City Do a Barca

Moments after signing Carlos Tevez for 25m, Man City make a 20m pound bid for Emanuel Adebayor.

This begs the question: are City trying to create the squad to run god's perfect formation--the oft referenced but rarely used 1-1-8?  City's possible formation: 

                         Given

                       Richards

                         Barry

                 Ireland        Elano

Robinho                                    Petrov

   Tevez         Adebayor         Bellamy

                     Santa Cruz

Look familiar?  That's because it bears a FRIGHTENING resemblance to Barcelona 07-08:

                        Valdes

                         Puyol

 

                         Toure

               Iniesta        Bojan

    Dos Santos                Ronaldinho

Messi          Gudjohnsen           Henry

                          Eto'o

City's is a slight variation--they'll be playing 4 TRUE strikers, plus Robinho while Barca supplemented 2 true strikers (one playing out of position on the left wing) with 2 creative players (one who used to be the best in the world, one who was on his way to becoming the best in the world) and Eidur Gudjohnsen.

What I'm trying to say is that Sheik Mansour is actually Frank Rijkaard.

Hull City Make Bid for Bobby Zamora

Really? Why? Seriously...why?

Frustrated Strikers Prediction Corner: Michael Owen Edition

Michael Owen, 2009-10 Season:

8 games (+11 substitute appearances), 5 goals, 3 assists.

Injuries:

Hamstring strain: Owen comes on in the 67th minute for Berbatov in United's season opener against Birmingham City.  He comes off 6 minutes later after twisting awkwardly under a challenge from Liam Ridgewell.  He battles for fitness for the next two months.

Sprained toe: On his return against Liverpool, Owen scores United's opener.  However, in the 39th minute, he gets stepped on by Mascherano and doesn't return after halftime (replaced by Nani).  Misses 2 weeks.

Scurvy: Following a good run in the team (2 goals and an assist in 3 starts and 4 substitute appearances), Owen celebrates by taking a trip on the 7 seas as Christmas approaches.  He returns with scurvy and misses United's Boxing Day fixture.  He returns to the bench at Wigan on Dec. 28th but spends most of the game eating oranges on the bench.

Deep thigh bruise: Owen receives a shock call up from Fabio Capello in mid-February but is forced to withdraw from the squad after bumping into Ashley Cole during a light running drill.  He misses a month.  Alex Ferguson takes the opportunity to deride international friendlies.

Temporary Zombieism: After a dismal run of form, Owen is left off the teamsheet for a critical April fixture at Old Trafford against Chelsea.  However, Owen enters the field in the 7th minute looking dazed and confused.  He picks up the ball at the halfway line and wallops it past Petr Cech from 45 yards.  As officials attempt to escort him from the field, Owen bites Howard Webb on the neck, leading to Webb becoming a zombie.  United are fined 100m pounds for failing to control their (zombie) players.

Broken Metatarsal: Owen breaks a bone in his foot in the final game of the season at Stoke City.  Everyone's reaction:  "Well, what did we expect?"

After the season, the Guardian breaks the story of the year: Ferguson signed Owen to replace Saha, says "I missed having a striker who was ALWAYS on the training table."