The TT Football Club

[Feña14]

Originally Posted by NickC

Yeah I'm actually excited for City, whoever makes it out of that group will make it to the final at the very least. They've got the quality to give anyone in their group a real test, and the fans must be overjoyed to be able to have the likes of Real Madrid, Dortmund and Ajax grace their pitch.

I wouldn't say whoever gets through it will go to the final Madrid might though. Ajax aren't that great, so it will be a shootout between the other 3 I think. Dortmund didn't do too well last year so they will be under pressure. I still expect Madrid and City to go through.

No doubt it's a tough group though. I think we should get out of ours, Skakhtar is going to be a tough trip, then you get into their stadium with the noise and a pretty good, technical team, the weather might well be cold too. I think Juventus could be the surprise package of the tournament, if you can call them that. I wouldn't be surprised to see them get to the semi's maybe.

The paper this morning had Madrid, City, Juventus and Barcelona as the semi finalists. Sounds like a decent bet.

[Feña14]

Looks like being a busy day then.

Carroll already gone to West Ham, Arsenal want Essien, Meireles could go, Sturridge to Liverpool, Schurrle coming in, Javi Garcia at Man City, whatever Tottenham do. One for Nick aswell, Vargas to Genoa it looks like.

Oh and then the main event, the Super Cup

[NickC]

Originally Posted by Feña14

Looks like being a busy day then.

Carroll already gone to West Ham, Arsenal want Essien, Meireles could go, Sturridge to Liverpool, Schurrle coming in, Javi Garcia at Man City, whatever Tottenham do. One for Nick aswell, Vargas to Genoa it looks like.

Oh and then the main event, the Super Cup

I still don't know why Meireles is going, yeah he's not amazing but he's a decent utility man in the midfield and can play in two positions we're lacking in; central midfield and holding midfield. He can pass, shoot, dribble, whatever. Giving him up unless it's for a player and cash would be a mistake unless we have a world class player lined up.

LOL Arsenal want Essien? Schurrle is good, still young too!

[Feña14]

Originally Posted by NickC

I still don't know why Meireles is going, yeah he's not amazing but he's a decent utility man in the midfield and can play in two positions we're lacking in; central midfield and holding midfield. He can pass, shoot, dribble, whatever. Giving him up unless it's for a player and cash would be a mistake unless we have a world class player lined up.

LOL Arsenal want Essien? Schurrle is good, still young too!

We've been pretty quiet apart from sending out a few on loan, that and according to Twitter, Man Utd rejected a £38 Million bid for Howard Webb

Meireles doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Schurrle was all over every paper last night, everyone had the story at the same time so I thought it was pretty much a done thing. Today though and nothing has been mentioned, weird! Remy is the one that has been, £16 Million I think it was.

Javi Garcia for £16 Million is a good buy I think. Talks for Moutinho with Spurs broke down, but looks like they will get Lloris.

[Breaker]

Falcao yet again, BEAST, bet Chelsea put in a bid before half time. Torres goes the other way and they play for the other team second half

[Breaker]

Wowowowowowowowowowowowo

WOW.

My word

[NickC]

Falcao is a f*cking animal. 100 million plus Torres, GET IT DONE ROMAN!

And what's this I'm hearing of Real Madrid putting a bid in......to sign Essien of all people. They're trying to ditch Lass Diarra and want Essien to be their backup hard man in midfield. Odd choice, but maybe Mou can turn him back into the player he was 7 years ago.

Dempsey to Spurs confirmed!?!?!?!

[Feña14]

Dempsey is having a medical at Spurs yeah, all done.

As for the game tonight, well that wasn't embarrasing at all not really surprising though. We just didn't have any control in midfield, couldn't get a foot hold in the game on any level. Not dynamic enough, no creativity to get the ball to Mata or Hazard, they couldn't create any space or have the passing ability to get out of tight situations.

It's the same thing we've seen for years and done nothing about. Any team with a strong, balanced midfield know they can do that Chelsea.

[Feña14]

Originally Posted by NickC

Falcao is a f*cking animal. 100 million plus Torres, GET IT DONE ROMAN!

And what's this I'm hearing of Real Madrid putting a bid in......to sign Essien of all people. They're trying to ditch Lass Diarra and want Essien to be their backup hard man in midfield. Odd choice, but maybe Mou can turn him back into the player he was 7 years ago.

Dempsey to Spurs confirmed!?!?!?!

Yeah, when Essien was left out of the squad you knew something was happening.

That leaves our midfield for the season with Romeu (has he even played under Di Matteo?) Mikel, Lampard and Meireles. I've heard of parking the bus, but teams will be driving it straight through the middle of us!

[Ross K]

The usual tortuous last day transfer countdown for Spurs fans - quite why it always has to be like this at WHL is a bit of a mystery to me. The likes of your AFCs and MUFCs etc usually wrap their signings up well before the final day.

And how disappointing too, with plenty of players sold etc, and especially after eventually flogging Modric, and then yesterday, Van Der Vaart - without question the fans were really wanting and semi-expecting Moutinho. So, whilst arguably Lloris and Dempsey are good signings (I´m not sure about Lloris TBH and still think we need a top notch top tier forward), where oh where is the creativity in midfield???

I don´t get it quite frankly...

How´s everyone else feeling now re their squads after the transfer window has shut?

[Feña14]

Originally Posted by Ross K

The usual tortuous last day transfer countdown for Spurs fans - quite why it always has to be like this at WHL is a bit of a mystery to me. The likes of your AFCs and MUFCs etc usually wrap their signings up well before the final day.

And how disappointing too, with plenty of players sold etc, and especially after eventually flogging Modric, and then yesterday, Van Der Vaart - without question the fans were really wanting and semi-expecting Moutinho. So, whilst arguably Lloris and Dempsey are good signings (I´m not sure about Lloris TBH and still think we need a top notch top tier forward), where oh where is the creativity in midfield???

I don´t get it quite frankly...

How´s everyone else feeling now re their squads after the transfer window has shut?

We're one striker short, and the midfield has got worse with Essien going (if that was even possible). We had 4 problem areas, and solved two, which is good. The striking problem can be solved in the next window or two. The midfield won't be solved for awhile, that's what will hold us back.

As for Spurs, I think going after Moutinho was a mistake. Great player and would be good for Spurs, but Porto are so tough to deal with. Look at how they hung on and overpriced Hulk all summer. For Spurs to think they could pull of a deal for Moutinho in a day was never going to happen. Even so, good keeper, centre back, Dembele, Adeb&yor, Sigurdsson, Dempsey etc.. it's a decent window!

[Breaker]

Villash-Boash out, bring back 'arry

[Ross K]

OMG... for the second week running AVB has gone all ultra defensive defending a one goal lead against a team we should be bossing and got us pegged back... as the forums reveal all too clearly, they are really loving this over at the Bridge... so, just a few weeks in and the pressure is already massively piled on to AVB´s shoulders... poor results... poor transfer window IMO... and the top sides still to play... I´m not going to lie to you lads, I´m feeling nervous.

On a wider note, I´ll say again one of the things I´m most looking forward to this season though is seeing how Lambert, Rodgers and Laudrup - as well as AVB - fare with their sides this season. All have some excellent, attractive credentials, and I certainly paid each one serious consideration when thinking who I wanted to replace Redknapp at Spurs. It will be fascinating to watch.

[Feña14]

Originally Posted by Ross K

OMG... for the second week running AVB has gone all ultra defensive defending a one goal lead against a team we should be bossing and got us pegged back... as the forums reveal all too clearly, they are really loving this over at the Bridge... so, just a few weeks in and the pressure is already massively piled on to AVB´s shoulders... poor results... poor transfer window IMO... and the top sides still to play... I´m not going to lie to you lads, I´m feeling nervous.

On a wider note, I´ll say again one of the things I´m most looking forward to this season though is seeing how Lambert, Rodgers and Laudrup - as well as AVB - fare with their sides this season. All have some excellent, attractive credentials, and I certainly paid each one serious consideration when thinking who I wanted to replace Redknapp at Spurs. It will be fascinating to watch.

Agreed, the teams in Premier League this year are all very strong. West Brom are doing very well, as are Swansea. Southampton have showed they won't be easy either. QPR have alot of good players and will do well I think. Everton who usually have a rubbish start have got off toa decent one this time too.

As for AVB, I didn't see todays game. You say he went defensive? That's interesting! At Chelsea he loved the high line and our defense was pretty poor. Interesting to see him going for a different approach at Spurs. You'd of thought with the strong midfield, wingers and attackers he would of looked to focus on that so it's a strange one, your defense isn't your strength imo.

[PureAlph4]

I wouldn't worry too much.

There are no exceptional teams / squads in the 4th - 8th place mini-league, and I don't think any team is consistent enough to build up a lead. A relatively strong start isn't critical as every one of those teams will have at least a couple of bad spells of 5 or so games.

Really need at least a point at Anfield tomorrow to get our points tally moving, or at least a goal! Liverpool were effective last week against City (notwithstanding the masochism - a trait both clubs share) and Arsenal have been strong in possession (but with no cutting edge), so it will be interesting to see how the game turns out.

For me this is the first hurdle at which the effect of the sale of Song can be judged. It is all well and good playing 'weaker' teams at home with no genuine shield for your defence, but away against a 'stronger' team is where you need at least one. Arteta seems to have been sitting deepest of the MFs, and against Stoke there were plenty of occasions where he was scampering back to try and disrupt the opposition counter, but that is not his game. Wenger clearly believes in Coquelin, but we'll see tomorrow whether he actually has him earmarked for that role, or whether he plans to proceed with the (suicidal in my view) option of not playing a genuine DM against the best opponents. The next few fixtures will tell: Liverpool (A), Southampton (H), City (A), Chelsea (H). If we don't start scoring we could very easily be on 3 points after 6 games (a bit like last year)!

[Feña14]

Originally Posted by PureAlph4

I wouldn't worry too much.

There are no exceptional teams / squads in the 4th - 8th place mini-league, and I don't think any team is consistent enough to build up a lead. A relatively strong start isn't critical as every one of those teams will have at least a couple of bad spells of 5 or so games.

Really need at least a point at Anfield tomorrow to get our points tally moving, or at least a goal! Liverpool were effective last week against City (notwithstanding the masochism - a trait both clubs share) and Arsenal have been strong in possession (but with no cutting edge), so it will be interesting to see how the game turns out.

For me this is the first hurdle at which the effect of the sale of Song can be judged. It is all well and good playing 'weaker' teams at home with no genuine shield for your defence, but away against a 'stronger' team is where you need at least one. Arteta seems to have been sitting deepest of the MFs, and against Stoke there were plenty of occasions where he was scampering back to try and disrupt the opposition counter, but that is not his game. Wenger clearly believes in Coquelin, but we'll see tomorrow whether he actually has him earmarked for that role, or whether he plans to proceed with the (suicidal in my view) option of not playing a genuine DM against the best opponents. The next few fixtures will tell: Liverpool (A), Southampton (H), City (A), Chelsea (H). If we don't start scoring we could very easily be on 3 points after 6 games (a bit like last year)!

I think that Chelsea game coming up could be amazing. On paper you should do very well, you have the kind of passing in midfield we can't compete with. Hazard, Mata and Torres will fancy themselves against the Arsenal defence though. Could be another high scoring game like last year, although there is no van Persie to punish us this time

[Feña14]

Quick question. Anyone have any thoughts about the coloured nets we see more these days? Man City have black ones, Everton blue, Liverpool have the red ones again now like in the '90's.
Chelsea had black ones 8 or so years ago, I much prefer them to regular white ones.

[Feña14]

An agreement between Chelsea and Atletico has been agreed? £48 Million in January? Nice

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...m-January.html

[Breaker]

Originally Posted by Feña14

Quick question. Anyone have any thoughts about the coloured nets we see more these days? Man City have black ones, Everton blue, Liverpool have the red ones again now like in the '90's.
Chelsea had black ones 8 or so years ago, I much prefer them to regular white ones.

Black is the way forward, looks sexy as

Originally Posted by Feña14

An agreement between Chelsea and Atletico has been agreed? £48 Million in January? Nice

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...m-January.html

Just in time to save your lot from a relegation scrap then, good business if true which I'd wager it isn't

[Feña14]

Originally Posted by Breaker

Black is the way forward, looks sexy as

Just in time to save your lot from a relegation scrap then, good business if true which I'd wager it isn't

It does look good, all colours do I think. It's a shame we got rid of the black ones, the white ball against the black net was nice!

Yeah i'm sure it's not true either. It's all over South America, that's where the story came from. Would be great to have him but let's be honest, we don't give our forwards alot to go on. Torres had 1 half chance yesterday, that was it. Maybe Falcao would of scored it, but the chances need to be there. If I were him i'd be happy living off the chances Atletico are creating for him at the moment! The huge wages would be nice, but he seems like he loves scoring.