The Ongoing Serie A, La Liga, All English Football, Champions League Thread - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Part 54

[Mandon Knight]

Ronaldo's press conference for Juventus 'unveiling'....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44853822

 

[Kaleb]

What do you mean? Like his contract excluding preseason games?

yes

 

[Iceman]

yes

Oh right. Wonder why they’d do that.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

How many languages does Ronnie speak?

 

[Iceman]

There is an 'element' of professional sport that you have to believe your the best or else you probably won't make it to the 'top' but having said that, once you go into 'a bigger fish, even bigger pond' scenario, then surely reality and some humility come into play, lets hope Shaqiri has that attitude, that he's willing to pull together for the bigger cause, not just his own.

I guess it’s good to believe you’re capable of being the best but actually believing you’re currently the best or not should be obvious from results and watching others.

 

[BlackFox]

So who do you have winning Champions League then for next season?

Juve

Have you already bought anyone? Utd certainly need one kind of boost, even it’s somehow getting the most out of existing players. Otherwise Liverpool (who have strengthened very well) and Spurs will overtake them and they will be fighting for 4th. Chelsea and Arsenal also have new managers who could improve things for those clubs.

Fred
Dalot
Lee Grant

Fred is the only one you would say so far might even get into the team to make a difference, the other two will mostly be on the bench. All the other teams around us do seem to have stolen a march on us this summer for whatever reason, top 4 is going to be tough again, Chelsea and Arsenal have brought in a lot and with new managers you dont know whats going to happen with them, some might take time to adjust to the league others might hit the ground running. Chelsea depends a lot on if Courtious and Hazard left. Yeah we need to hope/pray that Sanchez finds his form, the French Pogba returns to us and Lukaku finds a first touch over the summer, otherwise I can see Jose gone by xmas and then we may not make the top 4 anyway.

 

[Mandon Knight]

Surely Man U would not 'sack' Jose for 'lack of results' as such, in the league, everyone is playing for second, the man is a trophy machine, he'll bring more silverware to them no doubt, I appreciate the big 6 all want the PL title would right now that's a one horse race at best. I also appreciate the club has heritage to 'play the right way' and JM has his teams play pragmatically to the opponent in front of them not to a idolised purist way, but do MU fans on here think a balance can be found, given how stubborn and self righteous JM is ?

 

[Mandon Knight]

How many languages does Ronnie speak?

He can say 'I am a god, there is no other' in about 4 different languages.

 

[BlackFox]

Trouble is United fans have been spoilt in the past 30 years, winning things but also while playing some of the best counter attacking football the league has seen, especially in the Ronaldo years. So we want it all, 1st place and with style, thats just the way things are now, be that good or bad in peoples eye's, anything less or just one of them is not enough. The problem is these days City now hold all the aces in terms of money and Pep.

If we dont start well and City, or whoever's top if not them, are way ahead by November/December I can see Jose being ousted as fans grow frustrated especially if performances dont improve from last season, there's a lot of unrest with Jose on social media and fan sites for his style and manner, it wouldnt take a huge leap of imagination to see this all collapsing in on itself rapidly.

A good start and/or a couple of decent signings in the next couple of weeks might make all the difference though.

 

[Mandon Knight]

Here is the answer to why Sanchez missed 'that plane'...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44850992

 

[DeadPresident]

Trouble is United fans have been spoilt in the past 30 years, winning things but also while playing some of the best counter attacking football the league has seen, especially in the Ronaldo years. So we want it all, 1st place and with style, thats just the way things are now, be that good or bad in peoples eye's, anything less or just one of them is not enough. The problem is these days City now hold all the aces in terms of money and Pep.

If we dont start well and City, or whoever's top if not them, are way ahead by November/December I can see Jose being ousted as fans grow frustrated especially if performances dont improve from last season, there's a lot of unrest with Jose on social media and fan sites for his style and manner, it wouldnt take a huge leap of imagination to see this all collapsing in on itself rapidly.

A good start and/or a couple of decent signings in the next couple of weeks might make all the difference though.

I think we're building slowly but inevitably towards that to be honest. We've added talented player after talented player and the improvements have seemed incremental at best since Jose took over. 'We just need a competent midfielder at #6 to protect the back 4' - we get Matic, 'We just need an energetic and talented box to box player' - we get Pogba, 'We just need a solid #9 capable of putting away good chances' - we get Lukaku, 'We just need a creative #10 that can make chances and goals out of nothing' - we get Sanchez. It feels like we've ticked off all the wish list players and we're still miles off City.

Our transfer window has been very mediocre so far, too, we've added a youth prospect full back and some midfielder that's probably worse than Herrera. Even if we add a world class left back and center back I'm not sure I see us making up the ground on City.

 

[BlackFox]

Ajax have agreed a fee with United for Daley Blind. Good luck to him, seemed like a decent pro just came at the wrong time and wasnt anything more than a squad player really.

 

[BlackFox]

I think we're building slowly but inevitably towards that to be honest. We've added talented player after talented player and the improvements have seemed incremental at best since Jose took over. 'We just need a competent midfielder at #6 to protect the back 4' - we get Matic, 'We just need an energetic and talented box to box player' - we get Pogba, 'We just need a solid #9 capable of putting away good chances' - we get Lukaku, 'We just need a creative #10 that can make chances and goals out of nothing' - we get Sanchez. It feels like we've ticked off all the wish list players and we're still miles off City.

Our transfer window has been very mediocre so far, too, we've added a youth prospect full back and some midfielder that's probably worse than Herrera. Even if we add a world class left back and center back I'm not sure I see us making up the ground on City.

Yeah it does seem to be we cant seem to put the puzzle together when we have all the pieces on the table now, the defense is still a bit of putting square pegs in round holes, the Ashley Young thing baffles me, but we seem to hold on to players that have little use to us for a long time. Darmian is still kicking around but maybe Blind is the first of a mini clear out and we can get some in by deadline day.

Its hard to see City dropping many points again next season, they've only strengthened and its hard to see them coming apart even if they have a loss or two. The gap appears like a chasm for all the teams at the moment.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Surely Man U would not 'sack' Jose for 'lack of results' as such, in the league, everyone is playing for second, the man is a trophy machine, he'll bring more silverware to them no doubt, I appreciate the big 6 all want the PL title would right now that's a one horse race at best. I also appreciate the club has heritage to 'play the right way' and JM has his teams play pragmatically to the opponent in front of them not to a idolised purist way, but do MU fans on here think a balance can be found, given how stubborn and self righteous JM is ?

I don't think a balance can be found, Mourinho is much too arrogant for that and his mindset will be that his way has worked, which it has, but it's not suited to Manchester United in the same way it wasn't suited to Real Madrid.

What we are seeing right now is that the board want young players used, which is why I think they are preventing Martial and Shaw from going and bought Dalot, meanwhile we've bought him 30 year old Matic and given the tree a contract extention to appease him, but it's a compromise on both sides which will never work, for a club to win the big prizes everything has to be in sync with everyone pulling in the same direcion, that is never going to happen because the United board know the fans will never accept the Mourinho method like Inter and Chelsea fans did, and Mourinho simply cannot be something he isn't. The line from TDK "In their desperation they turned to a man they didn't fully understand" sums up United's appointment of Mourinho, he blew smoke up their ass about respecting the club's tradition and they bought it, but as soon as things weren't working he reverted to what he is, a snake will always be a snake.

 

[BlackFox]

Also our new kit sucks, that will cost us 10 points right there.

 

[Iceman]

Ajax have agreed a fee with United for Daley Blind. Good luck to him, seemed like a decent pro just came at the wrong time and wasnt anything more than a squad player really.

Yes, good luck to him.

 

[Mandon Knight]

Also our new kit sucks, that will cost us 10 points right there.

Pics Foxy ? Is it really that bad ?

 

[Iceman]

Pogba, Sanchez, Martial, Rashford, Lukaku. All players who can give a lot more to Utd if their abilities are correctly leveraged.

 

[Loden Greatstorm]

Pogba, Sanchez, Martial, Rashford, Lukaku. All players who can give a lot more to Utd if their abilities are correctly leveraged.

We have so much firepower upfront...

 

[Mandon Knight]

So, predictions (at this stage, before all transfers have been confirmed) of who will achieve what, next season in the EPL ? By way of the title, CL places, Europa L, relegation places etc.

 

[BlackFox]

Pics Foxy ? Is it really that bad ?

 

[Iceman]

Apparently Newcastle are interested in Giorgian De Arrascaeta of Uruguay.

 

[Mandon Knight]

Yeah, that's bad. Sorry about this.

 

[DeadPresident]

Yeah that kit is rather lame...

 

[BlackFox]

Some more...

Yeah cant say Im a fan of black shorts as standard home kit and the lines on the shirt and socks just look horrid.

Ah well, I suppose its just a kit and at the end of the day its what they do in it that matters more not like I buy them any more.