Football: For Now We Are All Champions!

[Dolorous Gabe]

12 minutes ago, Mark Antony said:

Stones is young and has potential but I don't think I've ever watched him play good enough to warrant all his hype or that big ass price tag but maybe he will become one of the prems best defenders  

Jerome Boateng said that nobody had truly taught him how to defend until Guardiola coached him.

The price tag is ridiculous and the hype does seem way OTT but I'm hoping Pep can have a similar effect on Stones (and Mangala for that matter).

[Rorshach]

Re: Stones and years this has been dragging on .. just a year, I'd say. Mourinho wanted him last year at this time, and didn't get him.

Guardiola wanted him this time around. Got him after a summer. It has been dragging on.

I think his potential is great. It is a shame, however, that he has been allowed to keep to his bad habits over the last three years. He can tackle, he's reasonably fast (no sprinter, though), and he's okay in the air. However, for a CB, he's very good on the ball. He controls it well, can keep it in tight situations and is able to pick out a forward pass. 

Negatives include not being aggressive for balls - letting them bounce before attacking, lapses in consentration, and dithering on the ball. If you remove at least the consentration and dithering, he'll become great. 

Also, why is it that City almost only buy CBs from us? Richard Dunne, Joleon Lescott, John Stones .. and Jack Rodwell, who could play as an emergency CB.. I do sense a pattern here.

[Iskaral Pust]

Possibly Stones has the potential to develop into a player like Pique but I've never rated him as highly as the potential transfer fees touted for him.  But since City in preseason have struggled to play the ball out from defense, I can see why he was the priority. 

If Everton sign Ashley Williams now instead, their defense just got a lot better at actually defending.  That said, Jagielka and Williams are not the fastest and they still have not upgraded their keeper. 

Why are Swansea selling so much without replacement?  I saw one stat that with Ayew and Gomis gone, they've lost around half of their goals from last season.  Perhaps they want to re-sign Bony for Montero's crosses?

I can't believe Liverpool still have not added cover at FB or DM.   With Brad Smith sold and Flannagan on loan, I thought we would definitely add some cover, even if Trent Arnold-Alexander looked good as a back-up RB.   And I guess Kevin Stewart will back up Can.  Stewart seems steady enough but offers less than Jay Spearing did in the same situation, and we didn't hold onto him. 

[Consigliere]

I'm a big fan of Stones and I think this is a good piece of business by City. The price tag is par for the course when you factor in that he's been sold to a league rival and the 'English tax'. Stones is certainly the type of CB Guardiola likes: he's good on the ball and capable of playing out from the back. I fully expect him to develop into one of the best CBs around under Guardiola.

[Calibandar]

5 hours ago, Spockydog said:

City have confirmed the signing of John Stones from Everton, while Arsenal reportedly step up their pursuit of Johnny fucking Evans.

 

Love it! Him and Rob Holding will be a fierce pairing. 

Evans a bit too old and experienced for Wenger's taste though. Possibly too expensive as well, might cost 10 mil.

No movement on Mahrez, Draxler or Lacazette recently. Could it be 0 for 3 after all?

if I were Mahrez btw I would sit out another year with Leicester and see how that goes. If he stays the team will remain fairly intact and most of what Kante brought, valuable as he was, could be replaced.

 

[ljkeane]

2 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

And I guess Kevin Stewart will back up Can.  Stewart seems steady enough but offers less than Jay Spearing did in the same situation, and we didn't hold onto him. 

Spearing was probably a better defender as a defensive midfielder than Stewart is, I doubt he would have played a through ball like the one Stewart played through for Firmino's chance against Barcelona though. Being able to switch from defence to attack quickly like that is an important factor in players making the team now.

[Nas!]

3 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

Why are Swansea selling so much without replacement?  I saw one stat that with Ayew and Gomis gone, they've lost around half of their goals from last season.  Perhaps they want to re-sign Bony for Montero's crosses?

Llorente and Borja Baston have come in as replacements.  It might work out okay for them, if either finds his form quickly. 

[polishgenius]

Other clubs might be faffing about and making wrong signings and all of that, but at least you didn't release a trailer for your latest buy, like we did.

 

 

[Nas!]

What's next for Man Utd? 

#ronaldoitagain?

#chichareturn?

[Rorshach]

1 hour ago, polishgenius said:

Other clubs might be faffing about and making wrong signings and all of that, but at least you didn't release a trailer for your latest buy, like we did.

 

 

Looks like a blockbuster. Lots of promise, but I'm a bit concerned about the director. He has delivered sh*t before. 

Not sure I'm catching this in the theater.

[Raja]

So much #Cringe 

[AncalagonTheBlack]

Looks like the Benteke to Palace deal will most likely go through .£32m including add-ons and bonuses.

Whom would you spend that money on?

 

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Well looks like I am forced to eat some delicious crow on the Pogba transfer. I didn't think he would join United, but would wait to join something bigger (Real). But the transfer fee is even by football standards absurd. So Pogba is more expensive than Bale or Ronaldo were, when they joned Real Madrid? 

6 hours ago, Dolorous Gabe said:

Jerome Boateng said that nobody had truly taught him how to defend until Guardiola coached him.

The price tag is ridiculous and the hype does seem way OTT but I'm hoping Pep can have a similar effect on Stones (and Mangala for that matter).

The price tag is still ludicrous. Boateng did cost a little over 10m (and that's the price City paid and also the price Bayern paid). Granted Boateng was still a bit raw, but he was already an established Bundesliga player when he signed with Manchester. So it's not like they were throwing cash at an inexperienced talent, without any name recognition.

 

3 hours ago, Calibandar said:

No movement on Mahrez, Draxler or Lacazette recently. Could it be 0 for 3 after all?

You can scratch Draxler from the list. Wolfsburg said they will under no circumstances transfer him this year. 

 

6 hours ago, Raja said:

Not sure about Evans - our links to Mustafi seem more concrete than the stuff re: Evans. 

I thought Mustafi was on his way to Chelsea?

[Rorshach]

Prices are going through every available roof this window - we are currently linked with paying £30m for Bolasie, plus a combined £30 for Ashley Williams and Lamina Kone. 

£30m are no longer silly money. It's pocket change. And that scares me.

[Consigliere]

4 hours ago, polishgenius said:

Other clubs might be faffing about and making wrong signings and all of that, but at least you didn't release a trailer for your latest buy, like we did.

I expect that we will be seeing alot of stuff like this with the club looking to cash in on Pogba's marketability. The commercial activity around Pogba (and Ibra) will be through the roof. Ed Woodward may have had some dodgy moments in the transfer market but on the commercial side of things he's been hugely successful (iirc since coming in he's tripled the clubs commercial revenue). This is why I firmly believe that over the course of Pogba's contract, United will end up turning over a profit from this deal.

[polishgenius]

33 minutes ago, Consigliere said:

I expect that we will be seeing alot of stuff like this with the club looking to cash in on Pogba's marketability. The commercial activity around Pogba (and Ibra) will be through the roof. Ed Woodward may have had some dodgy moments in the transfer market but on the commercial side of things he's been hugely successful (iirc since coming in he's tripled the clubs commercial revenue). This is why I firmly believe that over the course of Pogba's contract, United will end up turning over a profit from this deal.

 

Oh absolutely. Woodward's a fool when it comes to football matters but in the sponsorship, although it's not always the most dignified thing, he's worked wonders.
Our transfer policy has gone a bit Galactico, but so far it's been Galacticos we need so that's okay.

I found it quite interesting that Adidas' first big thing with Pogba at United is with Stormzy. It's a curious partnership at first glance. Though I'm not sure about Pogba's dance skills.

[Raja]

Just had a look at the fixtures - they've got Spurs V Everton on Saturday

[Calibandar]

3 hours ago, Notone said:

Well looks like I am forced to eat some delicious crow on the Pogba transfer. I didn't think he would join United, but would wait to join something bigger (Real). But the transfer fee is even by football standards absurd. So Pogba is more expensive than Bale or Ronaldo were, when they joned Real Madrid? 

 

Yup, looks like it, but you have to account for what is apparently a 20 million euro charge for the agent that United had to cough up, in addition to it being two years since Bale was transfered and in that period prices have gone up.

So IMO, pretty much in line with those extreme transfers, and I would say he at least belongs in that category of truly top class players at his position, plus of course he's still a young guy. 

I'm also interested to see what , if anything Liverpool will still do transfer wise. I think Wijnaldum and Mane are strong buys and they still have Firmino and Countinho. I am not sold on Origi so far, I think he needs to really improve to be good enough. Sturridge, if only he could stay on the pitch.

[Iskaral Pust]

1 hour ago, Calibandar said:

I'm also interested to see what , if anything Liverpool will still do transfer wise. I think Wijnaldum and Mane are strong buys and they still have Firmino and Countinho. I am not sold on Origi so far, I think he needs to really improve to be good enough. Sturridge, if only he could stay on the pitch.

Most Liverpool fans are pretty happy with Origi and want to see him get a chance to play and develop.  His improvement during last season was incredible, if only Funes Mori wasn't such a scumbag.  If Sturridge is injured, Ings may not be great back up for Origi (looks pretty rusty so far but will hopefully return to pre-injury level), and Firmino can be the striker too, or even Sane in a pinch.  No need for another striker yet or we're blocking Origi.  We do need FB cover.  

Glad to see Benteke will probably find a buyer.  He's a good player and deserves better than being stuck in the reserves.   I had a feeling that as the season got closer there would be more urgency from buyers.  Sometimes that urgency peaks after the first couple of games don't go well.  I don't know why the buying club wastes their preseason prep with a key player when they know they'll probably give in on price anyway, but it's not my money I guess. 

[Spockydog]

Wenger whinging to the press about how difficult he is finding the transfer market. I won't bother linking to his quotes because he's been saying the same old shit for the past five years. I wish he would just shut up.