There is an interesting piece about West Ham - "Delusions of stadium grandeur haunt West Ham and the club's owners' - in today's edition of the Guardian.
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The 2017-2018 Football Thread
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There is an interesting piece about West Ham - "Delusions of stadium grandeur haunt West Ham and the club's owners' - in today's edition of the Guardian.
I'll have a look for it later, but I think our problems predate the stadium move.
When we stopped bringing in good young players (Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, jamine Defoe) and started bringing in older has Beens who like the treatment room.
What a shame for Manchester United. And they will get to see City win the league at their next derby game.
Bye bye Mourino! Won't be long now.
Bye bye Mourino! Won't be long now.
I admit I'm completely biased...but, genuinely setting that aside for a moment, this was indeed a classic display of Mourinho cowardice. Sevilla are a good team, a dangerous opponent in Europe - but Mourinho isn't exactly short on resources or player talent.
Despite having a theoretically much more talented (and certainly far more expensive) squad and playing at home, Mourinho approached the game in a state of terror and was ushered out of the CL with barely a whimper.
I wonder what his new employers, the Russians, think of this sort of craven behavior.
As I cannot stand Mr Mourinho, as a man or as a manager, I'm delighted to see that United are out of the CL.
Haha! Didn't see the results - excellent start into the day.
Don't know much about Sevilla but they're definitely a powerhouse come international duties..absolutely astonishing.
lol. yeah or Man U either for me.
But - One of my sons likes them so...ugh.
Happily, of my four boys 2 of them prefer THE MASSIVE SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY .
You don't run into too many neutrals when it comes to Manchester United. You are either a supporter (and 90% of them are considered "plastics" by the other 10%, and don't know who Matt Busby was) or you'd rather see them lose as much as possible. Especially now, with "Eye-Poker" Mourinho at the helm and "Elbows" Felliani fouling his way around the midfield.
To be fair, most of the "big" clubs get criticized by fans of smaller clubs, and justifiably so - it's a gilded age for football. The sport is run like a cartel by a few powerful, corrupt men. Wealth been concentrated at a small elite group of clubs, and everyone else is just getting by - if they are lucky.
The league campaign is essentially over. I suspect Liverpool and Spurs will finish in the top four, Man Utd have probably ruined Liverpool's chances of leapfrogging them to second, and Man City are a dot on the horizon.
It's all about the relegation battle now, and the main point of interest there is really just whether or not West Ham go down (with apologies to @Apple fanboy).
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I think there is a fair amount of other clubs that could go down.
Southampton would be a big one to drop.
But I'm expecting it will be a nervous last day for me.
Yes, it could go down to the wire. Southampton are definitely in trouble, but West Ham are the highest profile club in real danger.
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Not to pile it on Mourinho too much, but Barney Ronay's latest , and rather florid, piece in the Guardian on Mou pointed out that
" [Mourinho] is, with two wins in 10 and everything from funds to pedigree in his favour, the worst manager in the past 10 years of the Champions League knockout stages."
I can't find the stats to back that up, but it is food for thought. Relatively few managers have chalked up 100 Champions League matches. Currently the most successful of these are Pep Guardiola, Louis van Gaal, and Rafa Benitez, in that order. Mourinho is still among the elite here, ranking 9th.
I imagine it would rankle Mou to know that arch-nemisis Pep and Rafa "Fat Spanish Waiter" Benitez are ahead of him on this list.
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Yes, I saw that.
The more interesting story - to my mind, at any rate - is where Mr Conte will head to this coming summer. He has never warmed to the UK, or to London, never settled and neither did his family - and - professionally - to a large extent, he has achieved all that he can achieve with Chelsea.
My understanding is that Conte is keen to re-join the Italian national team for the World Cup. A good short-term gig, and then he can decide afterwards where he wants to go in club football.
He won the league with Chelsea in his first season, so it's probably always going to be downhill from there if he hangs around. Chelsea aren't spending like they used to, and big spending is what makes Chelsea Chelsea. Take that away, and what do you have?
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Very possibly.
Actually, I hadn't thought of the World Cup, and that does make sense as I believe that Mr Conte will wish to take the opportunity to return to Italy.
The coaching carousel is going to be interesting this summer. Chelsea will almost assuredly be looking for a new manager. The odds are very good right now that Wenger will be out at Arsenal. I think United should part ways with Mourinho, but I imagine the board will give him another year unless the rest of the season ends in total free fall. Brighton in the FA Cup looms large this weekend.
I'm not so sure about Arsene. Kroenke appears to be content to let Wenger stay as long as he likes, and Wenger has never indicated he is even considering leaving. There is obviously pressure on him from fans and the media, but not (as yet) from the people who matter.
As for Mou, the club clearly want to keep him. But he produces boring football and unless he wins trophies there is no excuse for that...and there is a very distinct possibility that they won't win any trophies this season. Even an FA Cup win is not going to paper over the cracks. I predict that, barring some major unforeseen incident, he will still be in charge of Man Utd next August, but he will be expected to win either the league or CL.
As for the Brighton match, Man Utd will win easily. The next round may be much more difficult, however. it would be nice to see Wigan go deep.
Southampton are our next league game. Not good for us as they will be in their honeymoon period in this must win game for us both.
Mo Freaking Salah...what a season he is having! Goal difference might be important come the end of the season, so a 5-0 win like this is more than just an exercise in running up the score. I doubt Liverpool can catch Man Utd, but the margin is still tight enough that Mourinho can't afford a slump.
Brighton ran up the white flag against Man Utd before the match even began by putting out a B squad for this FA Cup match...should be a cakewalk for Mourinho.
Columbus with a 0-0 draw away to Philly today, so the season starts with three matches undefeated.
Brighton ran up the white flag against Man Utd before the match even began by putting out a B squad for this FA Cup match...should be a cakewalk for Mourinho.
Columbus with a 0-0 draw away to Philly today, so the season starts with three matches undefeated.
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Zlatan off to LA Galaxy. Thanks to LA for continuing to play to the (no longer true) stereotype that MLS is a retirement league.
Zlatan (on a free transfer, if memory serves) did very very well in Manchester - to a certain extent, he was their talisman last season - and he performed far better and far more consistently and competitively than several of the highly priced players who followed him there.
I wish him well and could never fault his attitude or commitment. If anything, it is United's loss.
Ibra was pretty great last season, but he unfortunately no longer has a place in the United squad. The few appearances he made this season, he looked well off the pace. Lukaku has been a more than adequate replacement, with his overall game and leadership skills growing by leaps and bounds. Martial and Rashford are sufficient cover up top.
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