The Ongoing Serie A, La Liga, All English Football, Champions League Thread - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Part 33

[Iceman]

Great game there and another away win for England. Gonna have to start giving Roy some credit soon. 2 top finishes from Wilshere and another from Rooney.

 

[chamber-music]

Ex-Fifa official Jack Warner has gone in on John Oliver.

Warner's ego is too big to be believed.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Should've been over before their equalizer, Rooney should have had at least a hat-trick before then and Sterling should've scored in the first alf. Apart from the 2 moments for their goals we controlled the game and played very well. I'm not really getting all the pessimism we're actually playing with abit of identity. Better sides than us are struggling through some pretty simple groups.

This sums up my feelings on what was a pretty entertaining game. To Roy's credit he made the right substitution at half time as Lallana made a big difference to our attacking play by linking the midfield and front 3.

Rooney looked worryingly sluggish to me and missed two glorious chances before scoring, I really feel the time has come where he needs to be in competition for his place as opposed to a guaranteed starter for both England and United.

Wilshire scored two quality goals with the second in particular being a cracker, and I also thought Sterling looked good in the second half, he just needs to sharpen up his finishing.

The back 4 remains a huge weakness though, I think Cahill is always exposed without Terry to lead the way and our fullbacks are just not up to scratch.

 

[kit1982]

Agreed on the back 4 mate, noone has really stepped up to the mark Woy's got pelters for not playing Clyne but I don't think he's done anywhere near enough. We have to pray that Shaw stays injury free and someone has a great season at RB, hopefully Jenkinson can get game time and keep progressing.
Cahill was very poor, I thought Smalling looked more assured. Maybe Stones will be the answer?

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Baines will be back for the next game I imagine, still our best LB and that's not just me being biased as an Evertonian. Stones really needs to start getting used more for England as well. And that's not biased as I hate Everton players being used for England, especially when they are our best players.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Agreed on the back 4 mate, noone has really stepped up to the mark Woy's got pelters for not playing Clyne but I don't think he's done anywhere near enough. We have to pray that Shaw stays injury free and someone has a great season at RB, hopefully Jenkinson can get game time and keep progressing.
Cahill was very poor, I thought Smalling looked more assured. Maybe Stones will be the answer?

Spot on with Clyne, as you know I thought he had potential to take over at RB but he looks like he stagnated the moment he got some recognition. Shaw has it in him to be our next top LB IMO we just need him to get his fitness in check, hopefully he'll have a good season leading to the Euros, and I'd definitely give Jenkinson a chance, he had a good season and has played well for the U21's.

Smalling has really improved over the last 6 months and has took on a leadership role without a doubt, and yes to Stones, I may be cursing the lad by saying it but he genuinely looks our best shot at having another world class CB within the next few years.

 

[kit1982]

Baines will be back for the next game I imagine, still our best LB and that's not just me being biased as an Evertonian. Stones really needs to start getting used more for England as well. And that's not biased as I hate Everton players being used for England, especially when they are our best players.

Have to disagree on Baines mate, I think he's always been caught out at International level, if his set pieces are off he doesn't offer anything as the rest of his game is woefully short..... he's a better quality Ian Harte IMO, massive downgrade from Cashley.

Agree on Stones though, I remember seeing him for Barnsley against Leeds and even then he was well beyond his years. I do wonder if Antolin Alcaraz's best mate is the right man to bring the best out of him though, right now he's destined for great things.

Any sign of a takeover at your place? Big club with massive potential....seems a no brainer.

 

[Kaleb]

@Mister_Numbers
45' PER - BRA 1-1 Unconfirmed stat: Neymar is the 1st player in history to receive a yellow for wiping out the line made by the ref's spray

 

[Kaleb]

@UberAFC
FACT: Jack Wilshere has now won the MOTM award in 6 of the last 7 England games (the other MOTM was Danny Welbeck).

 

[Darthphere]

Is Mix likely to move to Europe? He did look to add a dynamic quality in the attack that was missing at the WC, did he miss due to injury? How is Wood doing at club level?

Not now. He just moved to MLS from Rosenborg so doubtful. Though he is playing for NYCFC so a January loan to City is never out of the question if he has a great season. He was at the WC but he never got playing time. Bobby Wood gets almost no playing time for his club though. He moved from 1860 Munich to a club in Bundesliga 2 and they got relegated so he's playing in the third tier now basically.

 

[Kaleb]

Looks like Man U have agreed to terms with Roberto Firmino

 

[aNarcHy2day]

Looks like Man U have agreed to terms with Roberto Firmino

Because we need more Attacking Midfielders!

Oh wait...

 

[Kaleb]

@SkySportsNewsHQ
BREAKING: Sky sources: Southampton agree £5.1m fee with Malaga for Spain striker Juanmi. #SSNHQ

 

[Kaleb]

@euanmarshall
Chile XI vs Mexico later on: Bravo, Isla, Jara, Medel, Albornoz; Díaz, Aránguiz, Vidal, Valdívia; Vargas, Sánchez.

match starts in 50 min

 

[Kaleb]

Mexico just scored followed by Chile (Vidal) in less than a minute.

 

[Kaleb]

Mexico take back the lead

2-1

 

[B]

Because we need more Attacking Midfielders!

Oh wait...

Assuming it is actually us that have agreed terms with him as reported, I'd be very with his arrival. We struggled at times last year, even with the wealth of attacking talent we had to break teams down at times.

From what I've seen of Firmino he certainly looks like a potential difference maker, capable of not only unlocking defenses with a pass himself, but also making runs into threatening positions himself. I'm not actually sure what his best position is, from what I've read & seen of him basically he looks like he can pretty much play out wide, behind a striker in a No. 10 role or even as the striker himself.

Also if the fee of €21m is correct I think it's quite a good deal given what he could potentially add to us.

 

[Kaleb]

score now 2-2, three of the goals have been by headers

 

[Fallen Angel]

Doomie will be going crazy.

 

[DoomsdayApex]

Doomie will be going crazy.

I've accepted that we suck.

I still got Portugal and Spain at least.

 

[Fallen Angel]

Well 3-3 now.

 

[GREEN =w= DAY]

Chile vs Mexico has thus far been the best game of the Copa America

 

[DoomsdayApex]

It seems Benitez is reading my mind. Both Kondogbia (DM) and Reus (W/F) are on Real's radar once more.

Ronaldo

Bale (Jesé) - James (Isco) - Reus (Benzema)

Modric --- Kroos/Kondogbia (Silva/Casemiro)

Marcelo - Ramos - Varane - Carvajal (Danilo)

De Gea





On that note, our new unis are awful.

 

[DeadPresident]

Assuming it is actually us that have agreed terms with him as reported, I'd be very with his arrival. We struggled at times last year, even with the wealth of attacking talent we had to break teams down at times.

From what I've seen of Firmino he certainly looks like a potential difference maker, capable of not only unlocking defenses with a pass himself, but also making runs into threatening positions himself. I'm not actually sure what his best position is, from what I've read & seen of him basically he looks like he can pretty much play out wide, behind a striker in a No. 10 role or even as the striker himself.

Also if the fee of €21m is correct I think it's quite a good deal given what he could potentially add to us.

Agreed. I see a lot of the response to the Firmino rumours is "United don't need any attackers!" when the very sad fact is besides Mata, Rooney and Di Maria none of our attackers had seasons worth talking about. And besides Di Maria none of those players can get past a marker. If the Firmino deal works out then United will have landed two players in Depay and Firmino that can actually create some chances.

He's had two solid seasons in Germany and is doing well in the few international games he's played in. The most important players in an attack in this day and age are the wide forwards, if you look at Ronaldo and Bale at Madrid, Neymar and Messi at Barca or Ribery and Robben at Bayern. Depay and Firmino on either flank sounds a lot more promising than Di Maria and Mata who can't seem to get past anyone or deliver telling crosses. Maybe this way United can try Mata in a #10 role and move Rooney back to a #9.

The other thing United sorely lack is a player in every position that's comfortable receiving the ball in tight space, again almost every outfield player for teams like Bayern, Barca, Madrid, Chelsea or Arsenal will ask for a pass even if they're marked by 2 players. United desperately need midfielders and attackers that can do that.

 

[Grommers]

On that note, our new unis are awful.

The white one's look a lot nicer than the other two colours. I swear the grey one's look like my underpants.