Around the Premier League: Top of the table
by Stephen Schmidt on Sep 1, 2011 6:20 PM BST
in Chelsea FC: Premier League
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With the close of the transfer window yesterday it seems like a perfect time to take a breather and look back around the rest of the league. There was a ton of activity though, and there was just no way I could fit it all in one post. I'm going to break the news into four separate posts today and tomorrow, and the best way to divide it seems to be using the Premier League table as it currently stands. So without further adieu...
Manchester United had a bit of a snoozer yesterday. Having done all of their business early on in the window, there was very little left for them to do. There was the occasional link to Wesley Sneijder, but I don't think anyone actually believed his ridiculous wages were going to be taken off the Inter books at any time in the near future. The big news in Manchester was probably the fact that several of their youngsters have been called up to make their debuts for the England squad. While I would have liked to see Danny Sturridge get the nod over Danny Welbeck, the fact that good Danny has been suspended while bad Danny has been playing probably influenced the decision of Capello.
On the other side of Manchester, City was a little busier. They didn't do too much more in the way of signing, but they did sign Owen Hargreaves. Apparently the workout video he posted on youtube combined with his performances years past were enough to convince them to take a flier on him and give him an international spot on their 25 man roster. This move makes little sense to me, as City have so much world class talent currently rotting on the bench that giving Hargreaves a roster spot at their expense seems a needless gamble. Among the dead wood cleared out were Shaun Wright-Phillips, Craig Bellamy, Roque Santa Cruz, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Vladimir Weiss.
Liverpool were the "beneficiary" of one City player cleared out. Craig Bellamy returned to Anfield after being deemed surplus to the requirements at City. While I'm not convinced Liverpool have actually gained anything with the addition of Bellamy, they certainly have with Sebastian Coates. Coates is an absolutely fantastic talent, and it's surprising that he went as cheap as he did. To clear space on their roster, Liverpool had to send several players on their way. Sotirios Kyrgiakos was no big loss, but I don't really think they gave David N'gog a fair shake there. Here's hoping he does well at Bolton, as I really like the way they've been doing thing lately.
Former Blue Joe Cole left Liverpool to join French champions Lille. He's excited for the type of free flowing football they play, although Liverpool have also greatly improved in that regard this season. They also shipped out some other midfielder, and like they did with Torres in January they tried to paint him as the bad guy on his way out the door. At this point we know a deal had already been agreed with Chelsea well before they published this and was just waiting on Benayoun, so publishing this report 20 minutes before the transfer deadline seems like a fairly classless move.
Rounding out the current top 5 are Wolves. It came as no surprise to anyone that Wolves didn't do anything. Check back in later today and I'll have the teams rounding out spots 6-10 in the table and the moves they made. They all did a little more than Wolves...I promise.
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Nice job Stephen.
Don’t think I will ever understand what Man City is doing. Maybe their plans is to constantly confuse everyone with their moves.
They're doing what most casual FM players do
Buy anyone and everyone that looks good; no need for a plan, just download a Diablo-esque tactic from the forums.
I have never player FM
But I definitely understand what you are saying. I don’t know about you all but right now I’m not all that sure about them. I know they have a ton of talent, but I don’t know about Mancini and how that team is going to hold up over the whole season.
by Noleforever9399 on Sep 1, 2011 7:04 PM BST up reply actions
On paper, they look amazing.
Best English goalie.
Decent enough backline.
Beasts in the middle (de Jong, Yaya Toure).
Talent enough for 5 teams up front.
Or, to further my FM parallel…if they don’t win, they’ll be the team complaining on the forums about how “the game has it in for them” or that the “AI cheats,” etc.
Best English Keeper
…doesn’t mean much.
I love what Man City are doing. Adebayor, Bellamy, Santa Cruz and SWP we’re an improvement on what they had but not good enough for what they wanted to become. They were the stepping stone Man City needed to recruit better players like Silva, Nasri, and Toure. Without the first group of Hughes’ recruits City wouldn’t have the talent they have now. Also, it’s pretty clear Barcelona’s success with Guardiola has dramatically changed the football world. Big strikers (Adebayor and Santa Cruz) are replaced with false 9s, wingers like Bellamy and SWP that hug the touchline are replaced with wingers that cut inward.
I don’t necessarily understand the Hargreaves signing but they got him for nothing. Man City’s biggest weakness besides its fullbacks are its deep MFs. They have a great destroyer in De Jong and Toure is a beast but Barry isn’t good enough for what Man City want to do. Maybe Hargreaves will replace Barry eventually.
Classless Move?
Seems like good business to me. CFC offers £7M-£8M and Yossi, we hold out and get £12M.
It worked in January and worked again in August.
You guys got a great attacking MF. Where does he fit in the scheme of things. Does he really make the starting XI?
I am not a bitter LFC fan. I think both clubs gained. We got rid of a player that did not want to be here and was not in the future plans. There were rumors over the summer that he was on the list to be poached, I don’t think his heart was at LFC from that point on.
Good business?
Meireles is a CM with great attacking abilities. He filled in nicely for Stevie G for LFC last season.
I really don’t think Raul is going to CFC unless you guys throw in Sturridge and £7-£9 million.
- NC Nole
Just saying, we are not going to sell Raul. You guys would have to offer that and you won’t.
- NC Nole
You’ve done a complete 180 from yesterday morning, have you?
by cwel87 on Sep 1, 2011 6:42 PM BST up reply actions 2 recs
I was basing my decisions before I knew he handed a transfer request. That totally changes the game.
LFC policy=you don’t want to be here…….goodbye.
Call it rationalizing or whatever you wish but the fact is that after handing in his transfer request he needed to leave.
Would you not agree?
Liverpool demanded he turn in a request so they could sell it to their fans. He’s said many times he was willing to stay and fight for a spot.
Looking at the Meireles situation is interesting
He signed a £30,000 week contract at the start of his Liverpool career, according to the Guardian, because he was promised that it would be reviewed if he had a successful season. He did, but in the meantime ownership had changed, and he didn’t get the raise he was promised.
I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he had handed a transfer request upon hearing that Chelsea had bid for him and he was going to get paid more fairly (what’s up with people coming from the Primeira Liga and getting paid peanuts, anyhow?). What strikes me as bizarre is that Liverpool would publish said transfer request after the deal was done and Meireles was in London signing for Chelsea.
by Graham MacAree on Sep 1, 2011 8:16 PM BST up reply actions
LFC policy=you don’t want to be here…….goodbye.
If that was really the policy surely Torres would have come sooner. I know a lot of Liverpool fans and when ever someone buys a player that’s popular from you the fans get annoyed. Half the reason no one liked the old owners. The new owners to avoid this get a decent offer then fake a transfer request. If meireles didn’t want to be there he would have made himself available a lot quicker. And no he probably doesn’t make the starting 11. But he provides very good cover.
See Graham’s post above. Most likely events that happened. If they faked a transfer request then Raul would come out blasting LFC, maybe he will to cover his own ass but he has not done that yet.
He handed transfer papers, no need for LFC to make that up.
Raul was not considered massively popular, not in first tier (SG, Suarez, Kuyt, etc) of LFC players. He never even had his own song. Maxi Rodriguez even has his own song.
Don't you think the timing and order of events is a bit weird, to say the least?
Assuming Mereiles actually handed in a transfer request of his own volition (despite claiming that he was ready to stay and fight), rather than being forced to hand in one by the club, LFC had 2 options:
1. Release the request to the public when Meireles hands it in, making it clear that your hand is being forced by a wantaway player.
or
2. Keep it private and let the fans make up their own mind as to how to react to the transfer.
Releasing the request AFTER the deal with Chelsea was done is just bizarre, seemingly classless last minute move that accomplished absolutely nothing besides raising questions about LFC’s handling of the transfer.
Even if you're going to make it known he wanted a transfer there are better ways to do it
Publishing it on your team’s official website after you’ve agreed to a deal with the other club is not the way to go about it.
by Stephen Schmidt on Sep 1, 2011 8:36 PM BST up reply actions
Exactly; one assumes that Kenny would be asked about it at his next press conference and he could have just said something like “He’s a good player and we would have liked to keep him, but he wanted to leave and we’ve got a strong enough squad without him so we let him go” Makes it clear that the player wanted out without being a dick about it.
It's publishing the transfer request on the club's website that seems classless to me
I can see why the club would do so in Torres case, he was a huge fan favorite and at that time was one of the faces of the club. The club certainly wanted to reinforce that it was Torres pushing the transfer, so the move makes loads of sense.
Raul seems totally different to me. Not only had the clubs already agreed to the deal hours earlier but just not announced it yet, but Meireles was hardly the type of fan favorite Torres was (he wasn’t even a starter). There’s no way the club could expect there to be huge public backlash for this, so to publish the transfer request minutes before announcing the sale just seems like a needless shot on the way out the door. He was there for a year, and the club made a profit on a surplus player. They really should have just wished him well and left it at that.
by Stephen Schmidt on Sep 1, 2011 6:43 PM BST up reply actions 2 recs
I was going to post something along these lines yesterday as well
Quite the transformation from worthless hoofers and bruisers to a talented, hungry, and fun-to-watch team. Certainly helps that Sturridge did so well there last year and that they continue to foster the talents of the Stuart “The Great American Midfield Hope, or He Should Be if We Had Any Sense” Holden.
I am American
and I’m very excited about Holden’s future.
by Noleforever9399 on Sep 1, 2011 8:26 PM BST up reply actions
Every American is. Our front 6 depth in a 4-2-3-1 is pretty amazing. Short term to long term those spots are pretty solid. Unfortunately, our back four has been and continues to be our weakness. I can’t wait to see what it’ll be like with a coach that likes attacking fullbacks. Chandler’s timing to play for the US was perfect.
It sure was.
I’m also looking forward to see how Tim Ream, Brek Shea, and Jose Torres do under the new coaching staff.
by Noleforever9399 on Sep 1, 2011 9:29 PM BST up reply actions
I really like Bolton as well.
Good players and a good manager. I think we should loan them a young player every season.
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