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The 2015-2016 Football Thread

Lord Blackadder

Lord Blackadder

macrumors P6
Original poster
May 7, 2004
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Sod off
Usually Jaffa Cake is here to provide us with a clever and amusing prologue to our yearly football thread, but seeing as I'm still brooding over Mexico's massively lucky Gold Cup win I'm afraid I won't be able to fill his captious boots in that regard.

Nevertheless, the European leagues will begin in less than a month, so this is an auspicious moment to start a new thread (even though MLS continues to chug along for several more months, of course).

USA women kicked ass!!! That alone was worth a whole year of suffering through a miserable Liverpool campaign and a very up and down USA men's schedule. Maybe the Crew will make the playoffs this fall.

Looking forward to more football!!!!
 
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wanted to write about starting a new thread on saturday but i already had to go to the first game of the season :p

1.-3. tier in austria already started on friday and our 5. of the top league already went through a qualifying game for the euroleague in the last 2 weeks. They managed to beat their belorussian opponent and now are about to face Borussia Dortmund in the next round !

(Bought my 3.league season ticket (70 bucks) and was treated to a win with our new striker banging in 2 goals..)
 
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The best news for Liverpool at the moment is probably the ongoing expansion project at Anfield. Given that European football is entirely driven by money, boosting revenue is crucial and jamming a few thousand more punters in will do just that.

I hope, if I ever do make it to Liverpool in person, I don't have to sell a kidney to get into a match.
 
Less than two weeks until the season kicks off and I really don't know what to expect. I think we've made some shrewd signings, and so far haven't lost anyone particularly important (bar maybe Rudy Austin, but touch and go on his usefulness).

Last season was a disappointment. A big disappointment. However, we saw a few new academy products break through into the first team and really step up to the plate. If we hold on to them then it will be very exciting to see them develop further, though I still think we'll lose at least one to the PL. Probably Byram, £8m is the price being thrown around and that sounds about right.

Anyway...

Probably line-up for the opening game v Burnley (assuming no more signings)

Silvestri
Berardi Bamba Cooper Taylor
Murphy Cook Mowatt
Byram Wood Erwin

Best player - Lewis Cook
Goalscoring hero - (hopefully) Chris Wood
Fan favourite - Sol Bamba

Better than last season? Yes. Can 4-3-3 work for us? Definitely. Will we beat Burnley? God I hope so...
 
Hopefully Jaffa can make an appearance, even if it is just as a substitute :)
 
Can Man Utd afford to lose de Gea? It's a genuine question as to whether they would have finished in the top four without him.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
Can Man Utd afford to lose de Gea? It's a genuine question as to whether they would have finished in the top four without him.
Click to expand...

i would say no.
De Gea is not only one of the best keepers i the world today but also is only 24 years old... he will be a top goalkeeper for at least a decade.

With whom would they replace him who is
a. younger ?
b. better ?
c. cheaper ?

there is no such keeper who is also available.
 
Sergio Ramos has signed a new deal with Real, so the rumored swap for him to Man Utd in exchange for De Gea is dead in the water.

takao said:
there is no such keeper who is also available.
Click to expand...

Aside from perhaps Courtois, does such a keeper even exist?
 
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Offered ridiculous money to stay, won't help the club secure a better fee - keep for the season if GBP 20m or less, grey area if GBP 20m+1p (Arsene) to 25m, sell if more than GBP 25m. Just sign a decent keeper, it is a different team this season.

takao; how good is Leno and is he available?

Oblak looked good in the Champions League.

Nobel prize to Blatter and the No Balls prize looks to be on its way to Di Maria. Shame, he isn't bad when he can be bothered. His mental side was a worry when he signed, much like Ozil; seems he isn't up for the fight - no use no matter how much skill you have.

Cheers,
OW
 
oscillatewildly said:
Offered ridiculous money to stay, won't help the club secure a better fee - keep for the season if GBP 20m or less, grey area if GBP 20m+1p (Arsene) to 25m, sell if more than GBP 25m. Just sign a decent keeper, it is a different team this season.
Click to expand...

What world-class Spaniard would turn down a chance to play for one of Real/Barca? Not surprised he wants to go. I imagine Man Utd will keep him till the contract runs out rather than sell, as his performances are more valuable than any transfer fee and I assume he won't sulk.
 
Ian Holloway is joining the Sky Sports team...i honestly CANNOT wait.
 
oscillatewildly said:
Offered ridiculous money to stay, won't help the club secure a better fee - keep for the season if GBP 20m or less, grey area if GBP 20m+1p (Arsene) to 25m, sell if more than GBP 25m. Just sign a decent keeper, it is a different team this season.

takao; how good is Leno and is he available?
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2 years ago i would have said that Leno and ter-Stegen are roughly equals in potential but during the last 1,5 seasons Leno sure made much more mistakes and had more bad games.
He still makes miracolous saves and had many shoot-outs (2. behind Neuer) but some of his errors did cost his team quite some points as well. Was a mixed season IMHO.
Availability might be possible for the big bags of money available in England ;)

stand-outs last season in Bundesliga were the young Timo Horn from Köln who managed 10 shoot-outs (for a team who just been promoted !), was for most of the season still under 21 years old, and had a 75% save quota. One of the biggest reason Köln had a succesfull season.
Could be the next german standout keeper ..

even better was perhaps the swiss Yann Sommer with a 84% quota and 11 shoot outs, he is the smallest nr1 keeper of the Bundesliga but i think he has some high jumping frog in his ancestery ... also unbelievable saves through reflexes. Had twice as many saves than Neuer because there were many more shots on his goal.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
Can Man Utd afford to lose de Gea? It's a genuine question as to whether they would have finished in the top four without him.
Click to expand...

I don't think they would, but as OW said, it's going to be a different team this coming season, so as a Man U fan you'd hope they weren't going to be so reliant on De Gea to win them games.

Not sure how much Ramos was interested in going to Man U, but clearly he's done a Rooney and secured himself a better deal ;)
 
Lord Blackadder said:
What world-class Spaniard would turn down a chance to play for one of Real/Barca? Not surprised he wants to go. I imagine Man Utd will keep him till the contract runs out rather than sell, as his performances are more valuable than any transfer fee and I assume he won't sulk.
Click to expand...

If he wants to be Spain's number 1, La Liga's gruesome twosome seals it. Wonder what the Atletico fans will come up with for the derby games? As for performance if he stays, he was up and down during the last month of the season and it continued on tour; maybe the concentration returns when the new season starts and Euro 2016 nears?

takao,

Thanks.

Dortmund signed a Swiss keeper, maybe something in the water? Re Shorter players, they need to learn how to jump well? Plenty of times my first thought is 'How did he win that?'.

Fizzoid,

When a 'Big' club player is linked to Manchester United, tend to think they are after a pay rise from their current employer. :)

Cheers,
OW
 
The current rumor is that LVG is green lighting the sale of De Gea, with the implication that LVG considers him terminally unsettled by the Real offers.

Selling him now would be mildly surprising - they won't be able to replace him with a better (or even equivalent) keeper and the £25m transfer fee being mooted is pocket change for the hyper-rich Man Utd; they certainly don't need money.
 
One nil to the Arsenal...should have been 3-0 Arsenal, but Courtois was immense in those 1v1 blocks. The man is a freak of nature, all arms and legs. Good goal by the Ox. Wenger finally beats Mou.

Meaningless game, unfortunately. I expect Chelsea to be much, much better when it counts. Still, I think Cech is a good addition to the squad for Arsenal, Coquelin continues to add steel to the midfield and Giroud looked sharp. The squad is healthy overall though Wilshire was out.

Another 3rd or 4th place finish for the Gunners, I imagine.
 
City and United are still suspect defensively. Kompany out of form since last season, Mangala is yet to justify his price tag. Demichelis is old and Clichy is passable at best. Zabaleta is the only consistent defender they have.

United's backline story speaks for itself. De Gea might be leaving too which is irreparable damage...at least in the short term.

Also both teams only have one recognised striker now, Aguero/Rooney (Sterling isn't a striker sorry) with the impending departure of Dzeko and loss of Jovetic, RVP and Falcao.

City and United might struggle for goals this season unless both teams learn to start scoring from all positions. Chelsea too...if all we keep hearing about is Falcao's movement rather than Falcao's goals.

Shield was a meaningless friendly, but the reaction of Jose, EBJT and the rest of Chelsea squad made it worth it. Another (possibly final?) monkey off Arsenal's backs.
 
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Chelsea do have some problems with Costa's hamstring, and Falcao is a big question mark in terms of fitness. Rémy looked sloppy today. Mou might struggle to get goals out of his forwards. Even that won't necessarily stop them, as the team is fundamentally built not to lose rather than to chase goals. They are very strong in defense, make few mistakes and usually punish those made by their opponents. Terry and Ivanovich score more goals every season than many lesser Premier League strikers do.

Man Utd have brought in a lot of talent, but if De Gea goes things could get a little dodgy in the back. Considering all the money spent and talent acquired, Man City is still not really that impressive - especially in Europe.

It's Chelsea for the league title followed by Arsenal and the Mancunians in no particular order.

Kariya said:
Shield was a meaningless friendly, but the reaction of Jose, EBJT and the rest of Chelsea squad made it worth it. Another (possibly final?) monkey off Arsenal's backs.
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Yep, that was brilliant. Jose is a big baby, always has been. A terrible winner and a worse loser.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
Man Utd have brought in a lot of talent, but if De Gea goes things could get a little dodgy in the back. Considering all the money spent and talent acquired, Man City is still not really that impressive - especially in Europe.
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that martin demichelis is still sitting on that man city defense line is obviously some joke i'm not sure is working as intended.
he is extremely experienced but for CL level play he simply isn't fast enough anymore... and he still makes his trademark "one horrible mistake per game"

i honestly though that malaga would be his retirement club.
 
ohh boy, here we go again. guys calm down, you cant judge a team or PLAYERS by just one game and especially the first game of the season. GoBlues!!! .............Dont be so fast to judge.
 
Centaurr said:
ohh boy, here we go again. guys calm down, you cant judge a team or PLAYERS by just one game and especially the first game of the season. GoBlues!!! .............Dont be so fast to judge.
Click to expand...

If you look at the posts, you'll see that no one is predicting Chelsea's demise. I doubt that anyone thinks they'll finish out of the top two.
 
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