...::[The Footy Desk]::... (Part 2)

[Jason]

He hasn't really been trash talking players and definitely not Valencia, who he made club captain for this season. He is making a lot of digs towards to the board to get transfers done though.

[Laker23]

Yeah, it's Mourinho so it's made to look 10x worse than it probably is.

 

I feel confident we'll get at least one signing before the deadline. A lot of weird rumours going around, the Pogba story was debunked by another journo who's reliable for Barca. Then I'm hearing Mata has been offered to Inter, but I don't know the source behind that one.

 

If the latter is true it would suggest Perisic, who I personally don't want but Mourinho is a big fan, so it seems somewhat plausible.

Edited August 7, 2018 by Laker23

[Eutyphro]

Pogba is a great player, but he wouldn't fit into Barca at all. I don't think Busquets and Pogba approach the game in a similar style to be compatible. It would be a bad idea for him to leave United now that he has played in a very Mourinho like way at the world cup with great success.

 

Vidal is not a Barca type player either, but I think Vidal can be paired with Busquets to bring defensive steel to the midfield, and it could be a success. Barca with Vidal and Coutinho in the Champions league this year is actually a pretty scary prospect.

I hope United don't sign an attacker, because I want to see Rashford play more. And honestly, if United really dislike Shaw and Darmian, and Young is too old, they could get Tagliafico from Ajax, who would be affordable, and who I think is reliable and decent enough.

Edited August 9, 2018 by Eutyphro

[Jason]

The issue with United signing an attacker is that we literally do not have a right winger at all. If Rashford (or Martial) put in a real claim for that position and performed in it they'd be starting every week, but they've both been tried there and have been poor and up front they're competing with Lukaku and on the left they're competing with Sanchez who Mourinho favours due to his work ethic (and ability ofc). He's been handed the number 10 shirt though, so he aint going anywhere and Mou does like him.

[Guest]

Today Perez and Modric will meet for discussing the future of the croatian player, a future that seems very likely away from Madrid. Inter, for the moment, is waiting...

What a terrible summer for all the Real Madrid fans!

Edited August 8, 2018 by Wolver_321

[Girish]

On 8/6/2018 at 6:26 AM, Tchuck said:

How about the rumours regarding Courtois leaving Chelsea towards Madrid to stay closer to his family? Would be a pretty big blow to lose such an excellent keeper!

Yeah, he's pretty much gone. I'm thankful though since he's been moaning about wanting to be closer to his family for a while now and it's never good to have a disgruntled player in the team.

 

On the other hand, we're supposed to be signing Kepa from Athletic Bilbao for a reported 71m euros. That's an insane amount for a GK but I've heard good things about him and he's only 23. Not to mention, if we don't pay up for a good GK now, we're f*cked.

[Eutyphro]

If it is true that you're getting Kovacic in return then you're going to get out stronger. Kovacic - Jorginho - Kanté would be a hell of a midfield trio. The main problem for Chelsea is Morata, who is incapable of performing like Costa did.

[Jason]

Well United are a day away from what is potentially a disaster of a transfer window. Finished more than a dozen points behind City last year and haven't strengthened in multiple key areas as well failing to offload a lot of deadwood. Things are grim when you're hoping for some massive panic buys on deadline day.

 

Chelsea look to have done aaaaaaaalright in the end if Kovavic comes in, but I'm not huge on the idea of loading a player of that stature if there's no obligation to buy. Arsenal and Liverpool look to have done the best business by far, on paper anyway.

[Crokey]

Problem with Chelsea is that they're going to suffer from not bringing in Sarri sooner, so he'll be on the sh*tlist with Roman by the end of the season as they won't have performed well enough for him... Rinse, Repeat cycle with Chelsea until they run out of managers to hire.

[Laker23]

I'm half expecting a huge f*cking panic buy or nobody at all.

 

I'm gobsmacked we haven't strengthened in obvious areas. I get not wanting to pay over the odds, but it's ridiculously hard not to do that in this day and age. I get the impression the Glazers are more concerned about lining their pockets with the 10th sponsorship deal than actually competing.

 

It will take us having a disaster of a season to kick them up the ass. Looking at Liverpool's squad and being incredibly envious is a sh*t feeling.

[Eutyphro]

Don't you guys think the idea that Uniteds issues lie in defence are overblown? They conceded very few goals last season. They struggled much more with creativity than with defence. Lindelof is young, and can improve. I think Lindelof Bailly might not be a bad pairing. What United need isn't another defender but a better version of Juan Mata. They need to create more chances for Lukaku, so Lukaku can get up the top scorer table again. Last season Lukaku had to do a lot of supporting play himself. He did it surprisingly well, but it shouldn't be his task. He should purely be outmuscling opponents and ramming balls in the net.

As for the new acquisition Fred. He's a fun dribbler but I don't really think his defensive or passing ability are good enough. But we'll see. I don't think he's going to be a good fit..

[Tchuck]

Lukaku is an excellent finisher. Whatever steps United can do to get the ball to him, is the steps they should be taking.

[dante財閥]

On 8/5/2018 at 3:26 PM, Eutyphro said:

I've been watching pre season clips, and though I've seen many great talents, the one standing out is this Guendouzi kid Arsenal dug up from Ligue 2. He's so dynamic, and he sprays passes around with such pace and precision. As a defensive midfielder I've never seen anything like it. Could be a first team player for Arsenal, though he's only 19 years old.

 

 

You've never seen a deep-lying playmaker before? It was suppose to be what Xhaka was. He looks like he could be a decent player but he's hardly Toni Kroos. 

[Eutyphro]

35 minutes ago, dante財閥 said:

You've never seen a deep-lying playmaker before? It was suppose to be what Xhaka was. He looks like he could be a decent player but he's hardly Toni Kroos. 

Yeah, he's not Toni Kroos, because he has thusfar only played pre season and Ligue 2, and is 19 years old. As if a 19 year old from Ligue 2 is gonna come out and be the greatest center mid in the world.

I've honestly never seen a player that plays such pacey passes, is dynamic, and can put in a decent tackle. It's as if he's a crossover of Fernandinho and Xabi Alonso really. But I could be completely delusional, as it is just pre season. But if I'm seeing what I think I am seeing then I've never seen such a player before. You could try watching the other pre season clips, and you might get what I'm talking about.

[Laker23]

10 hours ago, Eutyphro said:

Don't you guys think the idea that Uniteds issues lie in defence are overblown? They conceded very few goals last season. They struggled much more with creativity than with defence. Lindelof is young, and can improve. I think Lindelof Bailly might not be a bad pairing. What United need isn't another defender but a better version of Juan Mata. They need to create more chances for Lukaku, so Lukaku can get up the top scorer table again. Last season Lukaku had to do a lot of supporting play himself. He did it surprisingly well, but it shouldn't be his task. He should purely be outmuscling opponents and ramming balls in the net.

As for the new acquisition Fred. He's a fun dribbler but I don't really think his defensive or passing ability are good enough. But we'll see. I don't think he's going to be a good fit..

A tad overblown you could say, at least in terms of a centre back. Bailly has been made of glass so far, hopefully he can improve his fitness. Same issue with Jones who Mourinho seems to like. Smalling is OK, but is extremely prone to terrible lapses in concentration.

 

We absolutely needed a left back and a right winger in this window, and we decided to get neither. The two areas we needed to strengthen the most. Can't say I'm optimistic about the upcoming season.

[Jason]

11 hours ago, Eutyphro said:

Don't you guys think the idea that Uniteds issues lie in defence are overblown? They conceded very few goals last season.

It's not so much that we need quality defenders (though we could improve in that area) it's that we need quality ball playing defenders. We played Smalling a lot last season cause he's consistent and injury free but when the ball is at his feet he might as well have two left feet, he's useless in that area. The inability for us to play out from the back means a high press cripples us and we resort to hoof ball a lot. We also needed a right back and a left footed left back, as our two best options are getting to their mid thirties.

 

United being good defensively is all Mourinho, mainly because he knows they aint top quality and we are really tight in defense with every one back a lot of the time. Defenders who can play out from the back and fullbacks who can make overlapping runs and get crosses into the box are gonna help us in both attack and defense.

[dante財閥]

15 hours ago, Eutyphro said:

Yeah, he's not Toni Kroos, because he has thusfar only played pre season and Ligue 2, and is 19 years old. As if a 19 year old from Ligue 2 is gonna come out and be the greatest center mid in the world.

I've honestly never seen a player that plays such pacey passes, is dynamic, and can put in a decent tackle. It's as if he's a crossover of Fernandinho and Xabi Alonso really. But I could be completely delusional, as it is just pre season. But if I'm seeing what I think I am seeing then I've never seen such a player before. You could try watching the other pre season clips, and you might get what I'm talking about.

Hey, the Toni Kroos name drop was because he's probably currently the best regista in the world, which is seemingly what this guy is from what you've said. You were the one over hyping, not me!

[Eutyphro]

Toni Kroos isn't a regista. Jorginho is. Casemiro holds the deepest midfield position at Real.

[dante財閥]

3 hours ago, Eutyphro said:

Toni Kroos isn't a regista. Jorginho is. Casemiro holds the deepest midfield position at Real.

Kroos has and is often described as a regista, I grant you maybe the term can be vague and subject to definitions but it's not unreasonable to describe him that way at all. Regista does not automatically equate to the deepest sitting player in the midfield, that would be absurd. 

 

DLPM or Regista, there isn't much difference. 

Edited August 9, 2018 by dante財閥

[Jason]

The Manchester United board have came out swinging after the English deadline shut. Turned down Boateng due to injury issues, we wanted a loan which was refused. Godin's agent used us for a contract, we had little to no contact over Toby Alderweireld as the board weren't willing to replace our fifth best centreback with another fifth best centreback (what ever they were implying with this is dumb), board didn't want to lose Martial but Mourinho was happy to let him go and doesn't rate his character. We were willing to pay £100m for Varane, but as you'd expect he never wanted to leave and Madrid had no interest in selling. The board once again chasing impossible targets, usually Madrid players, which has become a long running theme under Ed Woodward.

 

Think it's clear at this point that the board and Mourinho have very different ideas when it comes to recruitment and they didn't want to back him and get his targets in the window. My guess is this will be his final season baring a Premier League title where they sorta have to keep him on.

[dante財閥]

On 8/5/2018 at 3:26 PM, Eutyphro said:

I've been watching pre season clips, and though I've seen many great talents, the one standing out is this Guendouzi kid Arsenal dug up from Ligue 2. He's so dynamic, and he sprays passes around with such pace and precision. As a defensive midfielder I've never seen anything like it. Could be a first team player for Arsenal, though he's only 19 years old.

 

 

Alright, I concede he has actually really impressed me against City.

 

but still, let’s calm down a bit!

[Eutyphro]

He had a tough game. But his quality is mainly on the ball, so he was always going to have a tough game with an Arsenal that hasn't found its way yet. To shine in this match on the Arsenal side you'd have to be a Makelele type. Overall he had some good moments and some gaffes. One of the not so convincing moments was on the first goal, but what has to be said is that Bellerin is an absolute donkey, and they should start Lichtsteiner on the right over him. Sterling, who had an amazing game, maybe because he feels the pressure for his first team position with both Mahrez and Sané in the team, should've never been able to cut inside like that by the right back Bellerin.

 

So overall for a 19 year old this was an oké performance, with a need for a lot of improvement.

Edited August 12, 2018 by Eutyphro

[dante財閥]

He was easily Arsenal’s best player despite a few mistakes. I’d get rid of Xhaka and never look back!

[Eutyphro]

It's interesting you say that considering all the pundits on my Dutch channel were burning him to the ground, claiming he isn't even talented. If this match was all I had seen of him I wouldn't be impressed either. But a slow technical genius like Kroos or Busquets having to play in that Arsenal against that City would've looked very bad as well. Most players would've looked terrible except for a Kante or a Casemiro type.

The most useless player was easily Aaron Ramsey, who brought absolutely nothing. In general Arsenals attack wasted what were good possibilities.

[dante財閥]

Not sure what game they watched. He did make some mistakes but that doesn’t negate everything else. I mean he’s 18 and playing against one of the best sides in the world. 

 

 

 

[Eutyphro]

Yeah, they're idiots.. Guendouzi is like a crossbreed of Carrick and Rabiot for me. He's amazing this kid. I think he will be the best in the world on dm after Busquets deteriorates.

[Tchuck]

Cech kept Arsenal in the game for most of it. Holy cow the amount of hard saves he made, was very impressive!

 

Arsenal a bit toothless, trying to walk the ball in when they should have shot, shooting when they should have crossed. Next up against West Ham, let's see how they do.

[Eutyphro]

What also has to be said is that tactically to try and play it out from the back with a 4-2-3-1 against a high pressing Manchester City is just a stupid idea. You could maybe play like that against a high pressing City if you play with a double pivot of destroyers, but a double pivot of deep lying playing makers is going to get exposed like it did.

With opponents that do not press this aggressively and effectively it actually might work to play a 4-2-3-1 with two deep lying playmakers though, but against City it is tactically illiterate. Cruijff has explained that over and over, why a 4-2-3-1 is positionally inferior to a 4-1-2-3

Edited August 13, 2018 by Eutyphro

[dante財閥]

De Bruyne out for 2 months.

 

Any other team and I might be worried about their ability to compete...

[Eutyphro]

Yeah, City will manage easily without him. Which is pretty crazy considering he's their best player, but their squad is incredible. When it comes to their squad it is better if players get inured once in a while or some very good players will get dissatisfied.

Btw, pretty awesome supercup final. Great goals, and great football by Atletico. Real should splash out the money to bring in someone like Lewandowski because Benzema + Bale will not be able to score the amounts of goals Cristiano did.

Edited August 15, 2018 by Eutyphro