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The 2013-2014 Football Thread

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Happybunny said:
...the team needed sorting out, no mister nice guy.
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I agree about him being a 'flawed' manager. But what Utd needs is exactly that: a self-confident (read: arrogant ;)) manager who has the reputation and will to sort players out - even when (once) well respected. One shouldn't think of him as someone staying around for more than a couple of seasons (at max) though. I believe his nick-name was Tulpen-General.

But he (+Klinsmann a wee bit) did the main groundwork for what we see now happening at Bayern Munich: Alaba, Badstuber, Müller and to some degree Schweinsteiger (although overrated imo) wouldn't be where they're now without him. He sacked Lucio, Demichelis (?), vanBommel, Luca Toni, keeper Rensign and wanted to get rid of Gomez but wasn't allowed to. All highly respected players at that time, some even fan-favorites, and I guess he got a ton of hatemails from Bayern fans for that. In hindsight they should've thanked him. Not to mention the strategic decisions he introduced who got refined by Heynckes later on - now being one of or maybe even the most dominant team around.
 
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Van Gaal and United sound perfect for each other Happybunny.

In other news, Barca transfer ban has been suspended pending a final decision on appeal.

Which means "Barca you can get deals done asap until we artificially/superficially act tough on you."
 
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In case nobody noticed, Chelsea and Atleti played out a very boring 0-0 yesterday in Madrid...hardly a vintage European night. Not much to say about the match but some of the side-issues are of note - Cech out for the season, Terry out for the season for starters.

Mourinho has been reported as asking permission from Abramovich to play a seriously weakened side against Liverpool as a protest to his crowded fixture schedule. Typical Mourinho - if he does I can only hope Liverpool put them to the sword.

Atletico Madrid will go to Chelsea feeling they have a good chance to win the tie. If so, Chelsea's season could be over by midweek next week.

Van Gaal - probably a good choice but he is decidedly a short-termer. Man Utd need to sign Van Gaal but keep looking for a long-term replacement. They also have to expect a couple seasons in the wilderness unless they are prepared to make a huge layout in the transfer market.

Klopp might not be interested now, but a lot can change in 2-3 years in this game. At the moment they simply need to bring in a guy who will buy them time.

Kariya said:
In other news, Barca transfer ban has been suspended pending a final decision on appeal.

Which means "Barca you can get deals done asap until we artificially/superficially act tough on you."
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More evidence for the corruption/incompetence of the game's governing bodies. :(
 
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Happybunny said:
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I really don’t think that you two understand Louis van Gaal, he is a deeply flawed man.

A very talented manager who really does understand tactics, and can motivate players he likes. He is best suited to running a National team so that he has time to unwind, and recharge. But he has major problems with the day to day running of a team in a league, if everything is going good no problem, but as soon as a problem occurs he starts to meltdown. He also is known to hold a grudge, he is incapable to saying he is sorry, because he is always right about everything.
He is also very arrogant and inflexible, he has real trouble admitting when he is wrong, and will blame just about everybody else if it goes wrong.

He takes teams to great heights or to very depths, there is never a middle way.

But he has one huge blind spot, he hates the press with a fiery vengeance of a thousand suns, his press conferences are legendary.


The main reason he is the National Manager of the Netherlands is after the disaster of 2012 EC the team needed sorting out, no mister nice guy.
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I understand he has his favourites and mentioned a possible scenario re Rooney and RvP. I'm aware he is arrogant - he is from the Netherlands. :p Ferguson is flawed and holds grudges - including against the media. The team needs sorting out. He wouldn't be the long term manager, more setting the shot for the next guy. I know three to four years is optimistic; the usual suspects are around two to four years left on their contracts, if the long end is possible, it buys options re targets.

He has a system, he can identify at full and youth level within the club the players capable of playing it/being converted to play it - he won't just splash the cash, and he is a big enough character. Maybe not smooth sailing, but more positive re play.

That said, it'll be Ancelotti.:)

Lord Blackadder,

It is clear the Gods want Liverpool. As you say, the game wasn't pretty - though Luiz using the Madrid player to take out Cech.:D

Cheers,
OW
 
Well, Barca appealing: should be their right, right?

I must be really alone with this one (and I can understand that, bit masochistic), but as long as it's only Chelsea I still see some 'entertainment' within a club giving even the best the hardest time to score even once when facing crucial games. Atletico didn't convince me either - maybe about 57-43% for Chelsea now who have the advantage of playing home. ;)
 
Luke Shaw has apparently agreed to join Man Utd on a £100,000 per week contract with the club paying a £30m transfer fee for the 18 year-old. That's crazy money.

twietee said:
Well, Barca appealing: should be their right, right?
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Perhaps, but allowing Barca to sign players while the appeal is being considered seriously weakens the punishment.

Knowing that they may have a transfer ban, the club can now go on a buying spree and bulk up the squad. The ban will still hurt them but the effect will be much reduced.
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
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They also have to expect a couple seasons in the wilderness unless they are prepared to make a huge layout in the transfer market.

...
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Two midfielders; GBP 60m

Left back; GBP 20m

Centre back - experienced - GBP 20m

Varela promoted to Rafael's cover.

Sales to cover the cost of one defender. If Valencia and Nani leave, bring in one wide player. Two years of transfers in one year.

Edit - typical :D - the Shaw GBP 30m has been around for a while. If it happens, is it up front or is it the total including add-ons? What is the problem if he is the left back for the next 10 years or more?

Cheers,
OW
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
They also have to expect a couple seasons in the wilderness unless they are prepared to make a huge layout in the transfer market.
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Lord Blackadder said:
Luke Shaw has apparently agreed to join Man Utd on a £100,000 per week contract with the club paying a £30m transfer fee for the 18 year-old. That's crazy money.
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Welp. I guess we now know which option they're taking.

oscillatewildly said:
Centre back - experienced - GBP 20m
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Centre back £20m unlikely to happen unless he's still raw or on the wrong side of 30. There's a shortage of decent defenders.

The fact that United paid £37m for Mata also sets the precedent of what other clubs will expect.
 
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EDIT: ^Good point on the cost of defenders, the market is tough at the moment. Not a lot of proven talent available.

Yes, it looks as if the Man Utd suits are loosening the purse strings.

Shaw is a very exciting young player but they are overpaying for him. Such is the market these days though, especially considering the special tax on Englishman. oscillatewildly - I agree with you that if he turns out to be a 10-year regular, nobody will complain about the cost. What Man Utd have is money - what they need are better players. The logic is pretty simple!

oscillatewildly said:
Two midfielders; GBP 60m

Left back; GBP 20m

Centre back - experienced - GBP 20m

Varela promoted to Rafael's cover.

Sales to cover the cost of one defender. If Valencia and Nani leave, bring in one wide player. Two years of transfers in one year.
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A reasonable plan, but you can't factor in the imponderables - which of those signings will turn out to be Ronaldos and Rooneys and which turn out to be Bebes and Andersons? Rebuilding is a painful process. Be prepared for some dud transfers (c.f. Konchesky, Aquilani, Poulsen, Carroll, Downing etc etc....)

EDIT2: More fallout from the Chelsea - Sunderland match...Chelsea's Ramires is facing a 4-match ban for his forearm strike on Larsson, Mou's assistant Rui Faria is in the doghouse for completely losing his rag on the sideline (two counts of misconduct), and finally Mourinho's sarcastic post-game manifesto has not amused the FA. I think Mou is facing another fine on that one.

Not a good week for Chelsea so far, and for once the media can't portray this outburst as some sort of clever mind game. ;) Cech and Terry are certainly out for the Liverpool match, probably Ramires now as well.
 
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100k per week / 30mio transfer fee for a 18 year old left back ?

just for reference 2012 Lahm earned around ~158k pound per week

typical example of the "english player tax"

he's a 10 mio transfer ... tops
 
More on the "war chest"...the Glazers do not have a history of spending money on Man Utd that they could just as easily pocket. Will they really be willing to fill a suitcase with £150 million and hand it off to the club suits/new manager to buy players? (I don't think they have a choice, but will they do it?)
 
Real opposed to Chelsea actually know how counter attacking has to look like.
Even though they surrender too much possession IMHO ... 10 corners for Bayern ? that's an awefull lot ... one good Mandzukic header in the second half and it's back to square one

compared to yesterdays game this is actually a CL game worth watching
 
Pep is trying to turn Bayern into Barca (possession/tiki-taka/slowly grind down teams) whereas Heynckes allowed them to express themselves and play to their strengths. (compact/intense/speedy counter on the wings)
 
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Heynckes played more compact, Pep plays them further up front are probably the most significant changes. Think it's not fair to judge them based only on the latest games, they've won the league incredible early and do have serious problems to find their rhythm ever since. Ribery being completely off track since the ballon d'or doesn't help them either.

That said, I'm loving it! :D
Getting booted by Real and losing the cup final against Dortmund and the whole season is completely f'ed for them!
 
I was being a little bit tongue-in-cheek, but it is interesting to see that Bayern are trying to come to grips with a new system that - for the moment - is not demonstrably superior to the old system in terms of results.

When is Ribery going to stop acting like a big baby over the Ballon 'd Or? Ronaldo is a better player than Ribery 10 times out of 10. They're both world-class though (when not diving).

Th league means little to Bayern these days, Europe is everything. Unless they at least reach the final (and really, unless they win it) the season will be seen as a loss.

Pepe is off injured. That felt so good I'll type it again: Pepe is off injured. ;)
 
...and the Allianz Area has been proven to not really be a fortress against the top teams.

Lahm needs to drop back into RB, Schweini in CM, Martinez alongside him, Gotze/Thiago in the hole and then the wingers. They also need to look at their defence. Dante/Boateng increasingly being found out.
 
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Madrid's (Spanish teams in general?) track record in Germany isn't that good though. ;)
 
A Bayern vs Chelsea final would be absolutely dire. One team will park the bus, the other will pass, pass, pass x800...Zzzzz

You'd be better off counting ship until the 91st minute.
 
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