The Beautiful Game, Fútbol, Calcio, Footie Season 23/24

[10spro]

It would be a judgmental error by Solksjaer if he ends up in ManU. I think they need more a CDM at this point when you got already the likes of Rashford, Sancho and Cavani. But hey not many teams can afford CR7 so anything is possible, and it would make the old Trafford team favorites to win it all.

Pretty sure Bruno Fernandes would want him back.

Disagree that the addition of Ronaldo puts United over City or Chelsea in the race for the title. You even said United needs a CDM more than a wing/striker, even one of Ronaldo's remaining skill. Chelsea got the best player who moved to England in the transfer market this summer -- Lukaku.

This is more of a commercial move than a football one. The Glazers could give two f*cks about winning. They want more revenue, and CR7 kits probably already are flying off the shelves at the club store.

Well, we’ll see how well they can protect their goals this season. Their best transfer was done already in Varane and Sancho, they needed a CDM. To me, the best signing was Grealish to City.

But with this move I have ManU ahead of those two teams.

[dbdynsty25]

Chelsea got the best player who moved to England in the transfer market this summer -- Lukaku.

I'll take Jadon Sancho. Thanks. Tho I am a fan of the Belgian.

[10spro]

World Qualies: With a hat-trick Messi became the most proficient scorer in South America surpassing the great Pele.

A beauty here.

[wco81]

Newcastle United sold, to maybe the richest ownership group, which includes the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, in the sport.

Ashley was a billionaire but apparently a piker compared to the Saudis.

PL has received assurances that the club won't be controlled by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia but there is really nothing they can do to prevent the sale.

Will the Saudis spend whatever it takes to make Newcastle the next Man City?

[10spro]

You can’t call the sacking of Gunnar a shock, but when you lose 4-1 to Watford what other options do you have in a season clearly full of disappointments in old Trafford. The goal differential has been abysmal, they got high end key players too before the season started, but the problems maybe more than just a managerial change. They start at the very top with Ed Woodward, and with Conte already snapped earlier with Spurs, it may take awhile to find his replacement.

[Rodster]

Who do you guys think would be a good fit for Man U? I've read that Ronaldo wants Spain's Coach to get the job. The papers are saying that Pochettino is their top choice but then I read that Zadane was their No.1 choice. I also read that Conte was never an option for United, don't know why?

[10spro]

Who do you guys think would be a good fit for Man U? I've read that Ronaldo wants Spain's Coach to get the job. The papers are saying that Pochettino is their top choice but then I read that Zadane was their No.1 choice. I also read that Conte was never an option for United, don't know why?

Hmm, The Frenchman wanted a nice break from coaching when he left Real. I doubt PSG will let Poche walk away and my guess would be some former player from the interim organization to try to stop the bleeding. But then again, the question should be who really is running the show at Old Trafford.

As I was stating earlier, perhaps Ed Woodward should get his nose dirtier, in my opinion when they lost 5-0 to Liverpool a couple of weeks back, that should have been the end of the Norwegian coach.

Who in my opinion was always there more for sentimental reasons as a player than his full managerial skills alone. For the rosters that they have, the results should have been much better even without Ronaldo’s signing.

But whoever takes over Gunnar, it won’t be easy. The problem is at the very top, including the cozy American owners sitting in Miami who may not have a clue what their issue is at.

[pk500]

Zidane would not be a good choice, for many reasons.

One, he's never managed in the Premier League. It's a VERY different league than Serie A or La Liga. Two, he barely speaks any English. That's not good in an English league with a huge English-speaking global fanbase. Three, he's only managed teams with superstars. United has deeper talent than most think, but it's not the Galacticos of Real Madrid.

As for Poch, please send me a list of trophies he won at Spurs. I'll wait. But Poch appears to have the tactical nous that Ole sorely lacks.

United needs a tactician, stat. Everyone said Ole was liked by players due to his good nature. But nearly everyone also said he was overwhelmed tactically, especially compared to rivals like Pep, Klopp, Tuchel, Rodgers and even Arteta.

[Rodster]

Many in the football press were calling for Man U to hire Antonio Conte but Ole was still managing the club. Now he's managing the Spurs so they missed out on his hire if he was a top choice for them.

[10spro]

If I had narrowed down to my ultimate candidate and he happens to know little English to none, that would be the least of my concerns. If the candidate can instill an ID as to what style of play he wants to command for his team, I’ll hire the best English tutor around or translator and convey the message to the team.

That’s the problem with United now. They don’t know their style of play with the current roster.

After all Jose, Poche, even Pepe’s English were very poor when they entered the PL. And since we are talking about Zidane, if he’s indeed a candidate in Old Trafford, I have the likes of Pogba and Ronaldo (multilingual) to pass the message until everyone gets it. At least for the first few weeks.

But since we are playing a guessing game now, if I could lure Arsene out of retirement he would be my choice to manage that team.

Ed Woodward needs to be more vocal though and set a tone for the future.

[wco81]

Wenger didn't speak that much English. By the time he left Arsenal, he spoke it better than a lot of native speakers../

Cappello was the manager of the England team. But that was one of the criticisms, that he never learned much English.

[pk500]

Ed Woodward needs to be more vocal though and set a tone for the future.

And therein lies the problem: Ed Woodward knows f*ck-all about football and only cares about the bottom line. The Glazers know f*ck-all about football and only care about the bottom line.

United has no direction because there's no one in the board room providing any other than buying players for the main purpose of increasing shirt sales (Ahem, Ronaldo, even if his fee was paltry. They don't NEED him.).

[pk500]

Wenger didn't speak that much English. By the time he left Arsenal, he spoke it better than a lot of native speakers../

Cappello was the manager of the England team. But that was one of the criticisms, that he never learned much English.

You guys are comparing the hiring of Wenger and Jose in a different era for the Premier League, especially Wenger. The league had nowhere near the global profile it does now, especially in the lucrative North American markets. English is the unofficial language of the Premier League, as it is for many other global sports. In elite global motorsport such as F1 and MotoGP, for example, ALL press conferences take place in English.

An English-speaking manager isn't essential, but it sure helps. Then again, I'm sure some who heard Ferguson's thick Aberdeen accent when he was introduced in 1986 claimed he didn't speak English, either.

[Rodster]

(Ahem, Ronaldo, even if his fee was paltry. They don't NEED him.).

Interesting because this SkySports article alluded to that very same thing that Ole sealed his own departure when they brought in Ronaldo.

https://www.skysports.com/football/news ... nited-plan

[GB_Simo]

It isn't every day that Hartlepool United lose a celebrity fan, largely because we only had three to start with. Here, Meat Loaf explains the events that took him from being unaware of our existence to having the Hartlepool Mail insist he was looking to buy property in the town:

https://twitter.com/HUST_1908/status/14 ... q_JOw&s=19

He didn't. Nor did I ever see him at the bar in Loons on a Saturday night, surveying a pissed-up hen party committing crimes against Paradise By The Dashboard Light. Probably for the best, all told.

[fsquid]

It isn't every day that Hartlepool United lose a celebrity fan, largely because we only had three to start with. Here, Meat Loaf explains the events that took him from being unaware of our existence to having the Hartlepool Mail insist he was looking to buy property in the town:

https://twitter.com/HUST_1908/status/14 ... q_JOw&s=19

He didn't. Nor did I ever see him at the bar in Loons on a Saturday night, surveying a pissed-up hen party committing crimes against Paradise By The Dashboard Light. Probably for the best, all told.

At least he saw the mighty Hartlepool beat the Owls in the Pizza Cup a few months back.

[Rodster]

Not good if this true. https://www.skysports.com/football/news ... llegations

[dbdynsty25]

Not good if this true. https://www.skysports.com/football/news ... llegations

And he's not Ronaldo who can just pay them to make it go away.

[wco81]

Canada shuts out US in WC qualifiers, goes up 4 points over US and Mexico.

Are they the best team now in CONCACAF?

Haven't followed the USMNT but don't they have the most players on European clubs than they've ever had before?

US should qualify for Qatar but if they can't lead CONCACAF, unlikely they would do well in the WC -- not that anyone expected them to contend but at least make it out of Group stage?

[10spro]

Canada shuts out US in WC qualifiers, goes up 4 points over US and Mexico.

Are they the best team now in CONCACAF?

Haven't followed the USMNT but don't they have the most players on European clubs than they've ever had before?

US should qualify for Qatar but if they can't lead CONCACAF, unlikely they would do well in the WC -- not that anyone expected them to contend but at least make it out of Group stage?

I would say so. And they did it minus Alfonso Davies. This team is fast, excellent on the counter attack and that’s exactly what they did. USA had good possession but hey were lacking in depth and ideas.

[Dave]

A hearty f*ck you to the US Soccer Federation for scheduling tonight's game in Minnesota. It is expected to be 0 degrees at kickoff. ZERO. Sure, the average high temp is 25 with a low of 9, but c'mon, stop this stunt scheduling to try to freeze out the warmer climate teams.

This is the first qualifying match played in Minnesota and there was a lot of excitement around it when announced. But now people are dumping tickets for less than half price because of the conditions, so disappointing for the fans.

[Diablo25]

A hearty f*ck you to the US Soccer Federation for scheduling tonight's game in Minnesota. It is expected to be 0 degrees at kickoff. ZERO. Sure, the average high temp is 25 with a low of 9, but c'mon, stop this stunt scheduling to try to freeze out the warmer climate teams.

This is the first qualifying match played in Minnesota and there was a lot of excitement around it when announced. But now people are dumping tickets for less than half price because of the conditions, so disappointing for the fans.

Watching it now. Looks like the fans are having a great time. Honduras isn’t

[Zeppo]

Canada shuts out US in WC qualifiers, goes up 4 points over US and Mexico.

Are they the best team now in CONCACAF?

Haven't followed the USMNT but don't they have the most players on European clubs than they've ever had before?

US should qualify for Qatar but if they can't lead CONCACAF, unlikely they would do well in the WC -- not that anyone expected them to contend but at least make it out of Group stage?

Canada have indeed become the best team in CONCACAF. They have two things neither the US nor Mexico have: A) the best player in CONCACAF (Alfonso Davies) and B) a really good striker (actually two). Mexico’s striker situation isn’t great, but the US has a really, really big empty hole at that position. The US is loaded with midfield players and is pretty good defensively.

One thing to note is that the US is fielding a very, very young team. In fact, I think in at least one of the qualifiers the US fielded the youngest team ever seen in a CONCACAF qualifier. They should still qualify just fine (unless Costa Rica somehow comes back from the dead), and as in any WC all three CONCACAF teams will have a good chance to get out of the group, but nothing is ever guaranteed in the WC (just ask Portugal from Brasil 2014 or Germany from the last WC).

[AcemanPR]

The USMNT undoubtedly has plenty of young talent, but they are so poorly coached! Berhalter has made some very questionable decisions during the CONCACAF qualifiers. Canada is definitely looking solid!

[wco81]

What was the highpoint of the USMNT in WC?

2002?

Which US team scored the most goals in a WC?

But actually, Tim Howard has probably made the most out of his career among players who've played for Tim USA. Not only a long playing career but now he's on TV.