The Ongoing Serie A, La Liga, All English Football, Champions League Thread - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Part 55

[HunBoy]

Everyone laugh out Real Madrid because of their bad form and injured players. Please doing same thing with Man City!

 

[the_ultimate_evil]

You ever get the feeling it’s being fixed for Liverpool to win it after last year, remember the whole they should be co champions bs

Aww well it had to happen eventually, let’s see how they do when the like of Madrid and Barcelona start tapping up the team in the new window

I’d focus on Uniteds win but in truth we’re that inconsistent we could go on a run of losses for the next 3 games and it would surprise me. I want to give ole time but I don’t trust the board or the weasel woodward

 

[Zantera]

We got a nice win today but we got Sheffield United away next game and I'd be very surprised if we got anything from that. Not because we're iffy ourselves but because Sheffield United are legit good this season. Hard to break down and surprisingly solid going forward.

 

[B]

Takeaway from today's games

United vs Brighton (After I had to find somewhere to ****ing watch the game because it wasn't on TV)

- Martial is much more natural through the middle than Rashford, holds the ball up better than I remember.

- Fred has low key impressed me the last few weeks

- I don't know if Williams was that impressive OR has it just been so long since we've seen competent LB play that we are thirsty for anything. Legit though, Ashley Young shouldn't ever start at LB or RB for us again if AWB, Shaw, Dalot or Williams are fit.

- Overall we played well, we didn't control Brighton though, at home, which was a worry in the sense that they simply saw too much off the ball at times. The points & win is what matters most currently, we cannot afford to slip up against anymore teams like this, particularly at home this season.

Liverpool vs City

- It's amazing what a even a competent goalkeeper can make, now I don't particularly think Ederson is elite but just like in his debut season for City, Bravo literally can cost you points. He should have saved the 3rd, I think Ederson probably saves the 2nd & possibly even the 1st as well.

VAR (part 1)

- How VAR didn't rule Fabinho's 1st goal out & award City a penalty is simply beyond me. That was as clear & definitive a handball as you can get from TA-A, his arm wasn't at his side & he literally moves his arm towards the ball, even the referee should have seen it without VAR. Aguero should have played to the whistle though, he practically moved out of TA-A's way allowing him to hoof the ball away in his protests.. should have been disallowed & a penalty though.

VAR (part 2)

- Spot the problem with the VAR ruling for the 2nd goal:

- The game itself was entertaining enough, the 2 best teams in the country, Liverpool I thought just edged the tie in terms of performance but those 2 VAR decisions were an absolute joke & ultimately they cost City.

 

[Iceman]

We got a nice win today but we got Sheffield United away next game and I'd be very surprised if we got anything from that. Not because we're iffy ourselves but because Sheffield United are legit good this season. Hard to break down and surprisingly solid going forward.

They played really well against Spurs. Must be great for their fans to be this competitive straight after coming up.

 

[Iceman]

Liverpool have a real shot at the title now. For one City aren’t at their best with defensive issues, and Liverpool have established a big gap without playing that well themselves.

As for the rest of the table, the top 4 have created a nice buffer for themselves. Then it becomes super tight with 4 points separating 5th from 16th.

 

[HunBoy]

Klopp always cried because of referee decisions after every Real Madrid matches. Now?

 

[DeadPresident]

Liverpool are currently enjoying the refereeing preferences that go with being the big boys on the block. United had it for a long time, Chelsea had it during the Mourinho years, CIty have had it briefly under Guardiola and now Klopp enjoys it with Liverpool.

Every team to beat in a league develops that invincible aura for a while, and it definitely extends to officials turning a blind eye on occasion when they otherwise wouldn't have.

 

[Hunter Rider]

They value the club allegedly at over £3b, something that boggles my mind simply because they were somehow allowed to buy the club essentially financing their takeover using the clubs own money for around £800m. That was in 2006 if I recall, so I don't understand what logic makes them think they've tripled the value of the club, if anything the clubs value has declined during their horrific ownership. The point being, I think they'll own the club for a while unless we get some random billionaire, or collection of them, prepared to overpay & eat some money just to release us from their fat, greasy McDonald hands.

I think for the most part the majority are still reluctant to criticise Ole completely because they know the state the squad is in, the longer he's running things the more & more pressure mounts on Woodward & the Glazers. From what I've seen the calls always seem to be more for Woodward to go than Ole. Personally as I said, I wouldn't sack Ole for the simple fact, what's the ****ing point. We'll be right back in the same spot a year, 2 years down the line after Woodward sticks his snout into footballing matters again & tries to tell the next manager how much players are worth & who is good. Woodward needs to go or/and we need to appoint a director of football to organise our recruitment.

Some of the problems we had last season under Jose early season look even worse this season IMO ie not scoring enough, not creating enough, still don't control enough teams territorially or in possession. Defensively we still don't press teams often enough which I thought was going to be one of Ole's main differences to Jose, we still are too prepared to sit back, soak up too much pressure & look to break against teams we shouldn't... we do have a better defensive record, but I don't put that down to something tactically Ole's doing, more the signings of Maguire & AWB who have cancelled out, at least so far, a lot of the unforced error goals we conceded early last season that cost us points.

I've never understood how they were allowed to borrow against the club in order to buy it, that just sounds nuts to me, but here we are. You're right as well, we are going to need somebody or a group of people that have the kind of money that 3B is just pocket change to them if we want rid of these parasites, as right now they are using United to keep all of their other failed **** afloat.

It's tricky as I'm not sure if someone else could follow the path Ole is going down but do it better with more coaching nous. Ultimately though I agree that while Woodward has control over footballing matters at the club we'll never be any threat to City and Liverpool, at best we'll make up the numbers in the top 4 no matter who the manager is.

You could be right mate, although to Ole's credit I think Martial has improved under him and Axel, Williams, Greenwood and James are young players that are progressing with this staff. Perhaps it's just that I found Mourinho so insufferable as a person where as Ole is coming off as a bit of a puppet but a likable one with roots in my childhood, so I don't feel anywhere near as angry and hopeless regarding United as I did this time last year.

On a side note I think the 2 performances this week were pretty decent, Martial has made a huge difference in that #9 role since his return, and Rashford's game has picked up as a knock-on effect, both performances had patchy spells in them but the creation was way up with us actually missing several great chances as opposed to struggling to create a single chance, that's a bit of a step in the right direction IMO.

Martial's goal on Thursday was awesome and provided one of the best football images I've seen captured in ages.

 

[Iceman]

England v Montenegro: Raheem Sterling to miss Euro 2020 qualifier at Wembley

England forward Raheem Sterling will not play in the Euro 2020 qualifier against Macedonia on Thursday "as a result of a disturbance in a private team area", the Football Association has announced.

The 24-year-old Manchester City player was involved in an on-field argument with Liverpool and England defender Joe Gomez, 22, during the Reds' 3-1 Premier League victory at Anfield.

"Unfortunately the emotions of yesterday's game were still raw," said England boss Gareth Southgate.

"One of the great challenges and strengths for us is that we've been able to separate club rivalries from the national team.

"We have taken the decision to not consider Raheem for the match against Montenegro on Thursday. My feeling is that the right thing for the team is the action we have taken.

"Now that the decision has been made with the agreement of the entire squad, it's important that we support the players and focus on Thursday night."

 

[jolldan]

 

[Iceman]

Wenger has a new job as FIFA Chief of global football development so that puts the Bayern rumours to rest.

 

[BlackFox]

England 2-0 up and cruising into the Euros against Montenegro. Doubt we're good enough to win it but we should have a decent run in the thing in the summer, despite the Sterling thing it seems Southgate has built a good squad feeling in the camp and I am sure the Sterling thing will blow over pretty quickly.

A lot of exciting young talent to watch as well with Sancho, Mount, Maddison, Rashford et al in the squad. It doesnt hurt the eye's watching this team.

3-0 now, Kane again.

 

[Iceman]

Yep, also glad to see the Ox get on the scoresheet. I think he can be a big player for both England and Liverpool in future years if he can avoid injury.

 

[Iceman]

Rashford makes it 4-0 after 30 minutes. We're going to qualify in style!

 

[Iceman]

Kane gets a hat-trick to make it 5. We need to test this lineup against a big team and see how it gets on. Promising for the future with many young talents who could make it to a high level. Sterling could be the gamechanger on top.

 

[Iceman]

7-0 in the end!! Apparently that was our youngest lineup for 60 years or something like that. Great way to qualify.

 

[HunBoy]

Morata: With Real Madrid's shirt, the decision at Mallorca would have been different

You fallen, idiot, ass. Shame of Real Madrid academy. Atleti is perfect place for you.

 

[Brian Braddock]

Roundly reported that Sterling was the aggressor, that Gomez didn't retaliate [did in fact get a scratch across the face for his troubles] and then fought Sterlings corner to convince Southgate not to send Sterling home - so why or how exactly does Gomez comes on and get boo'd?

Eng-er-lund fans never cease to amaze me [and not in a good way].

 

[Brian Braddock]

Liverpool are currently enjoying the refereeing preferences that go with being the big boys on the block.

You ever get the feeling it’s being fixed for Liverpool to win it after last year, remember the whole they should be co champions bs

Mmm, I dunno - the VAR decision to disallow Firmino's perfectly good goal against Villa says hello.

 

[Iceman]

Financial Fair Play: Manchester City lose appeal to Cas over Uefa investigation

 

[B]

Roundly reported that Sterling was the aggressor, that Gomez didn't retaliate [did in fact get a scratch across the face for his troubles] and then fought Sterlings corner to convince Southgate not to send Sterling home - so why or how exactly does Gomez comes on and get boo'd?

Eng-er-lund fans never cease to amaze me [and not in a good way].

You make it seem like this is something shockingly new, England fans at the games have been doing dumb **** like this towards certain players unjustly for years. Ashley Cole, David Beckham, Steven Gerrard & Wayne Rooney are a handful of names I've seen/heard get jeered/booed at one time or another to varying degrees & I'm sure there are others. Much like those however, it's not like the entire stadium booed him, to me it sounded like it was just random sections of the crowd.

Southgate handled it badly. He should have sent both players home regardless of who started it or not & he should have done so discreetly, say both were carrying non-descriptive knocks & you didn't want to risk either.

I find it very hard to believe that this is the 1st time something like this has happened behind the scenes at England considering there have been more notorious players that have played for England with actual legitimate fierce club rivalries.

 

[B]

Financial Fair Play: Manchester City lose appeal to Cas over Uefa investigation

If they actually wanted to even prevent the investigation, that indicates to me that there is intentional wrongdoing to be found somewhere in there books.. somewhat like Trump & his tax returns.

 

[Iceman]

If they actually wanted to even prevent the investigation, that indicates to me that there is intentional wrongdoing to be found somewhere in there books.. somewhat like Trump & his tax returns.

Totally agreed. There should be no will to prevent it. If innocent they should be welcoming the ability to prove it and cooperate with helping enforce the standards so that it gets applied to their big rivals too.

 

[Iceman]

You make it seem like this is something shockingly new, England fans at the games have been doing dumb **** like this towards certain players unjustly for years. Ashley Cole, David Beckham, Steven Gerrard & Wayne Rooney are a handful of names I've seen/heard get jeered/booed at one time or another to varying degrees & I'm sure there are others. Much like those however, it's not like the entire stadium booed him, to me it sounded like it was just random sections of the crowd.

Southgate handled it badly. He should have sent both players home regardless of who started it or not & he should have done so discreetly, say both were carrying non-descriptive knocks & you didn't want to risk either.

I find it very hard to believe that this is the 1st time something like this has happened behind the scenes at England considering there have been more notorious players that have played for England with actual legitimate fierce club rivalries.

Yeah, I think the rivalries were fiercer in the past so it must have happened. Also do we know exactly what happened yet?