Wisdom Body

I think the stat in that table that best reflects what's seen on the pitch is the "short passes" one, not the "long balls" one. We aren't doing too well in that column either... We generally haven't been fluid to watch under Pardew, and unless it's to see what piece of skill Demba, Papiss or Ben Arfa can conjure, I can't imagine many neutrals scrambling to watch our games. It's an important point this one. Probably the reason why I've never been that crazy about our transfer policy or vaunted scouting network I definitely wouldn't say we have one of the strongest teams in the league like I've read elsewhere here, in fact in terms of overall squad strength, I'd say we're in mid-table. His cons have been well highlighted, but this is probably where Pardew's strongest pro comes from: the fact we've generally surpassed our and other's expectations under him. People usually talk about how he has improved our defence, but I don't see him as any defensive aficionado. The improved defence comes from a team-wide increase in tactical discipline, work-rate, professionalism and general mental strength ; I can't remember a NUFC team that has ground out as many narrow wins as this one. He has to demonstrate that he possesses qualities beyond these as a step towards us making further progress under him.

After the Xavi/Gerrard fan fic getting a tattoo of Liverpool players in the style of a culture that actively engaged in homoerotic activities seems logical I guess. Whatever floats your boat. Carragher clearly about to receive a litre of semen.

He's ended up being a much superior footballer to his childhood idol Giannini, whom I always thought could be elegant to watch but was largely ineffective when it counted. At his best physically (i'd say '98-'03) he was nigh on phenomenal, skillwise pretty much the total package as a trequartista as well as captain and on-pitch leader of the turn of the millenium Roma team that had several world-class players. At that period probably the only attacking mid. you'd put above him was Zidane. In the end though, I've always thought that he's lacked the mental maturity that would have got him more club success and the kind of worldwide recognition his talent deserved. Otherwise I pretty much hate him, an unadulterated bell-end even by footballers' standards. I don't think there's any other player who so regularly gets away with insulting referees to their faces, not to mention kicking Balotelli, spitting at Poulsen, stamping on Ramelow and many other acts of provoking opponents. Of all the famous italian 'bandiere' of recent times (Baresi, Maldini, Del Piero, Zanetti and the like) he's decidedly the one whom I least respect.

Another uninspiring outing. I knew we'd get away with it since Norwich are so poor, and our players probably did as well. I'll join in with the rest and say that Beren's post sums my view almost exactly. O'Neill gets criticised for being too conservative, but Pardew's no slouch when it comes to minimalism either. Plenty of teams ahead of us when it comes to organisation and agression in any case.

Just to add to what Yorkie said, alternating Cissé and Ba at the front would also make us deeper in attack since we'd only be playing 1 centre-forward at a time. We have several players who can play wide in a front 3: Marveaux, Amalfitano, Obertan, Jonas. I think Pardew knows all this, he just needs to grow the pair needed to drop either Cissé or Ba from game to game.

Nicolai Boilesen

Have to take my hat off to Atlético. A year ago everyone was laughing at them for spending all their Agüero cash on Falcao, but it's paid off in ridiculous style. He's basically carrying what's already a good team. With the stability they've found under Simeone the colchoneros should be battling it out for third spot with Valencia this season.

Not the nicest but probably the luckiest. I've said it before, but if it wasn't for the italian match-fixing scandal in 2006 he'd likely be coaching some mid-table Serie A team now. We should be grateful he's there to keep up the suspense; Mourinho in his place would have the league won by February. Sinclair will take what was Johnson's spot on the bench.

I'm not too fussed with age, but I'd prefer a different profile of attacker to Carroll. We're already struggling to fit two 'number 9s' in the same team, I can't imagine how it would be adding another one (for a lot of money). We probably need another Bellamy-type, who can be a supporting striker in a 4-4-2 or a wide attacker in a 4-3-3. I fear though, that Pardew might just be feigning lost interest to try and get Liverpool desperate.

1. 2-1 2. 0-0 3. 1-3 4. 0-1 5. 2-3 6. 1-1 7. 1-0 8. 2-1 9. 4-1 10. 0-2 11. 3-0

Not just him even. There were plenty of strikers at the time individually superior to any of those four, Shevchenko, Batistuta, Raúl, Shearer, Kluivert, Bergkamp etc. To be fair to Fergie though, I think he meant the 4 as a quartet, since they were fairly interchangeable. I'm not even sure he can say that now, since the drop-off from Van Persie-Rooney to Hernández-Kagawa would be significant imo.

Nice to get our first choice. Would compare him to Edgar Davids rather than Seerdof though, without the insane level of competitiveness and agression of course.

That piece reminds of one of those exam questions you get, "Describe 10 causes of depression in crustaceans." You can barely think of 1 but have to write something, so you're stretching credibility by no. 3, transcribing dreams by no. 5, putting random words together by no. 7 and basically doodling by no. 10: "O'Neill's teams are always successful."

Off-topic, Diarra was horrendous last season. He's on the decline and high wages as well. OM supporters are literally filled with glee at his departure. He didn't even seem to be trying most of the season. He looked quite good in the France friendlies this summer. He's physically done so he tends to pick and choose his games. He'll cover each blade of grass against Man Utd, then sleepwalk during the next 6 games against Wigan, Stoke, Reading etc. West Ham seem to be going for names rather than perfomance or coherence.

yet they can control themselves in other sports, i wonder why ? My take on this is that what you see on the pitch is simply a reflection of the general culture of the sport in a country. In most countries football is 'the people's sport', consequently attracting most of the society and therefore the worst elements of it. Many football fans were/are louts and hooligans, many football managers are underhanded and cutthroat, football club owners are all sorts of dodgy characters with dubious intentions and football referees are easily influenced and corruptible. With this environment players can't expected to be altar boys. You might see less of this behaviour in other sports because they are more 'elite' and selective. Not to mention the fact that in most countries high-level football today is much more high-stakes than other sports, so people will be pushed to the edge, provoked and react. You're not going to teach common courtesy to grown men, so the only way to cut down on bad behaviour is with resultant on-and-off-pitch penalties: cards, suspensions and fines.

I'd say it's risky. He seems a bit monodimensional to me; his main trick being using his blistering pace to make Kaká-like runs into the box. Seems to be the sort of player who'd fit better in a mainly counter-attacking team, although Fergie might help develop him. Not sure about him or Neymar being the 'new Denilson', but I reckon Ganso would be the 'new Riquelme' in Europe. I also don't know what Kagawa has to do with Nani and Valencia, considering that in his natural position at Man Utd there's also the ogreish figure of Rooney.

We might be able to play hardball over Carroll, but we have very narrow margins within which to do that in this case, since Lille don't need to sell him. If you want good Premier League-ready players - like Debuchy - you're inevitably going to pay more money. Like we did with Cissé, despite there being arguably less guarantees to his success in England. Otherwise you take a gamble on a cheaper player

Cazorla and Sahin would be a pisser. TBF, you could argue they're both additions to their attacking midfielder mountain. I see it like this as well. Şahin's pretty much the archetypal Wenger-Arsenal player, but I don't see what qualities he brings that Arsenal lack. I assume he's always been a favourite of Wenger's and there's little to lose with a loan. I'd be more sold on Cazorla since he's in his prime, healthy and direct unlike Arshavin and Rosicky, could be a good addition depending on the price. They've had a good window so far with the (necessary) signings of Giroud and Podolski. Just need to get a Centre Back and Full Back in and they'll be much closer to the top than last year, particularly if they somehow hold onto RVP.

Williams' name might sound less exotic than some of the others rumoured, but he would be difficult to get from Swansea, considering his status at the club and the club involved (as seen with Neil Taylor). In any case I think he would be an intelligent signing. I like his, increasingly rare, profile: mobile, athletic, disciplined centre back, with an apparently solid, mature pitch personality. Just my impressions from a double-handful of Swansea games I've seen recently, can't speak on his long-term going.

Can't, won't and shouldn't pay anywhere near what Liverpool want or what West Ham have supposedly offered for a player who wouldn't be certain of a spot in the starting 11, particularly when there are still more urgent squad holes to fill. Remains to be seen just how concrete this West Ham interest is; even if it is the usual transfer fiction, it's been cast well, since if there's a club I see making such a bid it's definitely the pornographers and the pachyderm.

It's not all doom and gloom that 'pool list, Suárez, Enrique and Bellamy were good value-for-money acquisitions. In fact in these days of crazy money paying only £23m for Suárez was a bit of a coup. The eye-watering sums paid for Carroll, Henderson and Downing more than negate all the good stuff though. By now everyone knows that Liverpool just want rid of Carroll so there's no way they're getting that £20m they want. Give them £12m towards the end of August and they'll deliver him to your doorstep.

Leonardo's third attempt at helping to clear Milan's debt.

I've been assuming that the money would come from Spurs finally flogging Modric. Just like Sigurdsson for van der Vaart, Oscar would be an ideal replacement in terms of talent, if not experience...but even Modric didn't exactly set the league alight when he arrived. I think you'd be better off pursuing Oscar instead of Damião with your Inter 'link', seems more like the real deal.

That Marseille shirt should be the one commemorating 20 years since they won the Champions' League, that's why it has the retro badge and the tricolor on the collar and sleeves. They'll likely use it in Europe.