Soccer Talk: Now With More!

[A Horse Named Stranger]

3 hours ago, Mexal said:

I think Arsenal should forget a striker and just find players who can shoot from 20 yards out. The fact all Arsenal players refuse to shoot from outside the box drives me nuts.

In other news, can Wenger please retire? Don't care who the new manager is or if it's Wenger's fault or not, just tired of the same shit every single year and would prefer someone else to blame.

So, how about this.

United wins the FA Cup and by some miracle manages to grab the fourth place from Arsenal. Thus van Gaal is allowed to stay. And Mourinho stays in London?

[Consigliere]

Heh, so Barca lose again. That makes the run-in very interesting with the top three being seperated by only one point. Never thought we would be in a situation where there could be an exciting ending to the season in La Liga as it looked like it was going to be a cakewalk for Barca when they were on that long unbeaten run and rolling teams over.

[polishgenius]

On the other side of that equation, we don't talk about Italy here much, but Juve, having started the season with three wins and four losses in their first ten games and finding themselves in a Chelsea-like position at the time, haven't lost in the subsequent twenty-three, winning all but one of those. Crazy run.

[Philokles]

40 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

On the other side of that equation, we don't talk about Italy here much, but Juve, having started the season with three wins and four losses in their first ten games and finding themselves in a Chelsea-like position at the time, haven't lost in the subsequent twenty-three, winning all but one of those. Crazy run.

It took them a little while to get over the loss of Tevez, Pirlo and Vidal, but since then they have been exceptional. Such a shame they met Bayern so early on in the Champions League, as they are a better side than both City and Real Madrid. Their own fault for switching off against Sevilla though.

I really hope Atleti can win La Liga now. It is funny to see Barca collapse like this, but Real somehow snatching it would be twice as bad as that was good.

Just saw Bradley Dack won League One player of the year. Completely deserved. Hopefully he will get a move straight to the Premier League when he leaves us - much more likely in the aftermath of Alli, I expect.

[Mexal]

52 minutes ago, Notone said:

So, how about this.

United wins the FA Cup and by some miracle manages to grab the fourth place from Arsenal. Thus van Gaal is allowed to stay. And Mourinho stays in London?

I lied when I said I don't care who the manager is. Mourinho or Martinez would be horrible and want nothing to do with either of them, especially Mourinho. I hate that Portuguese fucker.

[Gustavo Fringed Sleeves]

What a MELTDOWN Barça is having. And the main cause, I think, is lack of mental strength. When wins stopped coming so easy, anxiety has been palpable and then everything just falls apart. It's not like they don't play the same as when they were winning.

[Gustavo Fringed Sleeves]

33 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

On the other side of that equation, we don't talk about Italy here much, but Juve, having started the season with three wins and four losses in their first ten games and finding themselves in a Chelsea-like position at the time, haven't lost in the subsequent twenty-three, winning all but one of those. Crazy run.

Yes, one draw against Bologna and the rest is all Wins. They are way above the rest in Italy. Too bad for them that avoidable loss against Sevilla prevented them from a very possible treble. And gave us yet another Sevilla UEL win (let's not kid ourselves, they'll win it).

[Jeor]

2 hours ago, Mexal said:

I lied when I said I don't care who the manager is. Mourinho or Martinez would be horrible and want nothing to do with either of them, especially Mourinho. I hate that Portuguese fucker.

Assuming we hang onto fourth place, I don't mind if we have Wenger continuing.

He would be a much better option than Mourinho and Martinez, and honestly I don't see any better options out there. Ancelotti, Klopp, Guardiola have all been taken by other teams. I suppose there's a possibility of Blanc from PSG, but even though he's dominated Ligue 1 it's a little hard to tell how good he actually is in that lopsided market.

 

[Mark Antony]

Simeone would be good but idk if he would leave Atleti. #Rodgersin

[Jeor]

Yes, Simeone or Pochettino would be options but I don't think either of them would leave their respective teams.

[Iskaral Pust]

In all of the discussion of the refereeing for Leicester vs. West Ham yesterday, it seems like Leicester fans feel excessively aggrieved.  They've been pretty fortunate this season in the number of penalties they've received and the relatively low number of penalties conceded and yellow cards received considering the "robust" defensive style of Huth and Morgan.  It seems like West Ham should be more aggrieved at the soft penalty to placate the home fans.

[Iskaral Pust]

On 4/12/2016 at 1:10 AM, Rorshach said:

I think our sale has gone through already, but I may be mistaken. As for candidates, I have no clue. At this time, I'd like to think that we're a half way attractive club to take over - a youngish squad with some potential, incoming investment.. but if we're seen to be in turmoil, it's likely we're going to struggle in attrackting a new manager.

There is also a question mark over some of the players - Lukaku, Stones and Barkley in particular. Coming in and replacing them might not be seen as ideal. 

I overlooked this response.  I guess I had tunnel vision around Liverpool's EL game.

So your club sale has indeed gone through already.  It was so quietly done that I had to go and check.  I guess Liverpool's ugly history of ownership changes in recent years made me expect splashier news.  So if Everton have a new billionaire owner, no feasible plan for stadium expansion, a team with some great young talent that's under-performing and at risk of departures, then it looks like Martinez is a goner and there will be a big name replacement to reassure the want-aways and help recruit new faces (Liverpool and Goodison are not a big draw, unfortunately).

Now that Liverpool have committed to expanding Anfield, I think the clubs should look again at sharing the stadium.  I know local fans seem to hate the idea but Everton doesn't seem to have a better option and it would be nice for the city to have two strong teams.  Aside from Manchester, the PL seems to be shifting further south every year.

[Rorshach]

1 hour ago, Iskaral Pust said:

I overlooked this response.  I guess I had tunnel vision around Liverpool's EL game.

So your club sale has indeed gone through already.  It was so quietly done that I had to go and check.  I guess Liverpool's ugly history of ownership changes in recent years made me expect splashier news.  So if Everton have a new billionaire owner, no feasible plan for stadium expansion, a team with some great young talent that's under-performing and at risk of departures, then it looks like Martinez is a goner and there will be a big name replacement to reassure the want-aways and help recruit new faces (Liverpool and Goodison are not a big draw, unfortunately).

Now that Liverpool have committed to expanding Anfield, I think the clubs should look again at sharing the stadium.  I know local fans seem to hate the idea but Everton doesn't seem to have a better option and it would be nice for the city to have two strong teams.  Aside from Manchester, the PL seems to be shifting further south every year.

I hope Martinez is gone - for my money the sooner the better, but I'd say the most likely moment is when our Cup destiny is decided. However, I'd just like to emphasize that I want him out even if we should win; we've been steadily in decline for two years, we are delivering the worst season at home for as long as three points have been awarded for a win, and we've got a manager who doesn't seem to understand why things aren't going better, and have precious few ideas as to how he should turn the boat around. 

I hope that the tentative rumours about possible new managers hint at a coming change. The names that have been mentioned so far (Bielsa, Pellegrini) I think are more speculation from click-bait sources, but hopefully they say something about what the directors think (a change and a bigger name than - say - Garry Monk or Sean Dyche.

As for sharing a stadium, I think that should be the logical solution. After all, we've had two false starts in the PL era (King's Dock  and Destination Kirby). Redeveloping Goodison seems a non-starter, and I have yet to see any other solution mentioned that isn't just a pipe dream. The fan base doesn't seem to want it, though, and I am not sure what Liverpool would think - you seem to be on your way to redevelop Anfield without our help. 

Perhaps Moshiri will be of help there? Can't see how atm, though.

[Iskaral Pust]

50 minutes ago, Rorshach said:

...and I am not sure what Liverpool would think - you seem to be on your way to redevelop Anfield without our help. 

I'm sure we can charge you a reasonable rent that will make it worth our while.

The whole redevelopment/rejuvenation of the Anfield and Stanley Park area would be improved by keeping both sets of supporters close by, plus transport infrastructure can be focused there.  If Everton decamp to a remote suburb it's a missed opportunity for the city.

[Slick Mongoose]

Dele with the miss of the season there? Wow.

[polishgenius]

2 minutes ago, Slick Mongoose said:

Dele with the miss of the season there? Wow.

It was a fairly poor miss, but not really no.


Anyway, I hope they've left it too late to catch Leicester but Spurs are starting to hit that higher level I was talking them about having in the pocket a couple of months ago. There's moments when they put the pedal down they look like a genuine world-class team. Should be in the title hunt again next year and no easy day for anyone in the CL.

Really should have put their full effort in against Dortmund. But oh well.

[Philokles]

Groundsharing is bad enough, but doing so as a junior partner for anything longer than the time needed to redevelop a stadium would be disastrous. Not only would it mean the loss of identity, which is pretty much the hardest thing for a club to recover, but economic impacts to the secondary club with rent and sponsorship issues. 

Also if Everton are looking for another manager who will improve things for a year before tailing off, who would be too stubborn to make any pragmatic changes to his dogmatic view of football and who would see the defence as being of secondary importance, then Bielsa is the right man. 

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Just now, Sept Sev said:

Groundsharing is bad enough, but doing so as a junior partner for anything longer than the time needed to redevelop a stadium would be disastrous. Not only would it mean the loss of identity, which is pretty much the hardest thing for a club to recover, but economic impacts to the secondary club with rent and sponsorship issues. 

Also if Everton are looking for another manager who will improve things for a year before tailing off, who would be too stubborn to make any pragmatic changes to his dogmatic view of football and who would see the defence as being of secondary importance, then Bielsa is the right man. 

This.

Any moves in as tennant and junior partner at a rival club long term will suffer, for exactly those reasons.

On a further note.

Just rewatched that Leicester game highlights. How on earth can anybody claim that Vardy was diving for his second booking. You can argue it was not worth a penalty (I think it was though), but a dive? 

[Slick Mongoose]

9 minutes ago, Notone said:

This.

Any moves in as tennant and junior partner at a rival club long term will suffer, for exactly those reasons.

On a further note.

Just rewatched that Leicester game highlights. How on earth can anybody claim that Vardy was diving for his second booking. You can argue it was not worth a penalty (I think it was though), but a dive? 

 

He did that thing where he deliberately sticks his foot in front of the defender to initiate contact then throws himself to the floor. It's a dive.

[Mexal]

3 minutes ago, Slick Mongoose said:

He did that thing where he deliberately sticks his foot in front of the defender to initiate contact then throws himself to the floor. It's a dive.

This. He's got a lot of penalties this year doing that but it doesn't make it legit.