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In which your humble bloggers expand on the upcoming fantasy Premier League gameweek, all the latest transfer news, rumours, and gossip, and a bit of MLS fantasy and the latest El Clasico for good measure.
Jeremy Spitzberg: good morning
Neal Thurman: good morning to you
Jeremy Spitzberg: working from home today
Jeremy Spitzberg: so short commute
Neal Thurman: nice
Neal Thurman: wish I could say the same
Neal Thurman: have Arsenal continued the dismantling in any official capacity yet today?
Jeremy Spitzberg: still just rumours
Jeremy Spitzberg: #impasse
Neal Thurman: right
Jeremy Spitzberg: whenever they negotiate, theo should insist on sitting at the top, righ-hand side of the table
Neal Thurman: HA
Neal Thurman: interested in the Dembele move for Spurs
Neal Thurman: Love Dembele as a player but since our initial 4 week or so love affair with him, he's been injured or ineffective on a pretty regular basis
Jeremy Spitzberg: dembele plays that same role as modric, but does it so differently
Jeremy Spitzberg: never a true forward
Jeremy Spitzberg: or oddly a great goal-threat
Jeremy Spitzberg: runs with the ball out of midfield and passes
Jeremy Spitzberg: i worry that he'll get caught out of position
Jeremy Spitzberg: but probably not an issue
Jeremy Spitzberg: modric drifted around
Neal Thurman: and certainly never tackled anyone (although Dembele has done a lot of tackling so far this season)
Neal Thurman: interesting mix with Siggy
Jeremy Spitzberg: i'm excited for the lloris move ;-)
Jeremy Spitzberg: hope it happens sooner
Jeremy Spitzberg: and that Y! gets him in the system right quick
Neal Thurman: no joke
Neal Thurman: interesting that last season - Dembele started 44 matches in all competition for FUL and managed 2 goals and 3 assists for a mediocre team (and there didn't seem to be this love affair with his play) - two matches into this season, everyone is in love and he's off to a bigger club
Jeremy Spitzberg: i wonder how much of it is that he's fun to watch, versus how effective he is
Neal Thurman: can't argue - he is fun to watch
Jeremy Spitzberg: does he have a long pass in his arsenal?
Jeremy Spitzberg: he's great a moving the ball up the field, but does it happen too slowly?
Jeremy Spitzberg: he can go past defenders one-on-one, or one-on-three...
Jeremy Spitzberg: but does it open up the field for others?
Jeremy Spitzberg: love that we're already on to the backlash phase of this transfer
Neal Thurman: suppose we'll see - maybe with better teammates, his numbers will improve
Neal Thurman: I suppose I'm wondering why the "frontlash" rather than having soured
[Editor's note: I've removed about 20 minutes worth of fantasy NFL talk here.]
Neal Thurman: ouch - Lucas out 2-3 months - that's not going to help things at LIV
Jeremy Spitzberg: nope. but may open a spot for sahin
Jeremy Spitzberg: if gerrard drops
Jeremy Spitzberg: deeper
Jeremy Spitzberg: not to the bench
Jeremy Spitzberg: though... ;-)
Jeremy Spitzberg: there a blog post there, i just haven't gotten to it
Jeremy Spitzberg: also...
Jeremy Spitzberg: surprising number of attacking mids playing defensive roles
Jeremy Spitzberg: related, but possibly separate post ;-)
Neal Thurman: certainly seems like there's a AVB/Lampard (last season) vs. Rodgers/Gerrard clash w/ club legends comparison to be made
Jeremy Spitzberg: clerverley, diaby/arteta, lamps, shelvey...
Jeremy Spitzberg: modric/dembele
Jeremy Spitzberg: #regista
Neal Thurman: how many actual holding midfielders are there anymore?
Neal Thurman: de Jong
Jeremy Spitzberg: mikel, tiote
Neal Thurman: Cattermole
Neal Thurman: Mikel
Neal Thurman: Tiote
Neal Thurman: anyone who plays for Stoke
Jeremy Spitzberg: new guy @ norwich
Jeremy Spitzberg: ha!
Neal Thurman: (including Walter)
Jeremy Spitzberg: new guy at Villa (who scored)
Jeremy Spitzberg: pjones; cameron
Neal Thurman: don't know if Anita at NUFC counts
Jeremy Spitzberg: wait, you said stoke
Jeremy Spitzberg: certainly didn't do it well against CHE
Neal Thurman: no
Jeremy Spitzberg: livermore/sandro
Jeremy Spitzberg: barry
Jeremy Spitzberg: britton?
Jeremy Spitzberg: de guzman in the deep attacker category
Jeremy Spitzberg: mulumbu
Neal Thurman: I'd actually put Barry (or Carrick or XAlonso) in as the prototype attacking/passing player moving the HM
Jeremy Spitzberg: anyone named diarra
Neal Thurman: HA
Jeremy Spitzberg: seriously though ;-)
Jeremy Spitzberg: alou, lassana, mahamadou...
Neal Thurman: you're right - but still funny
Jeremy Spitzberg: schniederlin
Jeremy Spitzberg: (fun to say)
Neal Thurman: who?
Jeremy Spitzberg: SOU middie
Jeremy Spitzberg: pnev
Neal Thurman: I wonder what odds you could have gotten on PNev's Everton career lasting as long as it has - feels like he's either 40+ or actually undead at this point
Jeremy Spitzberg: could be both things
Jeremy Spitzberg: reminds me, third post is on Fellaini and how he'll play deeper now that moyes bought 18 attackers (but no Jelavic cover)
Neal Thurman: this is what being newly undead looks like?
Jeremy Spitzberg: who said "newly"?
Neal Thurman: lol - well, compared to the typical undead of legend who have been wandering around for 100s or 1000s of years
Jeremy Spitzberg: fair enough
Jeremy Spitzberg: though...
Jeremy Spitzberg: never mind
Jeremy Spitzberg: that whole era of manu players could be vampires
Jeremy Spitzberg: keane, butt, beckham, schmiechel
Jeremy Spitzberg: Stam!
Jeremy Spitzberg: vampire, vampire, vampire, vampire, HEAD VAMPIRE
Neal Thurman: HA
Jeremy Spitzberg: giggs is clearly a werewolf
Jeremy Spitzberg: LOL at my own joke
Neal Thurman: you'd break SEO records at SBNation and maybe even the internet overall if you came up with the right Manchester United/Twilight crossover post #TwoHUGENon-OverlappingAudiences
Jeremy Spitzberg: lol. i'm working on it, except i know next to nothing about twilight
Jeremy Spitzberg: was going for more of an Underworld thing
Neal Thurman: Liz can consult with you if you're so inclined
Jeremy Spitzberg: #beckinsaleinleather
Neal Thurman: Becks...Beckinsale... next on Never Manage Alone
Jeremy Spitzberg: okay, so now I'm four posts behind
Neal Thurman: HA - maybe we should stop chatting before the list gets longer
Jeremy Spitzberg: #backlog
Jeremy Spitzberg: Julio Cesar to QPR
Jeremy Spitzberg: #wow
Jeremy Spitzberg: and yet...
Neal Thurman: yeah
Jeremy Spitzberg: no fantasy value!
Neal Thurman: but if they don't get a CB...
Jeremy Spitzberg: trading Lucio and Maicon for Clint Hill and Fabio
Neal Thurman: and not going bankrupt
Neal Thurman: Maicon is on the market :-)
Jeremy Spitzberg: lol
Jeremy Spitzberg: package deal
Jeremy Spitzberg: still have fabio and clint hill though
Neal Thurman: right
Neal Thurman: less worried about Fabio - very worried about Clint Hill
Jeremy Spitzberg: too bad PSG already bought Thiago SIlva and Ibra
Jeremy Spitzberg: or they could be at QPR by Friday
Neal Thurman: the way PSG are playing they will be
Jeremy Spitzberg: yeah... and yet QPR don't learn
Neal Thurman: no they don't - you know what they say about old dogs
Neal Thurman: and QPR are OLD
Jeremy Spitzberg: Norwich bought Bunn today from Rovers
Jeremy Spitzberg: QPR couldn't do that?
Neal Thurman: much smarter move
Jeremy Spitzberg: or Stockdale from Fulham?
Jeremy Spitzberg: ... or put in a big for BBBF ;-)
Jeremy Spitzberg: ** bid
Neal Thurman: only way they could get older
Jeremy Spitzberg: ha
Jeremy Spitzberg: the true shame is that they're compounding their initial, Rob Green, mistake
Neal Thurman: HBA to ARS?
Jeremy Spitzberg: are you getting that from somewhere?
Jeremy Spitzberg: b/c that starts to fuck with my team
Neal Thurman: The Twitter machine
Neal Thurman: but not confirmed yet
Neal Thurman: never mind - @7AMKickoff Ben Arfa's been left out of the France squad. Can we get the B.Arfa to Arsenal rumor started?
Jeremy Spitzberg: lol
Jeremy Spitzberg: someone obliged?
Neal Thurman: indeed
Neal Thurman: More from 7AM Kickoff - Breaking news: France not even PLAYING a friendly this weekend. Hatem Ben Arfa reportedly got a haircut ahead of his photoshoot for Arsenal.
Neal Thurman: Apparently @EPLTransferTalkNews has come out with Arsenal have had a £8m pound bid for Hatem Ben Arfa ACCEPTED! (AS)
Jeremy Spitzberg: meanwhile, Kevin Mirallis has 2 goals and an assist today
Neal Thurman: against Leyton Orient
Jeremy Spitzberg: still
Jeremy Spitzberg: more fuel for my "fellaini moves back into mid" post
Neal Thurman: could be
Neal Thurman: but Mirallis not going to be "in the hole"
Jeremy Spitzberg: arsenal should be in for cabaye, if not tiote
Jeremy Spitzberg: even if Walcott leaves, they're covered
Neal Thurman: collect them all
Jeremy Spitzberg: maybe
Jeremy Spitzberg: i wonder how much Wolves want for Hennessey
Neal Thurman: they've been doing well getting top dollar for their guys
Jeremy Spitzberg: true
Jeremy Spitzberg: back to Ars... they're selling players...
Jeremy Spitzberg: but to Barca, and the Manchester teams
Jeremy Spitzberg: it's not like Stoke is picking up their starters
Jeremy Spitzberg: #digression
Neal Thurman: that's true
Jeremy Spitzberg: Mirallis with 2 and 2 now
[Editor's note: More fantasy NFL chatter here.]
Jeremy Spitzberg: try to get this meeting done quickly so i can tune in to the Classico
Neal Thurman: Cup competition?
Jeremy Spitzberg: si. second leg. @madrid who trail 2-3
Jeremy Spitzberg: #awaygoals
Jeremy Spitzberg: #valdezhowler
Neal Thurman: online or you watching at home?
Jeremy Spitzberg: both
Jeremy Spitzberg: is it being broadcast?
Neal Thurman: no idea
Jeremy Spitzberg: just assumed it was only on the Tres
Neal Thurman: Berbs to FUL
Jeremy Spitzberg: not Fiorentina? VERY interesting
Jeremy Spitzberg: so two 30+ guys fighting for 1 spot?
Neal Thurman: Berbs and ?
Jeremy Spitzberg: Petric
Neal Thurman: is he that old?
Jeremy Spitzberg: pretty sure
Neal Thurman: yup 31
Neal Thurman: who knew (well, you did obviously)
Jeremy Spitzberg: ;-)
Neal Thurman: I'm getting the sense that the Orient result is apropos of nothing for EVE - now 5-0
Jeremy Spitzberg: lol
Jeremy Spitzberg: #hater
Neal Thurman: bitter over Mirallas choosing EVE over ARS :-)
Neal Thurman: Esteban Granero in London talking to QPR - what does it mean for Adel?
Jeremy Spitzberg: just getting silly
Neal Thurman: yeah
Neal Thurman: has a West Ham before they went bankrupt feel to it, doesn't it?
Neal Thurman: (or even a West Ham this season as Big Sam overpays for his old BOL guys who weren't that great in the first place and are now 5 years older)
Jeremy Spitzberg: Portsmouth, even
Neal Thurman: yeah, although I can honestly say, I have no idea where the Pompey money went - they never even got big name over-the-hill players - they managed to overpay for a bunch of never-were-types
Neal Thurman: Even this year's WHU and QPR have stayed away from Tal Ben Haim :-)
Jeremy Spitzberg: i think the secret was that the money was never really there
Neal Thurman: that coudl well be - or 'arry managed to scam a huge chunk of it and then skate on the charges
Jeremy Spitzberg: lol
Neal Thurman: that was quick - Higuain scores
Jeremy Spitzberg: here's hoping he inspires his brother
Neal Thurman: you buy him in MLS?
Jeremy Spitzberg: and (c)
Neal Thurman: wow - did you have him last week for his brace? or did you BD?
Jeremy Spitzberg: ha. bd. have (and have had) arrieta
Neal Thurman: I'm paying occasional attention to MLS but not enough to know what anyone else is doing - just how my team is doing
Jeremy Spitzberg: #excuses
Neal Thurman: lol
Neal Thurman: I'm actually doing pretty well despite not paying much attention
Jeremy Spitzberg: just imagine if you didn't have that Spealman week! ;-)
Neal Thurman: I think I'm in the 300s out of 12000 or so in MLSsoccer.com fantasy - obviously missing the week in ESPN hurt but am slowly recovering
Jeremy Spitzberg: ok, wow
Jeremy Spitzberg: that was STUNNING
Neal Thurman: What's that?
Jeremy Spitzberg: cron
Neal Thurman: 2nd for Real?
Jeremy Spitzberg: yes, and how!
Jeremy Spitzberg: flicks a long pass over pique
Jeremy Spitzberg: ball was behind him and he flicks it with his heel
Jeremy Spitzberg: then collects it on the Theo spot...
Jeremy Spitzberg: and hits it so hard that Valdes can only parry it into the net
Neal Thurman: wow
Neal Thurman: and HA - the Theo spot - sounds sort of dirty but I know exactly what you meant
Jeremy Spitzberg: lol
Jeremy Spitzberg: how have barca not bought another CB?
Jeremy Spitzberg: pique, then...
Jeremy Spitzberg: puyol old/injured
Jeremy Spitzberg: Masch
Neal Thurman: excellent question
Neal Thurman: wonder if Song will see time there
Jeremy Spitzberg: still not an answer
Jeremy Spitzberg: see Masch above
Neal Thurman: not that he SHOULD but wonder if he will
Jeremy Spitzberg: Adriano sent off
Jeremy Spitzberg: should be 4 or 5 to RM
Jeremy Spitzberg: Barca non-factor so far
Neal Thurman: as Arsenal's starting midfield watches from the bench :-)
Neal Thurman: maybe they should bring back Cesc
Jeremy Spitzberg: and 1/2 of Spur's
Jeremy Spitzberg: wrong bench, but still
Neal Thurman: they could have a 2 on 2 North London Derby to pass the time
Jeremy Spitzberg: londoners v. "northerners"
Jeremy Spitzberg: sure i'm screwing up my English geography and/or regional names
Jeremy Spitzberg: but Song/Modric/Cesc against CRon/Alonso/Arbeloa/Pique
Neal Thurman: is Alonso starting?
Jeremy Spitzberg: dunno. i just assumed...
Jeremy Spitzberg: and that's why he's the best
Jeremy Spitzberg: Messi with a free kick
Jeremy Spitzberg: gorgeous
Jeremy Spitzberg: always going wide...
Jeremy Spitzberg: until it wasn't
Jeremy Spitzberg: just like that RM only winning by a road goal
Neal Thurman: and Barca still have Messi
Jeremy Spitzberg: Suarez-like, but in the air
[yep... more NFL.]
Jeremy Spitzberg: Modric on for Ozil
Neal Thurman: I saw Song came on too
Jeremy Spitzberg: yes
Neal Thurman: apparently the Twitter has GvdW and Llorente to Arsenal (which sounds insane)
Jeremy Spitzberg: i'll admit I had to parse that
Jeremy Spitzberg: but at least the former makes sense
Jeremy Spitzberg: latter does too, but just more top-heavy
Neal Thurman: I guess - although what happens when Sagna comes back in a month?
Jeremy Spitzberg: either giroud is your man or not
Jeremy Spitzberg: ask Andre Santos
Jeremy Spitzberg: or Jack Wilshere
Neal Thurman: Wilshere looks like he has an Alex Song-sized spot waiting for his return
Jeremy Spitzberg: he may not be back
Jeremy Spitzberg: Sagna or Wilshere
Jeremy Spitzberg: at least not soon
Neal Thurman: Wilshere
Jeremy Spitzberg: remember when Wilshere/Ramsey was the future of the game?
Neal Thurman: yup
Jeremy Spitzberg: yeah...
Jeremy Spitzberg: about that...
Neal Thurman: will be interested to see what happens with Ramsey
Neal Thurman: he looks good occasionally but then looks clueless occasionally
Neal Thurman: still hasn't had THAT many first team matches
Jeremy Spitzberg: last minute
Jeremy Spitzberg: Barca still need a goal
Jeremy Spitzberg: RM with the ball though
Jeremy Spitzberg: 3 mins added
Jeremy Spitzberg: Valdez busy
Jeremy Spitzberg: but up to it, so far
Jeremy Spitzberg: well, at least in this half
Neal Thurman: need to check MLS
Jeremy Spitzberg: https://twitter.com/NMA_Blog/status/240550821937426432
Neal Thurman: :-)
Neal Thurman: M or F?
Jeremy Spitzberg: F
Jeremy Spitzberg: i'm on pontius, higuain (sp?) and arrieta (sp?)
Jeremy Spitzberg: #twogamers
Jeremy Spitzberg: signing off for a bit
Jeremy Spitzberg: good luck
Jeremy Spitzberg: across your leagues
Neal Thurman: and to you