Euphrates

I read this just before the Olympics, and it talks about this topic. Australia was basically one of the first 'Western' countries to try and copy the Soviet model for Olympic success and they did it by investing loads in technology which could help monitor and thus improve athletic performance. So Australian sports science has more infrastructure behind it and a bit of a cultural jump on utilising newer technology . http://www.wired.com/playbook/2012/06/ff_superhumans/ The second page of this article is mostly about the founding of the Australian Institute of Sport. Of course Australia did relatively poorly at the London Olympics...

Chelsea fans booed the yellow card. Was endearing.

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Aren't all u-21s allowed in the squad?

They'll have Rooney in behind RvP, and two from Valencia, Young, Nani and Kagawa on the wings. They'll be s**** in central midfield and depending on injures in central defence and at both full back positions, and they'll still come in second and be at least 5 points ahead of 3rd.

Derek Rae. He does a lot of ESPN games in the US, he's terrible.

Other clubs do though. When we bought Borini the fee was up on their website in their books. Thought I may have just missed it somewhere obvious.

Has there been a mention of a fee anywhere? Is even asking if we got more than a tuppence a sign of delusion?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/aug/03/premier-league-under-21-competition The Premier League has confirmed the creation of a new Under-21 competition to bridge the gap between clubs' academies and their first team. The first national showcase for Under-21 players will launch on 17 August when Chelsea host Manchester City and Reading visit West Ham. Teams from 17 Premier League and six Championship clubs – in effect all those who applied for category one status – will be divided into three groups. From January the sides will then be placed into three pools based on their performance, leading to a knockout stage and final. The emphasis will be on playing Under-21 players with each team limited to three over-age outfield players and one over-age goalkeeper. "Each stage of a player's development is tailored to ensuring they have the best possible chance of progressing," said Richard Scudamore, the Premier League chief executive. "The new league addresses one of the most critical points – the transition from academy football to the highest standards in the first team. "We believe this competitive environment, where fans can also come along to watch the next generation of Premier League and international players, will help deliver more talented home grown boys to that next level." National Group 1: Arsenal, Blackburn, Bolton, Everton, Norwich, Reading, West Brom, West Ham. National Group 2: Aston Villa, Manchester United, Newcastle, Southampton, Stoke, Sunderland, Tottenham, Watford. National Group 3: Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester City, Middlesbrough, Wolves.

Aye, for more money than he left for. Everyone could learn a thing from Levy.

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Well if he would rather stay I'm fine with him getting the best deal possibly for him. It's not like he's tried to run down his contract all while pretending he was going to sign later.

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How can you not like Ali's updates, not only do we get the world football equivalent of the Guardian's rumours page, but we get gems like "Sprout sirens" for Kaka. This: "It 's like a raging river always on Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis, who stands before a microphone." Sums up the man perfectly.

Kuba worth only 10 million? Jump on that! and anyone else Dortmund see to be undervaluing.

Isn't Doni a Brazilian national?

I think that if Suarez is going to play centrally the left is more important. I really want to see Gerrard back out on the right, even if he doesn't really want to play there. That means we probably need to buy two central midfielders, or manage to keep AA fit and happy. Two central midfielders it is.

Is Simao on the plane?

Magnificent game from Italy today but part of why Germany were so crap is they never changed it up tactically. There was no space in the middle, Ozil wasn't getting enough of the ball and Pig-Mounter looked terrible. If Low took off Kroos who was repeatedly making poor decisions and got someone out wide and tried to spread the Italian midfield and defense around we might have had a game.They basically resorted to Mourinho's patented Plan B after about 60 minutes and should've lost about 5-1. I want Italy to win this going with the formation they tried the first time against Spain, wingbacks, a converted sweeper, and Pirlo, great stuff. (jumpers for goalposts)

I wanted us to sign Christian Bolanos from Saprissa. I think I was wrong, as he's playing for FCK now.

So Pique, Fabregas and possibly Alba. That would be 3 players in the same squad who went through the Barca youth system, left and then were bought back after becoming established internationals...

Gebre Selassie. His dad is Ethiopian, and yeah he looks good but he's a little weak positionally, although his pace has enabled him to cover for it quite a few times this tournament.