Winterfell is Burning Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 It's a head-scratcher. I mean, I suppose his previous stint now looks pretty good to the Brazilian public, though he only got to the QFs, but surely if the Scolari experience says anything it is that looking backward is a mistake. This has nothing to do with the Brazilian public- all the polls indicate 70-80% opposition to his appointment. There's really a number of reasons for that appointment, but without writing a 50,000 words post explaining how Brazilian football is run, here's four: 1) The new coordenator of all Brazilian national teams, including youth and female ones, is Gilmar Rinaldi, who was a players' agent until 24 hours before his appointment (yes, seriously). Rinaldi was the 3rd choice goalkeeper in the Brazil 1994 squad and also played in Internacional between 1979 and 1985; and who played with Gilmar in both of these teams? Dunga, so without a doubt he influenced a lot in hiring his buddy; 2) The most popular choice for the job was Tite, who was Corinthians coach between 2010 and 2013, has won literally ever title a Brazilian manager could win and is probably the best Brazilian manager in tactical terms. But the main rival of the current Brazilian FA (CBF) president is Andres Sanchez, who was the Corinthians president that appointed Tite and refused to fire him when most supporters were calling for his head after a rough start, so he was deemed by the CBF as being "too close" to Sanchez. How does Tite being allegedly close (which he isn't that friendly with Sanchez, apparently) hinders his ability to do his job or hurts the CBF? Nobody knows, yet multiple sources say that was the main reason he didn't get it, and also why Mano Menezes lost his job to Scolari in 2012 (he was Tite's predecessor at Corinthians). 3) The main purpose of the Brazilian manager is not to win matches or to manage the team, but to act as a shield for the shamelessly corrupt men that run the (CBF) to hide behind; and considering that the previous president has been charged with dozens of different corruption charges and the current one biggest claim to fame before taking over was, as a pro-government Congressman during the military dictatorship, give a speech that led to the arrest and death by torture of a very respected jornalist, it needs to be a pretty big shield. Currently, there's really no manager in Brazil or abroad that would be able to be such as good of a shield as Dunga (being controversial actually works since it means people focus more on him). This also explains why CBF's original idea was to keep Scolari even after the 7-1. 4) The other main political rival of CBF currently is Romário, which has targeted them in press and in the Congress (he's a Congressman since 2010 and is running for the Senate this year, with a decent chance of winning); since Dunga and Romário are friends, they are hoping this will keep him happy and force him out of their backs for a while. Yeah I think the time has come for brazil to appoint a foreign coach. It seems like their local talent pool has stagnated. There were better choices. Not that many, but there were. Cant be the only one who thinks Madrid getting rid of Di Maria would be stupid. I think he was one of Reals best last year only Ronaldo and maybe Modric were better for me Real likes shiny new playthings. They'll sell James two or three years from now probably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baxus Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Mysterious long-term injures = coke habits. It's common knowledge. Ah, it is known ;) There's talk that Glen Johnson is close to becoming 'Arry's next nostalgia signing. Fingers crossed! I'll get pissed drunk the moment Glen Johnson leaves Liverpool! He's putting the old band back together! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4YrCFz0Kfc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex. Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 I'd like to point you to decent Everton writers, Alex, but I don't pay enough attention. I like what Lyndon Lloyd writes at Toffeeweb, but he doesn't write all that often. Hey thanks for the thought Rorshach. I'll look into Toffeeweb! Man City's U21 walked off the pitch when one of their players was racially abused in Croatia. Good for them. We had word of a mysterious red card for one of our players for a off the ball incident but didn't know why for a while. Turns out it was for racism and the whole team and management decide to walk off. Really quite proud of that. Imagine if we get fined. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rorshach Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Hey thanks for the thought Rorshach. I'll look into Toffeeweb! Just as a heads up there, there are two editors, Lyndon and Michael Kenrick. I like the former and find the latter to be somewhat too negative. As for the submissions in articles and talking points... those are at best a mixed bag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baxus Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Man City's U21 walked off the pitch when one of their players was racially abused in Croatia. Good for them. From what I've read, Man City player was abused by Rijeka's player, not by some random idiots from the stands. Not that it makes much difference except that the abuser can be identified by name and face and could actually get punished quite easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex. Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 From what I've read, Man City player was abused by Rijeka's player, not by some random idiots from the stands. Not that it makes much difference except that the abuser can be identified by name and face and could actually get punished quite easily. Here's the official thing from City. Definitely an on-pitch incident. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rorshach Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Hmmm... I just noticed we have a young keeper named Stanek. Given the existence of this guy, that makes me sceptical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baxus Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Here's the official thing from City. Definitely an on-pitch incident. The only problem I have with the way this incident was handled is that it will be a one-off thing. Taking a stand on an incident in a pre-season friendly of U21 teams is easy, but can you imagine a team walking out on a Champions' League game? Yeah, neither can I. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex. Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 It'll happen one day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 What's going on with CB positions at the big PL teams? I may have missed some news but it seems like there is a pretty large deficit at that position but not much action yet on filling it. Chelsea sold Luiz and now have Cahill and an aging Terry plus Ivanovic as back-up. Is that all? City is the one team with a big signing at CB but there were rumors of Nastasic leaving (surely not?) which would leave them with Kompany, new guy and DiMichaelis, so probably needing Javi Martinez again at some point. Arsenal have Kos and Mert and seem to be selling Vermaelen (last year of contract too), and they cannot hope to be as lucky as last year with both first choice CBs available for so many games. Liverpool have loads of CBs, but they can all be pretty dodgy, and Lovren is rumored but not yet signed. ManU are losing Vidic and Rio, so they currently have only Evans, Smalling and Jones; plus Hummels looks unlikely for them and would Vermaelen really make them less error prone? Everton have Jagielka, Distin and Stones, but both Jags and Distin seem riskier now from an age and injury perspective. Spurs appear to still be relying on Dawson. If City keep Nastasic, which I would expect, they should be in the strongest position. I'm surprised by the lack of urgency from the others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rorshach Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Only rumour for Everton that I've heard is we're trying to sign Bosnian international Muhamed Besic, who is a defensive midfielder - but is rumoured to be able to play central defense. I think I've bemoaned this earlier, but then I've bemoaned every position bar goalkeeper... I'd also like to know what drugs Distin is on, as he's 37 but very rarely injured, and can still outrun most strikers.. (PS: we also have useless dead weight Antolin Alcaraz.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 I'm convinced Distin is a robot or something. He arrived in England aged 23 or something and he looked about 30 then. He's now 37 and he still looks about 30. And if anything, he's getting better with age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 John Stones looks like he could potentially be a class defender as well. They aren't going to be the kind of side who're stocking up on excess quality players in any position but I do think Everton still look pretty good in defence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rorshach Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Since we're on the topic, I think defense is where we're strongest, and I think most of that honour goes to David Moyes. Apart from getting the defenders to move the ball around and seek the short options in midfield, Martinez has left the defensive organization alone, and the players still defend like they did under Moyes. I actually think it's a good thing. Wouldn't mind changing Alcaraz for someone, though. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if Fred was a better defender.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nas! Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 I'm so curious what Big Sam is going to do with all these strikers. 4-4-2? 4-3-3? It doesn't seem plausible, but it should be interesting to watch (not that anything could be less interesting than watching us the last two seasons). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rorshach Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 I'm so curious what Big Sam is going to do with all these strikers. 4-4-2? 4-3-3? It doesn't seem plausible, but it should be interesting to watch (not that anything could be less interesting than watching us the last two seasons). There's always Scotland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mexal Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 What's going on with CB positions at the big PL teams? I may have missed some news but it seems like there is a pretty large deficit at that position but not much action yet on filling it. Chelsea sold Luiz and now have Cahill and an aging Terry plus Ivanovic as back-up. Is that all? City is the one team with a big signing at CB but there were rumors of Nastasic leaving (surely not?) which would leave them with Kompany, new guy and DiMichaelis, so probably needing Javi Martinez again at some point. Arsenal have Kos and Mert and seem to be selling Vermaelen (last year of contract too), and they cannot hope to be as lucky as last year with both first choice CBs available for so many games. Liverpool have loads of CBs, but they can all be pretty dodgy, and Lovren is rumored but not yet signed. ManU are losing Vidic and Rio, so they currently have only Evans, Smalling and Jones; plus Hummels looks unlikely for them and would Vermaelen really make them less error prone? Everton have Jagielka, Distin and Stones, but both Jags and Distin seem riskier now from an age and injury perspective. Spurs appear to still be relying on Dawson. If City keep Nastasic, which I would expect, they should be in the strongest position. I'm surprised by the lack of urgency from the others. I know Wenger is loath to sell Vermaelen unless he has a replacement ready to take over his spot. He's said this publicly a few times so I figure he's working on it in the background and once he lines one up, he'll ok a sale of TV and if not, he'll probably not push it unless TV really really wants to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord_Baelish Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 According to the ever-reliable Daily Mail, Wenger might ask for Chris Smalling as part of any deal to take Vermaelen to Man Utd. Can't see it myself - surely Wenger would want an upgrade on Vermaelen, which Smalling certainly is not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calibandar Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 And likewise as a UTD fan, that is not a deal that would please me. I don't mind taking on Vermaelen to increase depth at center ( and hope that he actually stays fit, but not to then give up Smalling in return. And I think van Gaal will hold on to the young guys especially, if they show promise, that is his thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rorshach Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 I think United is going to need a leader/organizer in their central defence. Evans and Smalling are not leaders, and Phil Jones, who perhaps could have been, isn't able to organize himself, let alone a back line. Have United bought any central defenders? I really think they need to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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