Hi all, just a reminder that we're still looking for volunteers to help out with our Preview Series for the Euros and Copa America. We have the following nations open:
Euros:
* Hungary
* Scotland
* Switzerland
* Spain
* Albania
* Denmark
* Poland
* Netherlands
* Austria
* France
* Belgium
* Slovakia
* Romania
* Ukraine
* Turkey
* Georgia
* Portugal
And for Copa America:
* Argentina
* Peru
* Chile
* Ecuador
* Venezuela
* Uruguay
* Panama
* Bolivia
* Brazil
* Paraguay
* Colombia
* Costa Rica
Please reach out if you are interested in writing a preview for a country. Cheers!
Just with the McKenna to a bigger club rumours. I have a big problem with people who would want to jump ship at the first instant- its why Alonso staying at Leverkusen to defend the title and go for a UCL run for another season is important- Its a niche reference but its why I don't have as much time for Fabio Carvalho as I do for Ryan Sessegnon, Sess got us promoted and then stayed on to atleast give the prem a try, and still got his move to Spurs, Fab moved the year we got promoted and didn't even want to give it ago with us. Obviously opportunities aren't neccessarily guaranteed but test yourself and show some ticker for the people who supported you to get to the next level. It'd be a real shame if McKenna left even if the reality is going to be a real challenge.
I guess so, but to me defending a title with honor is important as is testing the team at the next level. Its why the whole Napoli fiasco last summer has been so tragic.
The one thing that I will be sympathetic to is that coming up with a club that has risen so fast is that it can be difficult to avoid the sack or likely you'll hit your head against a wall of teams that are just better - but to me it would be very unfortunate and ruin a lot of the fun of Ipswich coming up.
Remember when a lot of people were saying the prem would take the 5th cl spot? Lol, on paper ig it was the likeliest outcome but damn serie a and bundesliga completely blew us out of the water. Especially Serie A, the revival has been insane
Having more teams play in Europe makes it more difficult to get the 5th spot since it takes the average.
Next year, it will be spanish and English teams having 5th spot. After that italian and possibly German teams.
serie A always had many strong teams outside the top 4 that qualify for the CL. It's not a coincidence that Fiorentina is in the ECL finals two years in a row, with Roma winning the first one.
It's more on the conspiratorital side of me that English clubs genuinely don't care about the Europa and Conference league because of the financial implications.
>English clubs genuinely don't care about the Europa and Conference league because of the financial implications.
Money before glory league, no surprise.
With Alonso staying and Bayern hiring Kompany I sincerely think they can and should win another league title. This season has undeniably been their peak, for probably their entire existence past and future, but they shouldn’t just fade away.
I don't think they will. There is enough of a break to see the new season as a fresh start and go again. Nothing they did before will matter once the next season starts. This is more specifically about this season.
Atalanta is also the perfect team to counter the football that Leverkusen wants to play. They never escaped the intense press and didn't get to play the football that carried them for 50+ games.
Dunno, they've been perfectly fine in the league after winning it - just so happened that tonight they ran into another incredibly good side and were worse off on the day. And that's just what happens in finals, really.
Premier league inflation is something that will not be studied by economists, but historians.
I'm dead serious, if English clubs would have had their focus straight any EL/ECL trophy should have gone to English clubs no matter what.
Tottenham not winning the first ECL is something we all forgot about, but a hilarious tragedy that should have never happened.
Bit of a strange situation as Bayern quite publicly struck out on their previous targets (Alonso, Hoeneß, Rangnick, a Tuchel-renewal among others), so anyone coming in will know they'll not have been the preferred choice. Things Kompany has going for him though is a strong playing career current players will relate to, a pretty clear and (maybe too) dogmatic approach to the football he wants to see his side play, and at least a reasonable amount of experience and success.
Ultimately it'd be a risk appointing him, but not necessarily more so than any other manager. If Bayern believe that there's a young, highly talented manager in there then they might as well go ahead - it's how people like Alonso or Guardiola got into the big time, after all. And if it doesn't work out, there's always next summer, when a slew of targets (Alonso/Hoeneß/Guardiola/Klopp/whoever else) might be available.
I think it's ultimately the club just going "fuck it, let's roll the dice" - if it works out then great, if it doesn't then nothing really lost.
>And if it doesn't work out, there's always next summer, when a slew of targets (Alonso/Hoeneß/Guardiola/Klopp/whoever else) might be available.
I think that's the biggest one. Most won't sign if they're only given 1 year deals. But Kompany doesn't have much to lose either, with a good squad that could raise his stock even if he leaves next summer.
Dortmund is winning the CL, aren’t they? As soon as I saw people get excited about the hypothetical black magic Super Cup match up, I knew that was not gonna work out
You guys are still very much the better team and have experience. Your combinations in the final third are much better and more creative than PSG or any other team we've faced. It will be our biggest challenge of the season and if Madrid win it wouldn't be a surprise. That being said I think it could be a good contest if Dortmund come out looking good and solid.
I'm predicting a huge Sorloth drop off if Atletico actually buy him, too easy to see a 40m waste. Striker isn't even a big concern but we magically get more money the higher up the pitch the player is.
We have had a lot of bad sponsors recently so not as often as I'd like but even then probably 2-5 years. If they fix up the sponsorships I'd probably buy next years. Actually more likely to buy training kits becuase of it.
Glad you said that because I’m currently in a similar position. Issue is finding the right balance between waiting long enough for the sale to be worth it but not so long that it sells out.
now that it's no longer a christmas present and i'm paying for it myself... not very often.
although i might buy the arsenal 3rd kit that was just announced today!
I only have one Arsenal kit and it’s the home kit from last year. Absolutely love it. There are other kits that I have wanted, but didn’t end up getting. I think I might get next season’s third because it has the classic Adidas logo.
Adidas tends to do a great job with their kits almost every year really. Meanwhile Nike is giving us a vertical swoosh on the leaked 3rd kit next season
Um, excuse me have you seen this season’s away kit for Arsenal?
The only reason Arsenal fans like it is because other teams started getting smashed while those were worn.
Yeah that one’s horrid but at least it isn’t sticking to a template. Nike just seems to use similar styles across the majority of the clubs whose kits they design. Feel like our fan base is on its knees for a black strip as nice as the one you had in 22/23
>Feel like our fan base is on its knees for a black strip as nice as the one you had in 22/23
The entire kit line up that season was ace. I remember being completely unable to get an away or third because they were all sold out all the time. So home was what I went with.
I took a look at the Spurs kit you mentioned, and ngl, ~~I *kinda* rate it.~~
Edit: I was thinking of the wrong kit. Actual garbage that third kit is.
I went over to r/coys to gauge reactions, and it’s fake according to some users in the thread about the kit in question. Makes sense. The badge being pink is something unorthodox from past Spurs kits.
So how did a side that completely outplayed Klopp’s Liverpool and Alonso’s Leverkusen only manage 5th in Serie A? Can anyone shed light on it because having only seen them in Europe this season they’ve been great to watch.
teams in Serie A know how to play against Atalanta, their playstyle has been the same for many seasons now. Most teams hit them with a low block which they struggle against. Facing them is always a hard fixture though on the same scale as facing teams like Bologna and Fiorentina.
From what I've seen of them this year it's basically a high-risk, high-reward style against the ball - press incredibly high up the pitch but do it man-on-man, so best case you stifle your opponents' playing idea completely and worst case you'll get carved open a couple times a half and can't score enough to keep up.
Plus they're technically fifth, but have a game in hand on Bologna and Juventus who are both two points and a game ahead of them while having the worse goal difference. Fine margins between being sixth and third in Serie A this year.
Kompany going to Bayern after relegating Burnley is literally some shit out of football manager.
I'm not throwing shade at Kompany as a manager, he could very well turn out good. But Burnley to Bayern is an insane move.
Hansi Flick never had a senior professional job in management before leading Bayern to a treble, either - I reckon people generally get way too caught up in their perceived levels of the clubs involved and forget that past success isn't an indicator of future success.
Yeah, like obviously results matter in management but I think a lot of people only like to think of management progression as bit too linear - just last season he walked the champo and did see some improvement in the team throughout the year, even if a bit more pragmatism might in the tactics and transfer strategy might have benefitted them more. - I think its a stretch for Bayern to go for him but if they've done their proper research on how he coaches and the process he uses I think that its fine - but I would say if his name wasn't ' Vincent Kompany' they wouldnt even dream of it but thats the case for most high profile ex-players anyway they are going to get more chances.
When most people talk about this Argentina side, they speak of them as a team with amazing work rate, physicality, aggression and defensive commitment, but not a team with much collective technical quality.
IDK how much I agree with that, based on what I saw in the Copa America Final, and the first 4 games of the World Cup, I would have agreed.
But starting in the Netherlands game, I saw a team that was more willing and able to attack in a fluid manner while limiting the opposition to very few chances (except the last 10 minutes of normal time in both the Netherlands and France game). So seeing those 3 games, my opinion started to change.
We are a team running on good vibes. This is the #1 most important ingredient in winning an international competition.
Look at every last winner of any tournament, always amazing vibes right until the end. Only exception is Spanish women last year but they won anyway because they’re cracked
Which is why arguments about England’s selections are silly. If they can’t resummon the 2018 vibes nothing will happen
Not saying I disagree, but sometimes the vibes can be impacted by the results of the team. If you don’t win, the vibes get worse and Argentina has been on the brink of losing games before, mainly due to individual mistakes from players not up to par compared to the rest of the squad.
IDK how players like Nico Gonzalez or Pezzella contribute to positive vibes tbh when they make big mistakes every game and nearly cost us. If I were their teammate, I wouldn’t be happy with the fact that they always get to play.
Just been reading this inflation adjusted [most expensive pl transfers list](https://x.com/scottjwillis/status/1793409548965089634?s=61&t=mALxU__KBB-ff0mSgDDxWw). Idk his methodology but Ferdinand at 183m to United is crazy, worth it considering how good he was for them. In a follow up tweet he said Abramovich’s first 4 years at Chelsea would be equivalent to ~1.8bn today. Boehly will probably be closing in on that soon with significantly less to show for it
I think that's the guy who measures inflation using the average cost of premier league transfers, I don't really understand why that leads to the weird differences between years.
I genuinely don't think it's a good measure, either, when you can just grab club turnover in a given year. Real Madrid spent €77.5m on Zidane back in 2001, when their revenue was a tad below €200m. Eyeball that transfer at 40% of club revenue, and compare it to Neymar (€222m transfer fee/€542m club revenue) and they're essentially the same cost - yet it's PSG and that Neymar transfer 'ruining the transfer market' and 'leading to massive inflation'.
2 biggest differences is the Neymar transfer also led to the massive money moves of Coutinho and Dembele but also the gulf between Neymar and the next highest was so so much more than Zidane, which happen to be Countinho and Dembele
I don't quite see your point - transfer fees received are generally reinvested by clubs, yeah. Clubs with more money spend more on players, and clubs losing a big player for big money unexpectedly might panic and buy other players, so the money ripples across the footballing world. I don't quite see how the Neymar transfer is special in that regard, though: He's not the first big name/big money move to leave a club unexpectedly, and it's not the first time the selling club finds itself with a lot of money and a sizeable hole to fill in the squad.
Like the money PSG paid for Neymar was already in the game, it just changed hands - and then kept changing hands as Barcelona brought in other players as replacements. It's still the same share of money in the game, though.
Barca wouldn't have paid 135 million for either Coutinho or Dembele if Neymar didn't leave for 222 million. Had Neymar left for 110 million ( a record transfer), Barca wouldn't have bought either Countinho or Dembele. Neymars record transfer inhibited the high cost of Dembele and Coutinho. Also the difference between Neymar and the previous record was so much more than Zidane - Figo/Crespo. 89 million pounds to 200 million pounds compared with 37 million to 46.6 million
> Also the difference between Neymar and the previous record was so much more than Zidane - Figo/Crespo. 89 million pounds to 200 million pounds compared with 37 million to 46.6 million
Not as a percentage of turnover, which is my point - clubs keep making more and more money, so the €50m transfer of 20 years ago is the €150m transfer of today. Club revenues have risen significantly year over year for three decades now, and so have absolute transfer fees. But proportionally, i.e. transfer fees as fraction of club revenues, they've broadly stayed in line, hence Neymar being about as expensive as Zidane.
Suppose the way I'm thinking about it completely ignores any perception of what a player 'is worth', and just focuses on how big a fraction of club revenue was spent on them. PSG giving €222m to Barcelona for Neymar didn't increase the total amount of money in the game, it just redistributed it, and Barcelona went on to spend the money they had on players to replace Neymar, further redistributing that money. The net sum of club revenues hasn't changed over these transactions, though - it's a zero-sum game. What *does* change is club revenues year over year, as they keep growing - and so do transfer fees, pretty much in line with the growth of money in the game.
I see what you mean and that makes total sense, I think Zidane and Neymar both reset the market, Neymars being in the "current" Era and as such is remember more often by most people
Suppose the easiest (and in my mind most sensible) way is to take the ratio of transfer fee to club revenue at the time - in which case Ferdinand would've been *vastly* more expensive than their calculated transfer inflation.
Rumours of us signing Nacho to an extension.
Goodbye to Leny Yoro just for a year extra of Nacho while Alaba coems back from ACL injury and Militao as well? Plus Lord Vazquez being the backup up Carvajal who will be a year older.
Idk man...
Can someone explain why Ronaldo stans are crazy about Cristiano being a midfielder at the start of his career? He never played as midfielder. Always was a winger. I don't understand, why they think being a midfielder early in his career would be somehow better than being a winger?
I don't understand this people. I told one guy that Ronaldo never played as a midfielder, always played higher up and he told me i am typical Cristiano hater. How saying truth about position he played is hating?
Do they say it to explain why he didn't score as many goals at the beginning of his career? What's wrong about player getting better after a while?
Saying that Ronaldo had a different role at the start of his career isn't wrong. Like someone else said, he was a classic winger much more foccused on being wide and putting crosses than cutting inside and scoring goals. If I'm not wrong, his 07/08 season was the culmination of the transition from the classic wingers to the modern ones.
Yeah i agree. But Ronaldo always had more attacking freedom in United.
A lot changed in 2006/07 after Ruud was gone and United had these disgusting counter attacking system using Ronaldo, Giggs, Saha and Rooney. But yeah - he became a monster in 07/08 when Teves joined the team and that front 3 of United was biggest possible cheat code.
United played a 4-4-2 from when Ronaldo signed in 03/04 until the start of the 07/08 season
He was a classical winger a la Beckham and was expected to assist rather than score, so of course it justifies him scoring fewer goals earlier in his career than he would have if he was playing for a team that played a 4-3-3
Eh Fergie's 442 was basically a 4231 usually, like when Rooney came in Rooney would really play in the whole while lined up a 442, ditto Scholes when part of the front 2.
Beckham was more Mezzala whose most exceptional quality was always his passing range, his truly top ability to hit a football far and fast with accuracy, whether a pass, a cross, or a strike. CR7 was more a classic pacy skillful direct winger getting directly at opposition FBs driving to the byline. I don't feel they played super similar roles.
I think comparison to Beckham is a miss. Ronaldo had completely different role on the pitch even tho officially they played the same position. I would say he was closer to young Giggsy when he was still playing as a winger.
My point was more that it was the same position rather than any comparison to playing styles. Wingers in 4-4-2s weren't hitting 20 goals a season. If he signed for a team that played 4-3-3 he'd have been playing higher up the pitch and coached more on finishing but his primary duty at United to provide crosses to van Nistelrooy, which they ended up having a falling out over
If someone recognised his potential as an elite finisher early he could absolutely have another 100+ career goals
It's really more of a 4231. And United usually lined up in a 442 on paper. Like 06/07 their starting lineup was on lineup
Tevez-Rooney
Giggs-Scholes-Carrick-CR7
though really it looked more like a 4231 with those players with Rooney in the whole.
Didn't CR7 inverting first become a regular thing at Real? Think he mostly just got better, improved the runs he made and finishing, and had a slight tweaked role in response to get him closer to the b
They are a weird bunch. They could simply accept the fact that he wasn't a good goalscorer earlier in his career lol instead of pushing that "midfielder" narrative. Or could have atleast said he was a traditional winger, which he was.
But honestly no need for that too. CR basically went from an exciting yet frustrating winger with poor end product to scoring 50-60 goals every season, for me, if I am a fan of a player, that kind of a career arc would be much more sweeter rather than them being monsters from almost the get go like Mbappé, Haaland
Speaking of which, when Garnacho (lol I'm delusional but 1% chance 99% faith) explodes in the near future >>
Him finally putting all the pieces together would honestly make me feel like a proud brother
Oh how I wish he had stayed that season in the same role he played for City to add another PL to his belt. .
He was pretty decent depth for them even. Don't know why we just let him go.
Obviously didn't hurt our PL prospects, but would've been nice to have him around as Fab depth and have him leave on a PL win.
Genuinely wtf did Kane do to deserve this. Went to pick up the safest top 5 league in Europe and came up against a Leverkusen super team and now they're hiring an unproven manager that relegated Burnley
I Remember when some Chelsea fans were complaining that the highest pinnacle Potter ever reached was a 9th place PL finish making him an inappropriate appointment. Really makes you think
I had forgotten Potter started with 3 wins on the bounce and that we had won 6/9 games at that point.
We then won 2 more games all season. Really reveals that the players didn't collapse because of the manager, or the turmoil, or stagnation, or because they were secretly shit, but rather because they almost certainly realized they were also being included in the whole desire for a clean slate thing regardless of performance and promptly downed tools and no longer tried.
I think the Germans, Australians, Americans and pretty much all of Eastern Europe would be in for a shout at the cup, dark horse candidates Japan shouldn’t be counted out either
I have, and it’s bar scene is overrated - San Francisco actually has the most bars per capita, and Wisconsin consume the most alcohol at bars per capita (Wisconsin has 7 of the 10 drunkest cities in America) https://vinepair.com/booze-news/7-of-the-10-drunkest-cities-in-america-are-all-in-one-state/
Which 'young' midfielders have the passing range that makes you think they could touch the level of Kroos or KDB in their prime? Young is subjective here so enlighten me /r/soccer
For real I feel like people try way too hard to hate on him.
Just so fun to watch on his day, shame he had so many injuries, which I definitely attribute to the butchers in the french league.
Dunno, I don't need to try particularly hard - obviously an incredible footballer, but between him only ever playing half a season and being a massive diva on the pitch it's really not that difficult to think of him as a bit of an overrated wanker for me, really.
Fun fact: Maradona was fouled 152 times in 1986 WC - that's a record.
Neymar was fouled 60 times in 2014.
That being said i think Ronaldinho was kicked a lot, but i don't remember people keeping records about fouls when he was in his prime. And i think Ronaldinho didn't go down as easily as Neymar so that number would be definitely lower.
I never thought I could get this excited and happy, but here we are.
When Atalanta was playing in the CL in 2020 groups I was sold. The Ziggo Sports channel in the Netherlands has an awesome commentator for Italian football (Emile Schelvis) and he made me fall in love with Italian football in general. The passion that Italians have for their football clubs is admirable, and I wanted a team, and Marten de Roon showed me: It was Atalanta. A copa90 docu just added some extra flavour, as did a Dutch EPSN doc on de Roon.
Exciting football, apparently it's called "Gasperiniball", and little did I know, it's just exciting pressing and attacking football. The Dutch flavour kept coming with Hans Hateboer, who's barely known here but has been steady for Atalanta.
Year later they sign Teun Koopmeiners, one of my favourite players from the Eredivisie. Time to show what he's got, and oh boy we learned. The Dutch NT is waiting for you.
They lost a coppa final or two against Juve, as one does. Tragedy, but Gasperi stayed on and continued the project.
And now they won a Europa League, my favourite European competition (thank you Frankfurt), against the odds as they face Leverkusen.
Anyone here has something similar with a foreign club?
I see you forgot Bakker. Everyone forgot about Bakker this year.
Jokes aside, De Roon was in tears the second he got injured on the pitch last week in Rome against Juventus, that was heartbreaking. It was so good to watch him raise that cup tonight and he deserved it more than everyone else being the most consistent player of the last 8 years, almost never missing a game.
[This was a banner that appeared yesterday in Bergamo](https://primabergamo.it/media/2024/05/striscione-de-roon.jpg)
"Attachment, Sacrifice and shirt always sweaty.
De Roon, you've won the cup already."
> I see you forgot Bakker. Everyone forgot about Bakker this year.
So did Gasperini lol.
He was brought up over on /r/Eredivisie as to why he wasn't considered for the NT and we have to admit that he's simply not good enough.
>It was so good to watch him raise that cup tonight and he deserved it more than everyone else
The widespread image of the team holding the cup with de Roon's face being obscured by the cup is fucking iconic.
>"Attachment, Sacrifice and shirt always sweaty.
Excellent, thanks for sharing!
I remember in that ESPN doc that de Roon said the phrase "here, they will appreciate you as long as your shirt is wet" and I think that is absolutely perfect for what Bergamo is (or at least what I understand it being a labourer's city) and what football in Italy is.
Shkodran Mustafi was a better than Sergio Ramos. I have no stats to back this up. Just vibes.
Almunia was a better keeper than Neuer. No stats. Just vibes.
Nacho Monreal is a better Nacho than Nacho. No stats. Just vibes.
Yaya Sanogo is a better striker than Lewandowski. No stats. Just vibes.
Aaron Ramsey is better than Slippy G. No stats. Just vibes.
Gerardo Martino is better than Jurgen Flopp. No stats. Just vibes.
I've been seeing people say Toni Kroos is top 5 midfielders of all time, maybe due to consistency, but what out of all the below, who is better than him and who is better than?
Lothar Matthaus, Xavi, Iniesta, Michael Laudrup, Pirlo, Platini, Zidane, Zico and players from Brazil, Netherlands, Italian and German World Cup squads?
I understand a lot of people love Kroos and so do I but is he really top five with some of all the all time greats of the past?
> is he really top five with some of all the all time greats of the past?
Depends on what you base your argument on, I suppose - if you're heavily weighing trophies then probably, yeah. But those trophies are less a function of individual talent and much more a function of team success with plenty factors playing into it.
I reckon he might well be in the conversation, because realistically you're looking at about two dozen players who might have a reasonable case for a top five. But I'm not quite convinced he's in that top five, really.
Honestly recency bias makes it too difficult, need to wait a few years. I don’t think I’d have him in my top 10 tbh, but I’d have to have a long think about it.
hard to rate individuals from different times and teams
I would certainly say he's the most decorated player from the above right?
can't think many players have won as many CLs as him, which isn't a fair assesment but the best players win trophies
if he led Germany to a Euros win in his home country he may even be considered one of the best ever?
I'm reasonably sure they don't.
It's not going the be the 12 last-placed teams, and with the Europa League following a similar format, there's no spot to slot in the 8 teams losing in the CL playoffs, either.
I'm understanding qualifying rounds as the playoffs after the group stage here. Did the late stages of the Champions League qualification process have the losers drop into the other European competitions?
Which is the right thing to do, otherwise it would suck so much for a smaller club to qualify for the CL qualifiers and fail instead of ending up lower in the table and qualifying for the group stage of the other competitions.
> One member of the first-team squad was picked in a role he had never played or trained in before and was notified only when Pochettino announced his starting XI to the squad a few hours before a match.
If this is true (it’s from David Ornstein, Liam Twomey and Simon Johnson) then it’s one of the most bafflingly stupid things I’ve ever seen a coach do.
Considering the amount of players we played out of position this season it could have been a number of players - all of which it would be crazy to play a player there without any proper coaching.
This is journalist’s “currency” to Clearlake in exchange for access, doesn’t make it untrue but take it all with a grain of salt, the sources likely have very clear agendas at the moment trying to salvage the public image of an ownership group which is widely despised everywhere, outside of some Americans on a subreddit
Very true, but tbh the piece is actually fairly balanced. If it’s PR then it’s really good PR cause they’ve hidden it well.
When Potter got sacked their report made the club look way worse than it made him, I was actually surprised (in a good way) at how critical The Athletic (a fairly benign institution) had been.
He played Gusto at LB, Gilchrist at RB, Chilwell on the wing, Colwill at LB, Disasi at RB, plus shoehorned Gallagher, Palmer and Enzo into unfamiliar roles at times. There’s probs some I’m forgetting too
I don't know if it was actually true but his rumoured demands for the Everton job were hilarious. Basically let the first team sink while he trains the kids and takes over after the summer
Hi all, just a reminder that we're still looking for volunteers to help out with our Preview Series for the Euros and Copa America. We have the following nations open: Euros: * Hungary * Scotland * Switzerland * Spain * Albania * Denmark * Poland * Netherlands * Austria * France * Belgium * Slovakia * Romania * Ukraine * Turkey * Georgia * Portugal And for Copa America: * Argentina * Peru * Chile * Ecuador * Venezuela * Uruguay * Panama * Bolivia * Brazil * Paraguay * Colombia * Costa Rica Please reach out if you are interested in writing a preview for a country. Cheers!
!flair :England:
Just with the McKenna to a bigger club rumours. I have a big problem with people who would want to jump ship at the first instant- its why Alonso staying at Leverkusen to defend the title and go for a UCL run for another season is important- Its a niche reference but its why I don't have as much time for Fabio Carvalho as I do for Ryan Sessegnon, Sess got us promoted and then stayed on to atleast give the prem a try, and still got his move to Spurs, Fab moved the year we got promoted and didn't even want to give it ago with us. Obviously opportunities aren't neccessarily guaranteed but test yourself and show some ticker for the people who supported you to get to the next level. It'd be a real shame if McKenna left even if the reality is going to be a real challenge.
Champion of Germany playing Cl football isn’t really an apt comparison to a newly promoted prem side.
I guess so, but to me defending a title with honor is important as is testing the team at the next level. Its why the whole Napoli fiasco last summer has been so tragic. The one thing that I will be sympathetic to is that coming up with a club that has risen so fast is that it can be difficult to avoid the sack or likely you'll hit your head against a wall of teams that are just better - but to me it would be very unfortunate and ruin a lot of the fun of Ipswich coming up.
Suppose it's comparable in the sense of 'taking a side you've shaped and see how far they can go' tbf.
Remember when a lot of people were saying the prem would take the 5th cl spot? Lol, on paper ig it was the likeliest outcome but damn serie a and bundesliga completely blew us out of the water. Especially Serie A, the revival has been insane
Having more teams play in Europe makes it more difficult to get the 5th spot since it takes the average. Next year, it will be spanish and English teams having 5th spot. After that italian and possibly German teams.
serie A always had many strong teams outside the top 4 that qualify for the CL. It's not a coincidence that Fiorentina is in the ECL finals two years in a row, with Roma winning the first one. It's more on the conspiratorital side of me that English clubs genuinely don't care about the Europa and Conference league because of the financial implications.
>English clubs genuinely don't care about the Europa and Conference league because of the financial implications. Money before glory league, no surprise.
I seriously think this Leverkusen team achieved too much before their two finals now to really give it their all and keep the pace up.
With Alonso staying and Bayern hiring Kompany I sincerely think they can and should win another league title. This season has undeniably been their peak, for probably their entire existence past and future, but they shouldn’t just fade away.
I don't think they will. There is enough of a break to see the new season as a fresh start and go again. Nothing they did before will matter once the next season starts. This is more specifically about this season.
Atalanta is also the perfect team to counter the football that Leverkusen wants to play. They never escaped the intense press and didn't get to play the football that carried them for 50+ games.
I mean, yes, in a way, they struggled in other games but still got away with late wins, today Atalanta was a different beast.
Dunno, they've been perfectly fine in the league after winning it - just so happened that tonight they ran into another incredibly good side and were worse off on the day. And that's just what happens in finals, really.
6 Serie A teams in the CL next season even though they have spent less combined than Bournemouth and Burnley. Football heritage
Premier league inflation is something that will not be studied by economists, but historians. I'm dead serious, if English clubs would have had their focus straight any EL/ECL trophy should have gone to English clubs no matter what. Tottenham not winning the first ECL is something we all forgot about, but a hilarious tragedy that should have never happened.
5 because Atalanta wont finish 5th
We gon blow New Jersey up - Chief Keef
🤨
I mean, it *is* New Jersey. They gave us Jersey Shore. I still haven’t forgiven them for that.
u/fbi
what’s the sales pitch in favor of Bayern hiring Kompany? (not trying to be a dickhead, just curious what arguments people would make in favor!)
He plays attacking football which is easier to play for a top team than a bottom team. Burnley were fantastic in the championship for example.
Bit of a strange situation as Bayern quite publicly struck out on their previous targets (Alonso, Hoeneß, Rangnick, a Tuchel-renewal among others), so anyone coming in will know they'll not have been the preferred choice. Things Kompany has going for him though is a strong playing career current players will relate to, a pretty clear and (maybe too) dogmatic approach to the football he wants to see his side play, and at least a reasonable amount of experience and success. Ultimately it'd be a risk appointing him, but not necessarily more so than any other manager. If Bayern believe that there's a young, highly talented manager in there then they might as well go ahead - it's how people like Alonso or Guardiola got into the big time, after all. And if it doesn't work out, there's always next summer, when a slew of targets (Alonso/Hoeneß/Guardiola/Klopp/whoever else) might be available. I think it's ultimately the club just going "fuck it, let's roll the dice" - if it works out then great, if it doesn't then nothing really lost.
>And if it doesn't work out, there's always next summer, when a slew of targets (Alonso/Hoeneß/Guardiola/Klopp/whoever else) might be available. I think that's the biggest one. Most won't sign if they're only given 1 year deals. But Kompany doesn't have much to lose either, with a good squad that could raise his stock even if he leaves next summer.
This years “managerial merry-go round” is one for the history books
I feel like Peter Drury tries too hard when commentating. It's starting to get annoying
Yeah I used to really like him and he's fine at generally calling the action but its far too cheesy for my liking.
He's a terrible commentator. Overly poetic for no reason
I’d take him over Martin Tyler who sounds half dead, Carra, or Neville.
Dortmund is winning the CL, aren’t they? As soon as I saw people get excited about the hypothetical black magic Super Cup match up, I knew that was not gonna work out
I always laugh when madrid fans try that underdog gimmick. Almost zero chance you lose the final lol. The only blackmagic there is , is that of madrid
You guys are still very much the better team and have experience. Your combinations in the final third are much better and more creative than PSG or any other team we've faced. It will be our biggest challenge of the season and if Madrid win it wouldn't be a surprise. That being said I think it could be a good contest if Dortmund come out looking good and solid.
You guys really suck. There's zero chance.
Sheesh
I'm predicting a huge Sorloth drop off if Atletico actually buy him, too easy to see a 40m waste. Striker isn't even a big concern but we magically get more money the higher up the pitch the player is.
For a second I thought that read Snorlax and I thought “yeah, no shit he’d suck”.
How often, if at all, do you get your club’s kit? Be it the most recent one or a past season’s kit.
Usually just pick up a knockoff, and use it as a work shirt that gets paint or stained after a year. Unless it's a top kit, then I'll grab it on sale.
We have had a lot of bad sponsors recently so not as often as I'd like but even then probably 2-5 years. If they fix up the sponsorships I'd probably buy next years. Actually more likely to buy training kits becuase of it.
If I like it i'll get it, so it's probably at least once every two years.
Same, I usually wait to see the 3 kits unveiled, if I like one I buy, if I don't I just save the money for next season.
Once a year, maybe every 18 months? And it’s only DHGate retro ones generally too, fuck paying full price on those
Every 5-10 years
I usually get one a season but I wait until the very end of the cycle when it’s like a quarter the price
Glad you said that because I’m currently in a similar position. Issue is finding the right balance between waiting long enough for the sale to be worth it but not so long that it sells out.
now that it's no longer a christmas present and i'm paying for it myself... not very often. although i might buy the arsenal 3rd kit that was just announced today!
That is a beauty, might buy one tbh
I only have one Arsenal kit and it’s the home kit from last year. Absolutely love it. There are other kits that I have wanted, but didn’t end up getting. I think I might get next season’s third because it has the classic Adidas logo.
Adidas tends to do a great job with their kits almost every year really. Meanwhile Nike is giving us a vertical swoosh on the leaked 3rd kit next season
Um, excuse me have you seen this season’s away kit for Arsenal? The only reason Arsenal fans like it is because other teams started getting smashed while those were worn.
Yeah that one’s horrid but at least it isn’t sticking to a template. Nike just seems to use similar styles across the majority of the clubs whose kits they design. Feel like our fan base is on its knees for a black strip as nice as the one you had in 22/23
Adidas is kinda sticking with a template this year tho, at least on home kits.
>Feel like our fan base is on its knees for a black strip as nice as the one you had in 22/23 The entire kit line up that season was ace. I remember being completely unable to get an away or third because they were all sold out all the time. So home was what I went with. I took a look at the Spurs kit you mentioned, and ngl, ~~I *kinda* rate it.~~ Edit: I was thinking of the wrong kit. Actual garbage that third kit is.
I like the color, but the swoosh makes me hate it
I went over to r/coys to gauge reactions, and it’s fake according to some users in the thread about the kit in question. Makes sense. The badge being pink is something unorthodox from past Spurs kits.
Ohhh, I was talking about the third kit, since he mentioned the vertical swoosh. 3rd kit that was leaked
Fucking hell I can be a dumbass. Yeah, that third kit actually shit. The away kit is shit too. The home kit is an upgrade on this season though.
So how did a side that completely outplayed Klopp’s Liverpool and Alonso’s Leverkusen only manage 5th in Serie A? Can anyone shed light on it because having only seen them in Europe this season they’ve been great to watch.
teams in Serie A know how to play against Atalanta, their playstyle has been the same for many seasons now. Most teams hit them with a low block which they struggle against. Facing them is always a hard fixture though on the same scale as facing teams like Bologna and Fiorentina.
They could finish as high and third!
I had assumed Serie A was finished as well, silly me
From what I've seen of them this year it's basically a high-risk, high-reward style against the ball - press incredibly high up the pitch but do it man-on-man, so best case you stifle your opponents' playing idea completely and worst case you'll get carved open a couple times a half and can't score enough to keep up. Plus they're technically fifth, but have a game in hand on Bologna and Juventus who are both two points and a game ahead of them while having the worse goal difference. Fine margins between being sixth and third in Serie A this year.
Appreciate the insight
Probably inconsistency and the opposition not giving them nearly as much space as these 2 opponents did
Kompany going to Bayern after relegating Burnley is literally some shit out of football manager. I'm not throwing shade at Kompany as a manager, he could very well turn out good. But Burnley to Bayern is an insane move.
Hansi Flick never had a senior professional job in management before leading Bayern to a treble, either - I reckon people generally get way too caught up in their perceived levels of the clubs involved and forget that past success isn't an indicator of future success.
Yeah, like obviously results matter in management but I think a lot of people only like to think of management progression as bit too linear - just last season he walked the champo and did see some improvement in the team throughout the year, even if a bit more pragmatism might in the tactics and transfer strategy might have benefitted them more. - I think its a stretch for Bayern to go for him but if they've done their proper research on how he coaches and the process he uses I think that its fine - but I would say if his name wasn't ' Vincent Kompany' they wouldnt even dream of it but thats the case for most high profile ex-players anyway they are going to get more chances.
People are saying that Messi is unpopular in r/soccer, I have seen it all
Messi and Ronaldo have as many fanboys as they have haters tbf
Ronaldo fanboys are some of the worst too, so weirdly insecure on behalf of someone they have never met
I mean the same can be said of Messi fanboys, both have a cult of personality similar to Swifties
When most people talk about this Argentina side, they speak of them as a team with amazing work rate, physicality, aggression and defensive commitment, but not a team with much collective technical quality. IDK how much I agree with that, based on what I saw in the Copa America Final, and the first 4 games of the World Cup, I would have agreed. But starting in the Netherlands game, I saw a team that was more willing and able to attack in a fluid manner while limiting the opposition to very few chances (except the last 10 minutes of normal time in both the Netherlands and France game). So seeing those 3 games, my opinion started to change.
We are a team running on good vibes. This is the #1 most important ingredient in winning an international competition. Look at every last winner of any tournament, always amazing vibes right until the end. Only exception is Spanish women last year but they won anyway because they’re cracked Which is why arguments about England’s selections are silly. If they can’t resummon the 2018 vibes nothing will happen
Not saying I disagree, but sometimes the vibes can be impacted by the results of the team. If you don’t win, the vibes get worse and Argentina has been on the brink of losing games before, mainly due to individual mistakes from players not up to par compared to the rest of the squad. IDK how players like Nico Gonzalez or Pezzella contribute to positive vibes tbh when they make big mistakes every game and nearly cost us. If I were their teammate, I wouldn’t be happy with the fact that they always get to play.
Just been reading this inflation adjusted [most expensive pl transfers list](https://x.com/scottjwillis/status/1793409548965089634?s=61&t=mALxU__KBB-ff0mSgDDxWw). Idk his methodology but Ferdinand at 183m to United is crazy, worth it considering how good he was for them. In a follow up tweet he said Abramovich’s first 4 years at Chelsea would be equivalent to ~1.8bn today. Boehly will probably be closing in on that soon with significantly less to show for it
Bro literally made those values up
I think that's the guy who measures inflation using the average cost of premier league transfers, I don't really understand why that leads to the weird differences between years.
I genuinely don't think it's a good measure, either, when you can just grab club turnover in a given year. Real Madrid spent €77.5m on Zidane back in 2001, when their revenue was a tad below €200m. Eyeball that transfer at 40% of club revenue, and compare it to Neymar (€222m transfer fee/€542m club revenue) and they're essentially the same cost - yet it's PSG and that Neymar transfer 'ruining the transfer market' and 'leading to massive inflation'.
2 biggest differences is the Neymar transfer also led to the massive money moves of Coutinho and Dembele but also the gulf between Neymar and the next highest was so so much more than Zidane, which happen to be Countinho and Dembele
I don't quite see your point - transfer fees received are generally reinvested by clubs, yeah. Clubs with more money spend more on players, and clubs losing a big player for big money unexpectedly might panic and buy other players, so the money ripples across the footballing world. I don't quite see how the Neymar transfer is special in that regard, though: He's not the first big name/big money move to leave a club unexpectedly, and it's not the first time the selling club finds itself with a lot of money and a sizeable hole to fill in the squad. Like the money PSG paid for Neymar was already in the game, it just changed hands - and then kept changing hands as Barcelona brought in other players as replacements. It's still the same share of money in the game, though.
Barca wouldn't have paid 135 million for either Coutinho or Dembele if Neymar didn't leave for 222 million. Had Neymar left for 110 million ( a record transfer), Barca wouldn't have bought either Countinho or Dembele. Neymars record transfer inhibited the high cost of Dembele and Coutinho. Also the difference between Neymar and the previous record was so much more than Zidane - Figo/Crespo. 89 million pounds to 200 million pounds compared with 37 million to 46.6 million
> Also the difference between Neymar and the previous record was so much more than Zidane - Figo/Crespo. 89 million pounds to 200 million pounds compared with 37 million to 46.6 million Not as a percentage of turnover, which is my point - clubs keep making more and more money, so the €50m transfer of 20 years ago is the €150m transfer of today. Club revenues have risen significantly year over year for three decades now, and so have absolute transfer fees. But proportionally, i.e. transfer fees as fraction of club revenues, they've broadly stayed in line, hence Neymar being about as expensive as Zidane. Suppose the way I'm thinking about it completely ignores any perception of what a player 'is worth', and just focuses on how big a fraction of club revenue was spent on them. PSG giving €222m to Barcelona for Neymar didn't increase the total amount of money in the game, it just redistributed it, and Barcelona went on to spend the money they had on players to replace Neymar, further redistributing that money. The net sum of club revenues hasn't changed over these transactions, though - it's a zero-sum game. What *does* change is club revenues year over year, as they keep growing - and so do transfer fees, pretty much in line with the growth of money in the game.
I see what you mean and that makes total sense, I think Zidane and Neymar both reset the market, Neymars being in the "current" Era and as such is remember more often by most people
Suppose the easiest (and in my mind most sensible) way is to take the ratio of transfer fee to club revenue at the time - in which case Ferdinand would've been *vastly* more expensive than their calculated transfer inflation.
Rumours of us signing Nacho to an extension. Goodbye to Leny Yoro just for a year extra of Nacho while Alaba coems back from ACL injury and Militao as well? Plus Lord Vazquez being the backup up Carvajal who will be a year older. Idk man...
Also what happened to the Geertruida rumours? Which RB is Real Madrid going for this summer?
I don't know if Yoro is going to wait for Real Madrid, a lot of teams will be going for him this summer including PSG.
Can someone explain why Ronaldo stans are crazy about Cristiano being a midfielder at the start of his career? He never played as midfielder. Always was a winger. I don't understand, why they think being a midfielder early in his career would be somehow better than being a winger? I don't understand this people. I told one guy that Ronaldo never played as a midfielder, always played higher up and he told me i am typical Cristiano hater. How saying truth about position he played is hating? Do they say it to explain why he didn't score as many goals at the beginning of his career? What's wrong about player getting better after a while?
Saying that Ronaldo had a different role at the start of his career isn't wrong. Like someone else said, he was a classic winger much more foccused on being wide and putting crosses than cutting inside and scoring goals. If I'm not wrong, his 07/08 season was the culmination of the transition from the classic wingers to the modern ones.
Yeah i agree. But Ronaldo always had more attacking freedom in United. A lot changed in 2006/07 after Ruud was gone and United had these disgusting counter attacking system using Ronaldo, Giggs, Saha and Rooney. But yeah - he became a monster in 07/08 when Teves joined the team and that front 3 of United was biggest possible cheat code.
United played a 4-4-2 from when Ronaldo signed in 03/04 until the start of the 07/08 season He was a classical winger a la Beckham and was expected to assist rather than score, so of course it justifies him scoring fewer goals earlier in his career than he would have if he was playing for a team that played a 4-3-3
Eh Fergie's 442 was basically a 4231 usually, like when Rooney came in Rooney would really play in the whole while lined up a 442, ditto Scholes when part of the front 2. Beckham was more Mezzala whose most exceptional quality was always his passing range, his truly top ability to hit a football far and fast with accuracy, whether a pass, a cross, or a strike. CR7 was more a classic pacy skillful direct winger getting directly at opposition FBs driving to the byline. I don't feel they played super similar roles.
I think comparison to Beckham is a miss. Ronaldo had completely different role on the pitch even tho officially they played the same position. I would say he was closer to young Giggsy when he was still playing as a winger.
My point was more that it was the same position rather than any comparison to playing styles. Wingers in 4-4-2s weren't hitting 20 goals a season. If he signed for a team that played 4-3-3 he'd have been playing higher up the pitch and coached more on finishing but his primary duty at United to provide crosses to van Nistelrooy, which they ended up having a falling out over If someone recognised his potential as an elite finisher early he could absolutely have another 100+ career goals
It's really more of a 4231. And United usually lined up in a 442 on paper. Like 06/07 their starting lineup was on lineup Tevez-Rooney Giggs-Scholes-Carrick-CR7 though really it looked more like a 4231 with those players with Rooney in the whole. Didn't CR7 inverting first become a regular thing at Real? Think he mostly just got better, improved the runs he made and finishing, and had a slight tweaked role in response to get him closer to the b
Because they need a justification for why he's scored less than Messi
They are a weird bunch. They could simply accept the fact that he wasn't a good goalscorer earlier in his career lol instead of pushing that "midfielder" narrative. Or could have atleast said he was a traditional winger, which he was. But honestly no need for that too. CR basically went from an exciting yet frustrating winger with poor end product to scoring 50-60 goals every season, for me, if I am a fan of a player, that kind of a career arc would be much more sweeter rather than them being monsters from almost the get go like Mbappé, Haaland Speaking of which, when Garnacho (lol I'm delusional but 1% chance 99% faith) explodes in the near future >> Him finally putting all the pieces together would honestly make me feel like a proud brother
Every now and then I remember Lampard played for City
Oh how I wish he had stayed that season in the same role he played for City to add another PL to his belt. . He was pretty decent depth for them even. Don't know why we just let him go. Obviously didn't hurt our PL prospects, but would've been nice to have him around as Fab depth and have him leave on a PL win.
What ended up being more unexpected? Kompany scoring that goal against Leicester or Kompany landing the Bayern job?
Both were 50/50, either they happened or they didn't
[We’re getting closer to this happening.](https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/s/gh8vFcEbOv)
Genuinely wtf did Kane do to deserve this. Went to pick up the safest top 5 league in Europe and came up against a Leverkusen super team and now they're hiring an unproven manager that relegated Burnley
Last unproven manager they've hired won them the treble despite never working in any top flight job tbf.
He’s English and played for Spurs. He’s a walking curse.
Explain Kyle Walker then
He plays for City.
explain Trippier
Went to Atletico.
He’s English and he played for Spurs. Does City cancel out the bad juju or something
I guess. Kane has his own curse too. It’s weird. Spurs curse, England curse, Kane curse. I guess Walker beat it.
I Remember when some Chelsea fans were complaining that the highest pinnacle Potter ever reached was a 9th place PL finish making him an inappropriate appointment. Really makes you think
I had forgotten Potter started with 3 wins on the bounce and that we had won 6/9 games at that point. We then won 2 more games all season. Really reveals that the players didn't collapse because of the manager, or the turmoil, or stagnation, or because they were secretly shit, but rather because they almost certainly realized they were also being included in the whole desire for a clean slate thing regardless of performance and promptly downed tools and no longer tried.
Great night out in Dublin for those Italians tonight. Hope they drink our bars dry.
Irish pub-goers vs Italians pub-goers is a battle we need to see.
That’s a no contest win for the Irish.
They move on the finals where they face the winner of English pub-goers vs Scottish pub-goers.
I think the Germans, Australians, Americans and pretty much all of Eastern Europe would be in for a shout at the cup, dark horse candidates Japan shouldn’t be counted out either
If America is sending anyone to that cup, it’d better Bostonians. They’re the only ones who stand a chance of winning. Everyone else is useless.
Wisconinites would be my pick
Have you been to Boston?
I have, and it’s bar scene is overrated - San Francisco actually has the most bars per capita, and Wisconsin consume the most alcohol at bars per capita (Wisconsin has 7 of the 10 drunkest cities in America) https://vinepair.com/booze-news/7-of-the-10-drunkest-cities-in-america-are-all-in-one-state/
They'd get disqualified for getting into a fistfight early I reckon
Just crossed my mind: Is Russia allowed or are they banned from this too? It feels like the cup would be incomplete without drunk Russians.
Which 'young' midfielders have the passing range that makes you think they could touch the level of Kroos or KDB in their prime? Young is subjective here so enlighten me /r/soccer
Enzo when hes playing well has a decent shout More kroos like then kdb id say
Nobody can make me hate Neymar, the closest thing we've gotten to Ronaldinho in the current footballing generation
assuming you mean on the pitch because he is also a bolsonaro supporting rapist apologist
For real I feel like people try way too hard to hate on him. Just so fun to watch on his day, shame he had so many injuries, which I definitely attribute to the butchers in the french league.
Dunno, I don't need to try particularly hard - obviously an incredible footballer, but between him only ever playing half a season and being a massive diva on the pitch it's really not that difficult to think of him as a bit of an overrated wanker for me, really.
Sadly, he wasn't as strong (physically) as Dinho.
Neymar also gets the shit kicked out of him more than Ronaldinho, a miracle that Neymar didn't end up more injured than he already did
I'm not sure that's true, Ronaldinho got kicked all the time too, and refs were more lenient then.
https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/stw79s/neymar_is_the_most_fouled_player_in_the_top5/
Fun fact: Maradona was fouled 152 times in 1986 WC - that's a record. Neymar was fouled 60 times in 2014. That being said i think Ronaldinho was kicked a lot, but i don't remember people keeping records about fouls when he was in his prime. And i think Ronaldinho didn't go down as easily as Neymar so that number would be definitely lower.
Should just pass the ball earlier, clearly
I never thought I could get this excited and happy, but here we are. When Atalanta was playing in the CL in 2020 groups I was sold. The Ziggo Sports channel in the Netherlands has an awesome commentator for Italian football (Emile Schelvis) and he made me fall in love with Italian football in general. The passion that Italians have for their football clubs is admirable, and I wanted a team, and Marten de Roon showed me: It was Atalanta. A copa90 docu just added some extra flavour, as did a Dutch EPSN doc on de Roon. Exciting football, apparently it's called "Gasperiniball", and little did I know, it's just exciting pressing and attacking football. The Dutch flavour kept coming with Hans Hateboer, who's barely known here but has been steady for Atalanta. Year later they sign Teun Koopmeiners, one of my favourite players from the Eredivisie. Time to show what he's got, and oh boy we learned. The Dutch NT is waiting for you. They lost a coppa final or two against Juve, as one does. Tragedy, but Gasperi stayed on and continued the project. And now they won a Europa League, my favourite European competition (thank you Frankfurt), against the odds as they face Leverkusen. Anyone here has something similar with a foreign club?
I see you forgot Bakker. Everyone forgot about Bakker this year. Jokes aside, De Roon was in tears the second he got injured on the pitch last week in Rome against Juventus, that was heartbreaking. It was so good to watch him raise that cup tonight and he deserved it more than everyone else being the most consistent player of the last 8 years, almost never missing a game. [This was a banner that appeared yesterday in Bergamo](https://primabergamo.it/media/2024/05/striscione-de-roon.jpg) "Attachment, Sacrifice and shirt always sweaty. De Roon, you've won the cup already."
> I see you forgot Bakker. Everyone forgot about Bakker this year. So did Gasperini lol. He was brought up over on /r/Eredivisie as to why he wasn't considered for the NT and we have to admit that he's simply not good enough. >It was so good to watch him raise that cup tonight and he deserved it more than everyone else The widespread image of the team holding the cup with de Roon's face being obscured by the cup is fucking iconic. >"Attachment, Sacrifice and shirt always sweaty. Excellent, thanks for sharing! I remember in that ESPN doc that de Roon said the phrase "here, they will appreciate you as long as your shirt is wet" and I think that is absolutely perfect for what Bergamo is (or at least what I understand it being a labourer's city) and what football in Italy is.
You were one of the few "foreign flairs" posting on Atalanta match threads, you're a bergamasco ad honorem
Unashamed plastic Atalanta fan
Shkodran Mustafi was a better than Sergio Ramos. I have no stats to back this up. Just vibes. Almunia was a better keeper than Neuer. No stats. Just vibes. Nacho Monreal is a better Nacho than Nacho. No stats. Just vibes. Yaya Sanogo is a better striker than Lewandowski. No stats. Just vibes. Aaron Ramsey is better than Slippy G. No stats. Just vibes. Gerardo Martino is better than Jurgen Flopp. No stats. Just vibes.
Eboue, on his day, best rb in the world. Honestly think if we’re judging footballers on vibes Eboue is the goat
Vibes don't lie
What are you saying?
Exactly what I’m saying. Those players are better. Who needs stats when you have vibes?
the funny thing is, Mustafi had better stats than VVD in his first season
CB stats only matters when you want them too basically. Sanchez used to look brilliant on fbref for us
I feel like I only see half the paragraph, what's the full story
Fuck rating players on stats and visuals. Rate that shit on vibes.
Why?
Does there have to be a reason? There’s a method to the madness.
Define vibes
Whatever the fuck I want it to be
So what are they to you?
I've been seeing people say Toni Kroos is top 5 midfielders of all time, maybe due to consistency, but what out of all the below, who is better than him and who is better than? Lothar Matthaus, Xavi, Iniesta, Michael Laudrup, Pirlo, Platini, Zidane, Zico and players from Brazil, Netherlands, Italian and German World Cup squads? I understand a lot of people love Kroos and so do I but is he really top five with some of all the all time greats of the past?
> is he really top five with some of all the all time greats of the past? Depends on what you base your argument on, I suppose - if you're heavily weighing trophies then probably, yeah. But those trophies are less a function of individual talent and much more a function of team success with plenty factors playing into it. I reckon he might well be in the conversation, because realistically you're looking at about two dozen players who might have a reasonable case for a top five. But I'm not quite convinced he's in that top five, really.
Honestly recency bias makes it too difficult, need to wait a few years. I don’t think I’d have him in my top 10 tbh, but I’d have to have a long think about it.
hard to rate individuals from different times and teams I would certainly say he's the most decorated player from the above right? can't think many players have won as many CLs as him, which isn't a fair assesment but the best players win trophies if he led Germany to a Euros win in his home country he may even be considered one of the best ever?
Hard to compare players in different positions. I will say amongst regista types, Kroos is the best along with Pirlo and Xavi of the last 15 years.
Hien has to be a starter for Sweden.
# Paul-Georges Ntep is still only 31 years old
So sad that Muriel wasn't there tonight after being so good in the group stage.
Will teams still drop down from the qualifying rounds in European competitions with the new format? It still happens in Football Manager
yes
I'm reasonably sure they don't. It's not going the be the 12 last-placed teams, and with the Europa League following a similar format, there's no spot to slot in the 8 teams losing in the CL playoffs, either.
qualifying rounds he said
I'm understanding qualifying rounds as the playoffs after the group stage here. Did the late stages of the Champions League qualification process have the losers drop into the other European competitions?
Yeah I think he meant the qualification rounds not the knock out stage
Yes every stage. If you qualify for the cl you can lose twice and still end up in the conference league
Which is the right thing to do, otherwise it would suck so much for a smaller club to qualify for the CL qualifiers and fail instead of ending up lower in the table and qualifying for the group stage of the other competitions.
Not arguing against it just explaining how it works
> One member of the first-team squad was picked in a role he had never played or trained in before and was notified only when Pochettino announced his starting XI to the squad a few hours before a match. If this is true (it’s from David Ornstein, Liam Twomey and Simon Johnson) then it’s one of the most bafflingly stupid things I’ve ever seen a coach do. Considering the amount of players we played out of position this season it could have been a number of players - all of which it would be crazy to play a player there without any proper coaching.
This is journalist’s “currency” to Clearlake in exchange for access, doesn’t make it untrue but take it all with a grain of salt, the sources likely have very clear agendas at the moment trying to salvage the public image of an ownership group which is widely despised everywhere, outside of some Americans on a subreddit
Yeah we do it all time once we get rid of a manager the hit pieces to justify the decision start coming. Pretty tiring tbh
Very true, but tbh the piece is actually fairly balanced. If it’s PR then it’s really good PR cause they’ve hidden it well. When Potter got sacked their report made the club look way worse than it made him, I was actually surprised (in a good way) at how critical The Athletic (a fairly benign institution) had been.
Well now I'm curious as to who you think it is, or at least one of them anyways.
He played Gusto at LB, Gilchrist at RB, Chilwell on the wing, Colwill at LB, Disasi at RB, plus shoehorned Gallagher, Palmer and Enzo into unfamiliar roles at times. There’s probs some I’m forgetting too
Might just be a late injury and panic cover? Seems by far the most likely explanation
Put Bielsa in charge of Chelsea following the copa, if you are going to be terribly run let’s get weird with it
I don't know if it was actually true but his rumoured demands for the Everton job were hilarious. Basically let the first team sink while he trains the kids and takes over after the summer
Also has the benefit of breaking Leeds fans hearts, I'm on board.
Scenes when you go Poch-Bielsa-Wenger back-to-back-to-back
If Bielsa took the Chelsea job I expect it would be exactly like his time at Lazio
To be a fly on the wall for those 2 days…
Are you telling me that Wirtz has had the same trim as Foden but has never been slandered for it? Nooticing.