Village Idiot

Benzema can be pretty canny I think, he needs time and less pressure. He won't find that at Real Madrid though. Problem is that he was hyped way too much and now it looks like a flop. I can perfectly see him succeeding at whatever club they might sell him to.

Cronaldo prefers to play central though, and what Cronaldo wants Cronaldo gets. It would be the best solution, since they lack good wingers.

The other names thrown around are Agüero and Villa, which while talented don't really fit in their starting XI. But that's the way of Florentino. If they really look after signing a new #9 that's it for Benzema I presume. They are very close to sign Canales from Racing, too. He should know he'll never make it there.

Fuck, I have Torres in my FF team I dread the moment Benítez's sacked though, since he's the biggest reason I despise L'pool. (the only team I really dislike outside Spain).

Marca reporting that Madrid will bid for Rooney in the summer, given ManU's financial trouble. Now, I'd hate to see him play for Real, but it would be funny somehow. They claim he's been valued at €84m.

When's Jagielka coming back?

Can't believe Atlético didn't exact even a token million or so for Maxi, they are truly desperate.

0-1, Barça out on away goals... we could have scored half a dozen but Palop had an incredible night on goal.

Arse, Messi hits the woodwork, so many wasted chances.

Xavi, get in! 0-1, Sevilla's keeper playing the game of his life.

I'm really in no position of poking fun at Liverpool for getting out early of the cup, but what the hell I'll do it anyway :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

FFS Torres is in my FF team, don't get injuried again dammit

The net spend amount is heavily distorted by the Cronaldo transfer though. It speaks volumes that money remains largely unspent, though.

Hehe, I read this cartoon every day when I'm back in Spain. Just good ole' blame deflecting on the ref, business as usual

Spain has 48 hour days jesus mate?! How do you see the game going? Not optimistic, We need to score two and don't concede at their turf, so they can just wait and hit us in the counter, something which they are great at.

Maxi Rodríguez? Not at all, he destroyed his knee a 3 seasons ago, but recovered from it well and he's been fine ever since.

Atlético's finances are in tatters, a recent independent study put their debt at €510m, second highest in the league and more than Barça for example.

Keeping with the cup theme, Barça plays the second league against Sevilla this evening (21pm start). Should be a cracker and I hope we put up a good fight!

Allardyce complaining about foreign signings in the EPL? Talk about the kettle calling the pot black fat.

Isn't Djourou out until like April or May? You look like at last presenting a credible challenge for a title again, and these next few months are critical.

Do you remember you lost that game, don't you? Bad signing too, Wenger should be building your depth at the back, this is only a patch (and a bad one probably).

In my opinion, a target man is the guy you give the ball to upfront and he keeps possession while allowing the rest of the line to come forward and exploit the openings that are created when the defence focuses on him. That's why height and strength are great assets as they help to obtain and shield the ball. He is not meant to finish the play, but to be the last link point of it.

Or strikers be tall I guess ultimately it's a question of semantics. Yes, Barça uses Zlatan as target man sometimes, bombing the ball to him or having him play with his back against the defence, but he does lead the line.

We use Zlatan's height and ability to retain possession upfront, but I really wouldn't call him a "target man" for us. It's just that his bag of tricks is so large. We did use Henrik Larsson as a target man during our League/CL double in 2005-2006 though. He was an impact player however.

Genius