2018-2019 GENERAL FOOTBALL (SOCCER) THREAD
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 02, 2018 9:58 am    Post subject:

Better from United. Watford flying out of the gates this season; rest of the field (Arsenal, United, Tottenham) will catch up eventually.
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 18, 2018 6:41 pm    Post subject:

No big surprises today. Spurs being Spurs in the CL and all.
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 29, 2018 7:41 am    Post subject:

I watched 10-15 minutes of the latest Man U meltdown. What a shambles. I may be a neutral, but I used to enjoy watching Man U because, well, they were enjoyable to watch. That has not been true for a few years, but at least they had big name players who could do interesting things. West Ham was the better team today, and the Man U players didn’t seem concerned about it. Wow.

Here is a sentence that could not have been spoken without irony just a few years ago: it’s a shame that Man U is not a well run team like Liverpool or Man City. Let that sink in. No one can fault the financial commitment of the Glazier family, despite all the griping from a few years back. But they need to clean house.
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 29, 2018 9:31 am    Post subject:

Aeneas Hunter wrote:
I watched 10-15 minutes of the latest Man U meltdown. What a shambles. I may be a neutral, but I used to enjoy watching Man U because, well, they were enjoyable to watch. That has not been true for a few years, but at least they had big name players who could do interesting things. West Ham was the better team today, and the Man U players didn’t seem concerned about it. Wow.

Here is a sentence that could not have been spoken without irony just a few years ago: it’s a shame that Man U is not a well run team like Liverpool or Man City. Let that sink in. No one can fault the financial commitment of the Glazier family, despite all the griping from a few years back. But they need to clean house.


I think the problem is United not being well managed more than it is well run. They're a team who were lucky to have Fergie for as long as they did, and enjoyed an era of dominance that was never gonna remain the same when he left.

From a club running / organization perspective, they have a big decision to make with Jose now, who appears to be in the middle of his 3rd season meltdown that he seems to experience everywhere he goes.
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 29, 2018 11:13 am    Post subject:

Mourinho is the flash point, for sure, but the problems run deeper. I question the quality of their scouting, and Woodward is already under scrutiny. Mourinho just got a contract extension in January.

Man U has a lot of horses. I have no doubt that a different manager could achieve better results in the short run. But man, this is a hot mess. And it’s a really big money hot mess.
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 29, 2018 3:11 pm    Post subject:

Aeneas Hunter wrote:
Mourinho is the flash point, for sure, but the problems run deeper. I question the quality of their scouting, and Woodward is already under scrutiny. Mourinho just got a contract extension in January.

Man U has a lot of horses. I have no doubt that a different manager could achieve better results in the short run. But man, this is a hot mess. And it’s a really big money hot mess.


Yeah definitely a big money mess, they’ve got some work to do for sure.

Scouting is an issue for most big English clubs these days, it is harder and harder to find a bargain, and big clubs like United have the financial resources to bring in established players. They’ve done well in that regard to a degree, they’re just a bit like Arsenal in that their team is lopsided with good attack and sub-par defence, which is really not what you’d expect from a Mourinho team.
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 29, 2018 7:15 pm    Post subject:

Defensive problems have been obvious this early stage, but the team has no discernible plan of attack either. Sanchez has been gash and Lukaku hasn't found any sort of consistency either. It's been set plays, crosses or penalties that have led to a majority of our goals. Not convinced with signing Zidane, but at this point Mourinho has lost the trust of a majority of the squad.
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 29, 2018 8:46 pm    Post subject:

Arsenal is on a roll and I love it.

Man United is in a tailspin. I haven't watched, but from what I've read it sounds like Mourinho has lost the team. I don't know. I don't know WTF happened to Alexis Sanchez either, he's been a disaster and I don't know why.
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 30, 2018 1:39 am    Post subject:

Cochese wrote:
Arsenal is on a roll and I love it.

Man United is in a tailspin. I haven't watched, but from what I've read it sounds like Mourinho has lost the team. I don't know. I don't know WTF happened to Alexis Sanchez either, he's been a disaster and I don't know why.


Arsenal have done a good job of winning games they’re supposed to win. We will need that if we are to make a serious run at getting back in the top 4. Have been to every home game this season, and what worries me is the defence, their positioning is awful, there’s a real anxiety in the crowd about it.

With Sanchez, I think Arsenal put him in the best position to succeed in that they let him be the main man, play where he wanted and put up with his behaviour. United won’t do that, they’ll make him play their way, and so far the results are funny for Arsenal fans. I think his wages have probably annoyed some of his team mates too at United.
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 06, 2018 7:47 pm    Post subject:

Alexis with the winner. Still want Mourinho and Woodward out.
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 07, 2018 4:48 pm    Post subject:

I was listening to Rodney Marsh and Tom Rennie on Sirius last Friday. Marsh predicted that Liverpool-Man City would end 0-0. I bet you could have made some money on that one.
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 25, 2018 12:05 pm    Post subject:

FIFA vs. UEFA vs. The Moneygoround

http://www.espn.com/soccer/blog/marcottis-musings/62/post/3678800/fifa-council-could-change-football-forever
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 02, 2018 6:35 pm    Post subject:

UEFA announces a new Europa League 2. This is because the existing Europa League is such a runaway success that we need more. Or something like that. It's a shame that this competition doesn't start until 2021. As I write this, Man U is in 7th place, which will be the Europa League 2 spot. Jose and the boys would be in Europe!

http://www.espn.com/soccer/story/3716219/uefa-approve-new-third-tier-club-competition-below-champions-league-and-europa-league
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 02, 2018 9:27 pm    Post subject:

Aeneas Hunter wrote:
UEFA announces a new Europa League 2. This is because the existing Europa League is such a runaway success that we need more. Or something like that. It's a shame that this competition doesn't start until 2021. As I write this, Man U is in 7th place, which will be the Europa League 2 spot. Jose and the boys would be in Europe!

http://www.espn.com/soccer/story/3716219/uefa-approve-new-third-tier-club-competition-below-champions-league-and-europa-league


Yay! More Mourinho ball.
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 2:22 am    Post subject:

Modric wins the ballon d'or.

Undeserved. His world cup play is clouding the fact that he wasn't up there last season, played well, but not at ballon d'or level. Messi finished 5th too, which is a shambles.
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 6:25 am    Post subject:

I agree about Modric. I think it is more about the voters wanting a fresh face than his actual merits.
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 6:48 am    Post subject:

Aeneas Hunter wrote:
I agree about Modric. I think it is more about the voters wanting a fresh face than his actual merits.


Definitely. Don't get me wrong, I think Modric is a great player but take the balance of his entire season and I just don't see how anyone could conclude that he was the best player last season.

To put it into context, Messi led Barca to La Liga and scoring 34 goals in 36 games. Ronaldo led Real to champions league glory again, scoring 15 goals in 13 games along the way.

Yeah Modric isn't a goal scorer, but he also isn't in the same universe as those guys in terms of quality either.
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 8:47 am    Post subject:

Aeneas Hunter wrote:
I agree about Modric. I think it is more about the voters wanting a Madridista than his actual merits.


FIFY.
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 9:08 am    Post subject:

Moses wrote:
Aeneas Hunter wrote:
I agree about Modric. I think it is more about the voters wanting a fresh face than his actual merits.


Definitely. Don't get me wrong, I think Modric is a great player but take the balance of his entire season and I just don't see how anyone could conclude that he was the best player last season.

To put it into context, Messi led Barca to La Liga and scoring 34 goals in 36 games. Ronaldo led Real to champions league glory again, scoring 15 goals in 13 games along the way.

Yeah Modric isn't a goal scorer, but he also isn't in the same universe as those guys in terms of quality either.


Sure. I realize that the World Cup is going to take on a lot of importance in a World Cup year. Modric was great at the World Cup. So was Pogba, but he spent the rest of the year in a death spiral with Jose. Griezmann made a fool of himself with his version of The Decision. Messi and Argentina face planted, but there was never any moment when anyone rational would have rated Modric over Messi.

On a separate note, UEFA implements VAR for the UCL knockout rounds. Sooner or later, the EPL will join the modern world. Maybe May could rally support for the Brexit deal by adding this to the package. Speaking of Brexit, we’re going to have a lot to sort out when the cap on foreign players hits the EPL. Depending on the details, we could see an entertaining transfer window as EPL clubs try to jettison dead weight like Sanchez and Ozil.
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 10:04 am    Post subject:

Griezmann is butthurt over finishing third

This guy needs a reality check. Mbappe has a better claim that Griezmann. I'm not saying he's not good, but he's not special. I would rate him in the same category as Hazard and I really like Hazard, but neither have earned the Ballon d'Or yet.

I also think the voters were stretching with Modric. He had a great season but in years past, Iniesta and Xavi were far more impressive.
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 1:09 pm    Post subject:

Allez
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2018 6:27 am    Post subject:

Schalke vs. Manchester City
Atletico Madrid vs. Juventus
Manchester United vs. Paris Saint-Germain
Tottenham vs. Borussia Dortmund
Lyon vs. Barcelona
Roma vs. Porto
Ajax vs. Real Madrid
Liverpool vs. Bayern Munich

Sort of blah, really. Liverpool vs. Bayern Munich offers some intrigue. Atletico Madrid vs. Juventus could be good. Otherwise, just blah.
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 2:09 am    Post subject:

Jose Sacked! I'm disappointed, it was all going swimmingly.
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 20, 2018 4:35 pm    Post subject:

Man U players arrive for the first training session with Solskjaer
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 23, 2018 2:48 pm    Post subject:

You are my Solskjaer, my only Solskjaer; you make me happy when skies are grey...
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