Maverick

Rick Glanvil's tweet says 84,980 as the attendance.

Must be a very recent phenomena in that case because our performance in last years pre-season was far worse than what we have seen till now. The only positive today was Torres's moevement and the team looking to play to his strengths. Now if only he could start burying some of those chances.

Wrong. Aguero grew as a player and it had nothing to do with Torres. Aguero was 19 if I am right when he moved to Athletico and he has grown every season barring the last one where he seemed to lack the ambition/ drive which he may have found in a bigger club. I dont see him coming and it would hurt if he played for one of our rivals.

I wonder whats next from Larissa Riquelme

The tournament started on a slow note but that's understandable since most players wouldn't have gelled with their team mates in the initial stages. After the first round of group stage games the tournament did get into its full swing and we have seen some smashing games like Paraguay 3-3 Venezuela, Brazil 4-2 Ecuador and a few more. As I said earlier, the games involving the hosts have been a poor spectacle given the expectations and the lacks of goals from a side that boasts of Messi, Tevez, Higuain, Di Maria, Aguero and Pastore.

I don't think you can categorically say that the whole of Copa has been dull and boring football. There have been teams that have played flair/attacking football and there have also been teams that have been pragmatic throughout but it would be fair to say that both Argentina and Brazil dont deserve to be in the semis. Both the teams would be guilty of taking things a little too lightly and none of their stars (Messi/ Neymar/ Tevez etc) actually turned up and that's probably the reason they find themselves out considering their over-reliance on these individuals.

The other way to look at it is the Josh can learn a lot from Modric and go on to be as good a better player as Modric is currently if not better. Lets face it that Josh is not yet ready to start week in week out which Modric does and the need of the hour is a player that can step right in. Josh can continue to play the cup games and the growth process will still be on.

Which exact midfield talent are you talking about? Essien is injured, Mikel is yet to show consistency, Lampard seems to be on the decline, Ramires is the only one playing well consistently and Josh is still learning the trade. So which exact midfield talent is under threat with these additions? What it would mean if we do not sign those guys is that we better be prepared for another season of heartache.

Zhirkov - Haven't seen anything to suggest that he is worth 18 million. Dont see him getting any better and if we are able to get anywhere close to the stated 11 million I'd think we would have got the best value. Alex - Yes he has been a great backup when Carvalho was around and now looks to be fighting for a place with Luiz. Far too injury prone to my liking and its only going to get worse from here on, I'd make the sale when there are buyers around who are willing to take the risk. Turnbull - Drogba - I don't want to be too judgmental about the game against Pompey but I have my reservations about how much he could contribute in the coming season. By far the sloppiest in the game against Pompey and I dare say that he looked the least hungry out of the 5 strikers.

Gave up on this transfer last summer when things looked far brighter and we were keen too. His wages were an issue last year and I aint too sure how that has changed now. It looks like he will replace Tevez at city and that would make me very envious of them.

The old man has had his minute of limelight, time to move on !!

The only way it makes sense to them is they back themselves to get promoted and still see Parker as a part of their plan. If that's the case they can use this as a retention strategy else it really doesn't make much sense for West Ham.

Kalou of course finds it difficult to finish from 3 yards !!

Would have liked to see Delac given a run. I expect Rajkovic to be on the tour of asia and see some game time.

I have stated this earlier and would like to reiterate that we should look at our system of playing a specific DM because Jose built a system keeping Maka in mind. I may be a little harsh here but one can question the contribution of the players deployed in that role over the last few seasons. I would prefer using two midfielders that have a good work rate, which right now seems to be Ramires and Parker/ Modric with Lampard in the free role with more attacking responsibility. For all the expectations from Mikel its fair to say he still hasn't delivered his best consistently and maybe its time we looked at other options seriously.

Just to remind you its a team game that involves 10 others apart from Parker and when those 10 include the names of Green/ Upson etc its not too difficult to undo the good work done by someone like Parker. He could be a little overrated as you suggest but to expect one man to ensure West Ham stay up is asking too much. He was also injured during the business end of the relegation battle.

I personally don't get it how fans expect loyalty when the chairman has not honored his word. I know that a verbal agreement is not good enough but to deprive someone of an opportunity to progress is equally a bad deed. Besides all Modric is a professional and not a boy that grew up wearing a S***s shirt, his aim in life is to play for a bigger club and if Levy knew it all the way I don't see what problems could fans have. Smaller clubs generally loose their best players though it looks like S***s haven't learnt their lessons yet.

This one steals the show for me. Robbie Keane

Nothing on the usual sources i.e., Sky, Guardian etc. To be honest I wont mind him coming in and given his form (last season) it would be a great addition and I am assuming it wont cost. us much.

Argentina just beat Costa Rica by 3 goals and I hope this is sign of things to come as the tournament progresses into the knockouts. Messi was good for a change and could have had half a dozen assists, If things stand as they are they will likely play Peru and I don't see that game being tough if the Argentine lads turn up like they did today.

McEachran could possibly play a similar role but I have my reservations if he can do it week in and week out at the highest level. Modric on the other hand is a proven player in both PL and CL and since we are an ambitious club which strives to win trophies every year I don't believe the 30 million tag should be a barrier.

Yes he will be away for the under 20's. Having been through a few posts on this thread a lot of them talk about him not being good enough to break into Fulham. The point that most posts miss is that Fulham were then dragged into the relegation dog-fight and its highly unlikely that a manager would give a youngster "on loan" a run as compared to experienced heads like Duff/ Dembele etc. Though 2 starts and 5 sub appearance in the league is not as bad as some out here are making it look.

Looks like a German kit to me, honestly I don't find it to be as bad as last season's away kits or probably my expectations have hit rock bottom.

Doesn't sound realistic if this "official" piece from Burnley is an indicator.

Its covered on Neo Sports.