2011

[Slava]

Is Theo Walcott going to fetch more money than Ashley Young? Young atleast had a couple of impressive seasons at Villa with a heavy dependence on him to get some creativity.

Theo's rep has taken quite a nose dive since the Capello snub.

[5DOM]

I don't know much about Willian, but I think I'd rather buy Hoilett at a cheaper price. I'm starting to think the 3 schoolboys and Cahill are going to be our only signings this window though.

[IronChef]

Balotelli charged for violent conduct by the FA, facing a four match ban.

Redknapps trial started today for the tax evasion charges too, anyone know what the punishment is if he's found guilty?

[IronChef]

Willian is a fair bit better than Hoilett, imo. Would be good as he can play on either wing, or up front.

[Ted Lasso]

Balotelli charged for violent conduct by the FA, facing a four match ban?

Ridiculous to let Lescott off and charge Balotelli.

Redknapps trial started today for the tax evasion charges too, anyone know what the punishment is if he's found guilty?

I dunno but this would become even funnier.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJBsI7RAuvk[/youtube]

[IronChef]

Balotelli charged for violent conduct by the FA, facing a four match ban?

Ridiculous to let Lescott off and charge Balotelli.

Redknapps trial started today for the tax evasion charges too, anyone know what the punishment is if he's found guilty?

I dunno but this would become even funnier.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJBsI7RAuvk[/youtube]

They both should be charged, and suspended for the rest of the season

[Ted Lasso]

They both should be charged, and suspended for the rest of the season

Whatever keeps us in 3rd place.

[Don Draper]

Balotelli charged for violent conduct by the FA, facing a four match ban?

Ridiculous to let Lescott off and charge Balotelli.

This is the English FA we are talking about. Absolutely no shame when it comes to favoring English players. And that "stamp" was clearly not on purpose.

[IronChef]

Disagree, certainly looked intentional to me.

How the ref could say he didn't see it is beyond me though, he was looking straight at it

[treiz]

Willian is a fair bit better than Hoilett, imo. Would be good as he can play on either wing, or up front.

But Hoilett is cheaper and we don't really need another option upfront, we could use another right winger though.

[LittleOzzy]

ozzy convinced me to come over to the soccer board and ditch the long running OT soccer thread we had on the bobcats board. i'm dying to talk soccer with some passionate fans so i am making the jump.

I'm very glad you showed up. Even adding one or two people makes this forum more active all the time.

Enjoy the soccer talk.

[IronChef]

Any thoughts on the best 11 of the first half of the season in the EPL?

I'd say

GK: Joe Hart
LB: Jose Enrique
RB: Micah Richards
CB: Vincent Kompany
CB: Laurent Koscielny
LM: Gareth Bale
RM: Nani
CM: Yaya Toure
CM: David Silva
ST: Robin van Persie
ST: Wayne Rooney

[Ted Lasso]

Tim Krul

Micah Richards
Vincent Kompany
Daniel Agger
Ashley Cole

David Silva
Yaya Toure
Luka Modric
Gareth Bale

Demba Ba
Robin van Persie

Edit: I would have liked to include John Terry, Patrice Evra, Yohan Cabaye, Nani, and Sergio Aguero as well.

In fact, i'll throw in Joe Hart and Wayne Rooney too, and call these seven the subs.

[IronChef]

For a bench I'd throw in: Demba Ba, Patrice Evra, Juan Mata, Sergio Aguero, Luka Modric, Daniel Agger, and Brad Freidel

[5DOM]

Looks like De Bruyne to Chelsea is pretty much a done deal with the only issue being whether he joins in January or July. Daily Mail's been pretty good this window surprisingly.

For my best XI and subs, I have

GK - Krul/Vorm

RB - Richards/Walker
CB - Kompany/?
CB - Agger/Koscielny
LB - Enrique/Assou-Ekotto

RM - Nani/Valencia
CM - Toure/Sessegnon
CM - Silva/Modric
LM - Bale/Mata

FW - Demba Ba/Balotelli
FW - Van Persie/Aguero

Not a great year for CB's. Kompany's the first choice there and even he's been inconsistent.

[Don Draper]

Disagree, certainly looked intentional to me.

How the ref could say he didn't see it is beyond me though, he was looking straight at it

It looked like he tried to whirl back around and unfortunately caught Parker. He barely had enough time to react to the first bit of contact (which barely grazed him and didn't seem to anger him), how does he in that split second decide "Okay, I'm going to stomp this guy"? I'm not buying it. Adebayor on RVP is a clear stamp. This is not.

[IronChef]

There have been a lot off good but not great CB's this year. Agger/Skrtel have both been good for Liverpool, Kos/Vermaelan, Terry, Kaboul, Lescott.

Kompany's the best, I think. Kos has done very well moving around with an ever changing fullback-less Arsenal defense, especially with Vermaelan being in and out of the line up. I still the Vermaelan is one of the best CB's, but he's been spending all of his time at LB, and isn't nearly as strong there. Liverpools Agger/Skrtel have done very well, as did Newcastles CB's before the injury to Steven Taylor.

[IronChef]

Disagree, certainly looked intentional to me.

How the ref could say he didn't see it is beyond me though, he was looking straight at it

It looked like he tried to whirl back around and unfortunately caught Parker. He barely had enough time to react to the first bit of contact (which barely grazed him and didn't seem to anger him), how does he in that split second decide "Okay, I'm going to stomp this guy"? I'm not buying it. Adebayor on RVP is a clear stamp. This is not.

The first one I don't think is intentional, but the second was, I think. Just watching it, it doesn't look like a natural movement to make when falling in the other direction.

[MitchellUK]

Balotelli's agent

"Obviously if he's being banned every three or four games for one reason or another we cannot go on like that and there needs to be an end to that."

In that case, maybe you or one of his friends or family should take him aside and tell him it's not acceptable to kick out at someone while they are on the floor. Or for that matter, to get into fights with team-mates in training, to showboat like a jackass in preseason games, to throw darts at youth team players, etc., etc. Honestly, part of me really likes Mario, he's a very talented player and seems like a good kid at times, but these moments of madness, stupidity and petulance are "why it's always him", not because of some sort of persecution. When people like David Platt and his agent speak to the media and claim what happened on Sunday wasn't intentional, they just perpetuate the problem. It's obvious that his foot made an un-natural movement towards Parker's head. His agent is claiming he was off balance and just trying to get his feet down, but someone off balance wouldn't have moved their leg in the way he did. Ridiculous.

[fatlever]

alex off to psg. i am going to miss the alex free kicks. nobody scares a wall like alex.