2013/2014 Soccer/Football Thread

[reyscarface]

With the new season starting soon and many preseasons ending (as well as several ppl asking for the new thread), new thread shall be created.

Again, you can join #soccer on synirc for football chat there, theres like 10 users on that love the sport and also love chitchatting about fixtures, transfers, rumors, etc.

As always, the season kickoffs:

English Premier League: Saturday August 17th
Spanish La Liga: Saturday August 17th
German Bundesliga: Friday August 9th
French Ligue 1: Friday August 9th
Italian Serie A: Saturday August 24th

If theres gonna be an EPL fantasy league let me know and ill update it to the OP.

Also heres a little treat, a list of all confirmed transfers for the main leagues, with the big ones in bold:

EPL:

Arsenal:
Sanogo
Daniel Crowley

Aston Villa:
Okore from Nordsjaelland to Aston Villa for in the region of 4-4.5mil
Bacuna from Groningen to Aston Villa(£875k)
Tonev from Lech Posnan to Aston Villa (£2.5million)
Nicklas Helenius(£1.25million)
Antonio Luna(£1.75million)
Jed Steer from Norwich(free)

Cardiff City:
Andreas Cornelius-FC Kopenhagen = £7.5m

Chelsea:
Andre Schurlle from Bayern Leverkusen £20millon
Van Ginkel
Mark Schwarzer

Crystal Palace:
Jerome Thomas: WBA >> Crystal Palace
Dwight Gayle(add ons=up to £8.5million)

Everton:
Kone
Alcaraz
Joel Robles
Gerard Deulofeu

Fulham:
Stekelenburg to Fulham from Roma for 5million
Amorebieta to Fulham on a free
Derek Boateng to Fulham on a free
Riether to Fulham, permanent(£1.25million)

Hull:
Figueroa to Hull on a free
George Boyd(free transfer)
Curtis Davies(£2.25million)

Liverpool:
Kolo Toure - Free - Confirmed
Iago Aspas-7mil
Luis Alberto-£7million
Mignolet-£9million

Manchester City:
Fernandinho from Shaktar Dontesk to Manchester City 30mil
Jesus Navas from Sevilla to Manchester City 15mil

Manchester United:
Guillermo Varela from Atletico Penarol to Manchester United
Zaha

Newcastle:
Oliver Kemen

Norwich:
Ricky Van Wolfswinkel(£8million)
Javier Garrido(£1.3million)
Redmond
Martin Olsson
Carlo Nash
Leroy Fer

Spurs:
Paulinho

Stoke City:
Erik Pieters(4 years)
Muniesa

Southampton:
Dejan Lovren from Lyon to Southampton for £8.5million
Wanyama

Sunderland:
David Moberg Karlsson(£1.5million)
Diakite(free)
Valentin Roberge (Marítimo --->Sunderland) Free
Cabral (Basle --->Sunderland) Free
Duncan Watmore <- Altrincham = Undisclosed
Vito Mannone
Altidore

Swansea:
Jose Canas(free transfer)
Jordi Amat(£2.5million)
De Guzman(1 year loan)
Alejandro Pozuelo
Jonjo Shelvey
Bony

West Brom:
Anelka
Goran Popov(1 year loan)

West Ham:
Adrián San Miguel del Castillo(free)
Răzvan Raț(free)
Andy Carroll(£15million)
Daniel Whitehead-(£1.5million)

Liga BBVA

Almería:
Suso(loan)

Atletico Madrid:
Jose Maria Gimenez
Leo Baptistao(undisclosed, reportedly €5m)
Courtois-1 year loan
David Villa
Demichelis

Athletic Bilbao:
Benat(5 year contract)

Barcelona:
Neymar from Santos to Barcelona 48.6mil

Celta Vigo:
Rafinha

Getafe:
Escudero

Levante:
Jordi Xumetra(free transfer)
Andreas Ivanschitz(free transfer)

Malaga:
Pedro Morales - Malaga
Roque Santa Cruz

Real Betis:
Juanfran Moreno(free transfer)
Stephan Andersen(free transfer)
Lorenzo Reyes(€1m)

Real Madrid:
Carvajal to Real(buy back clause activated)-5million
Casemiro (€8million)
Isco(5 year deal)(28€m)
Illaramendi

Sevilla:
Raul Rusescu(undisclosed fee)
Marko Marin(1 year loan)
Carlos Bacca

Valencia:
Romeu(loan)

Villareal:
Aleksander Pantic
Gio Dos Santos

Liga Adelante:
Calvente

Bundesliga:

1899 Hoffenheim:
Tarik Elyounoussi to 1899 Hoffenheim

Bayern:
Gotze- Bayern
Kirchhoff
Mitchell Weiser (back from loan)
Thiago

Borussia Dortmund:
Sokratis Papastathopoulos
Aubameyang
Henrikh Mkhiaryan

Eintracht Frankfurt:
Jan Rosenthal(free transfer)

Schalke 04:
Felipe Santana
Christian Clemens: Köln to Schalke 04 for 2.8 Million euro's.
Anthony Annan (Bfl)
Goretzka(5 years)

Bayer Leverkusen:
Heung Min Son(from Hamburg)
Ortega (Bfl)
Andres Palop
Giulio Donati
Robbie Kruse
Roberto Hilbert

Freiburg:
Pilar
Hanke
Felix Klaus(undisclosed fee)
Francis Coquelin (from Arsenal-loan)
Gelson Fernandes (from Sporting Lissabon)
Christopher Jullien (CB, from AJ Auxerre)
Sebastian Kerk (OM, own youth)
Nicolas Höfler (DM, own youth)

Frankfurt:
Rosenthal
Flum

Eintracht Braunschweig:
Simeon Jackson

M'Gladbach:
Kruse

Hannover:
Salif Sane
Prib
Avevor (Bfl)
Florian Ballas(free transfer)

Nürnberg:
Ginzcek
Martin Angha(free transfer)
Mariusz Stępiński-Widzew Łódź(free transfer)

Wolfsburg:
Grün
Koo
Giovanni Sio (Bfl)
Daniel Caligiuri(€2m)

Stuttgart:
Schwaab
Sararer
Marco Rojas
Mo Abdellaoue
Leitner(2 season long loan)
Konstantin Rausch(free transfer)

Mainz:
J.Koch
Ujah (Bfl)

Bremen:
Makiadi
Nils Petersen(undisclosed fee)
Luca Caldirola-Inter Milan>Werder Bremen.(four-year deal)

Hannover:
Edgar Prib(undislclosed)
Leonadro Bittencourt: BVB >> Hannover

Hamburg:
Djourou(1 year loan)

Hoffenheim:
Braafheid (Bfl)
Modeste (Bordeaux - > 1899 Hoffenheim)

Ligue 1

Monaco:
João Moutinho to Monaco - 25 million
James Rodríguez to Monaco - 45 million
Falcao-Monaco
Carvahlo-Monaco
Nicolas Isimat-Mirin from Valenciennes to Monaco (3.5M)
Anthony Martial(€5million-3 years)
Toulalan
Abidal

Lille:
Thauvin
Julian Jeanvier from Nancy to Lille (400k)
Simon Kjaer(€2million)

Guingamp:
Steven Langil from Auxerre to Guingamp (FREE)

Montpellier:
Djamel Bakar from Nancy to Montpellier (FREE)
Morgan Sanson from Le Mans to Montpellier (600k)

Lyon:
Gael Danic from Valenciennes to Lyon (850k)

Nice:
Mendy

Rennes:
Jean Makoun -£2.5m
Mads Albaek- FC Midtjylland to Stade de Reims

AS Saint-Étienne:
Corgnet (Lorient - > A.S.S.E)
Baysse (Brest - > A.S.S.E)

Serie A

AC Milan:
Zapata - 5million
Riccardo Saponara - AC Milan (€4 million)
Jherson Vergara(€2million)
Poli

AS Roma:
Destro
Tin Jedvaj
Skorupski- Gornik Zabrze -> Roma
Benatia

Bologna:
Kone: Brescia > Bologna 1.7m (Bologna have brought the other 50% so now own him fully)
Abdallah Yaisien: Paris Saint-Germain > Bologna (Free Transfer)

Catania:
Sebastian Eduardo Leto(free transfer)

Fiorentina:
Joaquin-2million
Oleksandr Iakovenko(free transfer)
Marcos Alonso(free transfer)
Juan Cuadrado(50% co-ownership)
Gustavo Munua
Gomez

Inter Milan:
Ruben botta free
Campagnaro free
Andreolli free
Diago laxalt 2m
Icardi 13m
Ishak Belfodil
Mariga(loan return)
Longo(loan return)

Juventus:
Llorente-free
Peluso to Juventus -4.8M€
Asamoah(100% ownership)
Tevez-£8million
Ogbonna

Lazio:
Antonio Candreva(50% co-ownership)
Felipe Anderson (Santos - > Lazio)

Lecce:
Miccoli

Napoli:
Armero ---> 100% Napoli now
Stefano Sorrentino
Dries Mertens
Callejon
Rafael

Torino:
Daniele Padelli(undisclosed fee)
Alexander Farnerud
Ciro Immobile
El Kaddouri (Napoli - > Torino)

U.C Sampdoria:
Pawel Wszolek-Polonia Warszawa(free agent)http://www.football-italia.net/35617/sampdoria-sign-wzolek
Gabbiadini (Bologna - > Juventus - > Sampdoria)
Salamon (AC Milan - > Sampdoria)

Hellas Verona:
Matteo Bianchetti: Inter > Hellas Verona (Co-Ownership)
Raphael Martinho: Catania > Hellas Verona (Co-ownership)
Fabrizio Cacciatore: Sampdoria > Hellas Verona (Co-ownership)
Simon Laner: Albinoleffe > Hellas Verona (Co-ownership)
Alessandro Agostini: Torino > Hellas Verona (Undisclosed Fee)

Udinese:
Bruno Fernandes: Novara > Udinese (Co-ownership)

Parma:
Cassano


(ill put it in hide tags when the forum gets the function)

Happy new season everyone.

 

[No Luck Involved]

Holy shit decent OP lol

And yeah fantasy pl is open today!

 

[SuperScizor]

My fpl team then. Any changes I should make? Also what is the code for the league?

 

[No Luck Involved]

I'm staying well away from anyone with any uncertainty, so I'm not touching Stoke defence or Lukaku or Benteke yet. Other thing I'd say is Yacob probably isn't going to get any attacking points lol. I'm liking Ben Arfa and Southampton sound ambitious this year and they're quite cheap so I'll be getting some of them in. I haven't made a team yet but that's my thoughts just looking through the list :)

 

[SuperScizor]

I know Scheiderlin is good defensively but does he attack frequently? Also, what about Wanyama?
Bony seems actually like a risk since he is a newcomer but I am confident he will do well.

 

[No Luck Involved]

Yeah that's the thing, Benteke was on fire last season but he didn't score much at the start. Michu though started off on fire! So yeah it's a risk. Out of Southampton I'm looking at Clyne/Shaw and maybe Ramirez and Lambert.

 

[reyscarface]

man city have agreed a fee of 27m~ with fiorentina for jovetic. jovetic - aguero and silva feeding them balls gg world

 

[Brap]

Still should have written football first in the title. The Americans don't even bother with this thread on the whole so you might as well have done.

 

[No Luck Involved]

Funny cos Soccer is the proper name lol! The americans actually have it right!

 

[No Luck Involved]

OK this isn't really football related but it's a talking point: Gay and Powell are on performance enhancing drugs, in fact 3 of the top Jamaican sprinters were found positive - the only one not found yet is Bolt and surely it's a matter of time.

Performance enhancing drugs and supplements is something I've always had a concern about, mainly cos if you're a top athlete and you wanna be the best it's gonna cross your path at some point and in that job I don't blame anyone for seriously thinking about taking them. Every single sport has had huge stories but it's always quiet on the football front. The drugs testing in football is only urine based which is about as effective as asking them to tick a box whether you've taken anything illegal.

How many footballers do you think are currently on steroids, blood supplements or others? My head is telling me 99.99%, and good luck to the poor kid who's trying to play clean. We just don't know and we have no information at all. But in a way this might even be good, because instead of trying to control it and failing (because new techniques and products are always going to be available and whoever gets it first will have an advantage before they can be tested for it) why don't all sports just let everyone take whatever they want? Then you know it's a level playing field, since everyone's trying to get the absolute top performance. It would be horrific for the sportsmen's health, so yeah not ethical, but it's an interesting way to look at it. Anybody know or thought about how juiced up footballers really are or am I the only one?

 

[Sapientia]

I'm quite sure that every footballplayer in a european top league is taking drugs. There are some very intresting statements of Fuentes and other people of the "drugs business", who all say that football is not clean. And why would it? Considering the amout of money top clubs are making, they would be foolish if they would not improve their performance with drugs.

The problem with allowing drugs is, that a lot of athletes don't want to take them, but they get pressure by trainers, doctors, sponsors or shit. Even with them being illegal you are more or less forced to take them, if you want to be succesfull. And even if they are already talking whatever they want, I am quite sure that making it legal would make things worse, since you wouldn't need to hide anything.

 

[Myzozoa]

I have no problem with the use of steroids, and other medical enhancers, provided they're not harmful to the athletes long-term. Even if I didn't feel this way, I wouldn't blame the players. I doubt there are many players going around asking to be doped, it's their handlers that pressure them to do it.

 

[ModestGarchomp]

As a Jamaican I am disappointed but not surprised at all at these recent events.

I am still amazed at how people are shocked/surprised @ athletes taking these drugs.

 

[Myzozoa]

do we have a fantasy league set up yet?

 

[SuperScizor]

I do have a league created, unless someone else has one created already, I won't post the code.

 

[No Luck Involved]

Just remembered, next season we have Mourinho, Di Canio, Holloway and Allardyce in the same league and of course Wenger is still here trolling. Hopefully Joe Kinnear will pop out from time to time too. All we need is dirty Harry to come back with QPR and Benitez to take over somewhere and we'll have the ultimate troll manager league. And where's Sven Goren Eriksson these days?

 

[phalanx]

I got my fantasy team done :D

it would be rude not to go for Anelka

Stekelenburg

Mertesaker - Baines - Ivanovic - Clyne

Michu - Fellaini - Routledge - Scneiderlin

RVP - Anelka

bench

Bunn - Garrido - Carrick - Bony

 

[HBK]

This season is going to be an arm wrestling match between City and Chelsea. United can go fuck themselves.

 

[reyscarface]

cavani has left napoli to PSG for his buyout clause of 63m, he was spotted in paris yesterday so this isnt surprising. have to thank him for all his efforts all these years and helping napoli reach the top.

im a little sad its too late for napoli to buy jovetic, im scared they might go for damiao now, he blows.

in other news maicon is going to roma, negredo is going to man city, strootman is likely to go to roma and sunderland get giaccherini. spurs making a 23m move for benteke.

 

[HBK]

And De Rossi is likely to move to Chelsea; Strootman is being pursued by Roma as his long term replacement.

 

[No Luck Involved]

How many midfielders do Chelsea have now? 50?

Also why on earth is Mourinho not convinced by Mata? He works hard, has amazing technique, is fast, creative, can shoot, has vision... He's better than Hazard right now. He was better than Silva and Cazorla last season if I'm being honest (well Silva didn't really turn up, for a year). I can understand why he wants to get rid of Luiz though lol, nice haircut but plays like a headless chicken.

 

[HBK]

Chelsea have lots of attacking midfielders but only Mikel, Lampard, Romeu, Van ginkel and Essien to play as holding midfielders. Mikel is set to leave as Mourinho does not fancy him, Romeu has been shipped to Valencia on a season long loan and while Ramires had been deployed in that position many times during last season, he is shit over there and is better when played on the right wing. Essien might leave too. Van ginkel is more of a creater than a tackler unlike De Rossi who is a bit of both. And we haven't had a player like De Rossi for the past couple of seasons and we really need someone like him if we are to challenge City for the title.

 

[Dubby]

tbh sometimes i'm happy to see teams like man city and chelsea stack up players just so I can use them on FIFA next season

 

[Brap]

Beckford gone Bolton.

 

[No Luck Involved]

Oh yeah auto promotion candidates this time round? Bolton has to be up there right?

In unrelated Arsenal news, Giroud scores hat trick in a 7-1 win over Vietnam. I actually watched the game this time and yes Giroud's goals were again all brilliant finishes, but his play is still not good enough. This really concerns me because I hope it doesn't convince Wenger that Giroud is good enough. His overall play is still quite slow and his first touch is very average although it seems his finishing is looking more like it now. If we don't get a striker, we'll struggle for top 4. If we get any of the players we have been linked to we could challenge for the title, that's what's on the line this season imo. Giroud is a decent striker, but only good enough for backup if we're talking about a serious title challenging team.

The rest of the team was looking great btw, Sagna at centre back was immense and he's really looking like he's back to his old best. Ramsey looks reborn and a few of the youngsters have really turned up like Gnabry, Eisfeld and 17 year old Zelalem (made pass after defence splitting pass, played like the ghost of Fabregas). And I think Wenger finally thinks Ox is ready. God I hope Wenger just gives Liverpool the 40mil or RM the 25/30mil and just gets on with bedding them in to pre-season.