Neither do I. He's a whiner and a dirty player, imo.
I was able to tolerate him while he was at Villa - at least that showed some character.
Now that he's at City - I have no time for him at all.
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Soccer/football thread 2022
- Thread starter Priller
- Start date
I was able to tolerate him while he was at Villa - at least that showed some character.
Now that he's at City - I have no time for him at all.
Yes - the official response from MFC was to call the request bizarre.
Hopefully they gave their remaining allocation to their season ticket holders or some some charity for kids or something.
Priller
Well-known member
ManU out to Atleti and Ajax out to Benfica. Flipping between and watching out of the corner of my eye while working, there was some first-class Iberian shenanigans from both winning teams. I wouldn't want to face Atletico coming up, as they are masters at squeezing the life out of games with relentless sh*housery, bus parking, time wasting, crying to and/or intimidating the ref, and generally being the worst of the game, whether it's style or sportsmanship. That said, I'd love it if City drew them next, just to see Pep's head explode.
For tomorrow, I don't expect anything dramatic from an overmatched Lille against Chelsea, but I hope David does himself proud. Villareal and Juve could be interesting, but I suspect the old lady will just have a bit too much for the yellow submarine. So far, the knockouts haven't offered many true upsets, but one can hope...
For tomorrow, I don't expect anything dramatic from an overmatched Lille against Chelsea, but I hope David does himself proud. Villareal and Juve could be interesting, but I suspect the old lady will just have a bit too much for the yellow submarine. So far, the knockouts haven't offered many true upsets, but one can hope...
Even at Villa, I felt like he got a bit too much credit, and it could be argued that they're actually better this year. And I'm with you: there is something inexplicably yet undeniably irritating about him. Whether it's the hair, the heavy duty manscaping including the seeming application of bronzer, or the non-stop preening, I'm not sure. But every time he has the ball I'm secretly hoping someone two-foots him to oblivion...
Classless fans.
www.mirror.co.uk
Not sure what the fix is for United, plenty of talent but can’t gel as a team, Zero improvement in the last 5 years.
Simeone hit with bottles by angry Man Utd fans as he snubs Rangnick handshake
Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone sprinted off the Old Trafford pitch following his side's win over Manchester United and had bottles thrown in his direction by furious supporters
www.mirror.co.uk
Not sure what the fix is for United, plenty of talent but can’t gel as a team, Zero improvement in the last 5 years.
Classless fans.
Simeone hit with bottles by angry Man Utd fans as he snubs Rangnick handshake
Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone sprinted off the Old Trafford pitch following his side's win over Manchester United and had bottles thrown in his direction by furious supporters
Not sure what the fix is for United, plenty of talent but can’t gel as a team, Zero improvement in the last 5 years.
Maybe clone Ronaldo 10 times…just a younger version
Priller
Well-known member
I'd be more upset if it wasn't Simeone, someone who wouldn't know class if it was bottled and thrown at him...Classless fans.
Simeone hit with bottles by angry Man Utd fans as he snubs Rangnick handshake
Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone sprinted off the Old Trafford pitch following his side's win over Manchester United and had bottles thrown in his direction by furious supporters
To steal an analogy from a journalist whose name I can't remember (Daniel Storey?), ManU is like a meal made from a random selection of very expensive but uncomplementary ingredients. By contrast, overachieving teams like Southampton that are assembled on the cheap are like cucina povere, making the most of limited resources by making sure all the ingredients complement each other, making something greater than the sum of its parts. And to really stretch the analogy, teams like City are three Michelin star dishes with lots of infusion of this and essence of that, but that also leave many cold.
I compare ManU to Liverpool post-Klopp, who have spent way less but are light years ahead. They have a clear system, which allows them to plan player acquisitions based on fit. Under Klopp, they have their targets based on a combination of scouting and metrics, and won't stray from that even if the fans sometimes get impatient with the occasional quiet transfer window. They prioritise versatility and character over reputation. And as happened with Nabil Fekir, have been willing to walk from a deal at the last minute if they see signs that a player may not be totally team first. They have been willing to be patient if needed to get the guys they want (van Dijk, Keita) or spend lots for others (Alisson). Because the recruitment meshes so closely with the system, they almost never have a bust. Players like Robertson, Wijnaldum, Tsimikas, Mane, Matip etc have been bought on the cheap and improved massively.
(it isn't that long ago that LFC wasn't like this at all, instead taking long shots on players like Andy Carroll, so I'm not being smug here. I'm just grateful!)
ManU, on the other hand, have no identity beyond some nebulous memory of the Ferguson era. There is no overarching plan, so everything is reactive and aimed to make a statement, not to fit a profile they've developed. And every time they change managers, they change systems, resulting in some very expensive misfit toys. Keeping it recent, look at the Ronaldo signing this year. Yes, it's Ronaldo, and yes, he can still score. But he hasn't fit into anything close to any system they want to play, and the team has often looked worse with him on the pitch. Especially when Fernandes is also playing, as the two seem to cancel each other out, despite both playing for Portugal. So you get some goals like they did against Spurs, but you also get lots more losses like today. They've also switched identities yet again, away from the positive simplicity of Solskjaer to a complex pressing coach in Rangnick, but nobody is going to make Cristiano track back or run hard for 90 minutes. Now they have a bunch of random players from a variety of coaching systems, none of whom seem to want to be there. It's a club that has prioritised finances over winning, and it shows.
I think if they play the long game with Rangnick, they'll start winning again, especially if he finds the right coach early to start instilling discipline. But it's going to take a long time and have some painful years as they divest themselves of the very expensive dead wood. The problem is they haven't had the patience or fortitude to withstand supporter unrest, so end up panicking and changing course. Maybe with Woodward gone, they'll be more determined.
They wouldn't score for spending the whole match admiring one another...
Priller
Well-known member
Phew. Major hurdle cleared for Liverpool and gap closed to one point. A bit of a midfield battle, with just a few big chances at either end, though Alisson came up huge after a Thiago mistake (which Thiago followed with a beautiful pass for the first goal). Arsenal are definitely improving, but they deflated after they went down. Love seeing Bobby score an incredible poachers goal, and am really hoping he stays healthy and gets a lot more minutes in the home stretch. 9 finals, as Jota said...
Following the Champions League games on my phone, Lille briefly made things interesting before Chelsea closed it down. But the big news is Juve getting bounced by Villareal. Love seeing Agnelli's boys get kicked around in the last 15', considering his insane idea of making the last fifteen minutes of matches pay-per-view.
Following the Champions League games on my phone, Lille briefly made things interesting before Chelsea closed it down. But the big news is Juve getting bounced by Villareal. Love seeing Agnelli's boys get kicked around in the last 15', considering his insane idea of making the last fifteen minutes of matches pay-per-view.
Priller
Well-known member
Some happy toffees tonight. Was busy watching the dire Roma cling on to go through in the Europa Consolation League. Huge three points for Everton, and Newcastle comes back down to earth a bit. Eddie Howe has been so awful in dealing with questions about who signs his cheques, I'm struggling to be too disappointed.
Priller
Well-known member
Ha! No, but there was a protestor who ziptied himself to a goalpost mid-match, which led to this:Did they bring Big Dunc off the coaches box to score the winner?
Priller
Well-known member
If you'd asked me to pick the draw just how I wanted it, it would look just like that. All the 'good' teams on one side, all the evil empires on the other, so I'm at least guaranteed to have a rooting interest in the final (last year was dire), though I'm also guaranteed to have a supervillain there as well.
Would have preferred Liverpool drew Villareal over Benfica for pure entertainment value (Benfica is apparently a bit 'dark arts' a la Atleti), but if Liverpool can't beat them they certainly don't deserve the trophy. Villareal vs Bayern should be the most fun one to watch, especially if Munich continues their run of poor defensive form. I wouldn't sleep on Emery's side, though. They've been very good in Europe, beating ManU in the Europa final last year, which resulted in some hilarious Alberto Moreno trolling...
The only way watching Atleti is anything other than torture will be watching Pep lose his sh*t at their antics. And Chelsea vs Madrid could be very interesting. If anyone can shut down the dirty blackmailer Benzema, it should be Tuchel's Chelsea.
Some interesting matches in the Europa Consolation League include Leicester vs PSV, and Roma rematched against a Bodo side that spanked them 6-1 in the groups and has also eliminated Celtic. For regular Europa, there's lots of big names left, with poor form Leipzig taking on poor form Atalanta, Frankfurt trying to upset Barcelona, West Ham and Lyon, and Braga vs Rangers to see who will be massive underdogs in the next round.
Would have preferred Liverpool drew Villareal over Benfica for pure entertainment value (Benfica is apparently a bit 'dark arts' a la Atleti), but if Liverpool can't beat them they certainly don't deserve the trophy. Villareal vs Bayern should be the most fun one to watch, especially if Munich continues their run of poor defensive form. I wouldn't sleep on Emery's side, though. They've been very good in Europe, beating ManU in the Europa final last year, which resulted in some hilarious Alberto Moreno trolling...
The only way watching Atleti is anything other than torture will be watching Pep lose his sh*t at their antics. And Chelsea vs Madrid could be very interesting. If anyone can shut down the dirty blackmailer Benzema, it should be Tuchel's Chelsea.
Some interesting matches in the Europa Consolation League include Leicester vs PSV, and Roma rematched against a Bodo side that spanked them 6-1 in the groups and has also eliminated Celtic. For regular Europa, there's lots of big names left, with poor form Leipzig taking on poor form Atalanta, Frankfurt trying to upset Barcelona, West Ham and Lyon, and Braga vs Rangers to see who will be massive underdogs in the next round.
Priller
Well-known member
You mean a real charity instead of Roman's bogus 'victims of conflict' garbage? Well played 'Boro. May the upsets continue...
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