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The 2017-2018 Football Thread
- Thread starter Lord Blackadder
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No CR7 (over 30 goals a season is no joke) plus new manager
Yeah I don’t like that we haven’t signed anyone to replace Ronaldo, but I don’t think it’s going to cause us to go trophy-less this season.
Thanks for the honourable mention! We've spent close to a £100 million and with a new manager, exciting times in East London.
I think our season will be much better than last!
A lot depends on the fitness of Wilshere, Arnie and Carroll. If we can get the three of them on the pitch together, in good form, happy days.
Then we have Anderson. If he can adapt to the PL, it will be exciting.
As for teams that haven't signed many or any players yet, with the WC the business tends to get done later.
Yes, I think now that players (apart from WC players, which doesn't apply in the case of Arsenal) are returning of pre-season training, and the WC is over, once August starts, we will see an increase in interest in the topic of transfers.
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Interesting and thoughtful analysis.
Your predicted Top Five takes in six teams, but I like the way you have discussed them.
Apart from platers, for me, part of the interest has always been found in not just 'the movement of the chess pieces' but how the different managers move those chess pieces. The battle of the managers - and their respective footballing an personal philosophies - is what I have found intriguing in recent years.
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Interesting and thoughtful analysis.
Your predicted Top Five takes in six teams, but I like the way you have discussed them.
Apart from platers, for me, part of the interest has always been found in not just 'the movement of the chess pieces' but how the different managers move those chess pieces. The battle of the managers - and their respective footballing an personal philosophies - is what I have found intriguing in recent years.
I think Arsenal will do well to break in to the top 5.
Man City start as favourites.
Manchester United obviously have a lot of good players (although hampered by their managers negatively on and off the pitch).
Chelsea with a new manager will be in a transitional year, but you don't get long to find your feet at Stamford bridge.
Spurs players retuning from the WC will either push on due to their success, or struggle with fitness and injuries due to no break.
Liverpool have strengthened their weakest area, their goal keeper.
Then Arsenal with a new manager after 22 years will definitely be going through the ringer. Think Moyes at Utd post Fergerson.
Hard to see them do better than 6th.
The rest are aiming for 7th. But I bet 10+ chairman would take 17th if offered it now!
Man City start as favourites.
Manchester United obviously have a lot of good players (although hampered by their managers negatively on and off the pitch).
Chelsea with a new manager will be in a transitional year, but you don't get long to find your feet at Stamford bridge.
Spurs players retuning from the WC will either push on due to their success, or struggle with fitness and injuries due to no break.
Liverpool have strengthened their weakest area, their goal keeper.
Then Arsenal with a new manager after 22 years will definitely be going through the ringer. Think Moyes at Utd post Fergerson.
Hard to see them do better than 6th.
The rest are aiming for 7th. But I bet 10+ chairman would take 17th if offered it now!
Arsenal have a new manager and he has been out purchasing, not something that anyone has paid too much heed to with the World Cup, which is probably a good thing as the spotlight has been shining elsewhere.
Odds enough, I'd expect Mr Emery to have as an aim, a first season goal, securing successfully a top four place, and I would be equally surprised if he failed to achieve it. Two years of underachievement will bite at pride, some players have been off-loaded, and defensive frailties have been addressed (but to what extent, we will not know until the season starts in earnest).
Chelsea will be in transition, and may have problems holding on to some of their top players.
Likewise, their new manager - after a few erratic seasons - where, as usual, they have had several changes at the top, may face challenges - both budgetary, plus the visa problems of the owner, and will certainly face the need to stamp his own authority on the club as he is something of an unknown.
Liverpool may finally fulfil their potential; personally, I have long liked Jurgen Klopp, and the goalkeeper issue has been addressed. I'd love to see them do really well and this could be their year for some sort of glory; they have the players, and the time could well be right.
Spurs - and I like Mauricio Pochettino - I think may have peaked. Their players will be exhausted, and perhaps prone to picking up the sort of niggling injuries that players who have run on adrenalin and empty may pick up. besides, the pressure will be on them to deliver to their potential - their players did provide much of the backbone of the English WC team, and it would not come as a surprise if some of them became restive, and seek to move elsewhere, if Spurs do not perform this season.
I think that this is the last season for that team to perform domestically; realistically, I cannot see the team lasting in its current form or shape beyond next summer, perhaps even beyond Christmas.
Re Manchester United, this will also be an important year, and one where Mourinho's limited man management skills will be thrown into sharp relief. This is another team of underachievers, - who do not gel as a team, and whose total sum is considerably less than the sum of their individual parts, and that is something I lay at the feet of the manager.
Players are diminished, lessened, shrivelled and reduced under Mourinho; there is not a single player I can call to mind whose career has been enhanced, who has grown as a player, under Mourinho. His inherent negativity has hurt his team, - the stunning performances turned in by both Pogba and Fellaini in the WC should give rise to questions of his management style.
For Pep, it is hard to build on perfection, but if he is to do that, he will have to try to repeat last year's astounding performance, and even more, show that he has what it takes at CL level. A great manager with a great team.
Yep, him and Mbappé said no. I honestly don’t think we are getting a huge signing this year. Hazard makes zero sense with our current roster of wide players (not that I don’t like Hazard), and I just don’t think Real press for him. It seems the being James back talk for a lot of traction, but Bayern said no to that too. I kind of wondering if we pull anything off this summer. If we don’t, I don’t see a CL title agree, but we might fight for the La Liga title. It’s going to be interesting. I want to see what’s the Pre season looks like.
Yep, and that what scares me a bit. While he is a great player (my favorite player to watch), I don’t know if he is carrier. Especially for Real Madrid. That is a huge ask. Plus is he worth 40 goals a season alone? Maybe if he is healthy, but if the last two seasons have proven anything. You can’t count on that. I am worried, but someone like Asensio is going to have to elevate his game to the next level. We need more than just Bale.
Mesut Özil retired (with 29y..) from the German national team, leaving kind of an earthquake behind. Maybe I'm starting to watch some more Arsenal games the upcoming season, always loved seeing him play, his style is of exceptional beauty imho and extremely unique. Most of the time he got heavily critisized or at least not the true recognition someone deserves who was a steady and integral part of THE most succesfull German-squad of many decades.
I don't like his attitude towards Erdogan and the pics they took - but the backlash was and still is ridiculous and filled to the brim with open and closet-rasicm and double standards. To mark him as the player that was responsible for the worst WC ever played while in fact he was one of the few better players is just the icing on the cake.
Sad story with no real winners and lots of losers, this goes far, far beyond pure sport right into our fragile communities. Let's see if DFB-president Grindel can survive this.
I don't like his attitude towards Erdogan and the pics they took - but the backlash was and still is ridiculous and filled to the brim with open and closet-rasicm and double standards. To mark him as the player that was responsible for the worst WC ever played while in fact he was one of the few better players is just the icing on the cake.
Sad story with no real winners and lots of losers, this goes far, far beyond pure sport right into our fragile communities. Let's see if DFB-president Grindel can survive this.
And then Uli Hoeness had to go and open his filthy gob. Its a laughable embarrassment that exposes their arrogance and cowardice.
Excellent post.
Agree that posing with Erdogan showed questionable judgment, but, others also did it, and his (Özil's) response - arguing that he did it (meeting with and posing with Erdogan) because he was the president, not because of what sort of president he is (and while Erdogan was on an official visit to the UK) was measured.
More telling was his barbed shot at Grindel and others, when he remarked that when Germany won, he was seen as German, but when they were defeated, he was "an immigrant."
His eloquent comment "I have two hearts, one in Germany and one in Turkey" should be applauded not condemned, while to blame him solely for Germany's poor WC performance, when firstly, he was one of the better players, and secondly, others went missing, including some with impeccable German pedigrees (this does call to mind ugly memories of repellant ideologies).
A disgusting double standard indeed.
Indeed.
And if we are discussing ethics and standards (off and on the pitch) just exactly where was Hoeness during the WC of 2014?
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Yes, @twietee, @Alphazoid and I have just been discussing this over the last - most recent - few posts, just above yours.
dang. imma start payng attention riiiiii-iiiight now!
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wow, incredible. thats messed up what team germany did to Ozil. racism has no room in football. dont know how the germany national team will recover from this. major PR disaster. he is retiring from international at just 29 yrs old, ouch. i couldnt believe it when i heard the news yesterday, SMH.
Racism is still present throughout football sadly but I think the main reason Ozil retired from international duty is because whenever he represents his country he usually plays pretty crap.
I disagree, he was one of the better players and his stats speak for themselves. Muller was awful, Boateng, Hummels, Brandt all awful.
I think because of his style of play he's easy to pick on and yes he could learn a thing or two about tracking back and defending but if anything he plays better for Germany than he does for his club.
Well...he used to.
I've met Hoeness once.
And I'll tell you where:
in jailhouse
(and one of us came as a visitor
..). We briefly crossed and what I saw and heard was a very humble person saying 'hello' to us.Maybe he should have stayed in prison for his own good.
I remember when he openly cried because of how unfair and personal the public spoke about him during his trial.
How he - just a couple of days ago - apparently announced that he'll step back a bit and that he won't be as present in the media as he used to.
Despicable man.
At least I have a pic saying 'Ulrich Hoeneß' at a jail door.
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