Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

The 2024-2025 Football Thread

timber said:
It's not really fair to set Ibrahimović as a threshold for anyone. He wasn't a regular or even a very good player. He was a step above and those players come along from time to time.
Gyökeres is also a very physical player, a beast in a good sense.
Let's wait and see what he can do, the EPL is very physically demanding but strikers nowadays peak after 30. If he's successful I can see him staying until 32/33.
Click to expand...
Many many good players from foreign leagues have tried their hand at the premier league and failed. Some will argue it was because of the club they joined because it was the wrong 'fit' for them and some will say it is because of the premier league itself due to it being very physically demanding.

On the flip said many many good players from foreign leagues have excelled in the premier league. Only time will tell which one Gyokeres fit's into.

Then again, going from premier league club to premier league does not always work. The player that always reminds me of this is Fernando Torres. He had a stella career at Liverpool, one of the best players in the premier league but when he went to Chelsea he a had a torrid time.
 
timber said:
It's not really fair to set Ibrahimović as a threshold for anyone. He wasn't a regular or even a very good player. He was a step above and those players come along from time to time.
Gyökeres is also a very physical player, a beast in a good sense.
Let's wait and see what he can do, the EPL is very physically demanding but strikers nowadays peak after 30. If he's successful I can see him staying until 32/33.
Click to expand...
Zlatan have 2 son's (born 2006 & 2008) that of cource play football too. They are growing up - no pressure on them, not at all 😅
Zlatan are very engaged in their football so they're in good hands.
Maximillian and Vincent both play in Milan's youth teams, and in youth teams for Sweden as well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Scepticalscribe and timber
I know it was only a preseason friendly but that near half way line goal Spurs scored against Arsenal is embarrassing. Goals like that should not be going is. Yes a player will always try their luck but come on, they are highly paid professionals and they let a schoolboy goal go in (many a time I've seen school kids try such a goal when I played football at school, mainly because I was always picked as the goalkeeper lol)
 
laptech said:
I know it was only a preseason friendly but that near half way line goal Spurs scored against Arsenal is embarrassing. Goals like that should not be going is. Yes a player will always try their luck but come on, they are highly paid professionals and they let a schoolboy goal go in (many a time I've seen school kids try such a goal when I played football at school, mainly because I was always picked as the goalkeeper lol)
Click to expand...
But Arsenal have a history of letting in goals from the halfway line!
 
Scepticalscribe said:
Ouch.

Wince.

Nevertheless, in fairness, our defence has been among the best in the Premier League for the past few seasons; our problems lay with finding the net at the other end.....
Click to expand...
Not anymore because Arsenal have just bought Europe's hottest striker, well that is if you believe all the hype around the man as to how good he is. He will be banging in goals for Arsenal getting you to win the league. Again that is if you believe all the hype about the man.
 
laptech said:
Not anymore because Arsenal have just bought Europe's hottest striker, well that is if you believe all the hype around the man as to how good he is. He will be banging in goals for Arsenal getting you to win the league. Again that is if you believe all the hype about the man.
Click to expand...
Hype is something that I am allergic to - or, at best - indifferent to.

We shall see how he performs in the challenging conditions of the Premier League.

However, I devoutly hope that this gentleman is able not just to find the goal, but to sniff out - and, more to the point - successfully despatch - those half chances that all too often make the difference between victory and defeat in the Premier League, in other words, that his instincts are those of a striker.
 
Well, for me Gyökeres is already scoring.

Yesterday was the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira commonly know just as the Supertaça (or Super Cup) or what in England would be the FA Community Shield and my Benfica faced Sporting.

Yes, it's a minor trophy but a trophy nevertheless and there's always space for one more in the museum.

And let's say Sporting missed Gyökeres :cool:. The replacement did show some nice and promising touches. Let's see how it goes during the season.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Silencio, Lioness~ and Scepticalscribe
Isak has reportedly left the UK and gone to Real Sociedad to resume solo training. And is ignoring all calls including those from teammates who have asked him to stay

Liverpool have meanwhile lodged a £120m+add ons which has been rejected by Newcastle until they secure a replacement and get an offer closer to £150m. They have also made a £70m bid for Šeško

If LFC sign Isak for £130-140m can they still accuse City, Chelsea, and Arsenal of trying to buy a league title? Ofc the rebuttal is they didn't sign anyone last season and have recouped ~£192m in sales.

Also penny for the thoughts of Ekitike who thought he was coming to be the main striker for LFC
 
Last edited:
daneoni said:
Isak has reportedly left the UK and gone to Real Sociedad to resume solo training. And is ignoring all calls including those from teammates who have asked him to stay

Liverpool have meanwhile lodged a £120m+add ons which has been rejected by Newcastle until they secure a replacement and get an offer closer to £150m. They have also made a £70m bid for Šeško

If LFC sign Isak for £130-140m can they still accuse City, Chelsea, and Arsenal of trying to buy a league title? Ofc the rebuttal is they didn't sign anyone last season and have recouped ~£192m in sales.

Also penny for the thoughts of Ekitike who thought he was coming to be the main striker for LFC
Click to expand...
Liverpool have said they bid £110m and insiders are saying there won’t be another bid.

As to Ekitike I’m sure it was explained that Liverpool play with 3 interchangeable strikers. He won’t have joined believing he was replacing Salah for example.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Scepticalscribe
Isak has 3 years left on his contract so if £150 million is his release clause to get out of that contract then I can see why Newcastle are holding firm on wanting £150 million BUT if his release clause is higher but Newcastle is only asking for £150 million then he's not worth it in my opinion. He is a good striker, no where near on the level of viktor gyökeres and look how much Arsenal got him for, £63.5 million. So, like I said, if the £150 million asking price for Isak is not his release clause price then Newcastle are ripping potential buyers off in my opinion. Yes they can ask for whatever they want but when one of Europe's hottest strikers is sold for £63.5 million it put's into serious questions Newcastle's price for Isak.
 
laptech said:
Isak has 3 years left on his contract so if £150 million is his release clause to get out of that contract then I can see why Newcastle are holding firm on wanting £150 million BUT if his release clause is higher but Newcastle is only asking for £150 million then he's not worth it in my opinion. He is a good striker, no where near on the level of viktor gyökeres and look how much Arsenal got him for, £63.5 million. So, like I said, if the £150 million asking price for Isak is not his release clause price then Newcastle are ripping potential buyers off in my opinion. Yes they can ask for whatever they want but when one of Europe's hottest strikers is sold for £63.5 million it put's into serious questions Newcastle's price for Isak.
Click to expand...
The difference is Isak has been tested in the PL and shown he is capable at that level. History is peppered with Europe’s outstanding turning into the PL’s disappointments
 
  • Like
Reactions: Scepticalscribe
Lioness~ said:
Arsenal will get back (quite) some money from the shirt sales of Victors no. 14.

Arsenal are aiming to recoup north of £120m in shirt sales this season and Viktor Gyökeres is a massive boost to that target, Arsenal Insider understands.

www.arsenalinsider.com

How much cash Arsenal make from shirt sales revealed as Viktor Gyokeres delivers record-breaking boom

A huge number 👀
www.arsenalinsider.com www.arsenalinsider.com
Click to expand...
Assuming they make (profit not revenue) £30 a shirt, that’s 4,000,000 shirts? Seems a lot.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Scepticalscribe
At least in the summer is when I make most money of betting on football.
Got a method. I buy tips from fixed matches in minor leagues in third world countries.
 
martint235 said:
The difference is Isak has been tested in the PL and shown he is capable at that level. History is peppered with Europe’s outstanding turning into the PL’s disappointments
Click to expand...
If what you are saying is true then it proves critics right about what they have been saying for years which is that every premier league club selling a player to another premier league club puts a 'premier league' tax on the player. Meaning if a player is worth £60 million, the selling club will put an extra £20-30 million on top just because he has premier league experience.
 
laptech said:
If what you are saying is true then it proves critics right about what they have been saying for years which is that every premier league club selling a player to another premier league club puts a 'premier league' tax on the player. Meaning if a player is worth £60 million, the selling club will put an extra £20-30 million on top just because he has premier league experience.
Click to expand...
They have to have proved themselves though. Take a look at Man Utd, they will struggle to offload most of their squad other than to the Saudi League.
 
  • Like
  • Haha
Reactions: mvdrl and Scepticalscribe
Apple fanboy said:
Assuming they make (profit not revenue) £30 a shirt, that’s 4,000,000 shirts? Seems a lot.
Click to expand...
While I don't doubt that these particular stats may be somewhat optimistic, I also think that the pre-season "Asian tours" embarked upon by teams such as Arsenal will most certainly further drive sales of such shirts, and serve to encourage (passionate) identification on the part of such fans with the team.
 
Just read this about Sheffield Wednesday https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/ce3j27y92p8o

I knew they were in trouble but NOT that deep of trouble. Reading the article it is as almost a word for word transcript of what happened to Derby County, issues with the ground, payments not being made to HRMC, players and staff not being paid, first team players leaving, the manager sacked and strong calls for the owner to sell the club.

According to the article the club only have 15 first team players. I think when under the same situation I think Derby had 7 and to fulfil their fixtures they had to call on all their youth team players, many who had never played first team football at all. Looks like Wednesday is going to have to do the same or face fines from the league. That is what happened to Derby, they were not able to fulfil the a number of their starting games and they were fined heavily by the league.

If Wednesday do not sell the club they are going to go down like Derby did. Derby's owners refused to sell, their financial situation got worse and worse due to constant fines of not being able to fulfil fixtures and not paying the players, they went into administration which brought in points deduction and they ended up getting relegated.
 
Apple fanboy said:
We’ve signed Callum Wilson on a free. Also confirmed we won’t be offering Antonio a contract. He’s been a great player for us over the years, but even before his accident he was only playing a small % of the games.
Click to expand...
A pity about Antonio; he has been a terrific player for West Ham.

Likewise, I must say that I am sorry (and here, I am writing in my capacity as someone who supports football, rather than from the more narrowly defined focus of someone who simply supports Arsenal) to see Son Heung-min announce his departure from Spurs.

At his best - which was formidable - he was outstanding; a superb footballer, a very decent human being, and a terrific role model.
 
pachyderm said:
Did anyone get to watch the Copa America Femenina Final?

COL vs BRA
Click to expand...
No but hearing of the result, the Women's Finalissima in 2026 is going to be contested again between England and Brazil.

The Women's Finalissima is a competition cooked up by UEFA and COMBOL in 2020 that the winner of the women's Copa America play the winners of the UEFA women's championship. The first game was in 2022, England becoming the competition's first winners, beating Brazil on penalties. Both will contest the trophy again in 2026
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: pachyderm
I don't know if anyone remembers Mourinho's UEFA and Champions League winning team at FC Porto

fc-porto-win-the-uefa-champions-league-final.jpg


But the captain, Jorge Costa, here holding the cup with Vítor Baía (the GK) passed away today at 53.

He was the current football director at FC Porto and suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. Despite swift assistance nothing could be done.
 
  • Sad
  • Like
Reactions: Silencio, Lioness~ and Scepticalscribe
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back