Arq

Welcome!

I'd have to change my avatar EB! I certainly do not want to do that mate.

Yes it should. And they better not determine that because of the heat that the WC will move to the winter months, that would just enrage me. Qatar has to build fully enclosed indoor stadiums otherwise the scorching heat will be too much for the fans and the players. It will still be ridiculously hot and there will not be much outdoor activity people will want to partake in and enjoy. A good bit is that Ramadan will occur in early April or so in 2022. Otherwise that would add a whole extra layer of complexity to the situation. I have nothing against Ramadan, but a lot of places are closed throughout the day especially places to eat. That would make it extremely tough for those visiting to enjoy vacation life or trying to watch a match outside of the stadium.

There is definitely some truth to this statement. My wife and I were set on going to Brazil for the 2014 WC. Over time, and these incidents don't help, we have been cooling on that idea. We just do not feel 100% sure about going to Brazil. We never have. Instead, we are probably going to make a trip to Germany to watch some of the matches (while vacationing of course).

Yes, please! Zlatan is a character, and can be a disruption, I don't think there is anyone that can argue that. However, this guy is phenomenal. Sorry, that may not be doing him justice but you get my point. Furthermore, he has said in a recorded interview of his passion to play for Jose. While I understand that it could be smoke and mirrors, I believe he really would give 110% to Jose. I do not believe he would be much of a problem here, and I believe Jose would manage him well. If we do get De Rossi, and that is looking more likely, then this is the guy I want up front of De Rossi's long passes. It could be a perfect match. Add that to our already existing trio and imho the pieces just fit together.

Welcome!

This is a very good piece of business by the club. Mark is more than capable of doing the job when called upon and I'm a lot more comfortable with him on the squad. Welcome!

If the reports are true about us going for Benteke, why did we not throw in a bid for Gomez? The worst Gomez could have said was, "No." I just don't see this as a transfer that would put us over the top. Not that I fully believe Gomez would, but at least he is a bit more established.

The Windows phones are much improved. I think the Nokia 920 (928 now?) is a very good and solid piece of hardware. I haven't seen too many other Windows dedicated phones but they seem to be gaining in popularity overall. I have to be honest and say that Windows 8 is a good start as well. Metro is awful and utterly useless on a desktop machine. However, the built in driver support is more than adequate and it appears to use resources much more efficiently than Windows 7. I believe Windows 8.1 should really make the new platform more appealing to the masses. Back to the phones, any news as to when the next Google phone is going to release? I keep reading rumours of it being a Motorola device.

Sadly, if we have a weakness it's our front man. It seems to me that Löw still feels that Klose is our #1 with Gomez as #2. Seeing that Klose is on the downslope of his career, Gomez needs first team football to solidify and/or take that #1 spot from Klose, or he'll just get it by default once Klose retires unless we have a good U21/U20 young striker available. To date, Gomez just hasn't produced much for the national team. Samed Yesil might be the next star (striker) coming, but he is very young and still has the choice to play for Germany or Turkey. We have to see how it pans out over the next year or two and where he chooses. We had Cacau but he seems to have disappeared all together, I haven't heard if he actually retired from International duty or not. I'm very surprised that Kießling hasn't been recalled as #2 or #3 choice. I know his record is very poor for his national appearances, but Gomez has not has the best of stats either. I have to be honest in saying that I haven't followed the youth teams like I should but so far I've seen nothing that resembles a striker that we can rely on. If Jogi put Reus or Schürrle up front, then we could be in trouble. Both fantastic players and can do the job short term, but neither suited to be full time striker. We'll have a fantastic midfield for our future, a young keeper in Leno coming through the ranks (we still have Neuer who will be first choice for a long time to come but if he gets hurt...), and very good defending even throughout the youth squads. Our striker just seems to be lacking on all fronts.

This would be an awful signing. He is a good player, but he brings way too much baggage and guaranteed negative press due to whatever act he commits this year (oh yes, there will be something).

Ramadan occurs during the 9th month of the Islamic calendar. It starts on the evening of July 8th (today) this year. So tomorrow should be the first full day of fasting. Next year, I believe it starts June 28th. The dates shift by 10-12 days every year because it coincides with the lunar calendar and not the solar calendar.

Maybe or maybe not. I believe Mou would make sure that Ibra would behave... At least for the most part. I also have a lot of faith in Lukaku. I feel this is a youngster mature beyond his years. That makes me think Ibra could work out well. If Lukaku is as good as many of us believe he will be, it may not be bad to have Ibra around for a few years. I think Lukaku would learn quite a bit at least from watching Ibra and we know that Ibra can produce on the pitch. I agree with Andreas that Mou would probably get the best out of him. However, let me just say that if we could convince Lewa that it is better to play for us than Bayern (of course it is, he is just confused) then I would rather see Lewa.

Warrior is owned by New Balance. From my memory, New Balance mainly made running shoes (along with running apparel) and most of them were pretty toned down minus an oddball here and there. That has no bearing on Warrior, but it's interesting to see such a flashy (and awful) design coming from a parent company that was known for very basic designs. Warrior was mainly ice hockey and lacrosse before trying to market into football and other sports. I can completely understand attempting to make a statement because they want to grow as a name. It makes sense. However, I completely agree with you. The statement they appear to be making is, "We can make the most hideous kit out there, see?" Yeah, we see it Warrior. I'm just thankful you aren't making our kits. I'll give them credit for putting something out there that people are talking about. Unfortunately for them, it's mostly negative talk, at least from what I've seen. That cannot be good for their future in this sport and possibly others.

^ The whole kit is ridiculous. Matches perfectly with a ridiculous club.

No, but I bet you were darn happy regardless.

Welcome Herr Schürrle! I think this is going to be a very good signing for us. I believe he will fit in well and I feel he will be starting more than some people might believe.

It's really simple... If Jose wants him here and thinks he can be our main striker, then in Jose I trust. If Jose wants a different striker, like Cavani, to lead our exciting trio behind him and Nando is either relegated to the bench or shipped out, then in Jose I trust. While I get this is a forum for discussion, what more can be said about Nando after 335 pages? We either will see him leave this summer or see how Jose uses him in the lineup. What I want is irrelevant. I just have faith that Jose will make the right decision whatever he decides. And I'm very confident in our manger, unlike our time with... What's his name? The fat guy that hates us but still took our interim job... Hmm... Name escapes me now. No matter. Roll on the 17th of August.

Too young, a real shame. RIP James Gandolfini.

Looks like my son is getting the PS4 instead of the Xbox One. And I'll have to purchase one for myself of course. I need to test the system to ensure his gaming safety while playing online... Yup, that's the reason I'm sticking with. It has nothing to do with the fact that the PS4 looks kick ass. Not at all.

If I were to get an Android phone, it would be the Nexus 4 or the Samsung S4. The Samsung's hardware specs are pretty much second-to-none. However, I like the Nexus 4 because it's straight from Google. From what I've been told (have mates that own both), the Nexus 4 has a lot less bloatware than the Samsung. I've read rumours that a new Google Nexus phone is to debut in the fall based upon Motorola hardware. I'm still content with my iPhone 4S. I'm waiting to see what Apple has in store for the iPhone 6 next year (assuming the 5S is what comes out this fall).

ESPN is reporting that Bale has supposedly been successful in trademarking his heart shape goal celebration... http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1478071/tottenham-gareth-bale-set-trademark-heart-shaped-logo?cc=4716 Yeah...

Great to listen to that interview. Good news that basically KDB and Lukaku will be part of the squad this season. Good news that Jose is happy yet seems hungry. And good to hear that he wants stability. A very, very good interview by Jose. He certainly didn't lose his sense of humour either. I enjoyed the quip about having 60 players.

Listen to the cameras! Awesome.

Civ 5 is 75% off on Steam this weekend only for anyone that might be interested.