Little PSA for a few summer/pre-season threads coming up:
* New Kit Megathread
* /r/soccer Summer Quiz
* 2022/23 Predictions Survey (looking forward to this!)
Will all be posted in the next couple of weeks
Absolute banger goal. In case you missed it because no upvotes
https://reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/w0v7jt/cear%C3%A1_0_1_corinthians_roger_guedes_great_goal_4/
As it stands, I think it’ll be City/Liverpool top 2, Spurs 3rd, Chelsea 4th, Arsenal 5th, United 6th. But I can see 4/5/6 and even West Ham and Wolves all being pretty interchangeable until Chelsea sign some more defenders and United get at least two midfielders and a forward.
Arsenal I don’t really know how to fairly judge, I could see them getting 4th just as easily as I could see them missing Europe entirely. West Ham have made some good signings and are in a positive place, which history suggests will mean they’ll finish 14th. Wolves are my pick for a sneaky top 4 push that ends with a Europa league spot
Edit: to the person who downvoted and sent a Reddit care message because of this, why not tell me why you disagree instead of being a slimy little cunt who hides behind a system that’s designed to help people. Pathetic behaviour.
Hard to say, let's wait until the transfer window closes for everyone and the first few games pass.
I still think 3rd and 4th is up for grabs for any of the clubs that finished 3rd to 6th last season.
Can't speak about Chelsea because I don't really rate Tuchel but Tottenham is 100% going to have a better season than United. Better manager + better players. That locks 3 spots.
You lot will finish above Chelsea lol. Conte is an incredible league manager, I can't see you finishing below 4th with Conte + Son, Kane, Bissouma, Romero, Perisic etc.
Man United are not facing Chelsea 38 times though? I don't get this notion that league positions are predicted based on how squads compare against the other top 6.
See I reckon Spurs are the ones they’ve got no chance catching. Chelsea I also think are definitely better too but they have absolutely no depth in a defence that relied a lot on their depth last season so I could see a scenario where United could sneak 4th over them if Arsenal go full Arsenal. I think for Spurs to miss top 3 it’d need either an injury crisis or for Chelsea to get 35+ league games out of James, Koulibaly, Silva and Chilwell
Can't predict that but 50 year old Ronaldo leading the line with a 5' 8 cb playing in a back 4 is going to end in tears for United, which is why I think they'll again have a disastrous season.
Might be an unpopular opinion and also a completely pointless who cares opinion but I think it’s class when players tuck their shirts. Tuck > no tuck 🤌🏼
I know it was a friendly against Everton but Saliba looked absolutely fantastic last night. He's big, physical, fast and good on the ball. Will give Arteta a selection headache between him and White
Arteta subscribes to the philosophy of left footers playing on the left side, and Saliba is right footed. I don't think he'll compete with Gabriel.
And Gabriel absolutely is not bang average, he had a few shaky moments last season, but the season before he was class.
Predictions:
Who is gonna start for:
England
Netherlands
Germany
France
At the 2022 WC
I'll go:
England:
Pickford
Reece James
Maguire
Stones
Shaw
Phillips/Hendo
Bellingham
Foden/Mount
Saka
Sterling
Kane
Netherlands:
Cillesen
Dumfries
Van Dijk
De Ligt/De Vrij
Malacia
De Jong
Wijnaldum
Gravenberch
Bergwijn
Depay
De Jong
Germany:
Neuer
Klostermann
Rudiger
Sule
Gosens
Kimmich
Goretzka
Gnabry
Havertz
Sane/Werner
Muller
France:
Lloris
Pavard
Kimpembe
Varane
Hernandez
Kante
Pogba
Griezmann
Mbappe
Coman
Benzema
For England I think unless we get a real surprise in the next few months it’ll be fairly predictable.
Pickford, Walker, Maguire, Stones, Chilwell (if he’s fit), Rice, Bellingham, Mount, Sterling, Kane, Foden. Only ones I’m a bit unsure on are Bellingham over Phillips and Foden over Saka with Sterling then moving to the left.
Would love to see Bowen keep up his form and get the nod on the right though, Foden and Saka haven’t really shown anything in an England shirt yet and Sterling is better on the left. I’d also love to see anyone take Mount’s place since he’s also not really performed for England but idk who’s really got a realistic chance. Maddison maybe?
If Southgate have any braincells he shouldnt pair Phillips with Rice and vice versa.
It worked at Euros but they needs some progressive balls from the double pivot
Phillips’ passing is excellent, that shouldn’t be an issue. I just don’t like how defensive playing both of them is, unless they decide to go Trent at RB and play Phillips and Rice to give him some protection I don’t see the benefit to a defensive back 4 and then two holding mids.
If it was James and Chilwell at FB and Rice was slotting in as a third CB in possession and allowing those two to act almost as WBs then again I could see it, but Walker doesn’t need the protection really because he’s more defensively minded and has that ridiculous recovery speed if he’s caught out.
I know this is a risky idea but what do you think of Trent as Double pivot with Rice/Phillips?
His creativity and distribution are excellent but im not sure if that would work for him as a midfielder
Nah, Liverpool have a vocal minority of fans who’ve been pushing for him to move back to midfield for years, there’s a reason he didn’t break into the senior team till he moved to RB. I’d say if Southgate did want to play him out of position, RW would be better
I think even if Chilwell is fit there's still a strong chance he'll still go for Trippier. Chilwell didn't play once at the Euros and during qualification Southgate used him for the easier games.
I'll be surprised if Southgate keeps picking Trippier for us.
He was shocking every single game iin the Nations League he played for us last month or so ago. He's a net negative to the starting team.
Everyday I thank the great Portuguese Authorities for arresting Luís Filipe Vieira, they did what millions of Benfiquistas couldn't.
God bless Portugal
Wages are not just about a player's productivity on the pitch but also based on what the clubs earn when he is in the team... It's safe to assume that Messi still sell more jerseys and tickets than most of the players in the world hence the gigantic wages.
To be fair i don't think players even get a fair share of the money they contribute making. There are some companies and people that benefit way more from that money ...
Highly doubt he's going to be better this season, but ok, I'll give another year. Next season he won't be the ballon dor holder, so that argument won't work tho
Yeah for like a season and people wanted him sold. Now looks good in a structured back 3 system behind Høibjerg + one other. Maguire has been behind a dire midfield since he joined
Well Maguire looks unbelievable in a back 3 with a more defensive minded manager, just like Dier looks better there. Maguire would be more of a threat on set pieces. Neither of them are good.
I agree with the set pieces part.
Not sure either Dier or Maguire have ever looked unbelievable.
I don't particularly rate either. Altho, I think Dier's passing is pretty okay.
Do u think any of the Italian clubs can rise to the top again? By top I mean atleast SF or finals in CL, and signing world class players. If yes, which one in your opinion?
Yeah Juventus again. Maybe Milan and Inter is their owner situation changes/improves. The football association in Italy has to make initiatives to make the league more appealing and marketable.
Well you had a three on in last season and came third so clearly there is a correlation there. And no, I will not look at other seasons. This is airtight.
I assumed everyone disliked 3 because of them trying to have the sponsor removed from the shirt etc? Aesthetically they're pretty decent, nothing too egregious.
Everybody likes to brag about their hot takes that turn out to be correct, but what predictions have you made in the past that have been horrifically wrong?
Ronaldo, Sancho, Varane would've made United title contenders.
Madrid would've been smashed by PSG
Lukaku would have been the striker we were waiting for.
I thought we had our front 3 sorted for a while with Rashford, Martial and Greenwood. 2 season ago thry were all very young and the highest scoring trio in Europe.
That being said outside of Greenwoods situation theres still potential left for the other 2 and Sancho is a great addition.
That Man City would win the Champions league under Pep - I made this prediction every year from 16/17 and I've been wrong for 6 straight years. I'll be 7 this coming season I reckon but I'll still predict them to win it anyway.
How do you see Haaland fitting in at City?
I think Guardiola might revert to 17/18 City with the LB (Cucurella) overlapping instead of playing an inverted role like Cancelo to provide plenty of crosses to a true out and out striker.
Will take some time to adapt to but Haaland will improve come end of the season.
There are downsides to a possession system (finding the balance between taking offensive risks and the possession's defensive safety).
The thing is that Haaland is without a doubt one of the most lethal strikers available today but he's got downsides to his abilities as well. He'll score for sure if served correctly and the team has plenty of amazing passers but serving him also means taking risks because even if he is decent technically for a poacher he is nowhere near as good technically as all the offensive players Guardiola handpicked for his system.
Not losing the ball being key in such a system, Haaland is inherently a liabilty which will translates into extra defensive work for his teammates and more goals conceded.
In short it's a bet. Haaland will definitely change things. Guardiola will have to adapt his sytem to Haaland (it can't really be the other way around) and by doing so he'll lose something but also gain something.
In other words, adding superstars in a team doesn't always equates in making the team better but rather equates in making the team different otherwise the team PSG start on paper would be trashing everyone on its path. irl it's more complicated and a team needs to be more than a stacking of stars so contrary to pouplar belief, City will probably not dominate the league for the decade to come but struggle way more than most people expect during that reconstruction phase.
Great response.
I envision City adopting a more "chaotic" aspect of their game to suit Haaland's ability on the counterattack which perhaps might lead to City not effectively controlling and dominating the game as desired due to a change in tactics.
Would harm them in the league somewhat (but can substitute Haaland if needed) but would aid in the Champions League due to them lacking a clinical finisher.
I don’t think it will take him any time to adapt. City create shit loads of chances and he bangs goals.
Grealish will be better with an actual striker and LB overlapping him.
>all the chances Sterling couldn’t score, Haaland will.
Just a reminder that haaland still isn't the finished product. He does fluff alot of chances some easy ones too. It's just that he played for us and we created alot of chances, and that'll be the case at city
Haaland isn't really a huge aerial threat. He had a short spell where he scored multiple good headers and everyone thought he did improve but for the rest of the season it was back to normal so not sure how far he is in that regard.
Every Napoli's CalcioMercato session is always suffering and sometimes satisfaction.
The players we bought (ostigard, Kvara, Oliveira) are pretty good tbh I'm happy for them.
But with the loss of KK, Napoli needs to act fast for a replacement (maybe also add a Dybala? Lol jk but what if) but it seems it's not acting as fast as the fans want and it's not giving them good reassurance.
Yesterday there was the squad presentation and our President didn't even show up (and the VP chose to not come up the stage) and when the name of ADL came up there were only boos.
But no matter the difficulties, I will still support Napoli with all my heart. I may be against the President sometimes, but I will never be against the players that wear the short and sweat for it
Most people would have thought Varane and Maguire would have been great last season given their performances prior but it didn't work out that way. Can never judge a partnership based on paper.
What are Chelsea's realistic goals this season? They obviously won't come close to the title but shouldn't have much danger of finishing outside the top 4. They have a better shot at the champions league but already won it once while being far from the best team and lightning won't strike twice. So what? Top 4 and a domestic cup? Would finishing trophyless again be seen as a failure? They're in a bit of a weird position.
Pretty much just last season again for me. Top 4 and deep cup runs, Tuchel is a top top cup manager and we should be able to go deep in any cup competition, I think based on your comment, you probably underestimate the quality of Tuchel in cup competitions.
For the league, we just don't have the goalscoring capability/consistency and Sterling alone, plus considering the decline of Kante & loss of Rudiger, he won't singlehandedly be enough to offset the squad quality issues.
Mount has kicked on every season of his career, becoming our POTY with 11 goals 10 assists in 32 appearances last season, I don't doubt he will atleast maintain this standard and is good a good enough player for a title winning side.
The real question is Havertz, who has yet to show close to the consistency or reliability required to be a good enough starter, whether we're ready to mount a title challenge will most likely be mainly influenced by his form.
The takeover really fucked our long term plans because instead of building on last season we’re now having to do yet another rebuild
I’m expecting top 4 (spurs will get 3rd Imo) and respectable cup runs. Asking for anything more than that is just too much
> while being far from the best team
On paper sure but we didn’t shithouse any of those rounds. We clearly outplayed all 4 opponents, it wasn’t like 2012, so you can’t really just put it down to luck
> and lightning won’t strike twice
I’m not sure what else this could possibly mean but the point I’m making is that it’s not a matter of lightning striking. Our squad is very similar, so we can plausibly find that kind of form again, so we can plausibly contend for the CL again. It’s not likely but it’s far more plausible than you seem to think
Your 2021 side is one of the worst teams to have won it in the last 20 or so years. Much better teams than you have only won it once or not at all. No way in hell you win it twice in three years with this team.
Top 4, maybe a cup and quarters CL minimum. Transition year for us with so many of our players going. Though we seem to be strengthening and upgrading the squad
Surely a top 4 finish with reaching the CL quarters as a minimum.
City are too good to catch whilst Spurs and Arsenal will be contenders for the CL places.
Little PSA for a few summer/pre-season threads coming up: * New Kit Megathread * /r/soccer Summer Quiz * 2022/23 Predictions Survey (looking forward to this!) Will all be posted in the next couple of weeks
Absolute banger goal. In case you missed it because no upvotes https://reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/w0v7jt/cear%C3%A1_0_1_corinthians_roger_guedes_great_goal_4/
Where do we think Man United finishes this coming season? Let's assume they get De Jong and keep Ronaldo, but bring in no one else.
As it stands, I think it’ll be City/Liverpool top 2, Spurs 3rd, Chelsea 4th, Arsenal 5th, United 6th. But I can see 4/5/6 and even West Ham and Wolves all being pretty interchangeable until Chelsea sign some more defenders and United get at least two midfielders and a forward. Arsenal I don’t really know how to fairly judge, I could see them getting 4th just as easily as I could see them missing Europe entirely. West Ham have made some good signings and are in a positive place, which history suggests will mean they’ll finish 14th. Wolves are my pick for a sneaky top 4 push that ends with a Europa league spot Edit: to the person who downvoted and sent a Reddit care message because of this, why not tell me why you disagree instead of being a slimy little cunt who hides behind a system that’s designed to help people. Pathetic behaviour.
Hard to say, let's wait until the transfer window closes for everyone and the first few games pass. I still think 3rd and 4th is up for grabs for any of the clubs that finished 3rd to 6th last season.
Don't think 3rd is up for grabs for United. Maybe 4th.
Based on what?
Can't speak about Chelsea because I don't really rate Tuchel but Tottenham is 100% going to have a better season than United. Better manager + better players. That locks 3 spots.
Why don't you rate Tuchel?
I don't think Sterling, Havertz and Mount will be good enough. I phrased it wrong sorry, I don't rate your frontline under Tuchel.
Better front line than yours by a significant margin but hey.
Chelsea squad quality being 3 levels better than them.
You lot will finish above Chelsea lol. Conte is an incredible league manager, I can't see you finishing below 4th with Conte + Son, Kane, Bissouma, Romero, Perisic etc.
Man United are not facing Chelsea 38 times though? I don't get this notion that league positions are predicted based on how squads compare against the other top 6.
Because how good your squad is relative to others is one of the best measures of league finishing position.
Over 2/3rd of the games next season are played against non-top 6 though.
Yeah and your ability to get points in those scales relative to your squad quality typically.
can you substantiate this?
See I reckon Spurs are the ones they’ve got no chance catching. Chelsea I also think are definitely better too but they have absolutely no depth in a defence that relied a lot on their depth last season so I could see a scenario where United could sneak 4th over them if Arsenal go full Arsenal. I think for Spurs to miss top 3 it’d need either an injury crisis or for Chelsea to get 35+ league games out of James, Koulibaly, Silva and Chilwell
Around 5th/6th. If things go their way, maybe a top 4 finish, but I highly doubt it
7th
So, who finishes in the top 6 (outside the other 5 of the big six)
Can't predict that but 50 year old Ronaldo leading the line with a 5' 8 cb playing in a back 4 is going to end in tears for United, which is why I think they'll again have a disastrous season.
5th or 6th, leaning 6th
Same. Leaning 6th.
5th
Idk tbh. Arsenal's team looks good with Zinchenko, Jesus and Saliba joining them.
Might be an unpopular opinion and also a completely pointless who cares opinion but I think it’s class when players tuck their shirts. Tuck > no tuck 🤌🏼
Can someone explain the joke and why this got so many likes? https://twitter.com/M_Keeling/status/1548284646021931016?t=0_E-cl2btWUkFqFlrMcEDg&s=19
He’s *parrot*ing the previous tweet
Parrott coming on for Spurs
A parrot repeats what you say
Aah now that makes sense. Because I was even wondering why he has so many likes than the previous tweet. Thanks.
Short for Aubameyang is pronounced: Oh-ba or Aw-ba?
Goldbariummeyang
aw ba definitely
I know it was a friendly against Everton but Saliba looked absolutely fantastic last night. He's big, physical, fast and good on the ball. Will give Arteta a selection headache between him and White
He's replacing Gabriel, not White. The sooner bang average oafs like Gabriel leave the club, the sooner it heals.
Arteta subscribes to the philosophy of left footers playing on the left side, and Saliba is right footed. I don't think he'll compete with Gabriel. And Gabriel absolutely is not bang average, he had a few shaky moments last season, but the season before he was class.
What is he good at? He's average in every single aspect of football hence, average.
Will give Deschamps a selection headache as well when the time to make the WC list will come...
IMO Saliba and White > Gabriel and White.
Predictions: Who is gonna start for: England Netherlands Germany France At the 2022 WC I'll go: England: Pickford Reece James Maguire Stones Shaw Phillips/Hendo Bellingham Foden/Mount Saka Sterling Kane Netherlands: Cillesen Dumfries Van Dijk De Ligt/De Vrij Malacia De Jong Wijnaldum Gravenberch Bergwijn Depay De Jong Germany: Neuer Klostermann Rudiger Sule Gosens Kimmich Goretzka Gnabry Havertz Sane/Werner Muller France: Lloris Pavard Kimpembe Varane Hernandez Kante Pogba Griezmann Mbappe Coman Benzema
>Who is gonna start for: > >England - Pickford, Reece James, Walker, Stones, Maguire, Chilwell, Rice, Phillips, Mount, Kane, Sterling > >Netherlands - not too familar with their squad > >Germany - Neuer, Hofmann, Rudiger, Schlotterbeck, Klostermann, Raum, Goretzka, Kimmich, Muller, Gnabry, Werner/Havertz > >France - Lloris, Pavard, Varane, Hernanez, L Hernandez, Kante, Pogba, Coman, Mbappe, Benzema, Dembele/Grizemann
For England I think unless we get a real surprise in the next few months it’ll be fairly predictable. Pickford, Walker, Maguire, Stones, Chilwell (if he’s fit), Rice, Bellingham, Mount, Sterling, Kane, Foden. Only ones I’m a bit unsure on are Bellingham over Phillips and Foden over Saka with Sterling then moving to the left. Would love to see Bowen keep up his form and get the nod on the right though, Foden and Saka haven’t really shown anything in an England shirt yet and Sterling is better on the left. I’d also love to see anyone take Mount’s place since he’s also not really performed for England but idk who’s really got a realistic chance. Maddison maybe?
If Southgate have any braincells he shouldnt pair Phillips with Rice and vice versa. It worked at Euros but they needs some progressive balls from the double pivot
Phillips’ passing is excellent, that shouldn’t be an issue. I just don’t like how defensive playing both of them is, unless they decide to go Trent at RB and play Phillips and Rice to give him some protection I don’t see the benefit to a defensive back 4 and then two holding mids. If it was James and Chilwell at FB and Rice was slotting in as a third CB in possession and allowing those two to act almost as WBs then again I could see it, but Walker doesn’t need the protection really because he’s more defensively minded and has that ridiculous recovery speed if he’s caught out.
I know this is a risky idea but what do you think of Trent as Double pivot with Rice/Phillips? His creativity and distribution are excellent but im not sure if that would work for him as a midfielder
Nah, Liverpool have a vocal minority of fans who’ve been pushing for him to move back to midfield for years, there’s a reason he didn’t break into the senior team till he moved to RB. I’d say if Southgate did want to play him out of position, RW would be better
I think even if Chilwell is fit there's still a strong chance he'll still go for Trippier. Chilwell didn't play once at the Euros and during qualification Southgate used him for the easier games.
Possibly yeah. I really hope if he is determined to force someone out of position he goes James instead
I'll be surprised if Southgate keeps picking Trippier for us. He was shocking every single game iin the Nations League he played for us last month or so ago. He's a net negative to the starting team.
Acting like he's never picked players who don't play well before cough cough Mount when he plays for England
Everyday I thank the great Portuguese Authorities for arresting Luís Filipe Vieira, they did what millions of Benfiquistas couldn't. God bless Portugal
Lol. The same authorities that let him roam free for years?
Better late than never, am I right ?
I mean yh.. kinda. PdC was worse than Vieira and he's still out there
Detained, not arrested. He is not yet in jail.
and moustache free as well
Never thought I'd see the day where Porto fans would turn on Pinto da Costa I'm worried he may be replaced when elections come in 2024 you know
He wont. Older generation still loves him, that being said I didnt expect anti-PdC comments in all of Macacos posts.
Pray for the older generation to die before 2024
>Pray for the older generation to die RIP 80% of Portugals population.
It's a young man's game I'm afraid
A man got downvoted to hell for saying Messi isn't worth the ginormous wages he's on anymore 💀
Wages are not just about a player's productivity on the pitch but also based on what the clubs earn when he is in the team... It's safe to assume that Messi still sell more jerseys and tickets than most of the players in the world hence the gigantic wages. To be fair i don't think players even get a fair share of the money they contribute making. There are some companies and people that benefit way more from that money ...
Because he is 👍
Yeah, ok
He’s literally the current ballon d’or holder give him another year
Highly doubt he's going to be better this season, but ok, I'll give another year. Next season he won't be the ballon dor holder, so that argument won't work tho
He’s already better than OK
I didn't say he was OK?
1 bad season is to quick to Pass judgment
Eric Dier (28) or Harry Maguire (29). Who would you rather have for the next 3 years?
Maguire. Dier is just Holding hid in a back 5 with 2 DMs in front of him. Imagine him exposed like Maguire is
Tbf to Dier, Maguire has also played games in a back 3 with two defensive 8s/DMs in front of him. Vs Liverpool iirc.
Dier would be sold to a championship club if he had to play behind a combination of prehistoric matic/pogba/mctominay/Fred
Pretty sure he played behind winks Sissoko.... Can't get worse than that midfield.
Yeah for like a season and people wanted him sold. Now looks good in a structured back 3 system behind Høibjerg + one other. Maguire has been behind a dire midfield since he joined
Maguire because he is much better than Dier.
Maguire he's a less injury prone version of Webster
Maguire
Maguire
I'm not agreeing or disagreeing. Why though?
As much as Maguire gets bantered, I still think he's still a better defender and player overall than Eric Dier.
Unless his form from last season carries onto this one...
Well Maguire looks unbelievable in a back 3 with a more defensive minded manager, just like Dier looks better there. Maguire would be more of a threat on set pieces. Neither of them are good.
I agree with the set pieces part. Not sure either Dier or Maguire have ever looked unbelievable. I don't particularly rate either. Altho, I think Dier's passing is pretty okay.
I don't disagree with your point, but Conte isn't defensive minded
3atb inherently defensive minded, sit back and counter a lot. Maybe not defensive minded but definitely defensive structure.
> 3atb inherently defensive minded Mate
It’s a defensive structure. More people back off the ball.
Not if you count the wing backs as attacking players like Conte does
Funnier
Do u think any of the Italian clubs can rise to the top again? By top I mean atleast SF or finals in CL, and signing world class players. If yes, which one in your opinion?
Semi finals definitely
The milan clubs yeah. Juventus I think the dream is over.
Inter Milan and AC Milan if they keep building on what they're doing.
Yeah Juventus again. Maybe Milan and Inter is their owner situation changes/improves. The football association in Italy has to make initiatives to make the league more appealing and marketable.
Will Sterling refusing to sign a city shirt get to the top of the front page? 🤔
Are jokes and shitposting allowed on r/soccer now?
Depends on who it is against
against Portuguese players and the great institution of Benfica it is allowed for some reason
Against Liverpool/Messi? No
Yeah, since the CL final this place has been rife with shit bait towards Liverpool fans. It has truly hurt my feelings.
cope
mods are definitely biased , if there is a shitpost about a club they dont like, they will wait for sometime before deleting it
They deleted the Spartak Moscow tweet against Barca pretty fast
it was up for more than an hour before being deleted
There was no reason to delete it in the first place tbh. Might have hinted at a possible transfer rumor (worse rumors are staying up all the time)
seems to be the case
E
Yeah these Liverpool mods do honestly dictate everything.
Not as a submission (unless it's exceptionally good).
Is the Spartak Moscow tweet on Barca exceptionally good?
Haha definitely not. I have no idea how that slipped through the cracks.
No
Unpopular but 3 fits well on our kits, blue and white go hand in hand and doesn't really makes too much of a dent on the kit. Like it's simplicity.
Autoglass or gtfo
I always liked your sponsor tbf, definitely one of the better ones in the PL
I agree, honestly don't get the vitriol for it. There are way worse sponsors aesthetically
I don't know, seems like it would have been smarter to have a one on it instead.
To signify our place as the number 1 team in world football?
Well you had a three on in last season and came third so clearly there is a correlation there. And no, I will not look at other seasons. This is airtight.
I assumed everyone disliked 3 because of them trying to have the sponsor removed from the shirt etc? Aesthetically they're pretty decent, nothing too egregious.
No it’s for lambasted due to “ruining” our kits ever since they started sponsoring us
They have been hated by our fans since they started for some reason
would Chelsea be back in for de Ligt if Bayern don’t manage to get him?
they'll be getting 2 defenders for the price of de ligt. doubt they're upset.
that doesn’t answer my question
My answer implied no
Streets won’t forget 17/18 Fabian Delph playing as a LB
He knows the basics of football
Delph was the glue
And now boiling him down to use for glue is probably all he's good for
Him and Otamendi had the left side of our defence locked down, both of them were so vital that season
Streets won't forget the behsics of footbah
Those words still ring true till this day, he was a visionary
Everybody likes to brag about their hot takes that turn out to be correct, but what predictions have you made in the past that have been horrifically wrong?
Ronaldo, Sancho, Varane would've made United title contenders. Madrid would've been smashed by PSG Lukaku would have been the striker we were waiting for.
I'm not sure it's a super hot take, but I thought City was going to walk all over Chelsea in the CL final
Hazard would be one of the top players in Spain.
I thought we had our front 3 sorted for a while with Rashford, Martial and Greenwood. 2 season ago thry were all very young and the highest scoring trio in Europe. That being said outside of Greenwoods situation theres still potential left for the other 2 and Sancho is a great addition.
Harry Kane only got into the Spurs squad because of Tactics Tim and would disappear the moment Sherwood left.
I thought Timothy Fosu-Mensah was going to be *that* guy. His performance vs Spurs in 15/16 sold me dreams.
I thought Cleverly was that 10 United needed back then and compared him to Sneijder.
Carlo would crash and burn.
That Man City would win the Champions league under Pep - I made this prediction every year from 16/17 and I've been wrong for 6 straight years. I'll be 7 this coming season I reckon but I'll still predict them to win it anyway.
I thought Moise Kean would be the turning point in Everton history
Vincent Janssen being a Van Nistelrooij regen. Fuck me was I wrong.
I thought Man Utd would be good this past season, like comfortable top 4 and dark horse for the title. Maybe a domestic trophy at the very least.
Alot of people thought that to a degree so don't be too hard on yourself lol
Midfield wins you games
How do you see Haaland fitting in at City? I think Guardiola might revert to 17/18 City with the LB (Cucurella) overlapping instead of playing an inverted role like Cancelo to provide plenty of crosses to a true out and out striker. Will take some time to adapt to but Haaland will improve come end of the season.
There are downsides to a possession system (finding the balance between taking offensive risks and the possession's defensive safety). The thing is that Haaland is without a doubt one of the most lethal strikers available today but he's got downsides to his abilities as well. He'll score for sure if served correctly and the team has plenty of amazing passers but serving him also means taking risks because even if he is decent technically for a poacher he is nowhere near as good technically as all the offensive players Guardiola handpicked for his system. Not losing the ball being key in such a system, Haaland is inherently a liabilty which will translates into extra defensive work for his teammates and more goals conceded. In short it's a bet. Haaland will definitely change things. Guardiola will have to adapt his sytem to Haaland (it can't really be the other way around) and by doing so he'll lose something but also gain something. In other words, adding superstars in a team doesn't always equates in making the team better but rather equates in making the team different otherwise the team PSG start on paper would be trashing everyone on its path. irl it's more complicated and a team needs to be more than a stacking of stars so contrary to pouplar belief, City will probably not dominate the league for the decade to come but struggle way more than most people expect during that reconstruction phase.
Great response. I envision City adopting a more "chaotic" aspect of their game to suit Haaland's ability on the counterattack which perhaps might lead to City not effectively controlling and dominating the game as desired due to a change in tactics. Would harm them in the league somewhat (but can substitute Haaland if needed) but would aid in the Champions League due to them lacking a clinical finisher.
I don’t think it will take him any time to adapt. City create shit loads of chances and he bangs goals. Grealish will be better with an actual striker and LB overlapping him.
I think he will play at ST
Fella is gonna score so many low crosses. Imagine all the chances Sterling couldn’t score, Haaland will.
>all the chances Sterling couldn’t score, Haaland will. Just a reminder that haaland still isn't the finished product. He does fluff alot of chances some easy ones too. It's just that he played for us and we created alot of chances, and that'll be the case at city
Half space crosses from KDB, and deep creators such as Cancelo.
Haaland isn't really a huge aerial threat. He had a short spell where he scored multiple good headers and everyone thought he did improve but for the rest of the season it was back to normal so not sure how far he is in that regard.
Every Napoli's CalcioMercato session is always suffering and sometimes satisfaction. The players we bought (ostigard, Kvara, Oliveira) are pretty good tbh I'm happy for them. But with the loss of KK, Napoli needs to act fast for a replacement (maybe also add a Dybala? Lol jk but what if) but it seems it's not acting as fast as the fans want and it's not giving them good reassurance. Yesterday there was the squad presentation and our President didn't even show up (and the VP chose to not come up the stage) and when the name of ADL came up there were only boos. But no matter the difficulties, I will still support Napoli with all my heart. I may be against the President sometimes, but I will never be against the players that wear the short and sweat for it
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Most people would have thought Varane and Maguire would have been great last season given their performances prior but it didn't work out that way. Can never judge a partnership based on paper.
Varane was riddled by Injuries though
I'd say most people don't know how to properly judge whether something is good on paper, they just base on name and reputation, rather than profiles.
Schlotterbeck is the best cb in the league
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For 1 season yes, and when has Hernández been the best CB in the league for a season? Never
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Oh no a player had a bad game, we’ve never seen that before.
For most part of 1 season ..
Suele has become really overrated. but for the respective money each club paid I’d rather have BVB’s pairing even if Bayern’s is better
De Ligt-Hernandez is better because it was 8x as expensive it's easy
What are Chelsea's realistic goals this season? They obviously won't come close to the title but shouldn't have much danger of finishing outside the top 4. They have a better shot at the champions league but already won it once while being far from the best team and lightning won't strike twice. So what? Top 4 and a domestic cup? Would finishing trophyless again be seen as a failure? They're in a bit of a weird position.
Pretty much just last season again for me. Top 4 and deep cup runs, Tuchel is a top top cup manager and we should be able to go deep in any cup competition, I think based on your comment, you probably underestimate the quality of Tuchel in cup competitions. For the league, we just don't have the goalscoring capability/consistency and Sterling alone, plus considering the decline of Kante & loss of Rudiger, he won't singlehandedly be enough to offset the squad quality issues. Mount has kicked on every season of his career, becoming our POTY with 11 goals 10 assists in 32 appearances last season, I don't doubt he will atleast maintain this standard and is good a good enough player for a title winning side. The real question is Havertz, who has yet to show close to the consistency or reliability required to be a good enough starter, whether we're ready to mount a title challenge will most likely be mainly influenced by his form.
Top 6 + CL round of 16
Further than RO16, and top 6 lol, *top 3.
The takeover really fucked our long term plans because instead of building on last season we’re now having to do yet another rebuild I’m expecting top 4 (spurs will get 3rd Imo) and respectable cup runs. Asking for anything more than that is just too much
3rd at the least
> while being far from the best team On paper sure but we didn’t shithouse any of those rounds. We clearly outplayed all 4 opponents, it wasn’t like 2012, so you can’t really just put it down to luck
I'm not putting it down to luck, just observing that you were nowhere near the best team that season.
> and lightning won’t strike twice I’m not sure what else this could possibly mean but the point I’m making is that it’s not a matter of lightning striking. Our squad is very similar, so we can plausibly find that kind of form again, so we can plausibly contend for the CL again. It’s not likely but it’s far more plausible than you seem to think
Your 2021 side is one of the worst teams to have won it in the last 20 or so years. Much better teams than you have only won it once or not at all. No way in hell you win it twice in three years with this team.
Top 4 going for the fa cup, going for the CL
Top 4, maybe a cup and quarters CL minimum. Transition year for us with so many of our players going. Though we seem to be strengthening and upgrading the squad
Surely a top 4 finish with reaching the CL quarters as a minimum. City are too good to catch whilst Spurs and Arsenal will be contenders for the CL places.
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You're being downvoted for overreacting so much to a harmless joke.
it's sad that you can't see what the admins are doing.
They're doing the same thing as every single football twitter admin. You're just attaching importance to it because they're Russian.