'Even allowing for inflation, this thread is not worth 198 Terry Francises' - EPL 2017-18

Mane goal was fucking great

xpost they'll concede another couple of goals yet

Amazing :D

and it's a paddling

salah looks useful

Arsenal so bad it's starting to look like self-sabotage.

That Karius though, yikes..

Wenger Out season starts earlier every year

This is a cracking game at Wembley tbh

Wembley: Theatre of Deems

Cannot overstate the gulf between every other player in our team and Davies

And I mean sissoko is now on the pitch

Exhibition stuff at one nil up

idk idk

Alexis smirking on the bench again

could look this up but electing to ask here: is Spurs actually on tv? I'm in Gareth Bale's awful sports bar, 20 screens all showing the Arsenal game

Arsenal: 0 shots on goal today

Not that I'm aware mencap, I'm sopcasting

Burnley all a sudden look like utd 99

Oh trippier trippier trippier

Just cost poch his job imo

yeah score just flashed up. christ

There was absolutely nothing to that game until 84 minutes. We were pissing about after scoring, training ground stuff. With a few minutes to go they started going direct and we were last in countering and slack in defending and tbh it was completely deserved.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/aug/27/liverpool-arsenal-premier-league-match-report

posting only because the first sentence is just astoundingly bad, I haven't read any further

"Three games into a new season, it is not being wise after the event if the thought should occur that maybe it would have better for everyone, not least Arsène Wenger himself, if he had guaranteed a happy ending after winning the FA Cup in May and spared himself these kind of ordeals."

Oof

Paid per word perhaps?

thats taking the piss altogether

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBOT0Tqpbag

paid per if per sentence

"Huddersfield have spent fucking more than us!" :D

He needs to chill, 4th is still up for grabs!

"He needs to chill" is a good tagline for Arsenal Fan TV

I feel very bad," Seri, who sat out Nice's 3-0 loss to Amiens at the weekend, told the Catalan newspaper. "I'm not going to lie to you, I'm really hurt. For me, football has always been a party, a source of joy.

"I didn't play with Nice this weekend because I didn't have my head on football. My dream to go to Barca has been broken, and that -- for me -- is terrible.

"The conversations between the two clubs went from bad to worse. As far as I can tell, I've not left Nice due to financial reasons.

"After the [Champions League playoff against Napoli] I met with Barcelona's directors for more than an hour and they didn't tell me anything about not going through with signing me. I went home really happy; then the next day I read the news. I was stunned.

"I went to the Nice offices to see the board and find out what happened. I exploded! The walls shook. They didn't say anything to me, they didn't look me straight in the eye. They had promised me one thing, but didn't keep their word and asked for more money."

Seri said his agent had received a five-year contract offer from Barcelona, and rejected the suggestion the Catalan club had pulled out of the deal because of his below-par performance in Nice's loss to Napoli.

"Do you think it's true Barca would pay 30m for a player they don't know?" Seri asked.

The player's agent, Franklin Mala, claimed last week that Paris Saint-Germain had called Nice and offered to pay more than €40m "to screw Barca over."

Seri, who was also linked with a move to Anfield earlier in the summer, said he would be open to joining PSG, Liverpool or another of the European giants, although he still hopes he could make a move to the Camp Nou.

"I want to be optimistic and think there are still options, that the clubs will sit down and talk calmly again and reach an agreement. We're not just talking about any club where you go just for money. I want to join one of the big European clubs, like Juventus, PSG, Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool...

"For example, Roma have made several offers. I have spoken many times to Monchi, but the transfer didn't happen for financial reasons. Monchi got tired of the Nice board! Roma is a good option, but nothing like Barca!"

Liverpool have agreed a club-record deal to sign Leipzig midfielder Naby Keita, with the player officially joining on 1 July 2018.

The Reds have agreed to pay the £48m release clause that will allow him to move next summer, plus an undisclosed premium.

The 22-year-old had been one of Jurgen Klopp's primary targets this summer, but Leipzig had refused to sell.

The deal will surpass the £35m they paid Newcastle to sign Andy Carroll.

Hmm

Good business imo. Liverpool ended up paying a lot less for him.

strange for a lad doing a medical to sign a deal for next summer

Not really. You'd want to check if his heart etc are ok.

i suppose yeah the medical is more long-standing conditions or whatever.

i think it's prob good business - he seems v highly rated and if they want him that much it seems good to seal it. transfers have been a lot better since klopp arrived.

Think it's a very good deal. RB Leipzig are in the CL this year. If Keita plays up to his standard and does well, he'd be worth twice as much next summer in this crazy market.

There's the bid for Thomas Lemar from Monaco too

The Ox is off to Chelsea for 35 mil

That's an absurd amount of money for a guy who's never managed to hold down a regular place in the Arsenal team. If Conte's planning on playing him at wingback then sack him now.

Yeah, I don't see at what position he'd be a first team regular at Chelsea.

£35 million not an absurd amount for billionaires to be paying in the current market for a 3rd choice winger / attacking mid / centre mid / utility man. Ox is a total wasteland obvs, but the prices are what they are right now

Thx autocorrect

Origi to Monaco and Lemar in return seems like a good deal

if Liverpool actually gets VVD and keeps Coutinho then this will have been a pretty decent window imo

OC to replace Moses? my arsenal supporting friends insist he was good as a wingback but I haven't noticed

They can't be getting Lemar and keeping Coutinho, surely? Where would he play?

lol as if squad building matters these days. you throw your money at whoever will take it, you get in whoever you can, you worry about where they fit in to the bigger picture later. though if Liverpool have got any pretensions at going deep in the Champs League and the cups while competing for the title, you need all the players you can get.

nailing on your 1st eleven and neglecting the bench isn't gonna get you anywhere unless you're out of Europe and only care about the league.

You don't buy someone for 60m+ and keep them on the bench

Even in 2017

idk, i disagree. already this season we've seen Martial, Morata, Lacazette, Aguero, Bernardo Silva etc. etc. - at the higher levels plenty of very expensive players have to put up with time on the bench as part of a rotation system. it's inevitable if you want the necessary squad depth.

if you're a team competing for trophies on all fronts at the highest level it's not a question of buying players for the bench. you need more than 11 players available if you're having a 55-60 game season, which is what all the big sides should be aiming for.

Lemar could theoretically play on the left of either the midfield or the attacking trio in this Liverpool system, he'll get plenty of game time.

Would imagine that janssen would've set you back at least 40m this summer and he's the epitome of a bencher