Football: 3rd Season Meltdown

[Consigliere]

So....I finally got to watch one of our preseason games and all I can say is that was fucking dire. Bayern couldn't have asked for an easier game. Forwards left completely isolated, parking the bus in a friendly, 1 attempt at goal the entire game and zero urgency whatsoever.

Woodward could make all the signings Mourinho wants but we would still play like shit. As a coach, Mourinho is finished. His tactics are outdated and he has one of the most expensive sides with plenty of talented players playing like a rich man's West Brom. 

[A Horse Named Stranger]

More German news and rumours.

Confirmed: Dortmund have finally ended the Witsel saga and signed the player.

Also confirmed. Mario Gomez has ended his international career. Which was to be expected and predicted, as he is 33 now, and he wants to make room for the next generation.

Rumour: Jerome Boateng. Rumoredly United is interested. That the player wants to leave Bayern for a new challenge is not much of a secret, and that Bayern is willing to sell at the right price is also well documented. PSG has reportedly pulled out earlier, so let's see how this is going. It would fit with the pattern of Mancunian clubs to buy very good but somewhat injury prone centrebacks from the Bundesliga. 

[Consigliere]

Boateng will make no difference to us. We should be contacting Monaco for Jardim. 

[Iskaral Pust]

6 hours ago, Consigliere said:

Boateng will make no difference to us. We should be contacting Monaco for Jardim. 

More barbs at the board from Mourinho after the game.  His requests seem pretty hypocritical. He’s demanding a new CB after he signed both Bailly and Lindelof at prices (before VVD changed the landscape) that should make them starters.  And he wants a new RW after he pressed the club to sign an unneeded LW on very high wages in January.  Squads need new talent and to address weak spots, but I can see why patience may be running thin with these demands.  And it was widely reported that Kovacic, despite seeking a move out of Real Madrid, was unwilling to play under Mourinho.  I can imagine Woodward thinking that it’s not him who has messed up here.

And Mourinho’s complaints about Liverpool outspending everyone ignore the reality that Liverpool’s net spend over the last three years or five years is still well below the other challengers.  I guess it’s convenient to ignore player departures like Coutinho, Sterling and Suarez. 

[mormont]

'Net spend' doesn't mean as much as it used to, though, now that managers aren't responsible for the selling price of players. Transfer income is just another income stream for the club, so far as Mourinho's concerned, and it's not his problem where the money is coming from. Man Utd have no shortage of income. 

But having said that, if they're reluctant to spend big that is partly Mourinho's own fault. Clubs spend big on transfers when they have confidence in their manager. 

[Jeor]

3 hours ago, mormont said:

But having said that, if they're reluctant to spend big that is partly Mourinho's own fault. Clubs spend big on transfers when they have confidence in their manager. 

Given the spending they've sanctioned in recent seasons, I can see the board's point in sending Mourinho the message that he's been given enough already. But from Mourinho's point of view he's probably wondering why they haven't splurged in this offseason again and why the spigot has been closed off. A bit of a vicious cycle. I am truly intrigued as to what will happen to United this year.

[Consigliere]

Some of the Manchester based journos were saying that Woodward isn't happy about the age profile of players that Mourinho wants. We already brought in two 29 year olds for him in Matic and Sanchez. We know that Mourinho really wanted Perisic and possibly Willian as well - another pair of 29 year olds. And now we are strongly linked with yet another 29 year old whose injury record is simply atrocious - this has another Schweinsteiger situation written all over it. If we're going to sign a 29 year old CB, I'd much rather have Alderweireld. 

There's also talk that Woodward has told Mourinho that he needs to sell a CB if he wants to bring another one in which makes sense since we currently have 5 CBs in the first team for 2 positions - there are rumours of Everton showing an interest in Rojo.

Woodward's reluctance to blindly back Mourinho in the transfer market is justified imo as Mourinho has clearly demonstrated that he is unable to get the best out of the squad he currently has. 

[A Horse Named Stranger]

1 hour ago, Consigliere said:

There's also talk that Woodward has told Mourinho that he needs to sell a CB if he wants to bring another one in which makes sense since we currently have 5 CBs in the first team for 2 positions - there are rumours of Everton showing an interest in Rojo.

 

Ah, just think of Boateng spending a good part of the season out injured, then you'd still have 5 centrebacks for 2 positions. So Boateng signing wouldn't change the numbers. 

But yes, I can see Boateng turning out to be a Schweinsteiger sort of signing for United. Maybe you can negotiate with Bayern a player switch, as in you get rid off Martial for Boateng?

[Consigliere]

22 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

But yes, I can see Boateng turning out to be a Schweinsteiger sort of signing for United. Maybe you can negotiate with Bayern a player switch, as in you get rid off Martial for Boateng?

I'd rather we not sign Boateng at all. His injury record these past few seasons is horrific and he's a player on the decline. No surprise that the Bayern board are quite happy to be rid of him and are probably rubbing their hands in glee at the prospect of getting around €50m for a crocked player. If it needs to come down to a swap involving Martial, I'd rather we do business with Spurs for Alderweireld. 

[Jordan La Cabra]

11 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

Maybe you can negotiate with Bayern a player switch, as in you get rid off Martial for Boateng?

I was hoping that if Man United were wanting to do some kind of swap deal to offload Martial that they'd be doing it with Chelsea, in exchange for Willian.

If that were to happen, Jose would get a near 30 year old, (Willian turns 30 this week) who is already fully developed as a player, so Jose doesn't have to develop him or coax out his potential. Willian has played under Jose before, so Jose doesn't even have to coach him into his way of playing, tactically.

In return, Chelsea would get a young, frustrated winger that wants to be a striker, who might fancy his chances of getting to play there more under Sarri, who helped convert Mertens from a winger into a striker, despite not having the usual characteristics of one. Mourinho tends to prefer bigger, more imposing centre-forwards, so I would be surprised to see Martial getting much game-time ahead of Lukaku up-front.

[Consigliere]

So it looks like Courtois has resorted to unprofessional behaviour in order to secure his move to Real Madrid. Matt Law reporting that he didn't show up at Wembley yesterday and didn't bother to pitch up for training today either without giving any explanation. 

[ljkeane]

1 hour ago, Consigliere said:

So it looks like Courtois has resorted to unprofessional behaviour in order to secure his move to Real Madrid. Matt Law reporting that he didn't show up at Wembley yesterday and didn't bother to pitch up for training today either without giving any explanation. 

That's a little odd with only a year left on his contract. If he's desperate to leave Chelsea might as well get something back for him to fund his replacement, it's doesn't seem like the kind of situation that calls for burning bridges like that.

[Jordan La Cabra]

I have never been a big fan of Courtois, but he is one of the best goalkeepers in the world. If he is replaced by Butland, it follows the trend of Chelsea selling their best players and replacing them with players of a much lower standard.

Since we last won the title, we have sold Matic and replaced him with Bakayoko and Drinkwater; neither player made a mark and we ended up promoting Fabregas to the starting XI - the man Matic kept out of the side the season before.

That same summer, we sold Costa, who was probably our most influential player in our two most recent title victories, and replaced him with Morata. Admittedly, I wanted us to sign him as Costa's replacement, but he has, so far, looked nowhere near as good as Costa.

We are about to lose one more member of the spine of Chelsea's two most recent title winning teams and replace him with Butland. Butland is a good goalkeeper, but hasn't even been one of the best in the Premier League. He's still young enough that he could end up reaching that level, of course.

But, my point is: if Chelsea continue to sell their best players and replace them with weaker ones, they will become no different to Arsenal in the post Emirates era. Liverpool, Man City and Arsenal have improved their squads, Man United have improved theirs, but less so, Tottenham have made no signings, but haven't lost anyone. Chelsea are the only 'top 6' team weakening their squad, which was already weak enough to finish fifth last season.

For once, expectations might need to be managed. A top four finish would be an achievement, at this stage.

[Winterfell is Burning]

Wouldn't Navas be he obvious replacement for Courtois?

Also, Seedorf has been named manager of Cameroon, with Patrick Kluivert as his assistant.

[Raja]

Seems like Lucas Perez is heading to West Ham 

[Consigliere]

Umm....Di Marzio reporting that United have rejected a bid from Barca for Pogba. No surprise especially considering that the reported offer is quite frankly an insulting one - €50m + Yerry Mina and Andre Gomes. With the real value of the two players being used as makeweights, Barca are basically offering us less than what we paid for Pogba.

Mina signed for €11m in January, made 6 appearances in the league and was rubbish in all of them. His goals at the WC don't make up for the fact that his positioning and defensive awareness is really poor - Davinson Sanchez is a far, far better defender. Andre Gomes has been among the worst players for Barca since his arrival.

What is concerning though is that if Barca did make a bid then it's reasonable to assume that Pogba is open to a move. With the transfer window closing in 3 days for the EPL there is no opportunity to sign a worthwhile replacement while giving Barca plenty of time to orchestrate shenanigans in order to unsettle the player and force a transfer. Having a snake like Raiola as his agent makes the situation even worse. 

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Don't worry, I am sure there is a player aged 29 who has previously worked with Mourinho playing Pogba's position. 

[Iskaral Pust]

4 hours ago, Jordan La Cabra said:

I have never been a big fan of Courtois, but he is one of the best goalkeepers in the world. If he is replaced by Butland, it follows the trend of Chelsea selling their best players and replacing them with players of a much lower standard.

You can buy Mignolet or Karius instead.  

Aside from Jorginho, Chelsea did pretty poor business in the past 12 months.  And even if Courtois and Hazard stay for now, they both appear to be running down their contracts. 

There are some reporters confident that Utd have an agreement to buy Alderweireld this week provided Spurs can sign a replacement.  

Considering Toby’s buyout clause drops to 25m in 2019, I’m surprised no-one is attempting a pre-purchase like we did for Keita.  

[polishgenius]

2 hours ago, Consigliere said:

 

What is concerning though is that if Barca did make a bid then it's reasonable to assume that Pogba is open to a move. With the transfer window closing in 3 days for the EPL there is no opportunity to sign a worthwhile replacement while giving Barca plenty of time to orchestrate shenanigans in order to unsettle the player and force a transfer.

I loathe the idea of losing Pogba anyway, obviously, but I'm reasonably sure even our hierarchy wouldn't sanction losing Pogba unless a replacement was already in place, no matter the money and snakery on offer. And for all his obvious discontent under Mourinho, I'm also fairly sure Pogba isn't going to throw a shit-fit if he's forced to stay- he's just got too many friends in the dressing room for that.

[Raja]

Man, Mourinho needs to leave that club. 

It also seems like Kronke has full control of AFC after agreeing to a deal with Usmanov.