GET INVOLVED - will Liverpool win the Premiership 2013/14?

^absolutely in no way will they do this in this era. maybe transposed 18 years into the past they'd have a shout.

yeah, the final is all about big clubs like Wigan, Stoke and Portsmouth nowadays

In the sense that most of their players peaked in 1995, perhaps so

Well, I picture a nonchalant Berbatov strolling around Wembley, cup aloft. Though I guess it could be a mug from Primark.

Wayne Veysey ‏@wayneveysey 10m
Lots going on at Spurs. Willian has chosen #THFC over LFC & is undergoing medical today. Roma chief Sabattini meeting Baldini about Lamela.

Wayne Veysey ‏@wayneveysey 7m
Told #THFC have offered Roma £29.9m for Lamela & a 5-year, £65,000-a-week contract is on the table.

cya bale

uneasy about willian tbph.... at what cost

i thought it was either/or with those two

we're overlapping on both threads

there was talk at the weekend that liverpool would buy damiao if they couldn't get willian. be interesting to see damiao and soldado pairing up.

Is there a word for the uneasy feeling during the interregnum where the two threads are running in parallel? There should be, it's a very modern malaise.

if the authorities would do the decent thing and have the end of the transfer window coincide with the start of the season we wouldn't have this problem

yeah, the final is all about big clubs like Wigan, Stoke and Portsmouth nowadays

― beans on toast and ghosts (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 20 August 2013 10:53 (1 hour ago)

all of which were capable of sustained dedication to a *system* - fulham are far too fancypants lightweight for a serious cup-run

Benteke <3

Lovely.

http://i.minus.com/iZZuDJm6kPmZZ.gif

why is this game happening today? and why is demba ba playing? thought he was going to roma.

Super Cup this weekend?

Villa are gorgeous to watch on the break, in a rustic kind of way

Lukaku at least a head taller than Okore and Vlaar, feck

my old man was looking for this on TV, Super Cup be damned

gah, shouldn't be on the pitch etc

How was that not a penalty? Swings and roundabouts following the weekend I spose, but still. Galling.

"When I was the world's most expensive player, I loved it." Alan Shearer, aged 39, who won a competition to be a BBC Sports pundit for the day.

http://www.gifti.me/i/WXUfOieY.gif

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is so angry about Chelsea's pursuit of Willian he is ready to cancel the £94m transfer of Wales forward Gareth Bale, 24, to Real Madrid.

That'll show them.

Trolololol. "The deal's off. You're not fucking going. *click*", imagining Bale's lower lip starting to wobble after that phone call.

before beating him to death with a huge black dildo

It'd take a pretty special kind of man to toss away nearly £100 million out of sheer annoyance

sheer annoyance with someone else to boot. I think we've reached the 'corgi helps pick royal baby name' phase of this saga

/Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is so angry about Chelsea's pursuit of Willian he is ready to cancel the £94m transfer of Wales forward Gareth Bale, 24, to Real Madrid./

That'll show them.
--Wantaway striker (LocalGarda)

Isn't it more to show Madrid its not guaranteed yet and not to try lowering the bid

Levy doesn't care, RM still owe money for Modric don't they?

It reminds me of the one time a year I happen upon televised poker. No idea what's a good hand, no idea what anyone's trying to achieve, no idea why they're trying to achieve it. All I know is I should be watching something else.

Given that Chelsea have a host of superior players the Willian thing just looks like an attempt to fuck Spurs over.

How much playing time are Schurrle, De Bruyne and van Ginkel going to get this season?

Mourinho's back in the game, kids

Maybe Chelsea will buy Willian and loan him to West Brom.

they're a man down tbf

if i'd to choose btwn starting last season with our squad then and this season with our squad now - bale + £85m i think we're in better shape now- particularly if the chiriches deal goes through and strengthens cover at cb

getting in a first team lw quickly with some of that cash would make that inarguable imo

What's happening with Lamela now? He could probably fill that role you'd have thought

i do think! i think that he'd be 30m wiser spent, certainly, than on willian.

Where are these opinions coming from? I too prefer Lamela, but that's based on having him on my mental 'to watch' list when he was a nipper and seeing him be alright once or twice for Roma. Plus a vague feeling that if you must have a misspelt name, 'Erik' is a more respectable choice than 'Willian'.

Football manager and written reports, as per. Guy has 20 for flair, hoooey

I feel like a Wenger in a Baldini world

Lamela (4 March 1992) 102 25
Willian (9 August 1988) 274 40

Apple (forward)
Orange (winger)

Shame we never will see Willian, Defoe, lining up for Spurs. Would have been Hollywood stuff.

At River he drew comparisons with compatriot Javier Pastore, a languid left-footed playmaker who would glide past players and pick a telling pass.

However, since moving to Italy his position has changed somewhat and Lamela's game has altered.

From being lumbered with the creative burden on the entire team at River Plate, he was shifted into a wide right role at the Olimpico, with license to drift out of position, cut inside, or drive into the penalty area.

This brought him a significantly increased goal haul, particularly under the ultra-attacking coaching of Zdenek Zeman at the start of the 2012-13 season.

Now comfortable on either flank, Lamela's game is no longer comparable to that of a central playmaker like Pastore, and instead his direct running game from the wing is more akin to Cristiano Ronaldo than the Paris Saint-German midfielder.

Blessed with more brains and creative qualities than CR7, Lamela is a slighter, leaner figure but still one capable of destroying defences - as he showed with 15 league goals from the flank last season.

Check out all the latest News, Sport & Celeb gossip at Mirror.co.uk http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/tottenham-transfer-news-erik-lamela-2207790#ixzz2cn8mQzmf
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"Blessed with more brains than CR7"

Praise indeed

willian isn't so much an extra layer of gold paint for the bentley as a set of flaming skull decals on either side