And Arsenal win (away) - by 2-0 - against Wolves (who played very well), which means that we remain at the top of the table, a full five points clear of Manchester City.
Gosh.
Gosh.
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The 2022-2023 Football Thread
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Dreary 1st half but more switched on 2nd. And no injuries which is a bonus for the WC. Wolves arguably unlucky not to get a pen.
Newcastle established themselves as dark horses today. No european distractions. Could well make top 4.
Some teams need the WC break so they can regroup.
It really feels like 2 seasons in 1. Arsenal won the first, will they also win the second.
Newcastle established themselves as dark horses today. No european distractions. Could well make top 4.
Some teams need the WC break so they can regroup.
It really feels like 2 seasons in 1. Arsenal won the first, will they also win the second.
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Not a good result or performance from West Ham today. I hope we don't ditch Moyes though. I think he will turn it around after the WC.
Potentially this is rumored to be why FSG are now looking to sell. They are a very wealthy organization, invested heavily in the club, feel they have overperformed, and yet still can’t compete with state clubs. So they are cashing in and getting out.
Rumor also has it that they believed, wrongly as it turned out, that FFP would prevent the kind of financial doping Man City have gotten away with. The failure of FFP is a factor in their potential exit. They also saw the super league as a way to make their wage bill more sustainable without taking enough account of how much fans hated the idea, so for all their savvy they have blind spots.
None of this is to say FSG were poor little minnows. They were, are, and always will be, in it for the money above all, even if they were highly competent for the most part in how they went about things. But if organizations with FSG’s experience and resources think the system is too broken to bother with anymore because of state clubs and corruption, shouldn’t we be worried? (And of course, the worst thing FSG ever did to the club - sell to some gulf state or oligarch - hasn’t happened yet, but seems likely enough from my cynical perspective).
Makes sense. Keeping up with Citeh requires monumental outlays. Even now 'Pool are facing a sizeable rebuild and you're looking at £250-£450m to rejuvenate the squad over the next few years.
And even if you spend all that you're not guaranteed success. City could still take away the EPL and Real or someone else could take the UCL. And then you're left to swallow the consequences of no ROI.
Meanwhile the fans/media will keep asking you for more and more investment.
Football's governing bodies have repeatedly proven that they cannot be relied on for diddly squat.
FSG didn't get to where they are by making such financial decisions. If the numbers don't add up, then they don't add up.
Unfortunately it seems club ownership will inevitably end up with the state-owned model. And fans will be worse off.
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Not a big fan of firing managers willy-nilly, but...
I think it's time for Everton to replace Frank Lampard Jr. with a more experienced manager.
Being hammered twice in a week by Bournemouth - and I'm not dissing Bournemouth here - should be the last straw. We've lost 5 of the last 7 in the league and deep in the relegation-mire.
I think it's time for Everton to replace Frank Lampard Jr. with a more experienced manager.
Being hammered twice in a week by Bournemouth - and I'm not dissing Bournemouth here - should be the last straw. We've lost 5 of the last 7 in the league and deep in the relegation-mire.
I think FSG are probably the 'least worst' of the 'big' owners in the league, and that is a troubling thought. People who brush off criticism of the growing bloat in the money side of the game and resultant oligarch/state owners by saying 'if we didn't accept these owners, someone else would' are missing the bigger picture.
We are on a path where soon the ONLY parties who will be able to realistically own elite clubs will be the dodgy ones we are already worried about. And football finances continue to inflate in contrast to an increasingly grim global financial reality. How long can that last?
Fans have to choose whether these owners are OK, or not. We are past the time when people can legitimately ignore it, waffle, or be supposed to be ignorant of these things. You can draw a direct line from some of these ownership groups to misdeeds ranging from tax-dodging all the way up to assassination and genocide. And that is not some kind of exaggeration for effect.
The only real solution is a combination of (at least partial) fan ownership, independent governance, and real financial caps/limits. Anything less is going to be a band-aid at best.
I don't think sacking him now would be willy-nilly. I thought his hire was a bit 'willy-nilly' in the first place. Not that he is a bad coach, but I question his ability at this level.
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Alejandro Garnacho has had a couple of very good performances in the last two United matches: two wonderful assists against Villa and a crucial winner at Fulham today. His breakthrough is reminding me quite a bit of Adnan Januzaj's early days in the first team, but I can only Garnacho kicks on and hits greater heights than Januzaj ever managed.
On to the World Cup! Though I agree that it will be hard to really enjoy it due to the corruption and human rights abuses surrounding it.
And now we have Ronaldo on the cover of The Sun with the headline blaring "UNITED HAVE BETRAYED ME". I seem to recall it was Ronaldo who belatedly agitated for a transfer in the middle of the summer window. His whinging comes off as especially hollow following a match United won without him featuring. He's an irrelevant passenger this season, and if he's angling to get released over the window, what other club is going to take on his baggage, let alone his massive salary?
He has well and truly torpedoed his legacy.
On to the World Cup! Though I agree that it will be hard to really enjoy it due to the corruption and human rights abuses surrounding it.
And now we have Ronaldo on the cover of The Sun with the headline blaring "UNITED HAVE BETRAYED ME". I seem to recall it was Ronaldo who belatedly agitated for a transfer in the middle of the summer window. His whinging comes off as especially hollow following a match United won without him featuring. He's an irrelevant passenger this season, and if he's angling to get released over the window, what other club is going to take on his baggage, let alone his massive salary?
He has well and truly torpedoed his legacy.
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Darwin Nunez is beginning to warm up...just in time for the world cup break. But Liverpool stand to benefit most from the break among the 'big' Premier League teams, so I really do expect to see an improvement in form on the other side of the tournament.
It is indefensible chatter from Ronaldo. Only someone as far up their own backside as he is could see the current situation as a 'betrayal' by the club on any level. I've always found him an obnoxious persona, but through hard work and persistence he's managed to bring most Man Utd fans to my point of view, which is some feat.
It is indefensible chatter from Ronaldo. Only someone as far up their own backside as he is could see the current situation as a 'betrayal' by the club on any level. I've always found him an obnoxious persona, but through hard work and persistence he's managed to bring most Man Utd fans to my point of view, which is some feat.
Calculated move by CR7 to burn bridges and force a move in Jan.
Using Piers Morgan is the icing on the cake
On the plus side it may force Utd to improve the interiors
Using Piers Morgan is the icing on the cake
On the plus side it may force Utd to improve the interiors
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Weren’t they happy for him to go in July? He just couldn’t find anywhere he wanted to go that also wanted to take him?
I think it’s terrible on his part, he just looks like a total child.
Also I guess this explains why Ivan Toney didn’t make the England squad. Southgate wouldn’t have wanted this escalating in to a circus.
Ivan Toney: Brentford striker charged by FA with 232 breaches of betting rules - BBC Sport
Brentford striker Ivan Toney is charged by the Football Association in relation to alleged breaches of betting rules.
www.bbc.com
^
Well not many clubs will be able to pay half a million a week for a 37yr old approaching his expiration date. Especially post-pandemic. Utd could have terminated his contract but i guess they'd have to pay out.
Now he's either chosen to take a pay cut and found a club, or has accepted not playing but still collecting his pay check. Alternatively, Utd will now be forced to pay him off and ship him out.
Unless you're a CR7 cultist (Keane, Souness, or Morgan) its pretty hard to defend/justify his actions with the exception of the family events during the summer.
At the end of the day, its all calculated and self-serving from someone who can't accept that he and his club are not currently competing at the elite levels.
Zero accountability taken, and a smokescreen deflection towards Glazers, ETH, and a sauna.
Re Toney...well now Southgate has the last laugh.
What happened to footballers just being professional and taking home their ridiculous wages. Now they have to be alleged rapists, gamblers, political commentators, and everything in between.
A general lack of education and common sense perhaps.
Well not many clubs will be able to pay half a million a week for a 37yr old approaching his expiration date. Especially post-pandemic. Utd could have terminated his contract but i guess they'd have to pay out.
Now he's either chosen to take a pay cut and found a club, or has accepted not playing but still collecting his pay check. Alternatively, Utd will now be forced to pay him off and ship him out.
Unless you're a CR7 cultist (Keane, Souness, or Morgan) its pretty hard to defend/justify his actions with the exception of the family events during the summer.
At the end of the day, its all calculated and self-serving from someone who can't accept that he and his club are not currently competing at the elite levels.
Zero accountability taken, and a smokescreen deflection towards Glazers, ETH, and a sauna.
Re Toney...well now Southgate has the last laugh.
What happened to footballers just being professional and taking home their ridiculous wages. Now they have to be alleged rapists, gamblers, political commentators, and everything in between.
A general lack of education and common sense perhaps.
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I wonder if United have any right to terminate his contract without payment for all this. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t talk about my employer like this without consequence.
The FA is worried about players gambling...maybe if professional football wasn't literally drowning in gambling advertising it would seem less hypocritical.
I don’t see where the hypocrisy is.
Clearly you can’t have people who are playing the game betting on the game.
Toney started gambling on football when he was playing in the lower divisions, so he wasn't exactly earning ridiculous wages at the time. But gambling isn't really about making money — it can be a compulsive behavior that turns into a full-blown addiction with devastating consequences.
He's not only blown his chance to go to the World Cup, but he's blown his chance at a move to a bigger club. Surely Man Utd would have been interested in bringing him in to replace Ronaldo, but now that's off the table. It's a real shame.
He's not only blown his chance to go to the World Cup, but he's blown his chance at a move to a bigger club. Surely Man Utd would have been interested in bringing him in to replace Ronaldo, but now that's off the table. It's a real shame.
The hypocrisy lies in the FA's willingness to allow gambling to penetrate so far into professional football as a source of sponsorship, without adequately dealing with the consequences of gambling's impact on players and on people in general. Gambling websites' aggressive advertising is predatory, and stiff punishments against players attack the symptoms, not the cause, of the issues revolving around betting on the game.
Sorry I just don’t see the hypocrisy. You don’t seem to understand why there’s a blanket ban on football players betting on football.
Couldn’t agree more. It should be banned from shirt sponsorship at the least.
I guess the similar argument is advertising processed fatty food and blaming people for being obese. Or the ridiculous advertising from cigarette manufactures back in the day and subsequent lung cancer associations.
You can't pick and choose your influence. Even if you put stipulations in place
Sure, players aren't supposed to bet because it leads into match fixing etc. But players are still human with compulsive desires and can equally be influenced like the general public.
Toney wasn't the first and he won't be the last.
You can't pick and choose your influence. Even if you put stipulations in place
Sure, players aren't supposed to bet because it leads into match fixing etc. But players are still human with compulsive desires and can equally be influenced like the general public.
Toney wasn't the first and he won't be the last.
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It isn't my job to explain it. You don't have to agree with me, but I am certainly not alone in seeing it the way I do.
It's very easy to just see it as one man simply making bad choices. But that, while true, is only a half-truth that absolves the FA and gabling companies of any responsibility for the consequences of their choices.
It just isn’t hypocritical for an employer or group of employers to expect employees acting in a professional manner. Footballers betting on football just isn’t professional, they can go mad on the nags.