OT: Futbol chit chat

[Yoshi]

Sad, sad day for Arsenal. Man this sucks as a fan because I really though Fabs would have anchored Arsenal's young midfield/strike force in the coming years.


With that said, Catalunya is celebrating in style! I can imagine Fabs picking apart defense in La Liga like crazy, Real Madrid included. Looking forward to the return leg at the Nou for the Spanish Super Cup.

Visca Barcelona!!!!!!

 

[CalamityX11]

The rich keep on getting richer.

ATM, I don't know a move this year(Neymar in 2012!) that can negate or beat the Fabs signing to Barca.

 

[trancemeister]

Arsenal.com (@Arsenal)
8/15/11 11:04
Wenger will try to strengthen before the transfer window closes but he will be focused on quality, not price tags Wenger - My main concern is to add quality | News Archive | News | Arsenal.com

a.k.a - once again, the money won't be spent when it clearly needs to be to fill the massive void left behind. So frustrating!

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

It is a pretty serious flaw with the sport/business in general as its done in Europe.....that arguably the best player in England would go for almost $60 million to Spain....to be a rotation player. Of course there are peculiar circumstances to the Cesc deal, but it just highlights how wacky their markets and leagues are. Even with a rigged La Liga that shovels disproportionate money in Madrid/Barca's directions, they are both running massive debt and STILL buying expensive players they don't need, while leaving other teams hanging as the season starts.

Makes you appreciate the effort most American leagues put into at least some semblance of a level playing field. Only the Yankees are as distorting, but baseball just isn't such a one-sided sport and the best teams don't win more than 65% of games in most cases.....so even then its not nearly as bad as euro soccer.

 

[Yoshi]

It is a pretty serious flaw with the sport/business in general as its done in Europe.....that arguably the best player in England would go for almost $60 million to Spain....to be a rotation player. Of course there are peculiar circumstances to the Cesc deal, but it just highlights how wacky their markets and leagues are. Even with a rigged La Liga that shovels disproportionate money in Madrid/Barca's directions, they are both running massive debt and STILL buying expensive players they don't need, while leaving other teams hanging as the season starts.

Makes you appreciate the effort most American leagues put into at least some semblance of a level playing field. Only the Yankees are as distorting, but baseball just isn't such a one-sided sport and the best teams don't win more than 65% of games in most cases.....so even then its not nearly as bad as euro soccer.

Well space, Fabs' move is more about the present and the future. Xavi at 30+ years of age will have it more difficult playing in his role at Barca with how involved their midfield is when it comes to possession as well as tracking back the ball on defense - that's why Mascherano drops back so deep it's almost as if he's playing the 3rd center back on that team. Also, with Xavi playing all of those games for club and especially for country, the wheels are going to wear out pretty soon for him. That's why signing Cesc really makes so much more sense for Barcelona - Fabs played for Barcelona "Light" with Arsenal and is now coming into a system that is almost an exact replica.

Also, I agree with you to a certain extent about American sports but there's still an uneven level in terms of the playing field. For example, how the heck do the Red Sox acquire both Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez in the same offseason? For the Giants to come even close to getting a real bat they had to trade their top pitching prospect. The Giants, Angels, etc. are examples of teams that can win in baseball, but it's no secret that baseball still favors the big market teams when it comes to free agency.

Basketball is another area - although there's a salary cap, players whining and defecting to clubs who have their buddies and big markets (Miami, NY) is becoming this process of where super clubs are being formed. I won't lie, the Lakers took advantage of this when Payton and Malone joined Kobe and Shaq in the early 2000's, and even earlier when Kareem forced a trade to form the "Lake Show" in the 80's. The Carmelo drama was quite annoying and the NBA seems to be witnessing the formation of super teams once again, which is unfortunate.

 

[Yoshi]

 

[Yoshi]

Trance, and for all the Arsenal fans out there, there are a lot of tributes to Cesc out there but this, by far, was the best one I could find.

Pretty nostalgic stuff - I remember seeing Fabs in the Community Shield back in '04 when Fabs and company beat man utd at Wembley when Fabs was just 17. Seeing videos like this and the interview he had at Sky Sports really hits home. Although I'm glad he's going to my Catalan brethren and not some other team such as RM, this hurts. Unlike greedy SOB's such as Nasri (sorry trance if you're fan, but the guy really is one), Fabs's reason for leaving was more than just money. I really hope Arsenal can find a way to stay competitive so that they don't wind up as an ultimate feeder club. Honestly, out of all the players sold from Arsenal, this one hurts the most, Henry included.

Thank you, Fabs, for the memories. Good luck in Barcelona, mi hermano...

 

[CalamityX11]

Yeah "thanks" Fabs.... good grief.

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

Kind of messed up that Arsenal drew Udinese in CL qualifying.....like two of the top five teams in the entire round, and one will be going home.

You have to appreciate the way Udinese does business, they have minimal local revenues and have to be incredibly smart to stay up with the big boys......the 20 or 30 million from qualfying for CL would be massive for them, but they probably won't get it because of a worse-case scenario draw. Sucks.

 

[Bracus]

Any Juventus fans out there?

 

[trancemeister]

Being an avid Serie A follower, I really feel sorry for mid-table clubs like Udinese. They come up the right way using home grown talent till they hit a peak like Udinese did and the big clubs swoop in and drain their talent as is the case this past offseason with players like Sanchez and Inler. Agreed, they can cash in on the players, but it offers little to no continuity for them to consistently do well. With all the talent drain that Udine has had this summer, I would be shocked to see them put up too stiff a challenge against Arsenal. But Guidolin is a solid coach and hopefully will have the boys ready for a good game.

 

[trancemeister]

Any Juventus fans out there?

Huge fan right here! If I had to pick just one team as my favorite, the Old Lady would be it!

Though I have to say there is a striking resemblance between Juve and the Niners these past several years ... stuck in a perennial rebuild looks like! Looking forward to the new season though, as always, this year in the new stadium! Woot woot!

 

[trancemeister]

Yosh – thanks for the video! Rep worthy! Almost brought a tear to my eyes! You have mirrored my sentiments exactly and could not have said it any better, including calling Nasri a greed son of a bitch! Can’t wait for him to come back to the Emirates to get booed and heckled! Like you said, for Cesc, it was more about going “home” in more ways that one. Things have come full circle for him and I’m happy about that. Guess I can frame and put way my Gunners Fabregas jersey now

ARSEne seriously needs to get on the ball and bring some midfield and center back talent else it’s going to be a long season. I don’t think I can bear to see another ManUre league victory!

Best Regards,
Yash

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

While Man U is obviously defending champs AND made solid acquisitions this year......I can't look past City, that roster is goofy. Now they're saying Tevez isn't even going anywhere and wants to play with Aguero, which I think puts them over the top.

 

[Bracus]

Huge fan right here! If I had to pick just one team as my favorite, the Old Lady would be it!

Though I have to say there is a striking resemblance between Juve and the Niners these past several years ... stuck in a perennial rebuild looks like! Looking forward to the new season though, as always, this year in the new stadium! Woot woot!

Wow, never even noticed how similar My two fav teams have been lol.

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

Interesting article re: Fabs' role at Barca. This guy's take.....he's not taking over for Xavi, he's taking over for Puyol. Scary thought, but if he's right this should be more amazing than ever to watch.

With the signing of Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas, Barcelona could begin the next great tactical revolution - Goal.com

 

[CalamityX11]

Makes the defense weaker, i'm all for it.

 

[trancemeister]

Well, I’m really not sold on this ‘system.’ Defenders are defenders and attackers are attackers for a reason, and aren’t that easily interchangeable. It might be radical and dynamic but like Calamity pointed out, it will definitely lead to a more porous defense. As much as I like him as a player, I don’t think Fabs’ defensive skills will ever be better than say Pujol in his prime. Fabs just doesn’t have the build for a defender. He might be able to flourish in a wing back role, but I would not put him in as a center back. There are very few successful transitions of this nature that I can recall. One example was Zambrotta during his Juve days when he moved from a right midfielder to right wing back to make room for Camoranesi.

However, not sure if the pictorial lineup listed down in the article is the author’s opinion or not, but that first lineup would make Barca absolutely nasty in all the three thirds of the field!

 

[arsenal6106]

Trance, and for all the Arsenal fans out there, there are a lot of tributes to Cesc out there but this, by far, was the best one I could find.

Pretty nostalgic stuff - I remember seeing Fabs in the Community Shield back in '04 when Fabs and company beat man utd at Wembley when Fabs was just 17. Seeing videos like this and the interview he had at Sky Sports really hits home. Although I'm glad he's going to my Catalan brethren and not some other team such as RM, this hurts. Unlike greedy SOB's such as Nasri (sorry trance if you're fan, but the guy really is one), Fabs's reason for leaving was more than just money. I really hope Arsenal can find a way to stay competitive so that they don't wind up as an ultimate feeder club. Honestly, out of all the players sold from Arsenal, this one hurts the most, Henry included.

Thank you, Fabs, for the memories. Good luck in Barcelona, mi hermano...

I've seen quite a few, but this is one of the better ones. Nice find man.
For me, Henry's departure hurt a little more, but it's pretty much on the same level. Oh well....

 

[xJuicex]

Messi!!!!!!!


What a game.