Football: Insert Ted Lasso joke here

[Consigliere]

1 hour ago, baxus said:

I just love how it says that Cronaldo did his part by scoring 18 goals, and the rest of the team failed to follow. It's funny how it ignores the fact United overall scored 14-15 goals less than a season before when Bruno scored 18 league goals, paired with 10 assists compared to Cronaldo's 3. How can anyone buy this whole "Cronaldo is great the rest of the squad is shit" when pretty much the same squad finished second in the league a year before he joined and had the worst PL era finish with him. Now, I'm not saying that United were great the season before, but Cronaldo obviously did ruin something in that team. I have no idea whether it was team chemistry and camaraderie, or gameplan or whatever or everything, but the drop in quality was obvious after he joined.

The author of the article, Duncan Castles, is well known to be Jorge Mendes' mouthpiece. He never writes an article that paints Mendes or any of his clients in a bad light so it's not surprising that this article is just shameless arse-kissing.

[Spockydog]

46 minutes ago, Consigliere said:

The author of the article, Duncan Castles,

Yeah, this guy is a complete and utter bellend, and not to be trusted. At all.

 

[Iskaral Pust]

Liverpool managed to be both ridiculous and sublime in the same week.  They were definitely hungrier and sharper on Saturday but were also much aided by Bournemouth’s naivety.  Let’s see if that has actually started their season or will the next deep defense and long outballs cause them just as much grief.

In fairness, Bournemouth try to play nice football and I hope they prosper.  But they’ll need to be more organized in defense.

[Spockydog]

I don't know what it is. Probably the last, lingering vestiges of the English Football Old Guard's xenophobic reaction to the arrival of Arsène Wenger, with all his poncy, foreign, fancy dan ideas of how the coaching of professional footballers should be approached.

There is definitely a section of the British media that absolutely fucking hates The Arsenal. Be it Neville and Carragher dancing with the Brentford fans while laughing about how shit we are, or Gabby Agbonlahor whining about us daring to celebrate a hard-fought victory. And now this, from the most odious of all of our exiled football dinosaurs.

Arsenal over-celebrating? Why pathetic Richard Keys rant was out of touch and laughable

Quote

It was a familiar theme towards the end of last season at Arsenal, with people seemingly queuing up to have a pop when they dared to show some emotion after a win.

And it hasn’t taken long to kick-off again this time around, with football’s most famous cancelled TV anchor taking aim at Arsenal for the heinous crime of celebrating their dramatic late comeback victory against Fulham on Saturday.

It was a win that maintained their 100 per cent start to the season, a win that sent them back to the top of the table and a win that ended a run of eight years in which they have failed to come out on top in a Premier League match having fallen behind in the second half.

Yet despite all that, Richard Keys (yep, remember him) was having none of it.

“Steady, it’s Fulham,” he said to Andy Gray, during beIN SPORTS’ post match coverage of the game. “And they trailed at one time. 

“Yeah, well played, you came back to win it and they keep their 100 per cent record intact. But they haven’t won the [Premier League] title tonight. They have won a London derby.

“They’re four games into the season. Look at the manager.

“Enjoy it, but I don’t understand this. They’ve beaten Fulham. They’ve won nothing. They’ve over celebrated this.”

So there you go. Richard has spoken.

Arsenal players and fans, take note. Please control yourselves next time you come back to score a late winner.

 

[Mexal]

Spurs literally did the same thing a day later and crickets. It's annoying so I ignore it.

[Iskaral Pust]

Arsenal’s progress just in 2022 is pretty immense.  Jumping from a longtime self-deluded circus to an actual competitor brings a negative spotlight from opposition fans — just ask the “unbearable” Liverpool fans.

Spurs and Chelsea don’t get called out for negative football or all their shithousing.  City don’t get called out for sports washing or financial doping or strategic fouling nearly as much as they should.  Football media coverage is just another soap opera for clicks — like how every WWE (WWF?) bout has to have a hero and a heel.  Narratives supply comforting validation.  Don’t hold your breath waiting for fair and balanced coverage because that’s not what generates clicks.  Just enjoy the improved football and a smidgen of self-righteous vindication.

[Spockydog]

17 minutes ago, Iskaral Pust said:

Arsenal’s progress just in 2022 is pretty immense. 

And, in terms of Arteta's much derided 'process', pretty much bang on schedule. This is the season he targeted our return to the Champions League positions. So looking good so far.

ETA: I see Ten Hag has spoken of a similar timeframe to get United back in contention. Which is why all his panic buying seems a bit misguided. 

 

[BigFatCoward]

My gripe is how all the press continuously slagged off newcastle fans for calling for Ashley to be gone for woeful mismanagement, running the stadium and training facilities down etc as he was 'a good businessman'. 

Yet all of a sudden Man Utd are getting a totally different coverage from the press for an almost identical situation. 

[Spockydog]

3 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

My gripe is how all the press continuously slagged off newcastle fans for calling for Ashley to be gone for woeful mismanagement, running the stadium and training facilities down etc as he was 'a good businessman'. 

Yet all of a sudden Man Utd are getting a totally different coverage from the press for an almost identical situation. 

I dunno, man. Ashley was always portrayed as a bit of a cunt. And I thought the press, along with the wider football community in general, were pretty sympathetic to your plight. I know I was.

Of course, that's all gone now, never to return.

p.s. Your new Saudi away kit is banging!

[Darryk]

I really hate playing West Ham, they always lift their game for us and their fans make goddamn gas chamber noises.

[polishgenius]

13 minutes ago, Spockydog said:

Which is why all his panic buying seems a bit misguided. 

 

To be fair, the only one you could describe as a panic buy is Casimero, who was suddenly bought after Brentford showed him exactly how much we don't have a defensive midfielder. 90mil is ludicrous fee for Antony but he's a player he's been set on all window- it might be misguided but he's clearly got some kind of specific plan for him. 

[Mexal]

16 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

To be fair, the only one you could describe as a panic buy is Casimero, who was suddenly bought after Brentford showed him exactly how much we don't have a defensive midfielder. 90mil is ludicrous fee for Antony but he's a player he's been set on all window- it might be misguided but he's clearly got some kind of specific plan for him. 

Honestly, in the system they're trying to play, I'm sure Antony will work. He basically plays the position Saka plays and a winger is super important in the positional play system. Plus, the biggest issue with the system and development in it is how tough it is to pick up and get everyone on the same page. Buying players who are used to it makes this quicker. It's why Zinchenko and Jesus stepped right in and played super well. I think it's a fine buy, just super expensive.

[Spockydog]

I dunno, dropping all that money on an ageing Casemiro, after you've been pining after FDJ all summer, seems a bit panicky. As does being held over a barrel and forced into a frankly ridiculous amount of money for a player you've been targeting for months who arguably doesn’t even improve your squad. 

[polishgenius]

9 minutes ago, Spockydog said:

I dunno, dropping all that money on an ageing Casemiro, after you've been pining after FDJ all summer, seems a bit panicky.

 

To be fair, that's why I said he could be described as panicky.


 

11 minutes ago, Mexal said:

Plus, the biggest issue with the system and development in it is how tough it is to pick up and get everyone on the same page. Buying players who are used to it makes this quicker. It's why Zinchenko and Jesus stepped right in and played super well. I think it's a fine buy, just super expensive.

 

The main problem I have is that given the 50/50 nature of Eredivisie-to-Prem transfers, it's not even a guarantee he'll be a better wing option than Garnacho and Diallo, let alone be worth the actual fee we paid. 

[Mexal]

5 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

The main problem I have is that given the 50/50 nature of Eredivisie-to-Prem transfers, it's not even a guarantee he'll be a better wing option than Garnacho and Diallo, let alone be worth the actual fee we paid. 

Totally fair.

[BigFatCoward]

If Paqueta turns out to be quality at West ham I'll be well pissed off, after we sniffed around him all summer and he is Bruno's best mate. 

[A Horse Named Stranger]

1 hour ago, polishgenius said:

The main problem I have is that given the 50/50 nature of Eredivisie-to-Prem transfers, it's not even a guarantee he'll be a better wing option than Garnacho and Diallo, let alone be worth the actual fee we paid. 

Yep, it's an expensive gamble.

What I've seen from Antony, he can be really good. But 100m is a big gamble on him reaching/playing to his full potential. If he does you will have a lot of fun with him and Sancho on the wings. If he is a bust, it will be an expensive one.

[ljkeane]

2 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

My gripe is how all the press continuously slagged off newcastle fans for calling for Ashley to be gone for woeful mismanagement, running the stadium and training facilities down etc as he was 'a good businessman'. 

That was mainly Rio Ferdinand from what I recall. It was totally coincidental that he was in business with Ashley I’m sure.

[Consigliere]

1 hour ago, BigFatCoward said:

If Paqueta turns out to be quality at West ham I'll be well pissed off, after we sniffed around him all summer and he is Bruno's best mate. 

I thought Paqueta would end up at a CL club. He's quite good so this could be quite a coup for West Ham.

[polishgenius]

Cackle.