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The 2020-2021 Football Thread

Lord Blackadder said:
Columbus have started well against the Revs in their conference final knockout match; I think we have the better attack but we are still playing with our backup keeper. But why the hell are we wearing our away kit at home in a playoff match, and why are we attacking the Nordecke in the first half? Would like to see us grab a goal in the first half.

Speaking of backup keepers, Liverpool are in the same boat but currently have a two goal cushion against Wolves, so hopefully Kelleher won't be required to make any game-saving plays today.

It's unusual to have both 'Pool and Columbus on the pitch at the same time. If I were a multi-billionaire and owned buth clubs I'd have them play a pre-season friendly tournament every year. Two matches each in Columbus and Liverpool. :)



I think it's worth remembering that nobody is playing really great football right now. Between fixture congestion, injuries, and players getting COVID, The best you can hope for are good results.

Hard to judge some clubs and managers right now with all those complications. With that being said, it was a bad day for Arsenal, and right now it does not look like Arteta is really building on last season's finish. Good win for Man Utd yesterday but another inconsistent performance....PSG would have tore them apart in the first half.
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West Ham would have if Antonio was available I’m sure. We should have been 3-0 up at halftime.
 
Columbus are through to the MLS Cup (league) final, 1-0 over the Revs!!!

MLS is so hard to predict. Columbus had a good squad going into the season and looked solid in the MLS is Back (COVID) Cup before going down to Minneapolis somewhat unluckily. Philly were the favorites going into the playoffs and got dumped out n the first round.

So it's either Seattle or Minnesota again in the final. I suspect it'll be Seattle, and they'll win, but hey, we got this far, who knows?
 
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Sad to say, but, Tottenham are now better than us. Yes, no trophies compared to what we have.
But, teams do not fear us like they used to. And, Tottenham are no exception. We were awful yesterday, just woeful...
 
teecuptech said:
Sad to say, but, Tottenham are now better than us. Yes, no trophies compared to what we have.
But, teams do not fear us like they used to. And, Tottenham are no exception. We were awful yesterday, just woeful...
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Woeful, agreed.

The spinelessness of late Wenger, coupled with an attack which has become strangely toothless.
Apple fanboy said:
True. But you should be safe.....
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Oh, dear.

That is doubtless a (surprisingly successful attempt) to wind up those of us who support the Gunners.
 
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Apple fanboy said:
Didn’t they try and fail to sign Grealish?
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They did, but that signing was always off as soon as Villa secured their top flight safety at the end of last season. With United's weakness in defensive midfield, it would've been a similar situation with Graelish like they're facing with Van der Beek in that it's difficult to play two more attacking mids together without leaving the defense exposed.

United's squad is still pretty unbalanced, and they still rely very heavily on Bruno Fernandes' skill and drive. Sometimes Ole gets the substitutions spot on, but it may not have mattered if Haller, for one, hadn't fluffed his chance for West Ham.
 
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I find it heartwarming, as a long-suffering Saints fan to see Arsenal and Man U fans having such a difficult time of it right now.
I know that Man U fans are largely in denial and still believe they're a powerhouse, but they've languished most of this season and to be honest, have relied on one or two players to keep them out of the muck, while Arsenal have just been ordinary...for a team I used to call the Barcelona of England, I take little (but some) joy in saying they're not looking good, but boy, oh boy. It's great to be talking about European qualification while others who are normally above us are already talking about survival.

And have we spoken about the fact that "normal service has resumed" on Merseyside? Everton need to get their mojo back and quickly.

Currently watching Brighton vs Southampton...pretty frenetic at the moment.
 
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teecuptech said:
LOL at some of the comments. We will bounce back from this, we must.
The question is, how long before we do so...?
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Yes, while I have long reconciled myself to the fact that we are not (and haven't been for some time) contenders for the title, or even contenders for a Champion's League spot, I suppose I have yet to reconcile myself to our sustained stretch of unrelieved mediocrity.
 
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HandsomeDanNZ said:
Could easily have been said by a Saints/Hammers/Newcastle/Spurs fan from the last few seasons!
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Indeed.

The thing is, you can get awfully used to - indeed, almost complacent about - varying degrees of success, and thereby run the risk of taking them for granted.

Remember, for all of the howls of complaint, under Mr Wenger, Arsenal qualified for the CL - almost as a matter of course - every single year, until, virtually the very end.

Yes, we never performed all that well in the CL (one year as defeated finalists notwithstanding), but we could rest content with ore or less automatic qualification.

That is no longer the car, and, as we have already seen with Manchester United, it can take a team quite some time to engineer, or craft, a specific (collective) character once a revered, and long-serving manager has departed.
 
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Pogba has officially reached "Wantaway" status in tabloid-speak, With Super-Parasite Agent Mino Raiola claiming he could not longer "express himself" at the club.

Ings with a goal today, that's great news for the saints.
 
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Lord Blackadder said:
Pogba has officially reached "Wantaway" status in tabloid-speak, With Super-Parasite Agent Mino Raiola claiming he could not longer "express himself" at the club.

Ings with a goal today, that's great news for the saints.
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Not surprised by the Pogba news...another over-rated "superstar" looking for a bigger payday while doing the bare minimum.
I just don't rate him at all.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
Pogba has officially reached "Wantaway" status in tabloid-speak, With Super-Parasite Agent Mino Raiola claiming he could not longer "express himself" at the club.

Ings with a goal today, that's great news for the saints.
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HandsomeDanNZ said:
Not surprised by the Pogba news...another over-rated "superstar" looking for a bigger payday while doing the bare minimum.
I just don't rate him at all.
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Yes, I read that story; "express himself" - what a fascinating use of language with which to describe - or signal - Pogba's unhappiness at Manchester United..
 
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Minnesota blew a 2-0 lead to lose to Seattle 3-2 last night, with Seattle scoring all three goals in the last 20 minutes plus stoppage.

So it's a Columbus - Seattle final for MLS Cup. The current plan is for Columbus to host, so MAPFRE stadium - the first soccer specific professional stadium built in the US in the modern era - will host one last big match before being replaced with a new stadium near downtown Columbus next year.

Lots of memories at Columbus Crew Stadium. I won't miss parking in a muddy field or literally walking a mile to the nearest pub, but it is a special place. And not just for the Crew - the USA played 12 international matches there over the years, winning 11 of them; this included three memorable 2-0 wins over Mexico, which birthed the "Dos a Cero" chant. I was there for one of those.

But there's one more match to go at MAPFRE, and here's hoping it will be another fond memory.
 
Mino Raiola's timing is impeccable as always, stirring up the pot the day before a crucial UCL away match that Pogba was presumably going to play a part in.

I've been over Pogba for a while and want him gone now more than ever, but who would realistically buy him right now? If Juve or PSG come in with anything over £50 million, get it done.

As for United in general, they're in a weird spot: they're not as bad as the naysayers make out, but not as good as some partisans would think. They're currently 6th in the league with a game in hand and 1 point away from qualifying out of their UCL group, but the inconsistency is maddening. I do have serious tactical concerns about OGS, but I do want him to succeed, and he is not the primary problem at United. There is a lack of leaders in the squad, but overall it's still a very young group.

United are not league or UCL contenders, but the progress they've made since appointing OGS is undeniable. Is he the right man to take United to the next level? That's the big question.
 
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Pogba needs to go and the club will take a big loss on him. That's unavoidable, so they just need to accept it and put a price on him that is realistic.

My take on OGS is that he's competent and has made some modest gains but is not good enough to win things. Certainly not good enough to achieve what most Man Utd fans born and bred during the Fergie years have come to expect. And many still seem to be carrying pretty high expectations - maybe not for this season, but for an ambitiously short time from to return to some sort of 'perch.' And when OGS goes the club will be considered to be in rebuild mode again, so at the end of the day did he lay the foundations for anything or is he just marking time till an A-list manager arrives and changes everything? Because when that happens you know the new man will be making noises, as all managers do, about having a lot of work to do and will want to sign a whole raft of players.
 
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Silencio said:
Mino Raiola's timing is impeccable as always, stirring up the pot the day before a crucial UCL away match that Pogba was presumably going to play a part in.

I've been over Pogba for a while and want him gone now more than ever, but who would realistically buy him right now? If Juve or PSG come in with anything over £50 million, get it done.

As for United in general, they're in a weird spot: they're not as bad as the naysayers make out, but not as good as some partisans would think. They're currently 6th in the league with a game in hand and 1 point away from qualifying out of their UCL group, but the inconsistency is maddening. I do have serious tactical concerns about OGS, but I do want him to succeed, and he is not the primary problem at United. There is a lack of leaders in the squad, but overall it's still a very young group.

United are not league or UCL contenders, but the progress they've made since appointing OGS is undeniable. Is he the right man to take United to the next level? That's the big question.
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To be honest, I think it'd be good business to sell him for $10MGBP Just get rid of a player that brings bad karma to a dressing room.
 
Watching Juve vs Barca.
I'm a bit torn as they are my two fave clubs from their respective countries. Have been for a while (like 25 years).

Barca looking like they will be getting a new manager soon
 
Lord Blackadder said:
Minnesota blew a 2-0 lead to lose to Seattle 3-2 last night, with Seattle scoring all three goals in the last 20 minutes plus stoppage.

So it's a Columbus - Seattle final for MLS Cup. The current plan is for Columbus to host, so MAPFRE stadium - the first soccer specific professional stadium built in the US in the modern era - will host one last big match before being replaced with a new stadium near downtown Columbus next year.

Lots of memories at Columbus Crew Stadium. I won't miss parking in a muddy field or literally walking a mile to the nearest pub, but it is a special place. And not just for the Crew - the USA played 12 international matches there over the years, winning 11 of them; this included three memorable 2-0 wins over Mexico, which birthed the "Dos a Cero" chant. I was there for one of those.

But there's one more match to go at MAPFRE, and here's hoping it will be another fond memory.
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Minnesota would be gutted! You'd think you're home and hosed at that point.
I know how it feels as a fan...Southampton are really good at throwing away 2-goal leads.
 
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