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

[Jason]

Could be tricky for us, Valencia are the type of team we've underestimated in Europe in recent seasons - Seville, Bilbao, etc. Juventus will be a huge test, hopefully we can pick up something at home against them, cause I feel like we're gonna get trounced at the Juventus Stadium.

 

Some tasty groups and matchups to enjoy as a neutral though. Pot 2 and 3 are so stacked these days.

[Guest]

Groups B, C and H are probably the toughest groups, in A we'll probably see Monaco, Club Brugge and Dortmund fighting for the 2nd and 3rd place, group D seems more like Europa League 

Regarding the group H, I think it will be a bit tricky also for us, Juve has never played so well in the group stage, last year we had some problems with Sporting Lisboa and Olympiakos, 5 years ago we managed to be relegated in the UEL in a group with Real Madrid, Copenaghen and Galatasaray (that snowstorm in Turkey ).

Young Boys should be pretty easy, winning against Valencia will probably the key for pass the group, then the double match that would decide the 1st place (first at Old Trafford and 2 weeks later at Juventus Stadium). IMO we and Man UTD will go through, Valencia hasn't had a great transfer window and for me they will go down in the UEL...

 

Anyway Pogba back to Juventus Stadium and Ronaldo back to Old Trafford...

Edited August 31, 2018 by Wolver_321

[Laker23]

Actually glad we've got a group like this this time. We often coast far too much if handed a relatively simple one, so hopefully this gives us the kick up the ass needed to put on some great performances.

[Eutyphro]

Cristiano's, his agent's, and his sister's reaction to Modric winning European footballer of the year is deeply shameful. Without Modric it's uncertain Real would have won any of the CL trophies madrid has won in recent years. He was nearly as essential to those wins as Cristiano himself. That camp Cristiano can't respect his former teammate who was so important to his success over the years winning an award is extremely embarrassing. This makes me lose a lot of respect for Cristiano.

[Jason]

World Cup performances also play a part in that particular award too don't they?

[Eutyphro]

The UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award (previously known as the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award) is an association football award given to the footballer playing for a football club in Europe that is considered the best in the previous season of both club and national team competition.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Men's_Player_of_the_Year_Award

So yeah, that is why Modric won, deservedly. I personally am in favor of Modric winning all individual prizes this year. He's been the best central midfielder in the world for years, and with the CL and World Cup combined he was the best player past season. It's ridiculous to object to him deserving to win such a prize.

[Crokey]

City have got a decent draw for a change in the CL.

 

But.. LOL at Rangers in the Europa League

 

Group G: Villarreal (Spa), Rapid Vienna (Aut), Spartak Moscow (Rus), RANGERS

 

Stevie G's gonna get screwed in that group.

[Eutyphro]

The way City play is impatient. It's like they want to decide the match 4-0 in the first half hour. They give away way too much space, practically playing 3-1-4-2, considering Mendy is pretty much a winger.

[dante財閥]

I'm licking my lips at our Champions League group. Hopefully we'll prove some people wrong again.

[Jason]

John Moss, a Premier League referee, has suddenly decided that a handball that denies a forward a clean run on goal 1v1 with the keeper is not only a (red) card but also not a foul. Shocking refereeing in the second half but luckily it didn't cost us.

 

Shoulda been 4 or 5 nil though, how Lukaku didn't get his first United hattrick I do not know.

[Ghxst]

Everton supporters please keep an eye on Bernard. He had 2 amazing years at my club. Now that he's not hidden in Shakhtar, I think he'll come back to his best.

[dante財閥]

On 8/28/2018 at 5:07 PM, dante財閥 said:

Watford will be a tricky fixture the way they've been playing this year. I was surprised how many people had them for the drop personally. Top 10 is more than realistic for them if they keep this up, especially if Burnley stay sidetracked by Europe. 

I said it would be tricky but thought we'd still get the W. Unfortunately we got bullied off the ball by a physical but pretty good Watford side. We needed Wanyama in the middle tbh.

[Laker23]

Decent performance against Burnley, never felt we were under huge pressure, even when Rashford got sent off. Phil is a c*nt but I hope Rash learns to never under any circumstances lean your head in. 9/10 it's only ending one way.

 

Lukaku was excellent but should have had more. Tried to do way too much one on one with Hart. Two defenders right behind him, going round the keeper was always going to be a bit too much. That's one of my main criticisms with him, if he's ever in that position I usually expect him to make the wrong decision and fluff his lines. Hopefully he can improve on his composure in those situations.

[Eutyphro]

17 hours ago, dante財閥 said:

We needed Wanyama in the middle tbh.

You need the Korean CR7 known as Son, lol. I love Son, and he's one of the most underrated players around. He's won the Asian games recently so he doesn't have to spend years on military duty. I have no idea when he'll be back though. If my memory serves me right he dominated Juventus last year.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Eutyphro said:

You need the Korean CR7 known as Son, lol. I love Son, and he's one of the most underrated players around. He's won the Asian games recently so he doesn't have to spend years on military duty. I have no idea when he'll be back though. If my memory serves me right he dominated Juventus last year.

Well, actually the whole Tottenham dominated us in the round of 16 last year, but thanks to their european inexperience and a bit of luck we managed to go through. Son scored the 1-0 at Wembley and I remember that 90% of Spurs' attacks came from the left, Pochettino had understood that our right back was the biggest problem in Juventus defense... Fortunately now we have Cancelo as RB!

[Eutyphro]

Yeah, Juve currently has a fantastic squad and is definitely among the favorites to win the Champions League this year.

[dante財閥]

6 hours ago, Eutyphro said:

You need the Korean CR7 known as Son, lol. I love Son, and he's one of the most underrated players around. He's won the Asian games recently so he doesn't have to spend years on military duty. I have no idea when he'll be back though. If my memory serves me right he dominated Juventus last year.

Son is a great player but that's not what we were lacking against Watford. Everyone was relieved about the military service but honestly he wouldn't have made a difference this past weekend. We were bullied. We needed to shift to a back 4 and use Wanyama or even Dier in the middle. 

[Eutyphro]

Could be. I didn't see a lot of Tottenham Watford to be honest, so I can't tell.

[Jason]

City getting f*cked over by Spurs cause of the stadium issue. They've got 6 games in 3 days this early in the season, one of them being the League cup. Not got sympathy for them over it (cause, ya'know, it's City), but the Spurs stadium fiasco is embarrassing for them and the fact it's having an impact on other teams now makes it even worse. They should be punished for it.

[dante財閥]

18 hours ago, Jason said:

City getting f*cked over by Spurs cause of the stadium issue. They've got 6 games in 3 days this early in the season, one of them being the League cup. Not got sympathy for them over it (cause, ya'know, it's City), but the Spurs stadium fiasco is embarrassing for them and the fact it's having an impact on other teams now makes it even worse. They should be punished for it.

What exactly should the punishment be? Points docking would be laughable and entirely disproportionate by the way lol.

[Jason]

To Spurs fans yea, but if City get knocked out of the League cup because of having to play a heavily rotated team because they're playing 3 games in 6 days then I can't imagine City fans thinking it would be a laughable and disproportionate punishment. Hell, United and Everton got their match moved to Sunday because of it, potentially effecting thousands of fans.

 

It's a shambles from Spurs. Docked points is a very heavy punishment that we rarely see, but a fine would be nothing more than a slap on the wrists to a club the size of Spurs. Not that I think we'll see anything come of it, but at the least they should be helping out all the fans of clubs getting f*cked over by them.

[dante財閥]

Sounds like standard gate keeping stuff from fans who don't want Spurs being a top club. I'm yet to hear any reasonable comments from rival fans in the top 6. Major construction projects frequently run over, especially when it comes to health and safety issues. Are we suppose to have just stayed in our current stadium? Or should we have one off the tax payers like West Ham did?

[Jason]

What are you on about? Gatekeeping? Why would I care if Spurs are a top club or not? I'm a United fan, you're no rival of ours in any shape or form.

 

Spurs went all in on the stadium being ready. It wasn't, it's gonna be months off. Now teams are having their fixtures moved about, making a highly congested set of fixtures for one club in particular, and screwing over fans who planned to make the games. That's on Spurs and like I said, at the very least they should be looking to help out fans who have been affected by it.

[Crokey]

City who are the worse affected as we've got that long arse trek down to Cockneylandshire, are putting on free buses for fans, and most reactions have been meh, f*ck it, this sh*t happens.  I have to say though the reactions I've seen from Everton and United fans thinking and acting like their fixture has been moved to the back of arse end of Siberia is a little over dramatic, I mean that couple of dozen mile stretch of the M62 ain't that long of a trek?  Plus it's still on the weekend, and not being moved that most hated of all fixture nights, fecking Monday night... Jeezus I fecking hate Monday night football.

[Jason]

Most reactions I saw were why aren't Spurs footing the bill, or being told to f*ck off lol.

 

Anyway, mixed feelings on MNF my self, I love Sky's MNF show but yea it's hellish for travelling fans.

[Tchuck]

Pfft you guys and your tiny commutes! Brazilian teams frequently have 3 games in 7 days! And they have to fly out to their destinations, sometimes more than a thousand km away!

[Jason]

Fans of teams in the English Championship and League 1 and 2 know your pain, they've a mad ol' season down there.

[Tchuck]

Oh yes, I've managed Exter City or York City in every release of Football Manager at least once. God knows the fixtures can be dreadful!

[Jason]

Christmas period as a PL club when you're in the Club World Cup is always a fun period, a billion games to play but you end up with 3 or 4 games in hand on other clubs. 

[dante財閥]

18 hours ago, Jason said:

What are you on about? Gatekeeping? Why would I care if Spurs are a top club or not? I'm a United fan, you're no rival of ours in any shape or form.

 

Spurs went all in on the stadium being ready. It wasn't, it's gonna be months off. Now teams are having their fixtures moved about, making a highly congested set of fixtures for one club in particular, and screwing over fans who planned to make the games. That's on Spurs and like I said, at the very least they should be looking to help out fans who have been affected by it.

I just think personally you're being a bit over dramatic about it and I'm not sure why 'is all. 

 

Quote

I'm a United fan, you're no rival of ours in any shape or form.

That's why it's odd. I expect the overblown reactions from gooners. But other clubs?