The 2020-2021 Football Thread

[Silencio]

Hard to keep multiple good keepers happy. This is going to be a particular challenge for United this season with De Gea, Henderson, and Romero all on the books. I really have no idea how this will play out, except for Romero most likely leaving.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Very good news.

Doomed without him? No.

But suffering and struggling, and stumbling and staggering through the season, undoubtedly, yes.

Good news, but - to be perfectly candid - I would have also liked to have kept Martínez; he is excellent.

There are others on the team I would happily off-load, but not Martínez. I'm sorry we couldn't have kept him, and regularly played both keepers.

I think if you lose your top players it’s very hard to attract others. You get seen as a selling club. There are not many loyal players these days. It was good for Villa that Greelish signed a new contract. Not so good for us!

 

[Apple fanboy]

Hard to keep multiple good keepers happy. This is going to be a particular challenge for United this season with De Gea, Henderson, and Romero all on the books. I really have no idea how this will play out, except for Romero most likely leaving.

Agreed. You can’t rotate them in other positions like midfielders or defenders do. Although I do remember Ludo Miklosco having a run out as an outfield player for us due to a lack of subs in a reserve game.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

I haven't heard the Bale deal is a sure thing, but clearly the talks are serious.

Real want him off the books badly, but a loan deal would only work if Spurs picked up a fair mount of his massive salary. Nobody can afford to buy him so the Spanish club might be willing to do a deal even if they have to partially subsidize him. In the current climate every Euro helps.

Spurs are boring and have a thin squad. How good Bale would be in England right now is a question mark, but possibly a reasonable gamble.

Very good news.

Doomed without him? No.

But suffering and struggling, and stumbling and staggering through the season, undoubtedly, yes.

Good news, but - to be perfectly candid - I would have also liked to have kept Martínez; he is excellent.

There are others on the team I would happily off-load, but not Martínez. I'm sorry we couldn't have kept him, and regularly played both keepers.

Keeping Aubameyang might be the biggest piece of news Arsenal generate this entire season. Without him, the squad development is set back substantially, as they lose a lot of goals. He alone is probably worth one place in the table.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I haven't heard the Bale deal is a sure thing, but clearly the talks are serious.

Real want him off the books badly, but a loan deal would only work if Spurs picked up a fair mount of his massive salary. Nobody can afford to buy him so the Spanish club might be willing to do a deal even if they have to partially subsidize him. In the current climate every Euro helps.

Spurs are boring and have a thin squad. How good Bale would be in England right now is a question mark, but possibly a reasonable gamble.



Keeping Aubameyang might be the biggest piece of news Arsenal generate this entire season. Without him, the squad development is set back substantially, as they lose a lot of goals. He alone is probably worth one place in the table.

I disagree strongly. I’d say more like 5.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Personally, I'd say at least one, but possibly between two and five.......

 

[Lord Blackadder]

I disagree strongly. I’d say more like 5.

Perhaps I should have said at least one place in the table. Suffice it to say, he is clearly Arsenal's most important player.

Hard to keep multiple good keepers happy. This is going to be a particular challenge for United this season with De Gea, Henderson, and Romero all on the books. I really have no idea how this will play out, except for Romero most likely leaving.

Henderson obviously intends to challenge for the starting position, and if he doesn't get it he may not want to hang around more than a couple seasons. Romero will know that if he wants to play or even get a backup gig he will need to move. We could see a situation where two of the three move on through lack of playing opportunities, once again leaving the club in need of a a keeper or two. Not a big deal, but Man Utd would probably rather keep at least two of their three keepers happy.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Personally, I'd say at least one, but possibly between two and five.......

It’s not even just that. It’s the type of players you can attract with him in place. Without him you are weaker on all fronts.
Hopefully he has a good year. He is in my fantasy team after all!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Last season, I thought that Aubameyang, and Leno (and yes, also Martínez) were the best players that Arsenal could call their own.

 

[Silencio]

I haven't heard the Bale deal is a sure thing, but clearly the talks are serious.

Real want him off the books badly, but a loan deal would only work if Spurs picked up a fair mount of his massive salary. Nobody can afford to buy him so the Spanish club might be willing to do a deal even if they have to partially subsidize him. In the current climate every Euro helps.

Spurs are boring and have a thin squad. How good Bale would be in England right now is a question mark, but possibly a reasonable gamble.that

Bale is on £600K/week, with Real apparently willing to pay half of that. I was willing to entertain the notion of United doing that loan deal, but it makes less sense than Bale returning to Spurs and United just ponying up for Jaden Sancho.

Looks like Spurs are also going to take Sergio Reguilon off Real's hands, albeit with a buyback clause that United refused to submit to. One would think left back is not a position United needs to strengthen, but Luke Shaw gets injured, Brandon Williams is not the finished product, Diego Dalot is on the outs, and United generally could use more attacking impetus from their fullbacks.

Still early days, but I can see Willian and Gabriel improving Arsenal significantly. Between those two and Aubameyang, they're a solid top 4 threat in a very crowded field.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

£600k per week?

Has the world got stark, staring, raving, mad?

I now that Bale is a very fine player, even an outstanding one, at times, but to pay that amount of money to a player strikes me as utterly absurd.

 

[Apple fanboy]

£600k per week?

Has the world got stark, staring, raving, mad?

I now that Bale is a very fine player, even an outstanding one, at times, but to pay that amount of money to a player strikes me as utterly absurd.

Agreed. But don’t you pay £350,000 a week to someone who doesn’t even play most weeks?

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Agreed. But don’t you pay £350,000 a week to someone who doesn’t even play most weeks?

Point taken, and personally, I would love to be shot of that gentleman, as well.

However objectively (sigh, with the possible exception of what Aubameyang has cost us - and that, with staff laid off, and Martínez sold, comes at a high cost, financially, morally, and in terms of options for the team) I still think such sums ludicrous, and in defiance of sound economic and/or ethical reason.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Point taken, and personally, I would love to be shot of that gentleman, as well.

However objectively (sigh, with the possible exception of what Aubameyang has cost us - and that, with staff laid off, and Martínez sold, comes at a high cost, financially, morally, and in terms of options for the team) I still think such sums ludicrous, and in defiance of sound economic and/or ethical reason.

I don’t think anyone should earn that amount of money a week. Well unless it’s me!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I don’t think anyone should earn that amount of money a week. Well unless it’s me!

I agree.

It is both absurd and obscene.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Transfer fees and footballer wages only make sense when looked at from a relative perspective. If looked at in absolute currency amounts they highlight everything that is wrong with globalized neoliberal capitalism and professional football 'governance.'

One week of Bale's wages would save Macclesfield Town from being wound up, with enough money left over to fund a luxury one-year round-the-world holiday for two...

 

[Silencio]

£600k per week?

Has the world got stark, staring, raving, mad?

I now that Bale is a very fine player, even an outstanding one, at times, but to pay that amount of money to a player strikes me as utterly absurd.

Yep, that's Real Madrid (and Barcelona) for ya: two massively subsidized clubs that could, for a period, throw infinite sums of money at top players.

The tide was already going out on massive player salaries before COVID-19 hit. Even worse, apparently RM wants Spurs to pick up his entire wage bill. I can't see Daniel Levy saying yes to that.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

One week of Bale's wages would save Macclesfield Town from being wound up, with enough money left over to fund a luxury one-year round-the-world holiday for two...

Excellent post, very well said, and I agree with every word.

Reading about the tragic winding up of Macclesfield Town this evening, that very point crossed my mind; one week of Bale's wages, or two of Ozil's, if the reports I have read about what he is paid, are true, would have saved that club from its fate.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

The tide was already going out on massive player salaries before COVID-19 hit. Even worse, apparently RM wants Spurs to pick up his entire wage bill. I can't see Daniel Levy saying yes to that.

Real are pretty desperate and Levy knows it; he will drive a hard bargain and might end up getting a heck of a deal if things pan out. A one-year loan with no transfer fee, even if they end up paying a third to a half of Bale's wages, could actually make sense.*

Put it this way - it could end up being a better return on investment than Liverpool got for Mario Balotelli, or Man Utd got for Angel Di Maria, or Chelsea got for Fernando Torres...

It's worth reminding ourselves that Real are the architects of their own downfall. Zidane fell out with Bale and the club chose to play games and let the press slay their own player rather than either reconcile them or do some business and move him on. If I were Bale I'd see out my contract too - Real were stupid enough to offer a mountain of cash for him, then let him be frozen out of the first XI; I don't feel the tiniest bit sorry for them.

*as long as, (per my previous post), you look at the finances in the context of football. Because in real-world money it's totally insane.

 

[HandsomeDanNZ]

I see my beloved Saints have come out and said that they are serious about silverware this season and wanted to take the cup ties as seriously as the Premier League this season.
They then came out and proved that ambition by promptly losing to Brentford 2-0 in the Carabao Cup.
It's going to be another long season, I think...

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I see my beloved Saints have come out and said that they are serious about silverware this season and wanted to take the cup ties as seriously as the Premier League this season.
They then came out and proved that ambition by promptly losing to Brentford 2-0 in the Carabao Cup.
It's going to be another long season, I think...

I've always liked the Saints, their tragedy is that they have to sell very good players whom they have developed (van Dijk is only the most obvious recent example).

These days, it would be rare to find someone such as Matt Le Tissier who would willingly spend his entire career with a club such as the Saints.

Moreover, they have an excellent manager - but Brentford having very narrowly missed promotion - probably feel that they have a point to prove, and are probably ambitious, and hungry, and may well yet make an appearance in the Premiership in a season or two.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Liverpool appear to have finally landed Thiago. The deal is alternately being described as a win for Bayern or a shrewd deal for Liverpool. Still getting conflicting reports on whether they paid €30m or €20m plus add-ons with the fee spread evenly over the duration of the contract.

This almost certainly means Wijnaldum is headed to Barcelona, so Liverpool won't be making much of a net spend on the deal either way. Sad to see him go, he was key player in both of the last two successful campaigns.

I see my beloved Saints have come out and said that they are serious about silverware this season and wanted to take the cup ties as seriously as the Premier League this season.
They then came out and proved that ambition by promptly losing to Brentford 2-0 in the Carabao Cup.
It's going to be another long season, I think...

Being serious about silverware and yet being unable to win it are not mutually exclusive characteristics. In fact I would say that's perfectly normal. 😉

 

[Silencio]

Thiago is a very, very good player. He is also fairly brittle, so replacing Wijnaldum with him is a bit of a calculated risk. I wish United went in for him, as the price was right, they wouldn't need to run him into the ground by playing him every game, and an aging Nemanja Matic is their only true holding midfielder in the senior squad. I like Scott McTominay and all, but he's much better playing box to box than sitting back and shielding the defense.

Brentford is a better team than Fulham IMHO — they just blew it at the crucial moments that would have seen them promoted. I'd be surprised if Fulham finished higher than 19th.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Thiago is a very, very good player. He is also fairly brittle, so replacing Wijnaldum with him is a bit of a calculated risk. I wish United went in for him, as the price was right, they wouldn't need to run him into the ground by playing him every game, and an aging Nemanja Matic is their only true holding midfielder in the senior squad. I like Scott McTominay and all, but he's much better playing box to box than sitting back and shielding the defense.

From some angles trading Wijnaldum for Thiago does indeed seem a risk, even if he's clearly an elite footballer in his position. Of course, the last two times time Klopp had a clear idea of who he needed to sign, it was Virgil van Dijk and then Alisson....

To that point - time will tell of course, but Chelsea have spent 200 million on players without really fixing their defense. Liverpool's recent success has been down to more than any specific signings alone, of course, but the most crucial signings Klopp has made have arguably been a keeper, a center back, and two wingbacks...so my gut instinct is that Chelsea have got it backwards.

I'd be surprised if Fulham finished higher than 19th.

Early predictions are always risky, but the early indications are that Fulham could be in for a very humbling season.

 

[JamesMike]

Watching the Brighton/Portsmouth match, not too exciting so far, hopefully, the second half will be better.

Brighton won 4-0, they play better in the second half against a tired Portsmouth team.