Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Whilst Owen certainly isn’t immune from criticism in all this, one does wonder again how much a lot of his big decisions were down to his agent? They really are Lady Macbeth type characters who claim to hold their clients “best interests” at heart when we know they’re ultimately looking for a big pay day by manipulating their players into a move. And then, after their careers, they look back, as Owen is now, with bitterness the way it all went.
We still see this today. Look at Neymar – again not saying he isn’t personally immune to criticism, but the amount of people around him that must have been looking to make a buck out of him must be quite a few. Similar perhaps with Pogba too, maybe even Mbappe – all these players currently look unhappy at their clubs because it wouldn’t surprise me if they’ve ultimately been manipulated into moving so others can make big bucks out of them. We’ve got to look at some serious agent regulation at some point.
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
One of Klopp’s greatest ability’s seems to be how the actual profession doesn’t seem to affect him. Carragher has for example said that it effectively put him off management when he saw how the game affected both Houllier and Benitez at the end of their respective times with the club. Whilst it will still somewhat wear him out eventually (hence his recent contract extension admission), Klopp never seems to take it too seriously or get bogged down and he therefore keeps things as fresh as ever…
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
Arsenal, Man Utd & Chelsea are still some time off from competing for a title.
Spurs are the closest – they’re a very good, well drilled, cohesive, effective side. They were deemed to have had a good summer window. But for me they just strengthened in areas they were already strong in. It’s in attack I still think they lack that wow factor, which would allow them to take the next step up to Liverpool & Man City.
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
Fair result in the end. Spurs look better than they have recently (though they’re still short in attack for me). Arsenal still dodgy at the back but just tried too hard to force it up top lacking flow and composure.
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
Insane tackle by Xhaka.
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
Lucky, agree about Rafa and Nine also mentioned at the time it was the logical *footballing* choice but with many of the match going fans there didn’t seem much love there.
From Chelsea’s point of view I think Lampard is somewhat of a free hit this season – if it goes well, it’s a bonus. If not, then the youth still get experience and they can then give a more established man a hefty transfer budget next summer. But for Lampard, if it doesn’t go so well, what for him? He’ll then have to take a step down to step forward again which isn’t ideal.
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
442, the problem for managers like Dyche is that they stay at their clubs too long for me as they obviously have a safe job by keeping their club safe on a limited budget. One can sympathise with that from a job security point of view. But what they have to do in my opinion is go abroad if they’re ambitious and take up jobs there which will then prove if they have what it takes – all the top managers have worked in several different countries and the more you prove yourself adaptable, the more you prove yourself attractive to the bigger clubs. A classic example of this was Moyes, who stayed at Everton for far too long, so that he was too into his comfort zone so by the time he did get a bigger job, he was like a fish out of water. He just wasn’t ambitious enough earlier in his career, and by the time he did choose to go abroad, it was too little too late.
Conversely Lampard probably jumped too quickly to Chelsea as just one season in the championship just isn’t enough experience in my opinion. He probably should have turned down Chelsea and worked at his trade as tempting as Chelsea were.
I think one manager to look out for in years to come will be Xabi Alonso, currently managing the Real Madrid youth team/reserves I think. He has a deep understanding of the game and I can see him becoming a top top manager.
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
Just need to stay as injury free as possible Lucky.
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
We just look that bit more authoritative so far this season. Very good job today.
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
442, he’d certainly have you more organised. Not sure if he has the all round game or man management skills for a top, top club.
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
Why is Britain is no longer producing top, top managers? We can produce good coaches and motivators who can coach a basic philosophy, and we have others who can get teams organised. But we don’t seem to have any deeper footballing intellects that can put the two together with balance, whilst additionally possessing that crucial attribute of being meticulous with the small details.
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
That’ll ding dang doo…
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
James could prove to be Man Utd’s most important signing this summer. He’s full of beans and has added a vital freshness to their attack and scored a fabulous goal last week, and has now scored again today. Will it be enough though for the team as a whole this season? A step in the right direction anyway.
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
Liverpool, Napoli, Salzburg & Genk…I’ll take that.
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
Community is indeed the key word here, and in a world where we seem to be losing more and more lynchpins that help bind a community together, this goes beyond football. And therefore there is indeed a part “nationalisation” argument here as Nil alludes to that would help protect clubs. The German model doesn’t look a bad model in that regard and whilst many may point to the lesser quality in the Bundesliga, at the same time, you look at how vibrant the community and clubs are and how intertwined they are, that’s first and foremost what it’s all about.
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
I see sky sports news have been showing a countdown clock to 5 pm. Is that really necessary, and also somewhat bad taste? Good news, bad news, it’s all about the drama to them isn’t it.
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
And therein lies the problem. On one hand the system wants to protect the referees integrity, and on the other, it wants to reverse poor decisions. I hear what Nine says about taking time for the ref to look at the pitch side monitor, but isn’t that the better solution here if want to fulfil the above criteria with regard to protecting refs whilst also reversing bad calls?
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
I reserve full judgement on Lampard’s Chelsea until Christmas as we need to see how Lampard deals with the inevitable after honeymoon period that Chelsea will experience at some point. However, Chelsea do currently look a more cohesive side than I thought they would and even as a non Chelsea fan, it is wonderful and refreshing to see two academy players who have been at the club since they were kids now doing the business up top for the club. Even if they have poor games, you know these two will never stop fighting, and that’s what clubs should be about and should be founded upon. The goals at the weekend were very impressive. If Lampard can prove himself tactically, can grind out wins and be a figure that commands authority from the players point of view, Chelsea could well have a good season. Long way to go, but so far so good.
_____________________________
React below 👇
*hover/click on the number below the reaction to see who reacted
