fit nicely but have to see who he's replacing though. If it's for Sergio then that's ok. I've grown tired of his mental lapses and weak defending. I'm really going to miss Keita back there too. It's all up to Tito
Looked at their signings and realized I mixed up some with other teams, they are worse than last year. Change my vote to Juve, sir.
Heads up futbol lovers we have a good game today in Barca vs. Man U, granted its preseason but should be fun nonetheless. Forca Barca!!
So much for Lucas Moura going to United. Guess they will be going after RVP which IMO is a WTF move. I would like United to sign Nuri Sahin but I think he's Arsenal bound.
Europa League Third Qualifying Phase Slaven Belupo - Athletic Bilbao 2:1 (1:3) Inter Milano - Hajduk Split 0:2 (3:0) Both Bilbao and Inter played their best players and we still managed to come one goal short of extra time and possible upset. I'm so proud of our guys, especially Hajduk because the team is consisted of exclusively young players and they got a solid win on Giuseppe Meazza.
City fan here. Thought I recorded their match against Chelsea for the community shield but somehow didn't, so when I woke it was just after the game ended but got to see the trophy presentation and celebration. Now I know its a glorified friendly, but I would have to think its always good to start the year with some hardware. When I looked up the score I was suprised to see it as 3-2, but I guess since its not a leauge game the action was more open and the teams took more chances. I like City to win the EPL again. They possess the best goalie in the league (Hart), the best central defender (Kompany), the best box to box mid (Toure) and offer multiple players who can control the ball in the offensive zone (Silva, Nasri and Johnson) to set up multiple scoring threats (Aguero, Balotelli, Tevez and Dzeko). I think the real test for this team will be in European competiton. They played poorly against Napoli and Bayern last season and are returning the same squad. They have the talent to compete in Europe, they just need a different strategy then they diploy domestically.
Uhm, how did Bayern disappoint so far? The new season hasn't even started yet. (I don't view the Supercup as part of the season.) Robben and Ribery appear to be more motivated than ever and I think bringing in Mandzukic, Dante and Shaqiri in makes sense, too, in terms of improving the competitiveness within the team. I don't think they will let Dortmund win for a third straight time, but it will be a head-to-head race.
The ellipse at the end of this statement hints at the fact that you might be joking, but I hope not. I'm a Norwich City supporter myself. Given the expectations heading into last season, I was rather pleased with the Canaries respectable 12th place finish. I was disappointed to see Paul Lambert leave for another job, but I think Chris Hughton will pick up right where he left off. The disappointment I felt with Lambert leaving was more than made up for by the relief I felt when I saw that Grant Holt, who had previously requested a transfer, had resigned and was coming back. Ultimately, Norwich isn't going to compete for a top spot in the league, but I'm looking forward to seeing if they can repeat their performance for last season or even take a small step forward.
They basically signed a bunch of bench players first of all, but the first unit was the biggest problem last year imo. Still think Gomez is a bad fit and makes the team too stagnant on offense, but I highly doubt Heynckes will play Mandzukic in crucial games(CL, end of season), so we didn't improve their. Don't think Kroos is the best we have at 10, Müller is not effective in that role. Same with Shaqiri, he's a wing and seriously, when will he get big minutes, when we have Robben, Ribery, Kroos and Müller? We need a new DM to play with Schweini, Gustavo is not the best option. It sickens me to hear Hoeneß talk how they gonna sign a big star and then fail because of Bayern's stubborness/cheapness. Management is always talking how much money Bayern has on their account, but they fail to use it to buy one or two stars that elevate us to the next level. On central defense we still have Badstuber and Boateng, with the addition of Dante and a useless van Buyten. Let's face it, Dante is not what you call a world-class defender on a high CL level. Boateng leaves you scratching your head in certain situations. I just don't see how this team is a vast improvement over last season, still the same question marks. In Supercup Dortmund made some stupid mistakes in the first minutes but then took over and dominated like last season. Don't see us as favourites in upcoming games vs. them. Again, Bayern failed to sign key players(see BVB with Reus) and I think this roster as constructed right now is not on the same level with Barca or Real. League will be a struggle vs. Dortmund, if we don't win the two games vs. them I see Bayern finishing 2nd place. Also time for a coaching change, Heynckes struggles at adjusting to opponents and seems to have no real or modern philosophy that makes us a better team.
This is my first year following European soccer so I'm not going to make any predictions, I'm just enjoying having a new sport to follow.
I honestly feel like the Eredivisie > Serie A this year. So many problems in Italy right now. Btw I have PSV winning the Eredivisie.
Just started getting into soccer (during the build-up to the WC in South Africa), so I haven't really been following, but any word on where Dempsey is going to end up?
