SirBalon
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Posts
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Everything posted by SirBalon
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Who cares mate! All those that have defended him for all the years anyone with a working brain cell could see it was all going down hill should now be stuck with him until the man they see as the one that put Arsenal on the map sorts it all out!!! HE HAS TO STAY! ALL OF THOSE INVOLVED IN THIS HAVE TO STAY!
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He’s hinted that before! No way! He HAS to stay now and sort the shit he’s created out.
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Le10Sport suggest Griezmann and Barça have agreed personal terms for July According to French Sports media portal Le10Sport coupled with various other French and Spanish sports mediums, they are suggesting that both Antoine Griezmann and FC Barcelona have been in contact with each other to iron out personal terms for a supposed transfer from Atlético Madrid to the Barcelona based club next summer before the World Cup starts. L'Équipe also states that both Atlético Madrid and FC Barcelona have spoken to each other before the talks began and that they've been negotiating since the summer of this year but that Atleti didn't want to let the French attacker go due to their transfer ban at that moment. There are various European football clubs interested in signing Griezmann with comments also made by Antoine on international duty this past week on a question by a journalist about the possibility of joining up with the PSG attack made up of Neymar and Kylian Mbappé (with Cavani hypothetically departing for this to occur).
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It could've been worse... The size of my mouth when I saw it could've led to a fisting session!
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He's missed 38% of the games eligible to play since he joined the club which is staggering. I saw a report the other day on how much he's cost Real Madrid per game and I was left with my mouth open.
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MARC MÁRQUEZ WORLD CHAMPION 2017
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That's what sponsorship deals are for mate! Elite football clubs wouldn't be able to cope otherwise... Look at Man Utd who have financed their billion pound transfer activity over the past 5 years due to their mega deal with Adidas and their shirt sponsor.
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Liam Brady is the 6th best player in Arsenal's history! That's a fact!
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hahaha... Not much to say mate and in actual fact I mentioned it in the other forum we were all in a few years back. When I was living in Valencia, the owner of one of the places I worked at introduced me to a Spanish football pundit called Julio Maldonado (known in Spain as Maldini) that is very respected in the world of football, especially the Spanish speaking world of football. I went out with him on various occasions and infact got me the tickets for the game at the Santiago Bernabéu where Barça won 2-6. Through him on one of my trips to see family in Barcelona he was at a bar and we met up one night and it so happens that bar was owned by Joan Gaspart (who also owns a very important hotel in Barcelona). It was a private party and I was introduced to him... Obviously my more than evident sympathies for FC Barcelona meant that I attached myself to that group and I was subsequently invited to a set of gastronomy trips they would all do in the Basque region three times a year. He is very hard headed in that he has his opinions and won't sway from them but he's also hilarious with a dry sense of humour and very realistic on his time as president of the club. I also got his story first hand from him on that famous incident when he was vice-president under the presidency of Josep Lluis Núñez in 1992 where Barça won their first European Cup (Champions League) at Wembley against Sampdoria. He promised before the game that if Barcelona ended up victorious that he would swim in the River Thames that same evening... He was true to his word!!! Few have ever ventured to swim in that river... hahaha
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I never said that Napoli side was one of the best in history! I said it's the best Napoli side in history... That's different! I know what Napoli are and what they were under Maradona. Napoli under Maradona were the bain of a corrupt society and especially a corrupt FIGC. What he and that club achieved was immense.
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Maradona'a Napoli was in the era of one of the greatest sides in history with AC Milan and Juventus (although Juve didn't live upto expectations in Europe's elite tournament). Your father may say that and I would listen to him enjoying the conversation because I also witnessed that... We could have a proper debate unlike with you who didn't and only know what yo've been told or what you've seen or read. You are in my position with people like Pelé, Puskas or Di Setéfano... I know, but I have to be objective and pragmatic by looking at the whole scene around at the time. Napoli have always been a medium type club and for much of their history (the majority), they've been a small club although not at a Benevento type level obviously. Edit: That goes to prove how big Maradona was.
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Mate... Players surrounding the referee is as old as the game itself, especially after the era where yellow and red cards were introduced. Blimey! Look at the World Cups in the 70s and 80s with Argentina or Uruguay with any refereeing decision or even their leagues where some refs would have to run out of the stadium through the fear of getting lynched. That's the game... Mourinho's Real Madrid themselves were great at hounding the referee and when that didn't work he would do it himself in the post-match press conference... Infact he still does this and it's the same as what the players do on the pitch I can't believe you're using a defence on José Mourinho where compelling about refereeing to combat how Barça players have acted. This unfortunately is part and parcel of the game where competitiveness is concerned. It's not nice, but it's there.
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Maradona played in Argentina until he was 17... Let's forget that period because he wasn't influential enough in a team that wasn't good enough. He returned in his 30s as a drug addict where he thought he could live like a football version of Pablo Escobar smoking puros. Many players in the Maradona Napoli were super to Hamšík and that's simply the way it is. Doesn't take anything away from what Hamšík is because it only does if you think he's more than that and you're onto a battle of eras which you will never win. It's your opinion having only lived through one era whereas others have lived through and are living through knowing both.
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Maradona played for Napoli. And as for the Libertadores, you're having a laugh aren't you? He was wasted when he returned.
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No they don't! They live the moment like all fans... What do you know about Man Utd fans here in England while they were dominating the domestic scene? Do you know what it was like to live with them? You couldn't even make a comment on football without them sticking their nose in the air like your comment was nonsensical. That's all part and parcel of football and it has always been like that... I remember the era where Italian football ruled Europe and Italians wouldn't even contemplate listening to any other opinion other than lauding their game. It's normal! It goes in cycles and you happen to have lived through the Barça cycle where you're reacting like others reacted with former moments of domination. Prior to 1992 Barcelona was exactly the same as Manchester United on the whole minus 1 European Cup. Look at it! Infact Barça were much bigger than United prior to 1992.
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I haven't got any grudge against Sir Alex Ferguson... He's one of the greatest managers in history only that he didn't conquer Europe like he should've. His was a creation of his own, something unique in football if we don't count Guy Roux who served Auxerre for over 36 years I haven't got anything in particular against Manchester United as I haven't got anything against Real Madrid as an entity in itself... Unlike you!
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By the way mate... I don't know if you've read Ernest Hemingway's accounts of the Spanish Civil War. You will obviously know about him as he's an international artist of letters but even though he was very anti Franco, he did try to be as objective as possible in many of his accounts. His famous book "For Whom The Bell Tolls" 1940 is a classic!
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I actually know Joan Gaspart personally He constantly says he was the worst Barcelona president in the history of the club. hahahaha
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Some of the best books on these things about the Spanish Civil War or Franco have been written by foreigners because they tend to be more objective and less ideologically driven by it all. Remember that everyone in Spain was affected in some way or another by either the Civil War and or living in Franco's dictatorship which lasted over 40 years. So it's to understand that a Spaniard will have some sort of swaying fixture set in their mind when writing about these things... All the same, there are some neutral and rather objective books written by Spaniards with accounts from family members that lived through the period. It's like when I recount the stories my father or my grandparents told about it all... On my mum's side my granddad lost an eye in the affair while on my dad's side my grandfather had to leave Spain for Cuba. Anyway... Here's the books I think are as objective as possible. Maybe Kowabunga has a more extensive knowledge on this and can help you more mate Paul Preston's stuff is top notch in my opinion. La Guerra Civil Española (Paul Preston) Franco 'Debate' (Paul Preston) Los Mítos De La Guerra Civil (Pío Moa) Una Historia De La Guerra Civil Que No Le Va A Gustar A Nadie (Eslava Galán) 40 Años Con Franco (Julián Casanova) The fifth option by Julián Casanova I've given you tells you how censorship and the closure Franco forced Spain into affected things and is another important outlook on Spanish society and why it is how it is today. Each one of those books will offer you a different view and how it affected society. They're my favourites although I can't even begin to tell you how much I've read up on the stuff since I was a teenager.
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I answered the other one you threw a cheap blow at which was bullshit mate. Barcelona spent money on Dembélé with the stupid amount that was given for them on the Neymar deal. Barça don't spend £300m+ every summer! As for La Masia... I've said time and time again that this board need to be taken to task on how they've ignored it because there's tons of talent there... 6 players left for France this past summer and they're being poached all the time because they're not being given a chance. Is that good enough for you? I've said it before but you seem to ignore that part because all you want to do is take cheap blows at the club, a club that consistently performs better than United throughout its history on every level.
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Mate... Count all of those players and it doesn't come to what Man Utd have spent in one of the various summers spending in the past 5 to 6 years.
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??? What! I have no idea what you're going on about.
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South American football is very competitive and to be honest I'd personally want to be at my best to play there so as to experience the whole deal and not go there at the end of my career where I'm some sort of circus act everyone comes to see but they're not seeing my best moments. Ending you career (if you don't do it at the one club you love) earning tons of money is the cleverest thing mate. This is why the Dos Santos brothers were cop-outs in my view. They had talent but didn't want to work for it... To be honest Carlos Vela almost went the same way and you have to ask questions because his career could've been a hell of a lot more than it was. He seems to play when he wants.
I will come back Berserker, I see Brian is quite active here, so....
