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Football: New Season, but same old Messi at Barca and elsewhere.


A Horse Named Stranger

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1 hour ago, Consigliere said:

No need to play the 'gone on strike' card just yet. Weird how this accusation always seems to get leveled at Pogba even though he's never done any such thing in his entire career. Just about every United player was utter rubbish today. Pogba is also not the most diligent at chasing down opponents at the best of times but is usually much better in possession. I think it's more a case of Pogba not being match fit - he had tested positive for Covid-19 and missed most of the shortened preseason as a result.

I was trying to be kind.  The alternative is that he’s rubbish and/or his manager is clueless for playing him when he’s unfit and unsuited to that role. 

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50 minutes ago, Iskaral Pust said:

I was trying to be kind.  The alternative is that he’s rubbish and/or his manager is clueless for playing him when he’s unfit and unsuited to that role. 

He's obviously not rubbish but the manager is clueless to play a player who is not properly match fit. Parroting a moronic falsehood is not being kind either.

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18 minutes ago, Consigliere said:

He's obviously not rubbish but the manager is clueless to play a player who is not properly match fit. Parroting a moronic falsehood is not being kind either.

The lady doth protest too much.

Pogba has looked badly disinterested In both games, being the worst offender at conceding possession and the least motivated to recover it.  And Fernandes’ comments after the match today about needing more aggression (he used the word twice in ten seconds) could be directed at Pogba.

I’m looking at what’s happening right now, not harking back to some past crusade against the player that I never participated in.  You’re so focused on fighting past battles that you’re not seeing what’s happening right now.  The players needs to get his head back in the game, because for one reason or another he’s coasting at the moment and it’s costing the team. 

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21 minutes ago, Iskaral Pust said:

The lady doth protest too much.

Pogba has looked badly disinterested In both games, being the worst offender at conceding possession and the least motivated to recover it.  And Fernandes’ comments after the match today about needing more aggression (he used the word twice in ten seconds) could be directed at Pogba.

I’m looking at what’s happening right now, not harking back to some past crusade against the player that I never participated in.  You’re so focused on fighting past battles that you’re not seeing what’s happening right now.  The players needs to get his head back in the game, because for one reason or another he’s coasting at the moment and it’s costing the team. 

I'm not fighting any past battles. You're the one parroting a load of bullshit. You say 'disinterested' and 'gone on strike' and I say that he's clearly short on fitness due to missing most of preseason training. He's looked off the pace fitness wise in both games rather than a player on strike or disinterested. There's no shortage of United players who have been horrendous these past two game. A not fit Pogba hasn't been any worse than a number of players so, yeah, I do take issue with your accusations of going on strike, uninterested, coasting.

 

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And Fernandes’ comments after the match today about needing more aggression (he used the word twice in ten seconds) could be directed at Pogba.

There you go again. But, sure, I'm the one harking back to past crusades.

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#SeanDychein



I know they lost and I didn't watch the game. It's just that every time I look at their squad it blows my mind that not only has Dyche kept them up for four seasons but got them into top half twice. I don't think he will this year, the season's just too compressed for them.

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1 hour ago, Consigliere said:

I'm not fighting any past battles. You're the one parroting a load of bullshit. You say 'disinterested' and 'gone on strike' and I say that he's clearly short on fitness due to missing most of preseason training. He's looked off the pace fitness wise in both games rather than a player on strike or disinterested. There's no shortage of United players who have been horrendous these past two game. A not fit Pogba hasn't been any worse than a number of players so, yeah, I do take issue with your accusations of going on strike, uninterested, coasting.

Yeah - I think people pick on Pogba and analysis such as 'disinterested' 'got on strike' or 'could be directed at pogba' is lazy, facile analysis as opposed to actually looking at the team. It's a lot harder to actually look at the team and see what's going wrong. I'm with you on a fitness thing hardly a surprise that with a truncated pre-season with international games and a postive covid diagnosis that he's struggling with fitness.

It happened with Laca too. He was played through an injury and he was so much more limited as a player.

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Paul Joyce has reported in The Times that Alisson and Thiago are doubts for the game against Arsenal due to being unable to train fully with the squad - doesn't mention the exact reason why they were unable to train. Henderson and Matip are out as well while Gomez is back.

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Meanwhile life in German football is kinda good.

The magical FC managed to start with 4 points into the season, after the traditional cup humiliation in round 1 (getting pummeled by a fourth tier team), and somehow luckily escaping with a 2-2 away, we managed to win our first home game 4-2. We were 4-0 up before conceding twice late in the game (78th and 80th minute), or as soylent would put it (if it were Liverpool), we were lucky in the end, and everything was dreadful (I'll spare you calling players you have never heard of or cared for as donkeys).

Sidenote: fans in limited numbers are allowed back for the moment. Roughly 10% capacity that is. Note we have about 50% season ticket holders. So that ticket pool is only accessible for those 50%. The way the system works. Every season ticket holder can apply online for a matchday ticket a few days in advance (wednesday and thursday in this case), if you win a ticket the literal lottery you can buy a ticket. If you arrive at the conclusion, you already have bought a ticket, since you are season ticket holder, and are thus being charged twice for the game you attend, that is true. However, you can claim a refund on your season tickets (whether you attended or not), or wave your claim on the season ticket refunds. You are not allowed in, if you display symptoms of a cold. I didn't apply for a ticket, since I was sneezing quit a bit Tuesday/Wednesday, and I would've loathed to win a ticket, just to be unable to attend, because I got sick.  The tickets are not transferable, and IDs are being checked at the stadium. So passing on the ticket to a neighbour was not an option this time.

Anyway, in other news.

First sack of the season happened in the top flight. And the Oscar goes to... David Wagner, Schalke 04. After their 8-0 mauling by Bayern last week, they lost again yesterday, 1-3 to Werder Bremen. Werder will certainly not be challenging for the European spots this season, and yet they managed to show the flaws of Schalke's game plan all the same. Defending with a high line, when your defenders lack pace is simply not a particularly great idea.

Bayern's main challenger Dortmund lost to Augsburg yesterday 2-0. They probably still don't know how and why, as in they were the dominant team, but were being punished by a ruthless Augsburg team, that used their few chances effectively.

Gladbach after their defeat against Dortmund in their opener, were held to a draw against Union Berlin at home. Some disappointing start for them.

Meanwhile Bayern are lucky to be behind by only one goal against Hoffenheim. Baumgartner had the chance to make it 3-0, but the Bavarian empire managed to strike back, thus it's only 2-1, and second half is underway.

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Jesus. These new handball interpretations are nuts. Dier’s a metre away from Carroll with his back to the ball. It’s crazy to be giving a penalty for that.

ETA: And did Harry Kane just get a post final whistle red card? This really hasn’t ended well for Spurs.

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