The Swamp

Yeah, they should totally ... not sell him to Liverpool ... out of spite?

mister d wrote:All this transfer shit is fun and reminds me of the MLB or NHL draft where I decide I really want a player based on scouting reports or player type but without having ever seen him play. Van Dijk seems like he would have been a really nice fit.

It gets old. First couple of years following, I loved the transfer window excitement, all of these exciting teenaged midfielders Wenger was sure to mold into what Ronaldo or Messi have become, the British tabloids touting Arsenal finalizing a deal with half of the biggest stars in the world, the dread of reading another article that ManU has already locked the same players up, the dread of reading that every player on the squad wanted out, their wife missed living in France, their agent secretly met with Barcelona, they knocked up a model in Italy and want to live there...

It gets old. 6 years after getting all excited over signing the greatest goalscoring phenom or genius midfield maestro, you see him on the bench of a Championship League team during an FA Cup match, and think "oh, yeah, I totally forgot about him..." And of course the millions of rumors that end up being pure crap, and you realize either the writers make shit up to sell papers, or the agents feed the writers pure bullshit to drive up the price for their players.

OTOH, watching Arsenal become a feeder club for 10 years to pay off the Emirates Stadium debt was torturous. Buying only players under 23 years old, and selling all star players at their peak, far too often to rival EPL clubs. I used to go to ESPN's soccer site every day to check in on the latest transfers and rumors, now I almost completely shut out the rumors, and barely follow the completed transfers.

The Sybian wrote:

mister d wrote:All this transfer shit is fun and reminds me of the MLB or NHL draft where I decide I really want a player based on scouting reports or player type but without having ever seen him play. Van Dijk seems like he would have been a really nice fit.

It gets old. First couple of years following, I loved the transfer window excitement, all of these exciting teenaged midfielders Wenger was sure to mold into what Ronaldo or Messi have become, the British tabloids touting Arsenal finalizing a deal with half of the biggest stars in the world, the dread of reading another article that ManU has already locked the same players up, the dread of reading that every player on the squad wanted out, their wife missed living in France, their agent secretly met with Barcelona, they knocked up a model in Italy and want to live there...

It gets old. 6 years after getting all excited over signing the greatest goalscoring phenom or genius midfield maestro, you see him on the bench of a Championship League team during an FA Cup match, and think "oh, yeah, I totally forgot about him..." And of course the millions of rumors that end up being pure crap, and you realize either the writers make shit up to sell papers, or the agents feed the writers pure bullshit to drive up the price for their players.

OTOH, watching Arsenal become a feeder club for 10 years to pay off the Emirates Stadium debt was torturous. Buying only players under 23 years old, and selling all star players at their peak, far too often to rival EPL clubs. I used to go to ESPN's soccer site every day to check in on the latest transfers and rumors, now I almost completely shut out the rumors, and barely follow the completed transfers.

Seems more like an Arsenal fan problem than a transfer period problem.

This should make the Alexis transfer even funnier.

Can one of you guys explain some of this transfer stuff to me? If Van Dijk is already under contract to Southampton, why can he choose to sign with Liverpool or Man City? And, I read that Southampton is wanting a hefty sum for the transfer. So, I'm wondering - A) Can Southampton refuse to let him transfer? B) If not, what leverage to they have to command a certain transfer price? C) Does Van Dijk have an opt-out clause in his contract? Is that why this is occurring? D) If so, why would Southampton receive compensation.

Help a guy out, please.

If Southampton agree to a fee with multiple prospective buyers, then the player can decide which one he wants to play for. If he is under contract yes they can not accept any transfer offers and he's stuck. Usually they sell on so they a)don't have an unhappy player b) they get something for the player when he could potentially leave on a free transfer in the future.

Some players also have a certain amount stipulated in their contract that their current club MUST accept if another club comes calling. This is usually pretty steep.

Mid-table teams probably make these moves more because they need the money more.

Et:

YEah, I made some edits after my first post. The leverage is technically all with Soto, but they typically like to have the money more than the player, the thought being they can bring in 2-3 players to replace said player for more roster quality/depth or simply use it as operating income.

So, this system tends to make it extremely likely that the teams with spendthrift rich owners will always be good, and the poorer teams will rarely achieve much beyond mid-table, right?

You have lightning in the bottle Leicester sometimes, but yeah, in the top leagues, it's difficult to break into the upper echelon with consistency until you have deep pockets. The mid-table teams sell their talent to stay mid-table, maybe get into Europa once in a while. Staying in the Premiership is the main thing for most of those teams.

sancarlos wrote:So, this system tends to make it extremely likely that the teams with spendthrift rich owners will always be good, and the poorer teams will rarely achieve much beyond mid-table, right?

The correlation between "wage bill" and points this year was 0.86, which I imagine dwarfs any north american sports leagues.

It's kind of interesting to contrast US and Euro sports approaches while also contrasting US and Euro economic/government approaches.

Just an observation, but in the latter (especially under the current administration), the US emphasis is towards pure capitalism, economic inequality, privatization, etc. versus the more socially democratic European approach. But, the U.S. sports leagues' emphasis on parity through the use of salary caps, luxury tax and revenue sharing seems awfully Euro, while the Euro soccer leagues' advantages for the rich teams seems decidedly American.

Or ... euro leagues allow wealth transfer to players while US leagues protect the rich owners over the workers.

Soccernomics is a good read if you want to know more about that stuff.

govmentchedda wrote: Seems more like an Arsenal fan problem than a transfer period problem.

Yeah, I took my rant in that direction, but the amount of baseless rumors during the transfer window makes it pointless to follow.

mister d wrote:This should make the Alexis transfer even funnier.

I'm accepting Alexis' departure. From the day they signed him, I constantly feared he would get frustrated and leave, and I never let myself get too attached to him. Never watched a player work harder or with more desire in any sport, and he has scored some truly amazing goals, but I always saw him as a business transaction, hoping to get as much out of his as possible before selling him off. Arsenal got a year more than I expected, and as much production as I could have hoped for. I'm sure they will get a huge fee for him, and hopefully Wenger makes some good signings with the money. The biggest problem is not making the CL. Going to be hard to convince top talent to come to a 5th place club not playing in the CL.

Where I am torn is whether I want Ozil to stay. 6 months ago, I assumed he was leaving, especially if I could have known Arsenal were out of the CL. Now, it looks like he is negotiating a deal and wants to stay. Ozil is always a threat to pull off a moment of brilliance that can change a game. Unfortunately, he tends to disappear for huge stretches of the game most games, and he has become a defensive liability. Gave up several goals where Ozil was standing around while his man walked right past him and scored, or he cheaply gave away the ball and couldn't be bothered with trying to win it back. Sometimes I feel like Arsenal would be better off cashing out, as his contract is up next year, and his value is only going to decrease, and he probably won't be worth the wages he will demand next year.

Southampton are almost becoming Liverpool's farm team, Lovren/Clyne/ Lallana/Mane and now possibly Van Dijk

So Zlatan Ibrahimovic is not going to stay with Man U. We know with his ACL he is out until January. He wants to stay in Europe, but LAFC has him on their radar. I think Man U is making the prudent move. Just can't put that much money into a player who won't be ready for a full campaign. Is there a CL level team that will take a flyer on him?

He could go back to PSG.

wlu_lax6 wrote:So Zlatan Ibrahimovic is not going to stay with Man U. We know with his ACL he is out until January. He wants to stay in Europe, but LAFC has him on their radar. I think Man U is making the prudent move. Just can't put that much money into a player who won't be ready for a full campaign. Is there a CL level team that will take a flyer on him?

The problem with that is it would be the elimination rounds before he's ready. I can see a marginal CL team like Nice or Napoli taking a flyer but I'm not sure a team likely to make the final 16 would pay his probable salary.

Hmm.

Sabo wrote:Hmm.

When the screen scrolled through team names and stopped at Liverpool, I assumed the player was sold.

NBC to launch paid subscription English Premier League soccer streaming service

Sounds like no more free streaming of non-TV (NBC, NBCSN, CNBC, USA) games, no more spillover channels for all of the extra games (if you were lucky enough to have a service provider that included them).

Champions League to be on Facebook via Fox

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... eague.html

rass wrote:NBC to launch paid subscription English Premier League soccer streaming service

Sounds like no more free streaming of non-TV (NBC, NBCSN, CNBC, USA) games, no more spillover channels for all of the extra games (if you were lucky enough to have a service provider that included them).

I'm much more willing to pay $50 to watch everything on TV than to stream everything. It's still just so much easier and better to watch shit on TV unless you're needing to watch via phone or tablet somewhere. There's no delay, picture quality is better, no buffering or technical issues... the list goes on and on.

Brontoburglar wrote:

rass wrote:NBC to launch paid subscription English Premier League soccer streaming service

Sounds like no more free streaming of non-TV (NBC, NBCSN, CNBC, USA) games, no more spillover channels for all of the extra games (if you were lucky enough to have a service provider that included them).

I'm much more willing to pay $50 to watch everything on TV than to stream everything. It's still just so much easier and better to watch shit on TV unless you're needing to watch via phone or tablet somewhere. There's no delay, picture quality is better, no buffering or technical issues... the list goes on and on.

Agreed. I'll pay $50, no biggie, but don't have it buffer!

wlu_lax6 wrote:

wlu_lax6 wrote:

degenerasian wrote:

Sabo wrote:So ... is Wenger gone at the end of the season?

well, they have an FA Cup tie with Sutton United on Monday!

No longer on Sutton. Offered his resignation for eating on the bench; which was offered at 8-1 and he knew it.
http://www.espnfc.us/sutton-united/stor ... g-incident

2 month ban
http://www.espnfc.us/sutton-united/stor ... g-offences

DaveInSeattle wrote: ↑Mon Feb 20, 2017 11:58 am Mike Piazza Learns How to Be an Owner. Of a Soccer Team. In Italy.

REGGIO EMILIA, Italy — Mike Piazza was jet-lagged and hungry, though you wouldn’t have known it from his smile as he navigated the obstacle course of hugs, kisses and handshakes.

“Hey! Ciao! Good to see you!” he said.

It has been 10 years since Piazza, 48, retired from baseball as one of the best-hitting catchers in history. It is common for stars of his stature to try out second careers in broadcasting, or simply to luxuriate in endless rounds of golf. Piazza last year decided he would become the majority owner of a third-division Italian soccer club, Reggiana.

Pretty good article on The Athletic about the disastrous end to that story. Though I feel like it glossed over the details of how/why the first season cost the Piazzas so much cash.