Other Sports: Soccer/Football Thread Part Six

[Jack Straw]

Ok, fine. If they lose the collar I guess I can tolerate the sleeves.

But I’m not happy about it. I’m still going to bitch and whine.

Speaking of bitching and whining, what the hell is up with no PL teams having good hats for sale???

Before you do something that you might regret, consider that Arsenal are the Dallas Cowboys of the Premier League:

All 20 Premier League teams and their NFL equivalents

 

[Striiker]

Before you do something that you might regret, consider that Arsenal are the Dallas Cowboys of the Premier League:

All 20 Premier League teams and their NFL equivalents

No decisions have been made yet. Not even close.

They're just not one of the teams that have already been removed from consideration. All I know so far is who I'm definitely not picking.

 

[Fire Tortorella]

Before you do something that you might regret, consider that Arsenal are the Dallas Cowboys of the Premier League:

All 20 Premier League teams and their NFL equivalents

Thought you were going to share this:

 

[Starat327]

Big Serie A games start at 12 or 12:45. Js.

So are the MLS games. What a weird coincidence.

No decisions have been made yet. Not even close.

They're just not one of the teams that have already been removed from consideration. All I know so far is who I'm definitely not picking.

I'm intrigued on who has been ruled out

 

[Striiker]

So are the MLS games. What a weird coincidence.



I'm intrigued on who has been ruled out

 

[Starat327]

I had high hopes for Wolves a few seasons back, but they fell off hard.

 

[CanadianFlyer88]

Surprised you checked off Brentford. They're like the Canes of the PL. Not a wealthy club, play a highly entertaining form of football and maximize their player transfers better than almost anyone else in Europe.

Seems right up your alley.

 

[Striiker]

Surprised you checked off Brentford. They're like the Canes of the PL. Not a wealthy club, play a highly entertaining form of football and maximize their player transfers better than almost anyone else in Europe.

Seems right up your alley.

I just can't root for a barbershop quartet

On a serious note, if I’m going with one of the smaller/smarter teams instead of the bigger ones, it’s likely Brighton.

 

[Jack Straw]

I just can't root for a barbershop quartet

On a serious note, if I’m going with one of the smaller/smarter teams instead of the bigger ones, it’s likely Brighton.

There's no law against picking one of each.

 

[Striiker]

There's no law against picking one of each.

I guess, but it just feels wrong.

I'm already struggling with feeling like I'm cheating on Dortmund

 

[Striiker]

Grealish needs to be held down and shaved. That hair is horrendous.

 

[kudymen]

Grealish needs to be held down and shaved. That hair is horrendous.

Kieran Trippier on WC 2018. This is not a photoshop

 

[Starat327]

Grealish needs to be held down and shaved. That hair is horrendous.

Maybe they can turn the shaved hair into sock extensions for him

 

[Jack Straw]

Sports are ok sometimes.

 

[TCTC]

And that was before the game today.

 

[Curufinwe]

Mahrez was looking dangerous and hit the crossbar… better take him off with half an hour left.

 

[TCTC]

Funnily enough, I think Manchester City as a team would be more effective with Alvarez as their lone striker. He's a workhorse who fits much better into Guardiola's pressing system. Haaland just doesn't do that. He doesn't do anything against the ball.
Haaland is a unique player and probably the best finisher in the world right now, but if you don't feed him the ball and use his speed and strength, he's pretty much useless.

 

[Appleyard]

@Appleyard Are you following the Blades takeover? What's going on there? Story's getting crazier by the day.

Yeh... he will probably fail the fit and proper person criteria. They have "decent" owners as it is finance wise... and just because Dozy already put money in does not mean has a right to buy.

Will be interesting to see what happens... hopefully nothing and just stability really.

 

[Appleyard]

Funnily enough, I think Manchester City as a team would be more effective with Alvarez as their lone striker. He's a workhorse who fits much better into Guardiola's pressing system. Haaland just doesn't do that. He doesn't do anything against the ball.
Haaland is a unique player and probably the best finisher in the world right now, but if you don't feed him the ball and use his speed and strength, he's pretty much useless.

No De Bruyne OR Foden (I know ill but recently he is just not picking him)...

and playing either a 4-4-2 or 3-2-4-1 recently...

just pretty dumb in my eyes.

I dont think either actually help Haaland and he was seemingly just really getting used to the way City played. His goals have dried up SINCE the formation shifts.

Lots of talk that he has lost a lot of the dressing room these last months. Not just Cancelo but rumours about Silva, Walker, Gundogan and more, a lot who are key guys with big sway over the room.

Hopefully not true but yeh, can imagine with this 3-2-4-1 it is getting to a lot of people. The amount of times it has backfired, they switched tactics back to a 4-3-3 and won/been far better is obvious. Yet Pep is so stubborn.

One of the greatest ~5 managers of all time, but he really does just sometimes get ideas in his head and cant let them go.

I do wonder though if the 3-2-4-1 is literally just to try and beat likes of PSG and Real... makes some sense... but that would also be overthinking as outplayed BOTH of those teams with a 4-3-3 and were unlucky at times.

 

[Jack Straw]

 

[Starat327]

This is a shame. I know why they had to make the move but it's unfortunate.

 

[Fire Tortorella]

This is a shame. I know why they had to make the move but it's unfortunate.

I'm worried he's going to get the nod for the USMNT.

 

[TCTC]

No De Bruyne OR Foden (I know ill but recently he is just not picking him)...

and playing either a 4-4-2 or 3-2-4-1 recently...

just pretty dumb in my eyes.

I dont think either actually help Haaland and he was seemingly just really getting used to the way City played. His goals have dried up SINCE the formation shifts.

Lots of talk that he has lost a lot of the dressing room these last months. Not just Cancelo but rumours about Silva, Walker, Gundogan and more, a lot who are key guys with big sway over the room.

Hopefully not true but yeh, can imagine with this 3-2-4-1 it is getting to a lot of people. The amount of times it has backfired, they switched tactics back to a 4-3-3 and won/been far better is obvious. Yet Pep is so stubborn.

One of the greatest ~5 managers of all time, but he really does just sometimes get ideas in his head and cant let them go.

I do wonder though if the 3-2-4-1 is literally just to try and beat likes of PSG and Real... makes some sense... but that would also be overthinking as outplayed BOTH of those teams with a 4-3-3 and were unlucky at times.

Yeah, I did not understand selling Cancelo. Maybe there were personal issues, but he still seems a quality player who would improve any team. Didn't they sell Zinchenko last summer because he couldn't get minutes because of Cancelo?

I wonder what's going on with De Bruyne. He's been benched quite a lot recently it seems and when he plays he doesn't look as good as usual. Maybe just a rough patch.

But after today's news it looks like City may face bigger problems. Sounds serious.

 

[Starat327]

I'm worried he's going to get the nod for the USMNT.

I don't particularly have a problem with him but to your point I'm not sure hes the best candidate either.

As someone who seemingly follows the men's national team a lot closer than I do, who do you think a realistic Target would be? It doesn't feel like a particularly appealing job to a big name

 

[Fire Tortorella]

I don't particularly have a problem with him but to your point I'm not sure hes the best candidate either.

As someone who seemingly follows the men's national team a lot closer than I do, who do you think a realistic Target would be? It doesn't feel like a particularly appealing job to a big name

Part of the "issue" is that you're right that it's not a particularly appealing job. Twitter and reddit go crazy over getting a big name coach but frankly those coaches rarely take international jobs, and if they do, it's going to be for their home country or for one of the higher ranked teams.

I really don't see the job attracting someone with a reputation higher than GGG, so if you're going for improvement, it's going to come from someone unexpected. For the record, I would have no problem bringing GGG back.

To your point about names... I don't have any, because frankly, if you have prestigious coaching aspirations, this job probably isn't for you. I don't want Marsch though because he is the definition of a system coach and it's a system that I think would fail at the international level, especially at our talent level. The only time Marsch has had success is when the talent level of his team exceeds the opposition. It's a high intensity system that (IMO) would struggle when you continuously have 2 or 3 games in a small window. Given the limited time and cohesion I also think it's easier to start with a solid defensive structure and figure out the offensive side later, which is probably why I don't mind GGG.