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

[Jason]

Yea I've heard he's been having a really really good season this year and I don't know if it's a tad too late, I think he still has time to become an all time great given the increasing length of players primes these days, but so far he's just really failed to get out of every shadow he's been under.

 

That's harsh on him in a way, as every shadow he's been under (Messi, Pele) are massive shadows to get out of, maybe even impossible, but at the same time Mbappe came through and has stole the limelight from him at PSG too.

 

It sounds like I'm slagging him off but it's not that, he is one of the best of his generation without a doubt, it's just that many of us thought he'd go on and be one of the best ever. Unfair perhaps to criticise him for not achieving that, but some of the decisions he's made in his career were done in order to further that goal, such as the PSG move.

[Eutyphro]

I've never really liked Neymar, and many people don't. There's something about him that's very unlikeable. He has an insane amount of ability and talent, but I think probably only at Barca was he living up to his ability, and then he actually seemed to start performing less well often times when he should have been hitting his prime. Seems like a player that never really lived up to his full ability.

As for Modric being an all time great, yeah he clearly is. Being that decisive at 37 is quite something. No matter how good Lewandowski or Neymar are, I rank Modric a class or even several classes above them. As pointed out Neymar never really lived up to his potential or carried his team or was decisive like Modric. Lewandowski is a pure goal scorer of which there have been more. But the way Modric has been running games is more unique I think, and he ranks among Pirlo, Zidane, Iniesta, Xavi and Michael Laudrup among the great midfielders.

[Karl11]

Pelé has passed away, may he Rest in Peace:

https://news.sky.com/story/brazilian-football-star-pele-has-died-at-the-age-of-82-12775924

[Donald Lov]

Ronaldo for Al-Nassr is confirmed, after all. Hopefully, a single season business trip before moving on to finish his career on a higher note. 

[Eutyphro]

No club of any decent level seems to want him anymore. The Saudis are paying him a fortune for their sportswashing. It's probably over for him. What's unfortunate is that one of the best to ever play the game didn't have a more classy end to his career in him.

Edited December 31, 2022 by Eutyphro

[TheSantader25]

I don't understand his decision. How much more money does a person need? He could just take a salary cut and finish off his career at Portugal with some respect and decency.

Edited December 31, 2022 by TheSantader25

[Jason]

Hhe (via Mendes) offered himself out all summer to every club in the CL. They all said no, many of them publicly because it got that ridiculous.

 

He went on Piers Morgan's show and did an interview where he (after some wanking off by Morgan) said it's not about the money and that he wanted to play in the CL, thinks he can still play at the top level, win best player awards, etc. Says ETH disrespected him.

 

Joins a club in Saudi Arabia for the money.

 

What a complete embarrassment. It's nothing but sad honestly, he could've finished this year at United as a super sub and said that's enough I'm going for a new experience, which for a player of his age is code for a final payday and no one would have blamed him for that but instead he spun a complete lie, with the help of a c*nt, and he's now ended up his career at the top level in embarrassment, with Messi's WC win just adding insult to injury.

 

One of the greatest of all time, with one of the biggest falls of grace ever in the world of sport. Long term it won't damage his legacy too much but for a good while he's just a laughing stock.

 

Ah well, at least the bed he's made for him self will be extremely comfortable.

[Ari Gold]

^ My thoughts exactly. The hubris and complete and utter lack of self awareness is obvious to anyone with a modicum of EQ.

 

And it is a shame because he was a bloody brilliant footballer. I watched him live in a Euro qualifier in 2019 (complete with a ripper goal scored, siuu celebration and all) and you could sense just how lethal he could be whenever he had the ball at his control. I was stoked when he came back to United for sentimental, emotional reasons... but I suppose it's proof again that when it comes to player selection and recruitment you can only use your brain!

[Jason]

Given that the Glazer's never appointed Fergie I think them having some balls and appointing ETH instead of Poch is the only good decision they have ever made in their time at the club.

 

What a utterly fantastic manager, better than I even expected. Garnacho's contract needs sorting out NOW as well, he's an elite player in the making.

[Eutyphro]

ETH really is on a fantastic run, got Rashford in the form of his life probably. And Casemiro has been an absolute rock in midfield for them. I mostly feel terrible for Donny though and his horrific injury. Hope we can see him back to success eventually.

I have some doubts about the acquisition of Weghorst, but at the moment ten Hag is bringing in the wins, and noone can argue against a winning manager. As an Ajax fan I've clearly been a ten Hag fan all along anyway.

Liverpool & Chelsea really are in serious trouble it seems. Graham Potter deserves time. Boehly has been throwing abolutely massive sums of money around, but has not been buying smart. Chelsea can't really play well without Kante who is their backbone it seems, and Graham needs time to repurpose the squad.

As for Pool, if they keep being this bad I think even Kloppo will deserve the sack. A team like Liverpool has to be better, and Klopp does not seem able to rebuild his team. This midfield of Thiago, Henderson and Fabinho is aged and not physically up to the task. Klopp is in a position where he has to drop players who have been important in the past, but he does not seem able to do so. If he can't carry the job he should honestly be put out of his misery, cause this is getting embarrassing.

Edited January 14 by Eutyphro

[Donald Lov]

Holy sh*t, Arsenal are a f*cking league title contender, for real this time. Still seems surreal.

[Eutyphro]

If they keep important players (like Partey) fit, and Nketiah keeps playing well, they will surely be PL champions. What will be decisive is their squad depth and the fitness of the squad really. I liked Arteta all along, and am not that surprised, but he did build his team quicker than I expected. It was clear though they had loads of talent. Arteta has always seemed like a man who knows exactly what he is doing to me.

[Ari Gold]

7 hours ago, Eutyphro said:

Liverpool & Chelsea really are in serious trouble it seems. Graham Potter deserves time. Boehly has been throwing abolutely massive sums of money around, but has not been buying smart. Chelsea can't really play well without Kante who is their backbone it seems, and Graham needs time to repurpose the squad.

 

Looks like they've stolen Mikhailo Mudryk from Arsenal's grasp too lol for a cool 100m euros... Joao Felix I also think should be pretty effective for them. He has a lot of talent but I'm not sure how consistent he is, reminds me a little bit of Nani.

 

Great performance from United and Rashford in particular. As controversial as the first goal was (by the book he was onside, but by the barest of threads practically speaking... lol at Pep saying it was only paid as onside because it was at OT ) we 100% deserved to win I think. We exposed City pretty effectively (especially down the left) in the first half and really should've been up 1 or 2-0 at half time.

[Donald Lov]

14 hours ago, Ari Gold said:

 

Looks like they've stolen Mikhailo Mudryk from Arsenal's grasp too lol for a cool 100m euros...

This seems like a very impulsive decision to me... 100 freaking mil for a guy without top 5 league experience, however talented, seems to be quite a gamble. 

[TheSantader25]

This Man City side reminds me of 2010 Barcelona with Zlatan. I feel like pure 9s do more harm than good to Pep's system in the end. Sure he's scoring goals but the overall balance is lost from this City side.

 

Ten Haag is doing an excellent job so far. I've never seen United play this vibrant before. It's kinda refreshing to see them play like this because this has never really been their style in a long time.

Edited January 15 by TheSantader25

[Eutyphro]

I don't really like Akanji, and think City are far better off with Ruben Dias, who was not fit though. I don't see Haaland as the problem, but do agree he's not a very Pep player. He's a legend in the making though. I think maybe City should play Foden in midfield, so that when Haaland keeps the center backs occupied they have an extra player in the middle who can score. I generally see your point that Haaland is not helpful for dominating possession, but we have to conclude that aiming to get 70% possession every game has been very successful for league titles, but has been a failure in Champions League. Therefore I think having a big striker in the box is probably a good thing for City, but they do need to adapt. And like we all know Pep will just keep being Pep and aim to dominate the ball regardless.

 

[Eutyphro]

Oke, Weghorst is starting, this will be epic.

[Jason]

Only way that could have went worse is if we lost or someones leg snapped lol. Two points dropped due to a last minute wordly and Casemiro out for the Arsenal game at the weekend. Horrible night for us, really.

 

The silver lining is that the reasons why it's such a horrible result for us is because we're playing really well at the moment, no one expected a title challenge this season, not even United fans, so the fact we were in one (albeit briefly, for now) is a good sign.

 

Weghorst looked alright, wasn't an easy game for forwards due to Palace's defending, his hold up and one touch play looked solid and he was happy to press and fight for the ball. He aint gonna light the world on fire but he'll be handy to have for the rest of the season.

[Donald Lov]

Spurs did a real good job at deceiving us for the first 45 minutes. You'd think they're a decent side, but within 20 minutes of the second half it all became clear once again

[Testarossa]

Lloris has been dreadful recently. Unbelievable.

[Ari Gold]

On 1/19/2023 at 9:05 AM, Jason said:

Only way that could have went worse is if we lost or someones leg snapped lol. Two points dropped due to a last minute wordly and Casemiro out for the Arsenal game at the weekend. Horrible night for us, really.

 

The silver lining is that the reasons why it's such a horrible result for us is because we're playing really well at the moment, no one expected a title challenge this season, not even United fans, so the fact we were in one (albeit briefly, for now) is a good sign.

 

Weghorst looked alright, wasn't an easy game for forwards due to Palace's defending, his hold up and one touch play looked solid and he was happy to press and fight for the ball. He aint gonna light the world on fire but he'll be handy to have for the rest of the season.

 

I think they should've done a bit better with the defensive positioning of the wall for that free kick. It wasn't exactly a "tall" wall, and they were stood in a spot that was sitting on a line connecting the goal to the ball via the shortest distance... Forcing De Gea to then stand to the right to look around the wall, which only opened up the goal on the left for them to score in. Little bit semantic as it's entirely possible that if the wall stood to the right, and De Gea to the left, they would've found a way to score anyway, but, I thought that they'd be able to iron out small details like that by now.

 

Having said that, I'm still more optimistic than pessimistic. I think this was our longest winning run since 2016-2017? No progress is linear, and I think ETH has been very good so far in staying consistent and firm, and recovering well from set-backs (a feeling I, and I imagine you as well lol, certainly didn't feel whenever we lost under Ole or even Mourinho).

[Jason]

We went on something like a 14 game winning run when Ole arrived IIRC. That was one of the longest runs in the league though, if we won it was the longest run in the league since Fergie I think?.

 

And yea, our good form sorta got us to hope for a title challenge again but this was more of a reality check. We're not there yet, it's ETH's first season, there's gonna be setbacks, losses, bad results, it'll happen. The fact we're in a very good position for top 4, playing well, at the mid point of the season is a very good position.

 

I just hope this absolutely clusterf*ck of a schedule doesn't result in the team burning out and struggling towards the end. If we lose Casemiro, Eriksen or Bruno we don't really have any backups beyond McFred now.

[Harold of the Rocks]

Newcastle United is surprising the hell out of me this season. It would be awesome to watch them play in the UCL again, after all these years

[Ducard]

Well that was easily the best arsenal - united game of like the past 5+ years? 

 

Fred and Mctominay are not good enough, not even as subs, for the level we want to be at.  When you want to win the PL you need to aim for 90 points at the minimum and that involves having a quality bench. We need to sell them while they still have value and bring in quality mids.

 

De gea also extremely poor today apart from the save. Arsenal exploited his weakness by applying intense pressure whenever he had the ball and that caused us to not be able to play out from the back. He also should have really done better for the saka goal (poor positioning) and nearly let in another saka goal due to poor positioning as well.

 

Arsenal look very impressive it has to be said. This United side is much much better than last year and it has shown it can hold it's own against the best sides but there is still a lot of work to be done.

[Jason]

I'm not saying it was exactly this but it did feel like the two best teams going at it, much like the City-Liverpool games in recent years and while the result is sh*t for us it is nice to be a part of that type of game again. We're on the right track.

 

My only real emotion after it was... well, it was a f*cking annoying result tbh. We more than held our own but we gassed out with about 20 minutes to go, which was inevitable given we played a mid-week game and Arsenal didn't. Fixture scheduling goes both ways but yea... hard not to feel hard done by.

 

Casemiro a miss as well obviously and a sign we needed 1-2 more quality depth options in midfield in the summer, one for Eriksen and one for Casemiro. 

 

Liking what I'm saying of Wout though, he's playing a very classic target man role and letting out better players use him to bounce passes and flick stuff on, on top of being a good presser. He'll be a decent asset for us for the rest of the season and so far, based on what I've seen, if we can get him for a bargain price I'd take him on a 1-2 year cheap deal for a plan b tbh.

[Donald Lov]

Chelsea led the most insane transfer campaign I've ever seen, I think. What the f*ck was that? The board were all on acid and most likely some heavier sh*t too, especially during negotiations. 

[Jason]

Chelsea's new owners have brought US sport thinking to a world wide sport where that thinking has never worked, basically. Maybe it will will this time, but I imagine at least a few of their buys this season will be massive flops.

 

The "benefit" I suppose is that they've been able to build up a new, young team in literally one window. The negative is if that these players don't work or flop then they're on 8+ year contracts and could prove difficult to shift. Also, because they've spent so much and are stretching it out over 5+ years their next 5 years of transfer windows are going to suffer just because they wanted to go wild in this one window. Who knows what players will come up in the next few years, all I know is that Chelsea will be at a disadvantage when trying to get them. United is in a similar boat, the reason why we couldn't spend in January is because we still owed money to other clubs for players we bought, plus an overspend in the summer, meant we had nothing left to spend.

 

Just glad we managed to get an Eriksen replacement in on deadline day honestly, we have two games a week for the next 2-3 months so we sorely needed a replacement.

[Eutyphro]

Yeah, really good business on Sabitzer. Pretty much the exact player United needs, and for the winter window a great deal. I'd like to see Rashford start as a 9 a bit more, and see Garnacho play from the left a bit more. Garnacho has been electric, whereas Antony has been struggling I think.

Chelsea seems to be using some sort of infinite money cheat to be honest. It is completely insane. Interesting to see the contrast between them and Newcastle, who cause they are owned by Saudis have close to infinite money, but have been spending wisely, and built a real team.

I'm interested how Sabitzer will do and if he can make United compete for second. Man City have stashed Cancelo at Bayern, because he was creating trouble in the group. I really think Cancelo was a great player for City, so really a loss for them. City does not really know how to fully play with Haaland yet, and it might provide United or even Newcastle an opportunity.

Edited February 3 by Eutyphro

[Jason]

Rashford's form has all been from the left, it's by far away where he's most dangerous. The downside is Garnacho's not starting that often but there's a reason he aint up top. Wout's been lowkey very good for us so far too, he's just a big lanky pressing bastard with a good touch and link up play, he's allowing players like Rashford to stay out wide where they're most dangerous and play the ball off him.

 

Antony's form has been alright, few goals, few assists, but hasn't lit the world on fire yet but I will say that for all the criticism he's been getting people are oblivious to the fact that we tend to play better with him on the pitch because he's an actual right winger who stays out wide, helping us stretch the pitch. Playing left wingers on there has been a huge issue for us since... Nani? All our play would go down the left cause we had no right side, but Antony on the right with Dalot (or the improving AWB) has given us the option to switch to the right and spread the play, so even if he's not in hot form he's doing alright. Pellistri has also shown some glimpses in the past week or two, I can see him getting more time on the right as the season goes.

[smokeless6]

5 hours ago, Jason said:

Chelsea's new owners have brought US sport thinking to a world wide sport where that thinking has never worked, basically.

 

 

Can you elaborate on this? US sports are salary capped.  Which parallels do you draw between what Chelsea did this window with an American sport?

 

And transactions in US sports are very rarely purchases, more often player exchanges or draft capital.

 

And Antony is Robben reborn. All left foot. That's his biggest problem.

Edited February 1 by smokeless6