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Football - To Russia with Löw


Philokles

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Inter get the win they needed in the final day Champions League showdown with Lazio. They needed two goals with 15 to play, Inzaghi subbed off Immobile and went behind + lost a man all within five minutes. First of them came from a penalty conceded by de Vrij who is off to Inter this summer.

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11 hours ago, JordanJH1993 said:

Hard to feel too much joy from that FA Cup win yesterday

Firstly, it was won by playing the most negative brand of football. Yes, the tactics worked on the day, but it’s painful to watch when your starting XI is, man for man, better than your opposition.

Secondly, the outlook for next season looks bleak. Conte will probably be sacked, as it seems there are problems between him and key players in the team. Sacking Conte wouldn’t even be enough to guarantee those players stay, given that they may want to leave to join a team playing in the Champions League. That also complicates things when it comes to signing players, as many of our targets to replace our outgoing players would surely rather join Man City, Man United or Liverpool, should they also be interested.

Even if we do sack Conte, I don’t think there are any outstanding candidates to replace him out of the managers that will be available. The task on hand for the next manager to sort out this squad after the season that’s just gone past isn’t an enviable one. Finishing in the top four would be a massive achievement. Our best course for qualifying for the Champions League next year might actually be via the Europa League.

Luis Enrique is probably the most likely option to replace Conte, and I have my reservations about him, but if I were him, I wouldn’t be looking at the Chelsea job as a particularly appealing one. Unless the new manager can be guaranteed to have a lot of money to spend, I can’t imagine too many big names will be rushing to take Conte’s place.

Agreed. Small consolation prize. Doesn't take your mind off the fact we're missing out on top 4 next year and have had a lot of disappointing efforts against not just top teams, but a lot of bad outings against mid-low table teams this year. Ready to forget this year and look forward to the WC. 

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Yaya Toure rumoured to become Pellegrini's first signing at West Ham. 

Nainggolan has announced his retirement from international football after being left out of Belgium's preliminary WC squad.

According to Di Marzio, PSG's contract offer to Buffon has persuaded him to put off retirement. His transfer to PSG may be confirmed by Wednesday.

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Spain squad for the World Cup:

Goalkeepers: David de Gea, Pepe Reina, Kepa Arrizabalaga

Defenders: Dani Carvajal, Alvaro Odriozola, Gerard Piqué, Sergio Ramos, Nacho, Cesar Azpilicueta, Jordi Alba, Nacho Monreal

Midfielders: Sergio Busquets, Saul, Koke, Thiago Alcantara, Andres Iniesta, David Silva

Forwards: Isco, Sergio Asensio, Lucas Vazquez, Iago Aspas, Rodrigo, Diego Costa

 

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1 hour ago, Consigliere said:

Nainggolan has announced his retirement from international football after being left out of Belgium's preliminary WC squad.

A lot of good that will do him if at some point Belgium manager puts his name on the squad list.

Remember what happened to Matip for the ACN last year?

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33 minutes ago, baxus said:

A lot of good that will do him if at some point Belgium manager puts his name on the squad list.

Remember what happened to Matip for the ACN last year?

Doubt that will happen in this case though. Martinez just doesn't seem to fancy Nainggolan. There have been reports that Martinez is not happy about Nainggolan's smoking and drinking and that he showed up late for several team meetings. Apparently Wilmots had issues with him as well when he left him out of the 2014 WC squad. 

 

ETA. Mohamed Bouhafsi reporting that Patrick Vieira is set to take over at Nice.

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According to Sky Sports, Man United are interested in signing Willian.

That's no surprise, given that they were interested in him last summer, too. Now that he is clearly at odds with Conte, the rumours are only going to start again. Willian posted a picture of the team celebrating the FA Cup victory and edited Conte out of it by covering him with emojis. Quite childish, really. Conte is still the manager, whether that be for much longer or not. Looks like Willian has made his stance clear: if Conte stays, he is gone.

As for Willian and Man United, I'm not entirely sure how wise it would be for them to pursue him. Like Alexis Sanchez, he turns 30 this year. For Chelsea, he primarily plays on the right wing, but I'd imagine that if we didn't have Hazard, Willian would prefer to play on the left wing, where he could cut inside to shoot or create chances. Man United are already overloaded on that side, with Alexis, Rashford and Martial. Surely if Willian was to be signed that would bring the end to one of their Man United careers - most likely Martial's. Obviously, Man United could sign him to play on the right wing - a bit of a problem area for them this season - but surely there would be better options than someone who will be 30 at the start of the new season.

 

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1 hour ago, Mark Antony said:

Nainggolan should be a starter in that Belgium midfield imo. Stupid not to take him 


He probably should but in fairness Belgium aren't that short of midfield options that not taking someone who is potentially a disruptive presence leaves a gaping hole in their squad. Presumably the first choice is gonna be Witsel, Dembele and KDB up the middle? With Fellaini and Tielemans offering good backup.

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2 minutes ago, JordanJH1993 said:

Obviously, Man United could sign him to play on the right wing - a bit of a problem area for them this season - but surely there would be better options than someone who will be 30 at the start of the new season.

There would be but Mourinho is a shit coach and poor man manager especially when it comes to young players. He'd rather sign a 30 year old who already understands his own game inside out rather than bring in someone younger who he'd have to coach and develop.

Martial's United career looks to be over tbh. Mourinho has never missed an opportunity to drop him or slag him off. It was reported a month or so ago that Martial has rejected a new contract offer so I wouldn't be surprised if we sell him should a decent offer come in. Rumours are that Spurs have made Martial a top target.

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45 minutes ago, Consigliere said:

Doubt that will happen in this case though. Martinez just doesn't seem to fancy Nainggolan. There have been reports that Martinez is not happy about Nainggolan's smoking and drinking and that he showed up late for several team meetings. Apparently Wilmots had issues with him as well when he left him out of the 2014 WC squad. 

Yeah, I know about that smoking and drinking stuff.

Still, Martinez not fancying him doesn't mean that the next Belgium manager wouldn't fancy him.

If that happens, and the the guy that follows Martinez puts his name on the list, Nainggolan saying he retired won't mean anything just like it didn't for Matip.

EDIT:

Not saying that's right. Actually, it's very wrong and I do think that there should be some papers that a player would need to sign and be off the hook when it comes to national team.

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Forcing Martial out and signing Willian would be peak Mourinho. Also if I was a Chelsea fan I’d want Willian the fuck out of the club after that Instagram stunt. So childish. 

Kinda reminds me of when Sakho went on a Snapchat rant. Klopp never played him again 

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1 hour ago, JordanJH1993 said:

According to Sky Sports, Man United are interested in signing Willian.

Typical Mourinho short-term attitude.  He much prefers to work with players who already do what he wants, and especially prefers them with very high athleticism, discipline and in the 26-30 peak age range.    There’s just no interest in development.

Matic was a very good signing last summer, but it left Herrera adrift after being their PotY in the season prior.  Sanchez was an indifferent signing who pushed out Martial and Rashford.  When Mourinho does go, he’ll have loaded the squad with high paid players in decline.

Willian is a very good player who I think is a bit underrated alongside Hazard.  I still regret that he chose Chelsea over us.  But signing a 30yr old MF in a team that already is older than its main competitors is another case of long term counterproductive conservatism, even if it gives them a fillip for the first season. 

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Well, you have to understand that the priority is for Mourinho to win a trophy next season to help him get a new job. If that means wasting tens of millions of his employers' money, so be it. 

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17 minutes ago, Mark Antony said:

Forcing Martial out and signing Willian would be peak Mourinho. Also if I was a Chelsea fan I’d want Willian the fuck out of the club after that Instagram stunt. So childish. 

Kinda reminds me of when Sakho went on a Snapchat rant. Klopp never played him again 

Difference with Willian is that a lot of Chelsea fans want to see the back of Conte, so some of them probably don't really care about Willian's picture.

With Willian, as brilliant as he can be, he has a tendency to do it in spells rather than on a consistent basis. If Conte staying is enough to make him want to leave, I don't think it would be a massive loss to Chelsea, especially if we could get a decent fee for him.

 

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That's also essentially what United signed up for. If they were interested in youth development, they would have kept van Gaal (all the younger/breakthru players like Rashford and Lingard were promoted by LvG). But his football was so dull, so they brought in Jose - result wise I still think van Gaal did reasonably well/within expectations. But they wanted the short term boost and hoped Mourinho would win them the league.

Anyway...

20 minutes ago, Mark Antony said:

Kinda reminds me of when Sakho went on a Snapchat rant. Klopp never played him again 

That snapchat stunt was more or less just the final straw. Klopp had dropped him earlier for disciplinary reasons. So I doubt Sakho had a future at Anfield even without snapchat.

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26 minutes ago, JordanJH1993 said:

Difference with Willian is that a lot of Chelsea fans want to see the back of Conte, so some of them probably don't really care about Willian's picture..

Still though even if you wanted the manager out that mentality is awful for the locker room. 

23 minutes ago, Notone said:

That snapchat stunt was more or less just the final straw. Klopp had dropped him earlier for disciplinary reasons. So I doubt Sakho had a future at Anfield even without snapchat.

True I forgot the details about it, just dumb to vent on social media about that kind of shit imo. 

29 goals in Serie A and Icardi still doesn’t make it. Doubled Higuains goal tally and definitely a better choice for the NT than Aguero as well imo. Argentina’s midfield looks well below average. Cant see them getting far. 

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Same issue for Icardi as Nainggolan. His face doesn’t fit in the national team - more due to the players’ rather than manager’s opinion though. That must suck for him given that it was Maxi Lopez who was in the wrong, but a sensible decision for team cohesion from Sampaoli with plenty of great strikers at his disposal.

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