He says that only because he has to. He was more than clear that he really wants to leave Arsenal and go to Barca. I think it's really stupid to hold a player against his will, I suppose Arsenal wanted a shitload more money that Barcelona was willing to offer..
That's not true though. He said he'd like to go but if he has to stay then he is happy to. He loves Arsenal, and although Barca is his home, Arsenal made him who he is now. Barca's bids were insults, he's worth far more than the 33million they offered. The actions of the people in Spain were attrocious though. Putting the Barca shirt on him and constantly telling him to come 'home' because he has 'Barcelona DNA'...it's just disrespectful to Arsenal. If they truly thought he was going to be the world class player he is now then they wouldn't have let him go when he was 16, simple as. It's because he's a world class player now is why they want him, nothing to do with him coming 'home'. In my honest opinion, they don't need him anyway. Xavi still has around 4 years left in him. I'd be happy for Cesc to see out his contract and go there when Xavi retires but right now I can't see anyone in the squad that he'd displace.
Completely agree with this! At times I've been a tad annoyed with Cesc but overall I don't put the blame too much on him. He'd like to go back home but he's also quite happy to stay with a club he is clearly very fond of. I'll enjoy watching him play this season, like the previous seasons As for Martin O'Neill...major shock! I work in a football store and it came up on sky sports news and whatever the reasons, I think Villa have lost a great manager there. Sven touted already. Bad bad idea!
So let's have some pre-season predictions! Here's mine: Premiership: 01. Chelsea 02. Arsenal 03. Manchester United 04. Manchester City 05. Liverpool 06. Tottenham 07. Everton 08. Aston Villa 09. Fulham 10. West Ham 11. Sunderland 12. Stoke 13. Birmingham 14. Blackburn 15. Bolton 16. Wolves 17. Newcastle 18. Wigan 19. West Brom 20. Blackpool SPL: Celtic La Liga: Real Madrid Serie A: Roma
01. Chelsea 02. Man United 03. Arsenal 04. Spurs 05. Man City 06. Liverpool 07. Everton 08. Aston Villa 09. Fulham 10. Birmingham 11. Sunderland 12. Bolton 13. Newcastle 14. Wolves 15. Stoke 16. Blackburn 17. West Brom 18. West Ham 19. Wigan 20. Blackpool I think
Marseille lost their second game of the season 3-2 against Valenciennes and are currently ranked 19th.
from our two opening league games.. four points dropped they could be crucial at the end of the season! on the positive side though - we have looks decent! ..and we've knocked Sheffield United out of the Carling Cup convincingly! overall not too bad of a start, I would of taken 2 points from our first two games before the season had started.
Yesterday was the worst game I've ever been to. For our first home game new rules have been put into place and those rules did not allow any flag, drums nor animation in the stands. And don't even think about staying in the stairs... And since it was considered as a risk game, the place was swarmed by police officers and security. And to top it all, except the North part wich tried its best to start some songs nothing happened. I am almost disgusted by football thanks to the incompetent and totalitarian methods of the politicians.
Is this for all French teams? Maybe. A lot depends on who the new manager is, and who actually signs/doesn't leave. As it is I think being in the top 8 would be good going.
Not that I know of. But those measures started in Paris where over the last few years the Parisian club have had trouble with some hooligans and where the new president decide this year that subscriptions in the Northern and Southern stands should not be possible and that it should be forbidden to stand. So since our first home game was against Paris I guess the cityhall decided to follow the rules applied in Paris. Which is stupid because why do we need to get penalized for what Parisian hooligans did? Anyway, we'll have to see what happens during the next home game but some people suspect that our own club would like to get rid of our big (and only) supporters group because they would like to have what we call an "English ambiance" in the stands of our new stadium (which is going to be finished by 2012).
our manager and chief executive has left the club http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/hartlepool_united/8927714.stm
Rennes 1 - 1 Lille (game 1). Lille 0 - 0 Paris (game 2). Vaslui 0 - 0 Lille (EL). Sochaux 0 - 0 Lille (game 3). Even though we have two extra points compared to last season at the same point these results are quite frustrating. A victory will be necessary on Thursday for the return game of the EL play-offs.