Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
AWB is a top-notch 1v1 defender, but his positional awareness is often lacking and he offers very little in attack. I hoped he could develop more, but I think it's right to move on.

Mazraoui is also capable of playing on the left, so that will help a lot. I think he too was elbowed out at Bayern by stiff competition for his spot and/or preference of the manager.

The United women have a long way to go to prove themselves a desirable destination. Some of the losses this summer were devastating. Hopefully some of the new signings can help keep building on their progress — it's a long term job.

I really like that United third shirt. I think the horizontal stripe motif references the fan banners more than anything. All their kits this season look very good IMO.
 
AWB is a top-notch 1v1 defender, but his positional awareness is often lacking and he offers very little in attack. I hoped he could develop more, but I think it's right to move on.

Mazraoui is also capable of playing on the left, so that will help a lot. I think he too was elbowed out at Bayern by stiff competition for his spot and/or preference of the manager.

The United women have a long way to go to prove themselves a desirable destination. Some of the losses this summer were devastating. Hopefully some of the new signings can help keep building on their progress — it's a long term job.

I really like that United third shirt. I think the horizontal stripe motif references the fan banners more than anything. All their kits this season look very good IMO.
Without their goalkeeper Mary Earps who has left the club, United women are going to struggle in my opinion because she was the womens version of De Gea. Her performances kept the team in it time and time again, much how De Gea did the same for the men's team.
 
To be honest I’m not a fan of any third kit. They are just another money grab imo. What was wrong with just home and away?

I've seen a few instances over the years where both of a visiting club's kits would conflict with the home club's first choice kit, but you're probably right that it's more about grabbing money from the fans. See also the various training tops and jackets and all that.
 
I've seen a few instances over the years where both of a visiting club's kits would conflict with the home club's first choice kit, but you're probably right that it's more about grabbing money from the fans. See also the various training tops and jackets and all that.
I remember the days when it was one team sponsor and that was it. Now you have the kit's main sponsor and sometimes one or 2 more situated on the collar or at the very bottom of the shirt on the back. Then you have separate sponsors for the training kit, then you have another sponsor for the warm up kit they wear before each game. It is utterly ridiculous how many ways clubs are trying to get different sponsors onto multiple items of kit.
 
  • Like
Reactions: pachyderm
I am not usually a fan of 3rd kits either but I just had to buy Gillingham's 2023-24 3rd kit because it was pink and therefore it allows me to use it for a secondary purchase which is to wear something pink when it is breast cancer awareness week because I have had a number of female relatives that have had breast cancer and would like to show my support. It is very difficult to buy men's pink t-shirt in a big man's size (yes I am sure they are sold somewhere) so thought I'd go for the next best thing :)


gillingham 2023 3rd kit.jpg
 
I am not usually a fan of 3rd kits either but I just had to buy Gillingham's 2023-24 3rd kit because it was pink and therefore it allows me to use it for a secondary purchase which is to wear something pink when it is breast cancer awareness week because I have had a number of female relatives that have had breast cancer and would like to show my support. It is very difficult to buy men's pink t-shirt in a big man's size (yes I am sure they are sold somewhere) so thought I'd go for the next best thing :)


View attachment 2405857
Not bad!

Macron has really upped their game the last five or six seasons.

Speaking of Naarich...

OIP.w1H8G_wHUx0DDqq_tc1FXQHaIy


I really liked this third kit from 2015/2016
 
  • Like
Reactions: Scepticalscribe
Man United and injuries are becoming a comedy of errors. Now Luke Shaw is out for a number of weeks due to a calf injury picked up during pre-season training.


So that now makes 4 confirmed 1st team players out injured already before the season has started

Leny Yoro
Rasmus Hojlund
Luke Shaw
Tyrell Malacia (Luke Shaw understudy)

As for the Norwich 3rd kit, what the hell is that monstrosity? It looks terrible. I know you said you like it but oh man oh man.
 
I thought is was April fools. 9to5 are pulling this news story out of their backside because there is no way VAR is about to be dropped for iphones. For one thing it has to be properly tested. When the technology was ready to go, VAR was tested extensively from 2014 to 2016 and it still took another year before the FA's in some countries allowed it's use in league matches. The English Premier league adopted VAR in 2018.

It would take at least 2-4 years to properly trial iphones as a replacement for VAR. And more to the point, not a single UK media outlet has picked up on the story prior to today. The ONLY places it could be found was in Apple related media outlets. So, if VAR was going to be replaced everyone in the UK would have known about it because it is something that would have been discussed amongst fans for months and months. The fact there has been no talk and 9to5 say's VAR is going to be ditched implies that it's going to be soon.

Nope, not going to happen in my opinion. FIFA, IFAB and the UK's own FA would have to approve it's use. So nope, not going to happen.
 
Probably speculation from 9to5 but, still... Guardian has a somewhat similar story, though without mentioning any iPhones:

That article is a much better written article but it does not mention anything about how reliable the system is. All it says is how quickly it can make a decision but it fails to mention how reliable that decision is. The article also mentions that this new system has already been trialed and yet there is no information about it's reliability. The article say's it was used in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. If the system was being trialed back in 2022, how come we have not heard about it. Surely if this system is far superior to the current system, people in the football world would be praising it but they are not. Question that needs to be asked is why is this new system not being praised and talked about if it supposed to be as good as it is being made out to be.
 
Conor Gallagher back in London after all but signing for Athletico due to Omorodion deal collapsing. Meaning Athletico couldn't pay the fee having thrown a massive outlay for the Alvarez deal. Now talks of Joao Felix returning to Chelsea after crying all year about wanting to stay in Barca. But Barca can't afford him haven't spent their budget on Olmo. And Simeone doesn't want him so he's effectively in limbo.

Meanwhile Premier League Chief says investigation into Chelsea re-Abaramovich era is drawing to conclusion with many speculating that a transfer ban is all but certain

Might also explain Chelsea's headless chicken approach to transfers before the ban comes in.
 
Many teams in the EPL have not even finished with their player transfers and yet all I keep seeing is ex-player after ex-player making predictions of who is going to win the league and who is going to get relegated. To be honest I think it is ridiculous of these ex-players to be making such predictions when not only have transfers not been finalized, no EPL games have even been played yet.

So I was thinking and this is just purely for fun. laughter and giggles, nothing more, let's pretend we are an ex-player and make predictions of who is going to win the league and who is going to get relegated. Like I said, this is not to be taken seriously, it's just for fun, laughter and giggles :)

My predictions:
League winners: Arsenal
Champions league places: Aston Villa, Liverpool, West Ham
Europa League: Man United
Relegated: Ipswich Town, Southampton, Notts Forrest.
 
My top 8;

Arsenal
City (if they’re not docked points)
Liverpool
Newcastle
Man Utd (if they get Ugarte)/Spurs
West Ham
Chelsea
Villa

Bottom 3
Southampton
Ipswich/Leicester
Nottingham Forest

UCL Winners
Real Madrid/Athletico

FA Cup winners
Arsenal/City

Carabao
Liverpool/Man Utd

I’ve gone for Arsenal because i feel City players will drop off. Ederson was already planning to leave. Alvarez gone. KDB cannot play a full season anymore.
Also, the rumours are that City’s 115 charges will be resolved this season, which will probably affect them.

Player of the season
Odegaard

Top scorer
Haaland

Golden Glove
David Raya
 
This is an interesting development in English women's football because the women's Super league and the championship have now gone from the FA's hands and into the hands of a private company called Women's Professional Leagues Limited (WPLL). Both leagues are now fully controlled and owned by WPLL with every team in the league and the championship have a minority share in WPLL.

This is very reminiscence of the day when the FA controlled old Division One because the new privately owned Premier League way back in 1992-1993.
 
To be honest I’m not a fan of any third kit. They are just another money grab imo. What was wrong with just home and away?
They are money grabbing, but, ironically, some of them are more aesthetically attractive than some of the utter horrors that have been issued as a team's second (or away) strip/kit.
 
They are money grabbing, but, ironically, some of them are more aesthetically attractive than some of the utter horrors that have been issued as a team's second (or away) strip/kit.
Not wanting to derail the thread but the worst shirt I have ever seen is from a club called CD Palencia. Their 2016-2017 home shirt was a disgusting eye sore. I will spare you all by not putting a pic up but to describe it, it was a shirt showing the human body without it's skin on it, basically showing the bodies muscle structure. It looks like someone had been skinned. Terrible just terrible

ok, normal service resumed :)
 
Not wanting to derail the thread but the worst shirt I have ever seen is from a club called CD Palencia. Their 2016-2017 home shirt was a disgusting eye sore. I will spare you all by not putting a pic up but to describe it, it was a shirt showing the human body without it's skin on it, basically showing the bodies muscle structure. It looks like someone had been skinned. Terrible just terrible

ok, normal service resumed :)
I’m pretty sure some GK ones might be worse.
 
My predictions:
League winners: Arsenal
Champions league places: Aston Villa, Liverpool, West Ham
Europa League: Man United
Relegated: Ipswich Town, Southampton, Notts Forrest.

I guess you think city will be docked some points, then! I'd love to see it, but not holding my breath.

League winners: Arsenal
UCL places: city, Liverpool, Man Utd
UEL: Spurs
Relegated: Leicester City (points deduction will do them in), Southampton, Nottingham Forest
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.