polishgenius Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 [quote name='Iskaral Pust' post='1680175' date='Feb 9 2009, 18.31']I think Chelsea are mad. The rot had already set in before Scolari arrived and he has had no budget to bring in his own players. There are no better managers out there, on paper, than Scolari. Anyone else is going to be a gamble, and a mid-season gamble with no transfer opportunities at that. Hiddink, Ferguson and Mourinho are probably his only peers, and the latter two won't be considering this.[/quote] Scolari isn't [i]that[/i] good - he done a good job with Portugal, but his World Cup win was the easiest in living memory, and he's not really got experience in the club game. Plus Chelsea had a whole new set of problems - Grant may not have been Mourinho but the team had a similar solidity about it, if not to the same degree, whereas Scolari's Chelsea is fairly pathetic mentally. I mean when we (United) took the lead against them. at half time, there wasn't the tiniest doubt what the final outcome was going to be, which would never have been the case before. All that aside, though, he deserved to go for his moronic insistence on not having a man on the post for set-pieces. It's cost them so many goals in the last few weeks when teams have started taking advantage of it, and he still refused to fix it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathis Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Makes perfect sense to sack him, though it should have been done before the window closed. Chelsea are all but out of the PL race so CL becomes priority. Chelsea's record against the Arsenal, Utd and Liverpool reads as 1 draw and 4 losses. Not the kind of record that inspires confidence in a successful CL run. Scolari can't win against the big teams. He had to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Padraig Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Scolari was quite successful as a club manager before he became Brazilian manager. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted February 10, 2009 Author Share Posted February 10, 2009 I think the rot had set in under Grant. A few of those stars were just playing out last season expecting to leave in the summer, possibly to rejoin Mourinho. On paper, Scolari looked as good a bet as anyone, and had dealt with prima donnas before. Any replacement, Hiddink?, will look no better on paper and will have an entirely inherited squad. Sometimes the new manager bounce in morale is worthwhile, but look at Spurs. You have fix things properly and giving short tenures to Grant and Scolari did not address the vaccum after Mourinho. It also puts the next manager into "hot seat" speculation straight from the start. The next manager will likely be foreign too, and just as unfamiliar with the English domestic games as was Scolari. Things may turn out better with the next manager, but the expected value of future success for the club has not increased, and may even have decreased slightly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mme Erzulie Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 So, on a kind of unrelated note, through a set of fortuitous circumstances, today I ended up recording a charity version of "Fields of Anfield Road" in event of the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster with some of ye olde Liverpool legends: King Kenny, Aldo, Thommo, Alan Kennedy and Bruce Grobbelaar. Good times :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcibiades Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 [quote name='Padraig' post='1681143' date='Feb 10 2009, 04.28']Scolari was quite successful as a club manager before he became Brazilian manager.[/quote] Copa Liberatadores was a long time ago though. I hear the players complained about their training regimes not being intensive enough to handle the Premier League. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 [quote name='Erzulie the Unruly' post='1681888' date='Feb 10 2009, 20.57']So, on a kind of unrelated note, through a set of fortuitous circumstances, today I ended up recording a charity version of "Fields of Anfield Road" in event of the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster with some of ye olde Liverpool legends: King Kenny, Aldo, Thommo, Alan Kennedy and Bruce Grobbelaar. Good times :)[/quote] Wow, that's awesome Mme. Kick ass :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoë Sumra Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 And [url="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/feb/11/guus-hiddink-confirmed-chelsea-manager"]Chelsea have confirmed Hiddink's appointment[/url]. So much for me repeating the view Abramovic couldn't afford to make him leave Russia... but he's staying with Russia too, so, hey. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squiddly Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 [Nelson Muntz] Ha-hah! [/Nelson Muntz] Over 20 minutes in and Germany still hasn't scored. In fact, we've been much closer to a goal than those offside-walking ruffians! :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon AS Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 What an awful game so far. Norway could even have had a penalty. I hope Löw takes of Frings and either one of Gomez and Klose in exchange for Hitzlsperger and Helmes. Özil and and Beck are almost guaranteed their debut, but their pendants aren't doing that bad a job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Iceman of the North Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 So the first Norwegian victory in Germany since the 1936 Olympics (if we discount the Olympic qualifier in 79, but I don't think the Germans count that as official). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon AS Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Well that was embarassing. ETA: [quote name='The Iceman of the North']if we discount the Olympic qualifier in 79, but I don't think the Germans count that as official[/quote] Hadn't seen or heard that mentioned anywhere before, so it's save to say that we don't.;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Iceman of the North Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 What you haven't heard about the 'Miracle in Baunatal' in which Norway qualified for the Moscow Olympics (before withdrawing the team for some reason)? ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Inquisitor Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Wow. :drool: I'm more and more convinced that we are right now the best team in the world. I mean, we are just playing the best football seen since a long time... and it might not be hyperbole... Who would've said I would be feeling this some day. I love David Villa, what a great goal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoë Sumra Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Yes, Villa's goal was great; absolutely no argument from me there. However, watching that Spain-England friendly reminded me why I prefer watching club football over international football. England were just kicking the ball around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Comparing an international friendly to competitive football is apples and oranges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 [quote name='The Inquisitor' post='1683951' date='Feb 12 2009, 09.22']I'm more and more convinced that we are right now the best team in the world. I mean, we are just playing the best football seen since a long time... and it might not be hyperbole...[/quote] National team? By a country mile. No-one in Europe comes close, and I don't thing Brazil or Argentina are as complete as Spain either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLU-RAY Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 Speaking of ludicrous friendlies, I completely forgot to mention in this thread that I went to the Mexico-Sweden friendly in... Oakland, CA a week or two ago. First of all, why are they playing in Oakland? It's essentially a home game for Mexico... but it's not in Mexico. As an addendum, wtf is the Swedish national team doing in Oakland? Second, it was a pretty ridiculous game; that Swedish side (which I'm sure is their second or third string) was probably the worst defensive side I've ever seen. Not so much huge mistakes, as just idiotic shit; people falling down for no reason, passes to the opponent, etc. Third, that Mexico side (which I know is thier B or C team) is not good at attacking. They have an OK defensive structure, but simply don't generate at all up front. Finally, Sweden won, so I got to spend the whole walk back to my car in mortal terror. Though, I did see some Mexican fan yell at a Swede, "who's the minority now?!", which I found hysterical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcibiades Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 Looks like Portsmouth got the dead manager bounce! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H von T Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 I hate to say it but the only thing standing in Man U's way right now is fixture congestion. They still have Liverpool, Arsenal, and Aston Villa to play, but they are in assassin mode and I don't see them dropping many points at all. A domestic treble is looking very likely and back-to-back CL titles is not impossible. I hope Man U-Inter is shown in the US next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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