Football Season 2017-18

[Julius]

Having watched Ronaldo’s and Zidane’s...I think Bale’s goal is undeniably better. The ball was spinning, coming in fast, and the technique wasn’t as cookie cutter as Zidane’s or Ronaldo’s; he really had to adjust to volley the ball there, and that’s not the type of goal you’ll find yourself practicing on the training pitch.

[Fierce_LiNk]

8 minutes ago, Julius Caesar said:

Having watched Ronaldo’s and Zidane’s...I think Bale’s goal is undeniably better. The ball was spinning, coming in fast, and the technique wasn’t as cookie cutter as Zidane’s or Ronaldo’s; he really had to adjust to volley the ball there, and that’s not the type of goal you’ll find yourself practicing on the training pitch.

I'm watching both goals again and I think that most people will opt for Bale's goal. Zidane's goal is still one of the best, but Bale's goal is just fantastic. 

[nekunando]

My heart is broken

Absolutely gutted for Salah!

[Julius]

This doesn’t sound like your typical fishing for a raise/looking for a stronger foothold in the dressing room manoeuvre, Ronaldo. Just what are you doing? 

Quote

"Now we have to enjoy this moment,” Ronaldo told beIN Sports  after the game. “In the next few days I will give an answer to the fans that have always been on my side.

"It was very nice to be at Real Madrid, in the coming days I will talk about it more."

When asked if he was saying goodbye, Ronaldo answered: "No, no. I'm going to enjoy this moment with my colleagues. In the next few days I will give an answer.

"We made history, that's what we were looking for, the future of any player is not important, the important thing is that we made history."

There was a lot of talk last summer that he wanted to move following his tax charges, with them supposedly having upset him greatly. 

Could a move back to United - and a move to work again under Mourinho - be on the cards? Do I even dare suggest that a move to a club like PSG, an Italian club, or even a move to the US or China is waiting in the wings? 

Odd timing by both him and Bale to hint so heavily that their futures lie elsewhere after winning the Champions League tonight. Very odd indeed.

EDIT - Real Madrid President Florentino Perez isn’t exactly helping things...

Quote

I am delighted that Ronaldo has won five European Cups, just like me.

...this isn’t going to be pretty, is it?

Edited May 26, 2018 by Julius Caesar

[Fierce_LiNk]

He does the same thing every summer.

I would be disappointed if there was a summer transfer window without him being linked with a move back to United. It's our equivalent of "this is definitely, definitely, maybe, probably Wenger's last season". 

[killthenet]

I think this year might be different as far as Ronaldo is concerned though. He's got over the 300 goal milestone in La Liga (only he and Messi have ever done that) and cemented himself as well and truly the greatest goalscorer in the history of the Champions League while also setting himself apart from any other player in his era by winning the competition for the fifth time. Seems like the right time to sign off at Madrid, the only milestone he might still want to reach is to get to 500 goals for Real in all competitions, but he's at 450 at the moment so unless he maintains this level next season it's pretty unlikely that he'll be able to reach that by the end of next May. Surely even at 33 he'll cost a princely sum of money though, might even better what he went to Madrid for.

[Julius]

36 minutes ago, Fierce_LiNk said:

He does the same thing every summer.

I would be disappointed if there was a summer transfer window without him being linked with a move back to United. It's our equivalent of "this is definitely, definitely, maybe, probably Wenger's last season". 

Last summer seemed very different given the tax charges situation, and now Perez seems to be throwing him some shade. It would seem that something’s amiss behind closed doors, especially given just how vocal Bale was about wanting to leave earlier tonight. 

He says that we’ll learn in the next few days. As far as I’m aware, he’s never had such a finality to his words when all he’s looking for is a raise, and he’s even referring to his time at Real in the past tense this time around. Then again, Madrid were supposedly wanting to renew his contract prior to the World Cup, but maybe couldn’t match Ronaldo's demands (if I recall correctly, both Neymar and Messi earn more than him), perhaps leading to Perez looking at alternatives, which is where my ideas below come in to play. Something else worth mentioning is that, during the group stages, Ronaldo was coy on extending his contract, and as far as I can tell, it hasn’t been renewed in a while.

Neymar’s been linked to Madrid ever since a few months into his stint at PSG, when it was becoming apparent that he’s fairly unhappy. Neymar moved from Barça because he didn’t want to be playing second fiddle to Messi anymore, and given Ronaldo’s age - and just how tactical Florentino Perez has been when it comes to stuff like this before - maybe Florentino is trying to force him (and Bale?) out of the club to make room - and money - for Neymar to come in, who’s much younger than both of them. That being said, it was reported only a few days ago that Neymar had promising talks with Tuchel regarding his tactical plans for PSG next year; the gist of which was that everyone else would defend more and Neymar would be allowed to stay up top so that he could score more and not have to drop deep to collect the ball as he had last season. 

28 minutes ago, killthenet said:

I think this year might be different as far as Ronaldo is concerned though. He's got over the 300 goal milestone in La Liga (only he and Messi have ever done that) and cemented himself as well and truly the greatest goalscorer in the history of the Champions League while also setting himself apart from any other player in his era by winning the competition for the fifth time. Seems like the right time to sign off at Madrid, the only milestone he might still want to reach is to get to 500 goals for Real in all competitions, but he's at 450 at the moment so unless he maintains this level next season it's pretty unlikely that he'll be able to reach that by the end of next May. Surely even at 33 he'll cost a princely sum of money though, might even better what he went to Madrid for.

This is what I’m thinking too. He’s broken a lot of records at Madrid, having been at the club for nearly a decade, and other than winning the Champions League again with them, is there really much left for him to do there? He might just be getting to the age where he’s looking for one final project, be it a return to United, a move to the US or China, or even to reinvigorate Italian football, or perhaps even French football, maybe in a swap deal for Neymar to move to Paris? 

It’s a really odd one, and I think it’s anybody’s guess as to where he’s going if he really is planning to move on. He didn’t have the best relationship with Mourinho, so would he really be willing to return under him at United? Could Salah having broken his joint record for most goals scored in a 38-game Premier League season drive him to return? 

As for price, I’m not sure about the remaining length of his contract, so it’s very hard to say. However, even if there was only one year left on his contract, given the marketability and success of Ronaldo both on and off the pitch, I’d be surprised if he went for anything less than £100 million.  

Edited May 26, 2018 by Julius Caesar

[Julius]

Some more coming in...

Florentino Perez on Ronaldo’s comments tonight: 

Quote

He has been happy, is happy, and will remain happy. It is not that he might stay, it is that he has a contract. Madrid is the most important, an institution with 13 European Cups.

And Ronaldo, in the mixed zone, trying to clear things up. But not actually really clearing things up...

Quote

I'm not saying I'm going, in coming days we will see. They took something out of context, that I shouldn't have said. I didn't know it'd be so strong. I prefer not to talk and to enjoy this lovely moment to the maximum.

I didn’t want to say [I'm leaving], but I'm not sorry either. These are situations which have been coming a long time and you put up with it, but sometimes you lose control.

These things are not fixed with money, I have that, that is not a problem for me.

I can’t guarantee that I'll stay at Real Madrid, but this is not the moment to talk, as Madrid have made history, but neither am I going to hide. It's difficult to find better place than Madrid, best club in world, but life is not just about glory.

And finally, jokingly...

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The Champions League should change its name and call itself the CR7 Champions League... I've won five, top scorer again, I can't be unhappy at that.

 

[dan-likes-trees]

Who'd want to be a goalkeeper? Gotta feel for Karius after that - hard to imagine him ever truely bouncing back in his career. That third one was absolutely waiting to happen - can't have had his head screwed on properly after that horror show of a first. Should Klopp have taken him off?

 

Kind of glad Bale looks on the way out of Real - deserves way better than he gets from their fans and would surely walk into any other starting eleven in the world. His first was truely incredible - the pub I was in went silent for a second after he scored it. Way better than that shin goal rooney scored a few years back that everyone jizzed themselves over. No way we could afford to bring him back to Spurs though; downer!!

[Emerald Emblem]

Loris Karius: Death threats to Liverpool goalkeeper looked into by police

As if he didn't feel bad enough, it's getting more heartbreaking by the day.

Edited May 28, 2018 by Emerald Emblem

[Julius]

Fabinho (Monaco) is an excellent signing for Liverpool. I have to admit, I’m a bit envious. 

Him and Keita should elevate the quality of your midfield and add much more depth almost immediately - I think it’s where a lot of your surprising losses came last season. Add to that that you’re supposedly after Fekir (Lyon) too, and you’ve seriously got a team to be feared in the final two thirds come next season. 

I’m glad to see that it’s back to business almost immediately for you guys. I wish we’d do something...

[Fierce_LiNk]

Yeah, it's a really good signing. Keita and Fabinho (if he is to play in midfield, I keep hearing that he has spent this season at right back...is that true?) is surely an improvement over the current midfield. Wonder how Henderson is going to fit in with all of this.

Quite interested to see who United go for this summer. I'd keep all of our attacking players and look to improve the defence and midfield. I feel that the attacking players are fine, but they football that they're being programmed to play is the problem. The players we sign will tell us an awful lot about how we plan to play next season.

[Julius]

3 hours ago, Fierce_LiNk said:

Yeah, it's a really good signing. Keita and Fabinho (if he is to play in midfield, I keep hearing that he has spent this season at right back...is that true?) is surely an improvement over the current midfield. Wonder how Henderson is going to fit in with all of this.

Quite interested to see who United go for this summer. I'd keep all of our attacking players and look to improve the defence and midfield. I feel that the attacking players are fine, but they football that they're being programmed to play is the problem. The players we sign will tell us an awful lot about how we plan to play next season.

Yeah, I think that’s true. He was playing as a right back for them a few seasons ago before he got phased into the role of defensive midfielder, and he’s fairly interchangeable, so I think he got played there a few times this season? So I suppose that’s another plus for Liverpool, seeing as he can play in a couple of positions, and it’ll be good to give Trent Alexander-Arnold some competition with an older and more experienced player. As for Henderson, I’m not too sure; I could see him playing as a central midfielder in a midfield trio with two of Keita (central midfielder), Fekir (attacking midfielder) and Fabinho (defensive midfielder). After his knee injury a few seasons ago, which kept him sidelined for a whole season, Fekir is a lot slower than he once was, but he’s since evolved his gameplay to work around that, becoming much more of a box-to-box playmaker; that being said, I don’t see him being used as a winger in the Prem due to his lack of pace. 

I think it’ll be interesting to see who United sign this summer, too. Guardiola got a lot of flak last summer when he signed a few fullbacks, but I think you have to do the exact same come this summer, and, at least from my point of view, there’s still a lot of deadweight at the club. They’ve needed an overhaul since before Fergie left.

[Julius]

Egypt have confirmed that Salah will be fit to return for the World Cup, thank goodness. 

Sarri has also reportedly held positive talks with our folks over in Milan, so hopefully that’s a deal which will be ironed out in the next few weeks.

[Julius]

Lampard’s appointment at Derby is likely to be completely overshadowed by this:

Zidane is stepping down as Real Madrid manager. 

Quote

It's time to go. These players need a different discourse, a different methodology. 

It's my decision. For many people, this will not make sense, but it does for me. It's time for a change. 

I’m excited to see where he goes next, but I’m a bit worried that he’s just going to leave Madrid as one of the most decorated managers in Europe and not move forward with his managerial career.

 We’ve seen some great tacticians in football, and I don’t think that Zidane is amongst them after his stint at Real, but I can’t think of any current manager who has as massive a presence as him in the dressing room. 

I seriously have zero idea where he goes next, if anywhere, especially seeing as everyone has already started making moves for managers ahead of next season. Italy or France, maybe?

UPDATE

Quote

I’m not going to coach another team right now. I’m not looking for another team.

Well, I guess that answers that.

Edited May 31, 2018 by Julius Caesar

[Kav]

Zidane might be waiting for Deschamps to leave his post after the World Cup and is eyeing up being next for the French job.

Abramovich has pulled out of Chelsea’s stadium expansion. Don’t think he sees why he should invest another £1bn when he isn’t being allowed in the country.

[Fierce_LiNk]

So, Real Madrid will be in need of a manager. What's the betting that Pochettino will be linked with the job? I think he'd do well there. Plus, he'd be closer to winning trophies there than he will be at Spurs, as I think he'll find it harder next season with City and Liverpool continuing to improve. 

[Julius]

31 minutes ago, Kav said:

Zidane might be waiting for Deschamps to leave his post after the World Cup and is eyeing up being next for the French job.

Yeah, that’s certainly a possibility. I think he’s shown with Real that his style of managing and play is much more suited to knockout cup football than the standard week-in and week-out affair that comes with managing in a 38 game per season league. 

I think another possibility is that he knows that if he stayed on, he would have had to start revamping the Madrid squad, because they’re going to be in need of a serious overhaul within the coming transfer years. I don’t think that he wants to be part of that process.

Of Real’s starting XI last Saturday, six were 30 or older, and their starters had an average age of 31.5 years. By stark contrast, of Liverpool’s starting XI last Saturday, only one player - James Milner, 32 - was over 30 years old, and their starters had an average age of 25.8 years.

23 minutes ago, Fierce_LiNk said:

So, Real Madrid will be in need of a manager. What's the betting that Pochettino will be linked with the job? I think he'd do well there. Plus, he'd be closer to winning trophies there than he will be at Spurs, as I think he'll find it harder next season with City and Liverpool continuing to improve. 

I’ve already seen him mentioned in the hours since, and I think you’re absolutely right in thinking that Pochettino will be on the shortlist. As should Luis Enrique, in my opinion, who’s still somehow without a job. Honestly, I can’t think of many other big name managers who haven’t already declared their intentions ahead of next season, whether moving on or staying still, though this did come completely out of the blue, so maybe some minds could be changed?

Given his tumultuous relationship with the board and some key players at Juve in the past, despite recently declaring his intention to stay, I think that Allegri is a name worth throwing in the hat, and I think that Zidane’s former captain in his time at Juve, Conte, is worth throwing in there too, seeing as he’ll likely be leaving us within the coming days or weeks, and plays some extremely aggressive and counter-attacking football, which Florentino loves. That, and Madrid’s defence needs some serious sorting out, and Conte has shown in his numerous managerial spells along the years that he can transform a defence.

Looking further afield, given how late this seems to step down in a World Cup year, I think that we’ll see some dark horses mentioned. Probably household names, like Joachim Löw and Marcelo Bielsa. 

Edited May 31, 2018 by Julius Caesar

[Kav]

And we’re taking Welbeck 

Edited June 4, 2018 by Kav

[Julius]

Just read about how Karius was concussed a few minutes prior to messing up for that Benzema goal. It looks like Ramos was the culprit, leaning into the space in front of him after a push from van Dijk to either intimidate or harm Karius.

Poor guy probably didn’t even know Benzema was there, and it’s orobably why he misinterpreted where that second Bale goal was going, too. Ramos coming out and acting like Karius has been complaining doesn’t help at all. 

Also been keeping up with the Yaya Toure “problems” City and Pep are having now that he’s finally leaving. His agent sure loves to ruffle up some feathers, saying that Yaya would play for any team in the top 6 for £1/week (with performance bonuses, of course) to prove a point to Pep. Yaya has even suggested that Pep outright doesn’t like working with African players, so that should be fun.

Apparently we’ve signed Blanc to be our next manager, but with a clause so that, if Sarri gets free of Napoli by the end of the week, he gets his due compensation and we get Sarri. I’m a little confused, to be honest, because Napoli have already signed Carlo Ancelotti, so why are we having such massive problems getting Sarri in? It’s an odd one...

Fred is a great signing for United, and the Jorginho deal for City will probably be wrapped up before the start of the World Cup. There’s potential for a very busy few days before that kicks off next week!

[Julius]

Hmm...

Also, really enjoyed José’s WC group stage predictions:

 

[Happenstance]

Looks like Amazon have bought the rights to stream 20 Premier League matches a season for the next 3 years.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44396151

[Julius]

Current Spain boss Julen Lopetegui will take over at Real Madrid once Spain’s World Cup ends.

Very odd choice, and very much out of the blue.

[killthenet]

That is very, very good news as far as Tottenham fans are concerned. 

Very surprised by the timing of the Lopetegui announcement, you'd think this would affect the Spanish players negatively going into a tournament that they're expected to go very far in. 

[Julius]

3 minutes ago, killthenet said:

Very surprised by the timing of the Lopetegui announcement, you'd think this would affect the Spanish players negatively going into a tournament that they're expected to go very far in. 

Apparently the Madrid players in the Spain camp were informed of the news, and, rather unluckily, some non-Madrid players in the squad ended up hearing about it, which forced Real’s hand in officially announcing his appointment.

You're right though, it really is a weird one!