Gert & TheBoy's Official VNA Soccer... err Football Thread

[Gert-Jan]

It's time for the breaking news klaxon! Every season rokkerr asks whether or not Arsenal could win the title, well, today's club record signing of Alexandre Lacazette on a 5-year deal and €53m transfer fee certainly boosts their chances for sure. The Frenchman is a top top striker - yes, I sound like your average pundit now - who will lead the line in one of the Premier League's most attacking sides which screams goals! I had already mentioned him when writing about former teammate Tolisso's move to Bayern Munich and I'm really excited about seeing Lacazette in England every week. He's just as fast as Walcott but has the end product which Theo lacks and his Ligue 1 CV speaks for itself with 91 goals and 16 assists in 133 league appearances across the last 4 seasons. Arsenal have not had this kind of quality centre-forward since Van Persie. If Mahrez also comes to the Emirates, I'd say the starting XI looks pretty impressive.

Everton's spending spree is indeed one with seemingly no limits. Sandro Ramirez's £5.2m buy-out clause could prove to be a real bargain buy, though. Part of Barcelona's youth set-up, Ramirez has always had a bright future ahead of him which stalled due to a lack of first-team action. Ramirez has great technical ability, extraordinary pace and he can play various roles; running in behind defences or holding up the ball for midfielders to come into play. He can be deployed on the wing, number 10 or number 9 position, although he won't be the like-for-like replacement of Lukaku. You'd think Koeman will opt for an experienced striker... maybe Rooney? His agent Paul Stretford met with Bill Kenwright today.

I'm more optimistic than Drew about Keane's move to Goodison. I agree that he does still have a lot to learn and needs to develop certain aspects of defending, but I feel Koeman is the right manager for him at this stage of his career. My guess is Keane will partner Williams in central defence as last season showed that Koeman didn't fully trust either Jagielka or Funes Mori. More signings to be expected with Gylfi Sigurdsson next on the list. Will they also bring in a new right-back or are Holgate and Kenny gonna battle for that spot?

The papers are reporting that Jose Mourinho is unhappy with Woodward as only one target (Lindelof) has been signed so far. Inter Milan's improved financial situation means they don't have to sell Perisic anymore, Alvaro Morata hasn't arrived because Real Madrid won't lower the price and Matic isn't allowed to leave Stamford Bridge as Chelsea have not yet secured the services of Monaco's Bakayoko. It all leads to frustration with Man United's US tour starting on Sunday.

• Messi extents his contract with Barcelona until 2021.
• Defender Pepe signs with Besiktas, presumably because of Turkey's lovely tax climate for footballers.
• Chelsea have bought AS Roma's Rudiger for £33m after Nathan Ake joined Bournemouth on a long term deal.

[PeterL22]

OK Gert-Jan - some great points!
On the Arsenal front - they play some of the prettiest football in the league but want to pass the ball into the net! Walcott was in and out of team and difficult to fully appraise their season. Also Ramsey - by far their best mid-fielder didn't play loads of games (always a good chance of a Ramsey goal). Lacazette certainly looks a great buy for them - a team actually looking at what they need and buying it rather than what's available or makes headlines! I'll also repeat that Sanchez and Ozil staying will be a key ingredient in a successful season. Back to Lacazette - only concern is the massive difference between Ligue 1 and PL - can he step up?

Everton are doing a Man Utd - spending all their Christmas money in a hurry. Keane, I think is a good buy - alongside Williams (who isn't that good but somehow gets the guys around him playing so much better) he will do well! They really don't want Rooney back - he is now officially cr*p! He is slower, fatter and spends more time arguing with the ref than doing anything positive - I'm always happy to see him in the Man Utd team when we play them - he's keeping a better player out. He is living on his reputation alone nowadays - realistically he is mid-Championship standard now.

Jose is just sulking because Man Utd aren't getting all the transfer headlines before they fly off on their propaganda tour. Looking at it logically, apart from a new left back and a replacement for Zlatan, they don't really need much anyway!

Final interesting piece of news is recent press interview with Hull City manager Slutski (great name!). He is a big pal of Abramovich and is already talking about getting players from Chelsea on loan - Hull's gain will be Eredivise's loss! Watch this space!

[rokkerr]

Jose must have read your post Peter... goodbye Rooney... hello Lukaku...

[PeterL22]

Lukaku was unhappy at Everton - he seems to be a very "emotional" player - when he is happy he is awesome! Deal probably going on for a while behind the scenes. Not sure how good it is - don't think (considering cost etc) its as good as the deal they did for Zlatan.
Rooney is crap - can't put it nay other way. Everton would be stupid to take him back.
I'm waiting for Man City & Chelski to make their big signings - they have been a bit quiet.
Apparently rokker you're a Gooner!?! Lacazette may be a great signing or not - as I may have said holding on to Sanchez is Arsenal's key. Now that Tuchel is free, keeping Arsene on may be a mistake - just think of the football your lot could play under Tuchel!
Every morning I say a little prayer that Athletico will get Costa - good riddance if he goes!

[PeterL22]

Still think Lukaku will go to Man Utd, but there is one talk about Chelski being interested.
Iheanacho has interest from Bournemouth of all people and Saints have been linked with Wimmer of Spurs (yet another defender)

[PeterL22]

Deal of the summer must go to the Man Utd transfer team who bought Lukaku and managed to recoup some of the fee from Everton by offloading Looney in the opposite direction!
Beat that Pep!
Correction on yesterday's post - its Leicester who are after Iheanacho not Bournemouth (don't know why I got that wrong).

[PeterL22]

Everton really are breaking open the piggy bank this summer. They are trying to get Gylfie Sigusson from Swansea (asking price said to be 50 million); which is a good buy - one of most underrated players in Premier League. Also Giroud is in their sites - are they going to do a Man Utd and get a load of expensive individuals who can't play together as a team?

And by the way the Virgil van Dyke saga continues - rumours saying he still wants to go to Liverhampton and NO other club will do - what an idiot!

[PeterL22]

ManUtd.jpeg (8.86 KiB) Viewed 50 times

Here's one for all you Man Utd fans out there - you know who you are!

[TheBoy]

I'm pretty surprised that Lukaku has chosen to work with Jose once again. Let's not forget, it was Jose who shunted him off to West Brom out of Chelsea shortly after Lukaku missed a vital penalty (I forget which game/competition exactly, but remember the incident!) after he had failed to find the net even once in a blue shirt. To say that Jose didn't understand Lukaku is an understatement!

Whilst we know that, now more than ever, Jose only knows how to play with a target man up top, it makes sense for them to go for Lukaku. However, for him personally, I'm pretty shocked he didn't go for the Chelsea option, especially as it looked as though they were willing to match the £75m transfer fee. Whether Everton had their hands tied (or maybe greased) with the Rooney factor in this deal and thus couldn't accept the Chelsea offer is another question of course.

I think Lukaku will do ok at United and should pretty much guarantee them 20 goals. However, I do think that we have seen more than a few times whilst at Everton that he can be prolific and look beastly in patches but then go through very poor spells where he looks like he has no idea what's going on. With United playing a defensive game where he's expected to snaffle the few chances that come his way each game, it will be interesting to see how he handles the pressure.

But forget all the transfer news, the big story is that Fantasy Football is back! I've just reactivated the VNA Army league so Peter, Rokkerr and everyone else who is up for joining in, the league code to join is: 220081-71091. I see Gert has already reactivated his team! It's looking pretty tough this year to get good value as a lot of players are very highly priced. Moses for instance sticks out for me at a whopping 6.5m due to his position change to a defender! Eric Dier has also curiously been returned to being a midfielder, which is odd considering he's most likely to play in a back 3.

Anyway, good luck everyone!

[PeterSwede]

I'm so freaking happy right now. My local soccer-team ÖFK won over the Turkish team Galatsarai with 2-0 And they use to be a really good team, even won over Manchester United once. And i think they even played in Champions League once. Now ÖFK is very close to be playing in Europe League.
You americans problably dont understand a shit what I'm talking about now lol.
But for the city i live in This is huge.

[CGYMike]

I've just reactivated the VNA Army league so Peter, Rokkerr and everyone else who is up for joining in, the league code to join is: 220081-71091. I see Gert has already reactivated his team!

Ok dudes...I need a little more help than this to find your league and jump in...I'm going to assume that it's in Yahoo Fantasy Sports but thats as far as I can get.


Cheers and Thanks
Mike

[Gert-Jan]

For all fantasy newbies...

• Set up a FREE account at https://fantasy.premierleague.com - an estimated 4 million people play the #FPL game.
• Pick a 15-man squad with your £100m budget or just click "AutoPick". You can tinker until the 11 August deadline.
• Click the "Leagues" tab to join the VNA Army league with code 220081-71091.
• Manage your team weekly and rack up the points!

PeterSwede, local team success can be quite overwhelming and it's great to hear your enthusiasm. Just keep in mind this is only the second qualifying round and there are five matches to go before actually reaching the Europa League group stage. It is evident Galatasaray have been surpassed by Fenerbahce and Besiktas in recent years, but it's still extraordinary for a Swedish club like Östersunds FK to beat them comfortably without conceding. What follows now will be a hectic second-leg game in Turkey next week. If they manage to scrape through, they will most likely draw another tough opponent in the third round.

Romelu Lukaku officially becoming a Man United player is a deal which definitely took a long ass time to get done by Woodward. I also thought the Belgian powerhouse was gonna end up with Chelsea as that would have made the most sense. The Blues waited too long with a bid and although they eventually did match the £75m transfer fee, they were unwilling to pay the same agent fee as United. Mino Raiola must surely have his own office at Old Trafford by now with Zlatan, Pogba, Micky and Romelu all moved there within the last year. Lukaku himself addressed in the exclusive ESPN interview after joining United that he was the one requesting a transfer when playing at Chelsea and that the relationship with Mourinho has always been very good. A young boy who desperately wanted more playing time just like Ake, Loftus-Cheek and Chalobah now.

I think Lukaku can take United to new heights for two reasons, namely the fact Mourinho's teams always do better in his second season at the helm and Lukaku's impressive conversion stat will help United see off low-ranked teams. The latter is something which Zlatan failed to do with the home match against Burnley a clear example. The bromance with Pogba could be a major factor too as the two of them have been close friends since their youth, while the expected signing of Matic will allow Pogba to move into the number 10 role and we've seen at Juventus that he has the qualities to thrive in that position. So yeah, I'm very excited and optimistic about Man United's title chances.

Tottenham Hotspur are about to lose prolific England international and attacking full-back Kyle Walker to Man City for an initial £45m with Trippier ready to take over his spot. However, Spurs are reportedly interested in Porto's Ricardo Pereira. The crazy wage demands of Dani Alves made City's main target move to PSG on Wednesday. The Sky Blues only have four defenders under contract and Monaco's Benjamin Mendy could be the answer for their problem at left-back.

[CGYMike]

Thanks Gert for the assistance...I think I am sort of set up. I have absolutely no friggin' idea what I am doing and have a lot of homework in the next couple of weeks to get up to speed.

So is this a cash league? Who is taking my money and where do I send it? or does this league only hold bragging rights?

[PeterL22]

Think I've signed up - I'm in a list with Mike and the guys anyways!

[TheBoy]

Cool both Mike and Peter have signed up! It's bragging rights only, although Rokkerr has sorted out an actual trophy for last season :)

I think there will be plenty of tinkering ahead in the coming weeks as more big signings roll into the Premier League. Alvaro Morata is the latest as he finally gets his move to England with Chelsea. With Antonio Conte signing a refreshed contract on Monday, it seemed inevitable that a big signing was just around the corner. Having worked with Morata at Juventus, the move makes total sense and should be great replacement for the one and only (thank goodness!) Diego Costa.

What I find a little curious, is that whilst it looked like United were hot on the tail of Morata, Real Madrid were reportedly asking for around £80m but yet Chelsea are by all accounts signing him for around £58m... We know teams can play games with each other as they try to get the higher ground, but would Madrid really have put such a high price on Morata purely for example to try and force United into offering David De Gea? Quite probably now I think about it and knowing Madrid lol.

Regarding Kyle Walker, I have to say I'm sad more than anything about him leaving. Financially, I can totally see why it's happened - Walker will have tripled his wages and for Spurs, it's hard to turn down a world record fee of over £50m for a defender even from a league rival. I can also see that at his age, his value is probably at it's peak. And as for actual ability, well I think we only have to look at the fact that 3 years ago Kyle Walker was considered to be average at best whilst now at Spurs he's been classed amongst the best right backs in the world. When we mull over what also took place during those 3 years, it will be very interesting to see if Pep can keep up the same ethics and work rate in Walker as he did at Spurs. Personally, I'm not convinced but we shall have to see.

But despite all that, I always think it's sad when a player who was the 3rd longest serving at the club and had seemingly taken it to heart playing a big role in the club's social media and generally being a big representative as a whole decides to leave for money reasons. It can be argued that at City he's got a better chance of winning trophies and maybe he's right. But on form of the last couple of seasons, that's not guaranteed to be the case.

Also, one more staggering fact for you: over the past 4 seasons, Manchester City have spent around £200m on defensive players alone! Stones, Walker, Bravo, Ederson, Otamendi, Mangala...

[PeterL22]

Cool both Mike and Peter have signed up! It's bragging rights only, although Rokkerr has sorted out an actual trophy for last season :)

I think there will be plenty of tinkering ahead in the coming weeks as more big signings roll into the Premier League. Alvaro Morata is the latest as he finally gets his move to England with Chelsea. With Antonio Conte signing a refreshed contract on Monday, it seemed inevitable that a big signing was just around the corner. Having worked with Morata at Juventus, the move makes total sense and should be great replacement for the one and only (thank goodness!) Diego Costa.

What I find a little curious, is that whilst it looked like United were hot on the tail of Morata, Real Madrid were reportedly asking for around £80m but yet Chelsea are by all accounts signing him for around £58m... We know teams can play games with each other as they try to get the higher ground, but would Madrid really have put such a high price on Morata purely for example to try and force United into offering David De Gea? Quite probably now I think about it and knowing Madrid lol.

Regarding Kyle Walker, I have to say I'm sad more than anything about him leaving. Financially, I can totally see why it's happened - Walker will have tripled his wages and for Spurs, it's hard to turn down a world record fee of over £50m for a defender even from a league rival. I can also see that at his age, his value is probably at it's peak. And as for actual ability, well I think we only have to look at the fact that 3 years ago Kyle Walker was considered to be average at best whilst now at Spurs he's been classed amongst the best right backs in the world. When we mull over what also took place during those 3 years, it will be very interesting to see if Pep can keep up the same ethics and work rate in Walker as he did at Spurs. Personally, I'm not convinced but we shall have to see.

But despite all that, I always think it's sad when a player who was the 3rd longest serving at the club and had seemingly taken it to heart playing a big role in the club's social media and generally being a big representative as a whole decides to leave for money reasons. It can be argued that at City he's got a better chance of winning trophies and maybe he's right. But on form of the last couple of seasons, that's not guaranteed to be the case.

Also, one more staggering fact for you: over the past 4 seasons, Manchester City have spent around £200m on defensive players alone! Stones, Walker, Bravo, Ederson, Otamendi, Mangala...

Sorry old chap - two simple reasons Walker has moved on - more dosh (main incentive for a lot of PL players) and sad fact that he has more chance of winning competitions. I anticipate Spurs to struggle this season - a little overachieved last season and the Wembley hoodo! Added to that the extra pressure of Champions League football.
Guardiola is often quoted as being an attraction for players and that may still be true, but I think that's waning. Like Klopp he is under major pressure to win a major trophy this season - the natives are getting restless. Personally, I think it proves that he is a good manager NOT a great one - bet I could win league with Bayern or Barca!
You are right about money Man City have spent on defenders - but lets be honest they have been ripped off on numerous occasions - certainly Everton saw them coming with Stones!
Its odd really, because their midfield and forward signings are pretty good , but the defenders are crap - although I wouldn't put Walker in that category!

[PeterL22]

Hot off the press - well Sky Sports news.
Pelligrino (Saints manager) has said that Virgil Van Dyke is training on his own because he has said he wants to leave the club.
It may be interesting, because big statements over last few weeks from Saints' board saying "He is NOT for sale". We do have 4 other centre backs at the club so he could find himself playing a fair bit for the U23 team.
Look for a fee in excess of £70 million if Liverpool come crawling back - or even Arsenal, Chelski etc

[CGYMike]

If any of you guys place behind me in this league, there is going to be some major shaming going on. I have absolutely no idea what I am doing, but I'm going to give it my all to get educated. Who knows...miracles have been known to happen :)

[PeterL22]

Top tip Mike - keep an eye on your team - the way the transfer market is going half of it may not be playing in the Premier League by the time it starts!

[PeterL22]

Quick post about Virgil Van Dyke - in case the Mad German (Klopp) is watching.
I went to see Saints' friendly at Brentford on Saturday - Virgil wasn't there, and isn't going to training camp in France with rest of squad. 1500 Saints fans there - not bad for an away pre-season friendly (sold out ticket allocation) - and we used to sing a Virgil song (to the tune of Don't Take me Home) which went
"We've got Van Dyke, Virgil van Dyke; I guess you just don't understand; He's (originally Ronald Koeman's) Claude Puel's man, He's better than Japp Stamm; We've got Virgil van Dyke"

There are new words as of Saturday - forgive crudeness - but that's disgruntled football fans for you!
"F$ck off Van Dyke, Virgil van Dyke; We don't want you any more; You got such a front, you money grabbing c$$t; F$ck off Virgil van Dyke!"

The other interesting thing was all the players (even Bednarek ) had squad numbers for the game and the no 17 (Virgil's squad number) was worn by Alfie Thomas , one of the U23 players who has been with first team squad this preseason!!

To add insult to injury, the papers are saying that Liverpool are unwilling to make another bid for him after they got into trouble earlier this summer for "tapping him up".