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Football Thread 2017/18 |OT| Relegated to Community
- Thread starter Lunar FC
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Deaf Spacker
Memb
Lukaku will seem like an absolute bargain soon.
Juve defeat over Lazio is depressing.
Why Barzagli is in RB is baffling.
Why Mandzukic still on wing is baffling.
Why Khedira over Marchisio is baffling.
Why Benatia over Rugani is baffling.
Hope this defeat will wake Allegri there as playing all the players out of position is never a good idea.
Why Barzagli is in RB is baffling.
Why Mandzukic still on wing is baffling.
Why Khedira over Marchisio is baffling.
Why Benatia over Rugani is baffling.
Hope this defeat will wake Allegri there as playing all the players out of position is never a good idea.
I'm pleased with the transfer. He's netted 85 goals by the time he was 24 in the PL, something only Rooney, Owen and Fowler managed. They did it for incredible teams, he did it with West Brom and Everton. It's been interesting seeing people writing him off.
He's not yet the finished article so he's got plenty to improve, but he'll get plenty of chances at United. As he said in an interview yesterday he's had some of the best strikers in the world as mentors and now has Henry helping him out.
As I said before him scoring 25-30 for United this season isn't the concern it's everyone else netting 50 between them.
Yeah, really great to have an active community here again.
RocknRola
Member
Despite all that Juve did tie the match, Lazio just still had some steam in them (and probably deserved the win too).
Still, after over half a decade of dominating Italy, Juve's fall will happen one day or the other. I still pit them as super favourites for the League though.
That scoreline is deceiving though. Our first formation is so bad that it is not funny.
The moment Douglas and Fede enter, then the team actually operated much much better. In the first half, when u see Higuain actually need to drop deep into our own half, u know Allegri F up.
If we fall because the foes is much much better like RM, i had no problem. But this Lazio is not even in their full line up and we screw up that badly. Especially when we had all the piece to help us on the match.
Lukaku will score shed loads for United, of that I am certain. He is a great finisher and doesn't miss many games and I think United will play to his strengths, he will be worth the 95m no doubt (it was 75m plus add on).
However, as an Everton fan who has watched him for years, his hold up play is dire. There will be many games he can't control within 6 feet of himself then the odd one where his touch looks decent. He is at his best when touching the ball the least, such as his goals yesterday. But United have the players to make tons of chances for him and he will score a hat full as long as he isn't asked to play like Drogba. Lukaku is fantastic, but he is not the player type his build suggests.
immortal-joe
Member
Without even checking the calendar of games, I'll say yes. People vastly overstate the simplicity of facing mid-table La Liga teams, they can always hit you on the counter and Madrid's defense is still leaky as hell.
Ronaldo is not a definitive one-man solution, but he gives you an edge when you're facing a wall of defense, and a cool head in quick moving counters. Those last few games in La Liga last season are a perfect summation of what he adds.
Side-note: Barca not out of this yet, not by a long shot. Messi can go black magic mode if he wishes.
TheLionsDen
Member
Barca will need to get Paulinho signed asap if we want any chance of winning the leg on Wednesday.
I'm just hoping Gerland will be able to produce players again when all the others failed. Much better use of his talents than assistant coach
Portuguese newspapers are reporting today that Sporting increased their demands for William Carvalho.
They are now asking West Ham for €38M + €5M easy add-ons and more money paid upfront. The deal that was "agreed" last week was for €35M but they were still debating about the amount of money being paid upfront by West Ham.
The rumors that Sporting is betting on some top team like Arsenal or Chelsea joining the mix for him which would drive up the price. Remember last year they said to Arsenal that if they wanted him, they would have to pay €45M and a big bunch of it had to be upfront (his release clause).
I'm still going to bet the deal gets done this week for the initial terms.
They are now asking West Ham for €38M + €5M easy add-ons and more money paid upfront. The deal that was "agreed" last week was for €35M but they were still debating about the amount of money being paid upfront by West Ham.
The rumors that Sporting is betting on some top team like Arsenal or Chelsea joining the mix for him which would drive up the price. Remember last year they said to Arsenal that if they wanted him, they would have to pay €45M and a big bunch of it had to be upfront (his release clause).
I'm still going to bet the deal gets done this week for the initial terms.
Agreed. PL-proven is important because the EPL title matters the most right now.
I disagree slightly. Its not that his hold up play is bad, its actually fantastic considering eh does his height and power to a great advantage (See west Ham and West Brom games for us last season). The main problem is his ball control is absolutely abysmal, especially his first touch. How many times has he gotten into a fantastic position just to be let down by his ball control and how many good (albeit few and far in between) precises passes only to have 3 touches too much until he blazes the ball over the bar.
But man, if he irons those out, he could be the best striker in the world, because he has pace, height, power, precision and everything you would need from a striker
Yeah, I agree with everything you said. He is worth £50m because Swansea really need him and we desperately need some creativity in the midfield
GoldenCrow
Member
This is the only reason I think Pep could fail to challenge for the top. He wants Aguero to play in that role but he can't do it, even worse when he tries to play him as a false 9. There was no surprise when City scored from one of two counter attacks of the game and was very simple passes as that plays to Agueros strengths (the other counterattack also went in the back of the net but was a handball). Prior to that he was pretty much useless and failed to pick up any space to be involved in build up play or divert coverage away from the box.
It's more like from a Antonio Conte fan than a Chelsea fan perspective.
Refusing to put any blame to Antonio Conte is baffling just like Daily Mail making Diego Costa into some kind of martyr while he used the Daily Mail to try to spin the narrative and make Chelsea sell him quickly for a cheap price. Although the story tells a good timeline of the events and explain that Diego Costa was always trying to get out of Chelsea since the end of his first year, it completely fails to tell how it's 100% Antonio Conte fault that he sent a stupid text message to his player saying he doesn't count with him.
Then the article tries to tell the story that Chelsea told Costa and his agent last January that he would not be required for next season. If that was true, then why would Conte sent that text message in June? For what sensible reason would anyone repeat the same thing, especially via text message while his player is on the national team?
At the same time, Conte is entirely to blame for Diego Costa price going down massively. Everyone since June knows that he doesn't count for him, so Chelsea can't exactly ask for the market price for Diego Costa, right? So like so many leaked stories say the Chelsea board is furious with Conte for fucking them by sending that text message for no apparent reason. There are a lot of reasons why this kind of message are discussed in closed talks between team, agent and player. Even Neymar waited until he was in Barcelona to have a meeting with Barça board to tell them he was leaving and he didn't even need to do that considering they were paying his release fee.
I'm sorry but everyone trying to spin this story into Diego Costa is a complete villain while Antonio Conte is a fucking saint is as naive as anyone that believes Costa is a martyr after Daily Mail story.
Also it didn't take a lot of time in the Burnley game to realize the body language from Chelsea players isn't exactly great. I've seen more discussions between teammates in that first half than the entirety of last season. It doesn't help when your manager is threatining to leave every other day of course. It's the same exact cycle at Chelsea, and for that I only see a culprit: the fucking board.
Don Draper's Hat
Member
Ronaldo's no Di Canio is he?
Dutch Gronk
Banned
Man, can't wait for the Premier League season to start next week! I'm sure Chelsea do great in their opening game.
Don Draper's Hat
Member
Away to Tottenham? Dunno, man. Could be tricky. You'll need Cahill and Fabregas to put in good performances.
First game at Wembley too.
To be quite honest everyone since June knew Liverpool was desperate for a defender. You didn't need that Watford game to realize Liverpool needed a defender except for maybe Klopp if you believe they didn't had a VVD backup plan.
I thought the Premier League started last weekend? Wait, what was the City game I watched?
brokenbeans
Banned
Errr lol
Do you Reckon Cahill is gonna start, was thinking of making him my Fantasy Football captain. Maybe Fabregas?
ReplacementPelican
Member
Sorry, yeah, I wasn't doing the whole 'lol Liga' thing, I just mean that I think Madrid still have one of the best teams in the world without 'Nalds, can't imagine they'd struggle too much.
Liverpool fans LOL
Batista has it.
immortal-joe
Member
Tweet is a year old, though timely, and I'm sure that dude is still an ass today.
Jerry
Member
It's still funny even if it is a year old.
Also I'm not sure how you can make a judgement of character over a bit of banter.
McMoneyman
Member
What a twat.
True Savior
Member
Barça got old. They have been living off a crazy talent of the three forwards, but they need some retooling. If they get Coutinho and Dembele for Neymar's money and buy Inigo, that would be really good. They can rock a 3 man formation in the middle with Coutinho as the more attacking one, put Dembele in the wing and finally have a good center back. That looks really nice on paper.
Dutch Gronk
Banned
Some first game magic will help us prevail!
Pretty sure that was a warm-up game. Doesn't count.
Captain Cahill is sure to put in a solid shift, and Fabregas is gonna put on his magic hat for sure.
His Majesty
Banned
It's Tottenham at Wembley lads.
Kill Your Masters
Member
Liverpool should hold on to Coutinho. I don't care for the Spanish unsatisfieable thirst for flair players. The EPL doesn't owe their big two jack shit.
People wonder why they keep dominating, when the stupid epl teams especially spurs decided they filter major talents from the league to Spain. As if it wouldn't have a knock on effect.
Just look at the Spanish league officials and chief being resistant to the Neymar deal. They know the value of keeping such talent in the country, only England thinks otherwise.
Liverpool should resist, it's not about being unfair, it's protection for Liverpool development and for the league. Barcelona should take a chance on a starlet and train him up, after all they have that famous academy they boast about.
Far as I'm concerned, Coutinho should remain in England.
People wonder why they keep dominating, when the stupid epl teams especially spurs decided they filter major talents from the league to Spain. As if it wouldn't have a knock on effect.
Just look at the Spanish league officials and chief being resistant to the Neymar deal. They know the value of keeping such talent in the country, only England thinks otherwise.
Liverpool should resist, it's not about being unfair, it's protection for Liverpool development and for the league. Barcelona should take a chance on a starlet and train him up, after all they have that famous academy they boast about.
Far as I'm concerned, Coutinho should remain in England.
RocknRola
Member
Sporting will laugh all the way to the bank if someone actually pays that much for him.
Kill Your Masters
Member
If he wants to leave there is not much you can do. It can affect his performance if he wants to leave but can't.
Liverpool should definitely keep him though, kinda bit late to replace a key player/the key player now.
True Savior
Member
Carvalho is quite probably a done deal. He wasn't even on the bench last game (Jesus justification was funny though).
William Carvalho is a very very talented lad. He is also a very nice guy. If he's physically well, he can play on any team. The only issue he has is probably related to some, let's say, lesser dedication. He's probably a late bloomer (from a big lanky kid to a very famous dude) and likes to enjoy life. He doesn't go crazy but he's very regular in it.
William Carvalho is a very very talented lad. He is also a very nice guy. If he's physically well, he can play on any team. The only issue he has is probably related to some, let's say, lesser dedication. He's probably a late bloomer (from a big lanky kid to a very famous dude) and likes to enjoy life. He doesn't go crazy but he's very regular in it.
Jerry
Member
Its clearly made up, you need to lighten up
Considering Paulinho costs €40M, I think €45M for William Carvalho would still be a reasonable fee. Sporting has been caught with a less than stellar market for him and they need to sell him now. I'm sure they had a much bigger market for him after last year's Euro.
Ummm you make it sound like this is something the clubs can control.
Even Manchester United at its peak cannot hold on to Cristiano Ronaldo, what hope do the other clubs have? CR7 won the Ballon d'or and the CL and the EPL with United and was playing for the greatest manager of all time and still he could not resist when Real came knocking.
So that's why the tv commercials said next weekend is Liverpool's first PL game even though they played last weekend haha. I was so confused. Thanks for the correction.
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