Football (Soccer)

[blue scholar]

Kompany to Bayern is a go

https://x.com/i/web/status/1794336011188949308

smells like a one and done

 

[blue scholar]

Man Utd having a better season than Arsenal

Hey, watch what you say about the Community Shield-winning Arsenal

 

[BlackFox]

Kompany to Bayern is a go

https://x.com/i/web/status/1794336011188949308

Still cant get my head around this one. Mad. Still be fun to see what goes down. Guess shouldnt be surprised by anything after today.

 

[B]

Actually played relatively well today, set up well, organised & were clinical when presented with our chances. Helped that City were either on an off day or at least in that first half were set up poorly, they'd a lot of the ball but I don't think they had a proper shot on goal until the 30+ minute & even that was something you'd expect any PL goalkeeper to save.

Second half rode our luck a little as City did come back in waves & had they taken one of the earlier chances it might have been different.

Through some good fortune we've managed to get a trophy & sneak into Europe albeit the Europa League.

Despite some, odd decisions, questionable signings, I'm of the opinion EtH shouldn't be sacked. I think given the sheer volume of injuries we've had this season it's impossible to look at how we've performed particularly in the league & judge EtH too harshly, despite all that, we've still come away with some silverware which is always nice. Not only that, but I am not impressed with any of the names currently available, the prospect of Graham Potter or Gareth Southgate, 2 names that refuse to go away, taking over worries me immensely. I'd rather give EtH further time & further backing under this new regime at the club & see what happens.

 

[PepS]

Man Utd having a better season than Arsenal

Don't get me started. What annoys me even more is the majority of the fanbase trying to justify us having a better season than both Liverpool and United despite winning F all. 2nd place is just first place loser. In years to come United and Liverpool will be remembered for what they won this season. Nobody's going to remember us for having a 'good' season and running City to the wire, lol.

Posting this one minute after the final whistle is disgraceful from us too:

https://x.com/i/web/status/1794398025479049334

I'm flippin' fuming with the standards we have. We're not serious and lack the mentality and cojones to go out and do anything significant.

 

[Iceman]

Kompany to Bayern is a go

https://x.com/i/web/status/1794336011188949308

No idea what's going on here. Especially with some other teams in the league finally putting up strong resistance. This could be a big gamble that finally allows those other teams to get a footing for the medium term. I just hope Bayern win something for Kane's sake! I wouldn't mind them winning a CL and another German team winning the league again.

 

[Zantera]

@PepS A bit of banter aside I think most people here will agree Arsenal are doing great and they will finish above us next season. But I get your frustration about the lack of silverware. I noticed among fans and pundits in general there's a lot of bias within the PL towards teams that are pleasing to watch and are perceived to be doing well compared to others that are rougher around the edges even if they also get results. Even if you go down the table a team like West Ham have gotten a lot of crap this season despite finishing 9th whereas a team like Brighton finishing 11th has gotten a lot more praise. One of them plays more counter attack and one on the front foot.

There's many sensible and reasonable Arsenal fans like yourself but there's also some loud and obnoxious ones. It rubbed me the wrong way to see a lot of Arsenal fans take shots at Klopp and Liverpool and mock them for "only" winning 1 PL, 1 CL during the Klopp reign, yet Arteta's Arsenal is hailed as the best team on the planet but have failed to pick up any silverware. I know most of us feel like Arsenal's PL trophy will come (maybe next year?) but what if it doesn't? Squads don't usually stick together for that many years unless the team is going through a golden era and winning every year like City. If Arsenal fail to win next season, maybe some players start looking at other destination like Madrid or another top club? It's always a danger.

 

[BlackFox]

Actually played relatively well today, set up well, organised & were clinical when presented with our chances. Helped that City were either on an off day or at least in that first half were set up poorly, they'd a lot of the ball but I don't think they had a proper shot on goal until the 30+ minute & even that was something you'd expect any PL goalkeeper to save.

Second half rode our luck a little as City did come back in waves & had they taken one of the earlier chances it might have been different.

Through some good fortune we've managed to get a trophy & sneak into Europe albeit the Europa League.

Despite some, odd decisions, questionable signings, I'm of the opinion EtH shouldn't be sacked. I think given the sheer volume of injuries we've had this season it's impossible to look at how we've performed particularly in the league & judge EtH too harshly, despite all that, we've still come away with some silverware which is always nice. Not only that, but I am not impressed with any of the names currently available, the prospect of Graham Potter or Gareth Southgate, 2 names that refuse to go away, taking over worries me immensely. I'd rather give EtH further time & further backing under this new regime at the club & see what happens.

This is the thing for me, I dont see the point unless it was Ancelotti, Zidane or Klopp coming in to replace him in which case fair enough I can see the point but those aint happening so to bring in a sideways or even downgrade with some of the names banded about just just seems a colossal waste of time and I cant see what more they would get out of this lot. Our squad is currently just not that good to compete at the highest level the best manager in the world is not changing that in one summer anyway.

Still it seems very 50/50 as to whether he stays or goes so we shall probably find out in the next few days I expect one way or another. Hopefully its resolved soon so we can get on with planning transfers as we dont want this rumbling on all summer and shooting ourselves in the foot again to have poor preparation for next season hampering either ETH or a new guy. Ending on a nice high needs to be taken advantage of while the mood lasts.

 

[Hunter Rider]

It was a whirlwind 24 hours with the news coming out that Ten Hag was seemingly doomed and McKenna looking the likely next manager, and that might still happen, but that was an excellent performance and built off the performances against Arsenal, Newcastle and Brighton, where we became a much more compact unit. The thing is Ten Hag is going full pelt into the injury excuse because we had Varane and Martinez yesterday but that was secondary to how we have set up, reducing the gaps between the players which has improved us on and off the ball and we executed that with Evans and Casemiro as CB's first, there's no reason we couldn't have set up this way since Christmas, I'm not trying to be negative but I think some perspective on injuries vs tactics is needed. The key thing though is the tactical change, we looked very compact off the ball and then opened like an umbrella when we get it, but always folded back into shape if it's turned over, this is actually something that can be built on and we can clearly see where yesterday, for instance AWB did well defensively against Doku (who was City's best player) but he killed every transition he was involved in as his touch and passing just isn't good enough, and the same with McTominay, he put the work in but his inability to beat the press and lack of technical and passing quality again hamper us when we have the ball, you could say similar about Amrabat, so where we can build and sign players to elevate the system we've seen in the last few weeks has become much clearer, before that it was harder to see who we could buy to make the system we were using work.

Now the positives, i have to give credit to Bruno, he's operated much smarter for the most part in the last few games and he was brilliant yesterday, then there's Amrabat, he's limited but a grafter on low wages that has potentially made a case to be kept as a squad player given his price? We saw the qualities of Dalot and Martinez and Garnacho again stepped up in a big game to cap off a really good season from him, then there's Kobbie Mainoo! what an absolute jewel we have with this kid, Ineos priority this summer has to be getting him the perfect partner (Neves).

More managerial merry-go-round:

Barcelona sack Xavi with Hansi Flick set to replace him

Barcelona sack manager Xavi with former Bayern Munich boss Hansi Flick set to replace him.

www.bbc.co.uk

This was weird as Xavi resigned and they begged him to stay, he decides to stay and the club do a U-turn and sack him.

Kompany to Bayern is a go

https://x.com/i/web/status/1794336011188949308

This one came out of nowhere, it feels like a stop-gap appointment and they'll go for Alonso again next summer, unless Kompany knocks it out of the park.

 

[BlackFox]

My favourite pic from yesterday. United has always been about bringing through young players and it was so pleasing Garnacho and Mainoo were the goal scorers and got a lot of the plaudits, all four though have been a big part of why we won it this season in various games they all contributed.

They are a good group to try and build a side around moving forward with more experienced players to guide them they all have a great potential and want to see more of them next season, they have been the best part of an otherwise very challenging season.

 

[BlackFox]

Richest game in English football today as Leeds take on Southampton at Wembley, that place is busy at the moment lol. Wonder who is coming back.....

 

[Zantera]

Richest game in English football today as Leeds take on Southampton at Wembley, that place is busy at the moment lol. Wonder who is coming back.....

It's definitely gonna be a fun game to watch! Always one of my favorite games of the season, seeing who will play the Prem next year.

 

[PepS]

@PepS A bit of banter aside I think most people here will agree Arsenal are doing great and they will finish above us next season. But I get your frustration about the lack of silverware. I noticed among fans and pundits in general there's a lot of bias within the PL towards teams that are pleasing to watch and are perceived to be doing well compared to others that are rougher around the edges even if they also get results. Even if you go down the table a team like West Ham have gotten a lot of crap this season despite finishing 9th whereas a team like Brighton finishing 11th has gotten a lot more praise. One of them plays more counter attack and one on the front foot.

There's many sensible and reasonable Arsenal fans like yourself but there's also some loud and obnoxious ones. It rubbed me the wrong way to see a lot of Arsenal fans take shots at Klopp and Liverpool and mock them for "only" winning 1 PL, 1 CL during the Klopp reign, yet Arteta's Arsenal is hailed as the best team on the planet but have failed to pick up any silverware. I know most of us feel like Arsenal's PL trophy will come (maybe next year?) but what if it doesn't? Squads don't usually stick together for that many years unless the team is going through a golden era and winning every year like City. If Arsenal fail to win next season, maybe some players start looking at other destination like Madrid or another top club? It's always a danger.

You’re absolutely spot on with everything you’ve said. It’s all PR and agenda’s created by media companies and Arsenal fans (especially the ones with big social media platforms) to create traction and money. They are shameless and are happy to do anything to alienate us and make us look like chumps in the public eye just to make money. It annoys me to even call them Arsenal fans. The mere mention of Arsenal in anything will create a reaction and garner a traction, be it from Arsenal fans defending the club, or rival fans that have been triggered and proceed to banter it. Between the two of them, these are two of the biggest parties that have contributed to making us probably the most hated club and fanbase in the world. It also doesn’t help that the majority of the fanbase now is made up of cringey, arrogant and snobby fans who turn their noses up at (in their words) the ‘lesser’ trophies like the FA cup and the Carabao cup, because they feel they are beneath us and want only the big boy trophies and that we are worthy of. How has that worked out? At the end of the day what matters is winning games and winning trophies. It doesn’t matter how you do it, everything else is cosmetics and it won’t really matter in the long run, unlike the former.

It’s why it angers me so much that we have seemingly not taken the cups seriously, instead apparently focusing on going straight for the PL and CL. Jose targeted the cups when he came into Chelsea, Pep targeted the cups when he came in at City. It creates a winning mentality which can be beneficial in helping a team believe and push them over the line, something we are always criticised for lacking. Plus a trophy is a trophy, doesn’t matter what it is. The funny thing is those Arsenal fans that look down on the FA and Carabao cups are now using the Community Shield to flex that we won something this season. I mean come on have some f’n shame. The Community Shield is literally just a friendly and even then we only got into it via the back door because City won the league and the FA cup.

I’ve said this numerous times, but I believe United will probably win another league title before we do. For all the crap Sir Jim has gotten, the man is a winner. You don’t get to where he is, from where he started/came from, without hard work, graft and being a slouch. He’s already pretty much cleared out the deadwood in your hierarchy and brought in top individuals in the field that know football and are winners themselves. I wouldn’t be surprised to see your fortunes turn for the better significantly within two years. You have everything. Infrastructure, money and the global pull, appeal and audience. You are literally a sleeping giant and if INEOS get it right, it’s curtains for everyone, bar City.

Honestly, that is going to happen, regarding a potential exodus. Players will start to second think about being here if we don’t start bringing the silverware. It’s happened before. The only ones that would really bother me in losing is Saliba and Rice. The others I am indifferent to.

 

[Iceman]

I’ll be cheering on Leeds. My mate’s been to pretty much every game for the last 20 years so deserves some glory after all the **** years since first getting relegated.

 

[Iceman]

It was a whirlwind 24 hours with the news coming out that Ten Hag was seemingly doomed and McKenna looking the likely next manager, and that might still happen, but that was an excellent performance and built off the performances against Arsenal, Newcastle and Brighton, where we became a much more compact unit. The thing is Ten Hag is going full pelt into the injury excuse because we had Varane and Martinez yesterday but that was secondary to how we have set up, reducing the gaps between the players which has improved us on and off the ball and we executed that with Evans and Casemiro as CB's first, there's no reason we couldn't have set up this way since Christmas, I'm not trying to be negative but I think some perspective on injuries vs tactics is needed. The key thing though is the tactical change, we looked very compact off the ball and then opened like an umbrella when we get it, but always folded back into shape if it's turned over, this is actually something that can be built on and we can clearly see where yesterday, for instance AWB did well defensively against Doku (who was City's best player) but he killed every transition he was involved in as his touch and passing just isn't good enough, and the same with McTominay, he put the work in but his inability to beat the press and lack of technical and passing quality again hamper us when we have the ball, you could say similar about Amrabat, so where we can build and sign players to elevate the system we've seen in the last few weeks has become much clearer, before that it was harder to see who we could buy to make the system we were using work.

Now the positives, i have to give credit to Bruno, he's operated much smarter for the most part in the last few games and he was brilliant yesterday, then there's Amrabat, he's limited but a grafter on low wages that has potentially made a case to be kept as a squad player given his price? We saw the qualities of Dalot and Martinez and Garnacho again stepped up in a big game to cap off a really good season from him, then there's Kobbie Mainoo! what an absolute jewel we have with this kid, Ineos priority this summer has to be getting him the perfect partner (Neves).

This was weird as Xavi resigned and they begged him to stay, he decides to stay and the club do a U-turn and sack him.



This one came out of nowhere, it feels like a stop-gap appointment and they'll go for Alonso again next summer, unless Kompany knocks it out of the park.

No idea what happened with Xavi. If he’d already resigned it shouldn’t have been necessary to sack him. A shame anyway that a club legend parts ways like that.

As for Mainoo, yes he really could be something in a few years. So much composure for a player that age. Hopefully the international tournaments can help him too. Garnacho also has big potential and doesn’t seem phased by big occasions.

 

[Hunter Rider]

View attachment 91643
My favourite pic from yesterday. United has always been about bringing through young players and it was so pleasing Garnacho and Mainoo were the goal scorers and got a lot of the plaudits, all four though have been a big part of why we won it this season in various games they all contributed.

They are a good group to try and build a side around moving forward with more experienced players to guide them they all have a great potential and want to see more of them next season, they have been the best part of an otherwise very challenging season.

The young players have been the only real bright spot this season and it was really satisfying that Garnacho and Kobbie scored the goals in the Cup final, as well as Kobbie being MOTM in such a big game. I'm not sure what we are doing with the flanks this summer but Hojlund needs someone to help with the striker load, preferably a versatile player like Cunha or Sesko, but above all we must invest in a midfield partner for Kobbie.

 

[Iceman]

Leeds had started much more aggressively but a defensive lapse allows Southampton on and they take the chance very well.

 

[Zantera]

I thought Leeds were surprisingly lackluster considering the expectations going into this game. Definitely felt like a team in dire need of a goalscorer because they had a lot of the ball and could string together some nice combinations but in front of goal there was just nothing. Southampton looked a lot more grounded as a team without any crazy tactical ideas but they had a goalscorer in Armstrong and he scored the goal that gave them the win.

 

[BlackFox]

Southampton back in the big time. Wont be easy for them next season but at least have players that have been there and done it and are well equipped off the pitch to make some moves to give themselves a shot, good youth set up and good scouts, also not totally dependent on staying up to survive financially. Need to find the next Van Dijk and Mane if they can in the summer.

 

[Iceman]

Congrats to Southampton!! They should sort themselves out in the PL so they aren’t in danger of going back down. I think of them as a PL club much more than many of the others with chances of coming up.

Hopefully Leeds can consolidate after coming as close as you can with 3rd and playoff final defeat. Maybe they can get top 2 next year (Sheff Utd and Burnley weren’t too hot this year) , although I also want to see Luton back again for the entertainment value.

 

[Iceman]

Southampton back in the big time. Wont be easy for them next season but at least have players that have been there and done it and are well equipped off the pitch to make some moves to give themselves a shot, good youth set up and good scouts, also not totally dependent on staying up to survive financially. Need to find the next Van Dijk and Mane if they can in the summer.

The relegation battle may be tougher next season without the likes of Sheff Utd giving up one place for free and Burnley and Luton (first half of the season) not quite being at the races. Southampton and Leicester are less likely to go straight back down without a big fight so it could be dramatic down there.

 

[Sebastos]

No idea what's going on here. Especially with some other teams in the league finally putting up strong resistance. This could be a big gamble that finally allows those other teams to get a footing for the medium term. I just hope Bayern win something for Kane's sake! I wouldn't mind them winning a CL and another German team winning the league again.

I'd like to see Kane win something too but looks like it'll have to be an even longer wait. Bayern finishing third means they can't even play in the Supercup, the hits just keep on coming!

Out of all the managerial changes so far Kompany is the most bizarre appointment. It's clear this can either go two ways, bet there'll be a massive/bit of a squad overhaul too.

 

[Iceman]

Great team goal to rewatch. Rashford, Garnacho, Bruno, Mainoo.

 

[Sebastos]

🐐

https://x.com/i/web/status/1794477917029699911

 

[BlackFox]

🐐

https://x.com/i/web/status/1794477917029699911

Class player and class man. Always wanted him at Untied but it was never going to be a thing, life was too good at Madrid.

Won pretty much everything you can in the game, is he playing in the euros for Germany or has he already retired from International duty?