Wednesday 28 July 2010

Transfer Stalemate?

Three of the longest transfer sagas this summer appear to be are winding down, with the majority of the UK media reporting that Fernando Torres, Cesc Fabregas and James Milner are all set to stay at their current clubs despite the tapping up efforts of Manchester City & Barcelona.

As we all know in football, nothing is certain, but it appears that the "financial heavyweights" have been priced out of moves, which is no bad thing in my opinion - I reckon all three would be making the correct decision by staying put for the forthcoming season.

Were Liverpool to have another poor season then I believe Torres should be allowed to discuss his future, but he should also be willing to throw his support behind Roy Hodgson's first campaign in charge - he's a lifelong fan of the Anfield club after all, and the whole place seems to have been lifted by Joe Cole's arrival. He should concentrate on getting himself fit and helping them challenge for the top 4 again.

If I were Cesc Fabregas, Spain's World Cup campaign would have me worried about moving to Barcelona, joining a team already packed with the talent he couldn't get past for a starting spot in the national side. I have an inkling Arsenal could have a good season ahead of them, provided they sign a keeper in the next few weeks, with him & Van Persie pushing the Gunners towards an attack on the title. Reading the papers this morning, it sounds like Barca may have got themselves in to some serious money troubles, so he's likely to stay for this season at least.

James Milner had a fantastic season with Aston Villa last year, but something about Manchester City makes me feel uneasy...I just don't see it as a place to move to if you want to develop your career at the moment, and I could see his career stalling (in a "Scott Parker at Chelsea" sort of way) if things didn't go to plan very quickly. It's probably the most likely of the three transfers still to happen, but Villa have stood firm on their valuation and at the moment it's working.

It certainly has been a quiet summer for actual transfers - we normally see huge amounts of activity after a World Cup, but I think reality has set in for many clubs and there simply isn't the money about. One big transfer in England could start the merry-go-round we're usually already on by the last week of July, but time is running out to get new signings in for the start of the season.

Talking of the start of the season, you'll all be aware that Yahoo still haven't got themselves up and running. I know Jeremy & Neal had been advised the game would kick off on Monday, but that didn't materialise despite me sitting at my laptop hitting F5 for the majority of the evening. I'm still 100% positive they will run the game this year, but I'll admit the wait is getting increasingly frustrating.

While we wait, I've set up a blog league for the Fantasy Premier League game, as I already have a team for my work leagues. It's not a patch on the Yahoo game in terms of scoring & freedom of transfers, but it's something to keep you occupied, and because it's the official game for the Premier League it's extremely well run.

Web Address: http://fantasy.premierleague.com
League Code: 101159-129333

Come on Yahoo!

Cheers,
AM 

p.s. As I finish this post, I've just read on BBC Sport that Spurs have had an offer for Scott Parker rejected ...strange move from Harry with Modric, Huddlestone, Kranjcar, Palacios, O'Hara, Sandro & even Jenas all capable of playing in centre midfield.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am a long time lurker here. I just want to commend on what a wonderful job you've done week in week out last season. Sometimes this sort of things can be more frustrating than fun but there are tons of us lurking in background, silently appreciative of your work. Keep it up mate!

I am also very excited to join the Blog league for the first time (I started late last season so didn't think there was any point).

Once again thanks and let's hope YFF gets their act together!

Art
[a Gunner from Hong Kong]

Guy said...

I'll second Art, although I have posted occasionally - but I do read a lot more than I write! You could have picked my team name for the official game - 'Team Average' certainly summed up my last season's effort there. I agree it isn't a patch on Yahoo other than with the incredible speed it gets updated.
It's a good job there haven't been so many transfers this year - it could have made Yahoo late starting...

Ian Sanderson said...

Joined your League on the 'official' game.
Getting a bit concerned about Yahoo as I go on holiday soon for a few weeks; was going to have to pick a team early and hope for the best, but if they don't hurry up I won't have a team at all.

Anonymous said...

I too have joined the league. :-)

LC

Mike B said...

I'm in on the official league, it's my first time playing that game so i have no idea what i'm doing. It seems quite difficult to get a decent squad!

For the record, i agree with your opinion that all three should stay with their current clubs, for the reasons you give aswell.

Now for a little rant...

The conduct of Barcelona over the Fabregas affair has been disgraceful, and i'm by no means an Arsenal fan so i have no bias.

It's been nice to see Wenger digging his heels in over Fabregas. I have developed a real dislike for the Barca (and Spain) team over the last couple of seasons, the pretty football is nice to watch and everything, they have some amazing players, but the play acting and imaginary card waving has been irritating the hell out of me.

Seeing Xavi, Villa, Puyol etc etc etc on the news every day, spouting more rubbish, has been extremely tedious.

bean said...

Nice to see a blog league in the official game, i have been endlessly tinkering with my team over there. That game is very different in that you only have 1 transfer per week, so planning a good squad based on fixtures is really important from the beginning.

@Mike B - I agree about Barcelona and Spain.

ToffeeDave said...

AM can you believe we've been doing this a full year? haha I cant wait to get started again

Anonymous said...

The game is up and running!

Mike B said...

You're bloody right! It is back up!

Ian Sanderson said...

WOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

macgill said...

Am I the only one that is experiencing messed up prices?

Ian Sanderson said...

Oh dear.
Rob Green 43 units aytone.

Anonymous said...

Edwin 1mil. Dead Good.

LC

Anonymous said...

yeah those need to be fixed asap

CaptA

Anonymous said...

Great news!!! How happy i am to see the game back up again.

@AM - Please let us know when you create a group/private group so we can join.

-Saul

Unknown said...

French game still not up though, getting close to a week to the start of the season there. La Liga looks to be up too. Anyone up for a AM La Liga league?

Mike B said...

If the prices don't get fixed i'm not gonna be playing it, Defoe 1, VDS 1, Baines 1.96, Dunn 1, Lamps 8, and many other stupid prices...

I would have thought that the idiots would have fixed the pices before letting people register.

Anonymous said...

I'm not worried about whether they'll fix this price issue, they will...I'm worried about the actual prices that will be incorporated on the players.

On another note, I'm sure happy YFF kept Bale as a defender.

-Saul

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