The Sunland Lord Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 Fiorentina - West Ham tonight, I hope I'll be able to watch that. Only a few games of football remaining in Europe this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baxus Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 @polishgenius Playing "just fine" in that Barcelona team was not what he was brought on to do, was it? And if he had a conflict with the manager and with the star player (one of best players ever) and whined about having to adapt his game in order to win everything with that team, then I'd say it's a problem with him. Sure, we can say that Barca shouldn't have signed such a player and then force him to switch roles, but team should trump an individual every single time. We've seen what happened at United when they changed everything to fit Cristiano Ronaldo in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted June 7, 2023 Author Share Posted June 7, 2023 Just now, baxus said: Playing "just fine" in that Barcelona team was not what he was brought on to do, was it? I mean, that's literally his entire complaint. That Pep bought him to be the central player, then retasked him as basically a glorified water-carrier when he decided he was better served using Messi as the main man. You can't criticise him for being too ego-centric and for only playing a peripheral role when that's what he was tasked to do. Like I say, yes, the fact that he had open fights with Pep about it is a him problem (though managers don't necessarily get absolved of blame for bad man-management, either - depends exactly how that went down). But as far as his actual performances on the field went, he did exactly what was asked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 12 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said: It is ridiculous but at least it’s a kind of low value redistribution out of corrupt regimes. I prefer them throwing money at footballers rather than corrupt politicians in our countries. (Although I expect they’re doing both) Saudi Arabia are looking to make all these signings to increase the profile of their league because they are planning a bid for the 2030 WC. The huge wages involved also very likely includes all these players acting as Saudi Arabia's WC bid ambassadors as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baxus Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 2 hours ago, polishgenius said: I mean, that's literally his entire complaint. That Pep bought him to be the central player, then retasked him as basically a glorified water-carrier when he decided he was better served using Messi as the main man. You can't criticise him for being too ego-centric and for only playing a peripheral role when that's what he was tasked to do. Like I say, yes, the fact that he had open fights with Pep about it is a him problem (though managers don't necessarily get absolved of blame for bad man-management, either - depends exactly how that went down). But as far as his actual performances on the field went, he did exactly what was asked. Say what you want about Zlatan, but he's not stupid. There's no way he thought anyone but Messi would be the main man in that team. If I'm wrong, and he really bought the sales pitch that he would be the central player and Messi would take the back seat in 2009, then I have a mansion in Valyria I'd like to sell him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sunland Lord Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 Dortmund have confirmed the fee to be €103m plus €30m in addons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Horse Named Stranger Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 3 hours ago, baxus said: Say what you want about Zlatan, but he's not stupid. There's no way he thought anyone but Messi would be the main man in that team. If I'm wrong, and he really bought the sales pitch that he would be the central player and Messi would take the back seat in 2009, then I have a mansion in Valyria I'd like to sell him. Yeah, but he signed on as CF, with Messi being deployed on the wing. Messi could've still been the main event on the wing, with Zlatan happily doing Zlatan things in CF role. I think that was what he signed up for. Could/should he have kept his cool and waited a second season to see, if/how Guardiola managed to find a system that satisfies both him and Messi? Probably. FWITW, Guardiola himself admits that he didn't handle the entire situation that well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted June 7, 2023 Author Share Posted June 7, 2023 3 hours ago, baxus said: Say what you want about Zlatan, but he's not stupid. There's no way he thought anyone but Messi would be the main man in that team. I feel like you're looking at this with the benefit of hindsight. Back in 2009 it was not just plausible, but it happened. Messi was playing from the right and Zlatan was brought in to be the sorta-false-nine pivot-striker Pep had been dreaming of. Absolutely no reason not to think it'd work at the time- till then, Messi had been in the middle only occasionally and was still mostly thought of as a wide player. Zlatan playing that central role, and being the fulcrum the shape was based around, was a completely sensible thing to want to try at the time, and explicitly what he was bought for. It wasn't until later in the season that Pep moved Messi more properly central, changing to a formation that either required Zlatan to be a more static presence around whom Messi could float or to play on the right himself (which he is obviously unsuited to). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 Messi is off to Miami. Huge boon for the MLS. He isn't the best Messi but is still an icon and playing at a very high level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 Messi isn't at his peak but he's still pretty amazing. He will most likely be the best player in the MLS by a country mile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskeyjack Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 West Ham fans throwing a bunch of cups onto the field during the match. They hit one of the Fiorentina players (Biraghi) and looked like he was bleeding pretty badly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 1 hour ago, BigFatCoward said: Messi is off to Miami. Huge boon for the MLS. He isn't the best Messi but is still an icon and playing at a very high level. At least Messi didn't take the Saudi blood money. Although that's offset a bit by him taking the Qatari blood money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskeyjack Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 1 hour ago, BigFatCoward said: Messi is off to Miami. Huge boon for the MLS. He isn't the best Messi but is still an icon and playing at a very high level. Think it will be an enormous draw for the MLS, no question. Most of my friends aren't football fans, but they're already talking about going to a game to see Messi. Also, ticket prices for Inter Miami's game here in October have already jumped more than 10x higher than it was previously. And that's just the regular price, not on a secondary market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 (edited) 7 minutes ago, ljkeane said: At least Messi didn't take the Saudi blood money. Although that's offset a bit by him taking the Qatari blood money. Err... Messi is taking Saudi money. He's a tourism ambassador for Saudi Arabia. That's why he got suspended at PSG recently - he travelled to Saudi Arabia to carry out his ambassadorial duties without PSG's permission. Edited June 7, 2023 by Consigliere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 5 minutes ago, Consigliere said: Err... Messi is taking Saudi money. He's a tourism ambassador for Saudi Arabia. That's why he got suspended at PSG recently - he travelled to Saudi Arabia to carry out his ambassadorial duties without PSG's permission. True I suppose, that just felt a bit more in line with a normal sponsorship rather than being clearly ridiculously overpaid to sign up to an obvious sportswashing project for MBS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sunland Lord Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 20 minutes ago, Whiskeyjack said: West Ham fans throwing a bunch of cups onto the field during the match. They hit one of the Fiorentina players (Biraghi) and looked like he was bleeding pretty badly. He was even lucky that a few missed his head Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 I hope Ronaldo is seething. How come he gets to play/party in miami and I'm in the fucking desert? baxus and Spockydog 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grozeng Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 26 minutes ago, Whiskeyjack said: Think it will be an enormous draw for the MLS, no question. Most of my friends aren't football fans, but they're already talking about going to a game to see Messi. Also, ticket prices for Inter Miami's game here in October have already jumped more than 10x higher than it was previously. And that's just the regular price, not on a secondary market. Chicago? One of my coworkers bought tickets this morning for $150 for 2 tickets in the corner of the stadium. I looked and Miami does not come back to Philly this year. I looked at Red Bull Stadium and there were some tickets under $200 but I need 4 and while I was looking to try and find ones close together, they all were snatched up. Now they are like $500-$700 for tickets to that game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Chatywin et al. Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 2 hours ago, Consigliere said: Messi isn't at his peak but he's still pretty amazing. He will most likely be the best player in the MLS by a country mile. More like the distance to the moon. I want to see the details of this because it's not just a Miami play. Speculation is he gets a cut of the Apple and Addis deals and a cheap buy-in for an expansion team when he retires. The Saudis could have offered more, but this is a smart play and less dirty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts